DUTY is not following the path of least resistance. Conforming to the status quo is caving to fear. Thomas Paine once said, “That which we obtain cheaply we esteem too lightly.” It is a cheap and useless life that gives in to its own gratification and ease of movement. Following the path of least resistance will only take you down the crooked path with no aspirations for success and not thought of failure. I noticed an oxbow lake today while I was driving about. Geologically speaking, an oxbow lake is a river divorced of it’s source. The path of least resistance can drive you on a quick and easy ride, meandering about the plain, but once erosion takes its course and the path is made to change in the weakness of a lesser challenge (another path of least resistance), it leaves the bow in exchange for a wild and reckless path elsewhere. In its wake a lake is formed like is shaped like a bow left to itself. The oxbow lake dries up having no life and no impulse of progression or momentum. Stagnant, it is useless. Jesus says, that whoever finds their source of water in Him, “the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” (John 4:14)
Duty comes from the root word that means “to owe.” DUTY! It is what you are obligated to do because of the trust instilled in YOU. It is the privilege of serving in a capacity that is uniquely yours and no one else’s. It is YOU who has been tasked with the responsibility to do it—to pay it forward. It is the occupation by which we will be judged by future generations as they scrutinize your life.
DUTY is the cohesion that holds the integrity of armies together. It confirms our mission to keep the faith once and for all entrusted to the saints. Since faith is ALWAYS equal to action (you can’t have faith without it) I define faith as belief in action. Faith can be acted upon presently, and not necessarily in some future place. Hope is in the future. Faith is believing the bridge will carry you and acting on it by walking it. What else holds the church together? Hope and love. Hope sees what love lives to do. Love in the attitude that seeks the others best interest or highest good. Our duty is to live with the highest ideals in hope that the other can attain to much when we give for their benefit. God had it all figured out. Love is sacrificial. If you have ever felt like nobody knows or cares about what you have faced with integrity, just remember, even though you and your character may be overlooked and undervalued by those around you, God sees and remembers – for eternity.
What you’ve been through and what you are going through is not unseen Frou. God especially sees and my CONSTANT prayer is that your FAITHfulness is rewarded by the blessing which you HOPE to have in the exercise of your LOVE.
All posts by jthomas
Regarding an Abusive Relationship
I recently came across an article which condemns churches accused of the practice of enabling abusive men by counseling couples against divorce. I agree that there could be a minority of churches who counsel in such a way and through fear coerce a spouse to remain with the abuser and continue in abuse, but I would say they are a minority. Counseling a person to stay in an abusive relationship is not the common practice, I assure you. Scripture is clear on the kind of love that should be encouraged as in the kind of sacrificial love Christ affords His bride, the church. Churches that are scriptural will esteem the counsel of Paul in 1 Corinthians 7, to separate from such a one. Separation is not the problem, however. More couples should be afforded the counsel of separation in order that a path to reconciliation be allowed (1 Corinthians 7:11). Separation, therefore, is in fact biblical. Taking the words of Christ to heart, the problem lies in the adultery created when a divorced person re-marries another. Jesus says in Mark 10:11-12 (NASB)
11 And He *said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her;
12 and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.” No, we should not encourage abuse. We must encourage reconciliation by the right means. We must encourage pre-marital counseling and parenting in order that dating and courtship determines adequately the character of the potential spouse. We must encourage men to be enablers not of abuse, but of accountability as husbands and fathers who themselves give headship their Lord. The pattern of 1 Corinthians 10 is applicable. The beauty of a woman’s character brings honor to her husband. An honorable woman brings glory to not only her husband, but also to Christ. The husband is honored by the glory of his wife and Christ is honored by his display of being the image and glory of Christ. He that honors Christ as His image will cherish, protect, provide, and love his wife, to the point that he would lay down his life to save her. Her respect for him will come from his conviction of love for her. And this is scriptural, as in Ephesians 5. The one who created marriage between a man and woman has always had the best counsel for its preservation.
