Do You REALLY Trust God?

By David Bragg

    Under normal circumstances most people who profess to believe in God would probably not hesitate in answering the above question with a resounding YES! But what about when life takes us into difficult circumstances?
    On April 16, 2017 Robert Godwin Sr., 74, was approached by a stranger on the streets of Cleveland, Ohio. Within seconds not only was Godwin killed but the crime was brazenly streamed live over Facebook. In the aftermath of this shocking crime Anderson Cooper interviewed members of the Godwin family on CNN. At a time in which most people would be focused on retaliation and vengeance, viewers saw something altogether unexpected. Godwin’s daughter, Tonya, made this proclamation on national television: “Each one of us forgives the killer … (my father) taught us about God, how to fear God, how to love God and how to forgive” (www.huffpost.com).
    It is easy to trust God when all is good and life is going our way. But can you fully trust God when your heart is broken, and you feel like your life is collapsing all around you? Hopefully none of us will ever be in the situation that Robert Godwin’s family found themselves in, but when we face whatever hardships are bound to come our way, may we always be able to place our unwavering trust in God.

- David Bragg serves as one of the ministers at the Northwest Church of Christ in Greensboro, NC and is co-editor of BulletinGold. He may be contacted through the congregation's website: http://www.nwchurchofchrist.com/ or his blog: http://davidbragg.blogspot.com/ 

On Giving The Perfect Gift

By Joe Chesser

 
     It’s the week after Thanksgiving, and you know what that means – shopping for Christmas is now officially open, and at a frenzied pace.  We may not be spending quite as much this year as in years past, but that only makes shopping for just the right gift that much more important.  For some people, gift giving is simple.  They always know just the right thing to buy, and always in just the right size and color.  They just have a knack for buying gifts.  Others are more like me.  I struggle with what to buy, finally make a decision, and a week later find something that would have been better.  So now, do I take back the first gift and buy the second, or do I just give what I already have (I’m asking for help here!)?  I wish I knew the perfect gift to give each person on my list.
     Actually, I do.  I know the perfect gift, and it’s something I can give to everyone, whether on my list or not.  The best gift I can possibly give cannot be purchased at WalMart or order online.  This gift is not something I have to save for, nor is it like any gift anyone else can give.  It’s unique, it’s one of a kind, and I am the only one who can give it.  That gift, of course, is me – myself!
     I am the best gift I can give my wife, my children and my grandchildren. I am the best gift I can give my neighbor and co-worker.  I am the best gift I can give those I know and even those I don’t know, those who are poor and those who are wealthy, those who are young and those who are old.  I am even the best gift I can give my Lord.  I know this is true because I learned it from Him.
     From Paul’s words in Galatians 2:20 we learn: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”  I crucify myself because he allowed himself to be crucified.  I love him because he first loved me (1 John 4:10, 19).  Giving ourselves to God and others is the absolute best gift we can possibly give.  Nothing is a close second.  Would my wife prefer a new watch more than my time, my affection, my attention?  Not in a hundred lifetimes!  Would my children, grandchildren, fellow Christians – anyone – prefer gifts from Target?  No.  And neither would God.
     The Corinthians are forever remembered because “they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with the Lord’s will” (2 Cor. 8:5).  Nothing you can buy will ever substitute for giving yourself.  It’s fun to exchange wrapped presents at Christmas, but never forget that the gift that most people truly need and want, the perfect gift, is you.  Give yourself wrapped in love!

- Joe Chesser preaches for the Fruitland Church of Christ, Fruitland, MO.  He may be contacted at joeandareva@yahoo.com

Persistence

By Ed Wittlif

     "The secret is not to give up hope. It's very hard not to because if you are doing something worthwhile I think that you will be pushed to the brink of hopelessness before you come through the other side." (George Lucas)
     There are times in my walk with God that I have felt like throwing in the towel and giving up. I have struggled with the same temptation and given in and sinned. When the light at the end of the tunnel cannot be seen, why not just quit? There were times that I felt it was hopeless. I would never change.
     I have learned that the feeling of hopelessness comes from viewing God primarily as a judge. That has changed over the years. I have found that I cannot leave God's word alone. I had a hunger for reading His word that persisted even when I wanted to give up.
     One thing that changed the way I thought about God was the parable of the talents. I realized that the one talent man was condemned for not trying (Matthew 25:14-30). The first letter of John also helped me to persist in light of my hopelessness. God desires to forgive me and will if only I will confess my sins to Him (I John 1:9).
     The second chapter of I John reminded me that if I sin, then Jesus is my Advocate. This ties back to the simple fact that I must be honest and admit my sin.
     My Father wants me to persist in my struggle with sin. The greater my persistence, the easier it becomes. However, if fleshly desires are less of a temptation, then perhaps pride becomes a greater problem.
     Paul said, "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:14). Trust in Jesus and His cleansing blood and in the proven love of the Father. That is what my hope is based on.

- Ed Wittlif is from Denver, CO; via the Church of Christ in Justin, TX. Joe Slater serves as minister and he may be contacted through the congregation's website: http://justinchurchofchrist.com

Surpass and Survive

By Gerald Cowan

What any person says or does           One may do good without intent --
And what a person gives                     No credit to him then.
Will have a great effect upon              But what he plans to do and does
The world in which he lives.               Should draw the praise of men.
To seek with all-observing eyes         Just make the best of what you have
Determines what one finds.                While You are still alive.    
Things stumbled on by accident        All others you may ten surpass
May not impress the mind.                 And death you will survive.  

