Please pray for the inhabitants of the Gulf region.  Pray for the safety of others, a reduction in storm strength and for God's mercy.

     Pray for Cuba, too.  I just saw a news piece that said the Cuban government is claiming that Gustav was the worst hurricane they've experienced for fifty years.
 
     This storm scares me.

           One of the major errors believers in Jesus make, as well as those who don’t believe in Him, is in taking scriptures out of the context in which they were written.  Here’s a great example, from what is called Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain, from Luke 6.

In verse 27, Jesus tells those who follow Him that they are to love their enemies.  This is one of the most radical and challenging things that Jesus teaches—actually, one of the most radical and challenging teachings of any religion.  Pray for them, He says.  Because of your belief in Me, He says, they’re going to strike you on the face to humiliate you when they put you out of the synagogue.  At that time, turn the other cheek.  They’re going to take your goods from you to punish or persecute you.  Don’t demand them back. 

Then He moves on and talks about loving those who don’t “do good” to you.  He says if you lend something to someone, don’t expect anything back.  Another hugely challenging teaching, striking at the very base of our understanding of possessions and materialism. 

Be merciful, Jesus then says in verse 36, and don’t condemn people.  Forgive them, He tells us, in verse 37.  Then this: “…give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Now, any Christian who has been around for a while knows how this scripture is used in the Church—as a teaching about giving financially.  But tell me, please, how in the world we get that understanding from this portion of Scripture.  The topic of money is nowhere in view.  It’s not even on the same continent.  

Jesus isn’t talking about giving money.  He’s talking about the giving of oneself, in mercy and forgiveness.   

Context is huge in understanding the teachings of the Bible.  Otherwise, the Bible can become a mishmash of misused so-called religious sayings.  Misused may be a kind word.  Perhaps manipulative would be a better choice.

 

 

 

 

               

               

            If a person breaks an arm or a leg, the doctor must set the bone before it can heal properly.  If surgery is required to help maintain your health, the doctor must make an incision in order to correct what is wrong in your body.  Does the doctor dislike you because he does this? 

 

            No.  He wants to make you better.  Sometimes the doctor must hurt us in order to heal us.

 

            Would God do the same?  Would God hurt you to heal you? 

 

            I look at pictures like this, and, at first glance, it looks like somebody is really angry.  Cars tossed around.  Buildings blown up.  Was God just having a tissy fit?

 

            Or was He hurting some folks to heal them?

 

            I don’t claim to have knowledge of why God does what He does.  I don’t know why some people die in such weather catastrophes and others don’t.  However, I have noticed a couple of things about recent weather disasters here in the States, including Hurricane Katrina: There was monstrous loss of property, but relatively few deaths, when you take into consideration the enormity of the storms.  I find this interesting in a country that is so wealthy and at the same time claims a Christian heritage, the literature of which includes this radical statement from Jesus:

 

            “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.”

 

            Is God wounding us so He can heal us?

My husband and I were working in the flower beds the other day when a truck pulled up at the neighbors house across the street. A business advertisement was printed on the side of the truck:

 

"Paperless Divorce! Quick and Painless! Only $149!!!"

 

If I was anyone else, I would have thought "wow, that's a pretty good deal!" But I have not forgotten, like the rest of the world, what God teaches us from His word.

 

"I hate divorce," says the LORD God of Israel, "and I hate a man's covering himself with violence as well as with his garment," says the LORD Almighty.   ~Malachi 2:16

 

Simple enough to understand. Yet how prevelant it is in today's society where the divorce rate is creeping over 50% mark. Do they not consider the vows they made "to death do us part" and "what God has joined together let no man seperate." I doubt they consider such words as more than just apart of the ritual. But to me, they were much more. My husband and I both knew that. Marriage is not to be entered into lightly for God promises that it is not all lovey-dovey. It is the testing that either makes us stronger or breaks us. "Those who perserve to the end will be saved." Alas, that is another tangent.

 

Just so happened, I've been reading through Ezekiel. In chaper 16, Israel, God's choosen people, is described as a woman who God took for his bride but she went off and commited adultery with all her neighbors. We are not much different from Israel. America has turned from it's God to unfaithfulness and liberalism. The one condition the Bible gives us to divorce is if a spouse is unfaithful and commits adultery.

 

The thought hit me then...what if God divorced us, his children?

 

We would be cast out, no longer heirs of the promise, no longer covered by the blood of Christ. Our only certainty would be the promise of eternity in hell and it would be rightly deserved, yes.

 

All have turned away, they have together become worthless; 

there is no one who does good, not even one.  ~ Romans 3:12

 

But praise God and His promise to David. Praise God that in His Mercy He does not change His mind or go back on His word. He is the God of the Covenant, faithful still even while we chase after this sin and that sin, He is faithful to forgive and take us back.