Newest Poem: The Winter Man
“Winter Man”
by Joe Thomas
Winter, when men’s thoughts
Are less entertained by summer’s fruitful enticements
And more by the lure of attraction to baser things.
Oh that the liberty of summer
Would open its doors for the mind
To be free to the physical impulse of greener occupation
And not bound by the impulse of a corrupt and carnal mind.
It is the carnal mind that drives the thinking of the winter man
To a warmer bed and satisfying companionship.
Companionship is the bedfellow of seduction;
To wit, the satisfaction of fantasy’s pleasure.
Desire is first conceived in the innocence
Of a passing glance, eloquent voice, and limpid eye.
Hence the sowing of the thought of more than just the casual,
But the curiosity of the forbidden
—the glorious conquest of a successful campaign
—it is the anchor of vain ruin.
Sowing that dead seed reaps the beginnings of regret
For upon negotiating the obstacle of reason,
Once overcome, the choice of return is most inconvenient.
A compass which azimuth points nowhere but down.
Convenient is the practice of perpetuating winter’s muse
By the primitive exercise of the unbridled mind.
Less convenient is the re-introduction,
Or salutation, if you will,
To the identity of the former person,
Clothed in propriety and obligation.
Nameless now, and faceless.
Winter’s identity is subtle, and cold, as the season is itself.
And, as the season begs for renewal, so does the soul of the winter man.
But yet, while it is winter,
The door is barred by the coldness of retreat.
Melt away this conscience of ice and return it to its cognate virtue.
Make soft again from hardness a heart,
Appearing dead which has forgotten the pulse that quickens the body.
Philosophy of the Cynic
When I attended Cincinnati Christian University I was introduced to the disciplines of the world’s great philosophers. And what I discovered was these philosophers and great thinkers often disagreed with each other about what path people ought to take in contemplating what I call the three legs of every philosophical schools, 1)what is the meaning of life; 2) what is the purpose in death; and 3) what is the usefulness in things. I remember one particular philosopher whose name was Diogenes of Sinope. He was nicknamed “The Dog.” He was a Cynic. The word Cynic literally means “dog-like.” Diogenes felt the best of man was being wasted by societal obligations. He felt man’s greatest identity was not with the city-state, but in moral virtue, and that of his natural self. He walked around Athens with his bath tub. When it was common in his day for people to call themselves Athenian, or Corinthian, he was the first to use the term “Cosmopolitan,” which identified him as a citizen of the world. He was mentored by Antisthenes who once beat him with a stick to try to chase him off. Diogenes responded, “Strike, for you will find no wood hard enough to keep me away from you, so long as I think you’ve something to say.” The Cynic philosophy was the dog-like philosophy marked by an animal-like behavior having sex in public, eating, drinking, bathing, defecating, and urinating in public.
But that’s the kind of thinking you can end up following, if God is not your shepherd. Proverbs 14:12 (NASB) says, “There is a way which seems right to a man, but the end is the way of death.”
People with this kind of intellect can end up living in a land of death because they can’t even accept the truth that they EXIST. Think for a moment my proposition of a clock on the wall. Is it better if there is a clock that does not work hanging on the wall, or having no clock at all? We would think, having no clock at all. The wall’s purpose is to hold the nail that hangs the clock. It is not important if the clock works or not, only that the wall and nail fulfills it’s purpose. And yet, a clock that is not working has all the parts to work, but hasn’t attained to its purpose because it has not discovered itself. This leads me to Rene Descartes and the philosophers who struggled to produce the answers to the three-legged stool of wisdom (life, death, usefulness). How can we prove who we are? Descartes says, “I think, therefore I am.” To the Christian, our purpose and identity is only fulfilled when the Clock Maker, who has not only put all parts together for a purpose, but also has made agreement with the clock as to its usefulness. It’s living and dying has only the usefulness of its intended purpose.
