Under the Influence

Normally it is after 9:00pm when their deadly behavior becomes most apparent. Most of us have observed the reckless driving, as their cars veer from the shoulder of the road to the centerline. Overlooking traffic signs and swerving across multiple lanes, drunk drivers routinely display behaviors that are easily recognized. These individuals are “under the influence” of too much alcohol, and they are violating the law. They have ingested so much alcohol that it has begun negatively influencing normal bodily processes  such as memory, perception, and coordination. Every state has legislated a legal blood-alcohol concentration limit—that is, a safe amount of alcohol that can be detected in the blood system of an individual (i.e., 0.08%). Any driver whose blood-alcohol level exceeds that limit is considered “under the influence” and is unable to safely drive an automobile. They are driving while their body is being influenced by too much alcohol.

I recognize that drunk driving is not a sin for the majority of Christians (although I strongly urge those who struggle with this to get help!). However, many Christians live their daily lives “under the influence”—the Hollywood and media influence. They have ingested so much “Hollywood” entertainment and media propaganda that their behavior and speech has been altered. Day after day televisions are tuned into shows like Desperate Housewives, Sex in the City, The L Word, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, or soap operas. These vile shows encourage immoral behavior, and are filled with foul language and immodest dress. Oftentimes they watch so much that they become desensitized—similar to the alcoholic that feels nothing after just a few drinks. In addition, many Christians never think twice about viewing sexually graphic R-rated movies, and listen to music with corrupt lyrics. These individuals receive a steady diet of humanism, atheism, and immorality as they constantly feed on the latest that Hollywood has to offer. They are indeed, Christians under the influence.

All of this Hollywood influence does not come without a price—just like drunk drivers, their behavior is altered. Language becomes laced with obscenities—mimicking the language they constantly hear from Hollywood. Marriages dissolve as individuals follow after fleshly passions—passions that have been kindled and fed from weekly television dramas. Honesty and integrity are abandoned as individuals seek to fulfill their own desires. Moral behavior is jettisoned as fun-seekers imitate activities glamorized on the silver screen. Even human life becomes devalued as people become desensitized to things like abortion, euthanasia, human cloning, embryonic stem cell research and organic evolution. These Christians have become common members of a society that is practicing the mantra: Eat, Drink, and Be Merry! They are in the world, and now, of the world. What was once an influence for good has been overshadowed by a steady stream of negative stimuli.

These Christians have been so influenced by the world that they can scarcely be recognized from the world. Their desire to emulate some Hollywood lifestyle is not only negatively affecting their own lives, but also the lives of individuals with whom they come into contact everyday. Their own influence has now become hazardous—as they teach non-Christians that a life of fun and pleasure from sinful practices is perfectly acceptable. Sadly, this negative influence also impacts other Christians, causing some to believe that worldly ideals and pursuits are in accordance with God’s Will. Through their actions they propagate an attitude that religious tenets are not really important and that the church is more of a social club—all the while wearing the name “Christian.” What could have been a positive influence—an influence for good—is often the exact opposite.

What can we do to ensure that: (1) we are not allowing the world to influence us in the wrong way; and (2) that our own influence is for good? First and foremost we, like those drunk drivers, must admit there is a problem. If we refuse to acknowledge the negative influences of Hollywood and the media, then we can never cure the problem. Accepting and buying into the world’s “standards” is not a part of the Christian life. After we recognize the problem we must then take proactive steps to cure it—we should try to rid our lives of as much “Hollywood” influence as possible. Stop tuning into deplorable shows, stop supporting movies that contain filth, stop listening to demoralizing jokes. As we begin to reduce the amount of negative influence we should seek to replace it with good. Paul, in writing to the Christians in Rome admonished them: “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).

God knew the danger of negative influences. Observe what He told the children of Israel when they were taking possession of the Promised Land. God said:

You shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly. But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire. For you are a holy people to the Lord (Deuteronomy 7:2-6, emp. added).

Moses went on to admonish: “When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations” (Deuteronomy 18:9). God did not want the negative influences of those inhabitants to distract the children of Israel. They were to be “in the world” but not of the world.

