8/2/13

From Gary... Memorials are important!!!


I have seen this memorial thousands of times, but this is the first time I have ever seen a picture of it.  It is only slightly different than I remember it, because the tribute to those veterans who served in Vietnam wasn't on the monument on the left, when I daily saw this on my way to elementary and high school.  It does bring back memories of my youth- some good and some not-so-good, but all that is "water under the dam" so to speak.  However, remembering the sacrifice that our soldiers have made to keep us free is worth the time and effort on our part!!!   Memories are like that- in a way, they make us what we are; they are memorials to the life we have lived.  Here is a memorial that is worth remembering...

Matthew, Chapter 26

 19  The disciples did as Jesus commanded them, and they prepared the Passover.  20 Now when evening had come, he was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples.  21 As they were eating, he said, “Most certainly I tell you that one of you will betray me.” 

  22  They were exceedingly sorrowful, and each began to ask him, “It isn’t me, is it, Lord?” 

  23  He answered, “He who dipped his hand with me in the dish, the same will betray me.   24  The Son of Man goes, even as it is written of him, but woe to that man through whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for that man if he had not been born.” 

  25  Judas, who betrayed him, answered, “It isn’t me, is it, Rabbi?” 

He said to him, “You said it.” 

  26  As they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks for it, and broke it. He gave to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”   27 He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, “All of you drink it,   28  for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins.   29  But I tell you that I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on, until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s Kingdom.”   30 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 


Celebrating the "Lord's supper" is a remembrance of what Christ has done for us.  It is an acknowledgement that God has made a covenant with us so that our sins are forgiven.  His life for our life- a really personal thing and something that was very difficult for HIM to do.  Now, I know the Bible says that we all have sinned, yet in spite of this God's one and only sacrifice remains valid.  It is up to us to remember its significance and to TRY TO HUMBLY DO THE BEST WE CAN DO TO SERVE GOD WITH OUR WHOLE HEART!!!  The memorial in the picture resides in Schaghticoke, New York and for one reason or another may not be there in future ages to come, but Jesus, the risen Christ of God lives forever. The only question that remains is: will those of us who call ourselves Christians remember what it cost for us to be free from the penalty of sin and do everything we can to be faithful???  Don't forget to remember, memorials are important!!!

From Bill Dayton... “HE WHO HAS EARS TO HEAR, LET HIM HEAR!”



HE WHO HAS EARS TO HEAR, LET HIM HEAR!”


In our readings this past week, we discovered some very important teaching given by Jesus to His disciples that involved spiritual hearing. In Chapter 14:25-33 we discover that many people (a multitude) followed Jesus closely. However our Lord, being aware that many were with Him only to receive healing, food, or witness a miracle, offered a challenge to all those who would truly follow Him. Jesus wants His house to be filled with saved sinners, yet He cautions us not to take discipleship lightly; there is a price to be paid if we truly desire to follow in His steps and be a true disciple.
In verse 26, we are told that our love for God must be so great that all other love is like hatred in comparison. We must love Him supremely, even more than we love our own flesh and blood! Verse 27 teaches that we must also be willing to bear our own cross. What was Jesus asking us to do? He is requiring us to have a daily identification with him. He is asking us to bear whatever shame, suffering or sacrifice necessary in order to surrender to His will in our daily lives. If we “HEAR” what Jesus is saying, we understand that He wants us to accept His calling on our lives and put nothing before our commitment to Him not even our own family, plans, or ambitions!

 As we build our lives in Christ, let us hear with our hearts and trust and obey our Savior!

From Jim McGuiggan... DEPRESSED OR NOT TRYING?

DEPRESSED OR NOT TRYING?

