Sound Out

The Existence of God

2007-06-06T15:08:00.000-04:00

I've been doing a lot of reading for summer school, and I came up with two really good quotes. The first is by John Piper, and he is commenting on a song written in the sixties called "The Times They Are A-Changing."

'How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.'

How many times can a man look up and not see the sky? There is a sky up there to be seen. You may look up ten thousand times and say you don't see it. But that has absolutely no effect on its objective existence. It is there. And one day you will see it. How many times must you look up before you see it? There is an answer. The answer, The answer, my friend, is not yours to invent or create. It will be decided for you. It is outside you. It is real and objective and firm. One day you will hear it. You don't create it. You don't define it. It comes to you, and sooner or later you conform to it-- or bow to it.

That is what I heard in Dylan's song, and everything in me said, Yes! There is an Answer with a capital A. To miss it would mean a wasted life. To find it would mean having a unifying Answer to all my questions.

Piper's commentary really nails the issue. The issue is that there is Truth, and that Truth comes outside of mankind, because mankind is fallible. For instance, just because we have laws in our country that say abortion is legal doesn't mean that abortion is right. It just means it is permissible in our country. In God's eyes, abortion is the same as murder, therefore abortion is wrong. Society and culture don't set the standard. There is something bigger than society or culture, and it is God.

Here is my second quote. It is from a poem written in the nineteenth century by James Russell Lowell, and is entitled "The Lesson."

I sat and watched the walls of night
With cracks of sudden lightning glow,
And listened while the clumsy might
The thunder wallowed to and fro.
The rain fell softly now; the squall,
That to a torrent drove the trees,
Had whirled beyond us to let fall
Its tumult on the whitening seas.
But still the lightning crinkled keen,
Or fluttered fitful from behind
The leaden drifts, then only seen,
That rumbled eastward on the wind.
Still as gloom followed after flare,
While bated breath the pine-trees drew,
Tiny Salmoneus of the air,
His mimic bolts the firefly through.
He thought, no doubt, "Those flashes grand,
That light for leagues the shuddering sky,
Are made, a fool could understand,
By some superior kind of fly.
He's of our race's elder branch
His family-arms the same as ours,
Both born the twy-forked flame to launch,
Of kindred, if unequal, powers."
And is men wiser? Man who takes
His consciousness the law to be
Of all beyond his ken, and makes
God but a bigger kind of Me?

So what is the point? I didn't really understand that poem till my teacher explained it. The important part is the firefly's soliloquy. He claims that the lightning comes from a monster firefly who is from his same part of the family tree. Of course, that is utterly ridiculous. We could scientifically explain lightning to the poor little firefly, but can we blame him? His world is fireflies, so thus, he imagines all powerful things to be fireflies. This is a comparison between fireflies and men. Men fail to see that they have been created in the image of God, and because of that misunderstanding, they make a god in their own image.

Lowell was right on, and I don't think he'd be surprised that even today, people exhibit this kind of error in making God a bigger kind of themselves.

Happy Valentines Day!!

2007-02-14T12:59:00.000-05:00

TheRebelution.com presents the results of the survey as a big St. Valentine's Day gift from 1,600 Christian guys to all Christian girls—and I can't think of a better one!

TheRebelution.com just launched the results of their massive Modesty Survey! Over 1,600 Christian guys answered questions on everything from glitter lotion and lip gloss to swimsuits and skirt slits! For you girls, it's everything you've ever wanted to ask guys about modesty, but were afraid to ask! For you guys, it's really interesting to see what other Christian guys think!

Most importantly, the survey is presented as a resource to help Christian girls (and guys), not a list of legalistic rules, and it is accompanied by the Modesty Survey Petition (which tons of guys have signed) which encourage young women to focus on the heart, not the hemline, to honor their parents, etc.

Go check it out: www.therebelution.com/modestysurvey

But also make sure you spread the word to all your friends. We want as many Christian girls as possible to see it on Valentines Day, so you can repost this post on your blog or forward it as an email.

Guys, they are still accepting signatures for the Modesty Survey Petition, so this is an opportunity for you to still share your voice on the topic of modesty!

~Nella

Something Done By Us

2007-02-13T17:06:00.000-05:00

"Before we can begin to see the cross as something done for us, we have to see it as something done by us."

--John Stott

I'm convinced Stott was right when he penned those words! As a more common phrase says "You have to get someone lost before you can get them saved." People all around you think they are good people, probably on their way to Heaven, but upon questioning them if they have ever lied, stolen, or cheated, they are often convinced that they really need a Savior.

~Nella

Vote!

2006-12-14T17:36:00.000-05:00

Copied from the Rebelution. Vote for Spunky!

If you are a homeschooler, listen up! SpunkyHomeschool is currently trailing Michael Bérubé and [...] for Best Educational Blog in the 2006 Wizbang Weblog Awards.

Here’s why you should care: (1) SpunkyHomeschool is the only homeschool blog in any award category, (2) IvyGate is self-described as an Ivy League College gossip and s*x blog (among other topics) and, (3) Michael Bérubé recently commented on the IvyGate blog saying, “The important thing is that IvyGate and I crush the homeschoolers.”

At the bare minimum let’s help SpunkyHomeschool avoid being “crushed” by these elitist, secular blogs and let them know that homeschoolers don’t “suck” as another polite commenter on the IvyGate blog recently said.

Here’s how to do it: (1) Vote everyday (ends 11:59pm, Dec. 15th) for Spunky. (2) Vote once a day on every available computer (just don't exceed the number of people in your family), (3) Get your friends and other homeschool families to vote for Spunky too.

In the words of Spunky (i.e. Mrs. Braun), let’s “help homeschooling and decency to shine in a depraved world.” Thank you in advance for your help: Vote For Spunky.

Unlit vs. Lit

2006-12-12T14:28:00.000-05:00

I was thinking about Christmas lights the other day: why we do them and how they got started. I don't even know why they were started, to be honest with you. Some houses look great all decked out for Christmas. One year we visited my grandma for Christmas in Florida. Ian and I couldn't get over the fact that there was no snow and it was still Christmas time! (Just for a bit of added humor, I thought the picture below was hilarous!)

I have made an observation: Christians don't seem to get into Christmas lights. I don't put them up, and I don't know that there is anyone in my acquaintance that does either. Why do you think that is? Jesus is the Light of the World, we know, and I think Christmas lights are a cool way to remind ourselves of that. Each light is a little minature star shining in the dark night.

On a similar note, we get on a band wagon about people taking Christ's name out of Christmas. I'm not saying that's right, but I think that there are so many things that matter more at Christmas time than what people call it. How we ourselves celebrate is what should really matter. Who cares what the world does? We are to be in the world but not of the world anyway.

Frankly, I don't really care whether or not someone decorates their house with lots of lights, but I think it looks awesome. We need to light up this world with our example. Our houses should be glowing with the Light all the time, not just at Christmas.

~Nella

2006-11-25T17:58:00.000-05:00

I began my blogging week on Think Upon These Things by sharing a testimony of a spiritual and emotional "dark ages" in my life that began two years ago. I thought it would be fitting to revisit this topic by discussing another book that became very dear to me during this time: the book of 1 Peter.

1 Peter is a little book in the back of your Bible with a powerful message. It was written by Peter to a dispersed group of discouraged Christians. I read this book like I drank water: freqently, and sometimes several times a day. Several verses were very special to me, and I wanted to discuss them today.

There are two groups of people who could potentially read this post; 1) those who have suffered, and 2) those who will suffer. Those who have suffered can be furter divided into groups. 1) Those who know God is in control and knows the answers to all their questions about why they have to suffer, and 2) those who have no hope because they have not recognized God's control of their life.

Suffering is a hot topic today. Self-help books by the million deal with the topic of pain, suffering, and what to do about it. My dad knew almost nothing of what was going on, and even less of what I was dealing with in my life when he asked me to read a small book for him that he did not have time to read himself. It was called If I Were God, I'd End All the Pain. I don't remember what I thought about it, but I do remember that I thought the title was very assuming and proud.

I still think the title is wrong. Romans 11 asks the powerful question "Who has given to God that God should repay him?" To answer it, no one ever has or ever will. God is God, and we just have to accept that.

1 Peter, though it's major theme is suffering, has many jewel-rank passages that have seemingly nothing to do with suffering. There is an excellent exaltation of the word of God at the end of the last chapter. Also, read this verse.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

You might not think that this verse has any impact on a suffering person, but believe me, it had a big impact on me. Let's take this verse apart and think about it for a while.

The title If I Were God, I'd End All the Pain implies that God can determine when suffering begins and when it ends. That is true. To most people in the world, they think that that means that God is a certain degree "responsible" for what they are going through. Hold that thought.

The verse (1 Peter 1:3) talks about Jesus' death and resurrection. It also likens our salvation to Christ's resurrection from the dead. God took a circumstance that seemed impossibly bad and turned it into something inconceivably good. Hold that thought too.

Now we're going to fuse the two thoughts together. The first thought was that God is responsible, to some degree, for the pain in the world. The second thought derived from the verse was that God takes bad things and uses them for good. That indeed is comforting, to those of you who are in the sufferers group who have accepted God's leadership.

There is just one more verse I want to share with you, and there is a story behind this verse, too. As a Lord of the Rings junkie, one day I read a story called "Above all Rewards" by my friend Eruvyweth. It was about hope, something I was struggeling to see in my sufferings. Hope was likened to the sky, which can be covered by clouds, but never totally missing, even if it is just "a fool's hope." Now, the verse. 1 Peter 1:7.

So that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

The reason for testing is so that we may come forth laurie, like gold... which we are far more precious than! That truly gives hope!

-Nella Sound-Out-

Witnessing With Playing Cards

2006-11-21T18:10:00.000-05:00

I am proud to feature this guest post on Sound-Out, the first one to ever be written by someone other than me. In the past few weeks, I have been priviledged to meet Seth Hoskins. I have been encouraged greatly by his PMs and testimonies of the grace of God in his life. I found this posted on the Rebelution and asked Seth if he minded if I posted this on Sound Out. This has been used with his permission. Some formatting has been changed, and a few words, but the bulk of this is straight from Seth's pen.

~Nella

I start my witnessing with my interest in card towers. I take out a pack of cards that just happened to be in my back pocket (what a coincidence). Then I start building, explaining as I go.

The first thing I say is, "Let's pretend that the faces of the cards are the person's spiritual level. There are some people, like the twos, who don't care about God." Then I flip the card over and say, "See, you can't tell what a person's spiritual level is by the outside. They all look the same." (Cards with a solid card back, such as red, work best here.)

