Brown's Daily Word 3-10-08

Good Morning.
Thank you, Jesus; it is Monday. I trust you had a restful and worshipful weekend including worshipping the Lord on His day. The Lord blessed us with a bountiful and beautiful weekend, though it was rainy part of the time. We see the signs and hear the signs of spring.
As many of you know my wife is a High School Math teacher. Her students describe her as very good teacher though some think she is very tough. She expects the very best from them. She is a woman of integrity and high moral principle. She is presently teaching the High School Sunday School students of our church. She is enjoying teaching the High School Students the Good News of Jesus. She tells me that in general the teenagers have a very limited vocabulary. One of their very famous and very inclusive word is " Whatever". In my personal study and observation I have discovered that we are living in a "whatever" world -- a culture in which truth has been stripped of its meaning and replaced with personal preference.
What does a whatever world look like? It’s an age, a culture in which all ideas, all lifestyles, all behaviors are considered of equal value. You cheat, I don't. Whatever! What’s valid for me isn’t necessarily valid for you. Frank worships Jesus, Terry worships Buddha, Sheila worships the goddess Sophia, and Bud worships the tree in his backyard. Whatever! Many think that all religions are the same. What’s true for you may not be true for me. It doesn’t really matter what you believe so long as you’re sincere.
Some call this postmodernism, but the relativism that seems so characteristic of our age isn’t all that new. It is as old as Pilate, playing politics on Good Friday. It is as old as the Romans, who didn’t care if those early Christians worshiped Jesus, as long as they also worshiped Caesar. It’s as old as Eden, where a smooth-talking serpent convinced the residents that one tree is pretty much the same as another, no matter what God may have said.
Yet, never before has the spirit of whatever been so pervasive and destructive of an age and a culture. The Barna Research Group, through its surveys, show us the result of such a worldview:
~ Three-fourths of all adults believe “there is no such thing as absolute truth; two people could define truth in totally conflicting ways, but both could still be correct.”
~ Less than half of all born-again adults (44%) and less than 10 percent of born-again teenagers (9%) believe in the existence of absolute moral truth.
~ Nearly half of adult Americans (47%) believe that “to get by in life these days, sometimes you have to bend the rules for your benefit.” If that’s the attitude of their parents, is it any wonder, then, that some 70 percent of American teenagers today admit to cheating on exams and don’t see anything wrong with it?
Because our culture has rejected the concept of absolute truth, all moral claims have been reduced to the level of personal opinion. No one’s views are right or wrong – they are only subjective expressions of personal preferences. As a result, we have entered a period of moral anarchy, and the price is being paid by our children and our families:
~ A million children a year see their parents divorce.
~ In the last four decades, pregnancies out of wedlock have increased by 600 percent.
~ In less than 40 years, cohabitation by unmarried couples has increased almost 1,000 percent.
A New York woman disappeared without warning, leaving behind her husband and children. Some time later she was discovered in Hawaii, where she worked at a store selling hand-dipped chocolates. Asked why she left, she explained that she had finally realized she had to “find herself.” And in a whatever world, where the individual’s desires trump all other values, who has the authority to say she was wrong? Your truth is your truth, and my truth is dipping chocolates in Hawaii.
A whatever world is more concerned about personal therapy than personal morality. When I was in the Graduate School in the late sixties, the best-selling book was "I’m OK, You’re OK" by Eric Bern.. Today, the sequel would be entitled, "I’m OK -- and That’s All That Matters". In spite of our culture of individual pursuit of personal happiness, the Bible tells us that he or she who goes off to find himself is a fool.
A whatever world is one in which teenagers can walk into a school and murder their peers and teachers without any sense of moral compunction. After all, if there’s no authority to provide a framework of values and beliefs, who’s to say they are wrong? In a whatever world, every man is a god . . . and a devil.
That’s what it’s like living in a whatever world. It’s a world in which there is no authority higher than my own desires . . . a world in which life has no meaning beyond personal fulfillment because there are no values higher than my own choices.
But is that really the kind of world we live in? Despite the claims of sociologists, new age theologians and the media, there is another word which stands in contrast to the spirit of this age. In the 14th chapter of John’s Gospel, Jesus made a most astonishing statement when he said: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” It is one of the most audacious statements ever made -- unless it is true. And, if it is true, then it makes all the difference in the kind of world in which you and I live. If Jesus is Himself truth, then it changes everything.
The way we think determines the way we live. If we think of ourselves as the ultimate authority in determining right and wrong, then it’s easy to reach the stage where there is no wrong -- at least not for me. But if we recognize there is a God who stands over and above us, and that through Christ He wants to enter into relationship with us, then it changes the way we think: it changes the way we determine our values, our priorities, our commitments.
That’s why Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matt. 22:37). The Old Testament passage (Deut. 6:5) behind Jesus’ statement is a little different; it says to love God with heart, soul, and strength. Why did Jesus instead use the word mind? Perhaps it was to remind us that it is essential to bring our minds under the authority and lordship of God; otherwise our faith will make little impact on us or anyone else. The way we think determines the way we live. When we accept Christ as Lord and Savior, he wants to be Lord not only of our behavior but of our minds. A Christian world-view helps us see that God’s revelation of His truth through Scripture is the foundation of every part of our lives. As we submit our minds, our thought processes, to the Lordship of Christ, the way we think determines the way we live.
Suppose, after working hours, you find yourself on an elevator in a large but fairly deserted office building. You are on the elevator all alone, but just before the doors close three tough-looking young men jump on the elevator with you. You are now alone with these guys for the next minute or two. Now be honest, would you rather know that they were on their way to a burglary or a Bible study? Why does it make a difference? it is because the way we think determines the way we live. We feel safer around people who have a Christian world-view than those for whom the only authority is their own ego or desires.
Through God’s Word, we have the opportunity to better understand the mind of God, and thus the purpose and meaning of the world in which we live. Jesus Christ is Lord of all, and that includes our minds. He is truth for your mind. Further, not only does Christ provide the truth that helps us understand reality, but He also provides the truth that allows us to live lives of meaning and purpose and fulfillment.
In our whatever culture, where each person is an authority unto himself, God’s Word is overlooked or ignored by untold millions. As Christians, committing our lives to Christ as Lord and Savior involves submitting ourselves to obey His truth. Suppose I ignore the manufacturer’s guidelines for my car, by never changing the oil or ignoring the air pressure in the tires? It’s only a matter of time before I find myself sitting at the side of the road, going nowhere and wondering what went wrong. If you are going to drive a car, you ignore the maintenance guidelines at your own peril. When we understand Jesus is the only authentic truth for our lives, it will change everything about the way we live. It will impact how we do our jobs, how we treat our families, how we spend our money, how we allocate our time, and on and on. It will mean being different in some significant ways from the paths taken by many of those around us. It will sometimes lead to criticism by those who don’t understand why we don’t demonstrate "tolerance", why we don’t just go along. We will be subject to attack by those for whom truth is less important than acceptance. Yet, as we surrender our lives to His direction and as we allow God to shape our lives into the image of Christ through the truth of His Word we will find our lives taking on a new and greater sense of purpose and fulfillment.
Jesus Christ is truth for our mind, and He is truth for our life. He is Truth for Your Future. As Christians, there are some truths we can know, some things that are absolutely, ultimately true. We know that everything starts with God. (Gen. 1:1 – “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”) All that exists is here because God has created it. The entire created order is here because God sustains it. Our lives are gifts of an eternal God. God is the foundation of everything that exists. Unlike the secular people, we can know that our existence has a meaning and purpose because we know Who brought us into being.
But that’s not all we can know is sure and certain. We know that we all stand guilty before a holy God. Romans 3:23 tells us that “all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.” Though we live in an “I’m OK” kind of world, inside we know that everything’s not really OK. That’s because we were created to live in fellowship with a holy, loving God, but sin has broken that relationship, and we stand on the other side of an awesome gap that separates us from God.
Yet, the good news of the Gospel is that there is something else we can know for sure. We know that in Christ, God has bridged the chasm caused by sin. The most famous passage in all of scripture tells us, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Jesus Christ took upon Himself all the guilt that was rightfully ours, and on the cross paid the price that should have been on your head and mine. When, on the third day, Jesus burst forth from the tomb as the risen Lord, He brought each of us out with Him, victorious over death, and able to enjoy a living and dynamic relationship with God through Christ.
Finally, we know that in Christ we have hope for the future. Hope is one of the most powerful words in our language today, perhaps because so many people sense so little hope. But, if you have surrendered your life to Christ, He has promised you a blessed hope, and a future with Him. As the Bill Gaither wrote, “Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone.” We can know new life, new power, new purpose because we know Christ and the power of His resurrection. He is our future, because He is truth.
In Christ ,
Brown

