PROVERBS 5
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Son warned to listen to father verse 1- 2
My son – attend unto my wisdom
and bow your ear to my understanding
that you may regard discretion
and that your lips may keep knowledge
Immoral woman to be avoided verse 3- 6
For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb
and her mouth is smoother than oil
BUT her end is bitter as wormwood
sharp as a two-edged sword
Her feet go down to death
her steps take hold on hell
Lest you should ponder the path of life
her ways are moveable
that you cannot know them
Reasons to avoid immoral woman verse 7- 14
Hear me now therefore – O you children
and depart not from the words of my mouth
Remove your way far from her
and come not nigh the door of her house
Lest you give your honor to others
and your years unto the cruel
Lest strangers be filled with your wealth
and your labors be in the house of a stranger
and you mourn at the last
when your flesh and your body are consumed
And say
How have I hated instruction
and my heart despised reproof
and have not obeyed the voice of my teachers
nor inclined mine ear to them
that instructed me
I was almost in all evil
in the midst of the congregation and assembly
Father advices to stay with own wife verse 15- 17
Drink waters out of thine own cistern
and running waters out of thine own well
Let your fountains be dispersed abroad
and rivers of waters in the streets
Let them be only your own
and not strangers’ with you
Reason to stay with own wife verse 18- 20
Let your fountain be blessed
and rejoice with the wife of your youth
Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe
let her breasts satisfy you at all times
and be you ravished always with her love
And why will you, my son,
be ravished with a strange women
and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
Realize the eyes of the LORD on all verse 21- 23
For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD
and HE ponders all his ways
His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself
and he shall be held with the cords of his sins
He shall die without instruction
and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil. (2214 “strange woman” [zara] means loathsome, nausea, unfamiliar, unknown, generally morally corrupt woman, perhaps a prostitute, enemy, illegitimate, illicit, foreigner, or forbidden.)
DEVOTION: This book is written to men who are married. It is to the son of Solomon. We know that because of his many wives Solomon knew more than most about the way women can lead a man in the wrong direction.
Here he is talking to his married sons and asking them not to believe another woman who would flatter with her lips to get them to think about going after her instead of staying true to his wife.
Flattery is a sin in the eyes of the LORD. We have to watch those who would say good things about us to get us to do what they want they want us to do. Here we have the temptation of a woman toward a married man.
Sometimes as people are married for a time the words of encouragement don’t come from a spouse. This can cause a man to be tempted when someone does boost his ego. This is one of the temptations of Satan that he likes to send to married men.
Solomon has found that he has fallen for these tricks of the devil and is warning his children to not fall into the same trap. It is hard when a father teaches one thing and does another. So we find that the children of Solomon had to choose between what he taught and how he acted.
CHALLENGE: Fathers need to not only teach the truth of Scripture but also to show by example how to live a life that is pleasing to the LORD.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 9 Lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel. (1935 “honor” [howd] means glory, majesty, beauty, comeliness, splendor, vigor, a state of high honor, authority, strength, or freshness.)
DEVOTION: Our actions speak louder than our words. Solomon wanted his son to realize that it is important that we watch everything we say or do in our world. He wanted his son to make sure that before he spoke he would think about what he was going to say because once the words leave his mouth they are not going to return to his mouth.
Too often when we make wrong comments or have wrong actions in our life they seem to be remembered by others for the rest of our life. Most people remember the bad and not the good that we do. They think that because they know something bad about you then they are better than you are for the rest of their life.
We need to make sure that we keep short accounts with God and ask HIM to help us each day to overcome any actions that would hurt our testimony. HE can do that and does because HE is a forgiving God.
People are cruel when they know something bad about you and they don’t seem to like to give up that cruel treatment of you. The LORD has forgiven and has moved on but most humans can’t see to do that.
Solomon wants his children to remember what life is like and to keep their actions pleasing to the LORD at this time period in his life. As we know that at the end of his life he moved away from the LORD and too often that is all people remember of him.
CHALLENGE: God wants us to serve HIM all of our life and knows that their will be times of failure but HE is forgiving. Many humans are not as forgiving.
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: 12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof (5006 “despised” [na’ats] means spurned, disdained, rejected, treat with contempt, deride, or abhor.)
