Good Morning.
Praise the Lord it is Friday. We will continue to look at traditional Seven Deadly Sins. If you like to read the past devotionals again, you can visit my web site at "Brownnaik.com".
Today, we will look at ANGER -- the anger of man is often unjustified and is many times uncontrolled. It is often based on insufficient cause and expressed without due regard for the consequences. (Jonah 4:1-11) The first mention of anger was outside the Garden of Eden. Unjustified and uncontrolled anger has led many persons into greater sin, even acts of violence. For instance,“Cain grew hot with great anger” and slew Abel. (Genesis 4:5, 8)
Belligerent people often struggle to control their anger. Their harsh words and sharp tone of voice tend to escalate feelings of hostility in some situations. 70% of arguments are caused or escalated by a harsh tone of voice. "A harsh word stirs up anger, but a soft answer turns away wrath" (Proverbs 14:1).
Faith has a way of turning anger to love. Proverbs 10:12 says, "Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins." The Lord’s love enables us to turn our hatred into real love for our enemies.
One family, who turned their hatred into love, is an example of how to turn a tragedy into a triumph. In Janurary of 1981, Chester Bitterman, a Wycliffe Bible Translator was kidnapped, tortured and killed by terrorists in Columbia, South America. You could well imagine the hatred felt by his family toward the captors. However, Bitterman’s family did not project their anger against the murderers. Through faith, the family, their community, and the church decided to do good to the murderers of the friend they loved.
In April of 1982, the family decided to apply Christ’s commandment, "Love your enemies and do good to those who despitefully use you. Then your reward in heaven will be great" (Luke 6:35,36). The entirety of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania contributed money to buy an ambulance for the State of Meta in Columbia, where the young linguist was brutally murdered. Chester Bitterman’s parents even traveled to Columbia to present the ambulance to the people. During the ceremony, Chester’s mother struggled with her emotions, but spoke these words, "We are able to do this because God has taken the hatred from our hearts.
Only God is able to help us substitute love for hatred. Jesus gave us the perfect example of one who returned love for hate. Only through the power of the Holy Spirit are we able to return blessings for curses. With the power of God we are able to return good for evil.
Recognize the damage that fleshly anger can bring. "Anger is the chief saboteur of the mind, a significant factor in the formation of many serious diseases." It is the leading cause of misery, depression, inefficiency, sickness, accidents, loss of work, time wastage, financial loss in industry, marital conflicts, hyper-tension, alcoholism, frigidity, impotence, children’s defiance, rebellion, and many physical illnesses. "Elimination of hostility is a key factor in solving many of life’s serious problems." (Gary Collins, Christian Counseling: A Comprehensive Guide, page 100, Zondervan). Proverbs 15:1 - A harsh word stirs up strife, but a soft answer turns away wrath.
On the other hand, a person who is angry on the right grounds, against the right persons, in the right manner, at the right moment, and for the right length of time deserves great praise. (How many of us can claim to be that person . . . really?)
Understand the righteous causes of anger. Anger may be caused by injustice as when Jesus saw how the moneychangers were turning the temple into a house for profiteers. Jesus said, "My Father’s house is for prayer, but you have turned it into a robber’s den" (Matt 21:13). Paul said in Ephesians 4:26, "Be angry, but sin not, do not let the sun go down on your anger." In other words, there are times when we should be righteously indignant, but do not let anger become a regular part of your thought process or it will destroy you from within.
Appreciate the reasons why some people struggle with anger. When people are rejected, put down, or feel unjustly criticized or humiliated, they may react with anger. When Jesus was unjustly persecuted He entrusted Himself to the one whose judgment is best. Jesus said, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake."
People who are hurt or threatened often want to take vengeance into their hands. The Bible says, "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
"Greater is He who is in you than He who is in the world." "Vengeance is mine, says the Lord I will repay". "Do not be overcome with evil, overcome evil with good."
Understand some of the factors of anger. We can control our attitudes. Jesus said, "It is not what goes into a person that defiles them, but what comes out of a man’s heart. It is not what happens to us that is responsible for our anger, but we are responsible for our reactions to provocation. We should not say that the devil made me angry or a certain person caused me to blow-up. Paul said, "Have the attitude which was in Christ Jesus."
In the spring of 1894, the Baltimore Orioles came to Boston to play a routine baseball game, but what happened that day was anything but routine. The Orioles’ John McGraw got into a fight with the Boston third baseman. Within minutes all the players from both teams had joined in the brawl. The warfare quickly spread to the grandstands. Among the fans the conflict went from bad to worse. Someone set fire to the stands and the entire ballpark burned to the ground. Not only that, but the fire spread to 107 other Boston buildings as well.
Solutions for dealing with anger practice Christ’s humility, forgiveness, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control, Biblical thinking, obedient lifestyle, servant lifestyle, trusting heart, and prayerful habits are the essential characteristics of one who is able to effectively turn away anger.
"Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ has forgiven us." Most people are starved for a little kindness, so show them that kindness. "Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander, along with every kind of malice" (Ephesians 4:28-32).
Remember this thought: Anger is a wind that blows out the lamp of the mind.
In Christ,
Brown
Click here to view video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt0WluTpFTg
Friday, February 8, 2008
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Brown's Daily Word 2-7-08
Praise the Lord for this Holy Season. The Lord who is Holy calls us to be holy . He calls us to be set apart, consecrated to Him and to His eternal and global cause of the Kingdom. To day we will look at " sloth", one of the seven deadly sins that clings to us like a blood sucking leach. Sloth suggests laziness, stupefied laziness, time-wasting, talent-wasting laziness. Sloth is the persistent state of being “tuned out”; of being unengaged; of relishing indifference. Sloth is the state of remaining uninvolved, uncommitted, uncaring. Sloth is the state of being a spectator in life, even willfully absent from life. We are seduced with a selfish desire to keep ourselves for ourselves, the “selfish” desire to keep our own life uncomplicated and unperturbed by ignoring people whose lives appear more difficult than ours, even endangered.
