Cornelius

Many think morality will save them. But, we read of the good man, Cornelius, who was morally good, but he was not a Christian and therefore, not saved. Cornelius was a Roman centurion of Caesarea in Palestine and one of the class of Gentiles known as “God fearers” because of their attachment to Jewish religious practices, such as almsgiving and prayer. In Acts 10, we read of this man who was the first Gentile to convert to Christianity. But as we read of how he and his household and friends all listened to Peter’s preaching, we ought to ask ourselves, how do our lives compare to the life of Cornelius? How do our deeds, prayer life, and attitude compare to his?

For example, Cornelius was a devout man meaning that, he was a dedicated man. He knew what he stood for and therefore, he did not fall for everything. Yet, are we wholly dedicated and consecrated to the cause of Christ? Solomon once wrote, “ There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it: Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.” (Eccl. 9:14-15). The righteous need not be concerned over their good deeds being forgotten, for while man may take little notice, God is sure to remember (Heb. 6:10). But, do we present our bodies a living sacrifice and do we make and keep them holy and acceptable to God (Rom. 12:1)?

Cornelius also was a God-fearing man. But, do we fear God like Cornelius? Now, we should not fear Him with a cringing, slavish fear, but with a fear mingled with awe and profound respect. The Hebrew writer said, “ Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:” ( Heb. 12:28). This fear is a fear that trembles at the thought of offending a just and holy God. To “fear God and keep His commandments is the whole duty of man (Eccl. 12:13-14) and to “fear God and work righteousness” is the same thing (Acts 10:34-35; Psa. 119:172). But, are we as Cornelius–God fearing?

Cornelius was a good influence in his home. It says that he feared God with all of his house. He was a lot like Joshua choosing for him and his household to serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15). Now, not every Christian could say this. But, if we are dedicated to the Lord and if we are God fearing, we ought to have a good influence over our families. And, having our homes filled with good influences for the Lord, we become more like Cornelius in our faith by which, we will also become more like Cornelius in our giving for he was a very generous man who gave much alms to the people. And, then our homes should be seen as a prayerful home, offering our hearts before God as Cornelius did.

Cornelius was indeed a good man. He is a man that we can learn a great deal about. But, listen to what Christ said in Matt. 5:47, “. . . what do ye more than others? . . .” What do we do more than Cornelius? You know, he did all this and was not even saved yet. Christians should do more; we should show that we have a different spirit and we should have a genuine love of God and truth which is accompanied by love for all men and not just a select circle of friends. We should show like Peter learned here that religion is not selfish, and is superior to all other principles of action. Let us therefore, be like Cornelius, but, let us also be greater than he as Christians.

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Personal Evangelism

The Benefits of Personal Evangelism

The fact that Christians are to recognize their mission of evangelism is undeniable (Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16). Yet, it is easy for us to forget. Often, factors such as discouragement keep us from excelling or even abounding in our valiant efforts of such. Nevertheless, in order to be successful, we must change our level of triumph from conversions to the number of people we teach. We must continue to cultivate a passion for lost souls, and we must always see that spiritual death is far worse than physical death. In other words, with a few tweaks of thought and purpose, we can begin to see benefits of evangelism.

One benefit is that we will be as Christ. While on earth, Jesus was a soul winner. When He was not preaching to the multitudes, He was speaking to individuals about the condition of their souls—a woman of Samaria (John 4), Zacchaeus (Luke 19), and such like. Jesus said, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). Therefore, when we are evangelistic soul winners, we will be as Christ.

Another benefit is that we will be wise. In commissioning His apostles for their task of preaching (evangelizing), Jesus told them, “…be ye therefore  wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” (Matt. 10:16).  Daniel records, “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever” (Dan. 12:3). Wisdom increases as we take the knowledge of the word of God and put it into practice, which translates into experience.

A third benefit is that we will become fruitful. The Bible often categorizes the Christian life as developing fruit. While many references include the development of proper attitudes of godliness and true character (cf. Gal. 5:22-23), another such method of doing so is evangelism. The apostle Paul looked upon those whom he taught and led to their conversion to Christ as being his fruit (cf. Rom. 1:13; Phil. 1:22; Col. 1:6).

In addition, we benefit from evangelism by increasing our knowledge of the Bible (cf. Col. 1:10). Being an effective soul winner calls for diligent study of the scriptures for the purpose of exposing false doctrines taught in the religious world and effective communication of the pure and unadulterated gospel of Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 3:18).

