Christian Articles & Book Reviews

Use every chance

2008-11-29T22:54:00.008+07:00

"Whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone."

"Use every chance you have for doing good."

"Whenever you possibly can, do god to those who need it.
Never tell your neighbor to wait until tomorrow if you can help them now."

The best use of life is love. The best expression of love is time.
The best time to love is now.

They Call Him the Savior

2008-07-02T13:51:00.002+07:00

Longing to leave her poor Brazilian neighborhood, Christina wanted to see the world. Discontent with a home having only a pallet on the floor, a washbasin, and a wood-burning stove, she dreamed of a better life in the city.

One morning she slipped away, breaking her mother's heart. Knowing what life on the streets would be like for her young, attractive daughter, Maria hurriedly packed to go find her. On her way to the bus stop she entered a drugstore to get one last thing. Pictures.

She sat in the photograph booth, closed the curtain, and spent all she could on pictures of herself. With her purse full of small black-and-white photos, she boarded the next bus to Rio de Janiero.

Maria knew Christina had no way of earning money. She also knew that her daughter was too stubborn to give up. When pride meets hunger, a human will do things that were before unthinkable. Knowing this, Maria began her search. Bars, hotels, nightclubs, any place with the reputation for street walkers or prostitutes.

She went to them all. And at each place she left her picture,taped on a bathroom mirror, tacked to a hotel bulletin board, fastened to a corner phone booth. And on the back of each photo she wrote a note.

It wasn't too long before both the money and the pictures ran out, and Maria had to go home. The weary mother wept as the bus began its long journey back to her small village. It was a few weeks later that young Christina descended the hotel stairs.

Her young face was tired. Her brown eyes no longer danced with youth but spoke of pain and fear. Her laughter was broken. Her dream had become a nightmare. A thousand times over she had longed to trade these countless beds for her secure pallet.

Yet the little village was, in too many ways, too far away. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, her eyes noticed a familiar face. She looked again, and there on the lobby mirror was a small picture of her mother.

Christina's eyes burned and her throat tightened as she walked across the room and removed the small photo. Written on the back was this compelling invitation. 'Whatever you have done, whatever you have become, it doesn't matter. Please come home." She did.

Max Lucado, No Wonder They Call Him the Savior, Multnomah Press, 1986, pp. 158-9

April Fools

2008-07-02T13:43:00.003+07:00

One of the most elaborate hoaxes in broadcast history was an April Fool's joke played on the British Broadcasting Corporation's current affairs program Panorama, with its rather dignified host Richard Dimbleby earnestly relating a story about the annual spaghetti harvest filmed in a Swiss-Italian spaghetti orchard.

Cameraman Charles de Jaeger thought up the spoof and related to Denis Norden how it was accomplished.

'Panorama's first famous spaghetti harvest came from my school days in Austria," de Jaeger said, 'when a master was always saying to us, 'You're so stupid you'd think spaghetti grew on trees.'

So it had always been in my mind to do the story and I tried for several years. It was not until I was working on Panorama that I got the go-ahead.

'I went to the Swiss Tourist Office, who said they would help, and I flew to Lugano. It was in March when I thought the weather would be sunny with flowers out. There was a mist over the whole area.

The tourist office guy took me around all over the place; not one blossom out, no leaves out. It was now Tuesday and I could not find anything and said in desperation, 'What can be done?'

'Then we found this hotel in Castiglione, which had laurel trees with leaves on, tall trees. So I said, 'We'll do it here. Let's go down into Lugano and get some handmade spaghetti.'

'We did that, put the strands of spaghetti in a big wooden platter, took that in the car and we drove back. By the time we got there, the damn things wouldn't hang up. They'd dried out.

So we cooked them, tried to put them on the trees, and this time they fell off because they were so slippery.

'Then this tourist guy had a brilliant idea,put the spaghetti between damp cloths. That worked and we got local girls to hang them up,about ten pounds' worth.

Then we got the girls into national costume and filmed them climbing on ladders with these baskets, filling them up, and laying them out in the sun.

And we said in the script, with a guitar playing in the background, 'We have this marvelous festival. The first harvest of the spaghetti.'

'At the end of the three-minute film Richard Dimbleby said, 'Now we say goodnight to this first day of April.'

In spite of that hint, next morning it was surprising the number of people who didn't recognize that the spaghetti harvest was a hoax."

Peter Hay, Canned Laughter, Oxford University Press, Bits & Pieces, March 30, 1995, pp. 19-21

Fruit of the Spirit

2008-06-24T19:03:00.003+07:00

Joy

Love in Jubilation

Peace

Love in Repose

Longsuffering

Love on Trial

Gentleness

Love in Society

Goodness

Love in Action

Faith

Love in Endurance

Meekness

Love at School

Temperance

Love in Discipline

Galatians 5:22-23

Corrie Ten Boom

2008-06-22T02:42:00.002+07:00

Corrie Ten Boom told of not being able to forget a wrong that had been done to her.

She had forgiven the person, but she kept rehashing the incident and so couldn't sleep. Finally Corrie cried out to God for help in putting the problem to rest.

'His help came in the form of a kindly Lutheran pastor," Corrie wrote, 'to whom I confessed my failure after two sleepless weeks." 'Up in the church tower," he said, nodding out the window, 'is a bell which is rung by pulling on a rope. But you know what?

After the sexton lets go of the rope, the bell keeps on swinging. First ding, then dong. Slower and slower until there's a final dong and it stops. I believe the same thing is true of forgiveness. When we forgive, we take our hand off the rope.

But if we've been tugging at our grievances for a long time, we mustn't be surprised if the old angry thoughts keep coming for a while. They're just the ding-dongs of the old bell slowing down."

'And so it proved to be. There were a few more midnight reverberations, a couple of dings when the subject came up in my conversations, but the force,which was my willingness in the matter,had gone out of them.

They came less and less often and at the last stopped altogether: we can trust God not only above our emotions, but also above our thoughts."

Source unknown

Things To Do

2008-06-22T02:39:00.003+07:00

There are at least four things you can do with your hands.
You can wring them in despair;
You can fold them in idleness;
You can clench them in anger;
Or you can use them to help someone.

Bits & Pieces, January 5, 1995, p. 24

Little Stuff

2008-06-20T22:45:00.002+07:00

Success is often reached through the little stuff. When Pat Riley coached the Los Angeles Lakers from 1982 to 1990, the team won four NBA championships.

In taking over the New York in 1991, Riley inherited a team with a losing record. But the Knicks seemed able to play above their abilities and even gave the eventual champions, the Chicago Bulls, their hardest competition in the play-offs last May.

How does Riley do it? He says his talent lies in attention to detail. For example, every NBA team studies videotapes and compiles statistics to evaluate players' game performances.

But Riley's use of these tools is more comprehensive than that of his rivals. 'We measure areas of performance that are often ignored: jumping in pursuit of every rebound even if you don't get it, swatting at every pass, diving for loose balls, letting someone smash into you in order to draw a foul."

After each game, these 'effort" statistics are punched into a computer. 'Effort," Riley explains, 'is what ultimately separates journeyman players from impact players.

Knowing how well a player executes all these little things is the key to unlocking career-best performances."

Little Things Do Mean a Lot by Robert McGarvey, Reader's Digest

Values

2008-06-20T22:38:00.002+07:00

Values are often unwritten assumptions that guide our actions. Values demonstrate our convictions and priorities. Values are confirmed by our actions, not just our words.

Values are not a doctrinal statement; they are convictions that determine how our church operates. Values provide the foundation for formulating goals and setting the direction of the church's ministry.

Core values are the 5-10 key statements that reflect the distinctives of a church. Key issues for determining your core values: If the church were really the church, what would it be doing? What makes you angry? What do you get passionate about?

How do you invest your time and money? What's your biggest criticism of the church? For what do you want your church to be known? What are the essential functions of the church?

Determining your core values: Brainstorm a list of potential core values. Make sure each value is easily translated to action. Group similar statements together. Highlight the ones that are the most important. Write a tentative list of 4-7 values. Check for completeness.

Do all the essential ministries of the church flow logically from one of the core values? Describe the specific behaviors that will demonstrate each core value in action.

Bob Logan

What Is Sin?

2008-06-06T15:59:00.003+07:00

Sin is anything that is contrary to the law or will of God. For example: if you lie, you have sinned. Why? Because God has said not to lie (Ex. 20:16).

If you do what God has forbidden, then you have sinned. In addition, if you do not do what God has commanded, you sin (James 4:17). Either way, the result is eternal separation from God (Is. 59:2). Sin is lawlessness (1 John 1:3) and unrighteousness (1 John 5:17).

Sin leads to blindness (John 9:41) and death (Rom. 6:23).

Paul, in the book of Romans, discusses sin. He shows that everyone, both Jew and Greek, is under sin (Rom. 3:9).

He shows that sin is not simply something that is done, but a condition of the heart (Rom. 3:3:10-12). In Ephesians Paul says that we are 'by nature children of wrath" (Rom. 2:3). Yet, 'while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly" (Rom. 5:6).

The power of sin is centrifugal. When at work in a human life, it tends to push everything out toward the periphery. Bits and pieces go flying off until only the core is left.

Eventually bits and pieces of the core itself go flying off until in the end nothing at all is left. 'The wages of sin is death" is St. Paul's way of saying the same thing.

Other people and (if you happen to believe in him) God or (if you happen not to) the World, Society, Nature,whatever you call the greater whole of which you're part,sin is whatever you do, or fail to do, that pushes them away, that widens the gap between you and them and also the gaps within your self.

For example, the sin of the Pharisee is not just (a) his holier-than-thou attitude which pushes other people away, but (b) his secret suspicion that his own holiness is deficient too, which pushes part of himself away, and (c) his possibly not-so-subconscious feeling that anybody who expects him to be all that holy must be a cosmic SOB, which pushes Guess Who away.

Sex is sinful to the degree that, instead of drawing you closer to another human being in his humanness, it unites bodies but leaves the lives inside them hungrier and more alone than before.

Religion and unreligion are both sinful to the degree that they widen the gap between you and the people who don't share your views.

The word charity illustrates the insidiousness of sin. From meaning a free and loving gift it has come to mean a demeaning handout.

'Original Sin" means we all originate out of a sinful world which taints us from the word go. We all tend to make ourselves the center of the universe, pushing away centrifugally from the center everything that seems to impede its freewheeling.

More even than hunger, poverty, or disease, it is what Jesus said he came to save the world from.

Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking, A Theological ABC, (Harper, San Francisco, A Division of Harper Collins Publishers, 1973), pp. 88-89

Sex Survey

2008-06-06T14:24:00.002+07:00

The sexual revolution notwithstanding, nearly all married couples are monogamous, two new sex surveys say.

A University of Washington, Seattle, study in October's American Journal of Public Health found 94 percent of married couples had one partner in the previous year.

Likewise, a survey by the National Opinion Research Center in Chicago determined that only about 4 percent of married people had sexual partners other than their spouse during a one-year span.

Overall, infidelity has been practiced by only 21 percent of men and 13 percent of women, according to the survey.

The studies dispute data by such investigators as the Kinsey Institute of Sex Research and author Shere Hite, who have suggested anywhere from one-third to three-fourths of married couples cheat on their mates.

'There probably are more scientifically worthless 'facts' on extramarital relations than any other facet of human behavior," says Tom W. Smith of the National Opinion Research Center.

Smith says adultery is more prevalent among younger people, urban dwellers, the unchurched, and the previously divorced.

Christianity Today, November 22, 1993, p. 42

How Adults and Youth Learn

2008-06-05T00:37:00.002+07:00

J. Dennis Miller, president of Church Youth Development states that a problem with educating young people in the church stems from a failure to understand how young people learn.

He claims that adults learn in the following pattern:

1. acceptance of absolutes;

2. subordination of attitudes and actions to absolutes;

3. application of truth received to life experience.

Knowing something as an adult is based primarily upon remembering information and intellectual learning.

Youth, Miller contends, learn in a different way:

1. evaluation of life experience;

2. discovery of attitudes and actions which validate their life experiences;

3. identifying truth based on their relevance to life experience;

4. acceptance of truths that prove reliable from life experience. Life experience is the main influence on the learning young mind.

Source unknown

Truth

2008-06-05T00:27:00.002+07:00

The truth that makes men free is for the most part

the truth which men prefer not to hear.

- Herbert Agar -

Preaching Resources, Spring 1996, p. 71.

Car Accident

2008-06-03T00:40:00.002+07:00

It wasn't like Scott Kregel to give up. He was a battler, a dedicated athlete who spent hour after hour perfecting his three throw and jump shot during the hot summer months of 1987.

But just before fall practice everything changed. A serious car accident left Scott in a coma for several days. When he awoke, a long rehabilitation process lay ahead.

Like most patients with closed head injuries, Scott balked at doing the slow, tedious work that was required to get him back to normal,things such as stringing beads. What high school junior would enjoy that?

Tom Martin, Scott's basketball coach at the Christian school he attended, had an idea. Coach Martin told Scott that he would reserve a spot on the varsity for him,if he would cooperate with his therapist and show progress in the tasks he was asked to do.

And Tom's wife Cindy spent many hours with Scott, encouraging him to keep going. Within 2 months, Scott was riding off the basketball court on his teammates' shoulders.

He had made nine straight free throws to clinch a triple-overtime league victory. It was a remarkable testimony of the power of encouragement.

Our Daily Bread, April 9

Sand in His Shoes

2008-06-03T00:27:00.003+07:00

Imagine all the obstacles a person might have to overcome if he were to walk from New York City to San Francisco.

One man who accomplished this rare achievement mentioned a rather surprising difficulty when asked to tell of his biggest hurdle.

He said that the toughest part of the trip wasn't traversing the steep slopes of the mountains or crossing hot, dry, barren stretches of desert. Instead, he said, 'The thing that came the closest to defeating me was the sand in my shoes."

Our Daily Bread

Much Grace

2008-05-31T21:29:00.003+07:00

It does not matter where He places me or how.

That is rather for Him to consider than for me.
For the easiest positions, He must give grace; and in the most difficult, His grace is sufficient.

So, if God places me in great perplexity, must He not give me much guidance?
In positions of great difficulty, much grace?
In circumstances of great pressure and trial, much strength?

As to work, mine was never so plentiful, so responsible,
or so difficult; but the weight and strain are all gone.
His resources are mine, for He is mine!

- J. Hudson Taylor -

Law Like a Brush Fire

2008-05-31T21:25:00.002+07:00

A duck hunter was with a friend in the wide-open land of southeastern Georgia. Far away on the horizon he noticed a cloud of smoke.

Soon he could hear crackling as the wind shifted. He realized the terrible truth; a brushfire was advancing, so fast they couldn't outrun it.

Rifling through his pockets, he soon found what he was looking for,a book of matches. He lit a small fire around the two of them.

Soon they were standing in a circle of blackened earth, waiting for the fire to come.

They didn't have to wait long. They covered their mouths with handkerchiefs and braced themselves. The fire came near,and swept over them. But they were completely unhurt, untouched. Fire would not pass where fire already had passed.

The law is like a brushfire. I cannot escape it. But if I stand in the burned-over place, not a hair of my head will be singed. Christ's death has disarmed it.

Adapted from Who Will Deliver Us? by Paul F. M. Zahl

We are Under Grace (Rom. 6:15)

2008-05-31T21:19:00.002+07:00

Some years ago, I had a little school for young Indian men and women, who came to my home in Oakland, California, from the various tribes in northern Arizona.

One of these was a Navajo young man of unusually keen intelligence. One Sunday evening, he went with me to our young people's meeting. They were talking about the epistle to the Galatians, and the special subject was law and grace.

They were not very clear about it, and finally one turned to the Indian and said, 'I wonder whether our Indian friend has anything to say about this."

He rose to his feet and said,

'Well, my friends, I have been listening very carefully, because I am here to learn all I can in order to take it back to my people.

I do not understand all that you are talking about, and I do not think you do yourselves. But concerning this law and grace business, let me see if I can make it clear. I think it is like this. When Mr. Ironside brought me from my home we took the longest railroad journey I ever took.

We got out at Barstow, and there I saw the most beautiful railroad station and hotel I have ever seen.

I walked all around and saw at one end a sign, 'Do not spit here.' I looked at that sign and then looked down at the ground and saw many had spitted there, and before I think what I am doing I have spitted myself. Isn't that strange when the sign say, 'Do not spit here'?

'I come to Oakland and go to the home of the lady who invited me to dinner today and I am in the nicest home I have been in. Such beautiful furniture and carpets, I hate to step on them. I sank into a comfortable chair, and the lady said, 'Now, John, you sit there while I go out and see whether the maid has dinner ready.'

I look around at the beautiful pictures, at the grand piano, and I walk all around those rooms. I am looking for a sign; and the sign I am looking for is, 'Do not spit here,' but I look around those two beautiful drawing rooms, and cannot find a sign like this.

I think 'What a pity when this is such a beautiful home to have people spitting all over it,too bad they don't put up a sign!' So I look all over that carpet, but cannot find that anybody have spitted there. What a queer thing! Where the sign says, 'Do not spit,' a lot of people spitted. Where there was no sign at all, in that beautiful home, nobody spitted.

Now I understand! That sign is law, but inside the home it is grace. They love their beautiful home, and they want to keep it clean. They do not need a sign to tell them so. I think that explains the law and grace business."

As he sat down, a murmur of approval went round the room and the leader exclaimed, 'I think that is the best illustration of law and grace I have ever heard."

Illustrations of Bible Truth by H. A. Ironside, Moody Press, 1945, pp. 40-42

Motivation

2008-05-28T16:35:00.002+07:00

A ten-year-old boy was failing math. His parents tried everything, but to no avail. Finally, at the insistence of a family friend, they decided to enroll their son in a private Catholic school.

After the first day, the boy's parents were surprised when he walked in after school with a stern, focused and very determined expression on his face, and went right past them straight to his room, where he quietly closed the door.

For nearly two hours he toiled away in his room - with math books strewn about his desk and the surrounding floor. He emerged long enough to eat, and after quickly cleaning his plate, went straight back to his room, closed the door, and worked feverishly at his studies until bedtime.

This pattern continued ceaselessly until it was time for the first quarter report card.

The boy walked in with his report card,unopened,laid it on the dinner table and went straight to his room. cautiously, his mother opened it, and to her amazement, she saw a bright red 'A" under the subject of MATH. Overjoyed, she and her husband rushed into their son's room, thrilled at his remarkable progress.

'Was it the nuns that did it?", the father asked. The boy only shook his head and said, 'No."

'Was it the one-on-one tutoring? The peer-mentoring?"

'No."

'The textbooks? The teachers? The curriculum?"

'Nope," said the son. 'on that first day, when I walked in the front door and saw that guy they nailed to the 'plus sign,' I just knew they meant business!"

America Online:McKinleyIB, Nov. 6, 1997Catholic School

Miracle, Miracles, purpose of

2008-05-28T16:25:00.003+07:00

Definition of Miracles

Grudem defines a miracle as follows:

'A miracle is a less common kind of God's activity in which he arouses people's awe and wonder and bears witness to himself." He justifies this definition by awe, or amazement in such a way that God bears witness to himself (Systematic Theology, chapter 52).pointing out the deficiencies in other commonly proposed definitions:

'For example, one definition of miracles is 'a direct intervention of God in the world.' But this definition assumes a deistic view of God's relationship to the world, in which the world continues on its own and God only intervenes in it occasionally.

This is certainly not the biblical view, according to which God makes the rain to fall (Matt. 5:45), causes the grass to grow (Ps. 104:14), and continually carries along all things by his word and power (Heb. 1:3). Another definition of miracles is 'a more direct activity of God in the world.' But to talk about a 'more direct' working of God suggests that his ordinary providential activity is somehow not 'direct,' and again hints at a sort of deistic removal of God from the world.

Another definition is 'God working in the world without using means to bring about the results he wishes.' Yet to speak of God working 'without means' leaves us with very few if any miracles in the Bible, for it is hard to think of a miracle that came about with no means at all: in the healing of people, for example, some of the physical properties of the sick person's body were doubtless involved as part of the healing.

When Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes, he at least used the original five loaves and two fishes that were there. When he changed water to wine, he used water and made it become wine. This definition seems to be inadequate.

Yet another definition of miracle is 'an exception to a natural law' or 'God acting contrary to the laws of nature.' But the phrase 'laws of nature' in popular understanding implies that there are certain qualities inherent in the things that exist, 'laws of nature' which operate independently of God and that God must intervene or 'break' these laws in order for a miracle to occur.

Once again this definition does not adequately account for the biblical teaching on providence.

Another definition of miracle is, 'an event impossible to explain by natural causes.' This definition is inadequate because

(1) it does not include God as the one who brings about the miracle;

(2) it assumes that God does not use some natural causes when he works in an unusual or amazing way, and thus it assumes again that God only occasionally intervenes in the world; and

(3) it will result in a significant minimizing of actual miracles, and an increase in skepticism, since many times when God works in answer to prayer the result is amazing to those who prayed but it is not absolutely impossible to explain by natural causes, especially for a skeptic who simply refuses to see God's hand at work.

