Be Prepared!
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” (Heb. 9:27)
People spend their lives in preparation for the “good life”; they spend thousands of dollars preparing for their death so that those left behind are not over burdened, but it seems they fail to prepare to meet their God. Man thinks he has it all figured out, but fails miserably when he stands before God. We are all aware of these things, but the question for us is “Am I prepared to meet the Lord?” As the natural man focuses on this life, those who walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh, should be focused on the hereafter, because it is that everlasting life that really matters. Are we laying up “treasures in Heaven”, incorruptible treasure that cannot wilt away? We, as Christians, also have some “preparing” to do. We will not stand before God for the judgment of sin--that has been taken care of, but we stand before Christ and give account for our works, and they shall be “tried with fire”.
The boy scout motto is “Be prepared”, and that is wise advice for everyone. To be prepared is to succeed against the trials and troubles that come our way; it is to be properly equipped for what may lie ahead. It takes an effort on our part to be prepared; planning, practice, and perspective, but it is well worth the time we invest in it.
Plan to meet the Lord: Accept Christ as your Savior. Let nothing deter you from obtaining that gift of life. Life is found in Christ, and Him alone, so plan to be with Him in heaven by meeting Him at Calvary.
Practice holy living: Without which we will not (never) see God (Heb. 12:14). Live in a way that reveals what you are! Tell others that “I serve the Living God” with your lifestyle, as well as your words. Live in a way that is becoming of children of God.
Perspective is important: To be properly prepared, we must have perspective. We must see things as God sees them; the only way we can do this is by diligent application of the Word of God; by continuing in the Word, and meditating in its truth’s. We gain perspective by searching out the hidden things of God, and applying what we learn to our lives.
Showing posts with label Gypsy Martindale. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gypsy Martindale. Show all posts
No Balm in Gilead?
Is there no balm in Gilead? The Lord asks this question in Jeremiah 8:22: “Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?” The problem was the indifference of God’s people to His will and to the law (His Word). Just two verses before this, God, speaking through Jeremiah, makes another observation: “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” We all have grown lax when it comes to serving our God. At times, we do well, but then we seem to “peter out” and slack off on the things of God. We are a busy people, it seems, but perhaps busy in the wrong things!
Remember the old strong smelling salve that was good for wounds and scrapes and burns? You don’t see it any more, modern medicine has consumed it. I remember a balm (we called it “salve”) that my mother used to rub on our sunburned skin to soothe us. It was a smelly, brown salve that was thick and pasty, but it did relieve the pain. The question is asked “Is there no balm in Gilead?” I re-phrase it for us today “Is there no balm in churches?” Is there no balm in our homes, and in our places of work? Where is the soothing ointment that we used to see so frequently? Is there not an aromatic, sweet smelling salve of the Holy Spirit to comfort us, and heal our wounds?
There are spiritual wounds that beset us; some are slight abrasions, and others more severe, even fatal, but there is also a Physician here. There is a soothing Balm in Christ. Jesus is called “The Great Physician” by some, and indeed He is the healer of the body as well as the soul. Jesus is the balm of the church, the “balm of Gilead, if you will. He is able, and willing to comfort us against the spiritual wounds of lust, envy, jealousy, and contentions; He is the balm that will heal us. That is not to say that this old body will not suffer ever again, it wears out through years of use and abuse, but there is an ointment for the soul, and that is everlasting. The comforting hand of Jesus will never wear thin.
There are doctors today who treat illnesses, but they cannot make the body heal. Only God can fuse the skin back together again; only He can make the scrapes disappear, the doctor merely applies the right medication, and then the Lord does the work! Doctors do the right thing to prepare the body for healing, but God does the actual healing. No doctor is truly a healer, give praise where praise is due. There is a balm in the churches today, in the form of the Holy Spirit of God. Balm was a medication to heal pain, but Christ is our medication to heal the anxieties and troubled hearts of His people. All the counseling that doctors do, they cannot give the peace that the Lord gives us; when they experiment with troubled minds, they are, at best, guessing, and “practicing” medicine on us, but Christ is thorough, and He heals the perplexing vanities of our minds and hearts. The old balm that I remember had been perfumed so that it did not give off an unpleasant odor; Christ is a sweet smelling aroma, a perfume for the stench of sin, and the stink of a worldly life.
Take the “Balm of Gilead” and apply it to your life; take Jesus as your Savior and see what wonders he will perform through you. Take Him even while your healthy, and not just when aches and pains prevail; He is the Balm of Gilead, the Great Physician for the soul, and the Medicine for our troubled minds. He cures the heartaches and the headaches of life, and comforts us when we are troubled. There is a cure for your “blues”; there is a cure for your worries and your depression; there is a friend for the lonely, a companion for the forlorn, and a hope for the hopeless, all in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus will carry you through the storms, and set your feet upon solid ground. Won’t you ask Him to save you today? Remember Jeremiah 8:20: “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” Will this verse describe you, my friend? Now is the time of salvation, “(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)”
Gypsy Martindale
Is there no balm in Gilead? The Lord asks this question in Jeremiah 8:22: “Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?” The problem was the indifference of God’s people to His will and to the law (His Word). Just two verses before this, God, speaking through Jeremiah, makes another observation: “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” We all have grown lax when it comes to serving our God. At times, we do well, but then we seem to “peter out” and slack off on the things of God. We are a busy people, it seems, but perhaps busy in the wrong things!
Remember the old strong smelling salve that was good for wounds and scrapes and burns? You don’t see it any more, modern medicine has consumed it. I remember a balm (we called it “salve”) that my mother used to rub on our sunburned skin to soothe us. It was a smelly, brown salve that was thick and pasty, but it did relieve the pain. The question is asked “Is there no balm in Gilead?” I re-phrase it for us today “Is there no balm in churches?” Is there no balm in our homes, and in our places of work? Where is the soothing ointment that we used to see so frequently? Is there not an aromatic, sweet smelling salve of the Holy Spirit to comfort us, and heal our wounds?
There are spiritual wounds that beset us; some are slight abrasions, and others more severe, even fatal, but there is also a Physician here. There is a soothing Balm in Christ. Jesus is called “The Great Physician” by some, and indeed He is the healer of the body as well as the soul. Jesus is the balm of the church, the “balm of Gilead, if you will. He is able, and willing to comfort us against the spiritual wounds of lust, envy, jealousy, and contentions; He is the balm that will heal us. That is not to say that this old body will not suffer ever again, it wears out through years of use and abuse, but there is an ointment for the soul, and that is everlasting. The comforting hand of Jesus will never wear thin.
There are doctors today who treat illnesses, but they cannot make the body heal. Only God can fuse the skin back together again; only He can make the scrapes disappear, the doctor merely applies the right medication, and then the Lord does the work! Doctors do the right thing to prepare the body for healing, but God does the actual healing. No doctor is truly a healer, give praise where praise is due. There is a balm in the churches today, in the form of the Holy Spirit of God. Balm was a medication to heal pain, but Christ is our medication to heal the anxieties and troubled hearts of His people. All the counseling that doctors do, they cannot give the peace that the Lord gives us; when they experiment with troubled minds, they are, at best, guessing, and “practicing” medicine on us, but Christ is thorough, and He heals the perplexing vanities of our minds and hearts. The old balm that I remember had been perfumed so that it did not give off an unpleasant odor; Christ is a sweet smelling aroma, a perfume for the stench of sin, and the stink of a worldly life.
Take the “Balm of Gilead” and apply it to your life; take Jesus as your Savior and see what wonders he will perform through you. Take Him even while your healthy, and not just when aches and pains prevail; He is the Balm of Gilead, the Great Physician for the soul, and the Medicine for our troubled minds. He cures the heartaches and the headaches of life, and comforts us when we are troubled. There is a cure for your “blues”; there is a cure for your worries and your depression; there is a friend for the lonely, a companion for the forlorn, and a hope for the hopeless, all in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus will carry you through the storms, and set your feet upon solid ground. Won’t you ask Him to save you today? Remember Jeremiah 8:20: “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” Will this verse describe you, my friend? Now is the time of salvation, “(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)”
Gypsy Martindale
Things that Preceded the Law
Some things that became a part of the law, but preceded the law, and are still practiced today in the church.
1. The Sacrifice:
When Cain slew Able, a lamb was slain to clothe them, covering their shame (Gen. 3);
When Abraham offered Isaac on the altar, a ram was provided in his place (Gen. 22, especially v. 13), a sacrifice was made on his behalf.
The sacrifice incorporated itself into the law--it was here first!
The sacrifice is older than law itself though it came to be a part of it.
Therefore, the blood preceded the law, as did the sacrifice.
2. The Tithe: (Gen. 14)
Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek! The greater was blessed of the lesser.
The tithe preceded the law, and never was changed in the New Testament.
The tithe is the Lord’s, it is holy unto Him. (Lev. 27)
That which was holy is still holy today.
3. Communion also Preceded the Law:
In the chapter mentioned above, Abraham brought bread and wine as a victory celebration, is this not communion?
(One might note too, that communion in the church is a victory celebration of sorts--a victory in Christ over death and hell)
4. Altars:
Noah, immediately after leaving the ark, built an altar to the lord. (Gen. 8:20)
Abraham built many altars unto the Lord; the most well known being Gen, 22:9 where he began to offer Isaac an offering to the Lord.
5. Typology:
(Adam; Joseph; Noah, etc.)
Neither is there “chapter and verse for this one, yet we acept it as genuine. The word, or any variation of it, is not found in the Bible.
1/27 Through the Bible in Devotions
Genesis 1 “Old birth, new birth”
“In the beginning God created the Heaven and the earth”. (Gen. 1:1)
And His work is an eternal work! As God is without beginning or end, so is His work. Notice the likeness here to the “new birth” and mans basic nature. Man is born in darkness, and confusion, then God moves upon his heart, and he “sees the light”, then he begins to grow in grace. Sanctification, separation, fruitfulness, all these follow, as a growth process, it’s all here. Yes, the work of creation is an ongoing work, an everlasting work, “Ye must be born again”. Every soul is an eternal creation, because it is made by God; every soul will spend eternity somewhere, where will it be for you?
Not only do we become, or are made to be, “new creatures” in Christ, but we also begin a new beginning! (2 Cor. 5:17). Salvation is Gods never ending creation. The natural birth process leads to death and destruction, and eventually hell, but thank God He has provided a new birth for us, a new beginning, in Christ Jesus. The “Genesis” of our lives begins at Calvary.
Then too, we must realize that it is Gods work to “create”, and not ours. To “change our ways” is not new birth, it is simply reformation. The new birth is a supernatural work, and can have no part with the work of the flesh. It was “In the beginning (that) God created....” What beginning? The beginning of life, eternal life as well as physical life, but only a beginning for us, since God has no beginning! In order to be there “in the beginning” He had to exist before the beginning, which He did. Whenever we read the “creation story” we must be reminded of the “new birth” (as well as the natural birth of this world), which was obtained with a great price for us at Calvary. Let us be thankful that God chose to keep on creating “new creatures” long after this seven day creation.
The best part is that we have a hand in helping Him, by telling others about Jesus and His power to save. Yes, we can help others find eternal life in Christ, and in a sense, be re-created into a real, living soul.
“In the beginning God created the Heaven and the earth”. (Gen. 1:1)
And His work is an eternal work! As God is without beginning or end, so is His work. Notice the likeness here to the “new birth” and mans basic nature. Man is born in darkness, and confusion, then God moves upon his heart, and he “sees the light”, then he begins to grow in grace. Sanctification, separation, fruitfulness, all these follow, as a growth process, it’s all here. Yes, the work of creation is an ongoing work, an everlasting work, “Ye must be born again”. Every soul is an eternal creation, because it is made by God; every soul will spend eternity somewhere, where will it be for you?
Not only do we become, or are made to be, “new creatures” in Christ, but we also begin a new beginning! (2 Cor. 5:17). Salvation is Gods never ending creation. The natural birth process leads to death and destruction, and eventually hell, but thank God He has provided a new birth for us, a new beginning, in Christ Jesus. The “Genesis” of our lives begins at Calvary.
Then too, we must realize that it is Gods work to “create”, and not ours. To “change our ways” is not new birth, it is simply reformation. The new birth is a supernatural work, and can have no part with the work of the flesh. It was “In the beginning (that) God created....” What beginning? The beginning of life, eternal life as well as physical life, but only a beginning for us, since God has no beginning! In order to be there “in the beginning” He had to exist before the beginning, which He did. Whenever we read the “creation story” we must be reminded of the “new birth” (as well as the natural birth of this world), which was obtained with a great price for us at Calvary. Let us be thankful that God chose to keep on creating “new creatures” long after this seven day creation.
The best part is that we have a hand in helping Him, by telling others about Jesus and His power to save. Yes, we can help others find eternal life in Christ, and in a sense, be re-created into a real, living soul.
1/4 Some Baptist Distinctives
What makes us different from others?
1. Salvation by grace, apart from works.(Eph 2:8, 9)
Baptists have suffered much because of their stand on works vs. grace.
2. Eternal salvation (Heb. 5:9)
There is a multitude of scriptures to support this doctrine.
Closely related to #1: if men believe they can lose their salvation, they are holding on by works.
3. Separation (Acts 13:2)
Ecclesiastical/secular
“Elitist”? No!
Separation is almost dead in our churches today.
4. Baptism by Immersion (comp. Mt. 3:16, and etc.)
Depicts the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. (All three necessary for “Gospel”.)
--One cannot be buried from a quick sprinkling.
5. A literal, fiery hell (Lk. 16:19-31)
A “lake of fire” Rev. 20:15
6. One God, but three distinct and separate entities. (1 Jn. 5:7)
A “triune” God:
God the Father;
God the Son;
God the Holy Spirit.
1. Salvation by grace, apart from works.(Eph 2:8, 9)
Baptists have suffered much because of their stand on works vs. grace.
2. Eternal salvation (Heb. 5:9)
There is a multitude of scriptures to support this doctrine.
Closely related to #1: if men believe they can lose their salvation, they are holding on by works.
3. Separation (Acts 13:2)
Ecclesiastical/secular
“Elitist”? No!
Separation is almost dead in our churches today.
4. Baptism by Immersion (comp. Mt. 3:16, and etc.)
Depicts the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. (All three necessary for “Gospel”.)
--One cannot be buried from a quick sprinkling.
5. A literal, fiery hell (Lk. 16:19-31)
A “lake of fire” Rev. 20:15
6. One God, but three distinct and separate entities. (1 Jn. 5:7)
A “triune” God:
God the Father;
God the Son;
God the Holy Spirit.
