Newsletter Vol.1, #51—December 11, 2005

Matthew 7 ⁹Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?

SUNDAY  NIGHT

I love the church that Jesus bought

And know that it is right.

I go there Sunday morning,

But not on Sunday night.

I love to sing the songs of God

Such worship must be right.

This I do on Sunday morning,

But not on Sunday night.

I love to hear the gospel too

It gives me pure delight.

I hear it Sunday morning,

But not on Sunday night.

God bless our preacher too

And give him power and might,

But put a sinner in my place,

Come Sunday night.

I’d go through mud, even snow,

And do anything that's right

To be at services Sunday morning,

But not on Sunday night.

Let others be on hand

To worship God aright.

But I want my easy chair,

And other things, come Sunday night.

I know I need more strength

To keep on in the fight.

For help I come on Sunday morning,

But not on Sunday night.

Yes, all of us must die,

And I hope I'll be doing right.

So, may I die dear Lord ~

On Sunday morning

And not on Sunday night.

26 Beautiful One-liners continued

6. Don't put a question mark where God puts a period.
7. Are you wrinkled with burden? Come to church for a face-lift.
8. When praying, don't give God instructions - just report for duty.
9. Don't wait for six strong men to take you to church.
10 We don't change God's message -- His message changes us.
11. The church is prayer-conditioned.
12. warning: Exposure to the Son may prevent burning.
13. Plan ahead -- It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark.

14. Most people want to serve God, but only in an advisory position.
15. Suffering from truth decay? Brush up on your Bible.

16. Exercise daily -- walk with the Lord.

THE TRAIL OF SATAN

Philip North

Jesus told a group of Jews in John 8:44, "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."  Paul declared in II Corinthians 11:14, "And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." The beloved John stated in Revelation 20:10, And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."  May we all learn from these verses, along with all else said in God's word about Satan, just how cunning and deceitful he really is!

Satan's trail down to Hell aplenty is paved,

With such ‘good intentions’ to keep you unsaved

This path will delight and so much excite,

Making sure you ignore and eschew all that's right

Don't ever so think that you won't be enticed,

Or your life will end up all sliced and diced

For this wily culprit deceives all the way,

And messes up life with each passing day

He'll work on your flesh, emotions, and mind,

Oh! Satan's the zenith of being unkind!

His trail looks so pretty to walk and to follow,

But staying on it makes life very hollow

The devil is full of nothing but lies,

So all sin he covers with clever disguise

He majors in misery, grief, and despair,

He'll lead you to Hell, yes, he'll take you there

Satan will brainwash you all the way,

And put in your mind the wrong things to say

He's tricky, he's sneaky, and deals quite a blow,

While he makes all sport of mankind with his show

He doesn't support common sense or what's happy,

So listening to him will make life quite sappy

The devil is the giant author of wrong,

To live by his views churns out one big sad song

He too knows that Bible, yes, he's so alert!

But all that he quotes, he'll only pervert

Old Satan is negative, bad through and through,

He'll poison your mind, saying God is taboo

He'll make the whole Bible look so boring and dull,

Then send you most rampant in sin all awhirl.

Both doctrinally and morally, the devil corrupts,

Then all your comeuppance most fully erupts

He loathes all that's good and loves all that's bad,

Thus making your life so frustrating and sad

You won't learn contentment, peace, or relaxation,

For the devil just craves all trials and vexation

He's all full of sin, being the original sinner,

Making one who heeds him a loser – no winner!

Don't give him an inch or he'll be your ruler,

For he'll say that living for him is much cooler

But there'll come a day when Satan is gone,

He'll burn, cry, and suffer for all he has done

No more will he linger and do all his dirt,

This scoundrel himself will forever hurt

He'll burn with the angels and all people who

Allowed him to dictate to them what to do

So don't follow Satan, the devil, he's called,

Or straight down to Hell your soul will be hauled.

Slightly adapted by Larry A. Bunch

HABITUAL CHRISTIANS

Tommy Thornhill

‘To you priests, who despise My Name, yet you say, 'In what way have we despised Your Name?' You offer defiled food on My altar. But you say, 'In what way have we defiled You?' By saying, 'The table of the Lord is contemptible. . .' But you profane it, in that you say, 'The table of the Lord is contemptible.' You also say, 'o, what a weariness' ‘ Mal.1:6,7,12,13.

How sad to read of people who professed to be God's priests actually despising the altar, and performing their duties as priests without heart and without faith. They looked upon the services of God in the temple as an intolerable burden saying, ‘O, what a weariness!’ When such indifference pervades the heart to render services to God as a wearisome burden, rather than ‘a labor of love’ then surely it is better to close the door of the temple than pretend to worship God. ‘Who is there even among you who would shut the doors, so that you would not kindle fire on my altar in vain? I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, Nor will I accept an offering from your hands.’ Mal.1:10.

This same attitude was exhibited earlier in Israel's history during the days of Hosea when the people asked, ‘When will the New Moon be past, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may trade our wheat?’ Hos.8:5. God had established the Sabbath and the New Moon as days of rest and worship, and the Sabbath as a memorial of Israel's deliverance from bondage. Now centuries later, the very ones who had benefited from God's blessings view these days as hindrances to their businesses, rather than opportunities to thank God for His wonderful providence and provisions. They were more concerned with making money than serving God.

Does this attitude exist today among God's people? It surely does. Many Christians get no pleasure from the assemblies of the church. To them attendance has become a drudgery, and the services boring, uninspiring and meaningless. When they open the song books and mouth the songs there is no melody in the heart. When the sermons are preached their minds are not on the lessons, but off wandering somewhere else. The communion is worthless to them because they do not discern the Lord's death. These same Christians have no pleasurable associations with other saints outside the assemblies, and they would rather associate with the world than with saints. To them, worshipping and serving God is a "weariness" to be endured and they cannot wait for the Lord's day to be over so they can get on with the regular worldly pursuits.      To be concluded…