by Stan Mitchell

"Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:19).

Listen to a conversation I overheard several years ago: One young man declared: "In five years time (this was ten years ago!), we will sing no songs in churches that are more than twenty years old." To which an older man declared: "We have seven hundred hymns in our hymn book. Why would we sing anything that's not in a hymn book?" So who was right?

Neither demonstrated a concern for the needs of others in the church. The second comment first: God inspired the scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16). I am not aware of any "inspired" hymn books. As a matter of fact, we're putting far too much faith in hymn books if we assume that editors do not succumb to petty politics when they compile them! The thoughtful song leader will know that there are many songs included in a hymn book that are not worth singing ... and many not in the hymn book that are.

Now to the first comment. I heard another speaker say: "Do you have anything in your house that is more than twenty years old? Then why would you sing anything that was?"

Guess he hasn't seen my house. Our house is furnished in Late Twentieth Century Yard Sale! Do I have any literature older than twenty years? Yes I do! Shakespeare and Dickens, Louis L'amour and Nevil Shute! Do I have any music older than twenty years? Can you imagine a world without Bach, Mozart and Sibelius? Now that I think about it, the music I thought was "cool" when I was young (we called it something that rhymes with "movie!") is older than twenty years!

Many modern "praise songs" are excellent ones and will become a part of what future generations sing; many will deservedly fade away into obscurity. But be assured of this: No song, whenever it is written, is worth hurting a brother for whom Christ died, or dividing His church! Remember, when we sing, we "speak to each other." Let's do so with compassion, consideration and in love!

by Richard Mansel

The Tsunami in Southeast Asia shook the world physically and emotionally. The death toll, at present, has exceeded 200,000. Australian researchers say, "We can still see a steady signal of the earth vibrating as a result of that earthquake two weeks later. From what it looks like, it appears it will probably continue to oscillate for several more weeks."/1

Generations will pass before the remains of this disaster fade into history. Worldwide, questions are being asked about the nature of a God who would allow such horrors.

Before answers are provided, we must acknowledge that people are confused and angry at God over this disaster.

Heather MacDonald sums up these feelings when she writes, "Centuries of uncritical worship have clearly produced a monster. God knows that he can sit passively by while human life is wantonly mowed down, and the next day, churches, synagogues, and mosques will be filled with believers thanking him for allowing the survivors to survive. The faithful will ask him to heal the wounded, while ignoring his failure to prevent the disaster in the first place."/2

Writers such as MacDonald never take the time to understand God. Instead, they seek to reduce him to human size. Cal Thomas wisely writes, "Rather than attempt to bring mankind up to God's level, many skeptics try to bring God down to man's level, remaking Him in a human image and thus encouraging the false view that God is someone who is supposed to make us happy and prosperous."/3

Man exists for God, not God for man. He is the Creator; we are the Creation. Paul rhetorically asks, "does the potter have power over the clay?" (Romans 9:21, NKJV). When Job loses everything he has, he demands an explanation from God concerning his suffering. In Job 38-41, God speaks and demonstrates his power and majesty as creator and sovereign king of the universe.

Answers do not come easily when obscured by pain. Our human eyes see from a different perspective than an omnipotent God. We look around in a narrow sense and God looks down on the world as a whole. He understands everything on a scale we cannot.

His wisdom is everlasting and is "not willing that any should perish" spiritually "but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). He created a beautiful world and has showered us with all spiritual and physical blessings. Only a good God would do such things (Psalm 33:5). If he were evil, we would no longer be alive anyway.

In Luke 13, some came before Jesus to ask about the "Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices" (Luke 13:1, NKJV). Jesus said, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:2,3).

Disasters have always been with us and will continue until the world ends. No amount of care, concern or legislation can erase that fact. We can only ensure that our souls are prepared for them (Hebrews 9:27).

Life is a tenuous thread that we must treat with care (James 4:13,14). While disasters turn people into critics of God, it should instead turn them into pursuers of God.

This world is our temporary abode, and we must be preparing for the next life where there will be no pain, suffering, or death (Revelation 21:1-7). Ultimately, heaven is the answer. This world is painful and filled with hardships and grief. Only by entering heaven for all eternity will we find the peace we all desire and an end to pain, suffering, and death.

/ 1. www.stuff.co.nz / 2. slate.msn.com / 3. www.townhall.com

For further study on this subject, I refer you to my previous article, "Who is Responsible for Suffering?" found at forthright.antville.org

by J. Randal Matheny

As I sat at the snack bar, the unwelcome noise of the television descended from the high corner where it was bolted to the ceiling.

"... I want the whole truth!"

I snapped my head around to see a soap opera in progress, a severe older man twisting a woman's arm.

The scene quickly lost my interest, but the phrase stuck with me.

When, like the woman with the flow of blood, I fall at the feet of Jesus and tell him the whole truth, I discover his forgiveness and receive his blessing (Mark 5:33).

