Monday, February 22, 2021

Sing



Talk

Speak

Discuss

Whisper

Preach

Cry

Repeat

Lecture

Converse

Evangelize

Gossip

Address

Scream

Argue

Chat

Say

Tell

Yell

Visit

Greet

Testify

Declare

Murmur

Proclaim

Rebuke

Vocalize

Complain

Articulate

Sympathize

Verbalize

Correct

Groan

State

Recite

Indicate

Describe

Encourage

There are different kinds of verbal communication and different ways to express thoughts. It is important to God to get His word out. So, preaching, teaching, and evangelizing are vital. Yet there is another means of communication that is also important to God. With it you can teach, encourage, inspire and praise. When a message is combined with music, a unique result is produced: song. God wants His people to communicate with song. So, don’t be bashful; just sing!

Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord. 
—Ephesians 5:18-19

Mark Stinnett
February 12, 2021

Monday, February 15, 2021

Something Beautiful

Some will see the beauty of the snow; others, a clean, safe sidewalk. The saying is true: “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”


We understand Samson, David and Xerxes (Esther’s king). They were men who desired and married beautiful women. But why mention that Sarah, Rebekah, Rachael, Abigail and other women were beautiful? Why make special note that baby Moses was beautiful, or King David?

At the very least, God is not blind. He actually understands something about the physical beauty of humans. Physical beauty is perfectly fine. No one should feel ashamed or be shamed by others for being physically beautiful.

God even acknowledged that men are attracted to women on the basis of physical beauty. In the Law of Moses, strict laws governed men who took beautiful women as wives from among the captives after a battle. (Deuteronomy 21:10-14)

As you might also expect, there are many warnings in Scripture about physical beauty. You should remember Peter’s instruction for women to pursue inner beauty, not bling (1 Peter 3:3-6). Unlike humans, God is super unimpressed with jewelry, cosmetics and fashion.
Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. 
—Proverbs 31:30
Solomon warned his son not to chase the “evil woman.” The Hebrew word evil in Proverbs 6:24 is literally foreign or strange. That means that she is off limits to the man. She is beautiful and can turn on the charm, but she’s an adulteress. She lures men in, then destroys them. A fool chases beauty.
As a ring of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion.
—Proverbs 11:22
How foolish it is for a man or woman to trust in fading beauty, or so the flowers tell us.

Think about these other beauties in Scripture:
  • The priestly garments for Aaron were “for glory and for beauty.” (Exodus 28:2)
  • Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon was called “the beauty of kingdoms.” (Isaiah 13:19)
  • Israel was called the “Beautiful Land” several times in the book of Daniel.
  • Referring to the remaining faithful ones of Israel, Isaiah described the “Branch of the Lord” as beautiful. (Isaiah 4:2)
  • Isaiah also told of a future King (Messiah) who would possess beauty. (Isaiah 33:17)

One other beauty stands out. Yet, our beauty-intoxicated society would surely be surprised.
How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!
—Romans 10:15
Paul wasn’t referring to just any good news. He was quoting the prophet Isaiah about those who would announce salvation (peace with God), those who would share the gospel. That’s why their feet are beautiful. They carry the message of life. You too can carry the message of life by telling someone about Jesus.

(And parents, don’t forget your kids.)


Mark Stinnett
February 14, 2021

Monday, February 8, 2021

God is Good?

What does it mean that “God is good”?


I have heard that statement all my life, even more in recent months. Most recently I’ve begun to wonder what people mean when they say, “God is good.” I’ve begun to wonder what that sounds like to someone who does not believe in God, or someone weak in faith who is experiencing great difficulty in life. I know this...

  • The presence of evil does not change the good character of God.
  • Calamity and injustice in this world do not change the good character of God.
  • Your circumstances do not change the good character of God.

God revealed His divine character to Moses:
“The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished….”
—Exodus 34:6-7 (NASB95)
We should recognize that God is always full of love and, at the same time, always full of justice. The fact that God is compassionate and slow to anger tells us that there is reason for compassion and reason for anger. The fact that God will not let the guilty go unpunished tells us that sin will be punished, so justice ultimately will be served. The fact that God forgives tells us that God deeply desires a relationship with created mankind.

So, the character of God gives us understanding of God and understanding of the world we live in. When we read the book of Genesis, it is evident that God did not create the world in a broken state. Nor did He create man in a sinful state. Yet, because of sinful man, we now live in a broken world. So, we should not be surprised that we live with calamities, injustices, and personal difficulties, not the least of which is death itself.

