7/8/14

From Jim McGuiggan...GOD'S CHALLENGE AND OURS


GOD'S CHALLENGE AND OURS

If we believe the biblical Story it’s about a God who didn’t choose to be God without creation and humankind so he loved us into existence. [See Psalm 136.] He did that with a view to completing his purpose concerning us by bringing us into the image of Jesus—the immortal man, glorious in righteousness and who as a human is the perfect image of God. If we believe the Story it means that God purposed fellowship, communion, life together and that human response is to be human response and not simply God responding to himself. In short, he freely chose out of his infinite joy and love of life to have a family of holy and joy-filled companions.
With the advent of sin (which came as no surprise to God) it might have been thought that God would jettison the entire enterprise but not him—not this God! He had committed himself and would see the enterprise through and despite the God-denying look of much of human life that was the gospel that was proclaimed in numerous ways down through history. As surely as God’s overarching purpose was true companionship with creative human response just that surely he wanted people to work with him in securing it.
So woven into the fabric of the entire biblical witness is the picture of God walking through the earth looking not only for the lost and the troubled but looking for people who would trust him; people whose gallant faith would test him and provoke him to come up with the substance of the things he led them to dream about and envision.
More often than enough the search came to nothing and there were times when faithlessness became so marked even in his own people that he would say things like, “Go find me one righteous man and I’ll forgive the city!” (Jeremiah (5:1), or to Ezekiel (22:30), “Find me one man to stand in the gap and I won’t destroy the city!” To faithless Israel he said (Isaiah 48:18); “If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.” See this too in Asa in 2 Chronicles 16:7-9 and in trustless Ahaz to whom he said (Isaiah 7:10-11), “Test me and I’ll meet your request no matter what it is.” In fact, when the prophets (OT and NT) looked over Israel’s history it might be fair to say that their summary would have been Isaiah 65:2-3, “All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people…a people who continually provoke me to my very face.”
But Hebrews 11 makes it clear that his search wasn’t always a failure and that he had reason to go back to “the Land of the Trinity” smiling to himself and with a sparkle in his eye. To the prematurely old Abraham and his barren wife (see Genesis 17:15-16 and 1 Peter 3:6.) he said, “I will make you father and mother of countless children—can you trust me to accomplish that?” They said yes and God walked off with a smile saying, “I’ll be back.” (See Genesis 18:10.)
And then there’s that marvelous psalm (Psalm 23) where some glorious believer couldn’t keep his mouth shut any longer and jumped up in church to say, “I just want to say that I trust God come what may!”
Ancient Jews weren’t scared witless by the sea but there was enough about it that generated unease in them when they looked at it. Whatever else Genesis 1 and Exodus 14:10-31 taught them, it taught them that God was the Lord of the waters and everything else that existed. He spoke and it obeyed him (see also Isaiah 17:12-14). The sea was no god to be worshiped as it had been worshiped in Egypt, where Israel had spent so many years. Still, its restlessness, its destructive power and the fact that they couldn’t control it were enough to make it a symbol of threat and chaos. They often spoke of it in those terms.
Isaiah said (17:12) “Oh, the raging of many nations—they rage like the raging sea! Oh, the uproar of the peoples—they roar like the roaring of great waters.” Here the pounding of huge waves as they smash against one another with destroying force is a graphic picture of clashing armies. In their wickedness they never ceased to cast up muck and debris (Isaiah 57:20). It was out of the restless Mediterranean (the Great Sea) that the four great Gentile kingdoms arose like monsters from a science fiction movie, devouring all before them and oppressing the people of God (Daniel 7:1-8). It’s no wonder then that when John describes the condition of the new heaven and earth in which the enemy has no place that he says of it, “And there was no more sea.”—Revelation 21:1 with 13:1
.
With thoughts and images of cruel seas circulating in a little nation that—on and off—for centuries had felt the power of oppressors, the psalmist’s defiant words in 46:1-3 ring out all the finer and braver and more trustful. People who had known no trouble didn’t sing the words he speaks—they’d known more than their share! These weren’t the words of a people who thought the world could be fixed if only people were given “enough information”. This man speaks for his entire people who expected the world to be wild and oppressive and who knew that either today or tomorrow they’d feel the hurt that powerful nations bring to weaker kingdoms. Knowing all that, fully aware of all that, certain that it will come to that, here’s what he says:
God is our refuge and strength,
An ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
And the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
Though its waters roar and foam and the mountains
Quake with their surging.
 
Picture this believer at some point in his life standing on top of the cliff, watching the huge waves building out there and then rushing toward him, picking up speed and power and they come. Imagine the shudder he feels in the ground when they thunder against the cliff face, again and again, unrelentingly, threatening to bring down the entire mountain and him along with it. Think of him, then, looking landward, to his home and people and the irresistible forces lined up against them. It’s with all those images and realities in mind that he sings into the wind and later in church: Listen again to what he defiantly sings out of a faith-filled heart.
God is our refuge and strength,
An ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
And the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,   
Though its waters roar and foam and the mountains
Quake with their surging.
 
