Many of you may have seen the diagram above. If you haven’t it may be difficult for you to see the word “JESUS” in it. It is there and it is not a foreign language. The reason we have a problem seeing it is because we tend to focus on the small white lines and because the word “JESUS” blends in with the black border. If you just cannot see the word “JESUS” try putting a white sheet of paper above and below the white marks in the black square.

If you are a Christian then Jesus is in you.

John 14:19 "A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. 

2 Cor. 13:5 Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless indeed you are disqualified. 

If Christ is in you then others will notice. 

Acts 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. 

What do people see when they look at your life?  Do they see Jesus? Or is the bad, or the sin in your life, standing out so much that it’s all they see?  Perhaps you are blended so much with the world that it is too difficult for others to see Jesus in you. It should not be a puzzle or a difficulty for people to see Jesus in the life of a Christian. Step back and look at your life and ask yourself, “What do people see when they look at me?”
- LP

THEY REALLY NEEDED THAT

An elderly woman, who lived just a block from the church, never missed a Sunday service for most of her life.  Each week, as she greeted the preacher after church, she would always say, “Preacher, that was a wonderful sermon. THEY really needed that!”
One cold winter day, after a heavy snowfall with most of the town buried in deep drifts, she was the only one who showed up for church.  The preacher decided that he would take advantage of the situation by preaching a sermon on the evils of being self-righteous and hypocritical.
As she left the church, the woman greeted the preacher as usual and exclaimed, “Preacher, that was one of the best sermons you ever preached.  It was really great.  It’s too bad THEY weren’t here. THEY really needed to hear that!”

Are we guilty of applying bible teachings to others but not to ourselves? It is easy sometimes to fall into the trap of not seeing our own sins but seeing those of others. 
Matthew 7:1-5  "Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. 
The bible directs commands specific to individuals on how they are to act. Husbands/wives; slaves/masters; parents/children; saints/sinners; elders/deacons; etc. the scriptures are intending for us to apply them to ourselves personally not to others.
We only profit from the scriptures when we apply them personally.

Hebrews 4:1-2  Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. 

May we all strive to take the scriptures personally and apply them to ourselves as God intended. - LP

This is the first of many bulletin articles by my father, Larry Pasley. You can find all of his articles by clicking his name in the category list, but they will also be mixed in by topic. All of his will have an "LP" at the end of the post.

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? WHAT WILL YOU DO?

Is anyone happier because you passed this way?
Does anyone remember that you spoke to them today?
The day is almost over, and its tailing time is through:
Is there anyone to utter now a kindly word to you?
Can you say tonight in parting with the day that's slipping past,
That you helped a single person of the many that you passed?
Is a single heart rejoicing over what you did or said?
Does the one whose hopes were fading now with courage look ahead?
Did you waste the day or use it? Was it well or sorely spent?
Did you leave a trail of kindness, or a scar of discontent?
As you close your eyes in slumber, do you think that God will say:
You have earned one more tomorrow by what you did today?
Anonymous

Galatians 6:9-10  And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. 
James 4:17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. 
Whether we like to admit it or not we influence people every day in either a good way or a bad. 

May we resolve to leave a trail of kindness each day and to share Jesus with others so at least one heart can rejoice in their salvation because we shared Jesus with them.  LP

COLONIALISM - THE POLICY OF A NATION SEEKING TO EXTEND ITS AUTHORITY OVER OTHER TERRITORIES 

The denominational world works much like this. Colonialism is the only thing many of them even know. It probably started with the Catholic Church as they spread along with the rest of the Holy Roman Empire. Now certainly we should be desiring to spread the gospel to all the world as the great commission commands, and we should seek to extend God’s authority to all by teaching them to submit themselves to his will. There is a difference in spreading the gospel and extending my authority or my churches authority.  Recently some circumstances and certain statements have caused me to wonder if some congregations of the Lord’s church are taking on the denominational structure of a mother church and her baby churches. I must say here that I am thankful that the Florence Blvd. church of Christ, which supported the work here in Butler, was not and is not like some others. What makes an eldership think that since it supports a work financially it can dictate how that work is carried out? The scriptures teach that there should be elders in every church. Sometimes when there are not elders in one congregation, another that has elders thinks and even acts as though it has control of the other. 

In conversation the other day, a man told me that their congregation was supporting a particular work and explained that the newly planted church was “under our elders”. In another situation the elders of the congregation supporting a work hire the preacher rather than allowing the congregation which will have to work with him to choose the man best suited to them. Have we lost touch with the Biblical doctrine of autonomy? There is to be one head, Christ; an eldership over each congregation; and never an eldership over two congregations. There is a way for a congregation to handle a supported work that is not scriptural: stop supporting it.  We have others who are trying through their papers or via other means to control other congregations. One preacher after being written up in a paper had a ready response that should be sufficient to cover the situation. He simply replied that the elders at the congregation where he preached knew what he believed and taught and if any correction needed to be made they would be the ones to make it. Sometimes an eldership doesn’t make the corrections that need to be made, but that doesn’t give another congregation the right to take over. It is sad and painful to see entire congregations go astray, but if others go beyond the limits of their authority to attempt to bring them back then we have two tragedies in place of one.  We need to lovingly exhort one another. We need to truthfully teach one another. We need to never go beyond the authority of the scriptures, even for a good cause. The end does not justify sinful means. Leave colonialism to the politicians, it has no place in New Testament Christianity. 

