From Jim McGuiggan... THE WORST CRIME OF ALL

THE WORST CRIME OF ALL

It’s true we get back to business as usual after hearing another story of the awful evil in the world—we’ve no alternative; we can’t stand permanently stunned; life must go on. Still, don’t we adjust quickly after the initial shock at the report of some truly savage event?  Yes, we do, but just the same, maybe it’s strange that we’re shocked at all. Wouldn’t you think that history ancient and modern, the daily news from all the media—wouldn’t you think these would have made us shockproof? There’s something amazing about that. There’s something else that’s astonishing—it’s God’s amazing patience and trust in humans.
As soon as I wrote that last sentence I thought how startled or angry many people would be if they read it. Some would think he’s an idiot if he trusts us and some would rage against him (presuming he even exists); they’d say his patience is at humanity’s expense; they’d say his patience isn’t a virtue—it’s a crime! They’d say it isn’t God who is patient; it’s humans. They’d think of Edwin Markham’s words:

Two things, said Kant, fill me with awe

The starry heaven and the moral law.

But I know something more mysterious and obscure

The long, long, patience of the plundered poor.

 
 That truly makes sense to me! A quick glance at history and that makes sense to me; at a national and an individual level that makes sense to me. If things are anywhere nearly as bad as they appear how can Christians, with straight faces and pious songs, go on speaking about God’s trust and patience? There’s no simple answer to that question—there may be a correct answer to it (and I believe there is), but it’s not a simple one; it’s profoundly complex and richly textured but there is one and it climaxes in someone called Jesus Christ who saw the world not only as it is but as it should be and as it will be. Well, that’s what he said; but of course, the question is, “Can we believe him?”
Humans, whether they believe in God or not can’t help but feel that there ought to be someone. The atheist H.J. Blackham confessed that for him the greatest argument against non-belief was not a rational argument—it was that it was “too bad to be true!” What is demonstrably false should be acknowledged as false—humans get that! They do! But if a proposal is one of cosmic and unyielding despair, if it’s too bad to be true, people don’t want to believe it and that means if there’s something, some story, some argument, some event that defies unyielding despair they’ll go for it. If it’s in anyway reasonable and suggests that non-belief with its pointlessness (Blackham again) is too bad to be true, then distressed humans will take sides with it. They’ll go for God—they’ll go for a God like Jesus Christ if they get the chance to hear about him. They’ll go for such a God even if they don’t understand why he doesn’t now step in to right all wrongs and obliterate agony that tempts millions to curse existence itself. They’ll settle for a promise if that promise has any foundation to rest on rather than settle for the arguments that support atheism with its despair and pointlessness message.
“There’s an answer,” they will insist, “there must be” and the words of some alleged wise man or woman aren’t enough to bury their longing to believe that there is right and wrong; and if they know that then maybe there is Someone who knows it also. In their best moments they know this too: though they know the job is far beyond human accomplishment, they’d fix everything even if it took a thousand lifetimes and if they would maybe there’s someone who will, someone who’s able; someone who cares at least as much as they do.
Let someone (Jesus Christ) come to them to tell them that what they feel down in their bones is true, that what they want to be true is indeed true and humans in their millions will believe his Story. (Do humans embrace lies in the face of demonstrable truth to the contrary? Of course! But they also embrace truth in the face of a life full or a world full of plausible, persuasive lies.)
Look what happened to Cervantes’ novel Don Quixote. It was written as a fierce protest against overly-romantic literature about chivalry and knightly conduct all dressed up in clothing too unreal. His central character is plainly a lunatic who makes a mockery of outlandish literary knights. But somehow in the great mystery of humanness the novel took on a life of its own and it has become one of the Western world’s greatest literary forces promoting chivalry and knightly behavior and making it desirable. The literary argument against chivalry becomes its greatest champion. He makes us want to be Don Quixote—a sane one, of course, but in our best moments we’d rather be the lunatic than all his sane critics who want to cure him!
I offer the observations not as proof that atheism is false, only that no one wants atheism’s pointlessness, only that atheism will always be a minority view and that to even stay alive it will continue to feed on food from the Hebrew—Christian Scriptures, as agnostic T.H. Huxley said it did.
On his quest to right all wrongs or die in the process, Don Quixote, Cervantes’ glorious madman, comes across a self-hating, man-hating and world-hating scullery maid working in an inn where the flagrantly immoral and cynical traders gather.* She’s a self-confessed prostitute, used, abused and sneered at by her patrons.
When he sees her and calls her Dulcinea and "fair virgin" the heartless users laugh out loud and she is doubly embarrassed—not only does she know better, her vile companions know it only too well—Dulcinea indeed; fair virgin” indeed! Nevertheless, in that woman who calls herself a whore and a slut he sees beauty and honor and denies what she and they say about her and claims he knows her better than she knows herself. "I have dreamed thee too long...I see heaven when I see thee Dulcinea...I have sought thee, sung thee, visioned thee." He sees her this way because he sees woman that way—he sees woman as the “soul of man.” His lunacy is lovelier than the sanity of the world he moves in!
At one point he sends his aide, Sancho Panza, to ask her to give him a token he can wear in battle and Sancho calls her Dulcinea; she angrily rejects the name. "It's what he calls you," he tells her and she wants to know why and his friend confesses he doesn't know but he insists that "knights have their own language for everything."
On the night when he is keeping vigil, believing that in the morning he is to be dubbed a knight he is alone and speaks to himself: “Don Quixote, take a deep breath of life and consider how it should be lived.”

Call nothing thine except thy soul
Love not what thou art,
Only what thou may become.
Do not pursue pleasure
Or thou mayest have the misfortune to overtake it.
Look always forward.
In last year's nests, there are no birds this year.
Be just to all men, courteous to all women.
Live in the vision of the one for whom great deeds are done,
Dulcinea.

She, coming up behind him, snaps, “Why do you call me by that name?”
Because it is yours.
My name is Aldonza
I know you milady
I think you know me not
All my years I have known you, your nobility of spirit, long have I seen you in my heart.
Why do you do these things? These ridiculous things you do?
I come in a world of iron to make a world of gold.
The world's a dung heap and we are maggots that crawl on it.
No, milady knows better in her heart.
What's in my heart will get me halfway to hell and you...your head is going to end up a stranger to your neck.
That doesn't matter...only that I follow the quest…
[Spits] That for your quest…What’s this “quest”?
The mission of each true knight is duty; nay, is privilege
[and at this point he sings The Impossible Dream].

Later Aldonza is dragged off, used and dumped. Don Q turns up
and swears the crime will be punished and she snarls back:


Crime? Do you know the worst crime of all? To be born!
For that you get punished your whole life.
Dulcinea!—Quixote says to her..
Enough of that! Get yourself to a madhouse!
Rave about nobility where no one can hear.
Milady.
I'm not your lady!
I'm not any kind of a lady.
A lady has virtue and maidenly airs
That a blind man could see that I lack
It's hard to develop these maidenly airs
In a stable laid flat on your back.
Won't you look at me, look at me
God won't you look at me?
Look at the kitchen slut reeking of sweat
Born on a dung heap to die on a dung heap
A strumpet men use and forget.