Modern believers also sing that song. I know many of them personally! They’re intelligent, wide-eyed, politically aware, as realistic as any you could meet and when they feel the shudder under their feet they take note of it and get on with their business of world-transformation by “gospeling,” in all the ways that they do that; they’re some of the people, ancient and modern, who test God by placing their faith in him.
But no one ever tested God the way Jesus did! No one ever challenged God to the limit as Jesus did by his life of ceaseless devotion and trust. Jesus laid it out before his Holy Father from the beginning right up to the moment when even in the midst of his awful sense of abandonment on the cross he committed his spirit to his Father’s keeping. His entire life and vision is described by Peter in the words of David (Acts 2:25-28 and Psalm 16:8-11):
 
I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.
As the psalm shows us, David knew the reality of a faith like that in his own life but only Jesus could fill his words to the utmost—nobody tested God as he did! But the words as a description of Jesus’ depth and breadth of trust in God, they give us Jesus view of God. He saw God as worthy of even a perfect trust like his!
In life Jesus gave his stamp of approval to all the lives and words of God’s ancient servants who told a worried nation in troubled times: “God can be trusted!” Still, even the best of them wavered at times, whether it was Abraham, Moses or Samuel—but Jesus never did!
Since the dawn of time God has been calling people to trust him and there were times when he got a grand response but one day he called to a child named Jesus and said, “Trust me!” and the little boy said, “I do and will!” And when he consummated his entire life of sinless holiness and warm righteousness when he offered himself up in death, he laid it all out before God and said: “Match that!”
And he did it with the utmost confidence that his Holy Father would do just that—he would match it!
And then: Sunday morning and Resurrection.

by Kyle Butt, M.A. ... Right, Wrong, and God's Existence

Right, Wrong, and God's Existence

by  Kyle Butt, M.A.

Everyone in the world believes that some things are right and other things are wrong. At times, people do not agree on the exact way to decide whether something is right or wrong. But it is undeniable that the concepts of right and wrong, good and evil, do exist.
The person who does not believe that God exists has only one choice when it comes to explaining morality—man must have thought it up by himself. However, since man is seen as little more than the last animal to be produced by evolution, this becomes problematic. A lion does not feel guilty after killing a gazelle for its lunch. A dog does not feel remorse after stealing a bone from another dog. And a female pig feels no guilt after eating her newborn piglets. Yet man, who is supposed to have evolved, feels both guilt and remorse when he commits certain acts that violate his “moral code.” The simple fact that we are discussing morals establishes that morality—which is found only in humans—had to have a cause other than evolution. After all, one ape never sat around and said to another, “Today, I think we should talk about right and wrong.” Even the famous atheist George Gaylord Simpson of Harvard admitted that “morals arise only in man.” What, or should we say, Who, instilled a conscience in humans? The apostle Peter provided the only legitimate answer. In 1 Peter 1:16, he wrote that we should be holy because God is holy. The only possible source of knowledge regarding right and wrong is the almighty God who embodies all that is good. In Ecclesiastes 7:29, wise King Solomon wrote: “Truly, this only I have found: that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”
To suggest that the morality inherent in all mankind evolved from a warm pool of inorganic slime in the great long ago is an inadequate explanation. Morals could only have been placed in mankind by a Being who understood, even to a greater degree than men, the difference between right and wrong. This knowledge should lead us to follow the directive Jesus gave in Matthew 5:48: “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

From Mark Copeland... Two Mindsets In Berea (17:10-15)

                          "THE BOOK OF ACTS"

                   Two Mindsets In Berea (17:10-15)

INTRODUCTION

1. Following "The Tumult In Thessalonica" (Ac 17:1-10)...
   a. Paul and Silas were sent away by night to Berea - Ac 17:10
   b. Where once again they went into the synagogue of the Jews - cf. Ac17:1-3

2. The city of Berea...
   a. Its name means "a place of many waters"
   b. Was located near natural springs
   c. One of the most populous cities of Macedonia

3. The Jews of Berea...
   a. Described as "more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica" (NKJV)
      - Ac 17:11
   b. Other translations describe them as "more noble" (ESV), "more open-
      minded" (HCSB)
   c. He used a word (eugenesteros) that originally meant high born but
      came to have a more general connotation of being open, tolerant,
      generous, having the qualities that go with "good breeding."
      - Polhill, J. B. (1995). Acts. The New American Commentary (Vol.
      26). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

[The mindset of the Berean Jews is worthy of emulation by all people
today.  But in what way were they more "noble" or "open-minded"...?]