Therefore, the original definition given above, where a miracle is simply a less common way of God's working in the world, seems to be preferable and more consistent with the biblical doctrine of God's providence.

This definition does not say that a miracle is a different kind of working by God, but only that it is a less common way of God's working, and that it is done so as to arouse people's surprise.

Surprised by the Power of the Spirit, by Jack Deere (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1993), pp. 270-271

Healing Incident Investigation

2008-05-28T16:04:00.004+07:00

Once I tried to get a friend, who was also a theological professor, to investigate a miracle that had taken place through the ministry of another seminary professor.

The seminary professor who had been used to do the miracle was a conservative evangelical, who is held in high esteem across the body of Christ, and who had begun to believe in the miraculous gifts.

A healing had occurred in the eyes and ears of a little boy. I called the boy's father (they lived in another state) in order to verify the miracle. The father said it was true and that he had medical documentation.

When I told the story to my friend, the cessationist professor, I urged him to call and investigate. He did not even want the phone number. When I questioned his reluctance to investigate, he told me that he did not doubt that the miracle had occurred, but he doubted that God had done it! So there was no need for him to investigate.

The facts of the case were:

1. A seminary professor, who held historic orthodox theology,

2. asked God in Jesus' name

3. to do a miracle on a little child

4. from a Christian family,

5. and the miracle was performed immediately.

Even with these facts, which my friend would not dispute, it was easier for him to believe that Satan had done the miracle rather than Jesus! The secessionist mindset often precludes any sincere investigation.

Surprised by the Power of the Spirit, by Jack Deere (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1993), p. 272.

Infidelity

2008-05-27T21:40:00.002+07:00

Dear Ann Landers: You have printed many letters about extramarital affairs. Here are some things your readers should be aware of: About half the men and a third of the women who are cheating say they are perfectly content and there is nothing wrong with their marriages. Being religious does not prevent infidelity. Women are as willing as men to have an affair.

Fewer than 10 percent of those having an affair will divorce their spouses to marry their lovers. A large percentage of those who do often have another divorce. People who have affairs are more likely to be divorced, distressed and disappointed.

The chemistry that drives an affair lasts anywhere from a few weeks to three years before it cools down. Infidelity can happen to anyone. Here are a few tips for your readers to affair-proof their marriages. I call them 'the four P's" for prevention: Be protective of your marriage. Avoid risky situations such as long lunches with a co-worker or drinks for two after work.

Most people do not plan to be unfaithful. Be positive. Look for what is right in your spouse and tell him or her daily. People who have love affairs are often looking for appreciation and affirmation. Be polite.

Always talk to your spouse with respect. Be careful what you say to each other and how you say it. Show courtesy and caring in the way you treat one another. Be playful, and make fun, sex, and humor a mainstay in your marriage. Schedule time to play with one another, and have a 'date night" at least once a week.

Marriages can and do survive affairs, and many become stronger having weathered the crisis but not without pain and a genuine desire to recommit.

L.S., Ph.D., Seattle, Spokesman-Review, October 4, 1997

Marilyn Monroe

2008-05-27T21:34:00.003+07:00

Years ago Father John Powell told the story of Norma Jean Mortenson:

Norma Jean Mortenson. Remember that name? Norma Jean's mother, Mrs. Gladys Baker, was periodically committed to a mental institution and Norma Jean spent much of her childhood in foster homes. In one of those foster homes, when she was eight years old, one of the boarders raped her and gave her a nickel. He said, 'Here, Honey.

Take this and don't ever tell anyone what I did to you.' When little Norma Jean went to her foster mother to tell her what had happened she was beaten badly. She was told, 'Our boarder pays good rent. Don't you ever say anything bad about him!' Norma Jean at the age of eight had learned what it was to be used and given a nickel and beaten for trying to express the hurt that was in her.

Norma Jean turned into a very pretty young girl and people began to notice. Boys whistled at her and she began to enjoy that, but she always wished they would notice she was a person too,not just a body,or a pretty face,but a person.

Then Norma Jean went to Hollywood and took a new name,Marilyn Monroe and the publicity people told her, 'We are going to create a modern sex symbol out of you.' And this was her reaction, 'A symbol? Aren't symbols things people hit together?' They said, 'Honey, it doesn't matter, because we are going to make you the most smoldering sex symbol that ever hit the celluloid.'

She was an overnight smash success, but she kept asking, 'Did you also notice I am a person? Would you please notice?'

Then she was cast in the dumb blonde roles. Everyone hated Marilyn Monroe. Everyone did. She would keep her crews waiting two hours on the set. She was regarded as a selfish prima donna. What they didn't know was that she was in her dressing room vomiting because she was so terrified.

She kept saying, 'Will someone please notice I am a person. Please.' They didn't notice. They wouldn't take her seriously. She went through three marriages,always pleading, 'Take me seriously as a person.' Everyone kept saying, 'But you are a sex symbol. You can't be other than that.' 'Marilyn kept saying 'I want to be a person. I want to be a serious actress.'

And so on that Saturday night, at the age of 35 when all beautiful women are supposed to be on the arm of a handsome escort, Marilyn Monroe took her own life. She killed herself. When her maid found her body the next morning, she noticed the telephone was off the hook. It was dangling there beside her.

Later investigation revealed that in the last moments of her life she had called a Hollywood actor and told him she had taken enough sleeping pills to kill herself.

He answered with the famous line of Rhett Butler, which I now edit for church, 'Frankly, my dear, I don't care!' That was the last word she heard. She dropped the phone,left it dangling.

Claire Booth Luce in a very sensitive article asked, 'What really killed Marilyn Monroe, love goddess who never found any love?' She said she thought the dangling telephone was the symbol of Marilyn Monroe's whole life. She died because she never got through to anyone who understood.

Dynamic Preaching, June, 1990

Studies and Surveys

2008-05-22T02:43:00.008+07:00

1. A study at a Midwestern school showed that 80% of the women who had intercourse hoped to marry their partner. Only 12% of the men had the same expectation - Robert J. Collins in the Chicago Tribune, quoted in HIS, February, 1976

2. Sex is not the most important part of a love relationship. A Syracuse University survey asked married couples to rank the 10 most important things in a marriage relationship.

Caring, a sense of humor and communication came in first, second and third. Sex came in ninth, just ahead of sharing household duties.

Dr. Thomas Lickona

Stalled Engine

2008-05-09T16:00:00.002+07:00

There is no situation I can get into that God cannot get me out. Some years ago when I was learning to fly, my instructor told me to put the plane into a steep and extended dive. I was totally unprepared for what was about to happen.

After a brief time the engine stalled, and the plane began to plunge out-of-control. It soon became evident that the instructor was not going to help me at all.

After a few seconds, which seemed like eternity, my mind began to function again. I quickly corrected the situation.

Immediately I turned to the instructor and began to vent my fearful frustrations on him. He very calmly said to me, 'There is no position you can get this airplane into that I cannot get you out of. If you want to learn to fly, go up there and do it again."

At that moment God seemed to be saying to me, 'Remember this. As you serve Me, there is no situation you can get yourself into that I cannot get you out of.

If you trust me, you will be all right." That lesson has been proven true in my ministry many times over the years.

James Brown, Evangeline Baptist Church, Wildsville, LA, in Discoveries, Fall, 1991, Vol. 2, No. 4.

God's Will

2008-05-09T15:46:00.004+07:00

I am not sent a pilgrim here, My heart with earth to fill; But I am here God's grace to learn, And serve God's sovereign will.

He leads me on through smiles and tears, Grief follows gladness still; But let me welcome both alike, Since both work out his will.

No service in itself is small, None great, though earth it fill; But that is small that seeks its own, And great that seeks God's will.

Then hold my hand, most gracious Lord,Guide all my doings still;And let this be my life's one aim,To do, or bear thy will.

Source unknown

Missionary Protection

2008-04-04T17:00:00.003+07:00

Pray for:

1. Protection from Satan's attacks on their faith and calling, tempting them to quit and go home.

2. God protect their marriages and families. Protect them from doing so much work that they neglect their families.

3. Protect them from getting so busy doing things for God that they forget to sit and listen to Him.

4. They could forget to find unhurried time for Bible meditation and prayer.

5. Protect them from losing their spirit of worship, love and devotion to you, Lord.

6. Protect them from divisiveness, criticism and crankiness with each other.

7. Protect their unity in Christ, their love for each other, their commitment to each other.

8. Protect their willingness to serve one another, and to esteem their sisters and brothers better than themselves.

9. Protect them from conflicts with local believers and national church leaders.

10. Protect them from squabbling over budgets and properties.

11. Protect them from misinterpreting each other's motives.

12. Protection from even hinting that the way we do it in America is best.

13. Protection from using their control of money to get their own way.

14. Unity in Christ among missionaries and believers is so important because unbelievers watch them. So they can see and grasp the good news that God loves them so much that He sent Jesus to this world.

15. Protection from defection for their souls, not their bodies.

16. Our primary concern should be for our missionaries perseverance in faith.

Jesus did ask God to protect his disciples, but not the kind of protection we usually think of. He warned them of what might happen. He simply asked His Father to protect the disciples 'so that they be one as we are one."

1. They needed protection from fighting, jealousy and clamoring for position.

2. If the evil one cannot destroy their faith, he will disrupt their work by sowing dissension in their ranks.

3. If he can get our missionaries or us to believe gossip and suspect each other's motives, Satan does not have to resort to terrorism.

4. If he can maneuver them into head-on collisions with the national believers, he doesn't need car crashes to wipe them out.

Lord, teach us to pray for our missionaries more effectively, daily.

Protection From What? by Jim Reapsome

Jealousy and Envy

2008-04-04T16:54:00.004+07:00

There is a distinction between jealousy and envy. To envy is to want something which belongs to another person. 'You shall not covet your neighbor's house, his wife or his servant, his ox or donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

In contrast, jealousy is the fear that something which we possess will be taken away by another person. Although jealousy can apply to our jobs, our possessions, or our reputations, the word more often refers to anxiety which comes when we are afraid that the affections of a loved one might be lost to a rival.

We fear that our mates, or perhaps our children, will be lured away by some other person who, when compared to us, seems to be more attractive, capable and successful.

Dr. Gary Collins, in Homemade, July, 1985

Power

2008-03-20T16:32:00.008+07:00

Power can be used in at least two ways: it can be unleashed, or it can be harnessed. The energy in ten gallons of gasoline, for instance, can be released explosively by dropping a lighted match into the can.Or it can be channeled through the engine of a Datsun in a controlled burn and used to transport a person 350 miles.Explosions are spectacular, but controlled burns have lasting effect, staying power.The Holy Spirit works both ways. At Pentecost, he exploded on the scene; His presence was like 'tongues of fire" (Acts 2:3). Thousands were affected by one burst of God's power. But He also works through the church,the institution God began to tap the Holy Spirit's power for the long haul. Through worship, fellowship, and service, Christians are provided with staying power.

Source unknown

A Father

2008-03-20T16:22:00.003+07:00

His shoulders are a little bent, His youthful force a trifle spent, But he's the finest man I know, With heart of gold and hair of snow.

He's seldom cross and never mean; He's always been so good and clean; I only hope I'll always be As kind to him as he's to me.

Sometimes he's tired and seems forlorn, His happy face is lined and worn; Yet he can smile when things are bad: That's why I like my gray-haired dad.

He doesn't ask the world for much, Just comfort, friendliness, and such; But from the things I've heard him say, I know it's up to me to pay.

For all the deeds he's done for me Since I sat rocking on his knee; Oh, not in dollars, dimes, or cents,That's not a father's recompense.

Nor does he worship wealth and fame, He'd have me honor Jesus' name.

Source unknown

TV Is My Shepherd

2008-03-20T16:02:00.002+07:00

The TV set is my shepherd. My spiritual growth shall want. It maketh me to sit down and do nothing for his name's sake. Because it requireth all of my spare time. It keepeth me from doing my duty as a Christian, because it presenteth so many good shows that I must see.

It restoreth my knowledge of the things of the world and keepeth me from the study of God's Word. It leadeth me in the paths of failing to attend the evening worship services and doing nothing in the kingdom of God.

Yea, though I live to be 100 I shall keep on viewing television as long as it will work, for it is my closest companion. Its sound and its picture, they comfort me.

It presenteth entertainment before me and keepeth me from doing important things with my family. It fills my head with ideas which differ from those set forth in the word of God.

Surely, no good thing will come of my life, because my television offereth me no good time to do the will of God; thus I will dwell crownless in the house of the Lord forever.

Source unknown

Kneeling to Pray

2008-03-15T00:30:00.004+07:00

A young man enlisted, and was sent to his regiment. The first night he was in the barracks with about fifteen other young men, who passed the time playing cards and gambling.

Before retiring, he fell on his knees and prayed, and they began to curse him and jeer at him and throw boots at him. So it went on the next night and the next, and finally the young man went and told the chaplain what had taken place, and asked what he should do.

'Well," said the chaplain, 'you are not at home now, and the other men have just as much right to the barracks as you have. It makes them mad to hear you pray, and the Lord will hear you just as well if you say your prayers in bed and don't provoke them."

For weeks after the chaplain did not see the young man again, but one day he met him, and asked ,"By the way, did you take my advice?"

'I did, for two or three nights."

'How did it work?"

'Well," said the young man, 'I felt like a whipped hound and the third night I got out of bed, knelt down and prayed."

'Well," asked the chaplain, 'How did that work?"

The young soldier answered: 'We have a prayer meeting there now every night, and three have been converted, and we are praying for the rest."

Oh, friends, I am so tired of weak Christianity. Let us be out and out for Christ; let us give no uncertain sound. If the world wants to call us fools, let them to it. It is only a little while; the crowning day is coming. Thank God for the privilege we have of confessing Christ.

Moody's Anecdotes, pp. 73-74

Destroyed by Fire

2008-03-14T15:18:00.002+07:00

Thomas Edison invented the microphone, the phonograph, the incandescent light, the storage battery, talking movies, and more than 1000 other things.

December 1914 he had worked for 10 years on a storage battery. This had greatly strained his finances. This particular evening spontaneous combustion had broken out in the film room.

Within minutes all the packing compounds, celluloid for records and film, and other flammable goods were in flames. Fire companies from eight surrounding towns arrived, but the heat was so intense and the water pressure so low that the attempt to douse the flames was futile.

Everything was destroyed. Edison was 67. With all his assets going up in a whoosh (although the damage exceeded two million dollars, the buildings were only insured for $238,000 because they were made of concrete and thought to be fireproof), would his spirit be broken?

The inventor's 24-year old son, Charles, searched frantically for his father. He finally found him, calmly watching the fire, his face glowing in the reflection, his white hair blowing in the wind. 'My heart ached for him," said Charles. 'He was 67,no longer a young man,and everything was going up in flames.

When he saw me, he shouted, 'Charles, where's your mother?' When I told him I didn't know, he said, 'Find her. Bring her here. She will never see anything like this as long as she lives.'' The next morning, Edison looked at the ruins and said, 'There is great value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. Thank God we can start anew."

Three weeks after the fire, Edison managed to deliver the first phonograph.

Swindoll, Hand Me Another Brick, Thomas Nelson, 1978, pp. 82-3, and Bits and Pieces, November, 1989, p. 12

Law Like a Brush Fire

2008-03-14T15:09:00.003+07:00

A duck hunter was with a friend in the wide-open land of southeastern Georgia. Far away on the horizon he noticed a cloud of smoke. Soon he could hear crackling as the wind shifted. He realized the terrible truth; a brushfire was advancing, so fast they couldn't outrun it.

Rifling through his pockets, he soon found what he was looking for,a book of matches. He lit a small fire around the two of them. Soon they were standing in a circle of blackened earth, waiting for the fire to come.

They didn't have to wait long. They covered their mouths with handkerchiefs and braced themselves. The fire came near,and swept over them. But they were completely unhurt, untouched.

Fire would not pass where fire already had passed.
The law is like a brushfire. I cannot escape it. But if I stand in the burned-over place, not a hair of my head will be singed. Christ's death has disarmed it.

Adapted from Who Will Deliver Us? by Paul F. M. Zahl

Runaway Daughter

2008-01-25T13:54:00.000+07:00

It wasn't too long before both the money and the pictures ran out, and Maria had to go home. The weary mother wept as the bus began its long journey back to her small village. It was a few weeks later that young Christina descended the hotel stairs. Her young face was tired. Her brown eyes no longer danced with youth but spoke of pain and fear. Her laughter was broken.

Her dream had become a nightmare. A thousand times over she had longed to trade these countless beds for her secure pallet. Yet the little village was, in too many ways, too far away. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, her eyes noticed a familiar face. She looked again, and there on the lobby mirror was a small picture of her mother.

Christina's eyes burned and her throat tightened as she walked across the room and removed the small photo. Written on the back was this compelling invitation. 'Whatever you have done, whatever you have become, it doesn't matter. Please come home." She did.

Max Lucado, No Wonder They Call Him the Savior, Multnomah Press, 1986, pp. 158-9.

My Son Died, Don't You Care !?!

2008-01-25T13:29:00.000+07:00

The day is over, you are driving home. You tune in your radio. You hear a little blurb about a little village in India where some villagers have died suddenly, strangely, of a flu that has never been seen before.

It's not influenza, but three or four fellows are dead, and it's kind of interesting. They're sending some doctors over there to investigate it. You don't think much about it, but on Sunday, coming home from church, you hear another radio spot. Only they say it's not three villagers, it's 30,000 villagers in the back hills of this particular area of India, and it's on TV that night.

CNN runs a little blurb; people are heading there from the disease center in Atlanta because this disease strain has never been seen before.

By Monday morning when you get up, it's the lead story. For it's not just India; it's Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and before you know it, you're hearing this story everywhere and they have coined it now as 'the mystery flu."

The President has made some comment that he and everyone are praying and hoping that all will go well over there.

But everyone is wondering, 'How are we going to contain it?" That's when the President of France makes an announcement that shocks Europe. He is closing their borders. No flights from India, Pakistan, or any of the countries where this thing has been seen.

That night you are watching a little bit of CNN before going to bed. Your jaw hits your chest, when a weeping woman is translated from a French news program into English: 'There's a man lying in a hospital in Paris dying of the mystery flu. It has come to Europe."

Panic strikes.

As best they can tell, once you get it, you have it for a week and you don't know it. Then you have four days of unbelievable symptoms. Then you die.

Britain closes it's borders, but it's too late. Southampton, Liverpool, Northhampton, and it's Tuesday morning when the President of the United States makes the following announcement: 'Due to a national security risk, all flights to and from Europe and Asia have been canceled. If your loved ones are overseas, I'm sorry. They cannot come back until we find a cure for this thing. Within four days our nation has been plunged into an unbelievable fear.

People are selling little masks for your face. Some are talking about what if it comes to this country, and preachers on Tuesday are saying, 'It's the scourge of God." It's Wednesday night and you are at a church prayer meeting when somebody runs in from the parking lot and says, 'Turn on a radio, turn on a radio." While the church listens to a little transistor radio with a microphone stuck up to it, the announcement is made, 'Two women are lying in a Long Island hospital dying from the mystery flu." Within hours it seems, this thing just sweeps across the country.

People are working around the clock trying to find an antidote. Nothing is working. California, Oregon, Arizona, Florida, Massachusetts. It's as though it's just sweeping in from the borders.

Then, all of a sudden the news comes out. The code has been broken. A cure can be found. A vaccine can be made. It's going to take the blood of somebody who hasn't been infected, and so, sure enough, all through the Midwest, through all those channels of emergency broadcasting, everyone is asked to do one simple thing: 'Go to your downtown hospital and have your blood type taken. That's all we ask of you. When you hear the sirens go off in your neighborhood, please make your way quickly, quietly, and safely to the hospitals."

Sure enough, when you and your family get down there late on that Friday night, there is a long line, and they've got nurses and doctors coming out and pricking fingers and taking blood and putting labels on it.

Your spouse and your kids are out there, and they take your blood type and they say, 'Wait here in the parking lot and if we call your name, you can be dismissed and go home."

You stand around scared with your neighbors, wondering what in the world is going on, and that this is the end of the world. Suddenly a young man comes running out of the hospital screaming. He's yelling a name and waving a clipboard. What? He yells it again! And your son tugs on your jacket and says with a grin, 'Daddy, that's me."

Before you know it, they have grabbed your boy. 'Wait a minute, hold it!" And they say, 'It's okay, his blood is clean. His blood is pure. We want to make sure he doesn't have the disease. We think he has got the right type."

Five tense minutes later, out come the doctors and nurses, crying and hugging one another - some are even laughing. It's the first time you have seen anybody laugh in a week, and an old doctor walks up to you and says, 'Thank you, sir. Your son's blood type is perfect. It's clean, it is pure, and we can make the vaccine."

