Back to the Bible, Or Back to the Jungle!

Back to the Bible, Or
Back to the Jungle!

By Michael D. O’Neal

September 05, 2011

     If a person will read and believe his Bible, he will come to understand why nations differ from one another, over a period of years, in such things as culture, economic development, technology, and crime. The average U.S. citizen has no clue as to what has made this country great. He may actually believe some stupid radio commercial that says something like, “Remember, our strength is our diversity.” Maybe he just thinks some countries are luckier than others.

     There is a reason why America has a heritage of greatness.

     Proverbs 14:34 Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.

     There is a reason that Mexico is a dangerous country in which to live and raise a family. There is a reason that Africa is a continent ravaged by AIDS.

     I’ve been living in this country for 58 years. I’m saddened by what I’ve seen happen in our culture. If there is any bumper sticker that would be “timely” for our day, it would be one that says:

BACK TO THE BIBLE, OR
BACK TO THE JUNGLE!

     There is a whole chapter in the Bible that deals with the cause of corruption in a society. It tells why nations go crazy. No person has had a thorough education unless somewhere along the way he studied Romans 1. Are you acquainted with that chapter?

     America is becoming a jungle, a land with jungle music (Vance Havner warned about this way back in the 1950s), jungle morals (no marriage, just have sex with anything or anyone you can), and a jungle mentality.

     Romans 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

     America has become a mental institution run by the inmates.

     The more you turn away from God, the more you lose your mind.

     2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

     Parents and their children go into debt so that the kids can be trained by God-denying educated apes (if we are to believe evolutionists). The children listen to idiot professors who are open to every possibility except for the infallibility of the word of God. They graduate with no moral foundation, and their parents are amazed that these educated wonders don’t have the character to hold down a job.

     Romans 1:22-23 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

     So Johnny can play computer games with lightning speed. Great. But he can’t read. He can’t write. He can’t talk. He can’t keep his word. He can’t keep appointments. He can’t stick to a routine of work. As a matter of fact, more and more of Johnny’s friends aren’t graduating from school unless someone gives them a “second chance” and bends the rules.

     There are exceptions, of course. Truett Cathy has helped instill some character into his young employees. But that’s because Brother Cathy went back to the Bible. The fools who keep making decisions to keep God and the Bible out of the government schools don’t have the sense to come in out of the rain.

     The hope for the Christian is Jesus Christ (Col. 1:27), especially His soon return, called “that blessed hope” (Tit. 2:13). However, if there is any hope for America before the Rapture, it is in a return to the Bible by the people of God (2 Chron. 7:14), so that we will have a positive influence on the society in which we live (Mt. 5:13; Jer. 29:7; Gen. 18:23-33; 1 Tim. 2:1-2).

     Back to the Bible, or back to the jungle!

     Psalms 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.

 

E-Mail:brothermike@brothermike.com

How to Avoid Bitterness About Your Job, Ministry, Marriage, or Other Circumstances

How to Avoid Bitterness
About Your Job, Ministry,
Marriage, or Other Circumstances

By Michael D. O’Neal

April 27, 2009

Many preachers of my acquaintance are unhappy about their ministry. They are hoping that a door will open for them to minister at another place with more potential. If they plan to stay at their current church, they are hoping that a change of location, a new building, or a new program will solve their problems.

Many church members are unhappy about their circumstances: their health, their job, their salary, their residence, or their marriage. They are miserable. They can hardly wait for a change.

I don’t believe a bitter, unhappy attitude is the will of God for our lives. What is the solution? I personally believe that it has to do with thinking biblically. The Bible says,

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Contentment is not a state of circumstances; it is a state of mind regarding our circumstances. When soldiers asked John the Baptist about right living, he told them,

Luke 3:14 … and be content with your wages.

The Bible has a lot to say about contentment.

1 Timothy 6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.

1 Timothy 6:8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

Hebrews 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Writing from a prison, Paul showed that he was not bitter about his circumstances:

Philippians 4:11-12 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. 12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

How could he say that? He wasn’t able to get out and minister to people. He was locked up. How could he be content with that? I believe that it had to do with his thought life. In that passage he admonished,

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Let me make a few suggestions about thinking “on these things” that I hope will help you if you’re having a problem with being bitter about your circumstances.

1. Think on the Plan of God. The Bible says in Rom. 12:1-2 that submission to the Lord and separation from the world will help us to prove (to test, to determine) what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. Are you in the will of God? Do you believe in God’s watch care? Have you meditated on Rom. 8:28 in light of your circumstances? God either allowed you to be where you are, or He directly placed you there. Don’t rebel against His will.

2. Think on the Power to Prevail. After he wrote that he could be content in any conditions, Paul stated:

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

You can prevail in your circumstances. The power that created and sustains the universe works in you, if you’re a child of God. The Lord is in you!

3. Think on the Provision of Our Needs. Phil. 4:19, which follows these verses, doesn’t promise that you will never have a need, but rather that God will provide all your need. The only way for God to provide your need is for you to have a need. Paul knew “how to suffer need” (Phil. 4:12). Your need will be supplied in due time. Be patient.

4. Think on the Peace Available When we do Right. If you’re doing right, you should have God’s peace:

Philippians 4:9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

5. Think on Prayer and Its Opportunities. Correct praying brings the peace of God:

Philippians 4:6-7 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

6. Think on the Passing of Trouble. Your suffering and situation are temporary. Paul had been through a time of neglect, but it didn’t last:

Philippians 4:10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.

Your trouble will pass, too.

7. Think on the Precious Things Ahead. Jesus is coming! We aren’t home yet. The best is yet to come!

Philippians 4:5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.

Do you believe “the Lord is at hand?” If so, remember how Paul comforted himself about his troubles:

Romans 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

 

E-Mail:brothermike@brothermike.com

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