HUMILITY, NOT HUMILIATION

Today's promise: God blesses humble people

Humility, not humiliation

"You rescue those who are humble, but you humiliate the proud."

Psalm 18:27 NLT

The high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, the Holy One, says this: "I live in that high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I refresh the humble and give new courage to those with repentant hearts."

Isaiah 57:15 NLT

About this week's promise

"May God's grace give you the necessary humility. Try not to think — much less, speak — of their sins. One's own are a much more profitable theme! And if on consideration, one can find no faults on one's own side, then cry for mercy: for this must be a most dangerous delusion."

C.S. Lewis

Humility is not effacing oneself. It is not destroying one's sense of self-worth. It is honest recognition of our own worth, our worth as God sees us. 

Pride elevated us above others, and often above God himself. But to destroy one's sense of self-worth is also unacceptable, for it denies the value God placed upon us when he created us in his image and when he sent his Son to die for us. 

Christ did not die for worms but for people he loves very much, and those people have great worth or value in God's eyes. 

To see ourselves as God sees us — that is our goal.

From the TouchPoint Bible with commentaries by Ron Beers and Gilbert Beers (Tyndale) p 1217

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

ANSWERING ATHEISTS

MOVIE SUGGESTION: War Room

For more great blogs as this one go to Daniel’s blog site at:

www.Mannsword.blogspot.com

Answering Atheists

Did you know that the atheists have their own bibles containing hundreds of alleged biblical contradictions? These “bibles” also point to an assortment of Old Testament moral teachings that they find highly distasteful and want to shame and silence you with them. Therefore, they will throw this overwhelming collection at you, knowing that you cannot even begin to answer them.

Of course, you will not be able to answer them all. Instead, you will be on the defensive. However, I try to keep an assortment of answers in my arsenal, if not for them, then for me and for other Christians who might feel threatened by this torrent.

Here is one of their favorites. These verses give Israelites the right to marry captive women from the nations they have defeated:

∑       When you go to war against your enemies and the LORD your God delivers them into your hands and you take captives, if you notice among the captives a beautiful woman and are attracted to her, you may take her as your wife. Bring her into your home and have her shave her head, trim her nails and put aside the clothes she was wearing when captured. After she has lived in your house and mourned her father and mother for a full month, then you may go to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife.  If you are not pleased with her, let her go wherever she wishes. You must not sell her or treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her. (Deuteronomy 21:10-14)

Initially, you will find this teaching disturbing. We can simply answer it by claiming that we are no longer under the Old but the New Covenant. While this is certainly true, these verses are still the Word of God, and we should be able to defend them as reflecting God’s wisdom, at least for that particular time in history.

OLD TESTAMENT TEACHINGS WERE DIVINELY TAILORED FOR A PARTICULAR PEOPLE AND SITUATION. When asked about divorce, Jesus answered that God only gave permission to divorce because of the hardness of the hearts of the Israelites (Matthew 19:1-8). This principle of accommodation can be applied to many other OT teachings like polygamy. In other words, God gave moral/legal instructions to control sinful practices, not to promote them.

SOLDIERS WOULD OFTEN RAPE, KILL, AND SELL THEIR FEMALE CHATTEL. However, this wasn’t allowed in Israel. Instead of raping and selling their captive women, the Israelites were instructed that their only option was to marry these women. After their families had been killed in battle, this might have represented the best possible option for them. Perhaps a woman left in such a vulnerable situation could expect nothing better.

ISRAELITE SOLDIERS HAD TO RESPECT THESE CAPTIVE WOMEN. She had to be allowed to mourn for a month before the marriage could be consummated, even though the mourning was for the enemy of Israel. She wasn’t a mere sexual object to be used and abused.

THE SOLDIERS COULD NOT SELL THOSE THEY HAD MARRIED. Even if the soldier had tired of his wife, he could not pass her on to others or sell her as a slave or a sex slave. Instead, she was given complete freedom. Why, because the husband had treated her wrongly. He had “dishonored” her! Elsewhere, we learn that anyone had the option of becoming an Israelite to enjoy the complete rights of an Israaelite. What other nation had extended such protections to captive women!

We have nothing to be ashamed of regarding the teachings of the OT. In wisdom, our God had given them to a previously pagan people, still inculcated with the same tendencies. Although these teachings might not have matched God’s heavenly ideal, they were just what such a people at that time required, as even the NT asserts:

∑       So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. (Romans 7:12)

Do not be surprised that such an exposition will not satisfy your atheist associates. They too have their own belief system and faith to which they are entirely committed.

