Thomas Umstattd Jr.

Why is lying wrong? Because it hurts people or because God said not to do it? (more…)

"Success is a poor teacher." My dad must have repeated this maxim a hundred times as I grew up. There are some lessons that only failure can teach. If you want to mature, you need to fail. Jesus failed. So should we. (more…)

I am going to start reposting achieved posts from my old blog on the first of each month.

The enemy thinks he can purify pride with Disney films and encouraging posters. Motivational books tell people they need more self-esteem in order to succeed. Many say, “If we only thought higher of ourselves we could accomplish more.” Just “believe in yourself” the cartoons say.

Yet, throughout the Bible God shows the dangers of pride:

• “Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom” (Pro. 11:2)
• “Pride leads to arguments; those who take advice are wise” (Pro. 13:10)
• “Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall” (Pro. 16:18)
• “Pride ends in humiliation, while humility brings honor” (Pro. 29:23)

Successful people are confident, however. People, who look at the ground, talk softly and never take risks rarely change the world. The question is, “from where should our confidence come?” God actively looks for humble hearts, for He knows that nothing can stop those who place their trust in Him alone. Confidence is crucial for success, but only trust in Christ is of any use for the Kingdom.

Look at:

• Joseph – the jailbird
• Moses – the mumbler
• Gideon – the coward
• King David – the forgotten shepherd son
• Daniel – the slave
• Esther – the peasant girl
• Peter – the foot eater

These people had little confidence in themselves, but they changed the world. The enemy comes against the work of God by tricking us into believing in ourselves instead of in Jesus.

Look at the tower of Babble or the rich man who died in his sleep. These people had plenty of self-esteem. Nebuchadnezzar accomplished great acts; but when he got cocky, he ate grass like a cow.

The world needs you about as much as it needs another grain of sand at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. What it needs is Jesus. To the extent we allow Christ to shine through us is the extent in which we are able to change the world for Him. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13).

If Jesus said that he did nothing on his own (John 8:28), why do we think we can live differently? Jesus had no self-esteem in the way we think of it today. While Jesus was “in very nature God, [He] did not consider equality with God something to be grasped.” (Phil. 2:6)

Take for example Romo the self-confident quarterback. His football talent and winning streak lead him to believe that he is a great player.

But, what if Romo misses a crucial throw causing a crushing defeat in a big game? Joe’s confidence drops as his failure grows. But, if he put his confidence in something or someone bigger then he will not be so easily shaken.

When we put our confidence in Christ then we can count it all joy when we fail because we know that Jesus will be glorified despite our best efforts. He won’t have to blame others for our failures as “self esteemers” often do. We can instead take the blame and then take the failure to Christ.

The world comes against Christians, tempting us to put on the tough skin of arrogance. This hardening of our hearts is just what the Bible speaks against. Pharoh’s hardened heart caused great pain for Egypt and the hard hearts of the Israelites caused continual judgment.

He who esteems himself is his own god.
He who esteems Jesus fulfills his purpose.

We can put our confidence in Jesus because He earned it on the cross. God may not use as many posters and movies as the world, but His truth is as good now as it was for King David who said, “Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.”

I found this article is by Jon Speed and I wanted to share i with you. let me know what you think.

Self Examination & Assurance by Jon Speed

The doctrine of self examination is one that is rarely taught in the modern evangelical church. It was not always this way. Throughout most of post-Reformation history the concept of examining one’s own salvation in light of the teaching of the Word of God was commonly taught. It is interesting that this doctrine appears to have been abandoned in the twentieth century. A brief survey of my own library reveals that the doctrine was emphasized in the 16th until the mid to late 19th centuries, but is very difficult to find represented in the 20th century, except for a few select writers who were greatly influenced by the older lights.

The real issue is whether or not the Bible, the Book of books, teaches this doctrine. I am only beginning to study this doctrine in depth myself, but even a cursory examination of the Bible reveals that we are commanded to "examine ourselves"(1 Corinthians 11:28).

In what is considered by many modern evangelicals a difficult passage, the Apostle Paul admonishes us to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12). In light of the doctrine of justification by faith, what else can this mean but that we as believers should examine our salvation experience in order to determine its authenticity? In other words, does the fruit in our lives represent the fruit of the Spirit or does it represent the "bad fruit" which is brought forth by every bad tree?

