1/12/14

From Gary... Fractals, art and Divinity

This is labelled a "Light Smphonia 3D Fractalscape" and it is!!! The complexity, the symmetry and the color become more beautiful with each and every second that you view this beautiful artwork!!! Since all things are created by something, whoever created this must be very special indeed.

Looking up "fractal" resulted in this definition:

"A fractal is a mathematical set that typically displays self-similar patterns, which means they are "the same from near as from far".^[1] Often, they have an "irregular" and "fractured" appearance, but not always. Fractals may be exactly the same at every scale, or, as illustrated in Figure 1, they may be nearly the same at different scales.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] The definition of fractal goes beyond self-similarity per se to exclude trivial self-similarity and include the idea of a detailed pattern repeating itself.^[2]^{:166; 18}^[3]^{[6] "}

If you would like to read the entire article, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractal

This is interesting; difficult for me to understand, but interesting!!! The mind that can conceive of such things is way beyond my comprehension, but then again so what? Each of is special in our own way and for those of us who really know God- well that makes us very special indeed!!! Read on to see where I am going with this...

Psalm, Chapter 8

1 Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth,
who has set your glory above the heavens!
  2 From the lips of babes and infants you have established strength, because of your adversaries, that you might silence the enemy and the avenger.
  3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have ordained;
  4 what is man, that you think of him?
What is the son of man, that you care for him?  5 For you have made him a little lower than God,
and crowned him with glory and honor.
  6 You make him ruler over the works of your hands.
You have put all things under his feet:
  7 All sheep and cattle,
yes, and the animals of the field,
  8 The birds of the sky, the fish of the sea,
and whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
  9 Yahweh, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Not just a few of us, but all of us that strive to understand our maker. We are special!!! And if WE are special; then what about the one who made us? As beautiful as this picture is, it can not compare to God Almighty!!! Doubt that- when it gets dark tonight, go outside and look at the stars and wonder!!!

From Ben Fronczek... Patience Boosters

Patience Boosters

Reading: James 5:7-11 “Dear brothers and sisters,^[a] be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. ⁸You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near.

⁹Don’t grumble about each other, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. For look—the Judge is standing at the door!

¹⁰For examples of patience in suffering, dear brothers and sisters, look at the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy.” NLT

How many lessons have you heard, or have read of our need, as Christians, to become patient? Probably many times.

It is one of the fruits of a Spirit fill person as seen in Galatians 5:22. Over and over in the Bible we read about the importance of becoming patient. In the book of Proverbs the wise teacher instructs us to be patient.

- In 14:29 he writes, “Whoever is patient has great understanding,
but one who is quick-tempered displays folly.”

- In 15:18 he writes, “A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel.

– In 16:32 he writes, “Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city.”

- In 19:11 he writes, “A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.”

The importance and encouragement to become patient is also seen over and over in the NT, especially in the apostle Paul’s writings.

– In Romans 12:12 he writes “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

- In Colossians 3:12 he writes, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”

- In Ephesians 4:2 he writes, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”

- In 1 Thess. 5:14 he writes, “And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”

Actually the English word ‘patient’ is a weak translation of the original Greek word used in James. It is really a compound word which means: ‘to be longsuffering, slow to anger, slow to punish.’ The idea is to be self-restrained and not quick to retaliate. It is seen when one goes without complaining, giving up or striking out.

So why is our need to be patient such a big deal in scripture? I actually took some time to research some on the pro and cons of this topic. As I see it, the more you understand what patience is, and how it effects you, you begin to realize that it really does have an effect on almost every part of our life.

It effects how you think, how you act, It can affect you emotionally, socially and even on a spiritual level. It can even affect you physically; how you feel. Those who are impatient experience a rise in blood pressure, an increase in anxiety and stress, and your over all happiness goes down.

Whereas those who learn to be more patient reap many rewards; for example:

- If you are more patient you reduce your stress level, your blood pressure, you won’t get as angry as often, you’ll sleep better, you’ll actually be healthier, and happier.

- More patient people can actually think clearer and make better decisions, and they don’t make as many mistakes. Being more patient also enables a person to hang in there longer and work toward achieving goals and dreams.

- Being a patient person also helps one cope with difficulties, hardships and obstacles graciously and they respond to life’s challenges with more courage, strength and optimism.

- Learning to be a patient person also gives you a calmer spirit, and you have more peace of mind rather than being overwhelmed and frazzled all the time.

- And finally, more patient people usually have a better relationship with their spouse, family, friends and co-workers.

In our text today, I believe that James was writing to some Christians who we struggling, maybe oppressed or even persecuted. He instruct them to be patient and hang in there; be long suffering and not to grumble and complain, but realize that God has a great reward for those who hang in there and remain faithful to Him, for the Lord is sees all and is full of compassion and mercy.

