flynn034

According to Moses [Psalms 90] this scribe has just under ten years to "get it all together." I’ve now passed my “three score and ten,” and tacked one year on in addition. “Three score and ten” is now in the rearview mirror and “fourscore” is in view on the not-too-distant horizon. Yep! I think it’s about time to “get it all together.” But then, sometimes I think it is an exercise in futility. Someone once lamented that when they finally got it all together, they forgot where they put it.   I live in a very small corner of this terrestrial globe. We moved here a little over a year ago, and occasionally when I tell people I live in Olive Branch, Mississippi, I get the typical response: “Where?” I sometimes wonder if my two cents worth that I put into this weekly mail out really makes that much of an impact on anyone or anything outside this small part of the world in which I live.  And about ...

Mystery Solved!   A house caught fire on Thursday morning, November 15, in Wilmer, Alabama.  Five people and a baby were inside the home when it caught fire.  All of them were able to get out except one: the homeowner’s step-father; he was trapped in one of the rooms.   An unidentified man – a “mystery man” – stopped to help.  He discovered that the man was trapped inside the burning home.  He went in to get him out.  He was able to pull him out safely.  He put the injured man in his own jeep and wrapped some tears in his skin until the ambulance arrived.  When the injured man was safe in the care of ambulance workers, the mystery man left.   The family was incredibly thankful for their hero, but they were saddened because they did not know his identity.   WKRG News 5 investigated and found the mystery man.  His name is Robert Whisenant.  Whisenant, who has worked with Emergency Medical Servic...

New Testament Teaching on Capital Punishment     The nation of Israel was something like a theocracy. There was a much closer connection between civic laws and religious laws for Israel in the Law of Moses. Christianity is obviously not a “nation” like Israel was. Christianity is a spiritual nation that transcends civic laws as Christians are now found in nations all over the world. But, we live under civil laws.     God largely does not regulate the types of laws that a nation would put into place to govern its citizens. God has left the power of capital punishment in the lands of the civil government, the law of a society (Rom 13:1-6). Paul says that the governing authorities do not “bear the sword for nothing” (Rom. 13:4). Clearly the reference here is to capital punishment. Civil governments have the God-given right to implement capital punishment. God does not tell them for what crimes they might do that but He allows them to do...

There are three kinds of Christians in any local congregation. Which kind are you? 1) There are those Christians you can always count on. When there is work to be done, when a volunteer is needed, when a need must be met, you can depend on these folks to step forward. They carry their own weight, and they help others carry theirs, too (Gal. 6:2,5). There is never a doubt about their commitment or dedication. Their obvious zeal serves as a positive source of encouragement to others. You just never are left to wonder where they stand - because they demonstrate their faith in every way. These Christians serve as the "core" of any faithful congregation. Without them, important work would never get done - crucial matters would be left unattended - the church simply would not do well. Thank God for all such brethren. We should all strive to be one of these! 2) There are some other Christians in the church that are absolutely "out of it." They have little if any connecti...

In his article, "Why Am I Angrier than I Use to Be?" [Leadership Journal (Summer 2000), pg. 79-80] author and church minister Ed Rowell writes: "When I was young, a neighboring family came down with a devastating illness. Several of the children died, and the rest suffered permanent brain damage. What investigators discovered was that the father had found a truckload of discarded seed corn and fed it to the family hogs. The corn (not intended for animal feed) had been treated with something so bugs wouldn't eat it before it germinated. The hogs ate it, seemingly with no ill effects. But when the family hogs became the family breakfast, the family was poisoned. It seems that many substances - pesticides and heavy metals like lead and mercury - do not pass through the digestive system, but remain in the body, always. In tiny doses, the effects are minimal. But over time, the effects are horrible. That's what happens to many of us. Every day we ingest minute ...

  There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death. Proverbs 14:12   If you want to live forever, trust God and His word, and  obey. Doing your own thing is a one-way dead end.   “Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith.” Habakkuk 2:4 The New Testament has at least one Scripture that puts both options together:   Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation – but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. Romans 8:12-13   Jesus put it this way:   “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:13-14   And the apostle Paul wrote t...