One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?

What do you get when you trust God? What do you receive when you accept the
challenge to serve him with all you are and all you have? What does that
really mean?

In Matthew 12:28-30 we read: "One of the teachers of the law came and heard
them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked
him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" "The most
important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God,
the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'" I believe
that Jesus is saying that everything within us, all we have and all we own
has to be dedicated to God's service. Are you up to that challenge?

In Isaiah 6:8, we read of Isaiah receiving a challenge from God. He says:
"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will
go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" Has that been your response,
"Here am I. Send me?" We may not be able to go physically, but just like the
early church, we may provide funds which will allow others to go in our
place, we may provide encouragement that will give someone the strength to
give their lives to serve God.

I believe if we demonstrate our faith by committing our life and our things
to God he will bless us. In Ezekiel 34:26 we read of a blessing God
proclaims for David and one that I think still applies to us today. God
said: "And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing;
and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be
showers of blessing."

What do you get when you trust God? I believe that most of you have already
experienced that in your life when you've shared some part of your life and
your things with others. Challenge yourself and wait and see what other
blessings God will shower upon you!

Russ Lawson

Greece, NY

It's not just young people that are bullied.

Karen Klein, a 68-year-old school bus monitor, said she had been bullied by
some middle school students for a while, but it was especially vicious one
day recently - and it was all caught on video. The video was put on YouTube
and it went "viral."

In the video that is both heartbreaking and disturbing, several middle
school students in Greece, NY can be seen and heard taunting Klein with
statements like, "Karen, you're fat. Dude, you're so fat." The insults
continue to be hurled in the video in extremely graphic and offensive
language.

Yet Klein did not retaliate. She told Fox News that throughout the
children's assaults she restrained herself, and tried to pretend as though
it wasn't happening. "I have escaped a lot in my life, and I'm trying to let
things go," she said.

In a particularly harsh remark, one of the children claimed that Klein
didn't have a family because "they all killed themselves because they didn't
want to be near you." Did the student know that Klein's oldest son took his
own life 10 years ago?

Klein stated that she endured the bullying because she doesn't like
confrontation. "I didn't want to do anything to hurt anybody. That wouldn't
have looked good either." *

There was Another who endured the taunts of a mocking crowd....

It was JESUS, the Son of God. Please read Matthew 27:11-54 and 1 Peter
2:21-24. Even as He was hanging on the cross, "the chief priests and the
teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. 'He saved others,' they
said, 'but he can't save himself!'" (Mark 15:31).

Actually, He COULD have called more than twelve legions of angels to deliver
Him. But He didn't. And He endured MORE than just the mocking insults of
the angry mob; He took upon Himself the sins of the whole world of all
time - including your sins and mine.

"God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that WE might become the
righteousness of God IN HIM" (2 Corinthians 5:21).

We are credited with the righteousness of Christ WHEN we accept His offer of
salvation on His terms!

Jesus will save those who: place their faith and trust in Him (Acts
16:30-31), turn from sin in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before
men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the
forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, Who for
the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and
has sat down at the right hand of
the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)

Jesus endured the taunts and endured the cross so that WE might be saved
from sin!

Won't YOU accept His offer?

David A. Sargent

Ronald Page

Ronald Page must have felt as if he had found the goose that laid golden
eggs.
Every time he went to an ATM to withdraw money from his bank account, he was
allowed to take large amounts - in the thousands of dollars. This should
have
struck him as curious, because earlier in the week there was only $300 in
his
bank account. He had not deposited thousands since then.

By the time everything came to light, Page had taken over $1.5 million.
Since
the bank allowed him to make such massive withdrawals, he felt everything
was
OK. And since he had made the transactions at ATM machines in casinos, he
gambled with the money. And lost all of it.