I would like to believe that as James grew up with Jesus he observed one the most patient people who ever lived. Jesus lived His whole time here without ever sinning once yet He was surrounded by flawed and sinful people. He knew what it was to be patient and long suffering when it came to living in a house with many siblings as well as a world full of sinful and foolish men.

Here in James he illustrate some who have to wait before they are rewarded, like farmers who plant and then have to be patient and wait for the harvest. He also mentions Job and the prophets chose not to give up on God, but were long suffering and patient, as they waited on upon God.

So how patient are you? In my reading I came across some good suggestions to help boost our level of patience. In her book, Ryan makes a comment that I agree with, that : “Patience is something you do, not something you have or don’t have. It’s a decision you make again and again. Patience is a quality that can be strengthened like a muscle.”

So, How to Develop Patience: In some ways its like exercising and developing a muscle. First of all its about making a choice and deciding to develop that muscle. Becoming more patient involves making some choices on how you are going to act or react in a certain situation. First we need to decide to make patience a goal. Try starting by deciding to do your best to be patient in all circumstances for the entire day, then purposely try it to 2 days, and then 3, and so on. Like exercise, the more you do it the easier it becomes.

Just like some of muscles are stronger and some are weaker, we are stronger and more patient with some things, and some people, but not so much with others. Take note of when you are less patient. Be more careful in those situations or with those people. Those areas where we are less patient are what you will have pay more attention to and work on more.

Also take note of how you feel. Are you tired, hungry, or off physically in some other way? Be aware of your weaknesses and be even more careful when you are not feeling 100 percent. If at all possible when you feel off, try not to subject yourself to those things or people that frustrate you, bore you or set you off. Don’t go shopping at Walmart Friday evening if you are tired, hungry and a hurry to get home because you have a headache, because more than likely the lines of people will test your patience. At least knowing your weaknesses will help you be a bit more cautious as you deal with the situation.

Get rest when you need it. Take care of your body. If you don’t, it will affect your mood.

#2) Practice thinking before you speak. If we pause and go over what we want to say, we can avoid hurting or offending others. Do you remember what James wrote in 1:19? He wrote “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”

In other words slow down! Take deep breaths to try to relax when you find yourself getting impatient and anxious. When we are stressed we tend to lose our patience and get frustrated.

#3) Next time you have to wait for something, it helps to take that free time to do something useful. Do something constructive while waiting. It keeps your mind and your time occupied and helps you avoid unnecessary stress from worrying and getting yourself uptight. Even plan what you are going to do before hand just in case you have to wait. Pray, or make a mental note of the things that you need to do that day. Or you can sing a song. When I have to wait as I get my vehicles worked on I always take a book, some paper and pen. I have prepared a number of good sermons and Bible studies as I sat there waiting. It’s all about preparation; having a few things you can do in case you have to wait. Plan ahead!

#4) Take the time to help others. For example, having to deal with the elderly and the hearing impaired definitely requires patience. By choosing to help others on a regular basis, such as watching children or the elderly, you will find yourself slowing down a bit and becoming more patient. Patience can bring out the compassionate side of you.

#5) Here is a real important one:– Realize daily that no one is perfect except Jesus. So practice tolerating and loving people even though they are flawed. We are all flawed in one way or many. So even before you get out of bed in the morning, make a conscious effort to love people no matter what. Not their sin but the person. This will help.

James wrote in verse 9, “Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!” Decide to cut others some slack if they mess up. Learn to be patient and even cut yourself some slack when you mess up.

#6) Cultivate Faith. I believe patience and faith walk hand in hand. The more faith you have in yourself, in others, and in God the more patient you will be. If you are a very patient person it is a sign that you trust and have faith in others, especially faith in God.

Hardship, difficulties and tragedies are part of life. They will test your faith. Believe in God’s providence and care. Believe that there is a purpose in all that happens and that setback may only be temporary.

#7) Don’t be too proud to ask for help. Many times we’re impatient because we’re overloaded. Someone once said, “There’s no prize at the end of your life for doing too much, particularly doing it in a frazzled state,”

#8) And finally, read, read, and learn from scripture. Over and over we not only see how patient God is with us, we also see how much we are encourage to do the same when it comes to dealing with others. Being patient with others is actually a form of LOVE. In 1 Cor. 13:4, Paul wrote, “ Love is patient.“

It is said that, ‘Patience is a virtue’. Why is that so? Because learning to be patient make us better people. I don’t know about you but I want to become a better person, the kind of person that God wants me to become

If you struggle with being patient you are not alone. Many times it’s just a matter of learning a little more and changing our frame of mind. I pray that our God will continue to be patient with us as we try to become more like Him.

