6/7/21

RoboLobster’s Inspiration by Eric Lyons, M.Min.

 

https://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=12&article=1911


RoboLobster’s Inspiration

by  Eric Lyons, M.Min.

Although not all scientists approve of the terms biomimicry and biomimetics (since some allege that scientists only “learn” from life, rather than “mimic” it), one thing is certain: increasingly, more scientists are looking to the biological world for inspiration for their inventions (see Benyus, 2002). In a recent Business Week article titled, “Mother Nature’s Design Workshop,” Carlos Bergfeld reported that scientists are finding “the inspiration for the latest in surveillance and defense technologies...by looking long and hard at insects and other small creatures” (2006). Bergfeld listed several recent inventions inspired by “nature’s design,” including tiny reconnaissance drones, inspired by the “micro-sized, flappable, flexible wings of bees,” and RoboLampreys, which imitate the lamprey’s ability to “stealthily probe upper-level waters, searching for underwater hazards.” One other defense mechanism listed is known as RoboLobster (“cousin” of RoboLamprey).

Lobster on Beach

At Northeastern University’s Marine Science Center in Nahant, Massachusetts, Joseph Ayers built RoboLobster in hopes of saving lives. The 7-pound, 24-inch lobster-inspired robot can search for deadly mines and carry out other tasks by “mimicking how an actual lobster combs the ocean floor for food” (Bergfeld, 2006). Of all the amazing creatures to imitate, one might wonder why scientists chose lobsters to study. Apparently, it’s all in the way they move.

Lobsters can stealthily navigate turbulent water and land, and can even automatically adjust their posture and position in order to stay still in choppy waters. Lobsters walk the ocean floor preying on clams, starfish, sea urchins, and other forms of sea life. So the theory is that an artificial lobster would be adept at prowling for mines in harbors and coastlines. According to the Office of Naval Research, shallow waters are particularly difficult areas for mine hunting because of the surge of waves and the lack of visibility (“Robotic...,” 2003).

Though not yet implemented by the Navy, RoboLobster’s minesweeping techniques show great potential. The lobster-like robot has been so impressive that Time Magazine named it one of the “Coolest Inventions of 2003” (see “Coolest...”). Normally lauded for their exquisite taste, lobsters are now recognized for their amazing design and ability to “automatically adjust their posture and position” in turbulent waters (“Robotic...,” emp. added).

Imagine seeing RoboLobster crawling in the shallow waters off of a beach. Its eight industrial-strength plastic legs work just right to move it in any direction. Its antennas sense obstacles to avoid or destroy. Its claws and tail stabilize it in rough waters. This engineering feat would not go unnoticed. You would conclude (like any rational person) that this gadget is the product of intelligent design. One or more individuals must have spent countless hours researching, designing, and assembling this lobster-like robot.

Now imagine seeing a real lobster scurrying along the same ocean floor. You recognize that its body is designed perfectly for the actions it performs. You observe its claws, legs, eyes, antennas, and tail. You watch how effortlessly it maneuvers, “automatically” adjusting its posture and position in turbulent waters. Every organ in its body functions perfectly.

To what do we owe the real, living lobster—mindless time and chance, or an Intelligent Designer? Carlos Bergfeld alleged that the “tried-and-true designs” (emp. added) of many creatures (e.g., lobsters) are the “product of millions of years of evolution” (2006). Supposedly, “Mother Nature’s 4 billion years of research” (Bergfeld, 2006) inspires these scientists in their life-like inventions. The Bible says otherwise (Genesis 1; Exodus 20:11). Common sense also tells us that design demands a designer. Poems demand poets. Paintings demand painters. Songs demand songwriters. And, just as bio-inspired robots demand an inventor, the living organisms that are increasingly imitated in science laboratories all over the world demand an Intelligent Designer.

For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God (Hebrews 3:4).

The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; the world and all its fullness, You have founded them. The north and the south, You have created them (Psalm 89:11-12).

REFERENCES

Benyus, Janine (2002), Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature (Canada: HarperCollins Publishers).

Bergfeld, Carlos (2006), “Mother Nature’s Design Workshop,” Business Week Online, June 27, [On-line], URL: http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2006/ tc20060627_504809.htm?campaign_id=bier_tcj.

“Coolest Inventions 2003” (2003), Time, [On-line], URL: http://www.time.com/time/ 2003/inventions/invlobster.html.

