Think Extra Hard

 

It seems to get harder all the time to differentiate between what is truth and what is manufactured truth. Propaganda repeated enough becomes truth if one allows it to usurp what they know to be real and truthful. One must pay strict attention to what is being taught, think for themselves, and most of all not get distracted by all the silly nonsensical rhetoric being perpetrated to reconfigure the societies of the world. Distractions are even common in worship. The following story (author unknown) reminds us that in worship we encounter both the marvelous and the mundane. What we get out of worship very much depends on what we put into it. “As a youth I squirmed through many a worship service. This particular Sunday was to have an added attraction. As soon as the preacher got up to deliver his sermon, a cricket walked out onto the stage. Everyone in the first three rows, mostly youngsters, saw the cricket. He looked dazed, perhaps from the pest control chemicals, and stumbled near the edge of the pulpit area. Our eyes followed his every step. As he pondered the precipice before him, I knew we were all shouting to ourselves, “Jump! Jump!” But alas, the cricket didn’t jump. The cricket just kept walking back and forth on the edge of the stage. I don’t know if the sermon was any good that day, but the cricket was sure fun to watch. When the invitation song began, we all stood up and the cricket ran away. He almost got stepped on by the song leader and we all laughed. Then my laughter turned to amazement. Someone had gone forward! My dad! He wasn’t a Christian and my mom and I had been trying for years to get him to come to worship with us to no avail, until today. Now the preacher was about to baptize him into Christ. “Dad,” I asked latter. “What made you want to be baptized today?” Dad asked me, “Didn’t you hear that Jesus gave His life for us so that we could be saved?” I hung my head in shame. The beautiful message of the Bible, God’s Word, did not reach me that day. I had allowed myself to be entertained watching the cricket. To this day I believe that cricket was preaching to me. He was saying, “Watch me! Jesus isn’t important. I’m more fun!” Since then, there have been many more crickets walk across the stage, fretful babies, sneezes, coughs, etc. A lot of things that tend to distract a person from worshipping, but I learned my lesson – God is more important than anything. Every time God’s Word is preached the devil is nearby! He is there to steal it away and lie to you (John 8:42-47).”

[James 5:1-12] A Bible professor took a group of students to the “Holy Land.” While traveling on a bus throughout the area one day, the professor prepared the students for their next lesson. Standing in the isle of the bus he was telling the students about Jesus being the Good Shepherd. He told them how shepherds in Palestine, as in Jesus’ day, still lead the sheep rather than drive them like cattle from behind. Just as he was making his point, the bus stopped to allow some sheep to cross the road. To their surprise, the students and their professor witnessed a man with a whip driving the sheep from behind. The prof got off the bus totally confused and asked the man, “My friend, I was always told that shepherds of the region always lead their sheep to where they were going. They do not drive them as you are doing.” The man responded, “You are absolutely right about the shepherds of this country. But see, I’m not a shepherd – I’m the village butcher.”

The thing that sets human beings apart from the rest of creation is the ability to think, reason, and act, using obtained knowledge of what works and what doesn’t work. Think about your future. If one could have the whole world, you’re still going to die. Think; are you truly being led to green pastures or are you being driven into Babylonian captivity?

Contending Earnestly for the Faith

 

I came across an article from 2009 the other day and couldn’t help but wonder if faith had grown, or had it been compromised to conform with the world, or perhaps simply passed away with the last generation. Speaking of the church the article read: In the tiny community of Whitehall, Arkansas, located on Hwy. 1 between Harrisburg and Cherry Valley, you won’t find any shopping malls or even gas stations for that matter. The only thing one will find in Whitehall is a very small congregation of believers who meet in an old brick building that was built over 100 years ago by the oldest members’ parents. As one walks through the uneven front doors of the building you are overwhelmed by the smell of must and mildew. You won’t find vents for central heat and air, but instead window A/C units and some old Dearborn propane heaters. The auditorium is filled with old theater seats from the 1850’s and the interior walls are painted lime green. No doubt these seats were once filled with Spirit driven worshippers who enjoyed “that old time religion” and the foot-tapping songs that the hardwood floors once knew. The building is secluded deep into the woods, and one won’t find a sign on the building or on the main road. Just to get there one has to drive down a perpetually muddy dirt road filled with potholes. In short, the building’s appearance and location would receive nothing but chuckles from big city folks used to attending worship in large modern facilities. Though one couldn’t tell by seeing the structure, there remains a handful of Spirit filled believers who very faithfully serve God in that ugly little building. I thank God that He doesn’t look at the appearance of the building to judge the people inside and He doesn’t look at the appearance of a person to judge the heart of that soul (1 Samuel 16:7).

