Focusing On The Family by Max Dawson

Focusing On The Family

The family is the basic nucleus of any community and how the family goes so goes the nation and the world. In the human factor the home has always been the beginning point of everything whether good or bad. The building blocks of life are established in the relationship of the home such as culture, language, disposition and character. As husbands and wives unions are formed that create the home and if blessed in this union children bring another sense of wonder to make a fuller family. One unique quality that everyone shares is they were brought into the world in the same fashion. However the home created in the union of two people is often very different.

How can we find answers for challenges faced in the home? As husbands and wives we struggle to maintain the fires of love and devotion to one another finding often the questions that cause us to look for better answers. The plight of children is a nagging demand to give them all they need without giving them everything they want. Is it possible to be married for life? Can a home be happy? Are children truly a blessing to the home? Where can we find the right answers?

Beginning Sunday October 7, the Trenton church of Christ will attempt to offer Biblical instruction as we focus together the needs of the home. Max Dawson from Beaumont, Texas begins a series of studies on the home that will focus on topics like “Back to Eden” where the home was first created. What better way to understand the home than going back to its beginning as God designed and intended the home to be.

Max will open the series with a study of “Five power points that will bless your family.” We all like to make things a little simpler in life and five points will be easy to remember and apply to make our homes be a place of security and love. He will direct a lesson Sunday night on “Helping your kids become responsible adults.” How important to see the vision of training our children to be complete adults. Many adults have never learned how to be happy because they did not have the early training in childhood.

Beginning Monday night lessons will include “Five things your parents must do.” The challenge of bringing up well-adjusted children is to understand the role parents play in the formation of those characters. Tuesday night is a special night for YOUNG PEOPLE – “Will the real me please stand up?” Often children today have an identity crisis and through God’s word we can learn how to give them hope for life. On Wednesday night a lesson will focus on “What dads teach their kids about marriage.” Someone said the most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother. Dads teach a lot about marriage to their children.

The home is an important place to find happiness in marriage even after the children leave. Thursday night the lesson will be “Your fiftieth wedding anniversary” concluding Friday night with “The autumn of our lives.” A successful marriage is not characterized by an absence of problems but the ability to solve those problems.

A warm welcome awaits you. You will not be asked for donations or embarrassed in any way. Our services are warm and inviting. Bring your family and enjoy an hour of thoughtful study of God’s word. We can do this together. Come! Sunday morning at 9:30am and then each evening Sunday through Friday at 7:30pm. See you then!

 

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT WWW.TRENTONCHURCHOFCHRIST.COM

 

Men of God Study Weekend

“Men of God” Study Weekend

 

“As iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens the countenance of his friend”

Proverbs 27:17

 

The Quest for Holiness

Jody Broyles - Ocala, Florida

John Frazier – Trenton, Florida

Kent Heaton – Trenton, Florida

Jamey Hinds - Hollywood, Florida

Tommy Peeler – Temple Terrace, Florida

 

What:         A weekend devoted to the study of God’s Word intended to sharpen us as men of God and develop our leadership characteristics.

Where:      Florida Bible Camp (next to Oleno State Park near High Springs, Florida) Visit www.northfloridabiblecamp.com for map and pictures of the facilities

When:        Friday and Saturday, October 5-6, 2012

·       Check-in Friday     6 – 7 pm

·       Early Bird Session 4:30 pm on Friday

·       Check-out Saturday 3 pm

 

Cost is only $50.00 (helps pay for camp rental and food)
If you are a FC student, cost is $25.

 

Send payments to NORTH FLORIDA BIBLE CAMP

c/o John Frazier 3539 SW 47^th Court, Bell, Florida 32619

or

Email John at chirofrazier@gmail.com with your name to register. If you are unable to send registration fee notify John you will pay upon arrival.

 

AC Cabins with bathhouse on site (bring what you need to spend one night at the camp including bedding and toiletry items) - bring your Bible and a great spirit for a wonderful two days together with men of God.