“Robotic Crustacean Crawls to Victory” (2003), News from Northeastern, [On-line], URL: http://www.nupr.neu.edu/11-03/time-robolob.html.

Robert G. Ingersoll: The Great Agnostic by Paul A. Phillips, M.S.

 

https://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=12&article=603


Robert G. Ingersoll: The Great Agnostic

by  Paul A. Phillips, M.S.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) was one of the most famous orators and agnostics of the latter nineteenth century in America, and his writings and speeches still are quoted today. Who was this self-proclaimed agnostic? What were the fundamentals of his beliefs?

Robert Ingersoll was the son of a circuit preacher. He was reared with his two brothers in a very strict home under stern parental discipline. While many blamed his agnosticism on this strict upbringing, Ingersoll himself denied it. He said that he did not remember when he believed the Bible and the doctrine of eternal punishment, but “I have a dim recollection of hating Jehovah when I was exceedingly small” (Farrell, 1900, 8:17).

Being the son of a minister, young Robert heard hundreds of sermons as he was growing up. At the age of seven, he heard the first sermon that would leave its mark on him. After preaching from the text of the rich man and Lazarus, the preacher concluded with the scene of the rich man in torment crying out to Father Abraham. Ingersoll said he “understood for the first time the dogma of eternal pain,” and concluded, “For me, on that day, the flames of hell were quenched” (Farrell, 4:16-17). The doctrine of eternal punishment was the catalyst that caused him to change his religious views, and it was the idea against which he fought so ardently the rest of his life.

Before Ingersoll achieved national prominence, he was known only in his state of Illinois as a politician, lawyer, and orator. Following two political defeats, and after serving briefly in the Civil War as a volunteer colonel in the Union Army, he left the political arena for several years. It was his dramatic “Plumed Knight” nominating speech for James Blaine as the Republican candidate for President in 1876 that thrust him into the national spotlight as a politician and orator.

Ingersoll did not believe the Bible to be of divine origin. He regarded the Bible in the same way he did all other ancient volumes—that is, he believed “there is some truth, a great deal of error, considerable barbarism and a most plentiful lack of good sense” (Farrell, 8:1). When asked if he kept a Bible at home, Ingersoll declared he did, and produced a leather-bound volume inscribed “The Inspired Book.” Upon opening, it was discovered to be Shakespeare. He then retrieved another volume and presented it as his family’s prayer book. It was a bound copy of works by the poet Robert Burns (Cramer, 1952, p. 28). This was all the religion Ingersoll wanted. Ingersoll had given up on the Old Testament because of its “mistakes, its absurdities, its ignorance and its cruelty,” and he gave up the New because “it vouched for the truth of the Old” (Farrell, 4:36) and introduced the “frightful doctrine of eternal pain” (Farrell, 6:5,15).

To Ingersoll, any religion based on the Bible was fear (Farrell, 4:479-483). Real religion and real worship, he maintained, were manifested by doing useful things, increasing knowledge, and developing the brain. Science was the real redeemer and savior of the world, and the trinity he worshiped was reason, observation, and experience. When asked about the kind of God he espoused, he responded that the idea of an infinite Being outside nature was inconceivable. To Ingersoll, pantheism was the closest explanation for his doctrine (Farrell, 8:56-57). Matter, intelligence, and force were eternal, he said, and he knew of nothing outside nature.

Probably the most famous speech Ingersoll ever made was the oration at the funeral of his brother Ebon. Some have even thought that his deep sorrow revealed a change in his religious views, especially in the phrase, “In the night of death hope sees a star and listening love can hear the rustle of a wing” (Farrell, 12:391). Responding to this, he said that he never willingly destroyed hope, not knowing whether man is immortal or not. Hope was not born of any religion or creed, he contended, but of human affection (Ingersoll, 1926, pp. 34-48). The necessity of death always was regrettable to Ingersoll, but it was not the cause for fear. At worst, he believed it was no more than a pleasant sleep, and at best it meant a future life with family and friends. He was certain there was no hell.

Robert Green Ingersoll, arguably one of the greatest orators this country ever produced—with his golden tongue and proficiency at persuasion—was also one of the greatest adversaries of God and Christianity in his time.

REFERENCES

Cramer, C.H. (1952), Royal Bob: The Life of Robert G. Ingersoll (New York: Bobbs-Merrill)

Farrell, Clinton P., ed. (1900), The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll (New York: C.P. Farrell).

Ingersoll, R.G. (1926), Complete Lectures of Col. Robert G. Ingersoll (Chicag, IL: Regan Publishing).

