The Set Of The Sail

I stood on the shore beside the sea;
The wind from the West blew fresh and free,
While past the rocks at the harbor’s mouth
The ships went North, and the ships went South,
And some sailed out on an unknown quest,
And some sailed into the harbor’s rest;
Yet ever the wind blew out of the West.

I said to one who had sailed the sea
That this was a marvel unto me;
For how can the ships go safely forth,
Some to the South and some to the North,
Far out to sea on their golden quest,
Or in to the harbor’s calm and rest,
And ever the wind blew out of the West?

The sailor smiled as he answered me,
“Go where you will when you’re on the sea,
Though head winds baffle and flaws delay,
You can keep the course by night and day,
Drive with the breeze or against the gale;
It will not matter what winds prevail,
For all depends on the set of the sail.”

Voyager soul on the sea of life,
O’er waves of sorrow and sin and strife,
When fogs bewilder and foes betray,
Steer straight on your course from day to day;
Though unseen currents run deep and swift,
Where rocks are hidden and sandbars shift,
All helpless and aimless, you need not drift.

Oh, set your sail to the heavenly gale,
And then, no matter what winds prevail,
No reef shall wreck you, no calm delay,
No mist shall hinder, no storm shall stay;
Though far you wander and long you roam,
Through salt sea-spray and o’er white sea-foam,
No wind that can blow but shall speed you home.

–Annie Johnson Flint

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Philosophy’s Blindness

1. God is good.
2. God is all-powerful.
3. Bad things happen.

After listing these, the philosopher confidently says that all three cannot be true at the same time. If God is good, and if God is all-powerful, then bad things should not be happening. Or let’s say if God is good, and bad things happen, then this means God is not all-powerful enough to prevent the bad. Or if God is powerful enough to prevent bad events and doesn’t, then God is not good, but bad.

The above is erroneous thinking, due to not know the scriptures. It is the typical “blame God for everything” rather than man take responsibility for anything.

When God finished the creation, “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” Genesis 1:31 There was nothing bad in the creation, nor would anything bad happen throughout God’s creation. And, all that man knew at that time was good.

But it was sin that changed everything — the sin of man! When man disobeyed God and sinned in the Garden of Eden, he not only knew both good and evil, but his sin brought the curse upon the entire creation. This curse brought corruption, mortality, sorrow, pain, suffering upon mankind, and brought the whole natural realm under the bondage of corruption, which is responsible for all natural disasters.

God gave man dominion over all the earth. Man had the choice to keep his world all good as God created it, or bring the curse of sin upon all of it, and man chose the latter.

Beyond God’s goodness, is God’s grace, that provided salvation for man through the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. God is so good that He was not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance unto salvation by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. God’s goodness commended His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for our sins.

Because God is all-powerful, He will, in His appointed time, judge all mankind, destroy this old universe and make all things new, where there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain. Revelation 21:1-5

But until then, due to man’s spiritually dead state, man will continue to blame, rather than glorify, the good, almighty God.

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A Reprobate Mind

By Thomas Smith

“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;” (Romans 1:28)

It would be good if every person would familiarize himself with the message of Romans 1. The second half of the chapter documents the human descent from spiritual awareness to utter depravity. Our text uses the term, “a reprobate mind.” The word “reprobate” means that they have been “rejected, abandoned to error and spiritual destruction, unable to discern between right and wrong.” Notice that the verse says, “God gave them over to a reprobate mind.” In this chapter, the phrase, “God gave them over,” is found more than once. There is no hope for a person when God turns them over or gives them up.

How many times have we heard people lament the deplorable condition and direction of our country, and wonder how we could ever have become so sinister? Is there any explanation for the increasing acceptance of sodomy, the plague of pornography, and the epidemic of sexual deviancy toward innocent children? Where is the conscience of a nation that allows the murder of more than a million unborn babies a year? What kind of logic would cause a politician to fight for the life of an endangered animal while insisting a woman has the right to terminate the life of her child? How unreasonable is it that children are exposed to sexually explicit information in government schools, but the Bible is a forbidden Book.

