What Are You Worth?

It has been estimated that if a man were reduced to his constituent chemical elements, he would be worth approximately $54.

Reflecting on a man's worth on the spiritual plane, however, every man is of infinite worth! Jesus asked,

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his own soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
Matthew 16:26, ESV

So, friend, if you ever find yourself attached more to the physical portion of your existence, just remember where your true value lies!

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Preach At The Pump

A Xenia, Ohio church has decided to promote its special Easter services by paying 25 cents of the price of every gallon of gas purchased at a local station.

Wesley Miller says by offering the deal, his church can promote its Easter services planned for the following weekend while helping those squeezed by the high cost of gasoline.

Miller says the church doesn't mind if people show up purely out of greed, because his congregation would like to reach them, too.

One wonders what it might take to retain anyone "converted" by this free gasoline. Hybrid cars for everyone who attends at least one worship service per week might be in order.

The day after Jesus and his apostles had fed 5,000 people, the Lord said to a group of disciples,

Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.
John 6:26-27, ESV

Christ knew some were following him for no other reason than to fill their bellies -- to gratify a carnal desire. When churches get into the business of quite literally competing for members to fill up the pews, this is the natural result. Carnivals, car raffles, free gas, and virtually every other scheme the human mind can imagine has been used to lure men and women who have no inclination toward spiritual living.

Some might say, "That's why we're trying to get them in the door! We can show them how important spirituality is." Do we really believe gratifying a man's every whim and desire with material gifts is going to somehow flip on his "spiritual switch?" If so, we are sadly mistaken and greatly deceived.

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
Galatians 6:7-8, ESV

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Appearance Can Be Deadly

Jessie Vigil of Las Vegas, New Mexico, has a unique automobile. He customized his Ford Mustang (seen at right) to replicate the police cars seen in the movie, Transformers, citing his seven-year-old son's love for the blockbuster film.

According to New Mexico State Police, what Mr. Vigil has done with his car is not illegal as long as he doesn't "act like a police officer."

Even though Vigil may not actually be trying to impersonate an officer of the law, there are some who find it advantageous to do so in the perpetration of crimes. Quite a few criminals have taken advantage of unsuspecting citizens by adequately passing themselves off as members of a law enforcement agency.

How is it these men convince motorists and pedestrians of their supposed status as law officers? Are they successful in carrying out these schemes by flashing a flimsy toy badge or donning a cheap imitation of a real uniform?

When successful in carrying out their cruel and heinous acts, these criminals are able to do so because their badges, uniforms, and flashing blue lights are so convincing -- so close to the real thing that the minute differences are virtually undetectable to the average citizen. That is what makes these individuals so dangerous. The penalty for impersonating an officer is stiff, but probably ought to be even more severe.

There is an important spiritual parallel in thinking about how this deception is accomplished. How are individuals convinced that a religious group or organization is "from God" when, in fact, they do and teach that which is not congruent with the Scriptures? Many times, the answer lies in what we observed in the impersonation of police officers.

These groups establish their legitimacy by sticking very close to the teaching of the Bible, thus piggybacking on the authority the name of Christ carries. However, an up-close examination of a given group may reveal some doctrines and practices that have no Biblical foundation. The Bible speaks of certain groups or individuals that may "disqualify you" (Colossians 2:18). These groups do so by doing that which is "according to human precepts and teachings" (Colossians 2:22). The final analysis of organizations such as these is that...

...these have indeed an appearance of wisdom...but they are of no value...
Colossians 2:23, ESV

Just as a criminal with evil intentions -- who looks for all the world exactly like a law officer -- can have deadly consequences, so too can aligning oneself with a church or other religious body that has only an "appearance" of wisdom and truth. Appearance only goes so deep. If we would invest more time in honest investigation of what our particular church or group teaches and how it accords with the word of God, there would be drastic changes in the world of religion.

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Job's Answer To The "Pro-Choice" Folks

For 35 years, masses of men and women have sought to appease their consciences with faulty conjecture, namely that an unborn child does not constitute human life. One need look no further than their flaccid attempts at re-defining terms. The unborn boy or girl has become "pregnancy tissue."

Some say the child is not "human" until the second trimester of a mother's pregnancy; others insist this change takes place some time in the third trimester. Still others are adamant in their belief that a child is not fully human until it has been delivered and taken his or her first breath.

But why stop there? Some "ethicists" have been known to say killing a living, breathing infant outside the mother's womb is not immoral or unethical. Peter Singer, the well-known professor of bioethics at Princeton University made a sickening statement in a 1999 lecture. The following is an excerpt from Paul Zielbauer's article that appeared in the October 13, 1999 edition of The New York Times:


''I do not think it is always wrong to kill an innocent human being,'' Professor Singer told the rapt audience in Harold Helm Auditorium. ''Simply killing an infant is never equivalent to killing a person.''


A statement like this may surprise you...but it shouldn't. Mt. Singer's extreme views on this issue are merely the logical end to that which many of our neighbors, friends, and family have been convinced -- namely that it is the mark of compassion to support "a woman's right to choose."

