Faith Not Form

By Tom Rose

I’m not sure that Edward Gibbon had our generation in mind when in 1788 he finished his classic work on the fall of the Roman Empire, but his words are timely for life in these times. (The History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon) He proposed five major reasons why the Roman civilization crumbled, and at the top of his list was the decay of religion.  In that society "faith faded into mere form and lost its touch with life and the power to guide its citizens to a higher level."  In other words, faith became empty, artificial, and even contemptible.

As we shake our heads and ponder how these things came to be, listen to a modern sociologist, Os Guinness, as he looks at our current culture.  He observes, "Look at it from the point of view of the religious believers.  Religion to them was once life’s central mystery, its worship, life’s broadest canopy of meaning as well as its deepest guarantee of belonging.  Yet today, where religion still survives in the modern world, no matter how passionate or 'committed' the individual believer may be, it amounts to little more than a private preference, a spare-time hobby, a leisure pursuit."  Secularization, working from within the system, has accomplished its goal of neutralizing Christianity and is quickly becoming the dominant world view of the West.

We keep ourselves so busy that we cannot or will not take the time to understand life from a Christian perspective or integrate Christian principles into our daily lives.  Our journey through life becomes increasingly fragmented and out of control, which in turn produces mega-stress. Alexander Whyte summed up our problem when he said, "We cannot look seriously in one another’s faces and say it is want of time. It is want of intention. It is want of determination. It is want of method. It is want of motive. It is want of conscience. It is want of heart. It is want of anything and everything but time."

Busyness, the curse of our culture, robs us of the things that are of the greatest importance, including our souls.  If we are too busy to study the Bible, attend church, encourage and pray for others, and enjoy the simple things of God’s creation, then we are simply too busy!  Indeed, Satan has taken us captive and has us just where he wants us.  The more we struggle and the faster we go, the tighter the snare becomes.

Anytime our relationship with Christ does not go beyond the superficial level, we are in serious trouble.  Christianity is a religion of the heart, based on a personal relationship with the Creator of this universe. It is between us and God – one on one.  Worship of an impersonal God is little more than idol worship. Yet familiarity with religious things and concepts by no means constitutes a relationship.  Note carefully the words of the prophet Isaiah as restated by Christ in Mt. 13:14-15.  “You will be ever hearing, but never understanding; you will be ever seeing, but never perceiving.  For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes.  Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.”

Jesus is the single most complex character who has ever marched across the stage of human history. Indeed, the Jesus of the Gospels is a living, vibrant, dynamic, forceful personality, and the world has never experienced any other individual like Him. Today, gather your courage to go beyond the superficial and begin to find the rewards that an intimate relationship with Christ can offer. Consider your familiarity with Christianity as a blessing, not a curse, for the study and pursuit of Christ should yield growth and allegiance, not contempt and indifference. While you have time and opportunity, seek the sacred scriptures and allow His Word to sink into your being and breed contentment, for in them you have eternal life (Jn. 5:39).

Jesus Increased in Stature

By Paul Earnhart

Luke 2:52 tells us that in the years before Jesus was 12-years old, He increased in stature.  This tells us something about both Jesus and His mother, Mary.

To say that Jesus increased in stature is to say that he grew normally, that he was healthy and strong in body. We know well what is required for such growth. It requires good wholesome food, exercise, proper rest and clean habits.

Many young people want a good strong body for appearance or for success in sports.  But Jesus had a greater reason for taking care of His body.  His body was given to Him by God, and it was God 's intention that He should use it for the years that He was on earth.  So, Jesus cared for it and did what was necessary to increase in strength.

All of us can say that our bodies are a gift of God. They are to be used for His service.  This gives us special reason to care for them, to observe the rules of good health and to avoid tobacco, intoxicating drinks and other drugs that weaken our bodies, scramble our brains, and shorten our lives.

Mary is also to be praised for her part in the physical growth of Jesus.  Doubtless she was the one who prepared his good meals, encouraged him in exercise and taught him good habits of cleanliness. Mothers have a special responsibility along these lines.  It is sad to see Mothers today who are too busy or too occupied with social affairs or pleasure to take proper care of their children.  Solomon said, "A chiId left to himself is the shame of his mother" (Proverbs 29:15).  That is still true.  If you are a mother reading this message, what kind of mother are you?  Are you the kind in whose hands God would have entrusted His Son? He has entrusted a child or children to your care.  Be sure you help them grow in stature as Jesus did.

Divisiveness & Social Media

By Brent Lykins

We live in an era where social media plays a large role in our communication with each other.  It’s very easy for us to type away, letting our fingers put our thoughts out in the open for the whole world to see.  

Unfortunately, when we are behind keyboards and not face to face with someone, it becomes slightly easier to let opinions and dialogue flow that may not have flowed otherwise.   We all have opinions, right?  We have opinions about current news headlines, politics, the status of the country, and we even have opinions about how others should think, act, or speak.  

Satan loves this.

Satan loves this because it’s just one more way that he can slide a toe in between the door and the doorpost.   Once a toe is in, it becomes easier to get a foot in…then a leg…and then eventually Satan is standing in the middle of us, making himself a full divider between brethren because of a social media post.

In an election year, there are literally thousands of posts across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and whichever news outlet that you may frequent online.  Everyone is eager to get their point across.  Everyone is eager to “one-up” the other and then “drop the microphone.”   It’s so easy for us, brothers and sisters, to be tempted to “one-up” someone else or feel the satisfaction of dropping the mic in front of everyone who may be reading at the time.  

