Pearls

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#0099FF" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Monotype Corsiva" ><B>The Evangelical Herald                            </B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Evangelical Herald "><B>home</B></A></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Evangelical Herald ">The Evangelical Herald                            </A>   |   <A HREF="faith.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Faith">Faith</A>   |   <A HREF="church.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church">Church</A>   |   <A HREF="bible_studies.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bible Studies">Bible Studies</A>   |   <B>Pearls</B>   |   <A HREF="commentaries.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Commentaries">Commentaries</A>   |   <A HREF="contact_us.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us">Contact Us</A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#9999FF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, whom, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it."</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> Mat 13:45-46 NKJV</div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#33CCFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Pearls</I></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> The Evangelical Herald</div> <bR> <div> <B>Attitude Building Truths</B></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>"Paul's illustration of Christ's love for His church by His sacrifice on the cross for it, clearly shows the love a husband for his wife is best illustrated by his sacrifice for her well being -- only then can the wife respond to this kind of love by respecting, honoring, and submitting to her husband even as the church should do for her Lord." </B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>"Divine protection is best understood as dependence by faith in living obediently under God's commandments and teachings to keep us from harming ourselves or being harmed by others.  It is this personal communion with Him and leading that enables us to feel His protection." </B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>"The resurrection hope, so much the essence of the early church's faith as they waited for our Lord's coming, is diminished in its importance by the teaching that our departed loved ones are now presently enjoying the bliss of heaven.  Why hope and wait for the resurrection and second coming if they, like we when we die, are already in our ultimate state of blissful existence?"</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>"The present modern day emphasis on the "Power of Positive Thinking" has made negative Biblical concepts and warnings practically non-existence."</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>"The disparity between the present day emphasis on piety during religious services/ceremonies and application of that piety in real life can be seen in 'Christian Weddings'.  In the receptions that follow, it can clearly be seen that all the practices and traditions of the world's ideas of celebration, no matter how profane they may be, take precedence over any concept of holy living."</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>"The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord which moves us to see  things the way God sees them  -- then doing what Christ would do." </B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>"The measure of a "successful" church is not in the number of persons that occupy the seats in the Sunday morning services, but rather the number of persons occupied in active service in announcing and living the kingdom of Christ".</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>"All Christians should live in complete contentment in the social state they find themselves, yet aspire to develop their temporal gifts to serve in and promote  the kingdom now and hope for a more fuller  and glorious life in Christ's coming kingdom."</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>"The cross that Jesus speaks of in taking up our cross can not be identified with anything or anyone, but must be understood as the cross of total surrender to self and all its interests -- that is the cross Jesus bore and that is the cross a Christian must bear to the glory of the Father.  Without it no one can claim him/herself as a disciple of Christ."</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>"The real unity of the Body of Christ is motivated by a correct world view of total and complete loyalty to Christ and His kingdom that governs every aspect of human relationships including race, nationalism, economic and educational class, male or female, language, and anything else that tends to divide the human race."</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>"The value of a human being is not based on how much he has, he is , or he will contribute to the betterment of the human experience, but it is based on how much His Creator has loved him as evidenced that He has given all humans the opportunity for everlasting life through the cross." </B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>"A defensive Christian attitude regarding conduct is 'How much can I see and touch in the mist of my surroundings without falling'; but a better offensive attitude would be 'How can I let my light shine to glorify my Father in the mist of my surroundings'". </B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>"A person can talk much about his/her Christian walk, but if that walk has not been involved in building the Kingdom, his/her walk is in vain."</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>"Obedience that is not based on a response to Christ's love is worthless."</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>"Rather then having an attitude of 'I must be careful not to offend my brother with my words', a better attitude would be 'What words can I utter to build up and uplift my brother?'"</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>"Worthwhile works of man are in harmony with God's Word, fit into His eternal purposes for man, and are within His character."</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>"Pride keeps us from loving -- conversely, humility is essential to love."</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>"The church has adopted a parallel concept with the world system in determining who its leaders shall be rather then recognizing God's anointing of His servants with spiritual gifts."  </B></I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#3300FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="bodyhead.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Body/Head"><I><B>(see Head/Body Relationships)</B></I></A></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>"A parallel to Belshazzar's profane use of the temple vessels could be today's political/social/religious system's perversion of God's sacred vessels such as the institution of marriage and family, His Word, His church, and even His physical laws." </B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>"On trying to buy God's power (Simon): 'As individuals, we seek money because having money will give us respect and power (No one listens to a poor man).  As a church, we think money can bring success to our ministries, but the power for their success is lacking without prayer and consecration'."