The U.S. Attorney's office in Detroit doesn't agree with the old adage,
"Finders
Keepers, Losers Weepers". True, the bank's computer system experienced a
glitch, which resulted in this error. But Page was not entitled to keep the
money and has instead been sentenced to 15 months in prison, ordered to
repay
the money, and forbidden to gamble again. In this case, at least, the
finder is
the one who is weeping.

Among the many traits the Bible stresses is honesty. Honesty means
respecting
the ownership rights of others, and doing nothing that would take another
person's property to make it our own without an agreed-upon transaction.
This
principle applies to the old adage under discussion.

Nearly 3,500 years ago this truth was taught to the Jewish people: "You
shall
not see your brother's ox or his sheep going astray, and hide yourself from
them; you shall certainly bring them back to your brother. And if your
brother
is not near you, or if you do not know him, then you shall bring it to your
own
house, and it shall remain with you until your brother seeks it; then you
shall
restore it to him. ... so you shall do with his garment; with any lost thing
of
your brother's, which he has lost and you have found ..." (Deuteronomy
22:1-3).

Gehazi tried to manipulate a situation to bring riches to himself. His
master,
the prophet Elisha, had refused a reward from Naaman the Syrian, who was
overjoyed to have his leprosy cleansed. As Naaman was returning to his
home,
Gehazi lied to him, saying that his master had discovered a need and would
take
some of that reward after all. Elisha found out about the dishonesty,
though,
and pronounced a sentence of leprosy upon Gehazi (2 Kings 5:1-27). Gehazi
learned, as Ronald Page has, that honesty is far better than ill-gotten
gain.

"Honest weights and scales are the Lord's; all the weights in the bag are
His
work" (Proverbs 16:11). God is not only concerned with our behavior on
Sunday
mornings in worship, but also throughout the week in the ways we deal with
one
another.

The same is true in our new covenant. Instructions given to slaves in Titus
2:9,10 apply to all today who work for others: "Slaves must obey their
masters
and do their best to please them. They must not talk back or steal, but
they
must show themselves to be entirely trustworthy and good. Then they will
make
the teaching about God our Savior attractive in every way" (New Living
Translation).

How thankful we should be that we have been found (Luke 19:10)! In our
gratitude for that fact, let us live honestly and above reproach.

Timothy D. Hall

RODNEY KING

It was hard to believe that the infamous center of the 1992 Los Angeles
Riots, Rodney King, is dead and that he was only 47. The acquittal of four
white LAPD officers, charged with police brutality after pulling over King
following an eight mile pursuit, sparked looting and violence that
eventually left 55 dead, 2325 injured, 1573 buildings destroyed, and a total
estimated cost of $1 billion dollars (AP Report, 4/26/12). While it seems
like the police officers indeed used excessive force and two of them were
charged with civil rights violations by a federal court, the man they
pursued was neither innocent nor a moral bastion. King, famous for his plea
during the riots--"Can we all get along?"--may have felt partially
responsible knowing that he chose to drive drunk and evade police for fear
of violating his parole on a theft conviction that had already earned him
two years in jail. The twice-divorced King, engaged to a juror from his
civil case against the city of Los Angeles, admitted not long before his
death to still drinking and doing drugs "occasionally" (Jennifer Medina,
NYTimes.com, 6/17/12). He spent most of his life after his brush with fame
in and out of jail and rehab centers, including time spent in prison for
assaulting his former wife and his daughter (ibid.). It all ended Sunday
morning, June 17, 2012, when King was found dead in the pool he built behind
the house he shared with the aforementioned Cynthia Kelly.

A man who seems to have been the victim of excessive force on an occasion
that he could have avoided had he not driven drunk or reached speeds near
100 should vividly illustrate a basic truth for all of us. We cannot escape
the consequences of our own character. King would not have been at the
center of this controversy had he respected God's Word and authority in His
life. He shows how immoral choices lead to unforeseen consequences. The
police and perceived prejudice were key to the riots, but King was culpable,
too. It was his immoral choices that landed him in the middle of a
situation godliness would have avoided (Rom. 13:3; 1 Pet. 3:17).

