June 11, 2014

From Gary... All you need....






















https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydfH7iuLR0I&feature=kp
This picture may look a bit sad, but trust me- it isn't!!!  Pal was quite tired after a hard day of walks, chasing golf carts and running around the house with our other miniature poodle, Buddy.  After all this, he spent about fifteen minutes playing with his toys and by the looks of it- just didn't want to give up.  You know, its hard to believe that just a couple of years ago we didn't even have one dog- let alone TWO!!!  
For some reason, the old Beatles song "All you need is love" kept coming to my mind and if you would like to listen to it, click on the colored link above or paste the song's address into your browser.  Now, in retrospect, the lyrics of the song leave a little to be desired, but the message is OH, so true- We need love. Pal needed love and it has changed his life completely!!!! What about you? Just think about this passage today and before you go to sleep tonight, and you too, will have a contented look!!!  
1 John, Chapter 4 (NASB)
1Jn 4:7  Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
1Jn 4:8  The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
1Jn 4:9  By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.
1Jn 4:10  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
1Jn 4:11  Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

One more thing... That play-toy of Pal's may wear out, but God (and HIS LOVE) will NEVER CHANGE!!!!

From Gary... Bible Reading June 11

Bible Reading  
June 11
The World English Bible

 
June 11
1 Samuel 15, 16

1Sa 15:1 Samuel said to Saul, Yahweh sent me to anoint you to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore listen you to the voice of the words of Yahweh.
1Sa 15:2 Thus says Yahweh of Armies, I have marked that which Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way, when he came up out of Egypt.
1Sa 15:3 Now go and strike Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and don't spare them; but kill both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.
1Sa 15:4 Saul summoned the people, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.
1Sa 15:5 Saul came to the city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.
1Sa 15:6 Saul said to the Kenites, Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; for you showed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
1Sa 15:7 Saul struck the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, that is before Egypt.
1Sa 15:8 He took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
1Sa 15:9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the cattle, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and wouldn't utterly destroy them: but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
1Sa 15:10 Then came the word of Yahweh to Samuel, saying,
1Sa 15:11 It grieves me that I have set up Saul to be king; for he is turned back from following me, and has not performed my commandments. Samuel was angry; and he cried to Yahweh all night.
1Sa 15:12 Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set him up a monument, and turned, and passed on, and went down to Gilgal.
1Sa 15:13 Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, Blessed are you by Yahweh: I have performed the commandment of Yahweh.
1Sa 15:14 Samuel said, What means then this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the cattle which I hear?
1Sa 15:15 Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the cattle, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.
1Sa 15:16 Then Samuel said to Saul, Stay, and I will tell you what Yahweh has said to me this night. He said to him, Say on.
1Sa 15:17 Samuel said, "Though you were little in your own sight, weren't you made the head of the tribes of Israel? Yahweh anointed you king over Israel;
1Sa 15:18 and Yahweh sent you on a journey, and said, 'Go, and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.'
1Sa 15:19 Why then didn't you obey the voice of Yahweh, but flew on the spoil, and did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh?"
1Sa 15:20 Saul said to Samuel, Yes, I have obeyed the voice of Yahweh, and have gone the way which Yahweh sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
1Sa 15:21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and cattle, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God in Gilgal.
1Sa 15:22 Samuel said, Has Yahweh as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of Yahweh? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.
1Sa 15:23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because you have rejected the word of Yahweh, he has also rejected you from being king.
1Sa 15:24 Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of Yahweh, and your words, because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
1Sa 15:25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship Yahweh.
1Sa 15:26 Samuel said to Saul, I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of Yahweh, and Yahweh has rejected you from being king over Israel.
1Sa 15:27 As Samuel turned about to go away, Saul laid hold on the skirt of his robe, and it tore.
1Sa 15:28 Samuel said to him, Yahweh has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you.
1Sa 15:29 Also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent.
1Sa 15:30 Then he said, I have sinned: yet honor me now, Please, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship Yahweh your God.
1Sa 15:31 So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshiped Yahweh.
1Sa 15:32 Then said Samuel, Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past.
1Sa 15:33 Samuel said, As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women. Samuel cut Agag in pieces before Yahweh in Gilgal.
1Sa 15:34 Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.
1Sa 15:35 Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death; for Samuel mourned for Saul: and Yahweh grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel.
1Sa 16:1 Yahweh said to Samuel, How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from being king over Israel? fill your horn with oil, and go: I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite; for I have provided me a king among his sons.
1Sa 16:2 Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. Yahweh said, Take a heifer with you, and say, I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh.
1Sa 16:3 Call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do: and you shall anoint to me him whom I name to you.
1Sa 16:4 Samuel did that which Yahweh spoke, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, Do you come peaceably?
1Sa 16:5 He said, Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. He sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.
1Sa 16:6 It happened, when they had come, that he looked at Eliab, and said, Surely Yahweh's anointed is before him.
1Sa 16:7 But Yahweh said to Samuel, "Don't look on his face, or on the height of his stature; because I have rejected him: for Yahweh sees not as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart."
1Sa 16:8 Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, Neither has Yahweh chosen this.
1Sa 16:9 Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. He said, Neither has Yahweh chosen this.
1Sa 16:10 Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. Samuel said to Jesse, Yahweh has not chosen these.
1Sa 16:11 Samuel said to Jesse, Are here all your children? He said, There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is keeping the sheep. Samuel said to Jesse, Send and get him; for we will not sit down until he come here.
1Sa 16:12 He sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful face, and goodly to look on. Yahweh said, Arise, anoint him; for this is he.
1Sa 16:13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brothers: and the Spirit of Yahweh came mightily on David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.
1Sa 16:14 Now the Spirit of Yahweh departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from Yahweh troubled him.
1Sa 16:15 Saul's servants said to him, See now, an evil spirit from God troubles you.
1Sa 16:16 Let our lord now command your servants who are before you, to seek out a man who is a skillful player on the harp: and it shall happen, when the evil spirit from God is on you, that he shall play with his hand, and you shall be well.
1Sa 16:17 Saul said to his servants, Provide me now a man who can play well, and bring him to me.
1Sa 16:18 Then answered one of the young men, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, and a mighty man of valor, and a man of war, and prudent in speech, and a comely person; and Yahweh is with him.
1Sa 16:19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.
1Sa 16:20 Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son to Saul.
1Sa 16:21 David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armor bearer.
1Sa 16:22 Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Please let David stand before me; for he has found favor in my sight.
1Sa 16:23 It happened, when the evil spirit from God was on Saul, that David took the harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.
 