[Jude] What is the greatest danger to the church today? Is it the different and conflicting cultures and religions? Is it the interferences of governments in deciding what one may or may not do religiously? While these and many more are considered dangers to the church, what is the greatest danger facing the church? Please allow me to give you my two-cents worth of thought. The greatest danger is stated in the New Testament letter of Jude. One of the shortest contributions to the Bible, only 25 verses, it can be read in about two minutes. The theme of Jude is “apostates” or “false teachers.” Jude sounded the alarm of the danger of “certain men” (v.4) who have crept into the church unnoticed to destroy “…the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (v.3); “certain men” “…who long ago were marked out for condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ” (v.4). In New Testament times the church, as today, existed amid many different and conflicting cultures. Immorality was rampant – is it not today? In Jude’s day society had degraded (Romans 1:18-32) and the Bible clearly condemns such. Is our 21^st Century any different? Perhaps worse? Immorality was one of the causes of the fall of the Roman Empire and could quite possibly be the fall of democratic and republic nations around the world in this decade. We often speak of governmental interference in man’s religious practices. We often make the claim the government is a serious danger to our religious freedoms. As it is in the world today, Rome took exception to Christianity’s claim that it was the ONLY avenue whereby man could be saved – all other religions were false. Once it was apparent that Christianity claimed to be exclusive, and therefore not like the other religions, Rome persecuted the church (Christians) resulting in the blood of many martyrs. Are you contending earnestly for the faith? Faithfully serve God and live forever.

Still Going!

 

I celebrated another birthday recently and getting a year older still beats the ultimate alternative. I’ve witnessed literally thousands of inconceivable engineering dreams come to fruition through the tenacity of competition and arduous work. The newest must-have communication device, packaged in the form of a wristwatch, was once a fantasy in the Dick Tracy comic (graphic novel) detective series printed in the daily newspaper (in color on Sunday). As a youngster I grew up in the days of the space race, a time of dreaming while lying on ones back in the grass at night and staring into the sky drinking in the millions of stars therein. 

Sputnik, the Russian probe launched October 4, 1957, decisively changed the world and the electronic age went into a full-blown frenzy of development without looking back. By 1972 there had been journeys to the moon with landings on the moon. Many communication satellites were already orbiting the earth and an international space station was in the works. In 1977 the United States launched a rocket into space. On board was a small craft called Voyager 1, a probe that was jettisoned into space to explore the planets up close. After Voyager finished sending back photos and data from the planet Jupiter and its neighbors, it didn’t stop working, it just kept going. 

* Voyager 1, one of the oldest space probes and the most distant human-made object from Earth, is still doing science. ... But even as it drifts farther and farther from a dimming sun, it's still sending information back to Earth, as scientists reported in The Astrophysical Journal, Apr 28, 2021. * NASA reports, as of November 4, 2021, Voyager 1 is believed to be more than 14.4 billion miles from Earth. * Voyager 1 is the first spacecraft to reach interstellar space. It has remained operational long past expectations and continues to send information about its journeys back to Earth; Jan 19, 2022. * How far can Voyager 1 go before we lose contact? Voyager 1's extended mission is expected to continue until around 2025 when its radioisotope thermoelectric generators will no longer supply enough electric power to operate its scientific instruments. At that time, it will be more than 15.5 billion miles (25 billion km) away from the Earth. * Will Voyager 1 leave the Milky Way? Voyager 1 will leave the solar system aiming toward the constellation Ophiuchus. In the year 40,272 AD (more than 38,100 years from now), Voyager 1 will come within 1.7 light years of an obscure star in the constellation Ursa Minor (the Little Bear or Little Dipper) called AC+79 3888. Will there ever be an end to Voyager’s journey?

