“Isaac Asimov Analyzes the Bible”
By Paul R. Blake

I saw a book some time ago with the above title. My first thought was: “Now, there's an unlikely match-up.” I can think of a couple of other books that could be written and make just as much sense. How about “An Analysis of Mother Teresa's Humanitarian Work” by Adolph Hitler. Or maybe “How To Be As Mannerly As Shirley Temple” by Mike Tyson. What Isaac Asimov knew about the Bible could fit in a twelve ounce drinking glass with room left over for a can of Pepsi. He was a staunch secular humanist, an avowed atheist, and a rabid evolutionist. What could this man possibly write about the Bible that could be considered remotely objective, let alone beneficial to the reader?
Brethren, we do not wage the war with evil on a level battlefield. The unbelieving world rejects the word and work of the devout as unqualified and unlearned, yet at the same time purports to be expert in debunking a book they do not understand, and, in all likelihood, have not read. They mock the Christian who questions the specifics of the General Theory of Evolution, while they go about parroting the same tired old clichés and ignorant platitudes ridiculing religion.
One of my biology professors in Arkansas began the semester by telling the class that we were to keep our religious mouths shut when he speaks of evolution. He said, “I do not go into your churches telling your ministers what to preach; you will not come into my class and tell me how to teach biology.” Unfortunately, he had a problem with consistency. He taught religion in class, the religion of atheism. He spent thirteen weeks firing a barrage against believers in God, making fun of religion at every opportunity. Obviously, educated unbelievers can be hypocrites, too!
Do not fear the arrogant unbeliever. His unbelief is a desperate choice. Unwilling to face the evidence of his own eyes, and fearful of answering for the consequences of his weakness and sin, he finds hiding his head in the sand of denial to be his only protection. If he looked around himself in honesty, he would see God. “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools” (Rom. 1:20-22). To look around and see God's hand in all things would be too terrifying for them, so they curl up tight in their mental beds and pull the covers of intellectualism up over their heads like frightened children.
Do not be intimidated by educated unbelievers; they are quite limited. Like the Jewish Sanhedrin, they have broken their own rules of objectivity. The atheist refuses to consider any answer that involves God or His word. How's that for open-mindedness? In their diseased frenzy to impose their religion of evolution on society, they have violated their own scientific method by calling a theory fact, without experimentation or observation. Sounds more like zealotry than reason, does it not? Pity them, for their pride and worldly knowledge will make it difficult for them to see the wisdom of God and be saved. See the irony and grieve for them; they have become what they abhor... fools. “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works... The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? Who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD” (Psalm 14:1-2, 4). How sad... to think oneself to be so wise, and to actually be a self-made fool.
Do not be bullied by the cultural and political power of unbelievers. While preaching freedom from the “shackles of religion,” they tyrannically force their own philosophy and dogma on the world around them. The intellectuals of Old and New Testament times killed the prophets and the Son of God, but that did not prevent God from completing His work of salvation. They killed the apostles and early Christians, but that did not stop the Gospel from being preached in all the world. They took prayer and discipline out of schools and put evolution and condoms in the classrooms, but that hasn't come between the faithful and God. Satan's army of unbelievers will always be at the dishonest, domineering cutting edge of cultural decay. It has always been, it presently is, and it will always be... UNTIL. One day, the Lord will return. The persevering righteous believers will go to heaven, and the man who refused to believe in God will spend eternity in perdition.
“Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2Thes. 1:6-8). Incidentally, Isaac Asimov is dead. Do you suppose he is a believer, now that he is in Hades awaiting the Judgment?

A Moments Wisdom

Drinking prevents thinking, and thinking should prevent drinking.
The idle Christian is the raw material of which backsliders are made.
Although sin is sugar-coated, it is always bitter.
The strong should bear—not bare—the infirmities of the weak.
Don’t stay so busy laying up for a rainy day that you can’t enjoy the sunshine.
The egotist is an I specialist.
The grass may be greener on the other side, but it still has to be mowed.

Ten Little Christians
By Bruce Neal

Ten little members standing in a line,
One disliked the preacher and then there were nine.
Nine ambitious workers offered to work late,
One forgot his promise and then there were eight.
Eight creative members with ideas good as heaven,
One lost enthusiasm, then there were seven.
Seven loyal members got into a fix,
They quarreled over programs and then there were six.
Six members remained with spirit and drive,
One moved away and then there were five.
Five steadfast members wished there were more,
One became indifferent and then there were four.
Four cheerful members never disagreed,
One complained of meetings and then there were three.
Three eager members, what do they do?
One got discouraged and then there were two.
Two hard working members, our rhyme is nearly done
One joined a health club and then there was one.

One faithful member was feeling mighty blue,
Met with a colleague and then there were two.
Two earnest members, each found one more,
Doubling their number and then there were four.
Four determined members, just couldn't wait,
Until each had won another and then there were eight.
Eight excited members found sixteen more,
In another six verses, there will be a thousand twenty four!

Why Should I Care About Your Problems?
By Paul R. Blake

A Moments Wisdom

Why Should I Care About Your Problems?
By Paul R. Blake

The story is told of a mouse with a problem. The farmer had placed several mousetraps around the barn hoping to rid his farm of a rodent. The nearsighted mouse was very concerned about this. He was afraid that he might stumble into one of the traps by mistake or that one of his children might get caught without realizing the danger they were in. He asked the chicken, the pig, the cow, and the horse to help him destroy the traps. The chicken replied, “I have no trouble avoiding the traps, and I have no interest in the bait. The traps are your problem; why should I care about your problem?” The pig replied, “My hide is thick and the traps will not hurt me; besides, the bait is too small to interest me. Why should I care about your problem?” The cow and the horse expressed their disinterest, “While we could trample the traps into splinters, the needs of little mice hold no interest for important farm creatures like us. Why should we care about your problem?”
That night, a snake entered the barn and was accidentally caught by the tail in one of the mousetraps. The farmer found the snake in the trap and was bitten when he attempted to remove it. He became very ill, and so the farmer’s wife killed the hen to prepare him some chicken soup. However, he did not seem to recover and had to hire temporary help care for his farm. He ordered the hog to be butchered to feed the farm hands. Sadly, the farmer died from the snakebite, and the grieving wife had the cow slaughtered to feed the many mourners who came to pay their respects. Finally, the horse had to be sold to a dog food company to be processed in order to pay for the mortician’s services. The mouse’s problem was everyone’s problem.
“Why should I care about your problems?” It’s not a cynical question. Multitudes of conscientious folks overwhelmed with busy lives have to decide on a daily basis, not just how many of their own problems they can juggle, but whether it is possible to help others with their problems. In order to crowd another trouble into an already packed schedule, they have to have a good reason to motivate them to make the necessary sacrifice. It is so easy to slide into the habit of responding with the belief that they will not be impacted by the other person’s problem, and therefore withhold any offer of help.
In truth, we cannot know all outcomes; only God can know the results of every matter in this world. We often deal with the byproducts of others’ difficulties. The church at Corinth was harmed by the influence of one fornicator (1Cor. 5:1-6). The church at Jerusalem was troubled by the neglect of the Grecian widows (Acts 6:1). Peter’s error at Antioch led the Hebrew Christians and Barnabas astray (Gal. 2:11-13).
Looking out for one another’s well being is part of Christ’s will for His disciples. “Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others” (Phil. 2:3-4). Your brother’s problems are your problems.
Sharing our blessings with those who are in need is a necessary manifestation of the love of God. “But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?” (1John 3:17). Your brother’s needs are your needs.
It is vital that Christians remain aware of how others are feeling. How one feels today often determines what he does (or does not do) tomorrow. “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another” (Rom. 12:15-16). Your brother’s highs and lows are your own, and they will lead to actions that can help or hurt, not just the individual, but all those with whom they interact.
Christians are not islands. They are part of a local congregation of Christians that are affected by what each other says and does. Not only have they no right to say, “It’s my life; I’ll do with it what I want,” we have no right to say, “It’s their problem; why should I care about their troubles?” We need each other. God put Christians together in groups called churches in order that they might look out of each other and offer help as needed. We fulfill one of God’s designs for the local church when we help our brother bear his burdens. “But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you; nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary... that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it” (1Cor. 12:20-22, 25-26). Why should I care about my brother’s problems? Because his problems are my problems, too.

A Moments Wisdom

While looking at the obvious it is easy to overlook the significant.
An idea that rules people inwardly will ultimately rule them outwardly.
Experience is what you get while looking for something else.
A task worth doing and friends worth having make life worth living.
A good way to break a habit is to drop it.
The appearance of religion only on Sunday proves that it is only an appearance.
To avoid the risk of losing their religion, many people do not take it with them when they leave the church building.
We cannot meet spiritual needs by reciting sectarian creeds.
“My memory is almost gone, but I remember one thing: that I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.” (John Newton, author of ‘Amazing Grace’)
The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.
The ability to be calm, confident, and decisive in crisis is not an inherited characteristic but is the direct result of how well the individual has prepared himself for the battle.
A stubborn man does not hold opinions; they hold him.
A pessimist is one who feels bad when he feels good for fear he'll feel worse when he feels better.
A pessimist is a man who thinks everybody is as nasty as himself, and hates them for it.

“Oh My God!”
By Mike Thomas

Who
By Paul B. Blake

Some People

Three Votes Cast

A Moments Wisdom

“Oh My God!”
By Mike Thomas

I am amazed at those in our society who are quick to remove God’s name from everything except defamatory language. God’s name is not welcomed in our public schools or court houses, but very few are upset when His name is associated with cursing or angry outbursts. “G-D” is a common phrase when someone is upset, and “Oh my God” is a typical response to surprise. (HGTV should be renamed OMGTV because of the many people saying, “Oh my God”.) It is also common to hear “My Gosh” and “Gee” from people. Since these are euphemisms for the Lord’s name, they are all in the same category of taking the Lord’s name in vain.
One of the Ten Commandments God gave the Jews was to have respect for His name. “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain” (Ex. 20:7). If you and I were to list the top 10 things we expect of people in living a righteous life, I doubt any of us would include a caution about how we use the Lord’s name. It’s not as offensive to us as the other things in the Ten Commandments: lying, murder, adultery, and so on. But to God, it is just as wicked to use His name as a common word as it is to murder someone. Both are acts of irreverence and disregard. Even though we are no longer under the Law of Moses, we are to be just as careful and respectful when referring to God (I Tim. 1:20).
If I got mad and cursed your mother’s name, would you be upset? If I used your name in association with evil, would it bother you? “Oh my God” is no different to God. It is taking His name in vain by using it in a common and disrespectful manner. Our Creator deserves a better response from us. Correction. Our Creator demands a better response from us!

Who
By Paul B. Blake

Romans 8:31-35
1) “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect?” Answer: It is God who justifies. He created the whole world, and it is His.
2) “Who is he that condemneth?” Christ died for us; He paid the price for us. No one else paid this price, so how can anyone else condemn us?
3) “Who is even at the right hand of God” Christ rose from the dead and is sat down at the right hand of God. He has all power and authority.
4) “Who also maketh intercession for us” There is none greater than the Son of God making intercession for us.
5) “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” There is nothing that can separate us from Christ’s love. He has proven this on the cross and in the resurrection from the dead.
6) “Who can be against us?” God spared not His own Son for us. No one or no thing can separate us from God’s love, but we can by a sinful life. If we sin, we will be separated from God. It is our choice.

Some People

The president of U.S.T.R. said the following: “Some people insist on being the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral.” How true this is! Some people have to be number one at everything going on. They have to be noticed, the center of attention. They have all the sicknesses of all other people. They are in the business of all other people. Their job is the hardness of all other people. They are most beautiful of all. If you get something bad, they got it worse. If you get something good, they got the same thing, but theirs is better. They will do anything to be number one. When there is an assembly of some kind, there are people that have to be the first one there. They will leave hours early so they can be first. Why?
Don’t try to be number one at everything. You are just hurting yourself. The scriptures teach us differently. When you come in, don’t sit down in the best seat, but take a lesser one. Then when the Master comes, he can move you up. Christ said that he that is first shall be last, and he that is last shall be first. Give up trying to be number one. If you do make it, you will not keep it long. It’s too hard. Don’t talk about how good you and your family are. It will mean nothing coming from you. Let someone else say it. It will mean a whole lot more. (selected)

Three Votes Cast

First vote: God votes for us to go to Heaven.
Second vote: The Devil casts a vote for us to go to Hell.
Third vote: We have the deciding vote.
God has done everything He could for us, so if we voted His way, we would go to Heaven. And if we do vote His way, we will be saved.
The Devil has done nothing to deserve our vote. The only thing he has done is make life corrupt. The only promise the devil can deliver is hell.
We have the deciding vote. If we serve God here on earth and do His will, our vote is for God. If we disobey God, our vote is for the devil. We make the choice. How are you voting? Who are you backing? You can’t work for the devil and vote for God. If you work for the devil, you voted for the devil, and you will receive the devil’s reward. If you work for God you will receive God’s reward. (selected)

A Moments Wisdom

It is not how much we have but how much we enjoy that makes happiness.
Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first and the lesson later.
What shall it profit a father if he gains the whole world and loses his own son?
To be without friends is a serious form of poverty.
Some people’s spirits grow gray before their hair.
In the words of an old African-American preacher: “I read myself full; I think myself clear; I pray myself hot; and then I preach myself empty”
Why does your failure to plan necessitate an emergency on my part?
If my hands are fully occupied in holding on to something, I can neither give nor receive.
Love at first sight is easy to understand; it’s when two people have been looking at each other for a lifetime that it becomes a miracle.
An ounce of keeping your mouth shut is worth a pound of explanations.
Some people are born on third base and go though life thinking they hit a triple.
I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who overcomes his enemies; for the hardest victory is victory over self.

The contest between Stanton and Lincoln for the office of President began with Stanton treating Lincoln with contempt. He called Lincoln "a low cunning clown" and nicknamed him "the original gorilla."
"A person was a fool," Stanton claimed, "to wander about in Africa trying to capture a gorilla when he could find one so easily in Springfield, Illinois." However, Lincoln did not respond in kind. And, when Lincoln was elected president, he appointed Stanton as his war minister because he was the best man for the job. He treated Stanton with every courtesy. On the night when the assassin's bullet murdered Lincoln in the theater, in a little room where the President's body lay, there stood Stanton, looking down on the silent face of Lincoln in all its ruggedness. Stanton spoke through his tears, "There lies the greatest ruler of men the world has ever seen. There lies a man of steel and velvet." The patience of love had conquered in the end. Beloved, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Rom. 12:21).
"It is fit and becoming in all people, at all times, to acknowledge and revere the Supreme Government of God; to bow in humble submission to His chastisement; to confess and deplore their sins and transgressions in the full conviction that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and to pray, with all fervency and contrition, for the pardon of their past offenses, and for a blessing upon their present and prospective action." (Abraham Lincoln, declaring a National Day of Prayer and Fasting following the Battle of Bull Run)

Horses or Donkeys?

Stephen Brown explains that when a group of thoroughbred horses face attack, they stand in a circle facing each other and, with their back legs, kick out at the enemy. Donkeys do just the opposite; they face the enemy and kick each other.
How often the church does just that… ignoring the real enemy while we attack fellow believers.

True Riches

One day a wealthy man took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose to show him how poor people can be. They spent a day and a night on the farm of a very poor family. When they got back home, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"
"Very good Dad!"
"Did you see how poor people can be?" the father asked.
"Yes!"
"And what did you learn?"
The son answered, "I saw that we have a dog at home, and they have four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of the garden, but they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lamps in the garden, yet they have the stars. Our patio reaches to the front yard, and they have a whole horizon."
When the little boy was finishing, his father was speechless. His son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are!" (Author Unknown)

Survival Kit for Daily Use

Toothpick
Rubber band
Band aid
Pencil
Eraser
Chewing gum
Mint
Candy Kiss
Tea Bag

Here's why:
Toothpick - to remind you to pick out the good qualities in others. Matt 7:1
Rubber band - to remind you to be flexible; things might not always go the way you want, but it will work out. Rom. 8:28
Band Aid - to remind you to heal hurt feelings, yours or someone else's. Col. 3:12-14
Pencil - to remind you to list your blessings every day. Eph. 1:3
Eraser - to remind you that everyone makes mistakes, and to forgive them. Gen. 50:15-21
Chewing gum - to remind you to stick with it and you can accomplish anything. Phil. 4:13
Mint - to remind you that you are worth a mint to your heavenly Father. John 3:16-17
Candy Kiss - to remind you that everyone needs a kiss or a hug every day. 1John 4:7
Tea Bag - to remind you to take time to relax daily and go over that list of God's blessings. 1Thes. 5:18 (Author Unknown)

A Bar of Iron

"Therefore He said: 'A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, 'Do business till I come.'" (Luke 19:12-13) "As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." (1 Pet. 4:10)
One of Ripley's "Believe It or Not" items pictures a plain bar of iron worth $5. The same bar of iron if made into horse shoes would be worth $50. If it were made into needles, it would be worth $5,000. If it were made into balance springs for fine Swiss watches, it would be worth $500,000. The raw material is not as important as how it's developed.
God has given each of us various talents, and their worth to Him is dependent on how we develop them.

A Moments Wisdom

No man’s character is better than his word.
The heart of education is the education of the heart.
No smutty stories are told in heaven — or on the way to heaven.
The law of love is quite harmonious with the love of law.
The thing most needed in the American home today is the family.
Popularity comes from pleasing people, but greatness comes from pleasing God.
Some people read just enough to stay misinformed.
The best thing parents can spend on their children is time — not money.
Most of man's inventions have been time savers... then along came television.
Television is an appliance which changes children from irresistible forces into immovable objects.
The primary danger of the television screen lies not so much in the behavior it produces as the behavior it prevents... the talks, the games, the family activities, and the arguments through which much of the child's learning takes place and his character is formed.

Why Haven’t You Obeyed The Truth?
By Carroll R. Sutton

            If you are one of the thousands of people in this country who have not obeyed the truth of God, please examine your heart and search your soul to see if you can determine why you haven't. Is it because:
You Don't Know The Truth?
            If this is the reason you haven't obeyed the truth, let me assure you that you can know the truth if you are willing to give diligence (study). The truth will make you free (John 8:32). Timothy was encouraged to study so he could rightly divide God's truth (2Tim. 2:15). (See Eph. 5:17; John 5:39; 17:17; Acts 17:11-12). Christians would be willing to come into your home and study God's Word with you. May they?
You Don't Believe The Truth?
            If you know the truth and don't believe it, you have a serious problem. The only way you can receive faith is by hearing the Word of God. (See Rom. 10:17). Only you can believe for you. You will make up your mind to believe or not to believe. It is a matter of choice. But in order for you to have eternal life, you must believe!
You Don't Love The Truth?
            If this is your problem, you have a very serious one. You had better change your heart (mind) or you will be lost forever! Many will perish (2Thes. 2:10-12). You may be among those described in this passage! Are you?
You Don't Want To Be Happy Here?
            Surely, you desire a life of happiness here on earth. The only way you can have genuine happiness is by obeying the truth. (Please read and study 1Peter 3:10-11; Luke 11:28; John 13:17; Psalm 1:1-6; Psalm 23; Ecc. 12:13-14).
You Don't Want To Go To Heaven?
            Surely you desire to go to Heaven, don't you? But your going to heaven is conditioned upon your obedience to the truth. (Rev. 22:14). If you haven't obeyed the truth, why haven't you?