“Never deny that you are Dulcinea,” Quixote says and she snarls back,


Take the shades from your eyes and see me as I really am.
You have shown me the sky but what good is the sky
To a creature who'll never do better than crawl?
Of all the cruel villains who badgered and battered me
You are the cruelest of all.
Can't you see what your gentle insanities do to me?
Rob me of anger and give me despair
Blows and abuse I can take and give back again
Tenderness I cannot bear.
So please, torture me now with your sweet Dulcineas no more
I am no one, I am nothing
I'm only Aldonza the whore!
 
Don Quixote is robbed of his insane vision by the lords of the mirrors. They take his eyes off his glorious quest and make him look closely at himself with his pathetic appearance and too obvious limitations and make him see “the world as it is” rather than the world as it should and could be. With the loss of vision he sinks back into agedness, weakness, illness and purposelessness.
But one convert, one genuine convert changes everything; one Aldonza reborn as a Dulcinea restores his blessed insanity and in one he sees ten and in ten he sees a hundred and in a hundred he sees a thousand and in a thousand he sees a world. They called him mad because he refused to keep his eyes focused on the world “as it is”
We need to keep in mind that this book was written as a satire, a withering criticism of outlandish and unrealistic literature and look what happened. Year after year it remains at the top of the list of history’s greatest novels. Why do famous painters like Picasso link Don Quixote with Jesus of Nazareth? Why after we’ve brushed aside the silliness in the “knight of the woeful countenance” do we still want to be like him?
There’s something in the character we know as Don Quixote that makes us think of Christ. He turns out to be the hero, while we despise the men of abuse and are thrilled at the transformation of Aldonza. He rescues her not only from any band of men who would buy or rape her—he rescues her from her self-hatred that results in the hatred of all men and the hatred of life itself.
But how does such a thing happen? I mean in literature and in life? In the case of Quixote and Aldonza an insane man sees beauty and dignity and decency in a woman who knows it isn’t there; but he makes her want it to be there! He makes such a life desirable and though he fills her with agony and though what he sees is at war with everything she thinks and feels and robs her of the energy that rage brings, she wants to be the vision he sees rather than the one she sees when she looks in the mirror.
Yes, but how does it happen? It’s a great question but while we’re working on the lovely mystery we ought to acknowledge the reality of such transformations and thank God for them.
 
·       I’ve taken this material from Dale Wasserman’s stage play adapted as a musical movie called The Man of La Mancha. The music and lyrics are from Joe Darian and Mitch Leigh. The movie could easily have been better made but I think it is one of those “must see” creations.

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Fishbowl Foolishness by Dave Miller, Ph.D.

https://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=7&article=1170

Fishbowl Foolishness

by	Dave Miller, Ph.D.

The town council of the city of Rome, Italy has passed some rather unusual laws recently. The most startling concerns the illegality of goldfish bowls. That’s right, goldfish bowls are now outlawed in Rome (“Rome Bans...,” 2005). Animal rights activists say the bowls are cruel. The council also passed a law requiring citizens to regularly exercise their dogs. Such pronouncements reflect significant erosion of the Christian worldview.
After creating the animals, God created the first human beings, setting them apart from the animal kingdom by creating humans in His own image (Genesis 1:27). Humans possess a soul—a spirit—that lives on after the death of the body (Ecclesiastes 12:7; Zechariah 12:1; Luke 16:22-31; Hebrews 12:9; James 2:26). Animals do not share this spiritual dimension in common with humans. Animals are not human, and are not to be regarded as such. The Bible speaks directly to the question of the relationship between humans and fish. Humans are to “have dominion (i.e., rule) over the fish of the sea” (Genesis 1:26,28; cf. Psalm 8:6-8)—which surely includes confining them to fishbowls! In fact, the Bible declares specifically that, among other things, “all the fish of the sea...are given into your hand...[and] shall be food for you” (Genesis 9:2-3, emp. added).
When humans stray away from God and the proper view of life and human existence provided in His inspired Word, they end up with distorted sensibilities (see Miller, 2004). They end up exchanging the truth of God for lies, and worshipping and serving the creature rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25).

REFERENCES

Miller, Dave (2004), “Where Godless Evolution Leads,” [On-line], URL: http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2651.
“Rome Bans Goldfish Bowls” (2005), Reuters, October 26, [On-line], URL: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051026/od_nm/italy_pets_dc;_ylt=ArSNdiSc xxeineP6q4Sq6Oys0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3NW1oMDRpBHNlYwM3NTc.

Combatting Evolution Education by Jeff Miller, Ph.D.

https://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=9&article=1616

Combatting Evolution Education

by	Jeff Miller, Ph.D.

There is no doubt that for several years, there has been a battle being waged for the minds of the young people of this nation with regard to the matter of origins. Will they accept the atheistic General Theory of Evolution or believe in the Creation account as detailed in Genesis chapter one? Or will they compromise between the two? Or just try to ignore the debate and stick their head in the sand? The side that each person chooses to take in the debate could have long-lasting ramifications for them and the next generation. The atheistic choice will send them to hell, and affect the lives of all whom they influence along the way. The approach of compromise leads to an interpretation of the Bible which pits it against itself and has the potential of watering down a person’s view of a host of biblical doctrines—all ultimately boiling down to a lack of faith in “God said.” The apathetic, ostrich-like approach boils down to a person sitting on the sideline while the forces of Satan flood society uncontested. And yet Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:32).
In light of ongoing debate over teaching the General Theory of Evolution in various public school systems, which we have been documenting for several years (e.g., Warren, 2011; Brooks, 2011; Deweese and Brooks, 2009), some have rightly asked what Christians can do to combat the forces of pseudoscience in this critical area. This question has compelled us to give a few suggestions to that end.