The standard evangelical line on assurance of salvation (a closely related doctrine which is elaborated on far more by the older writers than by the theologians of today) may be represented in the following illustration. A teenage youth responds to an invitation at a youth rally. He is instructed to come forward and meets with a counselor. As the counselor (a Bible college student) speaks with him he is shocked to discover that this teenager has responded to the same gospel invitation at the same youth rally every year for the last five years.

The teenager is concerned because while he has a desire to do the right thing and "meant well" when he came forward the last five times, he has no identifiable change in his life. He cannot control his tongue or his temper. He is addicted to sexual sin. He has no love for the people of God or concern for the lost. He only comes to church when it is entertaining or convenient. He knows this is not Biblical Christianity, and yet he inwardly wonders why his five previous decisions for Christ have not stuck. In his frustration, he tells his counselor all. What should he do? Is he really saved?

The counselor, fortunately (?), has been trained for just such an event. In fact, it happens so often that the evangelistic counselor’s training manual has a whole chapter on this issue. He turns in his Bible to 1 John 5:13 and reads aloud, "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may KNOW that you have eternal life." "You see, Billy, we should KNOW that we have eternal life. God wants us to KNOW. Our salvation is not a ‘hope so’ salvation, it is a ‘know so’ salvation. Once saved, always saved.

Billy, did you mean it when you accepted Christ the first time?"

"Well, um, yes, I guess I did."

"Then you are saved! Isn’t it great to KNOW that we’re saved?"

"Um, yeah, sure."

"Billy, you don’t sound convinced. When you came forward five years ago, did you get one of these wallet cards?" The counselor pulls out a small card with 1 John 5:13 printed on it and a space for the signatures of the teen and the counselor.

"Yes, I did. In fact, I have five." And Billy pulls out all five decision cards and hands them to the counselor.

The counselor laughs. "That’s OK , Billy, I came forward for assurance of salvation two or three times myself. Billy from now on, every time you doubt, I want you to pull out one of these cards and remind yourself of the decision you made."

"But I have been doing that for five years! Five years of looking at these cards has done nothing for me. How can I be a Christian and still fall into this sin?"

The shame of it is that the counselor has no answer for Billy because he has asked himself the same question for years.

In the twentieth century we have come to accept Billy’s story as normal Christian experience. Just get Billy into a follow up program and needle him into coming to church, reading his Bible, praying, and maybe even have him invite some friends to a similar evangelistic event and he will be counted as a true believer in Jesus Christ. He might even go to Bible college some day. All because he has come to expect falling into besetting sin. When he does religious things he at least feels better about himself. It is as if everything is right with God because of his religious actions, which is, by the way, a complete contradiction of the true doctrine of grace.

But what does Billy do when there is no one to prod him onward? What does he do when the fires of persecution and trial come? Those of us who have been involved with the evangelical church have seen it too many times. He abandons the faith and never looks back.

The rest of this article can be found at Jon Speed’s website

In the movie The Lord of the Rings, Aragorn takes a risk by going into the mountain of the dead. He went in hopes of securing for Gondor reinforcements to aid in the fight against evil. The dead while an unlikely ally in this cause ended up making the difference.

I have been thinking a lot lately about why I am writing a book about the dangers of digital gaming. And frankly, it’s not about the games. My heart is to see a generation of young men rise up as men of God and start living kingdom centered lives.

Imagine what would happen if thousands of gamers suddenly dropped their nets and started following Jesus like the men in the New Testament. I see gaming as an area filled with bound men who have huge potential for changing the world.

Many of my friends have hearts that burn for various nations around the world or even for the nations in general. My heart is to see the world reached but my heart burns for the United States. The U.S. church is withdrawing from society so quickly I am afraid we are quickly on our way to becoming another England or Europe.

If we are to see victory we need to gain small tactical victories that can lead, through Christ, to bigger victories and I think setting gamers free from gaming is one of those areas.

Like Aragorn I want to go into a place unlikely to yield greatness and find mighty warriors for the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. I don’t hate video games. But, I love Jesus and I want to see an army raised up that will make a change for good.

I want to see men of God run after Jesus whole heartedly. Thats why I am writing this book.