A Weekly World Wide Word of Encouragement to those in the Ministry
PRAISE GOD IT’S MONDAY!
A WEEKLY ‘WWW (world-wide word) OF ENCOURAGEMENT’
TO THOSE IN MINISTRY
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Issue No: 564 Published: 06 Aug 2012
THINKING GREEK OR HEBREW? continues
We are looking at the differences between the Jewish (Eastern) and Greek (Western) ways of thinking, so that we can better understand the ways and teachings of Jesus. (See the last 28 weeks issues of PGIM!)HOW MANY "YOU'S" IN YOU?
Greek (Western) In Western thought, we separate body and soul, assigning different values and behaviors to each.
The body, essentially, is corrupted by earthly desires and sicknesses. We believe it is unimportant, being left behind when we die - maybe the sooner the better! The 'real us', on the other hand, our mind and our emotions, is what is of real importance and what will go to heaven once life here is finished. Hence we place great store upon what we know about God, studying at Seminaries and Bible Colleges, and about how we feel, how happy we are.
Interestingly, by downplaying the importance of the body, we can very easily justify sin as being unimportant and inconsequential. For only the physical you sins, the 'real' you doesn't!
We quote.....
12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
..... without understanding that the writer is actually referring to the whole person throughout this passage.
To summarise, knowledge about God and experiencing feelings of happiness, are the priorities of our Christian walk.
Eastern (Hebrew) In Hebrew (and other Eastern) thought, body, soul and spirit are integrated as one, the state of which is reflected through a person's actions.
As God is holy, so man is to be holy also.....
3 It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5)
Man is created in God's image.....
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)
..... to be holy and righteous, as God is, and as Paul endeavored to be amongst the people.....
10 You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. (1 Thessalonians 2:10)
James was 'hot' on this subject, a theme which permeates his Epistle.....
14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,†but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (James 2:14-17)
Upon accepting Jesus, we are to seek to become like Him and do what He would do in the here and now. We need to give ourselves to Him completely, body soul and spirit. We need to seek Him as to how to love our neighbour, how to treat our family, how to live our life. For God's cares about every part of our life from the spiritual revelation to the mundaneness of much of everyday life.
As King David said in the well known Psalm.....
4 Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; 5 guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. (Psalm 25:4-5)
Amen.
SOME SPIRITUAL IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY
1. Following Jesus requires all of us, body, soul and spirit.
2. We are to be Jesus to others. How we act determines our true depth of faith.
3. The church needs to overturn its preoccupation with theology and start living like Jesus.
(To be continued next week.)
Acknowledgements: http://www.followtherabbi.com and http://hethathasanear.com and http://www.wildbranch.org
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FROM THE WORD
A Sabbath-Rest for the People of God"Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, “So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’†And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world. For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “And on the seventh day God rested from all his work.†And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.†It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.†For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account." (Hebrews 4:1-13)
Living to Please God
"Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit. Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more. Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody." (1 Thessalonians 4:1-12)
Faith and Deeds
"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,†but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.â€
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,†and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead." (James 2:14-26)
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DAVID'S DOODLINGS
FAITH AND WORKS691. Man is made to work – but not all the time!
692. Show me faith. Show me works. And I will show you a faith that works.
693. Building faith takes time but good works are always ready and waiting.
694. How much faith does it take to do good works?
695. People come, people go, but needs go on forever.
696. Works reflect the light of Christ in us to a dark world.
697. Faith reflects our place in God, works reflect God’s place in us.
698. Faith is internal, works external.
699. Works are the reflection of our faith to a disbelieving world.
700. Works are the single most convincing expression of our faith.
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TUESDAY TEACHINGS
THIS WEEK: BEYOND THE VEIL – 1 continuesREVELATION FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT PRINCIPLES OF ATONEMENT
B. ATONEMENT PRINCIPLES ‘POSITIONALLY’ FULFILLED BY JESUS
(To be Experientially fulfilled, that is Embraced, by the Church)
Continuing our study with the next 3 exciting, but challenging, truths we are to embrace as the church before Jesus returns.