A fifth benefit of evangelism is that we know that our labor is not in vain. While we may not see immediate results of our teaching, we know that we are not sowing the word of God in vain (cf. Isa. 55:11). In addition, we understand that our role is simply to be a sower of the word—it is God that will provide the growth and increase (1 Cor. 3:6). Therefore, we can continue to abound in such a blessed work of the Lord (1 Cor. 15:58).

A final benefit of evangelism is that we will be pulling lost souls from the fires of hell—“ And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire…” (Jude 1:23). Of a soul winner, one could never say, “You never mentioned him to me.” Therefore, soul winners strive to save the souls of men and women from the clutches of Satan. “Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth  the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins” (James
5:19-20).

May we all see the benefits of personal evangelism, changing our attitudes and molding our purpose along the way, so that above all, God may receive the glory!

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Not Wise, A Fool

He Thought He Was Wise, God Called Him a Fool

Like many farmers he was dependent upon God every year for his harvest. The Lord had been good to him. While others needed only one barn for their farm, he had more than one. The year he had dreamed of finally came when there was a bumper crop. His barns were not able to store the harvest, so he made plans to tear all of them down and build enough barns to hold all that he had.

Life was so good, apparently. His response to all of this was to say, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink and be merry” (Luke 12:19). He could see his future. There would be no need to work hard for the next several years. He had all that he needed.

Life was so terrible, actually. God saw this matter so differently. God did not see him as a success, nor as one who planned for the future. God said, “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you” (Luke 12:20). The fact that we are forbidden to ever call another man a fool shows how great God’s contempt of him was. The world saw him as a astute, successful business man. God saw him as a fool!

Life is so fragile, truthfully. The truth is that today may well be the last day any reader of these words has on this earth. While we may verbally acknowledge this, it rarely is part of the way we look at life. If you knew today were your last day, are there things you might do? Are there words you might want to say to others? Are there conflicts with others you might want to resolve? Are there words of encouragement you might want to give to others? Are there people you might want to tell them again just how much you love and appreciate them? Living each day as though it might be our last day helps us make better choices, truthfully.

Life is so enlightening, finally. Perhaps it is not life, but it is our approaching death which actually opens our eyes. The bumper crop and new barns mean nothing when the end comes. The Lord’s question should open our eyes, lest He see us as fools. “Then whose will those things be which you have provided?” As you think about the end of your life, consider what will happen to all you have accumulated.

Can I suggest something you seriously consider? Our culture allows us to use legal means to help answer the Lord’s question. Have you ever considered that, provided your surviving loves one have their needs met, you remember the work of the Lord in your will? You have worked hard and perhaps have a house and savings. What better thing could you do than to take some of God’s blessings and give them back to Him?

Whose then will these things be? Take time to understand life, death and things.

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A Covenant with My Eyes

A Covenant with My Eyes

Smoke is burning your eyes. You know the fire is up ahead, but you call to your wife, take your children by the hand and you press forward. Common sense tells you that your current path will result in serious burns, but you continue on—confident that you can safely guide your family through to the other side. After another 15 yards, you look around and realize your family is surrounded by flames. Fire licks at your very heels, threatening to engulf those whom you love. It’s at this moment you question your decision to press forward. Why didn’t you just turn and run? But it is also this moment that will determine how great a leader you truly are. So…how do you get your family safely away from the soul-threatening media they are surrounded by?

Friends, it is high time we train young men and women to be “soldiers” and leaders who can rise to the occasion of safely leading their friends and family away from the danger of immoral media. We need fathers who are the spiritual leaders in their homes men not too afraid or apathetic to take control of the remote and turn off material that is offensive to Almighty God. We need preachers and elders instilling the sentiments of the inspired psalmist who declared, “Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in your way” (Psalm 119:37, emp. added). Now please do not misunderstand, I recognize not all media is bad (after all, you are reading a magazine that is classified as a form of media), but I am not naive enough to think that one can continually ingest the diet offered by the mainstream media and walk away without it affecting your mind and contributing to spiritual sickness.

The tentacles of media are far more reaching than most parents realize. Sure, we monitor what our children watch on TV, and we don’t allow them to watch “R” rated movies. But friends, that just barely touches the hem of the proverbial garment. Consider the opening paragraph of the most recent Kaiser Family Foundation Survey in which they acknowledged: “Over the past few years, media use among children and teens has become more prevalent than ever. With the launch of the iPod, the explosion in instant messaging, the birth of mobile video and YouTube, and the advent of social networking sites like MySpace, young people are rarely out of contact, or out of reach of the media” (emp. added). [To see the full report go to http://www.kff.org/entmedia/upload/7638.pdf ] We must realize that Satan is alive and well, and he has surrounded the average person with a whole host of media—most of which is immoral or secular in nature.

