Topic(s): Blessings

You think we’re kidding? Not at all. Having too much money has gotten a lot of God’s people into trouble. Once we couldn’t afford the things which sometimes gets us into spiritual trouble. But because we can afford more luxuries (bigger house, more expensive car) we have made the commitment to purchase such. Because we can afford a second/vacation home we go for it. Because we can afford trips out of town for the weekend (after weekend) we go. More/finer clothes, better golf/fishing equipment are now within our reach so why hold back? You get the picture.

Strangely the solution is not to make less money. Money can be such a blessing both to us and to others. Rather the solution is to learn to control ourselves and think about how we can be good stewards and use our financial blessings to help others. Paul urged new Christians to “… labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth” (Ephesians 4:28). Jesus told his disciples, “freely ye have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8).
There is no finer cause to which to give than the Lord’s work. As we receive let us determine that we will generously give that the Gospel may be preached, the poor may be helped, and the saved may be edified.

There never has been a scriptural injunction against making as much as we can honestly make. There are, however, many passages that teach us to be responsible with what we receive from God’s generous hand.

—James F. Wyers
 

How’s That Again?

Topic(s): Blessings, Priorities

Once there was a Christian;
He had a pious look,
His consecration was complete
Except his pocketbook.
He’d put a nickel in the plate
And then with might and main
He’d sing: “When we asunder part
It gives us inward pain!”

	The religion of Jesus Christ holds as its chief power the secret of making duty a delight.
	Some folks grow old before their time trying to look young after their time.

Monitoring Our Christian Speech

Topic(s): Speech, Tongue

“But 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” —Matthew 12:36, 37

We live in an age when we are so bombarded by expressions and figures of speech that we become unconsciously overwhelmed by them and unduly influenced. With the average household watching some five to six hours of television per day, much of it prime time sleaze, is it any wonder we and our children start talking like the irreverent ones we observe roll-playing on the tube? We pick up cutesy little phrases that roll off our tongues without thought. “Yadda, yadda, yadda.” I still have no idea what that means. Must be Yiddish or something of the sort. (I know what “Yabba dabba dooooooo” means.)

A “reverend” from out of town was talking to me on the phone hoping to get me to give some money to a friend of his “just passing through.” When I asked for some confirmation of who he was, and who the person in need of aid was, he said, “My God, man, what is this, a trial or something?” I asked him why a man of the cloth would take the Lord’s name in vain. He proceeded to really show his temper. Expletives spewed forth like an erupting volcano. So much for that telephone scam. “Nipped in the bud,” as Barney would say.

Often I hear teens walking by the church house cry out, “Oh My God!” They have just discovered some new bit of gossip I presume. I don’t think they’re praying.
A lady won a few dollars on a country radio station and exploded with, “Oh, my God! My God! I can’t believe it. Oh, my God!” The sound of such ill-advised and profane talk sickened my stomach. All I could do was turn off the radio. No wonder we are viewing television and listening to radio less and less.

Then as I was listening to a talk program a man suddenly exclaimed, “Jesus Christ! Why don’t you pay attention to what I’m saying?” If he were trying to gain my attention, he lost it immediately with such vulgar obscenity. Living in a world of paganism, hedonism, and humanism, we are hardly shocked at this kind of daily blasphemy against the very one who created us in His image.

Have you noticed that among the impiety and filthy talk of the human race it seems to be open season on the biblical concept of God? When was the last time you heard someone say, “Oh, my Buddha?” When someone messes up at work or at school, do they cry out, “Bob Hope” or “Mohammed?” Never. If the name of the Lord our God can be blasphemed, it will be. And what troubles me most is that it is creeping into our own minds and mouths. I recently heard a Christian youth say, “My God,” with a parent standing within earshot and not a word of discipline or correction was offered. Why not? I think it may be from becoming so desensitized that we are hardly aware of how slowly we are becoming like the rest of the world. —Steven Clark Goad

"But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment” (Mt. 12:36 ).

Points To Ponder

Topic(s): Faith

	God always gives His best to those who leave the choice with Him.
	When God measures us, He puts the tape around the heart instead of the head.
	The man who walks with God always knows in what direction he is going.
	Feed your faith and your doubts will starve to death.