As the word begins to spread all across that parking lot full of folks, people are screaming and praying and laughing and crying. But then the gray-haired doctor pulls you and your wife aside and says, 'May we see you for a moment?

We didn't realize that the donor would be a minor and we need . . . we need you to sign a consent form."

You begin to sign and then you see that the number of pints of blood to be taken is empty. 'H-h-h-how many pints?," you ask. And that is when the old doctor's smile fades and he says, 'We had no idea it would be a little child. We weren't prepared. We need it all!"

'But -but..." 'You don't understand. We are talking about the world here. Please sign. We - we need it all -we need it all!"

'But can't you give him a transfusion?"

'If we had clean blood we would. Can you sign? Would you sign?"

In numb silence you do. Then they say, 'Would you like to have a moment with your son?" You go into that room where he sits on a table saying, 'Daddy? Mommy? What's going on?"

Can you take his hands and say, 'Son, we love you, and we would never ever let anything happen to you that didn't just have to be. Do you understand that?"

When that old doctor comes back in and says, 'I'm sorry, we've -we've got to get started. People all over the world are dying." Can you leave? Can you walk out while he is saying, 'Dad? Mom? Why - why have you forsaken me?"

And then next week, when they have the ceremony to honor your son, some folks sleep through it, and some folks don't even come because they go to the lake, and some folks come with a pretentious attitude.

'MY SON DIED! DON'T YOU CARE?"

Is that what God may be saying? 'MY SON DIED. DON'T YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I CARE?"

'Father, seeing it from your eyes breaks our hearts. Maybe now we can begin to comprehend the great love you have for us. Amen '

Source unknown

How Much Is that Preacher?

2008-01-18T17:16:00.000+07:00

Good morning, madam. May I help you?

Yes, please, I'd like to buy a minister.

For yourself or your church?

Oh, for my church, of course. I'm already married.

Uh, yes. Did you have a particular model in mind?

I've got a description from the Candidate Committee right here. We want a man about 30, well educated, with some experience. Good preacher and teacher. Balanced personality. Serious, but with a sense of humor. Efficient, but not rigid. Good health. Able to identify with all age groups. And, if possible, sings tenor.

Sings tenor?

We're short of tenors in the choir.

I see. Well, that's quite a list. How much money did you want to spend?

The committee says $9,000. $9,500 tops.

Hmmm. Well, perhaps we'd better start in the bargain basement.

Tell me, how much is that model in the window?

You mean the one in the Pendleton plaid suit and the gray suede dune boots?

Yes, that one. He's a real dream.

That's our Princeton #467. Has a Ph.D. and AKC papers.

AKC?

American Koinonia Council. He sells for $16,000 plus house.

Wow! That's too rich for our blood. What about that model over there?

Ah, yes. An exceptional buy. Faith #502. He's a little older than 30, but has excellent experience. Aggressive. Good heart. Has a backing of sermons, two of which have been printed in Christian Leaders.

He's not too bad. Can you do something about his bald head? Mrs. Penner especially insists that our minister have some hair.

Madam, all our ministers come in a variety of hair styles.

I'll keep him in mind.

Now let me show you Olympia #222. Four years of varsity sports at Brass Ring College. Plays football, basketball, volleyball, and Ping-Pong. Comes complete with sports equipment.

What a physique! He must weigh 200 pounds!

Yes, indeed. You get a lot for your money with this one. And think what he can do for your young people.

Great. But how is he at preaching?

I must admit he's not St. Peter. But you can't expect good sermons and a church-wide athletic program too!

I suppose not. Still...

Let me show you our Fresno #801. Now here's a preacher. All his sermons are superb,well- researched, copious anecdotes, and they always have three points. And,he comes with a full set of the Religious Encyclopedia at no extra charge! You get the whole package for $8,300.

He's wearing awfully thick glasses.

For $220 more we put in contact lenses.

I don't know. He might study too much. We don't want a man who's in his office all the time.

Of course.

How about this minister over here?

Comes from a management background. Trained in business operations at Beatitude College. Adept with committees. Gets his work done by 11:30 every morning.

His tag says he's an IBM 400.

Madam, you have a discerning eye. Innovative Biblical Methods. This man will positively revitalize your church.

I'm not sure our church wants to be revitalized. Haven't you got something less revolutionary?

Well, would you like someone of the social worker type? We have this Ghetto #130.

The man with the beard? Good gracious, no. Mrs. Penner would never go for that.

How about our Empathy #41C? His forte is counseling. Very sympathetic. Patient. Good with people who have problems.

Everyone in our church has problems. But he might not get out and visit new people. We really need a man who does a lot of visitation. You see, all our people are very busy and...

Yes, yes, I understand. You want a minister who can do everything well.

That's it! Haven't you got somebody like that?

I'm thinking. In our back room we have a minister who was traded in last week. Excellent man, but he broke down after three years. If you don't mind a used model, we can sell him at a reduced price.

Well, we had hoped for someone brand-new. We just redecorated the sanctuary, and we wanted a new minister to go with it.

Of course. But with a little exterior work, and a fresh suit, this man will look like he just came out of the box. No one will ever know. Let me bring him out and you can look him over.

All right. Honestly, this minister shopping is exhausting. It's so hard to get your money's worth. Tell me, do you also give Green Stamps with the contract?

Uh,no. But if there's any dissatisfaction after six months we send a new congregation for the balance of the years. That usually takes care of most problems!?!?

No Time To Play

2008-01-18T16:53:00.000+07:00

My precious boy with the golden hair Came up one day beside my chair and fell upon his bended knee And said, 'Oh, Mommy, please play with me!"

I said, 'Not now, go on and play; I’ve got so much to do today."He smiled through tears in eyes so blue When I said, 'We'll play when I get through."

But the chores lasted all through the day And I never did find time to play. When supper was over and dishes done, I was much too tired for my little son.

I tucked him in and kissed his cheek And watched my angel fall asleep. As I tossed and turned upon my bed, Those words kept ringing in my head,

'Not now, son, go on and play, I’ve got so much to do today."I fell asleep and in a minute's span, My little boy is a full-grown man.

No toys are there to clutter the floor; No dirty fingerprints on the door; No snacks to fix; no tears to dry; The rooms just echo my lonely sigh.

And now I've got the time to play; But my precious boy is gone away. I awoke myself with a pitiful scream And realized it was just a dream

For across the room in his little bed, Lay my curly-haired boy, the sleepy-head. My work will wait 'til another day For now I must find some time to play.

Dianna (Ars. Joe) Neal

Two Bears

2008-01-17T02:12:00.001+07:00

Two hunters came across a bear so big that they dropped their rifles and ran for cover. One man climbed a tree while the other hid in a nearby cave. The bear was in no hurry to eat, so he sat down between the tree and the cave to reflect upon his good fortune.

Suddenly, and for no apparent reason, the hunter in the cave came rushing out, almost ran into the waiting bear, hesitated, and then dashed back in again. The same thing happened a second time. When he emerged for the third time, his companion in the tree frantically called out, 'Woody, are you crazy? Stay in the cave till he leaves!" 'Can't," panted Woody, 'there's another bear in there."

Hell or High Water

2008-01-17T01:46:00.000+07:00

A young fellow wanted to be a star journalist but lived in a small town (not much possibility). One day the dam upstream broke and the town was flooded. He got in a rowboat and headed out to look for a story. Found a lady sitting on her rooftop. He tied up the boat and told her what he was after. (They both watched as various items floated by).

She says, 'Now there's a story." 'No, that's not a story." Finally a hat floats by and then does a 180 degree turn, goes upstream a ways and does another 180 degree turn, etc.

The fellow says, 'There's a story."

'Oh no, that's not a story. 'That's my husband Hayford. He said that he was going to mow the lawn come hell or high water!"

Light Bulb

2008-01-15T20:41:00.000+07:00

Thomas A. Edison was working on a crazy contraption called a 'light bulb" and it took a whole team of men 24 straight hours to put just one together. The story goes that when Edison was finished with one light bulb, he gave it to a young boy helper, who nervously carried it up the stairs.

Step by step he cautiously watched his hands, obviously frightened of dropping such a priceless piece of work. You've probably guessed what happened by now; the poor young fellow dropped the bulb at the top of the stairs. It took the entire team of men twenty-four more hours to make another bulb.

Finally, tired and ready for a break, Edison was ready to have his bulb carried up the stairs. He gave it to the same young boy who dropped the first one. That's true forgiveness.

James Newton, Uncommon Friends

Until You Know the Whole Story

2008-01-11T14:08:00.000+07:00

Once there was an old man who lived in a tiny village. Although poor, he was envied by all, for he owned a beautiful white horse. Even the king coveted his treasure. A horse like this had never been seen before, such as its splendor, its majesty, its strength.

People offered fabulous prices for the steed, but the old man always refused. 'This horse is not a horse to me," he would tell them. 'It is a person how could you sell a person? He is a friend, not a possession. How could you sell a friend?" The man was poor and the temptation was great. But he never sold the horse.

One morning he found that the horse was not in the stable. All the village came to see him. 'You old fool," they scoffed, 'we told you that someone would steal your horse. We warned you that you would be robbed. You are so poor. How could you ever hope to protect such a valuable animal? It would have been better to have sold him. You could have gotten whatever price you wanted. No amount would have been too high. Now the horse is gone, and you've been cursed with misfortune."

The old man responded, 'Don't speak too quickly. Say only that the horse is not in the stable. That is all we know; the rest is judgment. If I've been cursed or not, how can you know? How can you judge?"

The people contested, 'Don't make us out to be fools! We may not be philosophers, but great philosophy is not needed. The simple fact is that your horse is gone is a curse."
The old man spoke again. 'All I know is that the stable is empty, and the horse is gone. The rest I don't know. Whether it be a curse or a blessing, I can't say. All we can see is a fragment. Who can say what will come next?"

The people of the village laughed. They thought that the man was crazy. They had always thought he was a fool; if he wasn't, he would have sold the horse and lived off the money. But instead, he was a poor woodcutter, an old man still cutting firewood and dragging it out of the forest and selling it. he lived hand to mouth in the misery of poverty. Now he had proven that he was, indeed, a fool.

After fifteen days, the horse returned. He hadn't been stolen; he had run away into the forest. Not only had he returned, he had brought a dozen wild horses with him. Once again the village people gathered around the woodcutter and spoke. 'Old man, you were right and we were wrong. What we thought was a curse was a blessing. Please forgive us."

The man responded, 'Once again, you go too far. Say only that the horse is back. State only that a dozen horses returned with him, but don't judge. How do you know if this is a blessing or not? You see only a fragment. Unless you know the whole story, how can you judge? You read only one page of a book. Can you judge the whole book? You read only one word of a phrase. Can you understand the entire phrase?

'Life is so vast, yet you judge all of life with one page or one word. All you have is a fragment! Don't say that this is a blessing. No one knows. I am content with what I know. I am not perturbed by what I don't."

'Maybe the old man is right," they said to one another. So they said little. But down deep, they knew he was wrong. They knew it was a blessing. Twelve wild horses had returned with one horse. With a little bit of work, the animals could be broken and trained and sold for much money.

The old man had a son, an only son. The young man began to break the wild horses. After a few days, he fell from one of the horses and broke both legs. Once again the villagers gathered around the old man and cast their judgments.

'You were right," they said. 'You proved you were right. The dozen horses were not a blessing. They were a curse. Your only son has broken his legs, and now in your old age you have no one to help you. Now you are poorer than ever."

The old man spoke again. 'You people are obsessed with judging. Don't go so far. Say only that my son broke his legs. Who knows if it is a blessing or a curse? No one knows. We only have a fragment. Life comes in fragments."

It so happened that a few weeks later the country engaged in war against a neighboring country. All the young men of the village were required to join the army. Only the son of the old man was excluded, because he was injured. Once again the people gathered around the old man, crying and screaming because their sons had been taken. There was little chance that they would return. The enemy was strong, and the war would be a losing struggle. They would never see their sons again.

'You were right, old man," they wept. 'God knows you were right. This proves it. Your son's accident was a blessing. His legs may be broken, but at least he is with you. Our sons are gone forever."

The old man spoke again. 'It is impossible to talk with you. You always draw conclusions. No one knows. Say only this: Your sons had to go to war, and mine did not. No one knows if it is a blessing or a curse. No one is wise enough to know. Only God knows."

In the Eye of the Storm by Max Lucado, Word Publishing, 1991, pp. 144-147

The Cookie Thief

2008-01-11T13:52:00.000+07:00

A woman was waiting at an airport one night. With several long hours before her flight. She hunted for a book in the airport shop, Bought a bag of cookies and found a place to drop.

She was engrossed in her book, but happened to see, That the man beside her, as bold as could be, Grabbed a cookie or two from the bag between, Which she tried to ignore, to avoid a scene.
She read, munched cookies, and watched the clock, As the gutsy 'cookie thief!" diminished her stock. She was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by, Thinking, 'If I wasn't so nice, I'd blacken his eye!"

With each cookie she took, he took one, too. When only one was left, she wondered what he'd do. With a smile on his face and a nervous laugh, He took the last cookie and broke it in half.

He offered her half, as he ate the other. She snatched it from him and thought, 'Oh brother,This guy has some nerve, and he's also rude, Why, he didn't even show any gratitude!"

She had never known when she had been so galled, And sighed with relief when her flight was called. She gathered her belongings and headed for the gate, Refusing to look back at the 'thieving ingrate."

She boarded the plane and sank in her seat, Then sought her book, which was almost complete. As she reached in her baggage, she gasped with surprise. There was her bag of cookies in front of her eyes!

'If mine are here," she moaned with despair, 'Then the others were his and he tried to share!" Too late to apologize, she realized with grief, That she was the rude one, the ingrate, the thief!

Night Light

2008-01-09T01:53:00.000+07:00

In Him there is no darkness at all.
1 John 1:5

A little boy was afraid to go to bed one night, because he couldn't see anything in the darkness. While his father was tucking him in, he said, "Do you love me when it's dark, Dad?"

"Of course, son."
"Do you love me even when you can't see me and I can't see you?"
"More than ever!"

Little children often need reassurance when the sun goes down, and sometimes adults do too. At night in the dark, worries seem to loom larger, problems greater, and fear stronger. Prayer can help put you at ease before going to sleep.

Who Jesus is Not

2007-08-06T14:45:00.000+07:00

JESUS WAS NOT SIMPLY A GOOD MORAL TEACHER.

How, in the name of logic, common sense, and experience, could an impostor -- that is a deceitful, selfish, depraved man -- have invented and consistently maintained from the beginning to end, the purest and noblest character known in history with the most perfect air of truth and reality? How could He have conceived and successfully carried out a plan of unparalleled beneficence, moral magnitude, and sublimity, and sacrificed His own life for it, in the face of the strongest prejudices of His people and age? (Philip Schaff, The Person of Christ. New York: American Tract Society, 1913, 94-95)

C.S. Lewis, one-time atheist and author of The Chronicles of Narnia, put the dilemma this way:

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said [about Himself] would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic -- on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg -- or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon, or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come away with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. (Mere Christianity)

Jesus would have to have been lying or insane (not the qualities of a good moral teacher) to call Himself the Son of God and the Savior of mankind if it weren’t true.

Therefore, to separate what is comfortable about Jesus – His kindness, His message of unconditional love, His healing of the sick – from that which is less comfortable (He was born of a virgin, He claimed to be God, He rose from the dead) isn’t really possible.

There are four options open to a person dealing with Jesus. You may consider Him: a legend, a liar, a lunatic, or Lord and God. If He existed, then He's not a legend. If He's a liar, that goes against everything else we know about His character. If He's a lunatic, how to explain the consistency in His message, the constancy of His love? If those options are removed, where does that leave you?

JESUS WAS/IS NOT A POLITICAL MESSIAH

This is one reason some Jews of Jesus’ time could not believe He was their Savior – He didn’t deliver them from the oppression of their Roman occupiers. He never actually intended to. The deliverance Christ offered and still offers today is of a spiritual nature, reconciling mankind to God (Matthew 11:27). The peace this Messiah brings is internal. His hope is for each human to be restored to a relationship with God, which sin has broken.

Who is Jesus

2007-08-06T14:43:00.000+07:00

The Prince of Peace… The Word made man… Savior and Lord… The King of Kings… The Lion of Judah… The Lamb of God

When Jesus came to the area of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his followers, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" They answered, “Some say you are John the Baptist. Others say you are Elijah, and still others say you are Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Then Jesus asked them, “And who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered, “You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because no person taught you that. My Father in heaven showed you who I am.” (Matthew 16:13-17, NCV)

When Christians answer the question “Who Is Jesus?” they build their answer on the Bible – on the things Jesus said about Himself, on the prophecies from the Old Testament that foretold his coming, and the doctrines laid out about Christ through the rest of the New Testament.

There is little historical question that Jesus existed (click here to study the evidence from non-Christian sources, collected by Probe Ministries), but people do often wonder about His divine nature, His miracles, and His offer of eternal salvation through grace “first to the Jew and also to the Gentile” (Romans 1:16)… in other words, to all mankind.

Because the love that Jesus offers comes in the form of a “personal relationship” with Him, many believers have particular definitions about who the Lord is to them.

The gospel of Jesus is literally “good news,” so we hope you enjoy exploring the miracle and wonder of what the God of all creation did for you.

Christian Article: Talkativeness

2007-07-02T23:35:00.000+07:00

The Holy Scriptures say time and again that idle talk is a sin, but we usually do not take it seriously. And yet this is a sin that God will judge very severely. It is listed together with immorality and impurity and covetousness, which are not fitting among saints (Eph. 5:3f). In summary the Apostle Paul says, "Let no one deceive you with empty words, for it is because of these things that the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. There fore do not associate with them" (Eph. 5:6f).

Our idle talk incites the wrath of God. And the wrath of God always brings us judgment, if we do not repent. We cannot play around with this sin. Talking is a very serious matter. Our words will not blow away like chaff. They will arise again at the Last Judgment. Not one of them will be lost.

One day we must give account of every unprofitable word; we will be judged according to our words (Matt. 12:36f). And woe, if our tongue, 'a restless evil, full of deadly poison" (Jas. 3:8), was an instrument of evil, because we spoke poisonous, bitter, hate-filled and dirty words.

Since this sin of talkativeness "eats its way like gangrene" (2 Tim. 2:17), a total operation has to be performed. According to Jesus' words, "If your eye (or tongue) causes you to sin, pluck it out" (Mark 9:47). Otherwise you will risk being thrown into hell.

What is the way of being set free completely? First we must find the root of talkativeness. Often it is our desire for attention. We want to make our selves important. We think we have to give our opinion about everything.

How quickly these unprofitable words lead us to speak in a disparaging way about others who are not present! Or we begin to gossip and spread rumors, etc. Or sometimes we use idle talk to drown our bad conscience; sometimes we chatter out of laziness, because we do not want to work: sometimes out of bitterness, because we want to let out the poisonous thoughts in us. And there are many more reasons.

The deepest cause of talkativeness is that we are separated from Jesus. A talkative person usually does not speak much with Jesus, for conversation with Jesus makes us quiet and turns our thoughts to God. The less "quiet time" we have, the more talkative we are. Through many empty words and unprofitable talk we lose our liking for the hidden fellowship with Jesus.

Everything depends upon giving Jesus more quiet time to listen to Him. When our personal meditation time is over and we return to people, His presence should accompany us and our words should be filled with His Holy Spirit.

Then we can no longer tell shady jokes and we will not talk needlessly. We should only say what we would, were Jesus physically in our midst. Then only such talk will come out of our mouths as is good for edifying, as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to those who hear (Eph. 4:29).

Certainly it will not easy for many of us to find time for quiet during the course of a hectic, demanding day. But where there's a will, there's a way. Somehow there will be an opportunity. For instance, we can save time on visits or jobs that are more pleasurable than compulsory and give this time to Jesus.

When we leave the quietness of our room and continue to carry on our conversation with Jesus in our hearts, our talking will improve almost by itself. In heaven Jesus will only hold conversations with those who sought Him here in prayer and did not give room to unprofitable talk.

Whoever says, "I do not know what to do with my quiet time" will not get rid of his talkativeness. He does not want to pay anything for the healing of this sinful disease. Patience and practice are required before we can converse with God, that is, before we can pray genuinely. But whoever wants to be freed from talkativeness will take Jesus' promise as a reality, "Behold, I make all things new" (Rev. 21:5).

Even our tongue will become new, so that it will be an instrument of God's Spirit and can speak His words and will be silent instead of speaking idle talk. Jesus Christ has come to set us free from the slavery of sin, from the evil fire in our tongue that can bring us judgment and hell. He has been given power even over our tongues.

You Do Not Belong to the World

2007-06-25T20:06:00.001+07:00

John 15:18-19 NRSV

"If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you.
If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own.
Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen
you out of the world--therefore the world hates you."