Sloth is laziness. When the Bible frowns on sloth it isn’t frowning on someone who’s suffering from fatigue or some form of emotional drain and unable to work. Even less is it frowning on people that we think are lazy because we think they’re capable of throwing off some condition that we think they don’t want to deal with. No, when the Bible opposes "sloth" it’s opposing an attitude and a response that isn’t to be approved or nurtured. It doesn’t address someone that can’t work but someone who won’t work. Some people are (at least temporarily) physically disabled and can’t work and some people are (at least temporarily) emotionally disabled.
We tend to think that a broken bone is real but a broken heart is "all in the mind" and therefore not real. When we say of someone’s disabling condition, "It’s all in her head" we’re usually being dismissive and not taking the matter seriously. We think she could easily do something about it if she wanted but she obviously doesn’t want to, so we think sympathy is inappropriate. We think she can "pull herself together" because we have known people with similar difficulties and they did it. [Okay, so she lost her husband but so did Teresa and she got over it. We presume they experienced the same thing but this is far from clear. She isn’t Teresa and that makes it altogether different and her relationship with her husband wasn’t like Teresa’s and that makes it different. It’s only on the surface that these experiences look alike.]
If she had a compound fracture of her leg and a skull fracture resulting from an accident she’d get all our sympathy, flowers, chocolates and hospital visits however long they’re needed. If the bones refuse to heal quickly we feel disappointed for her. But if she has a compound fracture of the heart or spirit we give her a lot of advice and expect her to move on within a very short time. If her emotional fractures don’t heal quickly we feel disappointed in her and (often) we soon run out of patience with her.
People are too quick to think they know a lot. Medicine is no exact science but we know a lot more about the healing of a broken bone than about healing broken spirits. We know how to put a bone in splints or screw pins into it but the other is way too complex for simple cures. [Of course, sometimes there is a simple cure but the patient with the broken spirit often doesn’t know what the problem is and neither do those who care. In that case the challenge to help begins with diagnosis.] If our friend has a skull fracture we leave her to the professionals but we feel more than capable to fix the broken spirit though we’re often completely ignorant not only about the causes but the approaches to a cure and our own limited wisdom and commitment.
It’s a difficult area to work in. Some deeply religious people are clinically depressed because they wrestle with hidden and recurring sins. They live in fear of exposure and consequent loss. They live in fear of God and consequent damnation. They live with a degree of emotional exhaustion that comes with having to pretend everything is fine with them. They live in self-loathing at their "hypocrisy" when they continue to attend church, engage in worthy endeavors and otherwise act "like butter wouldn’t melt in their mouths". The "cure" here is simple enough though very complex. This person needs to come to believe a rich development of the gospel and find forgiveness and peace while they struggle by God’s grace to overcome the sin that debilitates them. (This might well involve confession and the grace of God via friends and family who will assist in the overcoming of the sin.) 

These people need to be assured that there’s a profound difference between a failure and a fraud. It’s one thing to be a hypocrite and another to be a genuine struggler toward the light who fails a lot.

