Donkeys and Wives

By Alan Smith

    In honor of Valentine's Day, I share with you the following message:
    In April 2006, the Reuters news organization reported that a textbook used at schools in the Indian state of Rajasthan compared housewives to donkeys, and suggested that the animals make better companions as they complain less and are more loyal to their "masters."
    The Hindi-language primer meant for 14-year-olds said, "A donkey is like a housewife ... In fact, the donkey is a shade better, for while the housewife may sometimes complain and walk off to her parents' home, you'll never catch the donkey being disloyal to his master," says
    OK, let me get this straight.  Apparently, Adam made a mistake in the garden of Eden.  When God brought all of the animals for him to name, we're told that Adam "found no helper who was right for him." (Gen. 2:20, GOD'S WORD).  How in the world could he have overlooked the donkey?  When Adam saw that animal, why did he not say, "THAT'S what I want as a companion!  That's what I want to spend my life with -- I want to talk to, laugh with, walk on the beach at sunrise with, share candlelit meals with, and dance in the rain with a donkey!"?  So, because of Adam's incompetence, God was forced to create a woman.  And now, we come to find out that it all could have been avoided if only Adam had read this textbook in New Delhi!
    I do hope you realize the above paragraph was written with tongue planted firmly in cheek.  I'm not ready for a moment to trade my wife of 36 years in on a donkey (though there might be times in our marriage when she felt like SHE was married to one!).  I'm thankful that God in His infinite wisdom knew what he was doing when he created Eve.  I'm thankful for the PERFECT companion -- physically, emotionally, intellectually, recreationally.
    I encourage those of you who are husbands to offer a special prayer of thanks this day for the wife God has given you.  And, to use the words of Solomon:
    "May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth." (Proverbs 5:18)
    Have a great day!

- Alan Smith, author of the popular "Thought For Today," and minister for the Fayetteville Church of Christ in Fayetteville, NC, may be contacted at alansmith.servant@gmail.com

Ripped Apart at Church

By Joe Chesser

            When was the last time, if ever, have you been ripped apart at church?  I don’t mean when some insensitive and ungodly person at church says some abusive or hurtful words to you.  I don’t mean a time when the church leaders announced some plans or decisions that shocked you to the core.  What I mean is when was the last time your world has been totally destroyed or turned upside down by the preaching or teaching of the word of God?  When was the last time you were so convicted by the word of God that you were compelled to make some life changes that rocked your world?
            Most of us don’t go to church to be ripped apart.  Most of us go to church to be encouraged and uplifted.  Most of us go to the church we do because we like it there, we enjoy being with the people; we enjoy the sermons and the classes and the style of music.  Most of us like the way we feel when we leave to go home.  If we didn’t, we’d most likely start looking for a church we did enjoy.
            Now, before you jump to the wrong conclusions, I do believe it is important to enjoy being with the church you attend.  It’s great to enjoy the people, the preaching, and the singing. It’s great to enjoy being involved in the work of the church. As David, who had a heart like God, said, “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord’” (Psalm 122:1).  We are supposed to be a joyful people (Phil. 4:4, Gal. 5:22) and to love each other (Phil. 2:1-4). It’s wonderful to have good relationships with church people.
            However, Satan is coaxing us to be a consumer driven church.  He has convinced many of us that if I don’t enjoy church then something must be wrong with the church. It’s not meeting my needs and expectations, and if they don’t change, I will!  Church should be all about pleasing me, about what I want.
            Hold on.  That’s not what the Bible teaches, is it?  The Bible teaches that the church is made up of people who have had their hearts ripped apart by the word of God. In fact, that’s exactly how the church began.  People were happy where they were doing their own thing.  But Peter stood up before them and ripped their hearts apart by preaching the gospel of Christ’s death and resurrection (Acts 2).  The church began with people who were convicted of their sin, and the church grew as more and more people were convicted of their sins by the preaching of the gospel.  The church in the New Testament was not about music styles and eloquent preachers and feel-good fellowships.  It was about people whose lives were filled with sin being heart-broken and yielding to the grace of God through the preaching of the cross (1 Cor. 1:10-2:5).  After obeying the gospel they went on with their lives rejoicing (Acts 8:39) and taking the heart-breaking, soul-saving gospel with them wherever they went (Acts 8:4).  It’s important to enjoy being with people who have experienced the same victory over sin as you have, and to enjoy worshiping and working together.  But all the while we must be open to having our hearts ripped apart (when needed) by the preaching of the word of God (Heb. 4:12-13).

