Jan
14
2008

MONDAY, 1/14/08

This week’s Bible readings are as follows:  today Genesis 40 – 42, Tuesday 43 – 45, Wednesday 46 – 48, Thursday 49 – 50 (one book completed – congratulations!), Friday Exodus 1 – 4, Saturday 5 – 7, Sunday 8 – 10. 

We had a good day yesterday with the highlight being Ryan Sessions making a public profession of faith in the 10:30AM service.  That service also saw several folks making other decisions and the evening service saw a good number of folks at the altar.  It is always a wonderful thing to see the Spirit of God moving in our services.  We give Him the glory for all He is doing! 

We had a good, albeit brief, meeting about our Summer ’08 GRACE Ministries trips.  Simply put, all persons signed up must pay their deposit by January 30.  We have a few openings on two of our trips so contact me if you are interested. 

Jim Sciple was supposed to come home from the hospital yesterday and I am assuming that he did.  Miss Exie Woods was readmitted to the hospital on Saturday but was showing signs of improvement yesterday.  She has had a tough go of it for the past six weeks.  Emogene Rivere (Janice Smith’s sister) had heart surgery on Friday and is not doing so well.  Pray for Jim, Miss Exie, & Emogene. 

We have four members of the Friendship family scheduled for surgery this week – Edna Morgan (Wed), Jackie Goff (Thur), Wendy Johnston (Fri), and Willie Pierre (Fri in New Orleans).  Pray for these respective procedures. 

Jim Aldridge’s mother passed away on New Year’s Eve.  She lived in the Syracuse, NY area and they had a memorial service there.  Yesterday afternoon, Jim and his family had a private memorial service in his home.  Pray for Jim, Bev, and the family during this time. 

The members of our student committee (middle school and senior high) are asked to attend a meeting tonight at 6:30PM in the student ministry building. 

I hope you have a great Monday with Jesus! 

Written by Teddie in: Daily |

1 Comment

  • Mark Mast says:

    Pastor Teddie,

    It has been a week since I last visited your blog… sorry for my negligence… I am replying to T. Garrett Wright’s question on January 9:
    “If borrowing money is not biblical is lending with the expectation of interest payments also not biblical (be sure to make no other stumble). If it is true that this is a prohibition then a person seeking to live Biblically with this understanding of Romans could not invest in any debt securities, bonds, notes, bills, commercial paper or debentures. Money in savings accounts is used to make loans to create the interest payment on the deposit. Investment in a savings, pension, 401k, 401-3b would also be prohibited.
    Any thoughts?”

    First of all, I do not believe there is a scriptural prohibition (commandment) against going into debt… principle, yes… Definitely, there is strong encouragement to avoid debt with all costs… Proverbs 22:7 says, “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.”

    I don’t like being in slavery if I can avoid it.

    So, can Christians who are living by the biblical principle of living debt-free invest in debt securities, bonds, notes, bills, commercial paper, debentures, loans to create interest payment on the deposit, investment in a savings, pension, 401k, 401-3b, etc?

    I see nothing in Scripture prohibiting this… so long as you are first of all being willing to loan money to fellow Christians without expecting interest. Below are a few scriptures on this…

    Exodus 22:25
    “If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not be like a moneylender; charge him no interest.

    Leviticus 25:36
    Do not take interest of any kind from him, but fear your God, so that your countryman may continue to live among you.

    Leviticus 25:37
    You must not lend him money at interest or sell him food at a profit.

    Deuteronomy 23:19
    Do not charge your brother interest, whether on money or food or anything else that may earn interest.

    There have been a number of times in my life that I have loaned money to brothers in need… actually, most often it has been to widows in need, and it was a test of my faith… not so much that I would lose on the “interest” I might have earned in a bank… but the “principle” investment itself. Each time I was placed in this position, I took the attitude that whatever the outcome, it was ultimately a gift to the person in need.

    There is this scripture reference about lending money to those who are not “brothers”…

    Deuteronomy 23:20
    You may charge a foreigner interest, but not a brother Israelite, so that the LORD your God may bless you in everything you put your hand to in the land you are entering to possess.

    In the parable of the talents, it was assumed that the least thing one could do with investing money would be to put it in a bank and earn interest…

    Matthew 25:27
    Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

    Luke 19:23
    Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?’

    The real crunch comes with Jesus’ words in Luke 6:32-36

    32″If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. 33And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. 34And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. 35But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

    I’ve got a l-o-n-g way to go on that one… pray for me…

    By God’s grace I am moving steadily toward Matthew 6:25-34
    25″Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[a]?
    28″And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

    This “sermon” has possibly raised more questions than it has answered, but I hope it clarifies my take on what the Bible says…

    Blessed to be a blessing,

    Mark Mast

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