Daniel Mann

BLOG - http://www.mannsword.blogspot.com

New York School of the Bible: http://www.nysb.nyc/

PLAYING WITH FIRE

PLAYING WITH FIRE

READ: John 15:10-20

Whoever has my commands 

and keeps them is the one who 

loves me….And I too will love

them and show myself to them.

John 14:21

When I was a young boy, my mom warned me that I should never play with fire.  Yet one day I decide to see what would happen if I did.  Taking a book of matches and some paper, I went out into the backyard to experiment.  With heart beating fast, I knelt on the ground, struck the match, and set the paper aflame.

Suddenly I saw my mother approaching.  Not wanting to get caught, I put my legs over the flames to hide what I was doing  But Mom shouted, “Denny, move your legs!  There’s a fire underneath them!”  Fortunately, I moved my legs quickly enough and was not burned.  I realized then that my mother’s rule about not playing with fire was not to spoil my fun but because of her concern to keep me safe.

Sometimes we don’t understand the reasons behind God’s commands.  We may even think He is a cosmic killjoy, setting up rules and regulations to keep us from enjoying ourselves.  But God asks us to obey Him because He has our best interests at heart.  As we obey, we “remain in His love” and are filled with joy (John 15:10-11).

So when God warns us not to sin, He does it for our own good.  He really wants to protect us from “playing with fire” and getting burned.  DENNIS FISHER

Dear heavenly Father, may Your Holy Spirit empower us to obey Your Word.  We thank You for the protection Your precepts provide and the love and joy we find in obeying You.

God gives us loving warnings in His word to protect us.

INSIGHT

Jesus used the words servants and friends to show the level of intimacy and the great privileges and responsibilities believers have with Him (v.15).  A true friend is “one in spirit” with you (see 1 Samuel 18:1) and would sacrifice his life for you (John 15:13).  A friend of Jesus does whatever He commands (v.14), but “a friend of the world” is an enemy of God (James 4:4).  SIM KAY TEE

Have a blessed day.

God Our Creator’s Love Always.

Unity and Peace

A REFORMER'S REFUGE

Today's promise: God is a refuge for the oppressed

A reformer's refuge

"A mighty fortress is our God.

A bulwark never failing. 

Our helper He amid the flood

Of mortal ills prevailing. 

For still our ancient foe 

Doth seek to work us woe — 

His craft and pow'r are great, 

And, armed with cruel hate,

On earth is not His equal."

A Mighty Fortress is Our God

Martin Luther (1483-1546)

God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear, even if earthquakes come and mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!

Psalm 46:1-3 NLT

The great reformer

After posting his ninety-five theses on the door of Wittenberg's Castle Church in October 1517, Martin Luther faced many years of trials and persecution. And during the years of the ensuing Protestant Reformation, Luther came to know better than most the gracious power of God's sheltering hand. He confidently stepped forward to defend the truth he found in God's Word, despite excommunication from the Roman church, continual threats to his life and freedom, and times of intense spiritual battle.

In the comforting words of Psalm 46, Luther found the inspiration for this hymn that would become the battle cry of the Protestant Reformation. Many who suffered for their faith during that time found solid comfort in Luther's words of faith and praise. "A might fortress is our God!& quote;

From The One Year® Book of Hymns by Mark Norton and Robert Brown (Tyndale) entry for October 31

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

WE CAN KNOW

WE CAN KNOW
READ:  1 John 5:10-15

I write these things to you…
that you may know that you 
have eternal life.  1 John 5:13

As I sat on a train headed for an important appointment, I began to wonder if I was on the right train.  I had never traveled that route before and had failed to ask for hep.  Finally, overcome by uncertainty and doubt, I exited at the next station-only to be told I had indeed ben on the right train!

That incident reminded me how doubt can rob us of peace and confidence.  At one time I had struggled with the assurance of my salvation, but God helped me deal with my doubt.  Later, after sharing the story of my conversion and my assurance that I was going to heaven, someone asked, “How can you be sure you are saved and going to heaven?”  I confidently but humbly pointed to the verse that God had used to help me:  “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).