“Dam Up the Detroit River!”

            “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4).
            The story is told of a machinist at Ford Motor Company in Detroit who was taught the gospel and was baptized. He became a devout follower of Christ and desired to right his many wrongs. He had been stealing parts and tools from the Ford Company for many years. Shortly after his conversion, he took all of the stolen parts and tools back to his foreman. He explained his situation and recent conversion and asked for forgiveness. This response by an employee was without precedent. Mr. Ford, who was visiting a European plant, was cabled concerning all the details of this matter with a request for his response. Mr. Ford immediately returned a cable with his decision: “Dam up the Detroit River, and baptize the entire city!”
            Paul said, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2Cor. 5:17).

“I Once Shot a Woodpecker”
By W. Carl Vernon

            I was looking through the hometown newspaper the other day and I came across this: “A speaker was lecturing on Forest Reserve.
            “Speaker: I don’t suppose that there is a person in the house who has done a single thing to conserve our timber resources.
            “Silence ruled for several seconds, and then a meek voice from the rear of the hall timidly retorted; ‘I once shot a woodpecker.’
            “Conserving timber resources was the thing of most importance to the speaker in this story, and it seems that he was trying to impress upon everyone else this important fact. The man who had “once shot a woodpecker” had done very little toward accomplishing the end the speaker had mentioned.
            That put me to thinking about something a little different, but extremely more important. What have we (I) done toward making the church of which I am a member the most effective in reaching others with the gospel.        The answer comes back, “I once shot a woodpecker.”        

The Flea and the Elephant

            ‘Tis said that a flea rode across a bridge one day in ear of an elephant. After they were on the other side, the flea said to the elephant, “Boy, we sure shook that bridge.”
            Too many church members ride on the efforts of others but are ready to grab credit for the glory of a job well done.
            The church faces many responsibilities in this day, and it needs all the members doing everything they can, not for the glory or credit, but for the work’s sake. Paul said, “For every man shall bear his own burden.” There are some things that the other fellow can’t do. You are the only one that can do them. No one can attend for you; no one can give for you; no one can commune for you; no one can sing for you. These and others are matters for you to consider. Don’t be like the flea. 

Let Your Light Shine

            A traveler came to a small village. Night was coming and people were hurrying through the streets carrying bronze lamps. When he asked about this, the reply was that the people were all going to the village church building. When the building was built it was decided that each member would bring his own light and there would be no other way to light up the building, so each person realized that if he were not there, the building would be darker. As more and more members came, the building became brighter.
            Do you realize that the church needs the light of each member, not just on Sunday morning but for all of the other services? “Do all things without murmuring and questioning; that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God with blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom ye are seen as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life” (Phil. 2:14-16).

Christ, the Supreme Model

            “The most destructive criticism has not been able to dethrone Christ as the incarnation of perfect holiness. The waves of a tossing and restless sea of unbelief break at His feet, and he stands still the supreme model, the inspiration of great souls, the rest of the weary, the fragrance of all Christendom, the one divine flower in the garden of God.” (Johnson)

A Moments Wisdom

Honest mistakes need correction just like other kinds of mistakes do.
It is much easier to give advice than to lend a helping hand.
To err is human, but when the eraser wears out before the pencil, you’re over-doing it.
Faith must have adequate evidence or else it is mere superstition.
Compromise is always wrong when it means a sacrifice of a principle of truth.
The Christian must have “won’t” power as well as “will” power.
How young folks turn out depends to a great extent on what time they turn in.
When people have little thirst for righteousness, the sermons will seem dry to them.
The early church was no more Roman Catholic than the apostles were Americans.
The less religion a person has, the more entertainment it takes to get him to attend regularly.
Some people are so busy earning bread for their children, they forget that a child does not live by bread alone.

Thankful For Jell-O
By Coral L. Blake

In my practice as a nurse, I have learned so many things that have changed my life; this is one of those things. One of my patients is a young man in his twenties; he has all appearance of a man, but his personality is child-like. He cannot speak many words and has several physical problems that keep him dependent on total care. He can make very few choices in his life. But he is completely aware of his feelings and can express them very well; this is perhaps the only thing over which he has total control.
Every day he receives his nutrition from a tube in his belly. This was not always so; I have been told that he loved to eat many things. Now the only food he is allowed to eat by mouth is Jell-O. When I worked in a hospital, I threw away many servings of Jell-O that patients refused to eat; and therefore, I know how un- popular this food can be day after day. But, not in this young man's eyes. He loves Jell-O. Or does he? Maybe he has chosen to love it!
This thought came to me one night as I was feeding him. He was smiling and asking for more just like a little bird; his mouth was open wide and his eagerness shone in his eyes. Jell-O was all he could have, but instead of complaining and refusing to eat one more serving, he chose to enjoy it!
From his example, I have learned that although I have to live with what I have been served in this life, I can choose to be happy with it, or I can make myself unhappy. Whatever I choose will not alter the serving God has seen fit to give me, but it will change how I live my life. And perhaps the change in me will move other lives, like my patient has changed me.

“There Are Hypocrites in the Church!”

"But they all with one accord began to make excuses..." (Luke 14:18)
Some say they won't become Christians because there are hypocrites in the church. Others say they can't be faithful because they are discouraged by the hypocrites in the church. There is no sound reasoning to this excuse. Certainly, there are hypocrites in the church, but there are more out of the church!
If one needed a job, and was offered one in a factory, he wouldn't say, "I won't work there because there are hypocrites there." Or, if he needed some groceries, and had the money to buy them, he wouldn't say, "I won't go to the store because there are hypocrites there."
The "hypocrites in the church" excuse will be a very weak one in the day of judgment. Does one expect to be given heaven because of the wickedness of others? Will he say, "Lord, I didn't serve you because of the hypocrites and therefore I deserve heaven?" It is far better to put up with a few hypocrites in the church for a little time than to dwell with all hypocrites forever!

The 23rd Channel
Selected

1 The TV is my Shepherd.
2 My spiritual growth shall want.
3 It maketh me to sit down and do nothing for his name's sake because it requires all my spare time.
4 It keepeth me from doing my duty as a Christian because it presenteth so many good shows that Imust see.
5 It restoreth my knowledge of the things of the world, and keepeth me from the study of God's word.
6 It leadeth me in the paths of apathy and doing nothing in the Kingdom of God.
7 Yea, though I live to be a hundred, I shall keep on viewing my TV as long as it will work, for it is my closest companion.
8 Its sound and its picture, they comfort me.
9 It presenteth entertainment before me, and keepeth me from doing important things with my family.
10 It filleth my head with ideas which differ from those set forth in the word of God.
11 Surely no good thing will come to my life, because my TV leaveth me so little time to do the will of God.
12 Thus, I will dwell in the house of idleness and sloth forever

A Moments Wisdom

Some people get into pretty deep water while they are trying to make a big splash in this world.
Every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness.
As a man grows older and wiser, he talks less and says more.
A good listener is not only popular; after a while he knows more than others.
Others may ruin your reputation, but only you can ruin your character.
Some people who complain that others do not understand them, ought to be glad of it.
Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with.
There is nothing harder than the softness of indifference.
For us, with the rule of right and wrong given us by Christ, there is nothing for which we have no standard. And there is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness, and truth. (Leo Tolstoi)
Most of us spend the first six days of the week sowing wild oats, then we go to church on Sunday and pray for a crop failure.
Do you know the three times that most people are in church? When they are hatched, matched and dispatched.
Quit griping about the church; if it were perfect, you couldn't belong.
A lot of church members who are singing "Standing on the Promises" are just sitting on the premises.
Every evening I turn my troubles over to God -- He's going to be up all night anyway.
To err is human; to blame it on somebody else is even more human.
Self control is the ability to let your light shine even after your fuse has blown.
He that hath no children doth bring them up well.
Disobedience doesn't mean anything to a child who knows it will be forgiven with a soft pat.
Rogues differ little. Each began as a disobedient son.
A smile is a laugh that whispers.
At heart we have the intuition that the soul of a man disposes him to provide for his family. If he can't do that, then in some fundamental way he has failed as a man, and he knows it.

One God in Three Persons
By W. Frank Walton

“For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him” (1Cor. 8:5-6).
How many “Gods” do you believe in? Muslims and Jews renounce Christians as “tri-theists.” Yet we believe the Bible progressively reveals that the infinite, eternal God who created and rules over all is a triune God.
"Trinity" is an English term meaning “three in one.” It’s used to describe the Bible concept of the triune God or "Godhead" (Gr. theiotes, Deity; Rom. 1:20; Col. 2:9).
The “Godhead” is a composite unity revealed in the Bible. It may be scripturally defined as one God subsisting in three co-equal, co-eternal persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). The Biblical revelation emphasizes both the unity and diversity in the Godhead. The nature of the infinite God is hard for limited humans to understand, yet this is the Bible’s revelation of God’s eternal nature. Matthew 28:18-20 reveals that the one "Name" or divine family of God consists of three (a trinity): "the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit." There is one divine nature (substance, family) but 3 distinct Divine Persons with 3 distinct roles (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) (1Cor. 8:5-6; 2Cor. 13:14).
It’s like there is “one human race” but many individuals that share the traits of being human. A husband and wife are two, yet God sees them also as “one flesh” (Matt. 19:4-6). This is a composite unity.
Someone said understanding the concept of the “trinity” is like the one element of “water” that exists in three different states: ice, liquid and gas. It’s the same substance but it subsists in a different expression of it. When the Bible talks about “one” God (Deut. 6:4), it is stressing His unrivaled uniqueness as Deity over all so-called gods or idols. When the Bible talks about God existing in three persons, the Father as God (Eph. 4:6), Jesus as God (John 1:1, 20:28) and the Holy Spirit as God (Acts 5:3-4), it is stressing the distinct personalities within the one Godhead.
The practical lesson for us is the three members of the one Godhead family loved one another from eternity (1John 4:7-8), and this love can be ours in uniting our spirit with theirs in spiritual unity (John 17:20-24, 16:13-15). Are we “partakers of the divine nature” in love and spiritual unity (2Peter 1:4)?

It Was Esther’s Time
By Kent Heaton

The story of Esther is filled with daring courage, humble dependence upon God and a view toward the providence of the place we all find ourselves throughout our lives. This Jewish maiden rose to become Queen of ancient Persia when Ahasuerus became displeased with Vashti (Esther 1). Through Haman’s conspiracy against the Jewish people Esther would save her people from certain death. Haman was one of the rulers under Ahasuerus that despised the uncle of Esther, Mordecai. Because of his intense hatred of Mordecai (Esther 3:1-5) Haman planned to “destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus” (Esther 3:6).
A decree was made through the treachery of Haman that Ahasuerus would allow the extermination of a “certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces” (Esther 3:8) of the kingdom - referring to the Jews held captive in the land. Mordecai learned of the plot and pled with Esther to intercede for the Jewish people to the king. However, going before the king was not an easy task. It was, in fact, a very dangerous thing to do. Esther explained, “All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king, who has not been called, he has but one law: put all to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live. Yet I myself have not been called to go in to the king these thirty days" (Esther 4:11). So they told Mordecai Esther's words.
The key message of the book of Esther comes in the answer Mordecai gives to Esther. "Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king's palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:13-14) Esther would go before the king trusting in God and be delivered from death and save her people (Esther 5-8).
How often in scripture do we find individuals in a particular place at a particular time and the work of God needing that person to act? Joseph came to understand his role in saving his people though he had been sold into slavery (Gen. 50:20). Moses was not ready to lead the people at the age of 40 but after spending time in Midian was brought back to Egypt to guide the people to Canaan (Ex. 3). The maiden of Israel was in the house of Naaman and told her mistress of the prophet who could heal the leprosy (2Kings 5). The Spirit would guide Philip to the treasurer of Ethiopia and the eunuch went on his way rejoicing – no doubt telling others of Jesus (Acts 8:26-40)
We have innumerable opportunities to influence people for good and to share the gospel of salvation. How often we squander golden moments to be in a particular place at a particular time to be the salt of the earth (Matt. 6:13) or a light set on a hill (Matt. 6:14-16). What we learn from Esther is that we all have those moments time and time again where we have come to such an opportunity - “for such a time as this.”
We should always be looking for those times that we can say a kind word, extend a hand of friendship, lift a burden, begin a Bible study, comfort a broken heart; a myriad of little pieces of life that will impact others. It takes just a moment to create a lifetime of worth and to set the path of life more clearly for someone “for such a time as this.”

A Moments Wisdom

It is not wise to tell every thing you know, but it is best to know every thing you tell.
Some people think they are good cooks merely because they roast their neighbors.
If you stretch the truth, don’t be surprised if it snaps.
The end never justifies meanness.
He that lieth down with dogs shall rise up with fleas.
No amount of riches can atone for poverty of character.
The man who is rowing the boat has no time to rock it.
Truth loses some battles, but it never loses a war.

(From the Question Box: “Is war wrong … as in killing other human beings which violates God’s law of ‘Thou shalt not kill?’”)
Jesus said, “But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet” (Mark 13:7). The reality of war is that as long as man will live on the earth he will die from the cruel nature of war. The Bible is filled with wars fought by the righteous and the unrighteous. God used war to punish His people. War is the conflict burning within man against his fellow man.
James defines the nature of war when he writes, “Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask” (James 4:1-2). The Lord fought righteous battles but men fight wars for their own lust whether lust for power, land, greed or revenge.
The Ten Commandments forbade killing. The meaning of the phrase “Thou shalt not kill” is “You shall not murder” (Ex. 20:13). Darrell Hymel in his book, “A Topical Study Of The Law Of Moses” writes: “The word RATSAH (kill) referred to murder (Ex. 21:12-14; Num. 35:16-18) and manslaughter (Num. 35:6, 11, 16-21; Deut. 4:42; Josh. 20:3) … This does not forbid capital punishment (Gen. 9:5-6). In the three chapters following the Ten Commandments there are at least eight offenses named for which God commanded that men be executed. The apostles Paul and Peter believed in capital punishment (Acts 25:11; Rom. 13:4; 1Peter 2:13-15). Neither does “thou shalt not murder” forbid war. Wars were frequently instituted by God Himself (Ex. 15:1; Deut. 20:1; Ex. 17:16; Num. 10:9).” [page 42]
War is a terrible tragedy that takes away innocence never to be recovered. As people of God we must constantly offer prayers for our leaders. “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior” (1Tim. 2:1-3).
Yves M. Congar wrote, “We often hear it said: ‘If God existed there would be no wars.’ But it would be truer to say: ‘If God’s laws were observed there would be no wars.’” [God, Man and the Universe, 1950]
The man who fears the Lord “will not be afraid of evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord” (Psalms 112:7).

"Are You Interested In Heaven?"
(Or, "What the preacher asked when he called on me about my poor attendance")

"What a question to ask me, preacher! Why, of course I'm interested in heaven; anybody that believes the Bible is interested in Heaven. That's the reason I was baptized by old Brother Faithful over at Piney Slab Holler back in... Well, I just don't remember the date I was baptized."
"What's that? Where am I going to worship? Why, I go once in a while over to Laodicea where brother Smoothit preaches. You say he's been gone from there about three years or more? Well, I didn't know it had been that long since I had been to church. 'Course now, I've been busy. And then, I haven't been feeling very well, and the weather hasn't been what it should have been. But brother, I'm interested in heaven."
"Where does my family go to worship? Why they don't go anywhere! You know how my wife is. Oh, you ain't never met my wife? Well, that woman just won't hear anything about the church, and wouldn't get the kids ready and take 'em to Bible study, and you know it's not a man's place to do that. I tell you, I just don't see how I've stayed interested in heaven and lived with that woman. I've put up with more from her than Dan ever put up with his wife, Beersheba."
"Do I take a gospel paper? Naw sir, I don't. I took one once, and it just laid around the house, and I never had time to read it. Time I get all the newspapers and magazines read, it was time to go to bed, so I just don't send them anymore money."
"How much have I given to the church? Now, just a minute preacher! You can ask all the questions you want to, but when you ask me about my money, you've gone a mite too far! It's none of your business how much I give to the Lord, and it's nobody else's business either. That's one thing I never do, go around bragging about how much I give. And when people ask me like you did, I ain't going to tell them. The very idea, askin' me if I was interested in heaven and then trying to find out how much I've been givin' to the Lord." (via Gospel Spotlight, Little Rock, Arkansas)

Our Father’s Eyes

"I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3). "Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon" (Isa. 55:6-7).
Carl Michalson once told about playing with his young son one afternoon. They were tussling playfully on their front lawn, when Michalson accidentally hit the young boy in the face with his elbow. It was a sharp blow full to his son's face. The little boy was stunned by the impact of the elbow. It hurt, and he was just about to burst into tears. But then he looked into his father's eyes. Instead of anger and hostility, he saw there his father's sympathy and concern; he saw there his father's love and compassion. Instead of exploding into tears, the little boy suddenly burst into laughter. What he saw in his father's eyes made all the difference! (From Some Things are too Good not to Be True, by James W. Moore, p. 43)
The sharp blow of God's Word is "repent or perish." However, look into the Father's eyes. What He offers is forgiveness. He will abundantly pardon those who repent and turn from their sins.

A Moments Wisdom

A person with a closed mind can get by if he keeps his mouth closed.
Fewer marriages would skid, if more who said, “I do” — did.
A man without principle never draws much interest.
It is easier to float a rumor than to sink one.
The brook would lose its song if you took the rocks away.
A hypocrite is like a pin — points one way and heads the other.

