Dr. Terry Threadwell's Blog

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. (Mat 7:7-8 NKJ)

My mouth shall speak wisdom, And the meditation of my heart shall give understanding. (Psa 49:3 NKJ)

Jesus gave us some good advice earlier when he told us to, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Mat 6:33-34 NKJ)

To seek means to search for, try to find, look for. What better way to seek out an answer to a particular problem than to meditate on the Word, to look intently for a Kingdom solution. The answer may not always come quickly for sometimes God wants us to learn not only the Word but also learn from the process, that way we discover what we’re looking for, but we also discover who we are.

James W. Fowler

“Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces. (Mat 7:6 NKJ)

But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. (1Co 2:9-10 NKJ)

Not everybody is ready to receive the deep things of God, and that can include Christians. If you take the deep things of God and share them with a person that’s an unbeliever, or a Christian that spends more time courting the world, then don’t be surprised if they mock you, and laugh and discredit what you share.

The Psalmist in Psalm 24 asks the question, “Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? The answer comes, “He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully.” Not everybody ascends the hill of the Lord. Some stay behind and settle for a golden calf, other may climb part way. Sometimes you need to keep the deep things of God in your heart until the time is right to share.

Fowler’s Stages of Faith

Description of the stages[edit]

• Stage 0 – “Primal or Undifferentiated” faith (birth to 2 years), is characterized by an early learning of the safety of their environment (i.e. warm, safe and secure vs. hurt, neglect and abuse). If consistent nurture is experienced, one will develop a sense of trust and safety about the universe and the divine. Conversely, negative experiences will cause one to develop distrust with the universe and the divine. Transition to the next stage begins with integration of thought and languages which facilitates the use of symbols in speech and play.
• Stage 1 – “Intuitive-Projective” faith (ages of three to seven), is characterized by the psyche’s unprotected exposure to the Unconscious, and marked by a relative fluidity of thought patterns.^[4] Religion is learned mainly through experiences, stories, images, and the people that one comes in contact with.
• Stage 2 – “Mythic-Literal” faith (mostly in school children), stage two persons have a strong belief in the justice and reciprocity of the universe, and their deities are almost always anthropomorphic. During this time metaphors and symbolic language are often misunderstood and are taken literally.
• Stage 3 – “Synthetic-Conventional” faith (arising in adolescence; aged 12 to adulthood) characterized by conformity to authority and the religious development of a personal identity. Any conflicts with one’s beliefs are ignored at this stage due to the fear of threat from inconsistencies.
• Stage 4 – “Individuative-Reflective” faith (usually mid-twenties to late thirties) a stage of angst and struggle. The individual takes personal responsibility for his or her beliefs and feelings. As one is able to reflect on one’s own beliefs, there is an openness to a new complexity of faith, but this also increases the awareness of conflicts in one’s belief.
• Stage 5 – “Conjunctive” faith (mid-life crisis) acknowledges paradox and transcendence relating reality behind the symbols of inherited systems. The individual resolves conflicts from previous stages by a complex understanding of a multidimensional, interdependent “truth” that cannot be explained by any particular statement.
• Stage 6 – “Universalizing” faith, or what some might call “enlightenment“. The individual would treat any person with compassion as he or she views people as from a universal community, and should be treated with universal principles of love and justice (Wikipedia)

Most Christians do not develop beyond Stage 3

“Judge not, that you be not judged.  “For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. (Mat 7:1-2 NKJ)

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. (Rom 8:1-2 NKJ)

So, are we to judge nothing or nobody?  If we were to go further into Matthew 7, we would find that this is not the case.  Later we are called to discern what we share and with whom we share it in case they are dogs or swine, (Matt 7:6) people who see no value in the things of God and later we are told us to judge whether a person might be a false prophet. (Matt 7:15)  Good judgment and discernment are vital as we walk out our salvation daily.  Jesus was concerned with the people of God being condemning. Condemnation passes sentence and punishment.  If I condemn a person, then I am saying that there is no hope or room for change.  The Apostle Paul tells us, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Rom 8:1) Therefore Jesus warns us not to condemn lest we bring condemnation on ourselves.  I thank God for his grace, for while there is still breath in a person, no matter how reprobate they may be, they can still change.  We all need to remember where we came from and the love, grace, and mercy that was extended to us.  With the measure we receive, we should also give back.