O Christ, in Thee my soul hath found,
And found in Thee alone,
The peace, the joy I sought so long,
The bliss till now unknown.

I sighed for rest and happiness,
I yearned for them, not Thee;
But while I passed my Saviour by,
His love laid hold on me.

Now none but Christ can satisfy,
None other name for me;
There's love, and life, and lasting joy,
Lord Jesus, found in Thee.
--Author unknown.

Copied from the back of the title page
of the 1893 ed. of James Gilmour of Mongolia,
edited by Richard Lovett.

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All About Investments
STOCK: A magical piece of paper that is worth $33.75 until the moment you buy it. It will then be worth $8.50.

BOND: What you had with your spouse until you pawned his/her golf clubs to invest in Amazon.com.

BROKER: The person you trust to help you make major financial decisions.
Please note the first five letters of this word spell "Broke".

BEAR: What your trade account and wallet will be when you take a flyer on that hot stock tip your secretary gave you.

BULL: What your broker uses to explain why your mutual funds tanked during the last quarter.

MARGIN: Where you scribble the latest quotes when you're supposed to be listening to your manager's presentation.

SHORT POSITION: A type of trade where, in theory, a person sells stocks he doesn't actually own. Since this also only ever works in theory, a short position is what a person usually ends up being in (i.e. "The rent, sir?" "Hahaha, well, I'm a little short this month.").

COMMISSION: The only reliable way to make money on the stock market, which is why your broker charges you one.

YAK: What you do into a pail when you discover your stocks have plunged and your broker is making a margin call.