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October 11, 2024

Our past several blogs have dealt with the definitions and differences in absolutes and relativisms. This all leads us to a natural question: How do we engage and how do we correctly use the eternal absolutes effectively as founding choices in our lives?

First of all, we recognize that there are eternal absolutes and there are temporary and changing relativisms which are mostly based on culture and environment. Our lives must be lived and developed where we are not overcome or overwhelmed by the relativisms that we encounter, but where we fix our gaze on following the course that is established by the eternal absolutes. 

In Proverbs we are taught a process that is simple and effective. We are told that knowledge without wisdom profits us little. We are instructed that with all of our knowledge we must gain wisdom, which is knowing how to apply the knowledge to ourselves personally and experientially. We are also told that knowledge when engaged correctly as wisdom brings understanding, and understanding reveals how our acquired wisdom fits into our God’s plan for all of humanity. This is important.

September 20, 2024

Our Family was a part of a very fundamental group of faith when my siblings and I were growing up. They were and are wonderful people. Very fraternal. Their written list of restrictions and prohibitions was long, and candidly very bizarre.

1) Members could not chew gum,

2) Ladies were not allowed to wear makeup,

3) Ladies were not allowed to wear pants or shorts,

4) Men and women could not swim together,

5) Members of the organization could not wear jewelry,

6) Members were not allowed to go to movies,

7) Their position on divorce and marriage after divorce was unscriptural and very hurtful and divisive to individuals and to families,

8) They touted a position of exclusiveness that was incorrect and unscriptural and discredited many whom God has and had chosen for leadership,

9) They ascribed virtue to church membership that only comes through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

And the list continued. They had actually created lists specifying more than fifty such things.

The point of all of this is that all of these positions over time have changed and have now become acceptable and okay. They were relatives to begin with. They were not eternal and they were not to be our first consideration. They were distractions to the important things that were and are eternal.

When we put first things first, the secondary choices become more clear and easier to understand. There were and are many wonderful people who are a part of this organization.  They are great friends. They simply were taught wrong, and many were injured. 

Unfortunately, this story has played out countless times in churches and faith groups of all stripes. Have you experienced the same thing in your faith background and history? As you reflect on this, make a commitment to build and focus on absolutes in your life and faith, rather than that which is relative.

September 13, 2024

In last week’s blog we discussed absolutes — things that exist without being dependent on anything else. Now we turn our attention to the opposite idea: relativisms.

Anything or anyone else who depends on anything or anyone else for their existence and for their validity are considered to be relative, or a relativism. In other words, relativisms have a necessary dependence on something else for their validity and for their existence.

We as eternal beings are to live and to base our lives on our relationship with the eternal absolutes in our lives, and not on the changing relativisms.

 There is a strong synergy that forms a very powerful energy between things that are eternal and the absolutes. We are eternal.

Sadly, most of religious teachings and the things the doctrines of our religious institutions are founded on — what distinguishes and separates followers of Jesus from each other, and the things that become religious anchors — are at best relativisms. They change. They are not eternal.

This should cause each follower of Jesus cause to stop and reflect. Ask yourself, “Am I following religious dogma, founded on relative ideas that cause division? Or am I following that which is solid, that which is absolute, that which is unchanging — the Kingdom of our God?”

September 6, 2024

We are designed to have absolutes in our lives that do not change. We cannot function properly and effectively without recognizing and honoring the absolutes. The absolutes are to be primary and to be the rudders and the directional mechanisms for steering us to the correct choices for the living of our lives.

What are absolutes? Absolutes are things that exist without being dependent on anything else. They correspond to ultimate reality. Put another way, absolutes are values or principles which are regarded as universally valid or which may be viewed without relation to other things.

In our lives, the absolutes that govern and direct us are: God, His Word, His Kingdom, and eternality. These are all absolutes and they do not change.  All of these are eternal realities, they do not depend on anyone or anything else for their existence, nor for their validity. They stand on their own without having to be upheld or supported by anything or by anyone else.

We will continue down this path next week, as we discuss the idea antithetical to absolutes — that of relativisms.

August 30, 2024

Last week we discussed how Jesus operated in miraculous signs and wonders through His relationship with the Father, and how He said that we would do even greater works than Him.

Somehow we seem to believe that these demonstrations are performances that are completely up to us. We have to be able to execute them by ourselves and of ourselves. Yet, Jesus was clear. He did nothing of Himself, He only did what He saw the Father doing. What Jesus described here was relationship based on eternality. The communion and the fellowship between Jesus and the Father was intimate and it was powerful. Our relationship can be no less. It appears that we are challenged by our concept of our identity, our origin, our purpose, our moral compass, and our destination. We do not know who we are, where we came from, why we are here, how we are to live and what happens when our spirit leaves our body and departs time.

Listen to what Jesus said about this in John 8:14 TPT:

Jesus responded, “Just because I am the one making these claims doesn’t mean they’re invalid. For I absolutely know who I am, where I’ve come from, and where I’m going. But you Pharisees have no idea about what I’m saying. – John 8:14 TPT

This was the understanding and the platform Jesus operated from while on the earth. His origin, His identity, and His destination were certain and they were established in His Spirit.