From Mark Copeland... Fleeing In Full Pursuit (1 Timothy 6:3-11)

                     "THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY"

                    Fleeing In Full Pursuit (6:3-11)

INTRODUCTION

1. In 1Ti 6:11, we find an interesting contrast concerning the "man of
   God"...
   a. He is told to "flee" (Grk., pheugo)
   b. He is told to "pursue" (Grk., dioko)
   c. In the Grk. NT, these two words are next to each other,
      highlighting the contrast between them

2. So while one is fleeing from some things, he should be pursing other
   things...
   a. Are we fleeing those things from which we ought to flee?
   b. Are we pursing those things we need to pursue?

[Ask yourself these questions as we consider "Fleeing In Full Pursuit".
First, there are...]

I. THINGS TO FLEE

   A. DOCTRINAL ERROR...
      1. Contrary to the words of our Lord and the doctrine according to
         godliness - 1Ti 6:3
      2. Especially any error related to:
         a. The practice of fornication ("flee sexual immorality")
            - 1Co 6:18
         b. The practice of idolatry ("flee from idolatry") - 1Co 10:14
      3. This implies that we must learn the truth - how can we flee
         from an unknown enemy?

   B. DISPUTES AND ARGUMENTS OVER WORDS...
      1. What might be described as "word battles" - 1Ti 6:4-5
         a. Some people become obsessed with such things
         b. They love to argue religion, just for the sake of arguing!
      2. The outcome of such discussions are often:
         a. envy - the ill will one has when bested by an opponent
         b. strife - the condition that exists while argument is being
            discussed and people refuse to admit defeat
         c. reviling - abusive language (e.g., slander, scorn) regarding
            the opposition
         d. evil suspicions - mistrust, suspecting and impugning
            another's motives
      3. Where discussions become "useless wranglings"
         a. By men "of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth"
            1) They can't think straight
            2) They don't even know what is really true
         b. By men who think "godliness is a means of gain"
            1) Some think such arguing will make them famous
            2) Others think it will give them power, position, even
               wealth
      4. Timothy was told to stay away from such "wranglers"! - 1 Ti 6:5; 2Ti 2:14-16,23

   C. DESIRE FOR WEALTH...
      1. Godliness with contentment is the great gain - 1Ti 6:6-8
         a. "You can't take it with you"
         b. Food and shelter are the only true "necessities"
         c. Contentment is a grace to be learned - cf. Php 4:11-13
      2. Those who "desire to be rich" endanger themselves - 1Ti 6:9
         a. They fall into temptation and a snare
         b. They fall into foolish and harmful lusts which drown them in
            destruction and perdition
      3. The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil - 1Ti 6:10
         a. Some have strayed from the faith in their greediness
         b. They found not happiness, but much sorrow!

[Such things we are to "flee" (1Ti 6:11).  Are we fleeing from them, or
flirting with them?  It helps to flee when we are in full pursuit of
certain things...]

II. THINGS TO PURSUE

   A. RIGHTEOUSNESS...
      1. The quality of being right, and doing right, in the sight of
         God
      2. The righteousness we seek is that found in Christ, and Paul
         illustrates the "pursuit" one should have for it - cf. Php 3:
         7-14

   B. GODLINESS...
      1. This can be defined as "devotion to God which results in a life
         that pleases Him"
      2. I.e., one who is godly displays a truly pious conduct
      3. This godliness requires effort or exercise on our part - cf.
         1Ti 4:7
      4. The pursuit of godliness is well worth it, according to Paul
         - 1Ti 4:8

   C. FAITH...
      1. Faith in its subjective sense, "active reliance on God and His
         promises" - Hendriksen
      2. Such reliance comes from the Word of God - Ro 10:17
      3. At times, we must battle to maintain this reliance - 1Ti 6:12
      4. There is the danger of developing a heart of unbelief, which is
         why we must always be in pursuit of faith - cf. He 3:12-15

   D. LOVE...
      1. We are to love God, brethren, even enemies - Mt 22:36-40; 5:44
         a. This love is from the Grk. agape, "active good will"
         b. It involves a decision of the will, not the heart
      2. Such love does not come naturally, we must be taught it - e.g.,
         1Th 4:9; 3:12
      3. Thus it is something we must pursue, or we will not have it!

   E. PATIENCE...
      1. Steadfastness, "the grace to bear up under adversities"
         - Hendriksen
      2. Especially in times of persecution, discouragement, hard times
      3. "Endurance" would be another word - e.g., Jesus, He 12:1-4

   F. GENTLENESS...
      1. This word is akin to "patience", but with respect to people
         rather than circumstances
      2. It affects how we treat others, even those with whom we differ
         - cf. 2Ti 2:24-25
      3. Where the virtues of righteousness, godliness, faith, love and
         patience are present, the virtue of gentleness naturally
         follows

CONCLUSION

1. These things to flee and things to pursue were important to Paul...
   a. He not only warned Timothy in this passage
   b. He warned Timothy again in another epistle - 2Ti 2:22-23

2. Perhaps because there is something in human nature...
   a. To pursue things we ought to be fleeing
   b. To flee things we ought to be pursuing

3. Hopefully these words of the apostle will serve us well...
   a. To keep us on the right track
   b. To motivate us to be more diligent about moving in the right
      direction

Are we "Fleeing In Full Pursuit", fleeing that which is wrong, pursuing
that which is right...?

