Virtue...

There are basically two ways to look at and approach the noun virtue. One is that it is a set of rules and regulations that must be followed in order to attain it. Two virtue is exercised by action and the attaining of it through practice makes perfect. This second way is what the verse at 2nd Peter verse 5 is relating to. For by example is it both taught and attained. One clear and concise observance of virtue in action is worth a thousand thousand lectures or sermons on the topic.

Imagine for a moment if you will that your mind is a steel trap that it is such a good steel trap that it locks up with such ferociousness that anything in it's grasp cannot escape. I have a friend well maybe he is not truly a friend but more like an friendly associate/adherent. He always say's this about the mind "garbage in, garbage out". Now lets try together to apply this concept to our lives.

Lets say someone decides to take out there frustration on us and if we decide to bite back even though we previously were in a good mood. Were we truly in a good mood to begin with? The practice of a virtuous response would be like the commercial of the guy that chews Juicy Fruit bubble gum you know the commercial he gets home and his clothing is ripped his hair is all mussed and he's simply a mess. His sister yells out and says "Mom Billy was chewing Juicy Fruit again". With single minded purpose we must train ourselves to enjoy the fruit of the spirit outlined in Galatians 5:22-23, that which is;

love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

When we add virtue to our gift of faith we are moving from the unconscious into the conscious realm and making a decision that is both deliberate and purposeful.

Next Post Knowledge...

May...

The Lord bless and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
And give you peace.

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Faith...

Ephesians 2:8-9

⁸. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

⁹. not of works, lest anyone should boast.

FAITH is a gift from God so none can boast. Such as; my church is better than your church, my denomination is godlier then yours, or my church is the the only true church, I am a better Christian because of what I do, etc. Faith comes from God and allows us the privilege of believing in Jesus Christ the Son of God Almighty. FAITH is NOT denominational nor does it come through good works of any kind.

Everyone that has lived or is living today has thought about God at some point. This is the seed of FAITH that God has giving to all mankind. When we consciously choose to explore this gift we enter a different realm from the one we have known. It is the realm of God, were we as sinners are loved so much that God sacrificed a part of himself so that we lowly human sinners might have life through Jesus Christ. It is also a realm where a healthy fear of God is born in the repentant sinner so that he/she might finish the good works started in them.

When we first get the revelation of faith or become Christians were we repent of our sin and believe in Jesus Christ the Son of God we are intoxicated with the revelation that faith brings with it to our poor souls. That is the reason why most folks who become Christians are on fire telling everyone the good news, until they begin to loose steam. Here we come to a crossroad the place were the fear of man or fear of God has a battle inside us. If we choose the fear of man we lose because fearing man makes the gift of FAITH neutral or makes us luke-warm believers and unworthy to be called sons of God.

Whereas the fear of God allows us to complete the good work that was started in us through the gift of FAITH. If you have faith and you know it is a gift from God and have thankfully accepted it the I encourage you to add to your FAITH... VIRTUE

Next post Virtue...

May...

The Lord bless and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
And give you peace.

Try a Bible Quiz and test your knowledge

click here ---> BIBLE QUIZ <--- click here

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All posts by M.A.C. © Bruce W. Moar

The Walk of a Christian...

Ever had one of those days were you are constantly getting bombarded and your temper is being tested to the verge of EXPLODE? Most of the things that can make us loose it, are things that are simply beyond our control. This is were we get the opportunity to exercise the really only God giving inherent right that exists to all peoples of the world, our SELF-CONTROL.

If you ask anybody this question the answer should more than likely be the same for everyone;

Q. What is the only one thing that you truly have control over?

A. Yourself

In second Peter chapter 1 verse six it says to add to your knowledge SELF-CONTROL something that we must do in our walk as Christians (believers of Jesus Christ) is exercise our SELF-CONTROL daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, throughout our lifetime.

However we are getting ahead of ourselves because all to often we fail to exercise our SELF-CONTROL at some point and loose our tempers. The bible has a sure fire way for us to get control of ourselves and to understand what we as believers must do.

The answer lies at 2 PETER 1:3-11

³. as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,

⁴. by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Fruitful Growth in the Faith <--- (most bibles have this heading before verse five)

^5. But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,

^6. to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,

⁷. to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.

⁸. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁹. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

^10. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;

¹¹. for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Over the next month or so we are going to focus on what we must do to have a fruitful knowledge of Jesus Christ and help make us effective believers in Jesus Christ. So tell your family, friends, and associates to tune in as we delve into what we need to do to be the best believers we can be.

Next post FAITH how do you get it, where does it come from, why you need it, etc...

May...

The Lord bless and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
And give you peace.

Try a Bible Quiz and test your knowledge

click here ---> BIBLE QUIZ <--- click here

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All posts by M.A.C. © Bruce W. Moar

The Truth Shall Set You Free...

Life is said to be an accumulation of our own experiences and the experiences of others that can directly/indirectly influence us. Whether those experiences be positive (enjoyable) or negative (endurable/sufferable) they are part of the whole of our being and existence. John Donne (1573-1631) a Jacobean poet and preacher influenced Hemingway... For Whom the Bell Tolls;

No man is an island, entire of itself

every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main

if a clod be washed away by the sea,

Europe is less, as well as if a promontory were,

as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were

any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind

and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls

it tolls for thee.

