by Tim Hall

A recent issue of U.S. News & World Report carried an article noting a new trend in America: More homeowners are developing outdoor living areas ("Walls Are So Passe", 5/19/03). We've long had decks and patios, places in which to enjoy a weekend barbecue or to watch the fireflies on a summer's evening. But this trend is something more than that; much more.

The new trends in outdoor living areas go beyond the traditional gas grill to include stainless steel cooking centers, refrigerators and bars. Comfortable (and expensive) furniture has replaced lawn chairs and canvas stools. One designer, justifying the expense incurred by some, explained that many had grown tired of "cocooning" and wanted to escape to a larger and freer environment.

I can understand that concept. I'm not planning to invest in the pricey furnishings you'll see on the Home and Garden Network, but I'm all for breaking free of our cocoons. There are many benefits to be realized from such regular escapes.

Ours is a society that has gone indoors. With the advent of television and air conditioning, millions vacated their front porches for the family den. Instead of gazing at the stars in the sky, we now gaze at the stars on cable. Flickering fireflies go unnoticed because of the flickering blue light that fills most homes. In all of this we've lost something valuable!

Coming out of one's cocoon to contemplate the glories of nature pays large dividends. David, for example, wrote of his reflections: "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained - What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?" (Psalm 8:3,4, New King James Version) By taking time to meditate beneath a nighttime sky, David's thoughts were lifted higher. He realized some things about God and about himself that we all need to know.

In another place David wrote, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard" (Psalm 19:1-3). Plop me down in the middle of another continent and I'll probably not understand the language of the native people. But if I look upward into the sky, I'll find a language anyone can understand!

Inside our cocoons, we forget that Someone greater is out there. We begin believing that man is the measure of all things, totally and completely self-sufficient. But when we struggle free of our cocoons, we realize there is Someone whose thoughts are higher than ours, and whose ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8). We are awakened to a reality to which we have previously been oblivious.

Maybe it's time to follow a trend and come out of our cocoons. There is a whole other world beyond Hollywood, and it offers so much more!

by Barry Newton

To celebrate its 50th anniversary, ABC television network recently plowed through a mountain of video clips. Among those unearthed from their vaults were some scenes from the old “Laverne and Shirley” show. In one of these the character of Shirley contrasted herself with her roommate Laverne. While Laverne was content to embrace a lifestyle of feasting upon junk food, Shirley proudly proclaimed that her body was a temple and no junk food was ever permitted to enter the temple! Viewing her body as a temple controlled her eating habits.

Although her comments were embedded within a situation comedy, nevertheless Shirley’s words capture purpose and direction. Instead of living life with the directionless boundaries of doing whatever might feel right at the moment, imagine the purpose and the responsibility of caring for the sacred.

If you were entrusted with caring for a portable temple for God, where would you take it? What TV programs, internet sites or movies would you expose the sacred to? What would you say in its presence? Would you ever want to hide it under some cloth so that your words or actions might be hidden from it? What would you do as a custodian and manager of God’s temple?

I know that you are already ahead of me. But hang with me a moment longer as we turn to scripture. In writing about the seriousness of sexual immorality, Paul argued, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God, and you are not your own? For you have been purchased with a price; glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Having been made to become a temple of the Holy Spirit should influence and control what we do!

Similarly, when writing about the awesome responsibility involved in teaching God’s people, Paul wrote to the saints at Corinth that, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you? Whoever might destroy the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy and that is what you are.” 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Since God's people have been made to become the temple of God, this holds strong repercussions for anyone who would teach falsely thus leading to the destruction of God’s people.

Each child of God is a keeper of God’s temple. He or she is never alone but always in the presence of the sacred. These are sobering as well as humbling thoughts. God has entrusted us to care for His temple! Of course God is everywhere, but as a steward of His temple where would you take it? How might this empower you to live for God and achieve His purposes through your life? How would God’s people live if these thoughts soaked deeply into their awareness?

by Russ McCullough

It’s 4:15 a.m. I have been unable to sleep since 2:30 a.m., not an uncommon occurrence, I suspect, among the general population. People fail to sleep for many reasons. My reason happens to be that I woke up worrying about the burdens I carry at my place of employment.

Like many of you, my workplace environment is devoid of Christian principles. My mind raced with thoughts of my burdens and what action, if any, I should take. Soon my thoughts turned to prayer to share my burdens with the Lord.

Comparing Burden to Burden

Then my prayer suddenly ended when I thought that the Lord would find my burdens insignificant compared to the burdens of many of you. How could God care about my burdens at work when ...

... the future of this congregation is so much more important in comparison?

... so many people have no job at all?

... by His grace I remain in good health when so many do not?

... people are starving in the world?

The list is endless.

