by J. Randal Matheny

"Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you" (Psalm 116.6, NIV).

Emotional states waver, dip, and dive more than the world's worst roller coaster. The book of Psalms records many of God's faithful saints coming to terms with their experiences and keeping their trust in his goodness and faithfulness.

The great testimony of Scripture is that the faithful keep on obeying, trusting, working, and confessing the holy Name in spite of their outer trials or inner turmoils. They demonstrate peseverance in their works as they bring all their emotions into line.

Psychologists tell us that all emotions are equally legitimate and none are to be censured or repressed. They have a point. But emotions are the dog's tail and can never be trusted to reflect accurately our bearings. The dog must wag the tail and never let the tail wag the dog.

Some emotions can diminish, deform, and ultimately destroy. Most, if not all, have their time and place, but left to themselves will derail a life.

What I feel does not always reflect what I know. In the dissonance, I must go with what I know. Often, the knowing and going will turn the feeling to its proper heading.

The content of what I know begins and ends with the nature and character of God. Constant review of that knowledge will put the soul at rest and the emotions in line.

"Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you."

by Phil Sanders

The Lord causes the growth of churches (1 Cor. 3:6-7), but He works through His servants to bring about that increase. As Christians, we are fellow-workers with the Lord (2 Cor. 6:1). God shapes and equips us in order to make us competent to be servants (2 Cor. 3:5).

The Lord brings about church growth when the seed is planted and souls are watered. This takes love, kindness, and truth.

The seed is the Word of God (Luke 8:11; 1 Pet. 1:23-25); nothing else will do. One cannot see a church grow without the foundation of Christ and His teaching (1 Cor. 3:11). Only the gospel has the power of God unto salvation (Rom. 1:16), and God was well-pleased to use the message preached to save those who believe (1 Cor. 1:21).

We water that planted seed through continued edification inside and outside of our worship assembly. Prospective converts need attention and love. Babes in Christ also need lots of tender care and instruction to grow (1 Pet. 2:2). One can hear the Savior exhorting Peter, “tend my lambs” (John 21:15-17).

Our goal is not to baptize alone but to bring young Christians to maturity (Matt. 28:19-20). May they remain faithful unto death (Rev. 2:10) so that they may receive the crown of life. Heaven is glorious beyond our understanding and worthy of every effort for ourselves and those we love.

by Phil Sanders

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8).

Words that shocked people in years past now fill our homes through television, radio, magazines and the internet. One can hardly walk through a check-out counter at the local grocery without seeing trashy, bold headlines of tawdry and indecent affairs.

Sex, violence and pleasure sells. Television producers, magazine publishers, and advertizing executives know that. This is why industries and retailers spend billions of dollars on seductive ads to tell their stories and sell their products.

One can readily see the results of this constant promotion of worldliness in people’s dress and behavior.

We should not be surprised that the world is worldly (1 John 2:15-17) or that it follows the god of this world (1 John 5:18-20). But we do not have to conform to this world! We can transform ourselves by the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12:2). We can set our minds on things above (Col. 3:1-2). We can so live and so act as children of God that our minds are not set on serving the flesh (Rom. 8:1-12).

Paul said, “To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled” (Titus 1:15). It is easy to allow our own minds and consciences to be defiled by the impurity that surrounds us. Let us avoid every form of evil (1 Thess. 5:22) and speak out against the deeds of darkness (Eph. 5:11-12). Let us keep our eyes and our hearts fixed on Jesus (Heb. 12:1-2), so that one day we can “see God.”

by Tim Hall

Don't ask me why, but I've always been fascinated with bridges. There's just something about their design, perhaps, or maybe it's their function. For whatever reason, though, I enjoy bridges -- walking across them, gazing at them (or writing about them!).

The most impressive bridge I've personally observed is the New River Bridge in West Virginia. Built as part of Interstate 77, it sits high above the New River; so high, in fact, that people parachute off that bridge at the annual Bridge Days Festival. Before its construction, I'm told, it took a very long time to go from one side of the river to the other. Now, one crosses the gorge in a matter of seconds.

The largest gap in need of spanning is the one we each create between ourselves and God. Isaiah wrote of this gap in Isaiah 59:1,2:

"Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you that He will not hear" (New King James Version).

If we had tried, we could not have created a more impassable gap than we have dug by our thoughtless sins. It is a chasm so deep that man is incapable of crossing it alone.

There is One, however, who has built a bridge to reopen the access to God that we so desperately need. Paul spoke of this feat, accomplished by Jesus Christ, in Ephesians 2:17,18:

"And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father."