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LAUGHING AT OURSELVES
***Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves for they shall never cease to be amused****** "Those who can't laugh at themselves leave the job to others." ***
524. CHURCH HOSPITAL
I was going to Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne to visit our pastor who had recently broken his arm. The hospital has a large cross above the entrance. Little Jennifer asked, "Why is there a cross there?" When I couldn't come up with an answer, Jennifer (who knew her pastor was there) said, "Probably it's because the hospital is for church people!"
523. REALITY
A Sunday school teacher was telling her class the story of the Good Samaritan, in which a man was beaten, robbed and left for dead.
She described the situation in vivid detail so her students would catch the drama. Then she asked the class, "If you saw a person lying on the roadside all wounded and bleeding, what would you do?"
A thoughtful little girl broke the hushed silence. "I think I'd throw up."
522. A DOG NAMED MACE
A mechanic who worked out of his home had a dog named Mace. Mace had a bad habit of eating all the grass on the mechanic's lawn, so the mechanic had to keep Mace inside.
The grass eventually became overgrown.
One day the mechanic was working on a car in the backyard and dropped his wrench, losing it in the tall grass. He couldn't find it for the life of him, so he decided to call it a day.
That night, Mace escaped from the house and ate all the grass in the backyard.
The next morning the mechanic went outside and saw his wrench glinting in the sunlight. Realizing what had happened he looked toward the heavens and proclaimed, "A grazing Mace, how sweet the hound, that saved a wrench for me!"
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FACTS FOR FUN
LAST WEEKS QUESTION: Is a raven and a crow the same bird?ANSWER: A raven is a type of large crow, with a distinctive croaking call. Therefore all ravens are crows, but not all crows are ravens. (Ravens crow about this!)
THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: How old are ‘prefab’ (prefabricated) houses?
Answer Next Week.
SOME FUN FACTS991. A COOL SUMMER HOLIDAY
"The Ice Hotel" in Swedish Lapland is a large Igloo, including a restaurant, a cinema and wedding chapel. (Cool the ardour?)
992. WHAT'S IN A NAME
In the Disney movie "Fantasia," the Sorcerer's name “Yensid†is "Disney" spelled backwards. (Still highly elbatiforp)
993. MONEY FOR MONET
The famous Impressionist painter Claude Monet won 100,000 francs in the state lottery. The money made him financially independent. (A rare species – a rich, living artist!)
A WORD PUZZLE FOR YOU
Make another word from this word using all the letters.
NEOLITH
Answer at the end of A David Musing
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66 BOOKS... 66 QUESTIONS
11: 1 Kings: Where did the people anoint David king over Israel?a. Shiloh
b. Hebron
c. Jerusalem
d. Jericho
Source: http://biblequizzes.org.uk
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IF ONLY I'D THOUGHT OF IT!
"""OTHER'S SAYINGS TO ENLIGHTEN, AMUSE, OR BEMUSE"""SAYINGS FOR YOU TO PONDER
!!!!!!! A mistake is proof that somebody tried anyhow.
!!!!!! The most dangerous thing in the world is to try to leap a chasm in two jumps.
!!!!! A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while he knows something.
!!!! When you became a Christian, God didn't call you to a playground, but a battleground!
!!! Sin will keep you from the Bible ~ but the Bible will keep you from sin.
!! Co-operate! Remember the banana ~ every time it leaves the bunch it gets skinned.
! Success comes in cans: Failure comes in can'ts.
100'S MORE TO BE FOUND AT...
TILL DEATH DO US PART!
52. A WIFE'S POINT OF VIEWTwo women were discussing reincarnation.
One asked the other if her husband believed in it.
The second woman said, "Does my husband believe in life after death? My husband doesn't even believe in life after dinner!"