No one is free from the risk of persecution... But how serious it is for Christians who are unwilling to suffer for their own sins when He who had no sin suffered for us! The Son of God suffered in order to make us children of God, but people won't suffer to continue being children of God!

If we suffer from the world's hatred, Christ first endured the world's hatred. If we suffer rebukes in this world, if exile or torture, the Maker and Lord of the world experienced harder things than these. He also warns us, "If the world hates you, remember that it hated Me before you. If ye were of the world, the world would love their own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the world that I said unto you, 'The servant is not greater than his lord.' If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you."

Whatever our Lord God taught, He did so that disciples who learn have no excuse not to do what they learn.

Christian Article: Busyness

2007-06-23T00:49:00.000+07:00

Busyness! Do we sometimes imagine that this is something good? That energy and industriousness stand behind it? Or at least that it is necessary so that we can achieve something? No. Busyness separates us from Jesus. It is a sin and has a negative effect upon my life of faith.

Everything depends upon whether or not I am at one with Jesus. Jesus says, "He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit" (John 15:5). Only what we do in union with Jesus, who is "Life", will have divine life and never perish. Only that will we be able to find as fruit in eternity.

But we know that Satan makes every effort to rob us of this eternal fruit. He wants to hinder us, at any cost, from spending the day united with our Lord Jesus, because he knows that this oneness with Jesus makes us strong. Then we are at one with the Lord of heaven and earth, who has pwer over every name that is named.

His power is then ours and provides blessing for our work. On the other hand, if we poor sinners are separated from Jesus, we can only do worthless things, that will blow away like chaff, no matter how good they may look at first.

That is why Satan tries every possible trick to make our work completely captivate us and thus separate us from Jesus. Work can chain us, because it interests us too much, because it satisfies our human desires and because we find our fulfillment in it. Work can incite our ambition.

We want to attain many things and receive success and recognition. Some just just love to work. They like to see what they can do. Or work can become an escape, a way to deaden our consciences, because we have not kept our lives straightened out. During such periods our prayer-times become quite unbearable. Some people who have a great deal to do fall into the mad rush. They are wound up and therefore cannot pray while they work.

So Satan comes at us from various directions and tries to drive us into busyness, into a life without Jesus, for Satan is the malicious spirit of unrest. Jesus, however, is the Prince of peace. Whoever does His work with Him is in peace and does not rush. Then our industrious work is not a mad rush. We are not enslaved to work and driven by it, but we work together with God, drawing our strength from our times of quiet. It is full of divine life, zeal and joy.

But even though we know that we are only unhappy when we are separated from Jesus, there are usually chains binding us to our work. Again and again we have to lament that we lose our communion with Jesus during the course of the day.

Indeed, when we are engaged in our various tasks, we tend to forget Him for hours. But this busyness in our work can no longer be tolerated in our lives. It is not simply harmless "rushing" or "losing oneself in the work", rather it is a sin which will bring us the most severe punishment. Who has ever applied Jesus' words seriously to his own busyness? "If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned" (John 15:6). "Cast forth" is the fate of the busy.

They will be cast forth from the countenance of Jesus and His kingdom, because they did not work for God in personal love for Him and in His sight. Not only will his works be burned, but also he himself. So we must be redeemed from busyness, no matter what the cost.

But how do we get there? "Abiding in Him", doing everything together with Jesus, is a matter of practice. We should practice saying the name JESUS over and over again in our heart. While we are working, we should practice saying, "For You! For You!" Before going to sleep, let us ask ourselves whether we were with Jesus during the day.

Let us ask the Spirit of God to admonish us the next day to think about Jesus. During our morning prayer before work, let us lay this request before Him again. And if we suffer especially under the sin of busyness, we should let Him show us how we can be reminded at work to speak a prayer every hour.

We must not stop beseeching the Lord for this "abiding in Christ", even if we experience many defeats. Every time we have lost the inner contact with Him at work, we should try to tie the bond anew, though it may be a hundred times a day. The fruit of our work for all eternity depends upon this. We must set for ourselves a definite goal of faith. And let us ask Jesus every day:

Let me be immersed in You, deeper and deeper, until
I can no longer lose You. Set me free through the
power of Your blood from my bondage to work!

God will answer and we will experience that Jesus is a Redeemer, who will set us free from the chains which bind us to our work. Then we will be bound to Him and bring forth eternal fruit to His glory.

Jesus, You are my everything!
I will talk with You and work for You!
I want to plan, consider and make all my decisions with You!

Nothing shall be done without You,
lest You should become an out cast.

Bind me tightly to You,
so that nothing can separate us during the day:
no work, no burden, no other interest, no joy.

May I evermore live in Your holy presence,
For You are here!

Love of Power: Desire to Dominate

2007-06-18T02:12:00.000+07:00

"We do not want this man to reign over us! (Luke 19:14). This was the reason why we people killed Jesus. We wanted to reign by ourselves and not be subject to anyone else. Envy and the love of power are the main sins which nailed Jesus to the cross. This is the worst thing that could be said about any sin.

The lust for power is murderous. It tramples down everyone who tries to stand in its way. Whoever persists in this sin will come under God's severe judgment, because every time we want to rule we are actually rebelling against God and His dominion. We do not leave Him any room in our lives, just as the people of Israel and its authorities did not. They excluded their Lord and Creator from their midst--just as we do when we want to have power--although His dominion was pure love and still is today.

The love of power is connected with pride and conceit. It is the characteristic of bad rulers. Domineering is expressed by bossing others around and insisting upon having our own way. It shows that we do not have any humility at all. For when we try to rule over others, we have taken a position that does not belong to us.

With our love of power we set ourselves up on a throne, high above all others and rule them with our words and our deeds. But we do not realize that our attitude is just the opposite to God's attitude. For God reigns in a different way, through serving love, as Jesus practiced it among men. Jesus' power was not violent; the authority of His dominion rested on humble serving love.

"I am among you as one who serves" (Luke 22:27). That is why divine radiance rested upon Jesus and why it rests upon His followers who live their lives in humble, serving love. They have true power according to Jesus' words, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit (and rule) the earth" (Matt. 5:5).

But because Jesus, the Son of God, went the way of humble, meek love, of serving others and submitting Himself, in order to redeem us from our sins, the love of power is an especially serious sin.

We are particularly vulnerable to this sin when we have a position of leadership, when we are responsible for others, even if it is the responsibility of parents for their children. Children defy their parents, rebel against them and even leave home. How often is this caused by parents who wanted to rule over them! That is why the Apostle Paul says, "Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged" (Col. 3:21). "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in discipline and instruction of the Lord" (Eph. 6:4).

Certainly parents, teachers and superiors cannot avoid making rules and making sure that things are right and if they are not, putting them back in order. But it is especially the leaders who make the Gospel unbelievable when they begin to thirst for power. The Apostle Peter admonishes the elders of the Church, "Tend the flock of God...not as domineering over those in your charge... Clothe yourselves with humility" (1 Pet. 5:2, 3, 5b).

We have to choose. Do we want to follow Satan, who wanted to usurp God's throne, even though he was created by Him? Or do we want to follow Jesus? The outcome of each of these ways is clear. Being Jesus' disciple is incompatible with thirst for power. So we have to get rid of this sin, if we wish to be counted followers of Jesus and not be excluded from His kingdom one day.

First of all, we must ask the Holy Spirit to show us our desire to rule, if we have not recognized it yet. We should ask our neighbors if we make life hard for them by our domineering attitude. If they say we do, we must accept it.

Second, we should ask for a repentant heart, for "godly sorrow" because of this malicious sin, which is such a strong contrast to Jesus' humility. Besides this we have made life difficult for those around us, yes we can even make life hell for them!

Third, we must meditate much on Jesus, the humiliated Lord, crowned with the crown of thorns, who had love's power, and pray: "I want to stand here by You and from now on choose Your place of humble, meek love. I want others to rule over me at home and at work, and be subject to them and even give up some of my special positions and privileges."

Them we will find that our scepter of domination will crumble in our hands and one day it will completely disappear, if, yes, if we daily entreat Jesus to free us from this sinful bondage. When we pray for this, we should constantly look at the picture of the humble, lowly Lord, who was scourged and crowned with a crown of thorns.

He has paid the ransom and has gone the way of lowliness to draw us into His nature of humility. Just as we all have sinned in Adam, because as his children we partake of his sinful nature--including the love of power--so we have all been united with Jesus and His nature of humility through His redemption. Then we will find out how much authority humility has!

Christian Article: Jealousy

2007-06-13T21:26:00.000+07:00

Jealousy can become such a burning desire in a person's heart that it can shrivel him up. When we are jealous, we usually torment the person we love. Yes, jealousy can give birth to hatred, betrayal and in some cases to murder. Infinite misery and sorrow have grown out of this root of jealousy. It can disrupt family life, business life and even life within our churches.

If we are not redeemed from this sin of wanting others to love us alone, we will become spiritually bankrupt and our lives will not produce any fruit. For if jealousy rules in us, we are incapable of wholeheartedly working for God and His kingdom.

We have to be freed from this sin of jealousy, no matter how high is the price. With its burning consuming fire, it is a foreshadow of how such hellish craving can eat away at body and soul one day in the kingdom of darkness.

But God's love wants to protect us from this. Jesus through His redemption wants to free us from jealousy even if it burns like fire in our hearts. But redemption involves a genuine battle of faith on our part against this ravaging sin.

It is a matter of making a conscious renunciation of such sinful craving: "I do not want to have anything, my God, that You do not give me. If you do not give me the love of this person, I do not want to have it. I will give him up to You." God can only help us if we give up this person and our claim to his love again and again, and really lay them on the altar.

Otherwise we are like a patient who has the best medicine, but still will not recover, because he does not want to leave the surroundings which are responsible for his illness and which continually make it worse. So it means completely letting go of the person whose love and attention we jealously seek. That means, we should not make any claims on him or on his time, nor should we seek to control whom he spends his time with or whom he likes.

Jesus can only set us free if we really want to be free, and give Him a sign of our willingness. Otherwise the rope that binds us to a person will bind us more and more to Satan and his kingdom. Everything is at stake. Such jealousy is a sign that we do not really love Jesus and that we are "of the flesh". "For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving like ordinary men?" (1 Cor. 3:3).

The Holy Scriptures pronounce a terrible verdict on the works of the flesh. People committing these sins will not enter the Kingdom of God (Gal. 5:20 f).

But if we have received a holy fear of our jealousy through a revelation of what jealousy really is, and we regret that we have sinned, it will lose its power over us. Then the blood of the Lamb, which makes us free from all sin will reveal its power more and more. If this redeeming blood of Jesus is proclaimed over the sin of jealousy again and again, it has power to free us. Jesus is mightier than the powers in us. His victory has condemned them to death.

Whenever these sinful attachments are crucified with Christ, Jesus gives birth to new, divine love in our soul, which is free from attachments to people and cravings for human love. It will make us and others happy.

Jesus has won this love for us. He wants to love and claim in faith the righteousness and love of Jesus. Only those who have overcome in their fight with sin will enter the City of God and His glory.

Do It Today

2007-06-13T16:33:00.000+07:00

Do the right thing;

Do it today;

Do it with no hope of return or promise of reward;

Do it with a smile and cheerful attitude;

Do it day after day after day.

Do it, and someday,

There will come a day

That will be a payday

For all the yesterdays

You spent focused on the current day--

That will not only give value to today,

But will make each future day

Outshine each yesterday.

And what more could you ask of a day?

Lesson from a farmer

2007-06-13T13:20:00.000+07:00

A young man from the city graduated from college with a degree in journalism and got a job at a small-town newspaper. One of his first assignments was to interview an old farmer who lived twenty miles outside of town. As he sat with the grizzled man on his front porch, the young journalist looked at his notepad and started asking his questions. One of the first he asked was, "Sir, what time do you go to work in the morning?"

The old farmer chuckled and replied, "Son, I don't go to work. I'm surrounded by it."

We can learn a lesson from the old farmer. Opportunities are a lot like his work. They are everywhere. But the problem is that we often don't have the eyes to see them.

As you approach each day, look around. Be aware. If you don't see opportunities, remember that it's not because they aren't there. You're always surrounded by them. You simply need to open your eyes and see them. Then act on them.

The Night Sky

2007-06-12T01:57:00.000+07:00

When was the last time you gazed up into the star-filled sky on a clear night? Do you wonder what it would be like to travel in the heavens among the stars? What lies beyond what your physical eyes can see?

Jamie Buckingham described a night like that in the snowy mountains of North Carolina:

"I walked up the dark, snow-covered road toward Cowee Bald. The sky had cleared, revealing a billion stars twinkling in the clear, cold night. The only sound was the gurgling of a small mountain stream beside the road and the soft crunch of my shoes in the snow. All the other night noises were smothered, leaving me with the impression of standing alone on earth.

"I wondered about the time, but to glance at my watch would have been sacrilegious. Clocks, calendars, automobiles, and airplanes--instruments of time and speed--were all buried beneath nature's cloak of stillness and slowness. I kicked the snow off my boot, and standing in the middle of the road, threw my head back and breathed deeply of the pine-scented air. Looking into the heavens I could see stars whose light had left there a million years ago, and realized I was just glimpsing the edge of space. Beyond that was infinity--and surrounding it all, the Creator.

"I remembered a quote from the German philosopher, Kant. Something about two irrefutable evidences of the existence of God: the moral law within and the starry universe above. I breathed His name: 'God.'

"Then, overwhelmed by His presence, I called Him what I had learned to call Him through experience: 'Father!'"

Tonight, contemplate the stars in the heavens. You will find there a glimpse of eternity. What an awesome thought: The Creator of the universe invites me to have a personal relationship with Him!

Pleasing People: Conformity

2007-06-11T00:20:00.000+07:00

"If I were still pleasing men, I should not be a servant of Christ" (Gal. 1:10). With this statement, the Apostle Paul has touched upon a cancerous troth in life, especially among Christians. Because our human hearts are infected with sin, we seek the favor of our fellow men and not the favor of God.

That is why it hurts us so much to lose the favor, love and recognition of men, especially of those whose favor is important to us. So we make every effort to please others. But then we are in danger of losing God's favor and Jesus will no longer look upon us as His servants and disciples.

This is an "either/or" situation. And it is especially important during this time of apostasy. If we are now seeking to please men, how quickly we could go over to the side of those who deny Jesus! In past years we have seen shocking examples of this among us Christians, and we have already seen something of the judgment such people reaped, who conformed because they were afraid.

In the face of all this the Lord is asking us, "What is the motive behind your talking, your behavior? Perhaps we are friendly towards strangers, but within our own family we are annoyed and grumpy. Our ulterior motive, although we may not be aware of it, is that we want the good opinion of strangers, their respect, their love and recognition, while we take this for granted in our own family.

But if we were interested in God's favor and pleasure, we would be especially friendly at home, for God's sake. Another danger is that "when in Rome, we do as the Romans do". At work and else where we conform to the people around us and do whatever they do, whether it involves gossiping with them, telling dirty jokes, accepting their opinions, conforming to their way of dress. All this because, as we say, we do not want to be "different".

Perhaps we even have other pretenses: we do not want to offend people. If so we will not be able to tell them anything about our faith. But in reality we simply do not want to lose their favor. No matter what it costs, we want to avoid having any opponents. So we cater to men and do things we cannot justify. If we wanted to give a testimony of Jesus under these conditions, no one would believe us.

We are not at peace, but are tormented by our fear of others. We are afraid of what they may think of us. But how foolish this is! We are afraid of men and not afraid of God, who is really to be feared. Jesus says, "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matt.10:28).

Yes, we should be afraid of losing God's favor, by trying to gain the favor of man. For if God is no longer for us, we are lost, that is, God no longer uses His power for us and contends on our behalf. Yes, we are lost, if God's judgment is upon us. If we wish to please men, we cannot be His servants, neither here nor in eternity. He has power to deliver us up to Satan's kingdom. What good will recognition and favor from men do us, if we are separated from the Source of life, God Himself, and one day have to hear Him say, "You do not belong to Me!"?

No matter what it costs, our goal must be that we stand on God's side and that we have His good pleasure. Therefore, we must make a decision. We must denounce seeking to please people, so that we may obtain God's pleasure.

Our fate for eternity depends upon this. Let us picture the baptism of Jesus and His transfiguration and listen to the Father's tender words of love, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:17; 17:5). Then we will sense that it is worth everything to receive God's commendation and will seek to please Him alone. Then we will partake fully of the love of God, which is actually our deepest longing. Moreover people cannot give us this much love and we will never be fully satisfied by them alone.

If we please God, He will love us and honor us, and one day this will be manifested to all mankind. This is quite certain, whereas we can never be sure of getting love from people when we seek to please them.

Tomorrow it may bring about our downfall. Human love is like dew, like a cloud that passes away. Perhaps the situation will change and tomorrow they will no longer be interested in taking care of us and being ready to help us.

There is only one person we can rely on; we can count on His love and all the gifts He has to give us. That is our Lord and God. What should we do, if God no longer counts us among His servants, if He is not for us? We cannot allow that to happen--in time or in eternity.

Jesus is exhorting us; "Choose Me; choose my way". In everything that we do and say we ought to please God. Let us make this commitment. It is a commitment to the cross, for it is painful when people withdraw their favor and we are no longer loved and respected by them.

They may even reject us and be hostile to us. But then we will receive love from God and from those who are close to Him. This is always the case. The closer we are to the Lord and the more we seek to please Him, the more at one we are with those who are close to Him. Isn't that worth suffering for?

Christian Article: Quality Time

2007-06-10T23:33:00.001+07:00

Busy--so busy! The sun has long since set and there is still so much to do. Work, family, church, and much more seem to demand hours God never put in the day. Still, we Christians think all these accomplishments will please our heavenly Father. After all, faith without works is dead, right?

When we finally fall into bed at night, can we say we've actually spent any time with the Father we're trying so hard to please?

In his book, Unto the Hills, Billy Graham tells a story about a little girl and her father who were great friends and enjoyed spending time together. They went for walks and shared a passion for watching birds, enjoying the changing seasons, and meeting people who crossed their path.

One day, the father noticed a change in his daughter. If he went for a walk, she excused herself from going. Knowing she was growing up, he rationalized that she must be expected to lose interest in her Daddy as she made other friends. Nevertheless, her absence grieved him deeply.

Because of his daughter's absences, he was not in a particularly happy mood on his birthday. Then she presented him with a pair of exquisitely worked slippers, which she had hand made for him while he was out of the house walking.

At last he understood and said, "My darling, I like these slippers very much, but next time buy the slippers and let me have you all the days. I would rather have my child than anything she can make for me."

Is it possible our heavenly Father sometimes feels lonely for the company of His children? Are we so busy doing good that we forget--or are too weary--to spend some quiet time with Him as our day draws to a close?

Take a walk with your heavenly Father as the sun sets. Spend some quality time, talking to Him about anything and everything. You will be blessed and so will He!

Christian Article: Leave It to Me

2007-06-09T23:15:00.000+07:00

Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it]
and He will sustain you.
Psalm 55:22 AMP

Many people find it easier to commit their future into the Lord's hands than to commit the problems and concerns of the day. We recognize our helplessness in regard to the future, but we often feel as if the present is in our own hands.

A Christian by the name of Mary Ellen once had a great burden in her life. She was so distraught she could not sleep or eat, was jeopardizing her physical and emotional health, and was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She recognized, however, that there wasn't anything she could do to change her circumstances.

Then Mary Ellen read a story in a magazine about another woman, Connie, who also had major difficulties in her life. In the account, a friend asked Connie how she was able to bear up under the load of such troubles. Connie replied, "I take my problems to the Lord."

Connie's friend replied, "Of course, that is what we should do."

Then Connie added, "But we must not only take our problems there. We must leave our problems with the Lord."

There is a humorous story about an elderly man who vowed he would never ride in an airplane. However, one day an emergency arose and it was necessary for him to get to a distant city in a hurry. The fastest way to get there was by air, of course, so he purchased a ticket and made his first trip in an airplane.

Knowing his reluctance to fly, when his relatives met him at the airport, they asked him how he enjoyed the flight. He responded, "Oh, it was all right, I guess. But I'll tell you one thing. I never let my full weight down on the seat."

The Lord wants you to cast your burdens on Him--and leave them there! He desires for you to give Him the full weight of your problems as well. Then you can go on with life in full confidence He will take care of those things you have entrusted to Him.

Christian Article: Night Watch

2007-06-09T00:03:00.000+07:00

You are my hope, O Lord God.
Psalm 71:5 NKJV

Vaclav Havel is a former president of what used to be Czechoslovakia. In 1948 the Communists took power in his country and confiscated his family land holdings. From that time, Havel was part of a defiant underground that opposed the Soviet government.

When the Soviets marched into Prague twenty years later, Havel remained to form a coalition that would gather strength and be ready to take over when the time was right. He spoke out boldly, writing defiantly against communism. He was put under surveillance and eventually jailed for his activities.

