Pastor Steve shares these links to stimulate some Thursday Thoughts…
Idolatry. Scripture is clear; idolatry is a threat to worship that belongs only to Him – God forbids it.
Exodus 20:2–5
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God…
And for Christians, it is a sin to be avoided.
1 Corinthians 10:14
14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
It can, however, be a deceptive threat. Two links this week help our awareness and thereby avoid its trap.
Idolatry, Demons, and Ecumenism … Mike Riccardi is in the middle of a series dealing with the history of the ecumenical movement. In this post he writes: “Becoming a Christian isn’t joining a cultural movement. It’s not deciding to join a social club or some sort of fraternity. Becoming a Christian happens when a sinner who is spiritually dead is miraculously raised to spiritual life by God’s sovereign work of regeneration. A Christian is one whom God has made alive from the dead through the preaching of the one true Gospel of Christ. And those who are possessed of different fundamental convictions concerning the Gospel are not just “separated brethren;” they are the one spiritually alive and the other spiritually dead.” You can read the rest HERE.
Worshiping a Golden Calf on Sunday … Jared Wilson at For the Church writes: “Every weekend in churches everywhere, music is performed to the glory of human skill and artistry. Likewise, every weekend men and women file into church buildings in order to exult in the rhetorical skill of their preacher, to admire him and think of their church as his church, not Christ’s church. Many of us file in each week to enjoy the conspicuous spiritual exercises of our brethren. We worship the worship experience; we tithe with expectation of return from heaven’s slot machine; we dress to impress; and we serve and lead to compensate for the inadequacies in our hearts that only Christ can fill. Every weekend, hundreds of preachers extol a therapeutic gospel from the pages of the same Bible where the real gospel lies.” You can read the rest HERE.
Should Christians Attend Gay Weddings? … The question just keeps coming up. Randy Alcorn posits an answer and also references Kevin DeYoung’s response. Randy writes: “Is it possible to attend a wedding without sending the message of participating in the celebration? I honestly don’t see how. Loving unbelievers doesn’t mean endorsing their beliefs about what constitutes a true marital union when those beliefs are contrary to God’s Word. My loyalty to Christ and to the welfare of people means that I should not encourage or celebrate their sins any more than they should encourage or celebrate my sins (which are many). Of course, that will come across as judgmental and unloving to many people. But is there a time when we need to be willing to accept such condemnation because of our commitment to God and what He says is true? If it incurs God’s judgment to commit homosexual sin, just as it incurs his judgment to commit heterosexual sin, is it really “loving” of us to encourage and celebrate such sins?” You can read the rest HERE.