In my former life, I, worked in the Psychiatric hospital settings I remember people complain to me that life has cheated them, because they aren’t having a good time 24 hours per day without interruption.We all know, advertising has fostered utterly unrealistic expectations in people. Advertising has led people to believe that life is, or can be, or at least is meant to be, something like an endless beach holiday in the Bahamas : uninterrupted pleasure, no demands, no setbacks, no grief, everyone dancing and skipping in the company of “winners” with gorgeous bodies and fashionable clothes, no frustration or anxiety or pain. The problem, is that no one’s life is like this, and no one’s is ever going to be, even though too many people have been led to believe that what’s advertised is normal. To expect all this is to want sloth. The banality of many TV shows intensifies self-pampering. People who have been saturated in such shallowness aren’t going to immerse themselves in life, especially in someone else’s life, with its tides and turbulence, its summons to stand up, stand for, and stand with. Self-pampering fosters sloth. It is called deadly, obviously, because it’s a breeding ground for trivia. People who detach themselves from life with all of life’s tides and turbulence; people who want no part of challenge and struggle; these people invariably have large tracts of time on their hands. What do they do with vast stretches of unfilled time? They fill them up with trivia. They watch TV by the hour. They sleep. They become self-absorbed. Their self-absorption can appear harmless it can appear eccentric In any case the self-absorption is selfish, even when it appears virtuous. What else can be said of the 50-year old woman who spends three hours per day shaping her body? We won’t say “She has a remarkable body.” We won’t say it because the truth is, her remarkable body has been gained at the price of shriveled heart and mind and spirit. Where sloth abounds, time fills up with trivia as surely as motionless water fills up with algae. People are driven on a route Trivial Pursuit. Sloth is deadly, in that it withers human relationships. To step aside from life is necessarily to step aside from people. It’s to step aside from people to whom our help can mean the world; it’s to step aside from people who can mean the world to us. How many times in scripture are we told that the person we help renders us “Christ” to that person, as it were, while the person whom we allow to help us renders her the mirror-image of Christ to us? Of course other people are inconvenient. Then was Jean Paul Sartre correct when he wrote “Hell is other people”? Other people can be hellish; they can as readily be heavenly. Their arms embracing us, our arms embracing them, can as readily be those “everlasting arms” that are always and everywhere “underneath” us, even as the everlasting arms of God are most readily recognized in the arms of his human servants. If we detach ourselves from life we attempt to be entirely self-sufficient. No one can be, of course; but the desire for self-sufficiency and the attempt at it means that are trying to live in an ever-shrinking universe. Sloth is deadly just because it deadens. Sloth is deadly, in that it’s so very subtle. It’s like a hot cedar tub. Hot tubs can be enjoyable, even helpful -- if we need a hassle-free “time-out”. But there’s something wrong with the person who wants a “time-out” that goes on and on and on. Everyone knows what can happen in a hot tub. We luxuriate in the water. After a while it starts to feel cool (even though the water temperature hasn’t changed.) We make the water a little warmer. The process is repeated, several times over. Next morning the newspaper carries our obituary, and readers are told that our heart stopped beating. Sloth is just like this. Jesus calls men and women to be disciples. They respond with an initial surge of enthusiasm. Then the onerous aspect of discipleship’s collision with a hostile world, added to the normal wear-and-tear of life, gets them down. Easter morning finds Peter speaking for the rest: “What’s the point of it all? We did our best and it all boiled dry. Let’s go back to fishing.” Peter and his friends have plainly gone to the cave. Whereupon the risen Lord appears before them and pulls them out of the cave as he enlarges their faith and lends them resilience. Once more they step ahead in the task he has given them. As enlarged faith and greater faithfulness overturn our sloth we are going to find ourselves viewed as odd. A society bent on ease and drowsiness and self-gratification can’t understand why anyone would ever step out in a commitment that doesn’t promote ease and drowsiness and self-gratification. Still, we who are Christ’s people march to the beat of a different drummer. In the city of Lystra Paul was treated roughly. He didn’t take refuge in sloth, however, mumbling that he’d never return, never put himself out again for ungrateful people. Instead he said quietly to the Christians at Lystra, “It is through many tribulations that we enter the kingdom of God .” When we are called to take the stand that will always be unpopular; when we are summoned to make the sacrifice for the person who will never thank us; when we are called to do what’s right in an environment that rewards two-faced palm-greasers – in all these situations others are going to tell us we’re foolhardy. We, however, are going to be sustained by our vision of what’s right, as well as by a courage that rises in proportion to our vision. Vision and courage will reinforce each other. The temptation of sloth will recede. There are always people we must care for, even as there is evil we must resist, truth we must uphold, and a Lord whom we must obey. He, after all, has promised never to fail us or forsake us.
Lord Jesus, deliver us from slothfulness.
In Him,
Brown
click to view video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGR944fq-Yg
Dysfunctional Greeting Cards
I always wanted to have someone to hold, someone to love. And now that you've come into my life...
(Inside card) - I've changed my mind.
As the days go by, I think how lucky I am....
(Inside card) - That you're not here to ruin it for me.
Congratulations on your promotion. Before you go....
(Inside card) - Will you take the knife from my back? You'll probably need it again.
Someday I hope to marry...
(Inside card) - Someone other than you.
Happy Birthday! You look great for your age....
(Inside card) - Almost lifelike!
When we were together, you said you'd die for me...
(Inside card! ) - Now we've broken up, I think it's time to keep your promise.
We've been friends for a very long time...
(Inside card) - What do you say we stop?
I'm so miserable without you...
(Inside card) - It's almost like you're still here.
You are such a good friend. If we were on a sinking ship and there was only one life jacket...
(Inside card) - I'd miss you terribly and think of you often.
Happy Birthday, Uncle Dad!
(Available only in Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas)
Looking back over the years we've been together, I can't help but wonder...!
(Inside card) - What was I thinking?
Congratulations on your wedding day!...
(Inside card) - Too bad no one likes your husband!
