limited atonement

The sacrifice of Christ on the cross was for the purpose of saving the elect.

I think I have problem with this calvin TULIP. On this week study of 'day of atonement' in leviticus 16, i have come to this conclusion.

The High priest did atonement for all in the camp. So when Christ did the high priest job for us, it was for all. Both elect and non-elect are in it.

The argument that sacrifice for non-elect is going waste is a good one. But i don't think it is a important one. As Dr. Swindoll refers 2 peter 2:1 for it, I also think reading from scripture is more important than any logic we can apply.

Why is this that important. Because work of Christ as High Priest is a complete work.

As much as we can, we must talk and think very high of His work. not any less. We should have a very high view of His work on cross. Remember the principle- We should have a very high view of God.

All other 4 have a high view of God and His work. This does not.

grace

i have been thinking a lot about what was told in church and also what i heard from my friend. church pastor said, if you are not bright student or a successful person in life, don't take the trouble in spreading the gospel. message from Failed person does harm to the message. In fact the pastor suggested that these failure people to call themself as mormon or muslim.

I have great respect for these two people. I have a issue with what they talked because their view is a poor understanding of God's Grace.

If you read 1 corinthians 1, you know what i am talking.

They (pastor and friend) judged themself to be more holy/successful then others and they can spread the gospel where as failed people should not.

Why pride a big sin?. Why is God against it. I will be mad if someone copy my idea/work/efforts and say it as theirs. Same is what happens with people of pride. They receive grace from God and say it is their efforts. they are better student at school because of Grace of God. They have success in work because of God's grace. The main component in their success is Grace of God. It is not their brain in preaching or the efforts they put in it.

So don't take their advice. Take this from me. If the world considers you a fool, you are the perfect person to spread the gospel. Or if you consider yourself a fool, then you are a perfect messenger of the gospel.

What the world considers as best brains are not really the best. What the world consider as successful person are not really successful ones.

you may think what type of complex i am having. why does he call himself a fool?. When compared to His wisdom, there can be nobody with anything of it. Just like a drop of water is nothing compared to a sea/ocean, our understanding of anything is nothing when compared to infinite wisdom.

careful little eyes

pride

Please read - Colson on Pride

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/10/colson.corruption/index.html

disciple

in this information age, all wants to be leaders. Many wants to be first among 1000. then there are those stars who wants to be one in a million. if i write asking me to be a disciple, you may feel i am little out of touch with the world.

what is important in team building?. leader has to tell what is expected from the group. if leader does not have a vision, my advice is leave that group. leader without vision goes nowhere and he is going to drown you with him. we talked that in mission.

then we need disciples to make things happen.

why do people follow?. is it that they don't have another option that they follow.

when i think more about it, what makes a person to follow the leader is the trust the leader has build in the disciple. when disciple knows that the leader has best interest of the group in his mind, disciple will do all that is needed.

I have seen people taking credit for following rule of the land or commandments of their religion. Some call them self as law abiding citizen. Some as pious follower of the religion. If they do it without trusting the nation or God of the religion, i don't know what to call them.

i follow rules of this country because of her promise of American dream to all. i follow my religion because of the trust my God has built in me through His service. my trusted nation can fail me. my trusted leader/boss can fail me. my trusted friend may fail me. my trusted parents can fail me. my trusted wife can fail me. They may not say or do things for my best interest.

i know someone who has you and me in our best interest. do you like to know?

mission - just a positive thinking

During our summer vacations, we used to travel to our uncle's home in Vellore. There in his living room was a painting with 2 little birds flying in a very high altitude. It was a very scenic painting to see. More than the painting itself what got my father's attention was what written at bottom of the painting.

It said - ' they fly because they think they can'. if i could rephrase it for the title. ' they fly because they positively think they can.'

gentlemen and ladies, if there is a goal that you want to achieve in life, i think there are only 3 things you got to follow.

1. you need to have a positive thinking.
2. got to visualize the prize/joy set before you to endure the cross.
3. throw away your worries.

All these steps are very simple and self explanatory. Let me try to explain.

• +tive thinking: There are 2 type of people talking to you all the time. One talking good things and another talking bad things. One will take you to good places and another take to bad places. Or to say it different- there are 2 line of thoughts that runs your mind all the time. One towards positive side and another towards negative side. for example- if you find a man hurt in a car accident on your commute to work. one thought will say- go and help that person. another says don't do it because you will hurt yourself by doing it. My advice to you is to listen to the positive side. You may like to try your entrepreneurship skills. Some will say don't try it because it will hurt you and others will ask you to try it because you will have many to gain from it. it is better to listen to positive side of it.
• visualize the prize set before you : If you want to be a Olympic athlete, you got to visualize being one. That is when you can do those strenuous workout. If it takes to sleep only 3 hours a day to be a CEO of GE, you can never be able to do it if you don't visualize yourself being the CEO. there will be days where you will not be allowed to eat what you want to eat if you want to be a world class athlete. (check out the word athlete. it comes from athle-a Greek meaning contend for a prize.)
• Don't worry: When you want to be somebody, there will be many who will hate you. if you have little success they will hate you even more. they will hate you for the color of your skin. they will hate you for the belief that you have. they will hate you for the language that you speak. they will hate you when you walk in and they will hate you when you walk out. when something bad happens they say he deserves it. they want to kill you with their words, actions, and influence. There is nothings you can do about it. you write those in a paper and crush it to throw it in trash. if you struggle in throwing it to trash, you can give it to my son. he knows how to throw it.

2nd and 3rd are just the first point of positive thinking. 2nd is a motivation to listen for positive ideas or thoughts. 3rd point is the reason not to listen to negative thoughts or persons.

All is nothing but positive thinking. There must be some cynic out here thinking, samuel - life is not that simple. let me tell you this. this world is not about wise men. this world is not about rich men. this world is not about the mighty men. it is about you. it is about you believing in the dream. then you get to be the strong, rich, and wise men. then you get to be the 2 little birds flying in that high heights.

adios.