The Life and Times of Joseph, the Encourager

Many know of this man named Joseph, but know him by another name, Barnabas (Acts 4:36). We read here in Acts that Joseph was called “son of encouragement” by the apostles, which means Barnabas. Immediately, his name speaks volumes of the man’s character because it was not his given name, but a nick name given to him by the apostles of the Lord.

From the word go, this Levite from Cyprus (Acts 3:36) was a giving man. We are told in the next verse that he sold a field and gave the money to the apostles to distribute as they saw fit. What an example for both the believers of his day as well as for us.

The next time we here of Barnabas is in Jerusalem aiding a fellow Christian (Acts 9:26-27). The man he was helping found himself in quite a predicament. The man Barnabas helped was Paul; the persecutor formerly known as Saul, who relentlessly imprisoned and murdered members of the church but now turned Christian. When all others wanted to avoid this murderer of Christians, Barnabas went out on a limb to reach this new born babe in Christ. What a leader, example, and encourager he was.

Barnabas accompanied Paul on many of his missionary journeys until an argument caused them to go their separate ways. In Acts 13:13, Paul and Barnabas left for another mission trip with John Mark, who was Barnabas’ cousin, but for some reason Mark turned back. It was not until Paul and Barnabas were planning another trip that there was a disagreement between the two friends. Paul wanted to leave Mark behind but Barnabas wanted to take him. Even apostles argued (Acts 14:14) and even fell short and sinned (Gal. 2:11-13).

This is not the end of our story, Paul, Barnabas and John Mark were eventually reconciled in 1Cor. 9:6. Through out the book of Acts, we see this man Joseph popping up, risking his life for the sake of Christ (Acts 15:26) and called “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and Faith” (Acts 11:24). You see, no one remembers a man named Joseph from Cyprus, but every one remembers Barnabas the Encourager. By the power of Christ and His blood, Joseph was transformed into this man who encourages still so many today. What is Christ transforming you into (Rom. 12:2; 2Cor. 3:18)?

Anyone Up for a Little Global Warming?

I came across this article http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,339831,00.html on global warming and found the FACTS amazing. I have though for years that it is crazy to think that little ol' me could effect the climate of the entire world. The evidence presented here would support my theory. The only reason I would like an alternate fuel source is money. I really am tired of paying over $3 a gallon. I'm tired of paying over $2 for that matter. If gas prices dropped to about $1.30 you wouldn't here another peep out of me.

Here is another link with a few more interesting facts http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/3570 . I like the point that Miller made in paragraph three. You should take the time to at least read past the moose picture. He even gives teeth to his points by quoting or referencing his research. I especially enjoy the thumbing of the nose at all the tree huggers that think by driving a hybrid will save a few weeds (these are Andy’s words not Millers). Don’t get me wrong, I love the out doors but God created the earth for our enjoyment not the other way around.

Please feel free to comment about either or both articles or about my ramblings. If you agree let me know, if you disagree still let me know I just won’t be as excited.

Jude

On Wednesday night we started something new in the teen class. We will be studying Jude but with a twist. There is going to be very little lecturing going on and a lot more hands on activities. I was reading in The Gospel Advocate Magazine a while back about Youth Ministry and got, what I thought to be a great idea. The author was writing to the fact that the youth does not know how to read the bible and understand it for themselves.

I feel this to be true, especially for most of the kids in the youth group I work with. If I were to ask most of them to prepare a lesson on the book of Jude they might do a decent job of the basics but have no idea how to get at the meat of the text; and why should they, they don’t know how and have never been taught how.

The idea I got from GA was to write a thank you note to the author of one of the NT writers for writing their church. In this case we will be writing a thank you note to Jude for writing us. I think it will not only give them a better understanding of what the letter is talking about, but also help them grasp the idea that Jude was a real person who really wrote a letter and it has meaning today. Yes Jude is a tough book but that just means there will be plenty of meat for the group to dig into.

Also, last night, and probably for one or two more Wednesday nights, we will be looking at how to use some of the resources materials available to them to get at the meat of the Word. Last night I showed them how to use an Interlinear Bible with a Greek Lexicon, Naves topical Bible, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, Vine’s Bible Dictionary, and a couple of commentaries. Yes, I know, it sounds like a load of fun for a bunch of teens on a Wednesday night but they shouldn’t wait until collage to learn how to read the bible for them selves. Plus I’m not so sure if I trust most of today’s “Christian” Universities to teach impressionable students how to read the bible.