In my former life, I, worked in the Psychiatric hospital settings I remember people complain to me that life has cheated them, because they aren’t having a good time 24 hours per day without interruption.We all know, advertising has fostered utterly unrealistic expectations in people. Advertising has led people to believe that life is, or can be, or at least is meant to be, something like an endless beach holiday in the Bahamas : uninterrupted pleasure, no demands, no setbacks, no grief, everyone dancing and skipping in the company of “winners” with gorgeous bodies and fashionable clothes, no frustration or anxiety or pain. The problem, is that no one’s life is like this, and no one’s is ever going to be, even though too many people have been led to believe that what’s advertised is normal. To expect all this is to want sloth. The banality of many TV shows intensifies self-pampering. People who have been saturated in such shallowness aren’t going to immerse themselves in life, especially in someone else’s life, with its tides and turbulence, its summons to stand up, stand for, and stand with. Self-pampering fosters sloth. It is called deadly, obviously, because it’s a breeding ground for trivia. People who detach themselves from life with all of life’s tides and turbulence; people who want no part of challenge and struggle; these people invariably have large tracts of time on their hands. What do they do with vast stretches of unfilled time? They fill them up with trivia. They watch TV by the hour. They sleep. They become self-absorbed. Their self-absorption can appear harmless it can appear eccentric In any case the self-absorption is selfish, even when it appears virtuous. What else can be said of the 50-year old woman who spends three hours per day shaping her body? We won’t say “She has a remarkable body.” We won’t say it because the truth is, her remarkable body has been gained at the price of shriveled heart and mind and spirit. Where sloth abounds, time fills up with trivia as surely as motionless water fills up with algae. People are driven on a route Trivial Pursuit. Sloth is deadly, in that it withers human relationships. To step aside from life is necessarily to step aside from people. It’s to step aside from people to whom our help can mean the world; it’s to step aside from people who can mean the world to us. How many times in scripture are we told that the person we help renders us “Christ” to that person, as it were, while the person whom we allow to help us renders her the mirror-image of Christ to us? Of course other people are inconvenient. Then was Jean Paul Sartre correct when he wrote “Hell is other people”? Other people can be hellish; they can as readily be heavenly. Their arms embracing us, our arms embracing them, can as readily be those “everlasting arms” that are always and everywhere “underneath” us, even as the everlasting arms of God are most readily recognized in the arms of his human servants. If we detach ourselves from life we attempt to be entirely self-sufficient. No one can be, of course; but the desire for self-sufficiency and the attempt at it means that are trying to live in an ever-shrinking universe. Sloth is deadly just because it deadens. Sloth is deadly, in that it’s so very subtle. It’s like a hot cedar tub. Hot tubs can be enjoyable, even helpful -- if we need a hassle-free “time-out”. But there’s something wrong with the person who wants a “time-out” that goes on and on and on. Everyone knows what can happen in a hot tub. We luxuriate in the water. After a while it starts to feel cool (even though the water temperature hasn’t changed.) We make the water a little warmer. The process is repeated, several times over. Next morning the newspaper carries our obituary, and readers are told that our heart stopped beating. Sloth is just like this. Jesus calls men and women to be disciples. They respond with an initial surge of enthusiasm. Then the onerous aspect of discipleship’s collision with a hostile world, added to the normal wear-and-tear of life, gets them down. Easter morning finds Peter speaking for the rest: “What’s the point of it all? We did our best and it all boiled dry. Let’s go back to fishing.” Peter and his friends have plainly gone to the cave. Whereupon the risen Lord appears before them and pulls them out of the cave as he enlarges their faith and lends them resilience. Once more they step ahead in the task he has given them. As enlarged faith and greater faithfulness overturn our sloth we are going to find ourselves viewed as odd. A society bent on ease and drowsiness and self-gratification can’t understand why anyone would ever step out in a commitment that doesn’t promote ease and drowsiness and self-gratification. Still, we who are Christ’s people march to the beat of a different drummer. In the city of Lystra Paul was treated roughly. He didn’t take refuge in sloth, however, mumbling that he’d never return, never put himself out again for ungrateful people. Instead he said quietly to the Christians at Lystra, “It is through many tribulations that we enter the kingdom of God .” When we are called to take the stand that will always be unpopular; when we are summoned to make the sacrifice for the person who will never thank us; when we are called to do what’s right in an environment that rewards two-faced palm-greasers – in all these situations others are going to tell us we’re foolhardy. We, however, are going to be sustained by our vision of what’s right, as well as by a courage that rises in proportion to our vision. Vision and courage will reinforce each other. The temptation of sloth will recede. There are always people we must care for, even as there is evil we must resist, truth we must uphold, and a Lord whom we must obey. He, after all, has promised never to fail us or forsake us.
Lord Jesus, deliver us from slothfulness.
In Him,
Brown
click to view video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGR944fq-Yg
Dysfunctional Greeting Cards
I always wanted to have someone to hold, someone to love. And now that you've come into my life...
(Inside card) - I've changed my mind.
As the days go by, I think how lucky I am....
(Inside card) - That you're not here to ruin it for me.
Congratulations on your promotion. Before you go....
(Inside card) - Will you take the knife from my back? You'll probably need it again.
Someday I hope to marry...
(Inside card) - Someone other than you.
Happy Birthday! You look great for your age....
(Inside card) - Almost lifelike!
When we were together, you said you'd die for me...
(Inside card! ) - Now we've broken up, I think it's time to keep your promise.
We've been friends for a very long time...
(Inside card) - What do you say we stop?
I'm so miserable without you...
(Inside card) - It's almost like you're still here.
You are such a good friend. If we were on a sinking ship and there was only one life jacket...
(Inside card) - I'd miss you terribly and think of you often.
Happy Birthday, Uncle Dad!
(Available only in Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas)
Looking back over the years we've been together, I can't help but wonder...!
(Inside card) - What was I thinking?
Congratulations on your wedding day!...
(Inside card) - Too bad no one likes your husband!
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Brown's Daily Word 2-6-08
Good Morning,
Today is Ash Wednesday in Church Calendar. The season of Lent begins today. It is a season of soul-searching and repentance, a season for reflection and taking stock of our lives. Lent originated in the very earliest days of the Church as a preparatory time for Easter, when the faithful rededicated themselves and when converts were instructed in the faith and prepared for baptism. By observing the forty days of Lent, the individual Christian imitates Jesus’ withdrawal into the wilderness for forty days. It is a season of self denial, sacrifice, obedience and dedicated discipleship. We will look today at one of the Seven deadly sins, the sin of gluttony.
Gluttony is defined as “the habit or act of eating too much, an inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires.” The second part of this definition includes things other than food. The opposite of gluttony of temperance. Temperance accepts the natural limits of pleasures and preserves this natural balance. The chief error about gluttony is to think it only pertains to food. Some people cannot have enough toys, television, or entertainment. We tend to call over-consumption of these things an “addiction” rather than gluttony. You may not have an issue with gluttony pertaining to food, but may have an issue with one of the other forms of glutton.
Solomon said in Proverbs 23:2, “Put a knife to your throat if you are a man of great appetite.” The advice that Solomon gives is very clear - do not overeat. Use wisdom, restraint, and discipline in eating and practice temperance – know when to stop. Again, this applies to every area of our lives.
Do you remember the situation with the Israelites concerning the manna that God provided them as recorded in Exodus 16:16-20? Do you recall when they were in the wilderness and God fed them with the bread from heaven (manna) and gave them explicit directions as to how much to gather? Exodus 16:16-20, “This is what the Lord has commanded, ‘Gather of it every man as much as he should eat; you shall take an omer a piece according to the number of persons each of you has in his tent…..'(vs. 20), but they did not listen to Moses and some left part of it until the morning and it bred worms and became foul and Moses was angry with them.”
