How Can I Express Love? - 1 Corinthians 13

There is only one word that gives us the name of the most important person that has ever been a citizen of this earth. His name is God. There is one word that explains why God was the most important man that ever lived on this earth. That word is love. For God loved people so much that he gave his only son Jesus Christ to be crucified and to die for our sins.

In this 13th chapter of First Corinthians, Paul pens the most beautiful story in the bible regarding the importance of love—and leaves no doubt in any of our minds that without love we are nothing. We can truly say that in order to be Christ like—in order to be a Christian—we must have a deep love for our fellow man. Yes we must love people—even our enemies. We are not required to love what people do, but we are required to love the soles of man and have a desire to see everyone redeemed from their sinful nature. Our heart must be in tune with the heart of Christ whose desire is that none [no single person] should perish but that everyone should have everlasting life.

Paul begins by telling us that a man can possess all of the spiritual gifts except love and still be a useless being. We can speak with voices as beautiful as angels speak and without love in our hearts, it will sound as a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal and will be only an irritating noise. We can have a faith so great that we can remove mountains from their bedrock and cast them in the sea, but if there is no Agape love in our hearts that reaches out to our fellow man, and the Lord, we are worth nothing. In order to become a Christian and remain a Christian you must possess all three—faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love.

One example stands out more for me as I write and it is something I read that said that Sir George Adam Smith once ask a member of the Greek Orthodox church, which had suffered tremendously at the hands Islam, why God had created so many Mohammedans. The answer he got was that they were created so hell would be full of people. [That is preaching a scare tactic, which may scare some but will save few, if any.] This fits in with my thoughts so well because I fear the teachings of Mohammed; I believe that Christians greatest fear should be aroused by the goals of the Islamic race.
They have stated their desire and committed goal is to kill all Christian infidels, especially those in America. The forefathers of Mohammed can be traced through Old Testament history and this history tells us that they have always been the enemies of God’s chosen people. However, it is their sinful nature that we must fear and hate but not their souls. We must acknowledge and believe in our hearts that Christ loved Mohammed and his followers so much that he died to save them. The bible teaches that [whom so ever—each and every person] that acknowledges Christ as Lord, repents of their sins and trusts Him, will be saved.

The secret to this lies in the definition of the word love which we are teaching in this lesson. This is not the same love we have for our spouse or our children—but it is agape love or a Christ like desire to see souls saved from the destruction that their sins bring on them. Paul says that we may have intellectual knowledge—or we may have a passionate faith—or we may practice what men call charity without love and it is nothing. Nothing would be more humiliating than for a Christian to dole out so called charity to a person that they do not love. This would be a deception.

Paul even goes so far as to say that “if I give all that I have to the poor and have not love it is nothing. He even says that if I give my body to be burned and have not love, I gain nothing.” I have wondered what he meant here. Maybe he was thinking about the Hebrew men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-ego who were cast into the fiery furnace, who loved God so much that they refused to bow down to an Idol and disgrace God.

Our society today confuses love with lust. Lust is a desire of our hearts; it is directed inward and not outward toward others. Agape love is directed toward our fellow man and is patient, kind, does not envy, does not boast, and is not proud, rude, or self-seeking. The best example I can give you of a forbidden love is where the bible tells us that the “love of money is the root of all evil.” This is an example of love that is directed inward…when man desires wealth for his own good above and beyond his desire to know God and be fruitful and giving.

I challenge you to examine your motives for the giving of your tithes and offerings to your church. Is it directed inwardly so that you can be proud of what you are doing for the church? Is your motive so that others will see you as a faithful supporter? Or, do you give because you love God, your church, and the lost souls that it may reach and fulfill the commandment that Christ gave to the church to go into the entire world and preach and teach and baptize the believers?

In closing this lesson, there can be no greater message than Paul preached in the closing words of this chapter on love. He in essence says that this subject is too deep for me [Paul] to fully understand. It is like a poor reflection in a mirror now but one day we will fully understand. We know in part [understand some things about the depth of agape love] but when we get to heaven we will fully understand…we will be fully known. Then he ends the 13th chapter by telling us that there are three very important gifts of the spirit that a Christian must have—these three remain: faith, hope and LOVE. But the greatest of these three is agape LOVE.

