Christian Living
What is your method for finding definitions of biblical words? For example, the difference between "accursed" and "cursed" and the difference between "lucre" and "money". I know that the English of the KJV is correct; but, sometimes, isn't getting to the "root" of the word necessary?
The story is told when Sir Walter Scott lay dying, he asked his son-in-law to bring him “The Book.” With astonishment the young man replied, Father, your library contains thousands of volumes, including your own works. To which book are you referring?” The veteran author immediately replied, “There is only one book which we call “The Book.’ Bring me the Bible.”
The following is an excerpt from Soldiers in Training by Brother Daryl Coats.
Should we participate in the man made holiday of Lent?
Both polls and anecdotal evidence point to the same result: Bible-believing churches are losing their teenagers to the world. Teenagers who grow up in churches are leaving church and going to the world as soon as they get a chance. One statistic states that only 4% of the teens in evangelical churches stay in church. If that is anywhere close, that is an astounding figure. Churches have drawn the teens with entertainment and fun, but this will not keep them. Probably, the greatest contributing factor is the home. If the home is not solidly Christian--to the point of serious separation from the world--then the teens will learn their values from the world. We must work harder to exhort parents to be godly parents and then teach them how to do it.
Today's "Knoxville News-Sentinel" has an article on how skulls have become a big fashion statement. What used to be reserved for the underground and Goth kids has become mainstream. Skulls are everywhere. The fashion designers use them because of their connection with poison, danger, pirates, and death. Although most popular with the young, they can give an edge to older fashionistas who want to look tough. Isaiah 65:4 tells us of those "Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels." The Maniac of Gadara who was delivered by Jesus Christ also had "his dwelling among the tombs" (Mark 5:3). We have a generation that is given to death. They dwell among the tombs and need to be delivered from the evil one.
In Bridgeport, West Virginia, the High School recently settled a case that had been brought against it by the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State and the ACLU. The school agreed to take down a portrait called the "Head of Christ" that had been on the wall outside the principal's office for 37 years. In the same school, one classroom had a portrait of Buddha and another had a two-foot statue of Buddha. These were not opposed and will be allowed to remain. One reason the school officials decided to surrender their rights out of court was the fact that, if they had lost, they would have had to pay the legal costs of both sides. This is established by federal law and it is one of the reasons so many schools quickly give in when they are sued. A bill to change this law passed the House in September. However, it seems unlikely that the Senate will be passing the bill anytime in the near future.
As I was watching a local meteorologist, a.k.a. "weather guy," explain a recent cold snap in our area, a beautiful picture of a mountain was displayed on the screen. In order to resolve any confusion on the part of the viewers he noted that the white on the trees was NOT snow but what he called "hoar frost." HOAR FROST? I thought that the scholars, a.k.a. King James Bible critics, said that hoar frost was an archaic, obsolete term that made the King James Bible difficult to read and understand. I was on a web site recently that cited 419 words and phrases (including hoar frost) from the King James Bible. That list, like many others was designed to show that your King James Bible ought to be rendered in "modern English." Apparently that term is NOT archaic, obsolete, or indecipherable, and the author of that list LIED!
Recently, our pastor was reading Psalm 51 out loud to a group of men. He was reading it without comment and using it as an introduction to a prayer meeting. When he got to verse 6, something jumped out at me, so to speak, that I had not seen before. David said to the Lord, "Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts;" If the Lord desires truth in the inward parts of man what is He looking for?
According to a 17 December 2006 article in The Associated Press, a 48-year-old man in Cincinnati, Ohio was killed by his 13-foot boa constrictor in his own home. Apparently, he was found in the reptile's cage with the murderous creature wrapped around his neck. What a tragic story! His pet turned on him and killed him!