Minister Moose Tracks

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...

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...

Ruth 1:15-18 15  And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16  But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17  Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” 18  And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more. When the Spirit stirs within a person to fervently pursue the ways of God, the person's will is conformed to His own and diligently seeks ways to please Him. In this brief wonderful story found in the Old Testament,  we read of a woman named Ruth who dwelled in the pagan city of Moab. Ten years after two Israelite men took Ruth and Orpah, another Moabite woman, to be their wives, they both died, leaving Naomi, th...

Genesis 3:8-13 8  And they heard the sound of the  Lord  God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the  Lord  God among the trees of the garden.  9  But the  Lord  God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10  And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”  11  He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”  12  The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”  13  Then the  Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” In the verse before our passage (v. 7), we read that the eyes of Adam and Eve were opened and so they sewed fig leaves together to co...