1. Encourage individuals in your church/community to run for office where they can make a difference. Sheila Butt, mother of our very own Kyle Butt, was elected to office in Tennessee where she serves as a state representative. She is, therefore, in a position of potentially significant influence in this debate.
2. Flood decision makers with letters from people all over your area expressing your opinions on the matter. Contact other churches to assist in a concerted effort to that end. Perhaps write several versions of letters that can be used in bulk so that people will be more likely to send them in. The more letters that lawmakers receive every day, the more likely they will feel pressure to hear our voices. Try sending DVDs of our Truth Be Told and Silencing of God seminars and related books (see http://www.apologeticspress.org/store/Product.aspx?pid=101; http://www.apologeticspress.org/store/Product.aspx?pid=97; http://www.apologeticspress.org/store/Product.aspx?pid=421; http://www.apologeticspress.org/store/Product.aspx?pid=49; http://www.apologeticspress.org/store/Product.aspx?pid=51). Books, especially, are hard for any of us to throw away.
3. Get the local media involved. We all know how much the politicians are affected by the media.
4. Host Creation/Evolution, as well as Silencing of God seminars all over the state and publicize them heavily (see http://apologeticspress.org/pdfs/Seminar_flyers/APSeminarList4Speakers.pdf). I recently spoke in South Carolina, where the hosting congregation used highway billboards to advertise the seminar. In fact, they spent several thousand dollars in advertising the event, including saturating their area with postcards and radio spots about the seminar. If local churches come together to host a seminar, more money could be pooled for advertising.
5. Engage in consistent, fervent prayer. Host weekly Tuesday night or Thursday night prayer gatherings with Christians for the sole purpose of fighting the evolutionists’ agenda in the school system. Be sure to remember the coming elections in your prayers as well. God can easily raise up individuals who can make a significant difference in this fight if we have the zeal to plead with Him for assistance.
6. Donate Creation/Evolution materials to local community and school libraries. If the next generation is taught the truth, the future will look much more promising. Hitler certainly championed effectiveness of indoctrinating youth with his agenda and such is the position of the homosexual community today, as well.
7. Make sure that Christian public school teachers are equipped with materials to hand out to students who ask for information on the controversy (see http://www.apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=9&article=1314).
8. More prayer.
9. Encourage everyone at your church (and others) not only to have a subscription to Christian evidences journals, such as our very own Reason and Revelation (for adults) and Discovery (for children), but to order subscriptions for friends, neighbors, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, etc. who could also benefit from the information. Some elderships have even chosen to purchase subscriptions to Discovery magazine for every young family in their congregation.
10. Devote at least one quarter of Bible classes each year specifically on preparation to defend the truth (i.e., about the existence of God, the inspiration of the Bible, the importance of God in government and society, Creation/Evolution, etc.). The focus would be, not simply learning the material for themselves, but to prepare them to teach it to others. Perhaps even pair members of the congregation during the Bible class and have one person play the atheist and the other play the Christian to see if members are prepared to teach the truth at a moment’s notice—especially when caught without notes (cf., 1 Peter 3:15). Our Christian Evidences and Creation/Science bookmark reference cards would be beneficial for this option (see http://www.apologeticspress.org/store/Product.aspx?pid=281; http://www.apologeticspress.org/store/Product.aspx?pid=282).
11. Encourage parents to consider homeschooling their children or sending them them to private Christian schools. Thousands of parents throughout the country have pulled their kids out of the public school system in order to ensure that their children are being trained in the way they should go—in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, rather than of monkeys. Some families simply cannot take advantage of this possibility (especially many single parent families). And some areas of the nation are handling the subject in an appropriate way, thus eliminating the necessity of this option. However, many areas have been so infiltrated by Satan’s forces that children are being adversely affected in ways that parents do not know and have not anticipated. Yet it is still their responsibility to train and nurture their children. All parents will be held accountable for rearing their children. It is not the duty of their teachers.
12. Even more prayer. Encourage your church to set their phones to remind themselves to pray every two hours of every day.
13. Encourage individuals and churches as possible to support A.P. financially on a monthly/yearly basis. Combating atheism, evolution, humanism, etc. is what we do, but as a non-profit organization that relies heavily on donations, we simply cannot do it without financial support. In spite of the state of the economy, our Web page had over 8.1 million hits last year from people in more than 180 countries. It is undeniable that your financial support will directly affect the lives of millions!

Please do not hesitate to let us know if you have other ideas that would be effective in combatting atheism and macroevolution (contact our offices at 334-272-8558 or e-mail us at mail@apologeticspress.org). As always, thank you for your interest in and support of Apologetics Press.

REFERENCES

Brooks, Will (2011), “Does Evolution Belong in Biomedical Curricula?” Reason & Revelation, 31[3]:18-20, March, Apologetics Press, http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=9&article=3796.
Deweese, Joe and Will Brooks (2009), “A Response to the 21^st Century Science Coalition Standards of Science Education,” Reason & Revelation, 29[6]:41-47, February, Apologetics Press, http://www.apologeticspress.org/apPubPage.aspx?pub=1&issue=610.
Warren, Jim (2011), “Hart Schools Chief: Evolution is Viewed as Fact in State Test,” Kentucky.Com: State, http://www.kentucky.com/2011/12/12/1992514/kentuckys-plan-for-biology-tests.html.

God’s Longsuffering is Not Eternal by Eric Lyons, M.Min.

https://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=12&article=791

God’s Longsuffering is Not Eternal

by	Eric Lyons, M.Min.

One of God’s most encouraging attributes is His longsuffering. The merciful patience of God Almighty gives His redeemed, albeit imperfect, church hope and support. Immediately following a reminder to the Christians in Rome that the Old Testament was “written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope,” Paul referred to God as “the God of patience and comfort” (Romans 15:4-5). Throughout the Old Testament, Bible writers portrayed God as longsuffering (meaning, “to suffer long with”), especially in His dealings with the Israelites, who constantly rejected His guidance (cf. Numbers 13-14; 16; 21:4-9). Jesus and the New Testament apostles and prophets also spent ample time magnifying God’s merciful patience (cf. Romans 2:4; 1 Peter 3:20). The apostle Peter wrote: “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise [of Jesus’ Second Coming], as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9, emp. added).
Unfortunately, the picture of God often painted in the 21st century seems to leave the impression that God’s longsuffering will go on forever. Portraits of God’s justice and vengeance often are neglected (Hebrews 10:26-39; Romans 12:19), while His compassionate patience toward sinners is so accentuated that God’s longsuffering is transformed into an eternal patience. Such a concept, however, stands in stark contradistinction to God’s revealed will.
The fact is, God will judge the world one day (Acts 17:30-31), and He will take “vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9). His longsuffering is not an “eternal” suffering. The ungodly people of Noah’s day learned this point. God delayed His destruction of the world by water for many years (perhaps as many as 120 years; cf. Genesis 6:3) while Noah preached righteousness to them (2 Peter 2:5). Eventually, however, God’s longsuffering came to an end. Centuries later, God again revealed His mercy and longsuffering when He conversed with Abraham about Sodom and Gomorrah. Six times Abraham petitioned God not to destroy Sodom (Genesis 18:23-33), and six times God agreed to spare the city from His vengeance, even if as few as ten righteous people were found therein.
Time and again, God has dealt patiently with sinful mankind. Yet, we must recognize that God’s longsuffering with sinners eventually ends. It ended in the days of Noah. It ended for Sodom and Gomorrah in the days of Abraham. And, it eventually will end for all the unfaithful when Jesus returns (2 Peter 3:10). God most certainly is longsuffering, but such forbearance with wayward saints and alien sinners will end one day. “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming” (Matthew 25:13).

Mythology and the Bible by Eric Lyons, M.Min.

https://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=13&article=420

Mythology and the Bible

by	Eric Lyons, M.Min.