Jun. 11, 12
John 14

Joh 14:1 "Don't let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me.
Joh 14:2 In my Father's house are many homes. If it weren't so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you.
Joh 14:3 If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you may be there also.
Joh 14:4 Where I go, you know, and you know the way."
Joh 14:5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going. How can we know the way?"
Joh 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.
Joh 14:7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on, you know him, and have seen him."
Joh 14:8 Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us."
Joh 14:9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, 'Show us the Father?'
Joh 14:10 Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I tell you, I speak not from myself; but the Father who lives in me does his works.
Joh 14:11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; or else believe me for the very works' sake.
Joh 14:12 Most certainly I tell you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also; and he will do greater works than these, because I am going to my Father.
Joh 14:13 Whatever you will ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Joh 14:14 If you will ask anything in my name, I will do it.
Joh 14:15 If you love me, keep my commandments.
Joh 14:16 I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, that he may be with you forever,-
Joh 14:17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world can't receive; for it doesn't see him, neither knows him. You know him, for he lives with you, and will be in you.
Joh 14:18 I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you.
Joh 14:19 Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more; but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also.
Joh 14:20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
Joh 14:21 One who has my commandments, and keeps them, that person is one who loves me. One who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will reveal myself to him."
Joh 14:22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, "Lord, what has happened that you are about to reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?"
Joh 14:23 Jesus answered him, "If a man loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.
Joh 14:24 He who doesn't love me doesn't keep my words. The word which you hear isn't mine, but the Father's who sent me.
Joh 14:25 I have said these things to you, while still living with you.
Joh 14:26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you.
Joh 14:27 Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, give I to you. Don't let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.
Joh 14:28 You heard how I told you, 'I go away, and I come to you.' If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I said 'I am going to my Father;' for the Father is greater than I.
Joh 14:29 Now I have told you before it happens so that, when it happens, you may believe.
Joh 14:30 I will no more speak much with you, for the prince of the world comes, and he has nothing in me.
Joh 14:31 But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father commanded me, even so I do. Arise, let us go from here.

