The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
May 30, 2004
In
This Issue:
In
the Day of Prosperity
by
Steve Klein
Creation:
Divine Power on Display
by
Gilbert Alexander
In the Day of Prosperity
We are a prosperous people living in a prosperous nation -- the most prosperous nation that has ever been. According to the year 2000 census, the average owner-occupied house in America was worth $119,600. The average household income was $41,994. Most families have more than one car, more than one TV set and at least one computer. We seem to have plenty of food to eat and lots of clothes to wear. Collectively, we spend billions on leisure activities and recreation. Even when there is an economic downturn we remain prosperous by any fair definition.
Yet, many are in denial. In a 1991 survey, 55% of those with assets between 1 and 5 million dollars stated that they did not consider themselves to be wealthy.
There are problems that result from failing to recognize that we've been blessed. We want more. We become stingy. We forget to be thankful. We fail to enjoy our blessings. My friends, we need to open our eyes! There are instructions in God's word for dealing with prosperity and they apply to us! In the day of prosperity we should&ldots;.
Remember God. Our prosperity is the direct result of God's loving kindness. "The blessing of the LORD makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it." (Proverbs 10:22). In return, we should remember Him with praise and thanksgiving. As the Psalmist said, "Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits" (Psalm 103:2).
Stay Humble. "The rich man is wise in his own eyes" (Proverbs 28:11). The tendency of those who are wealthy is to take credit for their achievements, trust in their wealth, and believe that they have control over the future. In Luke 12:16-21, when the ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully, he made plans for his future and his wealth that left God out of the picture. It proved an awful mistake. We "who are rich in this present age" ought "not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy" (1 Timothy 6:17).
Share. How easy it is for us to fall into the habit of using our material wealth only for our own benefit. We become selfish and forget the needs of others. My friends, God does not bless us so richly to teach us to be selfish, but to teach us to share. "Do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased" (Hebrews 13:16). The one thing that the rich young ruler lacked was to sell what he had and "distribute to the poor" (Luke 18:22). Paul would have those who enjoy material prosperity to learn to "do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life (1 Timothy 6:18-19).
Be Happy. It is unbecoming for we who have so much to complain and poor mouth as if we were destitute and unfortunate. Ecclesiastes 7:14 states it simply: "In the day of prosperity be joyful." Happiness in prosperity is God's will. There is no need for us to feel guilty and make ourselves unhappy when we prosper and others do not -- as was mentioned earlier, we are to share with the less fortunate and this should result in joy for all concerned. But besides this, God wants us to enjoy His blessings. "As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor-this is the gift of God. For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart" (Ecclesiastes 5:19-20). In Psalm 144:12-15, the Psalmist describes an idyllic state in which our sons and daughters are strong and beautiful, our barns are full, our herds fat and plenteous, and our communities are peaceful. He concludes, "Happy are the people who are in such a state; Happy are the people whose God is the LORD!" (Psalm 144:15).
by Steve Klein
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Heb. 1: 1). "For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water" (II Peter 3: 5). "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them" (Gen. 1 :27).
Scientists cannot explain creation because creation transcends science. Scientists work with things that exist. They experiment and then draw conclusions based on the results of experimentation. Their conclusions are not always correct, even in this department. When they try to explain things beyond experiment and experience, they are beyond their field of expertise. They can change solids to liquids and both of those to gases, and reverse the process; but they cannot create anything. They cannot take a vacuum, which is the nearest thing to nothing, and turn it into anything. Creation power is power over existence and quantity of substances.
When God created Adam, He made him full-grown. He did not come into the world by the natural process as a newborn infant. His body with all its organs and functions would, to every appearance and scientific examination, have taken at least twenty years or so to develop. But God made him on the sixth day of creation. It would be amusing, if it were possible, to hear doctors and scientists examining Adam the day after he was created, arguing and debating his age and declaring the impossibility of his being one day old. Then Eve was also created a woman. Adam did not have to wait twenty years before she was old-enough to marry. These things display Divine power, creation power, not merely natural power.
One can see even in Adam and Eve an answer to the problem scientists have with regard to age determinations. When God created vegetation forms, each with its own reproductive system, they would have had the age features and characteristics that would lead scientists to declare that these trees and other plants were of various ages, though they were only a few days old. Counting the rings in those trees would have confounded atheistic scientists. Can one not see the same application with regard to the formation of rocks layered in some locations and seemingly solid in other places? If God could create living things of various apparent ages, would He not have the same power over dead things, so that their apparent age and formation is irrelevant? The so-called geological timetable is really irrelevant to the believer, except as it demonstrates God's work in the formation of all things. Length of time is not a restraining factor in creation.
"For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world, and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence" (I Cor. I :26-29).
By Gilbert Alexander