- Gerald Cowan, a longtime preacher and missionary, is retired from full-time pulpit preaching. Gerald publishes an e-mail newsletter entitled GERALD COWAN’S PERSONAL PERIODICAL WRITINGS. He is available for Gospel Meetings and he may be contacted at Geraldcowan1931@aol.com

Faith Healers & Pandemics

By Steve Higginbotham

     While a student at Freed-Hardeman College in 1983, I took my “wife-to-be” on a date to an Oral Roberts “healing service” in Jackson, TN (she still razzes me about our exciting dates). At the conclusion of this “healing service,” Oral Roberts told everyone present that God had completely healed every single person in the assembly, “from the top of our heads to the bottom of our feet.” As the meeting came to an end, and people were exiting, I told my wife-to-be to take note of how many people were still wearing their glasses. Seems that no one in the assembly was healed of that malady.
     Fast forward 20 years. The year was 2003 when Richard Roberts, son of Oral Roberts, was scheduled to hold a “healing-meeting” for more than 2000 followers at the Elmer S. McVety Centre in Toronto, Canada. However, Roberts canceled the event due to a travel advisory for Toronto because of the number of SARS cases reported there. Does it not seem to you that if Roberts had the power he claims to have, rather than canceling the event, that's exactly where he needed to be?
     Fast forward nearly another 20 years and we are in the midst of the COVID pandemic. However, Kenneth Copeland, another alleged “faith-healer,” stated that as a prophet of God, he commanded COVID to leave the USA and that it would harm no one else. That statement was made three months ago and more than 100,000 people have died from COVID since this “prophet” banished it from the United States.
     Are you seeing a pattern? Friends, if a silver-lining can be found in this terrible pandemic, it might be to trust more in God, and less in men who claim to be his representatives and to spend more time in God’s word, and less time listening to the words of men (1 Timothy 4:1-2).

- Steve Higginbotham preaches for the Karns Church of Christ in Knoxville, TN. He may be contacted through the congregation's website at http://www.karnschurch.org Copyright © 2019 MercEmail 

Your Duck is Dead

By Larry Pasley

     A woman brought a very limp duck into a veterinary surgeon. As she laid her pet on the table, the vet pulled out his stethoscope and listened to the bird's chest. 
     After a moment or two, the vet shook his head and sadly said, "I'm sorry, your duck, Cuddles, has passed away."
     The distressed woman wailed, "Are you sure?" "Yes, I am sure. Your duck is dead," replied the vet..
"How can you be so sure?" she protested. "I mean you haven't done any testing on him or anything. He might just be in a coma or something."
     The vet rolled his eyes, turned around and left the room. He returned a few minutes later with a black Labrador Retriever. As the duck's owner looked on in amazement, the dog stood on his hind legs, put his front paws on the examination table and sniffed the duck from top to bottom. He then looked up at the vet with sad eyes and shook his head.
     The vet patted the dog on the head and took it out of the room. A few minutes later he returned with a cat. The cat jumped on the table and also delicately sniffed the bird from head to foot. The cat sat back on its haunches, shook its head, meowed softly and strolled out of the room.
     The vet looked at the woman and said, "I'm sorry, but as I said, this is most definitely, 100% certifiably, a dead duck."
     The vet turned to his computer terminal, hit a few keys and produced a bill, which he handed to the woman. The duck's owner, still in shock, took the bill. "$150!" she cried, "$150 just to tell me my duck is dead!"
     The vet shrugged, "I'm sorry. If you had just taken my word for it, the bill would have been $20, but with the Lab Report and the Cat Scan, it's now $150."

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     A $20 bill turned into $150. She should have left well enough alone. Have you ever felt like you should have left well enough alone?
     The writer of Ecclesiastes tells of a situation similar to this:
"Also do not take to heart everything people say, Lest you hear your servant cursing you. 22  For many times, also, your own heart has known That even you have cursed others. " (Ecclesiastes 7:21-22)
Why does he make this strange statement? Why would you not want to know if you servant has cursed you. He indicates the answer in verse 22, “Even you have cursed others.”
     It reminds us of what Jesus said about seeing the fault of others and not your own. Luke 6:41-42  And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? 42  Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother's eye.
     There is another reason we might not need to know that someone has cursed us. We may act rashly and do something we regret later. The one cursing us might have done so and regretted it later just as you might have done in the past. It would have been best to leave well enough alone.
     May we be careful about thinking we need to do something when it is better left alone.

- Larry Pasley serves as a minister with the Jackson Street Church of Christ in Alexandria, LA. He may be contacted through the congregation's website at http://www.JacksonStAlex.com 

Celebrate the New

By Travis Robertson

     We like to celebrate with friends and family when we receive something new. The most precious is, of course, a new baby. We throw baby showers, and want to hold the new beautiful bundle of joy. New cars also attract attention. New car smell is so appealing that it has been manufactured into a scent for old cars to make them smell new. New gizmos of every type flood the market every year. Consumers brave the cold, even camp out in front of stores to be the first to purchase the newest version of the latest product.
     We even celebrate the “New Year”. We get together and remember all about the old year, some of it with laughter and some with tears, but we celebrate the new. “Out with the old and in with the new!”
     If we are going to celebrate “new”, let us celebrate the new life that has been granted through the gracious gift of forgiveness and reconciliation and eternal life. Let us also resolve to live as light and salt so that reconciliation will spread throughout the world starting here and starting now.
     “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.  He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).

- Travis Robertson preachers for the Lake Norman Church of Christ in Huntersville, NC. He may be contacted through the congregation's website at http://lakenormancoc.org/