Think about it. Mankind sinned and God did not destroy him. Said another way, mankind foolishly broke fellowship with God and walked away. Yet, God deeply desired fellowship with created man. Because of His divine nature, He determined to remedy the situation through Jesus.

So what does all this have to do with, “God is good”?

God allows evil to remain; allows calamities to occur; and even allows YOU to experience difficulties, suffering and death. That is the world mankind has made for himself, not the world God created for man. That is what we deserve.

God is just, so there has to be a payment for sin. From the beginning, the consequence of sin was death. So, before man was even created, God had devised a plan in which He would preserve His character of being just. He would offer to pay for man’s sin debt. He paid the debt by offering His only begotten Son as a sacrifice for your sins and for my sins. God fixed man’s sin problem through Jesus Christ. Can you think of a suitable word to describe this expression of God’s justice and love?

The sacrifice of Jesus bought about reconciliation between God and mankind. Reconciliation is a relationship word. It means that God ended the division and brought Himself and mankind into a friendship relationship. But He did not stop there. God wants that relationship to last forever—literally! So, He made a promise to those who believe in Jesus Christ and devote their lives to Him. He promised eternal life in a new heaven and new earth. The new heaven and new earth will not be broken. It is a place described as paradise. God will be there. Jesus will be there. All who are holy and righteous will be given new bodies so they can live there forever. Can you think of a word to describe all that God has planned for His holy ones?

God is good!


Mark Stinnett
February 7, 2021

Monday, February 1, 2021

Three Beautiful Injustices

We (humans) sure are concerned about justice, and it is not just in the present day. Justice has been a concern since the first capital crime. When God banished Cain after murdering his brother Abel, Cain cried to God, “My punishment is too great to bear!” (i.e. It’s not fair.) In reality, he was still alive, and
that was not fair.

However, my attention is not on Cain, but three extreme occasions in which it was not fair, yet God did not step in. He allowed the injustice.

Esau and Jacob:
We are more accustomed to thinking Jacob before Esau, yet Esau was the first of the twin brothers. We say Jacob and Esau because the prophecy was fulfilled that said, “The older shall serve the younger.” But it was not fair.

When Isaac, the father of Jacob and Esau, was old and near death, he asked Esau to prepare him his favorite meal. He then planned to bless him. In the blessing the promises that God had first given Abraham (land, descendants, and a great future blessing) would be passed forward.

However, at his mother’s bidding, Jacob disguised himself as Esau and tricked his aging father into giving him the blessing. When Esau returned with the meal for his father, they were both alarmed at what had happened. Yet, acknowledging Jacob’s deceit, Isaac told Esau, “He (Jacob) shall be blessed.”

Why didn’t Isaac say, “Hey, that was deceitful on Jacob’s part; it didn’t count”? Why didn’t God step in and bring justice!?

Isaac’s word stood, just as he had spoken. In that day, you just didn’t break your word. Ever!

Job:
Job was a man who was devoted to God. When you read the descriptions of Job that are peppered throughout the book, you come away with one thought: Job was a good man. Yet, he suffered greatly, and God allowed it.

You might remember that the accuser had accused God of going easy on Job. That was his explanation for Job’s faithfulness to God. So, the accuser proposed that if God had not blessed him so richly, Job would curse God.

God allowed the accuser to bring terrible hardship into Job’s life. And that was NOT fair!

Of course, Job did not curse God, though he really didn’t understand what was going on. So, why didn’t God step in and stop the suffering?

Sometimes God allows our faith to be tested. The testing of our faith produces endurance and maturity—and that’s a good thing. (James 1)

Jesus:
Considering how much I benefit from the sacrifice of Jesus, I don’t often think about the injustice of the cross. I know that all the things that happened to Jesus leading up to His death were a terrible injustice. Yet, I really don’t want to ask why God didn’t step in and stop the cruelty. I depend on this injustice because of my sin!

And yet, I must ask, “Why? Why did God allow the awful injustice of the crucifixion of Jesus?”

The answer: Love and Life!
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
The injustice Esau suffered reminds me to always be a man of my word. The injustice Job suffered encourages me to endure hardship. The injustice Jesus suffered—is LIFE!

Maybe I should take a different view toward the light injustices that I suffer in this life.
That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
--2 Corinthians 4:16–18 (NLT)
Mark Stinnett
January 31, 2021