53. PARKING
If your wife parks the car, don't sit there and insist she do it properly. Walking the rest of the way to the curb is good exercise.
54. MEN AND WOMEN
A man is a person who, if a woman says, "Never mind, I'll do it myself;" lets her.
A woman is a person who, if she says to a man, "Never mind, I'll do it myself," and he lets her; gets mad.
A man is a person who, if a woman says to him, "Never mind, I'll do it myself," and he lets her and she gets mad; says, "Now what are you mad about?"
A woman is a person who, if she says to a man, "Never mind, I'll do it myself," and he lets her and she gets mad, and he says, "Now what are mad about?" says, "If you don't know I'm not going to tell you!"
55. SECOND ANNIVERSARY
It was our second anniversary, and my husband sent me flowers at the office.
He told the florist to write "Happy Anniversary, Year Number 2" on the card.
I was thrilled with the flowers, but not so pleased about the card.
It read "Happy Anniversary. You're Number 2."
56. WHO'S DRIVING
A man is driving with his wife at his side and his mother-in-law in the back seat. And the women just won't leave the poor guy alone.
His mother-in-law says, "You're driving too fast!"
His wife says, "Stay to the left!"
After several more orders from both of them the man breaks down and barks at his wife, "Who's driving this car - you or your mother!
Many more at.....
BIBLE TRIVIA (The Bible Lands)
MOST RIVERS IN BIBLE LANDS.......... dry up in Summer, but not the Nile. Heavy rains and melting snow feed the tributaries that form the Nile River. The torrent of water reaches Egypt in late Summer, overflowing the banks and depositing a fresh layer of fertile moist soil alongside.
Adapted from: '1001 Surprising Things You Should Know About The Bible' MacGregor & Prys
Auckland bar turns church to host 'prayers and beers'
3 Aug 2012Christian Today Australia
Most Christians are familiar with the biblical story of Jesus turning water into wine, but now two New Zealand pastors are seeking to turn a pub into a church complete with beer-drinking during the gatherings.
Pastors Calvin Culverwell and Vic Francis will officially turn Albany Sports Bar in Auckland, New Zealand into a house of worship on Sunday.
After the initiative was in the works for a year, the Albany Sports Bar will officially serve as a church on the first Sunday of each month beginning on Aug. 5.
While some people may raise their eyebrows at the Protestant Albany Shore Vineyard Church's notion, Culverwell said the bar could serve as a more comfortable place of worship for some than traditional churches could.
''So when the doors actually opened that we could come and be in this place, I jumped on it. A bar isn't a foreign environment, it's not a hurdle," the pastor said in an Auckland Now report.
''I think for some people to step across the threshold into a church building where there's lights and loud music, it's actually a deep breath and a jump. But to come into something that most New Zealanders come into once a week, it's just not that hard.''
While the sports bar service will not contain any sermons or singing, Francis said it will serve as both a place of prayer and a place to grab a beer.
''We might be having a beer and praying for somebody who has a need and we don't see an issue with that," Francis said in the Auckland Now report.
"There are lots of people out there who believe in God but don't necessarily have a church. It's quite a daunting thing I think to go to a Sunday morning church."
Culverwell spoke about the bar being a place of worship specifically for people in their 20s and 30s, while allowing anybody over 18 into its doors for the monthly service.
The 24-year-old will pastor the services that he said will reflect the values of Jesus and the lifestyle of the locals around the bar.
''We like to sit down, we like to eat together, we like to have great conversations. That's a human thing but it's a Kiwi thing as well,'' Culverwell said.
''When I look through the Bible I see Jesus is someone who valued those things as well. So to me it seems it almost goes hand-in-hand.''
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WAXING LYRICAL
Yes, today's choices affect our eternal destiny. This poem just came to me as I was writing the PGIM newsletter. Aimed at me - aimed at you!CHOICE
Come into my parlour said the spider to the fly,
Delicious treats are in here for you to try!
Should I go in, or should I stay out?
Want to find out, what it's all about!