From Mark Copeland... Division Over John Mark (Acts 15:36-41)

                          "THE BOOK OF ACTS"

                  Division Over John Mark (15:36-41)

INTRODUCTION

1. After the controversy over circumcision, (Ac 15:1-35), another 
   conflict soon arose...
   a. As Paul and Barnabas prepared for another journey - Ac 15:36
   b. Over whether to take John Mark with them - Ac 15:37-38

2. The contention between Paul and Barnabas was so sharp...
   a. They went their separate ways - Ac 15:39
   b. With Barnabas taking John Mark, and Paul taking Silas - Ac 15:39-41

[It may seem at first that this event would hinder the cause of Christ.
But the saying â€Å“all’s well that ends well” certainly applies here as we 
consider all that is eventually revealed in the Scriptures...]

I. QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

   A. WHO WAS JOHN MARK...?
      1. Son of Mary - Ac 12:12
         a. Who owned a house in Jerusalem where many gathered to pray 
            for Peter
         b. Some scholars believe that it may have been where the Last 
            Supper was observed
      2. Cousin of Barnabas - Col 4:10
         a. Identified as such by Paul in his epistle
         b. KJV calls him the "sister's son to Barnabas" (i.e., nephew)
      3. Assistant to Barnabas and Saul - Ac 12:25; 13:5
         a. Joining them as they as returned from Jerusalem to Antioch
         b. Going with them as they set out on their first journey

   B. WHAT DID HE DO...?
      1. Left Paul and Barnabas mid-journey - Ac 13:13
         a. Many scholars speculate as to the reason why
         b. Luke does not give the reason why
      2. Which later caused a rift - Ac 15:36-41
         a. Paul did not John Mark to join them on the second journey
         b. Barnabas was adamant about taking him with them
         c. So Paul (with Silas) and Barnabas (with John Mark) went their
            separate ways

   C. WHAT EVENTUALLY HAPPENED...?
      1. Paul and John Mark eventually reconciled
         a. Paul instructs the church at Colossae to receive him - Col 4:10
         b. Together with others, Paul says that he "proved to be a 
            comfort to me" - Col 4:11
         c. Paul tells Philemon that Mark and others are "fellow-
            laborers" - Phm 24
         d. In his last epistle, Paul tells Timothy "Get Mark and bring
            him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry." - 2Ti 4:11
      2. Mark became close to Peter, who called Mark "my son" - 1Pe 5:13
      3. Mark is considered to be the author of the Gospel of Mark

[Whatever the reason John Mark returned to Jerusalem, no matter how it 
divided Paul and Barnabas, things turned out well in the end.  As we 
contemplate these things, here are some...]

II. OBSERVATIONS TO CONSIDER

   A. UPHOLD THE WEAK, BE PATIENT WITH ALL...
      1. Barnabas was determined to give John Mark another chance - Ac 15:37
      2. Perhaps it was because John Mark was his cousin (or nephew) 
         - Col 4:10
      3. But Barnabas was also a man known for his encouragement - Ac 4:36
      4. He even gave encouragement to Paul earlier - cf. Ac 9:26-29; 
         11:25-26
      5. Barnabas put into practice what Paul later enjoined - 1Th 5:14
      -- Barnabas was inclined to give people a second chance

   B. THE LORD'S WORK COMES FIRST...
      1. Paul and Barnabas were unwilling to let their contention affect
         their service to the Lord
      2. They could not agree, but they both continued to serve the Lord
      3. Barnabas (and Mark) went to Cyprus (where he was from); Paul
         (and Silas) went to Syria and Cilicia (where he was from) 
         strengthening the churches - Ac 15:39-41
      -- A "falling out" with brethren is no reason to stop serving the 
         Lord!

   C. NEVER GIVE UP TRYING...
      1. John Mark could have let his initial failure discourage him
      2. But he did not let failure stop his own service to the Lord - Ac 15:39
      3. He took advantage of another opportunity to serve the Lord
      -- Making a mistake is no reason to give up trying again to serve
         the Lord

   D. NOT HOLDING A GRUDGE...
      1. Paul was willing to acknowledge Mark's later usefulness - Col 4:10-11; Phm 24; 2Ti 4:11
      2. Some refuse to forgive those who disappoint them; not Paul!
      -- Give credit where credit is due; praise those who turn 
         themselves around

   E. THE END IS BETTER THAN THE BEGINNING...
      1. Mark grew to become useful to the apostles Paul and Peter 
      2. He even became useful to us today (in writing the Gospel of 
         Mark!)
      3. "The end of a thing is better than its beginning" - Ec 7:8
      -- Success is measured by how we finish, not how we start!