Sin has a Payday
Sin has a Payday
But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out. (Num. 32:23)
Friends, please listen closely today, for as our text verse says, we have sinned against God, and we can be sure that our sin will find us out. I will attempt to show as much as I can, how sin affects not only the guilty party, but others who are not even involved in the same sin and debauchery. I will attempt to show how sin affects society, and families, and of course, the individuals that engage in it. Go with me a moment into the realm of imagination, as I create some real live events in the lives of many unwary people. We may know some of them, though they are, in my illustration, and for the most part, fictitious, they are real in the sense of mans nature, and the affects of sin on mankind. The examples and events I allude to are real, though and the people are real, though they are analogies that show a parallel to today’s reality. Let us begin…
A young man and girl are out on a date. They enjoy being with each other--he makes her laugh; she is easy to talk to; soon things escalate, and they find themselves in an intimate relationship. At the time, she does not think of raising a child alone; she is not thinking too much of the possibility that he may “move on” to other girls, and another life; they are living for the moment. As time goes on, and the dating continues with the intimacy becoming more frequent and the thoughts of “getting caught” begin to taunt them, the unbelievable happens! She finds that she is pregnant! Suddenly, their dating has come to a standstill; he is “busy” and can’t see her as often as she would like. Her dreams of marital bliss soon become shattered, and she is left with some serious decisions to make: Is she ready for the day-to-day drudgery of raising a child? Is she up to it? What about school? She has not yet graduated, and her parents will be outraged to think that she would not finish school. And what about the pregnancy? They will be furious! Could she adopt the baby out? Is abortion an option for her? How will she hide the fact that she is pregnant--surely she will have to own up to everything.
The young man? He has begun a life of fornication; a life of “conquest” to brag about to his friends. He will continue to be dominated by pornography, and fornication until he finally finds the right woman and settles down--and probably even after that! He’s hooked! He quits his job, lest she hound him about his responsibilities to her unborn child; he moves to another part of town. He finds another sweet, unsuspecting “prospect” to conquer, and begins a new start with the same heart. He is a “hero” to his friends, a “mans man” because he impregnated a young girl, and ruined her life.
Eventually, the parents do find out. They are outraged! They are embarrassed; they are dumbfounded and perplexed to think that their little girl has betrayed them and deceived them. They are hurt. They want to cast her out--to disown her at first, and remove her place from the family table; they too are at a loss as to what to do. After the smoke clears, and rationality comes back to them, they consider the options too--the same options that they young girl has been mulling over in her mind from the onset.
So far, her sin has affected her, her boyfriend, her parents, but what of the baby? How is her decision to affect that precious little life inside her? What will be done with it?
The young child now faces depression. She asks, almost to herself “Why me?, Why does this have to happen to me?”, but she knows “why”; she knows that she sinned against her God, her parents, and herself, and perhaps even her unborn child, “Oh I wish this would never have happened” she exclaims, but it did happen, and she must deal with it. The problem is not hers alone though; it affects a young man destined to be ruled by a life of lust; it affected the parents shamed and humiliated by the lovely offspring of their own unity; their hopes for her shattered in a moment; their dreams of her success, and her happiness are completely destroyed, as well as her own dreams, and for what? One act of sin without second thought; the desire for “fun” and acceptance; all this is the payday for her foolishness; yes, payday has come.
Let’s leave them for now, and move on to the office worker who is stuck in a time warp, a “rut” if you will. He’s tired of the same old thing day after day, week after week. He needs a change. His dilemma began a few years ago when he decided the that the office could buy him lunch, it is the least they could do for his years of faithful service. He began taking a little out of the till, jut a little so that it wouldn’t be missed, but it was missed! “As much as they make off my efforts, it’s the least they could do“, he thought. Just a simple few dollars for lunch--no big deal really. But that too escalated. Soon things began to happen at home; his house was in danger of foreclosure; he needed another car; His wife was nagging him about wearing the same old clothes for years, he was in debt! It was easy then for him to steal a little more, to help out, after all, he could pay it back later--but “later never came. The amount the stole increased gradually over the following year, and soon he was taken to task for all the expenditure that seemed to be piling up with no verification for it. He denied it, of course. One lie led to another, now he is a thief and a liar, and is thinking of leaving his job for “better things”. He wonders “What is happening to me? Where does it all stop?” Meanwhile his wife has filed for divorce, he has been impossible to live with; guilt has eaten him up, but still he persists and digs the hole deeper. His life is a wreck. He has affected his wife’s life, his family is in jeopardy of losing their breadwinner, and his friends are even forsaking him. He has affected the lives of others, and infected society with his sin. Some now have problems not of their making; they are troubled and worried, and at a loss as to what to do, because of his actions. Oh, he doesn’t see their woes, he has eyes only for himself, nonetheless, the family suffers, his relationships with neighbors suffers; his friends forsake him, and his relatives suddenly become scarce, after he has borrowed so much from them that they no longer trust him. Eventually he considers suicide, which also affects others in a major way.
Let’s move on again to the two youths that love to party. “A little marijuana and a snort or two of cocaine never heart anyone, and adds to the fun” that was their motto. Spending their lives in fulfilling the lusts of the flesh, having a “good time”, but never realizing that sin has its payday. They live as if the world was made specifically for them, and there was no retribution for sin. One dies of an overdose of drugs; the other must live with the fact that he supplied the drugs to his “friend”, and he sinks deeper into despair. He is “looking for himself” and floats around with no goals, no hope of a normal life, just a mere, shallow existence; he too decides to take his life eventually. His family is heartbroken; his sister wonders what happened to her little brother, why did this happen? He leaves her with many unanswered questions; she spends much of her life in the shadows, never having the initiative to excel. She is despondent, confuse, and on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The dad, he is a broken man. He lost all ambition, he sits and drinks all day, and wonders’ “why, why did this happen to my son?” He is angry, and vengeful, and confused, while the mother is hospitalized with a nervous breakdown, and seemingly is losing her mind. All this because of the foolishness of a youth; a youths idea of “fun” and drugs, and sex, and parties all the time with no real responsibilities. One life has ruined many. Society is also affected because they have to support a family financially, and mentally with support groups. Everyone suffers the loss, and sin has had its payday!
I could go on, but you all have heard the stories before of the broken lives, and the wiles of Satan as he gets his evil claws into the lives of mankind. You get the gist of the message. Why don’t we simply obey God and make life easier for us and for others? Is it so hard to do right? Yet none of us do--not all the time at least. Be careful, be vigilant, Be sure your sin will find you out!
Gypsy Martindale
But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out. (Num. 32:23)
Friends, please listen closely today, for as our text verse says, we have sinned against God, and we can be sure that our sin will find us out. I will attempt to show as much as I can, how sin affects not only the guilty party, but others who are not even involved in the same sin and debauchery. I will attempt to show how sin affects society, and families, and of course, the individuals that engage in it. Go with me a moment into the realm of imagination, as I create some real live events in the lives of many unwary people. We may know some of them, though they are, in my illustration, and for the most part, fictitious, they are real in the sense of mans nature, and the affects of sin on mankind. The examples and events I allude to are real, though and the people are real, though they are analogies that show a parallel to today’s reality. Let us begin…
A young man and girl are out on a date. They enjoy being with each other--he makes her laugh; she is easy to talk to; soon things escalate, and they find themselves in an intimate relationship. At the time, she does not think of raising a child alone; she is not thinking too much of the possibility that he may “move on” to other girls, and another life; they are living for the moment. As time goes on, and the dating continues with the intimacy becoming more frequent and the thoughts of “getting caught” begin to taunt them, the unbelievable happens! She finds that she is pregnant! Suddenly, their dating has come to a standstill; he is “busy” and can’t see her as often as she would like. Her dreams of marital bliss soon become shattered, and she is left with some serious decisions to make: Is she ready for the day-to-day drudgery of raising a child? Is she up to it? What about school? She has not yet graduated, and her parents will be outraged to think that she would not finish school. And what about the pregnancy? They will be furious! Could she adopt the baby out? Is abortion an option for her? How will she hide the fact that she is pregnant--surely she will have to own up to everything.
The young man? He has begun a life of fornication; a life of “conquest” to brag about to his friends. He will continue to be dominated by pornography, and fornication until he finally finds the right woman and settles down--and probably even after that! He’s hooked! He quits his job, lest she hound him about his responsibilities to her unborn child; he moves to another part of town. He finds another sweet, unsuspecting “prospect” to conquer, and begins a new start with the same heart. He is a “hero” to his friends, a “mans man” because he impregnated a young girl, and ruined her life.
Eventually, the parents do find out. They are outraged! They are embarrassed; they are dumbfounded and perplexed to think that their little girl has betrayed them and deceived them. They are hurt. They want to cast her out--to disown her at first, and remove her place from the family table; they too are at a loss as to what to do. After the smoke clears, and rationality comes back to them, they consider the options too--the same options that they young girl has been mulling over in her mind from the onset.
So far, her sin has affected her, her boyfriend, her parents, but what of the baby? How is her decision to affect that precious little life inside her? What will be done with it?
The young child now faces depression. She asks, almost to herself “Why me?, Why does this have to happen to me?”, but she knows “why”; she knows that she sinned against her God, her parents, and herself, and perhaps even her unborn child, “Oh I wish this would never have happened” she exclaims, but it did happen, and she must deal with it. The problem is not hers alone though; it affects a young man destined to be ruled by a life of lust; it affected the parents shamed and humiliated by the lovely offspring of their own unity; their hopes for her shattered in a moment; their dreams of her success, and her happiness are completely destroyed, as well as her own dreams, and for what? One act of sin without second thought; the desire for “fun” and acceptance; all this is the payday for her foolishness; yes, payday has come.
Let’s leave them for now, and move on to the office worker who is stuck in a time warp, a “rut” if you will. He’s tired of the same old thing day after day, week after week. He needs a change. His dilemma began a few years ago when he decided the that the office could buy him lunch, it is the least they could do for his years of faithful service. He began taking a little out of the till, jut a little so that it wouldn’t be missed, but it was missed! “As much as they make off my efforts, it’s the least they could do“, he thought. Just a simple few dollars for lunch--no big deal really. But that too escalated. Soon things began to happen at home; his house was in danger of foreclosure; he needed another car; His wife was nagging him about wearing the same old clothes for years, he was in debt! It was easy then for him to steal a little more, to help out, after all, he could pay it back later--but “later never came. The amount the stole increased gradually over the following year, and soon he was taken to task for all the expenditure that seemed to be piling up with no verification for it. He denied it, of course. One lie led to another, now he is a thief and a liar, and is thinking of leaving his job for “better things”. He wonders “What is happening to me? Where does it all stop?” Meanwhile his wife has filed for divorce, he has been impossible to live with; guilt has eaten him up, but still he persists and digs the hole deeper. His life is a wreck. He has affected his wife’s life, his family is in jeopardy of losing their breadwinner, and his friends are even forsaking him. He has affected the lives of others, and infected society with his sin. Some now have problems not of their making; they are troubled and worried, and at a loss as to what to do, because of his actions. Oh, he doesn’t see their woes, he has eyes only for himself, nonetheless, the family suffers, his relationships with neighbors suffers; his friends forsake him, and his relatives suddenly become scarce, after he has borrowed so much from them that they no longer trust him. Eventually he considers suicide, which also affects others in a major way.
Let’s move on again to the two youths that love to party. “A little marijuana and a snort or two of cocaine never heart anyone, and adds to the fun” that was their motto. Spending their lives in fulfilling the lusts of the flesh, having a “good time”, but never realizing that sin has its payday. They live as if the world was made specifically for them, and there was no retribution for sin. One dies of an overdose of drugs; the other must live with the fact that he supplied the drugs to his “friend”, and he sinks deeper into despair. He is “looking for himself” and floats around with no goals, no hope of a normal life, just a mere, shallow existence; he too decides to take his life eventually. His family is heartbroken; his sister wonders what happened to her little brother, why did this happen? He leaves her with many unanswered questions; she spends much of her life in the shadows, never having the initiative to excel. She is despondent, confuse, and on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The dad, he is a broken man. He lost all ambition, he sits and drinks all day, and wonders’ “why, why did this happen to my son?” He is angry, and vengeful, and confused, while the mother is hospitalized with a nervous breakdown, and seemingly is losing her mind. All this because of the foolishness of a youth; a youths idea of “fun” and drugs, and sex, and parties all the time with no real responsibilities. One life has ruined many. Society is also affected because they have to support a family financially, and mentally with support groups. Everyone suffers the loss, and sin has had its payday!
I could go on, but you all have heard the stories before of the broken lives, and the wiles of Satan as he gets his evil claws into the lives of mankind. You get the gist of the message. Why don’t we simply obey God and make life easier for us and for others? Is it so hard to do right? Yet none of us do--not all the time at least. Be careful, be vigilant, Be sure your sin will find you out!
Gypsy Martindale
12/16 No Balm in Gilead?
No Balm in Gilead?
Is there no balm in Gilead? The Lord asks this question in Jeremiah 8:22: “Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?” The problem was the indifference of God’s people to His will and to the law (His Word). Just two verses before this, God, speaking through Jeremiah, makes another observation: “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” We all have grown lax when it comes to serving our God. At times, we do well, but then we seem to “peter out” and slack off on the things of God. We are a busy people, it seems, but perhaps busy in the wrong things!
Remember the old strong smelling salve that was good for wounds and scrapes and burns? You don’t see it any more, modern medicine has consumed it. I remember a balm (we called it “salve”) that my mother used to rub on our sunburned skin to soothe us. It was a smelly, brown salve that was thick and pasty, but it did relieve the pain. The question is asked “Is there no balm in Gilead?” I re-phrase it for us today “Is there no balm in churches?” Is there no balm in our homes, and in our places of work? Where is the soothing ointment that we used to see so frequently? Is there not an aromatic, sweet smelling salve of the Holy Spirit to comfort us, and heal our wounds?
There are spiritual wounds that beset us; some are slight abrasions, and others more severe, even fatal, but there is also a Physician here. There is a soothing Balm in Christ. Jesus is called “The Great Physician” by some, and indeed He is the healer of the body as well as the soul. Jesus is the balm of the church, the “balm of Gilead, if you will. He is able, and willing to comfort us against the spiritual wounds of lust, envy, jealousy, and contentions; He is the balm that will heal us. That is not to say that this old body will not suffer ever again, it wears out through years of use and abuse, but there is an ointment for the soul, and that is everlasting. The comforting hand of Jesus will never wear thin.
