by Mike Benson

Each afternoon while the grandkids were in school Grandpa would lie down for a nap. One day, the kids came home early and found him fast asleep on the couch, and so they decided to have a little fun with him. They dabbed Limburger cheese in his moustache. Moments later, Grandpa woke up, took a few sniffs and then observed, "Why, this room stinks!" From the couch he made his way into the kitchen, but it wasn’t long before he decided that the kitchen smelled too. So he stepped outside for a breath of fresh air. Much to his chagrin, the air outside smelled just as bad as the air inside, to which he exclaimed, "The whole world stinks!"

In Philippians 4:4 Paul wrote, "Rejoice in the Lord always ..." Ironically, these words were penned while he was in a Roman prison. What I learn from the apostle is that while I can’t control all of the circumstances in my life, I can control my attitude towards them.

What about you, dear friend? Have you got Limburger cheese in your attitude? Does the whole world smell bad? It may be that you need an attitude adjustment.

Think about it...

by Stan Mitchell

You know it's going to be a bad day when you call suicide prevention, and they put you on hold ... when you see a 60 Minutes News Team waiting in your office ... when your birthday cake collapses under the weight of the candles ... when you're following a group of Hell's Angels down the highway and suddenly your horn starts blowing, and remains stuck. Otherwise it's been a pretty good day!

You might remember the children's classic where the little boy was having a "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day." Why do some people seem to have so many bad days? It helps to have a sense of humor. Some church members think that a sense of humor and a sense of holiness are incompatible. Gratitude helps, too. Do you think some Bangladeshis would think we were crazy to complain about our lot? Do you think there aren't some Afghans who would swap with us if we really don't like what life had handed out to us?

"This is the day the Lord has made," the Psalmist reminds us, "Let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24).

A good attitude is important, too. The Psalmist was grateful for any day that the Lord had given him. We're all living on borrowed time. Be loving, forgiving, and urgent in telling others about Christ. You don't have to wait until the stars are all in alignment before you are content with what God has given you.

Even if you're having, like, a totally bad day!

by Richard Mansel

Are you a saint?

The term "saint" is used more of children of God than any other name from Acts through Revelation. Saint(s) is used 60 times while disciple(s) is used 26 times and Christian(s), 3 times. Yet it is rarely ever used in our culture because it has developed negative connotations.

Some in the religious world believe that "saints" are a special group of people who are holier than all other Christians. The process involves being thoroughly examined and approved for sainthood. Beatification is where someone has performed a miracle during their life. The Catholic Encyclopedia says, "The Catholic Church canonizes or beatifies only those whose lives have been marked by the exercise of heroic virtue, and only after this has been proved by common repute for sanctity and by conclusive arguments."

Sainthood is finally reached when someone has performed two posthumous miracles. When the person attains sainthood, Catholics pray to them, because Jesus is not their sole intercessor, or advocate, to carry their prayerful requests to God. Saints carry their prayers to God alongside Jesus.

The problem is that there is not a shred of evidence in Scripture for this doctrine. Instead of Scriptural proof, we are directed to the doctrine of Papal Infallibility, which also fails to have any Scriptural precedent. This is too important to take someone's word for it.

"Saint" simply means someone who is "holy, sanctified, set apart." The word "church" means the "called out." Therefore, we are called out of the world when we become a child of God and are separated, sanctified, and holy. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:2, "to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints" (NKJV). Peter writes, "But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy'" (1 Peter 1:15,16). Finally, the Hebrews writer said, "we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Christ once for all" (Hebrews 10:10).

The Catholic model says that "saints" are a special subset of Christians. I would propose the following problems with this theory.

First, it would require saints to be dead. Romans, Ephesians, Colossians, and 2 Corinthians are specifically written to saints. Why would Paul write letters to dead people? Since they are only written to saints, were the other Christians responsible for their contents?

Second, why were Ananias and the other Christians so afraid of Paul (Saul) after his conversion? Ananias said, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem" (Acts 9:13). Apparently, by the Catholic model, Paul (Saul) had no intention of sending average Christians to their death but only saints who were dead in heaven. Therefore, the early church had nothing to fear of Paul, and Peter and the apostles should have just pointed this out.

We do not become a saint by canonization but by being baptized for the remission of our sins. In Ephesians 1:1, we find that "saints" are those who are "in Christ." The only way Scripture ever says we can get "into Christ" is through baptism (Romans 6:3,4; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:27). Grace allows us to come to Christ and will save us in the end, but our sins are washed away in baptism.