I got a phone call from a girl who used to attend here who is now in collage. She goes to a private but non Christian school. She told me she was not ready for what she is now facing. She had no idea there were so many different ways of believing the bible and often times finds she has no answer to the questions being posed to her. She said, for instance, she never knew why people always talking about instrumental music and never really understood why it was such a big deal. After being at collage a couple of weeks she sees that it wasn’t the church that was making it a big deal but everyone else and that her teachers in bible class were just trying to prepare her for the up coming challenges.

Far too often this is the case with our young people. They find out too late that what they were being taught really does matter.

So, on Sunday morning in the High School class, we will be studying about Christian evidences and look at many of the challenges they will be facing in the very near future when they leave home to go off to collage. I am excited about the study and hope the teens really grasp the urgency of the matter. One of the scary things to me is that at the end of the summer most of the teens that are going to collage will be going to Harding or Freed instead of a public school. You see at a public school you know exactly what you are getting but at Harding or Freed there may be a sense of security that could lead to destruction.

The Life and Times of Naomi, Mother-in-Law of Ruth

As a secondary character in the Old Testament book of Ruth, often times we don’t give too much attention to Naomi. Naomi was an extraordinary woman; even though it never says so in the bible explicitly, we can glean some wisdom from this woman from Bethlehem (Ruth 1:1). She was a Godly woman and strong in faith. She was a good wife, mother, and mother-in-law. With these credentials, one can hardly say much more.

When a famine was in the land of Judah, Naomi’s husband, Elimelech, moved his family to the land of Moab. While in Moab, Naomi’s sons grew up and married. One of these new daughters was Ruth whom is the main focus of the book. It is through Naomi that we are introduced to Ruth and through Ruth we see the attributes of Naomi reflected. You see when Naomi’s husband and sons died; she decided to return home to Bethlehem (1:5), and her daughters-in-law followed after her. Naomi told them this was unnecessary and to return home. This next part (1:8-14) is truly touching. It is our first glimpse into the personal life of Naomi. When she had told them to go back to Moab, the women did not want to leave. In fact they wept and pleaded with Naomi to stay. Naomi tried to reason with them and succeeded with one, but in verse 14 we see Ruth clinging to Naomi. How touching is this? What a great mother-in-law and what a Godly woman Naomi must have been to cause such distress in these two young women.

The next verse is perhaps the most touching verse of all. Verse 16 says "Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, And your God, my God. (17) Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. The LORD do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me." What an impression Naomi must have had on Ruth! What kind of a person Naomi must have been to cause such loyalty, honor and friendship.

Further on into the text, we see Naomi urging Ruth to seek the hand of Boaz, a rich relative. Ruth succeeds with the aid of Naomi and the two are married. This marriage is an extremely important. It is through this line that Jesus the Christ is born (Matt 1:5). You see, this son of Ruth and Boaz had a son named Jesse and Jesse is the father of King David. Picture what it would have been like if Ruth had not come home with Naomi.

Because of this friendship Naomi became the great-great grandmother of one of the most influential kings of Israel all because she lead a life for God. Naomi had a profound impact on Ruth, we can know this by the behavior of her on the road to Bethlehem.

I ask this question in closing. Christian, are you leading a life of Godliness? Are you the kind of person that would cause one to desire to leave all they know, follow after you and your God? Ruth had no idea she would marry a rich, handsome man and as a result, be in the lineage of the savior of the world when she begged Naomi to go with her. We as Christians, however, can know our actions and words will lead to salvation and a much greater inheritance than mere silver and gold. We have the opportunity and duty to live a life like Christ in order to seek and save the lost (Matt. 28:19-20)

The Life and Times of David Son of Jessie

David, a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22), but how does one achieve such a high compliment? This statement was originally recorded in 1Sam. 13:14 and was spoken by the Prophet and last Judge of Israel (1Sam 3:2; 7:15-17), Samuel. Commentators maintain that the statement was made about David’s public life as King and not about his private life; which was riddled with valiant victories, noble acts, love, lies, adultery, and murder. Nevertheless David was a great king and a great man, for many spoke of Jesus as the Son of David (Matt. 9:7; 12:23; and 21:9). So who was this great man? David was not a perfect man, but I believe that merely a glimpse of his life will reveal to us a man that truly is “after God’s own heart”.

