Friday, October 1, 2021

The Spirit of Harmony

 





There are different ways of interpreting a piece of music. Players sometimes do a disservice to the composer through their lack of inspiration or by using a badly tuned instrument. But the highest priority in the hermeneutical art is an awareness of the spirit in which we are interpreting the word in question. Is this spirit in harmony, in resonance, with the Life that breathes in the text that we are trying to translate? Of course, we must also have a good instrument, knowledge, and a cultivated intelligence and feeling so as to perceive all the harmonics of this subtle text.

WHAT IS CRITICAL RACE THEORY

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/0


9/20/the-man-behind-critical-race-theory 

ADOPTION

https://www.gospelproject.com/adoption-video?emid=om:email:tgp:clandes-news-dec-762927&


ecid=812244162&bid=134253391 

Friday, July 30, 2021

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

A Prayer for the Nation -Rev. M. D. Rogers

 


Our Father and Our God, we praise You for Your goodness to our nation, giving us blessings far beyond what we deserve. Yet we know all is not right with America. We deeply need a moral and spiritual renewal to help us meet the many problems we face. Convict us of sin. Help us to turn to You in repentance and faith. Set our feet on the path of Your righteousness and peace. We pray today for our nation's leaders. Give them the wisdom to know what is right, and the courage to do it. You have said, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." May this be a new era for America, as we humble ourselves and acknowledge You alone as our Savior and Lord. This we pray in Your holy name, Amen.



Friday, January 1, 2021

Christian Advice For Newlyweds

 


Honor God in Your Relationship

To build a strong Christian home and family you must honor God and His Word. When you begin ignoring the principles of the Bible then you cannot expect to have a good relationship. Go to church. Read God’s Word. Ask God for guidance in your marriage.

When you were dating there was a mutual respect—otherwise you probably would not have gotten married. Don’t lose that.

Respect Each Other

When you were dating there was a mutual respect—otherwise you probably would not have gotten married. Don’t lose that.

In general, men like to be respected for their intelligence and physical strength. Wives, feed that ego. It may sound silly to you, but when you respect [3] this strength and ego you will build a stronger husband who wants to do more and more to cultivate a relationship with you.

Ladies want to be respected for their creativity and resourcefulness. Men, respect that in her. She wants to be an asset to your life and help build your marriage in a God-honoring way. She is successful when she knows she helps you be successful. Praise her for that. Let her, and others, know that you could not be as productive without her.

When you stop respecting each other you begin to tear down the strength of your relationship.

Honor One Another

Besides private respect you should publicly honor your spouse. Honoring them means to defend them before others. Speak positively and respectfully about your spouse to their friends and family.

We have all been in too many situations where spouses speak negatively about one another. Even at church functions when men get together with men, or women with women, conversations can quickly devolve to complaining about how husbands and wives do this or that. Don’t malign your spouse before others. Build them up with honor and respect.

Keep Private Matters Private

Along with honoring one another you should keep your private life private. When you have problems in your relationship you seek help from someone qualified to give the help you need. Don’t blab your problems to anyone who will listen. Your pastor can help you. Or you may have an older couple in your church who you can go to for advice. Don’t let your spouse find you have been telling your private issues to the church gossip [4]. That will destroy the respect and honor you have tried to build in your marriage.

Stay Out of Debt

There is a huge problem in our country concerning debt. It is not just that there is so much of it, but that it is considered normal and expected for people to be in debt. The Bible warns in many places against getting into debt. As a young couple let me implore you to obey God and avoid debt.

Proverbs 22:7 says that the one who borrows from another becomes the servant to the lender. Don’t take this lightly. If you are in debt then work as quickly as you can to get out. How can you be a servant to God if you are a servant to the bank, the car dealership, the credit card company and the rental store? If God asked you to serve Him as a missionary [5] how many months or years would you have to work for your credit masters so that you could serve your Heavenly Master? You cannot completely serve God if you are a slave to the bank.

A Covenant Not A Contract

A contract is written to say, “if you will do this, I will do that.” Or, “if you don’t do this, then the consequences are …” In a contract what you do is dependent on the other person. However, a covenant is a promise: a one-sided promise that says you will do (or refrain from doing) certain things because you choose to do so. In marriage the covenant is made because of love[6]. It is a promise from you to your spouse regardless of what they do or how they act.

Your marriage is a covenant with them. It completely depends on your decisions. Marriage is not a contract that is dependent on the actions of the other person.

Marriage is Never 50-50

Along the lines of your marriage not being a contract you should not see your responsibility as 50% of the responsibility. Or, another way to put it is saying that he is responsible for 50% of the marriage and she the other 50%. Doing so causes you to base your response on the actions of another—just like a contract. Each of you should feel like 100% of the success of the marriage rests on your own shoulders.

Years ago I was in a class with an older teacher. Most of the students were younger than I—in their 20s. We got on the subject of marriage one day and the teacher commented that she always thought the success of a marriage was 100% the responsibility of the wife. If the marriage failed, according to this teacher, it was the wife’s fault. I followed her comments with my own opinion. I have always felt that if a marriage failed it was solely the fault of the husband. I really believe that if my marriage has problems it will always be my fault. I have the power to rectify any problem with my wife. If problems arise it is always because I did not do right by my wife.

The younger students categorically disagreed with the teacher and me. This was not a Christian group of students. Every one of them said that a marriage was a 50-50 relationship. They believe that a marriage fails because one doesn’t do right, but has no power to control the other person’s actions.

Guess who had been married and divorced in the class? Some of them more than once. Most of them admitted to having had multiple bad relationships. The teacher had been happily married for over 40 years. I am quickly approaching 20 years of marriage and couldn’t be happier in my relationship with my wife.

Take 100% of the responsibility in your marriage and you will have a stronger foundation for problem solving and relationship building.

New Year 2021