With all the truth revealed by the Lord, I can walk as a child of the light and learn how to please the Lord (Ephesians 5:9).

When I have the whole truth, I stand in good position to rebuke sharply those whose characters need it, "that they may be sound in the faith" (Titus 1:13).

When I listen to the Spirit of truth who gave "all truth" to the apostles (who, with the prophets, gave us the New Testament), I can do like the Spirit does -- glorify Jesus (John 16:13-14).

Of course, I should not throw pearls to pigs (Matthew 7:6) and tell someone the whole truth of a matter, when they will use that to separate me from the power of God (Judges 16:17-18).

I want the whole truth, not half-truth(s), which are actually untruths, or lies. In the whole truth, there is no deception, no slants, no tendencies.

Though we shouldn't make too much of it, there was even a word for complete knowledge of God and his truth: "epignosis." An example of the word is in 1 Timothy 2:4, where God wants "all men to be saved, and to come to the full knowledge of the truth" (YLT). God wants people to repent in order to come "to the [full] knowledge of the truth" (2 Timothy 2:25).

Some have a bah-humbug attitude about the whole truth, the full truth, the complete truth, all truth. Perhaps they find something disconcerting in the whole truth. Something that doesn't tickle their ears.

I want the whole truth. The truth that frees.

Because life is no thirty-minute soap opera. It's for real. It's for eternity.

by Phil Sanders

"How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit!" (Psalm 32:1,2)

Forgiveness is not forgetting but "forgetting against." When God forgives us, He no longer counts our sins against us (2 Cor. 5:19) so that we might be reconciled to Him (2 Cor. 5:20).

Humans cannot undo the past, but God can forget our past sins against us so that we are no longer guilty. Psalm 85:2,3 says of God: "You forgave the iniquity of your people and covered all their sins. You set aside all your wrath and turned from your fierce anger."

David, who sinned with Bathsheba and killed Uriah, understood the terrible guilt and pain of sin; but he also understood the joy of forgiveness. He wrote and sang these words that gave him comfort,

“The LORD is compassionate and gracious,     Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.     He will not always strive with us,     Nor will He keep His anger forever.     He has not dealt with us according to our sins,     Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.     For as high as the heavens are above the earth,     So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.     As far as the east is from the west,     So far has He removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:8-12)

When we realize our sins are forgiven at the cost of the precious blood of the Lamb of God (1 Pet. 1:18-19), we must forever humble our hearts in gratitude for His amazing love and sacrifice. That realization ought to call us to determine never again to do such things. Having a close, loving relationship with God is the most blessed thing we can ever have. Let us always find joy in our salvation.

By Michael E. Brooks

"Now it happened…that Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, 'Come, let us meet together in one of the villages in the plain of Ono.' But they thought to do me harm. So I sent messengers to them, saying, 'I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?'" (Nehemiah 6:1-3).

When Christians seek to evangelize, they often find themselves at cross purposes with the culture surrounding them. Agendas and priorities differ. This is rather obvious and certainly natural. It is the very reason why evangelism is urgent. The world does not seek or care for the things of God. When we urge those things upon it, there is reaction and often rejection and conflict.

During my last trip to Bangladesh I was frequently frustrated by interruptions from "outsiders" who wanted to see me and discuss business. Their business was far more important to them than to me, and had little to do with my purpose for being there, which was primarily to teach classes at Khulna Bible College. Frequently they would come just before time for class to meet, and at other times I would be called out of class to visit with them. Courtesy seemed to demand that I accede to at least some of these demands. Sometimes I did not know the identity of the visitor or the nature of his request to meet with me, so felt unable to refuse at least a brief interruption to gain this information.

I have no reason to believe that these uninvited guests wished me harm, as Sanballat did to Nehemiah, nor to believe that they were deliberately trying to obstruct our efforts at the school. Nevertheless, their demands were obstructive. The distractions which they provided cost time, energy and attention that were needed in the work that I was doing.

Often our distractions are not quite so obvious. However, they are still very real and very obstructive. We just never seem to have all the time we need for personal Bible study and devotions, for family time, for worship services and fellowship, and for "being fruitful in every good work" (Colossians 1:10). Our work, unexpected guests, and many other things keep us busy. Often these are good things in themselves – there may be nothing "wrong" in the things that fill our schedules. But they are not the most important things. They should not be, and are probably not, our top priorities. Their great evil is simply that they prevent us from ever getting to those priorities. We never accomplish our true purpose.

Nehemiah had the solution. He kept his eye firmly on his goals. He knew who he was, what his job was, and what was necessary to accomplish it. Why should he drop his task to meet the agenda of his enemies? He would not be distracted. When we have the same sense of purpose and urgency for the tasks God has given us, we may be as successful as Nehemiah. May God bless us that that will indeed be the case.