Over the last several centuries, many have attempted to mythologize the inspired Word of God. Atheists vigorously attack the Genesis account of creation, calling it nothing more than a fictitious story that should be placed alongside (or even “behind”) myths like the Babylonian creation account. Liberal theologians similarly labor to make Scripture conform to secular sources, claiming that the Israelite religion is a mere “Yahwization” of pagan religions (i.e., attributing to Yahweh what pagan religions attributed to their gods). Such attempts to mythologize Scripture represent a blatant attack upon God’s Word and should be refuted with every ounce of energy we possess. In defending the Bible against such attacks, however, Christians must realize that even though the Bible is not based on pagan mythology, on occasion it does contain allusions to it.
Sometimes Bible believers go the extreme and claim that the Bible never would contain such highly imaginative and creative language. But consider Isaiah 27:1. In this passage, Isaiah wrote: “In that day Jehovah with his hard and great and strong sword will punish leviathan the swift serpent, and leviathan the crooked serpent; and he will slay the monster that is in the sea.” Here, the inspired writer makes reference to leviathan in a prophetic passage depicting the future victory of God over His foes. From his book, we can be assured that Isaiah was a strict monotheist. But he did “draw upon the common stock of poetic imagery known to his people just as contemporary writers allude to mythology to illustrate a point without thereby expressing or encouraging faith in the story so used” (Pfeiffer, 1960, 32:209). In explaining the language of Isaiah and other Bible writers who may have alluded to mythology from time to time, John Day commented: “Canaanite mythic imagery was the most impressive means in that ancient cultural milieu whereby to display the sovereignty and transcendence of Yahweh, along with His superiority over Baal and all other earthly contenders. Although the Hebrews did not borrow the theology of Canaan, they did borrow its imagery—here the imagery of Baal’s enemy…Leviathan” (1998, 155:436).
A mythological element also can be seen in the poetic language of Job 3:8: “Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to rouse up leviathan.” [The KJV rendering “who are ready to raise up their mourning” misses the reference to leviathan, which is obvious in the original language.] In this verse, leviathan can be identified properly with a mythological creature described in Ugaritic myths called Lotan. According to such mythology, a marine monster named Lotan was capable of altering the entire world order by eclipsing the Sun or Moon with its body. Does this mean that Job was a believer in mythology, or that the book of Job is a mythological production? Certainly not! Throughout the book that bears his name, Job is presented as a devout monotheist who rejected then-popular mythological concepts (cf. 31:26-28). Within the context of chapter 3, Job, who is “cursing” the day of his birth, employs the most vibrant, potent, and proverbial language available to call for the elimination of that day. Job was “probably doing nothing more than utilizing for poetic purposes a common notion that his hearers would understand. This would have been similar to modern adults referring to Santa Claus. Mentioning his name does not mean that one believes such a person exists” (Zuck, 1978, p. 24).
Even though the Bible may make allusions to mythology, “neither the book of Job nor any of the Old Testament has the slightest hint of belief in any such mythology” (Smick, 1970, p. 229). To suggest that the godly men and writers of the Bible believed in these mythological creatures is to make an abrasive and completely unwarranted assumption that should be avoided at all costs.

REFERENCES

Day, John N. (1998), “God and Leviathan in Isaiah 27:1,” Bibliotheca Sacra, 155:423-436, October-December.
Pfeiffer, Charles F. (1960), “Lotan and Leviathan,” Evangelical Quarterly, 32:208-211.>
Smick, Elmer (1970), “Mythology and the Book of Job,” Sitting with Job, ed. Roy B. Zuck (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker).
Zuck, Roy (1978), Job (Chicago, IL: Moody).

From Mark Copeland... "FOLLOWING JESUS WITHOUT DENOMINATIONALISM" Maintaining Unity In The Local Congregation

              "FOLLOWING JESUS WITHOUT DENOMINATIONALISM"

              Maintaining Unity In The Local Congregation

INTRODUCTION

1. The challenge of "Following Jesus Without Denominationalism" to a 
   great extent revolves around the problem of religious division that
   begins in the local church
   a. Every denomination today began as a result of religious division
   b. And religious division normally finds it origin with brethren in
      a local congregation unable to resolve their differences

2. While having the same standard of authority is essential to unity in
   religious matters, I also stated that it alone is insufficient, as 
   suggested in this quote by Barton W. Stone:

   "But should all the professors of Christianity reject all their
   various creeds and names, and agree to receive the Bible alone, and
   be called by no other name than Christian, will this unite them?  
   No, we are fully convinced that unless they all possess the spirit
   of that book and name they are far, very far, from Christian union."
   (As quoted by J. M. Powell, The Cause We Plead:  A Story Of The
   Restoration Movement, 20th Century Christian, 1987, p. 56)

3. It is essential that those who seek to allow the Bible, and in 
   particular the New Testament, to be their standard of authority...
   a. Possess the proper Christian attitudes
   b. To apply those attitudes when handling the Word of God
   -- Otherwise, the "sword of the Spirit" (Ep 6:17) will be abused to
      the detriment of all parties involved

[To appreciate what I mean, in this lesson we shall examine how Paul
dealt with the problem of division in the early church, and the 
solution he offered that we might "maintain the unity of the Spirit in
the bond of peace."

We begin by first noticing what Paul described as...]

I. A MAJOR CAUSE OF DIVISION

   A. THE SITUATION AT CORINTH...
      1. Paul found it necessary to write "that there be no divisions 
         among you" - 1Co 1:10
      2. There were contentions among them, manifested by breaking up 
         into parties and calling themselves after different men - 
         1Co 1:11-12
      -- Sounds a lot like religious division today, doesn't it?

   B. PAUL'S EVALUATION OF THE PROBLEM OF DIVISION...
      1. As Paul wrote to them, he realized he was dealing with "babes
         in Christ", who instead of being "spiritual" were "carnal" - 
         1Co 3:1-3a
      2. Indeed, the root of their envy, strife, and divisions was 
         their carnality - 1Co 3:3b
      -- Conditions today are not really all that much different; where
         division exists, carnality (or spiritual immaturity) is often 
         a major cause of the problem!

[This is not to say that there are never any substantive issues at 
stake when division occurs.  But any hope for resolving differences 
over such issues is stifled when the parties involved are filled with 
envy and strife.

This may help us appreciate why Paul so frequently focused his 
attention on the development of attitudes which increase the likelihood
of overcoming differences so that unity might prevail.  Let's take a 
look at these...]

II. ATTITUDES FOR MAINTAINING UNITY

   A. TO THE CHURCH AT EPHESUS, PAUL TAUGHT THE VIRTUE OF...
      1. "Lowliness" - Ep 4:2
         a. This word means:
            1) The having a humble opinion of one's self
            2) A deep sense of one's (moral) littleness
            3) Modesty, humility, lowliness of mind
         b. Without this virtue, members in the body begin trying to be
            the "head" of the body, a role reserved only for Christ
      2. "Gentleness" - Ep 4:2
         a. This word can be translated as gentleness, mildness, 
            meekness
         b. It is not a quality of weakness, but of power under control
            1) Moses was a meek man (Num 12:3), but capable of great
               strength and boldness
            2) Jesus was "meek and lowly in heart" (Mt 11:29), but we
               see where He drove the money changers out of the temple
         c. Thus it is being gentle, even when there is the potential
            for being harsh, but gentleness is more conducive for 
            maintaining unity
      3. "Long-suffering" - Ep 4:2
         a. The idea here is one of patience, forbearance, 
            longsuffering, slowness in avenging wrongs
         b. When the body consists of members who are not perfect, and
            often sin against each other, maintaining unity is not 
            possible unless they are willing to endure each other's
            imperfections
      4. "Bearing with one another in love" - Ep 4:2
         a. Similar to longsuffering, "bearing" means to sustain, to 
            bear, to endure
         b. What makes such "longsuffering" and "forbearance" possible
            is another virtue: "love"
         c. As Paul wrote in his chapter on love:  love suffers long...
            is not provoked" - 1Co 13:4-5
         d. Indeed, the virtue of love is the "tie" that binds all 
            these virtues together - Col 3:12-14
      5. "Endeavor" - Ep 4:3
         a. Displaying these virtues does not come naturally nor easy,
            nor does maintaining unity
         b. Thus the need for much effort, as Paul uses a word which
            means "to exert one's self, endeavor, give diligence"
      -- Only by giving diligence to display ALL these virtues, can we
         hope to "keep (maintain) the unity of the Spirit in the bond 
         of peace" - Ep  4:3

