Bulletin Articles

The practice of making New Year’s resolutions has become a yearly tradition for many Americans. This affords individuals the opportunity to “start over” in many aspects of their lives.

As we approach the year 2022, there will be those who will make resolutions to lose weight, make more money, and exercise regularly just to name a few. These matters are well and good, but Christians (who make resolutions) need to give more serious consideration to spiritual matters (cf. 1 Timothy 4:8).

The practice of making resolutions is not unknown in sacred writings. The Psalmist had several resolutions which he lists in Psalm 101 that are worthy of our attention.

1. “I will sing of mercy and justice” (Psalm 101:1).
2. “I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way” (Psalm 101:2).
3. “I will walk within my house with a perfect heart” (Psalm 101:2)
4. “I will set no wicked things before mine eyes” (Psalm 101:3).
5. “I will not know a wicked person” (Psalm 101:4).
6. “Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land” (Psalm 101:6).

Each of the resolutions listed can easily be applied to Christian living today.

They deal with such matters as attitude, conduct, example, influence, and friendships. They embrace life in the workplace, the home, the school, the community, and yes, even the church.

If you are thinking of making resolutions, may I suggest that you consider the resolutions of the Psalmist. You certainly will be the better for it.

The members in particular at the Miami Gardens church of Christ must RESOLVE to DO what the Lord commands of us.

This begins with our commitment of our time, talent, and resources. Let us all be faithful stewards in 2022.

Many speak of being “called” by God. From the biblical perspective, how is this accomplished? As we seek to evangelize the Miami Garden’s community, we must understand what being called is all about. Many teach that before a person can be saved, he must be “called” by God. Can you explain how this happens? God calls every person who is saved. Not only does God pardon the sinner (cf. Romans 3:26), but he also teaches him of the need and means of forgiveness. The Lord Jesus said, “No man can come to me, except the Father that sent me draw him: and I will raise him up in the last day” (John 6:44).

On the Day of Pentecost, Peter preached that many “afar off” would be saved; God having called them (Acts 2:39). The question is this: how does God call a person to salvation? Paul writes to Christians at Thessalonica that God “called you through our gospel” (2 Thessalonians 2:14). The gospel (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:1-3) is communicated by “the word of truth” (Ephesians 1:13), which God designed to produce faith in sincere hearts (Romans 10:17; John 20:30,31).

To say that a person is saved without God’s “calling” would be equivalent to saying that a person is saved without the gospel. It is just as erroneous, however, to contend that God directly calls a person by some means other than the written (or spoken) gospel message (e.g., a “phone call” from heaven, a voice in the night, or the direct illumination by the Holy Spirit).

The “word of truth, the gospel of your salvation” is the New Testament, and faithful servants preach this wonderful message (2 Timothy 3:15-17; 4:2). God teaches us about his beloved son in this way. And it is in this divinely prescribed manner that God calls men and women to obey his son (1 Corinthians 1:21; Hebrews 5:9).

The Lord explained in John 6: “It is written in the prophets, And they shall all be taught of God. Everyone that hath heard from the Father, and hath learned, comes unto me” (v. 45). When the gospel of God (Mark 1:14; 1 Peter 4:17), concerning the son of God (Romans 1:9), who reconciles us to God (Romans 5:10), is preached by a servant of God (Titus 1:1; cf. Colossians 1:7; 4:12), God is calling.

Consider Paul’s discussion in Romans 10 of how “calling” relates to salvation. “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach, except they be sent? even as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that bring glad tidings of good things! But they did not all hearken to the glad tidings. For Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (v. 13-17).

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:18

Sooner or later, our lives manifest our thoughts about God. Eventually even our faces give us away. Depending on whether our hearts are inclined toward God as He truly is, our faces will glow.

Nothing about us is more important than our conception of God. Each day our characters are unfolding and developing, and the direction in which they develop is determined mainly by our conception of God. In outward action, we tend to move toward whatever image of God we harbor in the depths of our hearts.

What if our basic view of God is false? Whether we’ve deliberately concocted an image of God as we prefer Him to be or we’ve simply been careless, errors in thinking about God are dangerous. The essence of idolatry is to misconceive God and then act as if our misconceptions were true. Idolatry is deadly because it sets before our character a goal that is an illusion, a lie. The idolater destroys himself by growing in reality’s opposite direction.

Think, however, of the good things that must come to pass if the God of our desire is also the God of truth and real life. There is no greater wisdom than wisdom about God, and a “man’s wisdom makes his face shine, and the sternness of his face is changed” (Ecclesiastes 8:1). It is not uncommon for changes in our inward character to show up outwardly, particularly in our faces. When the changes are positive in nature, produced by a more truthful conception of God, the results are often striking. As the old adage puts it, the portrait of a godly soul is a
shining face.

Diligent seekers of God must seek the truth about Him at all costs. By the time we reach our ultimate goal, our faces will bear either the glory of our soul’s growth or the grimness of its decay. We must truly see the man in the mirror through God’s Word.

There was a study made on how young people spend their free time. It said besides listening to their favorite music, they wanted to be around their friends. You probably would agree with this, right? At least you enjoy being with friends who are doing your favorite thing.