DEVOTION: Did you listen to your parents when you were growing up? Did they try to instruct you? Did you consider them smart enough to help you? Were they even around while you were growing up?
Solomon is giving his son sexual advice. It is probably the hardest advice to give to your children. However, he had much experience in this area. He also was the smartest man alive at his time. He sometimes didn’t follow his own wise counsel but that shouldn’t stop us from listening to what he had to say. He was trying to honor the LORD with his training of his son. He didn’t want his son/sons to fall into the same trap that many men fell into throughout the time from Adam to present.
His advice was to stay with the wife of his youth. He seemed to imply that every man should be satisfied with his own wife. They were to enjoy each other sexually. They were to enjoy being together. They were to satisfy each other at all times.
The New Testament gives similar instructions in I Corinthians chapter seven and other places. In the New Testament as in the Old Testament the man was to marry one woman for life unless his wife died. God created Adam and Eve. The descendants of Cain were the ones who started marrying more than one woman. It caused problems because those who were followers of the LORD started following their example over the instructions of the LORD.
Just like Solomon’s son rejected his father’s counsel, we also seem to reject what the LORD says regarding our relationship to our spouse. If we reject the counsel of the LORD, we will also fall into the traps described in this chapter.
CHALLENGE: Listen to the wise counsel of Solomon and stay with the wife of your youth. Instruct your children to do the same. Remember to set the proper example of loving your wife in the presence of your children.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love. (7301 “satisfy” [ravah] means to be satiated or saturated, have or drink one’s fill, be intoxicated or to be drunk.)
DEVOTION: Here is a man who had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines telling his son what is important in marriage. Solomon was used of God to build HIS temple. However, his wives led him away from the LORD at the end of his life.
In giving advice to his son – he knew what he was talking about regarding how the LORD wanted him to live his life. Our lives (if we are married) are to be one that is saturated with love for our wife. Notice that he talks of one wife.
Our world is trying to tell us that if our wife doesn’t ravish us then we should look for someone else. That is not what the LORD is telling us. The temptations for a strange woman are great in our world. It is found on the Internet, television and advertisements that we read.
The Bible gives a different answer – stay with the wife of your youth. How is that possible? Only by the grace of God can two people live together in a loving relationship. It is work but the LORD gave us strength to make it work. Both husband and wife are to work hard at the relationship at all times.
There are two main causes for divorce – sex and money. Satan likes to use them to cause couples to argue and fight. Be satiated at your own cistern! This means to only have sexual relationships with your wife. This can only be done with the help of the LORD. Depend on HIM at all times in our relationship with our spouse. HE will get us through the hard times, as well as, the good times.
I encourage couples with the acronym, W.O.R.K., at most of the wedding I perform. W stands for worship. O stands for organization. R stands for routine. K stands for keepsakes. If you want more information regarding this please let me know.
CHALLENGE: Work at your marriage if you are married. Listen to parental advice regarding a future spouse. Pray. Pray. Pray.
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DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY Chastity (Purity in living)
Rejoice in the wife of thy youth verse 18, 19
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
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DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal) verse 21
LORD watching each of us verse 21
LORD ponders all the ways of man verse 21
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Son verse 1, 20
Children verse 7
Strangers verse 10, 17
Filled with wealth of fallen
Teachers verse 13
Wife verse 18
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Strange woman verse 3- 14, 20
Mouth smoother than oild verse 3
Moveable standards verse 6
Entering house of strange women verse 8
Giving honor to others verse 9
Cost of sin verse 10
Sickness result of sin verse 11
Hated instruction verse 12
Despised reproof verse 12
Not obeyed voice of teachers verse 13
Evil verse 14
Ravished with a strange woman verse 20
Embrace with the bosom of a stranger verse 20
Iniquities verse 22
Wicked verse 22
Sins verse 22
Folly verse 23
Go astray verse 23
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Attend to wisdom verse 1
Understanding verse 1
Discretion verse 2
Knowledge of God’s standard verse 2
Listen to godly fatherly advice verse 7
Godly teachers verse 13
Drink water out of thine own cistern (wife) verse 15
Rejoice with the wife of your youth verse 18, 19
LORD ponders ways of man verse 21
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Solomon’s advice to son verse 1-23
Attend to my wisdom