A Moments Wisdom

Near the end of last week, a national automobile dealers' organization warned that the new CARS program [known as the "Cash for Clunkers"] might run out of money before the weekend and that any potential deals might be unfulfilled and/or without reimbursement and warned dealers they might want to hold off processing deals through the program or they would get stuck with the difference — up to $4500 per transaction — if the program had indeed run through all the money. The problem, it seems, is that the incentive program was too good.
Amazingly, about $1 billion was not enough money because far more people took advantage of the incentives in such a short time than what was anticipated. That would mean more than 250,000 people were motivated to buy cars due to the government-funded incentive program in one month. [The website states it was anticipated to run through November 1, "or when the funds are exhausted, whichever comes first."]
Incentives, it seems, have become the norm in the automotive business. Most, if not all, of the American automobile manufacturers have been offering their own incentives for almost 30 years with only temporary breaks from time to time, with ever-increasing amounts, and are now seen as almost a necessity to get people in the showroom — often with more incentives thrown in to get them to actually make a purchase. In recent years, even many of the foreign car manufacturers have joined in the incentive programs, though not as heartily, and now we have the government program. Incentives, it seems, are now just part of the process.
In spiritual matters, I am afraid some churches are taking lessons from the automotive industry and are offering "incentives" of their own to get people in the door. Almost weekly, I get fliers in the mail advertising some church's special programs directed at kids, teens, singles, those who are divorced, seniors, the unemployed, and a dozen other classes. The ads emphasize the programs and how they offer something especially for the targeted group and their needs, and include an inevitable incentive to get them to come visit — anything from coffee and donuts to entertaining music to jump pits for the toddlers to skate parks for the teens to blatantly materialistic offerings such as giveaways of iPods, spa treatments, gift certificates to local retail stores, and — not surprisingly — cold, hard cash.
It saddens me to see these "incentive programs" offered by religious establishments, if only for what it says about their view of the spiritual side of life: What God offers is not enough! While they may deny that is their view, what else could one conclude? God said it is the gospel of Jesus Christ that is “the power of God for salvation” (Rom. 1:16); if some believe they must offer material incentives to get people in the door, they must obviously think that what God offers is not enough and something more must be offered to get people to just "take a look" or they wouldn't be doing it. And, like the automotive business, the "incentives" are only going to get more popular, those who are drawn by them will only demand more and more and, like the automotive business, people are going to come to expect them. The reality is that when the incentives dry up, so will the crowds. They don't come for the spiritual offerings, and often because little or nothing is offered along the lines of spiritual matters.
Thankfully, you won't find such incentives here; we offer you something so much better! We offer only what God has offered. And what is that? Let's take a minute to see just what God and His Son, Jesus Christ, have offered.
Their Love. It was the love of God, Paul said, that moved Him to send His Son to die for our us while we were still sinners (Rom. 5:8), and it was Christ's love for us that moved Him to die not for His friends, but for us His enemies (vv. 6, 10). We were certainly undeserving of the love of God shown toward us, but, as Jesus said, He “so loved the world, that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). The apostle John says it in a way that sums it up well: “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are” (1John 3:1). What kind of love is that? It is a love that will never let us down, never leave us without comfort, and a love that does the best for us and tells us what we need to hear, even when we do not necessarily think so. God's love is such that we do not have to worry about it ending because the eternal God is love (1John 4:8). That being true, there is nothing that “will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:39). Nothing!
Now, if you know about this love and you truly understand its greatness, that should be incentive enough to get you to respond in obedience and enough to convince you that He is worthy of giving yourself entirely to Him. We offer this to you because there is simply no material thing we could offer you that would surpass its greatness.
Their Plan for Your Salvation. If you investigate the numerous churches in the area, you will likely be confused by what you hear regarding salvation from sins and from eternal punishment; in fact, it is likely nowadays that you may not even hear anything about sin and salvation! But there are so many variations out there, I could not list them all in this short space; be careful to test those words against what you will find within the Bible and understand that just because someone says they are speaking from God does not mean it is true. Many things do not agree with what God said through the inspired writers and they will not help you find salvation.
The answer is to look into God's word yourself and see what God really says. I would urge you to read through the book of Acts, when the gospel first began to be preached, and see what was demanded of people then — and do what they did. Don't let men convince you that it cannot be understood; I've met enough people who have studied themselves out of error and discovered the truth to know better. We offer you that plan because we believe there is no material thing we could offer you that would save you, but firmly believe that it is through Christ you can be saved.
Their Promises. The same God and the same Savior who love you as they do also have given us promises — promises worthy of hearing and pursuing. God has promised the obedient “eternal life” (1John 2:25) and that is certainly worth noting, but also note that God has promised to you, if you are one of His children, He “will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5), and that “He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1Cor. 10:13). We offer these same promises to you because you need to know what can be achieved, not false and empty promises that do you no good. But if you don't know God, you might think that these are like the many promises of men and cannot be believed. It is for that reason they have one more thing to offer:
Their Word. One of the most comforting attributes of God besides His love is the assurance that all He has said can be trusted because He “never lies” (Titus 1:2) — in fact, “it is impossible for God to lie” (Heb. 6:18)! Try finding that kind of assurance in the offerings made by men in churches across this country!
What we offer to you is simply what God has given to us and has offered to all men. Anything less would be not enough, and anything more is too much.

A Moments Wisdom

Swallowing your pride will not give you indigestion.
Train up a child in the way he should go and go that way yourself.
The reason worry kills more people than work is that more people worry than work.
There is nothing so frightful as an active ignorance.
Gossip is like a balloon; it grows bigger with every puff.

Effective Communication
By Steven Harper

Many problems that arise and persist in the church are often a matter of communication — either the lack of it or because the communication that exists is simply ineffective. Either way, the communication problem will often lead to more problems, a lack of understanding, and, often, unnecessary strife. To prevent this, we need to be effective communicators. But how? Consider the following factors in good communication:
At Least Two Parties. By definition, communication is “an exchange of thoughts or information.” If there is only one individual, there can be no communication, just talking because communication requires that there be both a speaker and a listener. God has communicated the plan of salvation to man, but unless man hears it, it cannot save him. If we have already heard and obeyed, we need to be the one doing the speaking; if we have not, then we need to do the listening!
In the local church, here is often the beginning point of ineffective communication: We are not talking to one another! Sometimes, members want to know what is going on but the elders are not telling anyone what is happening; sometimes, though, the elders try to communicate to the flock, but no one listens. Is it any wonder such situations lead to troubled churches?
Two Interested Parties. And if the communication is to be effective, both parties must be interested parties; that means the speaker is interested in the concerns of the listener, he will speak in a way that attracts and holds the attention of the listener, and do so in understandable terms that have meaning to the listener. But the listener must also be an interested partner, interested in what the speaker has to say, giving his full attention and investigating what is said, and just as interested in the speaker and his concerns. If the speaker is not interested in the concerns of the listener, or if the listener is not interested in the concerns of the speaker, whatever communication there may be will be ineffective, at the least, and a cause for a severed relationship, at the worst.
God was certainly interested in the concerns of man when He communicated His plan for our salvation to us. He loved us so much He sent His only Son to die for us (John 3:16), but it is not until we listen with interest to what He has revealed that His plan will convict us and we can be saved (Rom. 10:17). Many men have read God's word, but not with any real interest in what God has said, and the result is that they are still not saved.
When it comes to our communication with one another, this is where we often fail. When a dispute arises, we are most interested in getting the other side to listen to us, even as we ignore what they are saying and even show obvious signs that we are not interested in what they have to say. Paul said we must look out not only to our “own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Phil. 2:4). This applies even when we do not agree, and will go a long way in resolving differences.
Purpose. For the communication to be effective, the speaker must offer something important, with a predetermined purpose, to the listener. At the same time, the listener must have a purpose: seeking information from the speaker that is important, helpful, and relative to his needs and interests. If there is no purpose for speaking, or no purpose in listening, the speaker is doing nothing more than talking and the listener has simply filled his head with useless information.
When disputes arise and we go so far as speaking with one another, let us make sure that there is a purpose in it — and the right purpose. We are not speaking just to make our views known, to embarrass another, or to assert our authority; we are seeking the truth, a resolution to differences, and peace.
With these three things in place, our communication with one another will be effective, but problems persist because we often leave out portions. Consider a few examples from God's word that demonstrate this reality:
Understandable Speech, No Desire To Hear. (Jer. 25:3-9; 35:17; Rom. 10:18-21) When God spoke to the Israelites on numerous occasions, it was not that they did not understand what He was saying, but that they had no desire to listen. The result was disobedience and captivity. God's communication was ineffective to them because they had no desire to hear.
Desire To Hear, Unintelligible Speech. (1Cor. 14:9-11) At Corinth, the problem was that many were using the gifts of the Spirit for the wrong reason. Paul's reminder to them was that if they spoke in a tongue and had no one to interpret what was said, you might as well be speaking to the air, for no one would understand and the words, though they desired to hear.
Understandable Speech, Desire To Hear. (Acts 2) On Pentecost, the apostles spoke to the people in their own language and they understood (v. 6). The people listened attentively because they desired to hear what the men had to say. Upon hearing the words, they reacted to what they had heard. They not only had a desire to listen, but also to obey.
Understandable Speech, No Desire To Hear, then No Desire To Listen. (Deut. 1:41-45) When the Israelites were told to enter the land, they refused to hear the word of God and go in, so God then told them they could not enter. Then they said they would, but God forbade them, but they went anyway. They were defeated and then pleaded with the Lord, but then He would not hear them.
In fact, if we want better relationships with one another, we must have better and effective communication. In the local church, it is a necessity to ensure brethren are in agreement on all things and that they have a common desire and aim. Without communication, we lose sight of who our brethren are and what they think and feel, and it will not be long before we really do not know them. Sadly, we can do the same with God. We can stray so far away and communicate so infrequently that it may come to a point that we really do not know Him anymore.
We must strive for effective communication with one another to maintain organization, too. Imagine a church where, through passage of time, brethren fail to communicate and let each other know who is responsible for certain duties. Eventually, there would be much confusion and disorganization and little would be accomplished. Hard feelings would result and relationships would be strained. Open lines of communication ensure we know one another and can grow together, dealing with personal faults with personal communication, communicating promptly, fairly, and with love at all times; when we lack this, the result will be that we “bite and devour one another” (Gal. 5:15) and all involved will self-destruct; brotherly relationships will become strained and instead of talking with one another, brethren will simply create an image within their minds of who their brethren are and what they are like — and sometimes it will not be a favorable one.
To ensure effective communication, we must choose to speak often with one another. I know; it sounds like a given, but when is the last time you had a simple conversation with one of your fellow believers here? We actually have few conversations with each other! Constant lines of communication are a necessity if we want to accomplish anything as a church. And when we speak to one another, we must do so with love because the attitude that we profess may mean more than the words we say. If we speak, we must say something worthwhile (Eph. 4:29).

Faithfulness

A preacher was asked to define “faithful attendance at worship.” He replied that the best way to understand it was to apply the same standards of faithfulness that we do in other areas of our life. Consider the examples he gave:
“If your car started one out of three times, would you consider it faithful? If the paperboy missed Monday and Thursday, would those papers be missed? If you didn’t show up at work two or three times a month, would your boss call you faithful? If you attend worship only often enough to show some interest but not often enough to get involved are you faithful?” It bears some serious thought.

A Moments Wisdom

Others may ruin your reputation, but only you can damage your character.
If you expect to draw true interest, you should have true principle.
Most knocking is done by people who do not know how to ring the bell.
Keep both feet on the ground and you won’t have far to fall.
No one will know of your honesty and sincerity unless you give out some samples.

A Moments Wisdom on Preaching

Philippians 2:3-4 - “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”
Answer: Two brothers worked together on the family farm. One was married and had a large family. The other was single. At the day's end, the brothers shared everything equally, produce and profit.
Then one day the single brother said to himself “It's not right that we should share equally the produce and the profit. I'm alone and my needs are simple.” So each night he took a sack of grain from his bin and crept across the field between their houses dumping it into his brother's bin.
Meanwhile, the married brother said to himself “It's not right that we should share the produce and the profit equally. After all I'm married and I have my wife and children to look after me in years to come. My brother has no one, and no one to take care of his future.” So each night he took a sack of grain and dumped it into his single brother's bin.
Both men were puzzled for years because their supply of grain never dwindled. Then one dark night the two brothers bumped into each other. Slowly it dawned on them what was happening. They dropped their sacks and embraced one another.

Grandma's Glasses

1Samuel 16:7(ff) - “…For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
Two small boys were discussing eye glasses. “Wouldn't you just hate to have to wear glasses?” one asked.
“No,” answered the other, “not if I could have the kind of glasses my Grandma wears! My Mother says Grandma can always see when folks are tired or discouraged or sad. She sees when somebody is in need and she can always recognize when you have something on your mind that you need to talk over. But best of all she can always see something good in everybody!” The little fellow continued: “I asked my Grandma one day how it was that she could see that way. She said it was because of the way she's learned to look at things since she's gotten older. So I'm sure it must be those glasses of hers!”
Wouldn't it be wonderful if all of us could see others through Grandma's glasses!

Boasting

James 4:16 - “But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.”
In the late 1600s the finest instruments originated from three families whose workshops were side-by-side in the Italian village of Cremona. First were the Amatis, and outside their shop the sign read: “The best violins in all of Italy.” Not to be outdone, the family Guarnerius hung a bolder sign which proclaimed, “The best violins in all the world!” At the end of the street was the workshop of Anton Stradivarius and on its front door was a simple notice which read: “The best violins on this street.” (Freda Bright)

Puppies for Sale

2Corinthians 12:7-10 “ And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
A store owner was tacking a sign above his door that read "Puppies For Sale." Signs like that have a way of attracting small children, and sure enough, a little boy appeared under the store owner's sign. "How much are you going to sell the puppies for?" he asked.
The store owner replied, "Anywhere from $30 to $50."
The little boy reached in his pocket and pulled out some change. "I have $2.37," he said. "Can I please look at them?"
The store owner smiled and whistled and out of the kennel came Lady, who ran down the aisle of his store followed by five teeny, tiny balls of fur. One puppy was lagging considerably behind. Immediately the little boy singled out the lagging, limping puppy and said, "What's wrong with that little dog?"
The store owner explained that the veterinarian had examined the little puppy and had discovered it didn't have a hip socket. It would always limp. It would always be lame. The little boy became excited. "That is the little puppy that I want to buy."
The store owner said, "No, you don't want to buy that little dog. If you really want him, I'll just give him to you."
The little boy got quite upset. He looked straight into the store owner's eyes and said, "l don't want you to give him to me. That little dog is worth every bit as much as all the other dogs and I'll pay full price. In fact, I'll give you $2.37 now, and my allowance of five dollars a month until I have him paid for."
The store owner countered, "You really don't want to buy this little dog. He is never going to be able to run and jump and play with you like the other puppies."
To this, the little boy reached down and rolled up his pant leg to reveal a badly twisted, crippled left leg supported by a big metal brace. He looked up at the store owner and softly replied, "Well, I don't run so well myself, and the little puppy will need someone who understands!" (Dan Clark, via Weathering the Storm)

Are You Blessed?

1Thessalonians 5:16-18 - “Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
“They huddled inside the storm door--two children in ragged out-grown coats. 'Any old papers, lady?' I wanted to say no... until I looked down at their feet, little sandals slopped with sleet. 'Come in and I'll make you a cup of hot cocoa.' Their soggy sandals made marks upon the hearthstone. Cocoa, toast and jam to fortify against the chill outside. The girl held up her cup, looking at it. The boy asked in a flat voice, 'Lady, are you rich?' ‘Am I rich? Oh my, no!’ The girl put her cup back in the saucer carefully and said, 'Your cups match your saucers.' They then left, holding their papers against the wind. Plain blue pottery cups, but they MATCHED. Potatoes and brown gravy, a roof over our heads, and my husband with a good steady job. THESE THINGS MATCHED, TOO. The muddy prints of small sandals were still wet upon my hearth. I let them be. I wanted them there in case I ever forget again how very rich I really am!” May we always count our blessings and be grateful for them. (LeRoy Brownlow via Greatest Questions in the New Testament, pg 94, 1961)

A Moments Wisdom on Preaching

To love to preach is one thing-to love those to whom we preach, quite another.
The world looks at ministers out of the pulpit to know what they mean when in it.
Every Christian occupies some kind of pulpit and preaches some kind of sermon every day.

How’s That Again?
(Genuine announcements taken from bulletins)

“Brother Kyle spoke briefly, much to the delight of the audience.”
“Irving Andrews and Jessie Holloway were married yesterday. Thus ends a friendship that began in school days.”

Man is confronted with many mysteries, thus causing him to Ponder on many questions. He is made to wonder about death, immortality, what is beyond and shall we know each other in heaven. The subject of future recognition in heaven that is discussed in this article pertains to saints. As we give attention to this question, we are aware that our soul's salvation does not depend upon the answer; nevertheless, it is thought provoking and motivates us to delve into the Scriptures to determine if they provide the answer. Some questions which concern us are not answered in the Scriptures, thus they remain mysteries and must be classified in the file of curiosity. We do not believe, however, that the question under consideration is in that category. Every devoted Christian has probably given thought to this question. When one of our loved ones (a saint) departs from this life, we are sustained by the hope that we shall be united with him in heaven. Shall we recognize each other? We address ourselves to this question. While the Bible does give some teaching about future recognition, nevertheless, there are questions which remain unanswered, especially those involving details or specifics. The Bible teaches that heaven is real, but shall we as saints know each other in heaven?
A significant phrase is found in Genesis 25:8 where we are told, "And Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years, and was gathered to his people." "He was gathered to his people." This phrase, or a slight variation of it, is used with reference to Ishmael's death (Gen. 25:17), the death of Isaac (Gen. 35:29), the death of Jacob (Gen. 49:29,33) and to Moses and Aaron (Deut. 32:50). Moses was not buried in the sepulchers of his fathers, but in an unknown place "in the valley of Moab" (Deut. 34:6). So, the phrase "gathered unto his people" would not refer to the burial of the body, but to the reunion of the spirit with those who had died before.
On the occasion of David's child who had died, he said: "Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me" (2Sam. 12:23). David realized that someday he would go to be with the child.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians: "...we are your glorying, even as ye also are ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus" (2Cor. 1:14). Paul also wrote to these brethren: "knowing that he that raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also with Jesus, and shall present us with you" (2Cor. 4:14). And, he wrote to the Thessalonians: "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of glorying? Are not even ye, before our Lord Jesus at his coming?" These are times of future rejoicing and glorying, thus it seems reasonable that Paul in these verses is referring to the "day" when the Lord Jesus will come to judge the world. Paul and his readers will be in one another's presence at that time.
The passage in 1Thessalonians 4:13,14 is one of hope and comfort for Christians whose loved ones had died. Paul admonished his readers that they "sorrow not, even as the rest, who have no hope" (v. 13). Their hope was not only that of the loved being at home with God, but it is also reasonable that there was the hope of someday seeing that beloved saint and being with him forever. This Scripture affords us the same hope today.
The foregoing Scriptures are some which convey the idea that the faithful who die will be united with the other faithful who have already departed from this life. There will be a meeting together.
Will there be future recognition? There are two passages in particular which lend evidence to this. 1) The transfiguration (Matt. 17:18; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36). Christ was transfigured on the mountain and there appeared with him Moses and Elijah. Moses had been dead for nearly fifteen hundred years, and his body lay in an unknown grave. Elijah did not die, for he was taken up into heaven by a whirlwind (2Kings 2:11). The body of Moses turned to dust and Elijah had been changed. These men were clothed with different bodies from what they had here upon earth, but they appeared to the disciples and were talking with Jesus. They were both recognized. 2) The rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). Although some classify this account as a parable, a parable represents something that actually occurs. The rich man recognized Lazarus and Abraham in the unseen world. He still possessed memory, for he was told to remember that in this world he had good things and Lazarus evil things. He also remembered that he had five brothers still living. He requested that they be warned, lest they too, should come to torment. A great gulf in Hades separated the righteous from the wicked, and although it was too late for the rich man to be changed, there was recognition.
The Scriptures teach that at the resurrection of the dead, it is our physical bodies that will be changed, not our spirits. This is made clear in 1Corinthians 15 (see vv. 35-38). This body will be changed from a mortal body to an immortal one. "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality" (v. 53). There can be no doubt that the mortal and the corruptible refer to the physical body. Certainly, the spirit is neither corruptible nor mortal. When we are raised from the dead, we shall have a body which pleases God to give us. It will be a changed body (vv. 51,52). "It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body" (v. 44). This being true, we shall not be known in heaven by our natural (physical) bodies as we are known here upon the earth, but this is not to suppose that our spiritual bodies will be without form and features. Jesus, Moses and Elijah were transfigured. Webster defines transfiguration" as "a change in form or appearance" (Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, 1252). They were transfigured, but they were recognized. The Lord will clothe us with bodies which he has prepared; they will be fashioned anew to be "conformed to the body of his glory" (Phil. 3:21). Our bodies will be transformed into the likeness of his body in the glorified state. John wrote, "Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be. We know that, if he shall be manifested, we shall be like him; for we shall see him even as he is" (1John 3:2). If we shall recognize God in his manifested form, then, does it not stand to reason that we shall recognize one another in whatever likeness he shall prepare for us?
There will be recognition in heaven. How the resurrection and transformation will take place, our finite minds cannot comprehend it, much less can we explain it. By the same faith that we accept all the miracles in the Bible, let us anticipate this great miracle which is yet to occur, and believe it with all our hearts.
The very thought of knowing one another in "the land that is fairer than day" is a great hope for Christians and should motivate us to endeavor even more to please God, and be assured that someday we can live forever in that most wonderful and indescribable place known as heaven. (Via Guardian of Truth XXXV: 20, pp. 623-624 October 17, 1991)

A Moments Wisdom

The average man's idea of a good sermon is one that goes over his head, and hits his neighbor’s.
A good sermon helps people in a couple of ways. Some rise from it greatly strengthened. Others wake from it refreshed.
Scandal is what one-half the world takes pleasure in inventing, and the other half in believing.
They never taste who always drink; they always talk who never think.
A great talker: he has the knack of telling you nothing in a big way.