How many times have you thought: “the bad influences of my friends don’t affect me, I’m strong enough.” Even when talking with others (parents, preachers, elders, etc.) we often say “My friends don’t influence me to do what is wrong” or “I am a leader.” No matter what we may think (Isaiah 55:8-9), the Bible has something definitive to say about our friends. Proverbs 24:1 states “Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them.” Why not, they are my friends? “For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief.” (Proverbs 24:2)

Furthermore, the Bible states in I Corinthians 15:33 “Be not deceived: evil communications (companionships) corrupt good manners.” You may be fine now, but if you make friends with those who are morally corrupt, you will become morally corrupt as well.

Do you really think that you can outsmart God, because you know how to choose your friends? Too many Christians fail to have close Christian companionships. Yes, we must seek to win souls, and we must never seek to make others feel as if we are better than them. We must show them a better way of living as a child of God. We must not compromise our belief and faith in God to make friends of this world. “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity (hostility) with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is an enemy of God” (James 4:4)

Choose your friends carefully. The bible is right…do not let Satan beguile you.

James chapter two opens by telling us that God is no respecter of persons. One who wears good raiment and a gold ring have no more standing in the sight of God (James 2:1-5) than one who wears cheaper clothing. God looks on the heart and not on the outward appearance. Even poor men may be heirs of the eternal inheritance. One who would mistreat another because he is poor is guilty of blaspheming the name of Christ (James 2:6-7). Only one thing will stand tall in the sight of God and that is a faith which works by love.

The fruit of faith is deeds. Faith is of no worth unless it demonstrates its love by works. No sinner can be saved unless he is willing to be baptized in the blood of the lamb. The lesson in this chapter is to Christians. They then refused to care for those in need. It was impossible for them to be saved even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead being alone (James 2:17).

James uses Abraham as an illustration of one whose faith was made perfect by his works. Abraham’s life was a demonstration of faith in action. When he was told to leave his home, “he went forth not knowing whither” (Hebrews 11:18) he went. This was an act of faith. “By faith he sojourned in the land of promise” (Hebrews 11:9). Each of these acts of faith secured divine approval, but the supreme trial was when he offered up Issac.

Abraham’s faith was a working faith. The faith that saves is the faith that obeys. It takes faith plus action to secure a blessing from God. No man ever secured any kind of blessing either spiritual or temporal, on account of his own faith until after that faith had expressed itself in an action. Abraham was called the friend of God because he was always ready to do what God said for him to do.

“I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you.” Job 42:5

We are far away from God, and the journey back to Him takes more than a day. We begin by hearing distant reports of Him, perhaps listening to them skeptically because they don’t fit with what we think we know of reality. Eventually, however, we begin to see some truth in what we’ve heard. At some point, we may commit ourselves to seeking Him and to living according to His principles, although some of these principles still don’t make complete sense to us. But over time, we discover that we’ve passed into a completely different land than we used to live in. What once was theory now seems solid and very practical.

We find that the knowledge of God is no longer something to speculate about but rather something to experience. Like Job, who said, “I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you,” we find that however serious we were about God before, He has now become real to us. And in the process of His becoming real to us, we ourselves have become real also.

It needs to be said, of course, that the passage from knowing God in theory to knowing Him in real life involves a good deal of discomfort. Just as it is through suffering that our knowledge becomes wisdom, so it is through suffering that our wisdom becomes reality. Only as we work our way through hardships do we learn that the truth really is true after all.

The safe nursery of our thinking is not where we find out what works and what doesn’t; it’s out in the street where mistakes about what is real are costly. That is why God invites us to take some risks and put Him to the test: “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8).

Becoming real is a gradual process. It takes place so slowly that sometimes we wonder if we’re making any progress at all. But if we’re patient — and if we’re willing to accept a certain amount of pain as we learn — then the time will come when the best of the good ideas that we’ve had will come true. We’ll find ourselves not merely thinking about God but knowing Him. And in God, what we’ve always wanted to be is what we actually will be!

Although there is much to celebrate in this great nation; there are an increasing number of people who are very unhappy.

In this country we have been blessed above any nation that has ever existed. These blessings have come because in the past this nation trusted in God and was known as a Christian nation. But things have changed and are continuing to change. More and more individuals are putting their trust in pills, psychologists, drugs, alcohol, material wealth, pleasure, and in themselves instead of the living God. Tranquilizers replace the faith in far too many lives. It is estimated that 30 million sleeping pills were taken last night in the USA.

But “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of the drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit” (Jeremiah 17:7-8).

To be sure in each life some rain must fall; some days will be dark and dreary. By trusting in God, these moments properly used make for a brighter and better tomorrow. If there were no difficulties, there could be no triumphs. In dealing with life’s problems, Paul writes from his prison cell, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say rejoice! Be anxious for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:4,6). Just imagine a prisoner writing such words to men who were at liberty to go and do as they pleased. Another time when Paul was in jail we read in Acts 16:25, “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.” Paul certainly serves as an example of how we should trust in God.

As we are trusting in God we have “the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). Because of our trust in God, “But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; let them even shout for joy, because You defend them” (Psalms 5:11). We should have great joy and gladness to know that we are God’s children “for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

Our trusting in God will help us to “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great recompense of reward” (Hebrews 10:35). Let’s “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart” (Proverbs 3:5) so we can go to heaven. “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). We cannot even begin to imagine how wonderful heaven will be. So let’s trust in the living God so we can go to heaven.