Graduation

As graduates receive the final accolades of their collegiate or high school years, there is always plenty of advice to go around. Advice from old sages to modern hip hop; practical to visionary; corporate to country; spiritual to physical; subjective to objective; simple to complex. So much advice one might ask why the need to publish anything else in this field. This is nothing new, simply a reminder of that which has driven nations since the beginning.

Consider the advice given by one teacher to his student:

1. Let no man despise thy youth (1 Tim. 4:12);
2. Neglect not the gift that is in thee ( 1 Tim. 4:14);
3. Follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness (1 Tim. 6:11);
4. Fight the good fight of faith (1 Tim. 6:12);
5. Keep what has been committed to thy trust (1 Tim. 6:20);
6. Be not ashamed of the testimony of the Lord (2 Tim. 1:8);
7. Hold fast the form of sound words (2 Tim. 1:13);
8. Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus ( 2 Tim. 2:1);
9. Endure hardship (2 Tim. 2:3);
10. Strive lawfully (2 Tim. 2:4);
11. Study to show thyself approved (2 Tim. 2:15a);
12. Rightly divide the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15b);
13. Flee youthful lust (2 Tim. 2:22a);
14. Follow after righteousness, faith, charity, peace (2 Tim. 2:22b);
15. Do not strive but be gentle (2 Tim. 2:24);
16. Continue in the things that thou hast learned (2 Tim. 3:14).

Rather than seeking to "be like Mike" why not be like Jesus:

1. Jesus increased in wisdom - He developed intellectually;
2. Jesus increased in stature - He developed physically;
3. Jesus increased in favor with God - He developed spiritually;
4. Jesus increased in favor with man - He developed socially.

You cannot walk in the steps of Jesus (1 Pet. 2:21; Jho. 13:15; Eph. 5:2; 1 Jho. 2:6) unless you continue to grow (2 Pet. 3:18). Following after this kind of advice will take you well beyond the stars.

-rick popejoy

Daniel & the God of Gods

(A brief outline of Daniel 1-6)

Daniel’s God is a God of...

• Intervention (1);
• Revelation (2);
• Salvation (3-4);
• Vindication (5-6);
  
  In his book Thy Kingdom Come, Rushdoony has a chapter entitled “The Offense of Daniel.” Here Rushdoony explains why Daniel is “one of the most explosive books in all human history.” This book assumes at every point a philosophy of history which is the antithesis of every opinion held by modern man. Rushdoony sets forth five particulars in which modern man would take exception to Daniel. First, Daniel underscores the Biblical concept of God. Daniel’s God is totally self-sufficient, omniscient, and omnipotent. He is willing and able infallibly to reveal future events. He is far above anything man is or could ever hope to be. Second, Daniel sets forth unvarnished predictive prophecy—blunt, unmistakable, confident and specific. The God of Daniel uses history and is not used by it. Third, Daniel unapologetically narrates miraculous events. Fourth, Daniel asserts the total government of God. Modern man prefers the anarchy of chance and a god who can be manipulated. Fifth, Daniel reveals the fundamental discrimination which exists within the human race between the saved and the lost.
  

James E. Smith, The Old Testament Survey Series: The Major Prophets

Does It Really Matter?

Throughout my twenty-two years of preaching I have had occasion to hear people say, in effect, “It really does not matter what you believe.” Of course, the religious world has long held to the belief that as long as a person is sincere about his religion it does not matter what he believes.

Yet, how many lives have been devastated by, “I didn't think that the gun was loaded, but it was” or “I thought no one was listening, but they were” and “I thought no one would ever find out, but they did.” A hard lesson for some: it does matter what you believe!

The following are some biblical examples for our personal study: Eve believed Satan’s lie but God had plainly said, “...of the tree...thou shalt not eat of it.” (Gen. 3:4-6; 16-19). Jacob believed Joseph was dead (Gen. 37:32-35). Job’s friends believed that bad things happen to bad people they sought to convince Job he had sinned - they were convinced of it (Job 4:7-9; Luke 13:1-5). The young prophet believed the old prophet’s lie (1 Kgs. 13:17-19). Naaman believed Syrian rivers were better than the Jordan (2 Kgs. 5:10-12). It mattered what the disciples believed about Jesus (Mat. 16:13-15). It mattered what Saul of Tarsus believed about Jesus (Acts 23:1).

It does matter what you believe! “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith...” (2 Cor. 13:5).

Modified from sermon by Cecil Hutson

"Ye Should Follow His Steps"

1 Peter 2:21 “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:”

John 13:15 “For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.”

Romans 8:29 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

1 Corinthians 11:1 “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.”

2 Corinthians 3:18 “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

Ephesians 5:1-2 “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; 2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.”

Philippians 2:5 “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:”

1 John 2:6 “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.”

1 John 3:16 “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”

Rick Popejoy