Minister Moose Tracks

"Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?" - Romans 2:4 For many years, my walk with God lacked knowledge of the above truth; I knew God was kind, forbearing and patient towards me, but was ignorant of how I should respond to it. Various passages of Scripture confused me such as Exodus 34:6-7,  “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” For some years I felt self-condemned over patterns of sin in my life. I would think to myself, "Am I among the forgiven or am I among the guilty?" Was I one of God's enemies or one of His children? After all, my pattern of sin ...

Something I was thinking about recently: The LGBTQI+ community celebrates their pride with a rainbow flag. The Bible says that the rainbow is a symbol of God's promise that He will never destroy mankind again by flood (Gen. 9:12-17). Perhaps more significant, however, is that it indirectly points to a future promise that God will destroy mankind by fire (2 Pet. 3:7), just as Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed for their sexual immorality (Gen. 19:23-25). The rainbow flag that the LGBTQI+ community waves above their heads is, in a way, them celebrating their own destruction. It reminds me of the passage in Revelation where the unrepentant cry out for the mountains and rocks to fall upon them, in an attempt to hide from the Holy One of God, Jesus Christ (Rev. 6:15-17); they would rather perish in their sins than repent. The truth of the matter is this: 1. The LGBTQI+ community are sinners and haters of the one true God, just like every other sinner (Rom. 1:30; 3:10-11,...

When it comes to the powerful parables told by our Lord Jesus Christ, one that sticks to me is found in Luke 18:9-4, known as "The Pharisee and the Tax Collector." Back in Jesus' day, the Pharisees were the religious elite among the Jewish people and we read throughout the gospels how Jesus confronts them for being outwardly religious but spiritually dead on the inside (cf. Matt 15:8; Mark 7:6). In this particular parable from Luke 18, the Pharisee thinks he is doing just fine by God and even thanks God that he is not a wretched sinner like tax collectors. Although there may seem to be a kind of righteousness in the words of the Pharisee, the tone is undergirded with an unhealthy pride and failure to recognize one's own sin nature (cf. Rom. 3:23). The tax collector, on the other hand, is very aware of his sinfulness and spiritual poverty and cries out to God for His mercy to be upon him. In our day, there is a pride that stems from many who profess Christianity an...

About two weeks after the Lord saved me from my sins, my pastor confronted me one day and said,"You know, now that you're a Christian, you better clean up that mouth of yours." I was immediately convicted by this; by the grace of God, I was finished using foul language a few weeks afterward. This was one of my first tastes of the pure life that God desires for me to live. I see, however, many who profess to be Christians and still strongly sound the bell of worldliness. The Holy Spirit, of course, works at different speeds when it comes to sanctifying people, but there still is evidence...if indeed the Spirit does reside within a person. These people are not new to the faith, but rather proclaim to have a faith in Christ without any transformation. Such people have "cheapened" grace by simply wanting to escape the fires of hell and nothing more. Does God just save people to save them with also allowing them to live their lives as the world leads them?...

Everyone, at least those who are very familiar with Western culture, are aware of the various beliefs and ideas that flow around "Friday the 13th." For most, it is seen to be the unluckiest day of the year. For those who are born-again in Christ, however, what is there to be unlucky about? Perhaps a better question is, "What does 'luck' have to do with anything at all?" It is perhaps merely out of ignorance that many Christians still hold on to a notion of "luck," but what it really comes down to is an issue of idolatry. Along with other forms of idolatry such as astrology (Deut. 4:19), sorcery and divination (2 Kings 21:6; Is. 2:6), those who practice that which is detestable in the sight of the Lord will not enter the kingdom of God (Rev. 21:27). When you attribute a positive or negative occurrence to "luck," God is immediately robbed of the glory due to Him. Stop. Nowhere in the Bible can it be found that something happened becau...

Psalm 100 1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord , all the earth! 2 Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! 3 Know that the Lord , he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his;     we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! 5 For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.   As we come upon the annual celebration of Fall's main holiday of Thanksgiving, for many of us we begin to reflect on those things for which we are most thankful for. Usually, there are common things which people will note, such as family, friends, and life in general. While it is to be recognized that such are blessings from God, Christians are also called to be thankful for other things which ought to precede those wonderful blessings of famil...

 The writer of Ecclesiastes makes it very well known that this is simply not true when he states, "...the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead" (Ecc. 9:3). This is certainly not the same thing as saying that humans are not able to do "good" things; they most certainly are capable since every person is made in the image of God and are able to judge between right and wrong. Nonetheless, people naturally put themselves on the throne and view God as only an accessory to be used when things aren't going well in their lives (that is, if they acknowledge God at all). If every person was only "wounded" by sin instead of being totally depraved with sin, then that would suggest that there is an "island of righteousness" inside the heart of every human being which is the part that every person can use to reach out to God and be saved. Where does this idea come...

Isaiah 14:12-14 “How you are fallen from heaven,      O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground,      you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart,      ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God      I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly      in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;      I will make myself like the Most High.'" Pride. If there is a "king" among the different kinds of sin, perhaps this would be it. Indeed, Isaiah directly speaks regarding the evil king of Babylon but he also alludes to the prideful spirit of Satan himself. The sin that caused God to cast Satan out of heaven is the same sin that causes us to believe that we have no need of God. To the mind of natural man, it is detrimental to think that he is dependent upon someone...