Author: Stan Cox

Momentous decisions made by individuals recorded in the scripture record (decisions good and bad) demonstrate the necessity of us making godly decisions in our own lives.

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Hebrews 11:6 affirms that biblical faith consists not only of an assent to the existence of God, but also confidence that God rewards the obedient. This teaches us that the doctrine of faith only is deficient. Faith working together with obedience justifies man.

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Podcast Number 11

Contained in the word of God are objective truths. The humanistic view of subjectivism is shown to be an invalid way of looking at life.

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Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 19 “and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful” (Mark 4:18-19).

Jesus revealed in his explanation of the Parable of the Sower that one of the real dangers threatening the faith of children of God is the inordinate desire for material things.

We certainly live in a rich society. Even families of the most modest means normally have such things as automobiles, homes, food, televisions, and now the ubiquitous cell phones.

Of course, none of these things, or the many toys, possessions and luxuries that many Christians enjoy are inherently sinful. They do, however, have a tendency to divert our attentions and priorities from that which is truly important.

Continue reading “The Deceitfulness of Riches” →

President George W. Bush may have cited his moral stance in vetoing a bill that would have expanded embryonic stem-cell research on Wednesday but the issue transcends traditional divisions over abortion rights.

Strongly conservative Republicans who oppose abortion such as Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch have backed broader federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research for years, and more conservatives have come on board recently, including Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee.

The embryos at issue come from fertility clinics, where eggs and sperm are united in lab dishes. But many more are made than can ever be implanted in mothers’ wombs, and the leftovers are discarded.

The bill vetoed by Bush would have allowed federal taxpayer money to be used to do research on those embryos donated by the parents. It is not illegal to use private funds to do so, although some conservatives, such as Kansas Republican Sen. Sam Brownback, would also seek to ban this research.

The stem cells are taken from a ball of cells known as a blastocyst, which develops five to seven days after conception. These embryonic stem cells are pluripotent — meaning they can differentiate into all the types of cells that make up an animal, including a human being, but do not form placenta and cannot become a fetus.

Bush, an opponent of abortion, used his first veto as president to block the bill on Wednesday, saying destroying embryos for medical research “crosses a moral boundary that our decent society needs to respect.”

Many people who disapprove of abortion say they do not disapprove of experimenting on these embryos, which would otherwise be discarded.

“It’s very difficult to justify abandoning 7,000 to 20,000 in vitro eggs as medical waste,” Hatch told reporters recently.

REUTERS / Peter Macdiarmid

Analysis:

It is not uncommon for advocates of stem cell research to blur the lines regarding what constitutes life. In reality, man has no right to establish such arbitrary distinctions. From conception, an embryo is an independent, living organism. If it is not human, then what is it?

Understood in this light, the immoral nature of the aforementioned arguments becomes clear. For example, stem cell advocates are arguing that since we are going to throw living humans into the trash anyway, instead we ought to kill them through human experimentation.

Stem cell advocates are actually claiming to have the moral high road in this debate. Note the following quote from later in the article, “It is immoral for our families, neighbors and friends to be held hostage to chronic diseases when their treatments are within our scientific grasp,” June Walker, president of Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, said in a statement. In reality, the call is for the sacrifice of innocent and vulnerable human beings to benefit others in society. The fact that stem cell advocates are unwilling to admit to the humanness of the embryos does not change the fact of their humanity. To sacrifice one segment of society in preference to another is barbaric, and without any moral justification.

“And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit” (Luke 1:41).

I recently came across an article from the online edition of the Kansas City Star, detailing objections of the Chinese government to scenes contained in the recently released movie, Mission Impossible III.

The movie contains a few scenes shot in Shanghai, which the Chinese government finds objectionable. Of course, most are aware of the fact that China’s government is repressive, and does not allow the almost unlimited expression of free speech we see in other societies.

Continue reading “In The News: Movie Nudity – A Moral Issue” →

Podcast Number # 10

Set against the dingy backgrop of human pretense and religious traditions our blessed Lord appeared. He came to give us life, and to give it abundantly (cf. John 10:10).