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011

From Jim McGuiggan... Randomness and good luck

Randomness and good luck

The dictionary says that "luck" is loss or benefit brought about by chance. We say "bad" luck when we see the result as loss or disappointment and "good" when we judge it to be benefit. There’s no mystery there—that makes sense.

Ask serious believers if they believe in "good luck" and you’d only find a handful in a million that’d say they do. Why is that? Because they’re used to attributing all the good things in their lives to God. They thank him for everything and they seem to remember something like "every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights."

In their tens of thousands they’ll tell you interesting stories about "remarkable coincidences" that they know aren’t really "coincidences". Food and money arrives from unexpected places in the nick of time, strangers that were heading elsewhere got lost and turned up precisely where they were needed to be, to save a life and a job turned up the very day the family was going to be evicted. It doesn’t matter that we say to them that these could be explained as chance events so that there’s no way to prove God brought it about. They know that but they insist that it was God that worked it out. They pray "give us this day our daily bread," go out and work for it and still say that God provided their food or rent or clothes or whatever money was needed to take care of these things. Try telling them that these things happen to others that don’t pray and the believers will still thank God for providing. A church gathers and prays for needed rain for their threatened crops and it arrives, a good crop is harvested and the people gather to thank God. Try telling them that it was all chance, that prayers in no way affect the atmosphere, that the wind and sun and other things just happened to combine at the right place at the right time. Tell them that and they’ll quote you texts and go back to thanking God for the rain he sent when they needed it.

There are as many random elements involved in the production of what believers will call a "blessing" from God as in the production of a tragedy.

Ask serious believers if they believe in "bad" luck and they may hem and haw a bit, unsure of themselves. Why is that? Well, part of the reason is that they don’t want to attribute pain, loss and tragedy to God because some of them think that God only has a hand in bringing about "good" things. They’re afraid that if they say God brings tragedy as well as blessing they lead people to hate God (and some preachers muzzle them by telling them that’s exactly what they’ll do). And, besides, there are all those difficult questions that poor hurting souls ask and that they can’t answer for them. Questions like, "Why my little girl?" or "How could God be good and do such a thing to my Grandmother?" or "How can you make sense of a tidal wave?"

They can’t answer these questions and it bothers them tremendously. But they can’t answer the difficult questions about "good luck" (answered prayer) either. It’s just that questions about the tragic have a different emotional content and it’s almost always the case that they have profoundly deeper passion connected with them.

God answers prayer! Jesus said he did and urged us to pray. And he himself prayed believing that prayer avails. It’s important to recognise that "request" prayers are only one of a score of different kinds of prayers that include confession, praise, communion and others. But we are called to bring petitions and requests to God. The Lord’s Prayer demonstrates that, so we aren’t to apologise for making requests.

Fundamentally we insist that God answers prayer not because we think we can prove it by our personal experiences—experiences that people not unreasonably attempt to explain as good luck or natural law or an occasional remarkable coincidence—but because he says he does. We insist that God answers prayer because we have come to believe in the God of the Hebrew-Christian scriptures and in Jesus Christ. In that light we understandably and gladly interpret events in our lives as blessings provided by God and we thank him.

We’re well aware of natural laws and the fixed sequences in nature but we still believe that God provides blessings to us. We’re not committed to the view that every answer to every prayer has to be a self-evidencing miracle. We believe that God is the Lord of harmony and chaos, of nature’s laws and choosing beings. We believe that as sure as a sailor can use the wind to gain his ends without obliterating or warping nature so God can use his mindless forces and free-willed creatures to gain his ends.

If our prayers of need, uttered only today, are met through a network of truth and kindness and generosity that God established in the world years before we came along, we’ll thank him for his answer to today’s prayers. We won’t call it good luck. If our prayers for rain this very day are met by showers that are driven in by winds that none of us can control or predict we’ll still thank God for giving us the rain in answer to that prayer. And if we can’t find or demonstrate the links by which he brought about the response we needed from him, if we can’t catch a glimpse of his hand just before it goes behind the veil again we’ll still thank him for it. And if today our heart is desperately hungry for the uplifting and sustaining word and it comes by way of some old utterance we won’t say, "It wasn’t God that lifted me up."