Then I start building the tower. I say, "Let's pretend that I am God. I am going to build this tower, which is what God plans for the whole world. He uses everyone, believers and non-believers to build this great accomplishment."

Then, I find an ace and a two. I say, "Which one looks better to you?" Then they'll usually say, "The ace."

"Right, God can still use two's just as good as aces right? But see, the two's don't look as good as the aces! He desires you to be an ace. But God won't force you to be an ace." All my energy is devoted to preventing the tower from toppling. I do not finish the tower. Instead I say, "Look at this beautiful accomplishment so far!" I point out cards that are bent and reference that even though the edges are bent, God can still use them. (This works well with handicapped people.)

I tap one of the cards. It usually all falls down, and the person I'm witnessing to looks at me like I'm crazy. I say, "That one card just ruined my whole tower! But in God's plan, you can fall over as many times as you want to. He can still use you."If you are resistant, you will have no part in God's plan. He'll just let you be. That one card will be cast aside, and another will be found. God doesn't depend just on you for His work; He can get someone else just as easily.”

I practice making towers, and by the end, I hate my cards because I get frustrated. The best part is God is never frustrated. He loves every single one of his cards no matter their rank or shape. Then I'll put up my cards and get out my Bible and explain the Roman's road.

Before trying this, I suggest you be extremely good at building towers. It doesn't work when you can't get to the last story. The illustration “I can't do it by myself” also comes across mutually as I've seen when I do my “trick.”

I hope this was helpful.

God's peace and blessings,
Seth Hoskins

A Piece of String

2006-11-14T16:49:00.000-05:00

Sometimes, the things which make the biggest impact are the smallest things. You have no idea how big of an impact something you say or do might have. Consider this bundle of twigs. Apart from each other they could all be snapped in two easily, but when they are united together, they are as strong as a branch of the same thickness when bent against your knee. The string ties them together, and is the bond they share in common. If it were not for the piece of string, everything else would fall apart.

As a church, we are a unified body of believers. Together, the individual flame or spark we posses cannot do anything by itself, but together, when we become a roaring fire, we can change the world. The string is a metaphor. The Lord Jesus is the "piece of string" that holds our church together.

So I’ll bet that you can’t keep us quiet,
I’ll bet you can’t stifle our voice,
I’ll bet when we hear the best news in the world
You can’t stop us from making some noise!
And I’ll bet this against skeptics and scholars,
I’ll bet this against sinners and saints,
I’ll bet this against the wide world’s anger,
‘Cause I’ve never found proof this great!

-- Eruvyweth God-follower

This chorus from "I'll Bet" demonstrates the power we have been given in Christ. The string that unites all believers is the common manifestation of the glory of God that we seek to share with others. This is more than just a snippet of some longer roll of string. This piece of string will encompass the world in many criss-crossing and diaganol lines. No, no one can keep us quiet!

~Nella

IRL: Philip the Evangelist with the Ethiopian

2006-11-09T16:38:00.000-05:00

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter
and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he opens not his mouth.
33 In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth.”

34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” 37 And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

This passage is the reason that I do not believe in coincidences. Have you ever thought about what would have happend if the Ethiopian was reading a different chapter from Isaiah? Here is Isaiah 52:7, just the chapter before Isaiah 53.

How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

Yes, that is a great verse, but it really would not have done much to stimulate the eunuch in the way that Isaiah 53 did. Here is Isaiah 54:7-8.

"For a brief moment I deserted you,
but with great compassion I will gather you.

In overflowing anger for a moment
I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,”
says the Lord, your Redeemer.

Again, what the eunuch was searching for could not be found in this verse. God had ordained that at just the right time, He would send just the right person to this man to have just the right conversation at just the right point in the book of Isaiah.

This is the beauty of God's works. Philip was like the person in Isaiah 52 with beautiful feet who was bearing great news to the Ethiopian. The compassion being described in Isaiah 54, which can only mean salvation, was what the Ethiopian eunuch found because of Isaiah 53.

Now that is all the work of the Lord!

Thank you Lord Jesus for planning the salvation of each person in a unique and special way that will always further Your glory. Amen.

~Nella Sound-Out

IRL: Philip the Evangelist in Samaria

2006-11-02T18:49:00.000-05:00

I offer my sincere apologies to every regular reader of my blogs. This school year is a lot busier than I had counted on and I might only blog four days a week instead of six. Today we had our first measurable snowfall in north western Pennsylvania, so I was in the mood for a snow picture. Everyone here insists that we are not ready for snow, but I am. In fact, the snow was so bad that I could not make it to my horse lesson. That is why I am stuck at home writing this blog entry instead of at the Ranch riding!! (Just joking! I am glad I didn't have to drive out to the country any way. Being out this afternoon was nerve wracking enough.)

We are going to talk about Philip the Evangelist today. We already discussed Philip the Disciple and the great faith that he displayed. Philip was one of the first named missionaries (I think he might be the first) and he ministered first to the Samaritans. The Jews hated the Samaritans, however, twice we see Jesus loving the Samaritans. The first time is in John 4 when Jesus talked with the Samaritan woman. Consider John 4:9.

The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

The woman was shocked that Jesus would associate with her. Yet we see Jesus doing this all the time. He procedes to explain the gospel to her using an illustration of water, something she was very familiar with. (I can see John 4 becoming a study on this blog later.)

The second time Jesus complemented the Samaritans was when he told the parable of the good Samaritan, who was a true neighbor to the hurt Jewish man.

We see that Philip the Evangelist had also acquired an especial love for these people, and God was blessing his work among them.

4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7 For unclean spirits came out of many who were possessed, crying with a loud voice, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was much joy in that city.

There was a great response to Philip's labors. In that city, a great many of souls were hungering for answers. Verse 8 informs us that everyone was rejoicing because of the new hope they had found outside of themselves and in Christ Jesus. If you continue reading, you will learn of Simon, who practiced sorccery in Samaria. He thought that he could pay for his salvation, and became a false convert.

The apostles are still in Jerusalem at this time, and they are astounded when they hear how greatly God has worked in Samaria. Remember, these are Jewish men, and their attitude towards Samaritans still probably needs some work. So Peter and John come to check this out. They want real proof that the Holy Spirit has changed the lives of these people who they thought were worthless. Let's pick up the story in Acts 8.

14 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” 24 And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me."

Simon appears to be repentant, but that is not the point of the story. The real point is what peter said. "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money." So many people have been decieved into thinking they can buy their salvation, whether it be through an indulgence, through good works, or through pain inflicting deeds. Salvation is a free gift and cannot be bought or sold at any price. This is a great comfort to us. Who can attain to hold back the wrath of God? Who can stand against his unfurled anger? God is a holy, righteous God. The good news is that Jesus Christ fully satisfied the wrath of God. The perfect sacrifice that Christ provided was His life, death, and resurrection from that horrible death. Philip took this truth to the Samaritans, and it is our job to take this truth to the world.

Maybe you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, and you have questions about what it means to be a Christian. Do not hesitate to leave a comment or e-mail me at ednella[dot]godfollower[at]gmail[dot]com. I would be glad to answer any questions you have, and I know there are a lot of Christians reading this who would love to explain things via comments.

God bless,
~Nella Sound-Out

Never Too Late

2006-10-31T12:47:00.000-05:00

One would think that dying men are beyond rescue. I am here to tell you that is not the case.

Dying men are not without hope-- there is still time enough before they pass from this world to the next. There was one man who, in his dying moments, found life yet in him. This man had lived a terrible life. He was at the very bottom of the social ladder. He had stolen and who knows what else. This man claimed the profession of a robber, a common thief. What changed this man so suddenly?

The man met Jesus.

The only dreamy hope for him had finally come true. He was at the very fountain of everything good and pleasing in the sight of God. This man humbled himself before fellow men, and the Son of God.

39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23)

Paradise. The sound of that word must have sent a thrill of hope through his heart!

The sad thing is the second criminal was too proud to admit his helplessness, sin, and shame could be taken away in one simple act of faith.

Is it too late? It is never too late.

Grace and Peace,
~Nella Sound-Out

Passion Lives Here

2006-10-24T11:16:00.000-04:00

Give me the love that leads the way,
The faith that nothing can dismay,
The hope no disappointments tire,
The passion that will burn like fire,
Let me not sink to be a clod:
Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God.--Amy Carmichael

Passion and apathy are one of the contrasts in this culture. Passionate people don't just say "Whatever" when they are asked to do something. They go the extra mile to see that their job is completed. Apathetic people, on the other hand, thrive on just "hanging out" and not accomplishing anything in particular.

I hope that I am a passionate person. The best examples have been given me on how to grow passion. I think about my dad, who displays passion in preaching, in manhood, and in doing hard things first. I think of Mr. Scherrer, who will most likely die watching a Steelers game. Neniel spends hours strategizing how she can be a better thrower in track. I also think of people who I do not personally know like Alex and Brett Harris, Tim Sweetman, Heidi (a_blessed_servant), and many others. They all display a love for life, and more importanintly, for God.

"Passion lives here" was the theme of the Torino winter Olympics. I hope that you are passionate about the right things, too!

~Nella

For more information on passion versus apathy, please read the latest issue of Regenerate Our Culture, Issue 15, Volume 1.

IRL: Philip the Disciple

2006-10-10T15:01:00.000-04:00

Did you know that there are two Philips in the Bible? If you didn't, don't feel bad. I didn't until today. I thought I was going to talk about one man, and I ended up trying to do two! However, today I will only get through Philip the Disciple. Thursday or the next posting day I will have something on the other Philip, Philip the Evangelist.

Philip the Disciple

Not much attention is given to Philip. Interestingly enough, however, he is the first person Jesus says "follow me" to. He lived in the same town as Andrew and Peter, Bethsadia. Right from the moment of his election, Philip seemed to know that he was going to tell the world about Jesus. We see him seeking out his friend Nathanael to tell him the good news that the Messiah had come at last. Nathanael responded, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Nathanael was a Galilean, and Galileans tended to look down on the villiage of Nazareth. Philip, even thought he has only seen Jesus once, simply says, "Come and see."

