Joke of the Week
Here is more wit and wisdom from Will Rogers.
ABOUT GROWING OLDER …
First ~ Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it.
Second ~ The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.
Third ~ Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me. I want people to know ‘why’ I look this way. I’ve traveled a long way, and some of the roads weren’t paved.
Fourth ~ When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to your youth, think of algebra …
Fifth ~ You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks.
Sixth ~ I don’t know how I got over the hill without getting to the top.
Seventh ~ One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it’s such a nice change from being young.
Eight ~ One must wait until evening to see how splendid the day has been.
Ninth ~ Being young is beautiful, but being old is comfortable and relaxed.
Tenth ~ Long ago, when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks, it was called witchcraft. Today it’s called golf.
And, finally ~ If you don’t learn to laugh at trouble, you won’t have anything to laugh at when you’re old.
FREEBIES!
Saluda Press offers free downloads of Bible study guides not yet published. They can be found at Dropbox, a cloud storage site. If you don’t have Dropbox on your computer you can sign up and download the app easily. Once you have Dropbox, log into my account. User name: rdrogland@gmail.com, Password: sharonr241. If that doesn’t work, try User name: publisher@saludapress.com, Password: RobertR63041. If you do download and use any of these studies, please email me and let me know what you think of them. Candor is appreciated: if they are found wanting in any respect, I want to know before I have them published. I will be grateful for your feedback.
Not a freebie, but worth the price
Last week I announced the publication of Saluda Press’s third book in the Timothy Series of Bible study guides, Galatians: Freedom in Christ. Paul wrote his letter to the Galatians to prevent them from abandoning the true gospel of Christ for a false one. In our own time, researchers have found that over half of Americans believe the same false gospel that endangered the souls of the Galatian Christians. Every Christian today needs a solid understanding of the truth of the gospel as laid out in Galatians, and this 150-page study guide will help you gain that understanding. Its thirteen lessons feature study questions (and answers!) and study notes that will help you grasp the teaching of Galatians. Buy it today for the sale price of $9.00 (that includes sales tax and shipping by going to Buying My Books at the top of this page. After Labor Day the regular price of $11.95 (plus shipping and sales tax if applicable) goes into effect. Save yourself $4.95 (discount, shipping, and tax) by ordering it in the next 3 weeks.
Luther’s 95 Theses for 21st Century Christians
We continue with our observations on the 95 theses in this the 500th year of their publication, an event that triggered the Protestant Reformation.
- Nor does it seem proved that souls in purgatory, at least not all of them, are certain and assured of their own salvation, even if we ourselves may be entirely certain of it.
This thesis follows logically from Theses 15 and 16. If the souls in purgatory experience something very near to despair (Theses 15 and 16), the source of that despair must be the fear that they will ultimately be lost. “We ourselves may be entirely certain” that souls in purgatory would ultimately enjoy heaven, writes Luther, for in theory the Roman church held that purgatory was only for those had been absolved of all their sins. But Luther recognized that those being tormented in purgatory would easily forget that.
Christians today who do not believe in purgatory may still fear that they will be lost. Indeed, it is a stratagem of Satan to afflict believers, especially those young in the faith, with the idea that God will no longer forgive their sins because they still sin time after time. They are afraid God’s patience is exhausted. Some think they have committed the unforgiveable sin. Not for nothing is Satan called the “accuser of our brothers”:
“And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.” Revelation 12:9-10
Satan has been cast out of heaven and can no longer accuse us before God: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). But, having been cast down to earth, he continues to accuse us—to our own face. If we heed those accusations we will never have the assurance of salvation that is the right of everyone who casts himself or herself completely on Christ.
There, of course, is the answer for Christians with a tender conscience who fear they have lost their salvation. We cannot lose what is not in our own keeping. We are kept or guarded by the power of God for salvation (1 Peter 1:5). Doubting Christian, claim that promise! Do you continue to sin? Take hold of 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” That word is for Christians!