Bible Thoughts

January 28, 2001

The words of Christ to the apostles are still the challenge for the Lord's people today. We need to contact every soul who will listen to the truth of God's word. It takes much efforts and many hours in order to spread the gospel of Christ throughout the world. Perhaps some might not be aware of the efforts that are being put forth by this congregation and individual disciples.

Obviously, those activities taking place at the meetinghouse serve as a means of teaching folks the truth. The regular assembly(teaching from the pulpit) and the Bible classes are ways of teaching and reaching people. The righteous lives of individuals as well as contact with friends, neighbors, and relatives are ways to teach folks the truth. In addition, the gospel is taught through written means(Bible Thoughts and other publications and tracts), the Minute with the Bible program is aired three times each weekday on WRUF(these messages also go on the Internet and are used in other publications). Correspondence courses are sent to those who request them; questions about the Bible that are received from around the world and answered on the internet. Bible Thoughts are placed on the net for world- wide access as well. The congregation maintains a web site; also, I have a website that contains sermons, as well as other information, and an interactive Bible course on first principles. We need also to remember that the church is involved in a training program for those who desire to preach the gospel. Vaughn Botha and Joe Cook are currently involved in this program. There is also a plan being formulated to knock on doors in our local community. The classes that are conducted outside of the regular schedule include a ladies class in homes; a preacher's Bible study involving evangelists in the north central Florida area(all men are welcome); a class for the women is conducted at the same time. Home Bible studies are available. Classes with college age students are taking place. The teaching in the home, the examples in the workplace and in the community, etc., are means of spreading the gospel of Christ into all the world.

Opportunities to preach in other localities by those who are members at this place enhance the spread of the gospel. We are thankful for the ones who are willing to assist in preaching in other places. Financial support is also sent to preachers in other localities.

Let each of us do all that we can to save the souls of the lost. If you have ideas that will increase our effectiveness, please speak to the elders.-jy

I know that whatever God does, it shall last forever. Nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before him. Man in all his wisdom thinks that he is so smart, and if you look at the things he has accomplished you can say that he is smart. In the early days when they learned how to fly, something that they thought was new, that was very clever of man, don’t you think? How about when the light bulb was invented, a bulb that was like the sun at night, they must have been very proud of what they had done, created something new and even today we still think it was a great day when they invented the light bulb. In the old days travel was slow, horse drawn buggies and the old steam train and then man came up with the idea of an engine. This engine would run on fuel, it could go faster than the horse buggies, it could go further distances. Then as man grew he reinvented transport, faster cars and we have electric trains now, we have jets that can travel at the speed of sound; what great inventions. One day man came up with the idea of going to the moon, so he built himself a rocket and as you all know man got to the moon, and now they often make trips up into space, that’s just great, how clever man must be. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void; and darkness was over the deep"(Genesis 1:1-2).

Stop reading this now and take a look around you. God created all this. There was no sun; there was no earth, as we know it. When you wake up in the morning and see the sun rise, God did that. And when you see the moon at night, God did that too. Take a look at the flowers and all the animals. That’s right, God made them to. Now look at yourself and the people around you and we can say the same thing, God made us too. Man has had many inventions, and yes, they are great inventions (what would we do without computers?), but man has created nothing and that is the difference. God created it all from nothing: the water you drink, he made it, the air you breath, he created it, he created it all. Even though man with all this wisdom, he still can’t see the power God has, he still does not realize that he is not that clever.-Vaughn Botha

How often have we heard, “The Bible doesn’t make sense!” or “It’s impossible for it to be true!” Human minds are all to often confused by many of the concepts within the Bible. Why is this so? Does it have to be? Can we ever hope to understand this ancient text?Could a King ever “really” think of sacrificing himself for his servants? Why wouldn’t this concept confuse anyone? It is not often that we see this type of behavior today. How often do leaders of countries today forgo the self-serving power at their disposal and sacrifice themselves for the sake of the people? It seems that this would be the exception rather than the rule. Does a child always understand what a parent does? Does it have to understand in order to be obedient? How often is it said, “You’ll understand when you get older?” In protection, correction, or otherwise children do not always understand their parents’ actions, nor do they need to. It takes maturity to even begin to see the wisdom behind that of the authority. In our attempt to understand the bible we must keep in mind the very fact that the bible was not written to conform to a standard but instead to create one. “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.” Whether we are reading the Bible for the first time or spiritually mature, if we are attempting to fit the scriptures into a predefined box of or already established concept of religion, it is a very grave mistake for we are imposing our will upon the Lord and not allowing Him to help us (Matthew 5:3).-Joe Cook