Request: This lesson is now being published by both the “White River Journal” and “The Sun Times” each week. I am requesting that you who receive it will pray that their readers will let them know that they are appreciated for their services. God bless. Thank you.

What Spiritual Gifts Can I Use? - 1 Corinthians 12 - 15

Beginning with the lesson we studied about marriage as discussed in chapter seven and on through chapter 16, Paul is responding to a list of questions that the believers in Corinth had sent to him. The Corinthians were confused about and having problems with some of the same questions that confront us in our lives during the present days of the 21st century. What did Christ teach regarding sex, marriage and divorce? What political liberties are enjoyed by Christians who know the bible’s teaching regarding food offered to idols or proper dress for men and women in church? And today we are looking to see how we are to use our spiritual gifts. If you will pay close attention you will see that he moves from one question to another by using a phrase typically translated “about” or “now concerning;” and so in this manner he opens the discussion on spiritual gifts in chapter 12. “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.”

Since God gives man all of his spiritual gifts the answer to the opening question is quite simple—you and I can use all of our spiritual gifts if we use them for right reasons to accomplish tasks that God approves. Let us take a simple one for an example; a beautiful tenor voice is a spiritual gift. There is no doubt how we are to use our voice because of explicit teachings in the bible that tells us our voice is given for us to communicate with man and God. We are directed to sing praises to Him and to praise Him with our voice. So long as our voice is used to help us communicate and help us and others enjoy Godly music there can be no reason to refrain from or refuse to use it this way. The sad side of this illustration is that the same voice can be used destructively to curse God [use His name in vain] or to sing seductive and wayward music in a strip joint, or rap a porno rime.

I personally believe that we can enjoy a more informative discussion pertaining to the matter of spiritual gifts if we ask ourselves what spiritual gifts God has given us individually and how we can know the ones that he expects us to develop and use in our worship and in our service to him through the church in particular. I will start by answering the most important question and that is—have all Christians been endowed with spiritual gifts from God? The answer is yes. God never made a mistake; and therefore he never made anyone without endowing them with spiritual gifts that they are to recognize, develop and us in their worship of God and their work for Him and his children. One of the most destructive views one can have regarding spiritual gifts is to argue that they do not have any. You are the first one, and may be the only one, that is completely in error because all bible scholars have learned that all Christians are endowed with spiritual gifts.

In 12: 7 Paul says that it is clear to our minds or evident [manifested] that gifts of the spirit are given for the common good and common good means your gifts are to be enjoyed by others. He then uses the parts of the body and shows how they work together for common good. All parts are needed for the body to function completely as it should. Each part has its own function: the eye sees, the ear hears, the nose determines different odors, legs run, and the heart pumps blood. So it is with the gifts of the spirit, each has its own purpose.

Wisdom is the first gift mentioned, then knowledge, faith, healing, miraculous powers, prophecy, the ability to distinguish between spirits, speaking in different kinds of tongues, [and to some others] the interpretation of tongues. Now in verse 27 he says that we make up the body of Christ and each member of the church is a part of the body. For the body of Christ [the church] to be complete it must have apostles, prophets, teachers, miracle workers, gifts of healing, abilities to help others, administrative abilities, and those who speak tongues. We have already mentioned the gifts of knowledge and wisdom, and it is easy to see that these would be necessary to support many of the other gifts such as preaching, teaching, and daily witnessing.

The greatest of all spiritual gifts is the ability to love as Christ loved us, and the entire 13th chapter is devoted to the discussion of the importance of love in the Christian life. Paul says that we can excel in all other gifts and accomplish absolutely nothing, if we do not have love in our hearts. Love will be discussed more completely in lessons yet to come.

The most difficult for me to understand and try to explain is the gift of speaking in other tongues. Paul indicates that some have this special gift. He says that it is the ability to talk to God, but that the speaker and God only are able to understand what is being said, and that it should not be used unless there is a third person present who is able to interpret the message for the benefit of listeners. Paul says that he utters mysteries with his spirit. He says in verse seven that other gifts such as prophesies is greater than tongues—unless he interprets so the church [can understand and] may be edified. My personal position is that I have never heard anyone ‘speak in tongues’ and then explain to me what he said. I have heard some who spoke in tongues, but never witnessed an occasion when the speaker had ‘another person present’ who could tell me what was being said.

