For the wages of sin are death...

Last night I had opportunity to think on the mercy and sovereignty of God in salvation and how simple it seems to be. Recently I have thought again of the purity of the gospel message and how almost the whole evangelical world has a disconnect in thought about this gospel. Think about it with me; we remember Jesus' parable about the men who worked in the field and earned wages from the master of the field. The main thrust of this parable was that the master gave at a minimum exactly what each had earned justly. Then he gave extra to some of these workers. I do not think that this verse from Romans uses the word "wages" by coincidence. We all, the whole world of people, have sinned and earned everlasting condemnation. If God would have walked away from this world and dropped it in hell, He would have given all of us the just wages that we earned. I think most evangelicals would agree up to this point. But after here is the disconnect for these people. Can not God be merciful to some? Just like the field owner who gave more to some, could not God effectually save some of us? It is at this point that the evangelicals cry that "this is not fair!" But this last statement is the only logical conclusion of the first several premises. One can not agree to that point and logically disagree with the conclusion. I think this is why there seems to be a growing trend in the christian world to downplay the seriousness of sin and thus the reality of hell. If hell is not real, then the whole gospel can be changed. And, this illustrates how important it should be to the christian to retain a keen understanding of the reality of hell and even speak of that reality and its various aspects to others, even in the church meetings!

Greetings from Chicago!

I am writing from a hotel rooom in the west suburbs of of the Windy City. My in-laws took me and Katie here to see the annual air and water show and to see some other sites in the city. I have been here before about 2 years ago. Each time I visit I am struck by the street beggers. Oh, they are in KC too, but not to the same degree. In our city they show up in one mode primarily, that is sitting at a busy intersection with a sign asking for money. And there is some of that here in Chicago too, quite a bit actually. But another type is the street musician/begger. These people appear primarily in the subway underground. They usually perform alone and usually are not terribly talented. But I appreciate these type of people. Unlike the breed in KC, they are trying to work for their pay, so to speak. I can give money with a good conscience to them. I recall the passage, "if a man will not work, neither let him eat." Though this was written to the church, the principal applies to all I think. Those who are not willing to even try to add value through labor or thought are those who are not willing to work, and are those who should not benefit from that lack. So, I have enjoyed the performers on this trip, as I did the last one. And I have felt like it would even be a good thing to go out of my way to reward such people as their line of thinking seems to be lacking in some cities!

Home Again!

Greetings from Cyberspace,
I am once again online! Almost a full year has passed since we cut our internet connection; it has been a good year, but I am ready for connectivity again, God willing without the negatives of before.

Hopefully I can post some interesting and thought provoking material on this blog. Feel free to leave a comment, especially if you don't agree with something I've said. I'd really love to learn from your wisdom.

Until then,

Peace

Seth