   B. TO THE CHURCH AT PHILIPPI, PAUL DIRECTED THEM TO...
      1. "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit" - Php 2:3
         a. It is necessary to point out those attitudes we should NOT
            have!
         b. For possessing these attitudes will destroy unity
            1) Both involve "self-centered" attitude
            2) Rather than a "Christ-centered" attitude
         c. Therefore, it is required that we rid ourselves of:
            1) The DESIRE FOR EXALTING SELF ("selfish ambition")
            2) The IMPROPER ESTIMATION OF SELF ("conceit")
         d. In place of these, we should substitute...
      2. "in lowliness of mind" - Php 2:3
         a. In other words, humility - cf. Ep 4:2
         b. This will effectively replace the problem of "conceit"
         c. Humility should be easy to maintain if we remember our own faults
      3. "let each esteem others better than himself" - Php 2:3
         a. This should be easy for us to do...
            1) For we are aware of our own defects, but we do not have
               the same clear view of the defects of others
            2) We can only see their OUTWARD conduct; in our case, we 
               can look WITHIN
            3) We see our own hearts, with all its faults; we cannot so
               look into the hearts of others
         b. In writing to the brethren at Rome, Paul exhorted them to
            outdo one another in this regard - "in honor giving 
            preference to one another" - Ro 12:10b
      4. "look out...for the interest of others" - Php 2:4
         a. This attitude eliminates the problem of "selfish ambition"
         b. It is the attitude of MATURITY, and was the attitude of 
            Christ! - Ro 15:1-3
         c. So it should be the attitude of every Christian!
      -- As strongly suggested by Php 2:1-2, these qualities in verses
         3-4 contribute to the unity that produces fullness of joy!

   C. TO THE CHURCHES OF GALATIA, PAUL...
      1. Cautioned against the improper use of our liberty in Christ
         a. While it is true that we must stand fast in our liberty and
            not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage... - Ga 5:1
         b. ...we should use our liberty as an opportunity to serve one
            another in love - Ga 5:13-14
      2. Otherwise, abuse of our liberty gives the flesh opportunity to
         destroy one another! - Ga 5:15

   D. TO THE CHURCH AT ROME, PAUL WROTE...
      1. We should pursue things that lead to peace and edification - 
         Ro 14:19
      2. That the strong should be willing to bear with the scruples of
         the weak - Ro 14:1,13; 15:1-3
      3. That the weak in faith must be careful not to judge (condemn)
         those whom God has received! - Ro 14:3-4
      -- Such attitudes are necessary, are we will not be able "with 
         one mind and one mouth [to] glorify the God and Father of our 
         Lord Jesus Christ!" - cf. Ro 15:5-7

   E. FINALLY, TO THE CHURCH AT CORINTH PAUL MADE IT CLEAR...
      1. That knowledge can puff one up, but it is love that edifies 
         ("builds up", in contrast to knowledge which "puffs up") - 
         1Co 8:1
      2. That we who have liberty in Christ should be careful that we 
         don't use it to the destruction of our brethren who are weak 
         - 1Co 8:9-12
      3. That we should therefore be willing to forego our liberties if
         it can help keep a brother from stumbling - cf. 1Co 8:13; 
         10:31-11:1

CONCLUSION

1. From personal experience, I can attest that:
   a. Where members display these attitudes in addition to their 
      devotion to the "apostles' doctrine"...
   b. ...there will be a congregation of Christians in which love and
      unity will prevail

2. That's not to say there will always be perfect understanding and 
   agreement on every subject
   a. When people from every conceivable background come to Christ, we
      should expect some differences
   b. When there will always be brethren at various levels of spiritual
      growth, we can expect some challenges

3. But if we can...
   a. Agree that the teaching of Christ as expounded in the "apostles'
      doctrine" is our standard of authority in religious matters
   b. Inculcate the Christian attitudes described in this lesson into
      the heart of every member
   ...then we shall be able to "maintain the unity of the Spirit in the
      bond of peace" (Ep 4:3) as we all continue to "grow in the grace
      and knowledge of Jesus Christ" (2Pe 3:18), to the glory of God!

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011

From Gary... That which cannot be put into words...

Since there may be some of you out there who do not know what HIPAA is...

http://whatishipaa.org/

What is HIPAA? In 1996, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or the HIPAA was endorsed by the U.S. Congress. The HIPAA Privacy Rule, also called the Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information, provided the first nationally-recognizable regulations for the use/disclosure of an individual's health information. Essentially, the Privacy Rule defines how covered entities use individually-identifiable health information or the PHI (Personal Health Information). 'Covered entities' is a term often used in HIPAA-compliant guidelines. This definition of a covered entity is specified by [45 CFR § 160.102] of the Privacy Rule. A covered entity can be a:

Health plan

Healthcare clearinghouse

Healthcare provider

Overview of the Privacy Rule

Gives patients control over the use of their health information

Defines boundaries for the use/disclosure of health records by covered entities

Establishes national-level standards that healthcare providers must comply with

Helps to limit the use of PHI and minimizes chances of its inappropriate disclosure

Strictly investigates compliance-related issues and holds violators accountable with civil or criminal penalties for violating the privacy of an individual's PHI

Supports the cause of disclosing PHI without individual consent for individual healthcare needs, public benefit and national interests

Now that I have probably spoiled the joke for many of you, I will continue.  The thing is... This furry guy is telling you a joke that he can't tell you. Well, that is our government for you- saying much but explaining very little!!! But wait, didn't Jesus do the same thing? You bet...

Matthew, Chapter 13 (WEB)

 10  The disciples came, and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 

  11  He answered them, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them.   12  For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance, but whoever doesn’t have, from him will be taken away even that which he has.   13  Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they don’t see, and hearing, they don’t hear, neither do they understand.   14  In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, 
‘By hearing you will hear, 
and will in no way understand; 
Seeing you will see, 
and will in no way perceive: 
  15  for this people’s heart has grown callous, 
their ears are dull of hearing, 
they have closed their eyes; 
or else perhaps they might perceive with their eyes, 
hear with their ears, 
understand with their heart, 
and should turn again; 
and I would heal them.’ 

Truthfully, much of what Jesus taught was aimed at the heart and not the head. Parables have a way of reaching right into the heart of a spiritual person and teaching heavenly concepts. While it is true that the twelve did not always understand Jesus, they could be taught because of their willingness to learn. I guess all that remains to be said is: Gary, are you still willing to learn? And if I can ask this question of myself, hopefully you can do the same.

From Gary... Bible Reading August 14-16

Bible Reading 

August 14-16

The World English Bible

Aug. 14

Esther 4-6

Est 4:1 Now when Mordecai found out all that was done, Mordecai tore his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and wailed loudly and a bitterly.

Est 4:2 He came even before the king's gate, for no one is allowed inside the king's gate clothed with sackcloth.

Est 4:3 In every province, wherever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

Est 4:4 Esther's maidens and her eunuchs came and told her this, and the queen was exceedingly grieved. She sent clothing to Mordecai, to replace his sackcloth; but he didn't receive it.

Est 4:5 Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king's eunuchs, whom he had appointed to attend her, and commanded him to go to Mordecai, to find out what this was, and why it was.

Est 4:6 So Hathach went out to Mordecai, to city square which was before the king's gate.

Est 4:7 Mordecai told him of all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the destruction of the Jews.

Est 4:8 He also gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given out in Shushan to destroy them, to show it to Esther, and to declare it to her, and to urge her to go in to the king, to make supplication to him, and to make request before him, for her people.

Est 4:9 Hathach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai.

