Apparently, there are people who think that when Jesus sits on his glorious throne and puts the sheep on his right and the goats on his left, that he will say to Mother Teresa, “I was hungry, and you did not feed me; I was sick, and you did not visit me.” In Jesus’ recounting of this future event, it is only those who are sent into the fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Meanwhile, they also believe that in their comfortable, middle-class American lives Jesus will say to them, “I was hungry, and you fed me; I was sick and you visited me.” It is only those who will enter the everlasting kingdom.
God once said, “This one will I look upon, he who is of contrite spirit and trembles at my word” (Isa. 66).
It is so hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven that it takes a miracle. Many of us do not recognize how wealthy we are in worldly goods. There is a reason that Paul taught us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. God have mercy on my soul that I might care even 1/10 as much as Mother Teresa did for “the least of these” and that the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches do not pierce me to death with their thorns.
About Paul Pavao
I am married, the father of six, and currently the grandfather of five. I teach, and I am always trying to learn to disciple others better than I have before. I believe God has gifted me to restore proper theological foundations to the Christian faith. In order to ensure that I do not become a heretic, I read the early church fathers from the second and third centuries. They were around when all the churches founded by the apostles were in unity.
My philosophy for Bible reading is to understand each verse for exactly what it says in its local context. Only after accepting the verse for what it says do I compare it with other verses to develop my theology. If other verses seem to contradict a verse I just read, I will wait to say anything about those verses until I have an explanation that allows me to accept all the verses for what they say. This takes time, sometimes years, but eventually I have always been able to find something that does not require explaining verses away. The early church fathers have helped a lot with this.
I argue and discuss these foundational doctrines with others to make sure my teaching really lines up with Scripture. I am encouraged by the fact that the several missionaries and pastors that I know well and admire as holy men love the things I teach. I hope you will be encouraged too.
I am indeed tearing up old foundations created by tradition in order to re-establish the foundations found in Scripture and lived on by the churches during their 300 years of unity.