Who should take advantage of prayer? 

 

 We ought to say, “Everybody should take advantage of the opportunity to pray to the heavenly Father.”  However, many do not, and there are those who may be guilty of offering worthless words to our God.  Let’s look specifically at those who need to take advantage of prayer.

 

The lost

 

You might think that these are the very people that would be the last to pray. Truth be known, every saved person was looking for the truth, seeking divine help. As Jesus put it, if you seek you will find (Matt. 7:7). Petitioning to the Father for help in finding answers is why He is there. He will help those who are looking, since He does not want any to perish (II Pet. 3:9). Cornelius was lost, but the fact that he was saved from his sins shows there is no doubt his prayers to God helped him find the way (Acts 10:2, 4, 11:14-16).

 

The humble

 

There is no question that people need help in this world. But pride prevents many from seeking assistance (I Jn. 2:16). Those who recognize the greatness of the Lord, will humbly go to God in prayer (Lk. 18:13). This isn’t being done in an arrogant, demanding way. To do it in that way will profit nothing. One can hardly consider self as being righteous by being haughty. And we know it is the prayer of the righteous that accomplishes much (Jas. 5:16).

 

 The thankful

 

When one counts their blessings, they know who it is that is responsible for them, and the grateful want to express it (I Thess. 5:18). Whether it is for finding the truth, have a hope of heaven, or even for good health, our God deserves to be thanked often (Col. 3:15). When it comes to prayers, no one ought to be at a loss for things to say, especially when one thinks about all their blessings.

 

The worshipper

 

Al saints worship God (Jn. 4:24). You can sing praises to our great God, but you can also praise Him in prayer. Telling the Father how great He is, is something Christians want to do (Acts 4:24-30). When you read through the book of Psalms, you learn the many ways you can acknowledge God’s greatness. As the omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent being, we should never run out of words to glorify the God almighty.

 

The dependent

 

When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, the Lord wanted them to ask the Father to help them frequently (Matt. 6:9-13). With His children always needing daily bread and deliverance from constant temptations, going to God in prayer is just part of our lives. Those who think they can get by without help will pray less… or not at all. But for those totally dependent upon the Father…they will pray without ceasing (I Thess. 5:17).

 

 

The penitent

 

When a Christian realizes they’ve sinned, they are full of so much sorrow, they know that it must lead to repentance (II Cor. 7:9). God is faithful and just to forgive those who ask for forgiveness (I Jn. 1:9).  Without the avenue of prayer, we would be in a terrible state. The question is: Do you take advantage of the privilege of prayer? If not, you should!

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Chuck

 

Men are without excuse

 

After reading the first article and realizing how common those attitudes are, it might sound like men can blame their lust on women. This is incorrect – the Bible is clear that lusting upon a woman is a sin (Matt. 5:28). Boy and men face a great challenge in controlling their thoughts, and the attire of women does not excuse them. This temptation, like all temptations, can be resisted though to avoid sin (James 1:14-15).

 

The lust of the flesh is EVERYWHERE! Many non-Christians pay no attention to what they wear in public. Since sex sells, it is found across billboards, commercials, TV programs, movies and books. Pornography is a multimillion dollar industry. The internet is filled with filth. Amid all this, men must actively control their thoughts. Yes, you can encourage the women you are around dress modestly, but the broader public will not. So what can you do?

 

1. Do not become comfortable around it.
2. Do not encourage your wife or children to feel comfortable around it.
3. Do not sit and watch it. Change the channel, turn it off or walk away.
4. Do not stare and lust.
5. Do not make light of it and say, “ I am a man, it’s normal.”
6. Do not think it will not lead to other sins.
7. Do not think it is doing no harm when no one knows what you are doing.

 

Consider what Paul wrote: “Finally brethren, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy-meditate on these things,” (Phil. 4:8). David was described as a man after God’s own heart and yet he succumbed to these temptations. Beware and stay strong for the devil wants to devour you (I Pet. 5:8).

 

                                                                                      Chuck

 

Please think about this 

 

Our Savior was the master teacher and He always exhorted his listeners to think (Matt. 18:12; 21:28). Oftentimes, the Lord’s words took people to places they did not want to go. This often troubled those who were trying to catch Him in His words. I bring this up because I want to bring up a very sensitive subject. My approach will be a little different. I will pose the question and then explore some potential answers.

