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The Cornerstone
This is the Stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the Chief Conerstone." Acts 4:11
Pulbished to Support the Work of the West End Church of Christ, Richmond, Virginia
Volume 9 * Number 20* May 20, 2007
Put On Bowels of Mercies
“Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, …” Colossians 3:12-13a
Christians should have the desire to administer mercy when necessary. God has certainly been merciful to us as sinners and we must learn to reciprocate mercy unto others.
In Matthew 18:23-35 we have Jesus’ parable of an unmerciful servant. One of the king’s servants owed him a large sum of money. It was the day of reckoning and the servant was to pay back what he now owed the king. The servant did not have the money so the king ordered that the servant’s wife and children be sold to pay the debt. The situation was intense and the servant about to loose all that he had threw himself at the feet of the king and begging him to give him more time to pay his bill.
What happens next is what truly motivates mercy. “Then the Lord of the servant was moved with compassion…” Compassion was necessary at this moment in time. This man was going to loose what was truly important if the king did not intervene. The compassion to forgive.
Unfortunately the servant would not do the same when confronted with a similar situation in his own life. Thus the teaching of Jesus “Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on they fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?”
“So likewise shall My heavenly Father do also unto you if ye from your heart forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.” A great challenge for us all!
Stacy Crim
Abortion and Molech
Keith Davis
In the time of ancient Israel, a practice was common in some surrounding areas know generally as Molech worship. The Ammonites and Moabites worshipped this god, but sometimes even the Israelites backslid into the practices of their neighbors. Known by the ancient Moabites as ‘Chemosh,’ Molech was a minotaur – a large idol, half-man and half-bull, with a hollow abdomen.
Under the enlarged image, a fire burned until the hollow abdomen glowed with heat. The people would dance in front of their god, and the reveling continued until a small child was thrown alive into the abdominal cavity. The child was seared to death, its cries only adding to the fever pitch of the worshippers’ reveling. The burnt remains were removed from the other side of Molech the following day.
Many today view abortion as nothing less than modern day Molech worship. Unrestrained sex has resulted in many unwanted and, sometimes, aborted pregnancies. The Bible is not found lacking in its determination of the fetus as a living being. It uses the Greek word ‘brephos’ to describe many stages in a child’s development, whether in the womb (Lu 1:41, 44), as newborn babes (1 Pe 2:1) or older infants (Lu 18:15). Christians see no difference between human beings and the fetus, even in the earliest stages of development.
(edited, from a college term paper) Simple Truths
&
Never
by: Dale Smelser
Previous to World War II a lonely voice kept warning of the aims of Adolph Hitler. While Hitler raised emotions of revenge, conquest, and superiority to a fever pitch in Germany, he pressed against his neighbors and moved his troops into disputed territories pressing south and east. Most others quailed at opposing this maniacal tyrant. Then he wanted Czechoslovakia. That lonely voice was ignored and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain met with German officials in Munich where he surrendered all principle for "peace," practically ceding Czechoslovakia to Germany, who emboldened, moved in and occupied that country in 1938. Thinking Hitler appeased, Chamberlain came back to a relieved populace in England proclaiming he had achieved "peace in our time."
Still, the lonely principled warning voice of Winston Churchill would not be silenced, though it cost him politically and professionally. He knew evil when he saw it. He envisioned not only England's danger, but that of Europe and the World. Churchill was scorned, insulted, and resisted. But he believed in something and kept fighting for it. Hitler must be resisted. He did not have too many listeners until Hitler, emboldened by the fear and cowardly reaction of the world, invaded Poland. Finally, the world knew Churchill was right and joined to oppose this would be world dominator.
The war did not go well at first for Great Britain and its allies. France fell. And keep in mind that England was just a short distance across the English Channel. Leaders around the world wondered if England would now quit its resistance. But Churchill rallied his people. His words were stirring because they were of courage. He said, "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat." He declared, "Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization," but promised, "We shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender." He wanted his nation to stand and conduct itself, so that even if the British Empire should last for a thousand years, "Men will say, This was their finest hour'." And he steeled the people urging, "Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never, in nothing, great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense." I wonder how much Power Point would have helped that speech.
Such courage is the only suitable reaction to evil. There remains a threatening would be world dominator. He certainly threatens the survival of Christian civilization. Gradually, one by one righteous standards are being over run just as Hitler over ran European nations. The vulgar crude language and plots of television programs are the wastelands of a scorched earth where the enemy has prevailed. Courts rule in favor of defilement.
Does God have among his people those with the will and courage to resist and fight? In the midst of comfort, air conditioning, paid holidays, and luxuries unimaginable to ages past, is there a people ready to stand and suffer scorn, loss of reputation, and even position, in offering blood, toil, tears, and sweat? Are there those ready to fight the spiritual battle in the fields, streets, and hills, wherever the enemy presents himself. Will his people seek ease and compromise as Chamberlain did, or pursue the courage of Churchill? No less than defeat or victory will be determined by the response.
Paul said, "Be ye steadfast, unmovable' (I Cor. 15:58). "Wax not weary, fainting in your souls" (Heb. 12:3). "Wherefore take up the whole armor of God...and, having done all, to stand. Stand therefore" (Eph. 6:13-14). Jesus said, "Be ye faithful unto death" (Rev. 2:10). Never give in. Never.
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