I. THE NOBLE BEREANS

   A. THEIR RECEPTION OF PAUL'S WORDS...
      1. First, they received his words with all readiness (NKJV) - Ac 17:11
         a. Other translations say "with all eagerness" (ESV)
         b. This suggests a willingness to listen so as to understand, 
            to give Paul a fair hearing
      2. This willingness to give a fair hearing...
         a. Was taught in the Law - Deut 13:14
         b. Was exemplified by Nicodemus - Jn 7:50-51
      3. The "Berean attitude" involves first seeking to understand what
         someone is saying
         a. Often in religious discussions, people are unwilling to
            understand what others believe
         b. Then they argue without understanding another's position,
            which is folly - Pr 18:13

   B. THEIR STUDY OF GOD'S WORDS...
      1. Second, they searched the Scriptures daily (NKJV) - Ac 17:11
         a. Other translations say "examining the Scriptures daily" (ESV)
         b. This suggests a willingness to let the Scriptures be their
            authority
      2. This willingness to let the Scriptures be their authority...
         a. Was taught in the Law - Deut 4:1-2
         b. Is taught in the New Testament - 2Ti 3:16-17; Re 22:18-19
      3. The "Berean attitude" involves study of God's word to confirm 
         what someone is saying
         a. Often in religious discussions, people simply believe what
            others have told them
         b. Arguing what they've always believed, hindering their ability
            to learn the truth - 2Ti 3:7

[Because of the mindset of those in Berea, the Word of God bore fruit
(Ac 17:12).  We emulate the mindset of "The Noble Bereans" only when we
apply both principles:

   *  Listen carefully to understand others 

   *  Study the Scriptures diligently to determine what is true

Otherwise, we are susceptible to developing a different mindset: 
becoming more like...]

II. THE IGNOBLE THESSALONIANS

   A. LIKE OTHERS BEFORE THEM...
      1. The unbelieving Jews in:
         a. Jerusalem - Ac 6:9-14
         b. Antioch of Pisidia - Ac 13:50
         c. Iconium - Ac 14:2
      2. Harassing Paul from town to town
         a. Like the unbelieving Jews from Antioch and Iconium - Ac 14:19
         b. So did the unbelieving Jews from Thessalonica - Ac 17:13

   B. LIKE SOME TODAY...
      1. Among denominations, attacking churches of Christ
         a. Misrepresenting their views regarding the church, baptism
         b. Calling them by prejudicial names (e.g., "Campbellites", "a 
            cult")
      2. Among mainstream churches of Christ, attacking more conservative
         brethren
         a. Misrepresenting their views regarding church cooperation,
            benevolence, etc.
         b. Calling them by prejudicial names (e.g., "anti", "orphan
            haters")
      3. Among conservative churches of Christ, attacking some less 
         conservative than they
         a. Presuming those who oppose them just have no respect for the
            Scriptures
         b. Calling them by prejudicial names (e.g., "liberal")

CONCLUSION

1. Because of the persecution of the unbelieving Jews from 
   Thessalonica...
   a. Paul was forced to leave Berea - Ac 17:14
   b. Arriving in Athens, to await the arrival of Silas and Timothy - Ac 17:15

2. The noble Bereans provide a mindset sorely needed today...
   a. Giving others a fair hearing
   b. Examining all things in the light of God's Word

3. The ignoble Thessalonians provide a mindset we must avoid...
   a. Blind adherence to previously held beliefs
   b. Leading to zealous persecution of the innocent

Which mindset do we possess?  Do we seek first to understand, then to
be understood?  Do we study the Scriptures daily, examining not only
the beliefs of others, but constantly testing our own beliefs?  

If so, then we are truly "fair-minded", and more likely to come to a
knowledge of the truth...

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2013

From Gary... Stress



Perhaps you may have not noticed, but I have not done a post in awhile. We went on vacation to the Northeast (New Jersey and Pennsylvania) and had a great time!!!  The break did us both a "World of Good" and now that we are home, I realize just how much we needed it.  Who would have ever thought that I would need a vacation while I am retired.  But then again, life is one continual surprise- each and every day!!!!  In preparation for the trip, I purchased a "NowBible".


http://www.christianbook.com/nowbible-nasb-audio-video-bible-reader/pd/362750?kw=nasb%20color%20nowbible&mt=b&dv=c&event=PPCSRC&p=1018818&gclid=CNuyxJOPtr8CFWrl7AodwxMAAA

I can only tell you that this is a marvellous device (It is the size of a cellphone, so I carried it in my cell case, almost all the time) and I used it a lot; especially on the plane!!!  On the return flight, we had a bit of turbulence, so I read and listened (simultaneously) to both the book of Galatians and Revelation.  And so we come to the picture and the Bible.  Specifically, to the book of Revelation...

Revelation, Chapter 1
Rev_1:3  Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.

The Scripture is true (as always) and when I finished the book, I did feel blessed. And by the way- I completely forgot about the turbulence- until just now, that is!!!  God's word changes things- always has, always will!!!!  Try it; you will like it!!!!