The Encourager Newsletter - Volume 4 Issue 1 - February 5, 2010 - One Another - The Door

One Another

How about a one-man baseball team? Or….a team with one player short? Team captains don't do that. God's main instrument of carrying on His earthly work is a team He calls "the church." But many church members want to sit in a comfortable pew and watch the pastor carry on the work of the church. When he doesn't measure up, whining sets in and they swap him off for one less tired. The ideal pastor is a 25-year-old with 50 years of experience whose family lives in royalty on a pauper's income, like the Children of Israel in the desert whose shoes never wore out. Many church members who claim to be Christians, have never found their Biblical place of spiritual labor in God's church.

The Bible has some things to say about carrying on the work in His earthly body which is made up of several millions of local assemblies in the world where two or three are gathered together in [His] name,….(Matthew 18:20). God's church is not a man-made organization—but a God-made organism—a world of difference between the two. An organism is a living thing. God said of His church that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18).

God knows a lot about making things and He made His church to be an interdependent team. No, you won't find "team" in the Bible but you will find words that mean the same thing. We find "member" and "body" and "one another."

One of our Bible memory verses at church is: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you (Ephesians 4:32).

In our family Bible reading Barbara and I came across: Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:12-13).

In one of our study Bibles we read: "There are many 'one another' passages in Scripture, and it is important to practice them daily. We should 'exhort one another daily,' 'edify one another; (1Thessalonians 5:5:11), 'pray one for another' (James 5:16), 'comfort one another' (I Thessalonians 4:18), 'be ye kind one to another' (Ephesians 4:32), and especially 'love one another' (John 13:34). There are many other such admonitions in Scripture." (The Morris New Defender's Study Bible, page 1896).

Praying for one another is the starting point. Then a telephone call or a dollar store get well card can make the difference in somebody's life. When there's sickness or death it is not a good idea to say: "If there's anything I can do just let me know." Unless you've been there, you can't know how frustrating and irritating that sentence can be. Find out from their family, friends, or neighbors what should be done and do it. It's ok if they never find out that you cleaned up their house from stem to stern and fed their dog. In our helping "one another" it must come out of love and genuine sincerity. That's the key.

Below is the verse I first memorized several years ago and it was through this passage that I saw from the Bible that it is everybody's business to make it their business about the welfare of other believers. Everybody gets down. Everybody gets sick. Everybody has a bad break. Everybody runs out of vitamins and loses too much sleep. Everybody's dog gets run over. Don't wait until somebody asks you to pick them up off the floor.

And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: (25) Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching (Hebrews 10:24-25).

I plan to print a set of Bible memory cards containing the "one another" verses—for myself— and for the "one another-minded" people that want to take this idea to heart. I'm behind on my card printing right now. Meantime write verses on any scrap of paper and stick it in your pocket. That's what Abraham Lincoln did.

The Bible teaches that God places people in groups and calls them churches. He imparts the Holy Spirit into the body and life of every believer and gives each one a special gift to use in ministry. As Christians, we need not only the Lord but also need each other. "One another" is God's idea and He did not set up the church as a group of people to sit in pews and watch the pastor carry on the work of the church until he looks like a bear rug on the floor.

It's your business to try to reach out to me if you see me stumble or taking a nap in the path of a big truck. Of course if you see the need to minister "one another" to me in my weak state, I would appreciate it if you will remember these verses:

And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, (25) In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; (26) And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. (2Timothy 2:24-26)

It's not always easy for me to be patient and gentle and to avoid striving when I'm on a "one another" mission. Those may be the hardest verses in the Bible. Your mess-ups are worse than my mess-ups. Do you ever feel that way? You and I both have a mandate from the God of heaven through His Word to discharge our responsibility to "one another." If I love "one another" and pray for "one another" and forgive "one another" then I'll be in a much better condition to exhort "one another" and teach "one another" and edify "one another."

Here is one of the greatest mandates in the Bible, I think:

And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. (9) Use hospitality one to another without grudging. (10) As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God (1Peter 4:8-10).

It has always been God's will for all of His children to be good at the "one another" game. God's people don't all have the same gift and we do not all have the same needs. We have not all grown to the same level in developing our individual gifts. Some are ahead and some are behind in development. Let's get on with our "one another"duties.Ω

The Door —Barbara Carr

I have always thought of Revelation 3:20 as a salvation verse. I may have written an article using this comparison. The sermons I've heard since childhood often pictured Jesus standing at the door knocking, asking to be allowed to come into our hearts for eternal salvation.

"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." (Rev 3:20)

Dan and I are doing a study of the book of Revelation—again. We have studied it many times, but each time we learn more and see things we either missed or have forgotten. We use several commentaries to help us—Strauss, Morris, etc. Let's look at Revelation 3:20. "Behold I stand at the door"

Morris' comment on "come in to him" was new to me. "This verse is not a gospel verse, appealing to the unsaved to accept Christ. There is nothing in it about Christ's sacrificial death for sinners or about believing on Him for salvation, or any other gospel essentials. It is addressed directly to the neutralist, self-satisfied Laodicean church, calling them to repentance. In context, the Lord is calling worldly, compromising believers to allow Him back into their lives."