Paul then asks a question. Verse 6, “If I speak to you in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation? He then gives an example by referring to a musical instrument which is a lifeless thing. Anyone can blow on a trumpet and make a noise that can be heard, but if the musician does not use different notes [which are understandable] there is no musical message. “If the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle”? “So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how can anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air.”

V 18 Paul says “I speak in tongues” and for this reason I do not doubt that God gave him this special gift. But I am not worried or concerned that I personally do not have the gift because Paul went on to explain that “I would rather speak five intelligent words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a [UNKNOWN] tongue.” There was usually more than one nationality of people present in his services and I think Paul was making it clear that he should be able to speak more than one language or have an interpreter present to help all present understand what was being preached.

How do you and I fit in this discussion? WHAT SPIRITUAL GIFTS CAN I USE is our question for today. We have the spirit of learning, intelligence and knowledge and therefore we must STUDY to show ourselves approved and to instruct others in spiritual matters—sorry to say, but some have neglected to study His word. Some have received beautiful voices and should use them to worship, and praise and for the pleasure of others as well as a way to lead them to Christ. I believe God gave me the spiritual gift of teaching, and I have tried to use it to teach for over sixty years. More teachers are needed, and I am afraid that YOU are one that was given the gift and you have neglected to use your gift. It is not too late so report to your pastor or educational director that you are ready to practice your gift of teaching. Yours may be a very special gift of working with young children, and you are needed even more.

Would you love to see your home church grow in great numbers? Become the undisputed Spiritual leader in your denomination world wide? Win many who are lost and without hope? Do you want to reach the place where you are looking forward to every Sunday morning with great anticipation? If the answer is YES—all you will need to do is start using three or four of your best spiritual gifts daily—pray, witness, visit the ill and outcast, study His word, sing, play your instrument, teach, prophesy, love your neighbor and praise your God. Be thankful and give God the glory but don’t be selfish and brag.

What Can I Do? - 1 Corinthians 8 - 12

Last Sunday I asked you the question… What Should I do? Very simply stated the answer was that you should do what ever God expects you to do. The question before us today is… What Can I do? In one sense of the word, the two answers are the same. You can do what ever God expects you to do. Do you know why this is true? It is true because God has never asked his children to do anything that they should not do. It fact he has made us a promise—and it is that he will never place any task or burden upon us that we are unable to bear so he will never ask us to do anything that we are not capable of doing. We have learned that there are some restrictions that apply specifically to born again Christians. These are actions or deeds that are not sinful to us personally but may cause others to stumble.


Now I want to add a third question to the lesson today; and the question is: “How can you always know what God thinks you should do and what you should believe that you can do?” My answer is very simple but it is one of the most neglected acts that we are expected to do. You must both read and study God’s word. It just so happens that the right answer to ever question we have in life can be found in His word. We really have no excuse not to know the truth. This is so very important when we realize that only the truth is able to set us free.

Paul had witnessed in Corinth and moved on when this problem about eating food that had been sacrificed to [gods, idols] came up and was causing problems. New Christians were being criticized for eating the meat. Now Paul reminds them that there are really no other gods…these are false idols…and sacrificed meat to a god that does not exist has no effect on the meat, therefore there is nothing wrong with eating it. However, he also reminds them that if it causes weak Christians to falter, or unsaved to disbelieve then true believers should abstain from eating the meat that will offend others.

You will note that Paul is saying that true Christians and he knows that the meat is clean and eatable because there simply are no gods. Those that worship false idols do not know the truth and Paul says that Christians should abstain from eating the meat because of their love for the lost ones, and not because they have knowledge that the lost do not have.


I am so thankful that this Sunday school lesson time falls on July 4; which makes this America’s [234th] two hundred and thirty fourth birthday. Allow me to get personal and challenge you to listen carefully to what I have to say. I will be 86 years old on July 22, 2010. That means that I have been alive and kicking for more than [1/3]… more than one third of the time that America has existed!!! I attended public school and college a total of 24 years and worked as teacher and administrator in public education for 34 years. However, the answers I give to a majority of the questions I receive and of the statements that I make are dependent upon the facts of life that I have learned from God’s word which is the same yesterday, today and forever—and not from history books that are continually being rewritten by authors with an ax to grind; some believers, some nonbelievers and some atheist or agnostics.