(Taken from; Meditation #17, "Devotions upon Emergent Occasions")

King David had a plan to construct a temple to house the venerated Ark of the Covenant and the Ten Commandments, which God had given to Moses on Mount Sinai. But God thwarted his plans on the basis that the King had caused to much bloodshed and was an iterate sinner. So King David who was said to be a man after God's heart was judged unworthy by God to build the temple that would house the Ark of the Covenant and the Ten Commandments. So the task fell to his son Solomon whom is said to have had more wisdom than any other man ever in the history of all mankind, even unto today.

But, despite Solomon's great wisdom even he succumbed to a great fall and showed that he too, was after all only human, just like his Dad. The bible says we are all sinners that fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). And that we are justified by the grace of God through Jesus Christ.

Justified to what end?

Lies? A lie told in ignorance is still a lie...

Murder? Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind...

Deception? The greatest lie every told was convincing the world that the Devil/Satan doesn't exist...

Surely in this time more so than any other time in the history of mankind we have become smarter due to the availability of information at the fingertips of each any every single person world wide. No longer shall we be conformed or relegated to being just what our cultural and societal conditioning says we are to be. We can break free with the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help us God. Also we can own our own thoughts, actions and deeds instead of blaming the Devil for what we do. Let us be accountable for our actions, words and thoughts if not to each other, than surely to God.

The Truth Shall Set You Free....

May...

The Lord bless and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
And give you peace.

Try a Bible Quiz and test your knowledge

click here ---> BIBLE QUIZ <--- click here

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All posts by M.A.C. © Bruce W. Moar

Acquiring the Armour of God...

We all live in the same world. However within this world there are many degrees of separation. Such as; geography, language, cultural differences, belief, religion, socio-economic position, politics, interests, etc. just to name a few.

These things become hurdles in our effort to unite the body of Christ here on earth. But what about the hurdles we cant see? Should we as believers be worried about these things? Remember the bibles states; We do not wrestle against (flesh and blood) but against principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

NOT AGAINST EACH OTHER DO WE WRESTLE...

We are to put on the whole armour of God so we can withstand these beings that are older, smarter and more powerful than us finite human beings. And God assures us that we can stand firm if we only put on this armour to protect us.

Where do you get this armour?

Can you get it from your Pastor/Priest/Spiritual Leader?

How about by going to church every Sunday?

Can you buy this armour through a television ad or a ministry?

Can you make it yourself?

Or is the only way to get it is by studying and understanding the word of God through daily reading, meditating and prayer?

You be the judge share your armour story here if you like....

May...

The Lord bless and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
And give you peace.

Try a Bible Quiz and test your knowledge

click here ---> BIBLE QUIZ <--- click here

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All posts by M.A.C. © Bruce W. Moar

Behaviour modification for the "Bad Christian"...

C. S. Lewis said that we need more books written by Christians, and less Christian books. I think we need to extend that thought and add. What we as Christians need is less Christian music, and more music that is written by Christians. What we as Christians need is less Christian films, and more films by Christians.

I am a grassroots Christian. I want to be enamored by Christ, not by Christianity. I want to be a member of that subversive force of disciples, submitting my talents and abilities to Christ's purposes, and influencing society from the inside out. What about you?

When we focus on changing ourselves through belief in Jesus Christ we can help change the behaviour of the world towards us by being living examples of Jesus Christ in all we do.

If you are wondering where you fit in, in the scheme of things and have not committed yourself to ministry. Then please consider helping someone else in their ministry.

May...

The Lord bless and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
And give you peace.

Try a Bible Quiz and test your knowledge

click here ---> BIBLE QUIZ <--- click here

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All posts by M.A.C. © Bruce W. Moar

The Busy Bad Christian...

Well it's been over a month since I last posted. I have been very busy taking courses on film making and practicing my new found skills. I will soon be Apple Pro certified in Final Cut Pro and closer to the realization of documenting my findings on Christianity.

Also I have been busy asking people the question that can define what it is that Christianity is all about to our modern society.

"Do you think that God sent His only son Jesus Christ to the earth to start a new religion called Christianity?"

The current consensus is that people who are church goers almost always say no and people who are not church goers almost always say yes. Very interesting when asked point blank what they think, we get two different answers from two different perspectives.

If you would like to see my show on what I have discovered about Christianity over a 25 year period since I first became a believer. Please feel free to contact me by email; bemore@live.ca and I would be happy to discuss my fee and schedule a date that works for you.

I could still use help with "The Bad Christian Project" if you want to get involved you can contact me by email or through this blog. I need folks from all over that have video camera's and would be willing to interview the low-high profile Pastors (any denomination) in their areas by asking them this question/s; Do you think that God sent His only son Jesus Christ to the earth to start a new religion called Christianity? if the say no then ask them;

1. So, Why do we need denominations then?
2. Why are they a part of the domination they are leading?
3. What is their testimony, why do they believe what they believe?
4. Is the Christianity we practice what God intended or does there need to be radical change right across the board to do as God intended it to be?

May...

The Lord bless and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
And give you peace.

Try a Bible Quiz and test your knowledge

click here ---> BIBLE QUIZ <--- click here

Subscribe in a reader

All posts by M.A.C. © Bruce W. Moar