The Road Rarely Traveled, The Faith of One Man that Changed the Second Mellinimum

The Road Rarely Traveled,
One Man’s Faith that 
Changed the Second Millennium

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Romans 1:17 NRS     For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, "The one who is righteous will live by faith."

Once upon a time in a land far away full of knights and castles there was an extraordinary man.  But, still a man born of humble beginnings, beaten as a child for his misdoings because daddy believed, along with most in Germany, that God was vengeful and you had to work or buy your way out of purgatory.  For Martin Luther (1484 - 1546) this made no sense and haunted him, for his first 20 years, Luther felt God was a loving God, but there was no one to help him or show him.

Martin Luther

Now, Luther’s daddy loved books, the family could be hungry because of buying books and Luther unknowingly learned to love books.  As it turned out, loving books, courage to travel, and the fear of God lead him to boarding school, Erfurt University, Priesthood, and Wittenberg University to teach, and to strike out at the wrongs of the Catholic Church*1 of the 1500's.  In his education, at age 20 he discovered a Bible in a library, and for the rest of his life he found himself on a road leading other people to a new relationship with Christ.  Martin Luther (1483-1546) in the journey to change the Catholic Church, had to abandon the Church and begrudgingly begin a Reformation.  Others before him with similar beliefs were burned at the stake, John Huss for one.  In April 1521, at a Diet (Conference of high officials) in Worms Germany, he told the Pope's high representative and the Emperor he would not 'recant' his writings against the writings and leaders of the church.  In May, 1521 Luther's excommunication from the Church was completed with Emperor Charles V declaring him an outlaw, to be killed on sight.

Luther took the Road Rarely Traveled in his day changing the world.  His writings gave birth to the Protestant Reformation, a revolution, and the beginnings of the slow change in the Catholic Church.  Luther, as he came to know God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, showed his genius mind, even translating the Latin Bible into German during a three month period.  Perhaps no writing instrument has ever been as powerful as Luther's pen and the Gutenberg Press (invented around 1450).  He became who he was because he had a pain in his heart and in perseverance, searched for a solution.

Some things out of many we learn from Luther about his quest for Christ in his life: 
1-  Choose your goals wisely.
2-  Seek your goals relentlessly.
3-  “Never ever give up”
4-  Above all else, Seek a greater relationship with Christ in your life.
5-  Be courageous for the Lord God, believe in Christ as your Savior, and allow the Holy Spirit to Guide and Protect your life. 

Luther survived excommunication from the Church and the outlaw status.  In 1530 at the Diet of Augsburg a confession of Protestant faith was read to the Emperor and accepted as legal in the Empire.  Luther's outlaw status was also rescinded.  Never raising a sword Luther depended only on his Faith in Christ and scripture to support and defend his work as he toured the Road Rarely Traveled.  

As Luther, we too must seek God's Love and Mercy through Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to help us build our Trust in God and Jesus.  It is a Road Rarely Traveled that will contain rocks, brambles, and snakes, but Faith and Trust will conquer.

Changed people change the world.  To change the world, we step onto a Road Less Traveled.  What part of the world can you change, if you just step out, become as Luther, and pursue your Christ and goals relentlessly?  Who needs your help to do the same?

Seek first the Kingdom of God in your life, and
let His goals be your goals,
Be like Luther and pursue them without fail. 


You too could change the world around you.

Thanks Be to God

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*1 -  My apologies to my Catholic friends.  In no way do I feel the present Catholic Church is reflected in the Church of Luther’s time.  All churches have problems in every time, as long as a church is seeking God’s wisdom and salvation in the manner He desires, the church will be in His Grace.  In simple terms, the Church of Luther’s day was highly focused on money and that lead to its fall from Grace during that era.

The information in this article came primarily from
“The History of the Protestant Church” by John Wiley,
Books 5, 6, 9.
 http://doctrine.org/?page_id=2002

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ldcoggins@gmail.

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lonnie 

Publication  0088

Why Do We Stand in Amazement of God’s Work in Our Life?

Why Do We Stand in Amazement of 
God’s Work in Our Life?   
  

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Matthew 15:3

The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

David Copperfield is a Las Vegas headliner with one of the great magic shows of our era.  When people see his shows they know it is a trick and slight of hand but are amazed.  We are amazed not of the trick but how well he can do the trick and we cannot determine how he did it!  Years ago he made a space shuttle disappear and reappear.  It was most amazing.


