My Prayer For Today

Father in Heaven, your name is holy, and we know that your grace will be sufficient to us through your Son, Jesus Christ. Sometimes, however, we miss the mark and shun access to your grace as believers. We bicker and argue and become both angry and complacent concerning the things that are going wrong in our country. We have just seen another president swear his allegiance to the constitution. We know our constitution is just a human document and that your word is a divine one. We all love our constitution. I pray that we will love your word more. I pray for our newly sworn-in president that you will work in his life to give him the wisdom he needs to lead our country. He is only human, but you are divine. He is subject to all kinds of error, but you are perfect. Give each of us as blessed citizens of this great country grace to have the right attitude toward all of our national leaders, and please be our shield and buckler. Please forgive us of our sinfulness as your children and help us to receive your chastisement with honor, learning from your rod and staff. We love you as much as we can; help us to love you more, and help our unbelief. Amen.

Celebrating Life or Death?

By Tom Ross
Pastor of Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church, Chesapeake, Ohio

    On January 20th, our church celebrated the sanctity of human life.  We rejoiced as we read and studied the inspired Scriptures that prove God is the giver of all life, physical, spiritual, and eternal (Romans 6:23).  We were blessed to learn that human life begins at conception, the very moment when the 23 paternal and 23 maternal chromosomes come together to form an individual in the protective womb of a mother.  Our heart's were thrilled to know that children are a blessing and an heritage of the Lord (Psalm 127:3), to be nurtured, cherished, and trained in the ways of truth and godliness (Proverbs 22:6).  We celebrated the sacred gift of life that is created and sustained by our gracious God.  Acts 17:24-29 declares: "God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth...seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things...For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.  Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God..."
    
     Unfortunately, we also had to examine the origins of the culture of death that persists in our society.  On January 22, 1973 the United States Supreme Court defied the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and decreed by judicial fiat that a woman could choose to abort or terminate the life of the child in her womb.  In the 40 years since that infamous decision over 50 million babies have been aborted in the United States of America, according to the Centers of Disease Control.  To put it into a statistical perspective it means that as a society we average 1.25 million abortions per year or 3,424 deaths per day.  All of the American casualties in wars from the Revolution to the present day total 1.3 million.  Hitler's atrocities in the Holocaust resulted in the murder of 6 million Jews, a number that pales in comparison to the 50 million innocent children that have been sacrificed on the "pro-choice" altar of the abortionist's surgical table.

     The tragedy of the Connecticut shooting where 20 precious children lost their lives at the wicked hands of a madman still lingers in our minds.  I can't help but think that this horrific event and others like it are the result of the culture of death that has been promoted in our society.  Over the past 50 plus years our taxpayer funded government schools have been mandated to teach  our children that there is no God, no Creator, and no moral law they are accountable to obey.  I heard President Obama say that it is our responsibility as a culture to protect the most vulnerable in our society, namely our children.  When President Obama was an Illinois state senator he voted to continue the atrocity of partial birth abortion.  The most vulnerable children in all the world are those who are in the protected womb of their mother.  Statistically, 3,424 children were aborted on the very same day of the Newtown murders.  Yet there was no outrage by the media as the remains of aborted children were thrown away in cities across our land.  Our politicians did not call for an immediate ban of abortionist scalpels and other instruments of torture used to terminate the lives of children in the womb.  Progressives and Feminists have successfully changed the language that people use to describe a babe in the womb to that of an embryo, fetus, or tissue.  However, they cannot explain away the violence against children that has contributed to the culture of death.  Included in the list of things that God hates and considers to be an abomination are: "A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood" (Proverbs 6:17).  May God be pleased to turn our nation back to one that celebrates life instead of death.

An Old Home Place Of Mine

This picture was graciously taken and sent to me by Bennie Brown. This is part of a house where I used to live. It stands on Hwy. 330, or Morgan-Cordova Road near Morgan, Kentucky. I lived here (I am not certain of the exact time) from age 6 to about the age of 8. Many things happened while I lived here. Some of my memories are these:

The house used to be much larger. The house extended in the back in an "L" shape toward the right of the picture toward a small underground cellar on the right.

There was a barn out to the left of the house at a distance. The part of the house showing in the picture has only two rooms. The room on the right front was occupied by my grandfather, Francis Blackburn, until his death in February of 1952. The outhouse was down a small hill in the back of the house.

