According to newly released statistics, the jail and prison population in America is growing at a rate of 1,000 inmates each week. The inmate population of America is presently 2.2 million, or, one out of every 136 U.S. residents. One of the fastest growing segments is among women who now make up 7% of the prison population. Does your church have a jail or prison ministry? Perhaps this would be a good time to consider starting one. Christ came for "the opening of the prison to them that are bound" (Isaiah 61:1). We thank the Lord that two men called on the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour in our own prison ministry just last week. Please pray for these men and the workers who take the gospel to them.
According to research, bread can become moldy if it is not stored properly. Two of the big agents in the molding of bread is, exposure to air and being stored in warm, moist environments.
There are five major offerings described in the Old Testament (Leviticus 1-5): burnt, meat, peace, sin, and trespass. One them, the meat offering, does not use an animal sacrifice. The other four do. However, the offerings differ in whether the animals are to be male or female. Here is how they are specified. The burnt offering is to be a male (Leviticus 1:3, 10). The peace offering can be either male or female (Leviticus 3:1, 6). The sin offering is to be male when offered for "a ruler" of the people (Leviticus 4:22-23) but a female when offered for "one of the common people" (Leviticus 4:27-28). Finally, the trespass offering is to be a female (Leviticus 5:6). The question is why.
The Social Security Administration has released the 1,000 most popular baby names in the United States for the year 2005. Their site has some fascinating search tools for baby names that go all the way back to 1879. Names go in and out of popularity in interesting ways. In 2005, the top five boys names were Jacob, Michael, Joshua, Matthew, and Ethan. Interestingly, four of these are Bible names. In fact, 12 of the top 20 boys names come from the Bible. This does not hold for girls names. The top five for 2005 were Emily, Emma, Madison, Abigail, and Olivia. Of these, only Abigail comes from the Bible. Of the top 20 girls names, only 4 are Bible names; 5 if Grace is included.
In Isaiah 29:13, the Lord berated Israel for their false religiosity: "Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men." Consider especially the last phrase. Their fear of the Lord was taught to them by the precept of men. The idea is of men taking the fear of the Lord (the key to godliness according to numerous scriptures) and remolding it according to his own precept; that is, he reforms the concept of godliness according to his earthly ideas of what it should be and not according to the direct teaching of God's word. This manmade godliness fills our churches today. God and His word are no longer the authority for godly living. Lifestyle is determined by the popular consensus of modern cultural opinions. We must get back to the fear of the Lord as taught by the Spirit of God through the word of God if we are ever to return to the faith once delivered to the saints.
Last night, Drew Ray preached a powerful message at Antioch Baptist Church. The text of his message was taken from Hebrews 4:9, which states, "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God." This idea was that, although we have a present rest in Jesus Christ, our true rest will come after we leave this world. Therefore, our present life is a time for service. We need to work; or, as Jesus said in Luke 19:13, "Occupy till I come." Brother Ray pointed out the word "occupy" is related to the word "occupation." One of the most convicting passages he used was the invitation of Jesus in Matthew 11:28-29. It begins, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." But too often we stop with the rest. The next statement is, "Take my yoke upon you." That is work. We find our rest in Jesus Christ through our service to Him. All this reminds me of a verse I read yesterday: "Their strength is to sit still" (Isaiah 30:7). We have far too many in our churches who are described by that statement.
"Rejuvenile" is the name of a new book by Christopher Noxon. It is also the name given to a commonly observed person today: one who is physically an adult but is often childlike in interests, habits, and sometimes in more serious ways. This person has also been variously named a kidult, a grup, a twixter, or an adultescent. This phenomenon comes in varying styles and degrees. On the mild side, it may be displayed in the man who wears a cartoon tie or the father who plays in the kiddie gym with his young children. More serious are the middle aged woman who wears skimpy outfits made for teens and the aging baby-boomer who sports a pony-tail and does Elvis impersonations while driving down the highway. Most serious are adults who never take to adult responsibilities: the 40-year-old man who still lives with mom and spends his money on juvenile pursuits; the 40-year-old woman who goes from job to job and from boyfriend to boyfriend.
