27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
It’s not only God who loves a cheerful giver. What parent’s weary heart isn’t warmed when the kids lovingly share toys, treats, and the favored spot on the couch with each other? It’s wonderful; even if we only see it a little more regularly than we see Haley’s Comet. More often than not, parents are in the business of trying to compel their children to share what they have with those around them. Frustrated moms and dads, not wanting to confiscate goods and force the distribution of wealth, are often reduced to shaming their kids, appealing to their sense of pride, threatening future deprivation, using tortured philosophical ramblings, and even resorting to bribery. It’s pathetic. We do all these things because we know that the instant we actually command half the Kit-Kat be given to the baby brother, that no one will be blessed. Instead of producing charity and gratitude in hearts and minds, the owner will resent the beneficiary, the beneficiary will feel entitled, and the parental government will become resigned to having to just seize all house assets.
Sharing is just as important an exercise for adults as it is for children. God, our heavenly Father, wants all his children to freely and happily give of their resources to others in need. Now, the world has made of money a false god and there’s no better testimony to this fiduciary faith than the hushed reverence we observe whenever we enter the hallowed halls of our local bank. Have you ever noticed how quiet America gets upon entering the town temple? But, no one can serve both God and mammon and so we give rebelliously and in trust of God. Every Sunday in our worship service we keep a time to worship through the collection of an offering to God. Ushers pass the plates and wallets and purses are opened as people make contributions to the church treasury. Are these offerings cheerful gifts, commanded tithes, institutional shakedowns, payments for services rendered, or something else all together? Most Christians are taught that God’s desire for His people is that they give a tenth of all their revenue back to Him in the form of a tithe. Is this a biblical command, a biblical recommendation, or even biblical at all? The Gospel Coalition recently published a point-counterpoint piece on this topic in the form of two brief essays on the question. Both authors make the case that giving is a necessary and important part of life for every believer, but they see the idea of a biblically mandated tithe very differently. You’ll find a link to these two articles below. Please read them and come prepared to talk about the very important question of the Christian and his or her responsibility to give. Should be both fun and freeing! We meet upstairs in the Family Life Center at 8:30 Sunday morning. Coffee and a baked good will greet you at the door!
Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? 2 All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.
And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
https://www.emmanuelacc.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/January-19-2020.png40002588Josh Ricehttp://www.emmanuelacc.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/EACC-114_Logo-300x115.pngJosh Rice2020-01-19 12:00:232020-01-19 19:10:46Of Prayer and Fine Wine
Timothy Leary’s famous encouragement to America in the sixties was to turn on, tune in, and drop out. What he wanted to do was change the world by altering the individual’s perception of it; not by actually transforming reality. To do this, he didn’t praise the power of positive thinking, he didn’t advocate the gated, cloistered life, nor did he push Zenlike fantasies. He encouraged recreational drug use. Reality, Leary argued, is what we perceive and perception can be altered. He envisioned a good government lovingly lacing the town water with the perfect narcotic concoction that would pacify the animal instinct, ennoble the angelic in us, and unleash the creative. Rose colored glasses creating a rosy world.
Leary’s vision eventually proved a nightmare and Haight-Ashbury was more hell than heaven. But the idea that the mental machinery can be worked on chemically and that immaterial man can be mastered by the material has not died but only grown in favor. The approach the ancients took in treating the ills of the world holistically by addressing the needs of body and soul together has largely been dismissed in the Scientific Age. The integration of psychology and theology is understood to be a simple impossibility. Twenty-first century Christians often grapple with the question of taking prescription medicine prescribed by their psychiatrist. Are these drugs taken in lieu of a miracle or is the drug itself miraculous? Do drugs effect a change in me and reverse the effects of the curse or are they a capitulation in the war for personal sanctification. Or is the answer somewhere in between? This is a very important, personal, and possibly sensitive issue for most of us, but one we really need to be talking about. Please take a few minutes to read the link to the article by Jeremy Pierre and think through some of the insights he offers on this question and come prepared to discuss it on Sunday morning. We’ll be meeting upstairs in the Family Life Center at 8:30 am. Hot coffee and a fresh baked goodie will be there to warm you up. See you Sunday!