The minds of Americans are becoming reprobate, unable to distinguish between good and evil. How does this occur? According to Romans 1, it follows a predictable path. People go from knowing about God and seeing His evidence in creation, to rejecting Him. They then make themselves the center of their universe, and worship the creature rather than the Creator. They change God’s truth into a lie. They do not want God to have a place in their minds. This is the journey to reprobation. When God is removed from the minds of people, the lie of evolution is accepted, the Word of God is rejected, humanism is promoted, and the end will be what we are seeing so much of in our society. There are severe consequences when individuals or nations reject God and His standard of truth. If there is any hope for such a people, they must turn to God in true repentance.

–From Straight Paths, Vol. 1, Mt. Zion Baptist Church, 1352 Parkway Dr., St. Clair, MO 63077

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Capital Punishment & God’s Word

Where did capital punishment originate from? Who invented it? For what reason was it given?

“And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God made he man.” Genesis 9:5-6

Thus we see that capital punishment was ordained by God, to be carried out according to the powers that be ordained of God, see Romans 13:1-5.

Capital punishment was incorporated into Israel, by God’s laws, making Israel the model society to the rest of the world: “Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die. Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of the murderer, which is guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death. So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.” Numbers 35:30,31,33

Murder is to wrongly take a man’s life. Capital punishment is to rightly take the life of a murderer, who has wrongly taken the life of another — according to God’s ordained decree, which states that the murderer “….is guilty of death.” Numbers 35:31

It would be wrong to take an innocent person and lock them up, depriving them of their rights and liberties. But it is right to take a guilty person and lock them up for crimes committed. Thus, the guilt or innocence of the person to be punished, decides whether the punishment of the person is right or wrong.

God’s admonition is unto a fair trial and the establishment of proof, before one is convicted of murder. God’s law required a clear distinction between manslaughter and murder. Under God’s charge, a person had to be a proven murderer before they were to be put to death. “….the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.”

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The Tie That Binds God’s Church

Ephesians 3:16-19

God binds His New Testament Church together with the bond of His love, which is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us. This is known to all who have this indwelling Spirit and have been set together in the Body by God. (1 Corinthians 12:18)

This bond of Divine love is the miracle of God working within us, “We love him, because he first loved us…..and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.” 1 John 4:19 & 5:1

–It is our strength: “….strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man. Ephesians 3:16

–It is our roots and our foundation: “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love” Ephesians 3:17. (What isn’t seen and yet you know is there because of what it affords within you and for you.)

–It gives a comprehension common with one another, “May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth and height.” Ephesians 3:18

–It is the capacity of Christ – living and loving within us, that enables us to love and be loved in ways that are above and beyond the bounds of the human capacities of love: “And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.” Ephesians 3:19a

THIS GIVES US A FULLNESS OF GOD: “….that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:19b

This is why God’s church doesn’t have to have an inviting building to attract it’s members — they are attracted to God’s fullness.

This is why God’s people decline all forms of sensationalism and entertainment in the church, as these only violate a sought after sanctity for getting beyond self to be in communion with the incomparable fullness of God.

This is why God’s people do not rate the church with respect of persons. We don’t have to have a people complimentary to what our personal, social, or material likes and dislikes are, because we rather rejoice in the common fullness of God.

Likewise, our joy, our blessing, our satisfaction is neither made nor broken by what others are or are not, because the fullness of God is our meat and our drink.

Thus the tie that binds the church together is not of what we are ourselves, but from the fullness of God within. It is a miracle! It is unshakable; it transcends all other ties; it keeps drawing us together again. But if and when that fellowship with God’s love is broken from within the heart, then nothing one is, in or of themselves, can or will be a substitute for it.

“BLEST BE THE TIE THAT BINDS, OUR HEARTS IN CHRISTIAN LOVE: THE FELLOWSHIP OF KINDRED MINDS, IS LIKE TO THAT ABOVE.”

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