Care for the Demanding

We had a Tom Cat named Boots, he is a roamer, we are not sure where or if he is at this moment.  We also had a stray, Little Bit, who adopted us and had two litters of kittens before she died defending the second set from a pack of stray dogs.  Of her litters of kittens, there is still one that stays around our house.  It is not a domesticated cat, it will not let us come near it and hides when it sees us.  However, this cat expects -- demands -- a bowl of food in the morning, and we feed it.  Admittedly, I get frustrated that this cat, to whom we have given ardent devotion in the form of free shelter and free food does not return that devotion by allowing us to pet or play with it.  This cat is far from its parents -- Boots would let you pick him up and carry him anywhere.  He liked to climb in laps and nap or just be petted.  Little Bit was wild when she came to us, but warmed up to us and would rub against us and came to the point where she would climb up in our laps if we were sitting on a step or on the ground.

This particular offspring of Boots and Little Bit remind me of a passage in Judges 2:7-11.  Here the penman records that as long as Joshua and the elders that were with him remained the people were faithful to God, but as time went on there arose a generation that did not know Joshua or those elders, and did not remember what God had done in delivering the people from Egypt, through the desert, and into a land ready for them.  This group forsook God for idols and did what was right in their own eyes.

Concerning this propensity of people someone said, "We are always and only ONE GENERATION away from apostasy."  Maybe that is why God told the people in Deut 6:4-9, "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

Parents we need to teach our children about God and remind them of the blessings that are in Christ.
Parents we must train our children to be godly in their lives while they are young.
Parents we should nurture them (lead them) in the Light.

What do you do to help your children become more and more like Christ?

Scott

I Quit!

I quit!  I have had enough!  I'm tired!  I'm worn out!  I'm frustrated!  I cannot take anymore!  I am resigning today!

I am quitting, you cannot change my mind!  Do NOT try to talk me out of it.  I refuse to second guess my decision to quit!  My mind is made up, my decision is final!

Honestly, I have wanted to say that for a long time.  I have considered quitting before and have taken hours to pray about it.  This is the only way!  I quit!

Quitting is a tough decision to make.  Quitting is not the weak way out.  Quitting take determination!  Quitting takes a great deal of faith.  When you quit, you wonder what people are going to say.  You wonder how your resignation will affect others.  But I have to quit!  Now it the time to quit!  Quitting was a difficult decision, I had to consider some characters in Biblical Historical Narrative.

What if Noah had quit?  No one was on his side, people laughed at him, encouraged him to quit, but he kept building the ark.
What if Abraham had quit?  No one would blame him.  How can you continue to have faith that God will give your children and inheritance when you are 98 and childless?
What if Joseph had quit? At every turn life seemed against him.  Yet he hung in there, did not quit and God's people received relief from a great disastrous famine.
What if Jesus had quit?  Satan offered a way out.  He asked God to take away cup of burden, but nevertheless, He stuck with God's plan.

But I have to quit!  There is just no way around it.  This is something I have to do -- right NOW!  TODAY!  This moment!  I refuse to put it off any longer, so for the record as of right now, I QUIT!

• I Quit worrying about what others think and I start caring more about what God thinks.
• I Quit making excuses for not being a better husband and father.
• I Quit complaining about the church and my brothers and sisters in Christ.
• I Quit prejudging others.
• I Quit looking for and finding fault.
• I Quit gossiping.
• I Quit looking for the easy way out.
• I Quit living for self and start living for Jesus.

Will you quit with me?

As we quit, let us resolve to be like all those Bible characters who stayed the course.  At the end of our individual lives, may we be able to echo Paul and say, "For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing." 2 Tim 4:6-8.

Scott

Tattoo My Face, Pierce My Ear, My Nose, My Tongue, My . . .

Not long ago I went to a restaurant and had concerns when the wait staff assigned to my table had a tongue stud induced speech impediment, something gold protruding from the side of a nostril, and a gold loop through their left eyebrow. This event can left me wondering how sanitary can all that be? Especially a pierced tongue. If a waiter or waitress does not care appear to care about their own health, why should I think they care about mine?Maybe you have similar concerns . . . or not.