They had been give very detailed instructions as to how much they should gather of the manna for each individual of their household. They were only supposed to gather enough for that day and no more. Obviously some of the people did not trust that they would have more manna for the next day so they kept some. That which they kept bred worms and stank up the camp, which made Moses very angry. Here the manna was provided as food for the entire day – but some gluttons (or a case could be made for greed or insecurity) kept some extra “just in case” to ensure they would have the benefit of enjoying it again. They enjoyed it so much that they defied the guidelines that God had given them.
In “The Screwtape Letters” C.S. Lewis describes “delicacy as a desire to have things exactly our way”. He gives the example of food having to be prepared just right, or in just the right amount. When the food was not just right, the “so called” Christian could easily be led into sin without even realizing it. But it isn’t limited to food. We might complain about unimportant defects in a product, the temperature in the room, or the color of a laundry basket. There is a certain amount of discomfort to be expected in life, but the Glutton will have none of it. Instead of becoming strong by suffering the minor inconveniences of life, the Glutton insists on being pampered. Gluttons will not be inconvenienced at any time in their lives. No one dares to point out how petty or foolish they are. In fact, some celebrities are praised for their excessive perfectionism, as though it were a virtue.
In the book of numbers we find another example of gluttony, but with a different twist. Turn to Numbers 11:18-24. Numbers 11:18-20, “So say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the ears of the Lord, saying, ‘Oh that someone would give us meat to eat! For we were well off in Egypt. Therefore the Lord will give you meat and you shall eat. You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days nor twenty days, but a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you; because you have rejected the lord who is among you and have wept before Him saying ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?”
This is a classic example of Gluttony. This is what the Children of Israel did to God. He had been giving them manna to eat – daily – and they grew tired of it. They wanted some meat. What they actually told God was that the food He provided from heaven (there was nothing like manna on the earth before this time or since) was not good enough – they wanted meat. God’s response was that He gave them meat, but with the meat would come the plague for their ungratefulness. When you read the rest of the chapter you see when He sent the meat, as they were still eating it, He sent a plague among them.
The cure for Gluttony lies in deliberately reducing our use of pleasurable things, not in eliminating them. May Christ have mercy on us.
St. Augustine who says it best, "You have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee." We are not alone. We are not alone in our greed, our gluttony, or our lust (or our pride, envy, anger, or sloth, for that matter). We need Christ, and to know that Christ is the one above all else who satisfies our deepest hungers and longings.
It should be our prayer that God would give to us a passion for Christ that is stronger than every other passion, a passion for Christ that puts all those misplaced, limitless, unfocused, chaotic passions for what is good, in order in our souls.
When Christ becomes for us "the bread of life," when we hunger and thirst for such righteousness, then God places us on a road and a path in life in which we will find more satisfaction and fulfillment and joy than on any other path we can find.
Deadly sins, that leave us empty –– but Jesus Christ came, and comes, to give us lives that are filled and fulfilled.
"Lord Most High, you know the depth of our hunger, our hunger for meaning and purpose and for value and for joy and happiness and pleasure. We pray that in seeking you we might find you and find more of these things than we ever dreamed possible. Where we are weak –– strengthen us; where we are strong –– humble us before your mighty throne, through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen "
In Jesus,
Brown
"Our lusts are cords that bind us. Fiery trials are sent to burn and consume them. Who fears the flame which will bring him liberty from intolerable bonds? "
Charles Spurgeon "
"Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God." William Carey
"It is vanity to mind only this present life, and not to make provision for those things which are to come." Thomas a Kempis
" Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement. " C.S. Lewis
"I believe in getting into hot water; it keeps you clean. " G. K. Chesterton
"The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated. "
William James
Today is Ash Wednesday in Church Calendar. The season of Lent begins today. It is a season of soul-searching and repentance, a season for reflection and taking stock of our lives. Lent originated in the very earliest days of the Church as a preparatory time for Easter, when the faithful rededicated themselves and when converts were instructed in the faith and prepared for baptism. By observing the forty days of Lent, the individual Christian imitates Jesus’ withdrawal into the wilderness for forty days. It is a season of self denial, sacrifice, obedience and dedicated discipleship. We will look today at one of the Seven deadly sins, the sin of gluttony.
Gluttony is defined as “the habit or act of eating too much, an inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires.” The second part of this definition includes things other than food. The opposite of gluttony of temperance. Temperance accepts the natural limits of pleasures and preserves this natural balance. The chief error about gluttony is to think it only pertains to food. Some people cannot have enough toys, television, or entertainment. We tend to call over-consumption of these things an “addiction” rather than gluttony. You may not have an issue with gluttony pertaining to food, but may have an issue with one of the other forms of glutton.
Solomon said in Proverbs 23:2, “Put a knife to your throat if you are a man of great appetite.” The advice that Solomon gives is very clear - do not overeat. Use wisdom, restraint, and discipline in eating and practice temperance – know when to stop. Again, this applies to every area of our lives.
Do you remember the situation with the Israelites concerning the manna that God provided them as recorded in Exodus 16:16-20? Do you recall when they were in the wilderness and God fed them with the bread from heaven (manna) and gave them explicit directions as to how much to gather? Exodus 16:16-20, “This is what the Lord has commanded, ‘Gather of it every man as much as he should eat; you shall take an omer a piece according to the number of persons each of you has in his tent…..'(vs. 20), but they did not listen to Moses and some left part of it until the morning and it bred worms and became foul and Moses was angry with them.”
They had been give very detailed instructions as to how much they should gather of the manna for each individual of their household. They were only supposed to gather enough for that day and no more. Obviously some of the people did not trust that they would have more manna for the next day so they kept some. That which they kept bred worms and stank up the camp, which made Moses very angry. Here the manna was provided as food for the entire day – but some gluttons (or a case could be made for greed or insecurity) kept some extra “just in case” to ensure they would have the benefit of enjoying it again. They enjoyed it so much that they defied the guidelines that God had given them.
In “The Screwtape Letters” C.S. Lewis describes “delicacy as a desire to have things exactly our way”. He gives the example of food having to be prepared just right, or in just the right amount. When the food was not just right, the “so called” Christian could easily be led into sin without even realizing it. But it isn’t limited to food. We might complain about unimportant defects in a product, the temperature in the room, or the color of a laundry basket. There is a certain amount of discomfort to be expected in life, but the Glutton will have none of it. Instead of becoming strong by suffering the minor inconveniences of life, the Glutton insists on being pampered. Gluttons will not be inconvenienced at any time in their lives. No one dares to point out how petty or foolish they are. In fact, some celebrities are praised for their excessive perfectionism, as though it were a virtue.
