by Staff | Dec 31, 2013 | Updates
It seems that it is now de rigueur for blogs to give a list of the top 5, 10, or even 20 or more posts from the past year – those obtaining the highest number of pageviews or downloads.
For our own site, the winners are given below. If you are new to the site, or missed any of these top ten posts along the way, check them out and enjoy:
by Staff | Dec 29, 2013 | Updates
The previous blog post, “A Direct Private Line,” is meant to be lightly written, and basic, but the points it makes are ones for which we can all be seriously thankful. I hope it gives you food for thought as you do “phone home.”
Speaking of phones, the TacticalChristianity.org webpages are optimized for viewing on phone size screens as well as on the computer, so you can use your smart phone to check for new content or to catch up without feeling you are trying to navigate all over a large page with a small device. If you are not using the site’s RSS feed to check for new content, setting your smart phone’s browser bookmark at the Blog page is probably the quickest way to see what’s new – and you can jump from here, of course, to articles or other pages as you wish. If you are like me, you may prefer to do most of your reading on a larger screen, but it’s good to know you can use your phone to check out the latest blog posting while on your lunch break or to catch an article on the train commute!
by R. Herbert | Dec 27, 2013 | Prayer
I was never in business, so the ways of the business world are often news to me. Take, for example, when I found out that some businesses have a direct private line to the CEO that is made available to the most important clients. Not to the rest of us, of course. We have to go through the recording with a raft of choices only to hear “There are twelve people ahead of you” then perhaps eventually be transferred a couple of times and perhaps put on hold for several minutes before we finally get an answering machine. All this to call companies with only a few thousand callers. Can you imagine what it would be like if we had to reach our Heavenly Father by phone? “There are four million three hundred and twenty five thousand seven hundred and fifty six callers ahead of you.”
The truth is we all have a direct private line that is always there. It’s humbling to think that we are each, individually, important enough to Him to have a direct line to the CEO of the universe. We don’t have to wait on hold in order to get through eventually – the line we are given is direct and instant. At any time. There isn’t even a weekend plan where we have to wait to call because we are low on minutes. It’s really a wonderful thing that we so often take for granted. No downed or bad lines, no poor satellite signal, no answering machine or dropped calls – ever. We can actually reach our heavenly CEO faster than we can get through to our doctor’s office or the manager of the local grocery store. Have you ever given thanks for that?
The fact that we have direct access to our Heavenly Father is truly a great gift – and it is sad that many do not understand that the access is there, but believe they can only call on God through various intercessors. Jesus’ words are clear on this, however, that although we ask in His name (John 16:23) and are only able to approach through His sacrifice (John 14:6), we do not need any intercessor, but may pray directly to the Father (John 16:26, Mat 6:9).
Another thing to remember is that our calls are always answered. Although we talk about answered prayer and unanswered prayer, I find it helps to remember that prayer is like a phone call that’s always answered. God is always there and the “phone” is always on. He may not give us what we ask for, or as quickly as we ask for it, for our own good, but we should remember the sincerely made call is always answered (Psalms 86:7, Jeremiah 33:3). Something else for which we should be constantly thankful.
There’s only one catch to the direct private line package, and it’s a relatively small one. We have to use it or we lose it. It’s not like that legendary “hot line” between the leaders of the US and the old Soviet Union – there to be used if circumstances become desperate enough that it is needed. Remember Paul shows we should pray in all things. But it’s not hard to do. In fact, we don’t even need a reason to call, God is always desirous to hear from us and happy to take our call. So if you haven’t done that recently, why not make the call and give thanks for your direct private line!
by R. Herbert | Dec 22, 2013 | Bible Study, Growth
I owe the origin of this thought to Philip Shields who recently wrote “Learning is for Transformation – not just Information.” It’s an important idea in Christianity, and sometimes we need to remember this basic concept. The thought grew in my mind after recently visiting a Christian website where dozens of well-researched and well-meaning articles pondered scores of technical points and minutiae of the Scriptures. I came away impressed and better educated, yet feeling that in no way had I grown. If anything, had I been sidetracked? So Philip’s recent article “
WHY Do We Study the Word of God?” resonated with me, and we reproduce a slightly condensed version of it on our site this week as the second article in our series on Bible study.
As Philip writes, the apostle Peter stressed that we should grow in grace
and knowledge (2 Peter 3:18), and the two go hand in hand – or should do. Focusing on growing in grace alone can be problematic in many ways. We can end up limiting ourselves and even hurting others through misunderstandings and lack of real knowledge. On the other hand, developing only the cerebral aspects of our religion and filling only our “encyclopedia” cells can be even more limiting and ultimately damaging to Christian growth.
We do need to grow in both knowledge and grace, information and transformation. Just knowing is never enough – facts should lead to change or they are little more than Bible trivia. Paul shows this goal clearly: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is …” (Romans 12:2). Notice that the goal is to be
transformed by the
renewing (not just the filling) of our minds. The changes accomplished are more important than the memorized facts.
Simply put, we need information and we need transformation; but if we err to one side of the road, it’s better if our wheels are more solidly on the transformation side of the highway.
by R. Herbert | Dec 20, 2013 | Relationships
How do your words taste? Normally we would say that words have sound rather than taste, of course, but there is a difference between the actual sound of a word and the effect it has on its hearers. We get by in English by saying “that doesn’t sound too good” when words have a negative or disturbing impact, but perhaps “taste” makes more sense in such situations.
Words can certainly taste good: “How sweet are your words to my taste,” David wrote – “sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103), but words don’t always taste sweet at all. Recently, I couldn’t help hearing a parent berating her child in a store, for what appeared to be a very minor thing. It wasn’t just the words that were used, but also the tone and the obvious effect on the child and on others in the store – which was something like tasting a mouthful of vinegar.
That is something Job discovered when he was subjected to the negative, doubting and finally judgmental words of the “friends” who supposedly came to comfort him. Notice what Job says in this regard after tasting a few helpings of his friends’ words: “Does not the ear test words as the palate tastes food?” (Job 12:11). Job is confirming what most of us come to know as we go through life – a person’s words can truly have a good effect on us, or they can be something that leaves the equivalent of a bad taste in our mouths.
It is something we all should consider. Bad “tasting” words don’t just include curses and profanity, they can be any words that pull down or discourage others. We may not mean them that way, but unless we think about the effects of our words, we may not realize what they are doing. On the other hand, restrained and carefully chosen words can help those who need guidance or encouragement. The proverb that tells us “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver” (Proverbs 25:11) really makes this point. The original Hebrew may actually mean “apricots” rather than apples, but the specific fruit hardly matters (unless you greatly prefer one over the other!).
When our words build up and encourage rather than just convey raw facts – or worse yet, pull down those around us – then they might indeed be said to taste like honey or sweet, ripe fruit. It’s something to remember. Next time you are tempted to say something negative or critical, think about the fact that the words we use have a “taste” that affects others by building them up or pulling them down. Only you can decide what the taste will be – whether your words will encourage or discourage, whether they will have the taste of vinegar or the taste of honey.
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