Bow your ear to my understanding
Regard discretion
Lips keep knowledge
Remember the words of my mouth
Remove from the way of strange woman
Drink water out of own cistern
Rejoice with the wife of your youth
Be satisfied with her
Be ravished with her love
Ways of a man are before the eyes
of the LORD
Congregation verse 14
Assembly verse 14
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
End is bitter as wormwood verse 4
Death verse 5
Hell verse 5
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DONATIONS:
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QUOTES regarding passage
5:1–6. This chapter, like other portions in Proverbs, begins with the exhortation that the son pay attention and listen (cf. 4:1, 10, 20; 5:7; 7:24) to his father’s words, for doing so gives discretion (cf. 1:4) and knowledge. Speaking (lips, 5:2) wisdom helps the son ignore the words (lips, v. 3) of an adulteress (zārâh; see comments on 2:16). Her deceptive, seductive words are persuasive, sweet like honey, the sweetest substance in ancient Israel, and smoother than (cf. 6:24; 7:21) olive oil, the smoothest substance in ancient Israel. But what seems attractive at first becomes bitter and sharp later. Involvement in adultery is like tasting gall, the bitterest substance known (from a plant), or like being cut by a double-edged sword. The adulteress leads men to death (cf. 2:18; 7:27; 9:18). Her sin makes her unaware that her ways are crooked (lit., “staggering or unstable”), in contrast with the “straight paths” of 4:11. (Buzzell, S. S. (1985). Proverbs. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, pp. 914–915). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
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5:1–6 The Bible does not hide from or obscure the power of the temptation to illicit sex. In language that is refreshingly clear and direct without itself indulging in titillation, the text warns the reader of the debacle that awaits him should he succumb in this area and at the same time promises profound sexual joy to those whose hearts are chaste and loving. If the church is to do its duty, it must be no less clear in its teachings. To assume that nice, Christian young people do not struggle in these areas or to speak only in whispers and innuendo on the grounds that they are inappropriate for the Christian pulpit is no less than gross neglect of duty on the church’s part. Whether one is dealing with the ritual prostitution of a fertility cult, the ordinary prostitute on the street (or in a magazine), or the simple lure of extramarital sex, the temptations and dangers are the same.
The passage begins with a typical appeal to the young man to hold to his father’s teaching (vv. 1–2). Verse 3 seems abrupt after v. 2 in that there is no transition. One expects before v. 3 a verse commanding the young man to avoid the prostitute. J. Goldingay argues that v. 20 originally stood between v. 2 and v. 3 and had this function. But this is insufficient evidence for emending the text, and vv. 21–23 are very harsh after vv. 15–19 without v. 20 between the two sections. The solution makes for a worse problem than the one now observed in the text. Also a movement from a general introductory appeal (vv. 1–2) to a specific warning (v. 3) is not unusual (cf. 1:8–10).
The “adulteress” of v. 3 is literally the “other woman,” that is, someone other than the man’s wife. The verse does not deny that the other woman is indeed tempting, but the temptation is not all sexual. The honey lips and smooth mouth of the other woman refer more to her flattery than her sexual availability. The man is drawn to her because she inflates his ego with hollow praise in ways his own wife will not. (Garrett, D. A. (1993). Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of songs (Vol. 14, pp. 90–91). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
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3 The reason that the disciple should guard discretion is that the adulteress is seductive. Zārāh (“strange woman” or “harlot” elsewhere) is taken here, as in chapter 7, to be a married woman. But the main point the text makes is that her words are flattering. The images of dripping honey and smooth oil refer to her words, not her kisses (cf. Song of Songs 4:11; see also M. Dahood, “Honey That Drips. Notes on Proverbs 5:2–3,” Biblica 54 [1973]: 65–66). (Ross, A. P. (1991). Proverbs. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (Vol. 5, p. 927). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
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5:3 lips … speech. Seduction begins with deceptive flattery (cf. 2:16). Lips of honey should be part of true love in marriage (SS 4:11). (MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Pr 5:3). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
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Ponder this chapter—ye that know not the poison and corruption of fleshly lusts. Painful experience had given the wise man wisdom and understanding. Therefore attend to it with fear and trembling. Man’s own strength—the restraints of education or of self-discipline are powerless, as the green withes to bind the giant. Engrafted wisdom is the only effectual safeguard. This heavenly influence teaches us to regard discretion for the covering of our souls, and to keep knowledge for the warning of our fellow-sinners.