Suffering is an inevitability of life (Job 14:1). But, some suffering can
be avoided if we will choose the better way. Solomon rightly declared,
"Good understanding gains favor, but the way of the unfaithful
(KJV--"transgressors") is hard" (Prov. 13:15). King could have left a
better legacy, but such required better choices. May we be remembered as
those who left a smoother path for others while being regarded as people of
upright character.

Neal Pollard

Jeremiah 6:16

Stan Mitchell recently reflected upon a well-known person who made some
memorable statements:

Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra, born in 1925, played mostly for the New York
Yankees. His was a distinguished career, but he is probably better known for
his quirky, intentionally (we think) wise sayings.

His malapropisms [i.e., the usually unintentionally humorous misuse or
distortion of a word or phrase] were funny, true, and disarming. It was he
who declared of a close, competitive game, 'It ain't over 'til it's over.'
Of course he was right.

One time when asked what time it was he is supposed to have responded, "You
mean now?" "It is," he once declared, "déjà vu all over again."

One of my favorites, however, is the following: "Never answer an anonymous
letter." Which of course raises the obvious question: If the letter was
anonymous, where would you send it? Do anonymous letters include a
self-addressed envelope for replies?

One of his most famous sayings was "When you come to a fork in the road...
take it!" *

Of course Berra was saying this in jest, with a twinkle in his eye, but his
statement can make us think.

Mitchell correctly affirms: "The world, selfish and indulgent, has no
direction. Like Berra's advice, the world has no better advice on life than
to say, 'Take a road, it doesn't matter which, take the one that delights
your heart, regardless of who it hurts, or how morally corrupt that choice
may be.'"

The Lord however, differs with this clueless, directionless philosophy...

"This is what the LORD says: 'Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the
ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find
rest for your souls. But you said, 'We will not walk in it'" (Jeremiah
6:16).

When the Israelites stood at the "fork in the road," they chose the wrong
road. Jesus states that most people make the same unfortunate choice:
"Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that
leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is
the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who
find it" (Matt 7:13-14).

The BROAD way - the way to destruction - is the way of sin (cf. Romans
6:23).
But the NARROW way to life - eternal life - is through Jesus, God's Son
(John 14:6). Jesus paid the price for our sins by dying on the cross for us
(Ephesians 1:7).

WE can access the Way to life through our obedient faith - placing our faith
and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turning from sin in repentance (Acts
17:30-31), confessing Him before men (Romans 10:9-10), and being baptized
(immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of our sins (Acts 2:38).

Consider Mitchell's closing admonition:

"So when you get to a fork in the road, choose the Lord's way. Happily for
us, God provides guidance that is clear, right and true."

Won't YOU choose the Lord's way?

David A. Sargent

I Owe a Lot to My Parents

Here are some sports quotes reported from England:

"And here's Moses Kiptanui, the 19-year-old Kenyan, who turned 20 a few
weeks ago." (David Coleman)

"We now have exactly the same situation as we had at the start of the race,
only exactly the opposite." (Murray Walker)

After playing Cameroon in the 1990 world cup finals: "We didn't
underestimate them. They were just a lot better than we thought." (Bobby
Robson)

"I was in a no-win situation, so I'm glad that I won rather than lost."
(Frank Bruno)

"The lead car is absolutely unique, except for the one behind it which is
identical." (Murray Walker)

"There have been injuries and deaths in boxing, but none of them serious."
(Alan Minter)

"Just under 10 seconds for Nigel Mansel. Call it 9.5 seconds in round
numbers." (Murray Walker)

"I'll fight Lloyd Honeyghan for nothing if the price is right." (Marlon
Starling)

"If history repeats itself, I should think we can expect the same thing
again." (Terry Venables)

"The Queen's Park Oval, exactly as its name suggests, is absolutely round."
(Tony Crozier)

"I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and father." (Greg Norman)