There are doctors today who treat illnesses, but they cannot make the body heal. Only God can fuse the skin back together again; only He can make the scrapes disappear, the doctor merely applies the right medication, and then the Lord does the work! Doctors do the right thing to prepare the body for healing, but God does the actual healing. No doctor is truly a healer, give praise where praise is due. There is a balm in the churches today, in the form of the Holy Spirit of God. Balm was a medication to heal pain, but Christ is our medication to heal the anxieties and troubled hearts of His people. All the counseling that doctors do, they cannot give the peace that the Lord gives us; when they experiment with troubled minds, they are, at best, guessing, and “practicing” medicine on us, but Christ is thorough, and He heals the perplexing vanities of our minds and hearts. The old balm that I remember had been perfumed so that it did not give off an unpleasant odor; Christ is a sweet smelling aroma , a perfume for the stench of sin, and the stink of a worldly life.
Take the “Balm of Gilead” and apply it to your life; take Jesus as your savior and see what wonders he will perform through you. Take Him even while your healthy, and not just when aches and pains prevail; He is the Balm of Gilead, the Great Physician for the soul, and the Medicine for our troubled minds. He cures the heartaches and the headaches of life, and comforts us when we are troubled. There is a cure for your “blues”; there is a cure for your worries and your depression; there is a friend for the lonely, a companion for the forlorn, and a hope for the hopeless, all in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus will carry you through the storms, and set your feet upon solid ground. Won’t you ask Him to save you today? Remember Jeremiah 8:20: “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” Will this verse describe you, my friend? Now is the time of salvation, “(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)”
Gypsy Martindale
Is there no balm in Gilead? The Lord asks this question in Jeremiah 8:22: “Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?” The problem was the indifference of God’s people to His will and to the law (His Word). Just two verses before this, God, speaking through Jeremiah, makes another observation: “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” We all have grown lax when it comes to serving our God. At times, we do well, but then we seem to “peter out” and slack off on the things of God. We are a busy people, it seems, but perhaps busy in the wrong things!
Remember the old strong smelling salve that was good for wounds and scrapes and burns? You don’t see it any more, modern medicine has consumed it. I remember a balm (we called it “salve”) that my mother used to rub on our sunburned skin to soothe us. It was a smelly, brown salve that was thick and pasty, but it did relieve the pain. The question is asked “Is there no balm in Gilead?” I re-phrase it for us today “Is there no balm in churches?” Is there no balm in our homes, and in our places of work? Where is the soothing ointment that we used to see so frequently? Is there not an aromatic, sweet smelling salve of the Holy Spirit to comfort us, and heal our wounds?
There are spiritual wounds that beset us; some are slight abrasions, and others more severe, even fatal, but there is also a Physician here. There is a soothing Balm in Christ. Jesus is called “The Great Physician” by some, and indeed He is the healer of the body as well as the soul. Jesus is the balm of the church, the “balm of Gilead, if you will. He is able, and willing to comfort us against the spiritual wounds of lust, envy, jealousy, and contentions; He is the balm that will heal us. That is not to say that this old body will not suffer ever again, it wears out through years of use and abuse, but there is an ointment for the soul, and that is everlasting. The comforting hand of Jesus will never wear thin.
There are doctors today who treat illnesses, but they cannot make the body heal. Only God can fuse the skin back together again; only He can make the scrapes disappear, the doctor merely applies the right medication, and then the Lord does the work! Doctors do the right thing to prepare the body for healing, but God does the actual healing. No doctor is truly a healer, give praise where praise is due. There is a balm in the churches today, in the form of the Holy Spirit of God. Balm was a medication to heal pain, but Christ is our medication to heal the anxieties and troubled hearts of His people. All the counseling that doctors do, they cannot give the peace that the Lord gives us; when they experiment with troubled minds, they are, at best, guessing, and “practicing” medicine on us, but Christ is thorough, and He heals the perplexing vanities of our minds and hearts. The old balm that I remember had been perfumed so that it did not give off an unpleasant odor; Christ is a sweet smelling aroma , a perfume for the stench of sin, and the stink of a worldly life.
Take the “Balm of Gilead” and apply it to your life; take Jesus as your savior and see what wonders he will perform through you. Take Him even while your healthy, and not just when aches and pains prevail; He is the Balm of Gilead, the Great Physician for the soul, and the Medicine for our troubled minds. He cures the heartaches and the headaches of life, and comforts us when we are troubled. There is a cure for your “blues”; there is a cure for your worries and your depression; there is a friend for the lonely, a companion for the forlorn, and a hope for the hopeless, all in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus will carry you through the storms, and set your feet upon solid ground. Won’t you ask Him to save you today? Remember Jeremiah 8:20: “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” Will this verse describe you, my friend? Now is the time of salvation, “(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)”
Gypsy Martindale
12/13 What has Happened to Christmas?
What has Happened to Christmas?
We all know the “Christmas story”, and how the angels proclaimed the glorious birth; how the wise men traveled from afar to worship him, and gloriously looked forward to merely seeing the Christ child. We have read of the shepherds that came, and sought him out, with great joy they came to gaze upon the Savior, but what has happened to Christmas? What has happened to the joy and the elation that filled the air during those times? Where has that electric, ecstatic jubilance gone? Nowadays, even Christians are selling out on Christmas!
The world has stolen our blessing! They have cunningly devised a scheme to slander the name “Christmas” and speak of it among the trash heaps of men’s mythology. They have sought to destroy Christmas! Woe to those who align themselves with the world and seek to undermine the great joy and blessing that once permeated the very air; woe unto them who scorn at Christmas when even the angels greatly rejoiced in it, and so much more woe to them when they attempt to tear down the excitement and the great mirth that comes with the birth of Christ. That’s what it is all about isn’t it? The birth of Christ, the Savior of the world?
Woe unto you who pompously celebrate your own birthday, or the birth of great men of the world, all the while scorning the blessed Savior’s birthday. Woe unto you when you care more for the birth of a great man than the birth of a greater God! Double woe unto you, oh “Christian” that says that the recognized day of celebrating the second greatest event this world has ever known---the birth of Christ, is a fallacy practiced by pagans years ago. Oh, how you make an alliance with the opposes of all that is good and right, and all in the name of Christmas truth! Woe unto you when you care more for the birth of a great man than the birth of a greater God! You, a “brother in the Lord” are bent on destroying Christmas. Shame on you!
Let’s continue to celebrate that great day, the day of our Savior’s birth. Don’t let the unbelievers steal our joy; don’t let the false prophets with tickling ears spread their message of doom for Christmas! Don’t let the carnal one’s who fall for the wiles of the devil destroy that which we hold dear and precious. Let’s get Christmas back! We need to wretch it from the unholy hands that seek to downplay the importance of such an earth-shaking event. Let’s take Christmas back, and rejoice in our Saviors birth, and in the fact that the resurrection could not have happened except for the birth. Jesus was born to die! Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, and goodwill toward men.
We all know the “Christmas story”, and how the angels proclaimed the glorious birth; how the wise men traveled from afar to worship him, and gloriously looked forward to merely seeing the Christ child. We have read of the shepherds that came, and sought him out, with great joy they came to gaze upon the Savior, but what has happened to Christmas? What has happened to the joy and the elation that filled the air during those times? Where has that electric, ecstatic jubilance gone? Nowadays, even Christians are selling out on Christmas!
The world has stolen our blessing! They have cunningly devised a scheme to slander the name “Christmas” and speak of it among the trash heaps of men’s mythology. They have sought to destroy Christmas! Woe to those who align themselves with the world and seek to undermine the great joy and blessing that once permeated the very air; woe unto them who scorn at Christmas when even the angels greatly rejoiced in it, and so much more woe to them when they attempt to tear down the excitement and the great mirth that comes with the birth of Christ. That’s what it is all about isn’t it? The birth of Christ, the Savior of the world?
Woe unto you who pompously celebrate your own birthday, or the birth of great men of the world, all the while scorning the blessed Savior’s birthday. Woe unto you when you care more for the birth of a great man than the birth of a greater God! Double woe unto you, oh “Christian” that says that the recognized day of celebrating the second greatest event this world has ever known---the birth of Christ, is a fallacy practiced by pagans years ago. Oh, how you make an alliance with the opposes of all that is good and right, and all in the name of Christmas truth! Woe unto you when you care more for the birth of a great man than the birth of a greater God! You, a “brother in the Lord” are bent on destroying Christmas. Shame on you!
Let’s continue to celebrate that great day, the day of our Savior’s birth. Don’t let the unbelievers steal our joy; don’t let the false prophets with tickling ears spread their message of doom for Christmas! Don’t let the carnal one’s who fall for the wiles of the devil destroy that which we hold dear and precious. Let’s get Christmas back! We need to wretch it from the unholy hands that seek to downplay the importance of such an earth-shaking event. Let’s take Christmas back, and rejoice in our Saviors birth, and in the fact that the resurrection could not have happened except for the birth. Jesus was born to die! Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, and goodwill toward men.
12/7 What has Happened to Christmas?
What has Happened to Christmas?
We all know the “Christmas story”, and how the angels proclaimed the glorious birth; how the wise men traveled from afar to worship him, and gloriously looked forward to merely seeing the Christ child. We have read of the shepherds that came, and sought him out, with great joy they came to gaze upon the Savior, but what has happened to Christmas? What has happened to the joy and the elation that filled the air during those times? Where has that electric, ecstatic jubilance gone? Nowadays, even Christians are selling out on Christmas!
The world has stolen our blessing! They have cunningly devised a scheme to slander the name “Christmas” and speak of it among the trash heaps of men’s mythology. They have sought to destroy Christmas! Woe to those who align themselves with the world and seek to undermine the great joy and blessing that once permeated the very air; woe unto them who scorn at Christmas when even the angels greatly rejoiced in it, and so much more woe to them when they attempt to tear down the excitement and the great mirth that comes with the birth of Christ. That’s what it is all about isn’t it? The birth of Christ, the Savior of the world?
Woe unto you who pompously celebrate your own birthday, or the birth of great men of the world, all the while scorning the blessed Savior’s birthday. Woe unto you when you care more for the birth of a great man than the birth of a greater God! Double woe unto you, oh “Christian” that says that the recognized day of celebrating the second greatest event this world has ever known---the birth of Christ, is a fallacy practiced by pagans years ago. Oh, how you make an alliance with the opposes of all that is good and right, and all in the name of Christmas truth! Woe unto you when you care more for the birth of a great man than the birth of a greater God! You, a “brother in the Lord” are bent on destroying Christmas. Shame on you!
Let’s continue to celebrate that great day, the day of our Savior’s birth. Don’t let the unbelievers steal our joy; don’t let the false prophets with tickling ears spread their message of doom for Christmas! Don’t let the carnal one’s who fall for the wiles of the devil destroy that which we hold dear and precious. Let’s get Christmas back! We need to wretch it from the unholy hands that seek to downplay the importance of such an earth-shaking event. Let’s take Christmas back, and rejoice in our Saviors birth, and in the fact that the resurrection could not have happened except for the birth. Jesus was born to die! Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, and goodwill toward men.
We all know the “Christmas story”, and how the angels proclaimed the glorious birth; how the wise men traveled from afar to worship him, and gloriously looked forward to merely seeing the Christ child. We have read of the shepherds that came, and sought him out, with great joy they came to gaze upon the Savior, but what has happened to Christmas? What has happened to the joy and the elation that filled the air during those times? Where has that electric, ecstatic jubilance gone? Nowadays, even Christians are selling out on Christmas!
The world has stolen our blessing! They have cunningly devised a scheme to slander the name “Christmas” and speak of it among the trash heaps of men’s mythology. They have sought to destroy Christmas! Woe to those who align themselves with the world and seek to undermine the great joy and blessing that once permeated the very air; woe unto them who scorn at Christmas when even the angels greatly rejoiced in it, and so much more woe to them when they attempt to tear down the excitement and the great mirth that comes with the birth of Christ. That’s what it is all about isn’t it? The birth of Christ, the Savior of the world?
Woe unto you who pompously celebrate your own birthday, or the birth of great men of the world, all the while scorning the blessed Savior’s birthday. Woe unto you when you care more for the birth of a great man than the birth of a greater God! Double woe unto you, oh “Christian” that says that the recognized day of celebrating the second greatest event this world has ever known---the birth of Christ, is a fallacy practiced by pagans years ago. Oh, how you make an alliance with the opposes of all that is good and right, and all in the name of Christmas truth! Woe unto you when you care more for the birth of a great man than the birth of a greater God! You, a “brother in the Lord” are bent on destroying Christmas. Shame on you!
Let’s continue to celebrate that great day, the day of our Savior’s birth. Don’t let the unbelievers steal our joy; don’t let the false prophets with tickling ears spread their message of doom for Christmas! Don’t let the carnal one’s who fall for the wiles of the devil destroy that which we hold dear and precious. Let’s get Christmas back! We need to wretch it from the unholy hands that seek to downplay the importance of such an earth-shaking event. Let’s take Christmas back, and rejoice in our Saviors birth, and in the fact that the resurrection could not have happened except for the birth. Jesus was born to die! Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, and goodwill toward men.
12/5 Sin has a Payday
Sin has a Payday
But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out. (Num. 32:23)
Friends, please listen closely today, for as our text verse says, we have sinned against God, and we can be sure that our sin will find us out. I will attempt to show as much as I can, how sin affects not only the guilty party, but others who are not even involved in the same sin and debauchery. I will attempt to show how sin affects society, and families, and of course, the individuals that engage in it. Go with me a moment into the realm of imagination, as I create some real live events in the lives of many unwary people. We may know some of them, though they are, in my illustration, and for the most part, fictitious, they are real in the sense of mans nature, and the affects of sin on mankind. The examples and events I allude to are real, though and the people are real, though they are analogies that show a parallel to today’s reality. Let us begin…
A young man and girl are out on a date. They enjoy being with each other--he makes her laugh; she is easy to talk to; soon things escalate, and they find themselves in an intimate relationship. At the time, she does not think of raising a child alone; she is not thinking too much of the possibility that he may “move on” to other girls, and another life; they are living for the moment. As time goes on, and the dating continues with the intimacy becoming more frequent and the thoughts of “getting caught” begin to taunt them, the unbelievable happens! She finds that she is pregnant! Suddenly, their dating has come to a standstill; he is “busy” and can’t see her as often as she would like. Her dreams of marital bliss soon become shattered, and she is left with some serious decisions to make: Is she ready for the day-to-day drudgery of raising a child? Is she up to it? What about school? She has not yet graduated, and her parents will be outraged to think that she would not finish school. And what about the pregnancy? They will be furious! Could she adopt the baby out? Is abortion an option for her? How will she hide the fact that she is pregnant--surely she will have to own up to everything.