Tim La­Haye, in his book, The Battle for the Mind, suggested: “Our present society is in a state of moral decay, not because the majority of Americans love degeneracy, but because the influence of humanism has been greater on our culture than the influence of the church” (1980, p. 189, emp. added). The time has come to reverse that trend! We can once again turn this world upside down (Acts 17:6; 1 Peter 2:9). Christ said:

You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.(Matthew 5:13-16).

The only sermon that some individuals will ever “hear” is what they see you do day-after-day, week-after-week. Your Christian influence should demonstrate the proper attitude and the priorities set-forth from God’s Word. People should look at our lives and see something different—because, after all we are different. We understand that our sins have been washed away by the only spotless Lamb—Jesus Christ—and therefore, we desire to live a life devoted to Him. As such, our Christian lights should stand out as a beacon in a world of darkness. How many of us have not had the pleasant feeling of doing good and having a total stranger recognize that. Opening doors, lending a helping hand, caring for others, going the extra mile, helping a coworker with a project, or befriending someone at school all because we realize the potential of our Christian influence.

Allow me to usher forth a challenge. Take one week in the coming month and determine to drastically reduce the Hollywood influence on your life. Instead of sitting in front of a godless television show spend time playing with your children or grandchildren. Replace godless material with spiritual material. Exercise your body and your mind. Replace the negative influences with positive ones. At the end of that week you will be rewarded by knowing that for one solid week your influence for good has outweighed Hollywood’s negative influence on you. You can rest assured that during that time you have made a difference your Christian light having reflected the heavenly Father.

Are you up to the challenge?

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Edification

The subject, “EDIFICATION, EDIFY, BUILD UP” is a very important part of the work of each congregation of God’s people today.  The Greek word from which this  family of words has come lets us know that the subject is of great import to God so far as the progress of his church is concerned, please look at the meaning of the word:

EDIFICATION (Grk. oikodome, “building”); means building up. A building is therefore called an edifice. Accordingly, the work of confirming believers in the faith of the gospel and adding to their knowledge and grace is appropriately expressed by this term. Christians are said in the N.T. to be edified by understanding spiritual truth (1 Cor. 14:3-5), by the work of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers (Eph. 4:11-12, “building up”), and by good  speech (4:29). The means to be used for one’s up building are the study and hearing of God’s Word, prayer, meditation, self-examination, and Christian work of every kind. It is our duty to edify or “build up one another” (1 Thess. 5:11) by the exhibition of every grace of life and conversation. The term is also applied to believers as “living stones” builded up into a habitation for the Lord, constituting the great spiritual temple of God (Eph. 2:20-22; 1 Peter 2:5).(From The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary – Copyright (c) 1988.)

ONE OF THE PRIMARY FUNCTIONS OF THE CONGREGATION

It is the responsibility of each autonomous congregation to “build up it-self” or make it stronger in the qualities that God approves. The individual congregation functioning under its leadership is to work at strengthening each member in the faith — this process of strengthening each member will result in a strong, sound, congregation. The congregation that has a scriptural eldership will see to it that the program of edification is designed to strengthen the church in every way that is consistent with the Divine pattern. Whenever we examine the Scriptural references where the word is translated edify or edification we understand that the church is to put forth the effort to grow, such as Peter says in 2 Peter 3:18, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him (be) the glory both now and for ever. Amen.” {ASV}  Please note some of the passages: 1 Corinthians 14:3-5,3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men edification, and exhortation, and consolation. 4 He that speaketh in a tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church. 5 Now I would have you all speak with tongues, but rather that ye should prophesy: and greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying. (ASV)  You will notice that in this context the emphasis is placed by the writer on edification and the importance of it. Paul, even where miraculous spiritual gifts were being used encourages that edification of the congregation is of paramount importance. Ephesians 4:11-12,11 And he gave some (to be) apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ: This passage is an important one in understanding the very purpose of the church as Christ structured it; all things are to be done with the growth of the membership as goal. Ephesians 4:29,29 Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but such as is good for edifying as the need may be, that it may give grace to them that hear. ASVThe conversation of those that make up the congregation ought to be so structured that the church is built up by it. 1 Thessalonians 5:11, 11 Wherefore exhort one another, and build each other up, even as also ye do. The passage here is similar to the passage in Eph 4:29, in each case the writer encourages Christians to build up each other through the process of communicating with one another in a verbal way. PRACTICAL

APPLICATION OF THE CONCEPT OF EDIFICATION

In the assemblies the process of edification may be encouraged and demonstrated by:

The Bible Classes:It is always building-up {i.e., edifying} to each member and those that visit if the class is well taught by the teacher and there is ample conversation from the class about the lesson texts.