Like Greg Norman, we all owe our parents a great deal. We're mindful
not only of the physical needs which they met, but such things as the love
they have shown, the example they have set, and the chastisement they have
administered (yes, even the chastisement). I owe my parents all of these
things, and so much more. Perhaps most meaningful were the words of wisdom
which guided me in the right direction (though not always appreciated at the
time). The words of Solomon speak to me:

"My son, keep your father's commands, and don't forget your mother's
teaching. Keep their words in mind forever as though you had them tied
around your neck. They will guide you when you walk. They will guard you
when you sleep. They will speak to you when you are awake. These commands
are like a lamp; this teaching is like a light. And the correction that
comes from them will help you have life." (Prov. 6:20-23, NCV).

Say a special prayer of thanks to God for your parents -- especially
your mother and father!

Have a great day!

Alan Smith

The prevalence of false teachers and false doctrines

 

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

A while back I was involved in a discussion regarding the prevalence of false teachers and false doctrines abounding in our world. The tone of this discussion seemed to suggest that these sorts of teachers and doctrines were of a recent arrival to society. Let me just say that this isn't the case. They have been around through all the ages of man on earth. And this is true whether we're talking about the temporal world or the religious.

In offering my opinion, as it regards the temporal aspects of our lesson today, it just seems to me that whenever any law or statute is enacted, someone is always available to not only disregard or figure a way around it, but to also entice others to do the same. As an example of this, during my past law enforcement career I had occasion to investigate some who claimed to have figured out how NOT to pay taxes and were holding seminars to teach others their system. (Read: doctrine) Of course, there was a "slight" fee attached to the edification of this doctrine.

Now these people were just out and out crooks, swindlers. They got caught and prosecuted for their endeavors, and sadly, so did their disciples. They committed an offense and lead others into doing the same. They knew what they were doing and knew that their methods were against the law.

However, when it comes to the world of religion, I don't think that all of the false teachers we see and hear in the various types of media believe that they're teaching a false doctrine. I think that they actually believe what they are saying but, as far as God and His Word is concerned, that does not excuse them nor does it excuse their followers. I'm sure that they are teaching and preaching their doctrines with "all good intentions."

And that brings us to the gist of our lesson today - intentions. We all know what the pavement of heaven's street consists of, don't we? "Pure gold" it tells us in Rev. 21:21. Well, an author by the name of Samuel Johnson, who lived back the 1700's once made the statement: "Hell is paved with good intentions." I thought this to be an interesting concept presented by contrast in paving materials found in the eternal homes of the saved and the damned.

Here's another one I like, written by author/playwright, Oscar Wilde. He offered us his take on this subject by saying: "It is always with the best intentions that the worst work is done."

I go back to what I said earlier, that I believe many false teachers promote their doctrines with "all good intentions." Sad to say, I'm of the opinion that they actually believe what they're professing and therein lies the rub, so to speak. They are doing the absolute "worst work" someone can do in this life, destroying another's soul along with their own, all the while believing that they're doing good.

How many times in our secular world have we witnessed our elected leaders doing something that they thought would be a good thing, be of good service to society, and then have it turn out to be not so beneficial. Too many, to my way of thinking. In the realm of religious doctrine, one false teacher is too many.

We can even look in the Bible and see some examples of people doing things that they believed were good and would be pleasing to God and yet their endeavors turned out to be 180 degrees wrong. But, remember, they had good intentions.

Before he was the apostle Paul, he was "Saul, of Tarsus," and we read in Acts 7, 8 and 9 that he was heavily involved in persecuting the Church in the area of Judea. To the degree that he was present, and apparently complicit, in the stoning death of Stephen. (Acts 7:58-60) Yet, with all the things he did to persecute Christians, he thought he was doing what God would want him to do. He told the High Priest and council that he had "lived in all good conscience before God..." (Acts 23:1) In other words - his intentions were good.

