The importance of doctrine

 Each of us live our lives in a state of perpetual belief.  There are certain things that we hold to be true even though we do not have any necessary reason to hold them as true.  Allow me to demonstrate this fact.  I have no idea who built my house.  I bought it 7 years ago from a couple that I did not know.  I think they may have actually been the ones who hired the people who built the house, but I am not positive on that.  It was built over 60 years ago.  In all likelihood, the people who built it have died and I could not, even if I wanted to, ask them about the process.  I have no idea what the foundation looks like.  I have never seen it.  I have never torn off the interior or exterior of my walls to ensure that the materials built upon the foundation are solid and good.  And yet each day, I come home.  Each day I rest.  Each night I go to sleep unthinkingly confident that my house will stand.  

If I examine this objectively, I know that there are people who have homes who do not stand.  Homes that fall.  In many respects this is what faith is.  But when it comes to Christ, faith, while critical is never blind.  It is not unknowing.  It is an examining faith - a faith that looks to Christ and to His Word for answers and for certainty.  Every one of us believes something, but what we believe is critically important.  If I am coming home to bed each night in doctrinal uncertainty, I have my hope in nothing but hope itself.  And that is no hope.  But if I come home each night to my sure Savior.  To the One who died in my place.  To the One who was born of a Virgin.  To the One who lived a perfect life.  Suddenly, even though I do not have to think about each of these things in every moment, I have a foundation that I can be confident in.  That I can welcome others into.  

My prayer is that my faith in Christ is not in any way like my faith in my house.  Both have a foundation.  But one I know to be solid.  My house I only hope is solid.  One I know to stand true and straight.  My walls I only hope are built of good material.  One has been tested and has stood the test of time.  My house has only been around for about 60 years and will at some point fall apart and need repair.  Take the time to get to know Christ.  Examine Him through His Word.  And may you find Him Glorious!

Thanksgiving

 At our church we are doing something different this year.  Leading up to the Thanksgiving Praise Service that we hold annually (on the Sunday evening before Thanksgiving day) we are asking for a few people to give a brief testimony of praise.  It is interesting to me to think about my own life and what I would say, but more interesting to me is why this kind of thing seems to come up only around the holiday.  

"Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples."  (1 Chronicles 16:8, NASB)

We have a responsibility to tell people what God has done, and not just "our" people - the church, it is a responsibility to tell the world about the things that God has done.  If we took this as part of our personal job description, how well would we grade ourselves.  Does your neighbor know of the good that God has done for you?  Does the teller you see at the bank each week?   What about your unsaved friends?  Are we telling the world that God has done good things for us?  Or do we bottle it up and keep it to ourselves, maybe sharing it at church?  Make it a personal challenge today to make known what God has done for you among the people of the earth!