The preaching service:The preacher ought to prepare his sermon well and deliver it with honesty, humbleness, and adequate proof text of Scripture. The hearers ought to listen intently for information that will help them grow and become better Christians. The Lord’s Supper service:

The brother that leads the service ought to speak clearly and soundly about the purpose of the Lord’s Supper.The membership ought to remain in a worshipful state during this and each phase of the service.

The singing service:The song leader for each service ought to come prepared to do the leading with devotion and zeal. The congregation ought to follow the lead of the song leader, as each person is considerate of the words of each song sung.

The prayers service:Prayer is a very important part of the edification process because the man selected to lead the prayer is heard by everyone present — the prayer will therefore edify each person that hears it.

The statements before the contribution are taken up:

Statements or passages of Scripture that are read by the man leading the service will edify and inform the membership and visitors alike. The person communication to the assembly through the announcements:

The announcer will inform the congregation about a number of things that might be useful to them about the sick, the shut-in, the plans for building cleaning or construction projects, about classes and teachers, and other coming events that are interesting to the assembled. The discussion before the service begins:

As the membership and the visitors assemble at the building, the subject matter may cover a number of things, make sure that some of that conversation and greeting of one another is spiritual in nature.

The statements at the close of the service:When the service is dismissed remember the visitors, the preacher, the song leader, and others that have participated in the service if they have done a good job, give them a pat on the back. Always be encouraging to everyone that is at the assembly, try to greet everyone. The conversation after the congregation dismisses:As you drive home in your automobile, reflect on the good that has been accomplished today. Discuss the good qualities of the service with the family members; try to strengthen their faith. The conversation of those that assemble around their table at home — especially as the family discusses the quality of the service: Try to find some good thing to say about those that were involved as leaders in the worship.

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Does Jesus Care?

Does Jesus Care?

Frank Graeff wrote the words and J. Lincoln Hall  arranged the music for the following beautiful  hymn:

Does Jesus care when my heart is pained too deeply

for mirth and song,

As the burdens press, and the cares distress, and

the way grows weary and long?

Indeed, the apostle Peter affirms that our Lord cares for  us: “ Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand  of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all  your care upon him; for he careth for you ” (1 Pet. 5:6-7).  It is an incredible blessing to understand that Immanuel  (“ God with us ”) cares for us. The very fact that He left the  throne of heaven above to spend time among His creation  (cf. Col. 1:16) allowed Him to comprehend our cares  here on earth. Therefore, Jesus was able to encourage us:  “ Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life,  what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your  body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat,  and the body than raiment ?” (Matt. 6:25). The phrase  “ take no thought ” comes from the same Greek word as  the word “ care .” Therefore, notice three qualifications  in the book of Hebrews that show His ability to care for  us when we are in need.

Jesus cares when we are tempted. The Hebrew  writer declared,

“Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made  like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful  and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God,  to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.  For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted,  he is able to succour them that are tempted.” (Heb.  2:17-18)

In Matthew 4, we have one example recorded when the  great tempter tried his best to entice Jesus three times, but  Jesus withstood each time. Luke recorded in his account  after the third temptation, “ And when the devil had ended  all the temptation, he departed from him for a season ”  (Luke 4:13). Therefore, we know he continued his  attempts to lure Jesus away from His Father and towards  sin and the world until His death, using the scribes and  Pharisees on many occasions: “ Then one of them, which  was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him …”  (Matt. 22:35). The Hebrew writer makes clear that Jesus  “ hath suffered ” because of His temptations—a Greek  verb that many times denotes even pain (cf. Mark 5:26;  8:31). As a result, He is able to help and aid all who  suffer through temptation.

Jesus cares when we are in trouble. The Hebrew writer proclaimed,

“For we have not a high priest which cannot be  touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was  in all points tempted like as we are, yet without  sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne  of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace  to help in time of need .” (Heb. 4:15-16)

The phrase “ touched with the feeling of our infirmities ”  carries the multiple ideas of sympathy for that which  makes us feeble. We encounter troubles of mind and  Page 2 The Southwesterner  August 11, 2013 body daily, some more than others do. Again, inspired  revelation makes known of the High Priest for all  Christians who understands these troubles of life and  sympathizes with us.