In the book of numbers we find another example of gluttony, but with a different twist. Turn to Numbers 11:18-24. Numbers 11:18-20, “So say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the ears of the Lord, saying, ‘Oh that someone would give us meat to eat! For we were well off in Egypt. Therefore the Lord will give you meat and you shall eat. You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days nor twenty days, but a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you; because you have rejected the lord who is among you and have wept before Him saying ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?”
This is a classic example of Gluttony. This is what the Children of Israel did to God. He had been giving them manna to eat – daily – and they grew tired of it. They wanted some meat. What they actually told God was that the food He provided from heaven (there was nothing like manna on the earth before this time or since) was not good enough – they wanted meat. God’s response was that He gave them meat, but with the meat would come the plague for their ungratefulness. When you read the rest of the chapter you see when He sent the meat, as they were still eating it, He sent a plague among them.
The cure for Gluttony lies in deliberately reducing our use of pleasurable things, not in eliminating them. May Christ have mercy on us.
St. Augustine who says it best, "You have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee." We are not alone. We are not alone in our greed, our gluttony, or our lust (or our pride, envy, anger, or sloth, for that matter). We need Christ, and to know that Christ is the one above all else who satisfies our deepest hungers and longings.
It should be our prayer that God would give to us a passion for Christ that is stronger than every other passion, a passion for Christ that puts all those misplaced, limitless, unfocused, chaotic passions for what is good, in order in our souls.
When Christ becomes for us "the bread of life," when we hunger and thirst for such righteousness, then God places us on a road and a path in life in which we will find more satisfaction and fulfillment and joy than on any other path we can find.
Deadly sins, that leave us empty –– but Jesus Christ came, and comes, to give us lives that are filled and fulfilled.
"Lord Most High, you know the depth of our hunger, our hunger for meaning and purpose and for value and for joy and happiness and pleasure. We pray that in seeking you we might find you and find more of these things than we ever dreamed possible. Where we are weak –– strengthen us; where we are strong –– humble us before your mighty throne, through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen "
In Jesus,
Brown
"Our lusts are cords that bind us. Fiery trials are sent to burn and consume them. Who fears the flame which will bring him liberty from intolerable bonds? "
Charles Spurgeon "
"Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God." William Carey
"It is vanity to mind only this present life, and not to make provision for those things which are to come." Thomas a Kempis
" Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement. " C.S. Lewis
"I believe in getting into hot water; it keeps you clean. " G. K. Chesterton
"The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated. "
William James
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Brown's Daily Word 2-5-08
Good morning,
I have been looking at the theme of the Seven Deadly Sins as part of my Lenten Devotions. I had a privilege of being in conference with Dr. Haddon W. Robinson in Birmingham Al a few years ago. In a poll taken by Baylor University in 1996 he was named one of twelve most effective preachers in the English-speaking world. Writing in the periodical Leadership, vol. 9, no. 3, Dr. Robinson defines covetousness, “Covetousness is simply craving more of what you have enough already.” In contemporary translations of the Scriptures, particularly so in the New Testament, many times the term often rendered as covet or covetousness in the King James Bible is transliterated by the term greed. Covetousness is often defined as being “greed for riches.”
The last of the Ten Commandments as recorded in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 is clear, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to you neighbor.” Its root meaning is a “strong desire for wealth,” or again in one word “greed.”
Covetousness is basically the sin of materialism. Paul often refers to covetousness, or greed, as being idolatry as in Colossians 3:5, where he gives us the commandment, “Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed—or covetousness—(which is idolatry).”
Idolatry is letting someone or something else become your God instead of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we covet things and put them in the place of God, we are committing the sin of idolatry.
Covetousness is basically an inner motivation, an attitude of the heart. The tenth commandment warns us that we are not to desire any possession that belongs to our neighbor—not his wife, his servants, his livestock, or “anything else that belongs to our neighbor." When Scripture warns us not to covet “anything that belongs to our neighbor” that can encompass a lot of territory. We might covet their status, position, power, or prestige! That has been the besetting sin of many people throughout history both in the secular and the sacred realms.
Aaron and Miriam, Moses’ older brother and sister, one day decided not to submit to the leadership of little brother any longer. They wanted to be his equals. Numbers 12:1-2 tells us, “While they were at Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had indeed married a Cushite woman); and they said, 'Has the LORD spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?' And the LORD heard it.”
Aaron and Miriam were angry with Moses for marrying a Cushite woman and declared they were on equal footing with him as a prophet and prophetess of the Lord and leaders of Israel. They coveted his leadership position and wanted to share power equally with him. The Lord became angry with Aaron and Miriam and struck her with leprosy for seven days. We can be just as guilty of coveting the position, power, or prestige of a neighbor as we can of coveting his wife or their riches.
Soon after Israel entered the Promised Land and early in the history of the Church, God’s people witnessed the destructive nature of the sin of covetousness. When Israel defeated Jericho, the Lord told them to destroy everything in the city because he declared Jericho an “accursed thing.” If they hoarded any of the material wealth of Jericho for themselves, the curse of Jericho would fall on them.
A man name Achan of the tribe of Judah coveted a “Babylonian garment, 200 shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold” and hid them in his tent. His disobedience angered the Lord, and as a result when Israel first attacked the city of Ai, Israel was soundly defeated. The Lord showed Joshua that Achan was the guilty villain. Achan confessed: “It is true; I am the one who sinned against the LORD God of Israel. This is what I did: when I saw among the spoil a beautiful Babylonia mantel, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, then I coveted them and took them. They now lie hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath” [Joshua 7:20-21]. Coveting led Achan to steal material things God had commanded be destroyed. As a result, he suffered the death penalty, for “all Israel stoned him to death.”
In the early days of the Jerusalem Church everything was held in common by the believers. Acts 4:34-35 tells us, “There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.” An unscrupulous husband and wife by the names of Ananias and Sapphira sold some of their property, but because they coveted wealth, they “kept back some of the proceeds, and brought only a part and laid it at the apostles’ feet.” Coveting led them to lie to the Apostles and in reality to God Himself. As a result, God struck them dead.
Because Achan coveted wealth, he stole; because Ananias and Sapphira coveted material gain, they lied to God’s servants and to the Lord Himself.
