Scripture

Quote

The chief characteristic of counterfeit holiness is pride or lack of humility.

~Andrew Murray

A couple of observations before I make my point. Solomon was a brilliant man; I never question his intelligence but he did backslide. He got involved in the heinous cult religions of the Canaanites and took part in some horrible things. In spite of his moral blowout, he had to be inspired when he wrote these Proverbs. I am absolutely stunned at his insight and wisdom. I read Proverbs 8:13 yesterday out of the Passion Bible and honestly, it was as if I had never seen this verse before. It was a WOW moment for me. I knew what he said was true the moment I read it. We are beginning to wise up when our sin becomes a burden. I agree with Martin Luther, “The entire life of the believer is to be one of repentance.” Immature and self-righteous Christians notice the sins of others but fail to see their own.  We all know professing believers who never repent of anything. How can this be? As we grow older in the faith, we begin to see our sins. The sins of others become less grievous while our sin becomes a greater burden to bear. Hopefully, we will reach that point where we hate every form of evil in our life and that includes our pompous pride and perverse speech. The later is more convicting to me than the former, if you know what I mean. A SUV loaded with hispanics cut me off on the highway the other day and I mumbled, “You crazy Mexicans, I ought to run you off the road.” The moment it came out, the Holy Spirit convicted me. I would be the happiest man in Alabama if I knew I’d never do something like that again, but I am cursed. Of course, you might say the perverse speech comes from the pompous pride and you could be right.

I am what I am because of the grace of God. A friend of mine went on a mission trip while he was in Seminary and he saw a world of poverty and need. I think he went to India. When he got back to the Seminary campus, he voiced his grief and anger to one of the professors. He was angry that we have so much of the world’s wealth and they had so little. He was shocked when the professor told him, “Your problem is your pride. You think we are more advantaged because we are affluent and have all these modern conveniences. You actually believe you are better off than they are and that they need what you have. Your problem is pride.” I agree to a point. I do think our problem is pride but I also see nothing wrong with sharing the wealth, especially in promoting the gospel. I do agree that the greatest need in Christ but there are other needs. I wouldn’t dare share the gospel with a starving man when I had bread in my own pocket. It is also true that the Guatemalans have far less wealth than we do but are far more contented, gracious and thankful. It is also true that we learn from them. In fact, they may teach us far more than we teach them. This means it is wise to check your pride before you go on a mission trip. Everyone wants to be loved and no one wants to be looked down upon.

The point is; the more mature we become in the faith, the more we become aware of our pompous pride and perverse speech.

Extra

Well we got another gully-washer last night. We have April green grass in the middle of June. Usually, my rye grass is dying by this time but I still have grass around my office building. I like that part but I hate weed eating the ditches.

Much lighter schedule today: looking forward to some study time and not to the weed-eating.

Joe David has done two COLS this week. He did well in both. He has Tim’s gift; the ability to inject humor in COLS messages. I do appreciate the Danville group that supports him and the church at these services.

I hope you have a good day and thanks for reading the blog.