Baptism Cannonball!

hilarious

Dr. Albert Mohler just posted a review of an article in Wired magazine about the New Athiesm.
What has jumped out at me is the blatant attack on the authority of the parents to teach thier children.
They not only don't want anyone to believe in God, they don't want to respect anybody that does, including parents. They view religion as a virus that is handed down from parent to child.
Anyway, I don't want to steal Dr. Mohler's thunder...as if I could. lol

http://www.crosswalk.com/news/weblogs/mohler/

Soli Deo Gloria,
Aaron "Tree" Landis
Psalm 1:3

Matthew 16:15-17
At this time Jesus turns to his disciples and asks, "But who do you say I am?"(emphasis mine). Keep in mind they have seen Him up close. During the teaching times they were privy to the interpretation of the parables and the lessons that He gave. They had seen what the boy gave them to start with when the 5000 men were fed, served it to them, and collected what was left over not long prior to this encounter. They knew there was no coincidence that there were 12 disciples (12 tribes, do the math).

They knew who He was. They knew, except one, from the time that He called them.(John 1:44-51). Peter is the one who answered, the one that one author calls the "Apostle with a foot shaped mouth."1 Much like a jury foreman, Peter speaks up. This time, unlike others where he spoke before he could carry through, he gets it right.

"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."
How did Peter come to such a conclusion? Was it the miracles? The feeding of the multitude with a few loaves and fishes? What was Jesus' response to Peter's answer?

Matthew 16:17
This was something that even wild eyed Peter, could not have come up with on his own. Only God Himself can reveal to the human heart, who the person of Jesus Christ is. I can't, with any persuasive arguement, convince you that there is but one sacrifice for sin that will atone for what you have done to God. Only through a faith given by an encounter from heaven can do so.
When His Father does reveal to who He truly is, there is a blessing. That blessing is knowing that there is eternal life. Not life that begins when we die, but begins at the moment God the Spirit moves in our hearts resulting in saving faith in the One who died to make us His own.

Tomorrow, the danger of misunderstanding why He came.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Aaron "Tree" Landis, Psalm 1:3

Matthew 16:15
I honestly believe that the most important question of our day is 'Who is Jesus?' Because let's face it, if He is nothing more than a mere man, good teacher, etc. then the entire human race for the last 2000+ years has been royally duped. If He is not who He claimed to be we are wasting our time because of the greatest hoax the world has ever known.
But...If He is who He claimed to be...as the Gospels and the New Testament canon show Him (not some outside canonical books such as Gospel of Thomas-not the Apostle Thomas, who doubted-because they were written 100+ years after the last Apostle died)....if this Jesus is real then He deserves our worship, our obedience, our faith, our lives...
Almost midway through Jesus' ministry, at the near middle of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus asks His disciples a pretty pertinent question, even for today. Matthew 16:13-20.
Matthew 16:13-14 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He began asking His disciples, saying, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" 14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets."
He asks His disciples to tell Him what people are saying about Him. Not because He doesn't know, or wants to evaluate how He's doing teaching them. But rather to here their reaction.
Now the Jewish people of that time (and today as well) held that the Messiah would be more of a political leader, not a redeemer, not a sacrifice for sin, definitly not a carpenter from Nazareth.
Notice what they say. "some say John the Baptist..." What was John the Baptist known for? Remember what the message of the baptizer was? John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"
Matthew 3:1-2
That was Jesus' message also. 14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."
Mark 1:14-15
Next they say " some say Elijah..." What was Elijah known for? He was a major prophet who was known for his walk with God. Jesus was a man of prayer known to go up to mountains alone in prayer.
"...some say Jeremiah..." Why Jeremiah? If you want to get a glimpse into the demeanor of Jesus, this is one of them. Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet. He preached to Israel all his life, calling them to turn from thier false idolatry back to God, repentance. Yet not one ever did.
Isaiah described the Messiah like this: Isaiah 53:3 he is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Jesus was not a happy man. He was sorrowful. At what? The sinfulness of the ones He created. Their rebellion and rejection of His revelation.
"some say one of the prophets..." This was coming from the people who's father's hands were covered in the blood of the prophets God had sent. Matthew 23:29-31 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 "and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.' 31 "Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
People today still make the same mistakes. Part II tomorrow and we'll look at the Most Important Answer.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Aaron "Tree" Landis
Psalm 1:3