The young man? He has begun a life of fornication; a life of “conquest” to brag about to his friends. He will continue to be dominated by pornography, and fornication until he finally finds the right woman and settles down--and probably even after that! He’s hooked! He quits his job, lest she hound him about his responsibilities to her unborn child; he moves to another part of town. He finds another sweet, unsuspecting “prospect” to conquer, and begins a new start with the same heart. He is a “hero” to his friends, a “mans man” because he impregnated a young girl, and ruined her life.
Eventually, the parents do find out. They are outraged! They are embarrassed; they are dumbfounded and perplexed to think that their little girl has betrayed them and deceived them. They are hurt. They want to cast her out--to disown her at first, and remove her place from the family table; they too are at a loss as to what to do. After the smoke clears, and rationality comes back to them, they consider the options too--the same options that they young girl has been mulling over in her mind from the onset.
So far, her sin has affected her, her boyfriend, her parents, but what of the baby? How is her decision to affect that precious little life inside her? What will be done with it?
The young child now faces depression. She asks, almost to herself “Why me?, Why does this have to happen to me?”, but she knows “why”; she knows that she sinned against her God, her parents, and herself, and perhaps even her unborn child, “Oh I wish this would never have happened” she exclaims, but it did happen, and she must deal with it. The problem is not hers alone though; it affects a young man destined to be ruled by a life of lust; it affected the parents shamed and humiliated by the lovely offspring of their own unity; their hopes for her shattered in a moment; their dreams of her success, and her happiness are completely destroyed, as well as her own dreams, and for what? One act of sin without second thought; the desire for “fun” and acceptance; all this is the payday for her foolishness; yes, payday has come.
Let’s leave them for now, and move on to the office worker who is stuck in a time warp, a “rut” if you will. He’s tired of the same old thing day after day, week after week. He needs a change. His dilemma began a few years ago when he decided the that the office could buy him lunch, it is the least they could do for his years of faithful service. He began taking a little out of the till, jut a little so that it wouldn’t be missed, but it was missed! “As much as they make off my efforts, it’s the least they could do“, he thought. Just a simple few dollars for lunch--no big deal really. But that too escalated. Soon things began to happen at home; his house was in danger of foreclosure; he needed another car; His wife was nagging him about wearing the same old clothes for years, he was in debt! It was easy then for him to steal a little more, to help out, after all, he could pay it back later--but “later never came. The amount the stole increased gradually over the following year, and soon he was taken to task for all the expenditure that seemed to be piling up with no verification for it. He denied it, of course. One lie led to another, now he is a thief and a liar, and is thinking of leaving his job for “better things”. He wonders “What is happening to me? Where does it all stop?” Meanwhile his wife has filed for divorce, he has been impossible to live with; guilt has eaten him up, but still he persists and digs the hole deeper. His life is a wreck. He has affected his wife’s life, his family is in jeopardy of losing their breadwinner, and his friends are even forsaking him. He has affected the lives of others, and infected society with his sin. Some now have problems not of their making; they are troubled and worried, and at a loss as to what to do, because of his actions. Oh, he doesn’t see their woes, he has eyes only for himself, nonetheless, the family suffers, his relationships with neighbors suffers; his friends forsake him, and his relatives suddenly become scarce, after he has borrowed so much from them that they no longer trust him. Eventually he considers suicide, which also affects others in a major way.
Let’s move on again to the two youths that love to party. “A little marijuana and a snort or two of cocaine never heart anyone, and adds to the fun” that was their motto. Spending their lives in fulfilling the lusts of the flesh, having a “good time”, but never realizing that sin has its payday. They live as if the world was made specifically for them, and there was no retribution for sin. One dies of an overdose of drugs; the other must live with the fact that he supplied the drugs to his “friend”, and he sinks deeper into despair. He is “looking for himself” and floats around with no goals, no hope of a normal life, just a mere, shallow existence; he too decides to take his life eventually. His family is heartbroken; his sister wonders what happened to her little brother, why did this happen? He leaves her with many unanswered questions; she spends much of her life in the shadows, never having the initiative to excel. She is despondent, confuse, and on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The dad, he is a broken man. He lost all ambition, he sits and drinks all day, and wonders’ “why, why did this happen to my son?” He is angry, and vengeful, and confused, while the mother is hospitalized with a nervous breakdown, and seemingly is losing her mind. All this because of the foolishness of a youth; a youths idea of “fun” and drugs, and sex, and parties all the time with no real responsibilities. One life has ruined many. Society is also affected because they have to support a family financially, and mentally with support groups. Everyone suffers the loss, and sin has had its payday!
I could go on, but you all have heard the stories before of the broken lives, and the wiles of Satan as he gets his evil claws into the lives of mankind. You get the gist of the message. Why don’t we simply obey God and make life easier for us and for others? Is it so hard to do right? Yet none of us do--not all the time at least. Be careful, be vigilant, Be sure your sin will find you out!
Gypsy Martindale
But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out. (Num. 32:23)
Friends, please listen closely today, for as our text verse says, we have sinned against God, and we can be sure that our sin will find us out. I will attempt to show as much as I can, how sin affects not only the guilty party, but others who are not even involved in the same sin and debauchery. I will attempt to show how sin affects society, and families, and of course, the individuals that engage in it. Go with me a moment into the realm of imagination, as I create some real live events in the lives of many unwary people. We may know some of them, though they are, in my illustration, and for the most part, fictitious, they are real in the sense of mans nature, and the affects of sin on mankind. The examples and events I allude to are real, though and the people are real, though they are analogies that show a parallel to today’s reality. Let us begin…
A young man and girl are out on a date. They enjoy being with each other--he makes her laugh; she is easy to talk to; soon things escalate, and they find themselves in an intimate relationship. At the time, she does not think of raising a child alone; she is not thinking too much of the possibility that he may “move on” to other girls, and another life; they are living for the moment. As time goes on, and the dating continues with the intimacy becoming more frequent and the thoughts of “getting caught” begin to taunt them, the unbelievable happens! She finds that she is pregnant! Suddenly, their dating has come to a standstill; he is “busy” and can’t see her as often as she would like. Her dreams of marital bliss soon become shattered, and she is left with some serious decisions to make: Is she ready for the day-to-day drudgery of raising a child? Is she up to it? What about school? She has not yet graduated, and her parents will be outraged to think that she would not finish school. And what about the pregnancy? They will be furious! Could she adopt the baby out? Is abortion an option for her? How will she hide the fact that she is pregnant--surely she will have to own up to everything.
The young man? He has begun a life of fornication; a life of “conquest” to brag about to his friends. He will continue to be dominated by pornography, and fornication until he finally finds the right woman and settles down--and probably even after that! He’s hooked! He quits his job, lest she hound him about his responsibilities to her unborn child; he moves to another part of town. He finds another sweet, unsuspecting “prospect” to conquer, and begins a new start with the same heart. He is a “hero” to his friends, a “mans man” because he impregnated a young girl, and ruined her life.
Eventually, the parents do find out. They are outraged! They are embarrassed; they are dumbfounded and perplexed to think that their little girl has betrayed them and deceived them. They are hurt. They want to cast her out--to disown her at first, and remove her place from the family table; they too are at a loss as to what to do. After the smoke clears, and rationality comes back to them, they consider the options too--the same options that they young girl has been mulling over in her mind from the onset.
So far, her sin has affected her, her boyfriend, her parents, but what of the baby? How is her decision to affect that precious little life inside her? What will be done with it?
The young child now faces depression. She asks, almost to herself “Why me?, Why does this have to happen to me?”, but she knows “why”; she knows that she sinned against her God, her parents, and herself, and perhaps even her unborn child, “Oh I wish this would never have happened” she exclaims, but it did happen, and she must deal with it. The problem is not hers alone though; it affects a young man destined to be ruled by a life of lust; it affected the parents shamed and humiliated by the lovely offspring of their own unity; their hopes for her shattered in a moment; their dreams of her success, and her happiness are completely destroyed, as well as her own dreams, and for what? One act of sin without second thought; the desire for “fun” and acceptance; all this is the payday for her foolishness; yes, payday has come.
Let’s leave them for now, and move on to the office worker who is stuck in a time warp, a “rut” if you will. He’s tired of the same old thing day after day, week after week. He needs a change. His dilemma began a few years ago when he decided the that the office could buy him lunch, it is the least they could do for his years of faithful service. He began taking a little out of the till, jut a little so that it wouldn’t be missed, but it was missed! “As much as they make off my efforts, it’s the least they could do“, he thought. Just a simple few dollars for lunch--no big deal really. But that too escalated. Soon things began to happen at home; his house was in danger of foreclosure; he needed another car; His wife was nagging him about wearing the same old clothes for years, he was in debt! It was easy then for him to steal a little more, to help out, after all, he could pay it back later--but “later never came. The amount the stole increased gradually over the following year, and soon he was taken to task for all the expenditure that seemed to be piling up with no verification for it. He denied it, of course. One lie led to another, now he is a thief and a liar, and is thinking of leaving his job for “better things”. He wonders “What is happening to me? Where does it all stop?” Meanwhile his wife has filed for divorce, he has been impossible to live with; guilt has eaten him up, but still he persists and digs the hole deeper. His life is a wreck. He has affected his wife’s life, his family is in jeopardy of losing their breadwinner, and his friends are even forsaking him. He has affected the lives of others, and infected society with his sin. Some now have problems not of their making; they are troubled and worried, and at a loss as to what to do, because of his actions. Oh, he doesn’t see their woes, he has eyes only for himself, nonetheless, the family suffers, his relationships with neighbors suffers; his friends forsake him, and his relatives suddenly become scarce, after he has borrowed so much from them that they no longer trust him. Eventually he considers suicide, which also affects others in a major way.
Let’s move on again to the two youths that love to party. “A little marijuana and a snort or two of cocaine never heart anyone, and adds to the fun” that was their motto. Spending their lives in fulfilling the lusts of the flesh, having a “good time”, but never realizing that sin has its payday. They live as if the world was made specifically for them, and there was no retribution for sin. One dies of an overdose of drugs; the other must live with the fact that he supplied the drugs to his “friend”, and he sinks deeper into despair. He is “looking for himself” and floats around with no goals, no hope of a normal life, just a mere, shallow existence; he too decides to take his life eventually. His family is heartbroken; his sister wonders what happened to her little brother, why did this happen? He leaves her with many unanswered questions; she spends much of her life in the shadows, never having the initiative to excel. She is despondent, confuse, and on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The dad, he is a broken man. He lost all ambition, he sits and drinks all day, and wonders’ “why, why did this happen to my son?” He is angry, and vengeful, and confused, while the mother is hospitalized with a nervous breakdown, and seemingly is losing her mind. All this because of the foolishness of a youth; a youths idea of “fun” and drugs, and sex, and parties all the time with no real responsibilities. One life has ruined many. Society is also affected because they have to support a family financially, and mentally with support groups. Everyone suffers the loss, and sin has had its payday!
I could go on, but you all have heard the stories before of the broken lives, and the wiles of Satan as he gets his evil claws into the lives of mankind. You get the gist of the message. Why don’t we simply obey God and make life easier for us and for others? Is it so hard to do right? Yet none of us do--not all the time at least. Be careful, be vigilant, Be sure your sin will find you out!
Gypsy Martindale
11/24 Super Heroes
What we need today is “super heroes”, just like the “good guys” in the comic books. They were able to stand against the diabolical evil foes, and morph into something greater than themselves, yes, they were indeed super heroes, with super powers that dazzled men, and confounded the wicked ones. We are in dire need of such heroes today; men who “stand in the gap” and fight against the forces of evil; we need men to be…well, simply MEN!
How do YOU measure up to these spiritual super heroes? Have you been in the thick of the battle? Have you learned how you will act “under fire”? Not many men really know what they will do until they have been tried. So…what’s the answer? How do we become “super heroes”? Simply by seeking the Lord first, and going forth in his strength and power. Seek Him in His Word:
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Heb. 4:12.
We become stronger by the Word of God. We have safety in the Word, as well as the equipment to do right;
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”
2 Tim 3:16, 17
We need brave men to venture out, and stand against the wiles of the devil. Armed with the “sword” and prepared with the equipment, so that we are “thoroughly furnished” to do what we are sent to do, let us go forth boldly to the throne of grace, and find mercy in our time of need:
“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Heb. 4: 16)
Gypsy Martindale
How do YOU measure up to these spiritual super heroes? Have you been in the thick of the battle? Have you learned how you will act “under fire”? Not many men really know what they will do until they have been tried. So…what’s the answer? How do we become “super heroes”? Simply by seeking the Lord first, and going forth in his strength and power. Seek Him in His Word:
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Heb. 4:12.
We become stronger by the Word of God. We have safety in the Word, as well as the equipment to do right;
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”
2 Tim 3:16, 17
We need brave men to venture out, and stand against the wiles of the devil. Armed with the “sword” and prepared with the equipment, so that we are “thoroughly furnished” to do what we are sent to do, let us go forth boldly to the throne of grace, and find mercy in our time of need:
“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Heb. 4: 16)
Gypsy Martindale
11/19 No Balm in Gilead?
Is there no balm in Gilead? The Lord asks this question in Jeremiah 8:22: “Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?” The problem was the indifference of God’s people to His will and to the law (His Word). Just two verses before this, God, speaking through Jeremiah, makes another observation: “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” We all have grown lax when it comes to serving our God. At times, we do well, but then we seem to “peter out” and slack off on the things of God. We are a busy people, it seems, but perhaps busy in the wrong things!
Remember the old strong smelling salve that was good for wounds and scrapes and burns? You don’t see it any more, modern medicine has consumed it. I remember a balm (we called it “salve”) that my mother used to rub on our sunburned skin to soothe us. It was a smelly, brown salve that was thick and pasty, but it did relieve the pain. The question is asked “Is there no balm in Gilead?” I re-phrase it for us today “Is there no balm in churches?” Is there no balm in our homes, and in our places of work? Where is the soothing ointment that we used to see so frequently? Is there not an aromatic, sweet smelling salve of the Holy Spirit to comfort us, and heal our wounds?
