........Gerald Crihfield was no ordinary man, but a real man among men. He was tough in a world of wrong and sin, ever standing for his convictions. He was a strong family man, but gracious, benevolent, and kind. Throughout his life he stood on his own feet; in harshness and difficult economic times he worked to provide for his family and others as opportunity allowed him, even forgiving many of their financial debts to him. Though he knew many of these could have paid him but didn't, he freely marked "paid in full" all accounts so that, as he said, "I won't go to my grave with these debts owed me". He felt good in being able to do this, and it left only goodwill in his heart.
But above and beyond his accomplishments in the mundane affairs of life brother Crihfield's interest and excellence showed in spiritual matters superlatively. He loved the Lord Jesus Christ and his church, and had no appreciation for the ways of anyone who would trifle with either. Truth was ever an all-important matter with him. I knew him well for forty years and never saw his trust in God waver. We talked frequently and corresponded across the years and always his subject and theme had to do with the Lord and his church. Departures from truth in any form were of great concern to him because of his love and passion for it. Gerald Crihfield could not be bought; his convictions were not for sale. He preached often and much through the years, locally and away, usually at his own expense. He possessed a deep yearning to lead others to Christ, and worried much in trying to restore wayward Christians. Personally, I have been with him on many visits to homes in the Lisbon area trying to help them live like Christ teaches.
........Brother Crihfield was my friend, and he was trustworthy in all matters. He shall be missed by the Lisbon church and by a host of friends. His family will miss him most, and our prayers are with them in his going away. May we all take courage in the awareness that he lived for Christ with complete confidence that the future is better; it is a matter of gain for him. God bless his memory!

........I often think of our spiritual lives as a glorious race as the apostle Paul did in 1Corinthians 9:24-27. This race though is a very special and significant race that includes not only athletic people, but all of mankind. It is a race that is not a physical competition, but a spiritual race with a glorious goal.
........There is no entry fee for this race. That price has already been paid for by Christ and the crucifixion on the cross. But one still has to start running for this race cannot be run by another person. Unlike most races in which all competitors start at the same moment, the spiritual starting point is different for all people who run. The whistle blows when one is baptized into Christianity. After that, that individual starts to run alongside other brothers and sisters of the faith.
........As in all races, some may falter. But in this race, others help that person to stand and to continue running straight ahead toward the reward. The main goal of this race is to keep running straight forward, helping others to start and keep running, not to be the first to get to the finish. This race is a competition between the individual and himself, not between others. The example that the runner wishes to be like is the perfect example of Christ. Therefore, there are no second or third places, only winning or losing against oneself. If you never start, you can never win.
In this magnificent race, one cannot turn off of the track. If that happens, that person will never make it to the goal. As Matthew 7:14 states, "Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." Also, one who runs cannot stop running or return backwards, for he also will never reach the goal. "I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus," (Phil. 3:14). Standing still will never bring one to the end, only moving forward. Another qualification to be able to finish the race is the desire for the prize. Without the desire to win, one will never have the will power to finish the marathon. Also, without the faith that one can win, one will never receive the crown.
........Most races have a prize that each individual runner wishes to receive, but only one will obtain it. In this race the prize is the most magnificent of all the prizes that could be seen in this earthly world. As Paul says in 1Corinthians:25, "And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown." Our goal of the race is the spiritual prize of eternal life. Everyone who finishes the race will win.
........At the end of running a hard race, weak in the mind but strong in the soul, we should all be able to say as the apostle Paul, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved his appearing" (2Tim. 4:7-8).

1Peter 2:11 - "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul."
........Public schools and some "Christian" schools today are not teaching kids to abstain from fleshy lusts. They are teaching them that anything they want to do is OK and they have the "right" to do it. Kids are becoming more and more hardened and believe that no one can tell them what to do. The fruit of this was graphically illustrated in the Littleton, Colorado massacre. When it comes to sex, drugs, alcohol, etc. the schools are literally teaching the kids to abstain from abstaining. In one case we know of, the school actually convinced and helped some Christians' daughter to have an abortion without the knowledge of her parents. They found out after she was devastated by it. It is long past time for Christians to abstain from sending their kids off to be educated and cared for by such perverse people.
What about Abstinence?
