Unity

"All efforts of union but that of God's holiness is as pounding cold, crooked pieces of iron toegether. The more blows, the more crooks and differences. Put them into a furnace of white heat and they will lose their cold, stiff, crooked individuality, and flow into one mass...Freedom from sin knits together in love." --D. S. Warner

Thus, if righteousness, the righteous life that we ought to live through Christ, is not preached, we will never have any more than a superficial "unity". If we preach that "we must sin in thought, word, and deed," we will most assuredly have sects and factions; so long as this insidious doctrine is preached and believed, we will only be as cold-hearted crooked, stiffnecked individuals. Unless we preach for the purpose of right, godly, blameless living; unless we call each other to "cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God", we will never see true unity in the professed body of Christ. But, if we live in holiness and righteousness, we can then call to our brothers and sisters, and say, "receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man...ye are in our hearts to die and live with you." (II Cor. 7:1,2).

"There is therefore no real cause of division but sin." --D. S. Warner

Can you say to every man, that you have behaved yourself in all holiness and righteousness and honesty? If you cannot, is not this the very reason that you have not true fellowship in the body of Christ? If you are not one with the true followers of Christ, DO something about it! Don't just sit and wonder where it went, for you know where it is -- it is in the obedience to Christ -- for "hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments", and if we know Him, we will know and fellowship with those who are His.

My "Statement of Ethics"

Ethics are, simply put, "doing what is right." What is right? "Right," according to the dictionary, is the state of being in conformity to facts or truth; thus, any ability to "do what is right" implies that there is a truth to conform to, and that that truth is applicable to the situation. I believe (based on evidence) that ethics have an absolute basis, not changing according to my culture or individual sentivities. This absolute is Jesus Christ - for He is the Word of God - He is the way, the Truth, and the life.

My values are derived from what I know to be true - thus, my highest value is that Truth is more important to me than anything else, including my life. For several reasons I have found the Bible to be the epitome of truth, not only true as a whole, but true in all of its parts as well -- literally, the word of God, given to man. Because I am dedicated to Truth, I choose to abide by the principles and laws given in the Bible, which are, in essence, two:

• "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment."

Thus, my mission in life is to carry out this edict. I show this by obeying the commands given by God.

• "And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself..."

"...On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." This means that all of the other descriptors of righteous living are merely attributes of this one motive -- benevolence -- service to God and my neighbour. Integrity, honesty, loyalty, self-denial, work-ethic, patience, meekness, etc. are all manifestations of my obedience to this second command.

Modesty (From a Man's Perspective)

Modest clothing is clothing that does not draw my eye (and thus my mind) to places (or thoughts) that stimulate lustful or envious desires. Immodest clothes are worn with the knowledge that they are a stumblingblock to those who look thereon.

Now, modest clothing does not preclude lust altogether -- I may choose to lust after a girl who is dressed in a burqa -- but the key is where the thought process begins; is it provoked by the article of clothing worn (or not worn, as the case may be)? This is immodesty. But if it begins as a choice by my own mind to lust, immodesty is not the issue of concern.

This principle of modesty does not apply to clothing only; body posture, word choice, and voice inflection can (and should) all be governed by the same principle.

The driving force behind true modesty is charity -- A desire to put the needs of others before one's self interest.

Emotionalism

One thing I heartily dislike in "worship" (praise, actually), during most church services is when it is done in such a way as to foster a "worshipful" emotional state.

This focus in "worship" does two things:

It supports the (false) idea that worship consists in a certain feeling, rather than the consecration of my will to God's will.

The second thing that it does is to take my eyes off of true worship and puts my focus on a warm/fuzzy feeling which is so far from the true service of God.

I would much rather skip the portion of the service (though song is a very appropriate form of praise) and spend more time strengthening my faith with preaching from the Word of God. Perhaps I am waxing slightly heretical to favour rationality over emotion, but I think not.


"Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church. Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also." (I Corinthians 14:12-15, emphasis mine)

A Cheap Religion

In perusing a Gospel newsletter, I came across this article, and thought it made a very important point - one that I see describing much of the "church" today, and thus, it needs to be addressed.