But I’d suppose that while such cases [those that are chronically depressed over sins committed] are not uncommon they are definitely in the minority. Still, though in the minority they need to be taken into account and the people given assistance.
There are too many complex reasons that lead people to suffer from deep depression to allow us to stick them all in the same category and offer the same banal advice. And then there’s this—some professional counselors are not equipped to truly help. They have neither the patience nor the will to put up with the challenge that deeply depressed people can present. And some of them are plainly not competent. I won’t rehearse a long list of horror stories of situations seriously misconstrued by inept counselors or the even longer list of superficial advice and five-step-cures they’ve offered to complex cases. It's more than unfortunate that this kind of counselor gives the other kind a bad reputation.
But there’s a danger for the patient in going even to a competent and caring professional. If they’re not "cured" by such a person it compounds their feelings of despair (an element that always hovers around the chronically depressed). They feel they’re incurable and at the same time they fear that their friends will think they don’t want to be cured.
Many of the people I’ve known down the years that have suffered from deep and prolonged depression understood that they were sources of irritation. They saw themselves as bores. They understood why people finally grew tired of the "down" look and tone and speech. They had heard the usual well-meaning advice over and over and over again and it didn’t "work" so they found it increasingly difficult to listen to it again. This meant that they were closing doors and further isolating themselves because people didn’t know what to say to them, were afraid to laugh in their company and would begin to experience compassion fatigue and become a bit resentful toward the sufferer. With all this going on it isn’t surprising that if they didn’t sink lower they certainly weren’t climbing out of the pit of despondency.
And if the depressed person is a sensitive believer it often makes matters worse. "Everybody knows" that God can do more than we can even imagine and that Christ can make us strong to do anything. And as "everybody knows", God is eager to say yes to all our requests and give us what we ask. All that being true, how’s it possible that someone can remain an emotional cripple month after month and year after year? The problem can’t lie with God! The problem can’t lie with our view of God (because we have that all neat and tidy)! So it must lie with the sufferer. They must lack the will to be better or the faith that God can make them better. It all sounds so simple that even the sufferer half-believes it, and that deepens the problem. They come to believe that their depression is ongoing sin against God, so what right have they to pray? More isolation enters and now they're isolated from the one person they had been pinning their hopes on.
Then there’s the medicine that’s dished out by doctors. I don’t say doctors have an easy profession—far from it. They’re human like the rest of us and they’re tempted (or is "locked into" the right phrase?) to keep writing prescriptions for the same drugs that deal with symptoms and never underlying causes and that’s a dangerous business. Warnings come thick and fast from medical watchdog sources about over-prescribing, about addiction and the accumulating side effects of such medicines. And those among us who suffer no serious difficulties in the emotional area are quick to point this out and, anyway, "we should be relying on God rather than drugs." This last remark is notcompletely off target and that’s what makes it so injurious to some of the chronically depressed among us. It has truth in it but it isn't truth well used in this case.
Even those who research and write books on depression, its causes, cure or control—even they maintain some modesty and admit uncertainty and the limits of their understanding. Surely the rest of us should do likewise. For healthy and richly blessed people to bully others with biblical generalizations and verses barely looked at before they’re used as a whip—that’s a disgrace. 
I’m one of those that think if the human family hadn’t rebelled and maintained that rebellion against God we wouldn’t have the chaos and loss that we now experience. That shouldn’t be controversial (though it is in some quarters), but if it’s true then it has ramifications for all our illnesses—including clinical depression—they wouldn’t exist if sin didn’t exist. Our chaotic world is one grand proclamation that the human race—apart from Christ—is alienated from God and is suffering because that’s true. Even the innocent children and the righteous share in the pain of a human family gone astray.
Some of our depression can be traced to chemical and hormonal imbalances, to genetic disorders, to the high-strung natures that many among us have inherited and other such factors that are not the fault of the individual sufferer. Some of our depression manifestly arises from early abuse, unending financial pressures, loss of jobs, physical abnormalities, loneliness, squalid and threatening environments and more, or any one of these or a combination of a number of them.
Some of our depression arises from expectations that are too high and (for whatever reasons) we simply don’t take into account the tough realities of life and our limits. Forgive me for my bluntness here, but some of our depression is generated because we want things we shouldn’t want in the first place! There are relationships that are forbidden to us and because we can’t take pleasure in them we begin to sink. There are "things" we think we can’t live without and if we were not as greedy as we are we wouldn’t want them and the lack of them wouldn’t create gloom and dejection. [Those of us that have enough money to spend on the "things" we want would no doubt applaud that last point. But then because we can get what we want within reason we don’t feel the hunger for many things we don’t presently have.] We see this "gimme spirit" in passing and at a lower level around Christmas time in many children. They want things that are unreasonable, the pressed parents can’t get them and the child pouts at what it gets. Of course many of the children don’t realize what they’re asking but we expect (and in some cases should expect) adults to be more realistic and controlled. I think some of us have a perpetual case of the "blahs" because we want too much, because we aren’t satisfied with what we’ve got and because we can’t see the beauty or fineness in what we’ve got. We live hectic and anxiety-filled lifestyles and work too many hours to get what we can easily live without and lose out on what we need the most. If we were more mature spiritually (what does that mean?) we’d be less prone to debilitating disappointment, discontent and depression. And it’s because there are some of us like that that we hear silly people including everyone in that category that’s depressed.
But while I’m sure there are people that are deeply depressed because they’re too self-centered I don’t think I should speak as though God gave me a special gift of discernment that I can look and spot them without fail. Whatever we say we think, we continue to believe that we know when someone is making a mountain out of a molehill and I don’t think we’re always wrong! Nevertheless, we might be making a wrong call, so if in the end we feel compelled to make such a call we’re not to make it as if it were an oracle straight from heaven! We need to maintain a bit of modesty.
I’ve read a number of books in this area, spoken to a number of competent counselors and been counseled myself more than once. I can only give you my impression at this stage in my life. Beyond some very specialized areas I don’t think counselors have a lot to offer that a wise and devoted friend can’t offer. (I’m going to let that claim stand as it is even though as soon as I read it, the statement begs to be developed.) Too many committed professionals are confessing the limits of the enterprise and so much depends on the self-knowledge of the patient for us to expect too much of professional counselors. And so much depends on the inner capacity for the struggler to carry out the sound advice given to them.
So, should we all wring our hands in despair and pass out the diazepam, amitriptyline or prozac? I don’t know a sure cure for depression that can be easily appropriated by sufferers. Bless me, if I did, wouldn’t I be a billionaire? But this I know—my depression doesn’t mean God loses! My depression doesn’t mean Christ has been dethroned. My depression no more obliterates God than clouds obliterate the sun. Somewhere in all our working with human anxiety and loss we have to learn to balance the two truths if they co-exist. I’m depressed and God is my Savior! Even if I can’t emotionally fully cash in on that truth about God I need someone to help me keep it in view. I recognize that that’s a tall order, but because the task is difficult does not give me the right to refuse to take it on. Let's continue to feed people rich, profund truth about God's unchanging commitment, let it soak in and we'll see what happens. In the meantime let the healthy-minded and emotionally well-adjusted thank God that they aren't burdened as some poor souls are. Maybe if the depressed become fully persuaded that we care about them then they'll be able to hear us better when we speak challenging truth to them.

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.

From Jim McGuiggan... Jean Paul Sartre and Martin Luther

Jean Paul Sartre and Martin Luther

The atheist Jean Paul Sartre in his 1943 play The Flies caricatures a Christian moaning in light of his sins.
"I stink…I am a mass of rottenness…I have sinned a thousand times, I am a sink of ordure [obscenity, foulness], and I reek to heaven." 
Jupiter/Zeus responds, "O worthy man!"