Covetousness is a deadly sin because it so often gives birth to other sins. Another prime example in Scripture is King David, “the man after God’s own heart.” Because David coveted his neighbor Uriah the Hittite’s wife Bathsheba, he committed adultery with her and had Uriah, one of his bravest soldiers killed in battle. He then stole his widow Bathsheba by taking her to be his own wife.
Covetousness is subtle and deceptive by nature. We might not actually desire to take our neighbor’s possessions, only to have similar or ever greater ones ourselves. Covetousness, or greed, becomes idolatry whenever it leads us to make anyone or anything other than Jesus the lord and god of our lives. Paul furthermore warns us in Ephesians 5:5, “No covetous person, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God.” If we let covetousness go unchecked without repentance and seeking divine forgiveness, it will destroy us spiritually, for anyone who worships material things has “no place in the Kingdom of Christ and God.” Without repentance and faith in Jesus, covetousness is indeed a deadly sin.
Jesus warns us in Luke 12:15, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” We must always be on spiritual guard duty when it comes to covetousness and all kinds of greed. Abundance of possessions does not bring true happiness and must not become our consuming priority in life.
To live life in true joy we must live daily by the admonition of Jesus in 6:19-21, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Let us store up treasurers in heaven and keep our hearts focused on eternal values. Let us be able to say with Paul, as he testifies in Philippians 4:11, “I have learned to be content with whatever I have.”
In Christ,
Brown
There's nothing more contradictory than an unenthusiastic Christian. The Bible tells us that God loves us so much, in fact, that God gave his only son so that all who believe in him will have everlasting life. Nothing not even death can separate us from God's love! If we really believe that, we can't help but overflow with joy!
Ronald Newhouse
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One of the great blessings of church, for all of its imperfections, is the gift of a genuine laughter - a laughter shared and bequeathed to us by our perfect Father. This is a laughter that we will share in even greater measure when all the sorrow is gone and every tear is wiped from our eyes. One day, like the captives many years ago said, we too will sing:
We are like those who dream. Our mouths are filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. It is said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them." Yes, the LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. Psalm 126:2-3
Phillip Ware
I have been looking at the theme of the Seven Deadly Sins as part of my Lenten Devotions. I had a privilege of being in conference with Dr. Haddon W. Robinson in Birmingham Al a few years ago. In a poll taken by Baylor University in 1996 he was named one of twelve most effective preachers in the English-speaking world. Writing in the periodical Leadership, vol. 9, no. 3, Dr. Robinson defines covetousness, “Covetousness is simply craving more of what you have enough already.” In contemporary translations of the Scriptures, particularly so in the New Testament, many times the term often rendered as covet or covetousness in the King James Bible is transliterated by the term greed. Covetousness is often defined as being “greed for riches.”
The last of the Ten Commandments as recorded in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 is clear, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to you neighbor.” Its root meaning is a “strong desire for wealth,” or again in one word “greed.”
Covetousness is basically the sin of materialism. Paul often refers to covetousness, or greed, as being idolatry as in Colossians 3:5, where he gives us the commandment, “Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed—or covetousness—(which is idolatry).”
Idolatry is letting someone or something else become your God instead of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we covet things and put them in the place of God, we are committing the sin of idolatry.
Covetousness is basically an inner motivation, an attitude of the heart. The tenth commandment warns us that we are not to desire any possession that belongs to our neighbor—not his wife, his servants, his livestock, or “anything else that belongs to our neighbor." When Scripture warns us not to covet “anything that belongs to our neighbor” that can encompass a lot of territory. We might covet their status, position, power, or prestige! That has been the besetting sin of many people throughout history both in the secular and the sacred realms.
Aaron and Miriam, Moses’ older brother and sister, one day decided not to submit to the leadership of little brother any longer. They wanted to be his equals. Numbers 12:1-2 tells us, “While they were at Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had indeed married a Cushite woman); and they said, 'Has the LORD spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?' And the LORD heard it.”
Aaron and Miriam were angry with Moses for marrying a Cushite woman and declared they were on equal footing with him as a prophet and prophetess of the Lord and leaders of Israel. They coveted his leadership position and wanted to share power equally with him. The Lord became angry with Aaron and Miriam and struck her with leprosy for seven days. We can be just as guilty of coveting the position, power, or prestige of a neighbor as we can of coveting his wife or their riches.
Soon after Israel entered the Promised Land and early in the history of the Church, God’s people witnessed the destructive nature of the sin of covetousness. When Israel defeated Jericho, the Lord told them to destroy everything in the city because he declared Jericho an “accursed thing.” If they hoarded any of the material wealth of Jericho for themselves, the curse of Jericho would fall on them.
A man name Achan of the tribe of Judah coveted a “Babylonian garment, 200 shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold” and hid them in his tent. His disobedience angered the Lord, and as a result when Israel first attacked the city of Ai, Israel was soundly defeated. The Lord showed Joshua that Achan was the guilty villain. Achan confessed: “It is true; I am the one who sinned against the LORD God of Israel. This is what I did: when I saw among the spoil a beautiful Babylonia mantel, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, then I coveted them and took them. They now lie hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath” [Joshua 7:20-21]. Coveting led Achan to steal material things God had commanded be destroyed. As a result, he suffered the death penalty, for “all Israel stoned him to death.”
In the early days of the Jerusalem Church everything was held in common by the believers. Acts 4:34-35 tells us, “There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.” An unscrupulous husband and wife by the names of Ananias and Sapphira sold some of their property, but because they coveted wealth, they “kept back some of the proceeds, and brought only a part and laid it at the apostles’ feet.” Coveting led them to lie to the Apostles and in reality to God Himself. As a result, God struck them dead.
Because Achan coveted wealth, he stole; because Ananias and Sapphira coveted material gain, they lied to God’s servants and to the Lord Himself.
Covetousness is a deadly sin because it so often gives birth to other sins. Another prime example in Scripture is King David, “the man after God’s own heart.” Because David coveted his neighbor Uriah the Hittite’s wife Bathsheba, he committed adultery with her and had Uriah, one of his bravest soldiers killed in battle. He then stole his widow Bathsheba by taking her to be his own wife.
Covetousness is subtle and deceptive by nature. We might not actually desire to take our neighbor’s possessions, only to have similar or ever greater ones ourselves. Covetousness, or greed, becomes idolatry whenever it leads us to make anyone or anything other than Jesus the lord and god of our lives. Paul furthermore warns us in Ephesians 5:5, “No covetous person, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God.” If we let covetousness go unchecked without repentance and seeking divine forgiveness, it will destroy us spiritually, for anyone who worships material things has “no place in the Kingdom of Christ and God.” Without repentance and faith in Jesus, covetousness is indeed a deadly sin.
