by Phil Sanders

On May 14 at 8:04 am, at the age of 92, Hugo McCord, a beloved teacher and preacher of the gospel passed from this life to be with the Lord. Though he had a doctorate degree, he never allowed his students to call him doctor, because he believed the principles taught in Matthew 23:7-10.

I remember in chapel one day, brother McCord quoted John 6 in its entirety - all 70 verses from no known English version. He was quoting from his knowledge of the Greek text, translating as he went. The Bible he held in his hand was actually upside down and opened to the wrong place. Quietly, confidently, deliberately, and reverently he quoted every verse.

Brother McCord will perhaps best be known for his translation of the New Testament, "The Everlasting Gospel" (the FHV, named after Freed-Hardeman University, his alma mater and publisher). In addition to the New Testament, this fourth edition includes Genesis, Psalms and Proverbs. The translation notes at the end of the volume are exceptional, a treasure in their own right.

Students learned best from brother McCord by asking him questions and listening to his answers. He was a master at word studies. His mind was exceptionally sharp, molded by hours and hours of study. He arose each morning at four to linger over the text and pray. Brother McCord was a highly disciplined student. He bought the truth at great price.

When he was young a bee stung him in the throat; this gave him an unusual voice. Coupled with his thick Mississippi accent, Hugo McCord was one of a kind in voice and often imitated. He knew how to put words together in expressive yet precise ways to say just what he wished.

His thorough knowledge did not lift his heart with pride. He was humble and contemplative. He gave great reverence to God and his word. Though usually the most knowledgeable man in the room, brother McCord never let his knowledge go to his head. He did not berate others or browbeat them for ignorance. He gently, as a man of God, corrected (2 Timothy 2:24-26).

Hugo McCord had the purest soul of any living man I ever knew. No one could doubt his devotion to truth or righteousness. He took much heat over his translation of John 3:16 ("his unique Son" for his only begotten Son). But brother McCord did not give an inch for a moment. He would be true to his God rather than yield to the pressure of well-meaning brethren. He was honest with the text, whatever the cost. His loyalty was first, last, and always to God and to Scripture. He swore to his own hurt and would not take it back (Psalm 15).

I thank God for his memory and for the many lessons I learned from him. As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

God gives us others, and they are great gifts! By brethren our lives are shaped and molded for service. How poor we should be without them.

Say thanks to a friend who has influenced you; you may not have him long.

with kind thoughts and love, Phil Sanders.

by Rex Banks

"No one can appreciate so fully as a doctor the amazingly large percentage of human disease and suffering which is directly traceable to worry, fear, conflict,…to unwholesome thinking and unclean living" (Dr. William Sadler).

Even without a medical degree, most of us instinctively recognize that the anxiety which chases away sleep, the fear which causes our heart to race, and the slow-burning anger which gnaws at our gut are the enemies of both our bodies and our souls. The very language which we use is instructive. We speak of being "sick" with fear, "insane" with jealousy, and "eaten up" by anger.

In more prosaic language, medical men have drawn our attention to the fact that a mind filled with negative and destructive thoughts threatens the health of the body: "With every passing year, we obtain a wider comprehension of the ability of the mind (psyche) to produce varied disturbances in the body (soma): hence the term psychosomatic. Invisible emotional tension in the mind can produce striking visible changes in the body, changes that can become serious and fatal" (Dr. S. I. McMillen: None Of These Diseases).

Now, for those of us who believe that the Bible meets man's every emotional and spiritual need, it is not surprising to hear inspired writers emphasizing that a garbage-free heart/mind is essential to human well-being. True, emphasis is quite rightly placed upon the spiritual, but the God who created us has given laws which enhance our lives physically and emotionally, as well as spiritually.

We are to "guard" or "watch over" the heart (mind) (Proverbs 4:23), because it is the "wellspring of life." We are also to consciously, deliberately choose the focus of our minds. The Psalmist affirms: "I will meditate on Thy precepts" (Psalm 119:15,23,27,48,78,148), using a word which speaks of "silent reflection." Isn't it obvious that the man whose mind is saturated with Holy Scripture is less likely to "look on a woman to lust for her" (Matthew 5:28) than the man who feeds his imagination on pornography?

