Beyond Mediocrity Blog

(Image courtesy of https://img.washingtonpost.com.) "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel" (Genesis 3:15). "Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial [the devil], or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, 'I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 'Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,' says the Lord. 'And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you. 'And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,' Says the Lord Almighty" (2 Corinthians 6:14-18). "You adulte...

(Image courtesy of https://www.bhpalmbeach.com.) "The issue isn't Calvinism.  The issue isn't Arminianism.  The issue is regeneration!" Paul Washer emphatically declared in a sermon entitled "10 Indictments Against the Modern Church".  In a world full of extremes - freedom versus legalism, Calvinsism versus Arminianism, tolerance versus bigotry - it is important to stand firm on the truth, not wavering too far to the right or to the left.  Regeneration is exactly one of those truths to stand firm on, and is arguably the most important doctrine of all. Regeneration, in theology, is defined as the formation of a new heart, new mind, new passions, and new affections - having once directed all these toward sin, the believer has been re-formed through the Spirit of God to direct these toward God.  It is what happens to the Christian at conversion and what results afterward; therefore, it is the most powerful and influential doctrine revealed to man...

(Image courtesy of http://newsbusters7.s3.amazonaws.com.) "So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek" (Romans 1:15-16). "But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death..." (Philippians 3:7-10).

(Image courtesy of https://www.hss.edu.) Growing up as the oldest of four children, I became the unofficial "guinea pig" in our family.  There is definitely a thing or two to be said about birth order and this is one of those things: the oldest child generally is the one the parents practice on in order to parent more effectively in the future.  Partly for this reason, and partly for the fact that I have a very strong and stubborn will, I received the just punishment for my actions more frequently than any of my other siblings (maybe even combined!).  There is an unequivocal fact that children are different from each other, not only in personality, but a number of ways.  They not only like different things, have various personalities, and possess differing talents (gifts), but they also behave differently. One fact remains the same, though: "all have sinned" (Romans 3:23) and "all are sinners from birth" (Psalm 51:5).

(Image courtesy of http://acton.org.) "Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness.... So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them" (Genesis 1:26-27).  "Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2).  The other night my wife and I were watching an episode of The Andy Griffith Show  set in the town of Mayberry.  At one point during the episode, I remarked to my wife, "Sometimes, Andy Griffith reminds me of my dad.  Some of his facial expressions and mannerisms are the same."