One of these days, perhaps, we’re going to believe that the calamities that befall the human family are the work of the God that adores the human family and that they are just as surely the grace of God as his blessings. Maybe one of these days we’ll offer poor souls more than, "Terribly bad luck!" Maybe one of these days we’ll see that to celebrate the wrath of God is to celebrate his presence in the form of his righteousness and lovingkindness.

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

1/11/14

From Ben Fronczek... James (Part 12) Sin of Omission

James (Part 12) Sin of Omission

Read: Luke 10:25-37 (click on verse to read) The story of the Good Samaritan

Here Jesus told a story about a man who was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. He was robbed, beaten and left for dead on the side of the road. Before long a priest came along and saw him lying there. We don’t what exactly was going through his mind, if he had a specific destination or if he had an appointment to keep, but when he saw the injured man we know that he chose not to stop and help him. Besides, if he stopped to help the injured man, he would become ritually unclean and not be able to participate in a temple worship service until he was cleansed, so, he walked on by.

A Levite (probably a temple assistant) was the next to pass. When he saw the injured man he likewise moved over to the other side of the road and left him for dead.

The next individual to come by was a Samaritan. If Jesus were telling the story to us today, He might use a gang member or an illegal alien for the last one to walk past. To the Jews that Jesus was speaking to, a Samaritan was a nobody, somebody to be avoided. But to the injured man that Samaritan was a savior. He cleaned the crime victim up, took him to a local inn, paid for his room and came back to check on him. The point that Jesus was making when He told that story was that the person who was obedient to God wasn’t those guys who were in a hurry to get to a worship service. The one who was obedient to God was the one who understood the second greatest commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and actually did something.

I can’t help but wonder if these first two men felt a little guilty after the passed by that man lying in the dirt all beat up and stripped of clothes. Have you ever felt those pains of guilt afterwards, when in your heart you know that you should have done something, but didn’t do it? Depending on what it is, sometime we harbor guilt for years. The other day I heard someone say, “You should do the right thing even if you don’t feel like doing the right thing.” If we only did things when we felt like doing them not many things would get done. And she also said, “There is such a feeling of release (or peace) when you do what is right.”

And why is this true? Because even though you may not feel like doing a certain task, if you know that task is right, if it is God’s will, and you do it anyway, you feel better afterwards and you won’t have to carry around a burden of guilt because you didn’t do it.

The puritans classified all sin into 2 categories. There are the sins of commission. The things that we do that we aren’t supposed to do. The ‘Thou shall nots…” We are instructed not to lie, kill, covet, cheat, envy, lust with our eyes or with our flesh, or use the Lord’s name in vain and all those other ‘thou shall nots.’ When we choose to do something that is wrong, it is a sin of commission.

But they also recognized that there are also sins of omission. These are the good things that we know we should do, but don’t do them. When we decide not to do something that is right, we commit the sin of omission.

Our text in James 4:17 is an eye opener for many. “James wrote, “If anyone, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.”

This morning I would simply like to point out some specific sins of omission that we need to avoid.

#1. If you know of a need and choose not to help, that is a sin of omission. The story of the Good Samaritan that Jesus told is a challenge to us to help out when we recognize a special need. Now I certainly realize that in a world filled with needs, we can’t help everyone all the time. But I also know that we probably can do more. Often we excuse ourselves from helping because it’s not easy, or it takes time we think we don’t have. But if we know of needs and simply don’t want to help in any way, we find ourselves in the same position as the Priest and the Levite who walked past the injured man. Let’s be careful, not to make excuses for doing good.

If you were that person beat up and injures, stripped naked and left for dead, wouldn’t you want someone to stop and help you?

Paul said in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” When your eyes become fixed on a need that God has set before you, don’t hesitate, if at all possible help. More than likely God has put you where you are and pointed you to that need for His purposes.

#2. God has blessed us all with specific talents and abilities. If God puts you in a particular situation where those talents could and should be used to help another, and then we walk away from that opportunity, we may be committing a sin of omission.

In 1 Corinthians 12:7, Paul talks about the fact that we all have been given gifts, abilities to do things for the kingdom of God. As he discusses these abilities he makes a very important statement. “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” God did not give you your abilities, those gifts and talents simply to satisfy your own needs. God gave those gifts for the good of everyone.

Now let me get personal. Sometimes serving is a hard, maybe even painful. There are all kinds of excuses, but as you offer them I want you to listen to your words and ask yourself if you are not using your gifts or special abilities because you just don’t feel like it, or because you simply what to avoid the added work. Or maybe you simply just don’t feel like doing what God has set before you or who you have to do it for. If so, you may need to ask yourself am I guilty of committing a sin of omission here? James wrote; “Anyone who knows the good he ought to do, but doesn’t do it, sins.”

#3. What about if you know the truth but with hold it harming another .
What if you heard that someone was being accused of a crime but you knew that the person was innocent and you had proof, would you step up to the plate and provide the information to set that person free if you could? What if you didn’t, if you refused? You would be guilty of a sin of omission because you did not provide that information needed to save that person.