Lewis, Joseph (1983), Ingersoll the Magnificent (Austin, TX: American Atheist Press).

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


 https://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=12&article=878

 

 Right, Wrong, and God's Existence

by  Kyle Butt, M.Div.

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.”

 

"THE GOSPEL OF JOHN" The Pre-existence Of Christ (1:1-5) by Mark Copeland

 






 

"THE GOSPEL OF JOHN"

The Pre-existence Of Christ (1:1-5)

INTRODUCTION

1. The gospel of John was written for a simple purpose...
   a. To produce faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God - Jn 20:30-31a
   b. To share the "life" that comes through such faith - Jn 20:31b

2. To encourage us to have faith in Jesus Christ...
   a. John begins his gospel with a prologue - Jn 1:1-18
   b. In which he makes several claims as to who Jesus was
      1) He refers to Jesus in this prologue as "the Word"
      2) That he refers to Jesus is evident from verses 14-18

3. The very first claim pertains to the pre-existence of Christ...
   a. That He existed in the beginning, long before being born of Mary cf. Jn 1:1-2
   b. That His work in the beginning has great significance for us - cf. Jn 1:3-5

[John is not alone in proclaiming "The Pre-Existence Of Christ."
Elsewhere in the Scriptures we find...]

I. EVIDENCE FOR THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF CHRIST

   A. FORETOLD BY THE PROPHETS...
      1. Micah prophesied of the pre-existence of the Messiah to come - Mic 5:2
      2. Isaiah spoke of the King to come as "Everlasting Father" - Isa 9:6-7
      3. Zechariah recorded the Messiah's own promise to come - Zech 2: 10-11

   B. AFFIRMED BY JESUS HIMSELF...
      1. In His claim to have existed in Abraham's day - Jn 8:56-58
      2. In His prayer shortly before His arrest and crucifixion - Jn 17:4-5,24
      3. In the revelation He gave to John - Re 22:13

   C. DECLARED BY HIS APOSTLES...
      1. By John in his gospel, and also his epistle - Jn 1:1-4; 1Jn 2:14
      2. By Paul in his epistles
         a. To the church in Corinth - 1Co 10:1-4; 2Co 8:9
         b. To the church in Philippi - Php 2:5-8
         c. To the church in Colosse - Col 1:16-17

   D. ILLUSTRATED BY THE CREATION...
      1. All things were created by Jesus - Jn 1:3; He 1:2-3
      2. Necessitating His existence before creation - Col 1:16-17
      3. Implying His own eternal power and divine nature - Ro 1:20

[These are remarkable claims concerning Jesus, even blasphemous if not
true.  Yet if true (and John's gospel is design to prove that it is), consider...]

II. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF CHRIST

   A. HE IS DEITY...!
      1. Especially when we consider the nature of His pre-existence
         a. His going forths were "from everlasting" - cf. Mic 5:2
         b. He was the eternal "I Am" - Jn 8:58; cf. Exo 3:13-14
      2. As made clear in John's prologue - Jn 1:1-2
         a. He was "with" God (implying a personal communion with God)
         b. He "was" God (explicitly stating His deity)
      -- Thus He is worthy of our love and adoration - cf. Jn 20:28

   B. HE IS LIFE...!
      1. By virtue of being the Creator and the Sustainer of life
         a. All things were made by Him - Col 1:16
         b. All things are held together (NASV, NRSV) by Him - Col 1:17
      2. Again, as John makes clear in his prologue - Jn 1:3-4
         a. Without Him, nothing was made
         b. In Him was life itself
      -- Thus He gives us hope for our own resurrection! - cf. Jn 5:21; 11:25

   C. HE IS LIGHT...!
      1. We live in a world of darkness...
         a. Where people spend their lives stumbling in ignorance
         b. Alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance- cf. Ep 4:17-19
      2. As the Creator and Sustainer of life itself...
         a. Jesus is uniquely qualified to bring light into the world- Jn 1:4
         b. He calls for us to believe that we might become "sons of light"- Jn 12:35-36
      -- Thus Jesus offers us the "light of life" - Jn 8:12

CONCLUSION

1. Sadly, many resist the life and light Jesus offers...
   a. Some tried to destroy Him, but did not succeed - cf. Jn 1:5 (NRSV)
   b. Many try to avoid Him, knowing that it will mean changes to their
      lifestyle - cf. Jn 3:19-20