Jesus warns us in Luke 12:15, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” We must always be on spiritual guard duty when it comes to covetousness and all kinds of greed. Abundance of possessions does not bring true happiness and must not become our consuming priority in life.
To live life in true joy we must live daily by the admonition of Jesus in 6:19-21, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Let us store up treasurers in heaven and keep our hearts focused on eternal values. Let us be able to say with Paul, as he testifies in Philippians 4:11, “I have learned to be content with whatever I have.”
In Christ,
Brown
There's nothing more contradictory than an unenthusiastic Christian. The Bible tells us that God loves us so much, in fact, that God gave his only son so that all who believe in him will have everlasting life. Nothing not even death can separate us from God's love! If we really believe that, we can't help but overflow with joy!
Ronald Newhouse
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One of the great blessings of church, for all of its imperfections, is the gift of a genuine laughter - a laughter shared and bequeathed to us by our perfect Father. This is a laughter that we will share in even greater measure when all the sorrow is gone and every tear is wiped from our eyes. One day, like the captives many years ago said, we too will sing:
We are like those who dream. Our mouths are filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. It is said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them." Yes, the LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. Psalm 126:2-3
Phillip Ware
Monday, February 4, 2008
Brown's Daily Word 2-4-08
Good Morning,
Praise the Lord for the Church of Jesus Christ our Lord. Praise the Lord for the seasons in the life of the church. The season of Lent begins this Wednesday, the Ash Wednesday. The reason Jesus came was to redeem us from sin. In John 1, we read" Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world". In our Judeo- Christian tradition we talk about thee Seven Deadly Sins.
The Ancient Greek philosophers did not view sin as a really serious problem. They basically interpreted sin as a fundamental and unavoidable imperfection in human character, a weak point in our personalities. As the Holy Spirit multiplied the growth in the Early Church around the Mediterranean Sea, it became evident that the Church must stress the seriousness of the problem of sin in their teaching. The result was the concept of “The Seven Deadly Sins.” While part of Protestant preaching, this teaching has held a paramount place in the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church since around the fourth or fifth centuries. What exactly is meant by the terminology “deadly sins?” They are not deadly in the sense that they are beyond God’s grace, love, and forgiveness. They are serious because they are harmful to our Christian character and salvation if we let them go without repentance and confession. We might look at them in terms of our math teaching in elementary school where we were taught to reduce all our fractions to their “lowest, common denominator.” In other words, these seven sins are those we might come to view as primary or basic. They in turn give birth to other sins or form the core of other vices in human nature. They are basic roots of all sin.
The root, primary, or basic sins have always included: pride, covetousness, lust, envy, gluttony, anger, and sloth. We are going to look in turn at each one of these. The sin of pride always heads the list and for very valid reasons. Just what is the “Deadly Sin” of Pride? Pride conveys a positive as well as a negative imagine and connotation. In a good sense pride refers to a proper and justified self-respect. Pride becomes sin when I exhibit too high an opinion of myself, my own importance, my own talents, my own abilities. Pride is sinful when I believe and behave as if I am superior to other people and that I can live and manage my own life by my own strength and through my own abilities totally independent of God and with no regard for Him to guide and direct my life. Like William Earnest Henley in his poem “Invictus,” my attitude in life is “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” Sinful pride is an “unreasonable self-esteem and personal attitude that treats God and others with rudeness and disrespect.” Sinful pride seeks personal glory, praise, and applause from others and becomes distressed and angry when the praise is lacking or withheld. Sinful pride refuses to submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ over one’s life. II Timothy 3 affirms: “But mark this; there will be terrible times in the Last Days. People will be “boastful, proud, abusive.” James 4:6 furthermore declares: “But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’” Paul too asserts in Romans 1:30, “They are . . . insolent, arrogant, and boastful. Scripture often links arrogance, boastfulness, and insolence with sinful pride. In reality boastfulness and arrogance are different expressions of pride. An arrogant person is full of pride and self-importance. One who is arrogant oftentimes shows no respect for other people. It has been well said, “Don’t brag—it isn’t the whistle that pulls the train.” [SOURCE: Croft M. Pentz, The Complete Book of Zingers (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1990).]. We all would do well to follow the example of the Apostle Paul who reminds us in Galatians 6:14, “May I never boast except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” Again it has been well said, “You can’t glorify self and Christ at the same time.” [SOURCE: Croft M. Pentz, The Complete Book of Zingers (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1990).]. Pride boasts in one’s own accomplishments or abilities. The Christian boasts of the grace, forgiveness, and love that are found in a personal, daily relationship with Jesus Christ. James. S. Hewett, former pastor of the Saratoga, California, Presbyterian Church, tells the story of “once hearing a missionary tell how he was trying to do translation work in a particular tribe and found it hard to translate the word PRIDE or at least the concept. He finally came to the idea to use their word or words for the ears being too far apart. In other words, he conveyed the idea of an INFLATED, OR “BIG” HEAD which is probably hard to improve on when we talk of the problem of pride.” [SOURCE: James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1988), p. 439.]. It was pride that led to both the Fall of Satan and the Fall of the human race when tempted by him. We remember the account of humanity’s fall in Genesis 3:4-6, “You will not surely die, the serpent said to the woman. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” It was the temptation of pride that led Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. She “saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eye, and desirable for gaining wisdom.” She was motivated as well by the serpent’s words, “you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” As someone again has well said, “The greatest barrier between some Christians and God’s omnipotent power is their own supposed strength.” [SOURCE: Croft M. Pentz, The Complete Book of Zingers (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1990).].
If we let it go unconfessed and without sincere repentance, it will continue to impair our Christian character and witness and harm our salvation and relationship with Jesus Christ. Pride heads the list of the “Seven Deadly Sins.” Solomon knew what he was talking about when he warned us in Proverbs 16:18: Pride goes before destruction, A haughty spirit before a fall. Yielding to the temptation of pride led to the Fall of Satan and the entire human race. It has led many others throughout the centuries to fall as well. Indeed, to me at least, “Pride” is the basic root of all sin. That is why it heads our list of the “Seven Deadly Sins.”
As we live in these “Last Days,” may we humble ourselves continually in the presence of the Holy Spirit, and He will continually renew us in grace. When tempted to be arrogant or boastful, may we so yield ourselves to His control that we show love, grace, and mercy towards others and think more of them than we do ourselves, and may our boasting be in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Through His Cross, may the world be crucified to us, and may we be crucified to the world. Then the Holy Spirit will enable us to overcome the deadly sin of pride.