- Joe Chesser preaches for the Fruitland Church of Christ, Fruitland, MO.  He may be contacted through the congregation's website: http://www.cofcfruitland.com/

Love Bears All Things

By Clifton Angel

    Sister Jane walks in the door Sunday morning, shakes my hand, and exclaims, “I don’t like your tie today; it’s not the right color!” I politely shake her hand and respond, “It is good to see you today, sister Jane.” Brother John and I spend a day golfing. John gets so frustrated during the game that he curses. He immediately turns to me, “Brother, I’m so sorry. I never use that kind of language. I’ve just had so much on me lately. I’ve been playing horribly today, and it just slipped out.” I reply, “I forgive you, John.” And I never mention John’s sin to another human being — ever. Why? Because love “beareth all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7).
    The word translated “bear” in this passage literally means to cover or conceal. In the example of sister Jane, I bear— or, forbear—with her by concealing words that would only create further harm and strife. This is an occasion where we heed Solomon’s words: “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him” (Proverbs 26:4). In the example of brother John, I bear with him by concealing a matter that is only known to him, me, and God. Furthermore, that matter was confessed, and John was forgiven. Would it have been satisfactory for me to call another brother directly leaving the golf course and say, “Let me tell you what brother John did today—he cursed!” Or what about 20 years down the road? Brother John and I are enjoying conversation with other Christian men about golfing, and I say, “Hey John, do you remember that time you got so upset you cursed on the golf course?” Would that be acceptable? It would not. “Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins” (Proverbs 10:12). “He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends” (Proverbs 17:9).
    Love bears all things. Let us take note that this does not mean to turn a blind eye to sin. For, Lord willing, we will notice next week how that love “rejoiceth not in inquity, but rejoiceth in the truth.” Love bears all things. Come grow with us in love!

- Clifton Angel preaches for the Coldwater Church of Christ in Coldwater, MS. He may be contacted through that congregation's website: http://www.coldwatercofc.com/

Distract, Drift, and a Rock

By Ron Thomas

It is one thing to say the Lord is my strength, the Rock of my salvation and to really mean it. In Psalm 62:6 the Psalmist said, “He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved.” Reflect on these words and consider the meaning and application. First, only God is one’s rock. The “rock” in this context is not some pebble in the driveway, but something much more substantive, literally, “my high rocky summit” (NET margin). This gives a clearer picture, doesn't it? Moreover, the Lord is also one’s defender, protector. With the Lord’s word in place, with the application of that word in one’s life, what is it that Satan and his forces can do? He will certainly try to move us, but since our anchor is in the Lord, how shall that be? Since he will have no success there, he will distract us, and then hope that we drift. When one keeps his eye on the Lord, however, there is no movement away from Him.

- Ron Thomas serves as preacher and an elder for the Highway Church of Christ, Sullivan, IL  He may be contacted through the congregation's website: http://www.highwaycofc.com

Suspicion

By Joe Chesser

            In 1964, the Terry Stafford recording of “Suspicion” rose as high as #3 on the US Top Ten Hit list even though it had been previously recorded and released by Elvis Presley just two years earlier on his album “Pot Luck.” As I remember, the core of the song says:
                                                Suspicion torments my heart
                                                Suspicion keeps us apart
                                                Suspicion why torture me
            These words capture the feelings where there is no trust in a relationship. Uncertainty and doubt rips the heart to shreds. Suspicion can destroy a friendship.  It can destroy a marriage.  And it can destroy a church.  Suspicion is a tool of the devil that torments, tortures and separates.
            An example of what suspicions can do is King Saul.  During the first part of his reign over Israel King Saul was a humble servant of God. But after his rebellion to God by not destroying all of the Amalekites (1 Sam. 15), God rejected him as king and had Samuel anoint David as the next king.  Saul’s jealousy of David grew rapidly and his spirit became evil.  His suspicions of David drove him mad, attempting to kill David on several occasions.  David did all he could to ease Saul’s suspicions, but never could.  Eventually Saul disgracefully died (1 Sam. 31, 2 Sam. 1).
            Satan loves to fill our minds with suspicions.  He loves it when we take every opportunity to think negative thoughts about each other.  He loves it when we look on the actions of others with distrust and when we always expect the worst from each other. He loves to see friendships and marriages and churches tormented and torn apart.  He loves to place little doubts in our minds about each other.  We must love it too, for even the strongest of Christians will sometimes allow Satan to fill them with suspicions.  Then we like to get into little groups or on social media and share our suspicions with those who are willing to listen.  I’ll bet Satan can’t keep from lol!
            But for those who truly love God and truly want to be like Jesus, there is absolutely no place for suspicions in their hearts, conversations or actions.  If you don’t have the facts, don’t suspect the worst about each other.  God is about building friendships, marriages and churches, not destroying them.  God is about filling our minds with constructive thoughts about each other. His is about building the Kingdom with positive words and actions.  We are instructed by the Holy Spirit through Paul to fill our minds with things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy (Phil. 4:8).  We are to love each other.  That means, according to 1 Cor. 13, to be patient and kind with each other, to not be rude or easily angered or to keep a record of wrongs, but to always protect, trust, and hope in and for the one you love. “Honor one another above yourselves” (Rom. 12:10), whether they deserve it or not.
            Suspicions torment and separate.  Love and honor binds and blesses.