Dog In Ice Box

The part of the house that extended to the right in an "L" shape was the kitchen. In that kitchen at one time we had an ice box. We never used ice much, but we stored items in this ice box. Once I put our little dog inside one of the bins in the ice box and closed the door. When the dog finally began to cry, I had forgotten that I had put him in there. We looked everywhere for that little dog until I finally remembered what I had done and went and got him out. I don't remember getting a spanking for that, but I certainly deserved one.

Manure In The Face

Once my cousin, a girl a little younger than myself, had come out from town to stay a few days with us . We country children were always playing tricks on the "city children." My brothers took her into the cow pasture in the back of the house, and they pretended to be eating cow manure. She knew they were only pretending, so she got down and pretended that she was eating it, also. When she did this, my brother (not telling which one) pushed her face down into the freshly made pile of manure. Boy, you talk about causing problems, that was one confusing bunch of people for a while.

My Precious 50-Cent Piece

I do not remember where I would ever get a 50-cent piece, but I did (probably from my father). I was lying on the floor in the warm weather and noticed a small knothole in the floor near the front door of this house. I played with that knothole for a few minutes with my 50-cent piece. It seemed that the hole was too small to swallow up my 50-cent piece, but I was very wrong. All at a sudden the coin disappeared and has not been recovered (to my knowledge) to this day.

Nearly Broken Nose

My father worked in Covington, Kentucky, at this time; and he stayed in town all week and came home on the weekends. Once when he came home, he went straight to the barn. I wanted to see him, so I was hurrying to the barn to see him. I tripped on the front porch of this house and fell face first down upon a large rock beside the front porch. I nearly broke my nose. I so remember my father's running to the house and picking me up while I cried for several minutes. We did not go to the doctor, because Mom and Dad could tell my nose was not broken. We did not go the doctor in those days unless death was near.

Falling From Bicycle Basket

My brother, Eddie, was going to Earl Wallace's house, our landlord, to do some work for him. He wanted me to go with him, so he put me in his bicycle basket and pumped the bicycle up the small grade toward the next-door house. When we got to the house, Eddie said, "How am I going to get you out of this basket?" Of course, I did not know how he would do that. Then, without any explanation or warning, he ran the bicycle into the fence and threw me from the basket. I fell onto some very soft, green grass, and everything was just fine. However, I really don't ever want to do that again.

My Body Cast

Doctors decided they wanted to do some very extensive surgery on my legs due to my having Polio when I was two years old, so that was scheduled while we lived in this house. As a result of the two surgeries, I had on a body cast that extended from my toes on my right leg all the way up under my arms. I could not sit up but had to lie down all the time. I remember my father's carrying me into church and laying me down on the front seat of the church. I spent nearly the whole summer in this cast, and I was often taken outside at home. I have a picture of my lying down on a blanket in the front yard of this place.


Chewing Tobacco

I remember once walking along the front porch and seeing my grandfather's plug tobacco lying in the open window. I knew that he and my father used this tobacco to chew, so I decided to steal a little taste of it. I picked up the small plug and took a small bite, as I had seen my elders do, and I began to chew this little bite of plug tobacco. At first it tasted sweet, and I enjoyed it; but about three second later, I received my first shock of nicotine flowing through my body. I almost immediately got dizzy and sick. I have never tried chewing tobacco since that time, and I was only about seven years old.

Many More Memories Could

I could continue to cite many more memories from my living in this place, including the eating of green apples in the apple orchard that was behind the house, the old man and woman (Maggie and George) who used to ride in a horse a buggy up and down the road, etc.

I hope you enjoy these memories.

Been There; Done That

Many people have lived through many predictions of the end of the world. In 1000 AD many thought the world would end because it was the end of a millennium.

Christ was supposed to come in1806 in England.
John Wesley thought the Millennium would begin in 1836.
Millerites predicted the coming of Christ several times in the 1800's.
Russellites thought Christ would come in 1874.
Herbert Armstrong predicted Christ's return to be in 1936 and after that
changed his prediction.
Jim Jones predicted the end of all things to be 1967.
Hal Lindsey said the 1980's would be the last decade.
Pat Robertson said the end would come in 1982.
Edgar Whisenant said the world would end in 1988; then the next year he said
he missed it by one year.
Many predicted the end of the world at the turn of the year 2000.

Now, since none of these has happened, we have many to look forward to in the future.

Dec 21, 2012 -- Tomorrow
2018 - 2028 -- F. Kenton Beshore
2020 - 2037 -- Jeane Jeane Dixon
2129 -- Muslim Said Nursi
2240 -- Jewish Talmud
2280 -- Rashad Kahlifa "Quran Code"
22,000,000,000 -- Scientists say the world will be torn apart.

We've been here before, and we will experience these predictions again many times until the Lord actually comes again.