A Cheap Religion

This is an age when we want things at a bargain -- a reduced price. This also pertains to religion. All people in all climes want happiness and peace of mind; hence any form of relifion which will promise this and give a hope of heaven, without much ignominy, is the very thing they are after. So we see:

A religion without repentance. true repentance implies not only the forsaking of all outward and inward sin, but restitution as well -- the undoing, so far as possible, of all offenses of the past.. This means confession to God and to individuals who have been wronged, defrauded, or hated. Friend, have you so repented that no one can point at you and say, "You injured me and my standing, and have never apologized"?

A religion of good works. thousands of people, including ministers, arise early Sunday morning, say prayers, take Holy Communion, give offerings to ease the conscience, and make themselves believe they are on the way to heaven; but they lack the one all-essential thing -- the New Birth. Jesus plainly said "Except a man be born again [born from above], he cannot see the kingdom of God." Why be deceived?

A religion without holiness. We read that without holiness no man shall see the Lord, but this cheap religion says, "We must sin; we must gratify unholy desires." Such a religion may please the flesh, but remember it will fail you when you are dying. Then you will want to be as pure as the blood of Christ can cleanse you.

A religion that will let you drink, grudge, speak unkindly, go to law, or seperate you from your family, will dissapoint you at the Judgment.

On the other hand, the right kind of religion will enable you to live a Christlike life. Yea, since you are made partaker fo the Divine nature, you will naturally act like your saviour. As a result, you will love the Bible more than any other reading. You will also love long sessions of secret prayer. Of course, you will love all men of all nations, even your enemies.

Friends, how is it with you? Do not rest on a form, but insist on the power of Christ within.

-- E. E. Shelhamer (printed in Hallelujah!, the official gazette of the Bible Holiness Movement)

The Gospel

Every person on earth needs forgiveness for having disobeyed God (Romans 3:23). We cannot be saved from sin by trying to do better, for we have no way of making up for our own past misdeeds.


Therefore, part one in the way of salvation is: Repent from your sins.

"Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out" (Acts 3:19)


However, step one alone cannot save us, for without God's involvement, it is merely works. Thus, repentance must be combined with faith in God, for those who wish to be pleasing to God must "believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6)


Part two then is: Believe on Jesus Christ.

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." (Acts 16:31)


Now, what do repentance from sin and faith in Christ look like in your life? "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also" (James 2:26). This involves the next two parts...


Confess Jesus as your Master:

"If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart the God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." (Romans 10:9)

and...

Live the obedient life:

"Not everyone that saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 7:21)

"Whosoever says he knows God but does not obey Him is a liar." (1 John 2:4)


Too many people stop at part two and think that they have all the salvation they need - faith without works - this dead faith, however is not the salvation that Scripture speaks of. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil; if the people that He has saved continue in sin, what victory is there, since Satan's works are still being done? If you are truly saved, you will bear fruit - good fruit - just as a tree is known by the fruit it bears, a believer in Christ is known by whom he obeys (1 John 3:10).

Envy or Jealousy?

Envy and jealousy are often used interchangeably, but these terms are very different. Both can be used to describe a "covetous" state of the will, but this is where the synonymity ends.

To covet is to desire - this is not in itself evil - "but," you might say, "isn't covetousness everywhere condemned as evil?" It may appear so, but in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, he tells them to "covet earnestly the best gifts." (12:31)

What is the difference, then?

Envy is the coveting of those things that are not rightfully one's own, resulting in ill will and discontent. True love never envies.

Jealousy, though, cannot be morally wrong, for the very reason that God Himself is a Jealous God. So what is jealousy? It is the coveting of those things that are rightfully one's own, resulting in righteous anger at the injustice that is done by someone else taking it away.

Does this give us an excuse to be angry with others? I would argue that, in most circumstances, the answer is NO; because usually we are too shortsighted to see the consequences of our anger. Jealous actions must always be consistent with love, because love is the root of jealousy.

However, there is a place for anger, because Paul admonishes us to "be angry, and sin not," but this anger must result not from injury to our person, but from true, godly love - and our actions must always be consistent with love: "Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." (I Corinthians 13:4-7).