Sartre had an immediate political message for his people who were grovelling under the jackboots of Hitler's forces and the Vichy French who collaborated with the Nazis. A member of the French Resistance, Sartre called his people to make a commitment and not to live like cows to be herded and milked and slaughtered. He shared with Nietzsche before him a hatred for this sickeningly passive view of life with its "kick-me-again-it's-all-I-deserve" outlook.
The political nature of the play gave Sartre the chance also to express his existential philosophy (which comes close to worshipping "choice"). The difference between a real human and an animal is that the human has the capacity for choice, the capacity to transcend pressures whether from culture or some other outside source. To grovel and to allow others to tell you how to live and what to think, Sartre insisted, is to reject the one thing that makes humans different from animals. If you will not make a personal commitment where do you differ from a donkey?
For this reason and more Sartre was anti-religious and believed that Christianity produced snivelling wimps whose life was sucked out of them by religious authorities. They spoke for "God" and told the people they were all sinners and could do nothing worthy so no wonder all they ever talked about was their sinfulness; and what a pack of crawlers they saw themselves to be, leaving a slimy trail behind them anywhere they went. So the opening quotation speaks to Christians as well as to the French people.
There is something sickening about the way we go on and on about how sinful we are and there is a toxic kind of teaching that would make us believe that when we pour unbridled scorn and derision on ourselves that God responds, "O worthy man!"
T.E. Jessup had a similar point in mind when he repeats the doggerel that made the rounds a few generations ago:
Once in a saintly passion 
I cried in deepest grief
O God my heart is filled with guile
Of sinners I'm the chief.
Then came my guardian angel
And whispered from behind,
Vanity my little man
You're nothing of the kind.

I'm thinking not of a healthy confession of our sinfulness but of that pathological obsession with it that paralyses us and keeps us from growth in holiness and vibrant righteousness. I'm including the belief (promoted by the ignorant) that we're not taking our sins seriously if we don't bleat and moan ceaselessly about the evil within us. The truth is we take our sins most seriously when we reflect on the cross of Jesus and truly commit to its meaning rather than inwardly and constantly rehearsing our sins in all their gory details. It's only in the cross that the world's great wrongs are taken with the seriousness with which they deserve. But isn't it astonishing that He who takes our sins more seriously than we can imagine doesn't go on and on and on about them, but speaks forgiveness and then issues a call to vibrant righteousness, to moving on and forgetting the past? This unending whinging over our sins, this culture of confessing how evil we are can become addictive, a perverse pleasure.
Sartre has it right when he has a character say, "Clytemnestra is indulging in our national pastime, the game of public confession. Here everyone cries his sins on the housetops.... So you can imagine her delight when she finds someone like you, someone raw and young, who doesn't even know her name, to hear her tale of guilt. A marvellous opportunity! It's as if she were confessing for the first time."
It's more than potentially addictive—it's potentially boring; even we the confessors can find it boring and so we're tempted to embellish and exaggerate to make it more interesting and easier to tell. A pox on it! And a pox on all teaching that leads us to believe that we should be obsessed with our sins. All our talk is wasted on those who care nothing for holiness and all those who are sensitive to every little thing that wounds the Master's heart don't need our religious nagging even if we're throwing in verses here and there that disguise the truth that we're nagging.  There are poor souls who are ill and part of their illness is that they can't stop acting as though they were God, punishing themselves without ceasing. They sneer at every good and wholesome thought that comes into their minds—"You have your nerve to think such things—you, who only last week were…" They jeer at themselves every time they purpose to be involved in a worthy cause or speak a word for God. "Aren't you the perfect hypocrite? Do you think that will make up for…?"  These sad souls need lots of help but whatever else they need they need to come to know that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is not the Jupiter/Zeus of The Flies. He has no pleasure in endless self-despising.
If you are able—get up and move on, passionately follow the dream God has set in your heart of a glad-hearted righteousness and on the way to it, as Luther has taught us: Sin boldly!  

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.

From Jim McGuiggan... WHO AM I?




WHO AM I?

He went into it with his eyes open and finally endured what he always knew he would endure if he was taken. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the thirty-nine year old Lutheran preacher, I mean. He was an outspoken critic of Hitler and his regime, plotted with German military intelligence to kill the tyrant and worked with the resistance movements to shepherd Jews out of the country to safety. He was arrested in 1943 and after about eighteen months in prison he was brutally stripped, tortured, led out naked to execution and [like so many others] hanged with piano wire to prolong the dying process. About three weeks later Hitler committed suicide and something like a week later Germany surrendered.
It isnt easy to say where his changing theology would have led him had he lived longer but with good reason hes been admired as a hero and a man of profound faith, moral strength and sensitivity. Thats how many of his contemporaries saw him and its how tens of thousands see him today. How he saw himself at times is revealing and while its surprising it isnt really surprising. For good or ill, how others see us isnt always how we really are and how we see ourselves isnt always how we really are. In any case, heres what Bonhoeffer said about himself in his poem: Who Am I?

