The Price of Children

Not to long ago, there was a calculation on the cost of raising a child from birth to 18. It was suggested that the expense was about $160,100 for a middle–‐income family. And, while that is a lot of money, those estimations grow even higher considering college tuition and the ever rising cost of living. Now, to get a better understanding of this amount, some people took this $160,100 and broke it down to: $8,896.66 a year, $741.38 a month, or $171.08 a week. That’s a mere $24.24 a day! Just over a dollar an hour.

Because of these kinds of numbers, some have suggested that if you want to be rich, don’t have children. However, I would state that if one wants to be rich, they ought to have children, especially when they consider what they are getting for that $160,100. Naming rights. First, middle, and last! Glimpses of God every day. Giggles under the covers every night. More love than your heart can hold. Butterfly kisses and bear hugs. Endless wonders over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies. A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate. A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites. Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

For $160,140, you never have to grow up. You get to: finger–‐ paint, carve pumpkins, play hide–‐and–‐seek and catch lightning bugs. You have an excuse to: keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh, watching Saturday morning cartoons, go to Disney movies, and wish on stars. You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay on Mother’ Day, and cards with backward letters for Father’s Day.

For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for: retrieving a Nerf ball out of the tree or Frisbee off the garage roof, taking the training wheels off a bike, removing a splinter, filling a wading pool and coaxing a wad of gum out of hair. You get a front row seat to history to witness the: first step, first word, first date, first time behind the wheel and to seed the seed of God’s Word began to grow in your child. You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you’re lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren. You get an education in psychology , nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match. And in the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo–‐boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits. So, one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost. I would say that all this is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!!

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The Beautiful Church of Christ

In studying and referring to Ephesians 5:22-33, I have more often than not used this text for the purpose of teaching about marriage and the proper relationships within the home. Nevertheless, Paul makes it quite clear: “This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church” (Eph. 5:32). The roles that husbands and wives play only serve to illustrate the true lessons therein, but I have emphasized many times the illustration above the real lessons, even if they are practical and scriptural. Thus, I want to address the principle lesson that Paul addresses—the beautiful church of Christ.

In the first place, the church of Christ is to submit to Jesus as our head. After admonishing the brethren in Ephesus to submit “one to another in the fear of God” (5:21), he then emphasizes that the church of Christ is to submit to Jesus as our head, just as wives are to submit to their husbands and recognize them as heads of the household. He had earlier pointed out to the Christians in Ephesus the relationship that Christ has with His church (1:22-23), and he once again points out in this epistle that unravels the mystery of the gospel concerning the church (cf. 3:1-12) what Christ desires from His bride, the church—submission. Thus, Christians ought always to view the will of God with a heart that is ready to obey (cf. Matt. 7:21; Heb. 5:8-9). We ought to be as submissive as Isaiah was before the throne of God: “Here am I; send me” (Isa. 6:8). The head of the church has not given us the liberty to pick and choose which commands we may obey and which commands we may neglect—we are to be submissive!

Why are we to be submissive? Paul offers no less than two reasons—because Jesus is our Savior (5:23) and because He sanctified us (5:26-27). Everyone in their right minds would have no problem giving themselves over through submission when they realize what Jesus has done for them. Paul states a very important fact—Jesus is the Savior of the body, which we know already is the church (1:22-23). Thus, in his revelation of this mystery, Paul informs all readers of how important it is to be in the beautiful church of Christ—it is the only place wherein one may obtain salvation. Then, he goes on to describe this wonderful blessing—he “loved the church, and gave himself for it that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word” (5:25-26). He did this so “that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (5:27). Therefore, through the process of salvation and sanctification, Jesus has washed our sins through His blood (cf. 1:7), which takes place during the act of baptism in water (Acts 22:16). Coming up from the watery grave, we, as members of this “glorious church,” are now in a position where we are “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (cf. Rev. 21:2), in that Paul reveals us has “not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that [we] should be holy and without blemish” (5:27).

As we further contemplate what it means to be a part of this beautiful church that Christ came to establish for both Jews and Gentiles (cf. 2:11-22), we see the sustenance that Jesus offers to the church—“For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church” (5:29), then reminding that we are a part of His body (5:30). We cannot underscore enough the blessings associated with being a part of the beautiful church of Christ! As the apostle Paul begins this epistle, it is a privilege beyond that we deserve to have access to “all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (1:3), and a part of these blessings includes the fact that our Lord and Savior not only saves us, but He continues to sustain us with His great love. What a joy and blessing it is to be a part of the beautiful and glorious church of Christ!

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Step Into the Water

After hearing Jesus preached by Philip, the Ethiopian desired to be baptized. The biblical account of his conversation is as follows: “Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing” (Acts 8:35-39).

As one reads the inspired accounts of the conversions set forth in the book of Acts, he should compare them carefully with what is practiced today. Note the following observations from the record of the Ethiopian’s conversion:

1.  Preaching proceeded the Ethiopian’s conversion and was an essential part of it. This harmonizes with what Jesus said in the Great Commission. “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:15-16).

2. Preaching Jesus caused the Ethiopian to see the need to be baptized. He said to Philip, “See here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptized?”

3. Inasmuch as only believers are to be baptized, Philip said, “If you believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.”

4. The one who was to be baptized made the following confession: “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

5. The action in his baptism was clearly immersion. “They went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.”

6. The Ethiopian went on his way rejoicing after he was baptized. So we can conclude that baptism in water, as set forth in the Gospel, is the dividing line between the church and the world, the saved and the lost. If you have not been baptized according to the Gospel, we urge you to do so today.

