" STANDING UP FOR OUR WIDOWS "

Here we are once again, another time of sharing from the Word Of God. " You shall not afflict any Widow or Orphan " (Exodus 22:22). (Isaiah 1:17) " learn to Do Good, Seek Justice, Reprove the Ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the Widow." " WIDOW " defined in this way: A woman whose husband is dead. We are instructed in 1 Timothy 5:3 " Honor Widows who are widows indeed " (NASB). The new International Version puts it this way: Give proper recognition to those Widows who are really in need." Now Paul wanted Christian families to be as self-supporting as possible. Paul insisted that children and grandchildren take care of the Widows in their families (5:4); he also suggested that younger Widows remarry and start new families (5:14); and he ordered the church not to support lazy members who refused to work (2 Thessalonians 3:10). Please listen and adhere, we are told in the Word Of God to visit the orphans and Widows. Now in the first century, orphans and Widows had very little means of economic support. Unless a family member was willing to care for them, they were reduced to begging, selling themselves as slaves, or starving. Now, by caring for these powerless people, the church put God's Word into practice. When we give with no hope of receiving in return, we show what it means to serve others. keeping it real, in order to keep ourselves unstained by the world, we need to commit ourselves to Christ's ethical and moral system, not the world's. We are not to adopt to the world's value system, which is based on money, power, and pleasure. Truth Faith means nothing if we are contaminated with such values. Until next Time... Jim,

" WIVES / WOMEN ARE PRECIOUS "

Lord Willing you will sincerely make a special effort to grasp the content. God made both Man and Woman in his image. Please understand this neither man nor woman is made more in the image of God than the other. From the very beginning the Bible places both Man and Woman at the pinnacle of God's Creation. Neither sex is exalted, and neither is depreciated. The union of husband and wife merges two persons in such a way that little can affect one without also affecting the other. Oneness in marriage does not mean losing your personality in the personality of the other. Instead, it means caring for your spouse as you care for yourself, leaning to anticipate his or her needs, helping the other person become all he or she can be. The creation story tells of God's plan that husband and wife should be one (Genesis 2:24), and Jesus also referred to his plan (Matthew 19:4-6). Then the Lord God said, " It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him." (Genesis 2:18). (1Corinthians 11:9) " For indeed man was not created for the Woman's sake, but woman for the man's sake." You see our God created lines of authority in order for his created world to function smoothly. Although there must be lines of authority, even in marriage, there should not be lines of superiority. God created men and women with unique and complementary characteristics. One sex is not better than the other. We must not let the issue of authority and submission become a wedge to destroy oneness in marriage. Instead, we should use our unique gifts to strengthen our marriages and to glorify God. Until next Time... Jim,

" BECOMING A GODLY HUSBAND "

Greetings All, here we are into another week. This week we will be sharing about the role of a Godly Husband. We men are commanded by God The Father to Love Our Wives. I can just imagine what's going through some minds. Even though people have misinterpreted the teaching of Paul regarding submission by giving unlimited authority to Husbands, we cannot get around it. Now Paul told Wives to submit to their Husbands, This fact that a teaching from God through Paul is not popular and no reason to discard it. According to the Bible, The Man (The Husband) is the Spiritual Head of the Family, and his wife should acknowledge his leadership. But real Spiritual Leadership involves service. Just as Christ served the Disciples, even to the point of washing their feet, so the husband is to serve his Wife. A wise and Christian-honoring husband will not take advantage of his leadership role, and a wise and Christ-honoring wife will not try to undermine her husband's leadership. Either approach causes disunity and friction in marriage. Men / Husbands do you truly know how you're suppose to love your bride? My bride and I have been married nearly 49 years. I confess that I'm still discovering things to this day. I constantly refer to my Life's Manual, The Word Of God. Now paul devotes twice as many words to telling husbands to love our wives as to be subject to their husbands. Question, have you ever asked how should I Love My Wife? (1) He should be willing to sacrifice everything for her. (2) He should make her well-being of primary importance. (3) He should care for her as he cares for his own body. No wife needs to fear submitting to a man who treats her in this way. LAST POINT: A man who honors his wife as a member of the weaker sex will Protect, Respect, Help, and Stay with Her. He will not expect her to work full-time outside the home and full-time at home; he will lighten her load whenever he can. He will be sensitive to her needs, and he will relate to her with courtesy, consideration, insight and tact. Christian Marriage involves Mutual Submission, Subordinating ourselves to Christ as Lord. Some of us must recognize the fact that it's time to tighten up our game. We all make mistakes so now let's be intentional about doing it right.

" THE ART OF TRUE WORSHIP "

Is your Worship Routine or Real? We are all capable of hypocrisy. Often we slip into routine patterns when we worship and we neglect to give God our love and devotion. If we want to be called God's people, we must be obedient and worship him honestly and sincerely. We can't worship while maintaining a sinful life-style, it is religion without personal commitment to God. We can easily do the same. Watch this, while Attending Church, Taking Communion, Teaching Church School, Singing in the Choir-all are empty exercises unless we are truly doing them for God. It is good to do these activities, not because we ought to do them for the church but because we want to do them for God. I sometimes wonder how our culture today got away from offering worship as those who came before us. I wonder what God thinks about the way we have gotten away from offerings of worship to him. We should follow these principles in our worship today: (1) I believe that we should stop being so busy, settle down and come together to celebrate and worship. There is an extra benefit to be gained from worshiping with other believers. (2) We must clear our minds as it takes time to worship, and setting aside the time allows us to adjust our attitudes before and reflect afterwards. You see worship shouldn't just be listening to music and songs that we like, that make us feel good. After-all it's not about us. (3) We show our commitment to God when we give something of value to him. The best gift, of course is ourselves. Until Next Time... Jim,