Having been a history and social studies major, I have a fair knowledge of what has been written in these fields and I know that the American History books that our children are studying today in the public schools and in the nation’s colleges are nothing to compare with the ones written and studied prior to the end of WWII. Unlike God’s word, which never changes, secular writings have changed until it is impossible for us to know what to believe and what to condemn as truth that has been contaminated by liberal thinkers, and people who practice immorality openly. No problem has caused more harm than the differences of opinion we have in America on the subject of separation of church and state.

This problem is so critical that there will be criticism of pastors that lead in patriotic based worship in churches today—and there will be criticism of churches that devote time for Christians to praise God for their religious freedom. If you will check closely you will find that this kind of criticism comes from a group of people that are bent on and determined to remove God’s name from our currency, and prayer and the commandments from public buildings. We will not be worshipping our freedom. We will be worshipping and praising the one that has made our freedom possible. The source of worship comes from deep within the Christian heart; the act of worship expresses our feelings openly but the OBJECT of our worship is most important of all—Almighty God. To God be all the glory and praise for all our blessings, including liberty.

In chapter 9, Paul is discussing the rights of an apostle because some of the problems in the new church were caused by some who were questioning Paul’s apostleship. At first sight this chapter may seem disconnected from no. 8 which dealt with what Christians can do and what they should do—but it is not. Here is the point—some of the Corinthians who thought they were more mature argued that they could eat meat that had been sacrificed to the idols because they had the knowledge to know that there were no idols pertaining to the true God. Paul said they should not do this. Now he is an apostle and has a right to demand that the church take care of him financially, but he does not demand that they do so. He works and makes his own way, even though he is a disciple.

He makes two arguments on behalf of his apostleship. One is used by all the apostles. He saw the Lord with his own eyes. The Acts makes it clear that this is the supreme test regarding proof of apostleship…see Acts 1: 22 2:32 3:15 and 4: 33. Have you noticed that faith in the New Testament seldom acquiescence in a creed but it almost always names a person of trust. So it is here with Paul; he does not brag about what he believes—he says I know in whom I have believed. When Christ called the other disciples, he did not offer his thoughts, tell them his plan, give them a philosophy to examine—he simply said “follow me. All Christianity starts from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Do you two have a personal relationship?

Paul’s second argument is that he not only knows Christ but he [Paul] has been effective and successful in his work with and for Him. He reminds them that they [the Corinthian Church] are the living proof of his success. It is clear here that Paul brags about his making his own living and that he did not receive pay from anyone in this city with a heavy Greek population. He was a tent maker by trade and would not accept free room and board or pay from church members.

Paul did not accept money for his working for Christ. He regarded it as his privilege. He regarded his preaching as a duty. He did not choose preaching…God chose him as an apostle and that he could not charge for work God told him to do. He received no payment but he acknowledged that he received a great reward daily. Paul spoke of his method of ministry as of becoming all things to all men. He surely did not mean that he was hypocritically one thing to one person and then something else to a second person. But as we would say he was able to walk along beside any man and help him with his problems.

It is too bad that the Corinthian members were not arguing about a problem that had arisen between church and state in his day—may be he would have given us a clearly defined answer for our problem in America today. God bless America! And you!

What Should I Do? - 1 Corinthians 7:1 - 40

The seventh chapter of 1 Corinthians gives us an understanding about what Paul thought about the status of a Christian marriage. The content of this chapter is far more important than any commentary that I can write, so I beg you to please take the time right now to read carefully the entire chapter—read the chapter before you study any commentary pertaining there to.

Paul was a highly educated Jew and a well established Roman with all rights. He grew up, and lived and worked in some of the wealthiest, busiest, and most ungodly cities of the apostolic times. He more than likely was a married man during his prosperous antichristian days. She may have died, but I tend to believe that she divorced Paul at the time of and probably because of his conversion on the Road to Damascus. The bible frowns on divorce, but there is one thing for sure—[the life of Paul after his conversion, on the road constantly moving from one city to another, shipwrecked, snake bitten, stoned and left for dead]—he would have been a hard man for a wife to remain loyal to, and be happy with, even have trusted. When and where would he have found the time to drop in at home and be a good husband? One thing is for sure; Paul’s life taught him much about what a good marriage should be about.

So, you are a young family and some thing has just happened that has you stressed-out to the limit, and your question is; “What should I do? Ha, this is not unusual and it will happen again and again down through life. Juanita and I were married in 1944, at ages 20 and 21. We own our home in Heber Springs, have lived here for thirty five years and would like to remain here with our church family and friends until God calls us home to Glory.