Saint is a glorious word that we must reposition in its proper place. Saints are set part from the world, not other Christians (John 17:14-17). Saints are blessed in innumerable, distinct ways that loudly proclaim the passionate love of God (Isaiah 40:27-31; John 14:1-6).

by J. Randal Matheny

In negotiations, we should prefer what has been lately termed a win-win situation. Both parties rise from the table with terms that favor both the relationship and their individual objectives. American society, as well as others, needs this important perspective, carried away as it is with lawsuits.

We want everyone to win. We agree with American politician Harriet Woods, who was quoted as saying, "You can be a victor without having victims." (Politics, they say, in its best manifestation, is the art of compromise.) We wish a good life, prosperity, joy, and peace to all. Above all, we desire, and work toward, every person's acceptance of God's salvation.

Win-win is a wonderful concept which we should employ in every possible situation.

Some situations, however, do not permit win-win. So where no eternal issue is at stake, or moment in which integrity is not compromised, we will be happy to lose. Not every issue is worth the effort to win.

Some things, though, we will not concede, nor give in, under any circumstance.

• We will not surrender our children to the prevailing permissiveness rampant around us.

• We will not admit defeat to the tempter, who would have us abandon our post of service to God for some passing pleasure.

• We refuse to play dead as some try to turn the church of Jesus Christ into just another sect.

• We will not give up the dot of an "i" or crossing a "t" of the teaching of the Word, whether it be baptism necessary for salvation, the exclusivity of singing in worship, or men leading in Christians' meetings.

Just as in the real world, we live in a spiritual reality where aggressors refuse the negotiating table and agitators adopt the mission to terrorize others.

These are the ones the Bible terms the "world." They come in all shapes and sizes, in garbs of the religious and the atheists, the carousers and soothers, carnal and spiritist. The world pitted against God, rebellious against his will, recalcitrant against his authority.

In this case, war is declared, we will fight to the death, for life, knowing that someone must lose and someone must win.

And we know Who will win.

Win-win when we can. Lose-win when the issue is indifferent. But win-lose when eternity is at stake.

In the latter, victory is possible only when the opponent is vanquished.

"For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world -- our faith" (1 John 5:4, ESV).

by Kevin Cauley

There are several words that can be translated "Thanks" in the New Testament and seeing that this article will be sent out shortly after Thanksgiving and on Thanksgiving weekend, I thought that I would engage in a brief word study on the concept.

The Greek words, EUCARISTIA, EUCARISTEW, and EUCARISTOS are all Greek words that involve the concept of thanksgiving. Out of all of these words, EUCARISTEW, the verb, is most frequently used (39 times). The noun, EUCARISTIA is used 14 times and the adjective EUCARISTOS, once. The word is a compound word made from EU meaning "good" and CARIS, meaning "grace" or "gift." Hence, to say "thank you" in Greek was to express "good grace to you" or "good gift to you."

The word is used to express thanksgiving to both God and men, but it is used theologically in the New Testament to describe the state of the Christian's indebtedness to God's grace and mercy (2 Thessalonians 2:13). It is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). And it is that which is expressed to God for his sovereignty (Revelation 11:17).

This word may seem familiar to you because we have an English word that roughly corresponds to the Greek word, namely, Eucharist. This is the term that many use in the religious world to refer to the Lord's Supper. It was the term used by early Christians as well. There are several references to the Lord's Supper using this word to describe the Lord's Supper in the writings of the apostolic "fathers." Indeed, Paul makes it clear in 1 Corinthians 11:23-25 that thanksgiving must be involved in the prayer for both the bread and the fruit of the vine.

There are some additional words in the New Testament that may also be translated in this vein as well: CARIS, EXOMOLOGEW, and ANQOMOLOGEOMAI. CARIS usually means grace, but is used in 1 Corinthians 15:57 to express thanksgiving for the victory in Christ. It is also used in 2 Corinthians 9:15 in regard to God's "unspeakable gift."

EXOMOLOGEW is a completely different form. It is also a compound word from the preposition EK (out of) and hOMOLOGEW (confess). The idea is to express that which is out of confession. Jesus uses this word to speak to the Father in Matthew 11:25 and Luke 10:21. According to Vine's Expository Dictionary, the meaning is to "make thankful confession" or "make acknowledgment with praise."

ANQOMOLOGEOMAI is another compound word composed of the preposition ANTI (against, opposite) and hOMOLOGEW. The word is used in Luke 2:38 to describe Anna's thanksgiving and praise. The preposition ANTI seems to intensify hOMOLOGEW in this instead of offset it.

So let us practice what is written and give thanks regularly regarding all things (1 Thessalonians 5:18).