Est 4:10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach, and gave him a message to Mordecai:

Est 4:11 "All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, know, that whoever, whether man or woman, comes to the king into the inner court without being called, there is one law for him, that he be put to death, except those to whom the king might hold out the golden scepter, that he may live. I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days."

Est 4:12 They told to Mordecai Esther's words.

Est 4:13 Then Mordecai asked them return answer to Esther, "Don't think to yourself that you will escape in the king's house any more than all the Jews.

Est 4:14 For if you remain silent now, then relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Who knows if you haven't come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"

Est 4:15 Then Esther asked them to answer Mordecai,

Est 4:16 "Go, gather together all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day. I and my maidens will also fast the same way. Then I will go in to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish."

Est 4:17 So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.

Est 5:1 Now it happened on the third day that Esther put on her royal clothing, and stood in the inner court of the king's house, next to the king's house. The king sat on his royal throne in the royal house, next to the entrance of the house.

Est 5:2 When the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she obtained favor in his sight; and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. So Esther came near, and touched the top of the scepter.

Est 5:3 Then the king asked her, "What would you like, queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you even to the half of the kingdom."

Est 5:4 Esther said, "If it seems good to the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him."

Est 5:5 Then the king said, "Bring Haman quickly, so that it may be done as Esther has said." So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

Est 5:6 The king said to Esther at the banquet of wine, "What is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your request? Even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed."

Est 5:7 Then Esther answered and said, "My petition and my request is this.

Est 5:8 If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I will prepare for them, and I will do tomorrow as the king has said."

Est 5:9 Then Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart, but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he didn't stand up nor move for him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai.

Est 5:10 Nevertheless Haman restrained himself, and went home. There, he sent and called for his friends and Zeresh his wife.

Est 5:11 Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches, the multitude of his children, all the things in which the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.

Est 5:12 Haman also said, "Yes, Esther the queen let no man come in with the king to the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and tomorrow I am also invited by her together with the king.

Est 5:13 Yet all this avails me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate."

Est 5:14 Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, "Let a gallows be made fifty cubits high, and in the morning speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on it. Then go in merrily with the king to the banquet." This pleased Haman, so he had the gallows made.

Est 6:1 On that night, the king couldn't sleep. He commanded the book of records of the chronicles to be brought, and they were read to the king.

Est 6:2 It was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs, who were doorkeepers, who had tried to lay hands on the King Ahasuerus.

Est 6:3 The king said, "What honor and dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?" Then the king's servants who attended him said, "Nothing has been done for him."

Est 6:4 The king said, "Who is in the court?" Now Haman had come into the outer court of the king's house, to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.

Est 6:5 The king's servants said to him, "Behold, Haman stands in the court." The king said, "Let him come in."

Est 6:6 So Haman came in. The king said to him, "What shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?" Now Haman said in his heart, "Who would the king delight to honor more than myself?"

Est 6:7 Haman said to the king, "For the man whom the king delights to honor,

Est 6:8 let royal clothing be brought which the king uses to wear, and the horse that the king rides on, and on the head of which a crown royal is set.

Est 6:9 Let the clothing and the horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man whom the king delights to honor with them, and have him ride on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him, 'Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!' "

Est 6:10 Then the king said to Haman, "Hurry and take the clothing and the horse, as you have said, and do this for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king's gate. Let nothing fail of all that you have spoken."

Est 6:11 Then Haman took the clothing and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and had him ride through the city square, and proclaimed before him, "Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!"

Est 6:12 Mordecai came back to the king's gate, but Haman hurried to his house, mourning and having his head covered.

Est 6:13 Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, "If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him, but you will surely fall before him."

Est 6:14 While they were yet talking with him, the king's eunuchs came, and hurried to bring Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

Aug. 15

Esther 7-10

Est 7:1 So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.

Est 7:2 The king said again to Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, "What is your petition, queen Esther? It shall be granted you. What is your request? Even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed."

Est 7:3 Then Esther the queen answered, "If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request.

Est 7:4 For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondservants and bondmaids, I would have held my peace, although the adversary could not have compensated for the king's loss."

Est 7:5 Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen, "Who is he, and where is he who dared presume in his heart to do so?"

Est 7:6 Esther said, "An adversary and an enemy, even this wicked Haman!" Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.

Est 7:7 The king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden. Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king.

Est 7:8 Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman had fallen on the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, "Will he even assault the queen in front of me in the house?" As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face.

Est 7:9 Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were with the king said, "Behold, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman has made for Mordecai, who spoke good for the king, is standing at Haman's house." The king said, "Hang him on it!"

Est 7:10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified.

Est 8:1 On that day, King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the Jews' enemy, to Esther the queen. Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was to her.

Est 8:2 The king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

Est 8:3 Esther spoke yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and begged him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews.

Est 8:4 Then the king held out to Esther the golden scepter. So Esther arose, and stood before the king.

Est 8:5 She said, "If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and the thing seem right to the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the king's provinces.

Est 8:6 For how can I endure to see the evil that would come to my people? How can I endure to see the destruction of my relatives?"

Est 8:7 Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, "See, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged on the gallows, because he laid his hand on the Jews.

Est 8:8 Write also to the Jews, as it pleases you, in the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring; for the writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may not be reversed by any man."

Est 8:9 Then the king's scribes were called at that time, in the third month Sivan, on the twenty-third day of the month; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, and to the satraps, and the governors and princes of the provinces which are from India to Ethiopia, one hundred twenty-seven provinces, to every province according to its writing, and to every people in their language, and to the Jews in their writing, and in their language.

Est 8:10 He wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, and sealed it with the king's ring, and sent letters by courier on horseback, riding on royal horses that were bread from swift steeds.

Est 8:11 In those letters, the king granted the Jews who were in every city to gather themselves together, and to defend their life, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, their little ones and women, and to plunder their possessions,

Est 8:12 on one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.

Est 8:13 A copy of the letter, that the decree should be given out in every province, was published to all the peoples, that the Jews should be ready for that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.

Est 8:14 So the couriers who rode on royal horses went out, hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment. The decree was given out in the citadel of Susa.

Est 8:15 Mordecai went out of the presence of the king in royal clothing of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a robe of fine linen and purple; and the city of Susa shouted and was glad.

Est 8:16 The Jews had light, gladness, joy, and honor.

Est 8:17 In every province, and in every city, wherever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had gladness, joy, a feast, and a good day. Many from among the peoples of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews was fallen on them.

Est 9:1 Now in the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the month, when the king's commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, on the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to conquer them, (but it was turned out the opposite happened, that the Jews conquered those who hated them),

Est 9:2 the Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the King Ahasuerus, to lay hands on those who wanted to harm them. No one could withstand them, because the fear of them had fallen on all the people.

Est 9:3 All the princes of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and those who did the king's business helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them.

Est 9:4 For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces; for the man Mordecai grew greater and greater.

Est 9:5 The Jews struck all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and with slaughter and destruction, and did what they wanted to those who hated them.

Est 9:6 In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men.

Est 9:7 They killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,

Est 9:8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha,

Est 9:9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha,

Est 9:10 the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Jew's enemy, but they didn't lay their hand on the plunder.

Est 9:11 On that day, the number of those who were slain in the citadel of Susa was brought before the king.

Est 9:12 The king said to Esther the queen, "The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in the citadel of Susa, including the ten sons of Haman; what then have they done in the rest of the king's provinces! Now what is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your further request? It shall be done."

