Christian Living

Holiness is an important factor in matters pertaining to church growth. Holiness is a way of life, that is, the character of all those people who are pure in heart (Matthew 5:8; Hebrews 12:14). How we think, talk and live before our fellowman is important. A light that flickers and salt that loses it preserving power contribute to the stagnation of a local congregation. Christians who are living godly and involving themselves in the care of others will influence sinners in the way of the Lord. Hypocrites, who deceive, negligent members who are filled with apathy and brethren who stray, injure the cause of the Lord more than they realize. Preaching without practicing prevents many from obeying the gospel.

A congregation may possess the greatest orator for a preacher but no one will come to hear him if the church is not respected in the local community. The fact is, neighbors and friends visit mainly because of their respect for you, the life you live before them, and the example you are. They may disagree doctrinally but they will respect your convictions. A ‘holier-than-thou’ attitude turns people away; however, a true sense of concern and compassion for others will entice them to listen to what you say.

It is not necessary to wear certain kinds of apparel or to carry a placard advertising that you are member of some religious group. Your friends and neighbors already know what you are. They notice your enthusiasm or your indifference. They observe your faithfulness or your ungodliness. You are preaching and practicing before them every day.

Our peers are listening to our speech, watching what we are wearing, observing our habits, noticing our recreational activities, learning of our dealings with others and they are even concerned with our loyalty to the Lord and the local church. In fact, someone is scrutinizing every aspect of your daily life. You may, in fact, be the reason a person decides to become a Christian or to remain in sin. Never underestimate the power of your influence for good or bad!

The sentiments expressed by the apostle Paul as found in Philippians 2:12-16 should be considered and obeyed by the children of God: “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His great pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among which you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.”

One of the greatest contributing sources to church growth is the individual Christian who is living faithfully to the Lord before his fellowman. What kind would your congregation be if all the members lived just like you?

How Much Was Whitney Houston Worth When She Died?

This was the heading of an article that was written which I found on Google News early on Tuesday morning, February 14, 2014. The body of the deceased singer had barely reached the funeral home and days before her body would be buried when numerous writers began filling the newspapers and other medians of communication with such unimportant matters. This person had a beautiful voice and everyone who has ever heard her sing “I Will Always Love You” will testify to this truth. There is no doubt but that she made multiple millions of dollars in her life time but when a person comes to the end of life on this earth, it doesn’t really matter whether you have all the wealth in this world. Jesus said: “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life” (Matthew 16:26)?  The rich man in the story that our Lord told lost his soul in torment, not because he was rich but rather that he left God out of his life. The poor man whose name was Lazarus was in “Abraham’s bosom”, not because he was poor; rather it was because he included God in his life (Luke 16:19-31). The measure of a person’s worth is not how much silver and gold one may accumulate in this life. But, this is what counts the most in the eyes of so many people. The Preacher said, “He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; Nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 5:10). The patriarch Job exclaimed, following the tragedies he experienced, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). In my understanding, the question raised in the heading of this article is really not important and was in poor taste so soon after the death of this icon in the music industry. The question ‘what was the worth of her soul while she lived’ is more appropriate. And that is applicable for all of us. The answer is found in the familiar passage in John 3:16, 17: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” The apostle Paul expressed the attitude of God in this manner: “For this good and acceptable in the Sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (I Timothy 2:3, 4). In short, God wants all mankind to be saved and He provided the way of salvation through the death of His Son on Calvary. Those who believe in Jesus Christ and are submissive to His will by repenting of sins and are baptized in His name will have that salvation (Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38; 2 Timothy 2:10).

The Honeybee and The Buzzard

Surely we all have some knowledge regarding this insect and this fowl. Both have been placed here on this earth for different purposes as designed by the Creator, God Almighty. While their functions are vital, they are radical in contrast. The buzzard is rather despised by the human family. We esteem this bird as being unsightly in appearance and undesirable because of its work, the devouring of dead
carcasses. Yet, in the balance of nature, this scavenger has a rightful place in our environment. The honeybee, on the other hand, is well thought of and respected. While we dislike the sting of such a small insect, we do appreciate the delicious honey that it makes for us. The bee can be seen visiting the beautiful flowers and various blooms in the vegetative kingdom. No wonder the honey that this bee makes is so sweet.

Strangely enough, the buzzard and the honeybee remind us of the various attitudes and dispositions found in different people. First of all, some folk enjoy dwelling on the ungodly, the gossip, the hearsay, the ugly, the bad, the filthy, the hurtful, and the immoral. They seem to get their kicks over telling or hearing a good piece of juicy slander. And, the worse it stinks, the better they like it. This old world is filled with individuals who love filthiness. The Bible refers to people who “speak folly” and whose “heart will work iniquity” (Isaiah 32:6). Paul writes of the unrighteous in this manner, “Their throat is an open sepulchre; With their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness" (Romans 3:13, 14). Their ultimate end is eternal perdition, for Jesus said in Matthew 12:36, 37, “And I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”

We are grateful however that there are many Christians who love the good and the beautiful things of life. They think upon that which is pure, honest, just, true, lovely, and of good report (Philippians 4:8). They feed upon the word of God that is “Sweeter also than honey and the droppings of the honeycomb” (Psalms 19:10). They know that “pleasant words are as honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones (Proverbs 16:24). They “love life” and endeavor to “see good days”; therefore, they “refrain their tongues…from evil” and “speak no guile” with their lips (I Peter 3:10).