A quick glance down the TV guide will reveal that television and movie producers have taken a “Shock and Awe” approach to programming. The simple days of “Andy Griffith” and “Little House on the Prairie” have been replaced by “Desperate Housewives” and “Sex in the City.” The images of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire’s romance, dressed in their very best in their 1934 film The Gay Divorcee, are but a fading memory. Oh, for the day when curse words were taboo in television shows. Today even commercials have foul language and often promote immorality!

We know that things are getting worse in the media, but my question is this: Are Christians becoming more diligent to prevent their consumption of this garbage? It is no secret that movies rated “PG-13” today would have received an “R” rating in the past, and that many “G” rated movies today would have been considered “PG” in times gone by. But is the average Christian “sober” and “vigilant,” on guard against the roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8-9)? Are we really remaining “steadfast in the faith,” or have we bought into the lie that it’s just harmless “entertainment”?

Before you read the following statistics, consider this: Hollywood would not produce the garbage if it were not profitable. They won’t make it if we stand up and declare we are no longer going to consume it. If we are going to demand change, then we must have the strength to resist temptation. One hard and fast economics rule is that advertisers will not pay money for television shows people are not watching—period. We complain and protest about the media from ivory palaces and pulpits, but what are we actually doing behind the closed doors of our own homes? Consider the following:

A 2005 Kaiser Family study demonstrated “the number of sexual scenes on television has nearly doubled since 1998…. The study found that 70% of all shows include some sexual content, and that these shows average 5.0 sexual scenes per hour, compared to 56% and 3.2 scenes per hour respectively in 1998, and 64% and 4.4 scenes per hour in 2002. These increases combined represent nearly twice as many scenes of sexual content on TV since 1998. [For more information, see http://www.kff.org/entmedia/entmedia110905nr.cfm].

A 2007 study reported that American adults and teens would spend an estimated 3,518 hours—or nearly five months each—plus $936.75 per person consuming media.

  • 65 days in front of the TV
  • 41 days listening to the radio
  • More than a week on the Internet
  • A week reading a daily newspaper (www.frankwbaker.com)

By the time a child is 18 years old, he or she will have witnessed (given average viewing times), 200,000 acts of violence including 40,000 murder (Huston, et al., 1992).

A report in the Journal of American Academy of Pediatrics published in 2004 noted that sexual content appears in 64% of all TV programs. The data they collected demonstrated that programs with sexual content averaged 4.4 scenes per hour that contained sexually related material, and approximately 1 out of 7 programs includes a portrayal of sexual intercourse. The professionals who conducted this study concluded:

“Watching sex on TV predicts and may hasten adolescent sexual initiation. Reducing the amount of sexual content in entertainment programming, reducing adolescent exposure to this content, or increasing references to and depictions of possible negative consequences of sexual activity could appreciably delay the initiation of coital and non-coital activities” (see Collins et al., 2004, pp. e280-289 or available online at http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/114/3/e280).

We know the problem exists, but are we willing to do anything about it?Make no mistake about it; actions have consequences. The old computer science term GIGO (Garbage In, Garbage Out) is still applicable today. Paul admonished the church in Rome, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 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 12:1-2). Have we forgotten that we are not to be conformed to this world?

Living in the Information Age, Christians can no longer use the excuse “I didn’t know.” There are excellent Web sites available that, within just a few minutes, will provide a review of the content on television shows, movies, and even music. (There are free sites such as http://www.pluggedinonline.com and http://www.kids-in-mind.com/, as well as subscription services such as http://www.screenit.com/). The resources are available! But will we utilize them? Consider the following reviews from Kids-In-Mind.com given for two popular movies (focusing only on the aspect of profanity):

Alvin & the Chipmunks[PG] Profanity: 2 mild anatomical terms, 1 mild obscenity, 1 exclamation (holy nuts), name-calling (stupid, filthy creatures, sudsy, loser), 1 religious exclamation.

Austin Powers in Goldmember[PG-13] profanity: 9 F-words (1 mouthed, 8 are bleeped), 2 obscene hand gestures, 16 sexual references, 7 scatological terms (1 in German is not translated, and 1 is spelled out in subtitles), 43 anatomical terms (3 spelled out in subtitles), 18 mild obscenities, 1 religious profanity, 3 religious exclamations.

Having read that, now consider the words of Jesus Christ, Who was asked what “is the greatest commandment?” and replied: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the first and great commandment” (Matthew 22:37-38, emp. added). Can we honestly say we love God with all of our mind if we have just filled it with the garbage listed above? The reality is that within just a few minutes, a family can determine if such programming is really something they want to be watching. Will you rise to that challenge?