Who am I? They often tell me I would step from my cell's confinement 
calmly, cheerfully, firmly, like a squire from his country-house.
Who am I? They often tell me I would talk to my warden freely and 
friendly and clearly, as though it were mine to command.
Who am I? They also tell me I would bear the days of misfortune equably, smilingly, proudly, like one accustomed to win.
Am I then really all that which other men tell of, or am I only what I 
know of myself, restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage, 
struggling for breath, as though hands were compressing my throat, yearning for colours, for flowers, for the voices of birds, thirsting for words of kindness, for neighbourliness, trembling with anger at despotisms and petty humiliation, tossing in expectation of great events, powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance, weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making, faint and ready to say farewell to it all.

Who am I? This or the other? Am I one person today, and tomorrow 
another? Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others, and before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling? Or is something within me still like a beaten army, fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?
Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine. Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am thine.

In the end it doesnt matter who others think we are or even who we think we are (see 1 Corinthians 4:3-4). If were his the rest doesnt matter. In saying that I dont mean anything as silly as, the rest doesnt hurt or give pleasure. Of course it does but whether it hurts or pleases, ultimately our reputation doesnt matter.
But it goes deeper than that. If indeed we are Gods children in and through his final work in Jesus Christ it doesnt matter that in fact we are weaklings or Herculean figures, it doesnt matter if in fact we fail often or experience victories on a daily basis or if we struggle vainly to overcome some besetting sin. If we are his, if he has drawn us to him and we have committed to him on his terms whatever else we are God knows we are his and we know we know it too. G.Wade Robinson said it well for us:
Heaven above is softer blue
Earth beneath is sweeter green
Something lives in every hue
That Christless eyes have never seen.
Birds with gladder songs overflow
Stars with deeper beauty shine
Since I know as now I know
I am his and he is mine.



©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.

From Jim McGuiggan... HYPOCRITE! HYPOCRITE?

HYPOCRITE! HYPOCRITE?

Jesus said, “As a man [person] thinks in his heart so is he.” He said this too, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”  You don’t have to be a genius to understand those statements, do you?

     Hmmm. Are they are simple as they sound?

     This might be overstatement, I’m not sure, but I don’t think anything Jesus ever said was as simple as it sounds.
One of the reasons this kind of question arises for me is my own tendency to oversimplify [I admit I think I can see that tendency more easily in others].
Another is the temptation to judgmentalism. I wonder if that is another marked flaw in me. My self-appraisal says I’m not markedly that—I’m a humble man with a lot to be humble about, you see. If you knew me as I know me you would know the truth of that about me [but there’s always the need to pay attention to 1 Corinthians 4:3-4—yes?]. I’m well acquainted with some people whose speech and behavior leads me to think they’re judgmental and they’re quick to jump on a “transgressor” and when they’re cautioned about “judging” their reply is that they’re not “judging”; they’re simply “fruit inspectors”. Matthew 7:16-18 is a handy text to keep if you’re quick to damn someone but it’s another one of those texts that has in it more than meets the eye or ear.
A man I know of engaged in a series of truly wicked things—a series of them and unquestionably wicked. After the events I heard him say some of the most callous things possible. His response when he learned of the success of his sheer cruelty was something like, “Oh well, things like that happen in life. His bad luck.” It made me think of the words of the Lord Jesus—“Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” And, again, “As a man thinks in his heart so is he.”
What makes matters even more reprehensible is this. I heard the same man pray and his prayer was so rich and wonderful it ought to be memorized. This was public prayer. Something like, “I can’t help talking about your love and justice, Lord. I even sing about it. I will do what’s right and live an upright life. I hate the wickedness that men engage in and I will have nothing to do with it.”
What a hypocrite! What a God-forsaken hypocrite! 

     The man was not only a churchgoer he was big on choirs and hymn singing. I thought of Jesus’ word, “Why call me Lord, Lord, and don’t do what I say?” You think that harsh? Well, you would have had to hear how fervently he spoke and know how savagely he behaved.

There’s more. I know more about the man that’s gravely evil and it tempts me to think that his darkness is even darker than the darkness I know to be in me. He tempts me to smugness and self-righteousness. Well, in the end, it doesn’t matter what I think, does it? It’s what God thinks. But, then again, I know what God thinks, do I not? Hasn’t Jesus spoken? Didn’t he lead James [3:11-12] to say a bitter spring won’t bring sweet water! He said a sweet spring wouldn’t bring bitter water! There can be no debate about this!
Hmmm. What complicates matters is that the man I heard was David. Same man! Psalm 101:1-8 and 2 Samuel 11, especially 11:25. 

Hypocrite, was he?

“Explanations” are not hard to come by. “Yes, but…” is heard often enough [and should be!].
Listen! No complex question is as simple as smug simplifiers make it. How does the saying go, “To every complex question there’s a simple answer and it’s always wrong.”
These things should drive us to look more at the God who sees and knows all rather than to the other important issues that presently grab our undivided attention and lead to glib nonsense.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.
Spending Time with Jim McGuiggan

From Mark Copeland... Wisdom Regarding Speech



                         "THE BOOK OF PROVERBS"

                        Wisdom Regarding Speech

INTRODUCTION

1. Christians are to give careful heed to their speech...
   a. Avoiding corrupt words, speaking that which edifies - Ep 4:29
   b. Abstaining from filthy talk, giving thanks instead - Ep 5:4

2. The book of Proverbs has much to say about speech...
   a. The power of speech
   b. Both to tear down and to build up - Pr 11:9,11

[What wisdom can be gleaned from Proverbs concerning our speech or
language?  First, there is the...]