What if you know someone who needs to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior but you never say anything? Or maybe you are you aware of someone who used to be active in church but doesn’t go anymore, yet you socialize with then but never encourage them to do the right thing?

Often the Holy Spirit nudges us to speak to people about our faith and we ignore Him because we don’t want to, or we are afraid we don’t know how to share that information, or we are afraid of rejection. Recognize that the principle of sins of omission means that when we don’t respond to those promptings to tell other people the message of Jesus, we just may be sinning.

Often fear is there because we fail to recognize that God has been working in that other person’s life to prepare them for hearing what we are about to say. If you believe that the Spirit is prompting you to say something to someone about Jesus don’t commit the sin of omission failing to speak up.

Closing:

As I think about the truth that James points us to here in 4:17, I am overwhelmed with my own sin at times. Some people might think themselves so self-righteous that they can avoid sin, but when you come to recognize that sin includes knowing good things to do and not doing them, that can be disheartening . The weight of that guilt could destroy a person, or at least make one feel like it is impossible to ever be right with God. If sin separates us from God, and every time I don’t do the best thing possible I sin, then what hope is there?

The good news of Jesus Christ is that there is a hope. Jesus died to save us from the eternal consequences of our sin. When Jesus shed His blood on the cross, it was for the purpose of saving us from every sin we’ve committed. Instead of being paralyzing by our weakness and imperfections, understanding the complete nature of sin helps us to love God all the more for freeing us from the burden of sin.

However, once you’ve heard the good news about Jesus dying on the cross, we do have a responsibility to respond. The ultimate sin of omission is to know the good news about Jesus and to refuse to obey.

As the author of Hebrews wrote “ how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?” The obvious answer to that question is “We can’t.” Don’t commit the ultimate sin of omission by refusing to respond to the grace of Jesus Christ.

And if you realize that you are still weak and continue to sin Ask God to help you do better. Ask God to help you become wiser. Ask God to prune you. Jesus said in John 15:1-2, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ²He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

Ask God to prune you so you can grow and mature as a healthy Christian and bear much good fruit.

For more lessons click on the following link: http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?page_id=566

From Jim McGuiggan... Randomness and bad luck

Randomness and bad luck

Numbers chosen "at random" are chosen without pattern or principle; sheer chance is the only "principle" operating. No one purposed or arranged for that sequence of numbers to be chosen.

When we call an event "random" we mean it happened without purpose or aim or principle. It was a raw event, isolated, a simple link in a chain of causes and effects, devoid of purpose or aim, it wasn’t "meant" and therefore it’s meaningless.

We might be able to trace many of the links, the causes and the effects that in turn became causes of other effects. But since these causes and effects are usually simple physical forces and since we can find no evidence that there is a purposing or choosing agent involved we call the events "random". An animal high above the snowline is startled, cries out, dislodges some snow, which dislodges some more and we have an avalanche. No purpose, no choosing agent—it’s all mere "chance". Some skiers and people in the valley below die but no one holds anyone responsible. To look for "meaning" within the series of physical causes/effects is a waste of time. We may grieve deeply over loss of life but we regard this isolated event as meaningless.

A building, old electric wiring, wear and tear, a spark, a fire and the building’s destroyed. Random! A building, a man with match, a purpose and the building’s destroyed. Arson! A child near a cliff edge, a strong gust of wind, a dead child. Tragic. Random. A child near a cliff edge, a vicious bully, a deliberate push, a dead child. Tragic. Murder.

As soon as we uncover purpose and conscious involvement, the event we formerly saw as "random" is not the same event. The wind and the bully may both make the child fall but everyone knows that "fall" doesn’t mean the same thing in both cases.

When we say an event is chance or random we don’t mean it defies "natural law". Mindless forces remain mindless even in the hands of someone that consciously uses them. But when a conscious mind uses the mindless forces then the mindless forces must not be abstracted from the event and made to stand in isolation. They become part of the conscious purpose of a choosing being.

The wind blows according to strict physical laws and it’s entirely mindless and without purpose. A man in a sailing boat adjusts his sails and arrives at the harbour he wants. He doesn’t control or obliterate the wind nor does he give the wind a mind or purposing ability. He uses the mindless force to gain his purpose and we praise him for his skill.

An observer perceives an event as sheer chance but the discovery of a motive can change the quality and nature of the event for the observer. A court case, what looks like a sheer accident begins to look sinister when vested interests and/or feelings of rage or revenge are uncovered. A court case, what looks like the brutal murder of someone inoffensive begins to look like plain self-defence when evidence of past criminal abuse and a clear threat to the life of the accused emerges.