CLERICALISM - CLERICAL POWER IN THE GOVERNMENT 

Here is one we don’t have to worry about much in America; unless you count humanist and atheistic leaders as clergy of their respective religions. Our government was founded with the idea that one church not have control of the state. The intent by our founding fathers was to limit government's role in religion and to keep one religion from controlling all the others. What has happened instead is that government has so restricted religion that those claiming Christianity in Alabama were lambasted when they joined forces to defeat the lottery. We were accused of violating the separation of church and state. Isn’t that amazing. Individuals are not even allowed to vote their religious beliefs. We aren’t supposed to let our faith interfere with politics. The alternative is to allow politics to interfere with our faith. We find ourselves today right where Peter and John found themselves in Acts 4 and we must decide whether to obey God or man. 

We are all concerned about the lack of morals and mocking of values that goes on in our country and our government, but the opposite extreme wouldn’t really be any better. If our government were to be controlled by a religion, which one would it be? You might say, “Christianity”. Great, now which version of Christianity; Catholic, Baptist, Jehovah’s Witness, etc.? You would obviously want what you believe to be the ruling law. Therein lies the problem. England had a system like that and what the King believed was the law, and you believed what the King believed or else. Just look at the atrocities of the Holy Roman Empire under the rule of a “Pope” who decided what everyone would believe. No, we don’t want the clergy ruling our land. 

Aside from a Theocracy where God plays an active part in governing like he did with the children of Israel there is no better form of government known to man than the one we HAD in this country. A law under which religion is allowed to be religion and government is not supposed to interfere. Oh, if we could only get back to that. 

Let us pray that our nation will halt its destructive way of thinking and return to God. We must reach one person at a time, we can’t vote people into obedience to God, nor should we want to do it by force. (Psa 33:12) “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.”   (Isa 1:4-6) “Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. {5} Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. {6} From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.”  (Prov 14:34) “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” 

CLASSICISM OR CLASSICALISM  - THE PRINCIPLES OF CLASSIC LITERATURE AND ART.

Many of us enjoy things of a classical nature and there is certainly nothing sinful in that alone. Whether it be music, art, or literature from those classical periods, they can be very beautiful and inspiring. What we must remember, however, is that the philosophy behind those things was not Christian in nature by a long shot, and in many cases didn’t even recognize the true God. The same thing can be said about the arts and literature of today. As Christians we can still enjoy some of those things, but we must be discriminating and never compromise our beliefs and convictions.  Paul was a good example of this. When he found the many gods that the Athenians were worshiping he used their own literature to describe the true and living God to them. He didn’t compromise his principles, but he had obviously read and studied those works in order to know what they had said.  (Acts 17:28) “For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.” Paul used some of the literature of the people of Crete against them when he wrote to Titus. (Titus 1:12-14)  “One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.  {13} This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; {14} Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.”  When some thing is good and true it can be used by the Christian, but things that don’t fit that description should be avoided. Some of what is commonly referred to as classical art is in actuality nothing more than an ancient form of pornography. A Christian is to have nothing to do with works of darkness. (Rom 13:12-14) “The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. {13} Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. {14} But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” We can separate the good from the bad and we need to do so. There are some who say that all of this or that is evil and we should have nothing to do with it. There are few if any things in the world that truly fall into that category, however. Most things in the world today, like the men who make and/or use them, are both good and bad. Classical literature falls into this category. There are great truths presented in some of their works and great lies told in others. The music that was written in what we call the classical style is some of the most beautiful music ever written, in fact, we sing the tunes of some of that music in our worship to God. The men who wrote some of those things that are so useful in praising God lived some of the most morally impure lives that can be imagined. We don’t need to throw them out because of that. Some of the Psalms in our scriptures were penned by a murderer and adulterer, but God used those evil occasions for His glory. 

Whether it is modern, classical, or other let us be discriminating and chose the good and abstain from the bad. 

CINCHONISM - POISONING BY CINCHONA ALKALOIDS, CHARACTERIZED BY HEADACHES, DEAFNESS AND RINGING IN THE EARS. 

I don’t know what it is in the spiritual world that causes these problems, but there is definitely a problem in the church with people having these symptoms. It is amazing to me how many people will stay away from the assemblies because of a little headache that isn’t even bad enough to need to take an aspirin. The deafness of people in the church is another wonder of the spiritual world. There are any number of people who have perfectly good hearing, in fact, excellent hearing when there is the slightest hint of gossip, but who don’t seem to be able to hear a thing when the preacher mentions scripture pertaining to some sin in their life. What about the ringing in the ears? We so many times allow the wrong things to continue ringing in our ears. We can still hear in our mind the dirty joke that we were told a week ago, but we can’t seem to remember a scripture that was read earlier today. Why is it that way? 

Paul warned Timothy that there would be those who just couldn’t or wouldn’t be able to hear the truth. (2 Tim 4:3-4) “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; {4} And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” Notice those itching ears. I wonder if it was a deafness and ringing in the ear that made it itch. A form of spiritual cinchonism. We need to be sure we are opening our ears to God’s word and keeping them closed to all the fables round about us.  (1 Cor 2:13-15) “Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. {14} But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. {15} But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.” Are we guilty of thinking the teachings of the scriptures are foolishness? No, not all of them only the ones that say things about us that we don’t like. Let us strive to be spiritual and to hear and think on spiritual things.