In 1970, several U.S. senators met with Havel in Czechoslovakia. They brought what they thought would be good news for him. They told him they intended to press for legislation allowing dissidents like himself to emigrate to the West.

Havel replied by saying he was not interested in going to the West. "What good would that do?" he asked. "Only by staying here and struggling here can we ever hope to change things." Like a watchman in the night, Havel stayed on duty in his country.

Times of trial and struggle often seem like long, dark nights. But doing the right thing--even the hard thing--gives us hope. How do we maintain those long night watches when there seems to be little change in our circumstances?

Take one step at a time. Don't attempt to tackle the whole task at once. "A man's steps are directed by the Lord" (Proverbs 20:24 NIV).
Keep your struggles in perspective. Separate the mountains from the molehills. "What then shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31 NIV).
Cultivate the discipline of delayed gratification. "But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing" (James 1:4).
Learn to recognize the invisible God in the world around you. "By faith he [Moses] left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; for he persevered because he saw him who is invisible" (Hebrews 11:27 NIV).

Placing your hope in the Lord helps you to do all these things. He will lead you, He will remove your mountains, He will strengthen you, helping you to be patient, and He will open your eyes to His works all around you.

Conceit: Vanity

2007-06-08T14:30:00.000+07:00

A conceited person! These words are not exactly what you would call a compliment! Yet the highest goal of a conceited person is to be complimented. Externally he tries to have an attractive appearance and wear smart clothes. Internally he seeks the facade of a pleasant personality. His basic motive is to make a good appearance in public, to attain respect and affection. The conceited person is strongly attracted to the mirror. He looks at himself and enjoys what he sees. In a figurative sense he also looks at all his reactions, activities and conversations in a mirror and takes pleasure in them.

The vain and conceited forget, however, that these is another mirror--the eye of God, which shows us the truth about ourselves, what is behind the facade. Then we see how "vain" everything really is, how transient and perishable. But if we avoid the mirror of God, we are deceiving ourselves with the mirror of human eyes which we look into all the time with the questions: How do others react to us? Are we good-looking? Are we popular?

Then our conceit grows and grows, but in the end it will make us unhappy. For the greater it becomes, the more it begins to tyrannize us. We can no longer do anything without reflecting on how others will react. We make others around us feel uneasy, because at least unconsciously they feel the demands of our ego, our vanity.

Vanity places the ego on the throne. It idolizes the ego and that is why it is a great sin. Every idol takes over the place that God ought to have in our life. That is why the same verdict that God pronounced over the idol-worshipers will hit us. For we cannot serve God and our ego-idol. We want others to burn incense to our ego. Our conceitedness wants others to admire our looks, our intelligence, our talents and our abilities and burn incense to them.

In some cases this is combined with addiction to worldly riches. Then we spend great sums of money for an expensive wardrobe and other things that might help us gain the admiration of others.

But above all, conceit, the desire to be pleasing to our fellow-men, makes us insensitive to the most important thing for our life here and in eternity: that we be pleasing to God. No one will be pleasing to God by presenting an attractive appearance or displaying his talents and abilities. Only those who do not want to be anything in the eyes of men will attain God's good pleasure. This is the point we have to come to.

It would be terrible to lose the pleasure of God while seeking pleasure from men. Then we will be far away from Jesus. That is why we have to repent completely.

The first step to getting rid of this sin is to admit honestly that we are vain and conceited. If we let the light of God show us this, we can only say; "How could I ever be conceited? My sins are so ugly. Even if I should be especially attractive or gifted, what does this matter in the eyes of God, who knows what really is in my heart? I ought to be ashamed or being so far away from God, because I am pleased with my poor and ugly being."

Now we must ask for "eye salve" (Rev. 3:18). What does that mean? It means that we ask God and other people to tell us what we really are like without sparing our feelings. That will hurt, but it will help us to see the truth about ourselves. We must also ask the Lord; "Prevent me from hearing anyone praise me, and bring as much of my sin as possible into the light, so that I can see it more clearly.

Then I will have to be ashamed and will lose my conceit. Yes, I even ought to tell others what I really am so that I will be humbled and learn not to live from their favor, but from the forgiveness and mercy of God."

Another step to becoming free from vanity is to reveal our conceited thoughts, to confess them to another person. If we want to receive grace from God, we have to given to the humble and contrite sinners, who are no longer pleased with themselves. But if we continue to admire our supposed qualities in the mirror and let our left hand see what our right hand has done, we have already had our reward (Matt. 6:1 ff).

There is One who found no pleasure in Himself, and He is the only One who deserved to find pleasure in Himself: Jesus (Rom. 15:3). And in Him we are righteous, that is, we have been set right from every sin, including vanity and conceit. That is why we should praise Him in faith, saying:

"Jesus will set us free from this sin. He will remake us into His image which is free from vanity and conceit. He will change our hearts so that we will no longer seek to be pleasing to men, but only to God.

Indifference: Lukewarmness

2007-06-08T10:09:00.000+07:00

"Because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth" (Rev. 3:16). This terrible word of judgment applies to an indifferent, lazy person. Scarcely anything makes an impression on him. If problems are created, if others come into difficulties due to his fault, an indifferent person will scarcely take notice of it.He goes back to his normal routine without noticing what he has done.

If everything depends upon doing something on behalf of the Lord's work and giving a testimony, he does not realize what is going on and so he misses his chance. If a brother next to him is sinning or is about to fall away from the Church, he is not stirred at all. He does not plead for the salvation of others in prayer. His whole prayer life is lukewarm. His heart is scarcely moved when God has to judge the Church or when the name of the Lord is slandered. He hardly perceives it. He does not really care what happens around him.

Indifference is spiritual death. But we seldom recognize this. We go to church or to Christian meetings, we faithfully take our part, but the Lord pronounces His verdict, "You have the name of being alive, and you are dead" (Rev. 3:1).

Love, the sign of spiritual life, the only thing that matters in God's sight, is missing. An indifferent person is usually deaf to Jesus' concerns and requests, because only a loving heart could perceive such concerns. He is not aglow with love, nor on fire for His kingdom, nor does he spend himself in sacrifice for the Lord's work.

If we are indifferent, we are just going along for the ride in Christian groups, and this grieves our Lord very deeply. We can hear Him lamenting over the indifferent, "Would that you were cold or hot!" Jesus laments so deeply, because He cannot find the one thing His heart longs for so much, love, which is warm and aglow, and which cannot do enough for Him, even if it costs a great deal. Yes, love is zealous; it presses forth. Love is full of life; love sacrifices lavishly. Without this love for Jesus we are not true disciples.

But Jesus is not only lamenting about the indifferent and the lukewarm; no, He is also threatening to spew them out of His mouth (Rev. 3:16). A terrible judgment is awaiting the indifferent. Jesus wants to have nothing to do with them. They will be like the five foolish virgins who stood before the closed door and had to hear Jesus say to them. "I do not know you!" For the indifferent, although they have not committed any sinful acts, have sinned against God Himself. They have denied Him their love

We can only serve God with burning love, with complete devotion of time and energy, with willingness to sacrifice and with a fervent heart. Otherwise we would be disgracing Him, the Lord and King of all kings. If we work for someone who is highly respected, we would not dare to be lazy about our work. Therefore, woe unto us, if we try to do this to God. The indifferent will be struck by God's terrible words, "Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord with slackness" (Jer. 48:10).

Is there anyone who wants to be cursed by God when he knows that this can bring him continuous misfortune here on earth and dreadful judgment in eternity when he is cast into Satan's kingdom? And who wants to increase Jesus' sorrow about a world full of rebellion through his indifference? For long ago it was the indifference of His disciples, who did not understand His suffering and react in love--and today it is our indifference which wounds Jesus' heart more than does open opposition.

We must get rid of our indifference. It is such a serious sin in God's eyes. We have to regard it as our worst enemy, which will bring us into destruction, into the kingdom of darkness, full of torment and horror. We have to fight against it. We have to beseech Jesus and call to Him who has abolished death, and believe that He, Life Himself, can and will awaken us to divine life. But at the same time we must commit ourselves to being "shaken up" by God's chastening hand, which will arouse us from our indifference.

Often we can only be aroused from our indifference by thunder and lightning. Then we begin to move; then we begin to come alive. Being "shaken up" by blows of judgment is often the only treatment that works in the fight against indifference. But we have to reach for treatment.

Therefore, the indifferent and lazy person has to affirm wholeheartedly God's thunder and lightning when they strike him. Judgment is the best cure. It will make us wake up from lukewarmness and indifference. When we are judged, we will be frightened by our sin and will learn to weep over it and lament. As pardoned sinners we can do nothing else but love Jesus and spend ourselves for Him.

Sinners who lie prostrate at the cross of Jesus and receive His gifts of divine life and forgiveness, are those who love Jesus and give Him their thanksgiving and commitment.

God's judgment and chastening are the best medicine for our indifference, for they can make us contrite sinners, who cry over their sins. They can make us come alive. Therefore, let us thank Jesus for abolishing death, even the spiritual death of indifference, and for giving us release and life in such ways.

Let us surrender ourselves to Him and His chastening love so that He can save us from the terrible curse that awaits the indifferent. And let us believe Jesus. He sets us free from bondage!

Hosanna!

2007-06-08T02:00:00.000+07:00

Let shouts of gladness rise
Triumphant to the skies.
Now comes the King most glorious
To reign o'er all victorious.
Hosanna, praise, and glory!
Our King, we bow before Thee.

He wears no kingly crown,
Yet as a King is known;
Though not arrayed in splendor,
Hosanna, praise, and glory!
Our King, we bow before Thee.

Thy heart now open wide,
Bid Christ with thee abide.
He graciously will hear thee
And be forever near thee.
Hosanna, praise, and glory!
Our King, we bow before thee.

Christian Article: Evening and Morning

2007-06-08T00:11:00.000+07:00

And there was evening, and there was morning--the first day.
Genesis 1:5 NIV

In the Book of Genesis, each day of creation is concluded with the phrase, "and there was evening and there was morning."

From the Hebrew perspective, the day begins at evening, specifically with the setting of the sun. How unlike our tradition, where we start our days at the crack of dawn and consider night to be the end of a long day.

What does it mean for the day to begin at evening?

For Hebrew people through the centuries, the transition from afternoon to evening has been marked by prayer. "Evening prayer" is a Jewish custom. After prayer, families gather together for a meal.

The most holy day of the week, the Sabbath, begins with the lighting of candles and a proclamation of faith, then a more formal family dinner. After the evening meal, Jewish families traditionally gather together to read God's Word and discuss how His laws apply to their lives. The evening ends in rest.

Consider the priorities evidenced by their way of life:

First, a focus upon prayer and one's relationship with God.

Second, an emphasis on family life.

Third, a daily study of Scripture, making God's Word the last thoughts of the day.

Fourth, rest and sleep.

It was only after a Hebrew talked with God, enjoyed the love and fellowship of family, studied the Scriptures, and rested, that work was undertaken!

What would happen in your life if you adopted this strategy for your evening hours? Is it possible you would find yourself more renewed and refreshed, more energetic and healthy, more creative and productive? Might the priorities you desire in your life become a reality?

Why not give it a try? Begin your next day in the evening, and wake up knowing you've totally refreshed--spirit, soul, and body--to have a full and productive day!

The Power of Prayer (Christian Articles)

2007-06-07T22:53:00.000+07:00

And when he [Jesus] had sent the multitudes away,

he went up into a mountain apart to pray:
and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
Matthew 14:23

Small children are often taught to say their evening prayers by learning a prayer such as "Now I lay me down to sleep." Although teaching children to pray is good, the "roteness" that is often learned can lead to the devaluation of this very precious and important time with the Lord.

Because evening is wind-down time, we may think our prayers lack the power and conviction that is available earlier in the day. However, prayer at anytime of the day can have a powerful effect on our world. For instance:

Queen Mary said she feared the prayers of John Knox more than she feared all the armies of Scotland.

John Wesley's prayers brought revival to England, sparing them the horrors of the French Revolution

Revival spread throughout the American colonies when Jonathan Edwards prayed.

Time after time, history has been shaped by prayer. The Rev. Billy Graham says, "I tell you, history could be altered and changed again if people went to their knees in believing prayer.... Today we have learned to harness the power of the atom, but very few of us have learned how to develop fully the power of prayer. We have not yet learned that a man can be more powerful on his knees than behind the most powerful weapons that can be developed."

Matthew 14:23 tells us Jesus sought to be alone with the Father after what must have been an extremely taxing day for preaching, teaching, and healing the multitudes. Perhaps our prayers are more powerful when weariness causes us to drop the pretenses of "religious" language in favor of direct communication with the God into Whose hands we've placed our lives.

Tonight, speak honestly and openly with the Lord about your concerns, and make your petitions known. Then cast the care of them onto Him and sleep in peace, knowing He is at work on your behalf.

When Day Is Past (Christian Articles)

2007-06-07T22:12:00.000+07:00

By the end of the day, most of us are completely exhausted. Our bodies are tired, our energy is depleted, and our minds are empty. Creative ideas, workable solutions, and wise answers are nowhere to be found. Our emotions are frayed and our ability to communicate and relate to others is almost nonexistent.

In the Midst of your weariness, take time for the Lord. Don't shut Him out, thinking that prayer or devotional time is just "one more thing" and you're just too tired. Embrace your time with Him as a life-giving respite.

"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength
they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and
not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."
Isaiah 40:31

Christian Article: Anger

2007-06-06T17:30:00.000+07:00

Usually we are not at all dismayed--especially if we are choleric by nature--if we should happen to flare up violently when we are irritated or annoyed. For instance, if we are irritated by our disobedient children, we almost think it is natural for us to shout at them. But then we are using false standards, standards that God does not accept.

God's standard is different and it is the only one that is valid.We will be judged according to it. It is the standard that Jesus gives us. In the Sermon on the Mount He speaks about being angry with our brother. He tells us what will happen, if we insult our brother or even say to him, "You fool!" (Matt. 5:22). None of us would think that this is a serious sin.

Yet Jesus pronounces a frightful judgment over such vehement behavior. He includes angry people with murderers, and a terrible punishment will await them. And we know that anger can really kill in a figurative sense. Children, and even adults, who have been victims of a constant barrage of angry remarks often have deep scars in their souls; it is as though something there has been put to death.

God's judgment will come down in a dreadful way upon those who persist in being angry. Jesus said that those who hurl angry insults at their neighbors will find their eternal place in the fire of hell, if they do not repent of their anger (Matt. 5:22)

Jesus tells us clearly and unmistakably: Just as the meek belong to Him, the angry belong to Satan and his kingdom of darkness. Therefore, no matter what the cost, we must be freed from anger, from flaring up and being vehement.

We must not fall into Satan's traps. We know his tricks. He tries to convince us that we have to shout at people every once in a while just as Jesus did when He drove the money-changers out of the temple. But when he tries this trick, we can only say: "Get behind me, Satan, you blasphemer!" Jesus was not a sinner like us, but the Holy One of God, filled with the spirit of love, and He was only acting out of the agony of love when He saw the sacred temple being desecrated by sin. He was angry, because He wanted to save; His anger was a reaction of His love.

On the other hand, we really ought to know what our heart is like. It is a den of robbers. Evil thoughts come out of it (Matt. 15:19). It is like a cup of poison. If we think we are helping others to get straight, by shouting at them angrily, we are handing them a poisonous drink.

Our good intentions are mixed with bitterness and indignation. Can there be anything good or loving behind our angry, vehement words when all this is resting in our hearts? What liars and hypocrites we are, if we pretend that we just want to help the other person get back on the right path by giving him a piece of our mind.

In truth we usually just want to give vent to our annoyance and anger--and because this is Satan's poison, it cannot help others and free them. It will only make them more set in their evil ways.

Satan's poison of anger and flaring up has to be removed from our hearts and lives, if we want to be free from Satan's power and whoever fights a battle of faith in hatred against this sin will be freed from it, for Jesus has come to destroy the works of the devil.

Should He not also conquer this devilish anger in us? Did not God make Moses, who killed the Egyptian in great vehemence, more meek "than all men that were on the face of the earth" (Num 12:3)?

We have to make an "about-face", declare war on our anger and choose the way of Jesus. "To this you have been called...that you should follow in his steps... . When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten" (1 Peter 2:21-23). In our mind let us picture Jesus, who says: "I am gentle" (Mathew 11:29)--Jesus, the Lamp of God, filled with gentleness, patience and meekness--a picture of love that overcomes all!

And to this image He has redeemed us. We should reflect this love, which wins other people, which is the opposite of anger and vehemence. It is gentleness and mildness which has great power and thaws out hard hearts like a spring wind.

This way of meekness leads us to heaven. The meek are called blessed. The way of the angry leads to hell. We can choose. If we want to follow the way of the Lamb, Jesus, "the Captain of our salvation" (Heb. 2:10 A.V.) will proceed us and we will tread in His footsteps. That means in practice: If we are upset and annoyed about something, we should not go to the other person immediately to give vent to our anger. Wait and pray first. Perhaps instead of hitting him with a long tirade, we might just write down a few lines on paper.

We must never let the sun go down upon our anger, but humble ourselves before God and if necessary also before the people against whom we were angry. God will bless such steps taken in obedience and will remoulds us into gentler people.

Should it not be possible for God to make us gentle and meek? Jesus has paid the ransom price and broken the power of Satan and sin so that we no longer have to serve this sin of anger. We have truly been redeemed from the futile ways inherited from our fathers (1 Pet. 1:18). The disposition of our fathers--like vehemence and anger--which we have inherited, can no longer rule over us. This sin has been nailed to His cross and our inheritance is the new disposition, the image of God. In Christ we are a new creation, redeemed to the image of the Lamb, who was meek and humble--this we must claim in faith.

Blessed Is He Who Comes

2007-06-06T10:32:00.000+07:00

Matthew 21:9 NKJV

"Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!"

Praise God! The world of humanity that had been separated from God and unable to approach Him except indirectly through the Jewish sacrifices and ceremonies was now invited to draw near and be reconciled directly to Him through this Baby Who had invaded time and space to be born!...

Real meaning to your life is found in the glorious dawn of God's story, which breaks into full revelation in the Person of Jesus Christ. What an astounding truth! What a life changing message!

Because He emptied Himself of all but love,
you can be filled.

Because His body was broken,
your life can be whole.

Because His blood was shed,
your sin can be forgiven.

Because He submitted to injustice,
you can forgive.

Because He finished His Father's work,
your life has worth.

Because He was forsaken,
you will never be alone.

Because He was buried,
you can be raised.

Because He lives,
you don't have to be afraid.

Because He reached down to you,
you don't have to work your way up to Him.

Because His promises are always true,
you can have hope!

- Anne Graham Lotz -

Ingratitude

2007-06-05T18:21:00.000+07:00

Ingratitude--an ugly trait! Especially when it is directed against someone who has made sacrifices for us and done many good things for us. Our ingratitude can hurt such people deeply. What sorrow there is in Jesus' words when only one of the ten lepers that were healed came back to thank Him. "Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" (Luke 17:18).

But today our ingratitude is even more serious, because we actually do not appreciate the gift that surpasses all understanding--Jesus' forgiveness and His vicarious atonement for us. His sacrifice for us reveals that we as sinners need the redemption of Jesus and that we in no way have deserved love from God

Because everything we receive from God is undeserved, including what He lets other people give us, it should be a matter of course for us to thank Him. But, if we do not give thanks for His grace and undeserved gifts, we are like parasites and we should not be amazed when the wrath of God comes upon us.

Ingratitude is a serious sin. The Holy Scriptures say that it is one of the characteristics of the antichristian spirit of the last times (2 Tim. 3:2). It will be judged severely by God. Therefore, we have to overcome all the ingratitude in our hearts if we are to belong to Jesus in eternity.

We have to see what an ugly trait it is. We must be resolute and not tolerate it any longer, because it hurts the Father's heart so deeply and provokes His wrath against us.

How can we overcome our ingratitude? Here too we must first recognize the root. Just like many other sins, its root lies in pride. The proud taken it for granted that people will give them things. Consciously or unconsciously they think they have a right to receive gifts.

There eyes are blind towards all the good things that the heavenly Father gives them. In their pride they think, even when they are not consciously aware of it, that they have the right to enough, or more than enough, nourishment, clothing and everything else they need for body and soul in this life. But if they do not have sufficient goods of this life, all of a sudden they remember God and accuse Him for not giving them what they need.

Their attitude towards God is like that of a person who has a lawful claim upon someone else. The ungrateful do not see that it is grace, pure grace, when God gives them what they need. So we have to humble ourselves before God and ask Him to forgive us for our pride, which kept us from thanking Him. And we have to ask for a deeper repentance over our proud ingratitude.

Then we have to take the next step by beginning to record all the good things we receive, either every day or every week. That means not only realizing this in our hearts, but bringing the Father a song or prayer of thanksgiving. It also helps when we have a special "thanksgiving booklet" in which we write down everything we receive.