Sometimes when the whole story is pieced together the "sheer accident" is cruelly and carefully planned murder. Without the motive, without knowledge of certain objectives to be gained we’d be happy to say "accident, chance, bad luck" or whatever. Now that we know the bigger story the heart attack (which remains a heart attack) is no longer just a heart attack—it was induced and it’s murder. The heart attack no longer functions in the narrative in the way it did earlier.

Imagine some sort of volcanic eruption (you remember the history of Krakatoa?). Think of the blind forces that go to generating one of these awful eruptions. There’s randomness everywhere! But what if it is in the biblical record and Genesis says it is God at work in judgement on Sodom?

Imagine that in the judgement on Sodom and Gomorrah out of 60,000 inhabitants fifty or sixty people survived. One child, for example, got trapped in a cellar and others were thrown deep into a cave by a ground tremor and it happened that the cellar and cave protected them from the fires that raged above and around them. It makes sense to say that it was simply "good luck" (chance, random occurrences) that occasioned their survival. But the same ground tremor that trapped the child in the cellar and threw some into the cave brought the roof of a building down on others, killing them. It makes sense to say that it was simply "bad luck" (chance, random occurrences) that brought their death. We say those things because the same mindless ground tremor resulted in two different fates—one is "bad" and the other is "good". The tremor didn’t purpose or choose to save or kill the people.

Within this purposed judgement of God it would be easy to find what we might call "random" events. (The ash and salt filled air overwhelmed Lot’s wife but not Lot or any other family member.) To isolate specific incidents as if they stood alone and to use them to prove that God did not purpose the event as a whole, as a judgement on Sodom, is shoddy thinking and undermines our credibility.

We might say the child in the cellar and the people in the cave were "lucky" to be alive. We might say the people on whom the roof fell were "unlucky" to die. But speech like that makes sense only when we isolate some parts from the whole. When we isolate some parts from the whole, the parts are no longer what they were when seen as a part of the whole.

If indeed we believe that the cataclysm was a purposed act of God then it makes more sense to say that those that died died at God’s hand. And it wouldn’t matter how, precisely, they met death at that moment—a falling rock, a collapsing house or a river of lava. And it would make more sense to say that God spared some people than to think that they luckily escaped his judgement. In fact, their friends would almost certainly thank God for protecting them. They’re not likely to call it "good luck".

(Jesus spoke of God’s judgement on Israel via the invading Roman armies and spoke of some being taken and others left as survivors, people in the same families and close friends. Compare Matthew 24:22,40-41 and Luke 17:26-37.)

Yes, but why would this person rather than that one survive? How is it that the stone missed that person and hit the one beside her? How is it that a Roman arrow ricocheted off a wall and killed a child hidden under a blanket? These are interesting questions but they’re completely beside the point! If indeed the invading army is God’s instrument of judgement no difficult question alters that truth. To say, "You can’t explain why in the battle that this person died and the one next to her didn’t" is no doubt true. But it doesn’t change the fact that the entire proceeding was God acting in judgement.

To call a famine in Amos 4 or the flood in Genesis 6 or the plagues on Egypt random because they were "nature" calamities with rigid cause and effect links is silly. Might as well call the sailor’s arrival in the harbour "random". If these were indeed (as the Bible claims them to be) God acting in judgement the case is closed for a believer.

For believers, it is enough for the Bible to affirm that an event was purposed. Whatever we call "random" within that event cannot be used to offset the biblical witness that the event is purposed.

If God purposes to use mindless forces randomly then "random" takes on a different complexion. It doesn’t matter that he could make it "rain" out of a clear blue and cloudless sky; if he chooses to use winds and temperatures, sunlight and whatever to bring rain to a specific locality (Elijah story here) it’s no surprise to us and it’s what he normally does. He says he brings the rain, and it doesn’t matter that we can "prove" that every step in the development and delivery of rainfall is the result of a chain of physical causes and effects that "could have gone either way". The arrival of rain is the work of God! He says so and the psalmists and prophets praise him for it.

"But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the sections of his armor...and that evening he died." (1 Kings 22:34-35) Imagine a bored soldier, minding the horses, wanting to get in on it, shoots an arrow in the direction of the battle and hits Ahab. He didn’t purpose to kill the king. The arrow could have hit anyone or no one. If we’re consistent we say it was all "bad luck". But when you read the whole story of God and Ahab...

What if we discovered that the hurt and loss, the tragedies and catastrophes experienced by the human family were not just bad luck but the redeeming work of a gracious God who is working to bring the human family to glory and righteousness beyond our imagining?

If you had a choice between that and "it’s just bad luck" which would you choose?

Something needs to be said about "randomness" and "good luck".

