God With Us

"The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." (Romans 8:16-17)

It is so difficult sometimes to separate our perceived reality from the spiritual reality that God wants us to embrace. It's like the famous story of the wise old professor who would greet his class with the greeting, "Enjoy today, today!" And as would happen on almost a daily basis a student would grumble and remark that his day was not going the way he thought it would. The response from the professor would always be the same, "Don't worry, it will pass." Then another student who was riding the high of a good day or week would respond to his question in a positive manner and the professor's response would be the same, "Don't worry, it will pass.". The point behind the question is life is fluid, circumstances will change, embrace the moment. 

And if you are a believer, then God is with you in every moment.

Alexander The Great

"Alexander The Great" - the very name evokes images of epic battles, grand conquests, and a larger-than-life persona. His achievements as a military leader are legendary, and his legacy has endured for over two millennia.

But what was it that made Alexander such a successful commander?

First let's draw a comparison to another great general, Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon is credited with utilizing the idea of separate, self-sufficient army formations. Before Napoleon, every nation had an army with a general. This army had one supply train, one chain of command, one army camp when not moving, and always fought more or less together.

Yet, Napoleon's greatest strengths might have been his charisma, political leadership, and diplomat skills. His military skills, as great as they were, lacked the vision and planning of leaders such as Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great. For example, I doubt that either one of those military leaders would have made the mistakes Napoleon made in invading Russia, where his army started off with over 600,000 men and only 100,000 returned. Napoleon fought in over 60 battles, and lost 7 of those conflicts. 

Alexander the Great fought military campaigns for over fifteen years and never lost a battle.

Hell

Have you ever wondered about the existence of Hell?

Christ spoke about Hell eleven times in the scriptures. He did not say, “And the unrighteous will enter the house of God and be happy forever,” or “the impenitent will be destroyed and exist no longer.” 

Rather, He said explicitly that there is a place called Hell (Gehenna); that people go there, and that it’s forever. In speaking about the suffering in Hell, he described it as: “everlasting punishment” (Matthew 25:46); “everlasting fire” (Matthew 25:41); “the fire that will never be quenched” (Mark 9:43-46); “the worm that never dies” (Mark 9:44). Of course, many of the things Jesus said during his earthly ministry can be construed in different ways. But not all of them. Certain statements he made simply preclude misinterpretation. Those having to do with Hell are in that category.

C.S. Lewis famously said: “In the long run the answer to all those who object to the doctrine of Hell is itself a question: ‘What are you asking God to do? To wipe out their past sins and, at all costs, to give them a fresh start, smoothing every difficulty and offering every miraculous help? But he has done so, on Calvary. To forgive them? They will not be forgiven. To leave them alone? Alas, I am afraid that is what he does.”

Hatred and Forgiveness (John Ortberg)

" . . . knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot." (1 Peter 1:18-19 ESV)