Making a Difference - Whether Hot or Cold  By: Melody Crombie
Our family drinks tea, a lot of tea. During the summer months I make big pitchers of the stuff for everyone. Our tea obsession started a long time ago with my husband. He is one of those rare individuals that doesn't drink coffee (gasp) so every morning he gets a travel-size mug of tea that he sips on his commute into work. Several years ago after our microwave broke, I bought an electric water kettle that heats the water in, you guessed it, a kettle. Our first two were ceramic and always seemed to meet with an untimely demise. Our current one is a robust stainless steel. This morning as I was pouring the water from the kettle into a pitcher for sweet tea, I noticed that the water was not its usual bubbly, steamy self. I have had this happen before and know exactly what to do. One of my overly-cautious kids has gone around during the night and unplugged all of the small appliances so I plug it back in and quickly have active, rolling boiling water in no time. This reminds me of the bible verse in Revelation 3:16, “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” The church in Revelation was no longer making a difference in the people (and ultimately the community) around them. By trusting in their riches, they were essentially telling God they could 'take him or leave him' and it would have no real effect. They had disengaged (unplugged) from the power source of life and allowed the riches of the world to convince them they had all they needed. Getting water hot or cold usually takes effort. We need fire under it to heat it or ice to make it cold. If water is left alone it often becomes grossly lukewarm. During my lifetime I have witnessed the church getting people around them fired up about important issues. Simultaneously, the church has offered the hurting, thirsty and needy a cup of cold water in Jesus' name. The important thing to remember is that Jesus is our source of power, making us hot or cold. Our good deeds testify to the world the kind of relationship we have with Him. The Destruction of America. . .An Inside Job?  By: Melody Crombie
Ever wonder where the communists, Nazi's and terrorists went after the defeat and collapse of their own countries? Did they 'wash up' on America's shores? Can we point to the secular, ungodly ways that are being taught in many of our schools and college campuses as evidence of their influence? God and any mention of the Bible has been systematically removed from our school curriculum, our government and our way of living. We can see the devastating consequences of this secular humanist, anti-Christian movement in the lives of our school children, homes, government and businesses; even if we can't pinpoint exactly when or how it started. The moral decline of this nation is staggeringly huge and shocking! On my recent trip across the United States, I talked with a woman near the Ten Commandments monument at the State Capitol Building in Oklahoma. She was crying and upset that it was going to be removed. We prayed and I tried to encourage her that we could do more than just pray. She didn't really know what to do and said that she didn't want to stand in the way of 'God's plan,' since the Bible talked about things getting really bad before Jesus returned to earth. Fellow Christians, let's follow this type of logic using a different scenario: “I won't brush my teeth because I am going to see the dentist someday and he will clean my teeth and make everything right.” Are you sitting back praying and hoping Jesus comes soon to make everything right? That is great, as long as you are doing everything he COMMANDED you to do! If you are not doing everything possible to change your current situation and the people God has placed in your path, then understand this, the 'Day of the Lord,' will be a day of wrath, “A day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness,” Zephaniah 1:15. We are talking WAY WORSE than seeing the dentist if you haven't been brushing! Most Christians understand the verse, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9. We need to be prepared to do all the good we can for as long as we are able, with Godly love! I met a different woman after a church service in California who told me when Christians said, “Jesus is coming soon,” it amounted to 'fear mongering!' That is partly true, the return of Jesus will be mourned by evil, unrepentant sinners. . .The faithful, obedient Christian will rejoice when Jesus returns! What can we do about the current darkness in our culture? I am reminded about the story of Rizpah, one of Saul's concubines who stayed with her two sons murdered bodies for several months. Because of her great love for her sons, “She did not let the birds touch them by day or the wild animals by night,” 2 Samuel 21:10. Rizpah knew she couldn't bring them back from the dead but she was not about to let their memory fade quietly into the night either! Are we sitting back and allowing America, the famed “City on a Hill” to sink into an abyss of darkness and evil? |
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