Then at the end of the day, or at the end of the week, either alone or with our family, we can give thanks to God. In this way our hearts practice seeing what good things we have received, from other people as well as God.

Remembering the goodness of God and the kindness of men is the first step to gratitude. Along this road we will come to realize more and more deeply that God is a Father full of love who rejoices in doing us good (Jer. 32:41). Overwhelmed by this love, our hearts will be filled more and more with gratitude and joy. For grateful people also have good reason to rejoice over God's proofs of love, while ungrateful people are dissatisfied and upset.

That is a typical symptom of pride. But the more the Lord shows us our wretchedness and sinfulness the more our hearts will rejoice when the Father in heaven, in spite of all our sins, still gives us good gifts, and people also give us presents.

More and more will we learn to give thanks for even His difficult leadings, because we have come to know that His heart of love is behind them. This heart is revealed to the grateful. "Give thanks in all circumstances", says Scripture, "for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thes. 5:18).

God wants to turn us into grateful people! God calls into existence things--including our gratitude--that do not exist. He will form in us new creations, grateful hearts that will also be humble, joyful and loving. The grateful are always loving. They want to repay those who have done good things for them and made them happy.

What a divine radiance lies upon the grateful; the radiance of the kingdom of heaven, for above we will give thanks to God and adore Him without end for all the good that he has done for us. But we will only be there if we have learned how to give thanks here.

Is there anyone who would like to close the door to heaven for himself by being ungrateful? If not, fight the good fight of faith against the sin of ingratitude, and heaven, where joy and love reign, will be opened for you here on earth.

Greed: Craving

2007-06-05T16:47:00.000+07:00

Whenever we see something that we would like to have for body, soul or spirit, our heart begins to say, "Give me; Give me!" Even the smallest child says that. He stretches out his hand to get it just as Eve, the mother of our race, reached for the forbidden fruit.

The desire to have can either be for "more" or for "much". But it also can be a desire for the "best"; anything less is not good enough. There are many children--and sometimes adults also--whose eyes are bigger than their stomachs.

They heap more upon their plates than they can eat; they always reach for the best piece. This desire for more or for especially good food is often very strong. In time of war and famine we have often seen what a power this is. People lose their dignity and break all ethical rules just to satisfy their desires.

Furthermore, all of us know how much we long for sleep and comfort. The bondage to sleep can be so great that we can sacrifice even things essential for life, even our prayer time, just in order to be able to sleep more.

Our desires are kindled by many things--by modern clothing, more money, more comfort, and conveniences. But in our hearts there is not only greediness for visible goods, but also often for things that satisfy the soul; like attention, respect and love from other people.

Greed is a dangerous sin: it was the beginning of the fall. So greed can once again cost us the loss of "paradise" and the blessing of our birthright as in Esau's case. Therefore, we cannot afford to persist thoughtlessly or indifferently in greed for certain things, in bondage to food and sleep, in greed for "more"--more money, goods, talents or anything else that we desire.

For Holy Scripture says, "Those who desire to be rich fall into a temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and hurtful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction" (1 Tim. 6:9).

This is what greed leads to, not only for this life, but for eternity. The sin of greed not only makes us often sin against others, but it also causes us to lose our connection with God. Anything that we crave for or are attached to--other than God--is an idol. And God will not share His love with any of our idols. And God will not share His love with any of our idols. If we hold on to them, we will lose the love of God. Our joy is God will be taken from us.

Jesus shows us the consequences in the parable of the rich man. After he had satisfied all his desires in his earthly life, his tongue burned in the other world due to unfulfilled desires and he was "in anguish" (Luke 16:24).

Everything depends upon our being set free from greed. Jesus shows us the way by saying "Lose!". "Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" (Matt. 16:25). This slogan "to lose" is a weapon in the fight against desire.

But beware: only if we lose things, goods, large and small, for body, soul and spirit, will we give greed a setback. We must begin to act categorically and turn away from the things we desire most at the moment. In spirit we should offer them up to God, and not spend much time thinking about them.

We must not ask for them, nor help ourselves to them. And by giving them away we will no longer nourish the greed in us and it will starve to death.

For instance, if we are bound to food, we should become accustomed to eating with discipline and to praying while eating, "You have set me free from this bondage". We should look on our palate as our enemy and not let it have any especially tasty thing until it does not matter what we eat.

Then we can enjoy good food with thanksgiving for the gift of God's great goodness--but we can also be satisfied with less at other times.

Similarly, if our bondage is to sleep. When we go to sleep, we should ask the Lord to wake us at the right time, or set our alarm clock so that we will have time for the Lord and prayer at the beginning of the day, or ask others to help us get up early.

We must ask Jesus to be the Lord of our sleep, the Lord of our food, not we ourselves. Our limbs, our tongues, our eyes, our bodies, are to serve righteousness, to be used for His glory and not for unbridled desires, which will enslave us.

That is why the Apostle Paul emphasizes this point in his first letter to Timothy; "There is great gain in godliness with contentment" (1 Tim. 6:6). That means, we should be contented with what we have rather than desire to have more free time and vacation, a higher salary, a better house, better clothing, etc.

We must not strive for perishable things, for they often bring sin and misfortune. We should choose the way of contentedness, even the way for deprivation. For that was Jesus' way. Jesus, who possessed all the wealth in heaven and on earth, deprived Himself of the glory He had with the Father and walked the earth as a poor man.

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich" (2 Cor. 8:9). He is calling us to join Him in being content; then the promise of God's blessing will be upon us.

No man can serve two masters at the same time. No man can strive for earthly and eternal riches at the same time. Whoever seeks earthly things will lose eternal riches. But whoever seeks the Kingdom of God will reach eternal glory above and everything he needs in the way of earthly goods will be given to him by God (Matt. 6:33).

We have to make a decision! Jesus, who went the way of deprivation and losing for our sake, has gained this new way of thinking for us, through His sacrificial death.

Therefore, in faith we must take hold of the victory banner and rely upon His victory: "I have been redeemed in the blood of the Lamb from all greed and craving". Let us allow no day to go by without looking at Jesus and being set on fire to give up something instead of craving for things. Then all our desires will be satisfied in Him.

My Lord Jesus!
You have been deprived of everything for me.
Your joy in being content and satisfied.
Your willingness to give away everything is now mine.
You have paid the price on Calvary.
I am free from the powers of greed.
Your love will only let one desire live in me--
the desire to reach the heavenly,
eternal glory.

Curiosity

2007-06-05T14:56:00.000+07:00

Curiosity is different from being interested in something. Being interested is something good. Curiosity is something bad. Curious people usually look at things that are not meant for them. Typically they read letters and notes on other people's desks, that were not meant for their eyes. Or they listen to something not meant for their ears, but told confidentially to someone else.

Curious people "poke their noses" into everything and make it difficult for others to live with them. They ruin community life, which is based upon trust, because they insist upon knowing everything that is going on. And they constantly seek to find out things about others. If this yearning to know things is so strong in us, there is something sinful behind it.

Curious people should ask themselves what their motives are. For instance, if they are always curious, it may be their desire for attention. Pretending to be important, they pass on their newly-gained information to others when it is not right, they talk about things in the wrong place, and they destroy the relationship of mutual confidence for the sake of being the center of attention. If they are only curious about one person or a few people--if a mother secretly reads her daughter's diary or her children's letters about their friendships--then it probably stems from jealousy or the thirst for power.

They want to pry into the secrets of others. They are hurt if they do not get to know every ting and consequently they ask questions, directly or through others. They want to know everything in order to keep the other person under their control. Certainly justified concern can be one of the motives for such behavior, but discovering things secretly is never the way to form or maintain a relationship of mutual confidence.

Sometimes mistrust is behind curiosity; or the root may be lack of discipline when confronted with sensual attractions. They are so eager to hear something new or something intimate that they overrun all ethical and moral boundaries to satisfy their curiosity.

Due to this lack of discipline curious people are often driven to reading lewd literature or watching bad television programs. If they happen to see something "by chance", they have to keep watching, just because they think they have to know what is being shown. Without their realizing it, poison can flow into their thoughts and hearts.

Because curiosity is a vice, a sin, curious people often find that God punishes them in the act. For instance, they may hear something that provokes their jealousy and then they react meanly. Or they read something that is not meant for them and do not understand the context. So they draw false conclusions, burden others unnecessarily, and spread rumors.

In all this the curious become guilty. They trespass especially against the seventh commandment. For if I have listened to or read things that do not belong to me, I have become a thief; I have stolen intellectual material, which is often much more important than material possessions.

If these possessions are gained dishonestly, this can hurt others more than anything else. If someone is harmed by the curiosity of another, he sometimes finds that what he had guarded as his property is now trampled under foot by others. Curious people, therefore, are thieves, who harm others in very delicate matters, by robbing them of the possessions of their spirit and soul.

This sin is therefore against the seventh commandment. Just like every other sin against our neighbor, it will bring us God's judgment, if we persist in it. Sin always provokes God's anger, especially when it appears in Christians who know about Jesus' sacrificial death and His redemption and still dare to live in their old sins without fighting against them.

If we confront this truth soberly, we will realize that we cannot continue to live with this sin. We have to begin a real battle of faith. So when we are tempted to read shameful literature or do similar things out of curiosity, we must realize that this mania can very quickly lead us into "enemy's territory especially in our days. Then we would be like a child who goes into a forest without protection in order to see what's there and is then attacked by wild beasts.

Furthermore we must realize that it is Satan who incites us to discover new things and to know and hear what we actually should not. If we give in to our curiosity, we have fallen into his trap and he laughs at us scornfully, because he succeeded in making us sin and become guilty towards others. We must confront curiosity as a sin and not tolerate it any more in our lives.

We have to be consistent in avoiding certain places, certain books and other things that our curiosity wants to drive us to. Furthermore, if we looked at or listened to something that was not meant for us, it would be advantageous for us to confess it immediately. That will make us humble and prevent us from trying to satisfy our curiosity so quickly again, because we try to avoid humiliations.

Jesus has come to redeem us from all sin, even from the sin of curiosity. Whoever calls upon Him will be saved. So we must do that and honor Jesus by not persisting in a single sin, not even in this sin which seems so small to us, because if we do, we will be disgracing Jesus, who died to free us from our sins.

Criticizing: Judging

2007-06-05T13:04:00.000+07:00

Included in the sins of pride, which God treats especially severely, are the sins of criticizing and judging. "God opposes the proud" (1 Pet. 5:5). Even if a person believes in Jesus, if at the same time, he persists in judging others God is not for him.

Then God has to be against him. But it would be terrible to have God as our opponent, to be under His wrath, which will have its full effect in the other world. That is why Jesus warns us so sharply: "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged" (Matt. 7:1,2).

Judging others will bring the wrath of God down upon us. He will be against us, because this sin is especially satanic. Judging others and accusing them is what Satan does. He is the accuser. Judging is one of the manifestations of our pride, manipulated by Satan.

In great presumptuousness we sit in judgment on everything that we see or hear about others, usually without knowing the background and the motives of their behavior or mistakes. Judging is satanic poison in our hearts, which can bring us terrible judgment, if we persist in it.

Jesus tells us this clearly by addressing those who judge with the words; "You hypocrites!" (Matt. 7:5). Jesus threatens the hypocrites, saying they will not enter His kingdom, but the kingdom of hell; they will go to the "father of lies". So the spirit of criticism, nourished by the accuser, is our greatest enemy.

We have to hate it from the bottom of our hearts and not tolerate it in the slightest, unless we want to find ourselves in the kingdom of the accuser instead of with Jesus.

How can we attack this enemy? First, recognize the fact that we are full of criticism and stop trying to explain it away. We should no longer make excuses for ourselves by saying, "I have to tell others what they are doing wrong to prevent them from making a mess of things."

In reality, however, we enjoy correcting others and reproaching them. Often the real source of our criticism is rebellion or annoyance, because someone did something against our wishes.

Therefore, we criticize him and accuse him. So in the light of God we have to ascertain that it is presumptuous to accuse others, to reproach them and especially to pronounce our verdicts in front of someone else. Then we will become guilty towards our neighbor, by getting others to be against him, and this could seriously harm him.

When we search our consciences in our quiet time, we should ask ourselves: Where have I brought guilt upon myself by judging others and reproaching them? What has my spirit of criticism brought about? Perhaps it has even ruined people's lives.

Have I harmed the souls of people at home or at work by reproaching them again and again and continually accusing them? If we--perhaps as a parent or educator--have filled our hearts with this satanic poison and sprayed it out at others, we have to admit that we are subject to God's condemnation, that we were Satan's servants.

What a terrible harvest we will reap! Our criticism will rob us of the most precious gift that Jesus has given us: forgiveness and the blotting out of our sins. Criticism provokes the wrath of God, who has forgiven us, as the parable of the unmerciful servant tells us.

Although He had forgiven this servant, He delivers him to the jailers, because this servant would not forgive his fellow-servant (Matt. 18:32-34).

So it means that we have to make every effort to get free from this spirit of criticism and whole-heartedly repent. Here we must act according to Jesus' words, "If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out!" (Mark 9:47). That means waging an intensive battle against the satanic sin of judging others. Jesus clearly shows us the way and we have to follow it.

Otherwise there will be no release. "First take the log out of your own eye!" (Matt. 7:5). Jesus is exhorting us: Stop giving your opinions about others and accusing them, before you become quiet in the presence of God and ask Him whether you are guilty of the same sin. Our sin of criticism usually begins when we neglect to do this.

We do not follow Jesus' words; we criticize immediately without first becoming silent in the presence of God and humbling ourselves under our sin which is even greater. When we come into the light of God, we will usually find out that we have the same faults, perhaps even more dominantly and many other undesirable traits in addition.

Then we will see that our guilt is like a log in contrast to our brother's splinter. We will be ashamed of our own sin and lose our presumptuous and indignant desire to criticize others.

Then we will be struck by what the Apostle Paul writes, "Therefore you have no excuse, O man, whoever you are, when you judge another; for in passing judgment upon him you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things." (Rom. 2:1).

And further: "Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God"--and be judged for this sin (Rom. 14:10).

So today we must choose a new way, a new place. Instead of sitting on the judgment throne above the others we must sit where we deserve to sit: in the defendant's box, where we can be judged and hear God's judgment on our sins.

When we are willing to do this, God will no longer be against us and we will no longer be in the hand of the accuser. On the contrary, we will belong to our Lord Jesus, who had to let Himself be accused in five trials. He did this, although He was innocent.

Shouldn't we, who are guilty, be able to take this place? If we earnestly begin to judge ourselves, we will ask people at home and at work to tell us the straight truth about ourselves. Humbled beneath this, we will be able to accept the reproaches of others, even when they are unjust.

Then our lips and hearts will be silent and we will not be able to criticize others so quickly and judge them so harshly.

Jesus went the way of humble love. He humbled Himself in the dust and let Himself be judged. Now He has redeemed the members of His body to live this love, which covers up others' mistakes instead of criticizing, which forgives and tolerates instead of making reproaches, which bestows kindness instead of criticism.

This does not mean tolerating sin. But if we should ever have to pronounce judgment, we will do it quite clearly but with a humble and loving heart.

But whoever wages a war of life and death against this spirit of criticism will find that nothing sits so deeply in our Adam's nature as the spirit of criticism. It will not disappear overnight by making one commitment, "I want to let myself be judged and place my mouth in the dust." No, our blood is infected with it.

There is only one Person who is stronger than our old Adam. It is Jesus Christ. His blood has greater power than the blood that we have inherited from our fathers. This blood of Jesus has complete power to free us, if we call upon it ever anew; in it there is really power to cleanse us from our sins, from the great sin of judging others, from hypocrisy, which makes us guilty and brings us into Satan's hands.

In faith we must appropriate the redeeming power of this blood. This will only happen in an intensive fight against this sin, in a daily battle of faith and prayer. This includes speaking the "nevertheless" of faith in spite of the defeats we experience: "I am redeemed to love and to forgive!"

Whoever is willing to endure in this battle in spite of his short-comings, believing in Jesus' redemption, will be freed from his great sin of judging others.

Envy

2007-06-05T11:46:00.000+07:00

Envy is a poisonous root in our soul that can kill others. Jesus Himself was delivered up to this murderous power, for it is written: Pilate "knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up" (Matt. 27:18).

Envious people cannot bear to see their neighbors--especially their equals or those they live with--get something more or better than themselves. That is especially true in the areas that interest us most, for instance, intellectual endowments, physical beauty and strength, or recognition and popularity, material advantages and various blessings at home or at work.

For instance, it hurts the envious mother when she sees that her neighbor's child is more popular than her own, or if he has a happy marriage when her child does not. How often do we look askance, just because the other is getting along all right!

Is such situations, when God has given someone else something that He has denied us, we seldom stop at just having hurt feelings. This poison oozes out of our hearts in word and deed. In the more harmless cases we are unfriendly to others; we repel them; we quarrel with them and make life difficult for them.

But often--just as the Pharisees took revenge on Jesus--we take revenge on others, because they have taken honor, recognition and popularity away from us through their own popularity. We try to humiliate them somehow, to take them down a peg or two in the sight of others, or to put them out of the limelight as best we can.

Sometimes we are unconscious of this, because we pretend that we have impartial reasons for fighting against them. And if we become conscious of our envy, perhaps we try to make it seem harmless or we even feel sorry for ourselves, because God has not given us something that He has given to others. If we do so, we are justifying our envy.

In our blindness we do not see that when we are filled with envy we will come under God's serious judgment. For envy is one of the sins that can exclude us from the Kingdom of God according to the Holy Scriptures (Gal. 5:20 f.).

For the envious this means a devastating fate in the future. They will be denied entrance into the kingdom of Jesus Christ, even if they are Christians. In the face of eternity we cannot tolerate envy at any price.

This poisonous, sinful root has to be eradicated if we wish to be with Jesus for ever. Because the Word of God speaks so clearly about envy, we have to take the Apostle Peter's admonition seriously: "So put away all malice and envy" (1 Pet. 2:1).

Now it is a matter of making every effort to get rid of this sin. But how? First we have to pay homage to the truth and admit that we are envious because another has something we do not have. We have to record such feelings and thoughts soberly as sins.

The judgment of God is upon them. Then we will be frightened and abhor this sin and will let ourselves be shown the roots of envy. The main roots are usually in our selfishness or in our cravings, whether they be for physical or spiritual goods.

Therefore, we must ask ourselves, "Are we willing to surrender our selfishness and our claims on possessions and talents to Jesus and to be poor with Him in the way of material goods, abilities, love and respect? Are we willing to believe that God will always endow the poor and that they are the ones who are really rich?"

The second root of envy is mistrust against God. It is comparing ourselves with others, as though the Father in heaven had been unjust when He distributed His gifts and burdens. Therefore, it is a matter of renouncing our rebellious, mistrustful thoughts.

Instead we must trust that God, because He is Love, always gives us what is best for us. He always leads us the best way. If He had a better way for us, He would have chosen it.

No matter how He leads us, whether He gives us something or not. It is always best for us, because it comes from the hands of the Father who loves us. We must believe that firmly.

Besides, we can never judge the pleasures and burdens of others, because we cannot see the background! Perhaps we envy someone for something that is merely a difficult task for them.

The third root of envy is ingratitude. Therefore we must begin to give thanks for everything that we have received, and then there will be no more room for envy. If we give thanks to God for the gifts that others receive, the poison of envy must yield.

No matter what it cost, Jesus wants to free us from envy. If we will take the first step as a sign of our willingness and surrender our envious desires to Him. He has come to burst our chains. His blood is sufficient to heal this sinful ailment.

He wants to transform us until we can remain at peace in situations where, formerly, our envy would have torn us to pieces. Yes, until we can even rejoice when others have more talents than we do.

When we are redeemed from this tormenting envy, we will become happy and able to taste His kingdom of peace and joy here, and one day we will dwell there eternally. Therefore, "fight the good fight of faith!" It is worth it!

Success Dreamers

2007-06-05T11:15:00.000+07:00

Failure is really a matter of conceit.

People don't work hard because,

in their conceit, they imagine they'll succeed

without ever making an effort.

Most people believe that they'll

wake up some day and find themselves rich.

Actually, they've got it half right,

because eventually they do wake up.

- Thomas Edison -

There is no defeat

2007-06-05T10:57:00.000+07:00

There is no defeat

except in no longer trying. There is no

defeat save within,

no really insurmountable barrier,

save our own inherent weakness

of purpose.

- Elbert Hubbard -

Where Do You Live?

2007-06-05T10:52:00.000+07:00

Young people live in the future.

Old people live in the past.

Wise people live in the present.

Wanted!

2007-06-05T10:43:00.000+07:00

More to improve and fewer to disapprove.

More doers and fewer talkers.

More to say it can be done.
and fewer to say it's impossible.

More to inspire others
and fewer to throw cold water on them.