[Psalm 102:25] Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. Voyager 1 is traveling at a speed of over 38,000 miles per hour and by now probably over 15 billion miles from earth. That’s mind-boggling! Brilliant scientists have sent a spacecraft to the edge of our solar system which is astounding and absolutely amazing. But that’s absolutely puny compared to what God has done. It would be like hearing someone brag to the architect of a skyscraper that he had explored and traveled all the way to the second floor of that building. We have barely begun to explore the vastness of God’s creation. And every step made by mankind should continue to put us in absolute awe of God’s power and creativity. Even so, billions of dollars are being spent on space telescopes used to delve deeper and deeper into the vast universe, and shamefully for only one reason – to find the limits of God’s realm. Atheists say there is no God and evolutionists say we’re all here by accident. Someone had to design and build Voyager 1 to explore and report data. What is being explored is too wonderous to not also have a designer and builder. There is no limit to God – we cannot become our own god.

Can Anyone Whip Both of Us?

 

The following story is told by a young WWII Army recruit: “My brother and I arrived at boot camp together. On the first morning our unit was dragged out of bed by our drill sergeant and made to assemble outside the barracks. ‘My name is Sergeant Jackson,’ he snarled. ‘Is there anyone here who thinks he can whip me?’ My six-foot-three, 280-pound brother raised his hand and said, ‘Yes sir, I do.’ Our sergeant called my brother to the front of the assembly to stand next to him facing the group. ‘Men,’ he said, ‘this is my new assistant. Now, is there anyone here who thinks he can whip both of us?’” It’s nice to have someone who is big and strong to “have your back”! It’s the feeling you may have experienced as a youngster when the class bully picked on you every day at school, until the day your big brother walked to school with you. He didn’t even have to say a word. Everybody figured it out, to mess with you was to mess with him, and nobody wanted to mess with someone bigger and stronger than they are. There may be times in our life when we feel like we can take on the entire world and come out on top. But those times are rare. And we must be cautious with our attitude toward others when we feel like a world conqueror. If we arrogantly issue a challenge and want to know if there is anybody who thinks they can whip us, be assured that there are folks who would be quick to accept the challenge. More often we feel overwhelmed by the challenges of the world that seem much bigger and stronger than we are. Everyone, at some point, will have to deal with the temptation to worry. To worry is “to afflict with mental distress or agitation: make anxious” (Webster’s). Worry goes far beyond than reasonable concern. To worry is to be anxious and fretful. Many cares and concerns burden our mind. We tend to worry about our children, finances, health, marriage, and a thousand trivial things we face in daily life. But worrying wastes time and accomplishes nothing!

[Hebrews 13:5-6] In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave some powerful principles regarding worry. He asked, “Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?” (Matthew 6:27). The “cubit” of Scripture is approximately 22 inches, from the elbow to the end of the middle finger. It is biologically impossible for one to become bigger or stronger by worrying about a situation in life. This is out of our control. In the same way, the vast majority of our worries are beyond our control. Worrying will never improve one’s finances, health, or marriage, nor the abundance of other things in life. Worry will never help one’s children or grandchildren make wise choices. In fact, worry will never accomplish anything positive – but it will waste a lot of time. Jesus teaches us “…do not worry about your life…” (Matthew 6:25) and “…do not worry about tomorrow…” (Matthew 6:34). Since God knows our needs, He will provide. He takes care of the birds and the lilies. Surely, He can and will take care of all who seek Him (Matthew 6:26, 28, 30). Rather than spending time worrying, we should spend time seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33). If worry has become a problem in your life, break the cycle today. Realize that time is quickly passing. Begin looking to God. Seek Him through a study of His Word, the Bible. Put Him first in your life. Trust His promises, trust His Word, obey His will, and He will take care of you! As a Christian one need never forget we don’t face any challenge alone. God’s Spirit lives within us and God has promised to be with us. With the confidence that comes with that knowledge, we are able to ask, “Is there anyone who thinks he can whip the both of us?” “NO!” because “…He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Amen!