Some recent serious illness has reminded us that neither of us is able to care for the other during trying times like this. Our girls want us to sell our home and move close to one of them so thy can be of more help. They love us, they want to help, and are not selfish in their desire. They even suggested that we move into an assisted living quarters, where personal and immediate help would be available on notice. This approaching milestone has caused us to reflect together on some important questions. Where have the years gone and how so soon? How are we to deal with and use the remaining years to the best advantage. Should we plan our future to insure that we continue doing what we want to do—or should we think about how we can affect other lives and do the greatest good for all?

We are older and have already lived most of our lives and the future problems that we face are much different from those that most young families face each day. I realize this and it is this difference that I wish to address at this time. Corinth was a booming trade center and the opportunity for promiscuity was wide open—and serious problems were frequent among the young families. Then came the days of Hollywood and all of the promiscuity that has blighted the lives of young people through the 1960’s until today when many people do not consider sexual purity as a necessity in the Christian life. When I take all of these matters into consideration, then it is very important for me to ask again—WHAT SHOULD I DO?

My first piece of advice to the younger that are to be married, or just married couples is quiet harsh and unbending. God created man and woman. God created the act of being married or united and caused it to make two people as one. When children are born, now there are always three or more people involved, and the destruction of the marriage is something like taking a life. What God has united, you—man has no right to tear apart.

The New Testament reflects the teachings of Christ as being the right ways set apart for Christ like people to follow. The do right rule was established by Christ and there is no doubt that The Lord considers each one of us as our brother’s keeper. We are even responsible for a wayward stranger who has fallen by the way and needs help. Those of us that turn our heads aside and walk by the broken and needy one will pay for our sin of neglect. If this be so, then think how much more harmful and important for one to turn aside from a wife or child simply to satisfy a personal desire.

Let us go back now and look at the overall lesson that we are trying to present in this presentation. Starting at the first thought of sexual desire that one may have for another, the scripture makes it very clear that the misuse of another person in order to satisfy a personal desire is a sin and anyone committing the sin will be punished. God created the solemn marriage vow as a way for two Christians to be united in marriage. Marriage was never intended to be a situation or condition provided to solve the desire of a man or woman for sex. God created the act as a gift of pleasure to his people who were ordered to populate the earth making it possible for God to have many children on this earth to praise and worship Him. The culmination of true sex comes when many Christians are populated and their place on earth is to do unto their neighbors [friends, family, children, spouses, etc.] as they would like to be treated.

Getting personal, I go back to the selling of our home for the last fifteen years, and moving away from our friends of thirty-five years. Juanita and I do not wish to do this at this time and if we remain very selfish, we probably will not make the move. The truth is that it would make things easier for our immediate families, and their feelings are also important, therefore it is something that we must seriously consider. We are not our own—we were bought with a price—and we are obliged to honor that precious one that paid the blood sacrifice for each one of us.

As children growing up, we must honor our mother and father and trust in our Savior. As young adults considering marriage, we must do so realizing that it is a God created, God given position of partnership between man and woman providing for the enjoyment of sexual relationships for the purpose of inhabiting this earth for Christ. We have no right to alter or destroy the marriage relationship, and will be punished if we do so in defiance of God’s teachings. If you are among the crowd in today’s world that seem to believe you can treat marriage as dirty clothing and put it on or pull it off at your own desire, the bible teaches that you will be one of the ones that pay a heavy penalty.

The lesson title asks the question—“What can I do?” I tell you to start early, learn God’s will and plan for your life and follow His teachings. Marry the right person at the right time for all the right reasons and live as if the word divorce had never been spelled much less practiced.

1 Corinthians 5 -6

My life got its start in the last house that was one half mile off of the mail route loop that ran from the Paul Ean’s store on high way 11, north to the White Oak school house. There was just a wagon trail the last half mile, with no drainage ditches, and woods’ trail was never graded…even until this day. There were no other homes north or east of the William Turner Vandiver place. All of our neighbors lived south toward Des Arc and west toward Griffithville, and I doubt that there were as many as fifty families in this twenty square mile area.