I. DESTRUCTIVE USE OF SPEECH

   A. LYING...
      1. Which is an abomination to God - Pr 12:22; 6:17-19
         a. Lying lips, a lying tongue
         b. Bearing false witness
      2. Often fostered by hatred - Pr 10:18; 26:24-28
         a. In efforts to hide hatred
         b. Trying to disguise one's true feelings
      3. Which will prove to be short-lived - Pr 12:19; 20:17; 21:6
         a. Just for a moment
         b. Sweet at first, but only a fleeting fantasy
      -- Lying will eventually destroy the liar, and often the one lied
         about

   B. FLATTERY...
      1. Not sincere compliments, but deceitful praise to win another's
         favor and to manipulate
      2. Also a source of ruin - Pr 26:28; 29:5
         a. Often crushing others
         b. By entrapping those who are flattered
      3. Often used effectively by the adulteress - Pr 6:24; 7:21
         a. A truly evil woman
         b. Who uses enticing speech to seduce
      -- Like lying, flattery can destroy both the user and subject of
         it

   C. GOSSIP...
      1. Also known as the tale-bearer, slanderer, whisperer - Pr 11:13
         a. Who reveals secrets
         b. Unlike a faithful person
      2. Betrays and destroys friendships - Pr 17:9
         a. By repeating a matter
         b. When one who truly loves will remain silent
      3. Creates strife - Pr 16:27-28; 26:20-22
         a. Revealing the perverse character of the gossip
         b. Whose words are like wood to a fire
      4. Destroys character and integrity - Pr 11:9; 25:9-10
         a. The work of a true hypocrite
         b. Whose own reputation will eventually be ruined
      -- Whether true or not is incidental; gossip destroys both the
         user and the subject

   D. CURSING...
      1. Especially one's parents - Pr 20:20; cf. Exo 21:17; Lev 20:9
         a. Such a person's lamp would soon be put out in deep darkness
         b. Under the Law of Moses, it was a capital offense
      2. But also another's associate - Pr 30:10
         a. Even maligning a lowly servant can be disastrous
         b. The master (or servant) may turn on you
      -- Speaking evil of others harms one's self as much as those
         spoken against

[As James tells us in his epistle, there is great danger in misuse of
the tongue (Jm 3:2-12).  But there can also be much good done through
proper speech (Pr 15:4)...]

II. CONSTRUCTIVE USE OF SPEECH

   A. GOOD WORDS...
      1. Words of the righteous - Pr 10:11,20-21
         a. A well of life
         b. As choice silver
         c. That feeds many
      2. Pleasant words - Pr 16:24
         a. Like a honeycomb
         b. Sweetness to the soul, health to the bones
      3. Comforting words - Pr 12:25
         a. Addressed to the anxious and depressed
         b. Making their hearts glad
      -- Such speech reveals the good heart of the speaker

   B. TIMELY WORDS...
      1. Well-timed words - Pr 15:23; 25:11
         a. Spoken in due season, how joyful and good it is!
         b. Like apples of gold in settings of silver
      2. Well-thought words - Pr 15:28
         a. Studied carefully by a righteous person
         b. On how best to answer
      -- Such speech reveals the wisdom of the speaker

   C. CONTROLLED WORDS...
      1. That benefits the one who speaks - Pr 13:2-3; 15:1-2; 21:23
         a. Preserving the life of the one who guards his mouth
         b. Defusing potentially violate situations
         c. Keeping one's soul from trouble
      2. That reveals true knowledge and understanding - Pr 10:19; 17:
         27-28
         a. By sparing words, with a calm spirit
         b. Which even a fool can benefit from
      -- Such speech will enhance the reputation of the speaker

CONCLUSION

1. From Proverbs we learn the value of being careful of our speech...
   a. Avoiding much harm to ourselves and to others
   b. Doing much good to ourselves and to others

2. Which may help us appreciate why Paul was so concerned that
   Christians...
   a. Let their speech always be with grace - Col 4:6
   b. Let no unwholesome word come out of their mouths, only good words
      - Ep 4:29

Do we truly appreciate the importance and wisdom of the right kind of
speech...?



Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011

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From Mark Copeland... "WOULD WE HAVE BELIEVED THEM?"


                     "WOULD WE HAVE BELIEVED THEM?"


INTRODUCTION

1. I have often wondered...
   a. How many of us living today, had we been living in the first
      century...
   b. Would have been receptive to the preaching of those like:
      1) John the Baptist?
      2) Peter?
      3) Paul?