Est 9:13 Then Esther said, "If it pleases the king, let it be granted to the Jews who are in Shushan to do tomorrow also according to this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged on the gallows."

Est 9:14 The king commanded this to be done. A decree was given out in Shushan; and they hanged Haman's ten sons.

Est 9:15 The Jews who were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and killed three hundred men in Shushan; but they didn't lay their hand on the spoil.

Est 9:16 The other Jews who were in the king's provinces gathered themselves together, defended their lives, had rest from their enemies, and killed seventy-five thousand of those who hated them; but they didn't lay their hand on the plunder.

Est 9:17 This was done on the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of that month they rested and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

Est 9:18 But the Jews who were in Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth and on the fourteenth days of the month; and on the fifteenth day of that month, they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

Est 9:19 Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the unwalled towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, a good day, and a day of sending presents of food to one another.

Est 9:20 Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both near and far,

Est 9:21 to enjoin them that they should keep the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month Adar yearly,

Est 9:22 as the days in which the Jews had rest from their enemies, and the month which was turned to them from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning into a good day; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending presents of food to one another, and gifts to the needy.

Est 9:23 The Jews accepted the custom that they had begun, as Mordecai had written to them;

Est 9:24 because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast "Pur," that is the lot, to consume them, and to destroy them;

Est 9:25 but when this became known to the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he had devised against the Jews, should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

Est 9:26 Therefore they called these days "Purim," from the word "Pur." Therefore because of all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and that which had come to them,

Est 9:27 the Jews established, and imposed on themselves, and on their descendants, and on all those who joined themselves to them, so that it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to what was written, and according to its appointed time, every year;

Est 9:28 and that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memory of them perish from their seed.

Est 9:29 Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority to confirm this second letter of Purim.

Est 9:30 He sent letters to all the Jews, to the hundred twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth,

Est 9:31 to confirm these days of Purim in their appointed times, as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had decreed, and as they had imposed upon themselves and their descendants, in the matter of the fastings and their cry.

Est 9:32 The commandment of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book.

Est 10:1 King Ahasuerus laid a tribute on the land, and on the islands of the sea.

Est 10:2 All the acts of his power and of his might, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?

Est 10:3 For Mordecai the Jew was next to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted by the multitude of his brothers, seeking the good of his people, and speaking peace to all his descendants.

Aug. 16

Job 1-4

Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God, and turned away from evil.

Job 1:2 There were born to him seven sons and three daughters.

Job 1:3 His possessions also were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the children of the east.

Job 1:4 His sons went and held a feast in the house of each one on his birthday; and they sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.

Job 1:5 It was so, when the days of their feasting had run their course, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, "It may be that my sons have sinned, and renounced God in their hearts." Job did so continually.

Job 1:6 Now it happened on the day when the God's sons came to present themselves before Yahweh, that Satan also came among them.

Job 1:7 Yahweh said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Then Satan answered Yahweh, and said, "From going back and forth in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."

Job 1:8 Yahweh said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant, Job? For there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil."

Job 1:9 Then Satan answered Yahweh, and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing?

Job 1:10 Haven't you made a hedge around him, and around his house, and around all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

Job 1:11 But put forth your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will renounce you to your face."

Job 1:12 Yahweh said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power. Only on himself don't put forth your hand." So Satan went forth from the presence of Yahweh.

Job 1:13 It fell on a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house,

Job 1:14 that there came a messenger to Job, and said, "The oxen were plowing, and the donkeys feeding beside them,

Job 1:15 and the Sabeans attacked, and took them away. Yes, they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

Job 1:16 While he was still speaking, there also came another, and said, "The fire of God has fallen from the sky, and has burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

Job 1:17 While he was still speaking, there came also another, and said, "The Chaldeans made three bands, and swept down on the camels, and have taken them away, yes, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you."

Job 1:18 While he was still speaking, there came also another, and said, "Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house,

Job 1:19 and behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young men, and they are dead. I alone have escaped to tell you."

Job 1:20 Then Job arose, and tore his robe, and shaved his head, and fell down on the ground, and worshiped.

Job 1:21 He said, "Naked I came out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. Yahweh gave, and Yahweh has taken away. Blessed be the name of Yahweh."

Job 1:22 In all this, Job did not sin, nor charge God with wrongdoing.

Job 2:1 Again it happened on the day when the God's sons came to present themselves before Yahweh, that Satan came also among them to present himself before Yahweh.

Job 2:2 Yahweh said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered Yahweh, and said, "From going back and forth in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."

Job 2:3 Yahweh said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? For there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil. He still maintains his integrity, although you incited me against him, to ruin him without cause."

Job 2:4 Satan answered Yahweh, and said, "Skin for skin. Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.

Job 2:5 But put forth your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will renounce you to your face."

Job 2:6 Yahweh said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your hand. Only spare his life."

Job 2:7 So Satan went forth from the presence of Yahweh, and struck Job with painful sores from the sole of his foot to his head.

Job 2:8 He took for himself a potsherd to scrape himself with, and he sat among the ashes.

Job 2:9 Then his wife said to him, "Do you still maintain your integrity? Renounce God, and die."

Job 2:10 But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" In all this Job didn't sin with his lips.

Job 2:11 Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come on him, they each came from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and to comfort him.

Job 2:12 When they lifted up their eyes from a distance, and didn't recognize him, they raised their voices, and wept; and they each tore his robe, and sprinkled dust on their heads toward the sky.

Job 2:13 So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.

Job 3:1 After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed the day of his birth.

Job 3:2 Job answered:

Job 3:3 "Let the day perish in which I was born, the night which said, 'There is a boy conceived.'

Job 3:4 Let that day be darkness. Don't let God from above seek for it, neither let the light shine on it.

Job 3:5 Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own. Let a cloud dwell on it. Let all that makes black the day terrify it.

Job 3:6 As for that night, let thick darkness seize on it. Let it not rejoice among the days of the year. Let it not come into the number of the months.

Job 3:7 Behold, let that night be barren. Let no joyful voice come therein.

Job 3:8 Let them curse it who curse the day, who are ready to rouse up leviathan.

Job 3:9 Let the stars of its twilight be dark. Let it look for light, but have none, neither let it see the eyelids of the morning,

Job 3:10 because it didn't shut up the doors of my mother's womb, nor did it hide trouble from my eyes.

Job 3:11 "Why didn't I die from the womb? Why didn't I give up the spirit when my mother bore me?

Job 3:12 Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breast, that I should suck?

Job 3:13 For now should I have lain down and been quiet. I should have slept, then I would have been at rest,

Job 3:14 with kings and counselors of the earth, who built up waste places for themselves;

Job 3:15 or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver:

Job 3:16 or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been, as infants who never saw light.

Job 3:17 There the wicked cease from troubling. There the weary are at rest.

Job 3:18 There the prisoners are at ease together. They don't hear the voice of the taskmaster.

Job 3:19 The small and the great are there. The servant is free from his master.

Job 3:20 "Why is light given to him who is in misery, life to the bitter in soul,

Job 3:21 Who long for death, but it doesn't come; and dig for it more than for hidden treasures,

Job 3:22 who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave?

Job 3:23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, whom God has hedged in?

Job 3:24 For my sighing comes before I eat. My groanings are poured out like water.

Job 3:25 For the thing which I fear comes on me, That which I am afraid of comes to me.

Job 3:26 I am not at ease, neither am I quiet, neither have I rest; but trouble comes."