CONCLUSION

1. Things certainly turned out well for John Mark, despite...
   a. Disappointing the apostle Paul
   b. Driving a wedge between Paul and Barnabas

2. But in the end, the story of the division over John Mark is one of
   encouragement...
   a. How failure can be turned into success
   b. How nothing should keep us from trying to serve the Lord

Don't let your failures in the past keep you from serving the Lord and
His church in the present...!

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2012

by Kyle Butt, M.A. ... Seeing God in a Box...Fish

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=12&article=1541

Seeing God in a Box...Fish

by  Kyle Butt, M.A.

Constant competition between car companies rages to see which one can design the lightest, toughest, most aerodynamic, fuel efficient models. It seems that the DaimlerChrysler Company has recently put itself several steps ahead in the race by designing a remarkably efficient economy car for Mercedes-Benz. The idea that inspired this car was very simple. The designers looked to the natural world to find a model of highly-efficient, aerodynamic design, coupled with a sturdy structure that could withstand collisions. The model on which they finally settled seemed an unlikely candidate: the boxfish.
Boxfish
At first glance, the boxfish’s body does not appear very aerodynamic. As its name implies, it has a rather “boxy” look, and not the streamline “raindrop” shape that is used for many aerodynamic models. Upon further investigation, however, the boxfish’s shape and design happen to be amazingly efficient. As one author put it, “Despite its boxy, cube-shaped body, this tropical fish is in fact outstandingly streamlined and therefore represents an aerodynamic ideal. With an accurately constructed model of the boxfish the engineers in Stuttgart were able to achieve a wind drag coefficient of just 0.06 in the wind tunnel.” In order to grasp the importance of this drag coefficient, it “betters the drag coefficient of today’s compact cars by more than 65 percent” (“Mercedes-Benz Bionic...,” 2005, emp. added).
But the aerodynamic aspects of the boxfish were not the only helpful features used by the DaimlerChrysler engineers. The skin of the boxfish “consists of numerous hexagonal, bony plates which provide maximum strength with minimal weight” (“Mercedes-Benz Bionic...”). By reproducing this skin structure, the car company was able to achieve “up to 40 percent more rigidity...than would be possible with conventional designs.” The report went on to say that if the entire car shell were designed with these hexagonal structures, the weight of the car could be reduced by almost one-third, without forfeiting any safety features during collisions.
Boxfish design
Such copying of the natural world is not a unique event. A popular field of study known as biomimicry has arisen of late in which scientists and technologists look to nature to supply optimal designs and functions. Ironically, the writer of what appears to be the primary article on this amazing boxfish/car relationship misses the logical conclusion of the biomimetic design, as do other scientists who study the field—that design demands an Intelligent Designer. The said writer commented, “[T]he boxfish possesses unique characteristics and is a prime example of the ingenious inventions developed by nature over millions of years of evolution. The basic principle of this evolution is that nothing is superfluous and each part of the body has a purpose—and sometimes several at once” (“Mercedes-Benz Bionic...,” 2005).
Notice the concession made in the writer’s statement that the boxfish, indeed, exhibits “ingenious invention.” Such a statement implies that some type of “genius” or intelligence is behind the invention. Furthermore, evolution has been consistently presented as a process that is maintained by naturalistic, random, chance happenings that are incapable of producing anything “ingenious” or “intelligent.” And finally, the author states that evolution leaves nothing “superfluous,” and that each part of the evolved animal has “a purpose.” This remark is ironic considering the fact that many defenders of evolution continue to use the argument that humans and animals maintain several “vestigial organs” that are supposedly useless leftovers of evolution (see Harrub, 2001, for a discussion of vestigial organs). Indeed, any theory that explains too much, explains too little. On the one hand, evolution maintains an underlying principle that nothing is superfluous, while at the same time evolution is a “fact” because animals and humans supposedly have left-over vestiges that are no longer useful? As one can see, the concept of evolution is so “flexible” and self-contradictory that it sustains no real ability to explain anything.
To the contrary, the only valid explanation for the optimal design in the boxfish is the fact that whenever we see efficient, complex design, there must be an intelligent designer behind it. Considering the fact that many of the most ingenious engineers that the car-manufacturing world can boast spent thousands of hours copying the design of the boxfish, which proved to be 65 percent more efficient in some ways than other designs, one must logically conclude that whoever designed the boxfish has outsmarted the brightest car engineers for many years. “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).