When Jesus healed and taught, repeatedly the crowds were amazed, Matthew 7:28, 8:27, 9:33,13:54, and many others times throughout the Gospels, people were amazed and astonished at what Jesus could do!  From the Greek Bible and Word Study we learn that amazed in these cases can mean any or perhaps all of the following: astonished, thrown into wonderment, astounded, surprised, dumbfounded and several other meanings.  People of Israel would wonder where Jesus received His wisdom, His power, His abilities.  They were yet to understand His divinity and most thought Him to be only human like everyone else.  They were astonished because He could do what no one before Him had ever done!


Why is it then that as Christians, who profess His Divinity and believe because of His Resurrection can too often, as in Jesus’ time, feel amazement at the fulfillment of our humble prayers?  Yet, we know of Jesus’ creativity (John 1:3 *), His powerful wisdom, His Healing Abilities from our studies, personal experience, and the experience of believers around us.  Why then should we be amazed when He answers our prayers of need?


During the storm described in Matthew 14:29-31 Peter goes to Jesus and walks on water as Jesus does. However, as soon he is alone between Jesus and the safety of the boat and he looks around at the storm, and in loosing sight of Jesus becomes afraid and loses his faith; then he begins to sink into the water.  Jesus is faithful and at hearing “Lord save me” Jesus pulls Peter out of the storm.


We pray for our needs because of our faith but why should we be astonished, astounded, or surprised when our prayers are answered?  Could it be that our faith like Peter’s dissipates as we travel though our storms?  In the midst of our storms, we must cling to our faith that God’s promises will be fulfilled in our lives.... and not be surprised at fulfillment in our prayers for our needs.  Pray often ...... everyday ...... and let God's fulfillment of your prayers build your faith.  Fulfillment is God’s promise,  pray and feel God build your trust, in doing so your trust in God will never stop growing especially in the midst of a storm.  Prayer truly prepares us for the storms in our lives.  But! We must Trust.

Trust is like a garden, either growing and producing fruit or ... it is withering.  We must understand that prayer is the water and fertilizer component developing our Trust.  Jesus is the provider and perfector of our Faith (Hebrews 12:1-2), but, we must build our Trust to achieve the greatness of our Faith.  Jesus commands us to Trust God, and Trust Him - John 14:1.

Pray everyday, focused on needs and not our wants, 
pray counting your blessings rather than your "problems",
pray more for others than self, 
pray in the good times to know better how in the bad,
pray in humility rather than feelings of self pride, 
pray in thankfulness especially when in disrepair, 
pray in real expectation rather than expected fruitlessness,  
pray in feelings of gratitude rather than attitude, 
pray in faithfulness rather than faithlessness, 
pray in desire of His will to live in us, rather than our will,
pray in selflessness rather than living in selfishness,
pray often everyday,

pray for faith greater than Peter's,

pray for inner peace in our chaotic world,
pray for understanding the fullness of God's Grace,
pray for guidance of the Holy Spirit,
pray as Jesus prayed,
    "not my will but your will be done". 

Pray, and Pray, and Pray, Everyday,
   pray especially for the little needs in our lives,
   and
as Moses said to the Hebrews at the Red sea,
   "... watch what God will do for you today."
Then, do not be amazed at His Glory in your life, but
     show His glory to others in the way you live your life.


With God building our Faith, 
   With us praying and building our Trust in Him,
our Faith and Trust will not be based 
       on the occasional amazing results of prayer but 
the Greater Realization of 
             His Constant Force in our lives: 
   Providing for us always 
   Planning for us constantly, and 
   Protecting us continually in ways 
     we do not see, feel, or completely understand.


Finally, we must pray most especially and expectantly for 
       God to grow and build us in our Greater Faith in Him.

We should certainly be thankful for God's work in our lives, but amazed?  His work in our lives is His everyday work! Perhaps we do not spend enough time realizing how much He loves us, He wants to do for us, and especially, that He wants to hear from us.  Pray often everyday and watch what He will do for you.


Thanks be to God.

lonnie (c)


References:

• Hebrews 12:2 NIV

  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
  Read Hebrews 12 | View in parallel | Compare Translations

• John 14:1 NIV

  [Jesus Comforts His Disciples] "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.
  Read John 14 | View in parallel | Compare Translations

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*  John 1: 1-4     1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not ONE thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. ... 14 And the Word became Flesh.....

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© Lonnie Coggins
ldcoggins@gmail.com

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Please email me if you find any broken links in this message.

lonnie

Publication  0000

intro:

We humans can so easily be amazed at so many tricky things.  It usually comes from a lack of understanding.  But, there is something so very important to our lives that involves no trickery that we should understand and  should perhaps not be amazed.  You can decide.

http://lonnieadailythought.blogspot.com/2011/07/why-do-we-stand-in-amazement-of-gods.html

Noah and Sam, Do you Listen but Think too Much?

Noah and Sam,

Do you Listen but Think too Much?

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Genesis 6:8 NRS

But Noah found favor
      in the sight of the Lord.

Recently, a friend named Jill made a comment about the Old Testament Noah,  and it began to cause me thoughts about, "What if Noah was second choice of God, and had talked to someone else before Noah, let's say his name was 'Sam' ".

Sam is fiction, but here, he is a lot like all of us.  This next paragraph is much about us.  We are not fiction, but very much like Sam sometimes.

Now, this Sam had to have been a good man if he found favor in the sight of God.  It was probably said that Sam lived in a way that was proper before God, did great things for God, raised his family as he should, and in God’s eyes, was just an all around just and right man before God.  So, God said to Sam, "Build me an Ark", and as recorded in Bill Cosby's monologue about Noah, Sam said "What's an Ark?"  After a discussion concerning the ark, Sam told God, "let me think about it.".  After a period of waiting for Sam's decision, God became impatient and chose Noah to build the Ark.  Noah did what God said with little hesitation and the rest is God’s History,  Sam, he listened to what God had to say but in his indecisiveness he missed the boat.

How often do we put off doing what God desires us to do, because we think too much.  I do and too often.  We can love God, but slowly think of many good reasonable reasons and rationalizations to do something else.  We sometimes subtly put ourselves above God desires for us and in our desires we stumble, and then wonder, “what happened?”.  But, through Jesus’ teaching we come to understand God is patient and has forbearance in the temporal world,  …as long as He allows us to be here.

Of course, doing what God desires for us is not a decision to take lightly.  We must pray for His guidance and ask Him to help us live in His Will.  In this, Jesus gave us the perfect example of what to say to end our prayers, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done. ”  We cannot be indecisive about our relationship with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit; it is not a simple life-as-we-know-it decision, it is the eternal decision for our unending lives.

We should not… no we cannot be indecisive or reluctant in growing our relationship with Jesus, because we may become as Sam, and Sam, .... he missed the boat.

Jill finished her thoughts, “So, God was so sorry that He made mankind that he decided to destroy the creation that He made.  He saw one man though...Noah and because Noah was a good man and he loved and obeyed God and because of Noah we are here today serving God.”

Jill continued, “I want to be a NOAH!!!!!!  if God decided today to spare the universe because of one person...I want to be living a lifestyle so pleasing to God that He just smiles when he looks on my life...and I want Him to say "she is my Noah."

We all should follow Jill’s example and live to be God’s Noah.  Our present life and our Eternal Life depends on it…… Or we could be like Sam, and  ... miss the boat.

Praise God For His Patience for Our Lives

© lonnie coggins

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© Lonnie Coggins

ldcoggins@gmail.com

If you desire to use any of these messages in a For-Profit manner you must contact me (email) for permission.  Typically, I will most likely give permission.

Please email me if you find any broken links in this message.

lonnie

Publication  0025

Intro

SOMETIMES WE THINK TOO MUCH when we feel the call of God, the nudge of the Holy Spirit.  Our problem is we fail to respond for many reasons and miss great opportunities when we fail God.  Click for a thought on Sam.   Please share the message on your Fb page as you like, and if you like, click the FB 'Follow' button to have notifications of these publications.  For other messages like this, visit my FB page, or on FB visit-"A Daily Thought Group".

http://lonnieadailythought.blogspot.com/2011/07/noah-and-sam-do-you-listen-but-think.html

Planting Seeds and Keeping Faith

Planting Seeds and Keeping Faith

Matthew 8: 5-13   an excerpt:

8 The centurion answered, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, "Go,' and he goes, and to another, "Come,' and he comes, and to my slave, "Do this,' and the slave does it." 10 When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, "Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith." 

As a gardener, I have learned many things about God from His nature.  It is the gardener that selects the right place, prepares the soil by plowing, removing weeds and rocks, makes the rows as it should be done, and plant the seeds, and continues to nurture the soil and plants.  But ... IS . IT... the gardener that makes the plants grow and bear fruit?  Not by any means!!  It is the gardener who has faith and does the necessary things for God to then take over and grow everything as it should be done.  I just had to have faith to do my part my earthly father had taught me as a child.

My wife and I opened up an old garden area this year where my father and mother grew a garden over 20 years ago.   I had faith that where father had his garden for 40 years I too could have a garden.  I cut my first cantaloupe from that garden today from exactly where he had planted the same.  It could have been sour and I would have loved it, but it was just as good as if daddy had planted the seed.  You know why it was sweet!  God had grown that cantaloupe for me just as he had done for my father,  I just had to have faith to do the same as my father would have done.

Just as the Centurion had faith in Jesus to heal, he did his part by humbly coming to Jesus for what Jesus could do in his life.

How often we fail to see the need for greater faith in our own life such as faith like the Centurion had in his.  It is through the Holy Spirit God grows our faith, as we are pretty helpless to do so for our selfish selves.

To have the Holy Spirit in your life, we must pray, and pray and pray everyday; share our faith with others, plant seed and bring others to the Faith, believe as the Centurion, "stand still" and watch what God can do in and for your life (Exodus 14:12-14).
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My earthly father taught me more than a bit of gardening skill, in his own private way he set the example depending on our Heavenly Father.  Amen.

George Washington, Was he Christian?

George Washington, was he Cristian?

"Almighty and eternal Lord God, the great Creator of heaven and earth, and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; look down from heaven in pity and compassion upon me Thy servant, who humbly prorate myself before Thee." George Washington's prayer at Valley Forge.

This prayer is an answer that very probably surprises you.  Most students in public schools today if they are taught anything about George Washington's' faith are more likely taught he was a Deist, a person who believes in a God and that God gives us Godly Reason.

One can find much information on this, but his faith was far more than God and Godly reason.   Most people reading this can believe that, in our Christian faith, we believe there is a God and he gives us His Godly Reason .... through the guidance of -the Holy Spirit and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Such was the case of George Washington.  Based on his own writings and the people around him, George Washington was Christian!  When we study this history we not only learn of his faith, by his example we learn how it should be a part of our lives.  This is a wonderful legacy of just one of our founding fathers.

At the side, there is a picture of General Washington (GW) in prayer, one that could be in most history books of an era some years ago, but this and stories of his faith began to disappear from the history book some time ago.  This revisionist history began in the 1920's and has since been perpetuated.  Today, this revisionist history is perpetuated by talking heads on television such as Keith Oberman, writers, and many magazine/newspaper articles.   Washington's pictures of faith and other writing concerning his faith disappeared slowly from the public scene, just as Bibles in the schools and learning scripture so too disappeared from the scene.   GW's faith played a major role in his life and he came to believe in the early part of his life that he and this country was under the protection of God.

One of his first instances of this feeling of God's protection came in a battle in the French and Indian War.  GW and his troops of 100+ of the Virgina militia rode with a British General Braddock into the Ohio Valley to push the French troops out of the frontier.  The British troops and GW's militia were ambushed and lost about 500 of 1300 men.  GW was the last man sitting on a horse, Braddock and his officers were killed.  Upon their withdrawal that allowed them to rest, GW finally took off his coat.  He found the coat had four bullet holes in it, but GW was not wounded or even hit.  GW later learned from the Indian chief leading the ambush had to tell his indian fighters to quit shooting at the man on the horse, because he was under the protection of the Great Spirit!   Many years later the chief later told GW that he personally shot at him over 20 times.

There is much more to learn from people who knew him best.  If you do so, as you read of this subject (see references below) you will come to learn of how the Founding Father's beliefs in Jesus was such a profound influence on the creation of this country.

One of the foremost authorities on this subject is David Barton from Texas.  He founded  Wall Builders.com.  There Barton discusses GW and the Christian faith of many other of the founding fathers influenced the building of this country.  Currently, Barton is on the High School Curriculum Board for the state of Texas.  He is in his own battle to get the history corrected in the Texas History Books used in the public schools.  He has many detractors calling him a fraud, but so did Jesus, it does not deter him.


Pray that God will continue to Bless the bastion freedom, we call the "United States of America" as God blessed this the greatest of our Founding Fathers. 




    References:
Was George Washington Christian?

http://www.christiananswers.net/q-wall/wal-g011.html


The World Union of Deist
http://www.deism.com/deism_defined.htm

The Religion of George Washington,  Chaplain, Lt Colonel, Edwin Davis
http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1976/jul-aug/edavis.html

David Barton
http://www.wallbuilders.com/
         American Heritage Series from WallBuilders:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnFw1f6K2W8



Other interesting information

Some quotes by other Founding Fathers:
http://www.errantskeptics.org/Quotes_by_Presidents.htm