It is a struggle today to resist the Cynic philosophy when considering what society has created as far as the human identity. We must first know that we are not defined by others, or ourselves. We are not of this world, and therefore not even cosmopolitan. Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NASB) “He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.”
There is no wall, there is no nail, there is no clock apart from the Maker’s purpose. Ephesians 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
Homosexual by Birth?
Here is the response I gave to a friend of mine who heard a preacher say that there are those who can be born homosexual:
Yes, homosexuality is a sin like any other and maybe nature’s corruption could be understood in a way that we all have the capacity for and are born killers, rapists, sodomizers, adulterers, idolators, sorcerers, etc. if left to our own devices. Our natural tendencies give license to all kinds of evil. But to say we were born all of the above can not stand in the face of prevenient grace and the learned behavior and development of condemning sin (the soul that sins will die- Ezek. 18:20). I don’t believe there will ever be evidence of a homosexual gene, but I believe there is an age when in the course of the development of a young person, he/she decides their sexual identity and it is determined by a number of mitigating factors. It is most generally the result of a time of abuse, but undoubtedly the product of a condition of a world governed by the principality and power of the air; the prince whose kingdom is temporary yet influential over this world. On this subject, we can not deny the chemistry of some who are born with an hormonal imbalance. As far as lower and higher testosterone/estrogen, this is a fact and many who are born that way have historically been relegated to be artists, eccentrics, etc., if you follow me. In our society, these seem most apt to be victims of sexual confusion as they struggle themselves with this imbalance. It is a weakness, as any has a weakness exploitable by Satan. Evidence exists that these with an imbalance (not inherent as genetical) were identified and were found suitable for functions as eunuchs throughout history. Remember Matt. 19:12 (NIV) “For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others–and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.” Hope this helps brother.
Marriage Revisited
People who are Christian and remarried carry with them the guilt of a broken vow. It grieves them to the point that the remorse they feel burdens them with a guilt that is born daily. It may not be based on a conviction of any doctrine or interpretation of Scripture, but on the reality of the severing of what was once “one flesh” with another. Countless times in Scripture, husbands are called to ‘rejoice in the wife of your youth.’ Husbands are admonished to not covet the wife of another nor anything of another’s possessions. Jewish and Christian husbands have even read of the hatred God has for the practice of divorce for the reasons of grave consequence to the raising of godly children and the preservation of the sanctity in marriage (Malachi 3).
The revelation of God’s faithfulness to His bride Israel, and later to His church is revealed as the kind of bond that is ever forgiving, ever loving, ever lasting, and ever faithful. Men like Hosea had to be faithful to the point of redeeming an unfaithful wife from prostitution and disavowment of her unity with him. The example of Christ is illustrated by the kind of love that gives up His life for the sake of His bride the church.
In the same way we, as husbands, know that our devotion must likewise be unto death for the sake of our wife (Ephesians 5:25-33). Further agreement comes from 1 Corinthians 7 where it confirms that God commands that husbands and wife remain together and if separated from one another, allow room for reconciliation; that only death can annul the marriage union. Having not fulfilled the full extent of your vow of love to the wife of your youth, love will be void when attempted in another whose knowledge intimately has been violated by the joining to the former. To “uncover the nakedness” of a man’s wife is to indeed uncover the nakedness of the husband, and this leaves the Christian man to be in conflict with his soul because it is not her nakedness but his that he has uncovered (Leviticus 18 and 20).
What can be done? It must obviously follow that reconciliation should occur. To spouses who are remarried, it would be difficult to separate and return to your first spouse. If the occasion presents itself, it MUST occur. If, however, it does not, then each offending person must live in repentance of adultery as with any sin. And, like any person in repentance, he or she must bear the testimony of a wrong choice relaying to others the adverse affects adultery has had.