It was lying on the side of the road on the corner to my house. A single beer can discarded as a piece of trash by a person who had used its contents to fill a pleasure and then thrown out the window. I have seen hundreds of discarded cans and this one was no different with the exception of what it represented at that moment. The appeal of its contents had caused a person to purchase it and then consume the momentary feeling of pleasure. When the can was emptied, it had no use and was carelessly thrown out for someone else to pick up. It was empty. It had no use. It had lost its appeal. It was but for a moment. It was worthless.
Man has always sought for the momentary pleasures to fill his void. Looking for the appeal of alcohol man seeks out these cans of vipers poison and drinks his fill and while finding a sense of satisfaction for the moment realizes that it is only for a moment. His life is like the can he threw away – emptied, rejected, little use, shallow and unfulfilled. Lives have been destroyed because of intoxicating drink. Families are torn apart daily by its presence in the home. Young people live with consequences of their actions through the use of alcohol for the rest of their lives. As Herman Melville wrote in “Moby Dick,” it is truly a “demon.”
The wise man wrote in Proverbs 23:29-35, “Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long at the wine, those who go in search of mixed wine. Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it swirls around smoothly; at the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like a viper. Your eyes see strange things, and your heart will utter perverse things. Yes, you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, or like one who lies at the top of the mast, saying, ‘They have struck me, but I was not hurt; they have beaten me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake, that I may seek another drink?’” People of God have been shown by the Lord that alcohol has no value in their lives and no purpose. The great tragedy of its use is the end result – like a discarded can on the side of the road.
The appeal of momentary pleasure has driven many to the basement of alcohol’s deceit. There is no value in following a life of drunkenness or even flirting with the dangers of drinking as many do in what they refer to as “social drinking.” That makes as much sense as “social fornication.” The appeal of the Lord is for His people to be “obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy’” (1Peter 1:14-16). Peter quotes from Leviticus 11:44 where the appeal of God to the people is for them to “sanctify” themselves before Him. One cannot sanctify themselves with a beer in hand.
Someone will pick the beer can up and throw it away. It will be left to families to pick up the pieces of shattered lives. Many who have found themselves in the slavery of alcohol will find their lives thrown on the side of the road as nothing more than an empty life. Christ has the answer and it is found in His love, His mercy, His forgiveness and His strength to overcome. He is the way out of sin, He is the only truth one can find about sin and He is the only one who can give life to empty lives (John 14:6). His path leads to the Father and to salvation. Don’t throw your life away. Be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18).

Christians in Bikinis
By Mike Thomas

A man got out of bed one morning and went outside to get the paper. The neighbors who saw him could not believe their eyes. The man had nothing on but his underwear! In his haste, he had apparently forgotten to put on his robe before leaving the house. So there he was, sporting nothing but a pair of Hanes and house slippers, and a red face to match.
This fictitious story is a sad reality this time of year. There are many people walking around in their underwear in public at swimming pools and beaches. The only difference is the name of the clothing has been changed from underwear to swimwear. And instead of frowning at the thought of being seen half-naked, people given to immodesty find it liberating to wear such attire. There are even Christians who think it is okay to wear bikinis in public. Is it even possible for those professing godliness (1Tim. 2:10)?
When Adam and Eve discovered their nakedness and tried to hide it with fig leaves, they were still considered inappropriate to God, who made more clothes for them to wear (Gen. 3:21). This illustrates well the fact that man’s standard of modesty often differs from God’s. He expects us to avoid things that promote the exposure of the flesh, whether it is in wearing things too skimpy or too tight. A Christian is not to be given to lewdness and lascivious behavior (Rom. 13:13). This can definitely be accomplished through the way we dress…and undress in public. A prostitute dresses in a special way when advertising her body (Prov. 7:10). This same motive is seen by many in water parks and beaches. They may not be advertising their bodies for money, but they advertise their bodies for sexual attention nonetheless. This is lewdness. Shame on them. And shame on those who can take their family to such places and act like it won’t have an effect on them. People in underwear are always going to get attention!

A Moments Wisdom

There is no danger of developing eyestrain from looking on the bright side of things.
Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.
He who sings frightens away his ills.
If you find yourself refreshed by the presence of cheerful people, why not make earnest effort to confer that pleasure on others?
The happiest people seem to be those who have no particular cause for being happy except the fact that they are so -- a good reason, no doubt.
Happiness is essentially a state of going somewhere wholeheartedly.
A happy man or woman is a radiant focus of good will, and their entrance into a room is as though another candle had been lighted.
If good people would but make their goodness agreeable by smiling instead of frowning in their virtue, how many they win to their good cause!

An insurance agent was writing a policy for a cowboy. "Have you ever had any accidents?" the agent asked. "No, not really," replied the cowboy. "A horse threw me off and kicked me in the ribs once, and I got bit a couple of times by a rattlesnake, but that's about it." "Don't you call those accidents?" demanded the agent. "Oh no," said the cowboy, "They did them things on purpose!"
It occurs to me that many things that appear to be accidents, or that we pretend are accidents, are actually intended outcomes. Sin is seldom if ever accidental. We may say that we "didn't mean to do it" or "didn't mean to say it," but, most of the time, that isn't really true. And, even if we didn't mean to do it or say it, surely the tempter meant for us to. Righteousness isn't an accident either. Jesus didn't accidentally live a sinless life. It took purpose of heart to resist temptation and do right at every turn.
Barnabas encouraged Christians that "with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord" (Acts 11:23). Paul commended Timothy because he had "carefully followed" Paul's "doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance" (2Tim. 3:10). The life of a Christian is truly a purpose-driven life. It is lived with a sense of purpose, by those who choose to do right on purpose.
This applies to every aspect of our lives, including our speech. We will not say the right things accidentally. We must choose to say them. In Psalm 17:3 David wrote, "You have tested my heart; You have visited me in the night; You have tried me and have found nothing; I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress." David was right before God because he had determined to control his mouth. We must also control our speech if we are to be acceptable to God. The Bible says that "If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless" (James 1:26).
We are to be thoughtful and purposeful with everything we say. Proverbs 15:28 states that, "The heart of the righteous studies how to answer, But the mouth of the wicked pours forth evil." The righteous man doesn't just say whatever comes into his mind. He "studies how to answer!" The New Testament commands, "Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers" (Eph. 4:29).
Yet how often do we just talk without thinking about the effect of our words? In the Book of Job, Job's three friends had a lot to say to him that was pretty useless. Of them and their words Job says, "I have heard many such things; Miserable comforters are you all! Shall words of wind have an end? Or what provokes you that you answer?" (Job 16:2-3). One paraphrased translation of this has, "I've had all I can take of your talk. What a bunch of miserable comforters! Is there no end to your windbag speeches? What's your problem that you go on and on like this?" (MSG). Job's friends, though intelligent men, had not chosen to speak words that would have a positive effect.
Let us all give thought to the impact of our words. Words are powerful, and they will not be a power for good unless we purpose to make them so. Let's do our best to make sure that what we say is what we mean to say, and that what we mean to say is good. (Via The Bulletin of the Church of Christ at New Georgia, March 29, 2009)

Who Said We Must Be Broadminded?

There is no room for broad-mindedness in the chemical laboratory. Water is composed of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen. The slightest deviation from that formula is forbidden.
There is no room for broad mindedness in music. The skilled director will not permit his first violin to play even so much as one-half note off the written note, chord, and key.
There is no room for broad-mindedness in the mathematics classroom. Neither geometry, calculus, nor trigonometry allow for any variation from exact accuracy, even for “old time's sake.” The solution of the problem is either right or it is wrong (no tolerance there).
There is no room for broad-mindedness in biology. One varying result out of a thousand experiments will invalidate an entire theory.
There is no room for broad-mindedness on the athletic field. The game is to be played according to the rules with no favors shown for "charity's sake."
There is no room for broad-mindedness in the garage. The mechanic there says the piston rings must fit the cylinder walls within one-thousandth part of an inch. Even between friends there cannot be any variation if the motor is to run smoothly.
How then shall we expect that broad-mindedness shall rule in the realm of Christianity and morals? He that forsakes the truth of God, forsakes the God of truth. (Author Unknown)

One Must Go Into the Water

"And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord." (Acts 22:16)
Many object to baptism for the remission of sins by saying, "There's no power in the water." Jesus healed a blind man by anointing his eyes and saying, "Go wash in the pool of Siloam." (John 9:6-7) The blind man did not object by saying, "There's no power in the water." He knew the power was of the Lord and he had to obey the Lord to receive the blessing. He promptly obeyed and received his sight. Likewise, there is no power in the water of baptism. The power is of the Lord, but one must go to the water to receive the blessing.

A Moments Wisdom

If you think it is alright to tell white lies you will soon grow color-blind.
Bad habits are like a comfortable bed; easy to get into, but hard to get out of.
By the way some people talk, one would infer that they really enjoy poor health.
The abundant life too often is smothered in the abundance of things.
If you want to conquer your weakness, you must not indulge or excuse it.
How few are our real wants, and how vast are our imaginary ones!

Aborting Doctors
By Mike Thomas

This past Sunday, Scott Roeder shot down and killed George Tiller, a prominent abortion doctor. This was a deliberate act against Tiller, whose clinic is one of a few in the country where late-term abortions are performed. President Obama released a statement on the shooting: "I am shocked and outraged by the murder of Dr. George Tiller as he attended church services this morning. However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence."
Whether you agree with Tiller’s death or not, the President is correct in charging that we are not to resolve the abortion issue with further acts of violence. I’m not as “shocked and outraged” as our President since Tiller was guilty of killing thousands of innocent lives, but I do agree that we must abide within the laws of the land, as God tells us (Romans 13:1-2). If everyone took justice into their own hands against injustices in our society, there would be an even greater slaughtering of corrupt doctors, lawyers, politicians, accountants, and so forth. This is certainly not the way God wants us to respond to evil; He will take vengeance in His own time (12:19).
I must admit, though, that I am amazed at the outrage over Tiller’s murder and not the unborn children he killed. Late-term abortions are performed in the second and third trimester, when the baby is capable of surviving outside the womb. But Tiller and others like him would cut the baby into pieces and vacuum them out of the womb. Where is the outrage over this heinous behavior? Why is there no shock over these acts of violence?
If you don’t want the baby, let him go to one of the many loving people trying to adopt children. Murder should never be an option for eliminating unwanted children…or even the doctors who would kill them. (Beaver Dam, Kentucky)

The Upside Of Aging
By Libby Grandy

George McDonald wrote, “Age is not all decay; it is the ripening, the swelling of the fresh life within.” Sadly, our culture doesn’t have such a fond opinion of growing older.
Does the mirror determine who we are at 60, 75, or 100? The body is naturally subject to the depredations of time. But must the inner person be subject to aging as well? Not necessarily. Read 2 Corinthians 4:16 where Paul tells us, “Even though the outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.”
The retirement years are not a time for mourning a life passed by. These years are a time of growing in God’s Spirit, a time of freedom. A person does not need to be defined by a job, education, physical fitness, etc. Time can be spent with friends, children, grandchildren, in church, in helping others, and in prayer. Your time is your own, to be used only as God sees fit.
Bodies break down over the weight of years, but other burdens melt away. Old age has a way of releasing us from caring about what others think of us, and freeing us from the duty of living up to other’s expectations.
Growing old helps us to stop taking our time for granted. Wise people don’t spend their time on bemoaning what might have been or on their own physical deterioration. They use their time to serve the Lord, to make a positive contribution, helping others, all with an open heart. Older people are no older than they choose to be.

Avenues of Retreat

"No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62).
When Cortez landed at Vera Cruz in 1519 to begin his conquest of Mexico with a small force of 700 men, he purposely set fire to his fleet of eleven ships. His men on the shore watched their only means of retreat sinking to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. With no means of retreat, there was only one direction in which to move, forward into the Mexican interior to meet whatever might come their way.
To be a disciple of the Lord, we also must purposely destroy all avenues of retreat. We must resolve that whatever price is required for being His follower, we will gladly pay. We have become citizens of the kingdom of God, and we will not retreat to the world.

A Moments Wisdom

An immoral man is dangerous whether he is armed with a gun, or with a Bible.
God does not promise “loaves” to “loafers.”
When an optimist gets the worst of it, he makes the best of it.
No amount of riches can atone for poverty of character.
If you want to do something to make a better world, improve yourself.
Tact is the ability to close your mouth before somebody else wants to.
The scars of others should teach us caution.
Charity gives itself rich; covetousness hoards itself poor.

In the book of Daniel, three young men are put to a great test of character as they stood before the King of Babylon in defiance of a decree that could cost them their lives. Nebuchadnezzar had made an image of gold nearly ninety feet tall in the plain of Dura and commanded all people to fall down and worship the image at the sound of various forms of music. When the time came, all the “people, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the gold image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up” (Dan. 3:7). In the midst of this great throng of bodies bowing down in worship three men remained standing and refused to bow. The penalty for rebellion was clear. “Whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace” (Dan. 3:6).
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were Hebrew slaves taken from their homeland in the invasion of Judah by Babylon. They had been placed in the king’s palace to serve and learn the language and literature of the Chaldeans. We know them best by their Chaldean names of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. Brought before King Nebuchadnezzar the king gave them a second chance to reconsider their refusal to bow down and worship the image. Their reply was clear and demonstrative. "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up" (Dan. 3:16-18).
The three Hebrews were cast into the furnace but through the grace of God delivered without the hair of their hair singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them (Dan. 3:27). God used their faith to show the king of Babylon who “rules in the kingdom of men” (Dan. 4:17). This remarkable story of courage is one fitting for our young people to embrace as they graduate High School and begin the challenging walk of life.
Two things stand out in this story: first, the importance of believing in something; secondly, the need of believing in the right thing. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego did not go along with the crowd. It was not their life’s aim to be like everyone else. They believed in something and not only believed it but were willing to disobey the law of the king because of what they believed in.
It is easy to go along with everyone else and be like the crowd. When the music began to play in the plain of Dura, thousands of people fell down to worship the image. Consider how odd they felt to be the only ones standing. Literally, everyone was bowing but these three men. They could have fallen down and who would have noticed? They possessed a belief system that challenged the moral code of the day. Young people, you must posses a system of belief to find happiness in life that will set you apart. Following the crowd will get you no where (Matt. 7:13-14).
Having a belief system is not enough – you have to believe in the right thing. They refused to worship the image because it was wrong. They stood for what was right because they stood for what God taught them. They served the Lord and not man (Acts 4:19-20, 5:29). As young people going out into the world, you must believe in the right thing and the only thing that is right is what is found in God (John 17:7). True happiness will not be found in bowing down to the music of the day. It will only come from standing for God in the face of great opposition to the norms of today. If your life is going to make a difference it must be made with the Lord as your guide and compass (John 14:6).

The Window through Which We Look

A young couple moved into a new neighborhood. The next morning while they were eating breakfast, the young woman saw her neighbor hanging the wash outside.
'That laundry is not very clean,' she said. 'She doesn't know how to wash correctly..
Perhaps she needs better laundry soap.' Her husband looked on, but remained silent.
Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.
About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband: 'Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this.'
The husband said, 'I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows.'
And so it is with life. What we see when watching others often depends on the purity of the window through which we look.

The Bottom Line to Worry

There are only two things to worry about: Either you are well or you are sick.
If you are well, there's nothing to worry about. But if you are sick, there are only two things to worry about: Either you get well or you die.
If you get well, there's nothing to worry about. But if you die, there are only two things to worry about: Either you will go to Heaven or you will go to Hell.
If you go to Heaven, there's nothing to worry about. But if you go to Hell, there is all eternity to worry about.
Where will you spend eternity? This is the bottom line to worry.

A Church Garden

First, plant five rows of peas:
Presence
Promptness
Purity
Perseverance
Peace
Next to these, plant three rows of squash:
Squash gossip
Squash criticism
Squash indifference
No garden is complete without turnips:
Turn up for services
Turn up with a smile
Turn up prepared to study
Turn up with determination to make everything count for good

A Moments Wisdom

What you are going to be tomorrow, you are becoming today.
You cannot keep your shoes shined if you continually walk in the mud.
The Devil is willing for a man to preach the truth as long as he doesn’t practice it.
Easy street and the strait and narrow path do not intersect.
Christians should be humbly grateful instead of grumbly hateful.
Common sense is a very uncommon commodity.
Thank God for what you have. Trust God for what you need.

Unto the church of my Lord in every locality, I am under solemn obligation to the extent of my ability, but unto my home congregation I am under special obligation.
1. I want my home congregation to radiate a wholesome influence in the community. Therefore, I owe it the example of a good life. For it, I must live "soberly, righteously and godly" (Matt. 5:13-16).
2. I want the strangers who enter the door of the meeting house to feel at home, to learn to love us, and to return from time to time. They are guests; I must greet them. I owe it to them and to the church to show myself friendly. I must not stand back and wait for others to greet them; this I must do (Heb. 13:2).
3. No congregation can make progress without faithful and efficient leaders. To a certain extent, the members of the church make or break their leaders. To the end that our leaders may be stronger and more efficient, I must give them my support. As long as they are true men, I must not embarrass them in their work.
4. My home congregation has financial obligations which are due at regular intervals. Whether I give or do not give, these obligations must be paid. If it is right for my congregation to pay its obligations each week, it is right for me to give each week. Though circumstances may force me to be absent at times, my contributions must find their way into the treasury of the church (1Cor. 16:1-2).
5. I know that the very existence of any congregation depends upon the attendance of its members. In fact, the attendance is the life of the church. For this reason, I must attend the services -- all of the services I can. I will not have it said that my home congregation perished because I would not attend services (Heb. 10:25).
6. I want my home congregation to grow, to multiply in membership. Therefore, I must set myself to the noble work of winning souls for Christ.
Wishing to be honest, I must meet my obligations to the best of my ability. I must, with the help that God gives, play my part in the incomparable work of building the body of Christ which He purchased with His own precious blood. (Contributed by Wendell Bennett)

Well Now, That's Different!
By Luther Blackmon

Have you ever tired to picture in your mind what would happen if some eccentric multi-millionaire philanthropist should announce in the local newspaper that one night during one of our gospel meetings he would give each person present one thousand dollars? Well I have. And in fancy's vision, I see a strange and motley crowd: the rich and the poor, the fat and the frail, Republicans, Democrats, scoffers and cynics, “God-is-dead-ers,” segregationists and integrationists, the famous and the infamous. People who haven't spoken to each other in years would sit side by side if necessary. The once-a-weekers and the once-in-a-whilers would be there. Grandpa would rub his "rhuematiz" leg with some goose grease and turpentine and he would be there. Folks who haven't been there because they were afraid to drive at night would chance it; all the backsliders would suddenly warm up and take their place where they could be seen. All the puny excuses and anemic alibis and other kinds of lies we have been telling ourselves and others about why we didn't attend worship would disappear like dirt before "Tide" or roaches before "Raid." We would have crowds that would make a Democratic Convention look like a country picnic -- that is until the money was passed out. We would look for a slump after that. What kind of "Christian" would do for money what he would not do for his soul?