 

Let us then consider a new perspective on divorce. Of course, I'm talking to the brethen, those who have already been elected and saved by grace and seek to obey the Lord we love. There are no limits to our unfaithfulness, nor to God's mercy, however, for fear of discipline, let us not test either.

 

Ndosch

To live is Christ, to die is gain!

Phillipians 1:21

The Speech of the Free

 

By Rev. Cathian 

 

You may think this is going to be a paper about Veterans who have fought on foreign soil in order to secure our civil liberties.

 

It is not.

 

You might think this is a paper about politics and choice of candidates.

 

It is not.

 

It is about the cost of our words, and our accountability to an Authority that is higher than the state or federal governments, or even the world governments, wherever and whatever they may be, however they may manifest themselves.

 

This is a moment for soul searching. A moment for honest appraisal of one's own heart. An opportunity to tell yourself the truth while there is nobody else nearby to hear your answers...

 

What is the cost of telling a lie?

 

What is the cost of supporting the statements of a liar?

 

What is the cost of speaking in such a way that you convince others to do immoral acts?

 

What is the cost of blaspheming the Lord God Adonai?

 

What is the cost of tearing down a neighbor with your words?

 

What is the cost of cheating in an exam?

 

For cheating on your spouse?

 

For trading secrets for money?

 

Some would say that as long as you get away with such things, then you are home free and there will be no punishment.

 

Some say that if it is legal, then there is no moral question.

 

Some would say that karma will get the cheater, and the cosmic consciousness will catch up with those who hurt others.

 

But I believe that a Person, and not some nebulous "force", will call us into account for our wrongdoing. 

 

God made it very clear to us all through the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Histories and the Poetry of the Bible that He HATES a lying tongue, feet that are swift to shed innocent blood, a proud and haughty look, gossiping, backbiting and arrogant words!

 

Jesus had this to say about accountability to God for our words and our actions:

 

Matthew 12:30-37

(30) He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.

(31) Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.

(32) And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

(33) Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.

(34) O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

(35) A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.

(36) But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

(37) For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

 

Let me reiterate: "...every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment." v. 36

 

Are we relying on our government to remove all of the ancient boundaries so that we don't have to bother our consciences? If the heads of state say it's okay, but God says it is not, who will have the FINAL say?

 

In the United States, it is held that ignorance of the law is no excuse for those who break it, and men must be held accountable for their actions. Why, then, do we act as if we assume that God's law, which preceded and superceded man's law, is to be dispensed with in favor of the laws of man, especially when the laws of man seem to turn a blind eye to what God considers corrupt and malignant?

 

God has told us all through the Bible what He expects of us. He does not ask that which we cannot supply, because He has also offered us the power and the wisdom and the strength to obey.

 

Micah summed up the problem quite well in the following verses:

 

Micah 6:8-13

(8) He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

(9) The LORD'S voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.

(10) Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable?

(11) Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights?

(12) For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

(13) Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy sins.

 

How, if we are doing justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with God, will we go wrong in this life He has given to us? And if we sin against our God and against our neighbors, how do we expect to plead ignorance when God has so plainly warned us of the consequences?

 

Jesus clarified and simplified God's Commandments even further:

 

Matthew 22:34-40

(34) But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.

(35) Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,

(36) Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

(37) Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

(38) This is the first and great commandment.

(39) And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

(40) On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

 

The Law and the Prophets of Adonai God can be obeyed by obeying two simple commandments:

 

1. Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

2. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

 

When we meet the Lord on that final day, we will be judged. Every work that we have done, good or evil, will be rewarded.

 

Some will be forgiven because they were lovers of God and they believed in Jesus' substitutionary death for their sins. They trusted in the Lord to take away their sins, and they worked in their Father's vineyard as He commanded them.

 

But others will cry out and try to hide their shame when they are called to account for their lies, their blasphemy, their hatred of God, and for leading others into sin.

 

Hear what Jesus says about that final day:

 

Matthew 25:31-46

(31) When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

(32) And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

(33) And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

(34) Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

(35) For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

(36) Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

(37) Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

(38) When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

(39) Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

(40) And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

(41) Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

(42) For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

(43) I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

(44) Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

(45) Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

(46) And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

 

Since it is abundantly clear that words and actions go hand in hand, let us examine our hearts from which come the words that either condemn or commend us. Let us turn our hearts back to the Lord and seek His face. Let us fall upon His mercy and allow Him to teach our mouths to speak what is acceptable to Him, and let us be kind, just and humble in our daily lives.

 

Many take advantage of the Amendments to the Constitution to seek the licentiousness of so-called Free Speech.

 

Would we not be wise to instead cultivate the Speech of the Free? The Speech of the Free in Christ is graceful, humble, full of love and good humor. 

 

May we be wise in our words as we cultivate the Speech of the Free: words that issue from a clean heart that is washed and renewed in the Blood of the Sinless Lamb of God.

 

Rev. Cathian