There are spiritual wounds that beset us; some are slight abrasions, and others more severe, even fatal, but there is also a Physician here. There is a soothing Balm in Christ. Jesus is called “The Great Physician” by some, and indeed He is the healer of the body as well as the soul. Jesus is the balm of the church, the “balm of Gilead, if you will. He is able, and willing to comfort us against the spiritual wounds of lust, envy, jealousy, and contentions; He is the balm that will heal us. That is not to say that this old body will not suffer ever again, it wears out through years of use and abuse, but there is an ointment for the soul, and that is everlasting. The comforting hand of Jesus will never wear thin.
There are doctors today who treat illnesses, but they cannot make the body heal. Only God can fuse the skin back together again; only He can make the scrapes disappear, the doctor merely applies the right medication, and then the Lord does the work! Doctors do the right thing to prepare the body for healing, but God does the actual healing. No doctor is truly a healer, give praise where praise is due. There is a balm in the churches today, in the form of the Holy Spirit of God. Balm was a medication to heal pain, but Christ is our medication to heal the anxieties and troubled hearts of His people. All the counseling that doctors do, they cannot give the peace that the Lord gives us; when they experiment with troubled minds, they are, at best, guessing, and “practicing” medicine on us, but Christ is thorough, and He heals the perplexing vanities of our minds and hearts. The old balm that I remember had been perfumed so that it did not give off an unpleasant odor; Christ is a sweet smelling aroma , a perfume for the stench of sin, and the stink of a worldly life.
Take the “Balm of Gilead” and apply it to your life; take Jesus as your savior and see what wonders he will perform through you. Take Him even while your healthy, and not just when aches and pains prevail; He is the Balm of Gilead, the Great Physician for the soul, and the Medicine for our troubled minds. He cures the heartaches and the headaches of life, and comforts us when we are troubled. There is a cure for your “blues”; there is a cure for your worries and your depression; there is a friend for the lonely, a companion for the forlorn, and a hope for the hopeless, all in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus will carry you through the storms, and set your feet upon solid ground. Won’t you ask Him to save you today? Remember Jeremiah 8:20: “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” Will this verse describe you, my friend? Now is the time of salvation, “(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)”
Remember the old strong smelling salve that was good for wounds and scrapes and burns? You don’t see it any more, modern medicine has consumed it. I remember a balm (we called it “salve”) that my mother used to rub on our sunburned skin to soothe us. It was a smelly, brown salve that was thick and pasty, but it did relieve the pain. The question is asked “Is there no balm in Gilead?” I re-phrase it for us today “Is there no balm in churches?” Is there no balm in our homes, and in our places of work? Where is the soothing ointment that we used to see so frequently? Is there not an aromatic, sweet smelling salve of the Holy Spirit to comfort us, and heal our wounds?
There are spiritual wounds that beset us; some are slight abrasions, and others more severe, even fatal, but there is also a Physician here. There is a soothing Balm in Christ. Jesus is called “The Great Physician” by some, and indeed He is the healer of the body as well as the soul. Jesus is the balm of the church, the “balm of Gilead, if you will. He is able, and willing to comfort us against the spiritual wounds of lust, envy, jealousy, and contentions; He is the balm that will heal us. That is not to say that this old body will not suffer ever again, it wears out through years of use and abuse, but there is an ointment for the soul, and that is everlasting. The comforting hand of Jesus will never wear thin.
There are doctors today who treat illnesses, but they cannot make the body heal. Only God can fuse the skin back together again; only He can make the scrapes disappear, the doctor merely applies the right medication, and then the Lord does the work! Doctors do the right thing to prepare the body for healing, but God does the actual healing. No doctor is truly a healer, give praise where praise is due. There is a balm in the churches today, in the form of the Holy Spirit of God. Balm was a medication to heal pain, but Christ is our medication to heal the anxieties and troubled hearts of His people. All the counseling that doctors do, they cannot give the peace that the Lord gives us; when they experiment with troubled minds, they are, at best, guessing, and “practicing” medicine on us, but Christ is thorough, and He heals the perplexing vanities of our minds and hearts. The old balm that I remember had been perfumed so that it did not give off an unpleasant odor; Christ is a sweet smelling aroma , a perfume for the stench of sin, and the stink of a worldly life.
Take the “Balm of Gilead” and apply it to your life; take Jesus as your savior and see what wonders he will perform through you. Take Him even while your healthy, and not just when aches and pains prevail; He is the Balm of Gilead, the Great Physician for the soul, and the Medicine for our troubled minds. He cures the heartaches and the headaches of life, and comforts us when we are troubled. There is a cure for your “blues”; there is a cure for your worries and your depression; there is a friend for the lonely, a companion for the forlorn, and a hope for the hopeless, all in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus will carry you through the storms, and set your feet upon solid ground. Won’t you ask Him to save you today? Remember Jeremiah 8:20: “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” Will this verse describe you, my friend? Now is the time of salvation, “(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)”
11/15 Our Three-fold Trials
Job (chapters 1-2)
Job was tried in three areas and from three directions; our trials follow much the same pattern. When we are tempted, we are tempted from above, from below, and from all sides, but at different times, and in different ways. Our trials may not be from three directions at once, often one is sufficient to defeat us, but all testings and trials are from one of these three sources, and all can be overwhelming if we are not walking with the Lord. We have testing from above; temptations from below, and trials all around us.
Testing from above--The Lord tests His children at times, so that they can learn to have the resolve they need through life and cope with trials that will inevitably come our way. He does not test us to see what we will do--the omniscient God knows exactly what we will do in all situations and at all times, but he tests us so that WE will know what we will do! These tests will allow us to trust, and walk in the confidence that God is with us, and we must rely upon Him to get us through. It is important that we know how to face testing, and trials and temptations.
Temptations from below-- The devil seeks to undermine the Lord through us. He cannot get our souls once we belong to the Lord, but he can confuse us and make us of none effect for the work he has given us to do. Unless we walk daily with the Lord, and keep His Word fresh within us, we have no power against the wiles of Satan as he “walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”
Trials from the world around us-- Trials come from others mainly, but also from the fact that we are but flesh, and flesh has its weaknesses. Affliction is the tools of trials, to keep our minds on problems, and not on the Lord; we are afflicted through the flesh and the world, and if not walking close to the Lord, we will be affected adversely by afflictions.
Persecution then, is also from the world around us, and is a powerful tool in the testing, trials, and temptations that come upon us; it is a trial that the world imposes on us, whether we desire it or not. It can be evidenced by affliction, but may take a course of its own, leaving havoc in its wake.
Gypsy Martindale
Job was tried in three areas and from three directions; our trials follow much the same pattern. When we are tempted, we are tempted from above, from below, and from all sides, but at different times, and in different ways. Our trials may not be from three directions at once, often one is sufficient to defeat us, but all testings and trials are from one of these three sources, and all can be overwhelming if we are not walking with the Lord. We have testing from above; temptations from below, and trials all around us.
Testing from above--The Lord tests His children at times, so that they can learn to have the resolve they need through life and cope with trials that will inevitably come our way. He does not test us to see what we will do--the omniscient God knows exactly what we will do in all situations and at all times, but he tests us so that WE will know what we will do! These tests will allow us to trust, and walk in the confidence that God is with us, and we must rely upon Him to get us through. It is important that we know how to face testing, and trials and temptations.
Temptations from below-- The devil seeks to undermine the Lord through us. He cannot get our souls once we belong to the Lord, but he can confuse us and make us of none effect for the work he has given us to do. Unless we walk daily with the Lord, and keep His Word fresh within us, we have no power against the wiles of Satan as he “walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”
Trials from the world around us-- Trials come from others mainly, but also from the fact that we are but flesh, and flesh has its weaknesses. Affliction is the tools of trials, to keep our minds on problems, and not on the Lord; we are afflicted through the flesh and the world, and if not walking close to the Lord, we will be affected adversely by afflictions.
Persecution then, is also from the world around us, and is a powerful tool in the testing, trials, and temptations that come upon us; it is a trial that the world imposes on us, whether we desire it or not. It can be evidenced by affliction, but may take a course of its own, leaving havoc in its wake.
Gypsy Martindale
11/11 Marriage and the Family Unit
Saving Marriage
What has happened to America nowadays? We do not as much of people being married, but women talk about their problems with their live-in boyfriend, and men talk about the false commitments they have made to their girlfriends. It seems as if marriage is becoming obsolete! Many of these live-ins have children from other relationships, and they have some with their present “partner” (as if the words “husband” and “wife” are taboo!). Even the queers are getting in on raising children “together” with their distorted and perverted values. What chance do the youngsters have of knowing right from wrong?
Satan’s attack on the family, the “backbone of America” is a subtle attack indeed. He has managed to confuse the people and has cast a dark shadow on the sacred relationship that God has ordained--marriage.
Gen 2:21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
Gen 2:22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Gen 2:23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Gen 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
God Himself has termed the word “wife”, and he has established a precedent for marriage as “one man and one woman”. Satan’s attack on the family unit is a direct attack on the institution of God, and we seem to sit idly by and watch as the nation swirls around as in an eddy, and slowly is sucked under by the subtle cesspool of Satan’s schemes.
What has happened to marriage? Where has it gone? The hippy movement of the sixties became the crucial blow for marriage. “The term “free love” became appealing to men (mankind), and the moral fiber of America took a serious blow along with marriage. As the family goes, so goes the nation.
Today, “sleeping together” is a recreation and no longer a sacred institution; marriage has lost its charm and sex has prevailed over all, and we fail to attack the enemy of marriage because we do not want to offend anyone! We need to be aggressive against sin and evil; we have been made afraid to “charge hell with a squirt gun” as some accusers say of us, and let the Lord put the fires out. A squirt gun douses more flame than not doing anything at all! We have been afraid to “cram it down their throats” as they say we do, and yet the world is constantly cramming their evil down our throats! No wonder we are losing the battle! We need to saturate the world, or our small corner of it, with the Gospel. We can leave tracts everywhere and anywhere, and we can all be more aggressive in one-on-one confrontations. We have listened too long to the critics that say we will chase the sinner away if we witness to them when they do not want to hear it. Where are we going to chase them to? They are condemned already, how much more condemned can they be? And by the way, we really don’t want to hear some their vane talk, but they still persist in their evil speaking, whether we like it or not. They are more aggressive than we are, yet they have nothing to offer us. We are too worried about our influence, and think we need to be friends with them before we can be an effective witness, but who wins them then, us, or the Lord? It is the Word of God that stirs men’s souls, and not our friendship, as we so mistakenly think. We are not commissioned to make friends, but to share the Gospel message; we do not have to worry about our “delivery” if the Lord is in it, just proclaim the Gospel to everyone we can, and let the Lord work. Not only do we glorify the Lord in doing so, but with some we make a difference, “pulling them out of the fire:
Jud 1:22 And of some have compassion, making a difference:
Jud 1:23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
It’s time to get your armor on, and march forth into battle as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. Unless we get back to the Bible and shun the “vain philosophies of men” we will not save marriage, and our country will decay from the inside, and we will be a reproach to ourselves and to others.
Gypsy Martindale
What has happened to America nowadays? We do not as much of people being married, but women talk about their problems with their live-in boyfriend, and men talk about the false commitments they have made to their girlfriends. It seems as if marriage is becoming obsolete! Many of these live-ins have children from other relationships, and they have some with their present “partner” (as if the words “husband” and “wife” are taboo!). Even the queers are getting in on raising children “together” with their distorted and perverted values. What chance do the youngsters have of knowing right from wrong?
Satan’s attack on the family, the “backbone of America” is a subtle attack indeed. He has managed to confuse the people and has cast a dark shadow on the sacred relationship that God has ordained--marriage.
Gen 2:21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
Gen 2:22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Gen 2:23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Gen 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
God Himself has termed the word “wife”, and he has established a precedent for marriage as “one man and one woman”. Satan’s attack on the family unit is a direct attack on the institution of God, and we seem to sit idly by and watch as the nation swirls around as in an eddy, and slowly is sucked under by the subtle cesspool of Satan’s schemes.
What has happened to marriage? Where has it gone? The hippy movement of the sixties became the crucial blow for marriage. “The term “free love” became appealing to men (mankind), and the moral fiber of America took a serious blow along with marriage. As the family goes, so goes the nation.
Today, “sleeping together” is a recreation and no longer a sacred institution; marriage has lost its charm and sex has prevailed over all, and we fail to attack the enemy of marriage because we do not want to offend anyone! We need to be aggressive against sin and evil; we have been made afraid to “charge hell with a squirt gun” as some accusers say of us, and let the Lord put the fires out. A squirt gun douses more flame than not doing anything at all! We have been afraid to “cram it down their throats” as they say we do, and yet the world is constantly cramming their evil down our throats! No wonder we are losing the battle! We need to saturate the world, or our small corner of it, with the Gospel. We can leave tracts everywhere and anywhere, and we can all be more aggressive in one-on-one confrontations. We have listened too long to the critics that say we will chase the sinner away if we witness to them when they do not want to hear it. Where are we going to chase them to? They are condemned already, how much more condemned can they be? And by the way, we really don’t want to hear some their vane talk, but they still persist in their evil speaking, whether we like it or not. They are more aggressive than we are, yet they have nothing to offer us. We are too worried about our influence, and think we need to be friends with them before we can be an effective witness, but who wins them then, us, or the Lord? It is the Word of God that stirs men’s souls, and not our friendship, as we so mistakenly think. We are not commissioned to make friends, but to share the Gospel message; we do not have to worry about our “delivery” if the Lord is in it, just proclaim the Gospel to everyone we can, and let the Lord work. Not only do we glorify the Lord in doing so, but with some we make a difference, “pulling them out of the fire:
Jud 1:22 And of some have compassion, making a difference:
Jud 1:23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
It’s time to get your armor on, and march forth into battle as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. Unless we get back to the Bible and shun the “vain philosophies of men” we will not save marriage, and our country will decay from the inside, and we will be a reproach to ourselves and to others.
Gypsy Martindale
10/15 Super Heroes
What we need today is “super heroes”, just like the “good guys” in the comic books. They were able to stand against the diabolical evil foes, and morph into something greater than themselves, yes, they were indeed super heroes, with super powers that dazzled men, and confounded the wicked ones. We are in dire need of such heroes today; men who “stand in the gap” and fight against the forces of evil; we need men to be…well, simply MEN!
How do YOU measure up to these spiritual super heroes? Have you been in the thick of the battle? Have you learned how you will act “under fire”? Not many men really know what they will do until they have been tried. So…what’s the answer? How do we become “super heroes”? Simply by seeking the Lord first, and going forth in his strength and power. Seek Him in His Word:
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Heb. 4:12.
