There have been many kinds of days throughout time.
Once Saturday stood for “the Sabbath,” a day of rest that was commanded by God. In Genesis 2:1-3, the Lord took a personal Sabbath, resting from the work of creating the world. When the Israelites left Egypt, God taught them to keep the Sabbath, and they did so until Christ took it away by His death on the cross (Exodus 20:8–11, Ex. 31:12–17, Colossians 2:13–17). However, we are writing about the first day of the week which is Sunday. In the Bible, this day is called the “Lord’s Day.” Corinthians 16:1–4). It is to be a day when men do what God expects, and not use the day exclusively for their own selfish pursuits. Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. Church is where we learn to please God and not ourselves. Church is where we learn about the beliefs of God and not our beliefs. Church is where we go to serve God by doing what He wants and not what we want. Church is where we should hear the preacher give book, chapter, and verse for what he teaches. At church, no preacher or church leader should be teaching the opinions of himself or anyone else. Church is the place were we come to worship the Creator and not the minister, choir, church building, etc. Some churches put up signs saying, “A church for your beliefs.” Or, “We believe in tolerance.” I question what those beliefs are, and I question what a church may tolerate.
And I wonder if God is pleased with what those churches are doing (Revelation 2:18-20). Everything a church does must be according to the scriptures or that church will be wrong (2 John 8-9, Matthew 15:13-14, John 4:24, 1 Timothy 4:16, 1 Tim. 6:3, 2 Tim. 1:13, Galatians 1:8-9, John 8:31-32, 1 Timothy 4:13). A popular teacher was assaulted at Germantown High in Philadelphia by two students after he confiscated an iPod from them during class. Two evils are seen here:
Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. It is shameful that some will accept what is said about others without confirming it. For example, If Bobby tells Herman, that Stanley was laughing at a homeless dog, Herman will believe it. But the right thing would have been for Herman to ask Stanley if he laughed at that dog. And if Bobby is so opposed to people laughing at dogs; why did he have to run and tell Herman? The thing that he should have done is go to Stanley and let him know that making fun of suffering dogs is offensive.
It became gossip, when Bobby went to the third person rather then dealing with the person involved. If we hear something about another person, we need to realize that such is rumor because we didn’t see it. And we sure don’t need to be spreading rumors it around. If we are concerned about what we hear, we need to go directly to the person and find out. Also we need to refuse to listen to people who spread things about others (Acts 17:21; 1 Timothy 5:13; Proverbs 18:8; Leviticus 19:16; Proverbs 20:19; Prov. 26:20:22; Matthew 18:15; Galatians 2:11; 2 Corinthians 12:20). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. Saving for a rainy day is supported by the principles of God’s word. Just look at the example of the young man who got his inheritance and wasted it on partying (Luke 15:11-13). Had he not done so, money would have been left for him to live on (Luke 15:14-17). In Proverbs 21:20, the Bible teaches that wise men will have money in their accounts, while foolish men will blow it. Epheshians 4:28 teaches that men should work and have surplus funds to help those in need. Matthew 25:27 teaches that the lazyservant could have put his Master’s money in the bank were it could have gained interest.
Jesus taught that we should "count the cost" before doing anything, and that certainly can be applied to the use of money. Money isn't something that we should be in love with because it can't be taken with us at death (Matt. 6:19-21; 1 Timothy 6:7-10; Job 1:21; Psalm 49:15-20). But that doesn't mean that we should waste our money today and not be able to pay the rent tomorrow (Ecclesiastes 11:1-2). This is great advice from the Bible, so think before you spend. Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. Many say, “I forgive, but I don’t forget.” Well, this so called forgiveness isn’t of any profit to anyone, and it’s certainly not the way the Lord forgives. God is willing to forgive anyone who will repent and ask His forgiveness (Isaiah 1:10–20; Acts 2:38). After that, God doesn’t keep the sin of man still on the books and neither will He bring it up again in the future.
