The Bulletin of the Church of Christ at New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor	August 17, 2008
In This Issue: What's Troubling You? by Steve Klein Do You Believe in God? by Rick Duggin BACK TO INDEX	What's Troubling You?          You can tell a lot about a man's character by the things that trouble him.  Anxieties and worries about oneself and material things reveal an unbelieving heart and a mind that is focused on this world.  Concerns for the wellbeing of others and for spiritual things reveal a mind that is focused on heaven.   You see, a life of faith is not a life that is completely void of anxiety.  The apostle Paul was a man of faith yet he experienced "fears" and "deep concern for all the churches" (2 Corinthians 7:5; 11:28).  A man of faith has concerns, but they are much different than the concerns of an unbeliever. What should NOT concern us? An uncertain future. On the night that Jesus was betrayed, as Jesus' disciples faced the frightening prospect of their Lord's departure and the challenges of their future work, they could do so without fear if they just believed in Jesus.  In John 14:1, Jesus told them, "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me."  Later in the same text He said, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27).      The same principle applies to us today.  We may not know what the future will bring, but if we believe in Jesus we can face it with courage.  We must put our uncertain future in the hands of a certain God.  Jesus commanded, "Do not worry about tomorrow" (Matthew 6:34). Material things.  Jesus also said, "do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:31-33).  Being troubled about material things reveals a lack of faith in God.  It says that a person either does not believe that God is powerful enough to supply his material needs or that God is not loving enough to supply them. What should concern us? Our sins. King David well expressed the grief that we should all experience when we sin.  He wrote, "For my iniquities have gone over my head; Like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My wounds are foul and festering because of my foolishness. I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.  For my loins are full of inflammation, and there is no soundness in my flesh.  I am feeble and severely broken; I groan because of the turmoil of my heart" (Psalm 38:4-8).  Our sin should trouble us deeply.  Does it? The welfare of others. We've noted already the apostle Paul's "deep concern for all the churches" (2 Corinthians 11:28).  That same level of concern should be shared among individual members of the body of Christ.  1 Corinthians 12:25 commands that "the members should have the same care for one another."  The word translated "care" in this verse literally means "to be anxious" and "to be troubled with cares" (Thayer's Greek Lexicon). Long ago, Jeremiah was overwhelmed with concern for the physical wellbeing of his people.  He said, "My eyes fail with tears, my heart is troubled; my bile is poured on the ground because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because the children and the infants faint in the streets of the city" (Lamentations 2:11).  This is the level of concern that God's people should have for one another today.   So, what's troubling you?  Let's strive to develop a faith that will not be troubled by worldly things, and a love that will concern us with obeying God's will and caring for our brethren.    --Steve Klein Do You Believe in God? The atheist faces an impossible task. To disprove God, he must prove: Spontaneous generation. Even if rocks and dirt were our parents, could they cre-ate life? Alford Elliot said that spontaneous generation "is far from proven, and it is improbable that satisfactory proof will ever be forthcoming." Consciousness comes from something that has no consciousness. Conscience came from something that has no conscience. Can dirt give us a sense of right and wrong? Human beings came from something not human. Why don't we see this happen-ing today'?   On the other hand, why should we believe in God? Design implies a designer. Consider the human body. "I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance being yet unformed, and in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them" (Psalm 139:14-16). The hand alone illustrates the complexity of the Designer's skills. It is difficult for scientists to replicate hand movement in modern prosthetic devices. Our hand has 27 bones and boasts a huge number of com-plex movements and actions. The thumb is even more complicated. It can rotate as well as flex and move in a variety of directions, and oppose (touch) other fingers to pinch. To mimic this movement requires two motors - one to rotate and one to flex. An English team has designed a hand that uses six sets of motors and gears that allows each of its five fingers to move independently, and that allows the thumb to mimic two of a thumb's feats. Do we admit that this prosthetic hand comes to us by way of design? If so, what does this say about the real hand that is much more complex? .--Rick Duggin Via The Exhorter, March 2008, Oakland C of C