We become stronger by the Word of God. We have safety in the Word, as well as the equipment to do right;
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”
2 Tim 3:16, 17
We need brave men to venture out, and stand against the wiles of the devil. Armed with the “sword” and prepared with the equipment, so that we are “thoroughly furnished” to do what we are sent to do, let us go forth boldly to the throne of grace, and find mercy in our time of need:
“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Heb. 4: 16)
How do YOU measure up to these spiritual super heroes? Have you been in the thick of the battle? Have you learned how you will act “under fire”? Not many men really know what they will do until they have been tried. So…what’s the answer? How do we become “super heroes”? Simply by seeking the Lord first, and going forth in his strength and power. Seek Him in His Word:
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Heb. 4:12.
We become stronger by the Word of God. We have safety in the Word, as well as the equipment to do right;
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”
2 Tim 3:16, 17
We need brave men to venture out, and stand against the wiles of the devil. Armed with the “sword” and prepared with the equipment, so that we are “thoroughly furnished” to do what we are sent to do, let us go forth boldly to the throne of grace, and find mercy in our time of need:
“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Heb. 4: 16)
10/11 GALATIONS 2:20
GALATIONS 2
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (v. 20)
This, I consider my life's verse. It contains the gospel, if one will look, and it gives us much insight into ourselves and the Love of our Lord.
Note the first two words--"I AM". This connects us with the following statements, and enters us into their blessed realm. It reminds me though of a greater "I AM" the all-sufficient, Loving, Living God of gods, the Lord God Almighty.
Paul realized he was, and is, "crucified with Christ" as we all are when we accept His sacrifice of Himself for us on Calvary. We enter into His work there, and become a part of it too, as a thief, and not as a Savior. Though crucified, I live in Him, even as He was crucified and yet lives. What an amazing thought, and an even more amazing fact. We have died to sin in Christ, and are born again in Him.
Note secondly that the life I now live is lived "By the faith of the Son of God". Now this could mean two things: 1. That I live it by the faith He has given me; 2. That I actually live in His faith, which is far superior to any faith I might conjure up! I like them both, but I think I like the latter better than the former. If I have the same faith that Christ has, in me, I can do all things through Him, which strengthen me. I have no excuse for unbelief, (Lord help my unbelief). Oh that I might live as if I have His actual faith (and I do, it comes with Him!), and that I might live every day by the faith of Christ. The word “of” shows origin, so this is Christ’s faith that works in me.
I realize the "just shall live by faith." (Rom 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38) and perhaps "his" faith (Hab. 2:4), but "his faith" may refer again to the faith of Christ in him, which becomes his, as Christ becomes his. We get the whole package! The point is made, the life I now live is Christ’s life in me! I have died, and He lives in me, what a wonderful thought; I am righteous because He is righteous, and justified by His blood.
Lastly it is in His ability that I live the life I live. When I say “I can’t do this or that” I am right! I can’t but Christ can do it through me. You see, it is not ability that the Lord honors, but availability; He honors those who make themselves available for Him to use them. When we say we can’t do some particular task that speaks of ability, but we are not chosen because of our ability, but because of our availability. His faith is sufficient in me. Dr. Bob Jones SR. used to say “The greatest ability is dependability”; Or perhaps better rendered, “The greatest ability is availability”, both are wise to practice, both are essential to the work.
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (v. 20)
This, I consider my life's verse. It contains the gospel, if one will look, and it gives us much insight into ourselves and the Love of our Lord.
Note the first two words--"I AM". This connects us with the following statements, and enters us into their blessed realm. It reminds me though of a greater "I AM" the all-sufficient, Loving, Living God of gods, the Lord God Almighty.
Paul realized he was, and is, "crucified with Christ" as we all are when we accept His sacrifice of Himself for us on Calvary. We enter into His work there, and become a part of it too, as a thief, and not as a Savior. Though crucified, I live in Him, even as He was crucified and yet lives. What an amazing thought, and an even more amazing fact. We have died to sin in Christ, and are born again in Him.
Note secondly that the life I now live is lived "By the faith of the Son of God". Now this could mean two things: 1. That I live it by the faith He has given me; 2. That I actually live in His faith, which is far superior to any faith I might conjure up! I like them both, but I think I like the latter better than the former. If I have the same faith that Christ has, in me, I can do all things through Him, which strengthen me. I have no excuse for unbelief, (Lord help my unbelief). Oh that I might live as if I have His actual faith (and I do, it comes with Him!), and that I might live every day by the faith of Christ. The word “of” shows origin, so this is Christ’s faith that works in me.
I realize the "just shall live by faith." (Rom 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38) and perhaps "his" faith (Hab. 2:4), but "his faith" may refer again to the faith of Christ in him, which becomes his, as Christ becomes his. We get the whole package! The point is made, the life I now live is Christ’s life in me! I have died, and He lives in me, what a wonderful thought; I am righteous because He is righteous, and justified by His blood.
Lastly it is in His ability that I live the life I live. When I say “I can’t do this or that” I am right! I can’t but Christ can do it through me. You see, it is not ability that the Lord honors, but availability; He honors those who make themselves available for Him to use them. When we say we can’t do some particular task that speaks of ability, but we are not chosen because of our ability, but because of our availability. His faith is sufficient in me. Dr. Bob Jones SR. used to say “The greatest ability is dependability”; Or perhaps better rendered, “The greatest ability is availability”, both are wise to practice, both are essential to the work.
10/9 Are Tongues for Today?
I posted this on another forum and thought it may be useful to someone here.
The Gift of Tongues
Are Tongues for Today? There is much controversy over this question in the church today. Let’s take a close look at the gift of speaking in tongues.
Part l
“Sign” Gifts:
Certain gifts were given to the early church as signs to the people that something supernatural has happened. They were “attention getters” so that the multitudes would take notice. These “sign gifts” were needed during the inception and building of the church, and were given by Him for that purpose. Most of them are obviously signs to the people, Jew and Gentile alike, that God was at work in their midst. One of the sign gifts was the gift of miracles (1 Cor. 12:28), and were given to the church for their edification, or to draw attention to the principles and oracles of the Lord. Let’s delve a little deeper into the gifts:
“1Co 12:28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
1Co 12:29 Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?
1Co 12:30 Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?”
Paul asks some very significant questions here, which demand an answer. Why do you suppose he asked these? It was because of the misunderstanding and misuse of the gifts. Now, keep in mind that all of these are sign gifts, but a few function in a permanent capacity, while others have spent their usefulness, as we shall soon see. Paul lists a certain order here, but it may not have been necessary; no matter how he listed them, we would wonder if there was an order of importance to them, so we shall pass over that quickly. Remember, these were given to the church for a specific reason, no matter what order we list them.
The first three we can relate to quite easily as the Bible clearly defines a need for them in the church today (teachers) and the inception of the early church, although we no longer see apostles and prophets as the early churches did in today‘s churches. They have fulfilled their mission, and are no longer needed in that capacity. The real study though is not for these offices, but for the gifts given, and specifically the “sign gifts”.
“And after that miracles”… Miracles were a sign that God was in the work, whatever it may have been. We do not see the gift of miracles today, because we have the testimony of God’s Word, and believe by faith, but when the church was very young the multitudes needed a little convincing that the Lord had sent the messenger, or that He was Miracles were used in by the apostles and prophets to point others to the God of Heaven, and to do what the Word of God, the Bible, does today in our churches. The church was an entirely new concept for the Jews as well as the Gentiles, it was a “mystery” that God was revealing and would not have been believed by the word of the prophets only. You do not hear of the blind being healed today (John 9), or the lame being made whole as Peter and John saw at the gate of the temple (Acts 3:3-10). If this were to happen today, the world would know about it almost instantly through the media and the internet. There is no great healing going on today, except that of the healing by God through the prayers of a faithful man which “availeth much” (James 5:16). Miracles are no longer for the church today, except by a special act of God for His own purposes. No man will hold meetings to perform miracles and flaunt the gift openly, claiming a “special anointing” from God. We have covered the next gift, the gift of Healings also.
Now, we have “helps, governments, diversities of tongues”, and this brings us to the crux of the matter in question, “Do all speak with tongues?” First, realize that these “tongues” were merely different languages, and were never used in the Bible as some sort of ecstatic heavenly language as some teach; any time the word “tongues” is used in the Bible it refers to other languages spoken by foreigners to the area, as in “Isa 28:11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.” I must reiterate, that tongues were for a sign to the Jews that God had accepted those whom had received the gift, just as He did the Jews on the day of Pentecost. They knew that the Lord had given them a special gift, and when they saw that He had given it to others also, they knew that He had chosen the Gentiles too. There were only three instances in the Book of Acts where they were said to have received the Holy Ghost, and spoke in tongues, and all three were significant to the Jewish nation.
The first was, of course, Pentecost, where the apostles (only twelve of them) spoke to a mixed multitude in their own tongues, and three thousand were added to the church on that day. There were some fifteen countries represented there, and all men heard in their own language. Some believe that the miracle was in the hearing of the multitudes, and not in the speaking of the apostles, but that does not say much for the “cloven tongues like as of fire” that fell upon them. I believe that Pentecost was the first inception of the Holy Spirit and was evidenced buy the speaking in tongues.
The second time was at the house of Cornelius (Acts 10), where it is obvious that the Jews were “astonished” that God would give to Gentile dogs the same commission He had given His people, the Jews:
Act 10:44 While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.
Act 10:45 And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Act 10:46 For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter,
Act 10:47 Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
These Jews never would have accepted Cornelius without the witness of God, and the sign of the gift of tongues. God had shown peter that salvation is given freely to all.
Then the third mention of tongues as a sign were concerning the disciples of John the Baptist. In Acts 19:1-6 we read,
Act 19:1 And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples,
Act 19:2 He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.
Act 19:3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism.
Act 19:4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.
Act 19:5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Act 19:6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.
These also received the Holy Ghost, and spoke in tongues. The sign was for the acceptance of these followers of John, and were given to show that God had accepted them as well as the apostles. This was the message to Cornelius in the dream he had, (in Chapter 10) and the fulfilling of it. It is only fair to say that there were other times the Holy Ghost was given, but these are the only three that mention tongues with it. The answer to Paul’s question in the 1 Cor. 12:30, is a definitive “No” all do NOT speak with tongues.
Part ll
Now let’s back up to an earlier passage in 1 Cornthians:
1Co 12:4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
1Co 12:5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
1Co 12:6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
1Co 12:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
1Co 12:8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
1Co 12:9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
1Co 12:10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
1Co 12:11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
Here Paul, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, lists certain gifts that the Lord has given to the church as “tools” for the ministry. His point is not necessarily to emphasize the gifts as much as it is to explain that every Christian has some gift that allows him to be of service in the Lord’s work. The gifts themselves are secondary to the theme of the chapter. The sign gifts were still in effect in the early church as they did not yet have the complete Word of God; it was still in the making. Though they are all given by the same Spirit, they are also distributed as it pleased the Lord, “to every man severally as He will”. The opening verse of this passage begin with the testimony that these are given by God (the Holy Spirit), and it closes reminding us that they are distributed by Him also, as He sees fit. Some He has given the ability to interpret the tongues, but not to all, they were to do things in order and not in confusion. The tongues were to edify the church; they were messages from God, the same messages that we have all received in the Word of God, and therefore they have run their course. It is as if they are a team, and everyone has to do his part for the success of the entire team. The Lord emphasizes working together for a common cause.
“Tongues” are merely other languages, and not some mystical form of speaking, as some believe and teach. When the early church was being formed, there was a great diversity of people attending services, and the need was obvious. Today, we have churches that are geared toward those who are not multi-lingual; it seems that most foreigners in America today have a congregation of their own, among their peers. Tongues are not needed today for that reason also; they have served their purpose and have come to the end of themselves.
The “charismatic“ churches of our day seem to believe that tongues are edifying the body, and that they have some new revelation for the church. Friends, “there is no new thing under the sun” (Eccl. 1:9). Furthermore, the “prophecies” they share are not usually predictions of unknown future events as much as they are passages of scripture that anyone who reds his/her Bible can discern for themselves, with the help of the Holy Spirit. It is an exaltation of the speaker, as the “prophet” of God, and not the exaltation of Christ.
The Gift of Tongues
Are Tongues for Today? There is much controversy over this question in the church today. Let’s take a close look at the gift of speaking in tongues.
Part l
“Sign” Gifts:
Certain gifts were given to the early church as signs to the people that something supernatural has happened. They were “attention getters” so that the multitudes would take notice. These “sign gifts” were needed during the inception and building of the church, and were given by Him for that purpose. Most of them are obviously signs to the people, Jew and Gentile alike, that God was at work in their midst. One of the sign gifts was the gift of miracles (1 Cor. 12:28), and were given to the church for their edification, or to draw attention to the principles and oracles of the Lord. Let’s delve a little deeper into the gifts:
“1Co 12:28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
1Co 12:29 Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?
1Co 12:30 Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?”
Paul asks some very significant questions here, which demand an answer. Why do you suppose he asked these? It was because of the misunderstanding and misuse of the gifts. Now, keep in mind that all of these are sign gifts, but a few function in a permanent capacity, while others have spent their usefulness, as we shall soon see. Paul lists a certain order here, but it may not have been necessary; no matter how he listed them, we would wonder if there was an order of importance to them, so we shall pass over that quickly. Remember, these were given to the church for a specific reason, no matter what order we list them.
The first three we can relate to quite easily as the Bible clearly defines a need for them in the church today (teachers) and the inception of the early church, although we no longer see apostles and prophets as the early churches did in today‘s churches. They have fulfilled their mission, and are no longer needed in that capacity. The real study though is not for these offices, but for the gifts given, and specifically the “sign gifts”.
“And after that miracles”… Miracles were a sign that God was in the work, whatever it may have been. We do not see the gift of miracles today, because we have the testimony of God’s Word, and believe by faith, but when the church was very young the multitudes needed a little convincing that the Lord had sent the messenger, or that He was Miracles were used in by the apostles and prophets to point others to the God of Heaven, and to do what the Word of God, the Bible, does today in our churches. The church was an entirely new concept for the Jews as well as the Gentiles, it was a “mystery” that God was revealing and would not have been believed by the word of the prophets only. You do not hear of the blind being healed today (John 9), or the lame being made whole as Peter and John saw at the gate of the temple (Acts 3:3-10). If this were to happen today, the world would know about it almost instantly through the media and the internet. There is no great healing going on today, except that of the healing by God through the prayers of a faithful man which “availeth much” (James 5:16). Miracles are no longer for the church today, except by a special act of God for His own purposes. No man will hold meetings to perform miracles and flaunt the gift openly, claiming a “special anointing” from God. We have covered the next gift, the gift of Healings also.