My family and I did not know anything about illicit drugs, not even marijuana and so my parents had fewer things to worry and warn me about. Times have changed and parents today have much more to concern them. The sins of my day were probably led by the most important one immorality. It involved every teenage boy and girl from their first date on the rest of their lives. The rest of the list of common sins were ‘cussing’ or using the Lord’s name in vain, lying, stealing, and smoking Bull Durham; then there are several more including suing your neighbor. Our lesson today suggests that we find different reasons why we should practice Christian Morality.

The most common immoral practice is no doubt promiscuity. God made man and woman to be his helpmate and God gave them the desires that are natural cravings that if left uncontrolled will lead to complete disaster in the life of a person, or home including children. There has never been a pregnancy out of wedlock that did not wreck havoc in the lives of the parents [mother especially] and the child who actually had nothing to do with the mistake that was originally made. After serving in the public school system for forty two years, in seven different school districts and a total of thousands of homes and many thousands of children, I can attest that the problems caused by sexual immorality grew each year I worked in education. Problem number one is that as time went by, the general public grew to accept illicit practices causing the problem to increase.

Today in good schools like the one here in Heber Springs it is not uncommon for 60% of the students in a given class to be from broken homes. In the larger cities the percentage is higher and conditions much worse, to the point that some of the children do not even know their parents. So, let me just say up front that the main reason for the practice of Christian morality is protect innocent children from homes absent of parental love.

Juanita and I married in 1944, and back at that time one of the main reasons for abstinence was to maintain a good character and not be known as a promiscuous person. For the same reason, honest Christian like people did not steal, rob, and lie. It was important that we maintain a flawless reputation and we be known as people of good character. It should be that way today—and I suppose it is in most cases; however there seems to be less feeling for the need of a good character.

I have already drawn the picture of our vastly rural area in Prairie County and tried to make the point that most people knew everybody within miles of their home. If there was an immoral act committed that became public knowledge, the girl suffered most…and usually the entire family was adversely troubled. In larger cities the problems were more adverse, open, and more frequent.

This lesson is dealing with the time when Paul was trying to minister to the city of Corinth. Corinth was a metro area, the hub of transportation, the center of trade and travel, and occupied by numerous groups with different backgrounds, especially non-religious influences. Some, a few, of each different nationality, with varied religious thought and lack of Christian training made up the congregations of the new churches being formed.

Of such was the population of the new church at Corinth. It had been planted by Paul and was now under leadership of his followers. The short period of Paul’s teaching influence had begun to fade away as new members of the church began to try to do their own thing and this was the reason they were having problems in Corinth. There were divisions of all kinds cropping up in the church and one of the most devastating was the promiscuous practice of sex even in some phases of church worship. Bible history relates that even by first-century standards, Corinth was infamous for its sexual permissiveness. Available in Corinth was the Corinthian temple of Aphrodite [a pagan love goddess, featuring sexual rituals with ‘so called sacred priestesses’ available at the “worship” services. The soldiers, sailors, and travelers looking for a good time knew where to go, and this made it hard for a new Christ Like church to grow without doing some of the same things.
What is the Christian teaching about sexual morality? I think most of you know! I can not make it any plainer than this statement does. “God’s intention is for the sexual relationship to be enjoyed only by a married husband and wife.” This simply eliminates premarital marriage, adultery, and all kinds of illicit sexual activity including homosexuality and sex with animals.

Allow me to change the thought to a question at this time. Think back over the last few years at the great number of highly elected officials; governors, senators, representatives, and a president; and also several leaders of mega-churches and denominations that have made headline news about their promiscuous sexual ways. [I do not want to call names to hurt people] I simply want you to realize the number of United States citizens that have been hurt, betrayed, caused suffering and pain because of the sinful acts of people who held offices of trust. Is one of our worst problems in America today the fact that “People do not trust their leaders?”

Here is my number one reason for practicing Christian Morality. If we could manage somehow to elect only those who are morally competent officials during the next few years we could regain our old and true Christian nation. So, yes it is my business when officials commit immoral acts; it lets me know that they are not competent, can not be trusted, and should not be holding office for the people.

The change in time from 1924, my birth day until today 2010, has resulted in many people drifting away from the teachings of the word of God. But those teachings are the same yesterday, today and will forever be. No foreign power could ever destroy a God loving, God fearing America. So, as predicted by the Russians only a few years ago—America is destroying itself from within by those who are denying the God of creation his rightful place in our history books, and within the walls of our congress, and on the bench of our national courts.