First of all, his private life as a sinful King yet striving to do the will of God is a major part of who David was. David was thrust into many dangerous situations for a variety of reasons. However a constant factor of his many victories over his enemies is quickly reviled. The Lord was on David’s side when he killed the lion and the bear as described in 1 Sam 17:34-35. He also gave his faith over to God to defeat the giant Goliath. He protected his friend Jonathan who in turned protected him. Jonathan told David of the plot his father Saul had on his life (1Sam 19:1-7). David in turn showed unparalleled kindness to Mephibosheth because of his best friend, Jonathan, who was killed in battle (2 Sam 9). David refused to harm the anointed of God on multiple occasions out of respect for God (1Sam 24). In all David did, he gave glory to God and a cursory glance of the Psalms written by David will be sufficient evidence that he honored God and gave him all the glory.

However, he did have his short comings as we all know. Perhaps the most famous of which is his dealings with the wife of Uriah, Bathsheba (2 Sam. 11). This sad story involves the death of two innocent people, dishonor to Israel and to God. David lusted after Bathsheba, committed adultery with her, and then to cover up the pregnancy that was a result of the adultery; he had her husband murdered. David’s following punishment was the death of the child. What a sad story from such a great man. David did repent but only at the unveiling of the sin by the prophet Nathan. But he did repent. Some of his lesser shortcomings are his failed parenthood with many of his children and the last sin of David coming at the end of his life. He numbered the men of battle (2 Sam. 24). This doesn’t seem like a big deal, but when God gives David 3 choices of punishments, one begins to realize that something is wrong. 70,000 people died as a result of this sin. One major difference between David’s failure with Bathsheba and his failure here is that he didn’t need someone to tell him he had messed up (2 Sam. 24:10). He knew he had done wrong and accepted responsibility.

An amazing portrait of David’s personal life is woven throughout scriptures. Several points that need to be understood are that David learned from his mistakes, he accepted responsibility for them, and begged God for forgiveness (ex. Ps. 51). Furthermore, he gave God all the glory and put his full trust and faith in God.

Atheism a religion?

Recently on Fox News a story was covered in the Philadelphia area about an atheist group wanting to put up a religious symbol in front of City Hall. This idea strikes me as humorous because is atheism really a religion? I will come back to that momentarily but for now the two people interviewed was a spokes woman for the atheist group and a Catholic Priest. The two were arguing weather the symbol was appropriate. The symbol the atheists want to use is called “The Tree of Knowledge” (I think God may have that name copyrighted from way back in the beginning). It is basically an evergreen tree decorated like a Christmas tree but instead of lights and ornaments it has book covers (including the Bible and Koran).

This argument is absolutely absurd and one would think that a group that so strongly promotes knowledge would know that Christmas was started by pagans, not Christians. If you want to get technical the Catholic church; in order to counteract a pagan holiday for the return of the “Sun God”, created Christmas and said it was Jesus’ birthday; Which by the way there is no evidence to support that claim. Oddly enough, the symbol used by pagans was a Christmas tree. One could say the same for Easter with all the bunny rabbits and Easter eggs, guess what pagan god that represents. You guessed it, the fertility god! It is funny how the Catholic church enjoys all of these “Feast days” and “Religious Holidays”, while accepting the pagan symbols passed down for many years. A careful look into the Bible would reveal Colossians 2:16-17 as well as 1Tim. 4:1-3.

Back to the “is atheism a religion” question. I leave that to the good folks at Apologetics Press to answer that question from their November and December publications of Reason and Revelation. Enjoy.

I have added a link to my page called Apologetics Press. If you have not herd of this group before than you are in for a real treat. They print material arguing the point that there is a God (if you want a more complete definition than check out the website.) Any way you can get all kinds of free stuff. They do sell books but at a very minimal price and many of books you can print online for free. I especially enjoy Reason and Revelation because you can go back and look through an entire years worth of articles they have done and print them off individually or the entire issue.