I soon felt guilty for bringing to the Lord’s attention my burdens, trivial in comparison to the burdens of others. Guilt, wretchedness, and hopelessness threatened to overtake me. Then, when despair over my dilemma was about to shut me down, the thought occurred that God MUST speak to this subject in His Word. He does indeed! What I discovered I feel compelled to share with you.

No Sliding Scale

Some things we understand intellectually and yet do not understand emotionally. For example, we understand intellectually that all sin separates us from God and there is no such thing as a small or large sin in the eyes of the Lord. Emotionally, however, we often wrestle with the guilt of past sins, and their consequences continue to haunt us, even though we know they are forgiven.

God does not grade on a scale of relativity. There is no such thing as being somewhat saved or mostly saved. We are either saved or lost. Period. Jesus said, "You are either for me or against me." We don’t slide in and slide out of salvation several times a day based upon some sliding scale that God uses on us. "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His son, purifies us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).

In like manner, NEITHER does God employ some sliding scale of relativity to determine whether or not our burdens are worthy of His care. After reading what God has to say on the subject, I discovered that He does not look at my burdens in relation to the burdens of others in order to decide if He will care about them. Think about it! If God were to do so, He would ultimately only care about the ONE person on earth that happens to be suffering the MOST at that given point in time! All others, by default, would have to carry their own burdens themselves until they moved up the line.

Have Hurt, God Cares

The conclusion to the matter is this: God does not care WHY we are hurting; the hurt alone --regardless of its cause --is sufficient to warrant His total care and attention. Hear what the Lord has to say based upon a compilation of the following scriptures: Psalms 145:14, 17-20, 1 Peter 5:7 and Matthew 11:28-30.

"The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. The Lord is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made. The Lord is near to all who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them. The Lord watches over all who love Him. ... Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. ... Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Let us reject, once and for all, the theory of relativity and share our burdens with each other while we collectively give them to the Lord to carry.

Russ is a shepherd at the Archdale congregation in Charlotte, NC, USA.

by Gary Cremeens

[Editor's note: If you do your figures, you'll notice this article was written the end of March. Gary's point is still fresh.]

Two anniversaries ocurred this week that have had a great impact on my life. Unfortunately, they are not the kind of anniversaries you celebrate, but rather observe and reflect upon.

Monday was the fifth anniversary of the Westside shootings, which hit very close to home for my family. Had we not moved in April of 1997, my daughter Carla would have been in the Westside Middle School building on March 24, 1998. Some of her classmates were among the dead and injured.

Another event in the more distant past saw its 20th anniversary on Tuesday. On March 25, 1983, a bus from the Jonesboro VoTech school was on its way to Conway for state competitions, when it failed to stop at an intersection and ran headlong into the embankment on the other side. The force of the impact flipped the bus over lengthwise --the rear of the bus went over the front, rather than a sideways flip. Nine people were killed, including my wife Karen's favorite teacher from the VoTech. Karen and I had seen and spoken with Lloyd Meharg exactly one week before his death.

Along with that came another startling reality: Had it been two years previous, Karen would have been on that bus, going to that same competition.

I look back on some decisions made following that event, and I am not sure that my being in ministry today was not partly a result of God's getting my attention and showing me, by the death of Karen's friend, that life is uncertain.

In James 4:13-15, we find the following words, "Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.'"

We need to be reminded that the future is not in our control. We make plans for what we feel our life will be, and in an instant everything is changed -- a tragic accident, a bad diagnosis, a pink slip, a lengthy illness. Since many things are out of our control, we must be mindful that God is still in control, and he can help us with and through whatever happens.

If the Lord wills, we may live a long, healthy life. However, we may not. Regardless of how many years we are blessed with, we are here for a short time, and then our life is over.

What are you doing with your life? What plans are you making? Do the plans center on God? If not, why not?

Gary works with the Center Hill congregation in Paragould, Ark., USA.

by A. A. Neale

Excuse the cliché, but gratitude and gladness are two peas in a pod. You can be a partygoer and whoop it up all night long, but only the thankful heart knows real joy.

To get a thankful heart, you have to know certain things:

1. The Lord presented to us in the Bible is the only true and living God. All the rest of them are just idols, man-made gods.
2. He is the creator of all that exists, including the whole human race. He also created the church, formed his people to do his bidding.
3. That means we are not the determiners of our own fate, no independence here. No do-it-yourselfers.
4. Everything about God is good. Even the kiddos learn this one early on. "God is great, God is good, ..." No tragedy, no trial ought to blind us to his mercies.
5. You can butt your head against God's truth and faitfulness all you want, but it isn't going away. Better to accept it, live by it, and put it out in the public square for everybody to consider.

Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations. Psalm 100, NKJV