God promises that through faith in His Son, Jesus, we already have eternal life:  “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son” (v.11).  This assurance sharpens our faith, lifts us up when we are downhearted, and gives us courage in times of doubt.  LAWRENCE DARMANI

Dear Lord, during my times of doubt help me remember the promise of Your Word.  Since I have invited Jesus into my life and place my faith in His payment for my sins, You have promised me eternal life with You.
Recalling God’s promises destroys doubt.

INSIGHT
The Bible Knowledge Commentary says of John’s first epistle:  “The letter contains no hint about the identity or location of the readers [to whom the letter was sent] beyond the fact that they are Christians.  Since early church tradition associates John with the Roman provide of Asia (in western Turkey), it has often been thought that the readers lived there….[They] had been confronted with false teachers, whom John called antichrists (1 John 2:18-26).  The exact character of these false teachers has been much discussed.  Many have thought they were Gnostics who held to a strict dualism in which spiritual and material things were sharply distinguished.” BILL CROWDER

Have a blessed day and week ahead.
God Our Creator’s Love Always.
Unity and Peace

ETHICS, EQUALITY, AND HUMAN EXCEPTIONALISM

Please pray about this: http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6614/germany-sharia-refugee-shelters

For more great blogs as this one go to Daniel’s blog site at:
www.Mannsword.blogspot.com

Ethics, Equality, and Human Exceptionalism

It seems that the success of the West has depended on the presupposition of human exceptionalism (we are far greater than animals) and human equality. However, this idea is now under serious attack. We are having difficulty defending it against numerous vigorous challenges. For instance:

∑       What makes humans exceptional? Why shouldn’t we kill and eat humans as we do chickens and pigs?

Some will argue that we are more valuable than chickens, but to whom? Certainly we are not more valuable to other chickens. Who then can authoritatively assign relative value? Is our value then determined by other humans? Why?

Besides, do we want our value to be culturally or governmentally determined? Instead, we would prefer that our value be based on an objective intrinsic basis – on who we are as human beings rather than chickens.

However, this opens the door to another problem. What intrinsically makes us more valued? Some will argue that we are more intelligent, sensitive, or creative. Well, this is true. However, why should our superiority over the chicken make us more valuable or important? Also, the chicken can do things that we can’t do. She can lay eggs and raise many more young than we can. They are also fearless mothers!

Besides, this kind of reasoning opens the door to many ethical problems. If intelligence makes us more valuable and extends to us more legal protections and rights, then we should be placing greater value on those who are more intelligent, educated, and sensitive, right? Consequently, we would also have to degrade the value of the less intelligent – children, the mentally ill, uneducated, and the elderly. Therefore, to assign value based on human characteristics is to undermine the concept of equality.

Also, if our legal system is to operate in a manner consistent with this criterion of intelligence, then it should extend more rights and protections to the intelligent. Clearly, this kind of thinking will undermine the fabric of our society.

Some postmodernists avoids this problem by asserting that all life is of equal value. However, this assertion is loaded with its own set of problems:

1.     What endows life with value? Is this no more than an arbitrary assertion?

2.     How can any legal system accommodate the need to criminalize human murder along with cockroach murder? It would seem that the legal system would crash under the weight of its broadened responsibilities.

3.     Such a morality would not be humanly livable. It would mean that we couldn’t swat mosquitoes, exterminate termites, and even take anti-biotics.

Just as problematic as these three problems is the problem of “equal value.” Where does this notion of equality come from? Instead, we observe inequality wherever we look. There is nothing equal between a termite and a cow. They are different in every respect. Upon what then can equality be based?

Even in regards to humanity, we observe little in the way of equality. Some are old, others young. Some are productive, others not. Some contribute to the welfare of society; others do not. 

Nevertheless, we intuitively know that what we value in the West cannot be preserved without the belief articulated in the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal” – an ascertain that transcends the observable and must find its justification in another realm where true equality exists.

What is the basis for equality? The Declaration claims that equality is found in the mind of an immutable God:

∑       We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Perhaps “unalienable” human Rights” are not “self-evident.” However, what is evident is that these rights cannot be founded on human decisions. Such decisions are always in flux. If the government grants a human right, the government can also rescind that right. However, if it depends on God, then these rights are “unalienable” and unchangeable.

Are we truly more valued than the sparrow before God? Yes, according to Jesus:

∑       “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of MORE VALUE THAN MANY SPARROWS.” (Matthew 10:29-31)  

Why? We alone are created in the likeness of God Himself:

∑       Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26)

Consequently, once we reject God, we reject the only rational and sufficient basis for human equality. God help us!