SOLUTION:

Luke 12:40 Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.

Acts 20:21 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ

Faith On Earth

Luke18:8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

 “Shall he find faith on the earth?” seems to be such a sobering question, especially to those of us who live so far from the New Testament time when this was written and nearer and nearer to that day when the Son of man comes.

  The Lord will not be looking for simply “saving faith” when he comes (Heb. 10:39), but I believe he will be looking for that dynamic faith that James speaks of in James 2:20, 26—faith without works is dead.  Jesus will be looking for that working faith, that living faith, that pursuing faith that belongs to his faithful ones.

  We are not going to be judged by our faith; we are going to be judged by our works. 2 Cor.5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. 

  The word of God is our rule of faith and practice in the churches of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our faith is to be practiced; without works faith is dead. Without works faith becomes doubt. Without practice, faith becomes only a philosophy, and faith is more than a philosophy. It is a substance (Heb. 11:1). 

  In the churches of Jesus Christ, we practice the two ordinances: baptism and the Lord’s Supper.  In the churches we meet together for fellowship, praise, and worship. In the churches, we grow in grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, and we look forward to his soon coming.

  In other words, we are to assemble together more often now than ever before as we see the day approaching. Will he find this kind of faith?

The Flesh And The Spirit

Galatians 5:16-26

Walk And Fulfill, 16-17

 Paul's command to us as God's children is to the point, saying "Walk in the Spirit."  He mentions this again in verse 25. We will either walk in the Spirit or fulfill the lusts of the flesh. He reminds us that the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, and these do not work together but are contrary to each other--they are opposites. When the flesh lusts against the Spirit, then we cannot do what we would if we did not have this hindrance.

Spirit And Law, 18-24

Those who do not have the Spirit of Christ are under the law, and they must meet the perfection of law's command, otherwise they will fall short of the required perfection of God's righteousness, the righteousness which is by faith in Christ.  But if we are led by the Spirit of God, then we are not under the law, under the demands of the law for righteousness.  Paul says to the Romans in Chapter 10:5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.  We cannot live the righteousness of the law, for the demand is more than we can accomplish.

Paul gives a sample list of the works of the flesh:  adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness (all sorts of evil), idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like.  This, of course, is not a complete list, but it is a sample only. These are the things that hinder a man's meeting God's holy commandments, and those who do these things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

That which is from the Spirit is not works but fruit. We are not saved by works but serve the Lord through the fruit of the Spirit. He now gives a sample list of the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, etc. There is no law against these things, because they are produced by the Spirit of God; they are not worked out by the flesh or by works.  That is because, if we have the Spirit of God, we have crucified the flesh and are not under the weight of the flesh's affections and lusts but can overcome them by faith in Christ.


Living And Walking, 25-26

We live in the Spirit by faith in Christ.  Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.  The Spirit of God dwells in us and will never leave us nor forsake us.  So, if we live in the Spirit, with his indwelling and his ever-presence, then let us also walk in the Spirit.  The walking is the evidence of our living. It would be well for us to remember these two great verses in Philippians 2:12-13 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye 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. 13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 

Our attitude is changed when we are saved by the grace of God through the working of the Spirit of God, so in verse 26 Paul exhorts us not to (1) be desirous of vain glory (arrogance), (2) provoke one another, or (3) envy one another.  What good Christians we would be if we would heed Paul's ample warning about not fulfilling the lusts of the flesh but walking in the Spirit! 

    A Man Of God

By Pastor Dr. Ronnie Wolfe – Sept. 12, 2012

A preacher is a man of sorrow
Preaching to many who do not hear.
He studies and prays through each tomorrow
To preach the word from year to year.

He stands up strong when he is weak,
Proclaims God's word with all his might.
He knows God says he must be meek
And in his preaching must be right.

He stands before a holy God;
He'll give account for each word said.
He's timid due to God's strict rod;
He contemplates upon his bed.

Many years have passed him by.
Frank Smith's duty did not wane.
He spoke the word with ne'er a sigh
And preached the word through sorrowed pain.

A bulwark of the soundest doctrine
Teaching many its wondrous truth,
From New Testament streams of grace
To Old Testament tooth for tooth.

How missed a man who stood so strong
And never failed to tell the tale
Of God's great love and sinners wrong,
Our Savior's death within the veil!

Listening now to truth unknown,
Not in this lowly earthly realm,
He sings with angels not alone,
The beauty there to overwhelm.

He is not here; he's gone away
Where evil has no lingering sway,
And nothing can describe the day
But peace and truth and endless day.