Praise the Lord for His provision and thanks to God's people for their generosity, the special offering for our Austria Missions Team on Sunday, August 10, came to $1,979.17.
Proverbs 16:16 How much better it is to get wisdom than gold!
And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver. [NASB]
Comments: The point of the song Money (That’s What I Want) is hardly subtle. It has been recorded by an amazing number of artists (starting with Barrett Strong and then The Beatles, The Kingsmen, The Doors, Pearl Jam , Led Zeppelin, The Supremes, etc. etc. etc.). We could be charitable and say that the singers intended to be ironic when they sang the lyrics, but I fear that would be naïve. A good deal of the song’s popularity is likely because words resonate with listeners, expressing how a lot of people are tempted to think:
"The best things in life are free
But you can keep 'em for the birds and bees
Now give me money, (that's what I want) that's what I want."
To be honest, few of us would deny wanting a few more dollars in our pockets. The prevalence of money-lust, however, is no argument for the wisdom of it.
Acts 5:42Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ. [NIV]
Comments: My wife sometimes teases me about how many things I have been “into” through the years. I get interested in some kind of activity and throw myself into it and really enjoy it. Eventually, though, my interest fades and I go on to something else. It is easy to be this way, because we have so many choices and opportunities for personal enjoyment in our prosperous and over-stimulated culture. When it comes to loving and serving my Lord, however, I must never allow my self to become bored or jaded. As St. Bernard of Clairvaux wrote in the hymn “O Scared Head, Now Wounded,”
O make me Thine forever, and should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to Thee.
Acts 5:41The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. [NIV]
Comments: With a family as large as ours (five children and their spouses, and eleven grandchildren), there are a couple of things that are nearly impossible:
1) Getting everyone together for a photograph
2) Getting every family member sitting down together for a meal, and getting through it without someone’s drink spilling, and …
3) Keeping everybody “happy” at once!
We can be together having a great time, but before long someone is crying or whining in the background, so old grandpa (that’s me) asks “Is everybody happy?” Consider today’s verse, and you will discover that not everyone was happy when Peter and the others were flogged, threatened, and then released from their arrest.
Acts 5:40His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. [NIV]
Comments: I am presently reading a book of testimonies by Iranian Christians. It is encouraging to see how the Lord is working in that country to bring people to himself. It is sobering, however, to read of the oppression some of our brothers and sisters in Christ have to endure. A Christian doctor tells of being summoned to a police station which looked like a fort, with tall walls and barbed wire. In this two story building, he said that “upstairs is where they do the interrogations,” but the lower floor is “where all the torture is going on.” He was thankfully released without being physically tortured, but others have not been so fortunate. We Americans are so used to demanding (and getting) our “rights,” that we have a difficult time appreciating what it means to be flogged for Christ, and ordered to refrain from the free exercise of our faith.
Consider today’s verse, and you will discover that not everyone was happy when Peter and the others were flogged, threatened, and then released from their arrest.
We Americans are so used to demanding (and getting) our “rights,” that we have a difficult time appreciating what it means to be 