Jesus cares when we transgress. His ultimate  purpose in coming to this world was to redeem humanity  through His death for their transgressions (cf. Isa. 53:1- 12). Thus, the Hebrew writer states, “ For Christ is not  entered into the holy places made with hands, which  are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now  to appear in the presence of God for us ” (Heb. 9:24).  Through His holy and pure sacrifice before the throne  of God, He was able to appease the wrath and justice  of God for our transgressions. His earthly mission and  death, burial and resurrection vividly show His care when  we transgress. “ For God so loved the world, that he gave  his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him  should not perish, but have everlasting life ” (John 3:16).

Does Jesus care?

O yes, he cares, I know he cares, his heart is touched

with my grief;

When the days are weary, the long nights dreary, I

know my Savior cares

.

 

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God Loved: Are You Like God?

Like happiness, love is best defined by telling what it does. But, the very best way to describe love is to show it. God did this. Since He knows everything and since He IS love (1 Jn. 4:8), we are not surprised to learn that He not only loved the world, but that He sent His Son to die for the sins of the world (Jn. 3:16).

Now, because He actively loved those who hated Him (1 Jn. 4:10) and those who did not deserve love (Rom. 5:8), He showed that Divine love does not have to have love in return, but can lead the way by loving the unlovable. This is beyond friendship, beyond sentiment and beyond worth, but solely on God’s nature, He loves.

Most of us can love that which is lovely or affectionately. “But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Therefore, since God loved the unworthy, Christians are to do the same. I mean, God shows his love by doing good to the just and the unjust and therefore, we are to do this as well (Matt. 5:43ff; Gal. 6:10). Yet, this is not man’s love. But it based on the fact that God loved us first. And, so, we love as God loves. Christians are rooted in love (Eph. 3:17). We are to continue to grow in love (Eph. 4:16). We are to love truth (2 Thess. 2:10) and speaks the truth in love (Eph. 4:15). Thus, when one is baptized and rises in a new life (Rom. 6:3-4), he puts on a new nature created in God’s likeness (Eph. 4:24). He can be tenderhearted, forgiving and kind (Eph. 4:32-5:2) and he is been taught by God to love (1 Thess. 4:9).

Now most assuredly, the individual that loves God will keep his commandments (1 Jn. 5:3), but the greatest of these commands is to love (Mk. 12:28ff) and anyone who loves God will love God’s children (1 Jn. 5:1) and no one who hates God’s children really loves God (1 Thess. 4:9). So, what is love? Love is being like God and doing that which God does because God is love. So, are you like God?

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The Biblical Concept of Assurance

Biblically speaking, assurance represents “security of the soul and true inner peace – a blessed assurance.” (Paul Sain) It comes from the Greek, plerophoria , which means “ full assurance, most certain confidence..” (Thayer’s Greek Definitions) In English, the word “assurance” comes from the verb “assure.”  Webster’s defines assure, “to make safe; to give confidence to hearts; to make sure or certain: convince; to make certain the coming or attainment of: i.e. a guarantee”

Assurance then is, according to Webster’s Dictionary, “The act or action of assuring: as  a : pledge, guarantee” God has pledged, “I will never leave you, nor forsake you…” (Hebrews13:5). By the same Word in which He conveyed to us these great and precious promises, He also gave us all things that pertain to our receiving of these promises. “As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (2 Peter 1:3-4)

Along with the pledge to never forsake us,  God has given us the Spirit as a guarantee or earnest of that pledge. The guarantee or earnest of the Spirit helps to instill confidence of salvation in us, even though, “we who are in this tent groan, being burdened…”  (2 Corinthians 5:2). The Holy Spirit is God’s earnest or guarantee (I.e. the “down-payment”) whereby He gives us assurance that everything He has promised us is true.

Again, Webster’s dictionary states that assurance is, “The state of being assured: i.e.  A being certain in the mind or confidence of mind or manner, freedom from self-doubt or uncertainty.”  Although he does not use the word “assurance”, the apostle Paul defines this  very beautifully in 2 Timothy 1:12,  “For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.”

Assurance is closely connected to faith. Our assurance comes from a deep faith or trust in the promises that God, through His Son, has given us. If we have faith in the promises of God – we can be assured that He will fulfill His promises.

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