BLOG - http://www.mannsword.blogspot.com

New York School of the Bible: http://www.nysb.nyc/

SEXUAL ASSAULT, COLLEGE, AND ITS CAUSES

MOVIE SUGGESTION: War Room

For more great blogs as this one go to Daniel’s blog site at:  www.Mannsword.blogspot.com

Sexual Assault, College, and its Causes

∑       The Association of American Universities on Monday released the overall results of a survey that asked students at 27 universities about their experiences with sexual assault and sexual misconduct, drawing responses from more than 150,000 students. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/09/21/what-a-massive-sexual-assault-survey-showed-about-27-top-u-s-universities/

∑       More than 20 percent of female undergraduates at an array of prominent universities said this year they were victims of sexual assault and misconduct, echoing findings elsewhere, according to one of the largest studies ever of college sexual violence.

∑       The survey found that 23 percent of undergraduate women and 5 percent of undergraduate men said they were victims of non-consensual sexual contact – ranging from penetration to sexual touching — due to force or incapacitation. Eleven percent of undergraduate women said they were victims of non-consensual penetration or attempted penetration… 20 percent of students said sexual assault and misconduct is very or extremely problematic on their own campus.

What can account for this epidemic? One thoughtful respondent appropriately commented:

∑       I don't for a minute want to minimize the roll that drunkenness plays in campus sexual assaults, but drunkenness on college campuses is not new… What is new on college campuses across the nation, as a result of the explosive growth of the World Wide Web, is college facilitated access to a "smorgasbord" of hardcore pornography that depicts the abuse, degradation, and exploitation of females. 

However true this might be, there is also another consideration. The normalization of almost any form of sexual acting-act is routinely promoted. In a New York Times Op-Ed, Charles M. Blow glowingly affirmed Miley Cyrus’ statements:

∑       “I’m very open about it — I’m pansexual.”

∑       I am literally open to every single thing that is consenting and doesn’t involve an animal and everyone is of age. Everything that’s legal, I’m down with. Yo, I’m down with any adult — anyone over the age of 18 who is down to love me.”

For Blow, these statements represent what sexuality should be about – “casual,”  “carefree,” and non-judgmental.

∑       There was something about the casual, carefree-ness of the statements that I found both charming and revolutionary. It took a happy-go-lucky sledgehammer to the must-fit-a-box binary that constrains and restricts our understanding of the complexity of human sexuality.

Since the NYT doesn’t discuss the down-side of the sexual revolution, we can assume that they too regard uncommitted sex as something that should be fun, playful, “happy-go-lucky,” and perhaps even a bit mischievous – something that our college students can readily applaud.

Blow rejects the traditional approach to sexuality as sacred, as something that “restricts our understanding of the complexity of human sexuality.” How ironic! It is the media and the universities which have silenced and struck down any message counter to the rampant sexual permissiveness and experimentation. Does the university offer any talks on the value of chastity? On traditional marriage? Instead, such discussions are taboo, routinely screamed down, and even penalized. Meanwhile, polyamory and other unsustainable practices are given free range to entice the minds of the susceptible.

However, it is Blow’s and Cyrus’ message, loudly proclaimed on almost every campus, that has helped to unleash sexual experimentation – the exploration of one’s sexuality. One popular form of sexual exploration is, understandably, forceful, bodily, sexual proselytizing. Well, isn’t it natural enough?

Isn’t it true that everyone wants and needs sex? What then is the problem? Sexual taboos, of course! Well then, what’s wrong with penetrating through these taboos in a persuasive, although somewhat aggressive manner? Perhaps these sexual trend-setters have even convinced themselves that they are providing a needful service to their victims? After all, the pedophiles have convinced themselves of this – the children a better-off because of them!

Behavior can no more be separated from belief than life from blood. If our youth are taught the primacy of choice above everything else, they will exercise their choice, albeit harmfully. If they are taught that their nature should govern their behavior, they will act out according to their nature. However, if they are taught that they must govern their natural impulses, and when they do not, they violate heaven’s dictates, they will think twice. (Also, our law-makers and universities will think twice!) However, this has become the forbidden message, the message that must be silenced.  

Daniel Mann

BLOG - http://www.mannsword.blogspot.com

New York School of the Bible: http://www.nysb.nyc/