I was holding a notice from my 13-year-old son's school announcing a meeting to preview the new course in sexuality. Parents could examine the curriculum and take part in an actual lesson presented exactly as it would be given to the students.
........When I arrived at the school, I was surprised to discover only about a dozen parents there. As we waited for the presentation, I thumbed through page after page of instructions in the prevention of pregnancy or disease. I found abstinence mentioned on passing. When the teacher arrived with the school nurse, she asked if there were any questions.
........I asked why abstinence did not play a noticeable part in the material. What happened next was shocking. There was a great deal of laughter and someone suggested that if I thought abstinence had any merit, I should go back to burying my head in the sand. The teacher and the nurse said nothing as I drowned in a sea of embarrassment. My mind had gone blank, and I could think of nothing to say. The teacher explained to me that the job of the school was to teach "facts," and the home was responsible for moral training.
........I sat in silence for the next 20 minutes as the course was explained. The other parents seemed to give their unqualified support to the materials.
........"Donuts, at the back," announced the teacher during the break. "I'd like you to put on the name tags we have prepared- they're right by the donuts- and mingle with the other parents." Everyone moved to the back of the room. As I watched them affixing their name tags and shaking hands, I sat deep in thought. I was ashamed that I had not been able to convince them to include a serious discussion of abstinence in the materials. I uttered a silent prayer for guidance. My thoughts were interrupted by the teacher's hand on my shoulder. "Won't you join the others, Mr. Layton?" The nurse smiled sweetly at me. "The donuts are good."
"Thank you, no," I replied,
"Well, then, how about a name tag? I 'm sure the others would like to meet you."
"Somehow I doubt that," I replied.
"Won't you please join them?" she coaxed. My instincts told me, "Don't go!"
"I'll just wait here," I said.
........When the class was called back to order, the teacher looked around the long table and thanked everyone for putting on name tags. She ignored me. Then she said, "Now we're going to give you the same lesson we'll be giving your children. Everyone please peel off your name tags."
I watched in silence as the tags came off.
"Now, then, on the back of one of the tags, I drew a tiny flower. Who has it, please?"
The gentleman across from me held it up. "Here it is!"
........"All right," she said. "The flower represents syphilis [a sexually transmitted disease]. Do you recall with whom you shook hands?" He pointed to a couple of people.
........"Very good," she replied. "The handshake in this case represents intimacy. So the two people you had contact with now have the disease." There was laughter and joking among the parents. The teacher continued, "And whom did the two of you shake hands with?" The point was well taken, and she explained how this lesson would show students how quickly disease is spread. "Since we all shook hands, we all have the disease."
........I then rose from my chair and apologized for any upset I might have caused earlier, congratulated the teacher on an excellent lesson that would impress the youth, and concluded by saying I had only one small point I wished to make. "Not all of us were infected," I said. "One of us ... abstained."

If we are serious enough about being a Christian, then fasting, prayers, and alms will take care of themselves. --Carl W. Parsons
One on God's side makes a majority. --Wendell Phillips
Live in such a way that when it is time for you to die, the only thing you have left to do is close your eyes. --Bob Lindsey
Where the rubber meets the road, you not only get traction, you also get friction. --Kent Heaton
Best vitamin for Christians - B1
A contented mind is a continual feast.
A man said to the universe: "Sir, I exist!" "However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me a sense of obligation." --Stephen Crane
Some people try to inherit heaven by making earth a hell. --Paul Earnhart on Asceticism
Heaven is wherever God is; it is a relationship with Him. Do not over-emphasize the accommodations. --Paul Earnhart
Be compassionate, be patient; if you live long enough, you will be once a man, but twice a child. --James Cope
The secular world thinks God is dead. The religious world thinks the devil is dead. Both are mistaken.
A successful person leaves his footprints deep in the sands of time, not on the backs of others he passed along the way.
A man's thoughts dye his mind. --Marcus Aurelius
Love is the energy of faith and the guardian of liberty. Love is both the rule and the measure of the rule. The cross is the standard of love. New Testament ethics are rooted in love and grounded in humility.
The thief on the cross had more faith that the disciples. The disciples thought it was all over. The thief asked to enter the kingdom.
Jesus lived a life of service in obedience to God motivated by love. --Don Truex
Jesus didn't send men to build large, strong churches; He sent them to make disciples. Evangelism will make large churches; edification will make strong churches; but, both will be accomplished one man at a time.