</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>"Whatever views we have regarding Christian involvement with civil nations, these views must apply to any nation on earth -- regardless of the type of government which rules them.  God allows human governments, but His ultimate purpose is a theocratic government for all peoples and for all eternity.  A Christian's allegiance is to Christ's Kingdom and only to Him can we give our complete trust and devotion."</B></I></div> <div> <I><B> </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>"A man centered religion reflects an attitude that says, 'God exists to bless me' or 'How can I use God to bless me?'.  A Christ centered religion reflects an attitude that says, 'I exist to bless God' or 'How can God use me to honor Him?'." </B></I></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="436" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="426"><div> <A HREF="consciousness.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Consciousness"><B><U>"Consciousness of Being"</U></B></A><U> </U><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >(Poem) </FONT></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B>"A true Christian fellowship exists where the prevalent atmosphere says </B><B>'I am for you'</B><B> and not </B><B>'I am better than you' </B><B>to all those in attendance.  It is this atmosphere that the church is called to develop -- where all can experience the love of forgiveness and edification and release their defensive mechanisms of selfishness, assertiveness, and pride."</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>"Correct understanding of prophecy is not the basis of salvation. Prophecy was given to us as a sign to confirm the revelation and as a light to give us hope.  We are walking in thin ice if we base our salvation on a prophetic model where all prophetic pieces must fit perfectly or else our salvation would crumble."</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>"A man or a woman is prepared for salvation by his/her temporal experiences with sin that brings him/her to the realization that man is not a god -- that all that man in the earthly temporal life can offer will not satisfy the thirst of truth and life."</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>"The attempt by man to make faith based beliefs real by recreating Biblical accounts in film and stage are commendable efforts, but spiritual truths can only become real by the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of man."</B></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="temple.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Temple"><B><U>"The Temple God Is Building"</U></B></A><A HREF="temple.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Temple"> </A><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >(Poem)</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>"The mystery of Christ in us whereby we no longer live, but Christ liveth in us must be administered by walking where He would walk, seeking what He would seek, thinking the thoughts He would think, serving where He would serve -- in short, letting Him live again on this earth through the willing vessel of our transformed lives."</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>"God's very nature is to be a giving God -- if we have received His nature by spiritual rebirth, we then are giving people."</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>"The Christian's 'purpose of your life' has to be understood as it is in full agreement and in full subjection of the greater purpose that God has for mankind as a whole as revealed in the holy scriptures."</B></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="grandfather.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Grandfather"><B><U>A Grandfather's Suggestion to a Troubled World</U></B></A><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > (Essay)</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>"The world's standards of sinful behavior within the church is a direct result of efforts by the churches to relate to the world using marketing skills with only numbers in mind."</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>"The moral conduct of individuals is declaring to God either 'I am building up your holy institution of marriage' or 'I am destroying your holy institution of marriage'.  By our choice of conduct, we align ourselves with Christ or with Satan in the spiritual battle." </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>"Christians are not immune to suffering brought on by natural laws, including disease, accidents, and disasters; however they </B><B>chose</B><B> to suffer with Christ when they take on His mission and lifestyle as the temporal powers of false religions and governments are used by Satan to persecute them."</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>"The mission of Christ was clear: 1) announce the coming eternal kingdom, 2) demonstrate its governing principles to live by, 3) become the door to the kingdom by His sacrifice and 4) establish His Church here on earth. He did not fail in any of these!"</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>"The efforts of man to form communities to satisfy his social needs result in communities that actually divide mankind into national, political, economical, culture, educational and philosophical groups -- unlike the community of believers that God is forming that breaks down these barriers."</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>"Christians ought not to be afraid of having too much to do in God's kingdom work, we ought to be afraid when there is no work to be done, since that will reflect the imprisonment of a comfort zone mentality." </B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>"To compensate for the lack of spiritual zeal to proclaim in their communities the gospel message of life everlasting through Christ's sacrificial atonement, churches today are using gimmicks and marketing tools to attract people to hear and see what </B><B>they enjoy </B><B>rather than disturbing them with the truth of their need of repentance and salvation</B><B>.</B><B>" </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>"Many churches can and do put much effort in presenting mission and evangelical oriented services, but without having a passion for the everlasting welfare of souls, that type of "service" will amount to nothing but a non-service to God."</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>"In the New Testament Church, the only 'Holy Shrine' or 'Holy Place' is in the heart/soul/mind of the believer where the Spirit of God abides."</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>"The physical sufferings of the crucifixion of Christ, though significant and emotionally moving, should never underscore the spiritual battle and suffering that Christ experienced in feeling the load of mankind's sin, the separation of His Father's love, the temptation of saving Himself and losing His faith in His Father's promise to resurrect Him." </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>"The local Christian leader/pastor must always be sure that his/her Christian service is not motivated by success for his/her domain or make a name for him/herself, but is done only for the exultation of the name of our Lord." </B></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>