In This Issue

• "O JERUSALEM!"
• LOVE AND MARRIAGE
• I AM A SOLDIER
• UPCOMING GOSPEL MEETING SCHEDULE
• MORE INFORMATION...

"O JERUSALEM!"

To the 21st century American, the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman armies, which was accomplished in 70 A.D. may seem of little consequence. But its importance to the Jews of the first century A.D. can scarcely be overstated. Jesus said to them, "O Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord'" (Matt. 23:37-39).

In this passage there are at least two important and significant facts: (1) A day of reckoning was soon coming upon the city of Jerusalem, and (2) that day was coming as a result of Jerusalem's own choices. Repeatedly down through the ages, God had sent prophet after prophet among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and generation after generation had rejected those prophets. Finally, God had sent His own Son to preach the good news of peace in the kingdom of God, but because the Messiah or Christ was not the kind of leader they expected Him to be, they had rejected Him also. They thought he would be a military leader, and a political king.. Within the week, Jesus' own nation would turn Him over to the Gentiles to be executed by crucifixion. This would be the ultimate rejection of the will of God. And it would being the inevitable judgment of God upon the city that for centuries had known His special favor.

They, of course, had not been compelled to reject the prophets or the Messiah. They CHOSE to do so. Jesus wanted to bless them, but they were not willing. He wanted to protect them, but they would not have it so. We are reminded of the sad words which Jesus cried as He wept, overlooking the city of Jerusalem a few days before: "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side and level you, and your children with you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another because you did not know the time of your visitation" (Luke 19:41-44).

They had within their power the ability to change their destiny -- but they did not know, they did not realize the significance and importance of rejecting the Son of God. It was hidden from their eyes -- by their own choice, by their own preconceived notions. As Isaiah had foretold and as Jesus observed, "Their eyes THEY have closed... lest they should see... and understand... [and] I should heal them" (Matt. 13:15)

--CRJ

LOVE AND MARRIAGE

Times change. In the 1950's Frank Sinatra sang what everybody--at least most everybody--believed.

"Love and marriage, Love and marriage
Go together like a horse and carriage.
Dad was told by mother, you can't have one
Without the other."

That lyric is the physical expression of a spiritual truth. Whatever happened to that concept? Is it no longer true or is it that it has been eroded in the wake of the loose morals of our culture? Is there no longer any need to have love as the basis for marriage and the bond which holds it in place after it is consummated? And does society make the rules for marriage?

GOD PUT LOVE AND MARRIAGE TOGETHER. In the beginning, when he had made man and woman for one another He said, "For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife" Jesus said, "...what therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder (Matt. 19:9). Society is the result of marriage, not the cause of it. Marriage is a sacred vow between two people and God and it has nothing whatever to do with what society says about it. And it's based on love--love by the husband for his wife and love by the wife for her husband.

DIVORCE IS SINFUL. Sin is someway involved in every divorce. One party may be innocent, both parties may be guilty; but sin is a causative factor in every divorce. Society places no social stigma on divorce for any cause. Divorce is rampant, almost popular in some places. Society's "stars" have nearly all been divorced and remarried several times. Take Elizabeth Taylor for an example. She has had eight husbands. And yet people still adore, almost revere her. It's a sad testimony to our times that our culture has so lost its connection to God that it looks the other way when it comes to God's marriage laws, when it "puts light for darkness and darkness for light" (Isa. 5:20).

GOD’S MARRIAGE LAWS ARE AS OLD AS MAN. They antedate the church by many hundreds of years. There is no reason that I'm aware of to assume they have ever changed. True, Moses was lenient about them for a time, but Jesus said, "from the beginning it was not so." When a person commits adultery, it is adultery whether or not he ever heard of the church. Paul told the Corinthians that "neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind...shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you." They were idolaters because idolatry has always been wrong whether or not they had ever heard of the church. They were drunkards because drunkenness has always been sinful. And they were fornicators, adulterers, homosexuals whether or not they had ever heard of the church.