Satan Teaches God's Love

Satan Teaches God’s Love

As she looked at the fruit and noticed for the first time how beautiful it was and how delightful it would taste, her mind raced back to when God told her and Adam not to eat of the forbidden tree. Could a loving God be so forbidding that He could deny her the fruit from this tree in the midst of the garden? The serpent had made a good point when he suggested that it was not fair to be denied this fruit. Reaching forth her hand she decided that God loved her so much He would not care if she ate. Adam also ate of the forbidden tree believing in the encompassing love of a beneficent Creator.

By the time of Noah almost all of mankind had drunk deeply of the teaching of Satan that an all-knowing and all-powerful God could not be a loving God if He forbade the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes and the pride of life. God’s love would allow the freedom to enjoy every part of life in their own passions. There are no confining rules in love because love is such a splendid expression of independence and Satan was the proficient preacher of this kind of God’s love to all mankind.

The nation of Israel demonstrated time and again the teaching of God’s love as defined by Satan. Why would the Lord care if they built a golden calf, rebel at Kadesh-Barnea, murmur throughout the wilderness journey, take a piece of gold and Babylonian garment from Jericho, kill a great soldier to cover up adultery or worship Baal and Molech? God’s love would overlook all of this because God is such a loving and compassionate Creator - according to Satan.

Satan is the ‘father of lies’ (John 8:44) and is well versed in scripture. When tempting Jesus the devil quoted scripture (Matthew 4:1-10). James reminds us the demons believe that Jesus is the Christ and tremble (James 2:19). Satan does not always suggest that we deny the word of God but rather change our view of what God said. This is what he did with Eve in Genesis 3. “Has God indeed said” was the ploy that did not deny what God said but rather view what God said from a different feeling. Think of God’s love and how wonderful it is to take of that forbidden fruit succeeded in securing his hooks into man for his destruction.

God’s love is taught throughout the world by Satan as a universalist view that everyone goes to Heaven in death. Salvation is not limited to some narrow legalistic dogma because a loving God would not and could not punish anyone to a place of torment. This teaching has been a very effective tool for Satan to destroy the eternal souls of the majority of people who will stand before God in judgment (Matthew 7:13-14). Satan has served this Kool-Aid to an unsuspecting world knowing that his minions grow larger every day.

The true nature of God’s love is found in John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  Paul reminds us that God is a loving God and a severe God who will punish unbelief (Romans 11:22). The love of God is found in Jesus Christ to those who believe and obey Him. The love of God also includes His judgment upon those who refuse to believe and obey His Son; these will be punished. Satan convinces people that God’s love will not punish; God’s true love says He does (Hebrews 12:5-11). Salvation will depend on whose definition of love you believe: God or Satan.

Dead End

Dead End

A life unfulfilled is a life unlived. The greatest desire of man is to live with a purpose for his existence and finding happiness. Life must have meaning to give a sense of direction and set before the wanderer a promise of hope. From childhood the heart yearns for acceptance to be somebody. The drive of success fuels emotions to reach beyond the limits of expectation as the road of life stretches miles beyond the horizon. Nations rise from the ashes of lives spent building empires of power, wealth and prestige. The world revolves around the fevered pace of men racing through the highways and byways of pleasure seeking fortunes that fail as a mist in the early morning. Lost along these seemingly endless roads of life is the tattered sign of reality that reads, “Dead End.”

A life unfulfilled is a life unlived. When life is measured by the wisdom of man there can be no fulfillment. The efforts expended along this stretch of highway can only be characterized as a dead end. It has great promise but comes to nothing. There is nothing beyond. A dead end means the end is empty, without value and worthless. Legion is the lives of those who seek to find happiness in pleasure, power, wealth and wisdom yet the fulfillment they desire is lost. At the end of the road there is nothing to hold on to for the grave takes it all.

A life fulfilled is a life lived. The story is told of a man in the early days of the automobile that was stopped along the road trying to get his Model-T Ford running again. A wealthy man came by asking what the problem was. Being told the engine had quit the well-dressed gentleman went to work on the motor and in short time had the engine running. Asked how he knew how to fix the motor the gentleman replied, “I am Henry Ford. I know how to fix it because I built it.” Moses writes in Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Man is a created being by the hand of God and the only happiness and purpose to life man will ever find will come from the hand of his creator.

A life fulfilled is a life lived. King Solomon tried to find his purpose in life with wisdom, power, and wealth and pleasure (Ecclesiastes 1-2). His conclusion was that life is a dead end if you do not live it with God. The message from Ecclesiastes is an examination of life from a man that was blessed with wisdom beyond the imagination of any man that has ever lived. Yet Solomon’s life could not be fulfilled any more than the lives of anyone else save through the knowledge of his Creator. The whole of man is to “fear God and keep His commandments” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). In reality life is not a dead end because there is life beyond the grave. Solomon reminds all men the fulfillment of life is not found in this life but the life that is to come. “For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:14).

A life unfulfilled or a life fulfilled? A life unlived or a life lived? The choice you make will determine what view you have of life. To most people life is a dead end because there will be no happiness apart from the Creator (Matthew 7:13-14). For the few that find the narrow gate they will find life fulfilled in a relationship with the One who gave His only begotten Son and everlasting life (John 3:1-21).

Alan Jackson's 911 Song

Alan Jackson's song for 911 - powerful

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1myz9_alan-jackson-where-were-you_music

New Book

Began a new book today. Reading TRUMAN by David McCullough - all 992 pages. Whew. Maybe finish it by 2014.

Food For Thought

To change and to change for the better are two different things.

 

By nature man hates change; seldom will he quit his old home till it has actually fallen around his ears.

 

A wise man changes his mind; a fool never will.

 

Everybody wants to do something to help, but nobody wants to be the first.

 

Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.

 

People can cry much easier than they can change.

 

Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.

 

You can’t do anything by doing nothing.

 

You will be happy in about the same degree you are helpful.

The heart of man

The Heart Of Man

 

There are four types of people in the world and only four. The large numbers of people in the world have a similar heart while many share the common characteristics of a second heart. The third heart is found by some and the fourth heart is possessed by few. Four hearts. Four types of people. One God.

"Therefore hear the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty" (Matthew 13:18-23).

The first heart is the most popular heart of all. It is driven by the desires of man (1 John 2:16) and is not subject to the law of God (Romans 8:7). Hearts of the wayside are governed by internal wisdom where man is his own god and worships himself rather than the Creator (Romans 1:21-25). One of the reasons the wayside heart is desired by most people is because it is the most fun. There are no concerns for consequences nor accountability to anyone but self. This heart is filled with self-indulgence (Romans 1:26-31). Life is about the here and now and death is only a passing into oblivion.

Hearts from the stony ground have some hope to them but have no hope of surviving. The innate goodness of man glimmers for a moment in the joy of finding truth and embraces the notion that happiness can be found outside the putridity of the wayside. But the call of the wayside is strong and having little foundation to resist the wiles of the flesh fall back into the old habits. Truth was a blessing but when the opposition from others challenged the life style of the stony hearts, weakness overtook the mind and defeat comes. Living for truth requires standing for truth. With little underpinning lives fall apart and the heart that began with promise ends without hope.

The third heart has good ground and will produce a crop. There is great promise in this heart as the truth of God’s love enfolds the lives of these precious souls seeking redemption in the blood of Christ. Progress is seen daily in their lives as the heart fills with the mind of God. Sprouts of truth flourish in the rows of life and the bounty of harvest is but a time away. Yet in the flurry of activity is lost the most precious treasure of truth and “choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life” (Luke 8:14) the heart bears nothing. What began with promise ends in empty fields of wasted lives. Thorns are the painful reminder of a heart filled with the hollow call of the world.

Jesus said that only few will find eternal life (Matthew 7:13-14). This heart hears, understands and acts. In the rarified air of devotion this heart is unswerving in its obedience to the will of the Lord (Matthew 7:21-23). It is neither the most popular heart nor the easiest heart to possess (Luke 14:26-27; 1 Peter 4:12-16; 2 Timothy 3:12).

Accident Report

To Whom It May Concern

Accident Report

I am writing in response to your request for additional information. In block number 3 of the accident reporting form, I put “trying to do the job alone as the cause of my accident.” You said in your letter that I should explain more fully, and I trust that the following details will be sufficient.