2. But for those willing to come to Jesus...
   a. He offers us hope and guidance in this life - cf. Mic 5:4-5a
   b. He is capable of fulfilling His promises - cf. Mt 11:28-30

For He is no mere man, whose existence began when born by Mary, but
"whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting." - Mic 5:2  
 
Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2016

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Some Light-hearted Thoughts On Getting Older

 

https://thepreachersword.com/2014/03/13/some-light-hearted-thoughts-on-getting-older/#more-5349

Some Light-hearted Thoughts On Getting Older

KenBday 

 

Well, here it is again.  My birthday!  When you’re a kid they can’t come quickly enough.  When you get to my, uh, well, a certain age, they seem to come too quickly!

Some of my favorite stories and quips come to mind this morning.

A census taker knocked on Marg Montgomery’s door. She answered all his questions except one. Her age.  Marg was adamant.  She wasn’t telling.

“But everyone tells their age to the census taker,” he said.

Marg thought about the Hills, two old-maid twin sisters who lived down the road. “Did Miss Maisy Hill, and Miss Daisy Hill tell you their ages?” she asked.

“Certainly,” he replied.

“Well, I’m the same age as they are,” she snapped.

The census taker simply wrote on the form, “As old as the Hills.”

Well, I’m not “as old as the Hills”!  Not yet, anyway!  But I have been guilty of looking at others my own age and thinking, “Surely I don’t look that old!”  If you’ve ever thought that, you will love this story.

A man waiting for his first appointment with a new dentist. He noticed the certificate in the exam room which gave his full name. He thought, I went to school with that guy 40 years ago!

However, when the dentist entered the room, he realized that it couldn’t be the same person. This guy was a balding, graying old man. Much too old to have been his classmate.

Finally, at the end of the exam, he asked the dentist if he had attended the local high school. “Yes, he replied.

“When did you graduate?” the patient asked.

“1957.” Answered the dentist.

“Wow! You were in my class! He exclaimed.

Then the dentist looked closely at him and seriously asked, “What did you teach?”

Ouch!

The comedian, Jeff Foxworthy, did a bit with some great one-liners on aging that he  called “You’re not a kid anymore WHEN….

“You quit trying to hold your stomach, no matter who walks into the room.”

“You enjoy watching the news.”

“People ask what color your hair USED to be.”

“You don’t like to drive after dark.”

“When you point out what buildings used to be there.”

And I can definitely relate to this one.

“8 AM is your idea of “sleeping in.”

Thinking of age and what I would do differently, if I could be young again,  always reminds me of the quip by George Bernard Shaw, “Youth is such a wonderful thing, it’s a shame to waste it on the young.”

Sometimes I feel a little bit like Bertrand Russell who lamented, “I was born in the wrong generation.  When I was a young man, no one had any respect for youth.  Now I am an old man and no one has any respect for age.”

At least my generation had the best music ever!  However, I hear that some of  “Our songs” are being re-released on a new album called “Baby Boomers Turn Gray.”  Here’s a few.

Paul Simon-–“Fifty Ways to Lose You Liver.”

The Bee Gees-–“How Can You Mend a Broken Hip”

Roberta Flack-–“The First Time Ever I Forgot Your Face.”

The Who-–“Talking’ Bout My Medication.”

Herman’s Hermits-–“Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Walker.”

The Troggs-–“Bald Thing.”

ABBA–“Denture Queen.”

I guess, if we’re honest, we like to joke about age because there’s a certain point where getting older frightens us a little bit. Like Jonathan swift once said, “Every man desires to live long, but no man wants to be old!”

Thus the admonition of the Psalmist is fitting.  “So teach us to number our days,  That we may gain a heart of wisdom.”  (Ps 90:12)

So, today, I will embrace another birthday.  Enjoy it.  Be thankful to God for good health.  A wonderful wife.  A loving family.  And encouraging brethren.

Now, excuse me, while I drink my prune juice and eat my bran flakes!

–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman

IS AN UNTIMELY DEATH AN INOCULATION AGAINST OBEYING THE GOSPEL? by steve finnell

 

https://steve-finnell.blogspot.com/2016/11/is-untimely-death-inoculation-against.html

IS AN UNTIMELY DEATH AN INOCULATION AGAINST OBEYING THE GOSPEL? by steve finnell


Some say that immersion in water, [that being baptism], is not essential for salvation. The reasoning is because if a believer should die before he has time to be baptized God would forgive him anyway. Their logic being a loving God would not condemn a person because of an untimely death.

