The Pharisee and the Law

The Pharisees of Jesus' day began with a noble cause. They wanted to keep God in the government. The Sadducees on the other hand wanted a completely secular state without any mention of God. They had adopted, not only the Greek language and culture, but its lewd and lascivious lifestyle as well. It was a life and let live society; if it feels good, do it. The Pharisees arose in opposition to this. They rightly wanted God's word to be observed. The word Pharisee means separatists. They remembered God's command to be a Holy and Separate people.

Their failure was legalism; they made a rule for everything. They expanded the law of Moses with "what-ifs" that made daily life a chore instead of a joy. They called themselves teaching people how to observe God's law but  made them dread the law instead. No doubt many where driven to abandon the law altogether because it seemed to be impossible to keep.

The problem with legalism is that one can not  anticipate every situation in advance. If I tell someone what to do, instead of teaching him to think, he will always be dependent on me. If I teach him to think, he will eventually become a teacher himself. So it should be in the Christian life.

Jesus told his followers to go and make disciples. Disciples are those who have chosen to discipline themselves to follow the law. Their is nothing wrong with the law. Who would want to live in a society that had no rules? Think about driving down the street without stop lights? What is there were no laws against trespassing or even murder. You get the point.

Observing the law of God is a good thing. It brings the blessings of God on one's life. It keeps the young from folly and gives the old a place of honor and respect in society. It shows us how to live and how to die.  So how should this law be enforced? The Muslim answer is to kill those who do not obey. Should this be the Christian answer as well? 

As a Christian I must determine to keep the law of God out of love and respect for him. Because I love God, I will obey his word. In doing so, I pray that others will want to follow my example. Hopefully they will see through my joy for life that observing God's law is a blessing and not a curse.

The Pharisees missed the concept of living by example so they lived by law with no grace. As a Christian I must live by grace and let God enforce his law. I will not throw the law out and join the Sadducees but I will seek to live the law without the harshness of the Pharisees. The law is perfected through love.

In Christ's love,

Sullivan Jones

The Belly God

I was in the store this afternoon picking up a few things I needed. It was a few hours past lunch and I was getting hungry. I have been trying to eat healthier the last couple of weeks and I guess my body was having withdrawals. I saw something on the shelf I knew I didn't need and started to put it in my shopping cart. Right at that moment a phrase of scripture came to my mind: whose God is their belly. I knew immediately what the Spirit was saying so I put the junk food back and moved on. I passed the test that time. I must admit, however, that it is one of the few times I have.

The scripture here is talking about man's appetites. If there was ever a generation whose God is its appetite, it is this one. The average American spends two or three hours a day watching tv and eating junk food all the while. We are consumed with the newest technology, the latest movie, and the latest fashions. People will stand in line all night to buy a video game for their children. "Whose God is their belly". . .

The scripture goes on to say that they glory in their shame. Without the Spirit of God to help us all of will give into our basest desires. The more we do, the more vile they become. What once was considered shameful is now paraded in the streets as decent and courageous. We wonder how we came to this place; how did America fall so far? It is because our appetites have become our God. We are ruled by what makes us feel good. It is a dangerous place to be because the more we entertain the flesh, the more we want to entertain it and the more evil it becomes.

Do you wonder why you don't desire to pray like you once did? Why is the study of scripture no longer appealing? Maybe you find yourself falling asleep in church but can stay awake all night watching a movie? It may be time to curb your appetite. I am the guiltiest of all. I realize their is a constant battle with the flesh and I must keep it under subjection to the spirit of God daily. If I don't it will win every time.

Lord, help me to remember that my body is the temple of your spirit. I must keep myself holy, both physically and spiritually. I have said that I will serve only you. Don't let me pay homage to the belly God.

Prayerfully,

Sullivan Jones

Raised from the Dead

Is healing for us today? I believe it is. There are some who believe that the power to heal went out with the days of the apostles. I have seen too many instances of God’s miraculous power to accept this. Allow me to tell you about one of them.

After church one Sunday I went with my brother John and his family to the beach in Gulfport, Ms. When we got to the beach the tide was out so we decided to wade out as far as we could. We were at a place called Moses Pier. At that place you can go out quite a distance from shore during low tide. Once the tide started to come in we had to hurry to beat it back to the shore.

As we neared the beach someone began to yell, “There is a man in the water.” My brother and another man hurried back to see. There was a man unconscious in the water near the end of the pier. The man, whom I will refer to as Jack Smith, had dove off of the pier into three feet of water. They began to pull him back to shore with John asking if anyone knew CPR. The man who was helping John pull Jack out of the water was yelling the whole time, “don’t bother, this man is dead”. They got him to the beach and someone began to do CPR. It was evident after a few moments that CPR was not working. There were two nurses at the scene who also said he was dead.

John knelt down and put his hand on the man’s chest and began to pray saying, “Not now Jesus. Please don’t let this man go into eternity”. In a few minutes he felt the man’s heart beat one time. Then it began to beat more steadily. When the ambulance crew got there the man was still unconscious but he was alive.

When the beach patrol showed up, one of the policemen  identified the man as Jack Smith and said he was an alcoholic. He implied that we should have left him in the water to drown. My brother looked at him and said, “Man you don’t know what I was before God changed my life.” No one is beyond the reach of God’s love.

Later John was able to visit Jack in the hospital. He was paralyzed from the neck down but conscious and able to talk. He thanked John for praying for him and helping to get him out of the water. I don’t know where Jack is today but this event will be forever imprinted on my mind as a testimony to the miraculous power of our God. I can honestly say I have seen someone raised from the dead.