More to get into the thick of things
and fewer to sit on the sidelines.

More to point out what's right
and fewer to show what's wrong.

More to light a candle
and fewer to curse the darkness.

A Key to Success

2007-06-05T10:36:00.000+07:00

You will be as

Small as your controlling desire

as great as your dominant

aspiration

- James Allen -

Your King Comes

2007-06-04T23:49:00.000+07:00

Matthew 21:5 NKJV

"Tell the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your King is coming to you,
lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.'"

Christ's public Entry into Jerusalem seems so altogether different from--we had almost said, inconsistent with--His previous mode of appearance. Evidently, the time for the silence so long enjoined had passed, and that for public declaration had come. And such, indeed, this Entry was. From the moment of His sending forth the two disciples to His acceptance of the homage of the multitude, and His rebuke of the Pharisee's attempt to arrest it, all must be regarded as designed or approved by Him: not only a public assertion of His Messiahship, but a claim to its national acknowledgment. And yet, even so, it was not to be the Messiah of Israel's conception, but He of prophetic picture: "just and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass." ... There can, at least, be no question that this prophecy was intended to introduce, in contrast to earthly warfare and kingly triumph, another Kingdom, of which the just King would be the Prince of Peace, Who was meek and lowly in His Advent, Who would speak peace to the heathen, and Whose sway would yet extend to earth's utmost bounds.

Alfred Edersheim

The Form of a Servant

2007-06-04T00:42:00.000+07:00

Philippians 2:6-8 NIV

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with
God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking
the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself
and became obedient to death-even death on a cross!

What does the Church think of Christ?

The Church's answer is categorical and uncompromising, and it is this: That Jesus Bar-Joseph, the carpenter of Nazareth, was in fact and in truth, and in the most exact and literal sense of the words, the God "by whom all things were made."...

Now, this is not just a pious commonplace; it is not a commonplace at all. For what it means is this, among other things: that for whatever reason God chose to make man as he is--limited and suffering and subject to sorrows and death--he [God] had the honesty and the courage to take his own medicine. Whatever game he is playing with his creation, he has kept his own rules and played fair. He can exact nothing from man that he has not exacted from himself.

He has himself gone through the whole of human experience, from the trivial irritations of family life and the cramping restrictions of hard work and lack of money to the worst horrors of pain and humiliation, defeat, despair, and death. When he was a man, he played the man. He was born in poverty and died in disgrace and thought it well worthwhile.

Dorothy Sayers

The Word Made Flesh

2007-06-03T21:55:00.000+07:00

John 1:14 KJV

And the Word was made fresh, and dwelt among us,
(and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only
begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth.

"The Word was made fresh" so that the wisdom of God could come within the reach of human beings. For his Word--the expression of the whole truth about God--is far beyond our comprehension. No creature can ever fully understand his creator. But the Word, the Son of God, put on a humble, human form, so that infinite truth could be seen in finite terms.

He humbled himself, coming down to the lowest human level. Those who will join him there--denying themselves, taking the low place--will be raised up with him to the heights of heaven.

It is not easy for man to stoop so low, or to abandon his self-confidence. But when he sees the divine Son lying, as it were, at his feet, wrapped in the clothes of human poverty, then his heart may be moved and his pride cured. And when we grow weary of trying to prove ourselves, we may be ready to cast ourselves upon him.

When we do, he who came down to where we are raises us to where he is.

Augustine

Life in Him

2007-06-03T21:36:00.000+07:00

John 1:1, 4 NLT

In the beginning the Word already existed....
Life itself was in him, and his life gives light to everyone.

The Word was with God in the beginning, and the Man was subject to the pain of death. The human nature wasn't eternal, and the divine nature wasn't mortal. All His other attributes are considered in the same way....It wasn't the human nature that fed the thousands, nor was it all powerful strength that hurried to the fig tree. Who was weary from the journey and who made the world exist by His word? What is the brightness of the glory and what was pierced with the nails? What body was beaten during Passion Week, and what body is externally glorified? This much is clear: that the blows belong to the servant who was the Lord, and honor belongs to the Lord who was a servant. As a result, Christ's natures are unified and their respective attributes belong to both natures. Just as the Lord received the scars of the servant, the servant is glorified with the honor of the Lord. For this is why the cross is called the cross of the Lord of glory, and why every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Gregory of Nyssa

For Us

2007-06-03T21:25:00.000+07:00

John 3:16 KJV

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have everlasting life.

Thus dear did God hold the world. How dear? That He gave His only-begotten Son for every one in the world who will trust in Him. And how did He give? He gave Him, in His birth as man, in order to be for ever one with us. He gave Him, in His death on the cross as Surety, in order to take our sin and curse upon Himself. He gave Him on the throne of heaven, in order to arrange for our welfare, as our Representative and Intercessor over all the powers of heaven. He gave Him in the outpouring of the Spirit, in order to dwell in us, to be entirely and altogether our own....Yes; that is the love of God, that He gave His Son to us, for us, in us.

Nothing less than His Son Himself. This is the love of God; not that He gives us something, but that He gives us some one--a living person--not one or another blessing, but Him in whom is all life and blessing--Jesus Himself.

Andrew Murray

Two Obstacles to Prayer

2007-06-03T21:13:00.000+07:00

John 16:24 NKJV

"Until now you have asked nothing in My name.
Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full."

There are two major obstacles to prayer. The first obstacle arises when the devil prompts you to think, "I am not yet prepared to pray. I should wait for another half-hour or another day until I have become more prepared or until I have finished taking care of this or that." Meanwhile, the devil distracts you for half an hour, so that you no longer think about prayer for the rest of the day. From one day to the next, you are hindered and rushed with other business. This common obstacle shows us how maliciously the devil tries to trick us...

The second obstacle arises when we ask ourselves, "How can you pray to God and say the Lord's Prayer? You are too unworthy and sin every day. Wait until you are more devout. You might be in the mood to pray now, but wait until you have confessed your sin taken the Lord's Supper so that you can pray more fervently and approach God with confidence. Only then can you really pray the Lord's Prayer from your heart." This serious obstacle crushes us like a heavy stone. Despite our feelings of unworthiness, our hearts must struggle to remove this obstacle so that we can freely approach God and call upon him.

Martin Luther

Did Luke Marry Lydia?

2007-06-03T02:04:00.000+07:00

Two of the major characters in this missionary episode in Philippi are Luke and Lydia. Luke, was a physician and, like many physicians, was in all probability cultured, well educated, widely traveled and wealthy. Lydia is described as a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira (V. 14), which casts her in the role of an international merchant. David W. J. Gill, a New Testament scholar, draws from several sources to suggest that Lydia was "of some standing" socially, a member of the "social elite," a seller of "luxury items or exotic merchandise, such as purple dye or perfumes" and wealthy. In other words, like Luke, Lydia was cultured, well educated, widely traveled and wealthy. They were both Gentiles. Could it be that they were both single? According to Bradley Blue, the fact that Lydia was the owner of her own large home makes it quite likely, although not certain, that she was single.

Here is where the human interest comes in. After many exciting events in Philippi, the last place we find the missionaries, Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke, is in the house of Lydia where they had been lodged. But when they leave Philippi, the "we" suddenly changes to "they"! Luke obviously stayed behind. Did he stay lodged in Lydia's house? Could they have decided to marry each other and help form the nucleus of that wonderful church in Philippi that later sent substantial financial gifts to Paul and his missionary team? When Paul later wrote a letter to the church at Philippi and mentioned his "true companion" (Phil. 4:3), could that be a reference to Luke? Several commentators, F. F. Bruce among them, think it might well have been Luke.

Just a hypothesis!

The Way We Express Our Faith Is Changing

2007-06-03T00:08:00.000+07:00

People are spending more time involved in religious activities, and spending more money on religious products and services, than at any time in the past fifty years. However, there are a number of trends in the way people practice their faith that must be considered before we can accurately assess the overall health of the Church today.

Church attendance. Overall attendance at Christian churches has slumped somewhat; people are going less regularly, and are becoming more selective. Worship remains an art that most people have tried--and tens of millions continue to invest in each week. However, nearly one-fifth of all churchgoers now attend more than one church, usually on a rotating basis, in order to meet their spiritual needs and satisfy their theological curiosity.

Small groups (cell groups) never really seem to have caught on; fewer than one out of every five adults is presently active in one. Sunday school remains an activity reserved primarily for the children of churched people.

Personal Scripture study. Fewer people are reading the Bible these days (one-third do so in a typical week), largely because we are less inclined to read and fewer people believe that Bible is an accurate representation of truth.

Church commitments. While people are deeply interested in faith and seeking a more intense connection to God, they are apparently too busy to devote much time to their search for meaning.

Twenty years ago, those most committed to their churches averaged four blocks of time during the week to corporate religious activities; today, the most committed church people allocate two blocks per week. With one of those blocks typically being the Sunday morning worship service, that leaves only one other segment of their weekly calendar open to church-related activities.

Community building. Because of this decline in weekly interaction, building a sense of community within a church has become one of its greatest challenges. People are anxious to make and maintain friendships, and the church has emerged as one of the few places left where they can do so. However, the potential for developing a network of church-based relationships is undermined by the lack of time people devote to church activities, their poor relational skills, and their disinterest in establishing a deeper commitment to the churches they attend.

A Survey of the Old Testament (Book Reviews)

2007-06-02T23:46:00.000+07:00

By Andrew E. Hill & John H. Walton

A Survey of the Old Testament goes far beyond simply rephrasing biblical material to provide balanced insights on the literary, historical, and theological issues of each Old Testament book and of the Old Testament as a whole.

This revised edition makes the exceptional scope of the first edition more accessible to contemporary readers. A redesigned interior complete with new visuals--maps, photos, time lines, and charts--makes this book more attractive and useful than ever.

Treating the books of the Old Testament in the order of the English canon, A Survey of the Old Testament explores the purpose and message of each book and shows how its literary structure has been applied to accomplish the intention of its inspired author. The book also introduces the reader to issues such as Israelite and Near Eastern history, archaeology, the formation of the canon, and geography.

Written by two widely respected scholars and educators, A Survey of the Old Testament is designed to help students develop a broad grasp of the Old Testament.

The Authors:

Andrew E. Hill (Ph. D., University of Michigan) is professor of Old Testament studies at Wheaton College, Illinois. He is a contributor to The Evangelical Commentary on the Bible, and his articles have appeared in such scholarly publications as the Hebrew Annual Review, Journal of Biblical Literature, and Vetus Testamentum.
John H. Walton (Ph. D., Hebrew Union College) teaches Old Testament at Wheaton Graduate School, Wheaton, Illinois. The author of several books, including Chronological and Background Charts of the Old Testament, he contributes frequently to scholarly journals such as Vetus Testamentum and Biblical Archaeologist.

ISBN 0-310-22903-0

2 Corinthians 5:1-10

2007-06-02T22:51:00.000+07:00

Scripture for today

Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling,

because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Tough Choices

2007-06-02T21:57:00.000+07:00

When times are difficult we can trust the Lord.

The sky metamorphosed slowly from gray to pink. The three women, wearing heavy veils that announced their widowhood, trudged along without speaking.

Ruth sighed. She and her sister-in-law, Orpah, had started out the journey from Moab to Bethlehem trying to act cheerful and enthusiastic. They had sung songs until they couldn't think of any more. Then they sang all the old ones again until they were sick of them. Then they told all the jokes they could remember. Eventually they fell silent and just walked. Ruth felt as though they had plodded forward for a very long time. But they still had a long way to go, and this was only the second day of their trek.

Ruth's calf muscles ached. The pack on her back rubbed sores created the day before, and the weariness sitting on her shoulders lingered from a sleepless night. She had known many such wakeful nights since her husband had died.

Even now her mind turned to thoughts of Mahlon, with his large brown eyes, slow smile, and slender fingers. He'd had a tender spirit that she depended on. But his gentleness hadn't saved him from the fever that quickly wasted his body and stole his life--the same fever that took his brother's life. She pushed the images of Mahlon's hot face and fiery eyes out of her mind. She didn't want to remember that part. She would remember him before the illness. Before widowhood.

"Widow," Ruth softly uttered the word, still trying to assimilate it as her new designation. It was a willowy word without substance that swayed with each breeze of adversity. Much like she felt without Mahlon.

She glanced over to Orpah. Pretty Orpah, of the dancing eyes and feet, was lost in her own thoughts. She didn't seem as pretty now--now that the music had left her life.

They felt sad and lost, both of them. But no more so than Ruth's widowed mother-in-law, Naomi, who trudged on slightly ahead of the young women. Maybe she was eager to be home in Bethlehem, out of Moab. Or maby she was pushed forward by a sorrow that propelled her like a prod in the back. Naomi had always stood rod straight, back unbent, but now she walked with stooped shoulders, worn down by the burden of so many losses. Her spirit seemed almost broken.

The two young women were moving to a new town because of Naomi. That she might find consolation with her old neighbors. That she might sit around the evening fire with friends who remembered more joyful times--before the famine caused Naomi's family to move, before her husband had died, before she had lost her sons, before ten hard years had passed. Maybe the light in Naomi's eyes, her lively spirit, and her lovely smile would return. And maybe she would find her God again, the God whom she seemed to have lost. The God she had believed in wholeheartedly when Ruth first met her.

For Naomi, Ruth had packed her few belongings and set her mind to move to Bethlehem, to give up her gods, to become the foreigner--and to be seen as a heathen one at that.

For Naomi you will do this, Ruth told herself, shooing away a fly. The sun began gathering its heat and directing it onto the widows who had so far to walk. So she can find life and her God again, you will do this...

A Million Miles Away

2007-06-01T23:27:00.000+07:00

God is real, no matter how you feel.
It is easy to worship God when things are going great in your life--when he has provided food, friends, family, health, and happy situations. But circumstances are not always pleasant. How do you worship God then? What do you do when God seems a million miles away?

The deepest level of worship is praising God in spite of pain, thanking God during a trial, trusting him when tempted, surrendering while suffering, and loving him when he seems distant.

Friendships are often tested by separation and silence; you are divided by physical distance or you are unable to talk. I your friendship with God, you won't always feel close to him. Philip Yancey has wisely noted, "Any relationship involves times of closeness and times of distance, and in a relationship with God, no matter how intimate, the pendulum will swing from one side to the other." That's when worship gets difficult.

To mature you friendship, God will test it with periods of seeming separation--times when it feels as if he has abandoned or forgotten you. God feels a million miles away. St. John of the Cross referred to these days of spiritual dryness, doubt, and estrangement from God as "the dark night of the soul." Henri Nouwen called them "the ministry of absence." A. W. Tozer called them "the ministry of the night." Others refer to "the winter of the heart."

Besides Jesus, David probably had the closest friendship with God of anyone. God took pleasure in calling him "a man after my own heart." Yet David frequently complained of God's apparent absence

Of course, God hadn't really left David, and he doesn't leave you. He has promised repeatedly, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." But God has not promised "you will always feel my presence." In fact, God admits that sometimes he hides his face from us. There are times when he appears to be missing-in-action, in your life.

When God seems distant, you may feel that he is angry with you or is disciplining you for some sin. In fact, sin does disconnect us from intimate fellowship with God. We grieve God's spirit and quench our fellowship with him by disobedience, conflict with others, busyness, friendship with the world, and other sins.

But often this feeling of abandonment or estrangement from God has nothing to do with sin. It is a test of faith--one we all must face: With you continue to love, trust, obey, and worship God, even when you have no sense of his presence of visible evidence of his work in your life?

The most common mistake Christians make in worship today is seeking an experience rather than seeking God. They look for a feeling, and if it happens, they conclude that they have worshiped. Wrong! In fact, God often removes our feelings so we won't depend on them. Seeking a feeling, even the feeling of closeness to Christ, is not worship.

When you are a baby Christian, God gives you a lot of confirming emotions and often answers the most immature, self-centered prayers--so you'll know he exists. But as you grow in faith, he will wean you of these dependencies.

God's omnipresence and the manifestation of his presence are two different things. One is a fact; the other is often a feeling. God is always present, even when you are unaware of him, and his presence is too profound to be measured by mere emotion. He wants you to sense his presence, but he's more concerned that you trust him than that you feel him. Faith, not feelings, pleases God.

Seven Steps To Success

2007-06-01T17:25:00.000+07:00

By John C. Maxwell
Spring 2000

1. Make a commitment to grow daily. One of the greatest mistakes people make is that they have the wrong focus. Success doesn't come from acquiring, achieving, or advancing. It comes only as the result of growing. If you make it your goal to grow a little every day, it won't be long before you begin to see positive results in your life. As the poet Robert Browning said. "Why stay on earth except to grow?"

2. Value the process more than events. Specific life events are good for making decisions, but it's the process of change and growth that has lasting value. If you want to go to the next level, strive for continual improvement.

3. Don't wait for inspiration. Basketball great Jerry West said, "You can't get much done in life if you only work on the days when you feel good." The people who go far do so because they motivate themselves and give life their best, regardless of how they feel. To be successful, persevere.

4. Be willing to sacrifice pleasure for opportunity. One of the greatest lessons my father taught me was the principle of pay now; play later. for everything in life, you pay a price. You choose whether you will pay it on the front end or the back end. If you pay first, then you will enjoy greater rewards in the end--and those rewards taste sweeter.

5. Dream big. It doesn't pay to dream small. Robert J. Kriegel and Louis Patler, authors of If it Ain't Broke, Break It, assert, "We don't have a clue as to what people's limits are. All the tests, stopwatches, and finish lines in the world can't measure human potential. When someone is pursuing their dream, they'll go far beyond what seems to be their limitations. The potential that exists within us is limitless and largely untapped. When you think of limits, you create them."

6. Plan your priorities. One thing that all successful people have in common is that they have mastered the ability to manage their time. First and foremost, they have organized themselves. Henry Kaiser, founder of Kaiser Aluminum and Kaiser Permanente Health Care, says, "Every minute spent in planning will save you two in execution." You never regain lost time, so make the most of every moment.

7. Give up to go up. Nothing of value comes without sacrifice. Life is filled with critical moments when you will have the opportunity to trade one thing you value for another. Keep you eyes open for such moments -- and always be sure to trade up, not down.

Witnessing Without Fear (Book Reviews)

2007-06-01T11:51:00.000+07:00

By Bill Bright

How to share your faith with confidence
Foreward by Billy Graham

What Leaders are saying about this book

"This is a book I wish Bill Bright had written years ago, for if every church and every Christian individual were to put these proven methods to work on a daily basis, it could change the entire approach to world evangelization."

Billy Graham
Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

"I can think of no one better equipped and experienced--and burdened--to address this vital theme than my friend, Dr. Bill Bright. This is the most practical book on personal evangelism I have seen."

Ted Engstrom
President, World Vision

"So many are paralyzed by fear when it comes to confidently sharing their faith in Christ. Bill Bright cracks those barriers of fear with helpful advice and guidelines. Witnessing Without Fear is a valuable training tool for anyone who wants to effectively share Christ with others."

Joni Eareckson Tada
Joni and Friends

"The witnessing methods explained in this book are what a man used to introduce me to Christ in Washington, D.C. Since then, I have successfully applied these principles in my own witnessing opportunities. I can't speak highly enough of Bill Bright and the training he has provided the Christian world through this book."

Senator Bill Armstrong
U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C.

"Without realizing it, Christians often make their gospel presentations so cumbersome and boring that the message falls by the wayside. I heartily recommend Witnessing Without Fear as an effective back-to-the-basics approach that yields positive results."

Pat Robertson
Chairman, CBN

The Author:

Bill Bright, a businessman and former agnostic, founded Campus Crusade for Christ International in 1951 after three years of seminary study. Through front-lines experience, he gradually developed a method of witnessing that Christians from all walks of life have since used to successfully introduce men and women of Christ. Campus Crusade now had several thousand full-time and associate staff ministering in more than 150 countries.

ISBN 0-89840-176-3

Reward

2007-06-01T10:48:00.000+07:00

The reward for work

well done is the opportunity to do more.

- Jonas Salk -

To Serve

2007-06-01T10:39:00.000+07:00

Everybody can be great...

because anybody can serve. You don't have to

have a college degree to serve.

You don't have to make your subject and verb

agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace.

A soul generated by love.

- Martin Luther King Jr. -

They called it luck

2007-06-01T10:34:00.000+07:00

He worked by day
and toiled by night.

He gave up play
and much delight.

Dry books he read,
new things to learn.

And forged ahead,
success to earn.

He plodded on,
with faith and pluck.

And when he won,
they called it luck.