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Which Modern Translation Should I Use?

The importance of verbal inspiration of the Bible can hardly be over emphasized. When God revealed His message to mankind, He did it by ensuring that every word in that message precisely expressed His thoughts. Think about how He “verbally inspired” every word on the tablets of stone at Mt. Sinai. His finger chose every word and wrote every letter.

A question worth considering is whether He was as equally involved in the giving of the rest of the Bible. Peter shows that He was when he described the process which gave us our Bibles. “For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21). The Greek word translated here as “moved” can be understood when we note that it is the same word used to describe the transporting of the head of John the Baptist being carried to give to Herodias (Mark 6:27-28). It is the word used to describe the carrying of the man who was lowered through the roof so that Jesus might heal him (Mark 2:3). It is used of taking food from one place to another (John 21:10) and bringing money to give to another person (Mark 12:15; Acts 4:37; 5:2). These examples so vividly illustrate how involved God was in giving the scriptures!

Because every word of the Bible is a word selected by the Spirit of God (see 1 Cor. 2:13), we must pay attention to the words of the Bible. Our English language is often limited but the Greek was not. We have one word for love; the Greeks had two vastly different words. We have one word for fear, the Greeks had six. The Lord chose a perfect language to use in giving the perfect law. It is an amazingly precise language. As readers, we must respect the fact that God chose every word used to deliver His message to us.

The practical side of this is that we should make sure the translation we use as our primary study Bible respects verbal inspiration. We do not need a translation where the message is filtered through the fallible mind of a translator who tries to give us the thought of the original message in simpler English. Several popular translations use this method. Among these are the Living Bible, the New English Bible, Good News for Modern Man and the New International Version. They seek to enhance the original message and give a “dynamic equivalent” without regard to the precise words chosen by God. Far better recent translations are the New American Standard, the English Standard Version and the New King James. Verbal inspiration is designed by God. Make sure your Bible allows you to use it in your personal study.

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Fishers of Men

During a recent fishing competition in New Zealand, an angler named Nathan Adams caught a 738-pound Pacific Bluefin tuna, which just may be the largest Bluefin tuna one has ever caught—as of the recent news, Adams is awaiting verification that he will hold the new world record. Naturally, he refers to this particular fish as a “fish of a lifetime.” The fish is indeed impressive, because the attached photograph that accompanied the news report showed the hanging fish measuring almost twice the size of the man who caught it.

Jesus knew about fishing, and He also enjoyed keeping company with some anglers, particularly, two sons of Zebedee (Matt. 4:21) and two sons of Jonah (cf. Matt. 16:17). It was on one infamous occasion that Jesus said to these anglers, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt. 4:19). Luke records the account with Jesus stating, “Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men” (Luke 5:10). Let us note a few lessons from this great statement of our Lord.

Fishing is the perfect metaphor for evangelism, just as Jesus illustrated with this great statement. Notice just a sampling of examples.

• In order to become successful, fishing is that which one teaches, just as my father and grandfather taught me when I was a boy. So it is with evangelism—it is that which one teaches (cf. Matt. 28:19-20).

• The more experience one has fishing, the better angler he or she will become; so it is with evangelism. No one should overlook experience.

• An angler will use whatever tools are at his disposal and with which he is comfortable, because he understands that some fish will bite at some lures/bait and not at others. So many factors play a part with fishing (weather, type of body of water, time of day/year and such like). So it is with evangelism—some people respond to some teaching methods while other people respond to others.

• Just as anglers can learn to diversify their talents (i.e., going from rod and reel to fly fishing), evangelists can learn to diversify their methods of reaching people (i.e., using videos to simply teaching straight from the Bible).

Jesus told these fishing disciples, “I will make you fishers of men.” He stated this early in His ministry as He was gathering/calling disciples and before He was selecting apostles. Please note the future tense of the verb—they would not immediately become such, but that He would prepare them for such. Some three years later, before He ascended back to His throne, He commissioned them, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Matt. 28:19-20). Even then, they still did not know everything (cf. John 14:26), but it would only be after some three years that He sent them to do what He initially promised—they would become “fishers of men,” which we see them doing throughout the book of Acts. The point is this—we should neither belittle evangelism to the point of making every Christian feel guilty if they are not doing it, nor should we discourage Christians who “fail” when attempting it. Just as the disciples took a three-year-long course in learning from the Master Angler/Evangelist, it takes time and effort to learn how to evangelize properly.

The feeling of catching the “fish of a lifetime,” whether it is 738-pound Pacific Bluefin tuna or a 21-pound largemouth bass, pales in consideration to the feeling of converting a sinner through the process of evangelism. Consider the stark contrast. When one catches a monster fish, while there certainly is a great feeling of adrenaline and excitement, it soon diminishes away. Whether one chooses to eat the fish or mount the fish, the memory is still there, but the fish, along with its excitement, is generally gone after a while. Not so with one who catches men. To see someone obey the gospel that I have taught provides a feeling like none other, but I am able to continue to enjoy such by watching that individual grow in faith, similar to the experience that new parents enjoy with the birth of their children, only this time, it is in a spiritual sense with a spiritual rebirth (cf. John 3:3-5; Tit. 3:5). In his classic work, “The Mission of the Local Church,” Wendell Winkler emphasizes the point of why all Christian ought to become personal soul winners for Jesus by exclaiming, “It will give him a thrilling satisfaction he has never experienced before” (p. 78). Such is true, and why we all ought to work hard and train to become “fishers of men!”

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