Keeping It In Perspective

Earlier this week, I received a phone call from my brother-in-law, Ben, who lives in Tennessee. Ben had received a call from his brother, Dave, in Florida who had made an interesting discovery.

Dave had been making an effort to find my parents' address on WhitePages.com. He typed "Roark" into the name field, and their ZIP code into the address field. He found what he was looking for, but also came across an additional entry with my name listed.

This in itself was not an interesting discovery since Kelly and I did indeed live and work in this same Tennessee town for two and one-half years. The intrigue begins with the job title listed under the entry with my name. It still had me listed as an employee of the West Fayetteville church of Christ, but with the job title listed as "false teacher" (click on the image above to see the screen capture).

Apparently, anyone with internet access is able to submit a name and job title. Dave was somewhat hesitant to let Ben call me with this piece of news, but being my best friend and brother-in-law (some say we were separated at birth), Ben knew exactly how I would take it: with great amusement.

Now, don't get me wrong...being labeled as a "false teacher" is no laughing matter -- especially if there is any validity to such an assertion. Understand, however, that when someone anonymously submits someone's name with that label to a website, that can be somewhat difficult to take seriously. It shows a genuine lack of character and courage, to say the least. And so, one might have to say in a situation as this, "consider the source."

While Ben and I were having a good chuckle over this, he asked if I could think of anyone who might be behind this. My answer was that I had only one or two guesses (after all, I'm not all that well-known!), but it would be impossible to say with any degree of certainty. Besides, I was not overly concerned with the situation in the first place.

Had this situation arisen in my younger days, I may have been hurt, angry, and on a mission to find the culprit. Now, at the advanced age of 30, I've found it much easier to keep situations like this in its proper perspective. For this, I give God the glory...

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Galatians 5:14-26, ESV

When we allow the Spirit of God to operate and mold our lives through the Scriptures, the difference will be plainly evident.

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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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A Secret And Hidden Wisdom Of God

Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.
1 Corinthians 2:6-7, ESV

The God-breathed words written by the apostle refer to a certain "secret and hidden wisdom of God. Contextually, this section of Paul's epistle to the church of Christ in Corinth is contrasting the manner in which the world proclaims wisdom with the manner used by the apostle and his fellow laborers.

This "secret and hidden wisdom" (mystery, NKJV) to which Paul refers is simply that which had not been revealed of God's will until the time of Christ and the period immediately following his resurrection and ascension. Thus, by the preaching of the apostles, this divinely given wisdom was being conveyed to mankind.

In the words that follow the verses above, the Scriptures reveal at least six phrases describing how the "secret and hidden wisdom of God" was made known:

• They (i.e. secret and hidden wisdom) were prepared by God (v. 9)
• God revealed them to us through His spirit (v. 10)
  
• We have received the Spirit who is from God (v. 12a)
  
• We can know the things freely given to us by God (v. 12b)
  
• These things were spoken by the apostles (v. 13a)
  
• The Holy Spirit taught them what to speak (v. 13b)
  

How wonderful it is to know the words spoken and written by the apostles of Christ are trustworthy. The precepts of the New Testament are principles upon which a sound life is built -- not because they were spoken by wise and respected men -- but because they reveal to us the very mind and will of the eternal God.

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Do Words Have Meaning?

I sometimes wonder if words have lost all meaning.

Today on my lunch hour, I went by the Comcast customer service center to return our cable and internet equipment. Without even intending to do so, I noticed a very large sign on the door that read, "NO SOLICITING."

As I walked up to the window to turn in the equipment, I overheard the customer at the adjacent window say, "I'm not soliciting, but..." In my experience, when someone begins a statement by saying, "I'm not __________, but...," that generally means they are about to do or say exactly that which they just said they are not doing or saying.

This woman wanted to drop off coupons for her business. The sole purpose of her presence in that office was to direct increased traffic to her business...also known as SOLICITING. Despite the obvious flagrant disregard for the company's rule, the Comcast employee accepted the coupons.

So I ask, do words even have meaning anymore?

Much of our society has fallen into intellectual laziness -- the kind that bristles at the use of simple logic or proper use of terms. This has spilled over mightily into the spiritual realm.



For example, when the Bible says...

He who believes and is baptized shall be saved (Mark 16:16),

The world says, "Baptism isn't necessary to be saved."

When the Bible says...

There is one body (Ephesians 4:4), the church, which is His body (Ephesians 1:22-23),

The world says, "There are many churches, and one is as good as another."

When the Bible says...

God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth (John 4:24),

The world says, "There is no right way and wrong way to worship God."




My friends, there can be no doubt that when it comes to certain matters, for some, words have lost all meaning. Seeing that the method by which God has revealed His will to mankind is through the written and spoken word, this is a genuine tragedy.

The Holy Spirit guided inspired men to write "all the truth" (John 16:13). The truth has been conveyed by words, and it is these truths alone that have the ability to set the soul of every man free from the grips of sin and death (John 8:32).

It is time to renew our appreciation for words and their meaning -- especially when it comes to the words of the Almighty God.

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The Heart Of The Holy Spirit

Sometimes, we shy away from studying the Bible's teaching on the Holy Spirit of God. Without a doubt, this is primarily due to the abundant misunderstanding and rampant false teaching regarding this third person of the Godhead.

Admittedly, there are certain facets of such a study are difficult. Some questions we may not be able to answer. However, that which we can know and understand with regard to this Being should be studied and considered on a regular basis.

One area that has been plainly revealed is the emotional character possessed by the Spirit of God. We see language that implies the nature of God includes many of the same emotions you and I possess. Additionally, the Scriptures declare our thoughts and deeds to be directly linked to the Holy Spirit -- a truth that is attributable to the Holy Spirit's role in revealing God's word to the hearts of men (John 16:7-15; 1 Corinthians 2:13).

Consider this: God's people can...

1. Grieve the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 63:10; Ephesians 4:30)
2. Resist the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51)
3. Lie to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3)
4. Test the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:9)
5. But we can -- and should -- hear His voice (Revelation 2:7)

Let us never shy away from the rich and rewarding study of the Holy Spirit!

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