2. Most of us would probably say, "Of course, for we receive them now!"
   a. But maybe that is because what they taught has become socially
      acceptable...
   b. And more often than not, their teaching is presented to us in a
      non-offensive manner

3. But how was the truth originally presented?  By what manner of men?
   If we had been there, would we have believed them?

4. I hope in this lesson to challenge our thinking along these lines...

[Imagine, then, would we have believed men like...]

I. THE HARSH HERMIT?

   A. JOHN THE BAPTIST, WHO...
      1. Did his preaching in the wilderness, forcing people to come 
         out to hear him? - Mt 3:1-2
      2. Dressed himself in camel's hair and a leather girdle, eating a
         diet of locusts and wild honey? - Mt 3:4
      3. Called religious people coming to be baptized a "brood of
         vipers"? - Mt 3:5-7

   B. I SERIOUSLY DOUBT WE WOULD...
      1. IF we balk at having to travel some distance to study God's
         Word!
         a. As is sometimes the case today (e.g., going twice on
            Sundays, etc.)
         b. But consider what Jesus taught in Mt 12:42
      2. IF we tend to judge people by the clothes they wear!
         a. It is easy to be affected by the "Dress For Success"
            philosophy
         b. But we need to remember God's perspective - 1 Sa 16:7;
            Jm 2:1-4
      3. IF we get upset or offended when a preacher points out our
         faults!
         a. Some would have preachers never preach "negative" sermons
         b. But even Jesus demonstrated that sometimes the occasion
            calls for strong measures - Mt 23:13-15

[Or how about the...]

II. THE HILLBILLY HYPOCRITE?

   A. THE APOSTLE PETER, A MAN...
      1. Whose "country ways" demonstrated his lack of formal religious
         training? - Ac 4:13
      2. Who denied Jesus three times? - Mt 26:69-75
      3. Whose hypocrisy on one occasion split a church? - Ga 2:11-13

   B. IT IS UNLIKELY...
      1. IF we expect a man to be formerly educated before we would 
         want him as a preacher!
         a. In some churches, a preacher is required to have a degree 
            to be considered acceptable
         b. But the wrong kind of learning can be a dangerous thing -
            cf. 1Co 1:18-29
      2. IF we aren't willing to give others another chance who fail 
         us, especially more than once!
         a. If Peter had been treated like we sometimes treat fallen
            preachers today, would he have
            remained an apostle?
         b. Fortunately, the early church took to heart what Jesus
            taught Peter about forgiveness - Mt 18:21-22; Lk 17:3-4

[And then, what about...]

III. THE NOTORIOUS NERD?

   A. THE APOSTLE PAUL, WHO...
      1. Had been a blasphemer, persecutor of the church? - 1Ti 1:13
      2. Was not a fluent speaker? - 1Co 2:3-4
      3. Had a physical appearance described as "weak"? - 2Co 10:10

   B. I DOUBT WE WOULD HAVE KINDLY RECEIVED PAUL...
      1. IF we hold a person's pre-Christian life against them!
         a. Such people must not believe in the power of the gospel to
            transform lives
         b. But consider what it did for the people of Corinth - 1Co 6:9-11
      2. IF we don't care to hear preachers whose sermon presentation
         lacks "polish"!
         a. Many people will not go to hear preachers who may be young,
            inexperienced, or who are not eloquent
         b. Yet "smooth words and flattering speech" can oftentimes be
            used to deceive - Ro 16:17-18
      3. IF we tend to judge people by their physical appearance (size,
         weight, etc.)!
         a. So people first judged Abraham Lincoln
         b. Again, we need to remember God's perspective on things -
            1 Sa 16:7

CONCLUSION

1. What I am suggesting is that how we receive people today is a strong
   indication as to whether we would have received such as John, Peter,
   Paul and even Jesus! - cf. Mt 13:54-58

2. While we would like to think we would have been quick to listen and
   believe their message, perhaps we might have acted differently!

3. I hope that we appreciate the importance of looking beyond the
   messenger and how his message might be presented, to the message
   itself

4. But there is another way to determine if we would have believed them
   back then:   HAVE WE OBEYED THEM TODAY?
   a. It may be speculation on our part to say we would have believed
      these men back in the first century...
   b. But one thing is sure...if we are unwilling to obey them today,
      we certainly would not have done it then!

How about you...?

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011

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From Mark Copeland... Paul And Peter (Galatians 2:6-19)


                     "THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS"

                        Paul And Peter (2:6-19)

INTRODUCTION

1. Paul's defends his apostleship in Galatians by recounting...
   a. His limited contact with the other apostles, in particular Peter
      - Ga 1:11-24
   b. Two episodes when he met with the apostles, especially Peter - Ga 2:1-21

2. The relationship between Paul and Peter has often been
   misrepresented...
   a. That Peter had primacy over Paul (Catholicism)
   b. That they had doctrinal differences (Criticism)

[The Biblical evidence shows otherwise.  Both in Galatians and elsewhere
in the Scriptures, we note their equality and respect for one another.
From our text (Ga 2:6-19), consider first...]