From another episode, we see that Philip is slightly pessimistic in his outlook. However, he soon learns how powerful God really is. Philip has a good head on his shoulders. He is quick with calculations, as we know from John 6. Jesus asks him "Where are we to buy bread, that these people may eat?" Philip immediately replies that no one has enough money to feed the huge crowds. "Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little." A denarus was approximately the amount of money that one person earned in a day. It was not much, and if a man did not work, he did not eat. I love reading this story. It reminds me of the saying "Find what the experts say cannot be done, then go do it." Jesus discovered from Philip how much it would cost to feed the people, and told his disciples to go get the food. Of course they cannot buy that much! The disciples were poor! They spent their days following Jesus, not working. So Jesus has established, by Philip's testimony, that feeding the crowd cannot be done. Then he feeds them.

The final time we see Philip the disciple is in John 14. Jesus has just said...

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also From now on you do know him and have seen him."-- John 14:6-7

...to which Philip responds...

8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves."-- John 14:8-11

I'm not sure just what was going through Philip's head. He is still hanging on to his old pessimism, and maybe some unbelief. I'm not sure. Whatever the case was, we tend to look down on Philip after this. I mean, what happened to blindly saying "Come and see"? All of the disciples had their moments, and this was one of Philip's. He clearly learned his lesson though, and we can assume that he went on to do more evangelism in all the world.

~Nella

Prayer Requests

2006-10-07T15:32:00.000-04:00

When Sound-Out used to have a prayer page I was never very good about updating it, but now that we have a blog, I hope to keep more current with prayer updates. If you have something you want us to pray about, please e-mail soundout[at]soundout[dot]cjb[dot]net.

However, since I am one to utilize tools a lot, you can find enough requests to keep you on your knees for days at The Prayer Room, part of the Rebelution forum. Keep in mind are Heidi and Kristin and their illnesses. Ian and Nathanael, my brother and cousin, have SATs and ACTs coming up within the month. Anna Lofgren takes her PSAT on October 21st. Also, don't forget to pray for my family the 14th as we travel to Indianapolis!

Thank you for your prayers!

~Nella

Announcement

2006-10-05T09:33:00.000-04:00

Dear Readers,

I will be gone the 14th till the 19th, but I really don't want to discontinue posting for that long. I will not have internet acces in Indiana, so I am going to line someone up to post for me instead. This is where I need your help.

I do not have the time or the energy right now to write a normal post for each day that I will be gone, for Sound Out or Think Upon These Things. I would like everyone that can to write a post suitable to the themes of either Sound Out or Think Upon These Things, and e-mail it to me. I look forward to featuring whatever you can come up with! My only request is that someone posts on the next section of Philippians. (That would be Philippians 1:12-18.) Whoever wants to do that, comment on Think Upon These Things (in yesterday's post also entitled 'Announcement') and you are guarenteed to be posted, provided you don't write something heretical, which I am sure none of you will! Here are just a few guidelines.

1. If you post on Philippians, please use the KJV. I am not KJVO (I prefer ESV, NKJV, or NASB), but I study for Philippians in KJV, so reading something in two versions confuses me.

2. Represent the views of this blog as clearly as you can. Try not to post on something subjective or controvercial. I don't particularly want someone's debate moved to my blog :-)

Submissions can be e-mailed to me at soundout[at]soundout[dot]cbj[dot]net. You can PM me at the Rebelution forum, Kingdom Life, Elendor, Council of Elrond, or any other forum that I am an active member at. I look forward to hearing from you!

~Nella

The Helmet of Salvation

2006-10-05T09:31:00.001-04:00

Sometimes we wonder why we are in certain situations. Why did some difficult circumstance have to happen? Why is God allowing something to happen? When I feel this way, I remind myself that it is God, not me, who knows my life's plan. He will carry me through life, and I don't need to worry about it any more. I remind myself that I exist to bring glory to God.

Some of us understand this better than others. Paul certainly was surrendered to God's perfect will for his life. There was no trial so big that God was not bigger.

17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.-- Ephesians 6:17-20

This passage is taken from a bigger chapter which talks about how we are to defend ourselves in spiritual warfare. Salvation is likened to a helmet, which protects the head. I always thought this was interesting. Our head is made up of several smaller parts. In The Holy War, the allegory we have been discussing, Bunyan imagines the city of Mansoul as having four gates: Feel gate, Eye gate, Mouth gate, and Ear gate. Our head is attached to the eyes, mouth, and ears.

Our eyes provide sight, our ears, hearing, and our mouth is for eating. The helmet is used to protect all of these things. In the spiritual sense, our sight, ears, and "food" could possibly decieve us or lead us astray. That is why certainty of our salvation should protect our head. The helmet is not salvation itself: it is the assurance of it.

After our helmet comes our sword, which I will not explore like I did the helmet. This post is about salvation. Maybe Saturday I will come back and talk about the sword. Anyways, directly following the word (our sword), Paul begins talking about prayer. Prayer and the word go hand in hand. They are both very importand disceplines of the spiritual life. We are instructed to pray for all fellow Christians. Paul particularly wanted the Ephesian church to pray for him. He was in prison. This gets back to what we were talking about earlier relating to knowing that God ultimately is in control.

Paul was utterly consumed with one thing, and one thing only: the gospel. That was the big deal to Paul. The gospel is all that matters when everything is said and done. Paul has a specific request to br prayed over. He desires that God would give him words to preach the gospel. Notice verse 20. Paul says he is "an ambassador in chains." The book of Ephesians was written while Paul was in jail. He was not floating along on cloud nine in some vacation home. He was a prisoner because he had spoken up against emporer worship and said "This is what we live for! This is what I die for! I am a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ!" Amen, huh? We are glorify God, and "declare His glory among the heathen, His wonders among the people"!

Paul knew the power of the helmet of salvation.

Do you?

~Nella

If My People Pray

2006-09-30T16:57:00.000-04:00

When Solomon dedicated the Temple to God, he prayed a special prayer in 2 Chronicles 6, asking God to listen to the prayers offered in the temple. This is how God answers

“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land." -- 2 Chronicles 7:12-14, ESV

In The Holy War, when Emmanuel has finally come to rescue the townspeople from Diabolus, the people enjoy a time of relative peace. A great number of Diabolonians are tried according to the system of justice, the Mansoulians can freely come to Emmanuel's castle, and their Prince makes feasts for them. He clothes them in white linen garments and charges them to keep them clean.

Alas, if the book were to end there! However, it does not. We know that there is not one righteous, not one (Romans 3:10). There are still some Diabolonians in the town who can excercise their evil cunning, which they do ruthlessly. Emmanuel notices that His city is again subjecting herself to sin, and one day, He leaves. It takes some time for the inhabitants to notice His sudden disappearance, and they realise that they have not been acting towards Him as they ought. Fortunantly, though, they constantly send petitions to Him, pleading their forgiveness. We will learn of His return next time.

Christians are often like that, too. We have tasted God's peculiar grace, and then we do not always stay on the straight and narrow way. He promises to forgive us, if we will only ask.

To the unsaved, you as of yet have not tasted God's saving grace, and I beg of you to find out just what your life could be like if you would surrender yourself to Emmanuel. You are currently enslaved to sin, and freedom in Christ is so much better. If you have any questions or comments about my site, leave them in the comment section, or e-mail me at soundout@soundout.cjb.net.

~Nella

If a non-Christian asked you how you knew God was real, what would your response be?

2006-09-28T17:08:00.000-04:00

The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. -- Psalm 19:1

Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” -- Acts 14:17

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him? -- Psalm 8:3, 4

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. -- Romans 1:20

Three Essentials in Advancing God's Kingdom

2006-09-26T16:06:00.000-04:00

I have addressed a number of posts to the unbelievers who might read this blog. In this post, I will change my emphasis and turn to my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. My church is in the middle of missions conference, so most of my points come from one of our speaker's challenges to us. Today we will be looking at John 14, a chapter in God's word full of some great truths. This chapter tells us about heaven, how to get there, and what it will be like. It holds great support for the belief in the Trinity. I will begin in verse 12.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. (John 14:12-15)

Dream Great Dreams (verse 12)

We often sing "To God be the Glory," a hymn that extols the greatness of God. There is one line I want to focus on in that song: great things He hath done. God does great things, Amen? At the beginning of the book of John, Jesus tells Nathanael, one of his followers, that He saw him under a fig tree. Nathanael marvels at this, and Jesus tells him "You will see greater things than these." God has promised that to all of us. We will see great things in our lifetime, if we only ask God to show them to us.

Pray Great Prayers (verse 13 and 14)

Jesus promised that whatever we asked of Him in His name, He would do it. At missions conference, you often hear stories of people whose hearts seemed to be as hard as stone coming to know Christ. Well let me tell you something. God doesn't just save people who missionaries talk to. God has the power to save whoever, whenever, whatever. Our God is awesome, and mighty in working!

Give Him Great Obedience

Whoever loves God will keep His commandments. God has called us all to evangelism, He promises to bless us for doing it, He will show us His greatness if we do it, He will heed our prayers regarding it, and we treat him like this. (I tried to get that picture in the post and it deleted the first typed paragraph I had!!) Let's make sure we give God our all when it comes to evangelism!

~Nella

Deliverance Has Come

2006-09-23T15:57:00.000-04:00

My last post on The Holy War blatant rebellion, and how it broke off when the townspeople replied to the four captains of Shaddai. At this time, Emmanuel was not at the town of Mansoul. He was still with His father, Shaddai. In this post, I will explain how Emmanuel responded to the news of His Mansoul's parallels the Bible.

A petition is carried to the King's palace. It was written by the four great captains, requesting aid of Emmanuel Himself in rescuing the perishing town of Mansoul. Emmanuel reads it and takes it to His father. Shaddai converses with Emmanuel, and tells His Son that everything that has been planned for the redemption of Mansoul must be executed now.

"Thy law is within my heart: I delight to do your will." (The Holy War, page 55.)

Now we are going to get into where this matches up with Scripture.

Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,
as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’” (Hebrews 10:7)

I would suggest that Bunyan had this very verse in mind while writing this segment of his novel. There is no way to prove that, but even if I am wrong, there is no denying the similarity.

The Father and Son said more, and the news "flew like lightning round about the court... ." The coming deliverance cause great fervor and excitement from all who heard it, and all the people in that place shouted when they heard.

"Yea, the mountains did answer again by echo, and Diabolus himself did totter and shake." (The Holy War, page 55.)

"And he said to them, 'I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.' " (Luke 10:18)

I have been poking around the Bible, and I do not see any direct reference where Satan is said to be fearful of God, but I think Bunyan is safe in His assumption. Satan was thrown out of heaven because of his pride. When men become puffed up by pride, they are usually fearful that someone might do something to interfere with their exalted position. Diabolus felt fear because of this. That's all I have time for this time. Please come back again!

