Journey To Faith

I can tell you more ways to get in, but Alistair has five more ways to keep you out of it. Here are points five through nine of "Why Good People Do Bad Things (Part B)"

5. They're deceived by the darkness. Job 24:15 talks of the men who wait for night to do their deeds. They avoid the light with the thoughts that their evil deeds will not be discovered in the dark.
6. They fail to guard against the appeal of sin. We tend to discount the real pleasures and temptations of sin. We need to determine ahead of time to avoid it; otherwise, when we're in the moment, the appeal will overcome us. Sin desires to have us.
7. They fail to recognize the power of sin's appeal. Not only does sin want to have us. It is powerful, prepared and predatory.
8. They fail to see beyond the immediate. There is always a come-on that offers immediate gratification but conceals the ultimate predicament. This is one of the biggest gotchas for me. My friends have always said that I fail to see the ultimate consequences of my action. Five minutes is miniscule compared to a lifetime, infinitesimally small compared to eternity.
9. They fail to see what's obvious.

Looks the message will continue on the last point. Stay tuned.

- Written on my blackberry at the library. Technology is cool ... me, not so much.

:)

Sent via BlackBerry from Cingular Wireless

Time to clean off the cobwebs and oil the presses - I'm back! OK, no fan fare is likely warranted; my absence here is more like a rude awakening for me. Nevertheles, time to put the past behind and press on.

I'm very pleased to see that Alistair Begg's daily messages are now blogged. I love the humility, passion and insight that Alistair brings to preaching the Word. I'll probably be using him for my muse. Hopefully he doesn't mind.

I'm a little behind him in the sequence. I'm going through his message entitled, "Why Good People Do Bad Things". It often takes the wind out of the sails of Christians to see their leaders fall from grace. Alistair summarizes the reasons why with nine simple points:

1. They neglect God's Word. This is clearly the most important. Being out of the Word leaves us vulnerable to wash about in the waves of the world.
2. They fail to learn lessons from life. Common sense is unfortunately all too uncommon.
3. They fail to choose in advance. As a Puritan once said: the narrow way was never hit upon by chance. Neither did a heedless man ever live a holy life. We must choose to do right or choose not to do wrong before the temptation comes.
4. They choose to live on the edge. They allow themselves to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. This, after point one, is likely the most poignant for me. Way too often I find myself in the local tavern or worse where nothing good can result.

The rest of the list next time.