Job 4:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,

Job 4:2 "If someone ventures to talk with you, will you be grieved? But who can withhold himself from speaking?

Job 4:3 Behold, you have instructed many, you have strengthened the weak hands.

Job 4:4 Your words have supported him who was falling, You have made firm the feeble knees.

Job 4:5 But now it is come to you, and you faint. It touches you, and you are troubled.

Job 4:6 Isn't your piety your confidence? Isn't the integrity of your ways your hope?

Job 4:7 "Remember, now, whoever perished, being innocent? Or where were the upright cut off?

Job 4:8 According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity, and sow trouble, reap the same.

Job 4:9 By the breath of God they perish. By the blast of his anger are they consumed.

Job 4:10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, the teeth of the young lions, are broken.

Job 4:11 The old lion perishes for lack of prey. The cubs of the lioness are scattered abroad.

Job 4:12 "Now a thing was secretly brought to me. My ear received a whisper of it.

Job 4:13 In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men,

Job 4:14 fear came on me, and trembling, which made all my bones shake.

Job 4:15 Then a spirit passed before my face. The hair of my flesh stood up.

Job 4:16 It stood still, but I couldn't discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes. Silence, then I heard a voice, saying,

Job 4:17 'Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his Maker?

Job 4:18 Behold, he puts no trust in his servants. He charges his angels with error.

Job 4:19 How much more, those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth!

Job 4:20 Between morning and evening they are destroyed. They perish forever without any regarding it.

Job 4:21 Isn't their tent cord plucked up within them? They die, and that without wisdom.' 

 

Aug. 13, 14

Acts 25

Act 25:1 Festus therefore, having come into the province, after three days went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea.

Act 25:2 Then the high priest and the principal men of the Jews informed him against Paul, and they begged him,

Act 25:3 asking a favor against him, that he would summon him to Jerusalem; plotting to kill him on the way.

Act 25:4 However Festus answered that Paul should be kept in custody at Caesarea, and that he himself was about to depart shortly.

Act 25:5 "Let them therefore," said he, "that are in power among you go down with me, and if there is anything wrong in the man, let them accuse him."

Act 25:6 When he had stayed among them more than ten days, he went down to Caesarea, and on the next day he sat on the judgment seat, and commanded Paul to be brought.

Act 25:7 When he had come, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing against him many and grievous charges which they could not prove,

Act 25:8 while he said in his defense, "Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar, have I sinned at all."

Act 25:9 But Festus, desiring to gain favor with the Jews, answered Paul and said, "Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem, and be judged by me there concerning these things?"

Act 25:10 But Paul said, "I am standing before Caesar's judgment seat, where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you also know very well.

Act 25:11 For if I have done wrong, and have committed anything worthy of death, I don't refuse to die; but if none of those things is true that they accuse me of, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar!"

Act 25:12 Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, "You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you shall go."

Act 25:13 Now when some days had passed, Agrippa the King and Bernice arrived at Caesarea, and greeted Festus.

Act 25:14 As he stayed there many days, Festus laid Paul's case before the king, saying, "There is a certain man left a prisoner by Felix;

Act 25:15 about whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me, asking for a sentence against him.

Act 25:16 To whom I answered that it is not the custom of the Romans to give up any man to destruction, before the accused has met the accusers face to face, and has had opportunity to make his defense concerning the matter laid against him.

Act 25:17 When therefore they had come together here, I didn't delay, but on the next day sat on the judgment seat, and commanded the man to be brought.

Act 25:18 Concerning whom, when the accusers stood up, they brought no charge of such things as I supposed;

Act 25:19 but had certain questions against him about their own religion, and about one Jesus, who was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive.

Act 25:20 Being perplexed how to inquire concerning these things, I asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and there be judged concerning these matters.

Act 25:21 But when Paul had appealed to be kept for the decision of the emperor, I commanded him to be kept until I could send him to Caesar."

Act 25:22 Agrippa said to Festus, "I also would like to hear the man myself." "Tomorrow," he said, "you shall hear him."

Act 25:23 So on the next day, when Agrippa and Bernice had come with great pomp, and they had entered into the place of hearing with the commanding officers and principal men of the city, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in.

Act 25:24 Festus said, "King Agrippa, and all men who are here present with us, you see this man, about whom all the multitude of the Jews petitioned me, both at Jerusalem and here, crying that he ought not to live any longer.

Act 25:25 But when I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death, and as he himself appealed to the emperor I determined to send him.

Act 25:26 Of whom I have no certain thing to write to my lord. Therefore I have brought him forth before you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, that, after examination, I may have something to write.

Act 25:27 For it seems to me unreasonable, in sending a prisoner, not to also specify the charges against him."

Aug. 15, 16

Acts 26

Act 26:1 Agrippa said to Paul, "You may speak for yourself." Then Paul stretched out his hand, and made his defense.

Act 26:2 "I think myself happy, King Agrippa, that I am to make my defense before you this day concerning all the things that I am accused by the Jews,

Act 26:3 especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.

Act 26:4 "Indeed, all the Jews know my way of life from my youth up, which was from the beginning among my own nation and at Jerusalem;

Act 26:5 having known me from the first, if they are willing to testify, that after the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.

Act 26:6 Now I stand here to be judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers,

Act 26:7 which our twelve tribes, earnestly serving night and day, hope to attain. Concerning this hope I am accused by the Jews, King Agrippa!

Act 26:8 Why is it judged incredible with you, if God does raise the dead?

Act 26:9 "I myself most certainly thought that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

Act 26:10 This I also did in Jerusalem. I both shut up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death I gave my vote against them.

Act 26:11 Punishing them often in all the synagogues, I tried to make them blaspheme. Being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

Act 26:12 "Whereupon as I traveled to Damascus with the authority and commission from the chief priests,

Act 26:13 at noon, O King, I saw on the way a light from the sky, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who traveled with me.

Act 26:14 When we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'

Act 26:15 "I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' "He said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

Act 26:16 But arise, and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose: to appoint you a servant and a witness both of the things which you have seen, and of the things which I will reveal to you;

Act 26:17 delivering you from the people, and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you,

Act 26:18 to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'

Act 26:19 "Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,

Act 26:20 but declared first to them of Damascus, at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.

Act 26:21 For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple, and tried to kill me.

Act 26:22 Having therefore obtained the help that is from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would happen,

Act 26:23 how the Christ must suffer, and how, by the resurrection of the dead, he would be first to proclaim light both to these people and to the Gentiles."

Act 26:24 As he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, "Paul, you are crazy! Your great learning is driving you insane!"

Act 26:25 But he said, "I am not crazy, most excellent Festus, but boldly declare words of truth and reasonableness.

Act 26:26 For the king knows of these things, to whom also I speak freely. For I am persuaded that none of these things is hidden from him, for this has not been done in a corner.

Act 26:27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe."

Act 26:28 Agrippa said to Paul, "With a little persuasion are you trying to make me a Christian?"

Act 26:29 Paul said, "I pray to God, that whether with little or with much, not only you, but also all that hear me this day, might become such as I am, except for these bonds."

Act 26:30 The king rose up with the governor, and Bernice, and those who sat with them.

Act 26:31 When they had withdrawn, they spoke one to another, saying, "This man does nothing worthy of death or of bonds."

Act 26:32 Agrippa said to Festus, "This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar."