by J. Randal Matheny

I returned this morning from giving a four-day seminar on Biblical teachings in the northeastern Brazilian city of Salvador. There, I found

• churches faithful to the words of Christ.

• the gospel being preached in new areas, and churches being established.

• people with a vibrant faith, and joy in salvation.

• dedicated Christian workers who toil under difficult circumstances.

Though I returned drained from the seminar (and two night flights), my own faith was encouraged, my own joy renewed. In a day when we're told that we're a bunch of legalists who are going to die out sooner or later, seeing the church in Salvador tells me different.

According to some bright minds, these people in Salvador can't exist. They tell us smugly that the church can't grow when you preach exclusive salvation in Christ, the necessity of obedience for eternal life, immersion for the forgiveness of sins, and worship defined narrowly according to New Testament patterns.

But then smug faces aren't too bothered by the facts.

Nor by the sound doctrine of the true faith.

So we'll just keep the secret of the sound and vibrant life in Christ seen in Salvador between us. To the glory of God.

By Emmett Smith

A recent article by Dennis Peacocke www.worldnetdaily.com emphasized the importance of words. As Rush Limbaugh used to say, "words have meaning". The underlying meaning of a word is important, and in today's society several commonly used words have different meanings to different people. Some examples are "gay", "diverse", "choice", etc.

Hopefully you see the point. These words have been completely re-defined in the last several decades. And their use in masking the underlying agenda is important. As the escalation of the "gay rights" activism in recent weeks may illustrate, when these folks get too "in your face" with their agenda, many people recoil in disgust. So they've found it to their advantage over the years to couch their activism in euphemistic language.

"Pro-choice" sounds better than pro-abortion. "Gay" sounds better than homosexual. "Rights" sound more compelling than wants. The use or misuse of words is certainly nothing new. But we need to understand the importance of words. As Shakespeare said, "That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet." Whatever names we use, good remains good and evil remains evil. As Peacocke pointed out, "Words created the universe, and they are being used to divert and stalemate the Creator's purposes for it."

"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20).

By Michael E. Brooks

"…For those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come…" (Hebrews 6:4,5)

In early March I was privileged to visit Makaibari Tea Estate in the hills of Darjeeling district of India. Makaibari is the oldest tea plantation in this region of India, having been established in 1859. I toured the processing plant, then was invited in to meet the owner, Mr. Rajah Banerjee, and was given a cup of the plantation's product. After drinking it, I asked for a brief lesson in tea (I am what is considered a typical American over here – I don't know much about the subtleties of hot tea) and asked what precisely we had just drunk. Mr. Banerjee informed me that it was the "first flush" of the season's harvest, brewed from the very first leaves picked from the tea bushes after their winter's dormancy. He obviously prized this brewing as a special treat, and it was excellent, with a very light, delicate flavor.

Taste is a sense from which we derive great pleasure. We enjoy the rich flavor of meat, the sweetness of dessert, or the light taste of a crisp pastry. It is interesting that taste is used in the New Testament of the Christian experience. We taste "the heavenly gift" and "the good word of God and the powers to come." Our participation in and enjoyment of spiritual blessings in Christ is described in terms of the pleasures of the palate. This is particularly true of eternal life.

Jesus is described as the "first fruits of the resurrection" (1 Corinthians 15:20,23). Though there are other implications of this phrase, it is difficult to ignore the great desirability of the first harvest of a season. Food that has been absent for a time is now restored. The danger of famine and starvation is removed. And in addition there is the great pleasure of the flavor of the fresh "first fruits". In Alabama we look forward all winter and spring for the first "new potatoes" and the produce from the summer garden – fresh green beans, tomatoes and corn. After a long season with only dried or frozen vegetables, they taste especially good.

Jesus' resurrection is the Heavenly sign that our separation from God has ended. Spiritual life is renewed. Hope is restored. The harvest is underway and a time of plenty is upon us. We do not have to wait until our own entrance into Heaven to begin to enjoy its pleasures or to have assurance of them. The harvest has begun. Separation from God has ended (Ephesians 2:13). Spiritual renewal and blessedness is ours (2 Peter 1:3,4). Notice the explicit description in the text that follows:

"But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:4-7).

