This quote came from the Tonight Show host, Jay Leno, which he told as a joke. However, it makes a great point.
“With hurricanes, tornados, and fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up this country up from one end to another and also with the threat of swine flu along with possible terrorist attacks. Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?” (end of joke). Psalm 33:12: Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. Many homes are crumbling across our land because spouses do not spend enough time together. Between working two or three jobs, keeping children engaged in school, sports and other activities, plus having different interests, they don’t even spend much time in the same room. So that makes a couple more like roommates than spouses. However, God’s word instructs husband’s and wives to enjoy each others company, which means they must set time aside to build on their marriage (Proverbs 5:15-19; Ecclessiastes 9:9).
One has said, “marriage is given not that men and women should do one thing together, but that they should do all things together; because marriage is the total union of the two personalities” (Allen Webster). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. Some say, “We are all God’s children.” While that is true in the sense of creation; it isn’t true when it involves a relationship with God (Matthew 7:21-23; Isaiah 59:1-3; John 9:31).
Notice that the Bible teaches that “children of God” in the relationship sense involves obeying the gospel, and there are “children of disobedience” as well (Ephesians 2:2-3:12; Colossians 3:6; 1 John 2:3-6:12; 1 John 3:9-10; Romans 8:8-14; Eph. 5:1-8; 1 Thessalonians 5:5). So, we aren’t all “children of God” in the sense that He is pleased with us. Some of us need to repent and obey the gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. Some people will apologize to a preacher for using foul language in his presence. Now that is commendable, however I ask have you ever looked at it in this way. God sees and hears everything (Proverbs 15:3). So if one is cursing in the backyard, in a car, or in a closed meeting, God sees it! So one would be cursing in the presence of God anyway. Yet, the person doesn’t feel ashamed, nor will he offer an apology to God. And when the church leader comes along, everyone puts away their dirty magazines and foul conversation, etc. “You better shut up, the preacher is coming” they say.
This needs to stop because man has no heaven to give us, nor hell in which to punish us (Romans 14:10-12; 1 Corinthians 5:10). So why should one have respect for man, but none for God? Man needs to apologize to God. Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. April 15th is tax time, and that time is now. To some, it is a time of anger because they don’t have the money to pay the taxes. To others, it is a happy time because they will get back money that the government owes them. Either way, tax time is always about money going out and money coming in.
Not even Jesus Christ was spared the tax season because some of the officials questioned His followers about paying taxes, and Peter said that they would pay just like everybody else. Later on, Jesus instructed Peter to catch a fish and open its mouth and a coin would be found in the mouth of the fish, which Peter took and paid the tax man (Matthew 17:24-27). So in following Jesus’ example, let us render to the government what belongs to them and to God, what is His (Matthew 22:16-21; Romans 13:7). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. Some say they are looking for God in their own way, but there is a problem with that. The problem is, they will never find Him. You see, man must not look for God in man’s way. People must look for God in God’s way (Acts 17:22-32; John 14:6-12; Jeremiah 10:23; Proverbs 14:12). Man isn’t qualified to consider a relationship with God because of sin (Romans 3:10-12; Isaiah 59:1-3). But by the grace of God, a way has been created to have a relationship with God if man will accept God’s terms (Ephesians 2:1-22; James 4:6-10).
If you want to find God, give up your way and be open to what God has to say. I ask you to read the story of the man who allowed Philip (a teacher) to instruct him in the way of Christ (Acts 8:26-39). Also a jailer who listened to Paul teach him how he could come to know God (Acts 16:29-34). Finding God begins with being taught the word (Rom. 10:1-17, 6:17-18). So if you are open to being taught, you can find God (John 8:31-32, 6:45; Acts 17:10-12). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.” Proverbs 15:3 “For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes”Jeremiah 16:17. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he reap”Galatians 6:7.
People do what they wish because they think no one will ever know or that they will never get caught. Well, I’ve got news for those people. Just take a look what has happened to other people. I mean the people we have seen exposed before the eyes of the world, everyone knowing about their dirty deeds (2 Samuel 12:11-13). So you see, no deed goes undetected because God will not allow that to happen. So when one person is exposed, that is a wake up call for others who are doing the same dirt to repent (Luke 13:3; Acts 17:30; John 8:10-11; Jude 7; Proverbs 28:13). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. “Do no harm” is what doctors are taught in medical school and most physicians live by that standard. However, by what is seen in communities around the globe, many humans do not. There are burglaries, robberies, unsafe driving, assaults, murders, rapes, slander, pranksters slashing tires or throwing a shopping cart off a fifth-floor Target store, and it landing on a poor woman walking below. Yes, just name it and someone has done it, in order to afflict pain.
But the message of God’s word remains true and unchanging (Matthew 24:35; 1 Peter 1:22-25). God gave the best advice for man to share with others, and that is to love thy neighbor and do to him as one would want done in return (Matt. 7:12; Romans 13:9-10). If this were done in every city on earth, the police department would cease to exist. But such is not the case, so we will continue to teach what God said and that is for none to do harm, but instead do good (Galatian 6:10). Hope to hear from you or see you at the services One spouse cheats on the other, and the spouse who didn’t cheat takes a lover in retaliation. “If he can do it, I can too.” “She don’t understand that two can play that game.” So in reality, what do you really have when this kind of conduct occurs in a marriage? Do you have good judgement? No! What you have is two black pots, attempting to call the other black. In this kind of situation, no one is right, and there sure are no winners (Romans 2:21-22).
Violating the marriage vow is a sin, and God will hold the offender guilty (Rom. 7:1-4; Proverbs 6:24-35). Rather then compounding the problem and making it worse, a innocent spouse shouldn’t take a lover but should use the liberty God authorized to put the offender away on grounds of adultery (Matt 5:32, 19:9). Yes, that is what should be done, and it should be done quickly. However, an innocent person may wish to save the marriage and give the offender a second chance. If so, that is the innocent spouse’s decision because that person holds all the cards. Hope to hear from you or see you at the services. It’s too bad that some spouses get mad because the other makes more money, and this is especially true when it concerns some men. There have been wives complaining about husbands who detest their ability to earn more. But as long as the wife is doing her duty as a wife and not neglecting the husband or the home, and the money goes to help everyone, what is the big deal? (Proverbs 31:10-31).
I’ll tell you what the big deal is! Some people just have to be the main event. Some people are jealous of anyone who is more successful and that is just plain wrong (Genesis 4:3-7, 37:1-11; 1 Samuel 18:5-15; Matthew 2:1-18, 27:18. Mark 15:10; Romans 13:13, 1:29; 1 Corinthians 13:4; Galatians 5:26; 1 Peter 2:1; Titus 3:3; James 3:16; Philippians 1:15; 1 Timothy 6:4). Two working people in a marriage will not make the same wage. Someone will earn more and the other less. Everyone should accept that, and be thankful at the success of the combined incomes which help both live a more comfortable life. Stop being jealous, it’s wrong! Hope to hear from you or see you at the services |