- Joe Chesser preaches for the Fruitland Church of Christ, Fruitland, MO.  He may be contacted through the congregation's website: http://www.cofcfruitland.com/

Eternal Life

By Alan Smith

    The joke is told about three nurses who died and went to Heaven, where they were met at the Pearly Gates by  Peter.  To the first, he asked, "What did you used to do back on Earth?  Why do you think you should be allowed to come into Heaven?"
    "I was a nurse at an inner city hospital," she replied.  "I worked to bring healing and peace to many sufferers, especially poor, helpless children."
    "Very noble," said Peter. "You may enter." And in she went.
    To the next nurse, he asked the same question. "What did you used to do?"  "Why do you think you should be allowed to come into Heaven?"
    "I was a nurse at a missionary hospital in the Amazon basin," she replied. "For many years, I worked with a skeleton crew of doctors and nurses who tried to reach out to as many people across numerous tribes, with a hand of healing and peace, and with the message about God's love."
    "How touching," said Peter. "You, too, may enter."  And in she went.
    He then came to the last nurse, to whom he asked, "What did you used to do back on Earth? Why do you think you should be allowed to come into Heaven?"
    After some hesitation, she replied, "I was a nurse at an HMO."
    Peter pondered this for a moment, and then said, "Ok, you may enter, too."
    "Whew!" said the nurse. "For a moment there, I thought you weren't going to let me in."
    "Oh, you can come in," said St. Peter, "but you can only stay for three days."
    Some of you personally know the feeling of being pushed out of a hospital room faster than you would like to have been.  But while there are a lot of adjectives that the Bible uses to describe heaven -- incorruptible, undefiled, glorious -- one adjective that is never used is "temporary."
    As I look back over my life, there have been some wonderful moments that I wished would never end.  But everything we experience in this life is temporary.  No matter how much we enjoy doing something, going somewhere, or being with someone, it is all only temporary.  But, in heaven, we have the opportunity to be with God and His redeemed for all eternity!
    "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.  Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands." (2 Cor. 4:18-5:1)
    I hope you've made your reservations for the party that will never end!
    Have a great day!

- Alan Smith, author of the popular "Thought For Today," and minister for the Fayetteville Church of Christ in Fayetteville, NC, may be contacted at alansmith.servant@gmail.com

Help!

By Clint Mitchell and David A. Sargent

    Imagine working on a homework assignment in Algebra, and you can’t remember how to solve a quadratic equation.  You’ve looked at the examples in your textbook, poured over your notes from class, but you still can’t figure it out.  You can’t phone your teacher.  Your parents don’t have a clue.  What do you do?
    When she needed some tutoring in math, Nadia called her cousin, Salman Khan, who has earned three degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA from Harvard University.  In late 2004, Khan began tutoring his cousin Nadia in mathematics using Yahoo!'s Doodle notepad.  When other relatives and friends sought similar help, he decided it would be more practical to distribute the tutorials on YouTube.  The popularity of these videos and the testimonials of appreciative students prompted Khan to quit his job in finance in 2009 as a hedge fund analyst and focus full-time on the tutorials.
    His work – and many tutorials to help you with your homework – may be viewed at the Khan Academy website: www.khanacademy.org.  The website gives this description of the academy: “Khan Academy is an organization on a mission.  We're a not-for-profit with the goal of changing education for the better by providing a free world-class education for anyone anywhere.”  The project is funded by donations with significant backing from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Google, and other philanthropic donors and foundations.
    According to Wikipedia, “The website features thousands of educational resources, including a personalized learning dashboard, over 100,000 exercise problems, and over 5,000 micro lectures via video tutorials stored on YouTube teaching mathematics, history, healthcare, medicine, finance, physics, general chemistry, biology, astronomy, economics, cosmology, organic chemistry, American civics, art history, macroeconomics, microeconomics, and computer science.  All resources are available for free to anyone around the world. Khan Academy reaches about 10,000,000 students per month and has delivered over 300,000,000 lessons.”
    We ALL need help, and it’s not just with math problems.  Each of us has deep needs, the greatest of which is salvation from SIN.  “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).  “And the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
    But God, because of His great love for us, came to our rescue.  He provided
a Book (the Bible) that tells us of His great love and His answer to our greatest problems.  In His Word, we learn that He sent His Son Jesus into the world to live among us (John 1:14) and then to die on the cross as payment for our sins (2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 1:7).  We learn that through Jesus, we can be saved from our sins and look forward to an eternal home with God in heaven (Acts 4:12; 1 Pet 1:3-5).
    God will save those who place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sin in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Him before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).  The blood of Jesus will continue to cleanse those who continue to walk in the light of His word (1 John 1:7).
    Sinful man cries, “Help!”  God has answered by sending His Son Jesus to our rescue.
    Won’t YOU accept His offer of salvation and eternal life on His terms?

- David A. Sargent, minister for the Church of Christ at Creekwood in Mobile, Alabama, is also the editor of an electronic devotional entitled Living Water."  To learn more about this excellent resource contact David via their website: http://www.creekwoodcc.org

* Information gleaned from www.khanacademy.org and the “Khan Academy” entry at Wikipedia.org