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Registration form for
Backwoods Christian Camp
Giving
Affects Our Relationship With God
How we acquire our money and what we do with it once it is in our
hands is a vital part of our relationship with God. Christianity is a giving
religion. Those that have trusted in God are blessed as they honor Him through
giving. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And
lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He
shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and
depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, And
strength to your bones. Honor the Lord with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; So
your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new
wine." (Proverbs 3:5-10) Hear again the words of God; "Honor the Lord
with your possessions."
Who or what has priority? In life priority is given either to
God or to material things. "No servant can serve two masters; for either
he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one
and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." (Luke 16:13)
Mammon is a word that means "riches" or "treasure." It is
also used as a word for "money." Often, mammon is regarded as
material wealth and thought to have an evil influence. Christians must never
allow their possessions to possess them.
It is frightening
when we realize
how many are actually controlled by a desire for things. This desire is
covetousness. (Luke 16:10-15)
J.W. McGarvey makes this comment about
covetousness: "When I read through the
New Testament, I find that the sin of covetousness or stinginess is more
frequently held up to condemnation by the Lord Jesus
and the apostles, and dealt with in severer and more terrific terms, than any
other sin in the whole category. Indeed a covetous man is more unlike Christ
than any other wicked man in the world. I verily believe that the covetous man
is the most wicked of men in God's sight. He is called an idolater. Paul says,
'No covetous man shall inherit the
Stewardship or ownership? The things
in our hands are there as a matter of stewardship not ownership. A man's view
toward possession is a good indication of where his heart lies. The following
verses teach God's ownership and our stewardship in relationship to things:
(Psalm 24:1) "The earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein."
(Psalms 50:10) "For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills."
(Haggai 2:8) "The silver is Mine,
and the gold is Mine, says the Lord of hosts."
Wisdom in stewardship comes from understanding that God is the
owner of all things. Our giving will never be what it ought to be until we have
a scriptural view of God's ownership of all things.
Giving produces fellowship among God's people: Christian giving
produces fellowship among Christians. "Now the multitude of those who
believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did
anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all
things in common." (Acts
Giving must be the result of love: God loved and He gave.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
Paul challenged the Corinthians to prove the sincerity of their love by their
giving. (II Corinthians 8:7-8)
Christ's love caused Him to give Himself as a sacrifice for our
sins. (Ephesians 5:25) Christ's gift as a loving sacrifice for us should
motivate our giving. "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through
His poverty might become rich." (II Corinthians 8:9)
A proof of a Christian's love is seen in giving. Paul encouraged
the Corinthian Christians to "show to them, and
before the churches the proof of your love and of our boasting on your
behalf." (II Corinthians 8:24) You can size up a man's character pretty
accurately by considering how he got his money and what he does with it once
it is in his hand.
Giving as we purpose and as we prosper: Planned giving pays.
"So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity;
for God loves a cheerful giver." (II Corinthians 9:7) Our giving is to be
a free will offering done in a planned and cheerful way.
Those that give bountifully to God receive His blessing. (Proverbs
22:9) Often God pours out so many blessings that we cannot receive them all.
Observe what He said to Israel, "...Bring all the tithes into the
storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this, Says
the Lord of hosts, If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour
out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive
it." (Malachi 3:8-10) Put God to the test and see if He meant what He said
about giving!
Giving with the right spirit: The
right spirit in giving is a loving heart that is willing to sacrifice for the
cause of Christ. David would not give that which cost him nothing.
"Then the king said to Araunah, No, but I will
surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the
Lord my God with that which costs me nothing. So David bought
the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver." (II
Samuel 24:24)
Good hearts committed to God lead to generous giving. The churches
of
Those that give with the right spirit are laying up treasures in
heaven. "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and
rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust
destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure
is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:19-21)
To become a Christian hear the gospel (Romans
- - - - Charles Box
News & Notes
1. Prayer List: UAB
2. Please Pray For: The following people are serving in
3. Birthdays: Celebrating birthdays this week are: June
4th Jordyn Bagents and Linda Bender, June 5th Ryan Bagents and Todd Newton, and June 6th Billy Heartsill.
4.
5. Thank You: A special Thank You to all of you that gave external
to help our young people make this mission trip to
6. Backwoods
Christian Camp: Our week at
Backwoods will be July 8-13. Camp fees will again be paid from the Carl
Sessions Camp Fund for all
of
the form from our website at:
http://walnutstreetchurchofchrist.org/backwoods/backwoods_christian_camp_2007.htm.
7. Box For
Triplets: The box for the Herring triplets is in the foyer. Be sure to
fill it with the needed items. The needed items are: Diapers Size 3, baby box
of dry Oatmeal, Stage 3 Baby Food, Apple or Pear Juice, Similac
Powder Milk w/iron, and Diaper Wipes
8. Opportunities To Serve: Each week we
do a Bible class at Crowne Health Care on Saturday at
9. Bible Classes: Thank you to all our Bible class teachers. You
do such a great job. Members, if you are not attending these classes please begin
now!
10. Put These Dates On Your Calendar: (a)
June 3rd-6th Grady Church of Christ
Instrumental Music,
Biblical Or Not?
God is the object of our worship and it is He that
determines how we are to worship. Unless we worship as God directs, our worship
is vain. (John 4:24)
God gives specific and generic commands. A specific command tells you what to do
and how to do it, you have no choice in the matter. A
generic command tell you what to do, but does not limit you as to how. God gave
Noah "specific commands" to obey in building the ark. (Genesis 6:1-14) The way
for Noah to honor God was to do exactly what He commanded. An example of a "generic command" is when
God said "Go into all the world." You are
free to go by the most expedient means.
Instrumental music, Biblical or
not? In New Testament
worship did God say "make music" (a generic command) or
"sing" (a specific command?) If, in the New Testament, God said
"make music" then no kind of music would be excluded from our
worship. But, God specified the kind of
music to be
used in worship. God specified
singing, thus excluding any other kind of music. (Ephesians 5:19)
Where did God say not to use instrumental
music? In the case of Noah,
when God specified gopher wood that excluded all other kinds of wood! God did
not have to say, "Do not use
Singing is a matter of respect for God. Those that respect the word of God will
do only what He commands! Does the doctrine of Christ teach the use of
instrumental music in New Testament worship? All know that the answer is NO.
Therefore, we cannot use instrumental music in worship and abide in the
doctrine of Christ. The use of instruments of music in worship is a sin against
God!
You must obey Gods word to become a
Christian before any worship is acceptable.
(Mark
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- - - Charles Box
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Pain can motivate us to look up to God.
Dont just own a Bible; read it!
(334-382-3001)