I admit that the preceding thoughts are just that . . .thoughts. They are my thoughts and that is all they are ultimately worth. Recently someone asked what the Bible says about tattoos and body piercing. After giving it some thought, I wanted to share my answer. Let me begin by saying that this article concerns multiple piercings and not an earring or two. It concerns what some call "body art" and not a personal tattoo.

What does the Bible say about piercing and tattoos?

There are two Old Covenant passages we should look at as we begin to find an answer. These two passages are part of the Laws God gave to Israel through Moses. They served a purpose for the people then and have a principle that applies to us.

• Exodus 21:5-6 – "But if the servant plainly says, `I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,' then his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever."(NKJV)

• Leviticus 19:28 – "You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the Lord." (NKJV)

Exodus 21:5-6 is a law concerning masters and slaves. If a slave chose to continue in his master's service after being offered freedom, his master would pierce his ear signifying perpetual servanthood. The slave volunteered to be a servant for life. This passage has no specific application to the body piercing that is part of our culture. This passage does however teach us the depth of dedication we should have for our Lord and Master. Compare Romans 6:16-18 where Paul tells us that we are slaves of the one we obey.

Leviticus 19:28 is in the context of warnings of idolatrous worship. God gave Israel laws that prohibited them from imitating the ceremonies of those worshipping idols. The mutilating of the body in this passage is how many cultures mourned for their dead. They would cut their skin to show sorrow to their gods and neighbors. The tattoos were symbols in memory of the dead. (Pulpit Commentary, Vol II, p. 289.)

Again there is no specific correlation to our present culture of piercing or tattoos. The message for us is that we are "called out," separate from the world. Compare Deuteronomy 26:18 and Titus 2:14. Like Israel whom God called out as His own Special people, so are we as Christians today. We cannot allow ourselves to be molded by the world. This thought does speak to tattoos and piercings. Who am I trying to be like? Who am I molding myself after? Am I imitating God or the world?

Now we need to turn to the New Covenant. Paul talks about jewelry in 1 Timothy 2:9-10. " . . . Women adorn (yourselves) in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works."

Paul is contrasting the worship of the true God with worship of idols. Worship of idols was a social event. Participants wore their best to impress each other and to impress the gods. Paul is telling Christian women that godliness and good works are more important to God, not how much gold they can wear. This passage teaches that we are to always be modest in our manner of dress. We (men, women, boys and girls) are not to dress to attract undue attention to ourselves. We live life to give glory to God and not to self. Peter says the same thing to wives in 1 Peter 3:3-4.

So what does the Bible teach about body piercing and tattoos? It says very little. What can we say then? Is it wrong to pierce my ear, nose, eyebrow, tongue, etc.? It is sinful to cover my body with tattoos? To answer in one word, "yes." Yes, if I am doing it to draw unnecessary attention to myself. It seems that the motivation behind today's cultural tattoos and piercings is to get attention. It is ostentatious, self-serving, and rebellious in nature, and that is what makes many tattoos and piercings wrong.

Widows Worthy of Honor

Lamuel's mother lists the Godly attributes of a worthy woman in Proverbs 31. Paul describes widows who are worthy in 1 Timothy 5:4ff. Yesterday evening my family and I had an often repeated treat. One of the widows from Parrish invited us into her home as she does regularly for my family and many others in the congregation. This time however we brought a couple of extras in tow (my parents). This kind sister knew they were in town and specifically invited all five of us to have dinner with her. What a spread! A true fellowship feast! We sat down to fresh field peas, coleslaw, fresh cream corn, corn bread, chicken fried steak, boiled potatoes, fried okra, fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, sliced onion, macaroni and cheese, and for desert a home-made chocolate pie. I know I am forgetting something! The meal was wonderful and the hospitality worthy of mention.

I wish every congregation had a lady like our Sister Lorene. I owe her a big thanks for opening her home to us so often and especially for including my parents in this invitation. If more Christians were like this great sister, then maybe we could have a better influence on the world because they would see our love!