~Nella

Potter's Clay

2006-09-21T16:00:00.000-04:00

When Ian and I were younger we loved to work with pottery. We loved the moldable feeling of the supple clay beneath our dirty fingers. All children like to make shapes and balls and figurines out of clay. It gives you a sense of accomplishment to look at something and say "I made that."

We would all be startled if the clay we were playing with spoke to us. "No! I don't want to be a ball. You were supposed to make me into a unicorn, or something exotic like that." I can just see the look on someone's face when things began to speak to them. They would think they were dreaming, or loosing their mind or something.

Now imagine that you are like clay. You are in a stranger's hands and he can do whatever he wants with you. Clay does not have a right to protest. After all, it is just clay. It is a substance and cannot determine its future. Everyone on earth is like clay in the hands of God. He can do whatever he pleases with us, and it is fine. He is the Potter, we are the clay. There is a song that says that, and it isn't just stating a metaphor. The song is true.

But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. (Isaiah 64:8)

So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. (Jeremiah 18:3,4)

Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honored use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? (Romans 9:21-24)

Notice a few things about the potter and the clay.

Whether we, the clay, want to or not, we must submit to God, the Potter. It is His soverign choice as creator of the universe to decide what happens to us. That might not seem fair to you, but you are clay! You are the creation, not the crator. There is a reason for everything that happens to you. I can't always explain it, but God can. That does not mean that He always will explain it, it just means that he always can explain it.

Your life might seem to be turned upside down at times. That's okay. A horse can resist as long and as hard as it wants, but who will have ultimate control? The rider will. It might be your dream to be as rich as Donald Trump, but what will determine how much money you have? Your salary, your rich aunts and uncles, your education, and a number of other factors. There is a purpose for the things that happen to you, and sometimes only God knows it.
It is not about rights, it is about roles. We could go on side issues about clay and the potter, but it all boils down to this. I don't have any rights. God is in total control of my life. Do I have a will, yes, but that is different. There is no future tense in God's language. Most of the book of Revelation is written in past tense when you would expect it to be in future tense because it is a book of prophesy. This just shows you that everything has just as good as happened in the eyes of God.

Some people are different "types" of "clay." Some of you might be hardened or bitter against God. Others might be in agreement with me and are content with how God is molding their life. But in the end, who is going to triumph? The Potter will triumph. There are many things He can do in order to soften you to His will. His will will be done.

~Nella Sound-Out

"I wish the sun would set in that direction."

2006-09-19T20:51:00.000-04:00

This evening, my family decided to take a hike in a nearby ravine. After dinner we all piled into the car and we were on our way. The sun, which had been hidden by ominous clouds until just a few hours ago, shone brightly in the west. Unfortunantly, we were going west, and it was in all of our eyes. "I wish the sun would set in that direction," declared Stefan, pointing to the other side of the car.

Now that is about as much of an impossibility as you can ask for, isn't it? We often wish for things that will never happen. For example, how many times have you wished you could disappear? Will you ever truely disappear in response to your wish? Of course not! But still we wish, even pray, for impossible things.

Then there are other things that you might not directly ask to happen, but your lifestyle implies it. There is one of these impossible things that people ask for every day. Again, it is not a direct "Do this for me," it is one of those implied wishes. What am I referring to? The salvation of a human soul in its own strength.

Face it folks, when you are on a train headed for Memphis, Tennesee, where do you expect to get off the train? Memphis, Tennesee. If you are flying to Talahasse, Florida, what is the last air port you will stop at? The one in Talahasse, Florida, of course. At one point in their life, everyone is destined to hell. Only Jesus has the power to change the direction of your life and send you on your way to heaven.

Jesus was talking with a rich young ruler one day. This young man was sure he was going to heaven. Outwardly, he had kept all of the commandments. He did not commit audultery, he did not steal, he had not murdered anyone, he honored his father and mother, and so on. However, Jesus saw straight to this man's heart. He knew that the young man set up the god of money and was worshiping it. "When Jesus heard this, he said to him, 'One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.' " (Luke 18:22, ESV)

Jesus, looking at him with sadness, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?”-- Luke 18:24-26

This man thought he wanted to follow God, but because God was not first in the man's heart, he might as well have tried to change the direction of the setting sun. These few verses illustrate that no one can be saved in it of themselves. Not all of us are rich like this particular man, but we still have things near and dear to us that we simply are not willing to give up. Luke tells the story of another man who would rather hang out with dead people that serve the living. It sounds pretty stupid, but aren't we all guilty of the same thing? I know I am! Back to the illustration of the walk. I am very posessive of my dog, Kep. Overly posessive. When Stefan wants to hold the leash, do I say "Okay, go ahead. It's your turn." No way! I don't want anyone's hands on my dog! Sounds stupid, right? Everyone suffers from this elevated view of theirself in which they are the only one capable of managing their own life.

The good news is that there is a Creator who made the Universe, and He can control everything about us. If He wanted to, He could have listened to Stefan and made the sun set in a different direction. He is God; He can do anything.

But he said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”-- Luke 18:27

This is what I live for. God, the author of life, can redeem a life as corrupted by selfishness as mine, can change a stony heart as hard as mine, and can bring to life as sick a feeble body as mine. God has the power and has the desire to save sinners, to redeem lives.

God has the power to change directions.

An Incredulous Response

2006-09-14T16:25:00.000-04:00

Continuing with our series on The Holy War, John Bunyan's second famous allegory, we come to the reaction of Diabolus and his allies. Bunyan describes the four addresses of the captains as "brave... and noble," and I am inclined to agree with him. Who of us would give a whole gospel sermon to a renown town that had fallen into sin? Not many of us, I would suppose. The response to the captains is dissimilar to how we react when we read it now as Christians, but probably exactly how we would respond still in our sin.

Diabolus, anxious to prove the sincerity of his 'converts', would have replied himself, but deemed it wiser that Lord Incredulity, who had been appointed mayor of the town, should answer the questions of the captains. And as we have seen the allegorical names fitting with their character, so is Lord Incredulity. When listening to a George Sarris recording of the Holy War, Sarris frequently inserts clickings, tsks, and other sounds that hint at disbelief.

The Mansoulians, in their debauched state, see all of Shaddai's demands as perfectly alarming and asking far to much of them. Their eyes have not been opened to see the truth of what Emmanuel's servants said. To obey Diabolus is much worse a slavery than to obey Shaddai. The second is true freedom, for only then will you have a clean conscience, a joyful life, and a hope of reward. In short, Incredulity declares that the gates will not be opened, and orders the army to leave, "bag, baggage, and begone," or they will be attacked. So you see that what should have been welcomed by the pitiful town of Mansoul was rejected shamelessly.

Lord Incredulity is the first to make an oration, followed by Lord Willbewill, who does not say much but second everything mentioned by Lord Incredulity. Also, the recorder, Mr. Forget-Good, in total blindness, tells the servants of Shaddai that the incredulous responses were "mild" in comparison to the "angry" speeches made by the captains. "We might have come out with force upon you, and have caused you to feel the dint of our swords; but as we love ease and quite ourselves, so we love not to hurt or molest others."

Mr. Forget-Good mirrors the modern culture. Today, there is nothing seems to be worth dying for. We know the contrary to be true, and in the captains coming to personally correct the town of Mansoul, they show just how much they care about the fate of its citizens.

But to continue on with our narrative, the city of Mansoul was glad when they heard the replies of their leaders. The people danced upon the wall tops and rang the bells. In the midst of all the rabble, Diabolus merely goes back to his castle and orders that the guard at Ear Gate is doubled. He also appoints one, Mr. Prejuduce, to oversee the soldiers by that same gate. While the people have been deceived are happy, the deceiver himself is worried.

Next, we will see how Emmanuel and Shaddai respond.

~Nella Sound-Out

Change Is Possible!

2006-09-09T16:10:00.000-04:00

Humans are finicky. That is all there is to it. On Thanksgiving you might think you could never eat again, and the next morning, surprise surprise, you are hungry again! This is just one example of how finicky human beings are. On the other hand, we have a strange aversion to change. The city with a road system we have often thought was utterly complex we enjoy and call home, and are often loathe to leave it.

It is comforting that there is an all supreme being that never changes. As Walter C. Smith so poetically wrote in his hymn, Immortal, Invisible "To all, life Thou givest, to both great and small; In all life Thou livest, the true life of all; We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree, And wither and perish but naught changeth Thee."

This post is on change. Depending on your worldview, you will have a vastly different definition of change than I will. Christians know that change is possible because we view each other as changed and changing human beings. God knows that change is possible, and He has created a unique way to bring about change in the life of a born-again believer. Here is the best illustration I can think of.

Our family likes to watch movies together, but not just any movie. We like inspiring movies. Movies about people who were up against great odds and succeeded-- real people in real history in the real world living in real circumstances. Or sometimes we enjoy a change, and watch a movie about a fake person in fake history, etc, etc. The point is, we as humans enjoy people who don't succeed easily. We enjoy seeing challenge.

Stefan, my little six year old brother, was inspired by a golf movie that our family watched: The Greatest Game Ever Played. Francis Ouimet was just anamateure when he tried out for a golf tournament and did not make the cut. He promised his father that if he did not make it, he would give up the sport, and he was true to his word. However, a few years later, the U.S. Open was played at a golf club across the street from his town. He tried out, made it, and eventually was tied for first place with two English golfers: Harry Varden, and Ted Ray. There was a playoff, and Francis won.

Stefan was thrilled with the sport of golf. He got out clubs that were twice his size and began hitting balls out in the yard. He is actually pretty good at it now, and my mom got him a junior set of golf clubs for his birthday in May. Ian and I tried hitting some balls too, but I wasn't good at it. Stefan went golfing with one of his friends and a man from our church this summer.

The point of this story is inspiration. Stefan, who could have been content to crawl around and wear holes in his pant knees because he was pushing around cars all day, decided that he wanted to change his playing routine and learn the sport of golf.

Aha! Did you catch that word? Change. What motivated his change? He saw what a boy could do who didn't know a sport, and he was inspired to do the same thing. He wanted what he saw, and herealizedd that the only way to get half as good as Francis was to play golf himself. Humans are inspired by people who go against the flow, and who ignore the odds of winning. These kinds of people areheroess.

We admireheroess. Myspace has a section in your profile where you can fill our yourheroess. (I have heard this-- I do not speak from experience!) We change our behavior and try to mimic the facial expressions, catch phrases, and favorite things of ourheroess.