What of the man who silently reflects upon the cross each day and treasures in his mind the words of a dying Savior, "Father, forgive them…"? Isn't he far less likely to hold a grudge or nurse a grievance than the one who gives no thought to our dying God?

Again listen to David: "When I remember Thee on my bed, I meditate on Thee in the night watches" (Psalm 63:6). Isn't it obvious that the heart immersed in the promises of God will enjoy a freedom from doubt and fear which is not known to the atheist and the agnostic? What better antidote for anxiety than David's words: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want" (Psalm 23:1)?

Poor, sad Bertrand Russell lamented: "…no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling can preserve an individual life beyond the grave." That's the fruit of unbelief. Stephen died with heaven before his eyes, "the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God" (Acts 7:55). That's the fruit of a God-directed focus.

Friends, let's choose carefully the focus of our minds. When the garbage threatens to engulf our hearts and lives, let's fight back as the Psalmist did — "Thy word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee" (Psalm 119:11). Job was "blameless, upright, fearing God" simply because he could say with conviction, "I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food" (Job 1:1; 23:12b).

Let's choose deliberately and with determination a God-directed focus to our life — our physical, emotional, and spiritual health depend upon our doing so.

Thanks to The Voice of Truth International, Vol 35, pgs 12-13.

by J. Randal Matheny

In the last five weeks, I have visited nine congregations of the Lord's people in four states. I return to Brazil this week encouraged by what I have seen.

(1) Growth. One congregation is building a facility of 32,000 square feet to accompany their growth. Another is facing space problems as well, and must either build or plant a new church, just as they were planted a few years ago.

Those who work and preach the truth of the gospel will be blessed with fruits of their labors. Indeed, this is God's will (John 15:16). These churches have not changed their approach nor the gospel in order to reach people. They are doing what the Lord told them to do. With results produced by the Lord.

(2) Evangelism. One congregation is beginning a new emphasis on reaching the lost. They mean business when it comes to fulfilling the Great Commission. In many of the others, I heard stories of Christians, aside from the designated leaders, teaching their friends and neighbors.

Jesus gave the church a single mission: to save souls by preaching the gospel, edifying the saints, and caring for their needs. Christians evidence spiritual values and demonstrate the single task by rejecting immediate concerns for eternal gains.

(3) Commitment. All of the congregations visited remain true to obeying Scripture as the authoritative word of God, to preaching obedience as necessary for salvation, to rejecting additions and subtractions from God's will, to worshiping God in spirit and truth, rather than resorting to entertainment and other worldly tendencies to gain numbers. The commitment to truth and to outreach go hand in hand.

What encourages me is to see almost all of these churches, in their obedience to Christ, combining love for one another, zeal for the truth, and faith in God to produce results through their preaching. With so much bad news and criticism of the brotherhood today, we might think such a combination was impossible. But it is not only possible, but happening in many congregations across the country.

As it happened in the first century as well. Paul wrote to one such church, "We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 1:3, NIV).

So let us be encouraged, and continue to persevere in faithfulness, love, and obedience to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. There are many who are doing that already, and for them we give thanks to God.

by Michael E. Brooks

"Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah -- not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people" (Jeremiah 31:31-33).

New laws and systems of law occur regularly, maybe almost daily worldwide. How often do those new laws really change the conditions in which people live and their behavior? Though change does occur sometimes, it is by no means guaranteed by a change of constitution or statute.

Bangladesh, for example, went from being a part of India, to being a part of Pakistan, to being an independent nation, in less than twenty-five years. In its thirty-plus years of independence it has had several changes of government, from those elected by democratic process, to military dictatorships, and back. In all those changes neither the conditions of the majority's lives, nor their behavior, have shown much real difference. Similar examples could be noted on virtually all continents and eras of world history.

Yet, sometimes new laws and governments make real changes in circumstance and behavior. Most historians would note the Constitution of the United States as such a difference-making document and would credit much of the prosperity and happiness of the American people to it. Other countries and populations may also be able to make similar claims for their laws.

