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Birdwell Lane Church of Christ Big Spring, TX |
Weekly Thoughts - September 2009
| <---- August 2009 | -- | October 2009 ----> |
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06 - JOSHUA 13 - TIME FOR OUR MEETING 20 - WOW 27 - RENEW YOUR MIND |
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JOSHUA He knew that if God's people rejected God's commandments they would be overcome and ruled by an enemy who God would raise up against them (see Deuteronomy 28:13, 15, 43, 48). BE STRONG… and "understand the times." When God listed the troops of valiant warriors of Israel, He added a significant comment about the chosen men of Issachar. They"…were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do…" (I Chronicles 12:32). Today Christians are being shocked and alarmed by legislation, court decisions, and public policies which are openly antagonistic to Biblical moral values. Every informed Christian realizes that something must be done. However, it is absolutely vital that wise, Scriptural steps be taken. A battle must be fought against the forces of "Secular Humanism" but only after we deal with the condition which has allowed it to gain such overwhelming control in our land. Brothers and Sisters pray four our Country and the direction it is going. See Ya Sunday, Ralph |
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TIME FOR OUR MEETING Wow, just few more days until our meeting with Brother Guy Orbison Jr. is underway. I hope that each member of Birdwell Lane has purposed in their heart to support this effort with prayers, attendance, faithfulness, and by inviting a family member, neighbor or friend to come with them. Brother Orbison will be well prepared, exciting to hear, and an encouragement to all. He will be speaking on TRUTH and in truth as he encourages us towards obedience and faithfulness. I spoke to him earlier this morning and he is excited about being with us once again. Brother Guy will be arriving in Big Spring late Saturday evening. He will be coming in from Dallas/Ft Worth area where he will enjoy a short visit with their daughter. Guy will be speaking each day at a brown bag lunch. This short devotional period has proved to be a real encouragement to all who come out for it. Please try to make it so that as we are encouraged by Guy we may also be an encouragement to him. Take advantage of this opportunity. See Ya Sunday, Ralph |
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WOW By the time you read this article our gospel meeting with Brother Guy Orbison will be over. But, what a meeting it was. Brother Orbison certainly did his part well. The lessons were well prepared and delivered. Anyone having trouble with TRUTH certainly has no leg to stand on if they listened at all. He did a fantastic job of present the six lessons. Thanks go out to our elders for allowing Guy to be with us, to our members for their support and to those of surrounding congregation who shared with us in the meeting. All of you are special folks. Our next major event will be in October when we have Brother Brad Harrub returning for his second seminar on Christian apologetics. Brad will be with us on October 9,10,11. The seminar is a follow-up to his Fortifying your faith workshop of two years ago. This will be an exciting and educational seminar designed to increase our faith, trust and belief in God’s word and our relationship to it. Plan NOW to be with us for three exciting days. See Ya Sunday, Ralph |
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RENEW YOUR MIND Most Christians have heard about the Dead Sea scrolls, but few know specifics about this amazing piece of archaeological evidence. In 1948, an Arab boy was looking for a lost goat amid the limestone cliffs near Khirbet Qumran. Along the way this young boy entertained himself by throwing rocks as he walked. He threw one of those rocks into a small cave, and heard the sound of pottery breaking. Scampering up the hill and into the cave, the boy found some leather scrolls with ancient writing on them. Amazingly, the cave contained hundreds of clay pots, each containing scrolls, most likely written by a group of people known as the Essenes. Since that initial find, additional discoveries have been made in surrounding caves. Among the important discoveries from the caves were copies of the Old Testament books. These copies were produced from about 200 B.C. to A.D. 100, making them almost 900 years older than the oldest available copies of Old Testament books. (Keep in mind the Dead Sea scrolls were found in 1948, and the King James Bible was translated into English in 1611.) One scroll found in the Dead Sea caves was of particular importance. It was a 24-foot long of parchment that contained practically the entire book of Isaiah! What was amazing about this scroll was that, when it was compared to the text of Isaiah produced 900 years after it, the two matched almost word for word! In addition, this cave also contained portions of the book of Daniel (on three small pieces of leather), the Habakkuk commentary that contained the first two chapters of Habakkuk’s prophecy. In 1952, cave 2 yielded portions of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Ruth, Psalms, and Jeremiah. Cave 4 was a sensational find—with 330 manuscripts, of which about 90 were biblical books. All the books of the Old Testament are represented with the sole exception of Esther. This discovery contained five manuscripts of books of the Pentateuch, ten of Psalms, and twelve of Isaiah, along with fragments of Ecclesiastes. As more and more discoveries were made, one fact became clear—the text we are reading in our Bibles today is exactly the same as text found on the parchments of the Dead Sea scrolls. Thus, we can be confident that the Old Testament we hold in our hands today is worded exactly as the original writers wrote it. [Brad Harrub is an apologist who works full-time with Focus Press—www.focuspress.org.] See Ya Sunday, Ralph |
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