God knows humans. After all, He created each and every one of us. He gave us a mind, which allows us to reason. He knows we are impressionable, as is illustrated by our treatment ofheroess. Because He knows us better than we know ourselves, He has designed something that works well with our predictable actions: He has made Himself the highest hero we can hold.

You remember how I mentioned that Stefan wanted to be like Francis Ouimet, the golfer? When we see a family working together biblically, we often wish things could be like that in our family. When we see a girl and guy treating each other with respect, we want that in our youth group relationships. When we see a motherfondlingg her baby, we want to be that kind of parent. When we see Jesus Christ in action, we want our actions to be motivated by love like His were.

This is the way change is possible. God has designed us to look at His glory, and want to imitate Him. The Holy Spirit works in us, showing us the glory of God, which brings about lasting reforms. That is how salvation works. It is not just usrealizingg our sin and somehow forcing ourselves to act differently. It is not just God doing spiritual surgery. It is a new revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ and what He did on behalf of you. I encourage you strongly to find what He did for you.

~Nella

Deaf Ears, Dull Eyes

2006-09-07T15:41:00.000-04:00

I have just finished writing a paper on ASL (American Sign Language). There are an estimated 500,000 to 2,000,000,000 signers in America alone, but I wonder how many "real" deaf people there are. I am not talking about people who can't hear. I am talking about spiriual deafness-- people who have closed ears to the gospel.

I read about deaf people in the Bible today. God sent Isaiah, His "interpreter" to them, but they did not want to learn God's ways.

8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” 9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people:
“‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
10 Make the heart of this people dull,
and their ears heavy,
and blind their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”

The first thing mentioned is that Israel is deaf. I know someone who is physically deaf. I think I would miss music the most. Try to imagine what life would be like without sound. It is hard to imagine.

All around, we hear sounds and noises. Our brain filters through them all, only alerting us of the ones that are vital for us to hear. For example: this morning I was watching English in my room. When the TV was turned on, I did not pay attention to the other sounds because my lecture was interesting. I focused only on my teacher's voice. When she asked me to pause the program and write something, I wrote about sound. I could here the crickets chirping in the pleasant morning air, the crows and Canada geese bickering, the dump trucks at the gravel pit, and numerous other sounds that I did not hear while doing English. Sound.

The second thing is that the people have dull, unseeing eyes. I also know a lady who is blind, physically. She was not born blind, but her sight deteriorated. Using this as a spiritual analogy, the Israelites had seen what it was like to experience God's pleasure and blessing, but it was taken away when they sinned. This is what things were like for Carol. She used to be able to see, but now that priviledge has been taken from her. Sight.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel. There is not much you can do about being physically deaf or blind, but there is a cure for spiritual blindness, and it is Jesus Christ. " The true light, which enlightens everyone, [has come] into the world." (John 1:9) What is the cure for your blindness? It is found in conviction over your sin, admitting that you are wrong, believing in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and confessing that sin to Him.

So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. (Psalm 63:4)

If you are interested in more information on salvation, don't hesitate to e-mail me at soundout@soundout.cjb.net.

~Nella

Captain Execution

2006-09-05T12:44:00.000-04:00

"Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away,
and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes,
that it may bear more fruit." -- John 15:2

There is only one thing to do with a dead tree: cut it down and burn it. It is of no use to anyone (except a photographer), it is generally and eyesore, and it is going to rot and fall down anyway.

Christians are compared to branches. We should be alive and growing, but sometimes we are not. We might slack off in one area, and one of our "twigs" will not produce leaves or fruit. Or, we might even go in an entirely different direction from God and our whole branch might rot away or deteriorate. God, using His "ax" or correction and/or discipline, will cut our "branch" off and cast it into the fire. This is a picture of chastening us, or even in some severe cases, maybe handing us over to Satan for a time.

Captain Execution, while speaking to the town of Mansoul, tells them that they are in danger of being cut off from Shaddai's loving presence. Rebellion produces consequences, and if Mansoul continued to rebel, there would be consequences for her. Mansoul was deliberately attempting to see how far she could go beyond the line of sin before being utterly destroyed.

Apparently, Mansoul did not take God seriously. She thought she was just being threatened, and that nothing would actually come as a result of her blatant disobedience. For this reason, Captain execution says "And dost thou think that these are only threatenings, or that our King has not power to execute his words? O Mansoul, thou wilt find that in the words of our King, when they are by sinners made little or light of, there is not only threatening, but burning coals of fire." (The Holy War, page 41.)

One last time, the final speech of the four captains calls for an answer from the townspeople. We will hear what they have to say, next time.

~Nella

Captain Judgement

2006-09-02T17:18:00.000-04:00

After the thundering address of Captain Boanerges, and the coercive angle of Captain Conviction's speech comes a third degree of Shaddai's plea for Mansoul's repentance. This third call to repentance comes from Captain Judgement.

Captain Judgement, who bore the red colors and whose ensignea was the firey furnace, told the Mansoulians of the great wrath King Shaddai had towards Diabolous's trickery. Here is a great line of his address.

"And never think of yourselves, nor yet suffer the tyrant Diabolus to persuade you to think, that our King, by his power, is not able to bring you down, and to lay you under his feet; for he is the former of all things, and if he touches the mountains, they smoke." (The Holy War, page 39)

I posted on the greatness of God on Think Upon These Things yesterday, which makes me think of this imaginative comparison in Bunyan's book. Our God is awesome and power. If it were a matter of force, as Emmanuel expounds upon later, Mansoul would have already lost. But it is God's (Shaddai's) desire that Mansoul submit to her rightful Lord willingly. Nevertheless, there is Judgement.

This also reminds me of Hebrews 12:28-29. "28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire."

God is a consuming fire, and as I pointed out in my Hebrews series, fire does destroy, albeit, it sometimes is for good. Still, the Mansoulians were not holding God in reverene or awe, neither were they worshiping Him properly, and His judgement on them would be fierce.

God cannot tolerate sin, as is clearly stated in Captain Judgement's lines in the book. The Holy War is a story, but it is a mirror of what will come if each and every one of us continues in sin. So I end with Captain Judgement's final wish. "Consider betimes, consider."

~Nella

Captain Conviction

2006-08-31T13:10:00.000-04:00

In the previous post, we discussed Captain Boanerges and his role in The Holy War. If you have not read the first post, you can do so here.

In allegories, it is that the name of a character describes him. A Mr. Truth will always tell the truth, a Mr. Hate-good hates good, and so forth. Captain Conviction is just the same. Even as his name is conviction, his words are written in a heartfelt manner. You can almost here him pleading with Mansoul for her repentance as you read or listen.

Captain Conviction has a pale banner, with an open book of the Law with firey flame spewing out of it. Since God's word convicts sinners of error, this is a fitting symbol to go along with this Captain. He also is in charge of ten thousand men, just like the other three captains.

Captain Conviction's speech is much to long to write here, so "to wit," as Bunyan always says, Conviction calls Mansoul to relent of her rebellion. He tells Mansoul how great her sin is, and how great Shaddai's wrath will be. He tells them that they desire peace, but unless they surrender, they will never have peace. He chides them for their reverse loyalty to Diabalous, who is an enemy of King Shaddai, and only wants to harm them.

Here is the final paragraph of Captain Conviction's address, a very fitting summary.

" ' Again I say to thee, O Mansoul, consider if it be not amazing grace that Shaddai should so humble himself as he doth: now he, by us, reasons with you, in a way of entreaty and sweet persuasions, that you would subject yourselves to him. Has he that need of you that we are sure you hve of him? No, no; but he is merciful, and will not that Mansoul should die, but turn to him and live. ' " (The Holy War, page 39)

Now I call you to turn from your sin and seek your God. More information can be found in the sidebar, under "Salvation Posts."

~Nella

Captain Boanerges

2006-08-29T16:18:00.000-04:00

I have finally attempted once again to read and finish The Holy War. I have never read it in its entirety, but I think I shall suceed this time.

John Bunyan is an author famous for his allegories. His best known books are Pilgrim's Progress and The Holy War. His descriptions, style, and communication are indeed wonderful examples of literature.

The Holy War tells of the town of Mansoul, which is in the continent of Universe. Bunyan imagines himself traveling in this beautiful country. Mansoul's king was Shaddai, and Shaddai made Mansoul for himself and himself only. Wicked Diabalous decieves the innocent townspeople, and they claim him as their king.

Shaddai sends four captains, who each make a speech to the town of Mansoul, to call His city to repentance. The first is Captain Boanerges. Boanerges is a biblical term Jesus called James and John. It means "sons of thunder," and appropriately, Bunyan's Boanerges has a standard, or flag, with three burning thunderbolts.

Boanerges in this story is the highest of the four captains, with 10,000 men under his command. He sends his trumpeter, Take-heed-what-you-hear, to request an audience with the people of Mansoul. He is ignored twice, and the third time, Willbewill, who was debauched by Diabalous, responds. The whole town gathers to the wall tops by Ear Gate, along with Diabalous himself. Here is how Boanerges addresses the people.

" ' Be it known unto you, O unhappy and rebellious Mansoul, that the most gracious King, the great King Shaddai, my Master, hath sent me unto you with comission' (and so he showed to the town his broad seal) ' to reduce you to his obedience; and he hath comanded me, in case you yield upon my summons, to carry it to you as if you were my friends or brethren; but he also hath bid, that if, after the summons to submit, you still stand out and rebel, we should endeavour to take you by force.' "

Once you get past the old English, it is not hard to understand. Boanerges simply repeats the message of His King: Repent, and you will have deliverance; resist and you will have destruction. His is the shortest of the four captain's adresses, and next time we will continue to follow the orations of the other three.

Boanerges's message still applies to the majority of the world today. There are many Mansoul's that have been taken over by Diabolian lies and deciet. Who will take the message to the Mansoul's of Universe?

14 But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

For more information on salvation from slavery, please check out the sidebar section labled "salvation posts," or e-mail me at soundout@soundout.cjb.net.

~Nella

How Deep Is His Love

2006-08-24T13:09:00.000-04:00

What do you do when you hear a piece of good news? I go out and tell everyone! (All my friends can attest to this-- if I am happy, you know, if I am sad, you know too!) Sometimes you are eager to tell not-so-great news to people you know will pray for you or encourage you in some way.

We as Christians have been entrusted with the greatest news ever: Jesus came to earth to reconcile man to God.