Question for you here: Did his good intentions justify his actions? No, they did not because we can see in Acts 9 that Jesus told him that, by his actions, in effect, he was "persecuting" Christ. We're not told how many Christians suffered at the hands of Paul but, here again, one is too many. How many souls will suffer at the Day of Judgment because of the "good intentions" of false teachers?

Our other Biblical example will be that great hero of Israel, David, many times described as being a "man after God's own heart." (See Acts 13:22) But, David had a problem that all of us have - he was a human being. A mere mortal and as such, subject to making mistakes even though not intending to. Let's look at one such event in his life where he set out to do something with "all good intentions" only to cause the death of Uzzah.

Briefly setting the scene, the Ark of the Covenant had been captured by the Philistines in a battle with Israel. After a period of seven months of suffering by the Philistines because they had the Ark, they decided to send it back to Israel, which they did. It eventually wound up being stored at the house of Abinadab where it stayed for the next 20 years. (1 Samuel 6 & 7)

Then we turn to 2 Sam. 6 and find that Saul is now dead and David is King. He takes a bunch of his "chosen men of Israel" and proceeds to the house of Abinadab, located in the town of Kiriath-jearim, to fetch the Ark of God. They placed the Ark on a brand new cart and planned to bring it back home accompanied by a lot of fan-fare. You'll read in that chapter that this had all the appearance of being a great religious event with musicians leading the parade. (1Chron. 13:8)

There was just one minor flaw with David's great religious production here. That wasn't the manner that God had prescribed for moving the Ark. It was to be covered in a prescribed way and carried by a certain group of Levites using staves through the rings of the Ark and were not to touch the Ark "lest they die." (Num. 4:15)

Well, the cart shook when the oxen pulling it stumbled and poor old Uzzah put his hand on the Ark to steady it. The account says that "the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah and He smote him.....and he died before God." (2Chron. 13:10) At first, David was upset over Uzzah's death, but then had an epiphany. And that was, that he should have done it the way God said to begin with and there wouldn't have been any trouble. The proof of his realization of his error is seen in 1Chron. 15:13 "....because we did not seek Him according to the rule." (ESV)

Paul opposed Christ with "all good intentions" and a clear conscience. David had all the best intentions of doing a great, religious thing for God only he didn't follow God's specific directions in the matter and it cost a man his life. What I'm pointing out here, and what is very clearly seen is, that God's "rules" trumps good intentions. Or, as Samuel told Saul when he thought his way was just as good as God's - "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice..." (1Sam. 15:22)

The lesson in a nut-shell: When it comes to pleasing God, our good intentions are worth absolutely nothing if they're not in accord with His Word.

Ron Covey

tintinnabulation

In all my years of reading, writing and public speaking I've gained quite a
wide vocabulary. In fact I know lots more words than I can ever use (or
would want to). It's rare that I come across a word with which I am
unfamiliar, but I did this week. I figured out the meaning from the context
though. I asked my wife if she had ever heard of it and she hadn't either,
so we looked it up. The word: "tintinnabulation".

I make it a practice to speak and write as simply as possible. I don't like
to use words which are unfamiliar or hard to understand and really don't
understand why someone would choose to do otherwise. I do understand that
some folks believe it gives them the appearance of having a "higher" level
education than others when they can spout what my daddy would have called
"ten dollar words". Some believe it gives their words more credibility or
causes them to somehow sound wiser. It's been my experience, for the most
part, that it either confuses people of turns them off to listen to someone
who tries to speak this way.

Does this have an application for our spiritual life today? I believe it
does! First, too often today, people want to (as the scripture puts it) have
someone scratch their itching ears. Paul writes: "For a time is coming when
people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will
follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them
whatever their itching ears want to hear." (2 Timothy 4:3) In other words,
the one who can excite them or fits into the latest craze is the one they
listen to. God's words takes on a secondary importance. Many people choose
to attend churches simply because of the eloquence of the preacher's
lessons, not because he speaks The Truth of God's Word.