Jesus gave us the gospel terms of pardon. Mark 16:16 "He who believes and is baptized will be saved....(NKJV)

If a person can be saved because they died before they were baptized, then, why could they not be saved before they believed that Jesus is the Christ?

If a person heard the gospel, but died minutes before they believed that Jesus is the Christ,  would they be saved? Of course not.

If a person hears the gospel and does not believe nor is not baptized, is it because he died an untimely death or simply because he rejected the gospel terms for pardon.

God has the power to insure that believers have time to be baptized.

In Biblical examples men were baptized the same day they believed. No one died before they had a chance to be baptized. Acts 2:37-41....41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.(NKJV) Acts 8:26-38.....So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. (NKJV) Act 16:25-33.....And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized.(NKJV)

[NOTE: There is no Scripture where Jesus says. "Baptism will not save you." There is Scripture where Jesus says "Is baptized will be saved."(Mark 16:16)

Remember When... by Tim McNeill

 

https://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/McNeill/Timothy/Kevin/1956/remember.html

Remember When...

How many of us can remember the first time we heard of Christ? How about that special day when you were baptized? What a very special occasion! What excitement! What joy! What peace! Our lives were changed. We acted differently. We treated others differently. Why was that? Well, 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."

We were a new creation. What a blessed time! Now think back. What happened next. Some were treated badly because of their choice to follow Jesus. Others were welcomed home with celebrations. We were no longer of this world but we still had to live in this world. And life went on. We became busy.

For some of us it is so easy to be busy. Busy with living life in the physical world. Taking care of living from day to day. We start by making all the little decisions, like, what time to go to work, what clothes to wear, what to fix for supper, what TV show to watch, when to clean the living room, when to wash the car, and where to go on holiday. And pretty soon we are not inviting Jesus into any part of our lives. Then we end up like the farmer in the parable: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?' So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry."' But God said to him, 'You fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?' So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God" (Luke 12:16-21).

As we become so busy with our physical life we begin to blend in.
Blending is different from mixing. You can mix oil and water. But when you stop mixing you can definitely see that you still have two different individual parts. But when you combine butter, eggs and sugar for a cake you end up with a blend of the ingredients. Now you can no longer distinguish the butter from the sugar or the eggs. As we get busy, we blend in so well people can't distinguish the spiritual side of our lives any more. No one can see the Light of Jesus shining through our lives.

It is easy to blend back into the world. The Bible points this out in several places. In 1 Kings, Solomon began to blend in and become like the people around him. "For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his father David" (1 Kings 11:4).

Do you think Solomon picked a day and decided not to be fully devoted to God from that day on? It was more likely a gradual process.

Paul wrote his letter to the Galatians because they were turning back to what they were before. "But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?" (Galatians 4:8,9).

Do you think they stopped one day and said, "Let's go back to the way we were?" No they slowly drifted off course.

I fly airplanes and it is very easy to drift slowly off course. No sudden or abrupt turns, just a slow shift in heading and we end up at the wrong airport. To get to the right airport we must constantly be checking our maps and our instruments. If we get busy with all the little things around us and don't pay attention we end up going the wrong way.

So the question is how do we keep from getting too busy and blending into the world around us. Paul offers a suggestion to help us in Romans 12:2. "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

Transformed by the renewing of your mind. What did Paul mean here? How do we renew our mind? By praying, and by reading and thinking about the words of God. In Philippians 4:4-9 he says: "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy -- meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you" (Philippians 4:4-9).

Now how often should we attempt this renewing of our mind? "Then He said to them all, 'If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what advantage is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?'" (Luke 9:23-25). "Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called 'Today,' lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin" (Hebrews 3:12,13). We see from these verses that we must follow Christ daily and must exhort one anther daily to renew our minds.

And with the renewing of our minds we can be taken back to that excitement of when we were first in Christ and be reminded of why we chose Christ and enjoy all the feelings that we had then.

So daily we should rejoice, be gentle, not anxious, we should offer up prayers of petition and thanksgiving. And daily we should think on things that are noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. Daily we should put into our lives what we have learned, received, heard and seen in Jesus.

This is a long list to remember. But if we will simply remember these three things about renewing our minds: praying, reading the Scriptures, and thinking about the words of God. Then we can refer back to Philippians 4:4-9 to jog our memory on how to renew our minds.

