Yangon, Myanmar and Mianyang, China, both are having their share of problems with the natural disasters that have occurred within their borders. But be that as it may, there is still noreason for anyone to say that cyclones and earthquakes are the judgment of God upon those nations. The reason why men shouldn’t say so is; “we don’t know the mind of God.” Cyclones and earthquakes are things of nature that will continue to happen as long as the earth stands. When they occur, it doesn’t have to be the wrath of God, it simply could be that time and conditionsare ripe for such (Ecclesiastes 1:4-9, 3:1; Matthew 7:25, 27; 14:24; Mark 4:37; Acts 27:13-14).
But on the other hand, it could be the wrath of God pouring down on some nation because of wicked behavior (Genesis 6:13; Numbers 16:28-35). But how would a man know? God is in heaven and we are on earth; so how would a man know? (Eccl. 5:2) The answer is man cannot know; and since we cannot know, it is best to shut up (Romans 11:34; 1 Corinthians 2:16). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. As people continue to depart from the Lord and get comfortable in things that are wrong, they then have no concept of what is right (Proverbs 14:12, 21:2). And if there are people still living according to what the Lord requires, there will be a clash of cultures (Amos 3:3; 2 Corinthians 6:14-15). In one corner will be people who are crying for a return to the way that God has given for man to live, and in the other corner will be those who cry “it’s my life and I will live it as I want, and I don’t care what others think.”(Jeremiah 7:1-34).
If this kind of mentality continues in a nation, and the majority leans in the direction that is wrong, it could lead to persecution of the Christians within that land (Matthew 10:16-23). This same kind of stuff happened in ancient times when Rome immersed itself in heathenism and the Christians attempted to get Rome back on track. Instead of listening to their teaching of the gospel, the government arrested the Christians and threw many to the lions (John 16:2). America shouldn’t accept this shameful way of life, where a Christian is attacked or sued for speaking out for what he knows is the truth. Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. California and Massachusetts have gone further than any other state in violating the word of God by claiming to redefine marriage. My fellow humans, what are you thinking? The home and marriage is a divine institution created by the Lord Himself, and placed upon this earth to benefit man (Genesis 1:27, 2:18; Proverbs 18:22). God has already defined marriage and named the subjects to be placed within (Gen. 2:21-25, 3:16; 1 Corinthians 7:2; Hebrews 13:4). Man can no more redefine marriage than he can redefine Heaven and Hell. Also understand this: man needs God in order to have a marriage, and the Lord will not join in matrimony that which He didn’t authorize (Matthew 19:6, 14:1-5, 12:30; Joshua 7:10-12).
The problem is no respect for the word of God, and that is creating this mentality where men are doing as they please. Such conduct has happened before, and it didn’t work out well for the nation (Judges 21:25; Prov. 14:34; Gen. 18:22-33). But man can turn things around by showing respect for the word of the Lord. And churches need to start standing on the word of God and quit giving in to the people when they are wrong (Exodus 32:21; Numbers 23:11-12; Acts 5:29; Revelation 2:18-29). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. I want you to do your own investigation of the scriptures, and I want you to allow it to speak to you and tell you what is said. Don’t try to make the scripture fit your thoughts, but rather change your views so you will become as what is taught (1 Timothy 6:16).
“And I say unto you, whosoever shall put away (divorce) his wife, except it be for fornication (sexual immorality) and shall marry another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her which is put away (divorced), commits adultery (Matthew 19:9). The questions are:
We want to hear from you, so send a reply along with your contact information. Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. I want you to do your own investigation of scripture, and I want you to allow it to speak to you and tell you what is said. Don’t try to make the scripture fit your thoughts, but rather change your views so you will become as what is taught (1 Timothy 6:16). “Have you not read, that He which made them at the beginning, made them male and female. For this cause shall man leave father and mother and cleave to his wife. What God has joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matthew 19:4-5).
My questions are:
Send us your reply along with your contact information, so we can talk. Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. Acceptable worship to God is to be in spirit and truth (John 4:24). In spirit means that one is to have the proper attitude toward the service which is to be offered to God (Romans 12:11). In truth means according to what the scriptures teach about how worship is to be conducted, so it will be acceptable to God (John 17:17).
If all men would follow what the Bible teaches about how to conduct worship, we wouldn’t have the terms, “black worship,” “white worship,” and “European worship.” Or the African American church, the white church, or any other term used to describe the church based on race. According to the Bible, there is no such thing as worship based upon the race of the people; for there is only one worship which God expects all men to offer to Him (Acts 10:34-35). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. Senators Clinton and Obama have put a foot in their mouth because of recent statements. And to make matters worse, both of them are always ready to catch the other in questionable speech, rather than remain quiet because they both are guilty of the same. Now I’m not here to talk about politics, but rather remind you of a message from the Bible. “Let him that has no sin, throw the first stone” (John 8: 7). “Why look at the speck in another’s eye, when there is a plank in your own?” (Matthew 7:3-5). “You who say don’t steal, do you steal?” (Romans 3:21-22).
If you are doing the wrong thing, you have no time, place, or right, to be talking about the wrong doings of other people. The correct thing is to get yourself right first, then you can talk about the faults of others, and possibly help them. Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. Long ago, some people attempted to make a name for themselves by building a city with a tower that would stand majestic toward the heavens. However, they didn’t realize that the tower would never be completed because God was intending to stop it by scattering them across the face of the earth (Genesis 11:7).
So, these people went on with the construction process until the Lord sent confusion in the form of different languages upon them, and they couldn’t understand each other, thereby causing the construction to cease (Gen. 11:8-9). This story leaves us with several things to think about.
Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. Do you value your soul enough to give up something? (Mark 9:43-47). Jesus said unless we forsake all, we cannot be his disciples (Luke 14:33). There was a young rich man who came to Christ requesting to be one of His followers, but when Jesus told him to give his riches to the poor, the man refused (Mark 10:21-22). For some reason, the Lord saw that this man needed to do that, and that is why the man was told those words (Mark 10:23-25; 1 Timothy 6:17-19).
Now, don’t get Jesus wrong—He doesn’t expect you live a pauper’s life (Luke 12:22-30). But these examples are given so that we may understand that following the Lord requires more then lip service—it requires that a person separates himself from anything that would be in violation of God’s will (2 Corinthians 6:14-18; 2 Tim. 2:19; 1 Cor. 6:9-11, 18; Colossians 3:5-10; Ephesians 5:11-12). Men are sinful creatures and in need of direction, so if we want to make it to heaven, we have to do what God commands (Matthew 7:21). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. The Bible is the voice of God, speaking by the pen of men as they were directed by the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:14-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21). One reason to study the Bible is to understand what it teaches, so you won’t be deceived (Acts 17:11; John 5:39; Matthew 15:13-14; Mark 7:7). For example, suppose a preacher said tithes must be paid to the church. Well, the Bible teaches that tithes were for the nation of Israel who lived under the Old Testament, and tithing was to be binding on them in their generations (Numbers 27:32-34).
Today, we aren’t under the Old Testament law and preachers cannot bind tithes because God removed that practice by the death of Christ (Colossians 2:14-17; 2 Corinthians 3:6-9; Matt. 26:28; Hebrews 8:6-13). The failure to understand what the Bible teaches about the demise of the Old Testament has caused much confusion in the religious world. If people are going to church, they need to know what the Bible teaches. If one is going to preach, he must know what the Bible teaches. If one is going to save the world for Christ, he must know what the Bible teaches. Let us study the Bible and not be ashamed of it (Mark 8:38). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. |