KEY PRINCIPLES FROM THIS MESSAGE:
James 1:22-7 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. If anyone thinks he is religious [note: TRUE religion in view here] and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
“unstained” – from aspilos – means undefiled and hence fully acceptable; “without spot or stain”; refers to what is morally (spiritually) untainted, i.e. morally unblemished (pure) – “free from censure, irreproachable, free from vice, unsullied”
We shouldn’t be celebrating changed actions; rather, we should be celebrating changed hearts!
A changed heart is an inspired heart!
The Passionate Builder – blog 9/6/25
Passion is never a substitute for knowledge.
I’ve met a lot of people who, for a season, appear to be incredibly fervent for the Lord. They say things like, “I just love the Lord with all my heart!” However, their lives betray them. They are quite often unstable, emotional train wrecks. Sure, they exhibit some type of excitement for the things of God, but there’s no foundation for it – only superficial, fleeting emotions. This type of passion is unsubstantiated by Truth and when it fails them (it always does), they blame God for not holding up His end of the bargain. What they fail to realize is that God never bargained with them in the first place (certainly not on their terms, as they apparently have supposed)!
Passion without knowledge breeds partiality in favor of one’s presuppositions about God, where wrong assumptions lead to poor decisions. Peter was famous for this (read Matthew 16:21-23). The Apostle John said, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). There’s a lot of misinformation about who God is and what is pleasing to Him, so we must be very careful to whom we listen.
Do you possess a Biblically inspired, godly servant’s love for NCC and its members?
Peace and unity in a community isn’t free. Some have quipped “freedom isn’t free”, which is very true. To maintain such things in a local church, there will be suffering because there is constant need for discipline.
Beauty Is As Beauty Does – blog 9/13/25
“…though I grew up in church, I served an idol whom I elevated above God, namely me.”
If you love self more than God, then you will NEVER love others more than self!!!