 

Why do people not consider it immodest to wear a modern swimsuit in public?

 

Most religious people know the Bible speaks of immodesty (I Tim. 2:9).  I do not know of any godly woman who wants to dress like a harlot (Prov. 7:10). Therefore, I will do my best to answer the question by thinking how a sincere person would approach it. I will then compare that answer with what the Bible says.

 

“This is not immodest because of where I am wearing it”

 

Obviously, no Christian woman would wear her bathing suit to a potluck, church service or other gathering where she was the only person dressed that way. But why do so many people consider this same apparel to be acceptable at the beach or a pool? Would God approve of such dress simply because everyone around you is also dressed a certain way? According to His word, no. Dress that is too revealing is lascivious no matter where you wear it (Eph. 4:19).

 

This makes sense – the revealing nature of one’s dress is not changed based on surroundings. Location, then, does not determine whether something is immodest or not.

 

“This is not immodest because of what I am doing”

This argument seems appealing on the surface. Going swimming or playing volleyball, for example, both require good mobility. Clothing can obviously be restrictive in these situations. Leading cheers and dancing also require freedom of movement, hence the minimal attire people wear. God understands this, right?

 

The problem is, God does not recognize this distinction. Immodest dress is still such, no matter what you are doing in public. Saints are to always be letting their lights shine in public (Matt. 5:13-16).

 

“This is not immodest because others are dressed the same”

This also seems logical. Christian women might not consider what they their attire immodest if they blend in with everyone around them.  If everyone is dressed the same way, that Christian will not draw excess attention.

 

The problem is that this argument again has Christians conforming to the world when we are warned not to (Rom. 12:1-2). The lust of the flesh is everywhere (I John 2:15-16), and we are not to love the world.

 

 

 

 

“This is not immodest because it is not my intention”

Much of the Bible describes the importance of our heart. Are modern bathing suits acceptable if the Christian does not intend to be immodest? And what of those looking – do they not also have a responsibility to control their thoughts.

 

This final argument seeks to shift the blame. Adorning oneself with modest apparel starts with a good heart, so logically our heart can be revealed in the way we dress (I Pet. 3:1-4).

 

                                                                                    Chuck

 

Are gender roles relative to culture?

 

As you read through the scriptures, you might wonder what God thinks of women. In truth, we do not have to guess – we can read His word and know exactly how he feels about men and women. God created both the man and the woman (Gen. 1:27).  It was Adam that named his wife Eve, since she is the mother of all the living (Gen. 2:20).  What else does God’s word say about women though?

 

I know when God created the genders, both were created good (Gen. 1:31). Nothing indicates that man was made smarter than woman or that she was to be some sort of slave to the man. However, the genders were obviously created with different characteristics. Women are known as the weaker vessel (I Pet. 3:7). Yes, you could find a specific woman that is physically stronger than a specific man, but this is an exception rather than a rule.

 

Women can give birth and nurse their children, whereas men cannot. Does this mean God loved women more or less than men? No – it means that God created a perfect mate for man and vice versa. God loves them both equally (John 3:16). We must remember that marriage does not exist in heaven (Mark 12:25). This means that man and woman both have something that makes them equally valuable to the Father. Each gender has a soul since they were created in His image (Gen. 1:26; Eccl. 12:7). 12:7). Our Lord proclaimed that every soul is worth more than all the wealth in the world (Matt. 16:26).  That goes for the soul of man and the soul of woman.

 

I say all of this to show that God does not “have anything against” women. By accepting that God created both genders, we must also accept that He created the genders with different roles in mind. These roles are God-defined and have NOTHING to do with culture. However, many people today argue that gender roles can change as cultures do. Specifically, some people argue that the gender roles outlined in the Bible were based on the culture of that time and are not commands of God. Let’s explore this line of thinking.

 

Who established the roles for men and women? Adam and Eve are indirectly responsible for these roles as they broke God’s law and sinned in the garden. The punishment was given in Genesis 3:16-19. The woman was told her pain would be multiplied at child birth and that her husband would rule over her. The man was told that the ground would be cursed and that he would work until he died by the sweat of his face. These consequences had nothing to do with the culture of that time. Instead, God told them what was expected. Additional instruction was given throughout Biblical history.