S0CIETY’S LOOSE VIEWS ON DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE IS THE CAUSE OF MANY DIFFERENT PROBLEMS. The family, the structural essence of society, has been fragmented by these loose views. Fathers have little to do with the family in today's world; they have lost their way and have neglected their role as spiritual head of the family. Mothers have left the home and are there, not as the maternal stabilizers of the home, but only long enough to put on new makeup so as to go out into the world and pursue careers of far less importance and value than that of motherhood or "keepers at home." Children, in many homes, govern the family. They decide what is to be watched, listened to, worn, where to go and when. In some homes mothers have become little more than taxi drivers so that the little people can participate in competitive sports--and at such an early age that by the time they are old enough to be proficient at some sport, they are burned out from too much competition.

HOMES ARE NOT HOMES IN MANY PLACES; THEY ARE HOUSES, PLACES WHERE PEOPLE STAY FOR A WHILE EACH DAY TO SLEEP AND EAT. There is no hearth, no family gathering, no together time. Some families go for weeks at a time without any real connection, much less any family prayer, worship, or bible reading. The fragmented family is one of the devil's most effective stratagems.

What to do? Well, it's actually so simple that it's apt to be overlooked. Get the family together. Read the Bible. Every family would do well to have at least one time each day where the whole family is together for at least an hour or so--and with the tv, stereo, or radio turned off. You might find out it's fun. You might get to know one another and thereby break down some of the barriers that have resulted from a lack of association. Family fun is some of the finest fun.

A family that worships together is less apt to have troubles. The common bond to God brings them closer together, forming mutual protection against inordinate outside influences. Their common worship binds them to a common goal and causes them to love one another even more. It just makes sense for the family to get together... It's God's plan for you to do so; it's the devil's plan for you not to. Which will you follow? And remember, "love and marriage, love and marriage...."

--Dee Bowman, Southside Reminder, Feb. 25, 1998

I AM A SOLDIER

I am a soldier in the army of my God. The Lord Jesus Christ is my commanding officer. The Holy Bible is my code of conduct. Faith, prayer, and the Word are my weapons of warfare. I have been taught by the Holy Spirit, trained by experience, tried by adversity, and tested by fire. I am a volunteer in this army, and I am enlisted for eternity.

I will either retire in this army at the end of time, or die in it; but I will not get out, sell out, be talked out, or pushed out. I am faithful, reliable, capable, and dependable. If my God needs me, I am there. If He needs me to teach a class, to teach my neighbor, to help someone in need, or just to sit and learn, He can use me because I am there! I am a soldier. I am not a baby. I do not need to be pampered, petted, primed up, pumped up, picked up, or pepped up.

I am a soldier. No one has to call me, remind me, write me, visit me, entice me, or lure me. I am not a wimp. I am in place, saluting my King, obeying His orders, praising His name, and building His kingdom. No one has to send me flowers, gifts, food, cards, candy, or give me handouts. I do not need to be cuddled, cradled, cared for, or catered to.

I am committed. I cannot have my feelings hurt bad enough to turn me around. I cannot be discouraged enough to turn me aside. I cannot lose enough to cause me to quit. When Jesus called me into this army, I had nothing materially. If I end up with nothing, I will still come out ahead. I will win spiritually. My God has supplied my needs, and will continue to supply all of my needs.

I am more than a conqueror. I will always triumph. I can do all things through Christ. Devils cannot defeat me. People cannot disillusion me. Weather cannot weary me. Sickness cannot stop me. Battles cannot beat me. Money cannot buy me. Governments cannot silence me, and hell cannot handle me, because I'm safe in my Savior.

I am a soldier. Even death cannot destroy me. For when my commander calls me from this battlefield, He will promote me, and then allow me to rule with Him. I am a soldier in the army, and I'm marching claiming, victory. I will not give up. I will not turn around. I am a soldier, and I am heaven bound, and here I stand! Will you stand with me as a good soldier of Jesus Christ?

1 Tim. 6:12 says, "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses."

--author unknown, from Brief Exchanges

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