Wow! Our Lord is knocking on our heart's door telling us, as He did the Laodiceans, to stop being neutral and self seeking in this world. He is asking us to hear His voice and repent of our sins. Christian sinners! Christian sins! Our sins as Christians do not send us to Hell because He paid that debt on the cross once and for all. Legally, our sins were placed on Jesus at the cross and He paid for our sins—all of them.

But we retain the old sin nature with which we were born and which will be a part of us until we die. We close our eyes to the sins that somehow continue to flow from our old nature. The new man of the new birth does not sin but the old man can do nothing but sin and just keeps on urging us to sin. We think if we are not on a drinking binge or doing drugs or committing murder, etc that we are living a good Christian life.

That's not what Jesus was telling the Laodiceans. He was telling them that they were neutral, lukewarm. When we get to the point that we have to strain our brain to think of a sin we might be harboring, we better do a self-check. As Dan has said many times, "Our thoughts count, too." We have become so comfortable in our little world, our lifestyles, that we are actually "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind and naked" (Revelation 3:17)

"Come in to Him" The Lord is calling us careless and perhaps compromising believers to allow Him back into our lives. He will not force us to admit our sins and repent. He just patiently stands at the door and knocks. We believe that His coming is very near…do we not? Shouldn't we give up trying to be in control of our lives and allow Him to lead us? I often have to fall on my knees in tears and ask forgiveness. I could list why, but it would make the article too long. You don't get over sinning just because you are old. No, Satan continues to say, "Yea, Hath God said?" (Genesis 3:1)

"will sup with him and he with Me." Jesus loved the Laodiceans. He loves us. His desire is for us to meet with Him in Bible study and prayer. In verse twenty-one He shows His grace by inviting them to share His throne. We are forgiven. We are underneath the blood. All because God loved us enough to send Jesus that we might have eternal life. Let's love Him enough to obey him and serve Him. If He has been shut out of your life, He is at the door even now. Invite Him to come in and resume His place as the Lord of your life. Ω

The Encourager Vol. 3 Issue 44 - October 10, 2009

Timothy's Grandma

When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also. 2Timothy 1:5

Timothy's grandmother was probably a livewire. When her little Eunice was born her motherly instinct kicked into high gear. Somewhere, Lois had absorbed a strong faith in God and had dedicated herself to Him. There ARE grandmothers and mothers like that. She was also determined that little Eunice would know and love her God. Everything rides on attitude. America can use a lot of grandmothers and mothers that understand that.

She only had bits and pieces of the Word of God she had gleaned from other people who had bits and pieces. Only synagogues and Kings and a few wealthy people had a copy of the Word of God, which at that time would have been Genesis through Malachi. If anyone could get a copy of a book of the Bible it was probably the book of Deuteronomy. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy more than any other book.

Good Jewish mothers got their children started in the Word of God by teaching their children everything they knew and encouraged their children to learn from other people in the village whatever they had memorized. Jewish fathers contributed to the process of passing on Scripture portions but it was the mother and grandmother that had the most time with the young children. Sometimes a little school might spring up in the village. Maybe so, maybe not. Anyway, God had commanded that His people work at hiding His word in their hearts. Lois and Eunice understood this and obeyed God in teaching their children the word of God. Paul could say of Timothy:

And that from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 2Timothy 3:15.

My grandmother, Alta (Allred) Carr was a good moral woman who made the best peach cobbler in the West Fork River area. But I didn't see her much in my early years. My grandmother Olive was my regular grandmother figure and we lived close enough in Medlock Hollow that I could wander in and out of her house at will. I even walked toward her house some in my sleep walking. She named me: Daniel. When I was about five, she and my mother ordered a Bible story book from a radio program. The hard back cover featured a picture of the prophet Daniel. When they read the story to me, I realized I had a Bible name.

Grandma Olive raised chickens and gardened well. She also had a hot temper. My mother sent me down to Grandma's house to get a jar of mustard. Grandma filled a small empty jar and told me to be careful with it. But you can't throw rocks on the way home if you are carrying a jar of mustard. I struggled to get the jar into my left front overall pocket. She urged me not to do that but I continued. Suddenly the jar flew out of my hands and the lid came off. I still don't know how so much mustard could come out of a jar in a split second and coat the wall and ceiling and floor and…. trigger my grandmother's wrath. I told her I would clean it up but she told me: "No! You just go on. I'll clean it up!" I escaped with another, smaller jar of mustard—in my hands.