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

From Mark Copeland... The Care Of Widows (1 Timothy 5:3-16)

                     "THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY"

                      The Care Of Widows (5:3-16)

INTRODUCTION

1. In the New Testament church, the care of widows was an important
   concern...
   a. The church at Jerusalem made sure none were neglected - cf. Ac 6:
      1-7
   b. James described caring for widows as "pure and undefiled religion"
      - Jm 1:27
   c. Paul charged Timothy to "Honor widows who are really widows"
      - 1Ti 5:3

2. Yet it was not a responsibility simply to be thrust upon the
   church...
   a. The local church has its limitations
   b. Family members have their obligations
   c. Even widows themselves bear some responsibility

[In the text for this study, 1Ti 5:3-16, the apostle Paul instructs
Timothy regarding "The Care Of Widows."  We first note the care to be
given widows...]

I. BY THEIR FAMILIES

   A. TO SHOW PIETY AT HOME...
      1. "...let them first learn to show piety at home" - 1Ti 5:4
      2. "The word is commonly used to denote piety toward God, but it
         is also used to denote proper reverence and respect for a
         parent." - Robinson
      3. This is one way that children "honor" their parents - cf. Ep 6:
         1-2

   B. TO REPAY THEIR PARENTS...
      1. "and to repay their parents; for this is good and acceptable
         before God" - 1Ti 5:4
      2. Think of the care and sacrifice parents make for their children
      3. "This debt can never be wholly repaid, but still a child should
         feel it a matter of sacred obligation to do as much toward it
         as possible." - Barnes

   C. TO PROFESS TRUE FAITH...
      1. Refusal to provide for one's own family is a denial of true
         religion - 1Ti 5:8; cf. Jm 1:27
      2. Even unbelievers care for their own:  "Every man should take
         care of his own family" - Cicero
      3. Dare we do any less?

[Families should care for their widows, for "widows indeed" are those
who are left alone and trust in God through prayers night and day (1 Ti
5:5).  They are certainly not ones who "live in pleasure" (1Ti 5:6-7),
of which Paul will say more later.  Next Paul writes of the care given
to "widows indeed"...]

II. BY THE CHURCH

   A. THEY MAY BE TAKEN "INTO THE NUMBER"...
      1. I.e., included on a list of those cared for by the church
         - 1Ti 5:9; cf. Ac 6:1-7
      2. From the qualifications (see below), some conclude these widows
         would be given special duties to fulfill for the church
      3. Since it was not uncommon for the church to provide for its own
         on special occasions (cf. Ac 4:34-35), this appears to be list
         for those given long-term care by the church

   B. PROVIDED QUALIFICATIONS WERE MET...
      1. Over sixty years old, the reasons for which given later - 1 Ti 5:9
      2. The wife of one man - 1Ti 5:9
         a. Assumed by many to mean one husband at a time
         b. Otherwise Paul would later tell younger widows to do that
            which disqualify them for any help in the future - cf. 1 Ti 5:14
      3. Well reported for good works - 1Ti 5:10; cf. Dorcas, Ac 9:
         36-39
         a. Brought up children
         b. Lodged strangers
         c. Washed the saints' feet
         d. Relieved the afflicted
         e. Diligently followed every good work

[Such qualifications were required because the church does not have the
ability to help everyone (cf. 1Ti 5:16).  For younger widows
especially, Paul writes of the care given to widows...]

III. BY THEMSELVES

   A. YOUNGER WIDOWS ARE TO BE REFUSED...
      1. The church is not take younger widows "into the number" - 1 Ti 5:11; cf. 5:9
         a. That is, into long term care by the church
         b. Though short term care might be provided along with others
      2. Reasons to refuse younger widow
         a. They will want to remarry, forsaking the commitment expected
            of those taken into the number - 1Ti 5:11-12
         b. They will become idle gossips and busybodies, saying and
            doing things they should not - 1Ti 5:13; cf. 2Th 3:11;
            1Pe 4:15

   B. YOUNGER WIDOWS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REMARRY...
      1. This is what Paul "desires", it is his opinion or counsel
         - 1Ti 5:14
      2. For younger widows to marry, bear children, manage the
         household - cf. Tit 2:4-5
      3. To give no opportunity to the adversary to speak reproachfully
         - cf. Tit 2:5,8
      4. For some have already turned aside to Satan - 1Ti 5:15; cf. Ph
         3:18-19

CONCLUSION

1. "The Care Of Widows" should be an important concern for us today...
   a. Such care is a mark of pure religion
   b. Such care is an expression of due respect toward those who have
      done so much

2. Yet the church has many obligations, it cannot afford to become
   burdened by this one - 1Ti 5:16
   a. For this reason families must accept their responsibilities
   b. Younger widows must accept their own responsibility
   c. Today, even governmental assistance is often available

For those who are "really widows", left alone, trusting in God, and who
meet the qualifications listed in our text, then "The Care Of Widows" is
a duty not to be neglected by the Lord's church...