The Cultural Malstrom and the Presence of Christ
I’ve been reading a book by Stephen Mansfield called “Faith of the American Soldier,” and in spite of all the theological arguments that exist, the soldier on the battlefield takes comfort in knowing that God is with him. In the book is an episode a chaplain has with a driver about to convoy on one of the most dangerous roads in Baghdad, Route Ireland. The chaplain asked the young soldier, “How can I minister to you?” What the soldier said has become for some the soldier’s prayer: “What do I want? Sir, I wanna’ know that Jesus is in my Humvee.”
Another chaplain said that his favorite name for God, and one he teaches his soldiers, is “Emmanuel—God with us.” It is a common confession among soldiers, “I want to live, but I want to be ready when I die even more.” With society changing in ways that is leaving the institutional religious construct in the proverbial dust, it is imperative that we translate GOD WITH US to our families, our friends, and with whomever we find ourselves. Will you be ready? The best strategy to for evangelism of millennials is to make the Truth relevant and make the Truth REAL. We must first demonstrate the practical application of Truth before our words can make a practical application to others. Do you know Immanuel?
If There Was a God
If there is a God, would you think He would have created all things and is Himself eternal?
Would God be mindful of all aspects of His creation?
Would God allow creation an autonomous existence without interference from Himself?
Would God’s creation include life that has the ability to communicate with Him?
Would God be willing to do what it takes to bring harmony to not only each other, but also reconcile that life to Himself when self-governance proved detrimental/destructive?
Would God be sympathetic enough to come to earth and make the way possible for us to be reconciled to Himself?
Would God accept any other means except through the prospect of His own device to atone for the sins of humankind since creation could not provide such a righteous sacrifice?
“For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11)
“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)
Original Sin and the Unborn
The Calvinist believes that aborted babies will surely go to Hell because of Original Sin. Perhaps their conclusion is due to the doctrine of Original Sin and not being cognizant enough to respond to grace. There is a lack of harmony with countless Scriptures in both the Old and New Testaments. Where is the harmony with Ezekiel 12, beginning with verse 19, Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity?’ When the son has practiced justice and righteousness and has observed all My statutes and done them, he shall surely live. 20The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself. 21But if the wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed and observes all My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die.…” On judgment day, how can the unborn be guilty when conviction of sin is by the perpetration of unrighteousness? Again in Jeremiah 31:30, “Everyone will die for his own iniquity.”If the judgment will be upon the basis of deeds done in the flesh (2 Corinthians 5), how will the unborn inherit Hell by their own conviction?
Ben Franklin and Morality
I’ve been meditating on the moral code brought forth by Benjamin Franklin and have come to some conclusions. Firstly, let me say my source for observation is the very works that represent the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin conveniently arranged by The Modern Library, a Random House publication of 1944.
The moral code of Franklin consisted of thirteen virtues:
- Temperance. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
- Silence. Speak not but what to benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
- Order. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
- Resolution. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
- Frugality. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e. waste nothing.
- Industry. Lose no time; be always employ’d in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
- Sincerity. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and if you speak, speak accordingly.
- Justice. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
- Moderation. Avoid extremes; forebear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
- Cleanliness. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.
- Tranquility. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
- Chastity. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation.
- Humility. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.
Franklin was prompted to pen these virtues when following a sermon on Philippians 4 where the evangelist found five points of significance from the text involving virtue:
- Keeping holy the Sabbath day.
- being diligent in reading the holy Scriptures.
- Attending duly the publick worship.
- Partaking of the Sacrament.
- Paying a due respect to God’s ministers.
Ben Franklin and every other person of faith have the expectation of morality within the context of worship. But we as Christians should have the expectation of living the morality of Jesus, which is only reasonable. Immorality profanes the name of Christ when it becomes common in worship. Can we as Christians be as vigorous in the pursuit of morality as the Junto was to Franklin’s society? Our righteousness should exceed what is beyond “religion.” The world who seeks after a definition of morality should not find it lacking among God’s people. It is not a moral code whereby we are obligated to fulfill and be judged by as if to nullify grace, but rather the fruit of a confessing spirit whose faith is at work on the basis of the Holy Spirit who resides within.