Second, preachers, teachers and church leaders need to be less concerned
with how polished their message is and more concerned with how close it
stays to the Word of God. Paul writes:
"For Christ didn't send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News, and not
with clever speech, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power.
The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction!
But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God." (1
Corinthians 1:17-18, NLT) Another translation of these words reads, "not
with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its
power". (NIV)

So what's your focus, the simplicity of the Gospel or "clever words"? You
see, the meaning of tintinnabulation is very simply, "the ringing or sound
of bells". There is an old hymn that we used to sing as I was growing up in
church. It has no basis in scripture, but I still like it. Perhaps you know
the hymn yourself that goes like this: "There's a land beyond the river,
That we call the sweet forever, And we only reach that shore by faith's
decree; One by one we'll gain the portals, There to dwell with the
immortals, When they ring the golden bells for you and me. (Chorus) Don't
you hear the bells now ringing? Don't you hear the angels singing? 'Tis the
glory hallelujah Jubilee. In that far off sweet forever, Just beyond the
shining river, When they ring the golden bells for you and me."

Somehow, "when they tintinnabulate the golden bells," just doesn't carry the
same meaning. I think I like the simple words the best, my ears just don't
itch for the fancy or clever words. What about you? Solomon the wise king
once said, "A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of
silver," (Proverbs 25:11) I think he was right.


--Russ Lawson

Russ Lawson, Messages From The Heart

Blog: http://messages-from.blogspot.com

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Food insurance

We often complain about insurance. When the premiums are calculated for a
ten-
year period for auto insurance, for example, a sizable sum emerges. In that
ten-year period a good driver may never have submitted one claim. All that
money spent on premiums is down the drain, right? In a sense, yes, but what
if
... Insurance is based on events that may or may not happen, but in a
crisis a
person without insurance will find himself in a serious bind.

When I recently heard on the radio about "food insurance", I was puzzled.
Were
they offering to insure the food that I have in my house? No, in this case,
they're proposing to ensure that I have food in the event of a catastrophe.
Food that has been dehydrated or freeze-dried has a long shelf life. Some
companies that deal in these commodities claim they will last for 25 years.

I can see the wisdom in having preserved food on hand. If you live in an
area
that is prone to tornadoes or flooding, disruptions in the supply chain can
last
for several days. Finding supplies or even drinkable water can be a serious
challenge.

The prices of these food packs are quite high, though. One package
advertised
contains over 3,700 entrees as well as solid fuel for food preparation and a
water filtration system. The price tag is a cool $10,000 dollars! I don't
believe I could survive my normal bills if I laid out that kind of money!
(There are smaller, less expensive packages sold, of course.)

I'll leave it to you to decide if this concept is for you. As for me, I
entered
into a different kind of food insurance program several years ago. Let me
explain.

Jesus addressed the issue of worries and fears in the Sermon on the Mount.
Here
are some of His comments that pertain to our subject: "Therefore I say to
you,
do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor
about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the
body
more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor
reap
nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of
more
value than they?" (Matthew 6:25,26).

Don't misunderstand Jesus' point: He is not telling us to sit back, do
nothing
and wait for the Father to feed us. "The Lord helps those who help
themselves"
is not a phrase to be found in the Bible, but the concept can be; consider
Proverbs 20:4, for one example. No, God still expects us to do what we're
able
to do. Preparing for the future should be the norm for each of us. To an
extent.

But isn't there a point at which our fear of the unknown future infringes on
our
trust in God's known promise to do good for us? Listen again to that
promise,
as stated by Jesus: "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good
pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32). Re-read those words - "the
Father's good pleasure". God delights in doing good things for His
children.

Difficult times will come, even if we are God's children. But we have
promises
for such times (like this beautiful one in 1 Corinthians 10:13) that others
don't have. At the end of the day, when I've done what I'm able, I can
relax
and know that God is watching out for me. What a gift!

Timothy D. Hall