“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! (Mat 6:22-23 NKJ)

Every year I go to the Ophthalmologists, and they check my eyes, looking for signs of damage, degeneration, and overall eye health.  Five years ago I was diagnosed with a cataract in my right eye.  The following year they decided that it was ready to have surgery.  The cataract didn’t really cause much of a problem; you just seem to adapt, with my left eye taking most of the strain.  A little blurry, colors were not sharp, and contrast was poor, but the gradual progressive deterioration meant that you didn’t realize how bad it is until the surgery.  With a new lens in place, I was amazed at how bright things were, colors were amazing, and the definition was dull.

Spiritual blindness can be much like a cataract. You slowly lose the brightness, sharpness, and definition.  Without surgery, blindness is inevitable.

God’s Word loses its WOW!  Worship becomes just another song, and ministry is just a chore. The Laodicean church, in the Book of Revelation, thought they had need of nothing, they didn’t see that they were lukewarm and made God sick, they were “wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked”– (Rev 3:17 NKJ) I don’t know about you but I don’t want to end my day’s blind. My prayer today echo the words of a well-known song, “Open the eyes of my heart, Lord, Open the eyes of my heart.  I want to see You; I want to see You.” (Michael W. Smith)

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; “but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Mat 6:19-21 NKJ)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,  (1Pe 1:3-4 NKJ)

I remember a chorus that we used to sing in church many years ago, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.”  The more I mature as a Christian, the greater my desire is for the things of God, in fact, the material possessions of the world have paled into insignificance in comparison.  The Devil knows, however, that, if he can just get us to turn ours heads away from the Lord and onto that new car, or bigger house that will take more of my earnings, or a better job that will require more of my time, and the desire for more money, he knows that the heart will follow.  So to justify our actions, we’ve developed a theology of prosperity.  Why, if I give ten percent of my income to God, I will get a return on my investment, if I pray for that bigger car, better house, more money, God will supply all my WANTS according to his riches in glory—somehow I don’t think so. The focus of the Lord’s Prayer was that ‘Our Father’ will supply all you have need of.  The blessing he bestows on us come from your obedience, love, and devotion, in response to his grace and mercy. The world, on the other hand, will just tempt you with unobtainable wants.

When I was a child, Vauxhall Motors brought out a vehicle called the Vauxhall Cresta.  It was flashy, covered in chrome and impressive.  If you bought one of these cars, you soon found out that your investment was nothing more than a rust bucket.  Cars can rust, houses can go into recession, and that 401K’s can vanish overnight, but God is always sure and true.

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. ‘ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Mat 6:12-15 NIV)

Forgiveness is a two-way street, to be forgiven you need to forgive—unconditionally and with grace and mercy.  That shouldn’t be difficult seeing that we are made in the image and likeness of God.  I believe that when man(kind) was in the garden, God provided man(kind) with all that he/she would ever need, and that had they continued to eat from the Tree of Life, they would have enjoyed the fullness of abundant life. However, they chose to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge.  Having done so, the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever “– (Gen 3:22 NKJ)  The problem was not so much that man now knew good and evil, it was the fact that knowing the two man(kind) would be both judge and jury, neither of which they would do with the same sense of justice with which God judges.

That’s why Jesus tells us to ask God’s help when we hear the serpent speaking to us, and not to fall for or listen to his advice.  The Devil will tell you to judge, condemn, criticize, and give you ten reasons why you shouldn’t forgive your enemies. Jesus wants us to not only forgive but to love our enemies, so that we may be debt free and forgiven.

Synopsis of ‘Ethics in the Real World: 82 Brief Essays on Things That Matter’—Peter Singer

The first section of this book focuses on the ‘Big Questions.’ Singer starts with a quote from the German philosopher Immanuel Kant.

“Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the more often and steadily we reflect upon them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me. I do not seek or conjecture either of them as if they were veiled obscurities or extravagances beyond the horizon of my vision; I see them before me and connect them immediately with the consciousness of my existence.”

― Immanuel Kant, Critique of Practical Reason.

Kant found a sense of awe looking up at the starry host.  His knowledge would have extended as far as the planet Saturn; even that was absolutely amazing. Today, there is much more to know, and that starry host goes beyond our comprehension.  Singer suggests that this knowledge increases our reverence and awe, rather than diminishing, as one might expect.