Now that we have heard from Peter Singer, perhaps we should allow the Lord our God (the Creator and Judge of all mankind) to have a word:

Did not he [God] who made me in the womb make him [servant]? And did not one [God] fashion us in the womb?
Job 31:15, ESV

God uses the pen of Job to assure us that he [God] makes us in his own image by placing a living spirit within us as he shapes us in our mothers' wombs!

Friend, it's past time to let the politicians and judges who are leading our morally decaying nation into the abyss that we will no longer stand by and watch millions of innocent infant boys and girls be legally butchered (literally)! When we stand in judgment before the same God who hates the shedding of innocent blood (Proverbs 6:16-17), how will we rationalize casting our votes for men and women we knew would perpetuate this brutal and heartless sin?

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Love's Lists

Read 1 Corinthians 13, and notice the description of what love is and is not.






Love is/does:

Patient (v. 4a)
Kind (v. 4b)
Rejoice with the truth (v. 6b)
Bear all things (v. 7a)
Believe all things (v. 7b)
Hope all things (v. 7c)
Endure all things (v. 7d)
Never ending (v. 8a)


Love is not/does not:

Envy (v. 4c)
Boast (v. 4d)
Arrogant (v. 4e)
Rude (v. 5a)
Insist on its own way (v. 5b)
Irritable (v. 5c)
Resentful (v. 5d)
Rejoice at wrongdoing (v. 6a)


Thus, when we find ourselves reflecting some portion of the latter list, we can know assuredly that our actions are not according with love. Let us strive day by day to implement more characteristics from the former, and less from the latter.

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Read The Rainbow

I recently came across a fascinating image that displays the vastly interconnected nature of the Bible (click image at right to enlarge).

Two individuals set out to create a visualization of the Bible's immense network of cross references. The result was a beautiful series of more than 63,000 multi-colored bows showing the supreme internal agreement of the text of the Bible.

The following is a quote from one of the designers:


"Together, we struggled to find an elegant solution to render the data, more than 63,000 cross references in total. As work progressed, it became clear that an interactive visualization would be needed to properly explore the data, where users could zoom in and prune down the information to manageable levels. However, this was less interesting to us, as several Bible-exploration programs existed that offered similar functionality (and much more). Instead we set our sights on the other end of the spectrum – something more beautiful than functional. At the same time, we wanted something that honored and revealed the complexity of the data at every level – as one leans in, smaller details should become visible. This ultimately led us to the multi-colored arc diagram you see below.

The bar graph that runs along the bottom represents all of the chapters in the Bible. Books alternate in color between white and light gray. The length of each bar denotes the number of verses in the chapter. Each of the 63,779 cross references found in the Bible is depicted by a single arc - the color corresponds to the distance between the two chapters, creating a rainbow-like effect."

How does one explain such flawless agreement without contradiction, particularly when one considers the Bible was written by forty individuals spanning some 1,600 years? The sacred writings of other religions cannot hold a candle to this feat, nor can the text of any secular volume ever produced. Couple this perfect union of ideas and teachings with the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy, and we can be positive that this is no document of mere human invention. The God of the universe breathed out every word of the Bible (cf. 2 Timothy 3:16).

** Image taken from ChrisHarrison.net (hi-res image also available)

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Moses On Drugs?

Benny Shannon, a professor of cognitive psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, recently published a study wherein is claimed Moses was high on psychedelic drugs when he heard God deliver the ten commandments. Furthermore, according to Mr. Shannon, Moses must have been under the influence of the same substances when he thought he saw the burning bush.

In an interview with Israeli Public Radio, Mr. Shannon said he himself has dabbled with such substances -- an admission that pretty well gets to the bottom of Shannon's published "study."

Obviously, very few sober-minded, rationally thinking people will put any stock in Mr. Shannon's theories. They have no factual basis whatsoever. They serve merely as another talking point for those who simply cannot accept the Biblical record as it is...despite the overwhelming proof of its veracity.

The exploits of Mr. Shannon and those like-minded are most reminiscent of the philosophers of Athens to whom Paul preached. Of them it was said, "Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new" (Acts 17:21, ESV).

The minds of men and women like these are seemingly so wrapped up in the glory of academia and devising endless philosophies sometimes lose sight of common sense. They marvel at new theories and conjecture even when those new thoughts completely contradict other lines of reasoning which they hold to be true. One theory may have no more merit than another despite its overwhelming amount of credible evidence. "Open mindedness" is heralded as the order of the day; but it would seem their minds have been so "open" that they have fallen out and lost them altogether!

The science of logic has given way to the art of uncertainty and objectivity. Benny Shannon and his theories of Moses' use of hallucinogens are not the first illogical and unsustainable doctrine to come along, and neither will they be the last. They are just the latest; and the modern-day "Athenians" will have moved on to the latest "something new" in short order.

Let's have minds that are open to truth and perceptive enough to recognize error.

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