blog-maryBlog - Joyful Curmudgeon - Blog
A Mary T. Hoffman Commentary from All-Creatures.org

 

"Joyful Curmudgeon" An oxymoron?
No! I see all the beauty of God's creation and I'm joyful.  At the same time, I see all the suffering and corruption going on in the world, and feel called to help expose and end it so that we may have true peace and compassion.

 


A Great Light - 18 Feb 2006
By Mary T. Hoffman

I have heard people who profess to be born again believers in the Lord Jesus cite the following scriptures as applying to themselves and their fellow believers:

Isaiah 9:2-3

2. The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them. NASB

And the following fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, when Jesus began to preach:

Matthew 4:16

16. "The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great light,
And to those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death,
Upon them a light dawned."
NASB

What puzzles me is how so many of these “believers” continue to have such hard hearts, indicative of darkness and not of light. One would think that the light of the Holy Spirit of God would transform these believers, gradually making them live lives reflecting Galatians 5:22-25:

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
NASB

Just what is it that these people don’t understand about these Scriptures? Would a person who has “crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” and whose life shows evidence of the fruit of the Holy Spirit continue to ignore the cruelty of animal agriculture and indulge in hunting and fishing for fun, even leading children into the same abominations?

Isn’t it time that churches stop trying to raise money with “roast beasts”? It is hard to believe that people informed by the Holy Spirit can really pray, without qualms, over the products of suffering that can be described as truly demonic!

Go on to: Stumbling Blocks - 19 Feb 2006
Return to: Abuse of Children and Animals - 17 Feb 2006
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