Topic(s): Christian Life

Please read Matthew 12:43-45

Jesus describes the Jewish nation as a house that is clean for a little while and then the evil heart of unbelief returns to the house find it “unoccupied,” “swept,” and “put in order” [kosmeo, Vine].” Finding the house empty the unclean spirit brings seven other spirits more wicked than itself to live there. The last state of the Jewish nation is worse than the first.

Barclay notes, “Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do.” When men and women obey the gospel, by leaving religious error (Mark 7:7) ceasing from immorality, (Colossians 3:1-11) having been cleansed by the blood of Jesus (John 19:34; Romans 6:3-4; Acts 22:16), they have a clean house. So, one must fill the life that once was busy in sin and ungodliness with good works. Paul writes, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18; cf. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you…” Colossians 3:16). The babe in Christ must feed often on the spiritual milk of the word that he or she may grow (1 Peter 2:1-5).

Paul admonished young Titus: “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:14). Let us grow and mature in the instruction of the Lord. According to your ability and opportunity find good works in the kingdom to fill you life [house]. —wrf, Airport Church of Christ, May 7, 2006

Measured in Coffee Teaspoons

Topic(s): Bible Study

In his book The Evangelism Mandate (Kregel), David Larsen argues that the effective evangelistic sermon needs to be doctrinal. He says that one director of evangelism urged preachers to “preach Christ and not doctrine.” But to preach Christ is to preach doctrine. It is not a question of whether we will present doctrine or not, but of what kind of doctrine we will present.

“J. H. Jowett contended that ‘We must preach on those tremendous passages whose vastness almost terrifies us as we approach them.’ The grand themes of redemption, sin, salvation, and much more are necessary themes. People are tired of trifles; they hunger for life-changing truth. T. S Eliot’s J. Alfred Prufrock lamented, ‘I have measured out my life in coffee spoons.’ We have the privilege of preaching texts with Grand Canyonesque dynamics of infinity and eternity.”

Colleges Flush with Gamblers

Topic(s): Moral Issues, Sin

The preachers who railed against smoking, drinking, and gambling a couple of generations back may have had it right after all.

Poker is the latest craze on college campuses, as 50.4 percent of male college students reported gambling on cards at least once a month. “At the college and university level, poker is pretty much the hottest thing going,” says Mike Edwards of absolutepoker.com.

One Lehigh University student recently ran up over $5,000 in gambling debts, and then robbed an Allentown, Pennsylvania, bank to pay for it. Colleges have been slow to deal with the problems generated by the growth in gambling, particularly poker. “The vast majority of schools we talk to have no formal or informal policy regarding gambling,” says Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling. Gambling numbers (from the Annenberg Public Policy Center):

• American men aged 14-22 who said they gambled once a month rose 20 percent from 2004-2005.
• 2.9 million Americans between the ages of 14-22 gamble on cards at least once a week.
• 50.4 percent of male college students gamble on cards at least once a month.
• 26.6 percent of female college students gamble on cards at least once a month.
• Internet gambling generated $3.1 billion in revenue in 2001.
• Internet gambling generated an estimated $12 billion in 2005.
  —from The Christian Science Monitor

More Facts on Gambling

Topic(s): Moral Issues, Sin

• According to a press release from the American Gaming Association, in 2005 “the 455 commercial casinos in 11 states generated $30.29 billion in gross gaming revenue . . . an increase of nearly 5 percent over 2004 revenue totals.”
• Gambling spending in Las Vegas exceeded $6 billion, and in Atlantic City, New Jersey, it surpassed $5 billion.
• Senior citizens with gambling problems spend $14,300 per year in casinos and $1,160 per year on lotteries.
• Well over half of American adults participate in legal gambling.
• 20 percent of the nation’s youths are taking up the habit according to the National Gambling Impact Study Commission.
• Just one pathological gambler costs society about $11,000. It is estimated the annual cost of gambling to the U.S. economy is between $40 billion and $50 billion, nearly half the cost of drug abuse.