Posts by Carlos Valenzuela
SOUND WORDS, DEC. 15, 2024
CHURCH-GOD CENTERED OR MAN CENTERED Religion by its very definition would seem to involve God. The word godly means God-centered. However, there are those who practice a religion that is all about man rather than God. To say that such religion is godly is not to say that it is wicked, but simply that it is not centered in God. Jesus described such people in his day in the words of Isaiah: “These people draw near to me with their…
SOUND WORDS, DEC. 8, 2024
DID MY GENERATION NEGLECT THE GRACE OF GOD? I cannot understand how so many of the younger generation of preachers (sometimes encouraged by a few older ones) can talk about how woefully the generation before them neglected to tell people about the grace of God. They boldly speak about it as though it was a settled fact of history and that their generation is going to correct the matter by speaking more about grace and less about commandment keeping. As…
SOUND WORDS, DEC. 1, 2024
MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT THE BIRTH OF JESUS “Jesus was born on December 25th” If you were to ask most people in the world (be they religious or non-religious) “When was Jesus born?” After receiving a rather puzzled look they would probably tell you -“Well, December 25th, of course!” In fact, the Bible does not tell us a date upon which Jesus was born, and a little bit of calculation can show that it could not have been near that date at…
SOUND WORDS, NOV. 24, 2024
DOING GOOD THINGS BETTER “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12-14,…
SOUND WORDS, NOV. 17, 2024
I WANT TO BE LIKE JESUS! Several years ago the slogan WWJD – What Would Jesus Do? – became popular, especially among young people. The acronym was featured prominently on jewelry, bumper stickers, and on the Internet. While I share the skepticism voiced by many about the appropriateness of the public displays, and the motives of some people in displaying them, I also applaud the sincere desire to be motivated by the example of Jesus in making decisions. The New Testament is…
SOUND WORDS, NOV. 10, 2024
HARDENING PHARAOH’S HEART Of all the characters in the Bible, few have caused as much speculation as the Pharaoh who ruled Egypt during the time of Moses. God spoke to Moses about Pharaoh and said, “I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go” (Exodus 4:21). This promise of God was repeated on several other occasions (Exodus 7:3; 9:12; 10:20,27). Many fanciful theories have been devised to explain how God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Calvinists often point to…
SOUND WORDS, NOV. 3, 2024
IS THE GOSPEL POLITICAL? No… and yes. First, no. The gospel is not about parties and political power. It is not a brand of worldly government, for it transcends all governments (see Isaiah 2:1-4; Daniel 2:44-45). We can be Christians regardless of the political system in which we live. Some are more friendly than others, of course, and we do support freedom, but we do not require a specific form of government to be what we are. Even among the first disciples…
SOUND WORDS, OCT. 27, 2024
MY SECURITY I heard this quote from a sermon recently. “My security is not in what I believe but in Who I believe in.” I hear quotes like this a lot from pastors and preachers in various groups and normally pass them by. But I have, in years past, guest spoke in this congregation and have friends who attend there. I love them. Clearly, the church thought it was a quote worth repeating as they turned it into a reel…