REFERENCES

Harrub, Brad, (2001), “Hey Cut That Out...On Second Thought, Hold That Scalpel!, [On-line], URL: http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2050.
“Mercedes-Benz Bionic Concept Vehicle,” (2005), [On-line], URL: http://www.germancarfans.com/news.cfm/newsid/2050607.004.

From Jim McGuiggan... MAD DOGS AND TEN-FOOT CHAINS


MAD DOGS AND TEN-FOOT CHAINS

It’s often been said (and rightly but within definite limits!) that we can’t legislate morality. We can’t make people good by issuing laws. We might be able to stop criminals committing crimes by issuing laws (and by a police presence to enforce the laws) but we can’t turn them into people that don’t want to break the law simply by making more and more laws. There’s so much truth in that. In fact, it’s probably true that one of the markers of a society’s wickedness is the huge number of its laws. Laws in a very real sense are for the law-breakers (compare 1 Timothy 1:9). [Still, we sometimes make laws that are so unjust that they encourage law-breaking and we could with effort make laws that would encourage honor and shape characters of righteounsess.]
It’s clearly true that the man that longs to do evil and only keeps from it because he’s afraid of being punished is an evil man (compare Matthew 5:22,32). If we’re compelled to pass close to a mad and lunging dog that’s chained by a ten-foot chain to a stout post, it isn’t the dog’s disposition we’re thankful for. The savage animal straining at the chain is the same animal chained or unchained. We breathe a word of thanks for the chain and hurry on by.
It might be true that we all know people who act friendly toward us but we know (in various ways) that if it were not for prudence’s sake they’d gut us. We might even have been such people. Horrors—might even be such people. In any case, to cherish the evil is to be evil; and for all our politeness and surface smiles the seeds of corruption breed and multiply in the dark below.
There are good reasons to be thankful that fear and prudence keep us from immoral and criminal behavior. If nothing else, there are those that go happily on their way, not being brutalized, because there's a "ten-foot chain." And I know that if some of us weren’t restrained by realities external to us that we would do evil and that might lead to other evils and we might well plunge into an abyss from which there is no recovery. At least, if we are restrained we might at some point change and become good people whose restraints are in our hearts and gladly chosen.
Fear is no bad thing unless it has become a bad thing—morbid, paralysing or the sole motivation from which we act. Fear puts traffic lights at busy crossroads; fear puts lifeboats on ocean-going liners; fear builds hospitals, organizes fire-fighting teams and funds sensible and needed medical research. No bad thing fear. It's one of God’s gifts. But if that’s all there is to us, then we’re pretty poor human beings. Other gifts must be received with thanksgiving and cultivated if we’re to be morally mature people.
And those who would govern essentially by fear are poor leaders. I think I know some people whose central word is "punish". It doesn’t appear that they think much about transforming and inspiring—it’s all about "stopping" wrongdoing. But how can it be bad to want to stop wrongdoing? Oh, I don’t say that we shouldn’t want to stop wrongdoing, ours or someone else’s—we should. But it’s a very narrow view that sees our moral business centrally to be about "avoiding" or "stopping" evil and to choose "punishment" as the single weapon in our armory. Would we be happy, do you think, if we thought the children in our home responded only to some form of punishment? Would we not grow weary of heart in sending them to their room or depriving them of this or that? Would we be satisfied that he had "stopped" this or that wrong act? Would we not long for a way to transform their hearts so that the fear of or aversion to "punishment" would increasingly be a thing of the past and that they would behave in response to an inner something—something written on their hearts?
This much seems clear: any good thing that we have to constantly remind ourselves to do, any good behavior or attitude that we have to constantly practice or it will grow weak and die—that "virtue" is not mature. To do the right thing is good nut to will the right thing is better and to do the right thing characteristically without even consciously thinking about it is best. The "virtue" that has to be consciously watched and tended and fed, whatever else we are to say about it, is nothing to be smug about. "Self-control" is a good and needful thing [Galatians 5:23] but it is one of the lower level virtues. Under very pressing circumstances a self-controlled response may be nothing less than heroic but various impulses that must always be held in check let us know we haven't "arrived" as virtuous people. It's imperative that we don't allow ourselves to give up the struggle against evil desires and go with the current but it's also imperative for us to acknowledge the abiding presence of our susceptibility to the evil.
In more ways than one a man [or woman] mustn't think of himself more highly than he ought to think [Romans 12:3].