Now, we have “helps, governments, diversities of tongues”, and this brings us to the crux of the matter in question, “Do all speak with tongues?” First, realize that these “tongues” were merely different languages, and were never used in the Bible as some sort of ecstatic heavenly language as some teach; any time the word “tongues” is used in the Bible it refers to other languages spoken by foreigners to the area, as in “Isa 28:11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.” I must reiterate, that tongues were for a sign to the Jews that God had accepted those whom had received the gift, just as He did the Jews on the day of Pentecost. They knew that the Lord had given them a special gift, and when they saw that He had given it to others also, they knew that He had chosen the Gentiles too. There were only three instances in the Book of Acts where they were said to have received the Holy Ghost, and spoke in tongues, and all three were significant to the Jewish nation.
The first was, of course, Pentecost, where the apostles (only twelve of them) spoke to a mixed multitude in their own tongues, and three thousand were added to the church on that day. There were some fifteen countries represented there, and all men heard in their own language. Some believe that the miracle was in the hearing of the multitudes, and not in the speaking of the apostles, but that does not say much for the “cloven tongues like as of fire” that fell upon them. I believe that Pentecost was the first inception of the Holy Spirit and was evidenced buy the speaking in tongues.
The second time was at the house of Cornelius (Acts 10), where it is obvious that the Jews were “astonished” that God would give to Gentile dogs the same commission He had given His people, the Jews:
Act 10:44 While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.
Act 10:45 And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Act 10:46 For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter,
Act 10:47 Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
These Jews never would have accepted Cornelius without the witness of God, and the sign of the gift of tongues. God had shown peter that salvation is given freely to all.
Then the third mention of tongues as a sign were concerning the disciples of John the Baptist. In Acts 19:1-6 we read,
Act 19:1 And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples,
Act 19:2 He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.
Act 19:3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism.
Act 19:4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.
Act 19:5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Act 19:6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.
These also received the Holy Ghost, and spoke in tongues. The sign was for the acceptance of these followers of John, and were given to show that God had accepted them as well as the apostles. This was the message to Cornelius in the dream he had, (in Chapter 10) and the fulfilling of it. It is only fair to say that there were other times the Holy Ghost was given, but these are the only three that mention tongues with it. The answer to Paul’s question in the 1 Cor. 12:30, is a definitive “No” all do NOT speak with tongues.
Part ll
Now let’s back up to an earlier passage in 1 Cornthians:
1Co 12:4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
1Co 12:5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
1Co 12:6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
1Co 12:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
1Co 12:8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
1Co 12:9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
1Co 12:10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
1Co 12:11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
Here Paul, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, lists certain gifts that the Lord has given to the church as “tools” for the ministry. His point is not necessarily to emphasize the gifts as much as it is to explain that every Christian has some gift that allows him to be of service in the Lord’s work. The gifts themselves are secondary to the theme of the chapter. The sign gifts were still in effect in the early church as they did not yet have the complete Word of God; it was still in the making. Though they are all given by the same Spirit, they are also distributed as it pleased the Lord, “to every man severally as He will”. The opening verse of this passage begin with the testimony that these are given by God (the Holy Spirit), and it closes reminding us that they are distributed by Him also, as He sees fit. Some He has given the ability to interpret the tongues, but not to all, they were to do things in order and not in confusion. The tongues were to edify the church; they were messages from God, the same messages that we have all received in the Word of God, and therefore they have run their course. It is as if they are a team, and everyone has to do his part for the success of the entire team. The Lord emphasizes working together for a common cause.
“Tongues” are merely other languages, and not some mystical form of speaking, as some believe and teach. When the early church was being formed, there was a great diversity of people attending services, and the need was obvious. Today, we have churches that are geared toward those who are not multi-lingual; it seems that most foreigners in America today have a congregation of their own, among their peers. Tongues are not needed today for that reason also; they have served their purpose and have come to the end of themselves.
The “charismatic“ churches of our day seem to believe that tongues are edifying the body, and that they have some new revelation for the church. Friends, “there is no new thing under the sun” (Eccl. 1:9). Furthermore, the “prophecies” they share are not usually predictions of unknown future events as much as they are passages of scripture that anyone who reds his/her Bible can discern for themselves, with the help of the Holy Spirit. It is an exaltation of the speaker, as the “prophet” of God, and not the exaltation of Christ.
Government Run Schools?
From the "Christian Law Association"
As the school year kicks off, CLA stands ready to defend Christian rights in American education.
The Christian Law Association defends the rights of all parents to control the education of their children. We believe the Bible, as well as America’s Constitution, gives parents, not the government, the primary duty and responsibility to direct the upbringing and education of their own children.
Today, the government has become the dominant force for educating children in America, but it was not always this way. Prior to the 1850s, the government had very little input into the education of America’s children. Instead, there was a decentralized system of privately funded and operated schools throughout the country, most of them organized and run by churches, philanthropic societies, or local community groups. It was only after 1850, beginning in New England and particularly in Massachusetts, that education was seen as a governmental function, with the government both funding and operating schools for all children. But for the first 150 years of America’s settlement, and for the first fifty to seventy-five years of our nation’s existence, government schooling, as practiced today, did not exist.Books
When America’s founders adopted the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, they recognized that under the law of nature and of nature’s God (natural law and the Bible), parents had the right and duty to direct the education and upbringing of their children.
Our founders were well-educated, and they believed that to remain free, America must always have a well-educated citizenry.
They did not, however, believe that an educated citizenry required the government to provide, regulate, or operate schools.
When America was founded, and when our founders were educated, government-run schools did not exist.
Prior to America’s independence, the majority of colonial schools were common schools, primarily funded by private or community groups. Church schools and academies educated children at all levels—elementary, secondary, and college. Some of these schools provided free education for poor children whose families could not afford tuition to attend other private schools. These schools were intended to inculcate religious doctrine and principles into the children, as well as general knowledge, and later education for various businesses and trades.
James Kent, in his famous book, Commentaries on American Law, published in 1826, observed:
The duties of parents to their children as being their natural guardians consist in maintaining and educating them during the season of infancy and youth, and in making reasonable provision for their future usefulness and happiness in life by a situation suited to their habits and a competent provision for the exigency of that situation.
Schoolhouse
Early American Schools
Schools were originally established in early America to enable ordinary citizens to read the Bible for themselves and to understand the rational order of the universe created by God. The first compulsory school legislation in America was enacted in Massachusetts in 1647, a mere two decades after the first settlers arrived at Plymouth Rock. The Old Deluder Satan Act was enacted so that all children of the colonists could learn to read the Bible for themselves and would no longer be deluded as they had previously been through ignorance on the European continent. The law authorized elected community leaders to charge parents with the responsibility of teaching their children. When there were more than fifty children in a community, the parents were directed to establish a school. Teachers, then, became the agents of the parents, not the government, in educating their children.
Our founders also recognized the need for an educated citizenry if freedom were to be preserved. Two months before the United States Constitution was adopted, Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 to govern the newly settled territories west of the Appalachian Mountains. This Act provided for the establishment of schools, stating:
Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools, and the means of education, shall forever be encouraged.
The Northwest Ordinance did not presume that the government would establish these schools, but only encourage their private establishment. Just as in the original colonies, most schools were established by churches, groups of parents, or philanthropists. In 1811, when President James Madison recommended the first establishment of a federal university, Congress said “no,” concluding: “The erection of a university . . . is not within the powers confided by the Constitution to Congress.”
In 1859, President James Buchanan vetoed the first proposed legislation seeking to bring the federal government into the education arena. In his veto message, he said:
“I presume the general proposition is undeniable that Congress does not possess the power to appropriate money in the Treasury, raised by taxes on the people of the United States, for the purpose of educating the people of the respective States. It will not be pretended that any such power is to be found among the specific powers granted to Congress.”
Europe
America Adopts the European Educational Standard
In 1806, Holland became the first country to create a national system of state-regulated education to meet a goal of total government-run education. Prussia followed in 1819 by adopting a centralized government system of education.
The first movement toward state-controlled education in America began in 1817, but gained traction two decades later when Horace Mann, a Massachusetts legislator, led the fight for a uniform, government-controlled education after the Prussian model. Horace Mann was a Puritan who rejected his Biblical faith and became a Unitarian. The population in Massachusetts was becoming more diverse religiously. Rather than allow the various religions to establish their own schools to educate their children, Mann’s crusade to concentrate control of education in the government was intended to downplay religion and use the state to instill certain more secular common beliefs among the children. Mann believed that a uniform school system would be a powerful instrument for creating societal unity.
The public at large opposed Mann’s goal of having the state take over education under Europe’s Prussian model, so his supporters did not immediately seek direct authority over local schools. Instead, the Massachusetts legislature worked to gradually extend the state’s role in defining what would be taught in schools and setting uniform standards for teachers. When Mann later served on the Massachusetts Board of Education, he focused on three objectives: state collection of education data, state adoption of textbooks through the establishment of state-approved school libraries in each district, and state control of teacher preparation through the establishment of teacher’s colleges, called “Normal Schools.” In this way, Mann laid the groundwork for gradually greater government control of all education. Parents viewed Mann’s goals as antithetical to their freedom to pass on their own religious beliefs and traditions to their children. They did not want their children given to the state to be indoctrinated with the state’s more secular perspectives.
Family
Defending Education for Christian Families Today
Today, nearly 90% of all American children are educated in government-run schools. Courts have ruled since 1947 that no government money may go to private religious schools. This monopoly of education tax dollars for public schools makes it difficult for some families to provide a religious education for their own children in addition to funding the government schools.
The Christian Law Association continues to believe that Christian parents should have their educational choices protected in our nation. CLA has been on the front lines for decades defending the rights of Christian schools to exist and assisting families who want to home educate their children by successfully winning over 8,000 cases in defense of these liberties. CLA also serves families with children in public schools to assure that these students also have the maximum opportunity possible to practice their faith in a government school setting.
Please pray for all these families and children and pray that Christian families in America will continue to be able to educate their children in their own Biblical faith. The future of our nation depends upon their success.
As the school year kicks off, CLA stands ready to defend Christian rights in American education.
The Christian Law Association defends the rights of all parents to control the education of their children. We believe the Bible, as well as America’s Constitution, gives parents, not the government, the primary duty and responsibility to direct the upbringing and education of their own children.
Today, the government has become the dominant force for educating children in America, but it was not always this way. Prior to the 1850s, the government had very little input into the education of America’s children. Instead, there was a decentralized system of privately funded and operated schools throughout the country, most of them organized and run by churches, philanthropic societies, or local community groups. It was only after 1850, beginning in New England and particularly in Massachusetts, that education was seen as a governmental function, with the government both funding and operating schools for all children. But for the first 150 years of America’s settlement, and for the first fifty to seventy-five years of our nation’s existence, government schooling, as practiced today, did not exist.Books
When America’s founders adopted the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, they recognized that under the law of nature and of nature’s God (natural law and the Bible), parents had the right and duty to direct the education and upbringing of their children.
Our founders were well-educated, and they believed that to remain free, America must always have a well-educated citizenry.
They did not, however, believe that an educated citizenry required the government to provide, regulate, or operate schools.
When America was founded, and when our founders were educated, government-run schools did not exist.
Prior to America’s independence, the majority of colonial schools were common schools, primarily funded by private or community groups. Church schools and academies educated children at all levels—elementary, secondary, and college. Some of these schools provided free education for poor children whose families could not afford tuition to attend other private schools. These schools were intended to inculcate religious doctrine and principles into the children, as well as general knowledge, and later education for various businesses and trades.
James Kent, in his famous book, Commentaries on American Law, published in 1826, observed:
The duties of parents to their children as being their natural guardians consist in maintaining and educating them during the season of infancy and youth, and in making reasonable provision for their future usefulness and happiness in life by a situation suited to their habits and a competent provision for the exigency of that situation.
Schoolhouse
Early American Schools
Schools were originally established in early America to enable ordinary citizens to read the Bible for themselves and to understand the rational order of the universe created by God. The first compulsory school legislation in America was enacted in Massachusetts in 1647, a mere two decades after the first settlers arrived at Plymouth Rock. The Old Deluder Satan Act was enacted so that all children of the colonists could learn to read the Bible for themselves and would no longer be deluded as they had previously been through ignorance on the European continent. The law authorized elected community leaders to charge parents with the responsibility of teaching their children. When there were more than fifty children in a community, the parents were directed to establish a school. Teachers, then, became the agents of the parents, not the government, in educating their children.
Our founders also recognized the need for an educated citizenry if freedom were to be preserved. Two months before the United States Constitution was adopted, Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 to govern the newly settled territories west of the Appalachian Mountains. This Act provided for the establishment of schools, stating:
Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools, and the means of education, shall forever be encouraged.
The Northwest Ordinance did not presume that the government would establish these schools, but only encourage their private establishment. Just as in the original colonies, most schools were established by churches, groups of parents, or philanthropists. In 1811, when President James Madison recommended the first establishment of a federal university, Congress said “no,” concluding: “The erection of a university . . . is not within the powers confided by the Constitution to Congress.”
In 1859, President James Buchanan vetoed the first proposed legislation seeking to bring the federal government into the education arena. In his veto message, he said:
“I presume the general proposition is undeniable that Congress does not possess the power to appropriate money in the Treasury, raised by taxes on the people of the United States, for the purpose of educating the people of the respective States. It will not be pretended that any such power is to be found among the specific powers granted to Congress.”
Europe
America Adopts the European Educational Standard
In 1806, Holland became the first country to create a national system of state-regulated education to meet a goal of total government-run education. Prussia followed in 1819 by adopting a centralized government system of education.
The first movement toward state-controlled education in America began in 1817, but gained traction two decades later when Horace Mann, a Massachusetts legislator, led the fight for a uniform, government-controlled education after the Prussian model. Horace Mann was a Puritan who rejected his Biblical faith and became a Unitarian. The population in Massachusetts was becoming more diverse religiously. Rather than allow the various religions to establish their own schools to educate their children, Mann’s crusade to concentrate control of education in the government was intended to downplay religion and use the state to instill certain more secular common beliefs among the children. Mann believed that a uniform school system would be a powerful instrument for creating societal unity.
