Malachi 3:16. Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.
Oh Friends, how wonderful it is to have our names written in such a book! But in this case, it only came about because the Most High found cause, once again, to rebuke the Israelites. Judging from the Old Testament, He certainly rebuked and disciplined them a lot. They give the impression of being a stubborn, rebellious, ungrateful people. On this occasion, He was chewing them out because they were going around saying that it was vain to serve God, and what did it profit them by obeying His rules, and their walk was not a happy one, while looking up to and admiring the proud and wicked elements of the society. But luckily for them, there were a few smart ones who still believed in and trusted the God of their fathers, and they wisely spoke and communicated often with each other. Friends, that’s the most important element of any relationship; communication. It doesn’t matter whether it’s two or many, lowly animals or exalted human beings. People of like minds need to get together often and talk, discuss, agree, disagree, whatever, but some strong aspect of communication must be present if they want their ideas or groups to survive. That’s what the Church is supposed to be about: A coming together of like minds, believers in Christ, who work together, help and encourage each other in living the Faith and spreading His Word. But it saddens me to say, that in this day of untold prosperity and spectacular technological advancement, we don’t seem to be doing such a great job. We have the best tools and most money ever, but instead of using them to build, we’re using them to destroy. In the first place, there are so many different religions, all claiming to be the one true way. And within each each religion there are other subdivisions, each with their own spin on the subject. Furthermore, within those subdivisions, there might be smaller groups advocating one thing or another. And the strange, sad part, is that everybody believes that they are right, which just foments discord and often leads to physical violence and out and out war. How can this ever benefit the Church, the Body of Christ eh? It only benefits the enemy, who, while we’re stupidly fighting and eradicating each other, sits in the background laughing his head off. Can’t we wake up and realize that the powers of darkness are using the age old tactic of divide and conquer; have us fight amongst ourselves? Just to give a few examples: Eastern based Muslims against Western World Christians; then, within the Muslim world, Shiites against Sunnis; within the Christian world, Catholics against Protestants, most notably in Ireland. Under the Protestant banner there are numerous denominations; Anglican, Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostal, etc. etc. who don’t get along either. Then within Catholicism and each of the Protestant denominations, there are more internal divisions again. So, how in heaven’s name can we be spreading God’s word of peace and LOVE, when we’re so divided, contentious and confrontational, with so much destruction taking place ostensibly in God’s name? You can’t blame the poor non believer for shying away from religion when all he sees amongst us is angst, confrontation and an angry, warlike nature; the exact opposite of what we’re talking to him about. Remember people that examples work more forcibly than words, so it’s of the utmost importance that we walk our talk, otherwise we’re hurting the Lord’s cause, and then our name won’t be recorded in that wonderful book. I’m sure we don’t want that to happen. MUCH LOVE…MUCH MORE SENSIBLE COMMUNICATION…AND MUCH LESS SILLY CONFRONTATION!
Oh Friends, how wonderful it is to have our names written in such a book! But in this case, it only came about because the Most High found cause, once again, to rebuke the Israelites. Judging from the Old Testament, He certainly rebuked and disciplined them a lot. They give the impression of being a stubborn, rebellious, ungrateful people. On this occasion, He was chewing them out because they were going around saying that it was vain to serve God, and what did it profit them by obeying His rules, and their walk was not a happy one, while looking up to and admiring the proud and wicked elements of the society. But luckily for them, there were a few smart ones who still believed in and trusted the God of their fathers, and they wisely spoke and communicated often with each other. Friends, that’s the most important element of any relationship; communication. It doesn’t matter whether it’s two or many, lowly animals or exalted human beings. People of like minds need to get together often and talk, discuss, agree, disagree, whatever, but some strong aspect of communication must be present if they want their ideas or groups to survive. That’s what the Church is supposed to be about: A coming together of like minds, believers in Christ, who work together, help and encourage each other in living the Faith and spreading His Word. But it saddens me to say, that in this day of untold prosperity and spectacular technological advancement, we don’t seem to be doing such a great job. We have the best tools and most money ever, but instead of using them to build, we’re using them to destroy. In the first place, there are so many different religions, all claiming to be the one true way. And within each each religion there are other subdivisions, each with their own spin on the subject. Furthermore, within those subdivisions, there might be smaller groups advocating one thing or another. And the strange, sad part, is that everybody believes that they are right, which just foments discord and often leads to physical violence and out and out war. How can this ever benefit the Church, the Body of Christ eh? It only benefits the enemy, who, while we’re stupidly fighting and eradicating each other, sits in the background laughing his head off. Can’t we wake up and realize that the powers of darkness are using the age old tactic of divide and conquer; have us fight amongst ourselves? Just to give a few examples: Eastern based Muslims against Western World Christians; then, within the Muslim world, Shiites against Sunnis; within the Christian world, Catholics against Protestants, most notably in Ireland. Under the Protestant banner there are numerous denominations; Anglican, Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostal, etc. etc. who don’t get along either. Then within Catholicism and each of the Protestant denominations, there are more internal divisions again. So, how in heaven’s name can we be spreading God’s word of peace and LOVE, when we’re so divided, contentious and confrontational, with so much destruction taking place ostensibly in God’s name? You can’t blame the poor non believer for shying away from religion when all he sees amongst us is angst, confrontation and an angry, warlike nature; the exact opposite of what we’re talking to him about. Remember people that examples work more forcibly than words, so it’s of the utmost importance that we walk our talk, otherwise we’re hurting the Lord’s cause, and then our name won’t be recorded in that wonderful book. I’m sure we don’t want that to happen. MUCH LOVE…MUCH MORE SENSIBLE COMMUNICATION…AND MUCH LESS SILLY CONFRONTATION!
SCRIP-BITS 