All we need to turn the troubling tide away from our shores is about 500 good people in the White House, in Congress and on our courts. The word good is simply defined as men and women who believe in and practice CHRISTIAN MORALITY. We just need a few good men! Will you help me pray that this may happen even in our lifetime? Thank you.

Four Ways to Promote Church Unity - 1 Corinthians 1:10,21-31; 3:9-10,16-17

All of the Apostles were outstanding men; each was unique in his own way but Paul must be the most unforgettable and most appreciated of all the disciples. He was not one of the original dozen Apostles called by Christ who usually said simply “follow” me, and I will make you fishermen of men. He was the one that was struck by lightening [or the Holly Spirit] while on his the highway as he traveled to Damascus in search of Christians which he considered as criminal law breakers. If you will think about his experience on the day of his call, you may decide that this call was the loudest and most demanding call ever received by any man. Paul surrendered immediately and went on to become the leader in establishing new churches. He dedicated the rest of his life on earth to being a church planter.

Not only did he become the most prominent church planter of all time, but he became the most prolific writer of the New Testament. He would establish a new church and move on. Then he would write letters to the churches he had established in order to answer their questions, or give directions in regard to their church government and operations. These letters are rich and interesting, just like this one to the church at Corinth.

You may not have thought about the problems that have arisen because much of the New Testament writings are in the form of “letters” written to a church or to individuals. And there is a reason for the difficulties that have cropped up. You see…a letter is one half of a conversation between two people. A church or a person would write to Paul and ask for his advice regarding some difficulty that they had confronted. Then Paul would write and answer their question or address their problem. WE DO NOT HAVE A COPY OF THE LETTEER HE IS ANSWERING. WE HAVE TO ASSUME WHAT THE PROLEM WAS AND HOW WELL HE ANSWERED THEIR INQUIRY. I realize that Paul’s writings were called epistles, but they appear to me to be more like personal letters.

We also know that Paul did not personally write most of these letters—but he dictated the letters to another person who did the writing. In Romans 16: 22, Tertius was the writer and slipped his own greeting into the letter. In this letter to 1 Corinthians, Paul says it bears his signature [my autograph] so you will know that it comes from me.

As we start our study of the church at Corinth it is important that you know something about the city. Space limits us, but you should know that it was a wicked city with a reputation for commercial prosperity. It was a city with rapid growth at the time and with the combination of rapid growth, prosperity and sin, it made it a difficult city to win for Christ. Paul had not been gone long before he started receiving calls for help from those who were having trouble holding the church together.

Paul makes it very clear in this book that the problem was disunity in the church. He had not been gone long before some began to argue that they should follow Paul…some said Apollos and some Christ. He hammered them hard saying that I did not baptize you…you were baptized into Christ. He makes it plain that he established the CHURCH OF GOD at Corinth—and not the CHURCH OF CORINTH. Paul made it clear that a church divided could not stand.

Wherever Paul went he laid the same foundation. It was that Salvation comes through Christ alone, and there is no other way. Through Christ, man finds forgiveness for past sins and in a new relationship with his Lord. It was that man finds strength for the present and the future: and comes to realize that he can not be sustained by any other power than that of God. Man also will find his hope in Christ for the future including life forever in heaven. You will never be asked a more important question than this: How strong is your hope? Can you see yourself sitting at the right hand of God…in heaven some day soon…at the end of this brief life?

We as Christians are now serving as God’s temple who prepared ourselves to receive the Holly Spirit and give him a place of abode in our hearts daily. But if we choose to introduce dissension and divisions into the fellowship of Christ’s church we are actually destroying the temple of God.

The Spirit can not operate in a divided church! The different divisions will simply become a series of disconnected ruins, and the church as a whole will soon fall. By nature it can not stop criticizing and grow. It will always be disputatious. A divided people cannot remain silent and admire the good that is present…but must talk and criticize and tear down.

The intellectual pride of a split group is usually exclusive and they tend to look down on their opponents, rather than to sit down beside them and worship. The most of us older Christians have gone through a split in a church, and we know how devastating it can be to all concerned. When a split occurs, one of the sides will beseech the other by the Blood of Christ to sit down and realize that it is possible that they just might be mistaken. But I am telling you that this is exactly what intellectual pride cannot think! It can not believe that I am wrong. Men are more likely to be cut off from each other than they are to be reunited. Paul had a problem on his hands. Today’s churches like this have a big problem on their hands.