The extreme plausibility of the temptation is our call to attention. The deluded victim only sees the present gratification; only tastes, or expects to taste, the honeycomb; only hears the wily smoothness of the charmer’s voice. But never is the beginning so sweet, as the end is bitter. God shews the wormwood; the two-edged sword; her path of death; every step taking hold of hell, as if invading it with a high hand, grasping it as her home. One feature of the tempter’s wiliness is most remarkable. She winds herself in a thousand moveable ways, to meet the varying humors and circumstances. She works upon every weakness; seizes every unguarded moment—all this with one deeply hidden object—lest thou should ponder the path of life. The checks of conscience must be diverted. No time must be given for reflection. The intrusion of one serious thought might break the spell, and open the way of escape.
Can we wonder then at the earnestness of parental anxiety, forcing back the children playing on the brink of a precipice. Hear now—O ye children? We mean no austere restraint upon youthful pleasures. Only avoid the tempter’s touch—her word—even her look. Remove thy way far from her. Not only go not into her—but—such is the contagion—come not near the door. To thrust ourselves into temptation, is to throw ourselves out of God’s protection. The snare as one approaches becomes more enticing. The voice of wisdom therefore is—“Flee youthful lusts.”
The loss of honor, taking the crown from the victim’s head;11 years given to the cruel mockers of his misery; the waste of the family wealth;13 servitude in a stranger’s house; consumption—slowly bringing the body to the grave—all is the bitter fruit of the neglected warning. Add to this the voice of conscience at the last, telling of slighted privileges, stifled convictions, abused knowledge. And will not this be the sting of thousands instructed in our schools, or the children of godly parents—now despising the reproofs of God, and the voice of these teachers, proclaiming their shame openly; perhaps making Christian assemblies the scenes of almost all evil?
Such is the picture of sin—its “pleasure but for a season,” “its wages death eternal.” Every sin unrepented here will bring its perpetual torment in eternity. Impenitence does not put away its sorrow. It only delays it to mourn at the last, when mercy shall have fled away forever, and nothing will remain, but the piercing cry of the accusing conscience—“Son! remember.”5 There are no infidels in eternity, and but few on a death-bed. Sinner—the path of life is now open to thee. Ponder it anxiously—prayerfully. The light of the word, and the teaching of the Spirit guide thee to it. (Bridges, C. (1865). An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (pp. 50–51). New York: Robert Carter & Brothers.)
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FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
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Daily Hope
Today’s Scripture
Deuteronomy 5-7
The best learning method is to use as many of our senses as possible. If we can hear, see, and put into action the principle being taught, we are much more capable of retaining the lesson. As parents or teachers educate using more than one method, we are assured of greater success.
Israel had been reminded of its past and how the Lord had guided and protected them while travelling from Egypt to their new location. The Lord had instructed Moses to assure the current members of the nation of His abiding presence. The instructions they would need to live peacefully in the land according to God’s laws are now given.
The Ten Commandments and the additional statutes and ordinances are presented so the entire nation can hear God’s specific instructions. The word “hear” means more than to just listen passively to these laws, but to learn and observe them carefully. This challenge is made due to the previous generation having died off and now this generation needed to accept the promises and obligations of serving the Lord. This is the purpose of the second law (Deuteronomy meaning “second law”) given by Moses to the nation.
Moses desired for the people to understand that obeying the law was imperative for them to prosper and remain in the land. They must not turn to the right or the left (5:32). Understanding and hearing this important truth and teaching it to their children was to be a continual emphasis among their families (6:6-9).
The Lord did not choose the people of Israel due to their size or abilities. He chose them based on His covenantal love to Abraham (Genesis 12:12). The Lord kept His oath and redeemed His people (7:6-11).
Today the Lord extends His love toward us, not because of what we have done but because of Jesus and His finished work. Like the children of Israel, we are not the wisest, strongest, or most lovable but He has chosen us because of Christ’s love. Paul stated, “just as He chose us in Him, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of His will” (Ephesians 1:4-5). Thank God today for Christ choosing you.
With an Expectant Hope, Pastor Miller (Board member of SCM)
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Jesus explains the spiritual nature of salvation.