So into the parlour I go,
Looks delicious, I know,
The web is so sparkling white,
On it, I alight with delight.
Now I go to lift my front leg,
Stuck - locked as with a peg!
I struggle my leg to release,
By now, having lost my peace.
Shouldn't have come in!
Knew it twas a sin!
Now can't get away!
Am here to stay!
My energy does all go,
I'm in my dying throe!
Be you all warned,
About sin scorned!
Or you'll end up here just like me,
Death in a web, don't you see!
But Jesus came, His forgiveness to give,
By repentance, through Him, we can live.
So when you are caught in the enticing web of life,
Call out to Him, to extract you from your strife.
Then away from that larder undertake to stay,
And He will remain with you all of the day,
Instead of the web, in His kingdom do play,
When temptation comes, to Him let us pray.
The web of life, is very nice,
Seems full of fun and spice,
But it will get you and me in the end,
Eternity in hell we will spend,
Unless we turn and walk the other way,
Then with Jesus we may forever stay.
Life all is about choice,
How to use our voice?
In praising Him,
Or seeped in sin?
Yes, about this life we do muse,
But what, will you and I, choose?
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A DAVID MUSING
LIFE IS FUNLife is fun.
On the run.
Plenty to do.
How about you?
Time dragging?
Morale sagging?
Go help some others.
Orphans and mothers.
Takes mind off yourself,
You're not on the shelf.
It's something you can do,
Yes, a word, so very true.
Serving others, it gives you a lift,
Depression off you, it does shift.
You get to help someone in need,
While bringing you up to speed!
A win, win action for all,
It keeps you on the ball.
While those who so need the hand,
Will smile, all around the land.
Jesus came to show us the way,
A servant to all, was His play.
If we care to follow His chosen path,
Will brighten the day, make us laugh.
When you are down, but want to be up,
Remember Jesus, drink from His cup.
For His ways are greater than ours,
Serving others will fill the hours.
Jesus to others we will become,
Widows, orphans and solo mum.
God's kingdom will be built here on earth,
And you will have assisted in its birth.
"Your kingdom come, Your will be done"'
Is not to be religious, it can be fun.
You too can shine as a light so bright,
Reflecting Jesus' love, day and night.
JUST DO IT!
Until next week.......
MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND YOU BLESS GOD.
His servant and yours
David Tait
Today's 'Word Puzzle' Answer: HOTLINE
TODAY'S 'BIBLE QUESTION' ANSWER: b. Hebron (1 Kings 11:1-3)
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ABOUT US
WALKING WITH JESUS MINISTRIES is a non-profit, non-denominational, Bible based ministry located in Hastings, New Zealand. A ministry dedicated to developing discipleship, fostering unity amongst God’s people to achieve the Great Commission, and in doing so, preparing for Christ’s return. It is securely based upon the foundational principles of the Apostles Creed while recognising the wide and rich diversity of beliefs amongst Christians in other areas. In accordance with the Lord’s direction, materials produced by the ministry are available, free of charge, to genuine enquirers upon request. The ministry is solely funded by donations, as the Lord provides. A list of materials available (plus some fun!) is obtainable and freely downloadable from our websitewwj.org.nz or by contacting us as follows.
Walking With Jesus Ministries
7 Bull Street
Ahuriri
Napier
New Zealand
Phone: (06) 835 0567 International (+64) 6 835 0567
Email: enquiries@wwj.org.nz
Web: wwj.org.nz
Our role is to bless and encourage those in ministry while promoting co-operation and unity of direction amongst the body of Christ, as emphasised 3 times by Jesus in His longest prayer, immediately prior to His arrest and crucifixion. "… so that they may be one as we are one." (John 17:12, 21, 23-4) Our website is currently being developed to encourage your participation one with another, to share resources, and to enable you to promote events and items of interest to the body as a whole – and have a smile while doing it!
For comments upon and contributions to this service, please contact
david@wwj.org.nz