Jesus has been raised from the dead as the first fruits, and we have already experienced a spiritual resurrection with him, resulting in spiritual fellowship ("sitting together in the heavenly places"). This fellowship is our assurance of the even greater blessings ("the exceeding riches of his grace") that God will bestow in the ages to come.

This means that it is not just Jesus' bodily resurrection in the first century that is the first fruits of the eternal resurrection to come. Rather, our own entrance into the Christian life "in the likeness of his resurrection" (Romans 6:5) is in every sense the beginning of the riches of eternal life. Fellowship with God, spiritual blessedness, and all other God-bestowed gifts promised through Christ, begin with our fellowship with Christ, in his death and resurrection. The famine has ended. The harvest is underway. Let us taste and enjoy.

by Tim Hall

If any one concept could capture the essence of religion, it would likely be worship. Most will admit that "religion", according to God's word, is more than worship, but this event is certainly the most dynamic aspect of our faith. It is our opportunity to approach God in a powerful and life-transforming way. It is for good reasons that we seek to make our worship more personal and real.

Perhaps we can learn more about the experience of worship by looking at two towering figures of faith in the Old Testament, Abraham and Moses.

Abraham - Worship In All Life's Situations: In Genesis 22, God presented Abraham with one of the hardest demands given to any human being. Isaac was the son of whom Abraham and Sarah had dreamed for decades. Having to wait so long for his arrival only made their bond with him stronger. Now, however, God's command was confusing: "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you" (Genesis 22:2, NKJV).

What a long night that must have been as Abraham wrestled with the prospect of killing his own son! But "early in the morning" (v. 3) he arose and set off on the three-day journey to Moriah. When the site of the sacrifice was in view, Abraham told his servants, "Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship; and we will come back to you" (v. 5).

Here is a lesson about worship worth contemplating. Though God's order was hard and seemingly inconsistent with the Divine nature, Abraham obeyed. He did not tell his servants that he must "obey that command", or "go do his religious duty". Abraham's purpose was worship, humbling himself in the presence of the Almighty, though his soul probably considered rebellion. God is always worthy of our worship - even when we can't understand his will. We should imitate the example of this man of faith who said with his actions, "Your will, not mine, be done."

Moses - The Intent To Worship: "Please, show me Your glory," was the request Moses made of God (Exodus 33:18). Though humans are not capable of seeing the full glory of the Lord, Moses was given a glimpse. The account of God revealing Himself to Moses in Exodus 34:1-8 is dramatic as well as revealing of the nature of Jehovah.

When the Lord descended in the cloud to show His glory to Moses, the man was understandably overwhelmed. But note this statement in Exodus 34:8: "So Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped." Worship did not take place until Moses intended for it to be offered and then delivered it.

Our ideas of worship are often different. It is sometimes said that we worship God at all times, in everything we do. That's not the idea in this passage (nor in any other in the Bible). Instead, worship is something that is deliberately intended and then performed. Elsewhere (e.g. John 4:20-24) we learn that worship must be offered according to God's directions. But even when we act according to His pattern, is it worship if it does not arise from the intent to honor God and glorify his name? Mindless ritual has never been God's desire.

But, really, should we be looking back thousands of years to learn how to worship? According to God's word, it is appropriate (not to mention wise): "Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come" (1 Corinthians 10:11).

by Phil Sanders

An elderly man lay in a hospital with his wife of 55 years sitting at his bedside. "Is that you, Ethel, at my side again?" he whispered.

"Yes, dear," she answered.

He softly said to her, "Remember years ago when I was in the Veteran's Hospital? You were with me then. You were with me when we lost everything in a fire. And Ethel, when we were poor – you stuck with me then too."

The man sighed and said, "I tell you, Ethel, you are bad luck."

Wouldn't you like to be married to him?

It seems there is no pleasing some people; they look on the negative side of life and develop the habit of criticizing others about everything.

Many years ago one mother so criticized her daughter that later in life the daughter, finding no opportunity for satisfying her mother, took her own life.

Paul said, "Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned, as it were, with salt, so that you may know how you should respond to each person" (Col. 4:6).

Solomon knew that "Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken in right circumstances" (Prov. 25:11).

Frequently people are looking for a loving thought, a kind heart, a sincere compliment, an encouraging word, or a message of hope. As Christians we can make such a difference in people's lives by lifting up spirits rather than by tearing down.

The next word you speak could make someone's day! Season it with salt!