 

It is stated that the husband is the head of the wife and should love her as he loves himself (Eph. 5:23, 28). The wife is to love her husband and submit to Him (Eph. 5:22; Titus 2:4). These commands were not based upon cultural expectations of the day. Nor were these customs established by Paul that merely did not conflict with God’s law. Rather, they are part of God’s law. If these commands were culturally relative, then God’s authority would be severely limited.

 

Some people argue that when Paul wrote to Titus, he said women were expected to be the keepers of the home (Titus 2:5) due only to cultural expectations.  If the text of Titus 2:1-5 is relative to the culture of the time, then why just focus on verse about the keeper of the home? Paul stated that older women are to admonish the younger women, to love their husbands, love their children, be discreet, chaste, etc. Should we treat all these things as being culturally relative and toss them aside over time?

 

Some people advocate for the role of the woman to be changed and still insist that they want to follow the Lord. It is impossible stay consistent if we begin picking and choosing which Bible verses are universal and which ones are culturally relevant (and thus can be ignored). Is it a cultural thing for preachers to be men (I Cor. 14:34)? Is it a cultural thing for elders and deacons to be men (I Tim. 3:1-13)?  Was it a cultural thing that Jesus chose men to be His apostles?  This whole line of thinking does nothing more than discredit the authority of our Lord.

 

The apostle Paul refutes this idea of cultural relativism by example. Paul wrote by inspiration in the first century that women in his day had a specific role based on what happened in the garden of Eden several thousand years earlier. The culture Paul references was different from his own, yet his argument shows that the differences are not relevant. “And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control,” (I Tim. 2:12-15).  Why would someone pluck out one aspect of this and make it cultural?

 

Christian women are admonished to defend their faith by giving a reason for the hope that is in them (I Pet. 3:15). They are to teach to help people see the truth (Heb. 5:12-14; Acts 18:24-26). Let us not forget the duty to teach other women (Titus 2:3-4). Having women live in subjection to their husbands, being the keeper of the home and restricting them from preaching when men are present are all God-given commands. And let us not forget that being a keeper of the home does not mean that the woman cannot also work outside the home. Read the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31 and notice how much work she did outside the home.

 

Women are clearly not second class citizens in the kingdom of God. Galatians 3:28 makes this perfectly clear by teaching that all are one in Christ. As the Roman brethren were told, it is not our place to question God (Rom. 9:21). God has His reasons for defining gender roles. If we do not meet those obligations for any reason, we are living contrary to His law and are thus in sin.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Chuck

“Perpetual Covenant”

 

Even though the Hebrew writer clearly tells us that the first covenant was done away with and that we are now under a new one (Heb. 8:78; 9:15-17), some religious people still think parts of the Law of Moses are in effect today. They often reference a statement made in Jeremiah 50:5: “They shall ask the way to Zion, with their faces toward it, saying, come and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that will not be forgotten.”

 

This phrase does not mean what they think it does. As a matter of fact, in the Old Testament covenant was also called being “everlasting” (Lev. 24:8). This means that the covenant was continuously in effect within a period of time. We know this because circumcision and animal sacrifices were also described as being everlasting (Gen. 17:13; Lev. 16:29-34), but they were done away with too.

 

So, what did “the perpetual covenant” mean in Jeremiah 50:5? We always state how important context is. This whole chapter is dealing with the fact that Babylon was going to fall from world dominance to the Medes. This meant that God’s people, currently living in Babylonian captivity, would be allowed to restore their worship and return to their own land (Jer. 50:1-5).

 

To pluck this verse out of its context and make it contradict other passages of scripture is to make it teach something that it is not saying. Jeremiah had already stated in chapter 31:31-34 that the Lord was going to establish a new covenant. This is also referenced in Hebrews 8:7-12. The covenant that Jeremiah said would be perpetual was the same one that was going to be done away with. How could that be? Because it was going to endure for the time God purposed.

 

Finally, note that the prophet was not saying that only parts of the covenant would be perpetual – the prophet was clear that all would be. Therefore, if any of the covenant was in force today, then all of it would be. This is why Paul said that if you bind circumcision today; you would have to bind all of the Old Law (Gal. 5:2-3).

 

                                                                      Chuck