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The peace of God
passeth all understanding and
misunderstanding. | |
 Is It Worth Your
Soul?
A sixteenth-century German
story tells of a man named Faust who, in his quest for
forbidden or advanced knowledge of material things,
summons the Devil who offers to serve him for a period of
time, at the cost of his soul.
The 1979 song “The Devil Went
Down to Georgia” depicts a similar plot; albeit, it derives from the
Bible’s warning against spiritual bargaining.
Jesus warned us
not to allow Satan to keep possession of our souls (Mt. 16:21-26).
He said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and
take up his cross, and follow me…For what is a man profited, if he
shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a
man give in exchange for his soul” (v. 24,26)? Is there anything
worth allowing Satan to possess
your soul? In the end, it won’t
matter how well you could fiddle life’s tunes. All that will matter
is whether the tune you played was harmonious to the will of
God.
Is
your soul worth attending the "church of your
choice"?
God’s choice is really all that matters. One has
liberty to choose what shoes and shirt he puts on in the morning,
but as far as choosing of what church to be a part, our will must
submit to God’s. There is only one church Christ built (Mt. 16:18;
Ep. 4:4; 1:22,23); therefore, first, look for the church that wears
Christ’s name. Then, investigate churches to find which uses no
creed but the
Bible, teaches “sound doctrine” (Tit. 2:1),
worships “in spirit and in truth” (Jn. 4:24) and upholds godly
living in each of its members (Ja. 1:27). If one doesn’t care to
find the church of Jesus Christ, then he doesn’t care about
salvation – God has “added to the church” the ones who are saved
(Ac. 2:47).
Is
your soul worth preferring practically everything to church
attendance?
“Some long lost cousin, three or four times
removed, is coming to town” – “My dachshund is sick” – “This week is
my vacation”; If these or similar thoughts have interfered with your
ability to reason and spurred random absences from assembling with
the saints, you may want to reconsider your devotion to God and the
church (cf. Mt. 6:33). Read excuses offered to Jesus in Matthew
8:21,22 and Luke 14:16-24. Nothing non-life-threatening or easily
avoidable should take precedence over Christian worship, study and
living. Excuse-making must be stopped.
Is
your soul worth leading an immoral personal life?
Having
your cake and eating it too is fine if taken literally and if it is
your birthday; however, a life lived to this axiom, indulging to the
fullest extent of carnal sumptuousness, is altogether inappropriate
(Ro. 8:6-8; cf. He. 11:24,25; Tit. 2:12). Why give up heaven and
your soul to college coed parties, tobacco and drugs, vulgar
language, indecent dress, covetousness, arrogance or anything
else?
If by your actions or thoughts you’re bargaining your
soul to the Devil, please come to realize it is not worth it. The
Father, Christ and His disciples love you and desire your salvation.
Give your soul to God.
- Cade Somers
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God's Creation
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 What Type of
Leaven Are YOU?Among the many parables
Jesus taught is this gem: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven,
which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all
leavened” (Matthew 13:33). Here was a spiritual lesson about the
influence in and of the kingdom. Jesus’ kingdom citizens are
intended to be “leaven,” an active working influence for good in the
world.
Leaven, or yeast, is a remarkable agent when placed in
a lump of dough. Just a little bit will spread itself throughout the
entire piece.
So it is with spiritual leaven. Zeal,
devotion, life, and activity in a few for good can leaven an entire
congregation for good. What a treasure they are who are constantly
busying themselves in righteousness and are, by their example,
influencing others to do so as well. Leaven indeed.
This is,
however, not the only type of spiritual “leaven” the Bible speaks
of. Elsewhere the Scriptures warn about the leavening influence of
inactivity, lukewarmness, false doctrine, and immorality. “Do you
not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” Paul asked
the Corinthian disciples when they allowed a fornicator to go
unreproached (1 Corinthians 5:6). “A little leaven leavens the whole
lump,” he said to the Galatian churches who were tolerating some
false teaching (Galatians 5:9).
