November 4, 2001 Volume 2 Number 44
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Think on These Things Alan Hitchen “you are what you eat” Recent research into the causes and cures of the major diseases killing Americans led to the above slogan a few years back. It was discovered that the risk of cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and other ailments could be significantly lowered by diet alone. Those who are careful about what they allow into their body live healthier and longer lives. Many who eat less, and limit fat, cholesterol, sugar and salt have been greatly benefited. A good diet not only decreases illness, but also slows its progress in those who are already afflicted. There is no question that the health of the body is affected by the type of foods we eat. Since these results have been made known, many people now check the labels of the food they eat, and have become much more concerned about their eating habits. God long ago revealed that even greater benefits are available for those who practice “healthy eating” when it comes to feeding the heart, mind and soul. It is clear to anyone who thinks about it that there is a great similarity between these two things. Everything the mouth swallows enters the stomach, where it is digested, and sent on into the intestines to be absorbed into the body. Whatever good or bad affect it will have on the body is already fixed when we put it into the mouth and swallow it. If we are to protect the body, then we must stop it from entering the mouth. In exactly the same way, the eyes and ears bring all that we see and hear into our mind. Once this new thing enters the mind, it’s digestion occurs through thought, meditation, and imagination. Such “digestion” leads this new thought to permeate our emotional health, our spiritual well being and our intellectual understanding. Consequently, just as physical health led to the slogan “you are what you eat,” spiritual, emotional and intellectual health is summed up: “you are what you see & hear” Many are afflicted with grave spiritual and emotional “diseases” because of their “poor eating habits.” Those who allow their eyes and ears the freedom to see and hear whatever is set before them will have very poor spiritual health. Like those eating fat, cholesterol, and salt increase their chance of disease, those who use their eyes and ears to allow wicked or worldly things into their heart increase their chances of complete apostasy and spiritual death. Our thinking habits, like our eating habits must therefore become an important focus if we are to avoid such terrible consequences. There are many Scriptures dealing with both what is already in the mind, and introducing new things through the eyes and ears. There are grave debilitating affects to our spiritual and emotional health if we are not careful about what we allow into the heart. God warns us to be careful: “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.” Prov 4:23 In likening our heart to a fountain of water, God introduces another figure. Clean and pure sources of water lead to a blessed fountain. When polluted sources find their way in, the fountain can become a curse. This is what God wants us to understand about our heart. We must keep guard over it, for it is the seat of our life. We must watch over it with all diligence, and protect it from vile, profane, and worldly things. We must realize that everything allowed into the heart can later spring forth into our life. All that a man is comes from what he has allowed into his heart. Consider how far reaching this can be by noting what God says we use our hearts to do: Think - Mark 9:4 Speak - Genesis 24:45 Know - Proverbs 14:10 Believe - Romans 10:10 Perceive - Deut 29:4 Devise - I Kings 12:33 Ponder - Luke 2:19 Meditate - Psalms 19:14 Doubt - Mark 11:23 Desire - Psalms 21:2 Reason - Mark 2:6-8 Imagine - Genesis 8:21 Love - Matthew 22:37 Be contrite - Psalms 51:17 Be glad - Proverbs 15:13 Fear - Psalms 27:3 Sorrow - Proverbs 15:13 Trust - Psalms 28:7 Rejoice - Psalms 33:21 Be proud - I Chronicles 32:25-26 Forgive - Matthew 18:35 Lust - Romans 1:24 Grieve - Genesis 6:6 Praise God - Psalms 9:1 Despise - II Samuel 6:16 When evil is allowed into our heart, we are forced to digest it. Sooner or later such digestion begins to affect how we do the things listed above. For this reason God warns us to carefully monitor what we allow to enter it. “I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not fasten its grip on me.” Ps 101:3 Our culture requires we take this to heart. Through the medium of newspaper, radio, and TV, we have abundant opportunities to set worthless things before our eyes. Things that will later spring forth into our life in ways we never dreamed or imagined! Those who continually set worthless things before their eyes eventually become worthless (fall away) themselves. Job also saw the need to regulate what he allowed himself to gaze upon. “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?” Job 31:1 Job saw clearly the correlation between looking at a young women’s body and the terrible consequences that could later follow. He made a covenant not to look. What Job saw concerning women, is true for all the lusts of the body: And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.” Mk 7:20-23 Anything we allow our eyes or ears to “eat” that feeds any of the above emotions will later lead to such deeds springing forth into our daily life. Allowing them to create evil thoughts spiritually, emotionally and intellectually defiles us. The place to stop such wickedness resides within our will to exercise the self-control necessary to keep from “eating” them. If we allow our eyes and ears to feed on such things we will soon find wicked things springing forth into our life. This is God’s means for testing the health of our heart. When we read such lists, we must see if any of the things He lists are among our “favorite dishes.” If they are, then we