INSIGHT
Faith, or belief, is often misunderstood. Faith has been defined as “believing in spite of there being nothing to believe” or “believing in spite of the evidence to the contrary.” It is often viewed as identical with wishful thinking. If we believe hard enough, we can make something come true (regardless of whether or not God may approve).
None of these concepts is biblical. Faith is belief based on sufficient evidence. In other words, faith is trusting what God has revealed in His Word and in the world, both of which give ample testimony to the truth (Quiet Walk)
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Despite Violence by Islamic Terror Group, Thousands in Nigeria Are Turning to Christ
Despite an Islamic terrorist group’s violence, thousands in Nigeria are becoming Christians, a missions group said.
Todd Nettleton, of Voice of the Martyrs, said Islamists in the Fulani tribe raided a village in the city of Jos in late September. Twenty people were killed in their homes.
The Fulani are not all Islamists, he added, but there are radicals in the tribe.
“Nigerians are frustrated that these attacks keep happening, because they think there should be security,” Nettleton said.
Emeka Umeagbalasi, board chairman of the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law, said Christians have been shot to death, but homes and churches have also been destroyed.
Still, according to The Christian Post, “thousands” of Fulani are committing their lives to Jesus.
“Thousands of Fulani are following Jesus Christ. So this traditionally Muslim tribal group, ethnic group, thousands of them have left Islam behind and are now following Jesus Christ. So the Church there sees that and that tends to bridge some of these gaps,” Nettleton said.
Nettleton added that the Voice of the Martyrs is helping to provide food, sleeping mats and mosquito nets to Christians who have been forced to flee because of the violence.
“We should care because this is our family. These are our brothers and sisters, they are going through a very difficult time, they are being attacked.” Nettleton said.
“I have two brothers and I often think if one of my brothers was being attacked, of course, I would be upset about it and I would be like, ‘Wait a minute, I’m going to help, I’m going to step in, I’m going to bang the drum and make sure everyone knows my brother is being attacked.'” (Christian Headlines)
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Abortion activists like to use the same words we pro-lifers use, but they’re using an entirely different dictionary. Case in point: the word “doula.”
“Do you think that God hates me?”
The teenage girl—who is about to have an abortion—is asking the question of a woman she has just met, who is there to keep her company during the procedure.
“No,” the woman replies. “I think God knows we have to make tough choices sometimes.”
It’s a cartoon conversation, published by a group calling itself The Doula Project. And going by this and other information on its website, one of its goals is to teach women—who call themselves “abortion doulas”—how to help abortion clients overcome any religious or moral scruples they may have about taking the life of their unborn child.
If you’ve never heard of a doula, traditionally she’s a woman who helps mothers through the birth process. Doulas meet their clients months before birth, and get to know them. They assist the mothers through the entire labor and delivery. And when the new mother goes home, many doulas go with her to help with housework and meals for up to six weeks.
In other words, the doula participates in a life-giving, life-affirming, communal act, welcoming a child into the larger community.
But the term “doula” has, like many other terms, been appropriated by the culture of death in order to hide the horror of what is actually taking place.
“Abortion doulas,” so-called, will hold a woman’s hand, keeping her calm while her baby’s life is snuffed out, brushing aside last-minute fears that what she is doing may violate core religious beliefs.
One abortion “doula,” Vicki Bloom, tells BBC News that she has sat with more than 2,000 women as they waited for their abortions, and accompanied them into surgery. She calms their nerves, tells them they’re good people, and wipes away their tears as their babies’ lives are terminated. But Bloom backs away from any effort to give these women what they may really want: a way out that doesn’t involve destroying the life of their child.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, about half of all women who seek abortions are poor. This means many women likely feel pressured by circumstances, or partners, to take their baby’s life.
Abortion “doula” Vicki Bloom knows this. She says, “A lot of women will … say things like, ‘I really wanted this baby but I don’t have enough money.’” But Bloom shrugs this off. “I can’t fix somebody’s life, no matter how much I might want to,” she says.
But does she even try? For instance, does she tell poor women that pregnancy care centers, like the one my wife runs, offer financial assistance, nursery subsidies, and work programs? If a young girl says her parents will throw her out if she has the baby, does the “doula” say, “I know someone who will open her home to you during your entire pregnancy. I’ll take you there right now, if you want.” Or does she say, “I know couples of all races who would love to adopt your child, and will take care of your medical expenses?”