It behooves each of us to
ask, “What type of leaven do I constitute?” And please note: we ALL are
influencing others to some extent by our lives... and denying it
won‘t change the fact.
Are we helping the church, and the
church the world? Or are we, rather, being a hindrance to our
brethren and, consequently, influencing others to follow
suit.
What type of leaven are you?
- Mike
Noble |
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 Unhealthy Hearts
Unwholesome attitudes pervade
and pervert the lives of some Christians. No one is immune. All are
subject to fall into the lairs and snares of Satan. We must take
inventory of our internal situation lest we fall into eternal
condemnation, "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed
evil thoughts" (Mk. 7:21-23). Again, Jesus said, "for out of the
abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh...an evil man out of the
evil treasure (heart) bringeth forth evil things" (Matt. 12:34-37).
What are some of these unsound spirits and
alienating attitudes?
(1) Jealous
Hearts
Envy or jealousy is so detested and
despised that Solomon calls it "the rottenous of the bones" (Prov.
14:30). Regardless of the disgusting nature of the deeds of another,
we must not permit jealousy to permeate our thoughts. Though some
may preach Christ "even of envy and strife...(and) of contention,
not sincerely," we should "rejoice," as Paul did, because "whether
in pretence or truth, Christ is preached" (Phil. 1:14-18). Remember,
"the members (of the body, the church) should have the same care one
for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer
with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it"
(1 Cor. 12:25, 26).
(2) Angry
Hearts
Angry hearts kindle strife and keep
it simmering. A furious man, the Spirit says, abounds in
transgressions. "A wrathful man stirreth up strife; but he that is
slow to anger appeaseth strife" (Prov. 15:18). An angry heart has a
mean gleam and a clenched fist. "Be not hasty in thy spirit to be
angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools" (Eccl. 7:9). One
cannot allow anger to ferment into wrath, "for the wrath of man
worketh not the righteousness of God" (Jas. 1:20). Therefore, "let
all...anger...be put away from you, with all malice" (Eph. 4:31).
(3) Bitter,
Vengeful Hearts
A heart cannot be bitter and not be
vengeful, nor can it be vengeful and not bitter. Nothing any man has
done to you is worth becoming bitter and being lost. A bitter heart
is a hard, impervious heart, but the Bible heart is a tender one.
"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another" (Eph. 4:32). "Put on therefore...bowels of mercies,
humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another
and forgiving one another" (Col. 3:12, 13).
A
man set of on fire with vengeance will not and cannot heed Paul’s
injunction: "Let us therefore follow after the things which make for
peace, and things wherewith one may edify (build up) another" (Rom.
14:19). The spirit of retaliation does not build life or strength or
peace. It saps and drains them. A church whose leaders and members
have an unquenchable desire for revenge may grow for a while on
brute force, but, inwardly, it will crumble and eventually collapse.
"Dear beloved, avenge not yourselves....For it is written, Vengeance
is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" (Rom. 12:19). Let us not take
what belongs to God.
Conclusion
Only
God knows how many homes and churches have been destroyed by
jealous, angry, and bitter, vengeful hearts. How many innocent,
precious and sweet hearts have been unjustly savaged by jealous,
angry and bitter ones? Again, only God knows. Yes, he knows, and he
will judge. Let us, therefore, purge and purify our hearts of all
such attitudes, for they will lead us into eternal destruction.
- Larry
Hafley
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Lord, make me
an instrument of thy peace!
Where there is hatred...let me sow
love.
Where there is injury...pardon.
Where there is
doubt...hope.
Where there is darkness...light.
Where there is
sadness...joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much
seek
To be consoled...as to console,
To be understood...as to
understand,
To be loved...as to love.
For
It is in
giving...that we receive,
It is in pardoning...that we are
pardoned,
It is in dying...that we are born to eternal
life.
- Francis of
Assisi
Weekly bulletin editor: M.J.
Hennecke
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