THERMOSTATS: And other things that set the pace!

“choose for yourselves whom you will serve”

Joshua 24:15

A thermometer reflects the temperature of the room; a thermostat adjusts the temperature for the room.

God has too many children who are more like thermometers than thermostats; what he needs is a house full of the latter.

Like Rip Van Winkle, the church is asleep … when it awakens the world will be so hostile to her that it will find itself an impotent representative of an omnipotent God.

John Curran said, “The condition upon which God has given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime, and the punishment of his guilt.”

Our culture reflects a nation running so hot on relativism, materialism, voyeurism and depravity, that it’s screaming for those who have the courage to march on the wall of opposition. We need those with guts enough to adjust our nation’s temperature, rather than giving in to the pressure to reflect it.

The church is imitating secular society at an alarming rate. Increasingly we are adopting secular views which seem good and feel good; gleaning, as it were, here and there, as the world’s spirit moves us, ignoring the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Truth!

Christianity, Church health,
Illustrations, Religion

TEMPTATION - The Devil made me do it!

FAMILY PRAYER CLOSET [1 John 2:15; Television]

A pastor was preaching an impassioned sermon on the evils of television. He said, “It steals away precious time which would be better spent on other things." He advised the congregation to do what he had done. "I put that confounded box of ours in the closet.” He roared with great satisfaction.

To which his wife was heard to mumbled, "And it's really crowded watching movies in there!"

[ Adapted from CLEAN LAFFS - Thursday, November 1, 2001]

HOLD THE SAUCE [Various Scripture; other topics - Sin (Cost of); Righteousness; Pornography; Testimony; Voyeurism; Walk; Witness]

In Chicago, Illinois, health officials are investigating the explosion of two bottles of Col. Johnson’s Thermo-Nuclear barbecue sauce.

According to a report from United Press International, the explosions occurred in people’s kitchens. No one was hurt, but the spicy, hot sauce caused hundreds of dollars in damage to curtains, carpeting and furnishings.

Man continues to play around with dangerous items on a daily basis, not knowing for sure where the next explosion will come from or when it will happen.

Surveys tell us that huge segments of society are involved in Internet pornography; other data reveals the numbers are so large it must cross over the threshold and into the very sanctuaries of the household of God. It is statistically unreasonable to expect otherwise.

The Bible tells us our sins will find us out. The Bible tells us we will pay the price for our iniquities, both in this life and the next. We are to keep ourselves unstained from this world [James 1:27] but it appears that much of the church has been sleeping in a garbage truck.

[Adapted from David Miller, American Family Radio, News Network 1999]