Thanks to Jesus, we no longer must stand on one side of the chasm, wishing for a way to cross over to God. We are now given that bridge which, according to Jesus, is the only one of its kind: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6).

I don't know the materials needed to construct the New River Bridge; I'm confident the list was substantial. The materials needed for our bridge back to God was considerably simpler - three nails and two boards - but so much more durable (and expensive). Praise God for caring enough to build the bridge!

("Three nails, two boards, one bridge" - thanks to the anonymous author of these words for setting my thoughts in motion.)

by Barry Newton

The computer game industry caters well to testosterone. Want to command the power of an army, fly the world’s most devastating airplane, build a city, manage a world or expand an empire throughout the galaxy? There is a computer simulation game that will pander to your drive for power.

While guys may be drawn more toward command and conquer, the gals are not without desire to control. The tempter shinnied up to Eve with a modest proposal. If you want to be like God, if the idea of possessing the power to know right and wrong is attractive to you, just eat this. With a wry smile, a thirty-something wife recently made the point well when she said, “The perfect husband says, ‘Yes, dear.’”

Suspended in the middle between God and animals aptly sums up the rightful position of humanity. On the one hand, God has given us dominion over all the creatures within creation, and we are to subdue the earth. Yet, we are not the Creator, but rather the creature. We are to submit our will to God and obediently serve Him.

What happens when the lure to be in control, to shape things how I want them, or by what I might think is best collides with my service to God? I will let you answer that question. What I am going to do is unveil the three-word tool which some might use to tame Scripture, twisting it into their own image. While not a legitimate practice, anything in Scripture which grates upon someone's ear can be easily dismissed (at least in one’s own mind) by claiming to know “the reason why.”

How many times have you witnessed the following?

1. Someone claims to know the reason why a command was given or a particular action was taken in Scripture. (Of course you will search in vain within Scripture to validate that this was the reason.)

2. Proceeding to unveil how our context is different, the conclusion is drawn that the motivation for the command or practice no longer exists. Now being nothing more than a curious cultural relic of the past, the imperative is hamstrung.

3. Having severed the message from necessity, the creature reins in the Creator’s message insisting that a proper understanding of how to apply the text will be shaped by his or her own “knowledge” of why it was given in the first place. Appealing to your pride, the assertion is at least gently hinted that those possessing an appropriate sophistication will recognize that the message as it was originally intended to be heard is inadequate for today’s situation.

The predictable result is that those who embrace the creature’s reasoning will feel no pang of guilt whatsoever in violating God’s clear instructions or altering what God has spoken. Those who accurately perceive my intention will understand I am questioning a method and its accompanying claim of knowledge.

Although the method can be powerful in convincing self and others, is it reliable? Are there other principles which must control when and if it is appropriate? Ponder upon the following examples. Since the first two ideas will probably be new to most believers, I hope people will rightfully reject them. But how will they treat the rest?

• The reason why Jesus commanded baptism as an initiation rite is because he accommodated conversion to his prevailing Jewish cultural matrix. To achieve the dynamic equivalence in our cultural setting, we would need to adopt new initiation rites based upon our cultural rites of inclusion.

But Scripture says, “make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19

• The reason why the apostles appointed elders within the early church is because they simply employed a Jewish cultural form of leadership. Today, our culture recognizes different forms of leadership and so we do not need to be limited to just elders.

But Scripture says, “I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you.” Titus 1:5

• The reason why the early church worshipped solely with a cappella music is because singing with instruments at that time contained a strong pagan association. Today, singing with instruments does not carry this connotation, so it is perfectly acceptable to worship with them.

But Scripture says, “teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Colossians 3:16

• The reason why God is described with masculine language in Scripture is because the message was originally given to a male-dominated society. Today, our society is more egalitarian, and thus it is appropriate to use both male and female language to describe and address God.

But Scripture says, “This is how you ought to pray, Our Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 6:9

• The reason why Paul told the women in Corinth to be silent within the assembly of the saints is because ... . Today, our situation is different. Therefore, ...

But Scripture says, “The women are to keep silent in the churches ... the things I write to you are the Lord’s command.” 1 Corinthians 14:34, 37

With the bridle and the knife of “I know the reason why,” anything within Scripture can be tamed and cut down to a manageable size as the creature makes Scripture jump through his hoops. The enticement to release our imagination and intellect to command and conquer Scripture is an enticing one. But we are to be in the middle between God and animals, between ruling over all things and always serving. In relation to God, we are to learn obedience.

“By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we obey His commandments. The person who says, ‘I have come to know Him’ and does not obey his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in that person.” 1 John 2:3-4