And when a client confides that she has profound misgivings about the morality of what she is about to do—that abortion violates her deeply-held religious beliefs—does the “doula” say, “You don’t have to do this?”
No, she doesn’t—which I find appalling. And if she did, the abortion staff would throw her out. Good grief, they don’t want women having second thoughts: It would cut into their profit margin.
Clearly, these “abortion doulas” are committed, not to truly helping women, but to their own deadly agenda.
We need to beware when life-affirming words are twisted into something Orwellian. As John Stonestreet said on The Point recently, it is not “compassionate” to hold a mother’s hand while she terminates the life of her child. A “doula” welcomes life, she doesn’t destroy it.
And I hope you will support true doula organizations, which you will find online. Doulas who lovingly offer, free of charge, real help to women and their babies who need them.
And folks, if you truly care about the sanctity of human life and other important issues, please vote next Tuesday. It’s incredibly important.
BreakPoint is a Christian worldview ministry that seeks to build and resource a movement of Christians committed to living and defending Christian worldview in all areas of life.
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PREPARATIONS FOR THIRD TEMPLE “IN FULL SWING”(Friday Church News Notes, November 2, 2018, www.wayoflife.org,fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – A report on this month’s Israel Today magazine says, “Preparations for the Third Temple are in full swing.” During the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), Levites in white robes drew water from the ancient Pool of Siloam to perform the Talmudic tradition of “Pouring of the Water.” The ceremony is called “Simchat Beit HaShoeva” (“Rejoicing at the place of the drawing of the water”) and is based on the prophecy of Isaiah 12:3, “Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.” The context, which is ignored by Talmudic interpretation, is the conversion of Israel and the establishment of Christ’s kingdom. It will be fulfilled when Israel can say in truth, “God is my salvation” (Isaiah 12:2). In that day, the LORD’s name will be “known in all the earth” (Isaiah 12:5). None of this is true today. The Bible mentions the Third Temple four times, beginning with Daniel’s prophecies but in every case it is associated with the Antichrist. See Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:15-21; 2 Thessalonians 2:4; Revelation 11:1-3. “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains … For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall. … Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with great power and great glory” (Matthew 24:15 16, 21, 29-20).
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Paul’s method of ministry is described. He communicates the Gospel with love and integrity.
INSIGHT
Whenever the message of your words and the message of your actions conflict, the message of your actions will always win out. You may speak gruffly but act kindly, and you will be known as having a hard shell but being a “softie” on the inside. Or you may speak well but act selfishly, and you will be known as a hypocrite. There is no accusation leveled at Christians more consistently than that of hypocrisy. Our lives must support the reality of the Gospel, or the Gospel will not be taken seriously and we will be resented. Paul writes: “We were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives” (v. 8). Unless we are willing to impart our lives in ministry, our words will mean little.
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TRUTH AND ERROR
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 1 Corinthians 2:12
An important reason for testing and trying the spirits is the evidence provided by the long history of the church of the havoc that has often been wrought in the church because people would not try and test the spirits, because they said, “I have received such a wonderful experience, and therefore I must be right.” What we are concerned about is not a matter of sincerity and honesty—we are concerned about truth and error, and truth and error have to be defined.
Is this something only for theologians and professors of theology or for ministers and leaders? Is it only for certain people? The answer is that it is for all. “Beloved”—he is writing to the average church member—“believe not every spirit, but try the spirits” (1 John 4:1). Later on he says, “Ye are of God, little children” (verse 4), and I think he used the expression “little children” deliberately—“you, the ordinary church members, little children—you hear us because you are of the truth.”
It is the duty and the business of everyone examining the name Christian to be in a position to try and examine and test the spirits. Indeed, we are given the power to do so—“greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). We have been given this capacity by God through the Holy Spirit; the Spirit dwells in us, and therefore we have this power of discrimination and understanding. The apostle Paul tells us that at great length in 1 Corinthians. For example, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God” (1 Corinthians 2:12). That is it!
A Thought to Ponder: We are concerned about truth and error, and truth and error have to be defined. (From The Love of God, pp.18-20, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
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