Then there was the day when I was a little bigger, hoeing in her garden. She went into the house to start lunch on her wood stove. I spotted some big leafy things growing along the tall paling fence. They looked to me like Burdock weed. I was sure she had not had time to cut them down and I would do it for her. With all my energy I chopped down every stalk. "Grandma will be proud of me!" But Grandma came out of the house with a horror-stricken look on her face. "You have cut down my rhubarb! Now I'll have to quit everything else and can that rhubarb so I won't lose it!" At this point I wondered if she thought I was such a good idea. Some people should not have been born and I just might be one of them. But when she cooled down she was ok. Did you know you can make a delicious rhubarb cobbler out of just one quart of rhubarb? We had a lot of rhubarb cobbler that year.

One night I was sitting at her table to dine on cornbread and milk. She was pouring my milk and she always filled it too full. You didn't waste milk and you had to drink all that was poured. When the glass was half full I said, "That's enough Grandma." She kept pouring (I was frail and needed to put on some weight). "That's enough Grandma!" She kept pouring so I just moved my glass and figured she would stop pouring when it went on the table. It did and she did. She didn't have to touch me. She had the gift of lightning that precedes thunder.

This was the woman who named me Daniel and expected good things from me. She died in 1941 when I had just turned seven and two months before Pearl Harbor was bombed. But she made her mark on me in seven years, even with such a hot temper. Would to God that every strong willed boy might have a grandmother like my Grandmother Olive. Her daughter-in-law was named Lois. My mother had one name: Avo. She was kind and slow to anger but I was pushy and sometimes she had to underscore her directives with a switch from the peach tree beside the well.

An old proverb says: "The apples don't fall far from the tree." Not only did Lois teach Eunice well, Eunice decided early that she would raise Timothy the way her mother raised her. So she invested a lot of time in Timothy. I suppose Timothy was deprived somewhat since he did not have a TV or video games or a cell phone that he could learn to text in his pocket. It's so much easier to just let children be in charge.

To escape the intolerable whining, parents give in and buy these destructive devices for them because the weapon of choice is: "But Mom! Dad! All the other kids have these things and you are going to make me look like a misfit nerd if I don't have the electric toys and dress like them and wear my hair like them. I was a high school principal long enough to pick up on what's going on. Either parents are going to be in charge or the kids are going to be in charge. That's a conscious decision and it's usually decided by the time the child is three.

Most three-year-olds know whether or not they can manage their mothers. My mother never counted to three before lightning struck. Somehow I figured out that she was in charge and I just went with the program and her rules. She's 112 years old now and when I see her, I'm going to thank her for being in charge of me. She carried me to church in her womb and I have been attending church ever since. Ω

Home Again in Flat Rock—Barbara Carr

Our children planned a birthday celebration for Dan in Montreat, NC this year, Sept 11-12^th. We partied, ate too much, shared memories and had a wonderful time! From there we went on to Southern Pines, NC for two weeks.

In traveling home on Thursday and Friday, October 1^st and 2^nd, we made a detour. After staying overnight in Asheville, NC we visited with my cousin in Oak Ridge, TN. It had been several years since our last visit with Glenda and Ken and seeing them brightened our trip home. We are thankful for a safe trip. Our old faithful Ford Taurus could almost make the trip to Southern Pines, NC on automatic pilot. It knew the route and what stops to make.

But, alas! Repair bills dictated a replacement. The Toyota has only made a few trips and doesn't have the hang of it yet. However, Dan does have to struggle with the steering wheel when we pass a Dairy Queen or hand-dipped Hershey's you-know-what. We enjoyed the combined visits so very much. We had worked hard this summer and our visit was a joyful retreat.

Remember the story in Acts 8:26-40? Philip was told to go to Gaza to witness to a man of Ethiopia. He traveled there, found the man, helped him understand the scripture and baptized him. Then in verse 39, Philip was caught up by the Holy Spirit and was dropped off in Azotus. Now that's the way to go! No stress, no fighting the traffic or glare from the windshield. One day soon, and it may not be long, we will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. What a day that will be!

We love the church family of Southern Pines. They shower us with love and strengthen our desire to serve the Lord. While we were there a statement was made in church about our selflessness. I could have crawled under the seat, because my Heavenly Father knows that I am not selfless. Dan is, but I'm not. I could fill this article with ways that I am selfish. That's why my prayer first thing in the morning is asking my Father to help me to be what He wants me to be, to control my thoughts, attitudes, actions and words during the day. Without the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit, I am a helpless mess. But God can take of that too.

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. (Isa 41:10)

This verse is talking about the exiled Jews, but the promise can be applied to all of us in similar circumstances. This promise is as true now as it was then. God our protector is with us and in us. We are not to be alarmed but calm and composed. God is able to strengthen us. He is all powerful. He will enable us to bear our trials. He is faithful. We can rely on His right hand to hold us up. So even though I am a mess, I have this verse to cause me to look to God for guidance and help.

We are happy to be home and at the Flat Rock end of the driveway, there is family and church family whom we love. We desire the prayers of everyone at both ends of the driveway. We love and pray for you. Ω

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