You've probably heard stories about people who were rich, but they were so afraid of loosing their wealth that they lived as if they were poor. Everyone is always astounded when they opened a shack of a closet door and find piles of money and gold and jewels inside. These Scrouges had good news, wealth, and prosperity, and they refused to share it with others or even let themselves use it.

I hope that we as Christians could not be described in the above paragraph. Are you aware of the great exchange that took place on a hill far away? If you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that I work hard at making people excuseless about the gospel. I trust that this post will open your eyes to what we are like without Christ, and what we can be with Him.

I love free sheet music. I just love it. Recently, I have added to my notebook several songs from the new Valley of Vision album, Pirates of the Caribbean music, and several Keith Getty hymns. One of my favorites is "How Deep" from the Soverign Grace album. Let me share the lyrics with you.

How Deep

You were broken that I might be healed.
You were cast off that I might draw near.
You were thirsty that I might come drink,
Cried out in anguish that I might sing:

How deep is your love,
How high and how wide
Is your mercy.
How deep is your grace,
Our hearts overflow
With praise to You.

You knew darkness that I might know light,
Wept great tears that mine might be dried.
Stripped of glory that I might be clothed,
Crushed by Your Father to call me Your own.

How deep is your love,
How high and how wide
Is your mercy.
How deep is your grace,
Our hearts overflow
With praise to You.

(Copyright 2006 Soverign Grace Praise.)

I love how each line lists something that was given up for us. It makes me happy and sad at the same time. I am sorry my Savior had to suffer, but look at all He has given to me! This song echos 2 Peter 1:3-8. Please read these verses too.

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He has given us everything we need for life and godliness. We have all that we need.

~Nella

One Way Street

2006-08-23T14:45:00.000-04:00

“To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here”- Jonathan Edwards

“The way to Heaven is ascending; we must be content to travel uphill, though it be hard and tiresome, and contrary to the natural bias of our flesh" - Jonathan Edwards

Most people are familiar with heaven. It is the dwelling place of God, where all His children will abide forever after they die. It is a place with golden streets, many rooms, and a garden with a tree in it, called the Tree of Life.

Sadly, most people think everyone will be in heaven, which is not true. Only those who are trusting in Jesus Christ alone through faith, by grace, alone will see God in eternity. Let's go to John 14 for some study on Jesus, the Father, and the one true way to Heaven.

1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him."

1) Believe in God; believe also in Jesus

This reason, coming from verse 1, is important, but why is this important, you might ask. Look down to verses 5 and 6. Thomas asks the way to following Jesus, id est, to heaven. Jesus tells him that there is one way. In English, as well as in the original language, the word 'way' is singular. There is one way, and one way only. The second half of verse 6 says "No one comes to the Father except through me." (Emphasis added.)

2) Jesus is in heaven preparing a place for us

This is very straight forward. Most non-Christians will tell you they believe in Jesus and that He is in heaven. What they miss is that He left heaven for a short time, came to earth, and died for us. That was the focal point of his ministry. That is why He can be the way, truth, and life.

3) Jesus is coming back

You need to be ready for this. Today is the day of salvation. 1 Thessalonians 5 tells us that Christ is coming back to gather His saints, and to judge those who rejected Him. No one, not even Christians, know when He will come back. You must be ready, or there will be no hope for you.

Repent of your sin today, and come to God!

~Nella

IRL: Moses

2006-08-19T10:18:00.000-04:00

Now, here is an interesting character. He was God's chosen leader of the Israelites, but he wished he was not. He tried excuse after excues to get God to "find someone else," but God wouldn't concede. When God choses you, He choses you!

Moses's chief example was his speech impediment. God had finally had enough of Moses's complaints, so He told him that his brother Aaron would go with him before Pharoah, the Egyptian King.

Time after time, Pharoah rejected Moses's message "Let my people go that they may worship the Lord their God." Check out the first response "Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go." This passage makes me think of the grandfather from "The Princess Bride," a book and movie. The grandfather wants to read his grandson the story, and the grandson says he will try to stay awake. "Your vote of confidence is overwhelming," grandpa replies sarcastically. But the little boy turns out to be like Pharoah. He is a static character that becomes interested and changes into a dynamic character.

Moses keeps on resisting after the first rejection.

22 Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.” (Exodus 5:22-23)

That is what he tells God. His frustration is understandable. Think if God told you this. "Nella, I am sending you to the Heleri* people. You are going to tell their ruler for a very long time that they must worship me, and I am going to harden his heart, but you still have to go anyway. You will be persecuted, your people will reject you, and everyone will dislike you. Finally, the lord of the land will listen to you, and the people will go with you, but when you lead them into the wilderness, they are going to be stubborn and rebellious."

I doubt many of us would be thrilled. But God is not finished with this conversation. He continues on in chapter 6.

1 But the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” 2 God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them. 4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. 5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. 6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. 7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.’” (Exodus 6:1-8)

See what God is doing? All over, He reminds His people of His promises, and He tells others to do the same. We truly must stand on the promises of God our saviour. He is the Lord!!

~Nella

*Heledir is an island I made for geography last year. Since then, I have used the island for NationStates, and the setting of my fantasy novel, Karubi.

Putting Off and On

2006-08-17T12:19:00.000-04:00

In light of the last post on sin, I thought I should do a follow up on some common sins. If you are not aware of sin, you certainly can't know how to avoid them! While I doubt that this is a common problem, I want you to be utterly excuseless after reading this series of salvation posts. This passage comes from Colossians, a letter written my a man named Paul to a church in the city of Colosae. This city was very important because it was at a crossroads. Paul wrote to this church giving them instructions of what they should "put off" and what to "put on".

5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. (Colossians 3:5-11)

This is a pretty hefty list. I would venture to say that the second part of it, in verses 8 and 9, is much more harder to do. Anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk, and lying are committed daily in the lives of most people, maybe even several times a day. Anger and lying, some of the little sins that seem like dust mites, are considered on the same level as coveteousness however, in this passage. Ephesians 4:17-32 is an excellent "put off this and put on this" type passage. I won't put all of it here because it is so long, but here is a list.

Put off...

your old self
decietful desires
falsehood
anger
theft
bitterness
wrath
anger
clamor
slander
malice

Put on...

a renewed spirit
the new self
truthful speech
labour with honest work
share with those in need
gracious and edifying speech
kindness
tenderheartedness
forgiveness

The "put on" list seems so much harder, I know, but change is possible, and that is part of the good news, which is what I will get to in the next post, hopefully on Saturday.

~Nella

Everest and the Dust Mite

2006-08-15T16:10:00.000-04:00

In this post, I'm going to be talking about one thing that makes our life miserable. To us it can appear small and be quite big, or we can see it for what it really is. This topic is talked about frequently in the Scriptures, but often times even Christians can ignore this area of their lives. What is this post about? It is about sin.

I chose the title "Everest and the Dust Mite" because sin is deceptive. Sometimes everyone can see it because it is such a blatant rebellion against God. But at other times, it is so deeply hidden behind the layers of good works, false-humility, and outward spirituality that you have talked yourself into believing that it is not even there.

What is sin? There are so many Bible references to sin that I cannot possibly cite them all in one post, or even a series on the post. Needless to say, this will not be exhaustive. I want to do a full-fledged study on sin personally, once I have finished Christology, ecclessiology, and personal holiness, which is not likely to be within the year. At any rate, here is a brief smattering. Thank the Lord for concordences, which makes writing topical posts so much simpler! So, here we go.

So what exactly is sin? You must defin your terms before you speak of them, I am told, so I guess I'd better define what sin is. From God's word, we learn this:

Whoever rebels against [God's] commandment and disobeys [God's] words, whatever [God] command him, shall be put to death. (Joshua 1:18)

Remember and do not forget how [the Israelites] provoked the Lord [their] God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day [they] came out of the land of Egypt until [they] came to this place, [Israel has] been rebellious against the Lord. (Deuteronomy 9:7)

Lest you think that I have dramatically changed the message of the verse when you see all the brackets, I have linked to the full text of the verse. I omitted the last part of Joshua 1:18, and put the pronouns in the third person, but it is still the same message. Anyway! Simply put, sin is rebellion against God. Jeremiah 44:4 and Proverbs 15:9 both call sin an abomination to God.

Second. Sin is lawlessness. "Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness." In God's word, there are no exceptions. When God says 'everyone,' guess who He means? Everyone! And who sins? Romans 3:23 offers the scope. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." If all have sinned, and everyone who makes a practive of sinning practices lawlessness, so what are the consequences? Romans 6:23 tells us that "the wages of sin [are] death...."

Now don't quit reading this post right now. I know that sin is a morbid topic, but stick with me. You need to know the truth of your condition first.

I kind of left you hanging when I told you God thinks of sin as an abomination to God. That is not all that He thinks of it. He provoked to jealousy by idolatry, He will punish the evil and wicked (and all who practice sin are evil and wicked), and He alone can forgive it.

God does not think very highly of sin or sinners, does He? After all, even the good we think we do is like a polluted garment in the sight of God (Isaiah 64:6). Is there any hope for us?

Yes, there is. Remember a little bit ago when I said that God can forgive sin? He is willing and able to forgive all who turn from sin and seek their God. That is called salvation. Zecheriah 13:1 compares it to a fountain that can cleanse us from sin. John 1:29 calls Christ 'the Word' and speaks of how Christ was made manifest to us.

I will get to the topic of salvation later, but if you can't wait and you want to know more, read the posts on John 3. You can find them in the sidebar. Or, e-mail me at soundout@soundout.cjb.net, and I will get back with you as soon as possible.

Be alert for the Everests that will try to crush you, and the dust mites that might lead to your fall.

~Nella

You Are Excuseless

2006-08-10T11:00:00.000-04:00

I don't know how many people read this blog, but I do know one thing. Whoever reads this blog as an unsaved person is excuseless. I have been faithful to tell the truth about evangelism, the gospel, and the Word of God. After this post, you will be even more excuseless. Today I stumbled across these verses in devotions:

14 But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (Romans 10:14-15)

I have been sent by God to teach the world who He is, and I have been faithful to that charge. Somewhere I saw the poignant question "If Christianity were outlawed, would their be enough evidence to convict you?" There would be enough evidence to convict me. I will not give up my faith in the one true God of the universe. In this series or posts, I will tell you the truth about God, man, sin, the Bible, and Jesus Christ. Today, lets start with God.

God the Creator

We find in Genesis 1:1 that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The whole chapter talks about the Creation, and the second chapter of the Bible talks about what God did on the seventh day of the week, and the creation of man and woman. Rather than going into all the scientific, Biblical, historical, archealogical, geological, and a zillion other -ogicals, evidence, here is a verse from Romans that testifies to the truth of creation.