Singer quotes Bertram Russell, from an article entitles “Dreams and Facts” (1919) In it Russell is quoted as saying, “The universe as astronomy reveals it is very vast. How much there may be beyond what our telescopes show, we cannot tell; but what we can know is of unimaginable immensity. In the visible world, the Milky Way is a tiny fragment; within this fragment, the solar system is an infinitesimal speck, and of this speck, our planet is a microscopic dot. On this dot, tiny lumps of impure carbon and water, of complicated structure, with somewhat unusual physical and chemical properties, crawl about for a few years, until they are dissolved again into the elements of which they are compounded.”

Singer points out that we no longer need just words to prove earth insignificance, science has shown through pictures taken by Voyager, that the earth is but a dot on the horizon and that we are but a speck on that dot. Russell goes on the say, “No man is liberated from fear who dare not see his place in the world as it is; no man can achieve the greatness of which he is capable until he has allowed himself to see his own littleness.”

Singer points out that Russell was not nihilistic, a conclusion one might come to be reading his work and that he went on to spend the remainder of his life as an activist for nuclear disarmament.

Singer concludes, “Sagan (the astronomer) took a similar view. While seeing the Earth as a whole diminishes the importance of things like national boundaries that divide us, he said, it also “underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.” Al Gore used the “pale blue dot” image at the end of his film, An Inconvenient Truth, suggesting that if we wreck this planet, we have nowhere else to go. That’s probably true, even though scientists are now discovering other planets outside our solar system. Perhaps one day we will find that we are not the only intelligent beings in the universe, and perhaps we will be able to discuss issues of interspecies ethics with such beings.”

Our smallness does not paralyze us but shows the greatness of our God, and our responsibility to take care of the creation God has left in our charge.

Singer, Peter. Ethics in the Real World: 82 Brief Essays on Things That Matter. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ. 2016

“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. (Mat 6:9-13 NKJ)

“If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds. (Matt 6:25-29. MSG)

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Gen 1:1 NKJ) and the amazing thing is that the same God that created the heavens and the earth cares for your every need today, so stop worrying! When God led the children of Israel through the wilderness for forty years, every single day, God provided fresh manna.  When they tried to store it, they found it perished.

What happens in the natural also applies to the spiritual.  I’ve been preaching and teaching now for over thirty years, and I’ve lost count of how many sermons, devotionals or papers that I have written.  Do I have folders and folders of old sermons—no! I believe that God has something fresh for the people I’m ministering to every time. To receive it we just need to ask the Father.

“In this manner, therefore, pray: …….Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.. (Mat 6:10 NKJ)

Understanding the kingdom is key to understanding this part of prayer.  As a Christian we need to remember that we are, “ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.” (2Co 5:20 NKJ) As such then our prayer time should be to reconcile what we see or hear here on earth with the kingdom of heaven.  To be effective in this manner it is important that we don’t allow ourselves to conform to the world but be transformed, and that happens by allowing the Word to renew our minds. (Rom 12:2)

“Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.” (2Co 5:18 NKJ) That ministry of reconciliation then comes through our interaction with the world around us and how we respond to issues of poverty, war, finance, and the environment, just to name a few.  We first reconcile our thinking to bring it in line with the Word bring and then through pray we petition our Father to bring about change, bringing the heavenly model to bare here on earth.  The key to its success is our wiliness to be a clear channel through which God can move and not restrict the flow of God’s working because we have our own agendas.

“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. (Mat 6:9-13 NKJ)

Having instructed us about where we should pray, Jesus now instructs on how we should pray.  Let me point out that prayer in conversation.  In the same way that I used to have a conversation with my earthly father (he passed away 37 years ago), I should be able to have that same conversation with my heavenly father.  I can call Him Father because I have been brought into the family of God by adoption made possible by Jesus Christ. I need to be mindful that all because I am adopted does not mean we are equal.  My Father in heaven is Holy, and as such, I should reverence Him.

Now we know from Job that the sons (angels) of God present themselves before the throne, even Satan, “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. And the LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” (Job 1:6-7 NKJ) Revelation calls him the accuser of the brethren.  We too have access to the very presence of God.  Who do you think God listens to most, Satan or His Children?  Prayer is the means by which we can petition the high courts of heaven and ask our heavenly Father.