Why do these systems work when others do not? Why do some people react positively to democracy, for instance, whereas it fails miserably in other places? Is it a matter of the wisdom and skill of those who wrote the laws? Is it that some constitutions are written more perfectly than others, or that only certain ones have sufficient safeguards built in? Sometimes we seem to think that it is all dependent upon the system. If we get the law just perfect, then it will have to work.

In the ancient state of Judah, the prophet Jeremiah admits the failure of a system of law, even though that law was of divine origin. How can one question the wisdom or skill of the writer of the Law of Moses? How can one doubt the adequacy of its provisions? God himself authored them. His omniscience devised all the statutes. Yet he sees need of a change. He promises a new covenant, "not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers." This, according to Hebrews 8:7-13, is the covenant given and administered through Jesus, called elsewhere "the perfect law of liberty" (James 1:25).

Jeremiah gives us reasons why the new covenant would succeed where the old one failed. Those reasons are not completely concerned with the nature of the law. Rather they address the relationship of the governed to the law. "I will put my law in their minds, and write it on their hearts." The old law was written upon stone tablets and read to the people. The new law would be instilled within them. This implies both agreement with the law and commitment to it on the part of those governed by it. It is not only "God’s law" -- it is "our law," one to which we are devoted.

Someone has said that democracy can succeed only so long as the people act responsibly. Christianity is not a democracy, yet God devised its laws with the same principle in mind. Those who trust in Christ commit to following his laws. They willingly submit, making them part of their very nature. When this happens an amazing thing follows. Obedience is simplified -- one does what one really wants to do, which is to please Christ. This means that his law frees us from "outside" constraints. It is written on our minds and in our hearts. It is much more akin to self-discipline than to coercion or governance from an outside source. That is why it may be termed a "law of liberty."

Any Christianity which does not produce changes in behavior is suspect. We are called out of the world to be separate (2 Corinthians 6:17). We are charged to be transformed (Romans 12:1). The new covenant in Christ Jesus contains the power to accomplish those changes. Our task is to trust Christ and to submit to his covenant.

by Tim Hall

His childhood home was just a short distance away. It had been many years since he had been there. But as Jacob lay down to sleep that night, he couldn't deny he was frightened. After all, when he left many years ago, his brother felt very defrauded and had vowed to kill him. As far as Jacob knew, nothing had changed between him and Esau. He had trouble sleeping that night.

During the night, "a Man" accosted Jacob. They struggled until it was nearly dawn. When the Man asked Jacob to release him, Jacob refused. "I will not let you go unless you bless me." The Man then pronounced a blessing upon Jacob by giving him a new name -- "Israel", the prince of God. The blessing was bestowed because "you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed." In the process of the struggle, though, Jacob's hip was thrown out of joint, and he walked afterward with a limp. But as he limped away, he recognized that he had been wrestling with God Himself! (The account of this episode can be read in Genesis 32:24-31.)

There are times when each of us is challenged to "wrestle" with God. No, it's not actual physical combat, as in the case of Jacob. But through the trials that come our way, we are challenged to confront our previously-held notions of God and His will for our lives. Not everyone accepts the challenge. Many simply walk away from the scene, deciding that God evidently doesn't love them as they once thought, or else He wouldn't have allowed this to happen. Some give up entirely on the idea of God. These refuse to wrestle with God.

Those who choose to engage in the struggle will be blessed. Note again that the Lord blessed Jacob "for you have struggled with God . . . and have prevailed." Don't conclude from this that God can be defeated by man; that's not at all what this teaches. Instead, God is shown as One who sometimes pushes us a little farther than we thought we could go so that we might grow. The wise teacher assigns homework that looks too demanding, but knows that those who struggle with the assignment will learn much. God knows how much wrestling we can endure. He also knows we will be blessed for having engaged Him in the struggle.

Of course, like Jacob we may walk away from the ordeal with a limp. In extraneous ways we will be less than we were before the trial. But in our souls we'll be joyful because we will know we've been blessed by the Lord. His blessings are far more glorious and longer-lasting than a perfect gait. We are happy to limp, as long as we limp with the Lord.

". . . Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Corinthians 12:9,10, New King James Version).