Paul urged the man who thought he was wise…to be a fool. This is a hard way for me to say that it is important for one who thinks he is wise to realize that he could be wrong and that it is he that needs to learn. Plato once said that no one could teach a man that thinks he already knows everything. I have tried to teach students in school who thought they already knew everything. It is impossible because they will not stop their own thoughts long enough to listen to you get started. There is an old proverb that will do to close this thought. “He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not is a fool: avoid him. He who knows not, and knows that he knows not is a wise man; teach him.” Did you know that the only way you can become wise is to realize that there are some things you do not know. The only way to knowledge is to confess ignorance.

Friends, this I know. My formal public education has taught me how to learn—but formal education has a drawback. It teaches how to learn things you do not need to know even more quickly than it teaches positive things. My bible has taught me the things that I need to know—how to live and let others live by me without imposing myself on them. My bible has taught me how to live in a world or even a Baptist Church when I do not completely agree with others I deal with.

Paul confronted divisions in Christ’s church at Corinth. He tried to solve the problems by teaching them that the church is made up of Christian bodies that serve as the temple of the Holly Spirit: and that if the church tries to worship any thing or anyone else [even Paul or Apollos] they are cultivating a division that will not easily heal.

Three Ideas for Encouraging Church Leaders - 1 Corinthians 4:1-5,9-20

Good church leaders including pastors, music directors, deacons, teachers and the janitor all have traits and dispositions that are much in tune with a good coon hound or squirrel dog. If you have ever hunted squirrels using a dog to locate the game and keep it in sight you know that you must encourage the dog, lead him on, and tell him to go get-em; or sick-em every few minutes. If you can whistle, there are several sounds that encourage a dog to hunt faster and father. The one thing that you can not do is yell any kind of discouragement toward a dog that is already not doing what they should do. If you make that mistake, the old dog just quits all-together. You had better not try it on your pastor unless you want the same results.

The emphasis of this week’s lesson is on the question of how Christian people can help their church leaders to be more effective in the Lord’s work. The point has already been made that you do not encourage greater leadership by constantly criticizing the work now being done. Paul was already being bothered by factions in the different churches that looked on the leaders as factional leaders rather than workers for the Lord’s church. He emphasized the fact that all of the workers were about the same job—interested in the same outcome, whether it was Paul, Timothy, Peter, or Apollos.

Paul wanted the members to look upon them as leaders, workers and above all servants in the church. One of the best ways for you to reduce any criticism you have of a church worker is to just remember that they are servants of Christ. They are His ‘slaves’ and expected to work but not to be perfect.

Any time a church body starts dividing into different worship groups, each with a different ax to grind, there is sure to be problems occurring very soon. For this reason I have always contended that it is important for a church to know and follow the same standard of rules making church policy. There should be a standard constitution and set of by-laws. Sunday school should be based on the same set of biblical materials from the children’s department through adult classes. A strong church demands unity from the preacher to the janitor with every department working to promote Christ and his teaching. If you are fortunate enough to have a church like this, then it is your place as a member to support it always with a positive attitude.

We have already warned that you can not be openly critical of your leaders without causing problems that will result in a weak witness. You can always find good things that are going on and great things that your leaders are doing to talk about and you should use every opportunity to let good workers know that they are really appreciated.

Talk to others in your church about what you like about it and point out the things that make it a great church. Do not criticize its leadership, but join them and help them overcome any weakness that you may know about.

A good work can always use additional helpers…make yourself available and if you are not chosen to help, then just step in and volunteer. By the way, do not try to start at the top…you probably will cause a bigger problem than is already there if you try to start as the pastor of the church.

There are never all the funds that a good church needs. Therefore one great way to support your leaders is to help with funding where it is needed. By the way have you every handed one of your church workers fifty or a hundred dollars just as a love gift as a way of saying that you appreciate them and approve of what they are doing in the work of your church? I will make you feel good. And it just might be a way of saying thank you in a vocabulary that is seldom misunderstood.

These are specific biblical steps you can make to encourage your church leaders. Brag on them. Give them a gift. Pray for them. Tell others about their work. Attend and support their work. Encourage. Never discourage. Learn to follow.