Ironic, Isn’t It?

In 1870, a bishop speaking before a church gathering stated that, "Man has invented everything that can be invented. He has done all he can do." But the meeting's presiding officer suggested that a great invention would yet be made within the next fifty years. Upon further questioning, the officer replied, "I think man will learn how to fly." The bishop was astonished, saying, "Don't you know that flight is reserved for the angels?” It was just thirty-three years later that the Wright brothers embarked on their first halting flight at Kitty Hawk. Imagine the amazement of Bishop Milton Wright, who had denied the possibility of flight only to later witness his two sons, Orville and Wilbur Wright, become the first humans to fly! (Carl D. Windsor, On This Day, Thomas Nelson pub, 1989, p.89)

Trading Gold for Iron

"If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me" (Luke 9:23).
During his reign, King Frederic William III of Prussia found himself in trouble. Wars had been costly, and in trying to build the nation, he was seriously short of finances. He couldn't disappoint his people, and to surrender to the enemy was unthinkable. After careful reflection, he decided to ask the women of Prussia to bring their gold and silver jewelry to be melted down for their country. For each ornament received, he determined to exchange a decoration of iron as a symbol of gratitude. Each decoration would be inscribed: "I gave gold for iron, 1813."
The response was overwhelming and, more importantly, the women prized the iron from their king more highly than their former jewelry. The reason, of course, was obvious. Their decorations of iron were proof that they had sacrificed for their king and country. Let us willingly and freely sacrifice for our glorious King by denying ourselves and daily taking up our cross and following Him

A Moments Wisdom

A good friend is like toothpaste. He comes through in a tight squeeze.
The antidote for fifty enemies is one friend.
In prosperity, our friends know us; in adversity, we know our friends.
I'm going to destroy them. I'm going to make them my friends. (Note: Abraham Lincoln,
when asked how he intended to deal with his enemies)
Liberal: a person with a high pressure feeling, low pressure thinking and a constant urge to give away what belongs to somebody else.
A politician is a person who can make waves and then make you think he's the only one who can save the ship.
Politics and the fate of mankind are shaped by men without ideals and without greatness. Men who have greatness within them don't go in for politics.
When politicians come up with a solution to your problem, you now have two problems.

A Moments Wisdom

The economy has dominated the news lately, and the news has not been good. No need to rehash the details here -- the media has done a good enough job of that. Like everyone else, I'm not happy about it and it has already had adverse effects on me. But, knowing that "one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses" (Luke 12:15), I don't plan to spend too much time stewing over it. Wall Street may be in a panic, but I'm not, and here are just a few of the reasons why.
Let me first say that I don't buy into all the doom and gloom forecasts for the economy. I do believe the economy will rebound, but let's just say for arguments' sake that things get worse, perhaps even far worse. I'm still not going to panic because I know God will provide me with the things I need -- IF I seek first the kingdom and His righteousness (Matt. 6:33). David said, "I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread" (Psalm 37:25).
Secondly, if I am reduced to the necessities of life, my attitude must be one of contentment, not panic. "And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content" (1Tim. 6:8). Hopefully, I will learn, as Paul did to be content "in whatever state I am" (Phil. 4:11). Perhaps I will even learn the lesson so eloquently expressed by the prophet Habakkuk: "Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls -- yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation" (Hab. 3:17-18).
Thirdly, economic hard times may turn out to be good for me spiritually. If I can't buy as many things, if I can't go as many places, I may just give more attention to the things that matter most. Many of us have seen our stocks decline in value but there are other riches that are not subject to the ebb and flow of the market -- the "exceeding riches of His grace" (Eph. 2:7), or the "unsearchable riches of Christ" (Eph. 3:8). In other words, I'm not going to panic if I become poor, because I will still be rich (Prov. 13:7). I'm very aware of what the Bible says about the uncertainty of material riches (1Tim. 6:17; Prov. 23:5), but it's hard to think that way when my investments seem secure. Believe me, I understand now just how insecure they can be, and maybe, just maybe, that will cause me to put more trust in God.
"Trust in Him who will not leave you, whatsoever years may bring... build your hopes on things eternal, hold to God's unchanging hand" (Hold to God's Unchanging Hand, Jennie Wilson, EL. Eiland; Via The Exhorter, Sept/Oct 2008)

Tyndale’s Crime

William Tyndale was born in A.D. 1494, near the middle of the Dark Ages. The times were dark because the Scriptures had long been kept from the people by the Roman Catholic Church. Church leaders believed that only members of the clergy should read the Scriptures. For that reason, the Word of God was neither taught nor made available.
Tyndale devoted his life to changing all of that. He built on the work of John Wycliffe, a man who died a hundred years before Tyndale was born. Wycliffe risked his life on a daily basis to translate the Bible from Latin to English, then to have handwritten copies distributed to the people. Wycliffe was so hated for making the Bible available that several decades after he died, his enemies condemned him for heresy, dug up his body, burned it, then threw the ashes into a local river.
Tyndale built on the foundation Wycliffe laid down, except that Tyndale bypassed the Latin version entirely and translated the Scriptures from the original Hebrew and Greek, directly into English. Because his work was so violently opposed in England, the land of his birth, he fled to Germany. In answering a priest who criticized his work, Tyndale said, "If God spare my life, ere many years, I will cause a boy that drives a plow to know more of the Scriptures than you do."
Like those in the time of Josiah, the people did not know the Scriptures, but neither did the priests. Most of them were ignorant of the Bible. Their source of "truth" was the Pope.
One bishop in Tyndale's time did a survey of the 311 priests in his diocese:
168 of the priests couldn't repeat the Ten Commandments.
31 of the 168 had no idea in where in the Bible the Ten Commandments could be found.
41 could not locate the "Lord's prayer."
31 of the 41 could not name the author of the Lord's Prayer.
When Tyndale completed his translation of the New Testament in 1525, more than 15,000 copies were smuggled back into England over the next five years. Officials did their best to stop the distribution. They delighted in burning Bibles whenever they discovered any. In May of 1535, Tyndale was finally captured and thrown into prison. Approximately one year later, he was burned at the stake. And why was he burned in the flames? Because he was committed to the idea that average people should be able to read the Bible. That was his crime. (Steve Farrar, from KneEmail)

A Moments Wisdom

A man is in hot water when his tender heart becomes hard-boiled.
A man who says just what he thinks should be sure he thinks before he says.
No man is strong enough to carry a grudge all of his life.
You don’t need references in order to borrow trouble.
Some people develop eye strain looking for trouble.
The man who forgets he was once a boy is the man whom boys dislike.
Lies, like chickens, come home to roost.
Some people are like rocking chairs — full of motion, but they make no progress.
A half-truth and a whole lie are congenial companions.
It is good to be wise, and it is wise to be good.

There is a story told of a community of fishermen that loved to get together to talk about fishing. They met once a week and spent hours pouring over the different ways to catch fish, the newest instruments, and the most up-to-date information on the habits of fish. They met during the week to have another meeting to study fishing. Twice a year (sometimes more) grand meetings would be held inviting neighboring fishing communities to come and learn more about fishing and the importance of fishing. Speeches filled the assembly halls with examples of those who fished in days past and the great numbers of fish caught (one such story told of catching 3,000 fish in one day). Flyers were printed with all the information on how to catch fish, where to catch fish and the need to catch more fish. One could say that this community of fishermen were busy about the need of fishing and had all the resources to catch fish daily. Sadly with all the energy put into the science of fishing, few fish were ever caught and sometimes a few years would go by before even one fish was caught.
The problem in this fishing community was very simple. While everyone agreed on the need to catch fish, only a few (if any) ever took the time to put a hook in the water and make an effort to catch fish. They knew just about everything there was to know about fishing but no one wanted to take the time to go to the river or the lake to catch fish. Some communities would hire a man to come in and do their fishing for them. Others were content to read about it but no one should expect them to do any fishing. Remarkably there were many who thought the fish would just jump out of the water and into the boat – why should they do anything – let the fish come to them.
With all the great evangelism plans and gospel meetings about teaching others, the words of Jesus still ring true today: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:19-20). The emphasis should be made of the need to “GO” and the only way to “MAKE” disciples of all the nations is to have someone sit down with someone and teach them the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Lord further admonishes the need of “TEACHING THEM” and that takes individuals teaching individuals. All of this requires ‘putting a hook in the water’ but you can’t put a hook in the water unless you GO to the water.
“Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ to them” (Acts 8:5). “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to [the eunuch]” (Acts 8:35). Cornelius tells Peter "So I sent for you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord” (Acts 10:33). Paul found Lydia at the riverside in Philippi (Acts 16:11-15) and then taught the jailor and all his family (Acts 16:25-34). People taught people the gospel in the First Century.
The great need of the church today is for its citizens to realize that all the talk of saving souls is only as good as those who are willing to lay aside the busy affairs of life and spend time gleaning the fields ready for harvest. “Lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest” (John 4:35). Jesus admonishes still today, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” (Matt. 9:37).

Taking the Slums Out of People

“The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mould men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature” (Ezra Taft Benson).

Counting God’s Promises

Two little girls were counting their pennies. One said, "I have ten pennies."
"No," said the first little girl, "You have just five pennies, the same as I."
"But," the second child quickly responded, "My father said that when he got home tonight he would give me five more pennies; so I have ten pennies."
Trustfully, she counted as hers what her father had promised. That's exactly how a Christian can be poor in the estimation of the world, and at the same time, be rich in the things of God. A Christian counts as his whatever his heavenly Father has promised.

The Heaviest Artillery

“And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings” (Acts 17:26).
God rules in the kingdoms of men. Napoleon, at the height of his career, is reported to have given this cynical answer to someone who asked if God was on the side of France: “God is on the side that has the heaviest artillery.” Then came the Battle of Waterloo, where Napoleon lost both the battle and his empire. Years later, in exile on the island of St. Helena, chastened and humbled, Napoleon is reported to have quoted the words of Thomas à Kempis: “Man proposes, God disposes.” Indeed, God is able to work His sovereign will, despite what man may purpose.
“The Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses” (Dan. 4:32).

A Moments Wisdom

Some folks aren’t interested in anything unless it is none of their business.
If revenge is so sweet, why does it leave such a bitter taste?
Patience is the ability to count down before blasting off.
A modern bathing suit is the difference between not very much and nothing at all.
If fifty million people say a foolish thing over and over, it is still a foolish thing.
A lie may take care of the present, but it has no future.
We should be more concerned about making our years count than in counting our years.
The way to worry about nothing is to pray about everything.
A groundless rumor often covers a lot of ground.
Faults are thick where love is thin.
A tongue three inches long can ruin a man six feet tall.
The chains of habit are generally too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.
If your neck isn't in God's yoke, it is in the Devil's noose.
Brief pleasures lead to long regrets.
When you get mad, you've been had.
Don't let yesterday use up too much of today.
Make your life a challenge, not a compromise.
Those who can -- do; those who can't -- find fault.

Love Vs Bitterness

Bitterness imprisons life;
Love releases it.
Bitterness paralyzes life;
Love empowers it.
Bitterness sickens life;
Love heals it.
Bitterness blinds life;
Love anoints its eyes.

What is really important in life?
Most people would answer this question by talking about family and friends. Some would appreciate stability and creature comforts. Most people would recognize, at least mentally, that work and stuff and other such things would not qualify as "really important."
But how do we make clear what is important-- by what we say or what we do? We humans are good at saying one thing and doing quite another. We may say that family is important, but how much time do we spend with our families? We may recognize that "stuff" really is not that important, but how many work longer hours to make more money to get more stuff? How many people are really slaves to their job? These concerns are only made more acute when there is economic uncertainty. Stress and anxiety grow when there is concern about losing hours or a job, or when bills pile up.
But what would happen if a disaster took place? What if everything you owned burned up in a fire? What if a tornado, hurricane, or flood carried away your belongings? There would be sorrow for that which was lost for certain. Places full of memories are no more. But you would still be alive-- and you would recognize the importance of life.
God wants us to recognize that despite the high-stress pace of modern existence, life is the most important thing: our own lives, the lives of family members, friends, associates, acquaintances, and even enemies and people we do not know. It is best when we learn this lesson before it is too late!
We hope and pray that we will never experience a natural disaster. Nevertheless, Peter indicates that a day is coming when what really is important will be made evident in 2Peter 3:10-12 -- “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness, looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?”
A day of fire is coming, and all the works of man will be destroyed. Every monument, every building, every organization, every creature comfort-- every last thing will be no more. When all of this goes down, what will be really important?Nothing will be more important on that day than the soul and its condition. Have we been faithful to Jesus Christ and prepared the soul for eternal life, or have we spent our days in sinful living, storing up wrath for eternity (Rom. 2:5-10)? Have we been working to store treasure in Heaven, practicing righteousness, love, and mercy, or will all of our effort have been destroyed in that great fire (Matt. 6:19-21)?
Let none be deceived; everything you can see, hear, taste, and touch is not important. It will all perish by that final day. When we all stand before God, no one will worry about having not worked overtime, obtaining the next great piece of technology, or any such thing. We will all be concerned with how we have sustained our soul and the souls of those whom we love. Do not allow that day to come upon you unaware-- serve Jesus Christ today!

Campbellites?

"...And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch." (Acts 11:26) "...But if a man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God in this name." (1Peter 4:16)
Members of the church of Christ have often been labeled, "Campbellites." However, they cannot be "Campbellites" because the church of Christ did not originate with Alexander Campbell. There is a tombstone in the Cemetery near the old log church building in Cane Ridge, Kentucky with the following inscription: "William Rogers born in Campbell County Virginia July 7, 1784 removed with his father to Cane Ridge, Bourbon County, April 1798. United with the church of Christ at Cane Ridge in 1807. Died February 15, 1862 in the 78th year of his age. He was the friend of God."
Alexander Campbell did not come to this country as a Presbyterian until 1809. The ancient tombstone states that William Rogers was united with the church of Christ in 1807. Thus, Alexander Campbell did not begin the church of Christ. Members of the church of Christ are not "Campbellites," but "Christians."

Immaturity
By Robert F. Turner

Irresponsible, shortsighted, rash and selfish conduct is often proof of immaturity. But we do not refer to years. People sixty and above may be immature --- acting like little children when they do not get their way, or are forced to face the realities of this life. They are incapable of objectivity, their pride is easily hurt, and they throw a tantrum. That is bad enough in secular life, but it can be tragic in the church.
Bible knowledge maturity is found in those who dwell on something more than first principles (Heb. 5:12f). They have learned that justice, mercy, and faith are the grounds upon which their concern for tithes of mint, anise and cumin can have validity. Ignore the first, and one becomes an hypocritical nit-picker with all else (Matt. 23:23-24). He may strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
People-dealing maturity comes only after we learn that we are all sinners (Rom. 3:23), and are completely humbled before God. The “babe” seeks an “issue” and perhaps make a “name” for himself. But maturity seeks for souls, hoping to “give ‘em Heaven,” and save them from Hell. The babe sees himself as a General in the Lord’s army; the mature saint is an expendable servant of the Lord.
Doctrinal maturity is not compromise with error. It is simply wisdom enough to know we do not know it all. The babe paddles wildly about on the surface of the water, loudly proclaiming his domination of the seas; but maturity is aware of the unexplored depths below. The fool has an answer, the wise, a reason.
Paul told Timothy to “flee youthful lusts” and “foolish and unlearned questions avoid” (2Tim. 2:22). There is no “instant maturity” for any of us. We must start with instructions to youth, and “by reason of use” we may “grow up” in Christ. All of us are in the process in many facets of the Christian life, not having attained (Phil. 3:12). We can be patient and tolerant of blustering spiritual babes without appointing them as elders, preachers, and editors. In time, with enough milk and nurture, we may all learn to act like men.

A Moments Wisdom

A sharp tongue does not necessarily indicate keen thinking.
The most dangerous stumbling blocks are those under our hats.
Our heart is the mainspring for our tongue.
So you are just as good as half the folks in the church? Well, which half?
Loose conduct will get a person in a tight spot.
Courtesy is said to be contagious, and what we need is a good epidemic.
Many parents are not on “spanking” terms with their children.
People make enemies by complaining too much to their friends.
He who talks without thinking runs more risks than he who thinks without talking.
Every moment you are angry, you lose one minute of happiness.

One of the greatest blessings a child of God has is prayer, the right to communicate with God. Anyone who is striving to do the will of the Lord will have an active prayer life.
Give Yourself to Prayer
In several New Testament passages, the Christian is urged to give time to prayer. In Luke 18, Jesus taught a parable to demonstrate that people "always ought to pray and not lose heart" (Luke 18:1). The apostle Paul, in 1Timothy 2:8, encouraged men in every place to pray. In 1Thessalonians 5:17, Christians are commanded to "Pray without ceasing."
To "pray without ceasing" is not to have some incessant babbling on your lips but to have the attitude of mind to regularly and frequently pray. It means to have a willingness to talk to God -- to share burdens, to confess sins and to pray for strength and courage.
Many Neglect to Pray
Even though many commands and encouragements to pray are contained in Scripture, sometimes children of God neglect this glorious privilege. It is only at worship assemblies or in times of trouble, sickness or need, that some who claim to be Christians even give thought to prayer. Why the neglect?
Many reasons could be given which are too lengthy and varied to explore in this short article, so instead we will just consider one. Neglect of prayer usually indicates neglect in other phases of one's life as a child of God. The mind of such a person is often on worldly things. Prayer, which can so easily be put off, is postponed then forgotten.
A hymn often sung asks, "Ere you left your room this morning, did you think to pray?" Did you? Or were other things on your mind? If you did not think to pray, you let a great opportunity escape which can never be recovered. You should have at least thanked God for the new day and the breath of life that is in your body that enables you to experience and enjoy it.
Things for Which to Pray
Some may be hesitant to pray as often as they should because they do not know the things for which they should pray. If they were to properly study the Bible, they would know those things for which they should pray because it reveals them. According to Scripture, included in those things for which the Christian should pray are:
Those who persecute you (Matt. 5:44)
The Lord's will to be done (Matt. 6:10)
Daily bread (Matt. 6:11)
Forgiveness of sin (Matt. 6:12)
Kings and all who are in high places (1Tim. 2:2)
All men (1Tim. 2:1)
That you enter not into temptation (Matt. 26:41)
If you are suffering (James 5:13)
The sick (James 5:14-15)
Why the Emphasis on Prayer?
Why emphasize prayer? James 5:16 gives the answer: "...The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." It works! 1Peter 3:11-12 states that "the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are open to their prayers." He hears and answers in accordance with His will if the Christian prays in faith (James 1:6).
Conclusion
Make your life a life of prayer. If you are going to be truly like Jesus, it will be. Jesus was a man of prayer. He recognized its vital role. Often in His life on earth, He prayed. John 17 contains His prayer for His disciples. Matthew 26 has His prayer in the garden prior to His capture. He also spent time teaching His disciples to pray (Matt. 6:5-15). Be a faithful Christian. Be Christ-like. Be a prayerful person. -- Via Bible Talk

The Potency of Prayer
By W. Frank Walton

“The intense prayer of the righteous is very powerful” (James 5:16 HCSB). James encourages us to pray for one another’s difficulties and problems, whether spiritual or physical sickness (Ja 5:13-16). Earlier he had encouraged brethren to pray in steadfast faith for wisdom while facing trials, expecting a generous God to richly give what is best (James 1:2-8).
In our text, effective prayer cannot be a half-hearted, feeble petition, but it must be “intense” (Gr. energeo, “active…fervent”). Such prayers cannot be carnally selfish (James 4:2-3), which means we must pray in God’s will, so that He will be glorified foremost by the answer (1John 5:14). If we are righteous by His grace, the Holy Spirit promises us that our prayers are potent in heaven. In this, prayer moves the Hand that moves the world.
So, humble, believing prayer in Jesus’ name is extremely powerful. It can move our mountains, which are humanly impossible obstacles to move (Mark 11:22-24). Only God can move a mountain, but Jesus assures us that the prayer of His faithful children can move God. In fact, Jesus encourages us to pray persistently “and not lose heart.” He urges persistence in prayer, like the poor widow who constantly pled for justice, until it was fulfilled (Luke 18:1). God’s answers today are by providential means, within the laws of His natural order (Rom. 8:28).
God rewards such persistence because it evidences supreme faith and confidence in God’s merciful power to help in our need. We are promised we may come “boldly” in prayer “before the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace in time of need” (Heb. 4:16). Weak, tentative prayers come from a weak, tentative faith. This does not honor God at all and will not be rewarded by Him.