When God forgives, He forgets, and so should men (Hebrews 10:17). Yet, we still see those who hold grudges and refuse to give second chances to those who seek forgiveness. None can be forgiven of their trespasses if they refuse the same courtesy to others (Matthew 6:12; Matt. 18:21–35; James 2:13; Ephesians 4:31–32). We best get rid of all those grudges and start forgiving because the mercy we refuse to show today, will be denied us tomorrow (Galatians 6:7; Proverbs 11:5; Numbers 32:23; Prov. 26:27; Daniel 6:24). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. There is only right or wrong when discussing a matter. One person can be right and the other wrong, or both could be wrong, but no way can two different view points be right. For example, if the Bible teaches that a person will be lost in Hell for failing to repent (Luke 13:3), the conclusion is that anyone who believes a different point of view is wrong. If the Bible teaches that homosexuality is a sin, then any different view is wrong (Romans 1:26–32; Matthew 19:4–6; 1 Timothy 1:8–10). If a person teaches that any church will do, and the Bible teaches that Jesus built one church, then the opposite view is wrong (Matthew 16:18; Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 1:22–23).
Many in the religious world call for unity in diversity, rather than asking people to give up man-made doctrines and to become united behind what the Bible teaches (Mark 7:7; Proverbs 14:12; Matt. 15:12–14; 1 Corinthians 1:10; Eph. 5:11; Galatians 1:8–10; Philippians 3:16). Further evidence of only being right or wrong can be seen from what will take place at the judgment seat of Christ. People will go to Heaven or they will go to Hell with no middle ground (Matt. 25:31–46; John 5:28–29). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. When a bottle of liquid has a skull and crossbones on it, one should be smart enough not to drink it. If one notices the sign "slippery when wet," one should be smart enough not to speed that way. If the shark tank has "no hands allowed," one should be smart enough not to put a hand in there.
The point of all this is that we wish people would learn without having to suffer the consequences of being hard headed. A man may know the risk of picking up hookers but not learn his lesson until he is arrested or is a victim of a transmitted sexual disease (Proverbs 5:11-13). If the word is out, "Don't send text messages while driving," man should learn from those words and not from having an accident. In Luke 15:11-32, we read of a young man who demanded his inheritance and wasted it after moving far away. This young guy didn't listen to anything until he was broke, alone, and sitting among the pigs, desiring the slop they ate. Likewise, the word of the Lord warns men, but are we listening? (Prov. 1:20-33; Prov. 22:3). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. We heard the mayoral candidates speak about plans to end the rising murder rate. Well, I've got news for them. The murder rate isn't just confined to this city; it is everywhere. And sin is the reason why people kill.
That's right—I said sin! Now most people don't want to hear about the Bible, church, and God. They think there is a way to end the problems of life without the word of God. Well, that isn't true. Men need the direction of God, and no politician's plan will outshine that (Jeremiah 17:5–8; Jer . 10:23). Murder exists because of individuals, and it will cease when each person quits sinning. Robbers, drug dealers, violent people, hookers, etc., must repent and stop the evil. The Lord has commanded all to repent, and right now is the time to do so (Acts 17:30; Acts 2:38; Luke 13:3; Matthew 3:7–8; Jonah 3:4–10). Cities are in dangerous situations because men aren't obeying the word of God. Be assured that if we live like we want, and act like we want, there will be trouble (Isaiah 48:22; Judges 21:25.) Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. This is only for people who believe the Bible to be God's word.
When Moses relationship with God was at it's highest, he felt comfortable enough to ask God to show His face (Exodus 33:12–23). He was so in awe that he didn't realize what he asked was not possible for man. God told Moses, "no man can view my face and live," (Ex. 33:20). In 1 Timothy 6:16, the Apostle Paul writes, "God dwells in greatness so awesome that no man can come (physically) near." Philip, one of the Apostles, thought he could view the face of the Father, but he was rebuked by Christ (John 14:6–11). Jesus then taught Philip that one could see the Father by observing and learning from the wonderful works that were being done (John 14:8–9). The lesson for us is, don't look for the physical view of God; instead look for God in the works of righteousness. When you see a person living a holy life, you are seeing God though the works of that person (1 Peter 1:14–16). As for seeing Him as He really is, one must make it to heaven in order to experience that (1 John 3:2–3). |