The public at large opposed Mann’s goal of having the state take over education under Europe’s Prussian model, so his supporters did not immediately seek direct authority over local schools. Instead, the Massachusetts legislature worked to gradually extend the state’s role in defining what would be taught in schools and setting uniform standards for teachers. When Mann later served on the Massachusetts Board of Education, he focused on three objectives: state collection of education data, state adoption of textbooks through the establishment of state-approved school libraries in each district, and state control of teacher preparation through the establishment of teacher’s colleges, called “Normal Schools.” In this way, Mann laid the groundwork for gradually greater government control of all education. Parents viewed Mann’s goals as antithetical to their freedom to pass on their own religious beliefs and traditions to their children. They did not want their children given to the state to be indoctrinated with the state’s more secular perspectives.
Family
Defending Education for Christian Families Today
Today, nearly 90% of all American children are educated in government-run schools. Courts have ruled since 1947 that no government money may go to private religious schools. This monopoly of education tax dollars for public schools makes it difficult for some families to provide a religious education for their own children in addition to funding the government schools.
The Christian Law Association continues to believe that Christian parents should have their educational choices protected in our nation. CLA has been on the front lines for decades defending the rights of Christian schools to exist and assisting families who want to home educate their children by successfully winning over 8,000 cases in defense of these liberties. CLA also serves families with children in public schools to assure that these students also have the maximum opportunity possible to practice their faith in a government school setting.
Please pray for all these families and children and pray that Christian families in America will continue to be able to educate their children in their own Biblical faith. The future of our nation depends upon their success.
Saving Marriage
Marriage and the Family Unit
What has happened to America nowadays? We do not as much of people being married, but women talk about their problems with their live-in boyfriend, and men talk about the false commitments they have made to their girlfriends. It seems as if marriage is becoming obsolete! Many of these live-ins have children from other relationships, and they have some with their present “partner” (as if the words “husband” and “wife” are taboo!). Even the queers are getting in on raising children “together” with their distorted and perverted values. What chance do the youngsters have of knowing right from wrong?
Satan’s attack on the family, the “backbone of America” is a subtle attack indeed. He has managed to confuse the people and has cast a dark shadow on the sacred relationship that God has ordained--marriage.
Gen 2:21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
Gen 2:22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Gen 2:23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Gen 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
God Himself has termed the word “wife”, and he has established a precedent for marriage as “one man and one woman”. Satan’s attack on the family unit is a direct attack on the institution of God, and we seem to sit idly by and watch as the nation swirls around as in an eddy, and slowly is sucked under by the subtle cesspool of Satan’s schemes.
What has happened to marriage? Where has it gone? The hippy movement of the sixties became the crucial blow for marriage. “The term “free love” became appealing to men (mankind), and the moral fiber of America took a serious blow along with marriage. As the family goes, so goes the nation.
Today, “sleeping together” is a recreation and no longer a sacred institution; marriage has lost its charm and sex has prevailed over all, and we fail to attack the enemy of marriage because we do not want to offend anyone! We need to be aggressive against sin and evil; we have been made afraid to “charge hell with a squirt gun” as some accusers say of us, and let the Lord put the fires out. A squirt gun douses more flame than not doing anything at all! We have been afraid to “cram it down their throats” as they say we do, and yet the world is constantly cramming their evil down our throats! No wonder we are losing the battle! We need to saturate the world, or our small corner of it, with the Gospel. We can leave tracts everywhere and anywhere, and we can all be more aggressive in one-on-one confrontations. We have listened too long to the critics that say we will chase the sinner away if we witness to them when they do not want to hear it. Where are we going to chase them to? They are condemned already, how much more condemned can they be? And by the way, we really don’t want to hear some their vain talk, but they still persist in their evil speaking, whether we like it or not. They are more aggressive than we are, yet they have nothing to offer us. We are too worried about our influence, and think we need to be friends with them before we can be an effective witness, but who wins them then, us, or the Lord? It is the Word of God that stirs men’s souls, and not our friendship, as we so mistakenly think. We are not commissioned to make friends, but to share the Gospel message; we do not have to worry about our “delivery” if the Lord is in it, just proclaim the Gospel to everyone we can, and let the Lord work. Not only do we glorify the Lord in doing so, but with some we make a difference, “pulling them out of the fire:
Jud 1:22 And of some have compassion, making a difference:
Jud 1:23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
It’s time to get your armor on, and march forth into battle as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. Unless we get back to the Bible and shun the “vain philosophies of men” we will not save marriage, and our country will decay from the inside, and we will be a reproach to ourselves and to others.
Gypsy Martindale
What has happened to America nowadays? We do not as much of people being married, but women talk about their problems with their live-in boyfriend, and men talk about the false commitments they have made to their girlfriends. It seems as if marriage is becoming obsolete! Many of these live-ins have children from other relationships, and they have some with their present “partner” (as if the words “husband” and “wife” are taboo!). Even the queers are getting in on raising children “together” with their distorted and perverted values. What chance do the youngsters have of knowing right from wrong?
Satan’s attack on the family, the “backbone of America” is a subtle attack indeed. He has managed to confuse the people and has cast a dark shadow on the sacred relationship that God has ordained--marriage.
Gen 2:21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
Gen 2:22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Gen 2:23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Gen 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
God Himself has termed the word “wife”, and he has established a precedent for marriage as “one man and one woman”. Satan’s attack on the family unit is a direct attack on the institution of God, and we seem to sit idly by and watch as the nation swirls around as in an eddy, and slowly is sucked under by the subtle cesspool of Satan’s schemes.
What has happened to marriage? Where has it gone? The hippy movement of the sixties became the crucial blow for marriage. “The term “free love” became appealing to men (mankind), and the moral fiber of America took a serious blow along with marriage. As the family goes, so goes the nation.
Today, “sleeping together” is a recreation and no longer a sacred institution; marriage has lost its charm and sex has prevailed over all, and we fail to attack the enemy of marriage because we do not want to offend anyone! We need to be aggressive against sin and evil; we have been made afraid to “charge hell with a squirt gun” as some accusers say of us, and let the Lord put the fires out. A squirt gun douses more flame than not doing anything at all! We have been afraid to “cram it down their throats” as they say we do, and yet the world is constantly cramming their evil down our throats! No wonder we are losing the battle! We need to saturate the world, or our small corner of it, with the Gospel. We can leave tracts everywhere and anywhere, and we can all be more aggressive in one-on-one confrontations. We have listened too long to the critics that say we will chase the sinner away if we witness to them when they do not want to hear it. Where are we going to chase them to? They are condemned already, how much more condemned can they be? And by the way, we really don’t want to hear some their vain talk, but they still persist in their evil speaking, whether we like it or not. They are more aggressive than we are, yet they have nothing to offer us. We are too worried about our influence, and think we need to be friends with them before we can be an effective witness, but who wins them then, us, or the Lord? It is the Word of God that stirs men’s souls, and not our friendship, as we so mistakenly think. We are not commissioned to make friends, but to share the Gospel message; we do not have to worry about our “delivery” if the Lord is in it, just proclaim the Gospel to everyone we can, and let the Lord work. Not only do we glorify the Lord in doing so, but with some we make a difference, “pulling them out of the fire:
Jud 1:22 And of some have compassion, making a difference:
Jud 1:23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
It’s time to get your armor on, and march forth into battle as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. Unless we get back to the Bible and shun the “vain philosophies of men” we will not save marriage, and our country will decay from the inside, and we will be a reproach to ourselves and to others.
Gypsy Martindale
Memories
There comes a time in life when memories become very precious. We tend to cling to them, and not let them go; we walk again a life now past, and enjoy the excitement of life all over again. Memories; sometimes it seems as if that’s all we have left that is worthwhile, and yet they are no longer reality. Many of them are lost in the oblivion of time gone by, vague memories, as accurate as we wish them to be, and still exhilarating to our hearts with precious thoughts to occupy our days. They are often little appreciated, at the first thought of them, but stored away for future reference in our old age. With memories, we relive the excitement of youth; we brave the storms of life again, and stand firm on our warn-out convictions. Yea, we can make them pleasant or terrifying, whatever we choose to draw out of the archives of our minds. Memories; they soothe the pain of old age, and nurture us along until we meet our Lord in the air; they keep us alive in spirit as they bring joy to our hearts. Yes, in later years, memories become very precious, very dear indeed.
All of us have memories; some good, and some not at all good, but they are there to remind us of a life gone by, and of days long gone. They linger in our minds, and yes, also in our hearts, haunting and taunting us, and exciting us toward life and youth again. I thank the Lord for memories, though I seem to recall those I would not, instead of those I should. I think we all do by nature. It seems as if they were given to us for a purpose, as each one represents an actual portion of our life. Memories are photographs stored in a box and put away for future reminiscing; they are good times, and bad times and they paint a picture of a life lived, and of joys and sorrows that came along the way. Ah, memories, how vague they can be as we age, and how easily they become lost in details, and yet, they remain mostly precious. They have either blessed us, or taught us, but nevertheless, they linger. Some remain to excite emotions of love gone by; some of pain remembered; some of youth with its whimsical hopes; and some adorned with all sorts of ornaments of grace and hope.
When all have forsaken us, and all possessions are lost, memories remain, and cannot be taken away by others; they can however, become lost in the oblivion of time, and succumb to a feeble mindedness, and thereby lose their effect on us. No one can snatch away our thoughts and memories, but they seem to fade as time goes on, and often are completely lost; even those which are most precious. At times like these we are left with nothing, absolutely nothing of our past life, and we exist in a world of our own. Even then we often resort back to childhood, and relive the days of yore when mom and dad ruled our lives and we were completely at their mercy; even then we live in the world of memories. Ah, but while we have them, let us relish in them, and remember the joy and heartache they give us. Let us bask in comfort and discomfort of days gone by, and times unknown to many others; let us remember the shared memories with family and friends, and relive the ‘glory days” of our lives. What else have we but these? As age often confines us to a chair, or to a limited lifestyle, and slows our thinking and our actions, as life often weakens our bodies, and our spirit, we can cling to memories of what used to be, and of what once was.
Memories are dreams in reverse! As dreams look forward to great things in life, memories look back and make the mundane to be great. Exaggeration becomes our “dream” and the stories vary to each person we share them with, but let us go! We are building a mountain of hope; we are living a new life that somehow never was; we are finding recognition in a world that has forgotten us, at least in our own minds. Yes, we are living in the past, but the past used to be called “the good old days”, and that they are. They are the days when we counted for something, and we were men and women of integrity, and life was good. These “good old days” were days of strife; of laughter; of joy; of successes and failures, all of which we remember later in life, and consider most precious. We now laugh at the struggles and the trials because we know that we have overcome them; somehow they are no longer great mountains looming before us, but small hills that we had to climb. The victories are exalted, while the failures are minimized.
Thank you Lord for the memories, many of which I am now ashamed of; many of which I went through without your blessing, although we are never out of the reach of your grace and mercy, but many of which we shared together. Oh how precious are those we have shared. Thank you for giving me life—real life, where I have tasted the richness of thy glory, and basked in the comfort of thy love. Thank you for turning my dreams into memories, and giving me new dreams to be fulfilled. Thank you for the family you’ve given me, who, each one, shares a portion of those memories with me, and for the times we learned to trust in thee and in thy ever-loving grace. What a wonderful partner you have been in life for me; thank you though for the partner you have given me to share many of these memories with throughout the years, and for the faithfulness and love we have shared. Many moments have passed, and many events have occurred, but I was never alone in them, and neither was my wife; for this I thank you very much.
Gypsy Martindale
All of us have memories; some good, and some not at all good, but they are there to remind us of a life gone by, and of days long gone. They linger in our minds, and yes, also in our hearts, haunting and taunting us, and exciting us toward life and youth again. I thank the Lord for memories, though I seem to recall those I would not, instead of those I should. I think we all do by nature. It seems as if they were given to us for a purpose, as each one represents an actual portion of our life. Memories are photographs stored in a box and put away for future reminiscing; they are good times, and bad times and they paint a picture of a life lived, and of joys and sorrows that came along the way. Ah, memories, how vague they can be as we age, and how easily they become lost in details, and yet, they remain mostly precious. They have either blessed us, or taught us, but nevertheless, they linger. Some remain to excite emotions of love gone by; some of pain remembered; some of youth with its whimsical hopes; and some adorned with all sorts of ornaments of grace and hope.
When all have forsaken us, and all possessions are lost, memories remain, and cannot be taken away by others; they can however, become lost in the oblivion of time, and succumb to a feeble mindedness, and thereby lose their effect on us. No one can snatch away our thoughts and memories, but they seem to fade as time goes on, and often are completely lost; even those which are most precious. At times like these we are left with nothing, absolutely nothing of our past life, and we exist in a world of our own. Even then we often resort back to childhood, and relive the days of yore when mom and dad ruled our lives and we were completely at their mercy; even then we live in the world of memories. Ah, but while we have them, let us relish in them, and remember the joy and heartache they give us. Let us bask in comfort and discomfort of days gone by, and times unknown to many others; let us remember the shared memories with family and friends, and relive the ‘glory days” of our lives. What else have we but these? As age often confines us to a chair, or to a limited lifestyle, and slows our thinking and our actions, as life often weakens our bodies, and our spirit, we can cling to memories of what used to be, and of what once was.
Memories are dreams in reverse! As dreams look forward to great things in life, memories look back and make the mundane to be great. Exaggeration becomes our “dream” and the stories vary to each person we share them with, but let us go! We are building a mountain of hope; we are living a new life that somehow never was; we are finding recognition in a world that has forgotten us, at least in our own minds. Yes, we are living in the past, but the past used to be called “the good old days”, and that they are. They are the days when we counted for something, and we were men and women of integrity, and life was good. These “good old days” were days of strife; of laughter; of joy; of successes and failures, all of which we remember later in life, and consider most precious. We now laugh at the struggles and the trials because we know that we have overcome them; somehow they are no longer great mountains looming before us, but small hills that we had to climb. The victories are exalted, while the failures are minimized.
Thank you Lord for the memories, many of which I am now ashamed of; many of which I went through without your blessing, although we are never out of the reach of your grace and mercy, but many of which we shared together. Oh how precious are those we have shared. Thank you for giving me life—real life, where I have tasted the richness of thy glory, and basked in the comfort of thy love. Thank you for turning my dreams into memories, and giving me new dreams to be fulfilled. Thank you for the family you’ve given me, who, each one, shares a portion of those memories with me, and for the times we learned to trust in thee and in thy ever-loving grace. What a wonderful partner you have been in life for me; thank you though for the partner you have given me to share many of these memories with throughout the years, and for the faithfulness and love we have shared. Many moments have passed, and many events have occurred, but I was never alone in them, and neither was my wife; for this I thank you very much.
Gypsy Martindale
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