THE FOLLOWING WAS WRITTEN BY Tony Rickard. SOME REALLY GOOD POINTS AND THOUGHTS HERE. -ST


Praise the Lord,

For what it is worth.

Any time that tragedy interrupts out lives we tend to react with the eternal why. Our question is what did I do to deserve this. My answer is that life does not work that way. In reality life as we know it does not work at all. Again the question would be why. I want to give at least one point of view as to the answer.

TV has talked about eight simple rules. Charlton Heston reminded us again a few weeks ago that the God of the Bible has ten.

1. God is first and has to be first in our lives. Family, country, job, and everything else that is good and fine in life have to come after.

2. We must not worship, honor, or give our hearts, as it were, to anything made with human hands. We tend to think of that rule as anachronistic in the twenty-first century. As I have said to more than one pastor few people in our culture set up an idol in the church and bow down to worship it. We park our idols out in front of the church where everyone who goes by can worship them. Our cars, houses, TVs, and computers often hold more of our loyalty and love than God does.

3. We must not misuse God's name. That is not limited to, although it includes, using God's name as a curse. It also includes using God's name to guarantee a lie(see rule 9) or justify the murder of innocent people (see rule 6).

4. We are only to work six days out of every seven. This rule was given to us for the sake of our own health. One day in seven we are to rest, recreate, and worship. We are not all required to keep the same day just one day in seven we should do nothing more than prepare the food we eat and clean up after. It is also important to take the opportunity to thank God for our very existence not to mention any blessings we have received.

5. Our parents brought us into this world. However disreputable they may be we owe them honor. Somehow that is a condition for long life. It does not require that we let them destroy our lives or families. They are not supposed to treat us that way.

6. We are not to commit murder. Killing in self-defense, the defense of freedom, or various other just causes is not murder. We have to consider the circumstances. If anger, lust, or greed are the only circumstances it is certainly murder (see rule 10).

7. We are not supposed to have sexual relations with anyone we are not
married to. To forestall any gay bashing remember that two heterosexuals who are not married are committing the same sin as to gay
people are committing. The particular gravity of these sins is that they are against our own bodies where Christians believe God's Holy Spirit lives. The view that there is no victim overlooks the harm we do to ourselves as well as anyone else effected. More pain is probably
visited on more people in the world in this way than by anything other than murder.

8. We are not to take any property that is not rightly ours. This is not limited to the junky mugger in the street or the embezzler or even
the pilfering office worker. Profits that exceed all reasonableness especially on things like prescription drugs are just as much stealing. Whenever we take things that we have not properly earned we are stealing.

9. We are not supposed to tell lies about other people. That includes but is not limited to telling stories about other people that we have heard and that we believe to be true, gossiping. It does not even matter if we know the person. It is just as wrong to take someone's reputation as it is to take their life, spouse, or property.

10. If we hate, lust, or envy we are already guilty. It is bad enough to want to murder, sin sexually, steal, or lie. This is the one where the last of us falls. I defy any one who can count their age it two digits to honestly claim they are not guilty on this one.

In summary we are to love God with all of our hearts and souls and minds and strength. We are to love other people as much as we love
ourselves. We are to treat other people as we wish to be treated. We are called to be just, more than that merciful. Most of all we must
realize that before God our only chance is if He will love us despite ourselves. I will admit that I have at some point in my life been
guilty of nine of the ten. I have never murdered anyone. If there is someone out there who can honestly examine their life and say they have kept all ten always for all of their life I would love to meet you. For the rest of us there is our answer as to why the world is a mess and bad things happen. None of us really deserve better. If we get it we should thank God and Praise His holy name.

Maranatha,
Agape,
Tony Rickard

Hello Shawn T.
Board Admin
Member! , and how are you all doing? , on this blessed day of our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth of course! ,

Well seeing that we must have been raised in that kind of environment of which day is suppose to be kept holy, and that God's holy convocations, are kept by some people,

but however it does not changes his words of life for whosoever believeth in him/his words/and not ours,

because after reading this particular post, it really puts me to remember where The Lord Jesus Christ had brought me from,

but still has he have said: in some many other scriptures, which can not be broken: John 14:15, Eph. 4:13, Lk. 4:16, Matt. 26:2, (Run the race) Hebrews 12:1-11-(Warnings against disobedience) -12-29.

Now! I see that it is a time for everything. but please reply:

http://www.firstthings1st.com

Shawn,

Thanks for sharing!


May the Lord continue to minister to your heart as you ficilitate a God driven ministry!

To God be the Glory!!!!