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (Romans 1:20.)

When you look around you, you see design. You see order. There is intelligence behind this whole world. There is no way everything could have evolved.

God the Greatest

The Scripture is full of references talking about God's greatness. Here are some of them.

The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. (Psalm 19:1)

12 In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders
in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.
13 He divided the sea and let them pass through it,
and made the waters stand like a heap.
14 In the daytime he led them with a cloud,
and all the night with a fiery light.
15 He split rocks in the wilderness
and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
16 He made streams come out of the rock
and caused waters to flow down like rivers. (Psalm 78:12-16)

7 “Can you find out the deep things of God?
Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?
8 It is higher than heaven —what can you do?
Deeper than Sheol—what can you know?
9 Its measure is longer than the earth
and broader than the sea. (Job 11:7-9)

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-7)

The greatness of God is nothing new. For "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8), and since Jesus is God, therefore God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

God the Sovereign

The English word 'sovereign' is found three times in the Bible, and every single time it is used in reference to God. It is a title of His as well as an attribute. His sovereignty refers to His control over everything on the face of the earth. It could also refer to His election of believers. (For example, the English Standard Version's header for Romans 1 is "God's Sovereign Choice.") References to the sovereignty of God can be found in Acts 4:24, 1 Timothy 6:15, and Revelation 6:10.

God is Holy

Holiness is perfection, pure and undiluted. There are certain degrees of holiness, but that is beyond the scope of this post. For instance, things can be, to a certain degree, holy. This means that they have been set apart by God for His use.

There are great consequences for disrespecting a holy God. Moses and Aaron found this out the hard way. In Numbers 20:12, we see their punishment.

And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”

Their are consequences for us personally because of God's holiness. It does not allow Him to look upon sin, and we are sinful creatures. (More on sin coming later.) "O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?" says Psalm 15:1. More from the Psalms, this time coming from Psalm 24.

3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
5 He will receive blessing from the Lord
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob.

Verse 4 says that only he who has clean hands and a pure heart can be in Heaven with God. Anyone who claims to be that in their own strength is a liar.

"Let them praise your great and awesome name! Holy is he!" (Psalm 99:3)

You are excuseless if you do not believe God is who He says He is.

God is not man, that he should lie,
or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? (Numbers 23:19)

~Nella

A Biblical Understanding of Salvation

2006-08-08T13:25:00.000-04:00

This is a re-post from yesterday from Think Upon These Things. I thought it would be good for believers and unbelievers alike because it is a topic that concerns both of us: salvation.

The most important thing that will ever happen is your salvation. It is at this moment that God has showed you your sin and humbled you, you repent, and he gives you faith to believe. It is very important that we have a biblical understanding of election, justification, sanctification, glorification, and even eternal security.

While blogging on Hebrews 6 and other passages, the topic of eternal security, also known as the perseverance of the saints, was discussed. Today I read from Romans 8 in my Bible reading. I never really thought about this before, but it presents a complete overview of just about everything from salvation to eternal security. Let's read the passage in context:

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:26-39, ESV)

Our Election

Verse 28 is often used as a stand-alone quoted when someone is undergoing suffering or another kind of trial. When we look back, we really could use verses 26-28 rather than just verse 28. The first paragraph talks of God's soverign election. Look at how many times it talks of God's choice. We are called "those who are called according to his purpose" in verse 28. Then verse 29 says "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." (Emphasis mine.) Verse 30 also calls us predestined.

God is in charge of our salvation. This is called His election. That is the first "stage" of our salvation. (Of course salvation does not occur in stages. We are saved once and for all. This is just the first part of salvation, if you follow me.) There is one major misconceptions about election. Some people say that God in His foreknowledge saw that our hearts would be softer than someone else. That is not the case at all. If it were, we would be very legalistic Christians. Everything would have depended on us and how we responded. On the contrary, our salvation is all of grace. God had no reason we could give to Him to save us.

Our Justification

Not much is said about justification in this particular passage. It is mentioned briefly in verses 30 and 33. The main thing about justification is that it says that God is the one who justifies. Justification is the blessed doctrine that teaches that Jesus made it "just as if we had never sinned," to use one common definition. It does not mean that we are given what we justly deserve! We deserve hell, not heaven.

Our Security

I did not initially realize that eternal security was even discussed in this passage until this morning, but it is very plain to see. As has been brought out, God elects, God justifies, God sanctifies, and God glorifies. God also secures. Verse 34 asks "Who is to condemn?"If anyone has a right to condemn us, it is Christ Jesus, but Paul points out that Jesus died for our sins. Jesus payed the price once and for all.

Jesus does not return souls. He does not pay the price for their sins and say "Oh, I didn't want Nella Sound-Out's soul, I wanted So-and-so's soul instead." I echo Paul in verse 35. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" Nothing can or ever will. "38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

John 3:16 is enough of a case for eternal security for me. God loves me and gave His son for me. If I believe in Him, I will not perish, but have eternal life.

~Nella

Posting Schedule

2006-08-05T15:20:00.000-04:00

Okay, this is the posting schedule from now on:

Monday, Wednesday, Friday: Posting on Think Upon These Things
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday: Posting on Sound Out

~Nella

Jesus, Darkness, and Light

2006-08-02T12:52:00.000-04:00

All over you see stickers, signs, slogans, bill boards, pins, and other paraphanalia that say "Smile! Jesus loves you!" That is a true statement, but it lacks depth. I'd like to expand that simple phrase for you by using John 3 as a reference point.

Possibly the most common verse in the Bible is John 3:16. All know it, and many can quote it from memory. But merely knowing John 3:16 will not cause you to appreciate God's love. Let's put the passage into context:

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

The real love shown in Jesus' life and ministry is found in verse 17, which is what Jesus accomplished by His sacrificial death. If Jesus loved us but He did not die for us, what good would have been accomplished? The key is that all the Father's wrath was spent on Jesus. We do not have to work our way to Heaven; Jesus has already lived our perfect life, took our blame, and payed for all our sin. Our response is to repent from our sins and seek our God.

The saddest thing in the world to me is that Jesus' love is so vast, immeasurable, and wonderful, and people still reject it to this day. Inconcievable. Whoever rejects the truth of God for a lie will have a horrible life, now and in eternity. John 3:18 tells us that those who do not believe are already condemned. Do you believe? John goes on to talk about this judgement.

19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God.

C.S. Lewis once told a story (I think it was Lewis) of some children playing in the dirt making mud pies. Their father came out and told them that over the holidays they were going to the beach. The children looked disinterested and went back to their play. "Aren't you excited? The beach is a lovely place to play," the father said, trying to excite them. They remained nonchalant. At that moment, they thought the loveliest thing in the world was making mud pies because they knew nothing of the beach.

Some of you will respond to this post like the children making mud pies. You are enjoying your life of sin, and you can see nothing better for you. Others of you have heard about this "beach" and are willing and ready to go to it. I am glad for those of you in the second group. Your response shows that God is at work in Your heart, and you are ready to hear Him.

Do not be content to stay in the darkness. Light is so much better! Light illuminates, shines, and beautifies. I pray that all you in darkness will find the light in Jesus Christ.

~Nella

Creation

2006-07-26T12:53:00.000-04:00

A common objective raised by many people as to why they think Christianity is false is that Creation is far-fetched and unreasistic. Is Creation really unscientific? I think not. Here are some great articles written by students about why they think Creation is a good worldview to hold on origens. The grand prize paper is on antimatter. If you like science, please check out these well-written papers!

I also entered this contests. I wrote two papers, and they can be found on Think Upon These Things here and here.

~Nella Sound-Out

John 3, Part 1

2006-07-25T15:18:00.000-04:00

John 3 is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. It has a lot of spiritual meat about salvation. The first 5 verses lay the foundation for the important truths to be taught in the chapter. Verses 1 & 2 tell us about a man named Nicodemus. We find that he is a Pharisee and a leader of the Jews. The New Testament has a lot to say about the Pharisees, so let me point out some of the characteristics. This will help us get an idea of the kind of man Jesus was dealing with.

~a sect of Jews with a peculiar devotion to the Mosaic Law.
~very zealous of the law & tradition
~outwardly moral
~rigid in fasting
~self-righteous, ambitious of precedence, fond of titles, oppressive

Not the guy you really want to visit you at night, right? Well, why did he come at night in the first place? Scholars suggest 2 main reasons: 1) fear of the other Pharisees, or 2) there would be more time to talk to Jesus. I really don't know which reason it was, but those are the two common ones.

Nicodemus has a lot of questions that he needs answered. These are a lot of questions that many individuals ask, and many of the same questions I asked! Out of verse 3 & 4 we could ask "What does it mean to be born again?" We find that answer all over the Bible. Being born again is being saved by grace, through faith in Christ's sacrificial death on the cross. This takes place in your heart and can only happen when we show a confession of sin and a willingness to serve Him alone. As Christ told Nicodemus, this is a spiritual birth, not a physical one.

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. John 3:8

Verse 8 intreuges me. How are we supposed to be like the wind? I meditated on that this morning, and I think I have found an answer.

Our testimony and assurance of salvation should be incomprehensible to the unsaved. It should confuse them, confound them, and puzzle them. They will hear it, but not see it, feel it, but not know it for themselves. This verse doesn't mean that no one can or will understand the good news, it means that only those whose hearts and souls are ready will understand and take action on their knowledge.

Nicodemus still doesn't get it. I have paraphrased John 3:9, 10, and 11, and added in verse 12 word for word. After that I paraphrased verse 13. You might find this interesting.

Nicodemus: I don't get it.
Jesus: I've told you everything and you don't understand! I'm the only one who can tell you about this. Nobody else has gone to heaven from earth, or earth to heaven. Please, Nicodemus, try hard to understand!!!

In verse 14, a prophetic word of His death slips in. There is an allusion in John 3:14 that refers back to Numbers 21:4-9. When the children of Israel were leaving Egypt for Canaan, they often complained to Moses. They were unhappy because they were sick of the manna God provided, and they were tired from traveling. God sent serpents to bite them as judgement. The Israelites repented, and God told Moses to make a serpent of bronze. Whoever looked at the serpent would miraculously be healed. This forshadows Jesus' death. Jesus would be 'lifted up' on a cross, and whoever looks to Him for deliverance will be saved.