Tim McNeill

Published in The Old Paths Archive
(http://www.oldpaths.com)

The Tongue by Gary Rose

 


VERY CUTE CAT, but that TONGUE! And what is the cat trying to communicate, rebellion, disgust, comedy or maybe something else altogether? Normally, when I think of the tongue, this passage from the book of James comes to mind, but then I asked myself the question: Can anything positive be said about the tongue?


James 3 ( World English Bible )

2 For in many things we all stumble. If anyone doesn’t stumble in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also.

3 Indeed, we put bits into the horses’ mouths so that they may obey us, and we guide their whole body.

4 Behold, the ships also, though they are so big and are driven by fierce winds, are yet guided by a very small rudder, wherever the pilot desires.

5 So the tongue is also a little member, and boasts great things. See how a small fire can spread to a large forest!

6 And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by Gehenna.

7 For every kind of animal, bird, creeping thing, and thing in the sea, is tamed, and has been tamed by mankind.

8 But nobody can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the image of God.

10 Out of the same mouth comes forth blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

11 Does a spring send out from the same opening fresh and bitter water?

12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, yield olives, or a vine figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh water.

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by his good conduct that his deeds are done in gentleness of wisdom.


To answer my question, I did a quick concordance search and found the following...

2 Samuel 23 ( WEB )

1 Now these are the last words of David. David the son of Jesse says, the man who was raised on high says, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel:

2 The Spirit of Yahweh spoke by me. His word was on my tongue.


Psalm 45 ( WEB )

1 For the Chief Musician. Set to “The Lilies.” A contemplation by the sons of Korah. A wedding song. My heart overflows with a noble theme. I recite my verses for the king. My tongue is like the pen of a skillful writer.


Psalm 51 ( WEB )

14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation. My tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness.


Psalm 71 ( WEB )

22 I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, my God. I sing praises to you with the lyre, Holy One of Israel.

23 My lips shall shout for joy! My soul, which you have redeemed, sings praises to you!

24 My tongue will also talk about your righteousness all day long, for they are disappointed, and they are confounded, who want to harm me.


Psalm 126 ( WEB )

1 A Song of Ascents. When Yahweh brought back those who returned to Zion, we were like those who dream.

2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, “Yahweh has done great things for them.”

3 Yahweh has done great things for us, and we are glad.


Pro. 12 ( WEB )

18 There is one who speaks rashly like the piercing of a sword, but the tongue of the wise heals.


Prov. 15 ( WEB )

2 The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of fools gush out folly.

4 A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but deceit in it crushes the spirit.


Proverbs 18 ( WEB )

21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue; those who love it will eat its fruit.


Acts 2 ( WEB )

22 “Men of Israel, hear these words! Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God to you by mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of you, even as you yourselves know,

23 him, being delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by the hand of lawless men, crucified and killed;

24 whom God raised up, having freed him from the agony of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it.

25 For David says concerning him, ‘I saw the Lord always before my face, For he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved.

26 Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced. Moreover my flesh also will dwell in hope;

27 because you will not leave my soul in Hades, neither will you allow your Holy One to see decay.


Romans 14 ( WEB )

7 For none of us lives to himself, and none dies to himself.

8 For if we live, we live to the Lord. Or if we die, we die to the Lord. If therefore we live or die, we are the Lord’s.

9 For to this end Christ died, rose, and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

10 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

11 For it is written, “‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘to me every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess to God.’”


Philippians 2 ( WEB )

5 Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus,

6 who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped,

7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men.

8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross.

9 Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name;

10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth,

11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

12 So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.


1 John 3 ( WEB )

18 My little children, let’s not love in word only, neither with the tongue only, but in deed and truth.


Summary…

The tongue should love and... 1 John 3:18

The tongue can be used to confess God Romans 14:11 ...

The tongue can be used skillfully… Psalm 45:1

The tongue can be used to sing of God’s righteousness… Psalm 51:14

The tongue can sing praises to God… Psalm 126:2

The tongue can talk about God’s righteousness... Psalm 71:24

The Tongue can bring rejoicing Acts 2:26

The tongue can heal... Proverbs 12:18

The tongue can commend knowledge ... Proverbs 15

The tongue can be a tree of life… Proverbs 15

The tongue can result in either life or death… Proverbs 18

The tongue can have the words of God on it… 2 Samuel 23:2


Consider this: Its your tongue and your choice, so choose wisely, for remember the words of Proverbs 18:12?


Death and life are in the power of the tongue; those who love it will eat its fruit.”