- Author Unknown -

Proverbs

2007-05-30T00:12:00.000+07:00

Wisdom in Proverbs

The book of Proverbs is the primary locus of prudential wisdom--that is, rules and regulations people can use to help themselves make responsible, successful choices in life. In contrast to Ecclesiastes, which uses a speculative cynicism as its wisdom foil, and Job, which uses speculative wisdom about the unfairness of life in this world, proverbial wisdom concentrates mostly on practical attitudes. As a generalization, it is useful to note that Proverbs teaches what might be called "old fashioned basic values." No parent wants his or her child to grow up unhappy, disappointed, lonely, socially rejected, in trouble with the law, immoral, inept, or broke. It is neither selfish nor unrealistic for a parent to wish a child a reasonable level of success in life--including social acceptance, freedom from want, and moral uprightness. Proverbs provides a collection of pithy advisory statements designed to do just that. There is no guarantee, of course, that a life will always go well for a young person. What proverbs does say is that, all things being equal, there are basic attitudes and patterns of behavior that will help a person grow into responsible adulthood.

Proverbs continually presents a sharp contrast between choosing the life of wisdom and choosing the life of folly. What characterizes the life of folly? Folly is characterized by such things as violent crime (Proverbs 1:10-19; 4:14-19), careless promising or pledging (Proverbs 6:1-5), laziness (6:7-11), malicious dishonesty (6:12-15), and sexual impurity, which is especially odious to God and harmful to an upright life (2:16-19; 5:3-20; 6:23-35; 7:4-27;9:13-18; 23:26-28). In addition, Proverbs urges such things as caring for the poor (2:22, 27), respect for governmental leaders (23: 1-3; 24: 21-22), the importance of disciplining children (23:19-21, 29-35), and regard for one's parents (23:22-25)

Specifically religious language is seldom used in Proverbs; it is present (cf. 1:7; 3:5-12; 15:3, 8-9, 11; 16:1-9; 22:9, 23; 24:18, 21; et al.) but it does not predominate. Not everything in life has to be strictly religious to be godly. Indeed, Proverbs can help serve as a corrective to the extremist tendency to spiritualize everything, as if there were something wrong with the basic material, physical world; as if God had said, "It is bad" rather than "It is good" when he first looked on what he had made.

Uses and Abuses of Proverbs

A good thing to remember about the Proverbs is that in Hebrew they are called meshallim ("figures of speech," "parables" or "specially contrived sayings"). A proverb is a brief, particular expression of a truth. The briefer a statement is, the less likely it is to be totally precise and universally applicable. We know that long, highly qualified, elaborate, detailed statements of fact are not only often difficult to understand but virtually impossible for most people to memorize. So the proverbs are phrased in a catchy way, so as to be learn able by anyone. Indeed, in Hebrew many of the proverbs have some sort of rhythm, sound repetition, or vocabulary qualities that make them particularly easy to learn. Consider the English proverbs "Look before you leap" and "A stitch in time saves nine." The repetition of single-syllable words beginning with the letter l in the first case, and the rhythm and rhyme of single-syllable words in the second case are the elements that give these proverbs a certain catchiness. They are not as easy to forget as would be the following statements: "In advance of committing yourself to a course of action, consider your circumstances and options", "There are certain corrective measures for minor problems that, when taken early on in a course of action, forestall major problems from arising."

These latter formulations are more precise but lack the punch and effectiveness of the two well-known wordings, not to mention the fact that they are much harder to remember. "Look before you leap" is a pithy, inexact statement; it can easily be misunderstood, or thought to apply only to jumping. It does not say where or how to look, what to look for, how soon to leap after looking, and it is not even intended to apply literally to jumping!

So it is with Hebrew proverbs. They must be understood reasonably and taken on their own terms. They do not state everything about a truth but they point toward it. They are, taken literally, often technically inexact. But as learnable guidelines for the shaping of selected behavior, they are unsurpassed. Consider Proverbs 6:27-29;

Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched? So is he who sleeps with another man's wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.

Someone might think, "Now that last line is unclear. What if the mailman accidentally touches another man's wife while delivering the mail? Will he be punished? And are there not some people who commit adultery and get away with it?" but such interpretations miss the point. Proverbs tend to use figurative language and express things suggestively rather than in detail. The point you should get from the proverb is that committing adultery is like playing with fire. God will see to it that sooner or later, in this life or the next, the adulterer will be hurt by his actions. The word "touch" in the last line must be understood euphemistically (cf. 1 Cor. 7:1) if the Holy Spirit's inspired message is not to be distorted. Thus a proverb should not be taken too literally or too universally if its message is to be helpful. For example, consider Proverbs 9:13-18:

The woman Folly is loud; she is undisciplined and without knowledge. She sits at the door of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city, calling out to those who pass by, who go straight on their way. "Let all who are simple come in hear!" she says to those who lack judgment. "Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!" But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of the grave.

This, too, is a pithy proverb for it includes a whole allegory (story pointing to something other than itself by implicit comparisons) in a few verses. Here folly, the opposite of wise living, is personified as a prostitute trying to entice passersby into her house. The fool is characterized by his fascination with forbidden pleasures (v. 17). But the end result of a life of folly is not long life, success, or happiness--it is death. "Stay away from folly!" is the message of this brief allegory. "Don't be taken in! Walk right past those temptations (spelled out in various ways in other proverbs) that folly makes seem attractive!" The wise, godly, moral person will choose a life free from the selfishness of folly. Proverbs like this are somewhat like parables in that they express their truth in a symbolic way.

Another example that will help us understand about Proverbs is from Proverbs 16:3

Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

This is the sort of proverb that is most often misinterpreted. Not realizing that proverbs tend to be inexact statements pointing to the truth in figurative ways, a person might assume that Proverbs 16:3 is a direct, clear-cut, always applicable promise from God that if one dedicates his or her plans to God, those plans must succeed. People who reason that way, of course, can be disappointed. They can dedicate some perfectly selfish or idiotic scheme to God, then if it happens to succeed, even briefly, they can assume that God blessed it. A hasty marriage, a rash business decision, an ill-thought-out vocational decision--all can be dedicated to God but can eventually result in misery. Or, a person might commit a plan to God only to have it fail; then the person would wonder why God did not keep his promise, why he went back on his inspired Word. In either case they have failed to see that proverb is not categorical, always applicable, ironclad promise, but a more general truth; it teaches that lives committed to God and lived according to his will succeed according to God's definition of success. But according to the world's definition of success, the result may be just the opposite. The story of Job eloquently reminds us of that.

When these proverbs, then, are taken on their own terms, and understood as the special category of suggestive truth that they are, they become important and useful adjuncts for living.

About us

2007-05-29T21:57:00.000+07:00

At Christian Articles & Book Reviews you will find many interesting Christian articles, books, quotes about Christian life and Christian leadership. We've collecting information of books that we think they are useful in Christian walk with God. If you have any questions or requests, you can contact us at orakarn.yosmetha@gmail.com

Enjoy!

Contextualizing Christianity is Very Risky

2007-05-29T20:51:00.000+07:00

There are great risks involved in attempting to promote a Christianity that is culturally and biblically appropriate. The risk of syncretism is always present. Syncretism is the mixing of Christian assumptions with those world view assumptions that are incompatible with Christianity so that the result is not biblical Christianity.

Syncretism exists whenever people practice Christian rituals because they consider them magic, or use the Bible to cast spells on people or, as in India, consider Jesus just another of many human manifestations of one of their dieties, or as in Latin America, practice pagan divination and witchcraft right in the churches, or insist that people convert to a different culture to become Christians. In America it is syncretistic, unbiblical Christianity that sees "the American way of life" as identical with biblical Christianity or assumes that, by generating enough faith we can pressure God into giving us whatever we want, or that we should out of love and tolerance regard homosexuality and even homosexual "marriage" to go unopposed despite clear biblical condemnations.

But there are at least two paths to syncretism. One is by importing foreign expressions of the faith and allowing the receiving people to attach their own world view assumptions to these practices with little or no guidance from the missionaries. The result is a kind of "nativistic" Christianity or even, as in Latin America, "Christo-paganism." Roman Catholic missionaries, especially, have fallen into this trap by assuming that when people practice so-called "Christian" rituals and use "Christian" terminology, they mean by them the same thing that European Christian mean.

The other way to syncretism is to so dominate a receiving people's practice of Christianity that both the surface-level practices and the deep-level assumptions are imported. The result is a totally foreign, unadapted kind of Christianity that requires people to worship and practice their faith according to foreign patterns and to develop a special set of world view assumptions for church situations that are largely ignored in the rest of their lives. Their traditional world view, then, remains almost untouched by biblical principles. This is the kind of Christianity evangelical Protestants have most often advocated, probably out of a fear of the first kind of syncretism. In many situations, this kind of Christianity is attracting some of those who are westenizing. But the masses of traditional people find little or nothing in Christianity that meets their needs, simply because it is presented and practiced in foreign ways to which they cannot connect.

Though we must be cautious concerning syncretism, there is a middle road that involves deep trust in the Holy Spirit's ability to guide people and the receiving people's ability to follow that guidance. We, then, are to always point to the Holy Spirit (not ourselves) as the Guide while participating with them in discovering His leading. We can assure people that the Holy Spirit will always guide them in accordance with the Scriptures. Practicing this approach, missionary Jacob Loewen chose to never answer directly any questions from the new Christians such as, "What should we do?" Instead, he would ask them, "What is the Holy Spirit showing you?" Only after they had struggled with the answer to that question would he participate with them in seeking guidance, and even then his approach was to offer them at least three alternative approaches from which they might choose. In response to this approach they usually developed a fourth alternative that was uniquely their own. If that approach worked they would continue it. If it did not, they felt free to change it in needed ways, since it was their own and did not come with the prestige that often accompanies the suggestions of respected outsiders.

The lordship of Jesus Christ

2007-05-29T20:09:00.000+07:00

We are clear that the fundamental meaning of conversion is a change of allegiance. Other gods and lords--idolatries every one--previously ruled over us. But now Jesus Christ is Lord. The governing principle of the converted life is that it is lived under the lordship of Christ or (for it comes to the same thing) in the Kingdom of God. His authority over us is total. So this new and liberating allegiance leads inevitably to a reappraisal of every aspect of our lives and in particular of our world view, our behavior, and our relationships.

First, our world view. We are agreed that the heart of every culture is a "religion" of some kind, even if it is an irreligious religion like Marxism. "Culture is religion made visible" (J. H. Bavinck). And "religion" is a whole cluster of basic beliefs and values, which is the reason why for our purposes we are using "world view" as an equivalent expression. True conversion to Christ is bound, therefore, to strike at the heart of our cultural inheritance. Jesus Christ insists on dislodging from the center of our world whatever idol previously reigned there, and occupying the throne himself. This is the radical change of allegiance which constitutes conversion, or at least its beginning. Then once Christ has taken his rightful place, everything else starts shifting. The shock waves flow from the center to the circumference. The convert has to rethink his or her fundamental convictions. This is metanoia, "repentance" viewed as a change of mind, the replacement of "the mind of the flesh" by "the mind of Christ." Of course, the development of an integrated Christian world view may take a lifetime, but it is there in essence from the start. If it does grow, the explosive consequences cannot be predicted.

Secondly, our behavior. The lordship of Jesus challenges our moral standards and whole ethical life style. Strictly speaking, this is not "repentance" but rather the "fruit that befits repentance" (Matt. 3:8), the change of outlook. Both our minds and our wills must submit to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5; Matt 11:29, 30; John 13:13)

Conversion delivers both from the inversion which is too preoccupied with self to bother about other people and from the fatalism which considers it impossible to help them. Conversion is spurious if it does not liberate us to love.

Thirdly, our relationships. Although the convert should do his utmost to avoid a break with nation, tribe and family, sometimes painful conflicts arise. It is clear also that conversion involves a transfer from one community to another, that is, from fallen humanity to God's new humanity. It happened from the very beginning on the Day of Pentecost: "Save yourselves from this crooked generation," Peter appealed. So those who received his message were baptized into the new society, devoted themselves to the new fellowship, and found that the Lord continued to add to their numbers daily (Acts 2:40-47). At the same time, their "transfer" from one group to another meant rather that they were spiritually distinct than that they were socially segregated. They did not abandon the world. On the contrary, they gained a new commitment to it, and went out into it to witness and to serve.

All of us should cherish great expectations of such radical conversions in our day, involving converts in a new mind, a new way of life, a new community, and a new mission, all under the lordship of Christ.

Leadership Defined

2007-05-29T19:37:00.000+07:00

Most simply defined, leadership is the process of influence. The process always includes a number of key components: leaders, followers, a situation in which they interact; means for influence which emerge from the leader and from the community; values; time for the interactions to occur; and goals which the leader(s) and followers seek to achieve. Leadership is a complex influence process in which leaders and followers interact in a context or a series of contexts over time. Within this context the leaders exercise influence with the followers toward a mutually desired goal. The effectiveness of the leadership process is contingent on a wide variety of contextual variables, some of which are influenced by the leader(s) and followers and some over which they have no influence.

J. R. Clinton offers a useful contemporary definition which reflects a "complex contingency" leadership perspective:

Leadership is

a dynamic process over an extended period of time,
in various situations in which a leader utilizing leadership resources,
and by specific leadership behaviors,
influences the thoughts and activity of followers,
toward accomplishment of person/task aims,
mutually beneficent for leaders, followers and the macro context of which they are a part.

in addition to these six important components in Clinton's definition, two important issues must be added. The worldview of the leader, followers and the community in which they live must also be considered. Within this world view one can find what is commonly described as philosophy, and values. One's theology also flows out of his/her worldview. A second consideration is the interactional dynamics of the variables. One can not separate the influence of the leader, followers and situation from values and influence means. All are inextricably interwoven in a dynamic influence process.

Christian leadership, however, differs from secular, business, or political leadership. Leadership models for the church "must be drawn from the scripture and evaluated in terms of accountability to Christ. These leadership models move away from the focus of personal and corporate power which aim at personal advantage so typical of non-Christian settings. These models focus on spiritual power and authority as the primary influence means of achieving God's purpose

Clinton captures this distinctive by describing a Christian leader as:

A person with God-given capacity and God-given responsibility to influence a specific group of God's people toward God's purposes for the group.

As Christian leaders we need to understand what spiritual leadership is and how it functions both to improve our own leading and to better equip others as they lead. God has called us not only to do the work of ministry, but to multiply others who will serve and equip others also.

As in Adam so in Christ

2007-05-25T16:02:00.000+07:00

In Romans 5:12-21 we are not only told something about Adam; we are told also something about the Lord Jesus. 'As through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one shall the many be made righteous.' In Adam we receive everything that is of Adam; in Christ we receive everything that is of Christ.

The terms 'in Adam' and 'in Christ' are too little understood by Christians, and, at the risk of repetition, I wish to emphasize by means of an illustration the hereditary and racial significance of the term 'in Christ'. This illustration is to be found in the letter to the Hebrews. Do you remember that in the earlier part of that letter the writer is trying to show that Melchizedek is greater than Levi? You recall that the point to be proved is that the priesthood of Christ is greater than the priesthood of Aaron who was of the tribe of Levi. Now, in order to prove that, he has first to prove that the priesthood of Melchizedek is greater than the priesthood of Levi, for the simple reason that the priesthood of Christ is 'after the order of Melchizedek' (Heb. 7:14-17), while that of Aaron is, of course, after the order of Levi. If the writer can demonstrate to us that in the eyes of God Melchizedek is greater than Levi, then he has made his point. That is the issue, and he proves it in a remarkable way.

He tells us in Hebrews chapter 7 that one day Abraham, returning from the battle of the kings (Gen. 14), offered a tithe of his spoils to Melchizedek and received from him a blessing. Inasmuch as Abraham did so, Levi is therefore of less account than Melchizedek. Why? Because the fact that Abraham offered tithes to Melchizedek means that Isaac 'in Abraham' offered to Melchizedek. But if that is true, then Jacob also 'in Abraham' offered to Melchizedek, which inturn means that Levi 'in Abraham' offered to Melchizedek. It is evident that the lesser offers to the greater (Heb. 7:7). So Levi is less in standing than Melchizedek, and therefore the priesthood of Aaron is inferior to that of the Lord Jesus. Levi at the time of the battle of the kings was not yet even thought of. Yet he was 'in the loins of his father' Abraham, and, 'so to say, through Abraham', he offered (Heb. 7:9,10).

Now this is the exact meaning of 'in Christ'. Abraham, as the head of the family of faith, includes the whole family in himself. When he offered to Melchizedek, the whole family offered in him to Melchizedek. They did not offer separately as individuals, but they were in him, and therefore in making his offering he included with himself all his seed.

So we are presented with a new possibility. In Adam all was lost. Through the disobedience of one man we were all constituted sinners. By him sin entered and death through sin, and throughout the race sin has reigned unto death from that day on. But now a ray of light is cast upon the scene. Through the obedience of Another we may be constituted righteous. Where sin abounded grace did much more abound, and as sin reigned unto death, even so may grace rign through righteousness into eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 5:19-21). Our despair is in Adam; our hope is in Christ.

Worship

2007-05-24T17:12:00.000+07:00

What is Worship?

Whereas edification focuses on benefiting believers, worship is directed at God. The essence of worship is the intentional ascription of worth, service, and reverence to the Lord. Worship can take place in public or private, in individual or corporate ways. In fact, for the integrated believer, in one way or another, everything in life can be understood as an act of worship. In this sense, worship is expressed in one's overall approach to life and in every area of life (Romans 12:1). Worship creates a home for the soul as it learns to rest in God. As Isaiah 26:3 (NASB) promises, The steadfast of mind Thou wilt keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in Thee. This is good news in a culture where the average person changes his or her geographic home about every four years.

A more specific form of worship occurs in specific acts of praise and exultation, especially in the assembly with the people of God. Of special importance to this latter understanding is the conscious expression of worship in the very act of study in high school or college or in and through the vocation a believer selects.

Worship and the Nature of God

There is another aspect of worship that is extremely important. To grasp this aspect, consider a young man who respects and, in a certain sense, reveres a sports figure precisely because that figure is good at what he does. In this case, the sports figure is a worthy object of that respect and reverence. If the sports figure were in reality a complete joke at his sport, then while it would be permissible for the young man to like the sports figure, it would be inappropriate for the young man to revere him.

A person ought to proportion his respect and reverence to the actual worthiness of the object of that respect and reverence. If a second sports figure came along who was superior in skill to the first hero, the young man would owe the second athlete more reverence than he gives the inferior athlete. Even if a second athlete never came along, the young man should not give total reverence to his hero because he doesn't deserve it. This becomes obvious when we realize that if a superior athlete were to enter the scene or if the revered hero were to improve his skills over the years, then the young man would be obliged to hive more respect to the new hero or to the same hero now improved.

These insights about respect have dramatic implications for our worship of God. Theologians describe God as a maximally perfect being. This means that God is not merely the greatest, most perfect being who happens to exist. He is the greatest being that could possibly exist. If God were merely the greatest being who happens to exist, it would be possible to conceive of a case where a greater god could come along (even if such a being did not actually exist) or where the real God grew in His excellence. In these cases, our degree of worship ought to increase and, therefore, a God who just happened to be the greatest being around (and who could be surpassed in excellence) would not be a worthy object of total worship.

Fortunately, the God of the Bible is a maximally perfect being; that is, He is the greatest being that could possibly exist. It is impossible for a greater bing to supersede God or for God Himself to improve Himself in any way. Thus, God is owed our supreme, total worship.

This is why Scripture calls idolatry the activity of giving more dedication to something finite than to God. God is worthy of the very best efforts we can give Him in offering our respect and service through the cultivation of our total personality.

Problems give meaning to life

2007-05-24T00:33:00.000+07:00

A wise philosopher once commented that an eagle's only obstacle to overcome for flying with greater speed and ease is the air. Yet, if the air were withdrawn, and the proud bird were to fly in a vacuum, it would fall instantly to the ground, unable to fly at all. The very element that offers resistance to flying is at the same time the condition for flight.

The main obstacle that a powerboat has to overcome is the water against the propeller, yet, if it were not for this same resistance, the boat would not move at all.

The same law, that obstacles are conditions of success, holds true in human life. A life free of all obstacles and difficulties would reduce all possibilities and powers to zero. Eliminate problems and life loses its creative tension. The problem of mass ignorance gives meaning to education. The problem of ill health gives meaning to medicine. The problem of social disorder gives meaning to government.

In the South, when cotton was "king," the boll weevil crossed over from Mexico to the United States and destroyed the cotton plants. Farmers were forced to grow a variety of crops, such as soybeans and peanuts. They learned to use their land to raise cattle, hogs, and chickens. As a result, many more farmers became prosperous than in the days when the only crop grown was cotton.

The people of Enterprise, Alabama, were so grateful for what had occurred that in 1910 they erected a monument to the boll weevil. When they turned from the single-crop system to diversified farming, they became wealthier. The inscription on the monument reads: "In profound appreciation of the boll weevil and what it has done to herald prosperity."

We all have a tendency all of our lives to want to get rid of problems and responsibilities. When that temptation arises, remember the youth who was questioning a lonely old man. "What is life's heaviest burden?" he asked. The old fellow answered sadly, "Having nothing to carry."