Charlie's Journey's Journal

Have you noticed how God used certain events to highlight His work?  The most appropriate time for Him to offer His Son as the ultimate sacrifice for sin was during Passover.  The New Testament gospel was first publicly preached on Pentecost, a time when devout Jews were gathered in Jerusalem.    There were days God created to accomplish His purpose, then there were other times He used established days to promote His will. The New Testament does not place much emphasis on “special days”, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we shouldn’t take advantage of our surroundings to highlight our walk with God.  Take this week for example.  Thanksgiving is not a holy day to God, but it provides His people with a natural platform to praise and honor Him.  What better backdrop for the message of Christianity than when people are thinking about their blessings and expressing appreciation for what they have received.  As we prepare for the upcoming...

There is an adage among Second Amendment advocates and those who promote gun ownership that “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.”.  Last Sunday, a church in central Texas personally lived this debate.  Now before we go any further I want to be clear about my point – I am not advocating the right to carry a gun, nor am I promoting an anti-gun agenda.  As citizens of this nation we have the luxury of engaging in this public debate, but this article is about human, moral choice.  In-and-of themselves a firearm, a vehicle, a canister of oxycodone or a bottle of Jack Daniels mean nothing.  They are merely tools to be used or misused by people.  These things have no heart, no conscience, no culpability.  Yet, when we pick them up and they begin to serve our purposes – that is when we have an accountability to our fellow man and must answer to God.  As I look back on the events of the past week I am drawn to James’ description of sin.  ...

When we hear about terrorist attacks, massacres in the Third World or cases of human-trafficking it is easy to lament the loss of the perceived value of human life.  It seems like life today just doesn’t seem to be held in the same high standard that it once occupied.  While these cases of the extreme devaluing of life get our attention, how many of us struggle with appreciating the value of our lives?  Sure, we understand the essence of life in general, but it is often easy to fail to appreciate just how special we are – no matter who we are! When we struggle with self-appreciation, let’s recall a few simple (but powerful) observations from the Bible: 1.  We are made in the image of God .  God’s crowning creative act was accompanied by this commentary, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness …” (Genesis 1:26).  No we aren’t gods, but we are fashioned after the image of the Supreme One. 2.  We are incredibly made ....