Brethren have failed to turn churches, magazines, and colleges back to the old paths, because they are trying to save the organization and not the souls in it. --prb

....."Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.' So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth'" (Gen. 1:26-28).
.....Many there are in this world that have a low view of humanity. They believe that humanity came from the scum of primordial seas. They think that the natural world is self-existing and therefore greater than humanity. They think that mankind evolved from lower creatures of the earth and that mankind has only a physical nature. They think that humanity has resulted only from natural conditions. They believe that like all other things in nature, human beings die to live no more. People who think like that may have a very low view of themselves personally. An individual with that perspective may think that life has no meaning, may see no purpose for living, and feel an overwhelming sense of despair.
.....The word of God presents a strikingly different perspective on the worth of humanity. The Bible declares that humanity came from God and that our Maker thinks very highly of humankind. God thought enough of us to make us in his own image. Although God made man from the dust of the ground, He also breathed into human nostrils the breath of life (Gen. 2:7). Thus, although God gave animals a physical nature, He created humanity with both a physical and a spiritual nature. Moreover, God made humanity with a purpose - to rule, to have dominion "over every living thing that moves on the earth" (Gen. 1:28). God intended for man to work (Gen. 2:15, 3:17-19). Even so, he prepared a day of rest, just as he had rested (Gen. 2:2; Ex. 23:12; Mark 2:27). Furthermore, the clear implication from scripture is that God created the world for humanity. After creating the world, God made the Garden of Eden, then placed Adam and Eve within it. God prepared a place for them to live (Gen. 2:8), and food for them to eat. Finally, when God made humanity, He intended for mankind to live forever. To this end, he placed a Tree of Life within the Garden (Gen. 2:9). People who believe like this see themselves as children of a benevolent God who loves them and cares for them. They readily see that life has meaning and purpose.
.....But this is not all that Scripture says about what God thinks of humanity. After Noah's flood, when his descendents started to erect a tower to heaven at Babel, God looked at their work and said that, "nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them" (Gen. 11:6, NRSV). The high intelligence and physical capabilities of humanity have enabled mankind to achieve great engineering feats. We've created worldwide industrial, communication, and transportation complexes, spanned the globe with expressways, railroads, ships and airplanes, built pyramids and skyscrapers, gone to the moon, sent satellites and robots to explore the solar system, etc. Because God created mankind, he knew we had it in us.
.....But God also knew that mankind would sin. He promised that with sin death would come (Gen. 2:16-17; Rom. 5:12, 18-19). Because God loves mankind, he therefore made provisions before he created mankind to save those who believe and obey him. The Apostle Paul declared that God chose us in Christ, "before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love" (Eph. 1:3-4). God thought well enough of humanity that, to overcome sin, he sent his only Son into the world that his death on the cross might pay for our sins (1Cor. 15:3). The Apostle John declared that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved" (John 3:16-17).
.....God thinks enough of humanity not only to save us from sin and but also to give believers an eternal home in heaven with him. Jesus said to his disciples, "I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:3). He then went to the cross and thereby prepared a place in heaven for us. God values humanity more than the whole world. Jesus asked, "What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mark 8:36-37).
.....Because God thinks highly of mankind, he is longsuffering, wanting everyone to come to repentance. The Apostle Peter wrote that the "Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation" (2Peter 3:9-15).
.....Some folks wonder if there is life on other planets. The implication of scripture is against it. Did you observe in the above passage that with the coming of the Lord, "the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up"? Doesn't that imply that when humanity is called before God in judgment, that then there is no longer any need for the heavens and the earth? If so, doesn't that indicate that this whole world was made just for mankind? And that without humanity to inhabit the earth, God has no need for the universe? Doesn't that indicate that God places great value on humanity?
.....What does all this mean? Does it not mean that since God thinks so highly of humanity, that we should act like God? Notice what the Apostle Peter said. "Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless" (2Peter 3:13-14). Human beings have it within their capacity to be holy like God! "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 1:15-16; Lev. 11:44-45). That's what God thinks of us! That's what God thinks we human beings can be! If we think less of ourselves than what God knows we are and can be, then we'll not live as God knows we can. To live better, think of yourself as God thinks of you. (March 2004)