A Moments Wisdom

If Christians spent as much time praying as they do grumbling, they would soon have nothing to grumble about.
For whatever high reasons, men of prayer must knock and knock- sometimes with bleeding knuckles in the dark.
God is not a cosmic bellboy for whom we can press a button to get things.
You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy in the days of abundance.
Our prayer and God's mercy are like two buckets in a well; while the one ascends the other descends.
There is nothing that makes us love a man so much as praying for him.
Sometimes God delays the answer to our prayer in final form until we have time to build up the strength, accumulate the knowledge, or fashion the character that would make it possible for Him to say "yes" to what we ask.

One of the favorite passages among young children learning to memorize scripture is John 11:35 – “Jesus wept.” To memorize two words is very easy and if you were required to say a memorization passage this is the passage to be chosen (unlike Esther 8:9 which has ninety words). I heard a preacher recently refer to John 11:35 as the shortest verse in the Bible. This made me think of something I found in my studies –1Thessalonians 5:16 says, “Rejoice always.” Of course, the term ‘shortest’ can be defined either by shortest passage in words (two) or shortest passage in syllables (John 11:35 has three; 1Thessalonians 5:16 has four).
The Bible was not written with chapter/verse divisions. As Moses penned the Pentateuch (first five books of the Old Testament) he did not begin with Genesis 1:1. He began in the Hebrew as “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light …” and so forth. When Paul wrote his epistles found in the New Testament, they were letters written to various churches and individuals. This is the pattern for all of the books. There were various divisions within Isaiah, Lamentations and of course Psalm 119, but the divisions we are familiar with came later.
Stephen Langton and Hugo de Sancto Caro established the division of chapters between 1227 and 1248. The Wycliffe English Bible of 1382 was the first Bible to use this chapter pattern. The Hebrew Old Testament was divided into verses by a Jewish rabbi by the name of Nathan in A.D. 1448. Robert Estienne, who was also known as Stephanus, was the first to divide the New Testament into standard numbered verses, in 1555. The Bible in chapter/verse division is of recent history.
The lesson I draw from this illustration is that often we believe something that is not quite according to what the Bible says. I know that whether John 11:35 is the shortest verse in the Bible or not has nothing to do with eternal salvation, but the principle of how we come to certain conclusions may have a bearing on such. There are many “chimney corner scriptures” held fervently by people that have no basis in Biblical truth. Phrases like “All men are created equal … An idle mind is the devil's workshop … Cleanliness is next to godliness … Spare the rod and spoil the child … Give the devil his due … Blood is thicker than water … Bread is the staff of life … Familiarity breeds contempt … God moves in mysterious ways His wonders to perform.”
Many people hold fervently to the ideas that Jesus was born on December 25; three wise men saw the baby Jesus in a manger; Mary Magdalene was a prostitute; Peter was a “Pope”; salvation is by faith alone; join the church of your choice; the early disciples worshipped with instrumental music; the anti-Christ is a man with 666 on his forehead; Jesus will return to earth to reign on David’s throne; Armageddon is a nuclear holocaust still yet to come … and so the list of myths abound.
Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” (John 18:38). To His disciples Jesus declared, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17). Truth is what the Bible says and what the Bible says alone. We must be diligent to examine scripture and declare what the scriptures say in truth. If it is not in the Bible, it is not truth. Our diligence must be to speak only what the Bible speaks (1Peter 4:11).

Now That’s Priceless!

"Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6)
Longfellow could take a worthless piece of paper, write a poem on it, and instantly make it worth thousands of dollars. Rockefeller could sign his name to a piece of paper and make it worth millions. A mechanist can take material worth only five dollars and make it worth five hundred. An artist can take a fifty-cent piece of canvas, paint a picture on it, and make it worth thousands. However, only Jesus Christ can take a sinful soul, wash it in His blood, and make it priceless for all eternity.

It’s Always Needed
By Shane Williams

I heard a story of a man in the mid 1950’s entering school to study engineering. A professor told the entering freshmen class to buy the best slide rule they could afford. The reason: “You will be dependent on it all your ‘professional life.” Well, of course, it wasn’t too long before the slide rule was replaced by the calculator. We’ve seen those same sorts of things in fairly recent years: 8 tracks, cassette tapes (almost), and even VHS tapes! Things that today we consider essential may quickly become obsolete. Tomorrow they may be discarded as antiques that cannot provide the help we need.
At least one thing from the past, however, will always be needed and never become obsolete. It is the Bible, God’s Holy Word. No matter how much technological change and progress takes place, the Book will remain the one sure means for getting the right answers to the complicated questions: our origin, our purpose, our needs, and our final destination.
Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
Psalm 18:30, “As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.”
Psalm 119:160, “The entirety of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous judgments endures forever.”
1Peter 1:23, “For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God.”
Make sure you keep your Bible around and use it! You’ll always need it.

A Moments Wisdom

Be patient with the faults of others; they have to be patient with yours.
The length of one’s life is of less importance than its breath and depth.
Any dead fish can float down stream, but it takes a live one to swim up stream.
Too many people study their neighbor’s faults more closely than their Bibles.
Hammering hardens steel, but it crumbles putty — can you take it?
When a little bird tells you something, make sure that bird was not a cuckoo.
God put the church in the world, but it is Satan who puts the world in the church.

“For I Have Learned...”
By Paul R. Blake

"Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Phil. 4:11-13).
The apostle Paul's experiences as an evangelist taught him that his circumstances in life would not remain constant. There would be times when he would have plenty, and there would be lean periods where even the basic needs of life would go wanting. Paul discovered that these vagaries of existence did not prevent him from serving the Savior. Rich or poor, healthy or ill, free or in prison, Paul knew he could trust the Lord to strengthen him to face the task at hand.
But that's what Paul learned. What have I learned?
I have learned that I learn so slowly. Sitting down to examine the word of God is like sitting down to a feast at a table one mile long with a thousand varied dishes on it. While eager to partake of all of it, the prospect seems so vast and daunting that it appears that I will never get to taste it all in a lifetime. Each day as I learn another lesson, I find myself wishing I had known it in the distant past, and I regret the good that could have been done had I learned it years earlier. This sentiment propels me to faithfully continue the learning process knowing all the while that it will not be complete until my life ends.
I have learned that I don't know enough. Scarcely does a week pass but what I discover gaps in my knowledge and understanding. Walking through life with such gaps in wisdom is like walking across a wooden bridge with half of the boards missing from the road surface. As I look back on my life with all of its stumbles and errors, I am forced to wonder how I made it this far. At least this perspective should help me to be more alert to the potential for stumbling blocks of ignorance that lie ahead.
I have learned that I haven't done enough. As I look back along the highway of life at life, I see a myriad of gems of opportunity scattered behind me. Omar Al-Halif wrote... "Four things come not back: the spoken word, the sped arrow, time past, and neglected opportunity." "What ifs" and "might have beens" could occupy my waking moments if I let them. This insight should help me to embrace opportunities to be of service to God and others hereafter.
I have learned that I am weak. I find myself saying along with the apostle Paul: "For the good that I would do, I do not; but the evil which I would not do, that I do" (Romans 7:19). I gaze admiringly back at heroes of faith from the past and look in awe at devout saints in the present and wonder "why can't I be that disciplined?". Rather than quitting, I must press the supremacy of the mind and will over the flesh. However this will fail unless I admit that I cannot succeed without help the Lord; I alone am not enough to utterly defeat sin and its strength-robbing consequences. "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Phil. 4:13). "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 7:24-25).
I have learned that I make mistakes. Some days it seems the only task I fully accomplish is that of making a fool out of myself. I have a smorgasbord of choices as to what to do with these mistakes. I could pretend that they never happened, only to repeat them another day. I could waste a lot of effort in trying to explain them away, blaming circumstances and persons instead of taking personal responsibility. Perhaps I could pine away the hours regretting my mistakes and become useless to myself and others in the interim. Or just maybe, I could look upon my errors as stern educators who can teach me better judgment, greater patience, and proper repentance.
But perhaps the greatest lesson of all I am learning is to trust God. In His mercy, He made the gospel simple enough for even me to understand. In His wisdom, He made His word to be full of wonders and treasures that move me to joyfully take a lifetime to uncover. In His kindness, He continues to supply me with opportunities to grow and do good even though I've squandered them in the past. In His Providence, He gives His great strength through His powerful word and in answer to prayers. And in His love, He sent His Son to forgive me of my sins. God has provided for and protected me thus far in life, even though I've meandered and stumbled along the pathway of life. I trust Him to continue to take care of me as I endeavor to learn more of Him and strive to be like Him.

Evil for Good and Good for Evil
By Paul R. Blake

Back in 1986, there was a homeless man who found an abandoned shoeshine box, and started shining shoes for a buck. He was so successful that he bought more shoeshine boxes and loaned them to his friends for a percentage of whatever they made shining shoes. He did so well that he was able to rent a nice apartment, to buy a car, and to spread his sidewalk shoeshine business around Washington, DC. He was praised by the local press for what he accomplished.
This eventually caught the attention of Mayor Marion Barry who didn't like the idea of poor men kneeling on the sidewalk to polish wealthier men's shoes, and he promptly put a ban on sidewalk shoe shining. This put the man and his formerly homeless friends out of business and back on the streets in poverty. When the press heard about this and demanded an explanation from Mayor Barry, he replied... "It ain't right that they should be shamed by wiping shoes. Let them collect welfare instead, and keep their dignity."
Marion Barry has it backwards. "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isa. 5:20). "It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth" (Lam. 3:27).

A Moments Wisdom

According to William Bennett in The Weekly Standard, American men live an average of 73 years; smokers, 66 years; and homosexuals, 43 years. Once again, the Bible is proven correct (Rom. 1:27). Yet when we call for an end to promiscuity and immoral homosexuality, gay rights activists berate and slander those who are really only counseling them in ways that would save their lives.
To err is human; to blame it on someone else is really human.
Too many people are praying for mountains of difficulty to be removed, when what they really need is courage to climb them.
Those who know God will be humble, and those who know themselves cannot be proud.
He has the right to criticize, who has the heart to help.
Of all the commentaries on the scriptures, good examples are the best.
May I show others, O Lord, the same consideration that I wish for myself.
If you want to get even with someone, start with someone who has helped you.
Remember not only to say the right thing at the right time and place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.
The mind, filtered by the word of God, is the key to Christian behavior.
If you meet someone today who is too weary to give you a smile, leave him one of yours.
We have no one to blame but ourselves when our enthusiasm and zeal are gone, if we have failed to feed them.
When you speak, always remember that God is one of your hearers.
The tongue, being in a wet place, is apt to slip.
Great minds talk about ideas; mediocre minds talk about things; small minds talk about people.
If someone lies "for" you, how do you know that they won't lie "to" you?
Leaving in a huff is some folks' favorite form of transportation.
Genetics explain why one looks like his father and if he doesn't, why he should. In a similar way, the Bible explains why those who are Christians look like their Father, and if they don't, why they should.

The Final Examination
By Ethan R. Longhenry

You walk into the room. You are a bit confused and apprehensive-- what is going to happen? You stand before the teacher, and he gives you the final examination.
Are you ready? Have you prepared yourself? How will you fare?
All of us who have gone through school remember final exams. They were never pleasant, and they often represented a significant part of our grade. The final exam was the last shot at redemption, the conclusion of a successful class, or the final failure. It all depended on our understanding of the class material, the teacher, and the nature of the exam itself.
The Scriptures make it clear that we will all experience the ultimate final examination when the Lord returns: the Day of Judgment.
“The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent: inasmuch as he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31).
Since the Day of Judgment is coming for you and me, it is good for us to understand all we can about the Judgment Day and the basis of the judgment!
We do not know when the Day of Judgment will come. Jesus' return is described as being like "a thief in the night" (1Thes. 5:2; 2Peter 3:10). Contrary to the view of many, Jesus' return will not be heralded by a "rapture," then a "great tribulation," and then a "millennium." Instead, the Scriptures teach that Jesus could come at any moment, and when He does return, He will then immediately judge all mankind (Matt. 24:42-25:46). Either we will be ready for His return or we will not be ready. There is no other alternative!
God does not leave us in doubt regarding the basis of the judgment; in fact, you could call it an "open book" exam. We will be judged on the basis of our works, whether we have obeyed Jesus and served Him and His righteousness, or if we have not obeyed Jesus and served evil (Rom. 2:5-11; Rev. 20:12-13). Those works will be judged by the standard of God's Word, just as Jesus promised (John 12:48).
A day of judgment is coming, therefore, and on that day, each and every one of us will stand before God, give an account, and be judged on the basis of our obedience to God (Rom. 14:12).
What shall we do then? Some people live in continual fear, knowing that the Lord is coming, but not knowing exactly when. Yet God would not have us live in fear-- instead, we ought to live in preparation (1Thes. 5:1-10). If we believe that the Bible is true, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and will return one day to judge the living and the dead, then we must live according to that conviction. We must constantly be busy in His Kingdom doing His will (Gal. 2:20; Rom. 6:16-19)! If we are faithful servants, it will not matter if the Lord returns today, tomorrow, or after our deaths. Let us be prepared for that final examination, and inherit eternal life!

Momma's Cake
By W. Frank Walton

"And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward" (Matt. 10:42).
Christ, in context, challenges us to love Him more than anyone else (Matt. 10:37). To follow Him, we must die to self in order to gain His true and lasting life (Matt. 10:38-39). The price of discipleship is high: we must give our all (Luke 14:33). Yet, the price is low: anyone by faith can give their all (John 6:37; Matt. 11:28)! It doesn’t take much of a person to be a Christian, just all of that person there is.
Our Lord assures us that even giving a child a cup of cold water (being kind to an “insignificant” child by being considerate enough that the water is “cold”), is a wonderful deed that God sees and rewards! No one makes a bigger mistake than thinking that if you can only do a little, it doesn’t count for much, so you end up doing nothing. Jesus teaches us in the miracle of feeding 5000 with five loaves and two fish, that with Him, little is much (John 6:9). He can bless and multiply our efforts for good (Eph. 3:20-21). There is no such thing as insignificant service in the Lord's kingdom.
So, let me tell you about my Momma’s cake. It is the most delicious chocolate cake in the world! (She has a secret way of preparing them). I recently saw in her closet a big stack of chocolate cake mixes. When someone at church has been sick, or has some difficulty, or has an occasion to need some food, my mom bakes them her famous chocolate cake to cheer them up. She is a cake baking machine. (Recently, someone at church said in jest to me, “I’ve been a little depressed lately…could I get one of those cakes?”). By regularly making a cake, this is a way she can make a contribution to helping others.
She does this because she cannot now, like when I was growing up, teach Bible class, clean the church building, give someone a ride to church, draft blueprints for building a church building, or have the preacher over for a meal during a gospel meeting. She has a debilitating spinal condition called “spinal stenosis” that inhibits mobility. She walks with a cane because she also needs knee replacement surgery. Yet, she is still the indomitable cake baker.
The lesson of Momma’s cake reminds me of this nifty poem about finding our place of service for the Lord:
Shamger had an oxgoad;
David had a sling;
Dorcas had a needle;
Rachel had a string;
Samson had a jawbone;
Aaron had a rod;
Mary had some ointment;
And all were used by God.
So, I urge you to develop your talents, as a disciple of Jesus, and discover your place of service by giving “a cup of cold water” to whomever you can help. God bless you in the service of our Great King, Jesus our one and only Savior. Remember, it’s all for Him, who did so much for us. In love, He has changed us, so we can help change the world.

A Moments Wisdom

Men, like kites, should rise against the wind.
You may give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.
Most children are afraid of darkness and most men are afraid of the light.
It takes a great deal of courage to say “No,” when most others are saying, “Yes.”
Do what you can, where you can, when you can, and with what you have.
A big heart accommodates many more people than a big house.

As the story was told, a good old lady was telling of some of her problems and how she managed them. She said, “Well, you know the Bible says ‘grin and bear it.’” Some one in her presence asked her just where the Bible said such a thing and she replied, “I do not rightly know, but I think it is in Paul’s letter to the Deuteronomite!” We may consider this as a far fetched case, but really it is not! We should never be surprised at the sayings which are quoted as being from the Bible when actually they are not. People are still gullible when it suits them, and when it will bring them comfort. They launch toward eternity on “scriptures” which they have never studied or examined. Why the title “Chimney Corner Scriptures”? All my life, I have heard this phrase being used. I understand it to refer to the olden days when folks used to sit around the fire place and discuss sayings and their meanings which they believed to be from the Bible. Rather than examining the scriptures found in the Bible, they accepted sayings as being in the Bible, and these sayings became known as “Chimney Corner Scriptures”. As time went on, people handed these sayings down as bonafide scriptures found in the Bible. I do not have a copy before me, but I remember several years ago that the Nelson Publishing Company produced the Royal Bible, a KJV translation of the Bible, which contained a listing of “Chimney Corner Scriptures”. The Following Quotations Are “Chimney Corner Scriptures”:
An honest confession is good for the soul. I have heard this all my life, but the statement is not found in the Bible. It does contain some truth in the main, but the statement is not a scripture given by the inspiration of God. Confession is good, and we are taught to do so when it is needed. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1John 1:9). I am not sure that one is to confess everything that is in the soul or that has been done in the past. Such things may be wrong and hurtful to others! The things which need confessing are to be confessed to the one wronged. To confess faults one to another when we have sinned against one another is good for the soul. “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16).
Money is the root of all evil. The Bible says something about the “root of evil” and “money”, but the quotation itself is not true. It is not money which is the root of evil, but the love of it. “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1Tim. 6:10). There is a great deal of difference in money being the “root of all evil” and “the love of money being the root of all evil”. There is the possibility of one loving money, when there is not the possession of it. Other versions render the phrase: “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil”. I can’t help but feel that this is a better translation than in the King James Version. The love of money truly produces much evil, but think about the love and participation in other sins such as illicit sex! Sin after sin can be traced to the involvement in such, or else I am entirely too naïve to know what exists.
God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to behold. Have you heard this quoted as coming from the Bible? I can recall hearing an elder quote it and apply it to a particular situation which the church was facing. Where is it found in any of the 66 books constituting the oracles of God? We certainly recognize that some of the ways of God are unknown to us and may be classified as secret things, but the saying itself is not in the Bible. “And the secret things belong unto the Lord our God but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever that we may do all the words of this law” (Deut. 29:29). This old saying may have come from the false notion that God saves the sinner in some strange, mysterious, better-felt-than-told experience. The fact that God has stooped to save man and has provided salvation through Jesus is a wonder indeed, but it does not come in some mysterious, incomprehensible way. Generally, those who use this phrase have very little concept of the simplicity of the gospel of Christ, and what it requires to be saved. (Rom. 1:16-17; Mark 16:15-16).
We are prone to sin as sparks are to fly upward. “Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7). These are the words of Eliphaz speaking of troubles and afflictions. There is no scripture in the Bible which speaks of man being prone to sin as sparks are to fly upward. This quote has no doubt brought comfort to many sinners. The idea is from the old Calvinistic concept of inborn sin and total depravity, with the lingering notion that it is natural for man to sin. Man is not born with any proneness to sin, or with a nature which cannot do otherwise. Man does sin and the more he sins, the more prone he is to do it, but he does not have to do it, and he is not born with a nature which cannot do otherwise. So often these sayings are cleverly laden with erroneous ideas which are hard to detect, but are most dangerous in their effects. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die, The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him” (Ez. 18:20).

Finding Fault

"Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault" (Mark 7:2). Let us suppose I am looking for a field of corn to buy. I travel around seeking for a field which contains good corn. Finally, I see a field which strikes my fancy. The owner says that he will sell it. I then enter the field to see if the corn suits me. As I pass down the rows, the stalks are tall and strong. Almost every stalk has two massive ears hanging from it. However, I pay them little attention. I am looking for something else. Finally, I find it. Over in a low wet corner I find a scrawny little stalk with one little nubbin on it. I pull up the stalk, nubbin and all. I take it to the owner and say, "This is very poor corn. Just look at that nubbin!"
Anyone can easily see that I wasn't being fair. I wasn't really looking to see what the field of corn was like. I was just trying to find fault with it. It would seem that I was not really interested in buying the field. I was just looking for the nubbin, and in my search for the nubbin, I overlooked all of the good corn. There is an old proverb which says, "He who is looking for faults in his brethren will surely find them." (From Gospel Messenger)

Little Church on the Hill
Written by Judy Snider

The little church on the hill,
Oh, how I love to go there still.
Where they sing and pray
On every Lord’s day
As the little church on the hill.

In that little church on the hill,
Christians assemble to do God’s will
As scripture is taught
On how salvation was bought
For that little church on the hill.

With that little church on the hill
Comes a family who tries to instill
The blessings of love and laughter
Along with the hope of life ever after
With that little church on the hill.

The growth of that little church on the hill
Is an effort of those who will
Reach out to teach
And travel to preach
For the Lord of that little church on the hill.

(We know that the ‘church’ is not the building, but those who gather inside to worship the Lord. Please take this in the manner it was meant to be.)

The period of a man’s life is summed up by our Creator as merely a vapor that appears for a short time and then vanishes away (James 4:14). The greatest challenge we face is the reality of our mortality and the brevity of that transient journey called life. It is hard to conceive that life can be so short when all around us is full of life and vitality. Yet the numbering of our days is suggested by the psalmist Moses in his prayer to God. “For all our days have declined in Your fury; we have finished our years like a sigh. As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, or if due to strength, eighty years, yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; for soon it is gone and we fly away. Who understands the power of Your anger and Your fury, according to the fear that is due You? So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:9-12).
Moses does not suggest that all men will live to be seventy but the fullness of life is measured by a span of time for man but only a glimpse of eternity from the view of Heaven. He lived to be 120 years of age and “his eye was not dim, nor his vigor abated” (Deut. 34:7). Our lives are nothing more than a sigh and soon passed away. The lesson is for all of us to number our days and receive wisdom from our mortality.
Viewing this passage from my own life I realize that Lord willing I have a span of eighteen years and if by strength twenty eight years. Added to this knowledge is the clear reality that my death can come today - at any moment. The lesson from Moses is not about the numbers but about the numbering. Wisdom helps us see through the eye of faith that life for the child of God must be viewed in light of eternity. Our lives are not measured by the marching of time but the time we march into that great city, the holy Jerusalem (Rev. 21:10-27).
Facing death is what we all share and our understanding of that determines our outlook of life. Some are fully aware of their death as disease has crippled them and left little time for their lives to continue. I cannot grasp the measure of faith that men like Phil Roberts had in facing death or of the faith of Gary Ogden who now faces his mortality. Countless children of God have stood at the door of death and viewed it not with fear but with the longing faith of one who wants to go home to the Father.
Luke describes the death of Stephen as “falling asleep” (Acts 7:60) and Stephen was being murdered by a mob stoning him with stones. The horrible nature of death confuses our minds with the reality of death for the Christian. When Stephen was dying it was a terrible way to die; but he knew that in a moment of time his pain would cease and his life would be transformed from the earthly house to a “house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2Cor. 5:1-9).
Teach us to number our days and know the power of God that rests upon our lives now and especially the power of God that awaits us to carry us by angels to the bosom of Abraham (Luke 16:22). “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away. And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ And He said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true’” (Rev. 21:4-5). May God grant us the eye of faith to see clearly the eternal home promised before time began (Titus 1:2; Heb. 11:16).

Tomorrow
He was going to be all he wanted to be tomorrow
No one would be kinder than he tomorrow
A friend who was troubled and weary he knew
Who’d be glad of a lift, and he needed it too.
On him he would call and see what he could do, Tomorrow
Each morning he’d stack all the letters he’d write, Tomorrow
And thought of the folks he’d fill with delight, Tomorrow
It was too bad, indeed, he was busy today,
And he hadn’t a minute to stop on his way;
“More time I will have to give others,” he’d say, Tomorrow
The greatest of workers this man would have been, Tomorrow;
The world would have known him had he ever seen, Tomorrow.
But, in fact he passed on, and he faded from view,
And all that he left here when living was through
Was a mountain of things he’d intended to do, Tomorrow
Via The Bulletin edited by J. Clyde Strickland, Savanna, OK

New Testament Persons Who Believed In Creation

JESUS: “But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’” (Mark 10:6)
EARLY CHRISTIANS: “So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them…” (Acts 4:24)
PAUL & BARNABAS: “We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them...” (Acts 14:15)
JOHN: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” (John 1:1-3)
PETER: “...knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water…” (2 Peter 3:3-5)
MEN & WOMEN OF FAITH: “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.” (Hebrews 11:3)
HEAVENLY BEINGS: “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.” (Revelation 4:11)

A Moments Wisdom

Train up a child in the way he should go and then go that way yourself.
The reason worry kills more people than work is that more people worry than work.
A house without books is like a house without windows.

Throughout the years I have heard many wonderful sermons which I have forgotten, but one sermon have I seen, and it has remained in my heart until this day. It happened on a Sunday morning when I was on my way to one of the two small congregations in Munich, Germany, on a cold, rainy day in November.
After I got out of bed, I looked through the window which was covered with ice ferns. New deep snow had fallen during the night covering the streets of the city. I tried to decide whether I should go to worship or stay home and read my Bible.
I realized the congregation would miss me, for I was the only song leader they had. On the other hand I would have to walk a half block to catch the bus to the building. Finally I decided to go but only because I must lead the singing.
While I was riding the bus, I noticed two people trying hard to make their path through the snow. I recognized the people and knew where they were going. They were Brother and Sister Trollman, a faithful couple who attended every service. Brother Trollman was a man in his eighties who had lost his eyesight. His only guidance was his seventy-eight year old wife, who was lame in one foot. They lived in a little two room apartment, and received a little support from the government. Because they could not afford to ride the bus to the services, which were about three miles away, they walked the distance every Lord's Day.
Here I was sitting in a warm bus, unwilling to go to worship, forced by my duty as a song leader, and there, outside in the cold weather, were two old people driven to worship by their love for the Lord.
I was not able to do anything but blush, ashamed of myself and the weak faith and love I had proved to my Lord. I felt like an evildoer in court being judged by his own conscience. This old couple without their knowledge and without one word had taught me a greater lesson than could ever be said in words. (An American G.I. “The Power Of An Example,” The Lehman Avenue Weekly Communicator, Feb. 4, 1987)

Numerically Speaking

Paul Rogers of Centerville, Tennessee, has done some calculating of just how far the Apostle Paul walked in his efforts to spread the gospel. According to Acts, he took three missionary journeys. The second of these alone amounted to three thousand miles, two thousand of which would have been on foot. The average daily distance a traveler of that time would cover was twenty miles, with a Roman inn being located every twenty to twenty-five miles along the roads. These inns were unbelievably filthy, immoral and bug infested. Paul traveled through snowy mountain passes and spring floods. He walked through areas famous for harboring robbers and criminals. He braved wild beasts that imperiled every traveler. The travel recorded in Acts 16 would have covered 740 miles. That of chapter 15 would have been 500 miles. And to think he wasn't walking for his own health, but for the spiritual well-being of others. (Editor's note... questions to provoke all of us: How many contemporary Christians find it burdensome to travel 20 minutes in heated and air-conditioned cars to come to Sunday evening and Wednesday night services? What would the Apostle Paul say to them? --prb)

Use It or Lose It

“Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him” (Mark 4:24-25).
The expression, “Use it or lose it” is often heard in regard to physical exercise. Muscles must be used in order to insure their greater use in the future. To fail to use one's muscles will lead to the loss of strength one presently has. The same is true concerning spiritual things. Regarding hearing and understanding God's word, the Lord warns, more or less, “Use it or lose it.” Matthew's account says, “For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him” (Matt. 13:12).

On An Old Grave Stone

“Pause stranger, when you pass me by,
As you are now, so once was I.
As I am now, so you will be;
So prepare for death and follow me.”

A tourist put this at the bottom of the inscription:
“To follow you I am not content
Until I know which way you went.”

Still at Work at 86

In reply to congratulations on his 86th birthday, Sir William Mulock stated: “I am still at work, with my hand to the plow, and my face to the future. The shadows of evening lengthen about me, but morning is in my heart. I have had varied fields of labor and full contact with men and things, and have warmed both of my hands before the fire of life. The best of life is always farther on. It real lure is hidden from our eyes somewhere beyond the hills of time.” “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (2Cor. 4:16).

A Moments Wisdom

Too many measure success by what others haven't done.
A pint of example is worth more than a barrel full of advice.
Love does not dominate; it cultivates.
Falsehood is never so successful as when she baits her hook with truth.
Genuine Christians do not want to go to heaven alone.
If you don't enjoy what you have now, how can you be happier with more?
Keep the faith, but not to yourself.
People cannot change the truth, but the truth can change people.
Because of his inordinate desire to do all of the talking, many a man has missed hearing a lot of needful information.
It is right to love the sinner, no matter how vile; but it is never right to tolerate his sins. Toleration of evil is false kindness.
Preach, not because you have to say something, but because you have something to say.
When a Christian is in the wrong place, his right place is empty.
A Christian should never let adversity get him down, except on his knees.
If you aren't sure whether a thing is right or wrong, it is usually wrong.
Jesus is not looking for believers; He is looking for disciples.
No one ever drowned in sweat.
You have failed many times? How fortunate! By now you know some of the things not to do.
The man who loses his head is usually the last to miss it.
Some people know all of their rights, but none of their obligations.
A forgiving spirit opens the way to better things.
Joy is spiritual prosperity.
God's resources are always equal to His requirements.
If you have half a mind to turn on the television, that's all you need for most of the programs.
Nothing sets a person so much out of the Devil's reach as humility.
Adam and Eve had the most perfect marriage in history: Eve never talked about her old boyfriends, and Adam never bragged about his mother’s cooking.

The strength of a man isn’t seen in the width of his shoulders; it’s seen in the width of his arms that encircle you.
The strength of a man isn’t in the deep tone of his voice; it’s in the gentleness of his words.
The strength of a man isn’t in how many buddies he has; it’s in how good of a buddy he is to his own children.
The strength of a man isn’t in how respected he is at work; it’s in how respected he is at home.
The strength of a man isn’t in how hard he can hit; it’s in how tender he touches.
The strength of a man isn’t in the hair on his chest; it’s in the heart that lies within his chest.
The strength of a man isn’t in how he is loved by women; it’s in how he can be true to only one woman.
The strength of a man isn’t in the amount of weight he can lift; it’s in the number of burdens he can carry.

One day at a Time

There are two days in every week about which we should not worry; two days which should be kept free from fear and apprehension.
One of these days is yesterday… with its mistakes and cares, its faults and blunders, and its aches and pains. Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control. All the money in the world cannot bring back yesterday. We cannot undo a single act we performed. We cannot erase a single word we said. Yesterday is gone.
The other day we should not worry about is tomorrow. Tomorrow is beyond our immediate control. Tomorrow’s sun will rise, whether in splendor or behind a mask of clouds, Lord willing. But it will rise, and until it does, we have no stake in tomorrow.
This leaves only one day for which we must be concerned… today. Anyone can fight the battles of just one day. It is when we attempt to add the burdens of those two awful eternities, yesterday and tomorrow, that we break down. Let us therefore live one day at a time. (author unknown)

Ready, Watching, and Waiting

A U.S. Army officer told of the contrast in his pupils during two different eras of teaching at the artillery training school at Fort Sill, Oklahoma (Home of the Field Artillery). In 1958-1960 the attitude was so lax that the instructors had a problem getting the men to stay awake to hear the lectures. During the 1965-1967 classes, however, the men, hearing the same basic lectures, were alert and took notes. What made the difference in the classes of 1965-1967? The students knew that in less than six weeks they would be facing the enemy in Vietnam.
“Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing” (Matt. 24:42-46).
Let us be fully aware of the urgency of being ready, watching, and waiting for our Master's return.

A Moments Wisdom

You made your bed; now you lie in it. You can lie there and complain about the fleas, or you can get up and change the sheets.
Not everyone gets to do great deeds in this world, but everyone can do little things with great love.
Bidden or not bidden, God is present
If our boys and girls are not as good as they were when you were a child their age, it may be that they had a much better mother and dad than your child has.
In youth we learn; in age we understand.
Anxiety springs from the desire that things should happen as we wish rather than as God wills.
Never trouble trouble till trouble troubles you.
I believe that one reason why churches at this present time have so little influence over the world is because the world has so much influence over the churches.
Lord, please reform the world… beginning with me.
The only place where success comes before work is a dictionary.
The greatest composer does not sit down to work because he is inspired, but becomes inspired because he is working.
It is not doing the thing which we like to do, but liking to do the thing which we have to do, that makes life blessed.
It is better to undertake a large task and get it half done than to undertake nothing and get it all done.
Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.

Question: “When the woman caught in adultery was brought before Jesus, He told her He did not condemn her but told her to ‘Go, and sin no more.’ If you’re going to continue to sin, why be baptized because you’ll ‘go down a dry sinner and come up a wet sinner.’ What does this mean?”
John 8:10-11 - “When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you? She said, No one, Lord. And Jesus said to her, Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
The Bible is its own best commentary. Consider another occasion where the Lord told someone not to sin any more. John 5:14 - “Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”
Consider Matthew 12:43-45 - “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”
In other words, when one chooses to rid himself of a harmful behavior or course of action, he must replace it with another more beneficial activity. Otherwise, he will not succeed in preventing the former behavior from returning and doing him even more harm. One who chooses to stop sinning must find a helpful, spiritually healthy activity to replace it. Otherwise there is a void in his life that must be filled, and will most likely be filled with the sinful activity he is already familiar and comfortable with.
Jesus was not going to condemn and punish the woman while she still had time and life in which to replace adultery with spiritual conduct. The healed man needed to fill his life with righteousness, lest he fall into sinful and self-destructive practices. The man who was saved from the evil spirit needed to have something in place that would leave no available room for the spirit when he returned. The apostle Paul wrote: Ephesians 4:27 - “Do not give place to the devil.” Meaning, do not provide opportunities for yourself to be vulnerable to temptation.
He also wrote in Romans 13:14 - “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” The two things he said to do and the order in which he said them is: 1) put on Jesus, and 2) do not provide yourself with opportunities to be tempted to sin. If you smoke when you walk to the post office, instead of taking your cigarettes and lighter with you, take a hymnal or a Bible or a tract or a bulletin or anything else but cigarettes and lighters, and read along the way. If you drink when you go play golf, take a bottle of your favorite soda pop. If you like to watch programming that is sexual in nature, have someone block that channel on your TV without telling you the code. You will have “made no provision for the flesh.” However, that is only the second part of Paul's instruction. The first part is to put on Christ. The second is destined to fail eventually, because the first has not been implemented. Just like the man who had a void in his life when the evil spirit left, so it will be with one who rids himself of a sinful habit without Christ in his life.
As to the woman of John 8, she lived under the Law of Moses, and therefore would be expected to devote herself to following the law. Jesus did not baptize her converting her to Christianity, because He had not yet died for sins. She would therefore fill the void left by abandoning adultery with a restoration of her service to God under the law.
There is a difference between one who is baptized all the while intending to continue in a particular sin versus one who is beset with a strong temptation but is baptized anyway, resolving to overcome the temptation in Christ rather than alone outside of Christ. The first has not repented because he plans to remain in sin. The second knows that he has an area of vulnerability but wants the Lord's help in overcoming it, and so he obeys the Lord trusting that He will help. And he does so knowing that it is possible to stumble in his resolve to go and sin no more, but also knows that he would be less successful alone and that should he stumble, he has a Lord who loves him and will forgive him in spite of his weakness.
Christ has never called us to perfection on our own power, nor are we saved on our works and results alone. We are called to strive against sin. Permit me to illustrate this with a story. A member of the church stands before the judgment bar of God. He says, “I was baptized into Christ following belief, repentance, and confession.” God replies, “Well, that's ten percent of what you need to get into heaven.” The man says, “I was faithful in my attendance, I gave generously every week, I was active in worship and in reaching out to the lost, I studied my Bible at home every day, and I taught Bible classes.” God answered, “Wonderful, that's another ten percent. You now have 20% of what you need to get into heaven.” The man was beginning to sweat, now. “I was kind and loving toward my wife, I took care of my parents when they were old, I raised my children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and I was a good citizen.” God said, “Yet another ten percent. What else?” The man began trembling, realizing this was going to be harder than he thought. “I lived a moral life. I didn't dance, drink, smoke, lie, cheat, steal, murder, fornicate, or use bad language.” God said, “Ten percent more; almost half of what you need to go to heaven. What else do you have?” The man in resignation said, “Well, I guess I must rely on your grace and mercy. What else can I do?” God said, “You now have one hundred percent of what you need to enter heaven; go on in.” Fictitious, but illustrative.
Romans 13:14 and 1John 1 & 2 supply the answer to your question. Romans 13:14 - “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” Put on Jesus Christ, do not put yourself in the way of temptation, and appeal to God and trust in His grace and mercy when you stumble.
1John 1:7-9, 2:1 - “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness… My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (For more help with this, consider the article written by brother Frank Walton on “Right Spiritual Thinking.”)

“This a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief” (1Tim. 1:15). What joy it gives to the penitent believer to know that upon baptism into Christ his sins are all forgiven! From the beginning, humankind has sought to return to fellowship with God after losing that blessed Garden of Eden relationship with Him (Acts 17:26-28). Now in Jesus Christ, one can be free from that which separates him from God... sin.
The apostle Paul describes himself as the former chief of sinners. Before he obeyed the gospel, he was a persecutor of Christians. In Galatians 1:13, he describes his activities: “...I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it.” In Acts 9, he sought a commission from the high priest to arrest Christians in Damascus and bring them to Jerusalem for trial. So eager was he to hinder the work of the Lord that he traveled in the middle of the day, refusing to seek shelter from the hot sun until the temperature became more suitable for journeying. Jesus characterizes Saul's zealous anti-Christian fervor as self-destructive. He said that Saul was kicking against the goads (Acts 9:5). An ox goad was designed to prod the animal in the direction desired by the master. For the ox to kick back into the point of the goad was to risk impalement on the goad. Saul was kicking against Christ to his self-injury. Jewish historian and secretary to Golda Meir wrote that the two things that did the most damage to first century Judaism were the fall of Jerusalem to Titus in 70 AD and the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. That Saul was an enemy of Christ is beyond dispute.
However, Paul praised God for the forgiveness of these sins. Though he was an insolent man, he obtained mercy; though he was a blasphemer, he became the beneficiary of God's grace; though he was a persecutor, he was treated patiently by the Lord (1Tim. 1:13-16). In addition, Paul expressed wonder that Jesus would put him into the ministry that he might preach the gospel he once tried to destroy.
Paul was blessed. Even though he was a sinner, he was forgiven of those sins. In spite of the fact that he once hated Christians, he was now permitted to convert others to Christ. End of story? Other than having obeyed the gospel, what significant change made it possible for Paul to rejoice in his saved state? He abhorred and forsook the sins he once committed.
It is not insignificant that Paul said: “I was FORMERLY (emphasis mine - prb) a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man” (1Tim. 1:13). Paul was not a blasphemer, persecutor, nor an insolent man any longer. He had given these things up. He told the Philippians: “...concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. But indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (Phil. 3:6-8). Paul gave up those things from his past that he might remain in Christ.
Had Paul chosen to hold on to those things that gave him glory and pleasure as one who rebelled against the Lord, he would not have been able to remain in Christ. His former life of sin was not compatible with his present life in Jesus. Therefore, he had to abandon all sinful practices to stay in a saved state.
Because Paul rid himself of all ties to his former insolent life, he was able to labor more freely for the Lord. He found freedom from sin to be enabling, making him a more effective servant of the Lord. He wrote: “For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1Cor. 15:9-10).
Paul ensured that the grace of God given to him would not be in vain by means of completely giving his own life over to the Lord's direction and guidance. Paul chose to be led by faith in the word of God rather than by his own worldly impulses and whims. "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Gal. 2:20). It is only fitting for one who has received forgiveness of sins by the giving of Christ's life to give his own life back to the Lord in return.
How is then that so many who obey the gospel later fall from grace and return to the world they once left? It is because, after they were baptized, they were not former sinners, but currently sinners. They have not given up the sins that originally brought them under condemnation; and therefore, remain beset by weakness and sin.
The drunkard who obeys the gospel must cease ALL drinking of booze, or else he will not enjoy the ongoing blessings in Christ for the faithful. The penitent liar must ALWAYS tell the truth, or the blood of Christ will do him no lasting good. The lazy must work, the thief must not steal, the gossip must be silent, the contentious man must control his urges if any of them are to stay in Christ. The believer who repents of his sins before being baptized should not merely be disgusted by his sins, he must also resolve to forsake his sins to the uttermost and determine never to return to them.
If one believes in God and His word, repents of his sins, publicly confesses his faith in Jesus Christ, and is baptized, and then returns to the sins he repented of, he cannot enjoy salvation. He has once again lost his fellowship with God (1John 1:6). In fact, his condition is worse than it was before he obeyed the gospel. “For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning” (2Peter 2:20).
Gentle Reader, if you call yourself a Christian, cease from sin and serve the Lord faithfully. Misery is the fate of those who try to live in the world and in Christ at the same time. Joy is the lot of one who is loyal to the Lord.

A Moments Wisdom

An ounce of keeping your mouth shut is worth a pound of explanations.
Some people are born on third base and go though life thinking they hit a triple.
When people are bored, it is primarily with themselves.
If we had no faults, we would take no pleasure in noticing the faults of others.
No man can cause more grief than that one clinging to the vices of his ancestors.
What some people mistake for the high cost of living is really the cost of living high.

(In December 1995 while living in Youngstown, Ohio, I volunteered to help out at the Columbiana County Workshop for the Disabled for one day. I met over a hundred people who had every apparent reason to bemoan their lot; but instead, they chose to make a good, happy life within the confines of their mental and physical limitations. Often, the children of this world shame professed children of God. The following article was written about that experience.)
I met a man with character this week. Let's call him Michael. He and I have some things in common: we are both 35 year old men. But there, the similarity ends.
Michael works in a place where the only jobs to be had are menial, repetitive labor. He does the same thing, hour after hour, day after day, performing tasks that most people would find dull, doing work that many folk would deem unnecessary.
I do not.
Michael has a severe physical disability. He is confined to a wheelchair and must be strapped in an upright position. He cannot walk without the assistance of someone who will walk with him holding him upright. If he wants to stand alone, he must do so in a corner, supported by two walls. His right arm is contracted into the shape of the letter "Z" and completely unusable. Michael must depend on the kindness of others just to move.
I do not.
Michael can only say one word... "Yeahhh!" He simply says 'yes' to any question asked of him, for he cannot hold a conversation with anyone. He has never passed the time of day talking about the weather or his favorite sports team. He has never been able to say, "I love you" to his mother, or "Thank you" to a caring friend, or "Isn't that a beautiful sunset" to a passing stranger. He endures the frustration of never being able to express himself and be understood by others.
I do not.
Michael works to the uttermost limit of his capacity. When asked to use his shriveled right arm, he glares intently at it as if by sheer force of will he can unbind the contracted muscles. Trembling all over, he struggles with the frozen joints and the twisted arm jerks back and forth, up and down. So Herculean are his efforts that his left arm is extended out in the air with the fist clenched in white knuckled defiance of his limitations. When requested to reach overhead to perform a task, he presses his head and shoulders back against a sharply curved spine and works with his left arm upraised until he doesn't have the strength to lift it from the table. And all the while, Michael looks warmly into the eyes of his companion and keeps a pleasant smile on his face. As I watched his intense efforts, my eyes clouded with tears and a lump formed in my throat, because Michael strives to the absolute limit of his existence to do what is asked of him.
And I... I... I met a man with character this week.
Solomon: "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might" (Ecc. 9:10).
Apostle Paul: "And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward" (Col. 3:23-24).

Is the Gospel Free?
By Paul R. Blake

(I recently followed a discussion among brethren on the Web about whether or not a preacher is scripturally permitted to charge a fee to download his sermon outlines, articles, and e-classbooks from his own website. While some arguments were spurious, most of it proved to be an interesting exchange. I sent the following as my answer to the question.)
…Actually, this discussion illustrates one of the growing pains of a media transition period. It appears inevitable that hard media (not just printed media, but also portable hard electronic storage) is eventually going to be replaced for the most part with wide spread wireless access to central digital storage. This will require an entirely new means of securing copyrights and paying for usage. What that means for authors is that the classbook, outline book, etc., will go the way of 8-tracks, vinyl albums, and cassette players. Your grandchildren will nostalgically purchase classbooks at antique auctions.
This same kind of objection was encountered when the chalk board was replaced by the overhead projector. One brother told me in 1985, "I hate it when you preach those window blind sermons (He was talking about the pull down screen for the projector - prb). Old brother _______ always used the chalkboard and it ought to be good enough for you." We also remember the fusses created by the advent of the multimedia projector. Now they are practically universal and almost indispensable.
The question of paysites for preacher publications is not so much about "should we have to pay for Bible study materials?". Someone always pays for Bible study materials. If the material is offered free to the public, the author covers the cost (or the local church does if he does his writing and publishing on their time). Rather it is part of a larger question of the economics of fair exchange in a digital world. Christians recognize that work and intellectual property have fair market value, and they are willing to meet God's expectation of honorable exchange for it. All of us have bought classbooks, commentaries, multiple versions of the Bible, et al. The word of God teaches us that the Gospel is free to all; however, to suggest that the means of recording and transmitting it must also be free is to wrest that Bible principle out of context.
On the other hand, for the person who is seeking study materials on a limited budget, or who conscientiously does not wish to pay for Bible study materials, the Internet is bursting with quality Bible freeware. One could spend years collecting and filling a digital library. But be selective. The Internet big bang of available information has opened the door for a lot of men of limited knowledge and ability, who in the age of hard media would have little chance of being published.
My concern with regard to the matter of class material, outlines, and articles used by preachers is this: Why not do your own work? Why is it necessary to depend on the work of others? Does it save time? What do you do with the study time saved by using someone else's work... do you use it to make more contacts for the Gospel?
It is a good thing that brethren share their studies with others. It is a good thing to read another brother's work and learn something. It is something else entirely to go to "Brotherhood" websites at 6:00 PM Saturday and download a couple of outlines to preach the next day. It is a better thing to do your own work.

The apostle Paul declared in Galatians 6:7 – “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.” There has always been consequence to sin from the moment Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the garden (Gen. 2-3). Man should not think that he can escape the eye of God.
King David was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22) and became the greatest king to sit upon the throne of Israel. Whenever David’s name is mentioned there is always a sidebar of remembering the incident with Bathsheba, wife of Uriah the Hittite. In 2Samuel 11 we read of David walking on the roof of his house one evening when he “saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold” (2Sam. 11:2). David brought Bathsheba into his palace and lay with her. Later she told the King that she was with child. Wanting to cover the incident up, her husband was recalled from the besieging of the city of Rabbah.
           Uriah the Hittite was one of the mighty men of David (2Sam. 23:39; 1Chron. 11:41).  He was a man of honor and nobility in service to his king. When called home from the war, he refused to enter his house as long as his men and the ark were engaged in battle. Failing at other attempts to coerce Uriah into bed with his wife, David sent an order (by the hand of Uriah) to his general, Joab, to place Uriah in the heat of battle and then withdraw. Uriah carried his death notice and died in the battle.
           It was later God sent Nathan the prophet to David to declare unto him the judgment of the Lord upon David & Bathsheba, the child and the descendants of David. The immediate consequence of David’s sin was the condemnation of God. The grace of God allowed David to live (2Sam. 12:13) but the child would die. Further consequence that David would suffer is the sword would never leave his house and adversaries would rise up against him – even from his own household (see Absalom and Adonijah). The house of David suffered many years of hardship because of David’s sin.
          The punishment outlined by Nathan (2Sam. 12:7-15) was immediate at least in the lifetime of David. The sad part of David’s sin was that he would forever be marked as the man who took Uriah’s wife. When the account of Abijam’s reign in Judah is given in the book of 1Kings it says: “Because David did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite” (1Kings 15:5). The consequence of sin remained.
Remarkably when the genealogy of Jesus Christ is given in Matthew’s account, David is again marked with his sin. “Jesse was the father of David the king. David was the father of Solomon by Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah” (Matt. 1:6). Generations removed David is still remembered for what he did to Uriah and his sin with Bathsheba.
           Sin will take you farther than you want to go and keep you longer than you want to stay. The lust of the flesh will mark a person for lifetime as the one who is known for what they have done. This does not dismiss forgiveness as God forgave David but the reality of the reaping of sin sowed in a moment’s reckless folly will blacken the pages of life – and sometimes long after the person has died. Many have walked that road today and bear a heavy burden. David cries from the grave long passed: “O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness” (1Tim. 6:11).

Getting Motivated
By Doug Roush

The fable is told of a frog that was caught in a deep rut on a muddy road. His friend tried but could not get him, so he left him to get more help. When he returned, he found the frog hopping about outside the rut. "I thought you couldn't get out," said the friend. "I couldn't," replied the frog, "but when I saw a big truck coming down the road, I was suddenly strongly motivated to exit."
Jesus said, "...do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But ... Fear Him who ... has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!" (Luke 12:4-5)
           Friend, if you are stuck in a rut of sin, please consider our Lord's solemn warning. The fear of being in a place of torment can be a strong motivator toward faithful service to God.

To Be Perfect

           "Jesus said to him, 'If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.'" (Matt. 19:21)
Marquis de Lafayette was a French general and politician who joined the American Revolution and became a friend of George Washington. An influential man in the U.S. and France, Lafayette was also a man of compassion. The harvest of 1782 was a poor one, but the manager of his estate had filled his barns with wheat. "The bad harvest has raised the price of wheat," said his manager. "This is the time to sell." Lafayette thought about the hungry peasants in the villages and replied, "No, this is the time to give."
Real love is often measured by our willingness to let go of what we possess. Sometimes the thing we grip most tightly in our hands is the very thing God asks us to hand over to Him. (From Bible Illustrator)

The Land Of Pretty Soon

I know a land where the streets are paved
With things we meant to achieve;
Walled with money we meant to have saved
And the pleasures for which we grieve,
Kind words unspoken, promises broken,
And many a coveted boon
Are gathered there in that land somewhere,
The Land of Pretty Soon.
There uncut jewels of possible fame
Are lying about in the dust,
And many a noble and lofty aim
Are covered with mold and rust.
And, oh, this place, while it seems so near,
Is farther away than the moon;
Though purpose is fair, we'll not get there—
To the Land of Pretty Soon.
The road that leads to that mystic land
Is strewn with pitiful wrecks,
The ships that sailed for its shining strand
Bear skeletons on their decks.
It's farther at noon than it was at dawn,
And farther at night than noon;
Oh, let us beware of that land down there
The Land of Pretty Soon.

A Moments Wisdom

Criticizing the faults of others does not remove our own.
Alcohol can kill the living and preserve the dead.
To receive the crown we must bear the cross.
Many who claim much love for God have little love for man.
If you insist on all your “rights,” you will infringe on the rights of others.
Self-control is more important than self-expression.
Too truly enjoy blessings you must share them with others.
It is often very hard to keep up with “easy payments.”
You can’t pray for others when you have clenched fists and grinding teeth.

Masking Symptoms or Curing the Disease
By J. D. Williams

           Recently I experience an affliction common to all, the common cold! I took all the usual stuff and waited for it to just go away. As I took the different kinds of medicines for various symptoms, I noticed some of the labels. This one stops watery, itchy eyes; this one stops coughing and sneezing. Others reduce fever, soothe sore throats, or relieve a stuffy nose. As I read these labels, I wondered, if all of my symptoms are cured, why do I still have a cold? You would think if no symptoms exist, neither would the condition. Of course I think we all understand that these medications only mask the symptoms, and do not cure them. And while you may feel pretty good and go about your business, you still have a cold and only time will cure it.
As I thought about this, I kept thinking, there must be a lesson it this somewhere. Here is what I think it is. Taking cold medicines is like practicing denominationalism. It doesn't really cure what ails you, spiritually, it only masks the symptoms. As stated above, if you take enough medication, you will probably feel great and go about your business as usual. But you are still not cured. And denominationalism will not cure you of that deadly disease called sin!  Satan's medicine will only trick you into thinking you are healthy. Most cold products will stop short of promising to actually cure you, but they promise the next best thing. That may be great for the cold virus but the next best thing is no good when your soul's salvation is involved, because there is no next best thing! You need the real cure that only God's word can provide. No amount of denominational medicine Satan prescribes will cure you. Only obedience to God's word will.
 

Horse Sense

A preacher trained his horse to go when he said, "Praise the Lord," and to stop when he said, "Amen." The preacher mounted the horse, said, "Praise the Lord" and went for a ride. When he wanted to stop for lunch, he said, "Amen." He took off again, saying, "Praise the Lord." The horse started going toward the edge of a cliff. The preacher got excited and said, "Whoa!" Then he remembered and said, "Amen," and the horse stopped at the edge of the cliff. The preacher was so relieved and grateful that he looked up to heaven and said, "Praise the Lord!"
 

Just Kill the Spider

           One of the deacons was frequently called upon to pray at the mid-week service, and he always concluded his prayer the same way: “...and now Lord, clean out all the cobwebs in our lives.” I think you know what he was talking about -- those little unsightly words, deeds and thoughts that we let accumulate throughout the week.
Well, it got to be too much for one brother who heard him say that prayer so many times. So one Wednesday night after hearing these words again, he jumped to his feet and shouted, “Don’t do it, Lord; JUST KILL THE SPIDER!”
Brethren, how well it would be if we would kill the spider rather than continue to have our lives filled with cobwebs. We will never be able to live acceptably for God and reach the heights Christ sets for us until deep inside of us we have the desire to be clean and right.
The greatest problem faced by the average Christian is that we do not have the desire to really give up the world and completely surrender to Christ. Thus, we always find our lives cluttered with “cobwebs,” with sins and mistakes.
Let’s start inside of our lives. Once we kill the spider, we will no longer have to worry about the bothersome cobwebs. (Author Unknown)
 

My Own Back Yard
By Ellen Kyle

I was sitting and wondering what is love,
The kind described by God above.
How will I know it, how will I see,
God please show this love to me.
I was wondering, hoping for an answer to my prayer,
Then suddenly I understood, it was everywhere.
I saw it in a couple who had a loved one slip away,
And came to worship that very same day.
I saw it in a woman struggling with ill health,
And never once showed she felt sorry for herself.
I saw it in a couple so elderly and frail,
Who always are so friendly and attend without fail.
I saw it in a man who gives his time to teach,
Because the lost he loves and wants so much to reach.
I saw it in a preacher who's not afraid to cry,
And say how much he loves us and for heaven we must try.
I saw it in his wife, who tries God's ways to live,
I saw her daily walk and that she has so much to give.
I saw it in a woman that who through unfailing love,
Has done so very much to help me know God above.
I saw it in the families who teach their children right,
And have not given up the struggle no matter how hard the fight.
I saw it in the teens who gave in to their peers,
And came and repented, their eyes filled with tears.
I saw it in the ones who always come alone,
When their spouses chose to just stay home.
I saw it in friends that have done so much for me,
They are always there to encourage and to uplift me.
Lord help me to remember when my search for love seems hard,
I only need to look in my own backyard.

I Forgot To Live

First I was dying to finish high school and start college.
And then, I was dying to finish college and start work.
And then, I was dying to marry and have children.
And then, I was dying for my children to grow old enough for school so I could return to work.
And then, I was dying to retire.
And now, I am dying...
I forgot to live!

A Moments Wisdom

People who do a lot of kneeling don’t do much lying.
Poverty of character is far worse than poverty of purse.
To truly achieve one must truly believe.
Deeper giving means deeper living.
We are known by what we say — and by what we don’t say.
Instead of picking you up, alcohol will let you down.
To stand and walk straight, one must kneel often.