must change our “eating habits.” “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.” Ps 19:14 A careful monitoring of our words and thoughts will quickly manifest the defiling things that have entered our heart. Once we find them, we must realize how damaging they are. They bring great grief to our God. “Then the LORD saw that the wicked-ness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.” Gen 6:5-6 Our hearts were neither designed nor created by God for such defiling uses. If we do not remove them, they will destroy us just as surely as God destroyed them in the flood. Such wicked thoughts must be removed through repentance. “Wash your heart from evil, O Jerusalem, that you may be saved. How long will your wicked thoughts lodge within you?” Jer 4:14 “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the LORD, and He will have compassion on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” Isa 55:7 Wicked thoughts result from wicked things being seen and heard. The heart must be washed of such evil if we are to be saved. We must forsake such thoughts and seek to clean up our heart. God has given us the tools (weapons) necessary to do it. “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ”, II Cor 10:4-5 Because of the defiling nature of our thoughts, and the control they exert over our deeds, they must be taken captive. All thoughts must be obedient to Jesus Christ. All the fortresses our wicked thoughts have built must be torn down and destroyed, replaced with things God wants our minds to be busily digesting through meditation and imagination: “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.” Phil 4:8
Have We Forgotten? Have we forgotten what our business really is? For the most part I think the answer is yes. Peter Drucker, a well known business management expert, has written several books advising business people how to be successful. In one book, The Practice Of Management, he points out that the most dangerous and destructive thing any business manager can do is to forget what “the company’s business really is.” A case in point is about a mile from my house. Many years ago a man started a lawn mower sales and repair business which became very successful. He was honest and did good work. His prices were high, but we stood in line to trade with him because he attended to business in a dependable way. The owner grew old and had to step down. He turned it over to his son whose only interest in life is “scuba diving.” Within a year he divided the showroom in half, reduced his lawn mower stock, and reduced his faithful crew. His main interest became scuba diving equipment. The business began to decline and a reputable competitor opened up which no one had dared try in past years. Early on I predicted the demise of this business, Sure enough, I passed by the other day and the sign is up: “out of business.” The son, whose only interest was “scuba diving,” had forgotten what their business really was. He “killed the goose that laid the golden egg” because he forgot and neglected their foremost business. When I observe preachers, elders, and other leading men in the church today, I am made to wonder if we haven’t to some degree forgotten “what our business really is.” I know the church is not a “business” like Mr. Drucker advises, but I believe we would do well to take a look at this advice about “forgetting what our business realty is.” Ed. note: This is the introduction from this article - part 2 next week
Here is another fact that throws a gory wrench in the evolutionary machine. The rotation of the earth is gradually slowing — losing time. The causes for this are many, including gravitational drag forces exerted on the earth by the sun and moon. If the earth is billions of years old, and it has been slowing down uniformly through time, the earth's present spin would be zero. Extrapolating backwards, the earths spin billions of years ago would have been so great that the centrifugal force would pull the land masses to the equatorial regions and draw them out to a present-day height of over 40 miles. The oceans would have been pushed to the poles and the overall shape of the earth changed from a sphere to a fat pancake. But the earth is still spinning, its shape is spherical, its continents are not crowded to the equatorial regions, and the oceans are not centered at the poles. What do we conclude? The earth is NOT billions of years old. Gathered from America Online Computer Service under the following heading: Subject: The Earth's Spin and Creation Planting A Garden You don't need a green thumb for this garden to grow! When you plant this garden, may God richly bless you in your sincere endeavor. Plant three rows of squash: After planting, May you Grow in Grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (II Peter 3:18.) And may you reap rich results. The Spirit Expressly Says
... Not Good Enough to go to Church? Have you thought you would feel like a hypocrite if you attended church? At the Church of Christ there are many different kinds of people. It is by design that the assemblies are made up of both Christians and non-Christians. In addition, the true Christian is quick to tell you he/she is not an angel. The true Christian does not have a "holier than thou" attitude. True Christians know that they are saved by the grace of God. They realize that the Bible says, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:9). Furthermore, the true Christian knows that they can (and do) fall short of the glory of God's grace. Therefore, they must rely on God's forgiveness and His Word that brings comfort and encouragement. The Bible teaches that God hates sin, but loves the sinner. Come learn more about God's saving grace at the church of Christ, 2020 Pine St. Our Services begin at 9:30 AM and Bible class is at 11:00 AM. Come Worship with us. We
hope you find this bulletin useful in your Bible study. 2
Sam 22:31
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