Happy 43rd Anniversary to Dave and Barbara Ring, faithful servants of Jesus.
Happy 90th Birthday to Howard Woodward in Lancaster, PA.
Pray for Mahlon Tewksbury who is going for surgery this Thursday.
Pray for continued healing for Lauren Halverston in Georgia.
Pray for Larry and Jane in Georgia, Larry is waiting to hear about a new job.
Pray for our Couple's banquet on February 16. Our speaker is Dr. George Miller of the Davis College.
Pray for the short term Mission team who is going to Orissa, India in April. This team is led by Dr. Timothy Devine, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Endicott, and Dr. Todd Mansfield from Southern Tier Physical Therapy.
Praise the Lord for the Church of Jesus Christ our Lord. Praise the Lord for the seasons in the life of the church. The season of Lent begins this Wednesday, the Ash Wednesday. The reason Jesus came was to redeem us from sin. In John 1, we read" Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world". In our Judeo- Christian tradition we talk about thee Seven Deadly Sins.
The Ancient Greek philosophers did not view sin as a really serious problem. They basically interpreted sin as a fundamental and unavoidable imperfection in human character, a weak point in our personalities. As the Holy Spirit multiplied the growth in the Early Church around the Mediterranean Sea, it became evident that the Church must stress the seriousness of the problem of sin in their teaching. The result was the concept of “The Seven Deadly Sins.” While part of Protestant preaching, this teaching has held a paramount place in the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church since around the fourth or fifth centuries. What exactly is meant by the terminology “deadly sins?” They are not deadly in the sense that they are beyond God’s grace, love, and forgiveness. They are serious because they are harmful to our Christian character and salvation if we let them go without repentance and confession. We might look at them in terms of our math teaching in elementary school where we were taught to reduce all our fractions to their “lowest, common denominator.” In other words, these seven sins are those we might come to view as primary or basic. They in turn give birth to other sins or form the core of other vices in human nature. They are basic roots of all sin.
The root, primary, or basic sins have always included: pride, covetousness, lust, envy, gluttony, anger, and sloth. We are going to look in turn at each one of these. The sin of pride always heads the list and for very valid reasons. Just what is the “Deadly Sin” of Pride? Pride conveys a positive as well as a negative imagine and connotation. In a good sense pride refers to a proper and justified self-respect. Pride becomes sin when I exhibit too high an opinion of myself, my own importance, my own talents, my own abilities. Pride is sinful when I believe and behave as if I am superior to other people and that I can live and manage my own life by my own strength and through my own abilities totally independent of God and with no regard for Him to guide and direct my life. Like William Earnest Henley in his poem “Invictus,” my attitude in life is “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” Sinful pride is an “unreasonable self-esteem and personal attitude that treats God and others with rudeness and disrespect.” Sinful pride seeks personal glory, praise, and applause from others and becomes distressed and angry when the praise is lacking or withheld. Sinful pride refuses to submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ over one’s life. II Timothy 3 affirms: “But mark this; there will be terrible times in the Last Days. People will be “boastful, proud, abusive.” James 4:6 furthermore declares: “But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’” Paul too asserts in Romans 1:30, “They are . . . insolent, arrogant, and boastful. Scripture often links arrogance, boastfulness, and insolence with sinful pride. In reality boastfulness and arrogance are different expressions of pride. An arrogant person is full of pride and self-importance. One who is arrogant oftentimes shows no respect for other people. It has been well said, “Don’t brag—it isn’t the whistle that pulls the train.” [SOURCE: Croft M. Pentz, The Complete Book of Zingers (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1990).]. We all would do well to follow the example of the Apostle Paul who reminds us in Galatians 6:14, “May I never boast except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” Again it has been well said, “You can’t glorify self and Christ at the same time.” [SOURCE: Croft M. Pentz, The Complete Book of Zingers (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1990).]. Pride boasts in one’s own accomplishments or abilities. The Christian boasts of the grace, forgiveness, and love that are found in a personal, daily relationship with Jesus Christ. James. S. Hewett, former pastor of the Saratoga, California, Presbyterian Church, tells the story of “once hearing a missionary tell how he was trying to do translation work in a particular tribe and found it hard to translate the word PRIDE or at least the concept. He finally came to the idea to use their word or words for the ears being too far apart. In other words, he conveyed the idea of an INFLATED, OR “BIG” HEAD which is probably hard to improve on when we talk of the problem of pride.” [SOURCE: James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1988), p. 439.]. It was pride that led to both the Fall of Satan and the Fall of the human race when tempted by him. We remember the account of humanity’s fall in Genesis 3:4-6, “You will not surely die, the serpent said to the woman. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” It was the temptation of pride that led Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. She “saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eye, and desirable for gaining wisdom.” She was motivated as well by the serpent’s words, “you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” As someone again has well said, “The greatest barrier between some Christians and God’s omnipotent power is their own supposed strength.” [SOURCE: Croft M. Pentz, The Complete Book of Zingers (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1990).].
If we let it go unconfessed and without sincere repentance, it will continue to impair our Christian character and witness and harm our salvation and relationship with Jesus Christ. Pride heads the list of the “Seven Deadly Sins.” Solomon knew what he was talking about when he warned us in Proverbs 16:18: Pride goes before destruction, A haughty spirit before a fall. Yielding to the temptation of pride led to the Fall of Satan and the entire human race. It has led many others throughout the centuries to fall as well. Indeed, to me at least, “Pride” is the basic root of all sin. That is why it heads our list of the “Seven Deadly Sins.”
As we live in these “Last Days,” may we humble ourselves continually in the presence of the Holy Spirit, and He will continually renew us in grace. When tempted to be arrogant or boastful, may we so yield ourselves to His control that we show love, grace, and mercy towards others and think more of them than we do ourselves, and may our boasting be in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Through His Cross, may the world be crucified to us, and may we be crucified to the world. Then the Holy Spirit will enable us to overcome the deadly sin of pride.
Happy 43rd Anniversary to Dave and Barbara Ring, faithful servants of Jesus.
Happy 90th Birthday to Howard Woodward in Lancaster, PA.
Pray for Mahlon Tewksbury who is going for surgery this Thursday.
Pray for continued healing for Lauren Halverston in Georgia.
Pray for Larry and Jane in Georgia, Larry is waiting to hear about a new job.
Pray for our Couple's banquet on February 16. Our speaker is Dr. George Miller of the Davis College.
Pray for the short term Mission team who is going to Orissa, India in April. This team is led by Dr. Timothy Devine, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Endicott, and Dr. Todd Mansfield from Southern Tier Physical Therapy.
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