Gathered Around the Fire

SCRIPTURE ALONE WAS THE CRY OF THE REFORMATION We need to return to saying only what God is saying...  So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that  I do nothing on My own, but speak exactly what the Father has taught Me.    John 8:28  Once  the Roman church  left the safe harbor of saying precisely what God said. Protestants may follow the same slippery path unless we guard our thoughts and words. The cry of the protestant movement was Scripture Alone! But we have adopted many traditions of the Roman Church.  I heard a popular new song sung recently - While the lyrics of this song paint a compelling picture and I can agree with some of the sentiments. It is confusing when lyrics contradict Scripture and  can cause confusion. Because people sing the songs perhaps more often than they read the Scriptures firsthand.  Here are the lyrics that caused me some consternation.  Verse...

A small dinner party held at a local religious leader's house was almost totally shut down by a scandal.  The dinner party at Simon's house recounted by eyewitnesses in the gospels has crisscrossed the globe wherever the good news of the gospel has been preached this dinner party story has also been told.  Simon one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, He went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.  A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and poured perfume on them. (Historians say this perfume cost her about a full year's wages) So in today's terms maybe $50,000-$90,000!  When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touch...

In the Tabernacle of Moses, and in the temple, there were three sections The Outer Court   -  The brazen altar for Sacrifices - The laver for cleansing the priests   The Holy Place   - Only Priests ministered unto the Lord The Holiest of Holies   - The High Priest alone could enter - Only one day a year.   -  E xceptions ended in immediate death.    Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving... Without Thanksgiving, we lock ourselves on the outside... looking in. Like orphan children standing on a street corner on a cold winter night, we can see the warm fire and lights from a distance.  But we are unable to enter into the place of His presence.  We thank God for His goodness , His goodness is all around us everywhere we look.  It is the goodness of the Lord that leads men to repentance.   The outer court is about salvation. His goodness includes Grace, Forgiveness, Patience, Love, and acceptance. Giving thanks for salvation with ...