I. PAUL'S VISIT TO JERUSALEM

   A. THE OCCASION...
      1. Paul, Barnabas and Titus had gone to Jerusalem by revelation
         - cf. Ga 2:1-2
         a. Likely the visit to Jerusalem described in Ac 15:2-4
         b. Though some think it may have occurred earlier - cf. Ac 11:
            29-30; 12:25
      2. Paul withstood pressure by false teachers - cf. Ga 2:2-5
         a. In a private meeting, he spoke with those "of reputation"
            (Peter? James?)
         b. False brethren sought to compel Titus to be circumcised
         c. Paul refused to yield to their demands
      3. Paul met with Peter, James, and John, who "seemed to be
         pillars" - cf. Ga 2:6,9

   B. THE OUTCOME...
      1. With those "who seemed to be something" (James, Cephas, John)
         - Ga 2:6-10
         a. They added nothing to Paul (made no demands, gave no
            instructions or authority)
         b. They saw that Paul had been given the gospel to the
            uncirmcumcision
         c. Paul recognized God's effective work in Peter's ministry and
            Peter's apostleship to the circumcision
         d. James, Cephas (Peter) and John perceived the grace given to
            Paul
         e. They extended the right hand of fellowship to Paul
         f. They asked only that Paul remember the poor, which he was
            eager to do
      2. Of the meeting together with all the apostles and elders at
         Jerusalem - Ac 15:6-29
         a. Peter related his preaching to the Gentiles, and their
            salvation without circumcision
         b. Paul and Barnabas related their ministry and God's working
            among the Gentiles
         c. James offered scriptural support, and then a letter to which
            all agreed
         d. The letter confirmed the ministry of "beloved Barnabas and
            Paul"

[Paul's visit to Jerusalem certainly illustrated that he and Peter were
in doctrinal agreement regarding the gospel they preached.  The nature
of their relationship is made clearer with...]

II. PETER'S VISIT TO ANTIOCH

   A. THE OCCASION...
      1. Peter played the hypocrite - Ga 2:11-13
         a. He had come to Antioch (some think this was during Ac 15:1;
            others think it was later)
         b. At first he ate with the Gentiles
         c. After certain men came from James, Peter withdrew and
            separated himself
         d. He feared those of the circumcision
         e. His actions encouraged other Jews to be hypocrites, even
            Barnabas
      2. Paul confronted Peter - Ga 2:11,14-19
         a. He withstood Peter to his face, because he was to be blamed
         b. He rebuked Peter before them all, showing him to be
            inconsistent
         c. Paul's gospel (justification by faith in Christ, not by the
            works of the Law) vindicated by Peter, who normally lived
            like a Gentile himself - cf. Peter also, in Ac 15:7-11

   B. THE OUTCOME...
      1. Paul's equality with Peter demonstrated - Ga 2:11,14
         a. Paul had the authority to withstand him to his face
         b. Paul had the authority to charge him with hypocrisy before
            all
      2. Peter's respect for Paul undiminished - cf. 2Pe 3:15-16
         a. Peter later described Paul as "our beloved brother Paul"
         b. Peter acknowledged the wisdom given to Paul
         c. Peter recognized Paul's epistles as "Scriptures"

[Peter's visit to Antioch was not a happy occasion, but it did provide
an opportunity to illustrate the equality of Peter and Paul, and that
despite Peter's momentary lapse, his overall life demonstrated that his
gospel was the same as Paul's.  Finally, some thoughts regarding a
couple of...]

III. LESSONS FROM PAUL AND PETER

   A. THE COURAGE OF PAUL...
      1. We note the courage manifested by Paul in Jerusalem and Antioch
         a. Refusing to concede to pressure by false brethren
         b. Standing alone with even your closest brethren are led
            astray
         c. Having to rebuke a respected brother in Christ
      2. Paul's courage was motivated by faithfulness
         a. Faithfulness to the Lord whom he served
         b. Faithfulness to the gospel of which he was not ashamed - cf.
            Ro 1:16

   B. THE HUMILITY OF PETER...
      1. We note the humility manifested by Peter in his last epistle
         a. Not holding a grudge against Paul for his public rebuke
         b. Willing to publicly acknowledge Paul's wisdom given by
            inspiration
      2. Peter's humility was motivated by love
         a. Love for a brother in Christ
         b. Love consistent with what he himself taught others - cf.
            1Pe 3:8-9

CONCLUSION

1. The relationship between Paul and Peter illustrates the power of
   Christ...
   a. To turn persecutor and persecuted into coworkers for the gospel
   b. To help brethren at odds work through their problems to become
      brethren beloved

2. While Paul and Peter had a different focus in their respective
   ministries...
   a. They served the same Lord, preached the same gospel
   b. One was not superior to the other, they were fellow-apostles in
      the kingdom of God

Rather than trying to find some perceived 'rift' between two faithful
apostles, may we use their examples to motivate us in our service to the
Lord and to one another...

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011

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