I am a bricklayer by trade. On the day of the accident I was working alone on the roof of a new six story building. When I completed my work, I discovered that I had about 500 pounds of brick left over. Rather than carry the bricks down by hand, I decided to lower them in a barrel by using a pulley which fortunately was attached to the side of the building at the sixth floor.

Securing the rope at ground level, I went up to the roof, swung the barrel out and loaded the brick into it. Then I went back to the ground and untied the rope, holding it tightly to insure a slow descent of the 500 pounds of bricks. You will note in block number 11 of the accident report form that I weigh 135 pounds.

Due to my surprise at being jerked off the ground so suddenly, I lost my presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope. Needless to say, I proceeded at a rather rapid rate up the side of the building.

In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming down. This explains the fractured skull and broken collarbone.

Slowed only slightly, I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until the fingers of my right hand were two knuckles deep into the pulley.

Fortunately, by this time I had regained my presence of mind and was able to hold tightly to the rope in spite of my pain.

At approximately the same time, however, the barrel hit the ground and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Devoid of the weight of the bricks, the barrel now weight approximately 50 pounds.

I refer you again to my weight of 135 pounds in block number 11. As you might imagine, I began a rapid descent down the side of the building.

In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming up. This accounts for the two fractured ankles and the lacerations of my legs and lower body.

The encounter with the barrel slowed me enough to lessen my injuries when I fell onto the pile of bricks and fortunately, only three vertebrae were cracked.

I am sorry to report, however, that as I lay there on the bricks – in pain, unable to stand up, and watching the empty barrel six stories above me – I again lost my presence of mind: I let go of the rope.

Sincerely.

Faith Still Comes By Hearing

Faith Still Comes By Hearing

The basic principle of a relationship with God is faith. In Hebrews 11:6 the writer describes the need for faith to be pleasing to God and without faith there is no pleasing Him. Three elements of this faith are outlined: faith is the knowledge that God is and faith is the hope that through the knowledge of God comes a promise of reward. The third part of faith is found when the person seeks Him. Without these three elements faith is dead. The challenge is how man views the pursuit of faith and what the basis of his faith in God is. Often man is satisfied to have a faith in God apart from knowing Him and not actively seeking Him. This kind of faith will only be a dead faith.

Paul describes the first knowledge of God as the “invisible attributes … clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). Faith does not come from this kind of knowledge because God is still unknown. An understanding of God in His fullest sense only comes from the mind of God revealed to man. “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2). Through the word of God man will be able to know the character of God and this is where faith will come.

To the church at Rome Paul said, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). Hearing the word of God will fulfill all three of the requirements of Hebrews 11:6. The knowledge of who God is begins in Genesis 1:1 and remains the constant theme until Revelation 22:21. His personality is painted throughout the generations of man in His goodness and severity (Romans 11:22). Without the written word man would have no knowledge of who God is.

Found also within the pages of the Bible is the promises of God to reward the faithful. The grace of God was planted in Genesis 3 and fulfilled in the redemption through the blood of Christ on Calvary. He rewarded the faithful and punished the unfaithful. Reading the scriptures and hearing the message of the word of God instills faith in the heart that as God spoke in the long ago He will speak the same promise today.

The psalmist declared, “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord! Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart” (Psalms 119:1-2). Being faithful to the Lord is to walk in the law and seek the Lord with the heart. One cannot know how to walk in the law unless they read and understand the law. The heart cannot seek what it does not want to know. Without time spent in the meditation and study of the word of God, faith will die.

When people struggle in their lives to overcome sin the symptom can be found in the lack of “hearing the word of God.” Weakened faith is found in those who nibble at the manna of God’s word. Knowledge is power and without the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God you might as well be fighting Satan with a toothpick. Faith still comes by hearing and that hearing must be by the word of God. Coupled with prayer (Ephesians 6:18) Satan will never win. Faithless people are not people of the book. Faithful people are people of the book who love the law of God. “Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day” (Psalms 119:97). Now that is faithfulness!