In Job 31:1, we find Job declaring, “I have made a covenant with my eyes. Why then should I look upon young women?” It is time we follow Job’s example—make that covenant with our eyes—and set our minds on things above, not on things of the Earth (Colossians 3:2). The cost of failure is too high.

Fire licks at your very heels, threatening to engulf those whom you love. It’s this very moment that will determine how great a leader you truly are. So…how do you get your family safely away from the soul-threatening media they are surrounded by? Will you continue to lead your family into the fire, “hoping” they arrive safely on the other side with only minor burns? Or will you be proactive and flee?

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A New Pope

So the Catholic Church has a new “Pope.” To listen to the news over the past few days one would think that everyone in the world is Catholic; that the resignation and election of a new pope impacts everyone’s life. However, this is not true in my case. The truth is that I feel that the NFL free agent signings and pending draft are bigger events in my life than the religious elevation of a mere man. I continue to be dumbfounded by the things I see and hear. So I thought I would share some thoughts with you and then ask you some questions.

1.  We do not have a new “Pope” and he is NOT the “Holy Father.” My Holy Father is in heaven and I will worship and serve Him alone! Jesus said, “And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” (Luke 4:8). My Lord also said, “Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven” (Matthew 23:9). But apparently these sayings mean nothing to the Catholic Church. Someone might say, “We do not worship the Pope.” This is not what I saw and heard from thousands who stood Vatican waiting for a white smoke signal and announcement of a new “Head.” When the elders selected me to be the preacher at Point Pleasant I looked outside my office window and do you know what I saw? Grass growing! Had the church been standing out there I would have told them to go home and go about the Father’s work!

2.  Unlike the previous selection, this transfer of power did not come because of death but due to the resignation of Joseph Alois Ratzinger. But I am reminded of something the events surrounding the death of Karol Józef Wojtyła (John Paul II) and I promise you this is true (I could not make this stuff up). Apparently for centuries, when the “Pope” had evidently taken his last breathe, the senior Cardinal (not from St. Louis) would take out a “silver mallet” and bonk the “Pope” on the head three times, each time calling out his birth name. If he did not respond the Cardinal would announce to everyone present that the “Pope” was dead. No foolin’! You just hit him in the head with a hammer! If he wasn’t dead before, he is now. I have searched my Bible and cannot find any mention of this anywhere. Apparently they have stopped the beatings and just call out his name now. I don’t know why they changed this. Maybe for the same reason they are not allowed to eat meat on Friday (or are they?). And anyway, I thought fish was meat.

3.  Speaking of birth names, the new “Pope”, Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, got to pick his “Pope” name as all other “Popes” have. They say that they can choose any name they want from the list of previous popes (Jorge picked Francis) except for the name Peter. This is apparently out of respect for their “first Pope.” Yet, there is no credible evidence that Peter was a “Pope” or ever was in Rome. In fact, Paul was there and told Timothy, “At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them” (2 Timothy 4:16). Where was Peter? Any way, Jorge broke the norm and chose Francis (a name not previously used) is honor of St. Francis of Assisi.

4.  As for the election of a new “Pope” I found this interesting. I again have searched my Bible for this information and came up empty. Apparently many changes have taken place with this process over the years; mostly because the process can become very political (imagine that, when men do things their way, instead of God’s way, they always have to have, their way). But here is the most intriguing thing about this process. All the cardinals under the age of 80 (120 max) come together in a secret meeting to elect the new “Pope.” They say they believe they are being “guided by the Holy Spirit” and God already knows who the man is He wants. So here is my concern, why would it ever take more than one, unanimous ballet? Why would there ever be a need for black smoke to come from the chapel’s chimney (hang on, let me check, nope that’s not in the Bible either)? I heard that many years ago it took more than three years to decide whom the new “Pope” would be and it only happened because a bird landed on one of the “cardinals” when they all walked outside. They determined that the bird was the Holy Spirit. Amazing. This time a bird landed on the chimney prior to the white smoke coming out and this was perhaps a sign from God as well. But Check Acts 1:15-26 to see how the process really works when God’s hand is in it!

Amazing that so many people have been so deceived by this religion and its ungodly, unauthorized traditions. Yes, Paul said to keep the traditions (2 Thessalonians 2:15), but the word there means the teachings that came from God by inspiration and where passed on to all men through the Bible (Ephesians 3:1-5; 2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). The fact is that I am sad today, and frustrated by the work of Satan in the religions of men.

Please dear friends, study the Bible (2 Timothy 2:15; Acts 17:11). Be ready to give an answer (1 Peter 3:15) and earnestly defend the one true faith (Jude 3).

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