The question therefore is, “To be or not to be”. That is, are you soaring over dead carcasses and seeking the corrupt; or, are you feasting upon the beautiful and the good? Let us all ‘be’ (live) like the honeybee and not the buzzard!

One of the Greatest Fears of Parents: the Death of a Child

I write as a father. It was on Friday night, October 2, 1987, that I received a call from a dear Christian friend of mine informing me that his teenage daughter had been killed in a car wreck. He asked me if I would go with him to Montgomery so he could identify the body of his precious child. My wife and I hurried over to his house to try to comfort him, his wife and family in their deep despair and grief in the loss of their child that had been so full of life only a few hours earlier. It was about 2:00 a.m. by the time we reached the place where his daughter was being held since she died in the car wreck. Because I knew the teenager and loved her dearly, it was hard enough for me emotionally and I just couldn’t imagine how difficult it was for this grieving father to do what he had to do. In 1973, when my younger brother, age 35, was killed in another state while crossing a four lane highway, I had to go to the local funeral home in my hometown to identify him and I knew how difficult that was for me. But, the thought of having a child to be killed and to leave this world and into eternity, surely would be one of the greatest crosses to bear in this life.

In recent days we have learned of several young people being killed in automobile accidents. One was a precious and sweet Christian teenage girl who lived in Decatur, Alabama. I read an email of sympathy and in it the individual asked “Why, God, why?” And it is not necessarily wrong to ask “Why”. We are but as little children who might ask their parents the same when they did not understand the reason the hurt they were feeling in their hearts when something bad had happened to them. I could say to you that when God created the universe He set in order certain laws like gravity. When an evil person or an innocent child falls from a 10 story building, the results will be the same. And, when two vehicles traveling at certain speeds collide, serious injuries or deaths may occur. As being able to answer all the “whys”, I cannot. It becomes most difficult to deal with when bad things happen to good people, especially fine Christian young people.

David, in the depths of despair, asked, “Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Why do you hide in times of trouble” (Psalm 10:1)? Again he asked, “How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? In his humanity, he asked these questions but he knew in his heart that the God of the universe cared for him and was with him. So he expressed his inner feelings in this manner, “But I have trusted in Your mercy; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, Because He has dealt bountifully with me” (Psalm 13:5, 6).

Then consider Job who “was blameless and upright and one who feared God and shunned evil”; and, “was the greatest of all the people of the East.” God asked Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” (Job 1:1, 3, 8). Yet he lost so much of his earthly possessions, had sores all over his body; but, to me, the greatest loss of all were the deaths of his children (Job 1:18, 19). How does a parent deal with such an overwhelming catastrophe? I am amazed that Job could have continued to live but he did. When you read the entire book you will find that Job did have questions that he presented to God but his example of endurance has given encouragement throughout the centuries to believers when tragedies strike their families and loved ones. Consider these responses of Job to his great grief: “Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.” “But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” “But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.” (Job 1:20, 21; 2:10; 23:10). To me, the outstanding statement that Job made in dealing with his lack of understanding of the “whys” relating to his losses is found in chapter 13 and in verse 15: “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (KJV).

In this life we may never know all the answers to the “whys” as to the trials, tribulations, disappointments,
difficulties and deaths that occur in our lives but we can trust in Him who knows all things and can work out everything to our eternal welfare (Romans 8:28). May the following poem bless and strengthen the hearts of all parents who have lost their precious children to death.

God's Lent Child

“I’ll lend you, for a little while,

A child of mine,” God said,

“For you to love the while he lives,

And mourn for when he’s dead.

It may be six or seven years,

Or twenty-two or three;

But will you, ‘til I call him back,

Take care of him for me?

He’ll bring his charms to gladden you

And, should his stay be brief,

You’ll have his lovely memories

As a solace for your grief.

I cannot promise he will stay,

Since all from earth return;

But there are lessons taught below

I want this child to learn.

I’ve looked the whole world over

In search for teachers true;

And from the things that crowd life’s land

I have chosen you.

Now, will you give him all your love

Nor think the labor vain?

Nor hate me when I come to take

This lent child back again?

I fancied that I heard them say:

“Dear Lord, Thy will be done.

For all the joys Thy child will bring

The risk of grief we’ll run.

We’ll shelter him with tenderness,

We’ll love him while we may –

And for the happiness we’ve known

Forever grateful stay.

But should Thy Angel call for him

Much sooner than we’ve planned,

We’ll brave the bitter grief that comes

And try to understand.”

~Author unknown (attributed to Edgar Guest)