A Sad Day

This short article is being written on the afternoon of Tuesday, November 18. It is a sad day, and you may wonder "why?" In taking care of some of the everyday affairs of life, I found myself in a local place of business and they had the news on one of the national net­works. While standing in line (don't we do a lot of that?), I was watching the newscaster and he brought some news that is not only sad, but tragic. He re­ported that the legislature in the state of Massachusetts had just "legalized" same marriages, granting them all the privileges and rights of normal hetero­sexual marriages. I realize that the "in" thing with the world today is not to criti­cize things such as homosexuality and lesbianism. But men had better learn ­God has spoken!

First, what has God said about this? We are told (by those who don't have the slightest idea what they are talking about) that "God does not condemn ho­mosexuality." Let's see about that. In Romans 1:27-27 Paul said, "For this rea­son God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natu­ral use of the woman, burned in their for one another, men with men commit­ting what is shameful..." In First Cor­inthians 6:9 Paul spoke of “homosexuals" (NKJV) who would not inherit the kingdom of God. In v. 11 he said, "such were some of you ..." He then "goes on to say, "but you were washed... sanctified... justified." In other words, they had made a change in their life for what was right. Their being "washed, sanctified and justified" presupposes that before that time there were not clean and right­eous! The old Testament likewise con­demns such a practice, or "lifestyle" as they prefer to call it these days (see Lev. 18:22; 20:13).

God's word is immutable; it is un­changeable, and all the legislative bodies in the world will not make a bit of differ­ence! Justifications and rationalizations are there by the score - but God's word still stands. The amazing thing is that some who defend this practice profess to be believers in God! Make no mistake about it - such conduct will be dealt with by God. – Bill Moseley

 

 

 

"Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you." Such is the assurance of­fered by James (4:8). We have but to look around and see that many need to "draw nigh to God." The statement simply means to come to a nearness; in the proximity, of God. The obligation is first of all man's - then God will do his part. Did you ever wonder why this is so? The answer is simple - God does not need to be reconciled to man. He was not the one who did the departing! But man who departs from God needs to take the first step in returning.

People need to see the danger in being separated from God. This separation comes about as a result of sin. Isaiah told the nation of Israel that their con­dition was that of separation from God because of their sins (59:1-2). As long as this condition prevails, God and man will not be united. Paul once told the Ephesians that they were "without Christ, being aliens from the common­wealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world" ( 2:12). What caused this deplorable condition? Ephesians 2:1 says it was sin. Obviously, both Israel and the Ephesians at  one time needed to "draw nigh to God," . for they were separated from him.

What about people today? “I would certainly to be in the condition of the Ephesians,” goes the thinking of some. Yet the very people who have such thoughts are guilty of sin! Such folks must think they will go unpunished, but not so (Heb. 2:1-3). Most members of the church reason, "I would never commit the sins which Israel or the ancient gentiles committed." They usually refer to idolatry, fornication, etc. Well, insofar as the end result is con­cerned, is the sin of ery any worse than some of the so-called "little" sins that brethren are guilty of today? They both demand punishment until repented of. Consider the question, "will a man rob God" (Mal. 3:8)? How much time did you rob God of this past week? How much money did you rob him of? How much talent did you let go to waste? One says, "Oh, but these are small things." This may be so in man's mind - but un­derstand one thing - they are big enough to cost you your soul! Yes, it takes time and effort to go and teach the lost, and it is sometimes "hard" to give as we ought, and I imagine every one of us has more ability to teach others than we give our­selves credit for! If we have failed in these areas (many others could be noted), we have drifted from God just that much and need to "draw nigh to God."

Our whole point is to get us to see that we can be separated from God by our stale, stagnant lives, as well as lives of overt sin. Such need to "draw nigh to God," and many times may not even re­alize it! Stop and take stock of your life. Even these so-called "little sins" of omis­sion can separate you from God. - Bill Moseley

 

 

 

William Jennings Bryan is reported to have written, "Once when I was going to Columbus, Ohio, I stopped to eat in a restaurant. I ordered a slice of water­melon. I was so pleased with the taste of that melon that I took the seeds home with me to plant in my garden.

"That night a thought came to my mind. How many watermelon seeds would it take to weigh a pound? The next day I weighed them and found that it would take about 5,000 dried seeds to weigh a pound.

"A few weeks later I planted just one of the little seeds. Under the influence of sunshine and shower, that little seed had taken off its coat and had gone to work. It had gathered from somewhere two hundred thousand times its own weight, and forced the enormous weight through a tiny stem and built a watermelon. On the outside it had a covering of green and within that a rind of white, and within that a core of red; and then it had scattered through the red many little seeds, each one capable of doing the same work over again.

"What architect drew the plan? Where did that little watermelon seed get its tremendous strength? Where did it find its flavoring extract, and its coloring matter? How did it build a water­melon?

"Until you can explain a watermelon, do not be too sure that you can set lim­its to the power of the Almighty. The most learned of men in the world can­not explain a watermelon, but the most ignorant man can eat a watermelon and enjoy it. God has given us the knowledge necessary to use those things and the truth that he has re­vealed to us is infinitely more impor­tant for our welfare than it would be to understand the mysteries that he has seen fit to conceal from our fal­tering view."

Now - is the above story true? Well, you know how that goes; maybe it is and maybe it isn't. But one thing is sure - it will sure make me look at a watermelon in a different light next summer! - Bill Moseley

 

 

 

When our granddaughter, Jaime, was just a little tyke (not much bigger now), I brought her a "love offering" in the form of a new set of crayons and a color book. Her response was the usual "thank you, papa." Her mother then said, "Jaime, don't you think that present % serves a little more than that?" I really went for that, expecting a big hug and kiss. But Jaime had other ideas, and her "more than that" turned out to be, "oh, yes... papa... thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you." Oh well, I got the hug later anyhow.

This brings me to a fault found in many of us - are we really appreciative of fa­vors done for us? When someone goes out of their way for us, do we simply give them an "oh, yeah... thanks" as sort of an afterthought? Oh, I know fa­vors done for those we love are done for the sake of the favor, and not in hopes of any sort of repayment. But gratitude is something we all need to work on. Thankfulness is a hallmark of Christian­ity. Look around you - are there those to whom you feel indebted? I guess we all could find somebody like that. Let them know you appreciate their kindness.

Well, Jaime is 26 now, and I don't get that many hugs anymore (too far away). . But as I sit at my computer, nearly every day I hear a "beep," and its Jaime on the Instant Messenger saying "hi" to me all the way from California and telling me she loves me. Not as good as a hug, but a very special young lady is thinking about me. - Bill Moseley