Satan loves that.

In a year full of racial disturbances, protests, riots, shunning the police, and wearing masks, everyone is eager to speak their opinions and viewpoints.  And once again, everyone is eager to “one-up” the other and then “drop the microphone”.  Once again brothers and sisters, it’s easy for us to be tempted to partake in those actions.  

Satan loves that.  

Let me remind everyone reading that even though we are the body of Christ, each of us have our own will and each of us have our own thoughts.   Your thoughts may not represent the majority.  Your opinion may not represent the majority.   We may not all agree.  There’s not necessarily anything wrong with that, but let me also remind everyone that sometimes we get caught up in some very sensitive subjects that may also tie into our pride, our upbringing, or even our underlying beliefs.  It should be understood that once you publicly make a hit on someone else’s pride or underlying belief that it probably will not be accepted with open arms.   In fact, you may hurt someone’s feelings or possibly provoke someone to lose their temper.   Just as we all don’t share the same opinions, we also don’t share the same personalities.   One may let a criticism roll right on by.  Another may hold that criticism deep in their heart and it may cloud their future view of the one who wrote it.  

May I be rogue and suggest that it may be better for Christians to keep their personal opinions about the hot topics of the times to themselves?

I have already seen brothers and sisters “defriend” and “unfollow” each other over differences of opinion.  I have seen public arguments between brethren that will be saved forever and are able to be viewed by people who look to us to be examples.  

A few on-topic passages to leave you with:

Romans 12:18 – “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”

Galatians 5:14-15 – “ For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command:  ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.  If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.”

Proverbs 17:14 – “Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam, so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.”

Of Rudders and Bits James 3:3-5

There is a battle we all fight every day: conquering our tongues.  James 3:8  But no human being can tame the tongue.   Our tongues are powerful.  A Google search revealed 19 pages of scriptures that refer to the tongue and its power for good or  destructiveness !!!!  “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Prov. 18:21)   Proverbs 12:18   “There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts…”  James chapter three details the power of the tongue for good and bad.  James 3:9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.”

The Battles We Fight

1.We make assumptions sometimes and tell them to others. In Acts 21:37-41  we read that Paul was the subject of a widely communicate false assumption that could have cost him his life.

2.The Lying Tongue  Acts 5:3     Proverbs 6:16-19

3.The Boasting Tongue Luke 18:9-14 

4.The Gossiping Tongue    Proverbs 20:19   

5.The Critical Tongue   Ephesians 4:29

6.The Double Tongue   James 3:9

7.The Hateful  Tongue  Ephesians 4:31-32 

8.The Retribution Tongue   1 Peter 3:9

9. The Explosive Tongue  James 3:8

10.The Correcting Tongue  Ephesians 4:29    Matthew 18:15-17

The Right Uses of the Tongue

There are many ways to constructively use our tongues:

1. To praise God (take time to read through Psalms 148, 149 and 150!)

2.To pray to God 1 Peter 5:7

3.To sing to the Lord (Read Psalm 96).

4.To encourage and help others (So many good ways to do this!)

5.Also consider these scriptures:  Mark 9:50    Romans 12:10    Galatians 6:2    Ephesians 4:32    Colossians 3:16   1 Thessalonians 5:11  Hebrews 3:13    Hebrews 10:24     James 5 :16

Do Our Emotions Excuse Us From Self-Control?

By Christy Ganchero

A few weeks ago, I took part in a fruit-of-the-spirit themed girl’s night. I had the privilege of sharing my thoughts about self-control with several young women, all of whom showed great excitement about spiritual things. However, I realized later on that I forgot to cover an important question related to the final fruit of the Spirit: Do our emotions excuse us from having self-control?

At a young age, women realize that there are times when our emotions are difficult to control, especially during our monthly cycle. It is no longer taboo in our society to talk about menstruation, or the bundle of emotions that comes with it. In fact, the internet is full of memes and jokes concerning PMS. Most of these portray women as having a monthly nightmare mode, which takes over our bodies and causes us to have uncontrollable anger, sadness, and aggravation. We have to deal this internal monster for one week out of the month, or a quarter of our lives.

Our culture says two contradictory things about women in this conversation. On one hand, feminist propaganda states that women and men are essentially the same. They say that the differences between men and women are just figments of collective imagination. On the other hand, postmodern progressivism encourages women to say, “I can completely lose control, and that’s okay, because I am a woman!” These two ideas cannot mix. A man cannot experience a menstrual cycle, which is biological proof that the two sexes serve different physical functions. But a woman cannot behave however she wants to just because she is a female biologically – she is also a member of the human race, which has God-given reason and intellect. We would never condone men assaulting women because “they can’t control themselves.” Both men and women will be held accountable for their actions (2 Cor. 5:10).

What does the Bible say regarding women and self-control? In Titus 2, Paul instructs young women to be “self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive” (Titus 2:5). All of these things require us to reign in our emotions and serve others above ourselves. How can we accomplish this? Paul gives us the answer a few verses later:

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. (Ti 2:11-14)

God’s grace trains us to live with self-control. And this grace was given through Jesus Christ, who died in order to purify us from sin. Jesus felt deep, raw emotions, yet He exercised self-control and went to the cross. Because of His sacrifice, those who have been born again and have received His Spirit have the power, by faith, to exercise self-control in all things, just as He did.