~Nella

IRL: Paul

2006-07-21T10:55:00.000-04:00

The mission of this site is to motivate people to witness and to actually allow people to witness through this site. As you can see, I have added two verses underneath the blog title. They are Matthew 28:19-20 and First Thessalonians 1:8. It is very easy to talk about sharing our faith, but actually doing it is an entirely different manner. That's why I am starting and IRL series (In Real Life) to motivate you with stories of biblical and historical characters. The first case study we will examine is Paul. Now we could look at the whole book of Acts for Paul, but rather than doing that, I have chosen to stick with a passage from Acts 22, which was part of my Bible reading this morning.

Paul was in Jerusalem when he was arrested in the temple. Acts records that all of Jerusalem was in an uproar. Some Jews from Asia falsely accused Paul of defiling the temple. Paul would have died at the hands of the Jews if the Romans had not intervened. A commander ordered that Paul be taken up to the military barracks, but Paul, always looking for an oppertunity to share Christ, asked to speak to the people.

He starts with his upbringing. He tells them that he was born in Tarsus of Cilicia, and he studied under the renown Gamaliel, who was a Jewish rabbi. Paul tells of his zeal for the law and how he persecuted Christians, which all the high priests knew. Then he explains what happened to him on his way to Damascus. As we all know, Paul was blinded and lead into the city by his companions where he waited for Ananias to restore his sight to him. Lets pick up the story in Acts 22:12:

12 “And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, 13 came to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that very hour I received my sight and saw him. 14 And he said, ‘The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth; 15 for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’

These verses contain the Lord's commission to Paul. What Paul was doing was laying the foundation slowly with his background and spiritual experience. That was good and well with the Jews, but what he said next was the last straw. Paul told the Jews that God had sent him to the Gentiles to tell them about the Lord. Then the Jews got really angry, and Paul was taken into the barracks.

Paul was greatly persecuted in Jerusalem. In fact, he knew he would be persecuted, and in spite of that still obeyed the Holy Spirit's calling. I posted on Think Upon These Things a few days ago about how Paul held life loosely. Here are a few of the passages where Paul had warning of what he would face in Jerusalem.

Acts 20:24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

Acts 21:13-14 Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, “Let the will of the Lord be done.”

Paul's devotion to the Lord was a marvel to behold.

Blessings,
~Nella

I'll Bet

2006-07-20T18:56:00.000-04:00

Eruvy wrote this for me a long while ago. It has since become the official poem of Sound Out.

I'll Bet
By Eruvyweth God-follower

I'm not one to make guesses or one to predict,
I'm no gambler, no chance-taker, lover of risks,
But I know that birds sing when they soar in the sky,
And I know that when it rains, rivers flood and swell high!

So I'll bet that you can't keep us quiet,
I'll bet you can't stifle our voice,
I'll bet when we hear the best news in the world
You can't stop us from making some noise!
And I'll bet this against skeptics and scholars,
I'll bet this against sinners and saints,
I'll bet this against the wide world's anger,
'Cause I've never found proof this great!

I've seen people run out and tell all their friends,
I've heard cheering that seemed it would have no end,
And I know that when glasses are full, they overflow,
And I know that when you give life to light, things glow!

And if you stake your life against this bet,
Disappointment and death is all you'll get.
The grey rain curtain of the world will roll back,
Whose side will you be on, and what will you lack?

-fin-

Hebrews Bible Studies

2006-07-20T17:27:00.000-04:00

This study is not yet complete, but all that has been completed can be found at Think Upon These Things, the sister site to Sound Out.

The Bombardier Beetle

2006-07-20T17:13:00.000-04:00

Evolution caused a very big stir in the scientific community. Even some Christians claim to believe this hypothesis. Dr. Jobe Martin was an evolutionist who was challenged by two of his students to study the Bible's claims of creation. I e-mailed Dr. Jobe to ask permission to use extended excerpts from his book and he told me to "use whatever [I] like." As a sampling, here is an excerpt on an incredible creature that defies evolution from The Evolution of a Creationist.

-Nella-

The Bombardier Beetle

If there is an creature on earth that could not possibly have evolved, that creature is the Bombardier Beetle. It needed God to create it with all its systems fully functional. The study of this incredible insect has been going on for many years. In 1928, authors C. L. Metcalf and R.L. Flint wrote: "The bombardier beetle, Brahinus, ejects an acrid fluid which is discharged with a distinct popping sound and a small cloud of vapor that looks like smoke from a miniature cannon." (Destructive and Useful Insects, 4th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1962, page 24.) More recently, Time Magazine reports:

...the bombardier (beetle) does appear to be unique in the animal kingdom. Its defense system is extraordinarily intricate, a cross between tear gas and a tommy gun. When the beetle senses danger, it internally mixes enzymes contained in one body chamber with concentrated solutions of some rather harmless compounds, hydrogen peroxide and hydroquinones, confined to the second chamber. This generates a noxious spray of caustic benzoquinones, which explodes from its body at the boiling point of 212 degrees F. What is more, the fluid is pumped through twin rear nozzles, which can be rotated, like a B-17's gun turret, to hit a hungry ant or frog with bull's eye accuracy. (Natalie Angier reported by Rick Thompson/ San Francisco, Time Magazine, February 25, 1985, page 70)

You might wonder how an evolutionist might explain this marvelous insect. Evolutionist Mark Isaak writes:

Do bombardier beetles look designed? Yes; they look like they were designed by evolution. Their features, behaviors, and distribution nicely fit the kind of patterns that evolution creates. Nobody has yet found anything about any bombardier beetle which is incompatible with evolution. ("Bombardier Beetles and the Argument of Design", by Mark Isaak. http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/bombardier.html.)

How does evolution, a mindless, undirected, purposeless, random chance process "create"? As Jewish scholar, Dr. Lee Spetner, writes:

Randomness is an essential feature of NDT [ neo-Darwinian theory]. There is no known physical or chemical mechanism to generate heritable variation that will improve adaptively or increase the complexity of living organisms. The neo-Darwinians, therefore, had to choose randomness to produce the direction afforded by natural selection, they could describe an evolutionary process that could account for a natural origin and development of life.

The neo-Darwinians have rejected nonrandomness as the major feature of variation. (Lee Spetner, Not by chance! Brooklyn: Judicia Press, 1998, page 209.)

Evolutionary theory has big problems when attempting to explain the existence and complexity of the bombardier beetle by means of random, chance happenings. Each stage in the evolution of its special chemicals would have led to its destruction. This one-half inch insect mixes chemicals that violently react to produce something similar to an explosion. How could the bombardier beetle have evolved such a complex means of defense without killing itself in the process? This problem has the members of the evolutionary establishment scratching their heads. Evolutionary theory says that you lose something if you don't use it. But, how do you use it unless you have it completed and in fully functional form?

We have two opinions then. One is to believe that a mindless, random, chance process brought into existence exactly what would be essential for the creature to maintain life and defend itself. The other opinion is that God, in His sovereign wisdom, designed and created precisely what was needed for the the welfare of the creature and encode the information in its genes. With godless evolution, a new enzyme or chemical organ or fin or beak or bone will have to randomly, mindlessly, unexplainably evolve until the creature gains its improvement. As creationists, we would say that God created it just like it is, a discreet, fully functional little but with an incredibly complex defense mechanism.

The bombardier beetle is irreducibly complex. Remember back in fourth grade when we reduced fractions down until they could be reduced no further? This beetle cannot be reduced! If it doesn't have all its parts, it can't defend itself or, ever worse, it could blow itself up. Naturally, it could not evolve after it blew itself up and was dead, so how did it get here? The evolutionists might say, "Mother nature, beneficial mutations, natural selection and time did it." Creationists would say, "God did it." (By the way, what or who is "Mother Nature" who did all these miraculous things?)

To prevent its own destruction, the little bug manufactures a chemical, called an inhibitor, and mixes it in with the reactive chemicals. But with the inhibitor, it would not be able to use the expulsion of hot, burning liquid and gasses to discourage its enemies. A spider would eat it because the beetle has no solution to exploit to protect itself. Again, we have a dead beetle. Dead bugs cannot evolve the next chemical needed to release the protective reaction. That chemical turns out to be an anti-inhibitor. (See Duane T. Gish's Creation Scientists Answer Their Critics, pages 101-104.)When the anti-inhibitor is added to the other chemicals, an explosive reaction does occur and the beetle is able to defend itself.

There is still another problem, however. The beetle must have an especially tough "combustion chamber". That chamber must have and outlet for the violent reaction to release its energy or once again, we have a dead bug. Problem solved: this unique creature has the necessary equipment, including twin-tail tubes to "exhaust" its defensive reaction. These tubes can be aimed at enemies in a 180 degree arch from straight to the rear, to directly toward the front. Amazingly, it does not shoot friendly creatures but only its enemies! How does a one-half inch long insect know how to aim at and shoot potential enemies?

When the little bug shoots its cannons (and it can shoot either side individually or both sides together) all we hear with our human ears is a "pop". But it is not just a single pop. It is a sieries of sequential pops that sequence so fast that we only hear one "pop". If it was just one big POP, it would be like lighting the after-burners on a jet engine and the diminutive creature would blow itself out of the picture. But with a sequential pop it can hang on with its little legs and remain in place! Incredible!

How did its incredibly complex nervous system and advanced chemical system evolve? There is nothing exactly like bombardier beetles in the entire animal kingdom. Is this an example of the "impersonal, plus time, plus chance" or is it an example of a special, intricate creation by a God who is intimately involved with His creatures? Which system of belief can best explain the marvelous bombardier beetle: Evolution or Creation?

About

2006-07-20T16:50:00.000-04:00

Hello! My name is Ednella Sound-Out. I am not new to blogging. This is my second blogspot, the first being Think Upon These Things. Sound-Out is not a new site either. I have just recently made the decision to move it from its original domain for various technical reasons.

Sound Out was formed on December 3rd, 2004. If you would like to join, please leave a comment or e-mail me. The mission of our site is to spread the name of Jesus to all people. I have been interested in missions since I was six years old. The theme verse for this site is 1 Thessalonians 1:8, which says,

For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing.

There are some senior members who I would like to recognize. First is Lathwen, the first member of Sound Out. Then came Eruvyweth God-follower, or Eruvy for short. Pervinca Took has been one of my best internet friends, a constant encourager and companion. The final member I would like to recognize is Bethany. Beth is a great blessing to me. Her story is incredible.

This site will be growing rapidly. All of the pages from Sound Out will be moved here as my schedule allows. Please be patient as I work through technical difficulties.

If you have comments or suggestions, please e-mail us at soundout@soundout.cjb.net.

~Nella