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The Holy Scriptures, inspired of God, are versatile.  They supply each man whatever is needed to convict, rebuke, correct or instruct him in the way he should go.  Different men may need different things from scripture, but it is able to supply each with whatever is needful for their salvation.
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The judgment of God is inescapable, and the sin of man will be found out.
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KIEV (Reuters) – A man shouting that God would keep him safe was mauled to death by a lioness in Kiev zoo after he crept into the animal’s enclosure, a zoo official said on Monday.

“The man shouted ‘God will save me, if he exists’, lowered himself by a rope into the enclosure, took his shoes off and went up to the lions,” the official said.

“A lioness went straight for him, knocked him down and severed his carotid artery.”

The incident, Sunday evening when the zoo was packed with visitors, was the first of its kind at the attraction. Lions and tigers are kept in an “animal island” protected by thick concrete blocks.

Analysis

This news account is rather peculiar, as it does not indicate whether the man in question was one who had faith in God, or who had taken drastic means to prove to himself whether or not God exists.  If a man doubts the existence of God, it seems rather extreme to place himself in mortal danger to find out!  Continue reading “In the News: Lioness In Zoo Kills Man Who Invoked God” →

Podcast Number #9

Whether it is observing the Letter of the law (cf. Hebrews 10:24-25) or observing the Spirit of the law (cf. Matthew 10:37,39) it is obvious that God expects for us to be regular and diligent in our attendance to worship services and classes in the local church. We should not be seeking to do the “minimum”, rather we should be diligent to do all we can for the Lord.

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Israel disobeyed God after the destruction of Jericho, as Achan took of the accursed things. Israel’s defeat at the hands of the small city of Ai teaches us that God’s acceptance is contingent upon our righteousness and obedience. There are lessons to be learned from this text (Joshua 7).

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This past Wednesday evening we had our monthly singing, and I believe everyone was uplifted by the time we spent together in song. It is always a favorite night of the month for me personally, as I truly love to sing spiritual songs!

The men of the congregation are to be commended for their ability and efforts in leading the singing. We are truly blessed with talented and able men, who have the ability to lead the congregation in singing. In addition to the 9 men who led on Wednesday, I can think of at least 5 others who did not lead that night, but have done a fine job in the past.

There is, of course, room for improvement. All of us can get better in our song leading, and it should be our desire to improve. With that thought in mind, I want to make note of some things I observed at Wednesday night’s singing, and ask that the song leaders take note of them in good humor.

Continue reading “Songleading Suggestions” →

Podcast Number 8

The pendulum has swung, and now many scientists are admitting that the evidence supports the concept of design and a designer. However, scientists are not willing to accept the Bible, instead calling for Christians to compromise with them at some middle ground. Unfortunately, some Christians are doing just that.

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(Click here to view the Baldo cartoon to which this post refers)

(To those who are unable to view the cartoon, or if the link ceases working, the cartoon consists of four frames.  The first three frames show Baldo’s little sister talking about how she had been looking at bugs and insects, and saying that you can learn a lot by staring at nature’s beautiful creatures.  She then asks Baldo, who is dressed in his swim trunks with a towel over his shoulder, where he is going.  In the last frame, Baldo puts on his cool sunglasses, and says, “I’m heading to the public swimming pool, to work on my doctorate!”)

On June 21st, summer officially began.  Of course, the hot weather has been around for some time now, and as is the case every year, is the reason why many drop any pretensions of modesty in the name of comfort and fashion.

The world embraces immodest dress, and as seen in the cartoon above, does not hesitate to glory in lasciviousness.  In this, the world seems more able to see the nature of immodest dress:  “For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light” (Luke 16:8).

Young ladies, please understand that young Baldo in the cartoon above is not the only young man who seeks a doctorate from staring at the female form.  The cartoon was written because of its obvious truth.  No Christian lady should ever be guilty of parading herself in front of the leering men.  “In like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, 10 but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works.” (1 Timothy 2:9-10).