Please Join Us As We Pray For:
All of Our Military, Their Family’s & All the Civilian Workers in The Middle East, Zee Mink Fuller and Family, Her son’s Bryan Armstrong and Hunter Hackie, Daughter Shannon, and Brother Philip & Sondra Thornsberry, Johnnie Stephens, Alecia Stephens, and children, Frankie Baldridge and daughter, Buckie Thompson, Frank & Sonya Trusty, Frank & Dawana Reigel, Andrew Preston, Larry & Martha Mollette and Her Family, Tyrell Loyd, Bonnie, Ted O'Bonion, Larry Mollette II & Family, Kerry Adcock, Kim Poole, Danny & Nita Mollette, The Muncy Family, Lee & Mary Mollette, Wendell Henderson, Joshua Kidd, Matthew Kidd, Ronnie and Sarah Henderson, Ronnie Henderson Jr. & Children, Ricky Henderson and Family, Jacie Henderson, Velma Hammond, Charles, Don Hammond and Families, Vickie Adkins, Archie & Barbara Griffin, Donna Johnson, James and Luann Reynolds, Timothy Fails, Nathan Fails, Jacob Ramsey, Jerry Hughes, Pastor G. L. Burr, Melody Carr, Janie Capps, Linda Hughes, Donna Jones, Brandy Sullivan, Gina, Brother Kelley and Sister Hinson, Manual Seymour, Sr, The Harris Family, The Morris Family, Teresa Bookout, Little Titan Thomas (Trent and Tiffane Thomas child), James – Diane and Brooke Thomas, Jace Fails, Steve Sparks, Sister Ann McSwain, Brother Archie and Barbra Griffin, Brandy’s Mother, Elaine Sparks, James daughter’s mother-in-law, Rick McCloskey’s brother, David Leman, Danny Hammond, Brother Curtis Pugh, Brother Dan Sullivan the work in Thailand, Brother Raul and the work in Romania, Bro. Sergey Mochalov and the Churches in Russia.
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A Thought From our Pastor:
Abstain!“Abstain from all appearance of evil.” 1 Thessalonians 5:22
One of the greatest problems of believers in Jesus Christ is to abstain from evil, but God has demanded of us to do it. While we are yet sinners even while in the gracious salvation of God. No human is perfect and we should never expect another to be perfect. God warned us through the Apostle Paul, “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” Romans 12:3 As Christians we must think soberly because it is easy for proud believers to tend to believe that somehow they are more highly and more respectfully above others. But as we think soberly and not thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought, we should remember that we are all sinners saved by the grace of God. And as sinners none of us are better than the other. We must believe that all the goodness in us if in Jesus Christ and given to us by the holy Spirit through the grace of the Father. Paul went on to say in Romans 12:3b “…according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” We must understand that God deals with us independently of each other. It is God that takes a single lump of clay and molds each of us the way He chooses too. One He may give many gifts of grace, another somewhat less, and some He may have made them a vessel for destruction. There is not injustice with God He has the right to do as He please, just as you would if you created something. Therefore, the more you know, the stronger you are, is the more blessed with Gods “measure of faith”. Therefore, I believe it is wrong to be critical of one who lacks the graces you do. However, lacking grace, faith, and understanding is one thing, but to disobey God is another. Christians often get themselves into trouble by knowingly disobeying God. Even the simplest believer knows it is wrong to disobey God. Therefore, it is our job to avoid sin in our lives and to worship God with all our being. God warns us throughout His word to avoid evil and sin. We should not be around it, nor be a part of it so that we are not tempted. The less temped you are the less likely you are to disobey God.
Now to our main point. We are not only to avoid sin but we are also to avoid putting ourselves in a place that even looks like sin. Notice exactly what God said “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” In other words, don’t put yourself in a position that it is going to make you look like you are sinning. Let me use this example, if you are sitting in a bar where drinks are served, one might assume you are consuming alcohol, and if you are sitting with a pretty woman one might assume you are with her instead of your wife. Now all of this is assumption, but you are going to be mad it someone claims they saw you. But here is the question, who’s fault is the misunderstanding? It is yours for allowing yourself to be seen in “…appearance of evil.” We don’t need to forget that God also told us “That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.” 1 Thessalonians 4:12 How are we walking honestly before them if we are walking with them? Folk’s don’t sit with sinners unless you want to look like one of them. Regardless of the measure of faith that God has given to us, we all know by faith alone to avoid sin, and here God tells us to even avoid the appearance of it. I finish with this thought, please read it very careful. “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Philippians 4:8
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EVERY MAN HAS A SOULBy Elder Milburn Cockrell (from his article called, “The Loss Of The Soul”
What is a soul? It is the spiritual, the best and most noble part of man, and it is distinct from the body. It is the immortal part of a man which allies him with angels and God who are spirits. Speaking of the immortality of the soul, Jesus Christ said: "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matt. 10:28). Luke records Him saying: "Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do" (12:4).
According to Jesus Christ, man may go so far as to kill the body, but here the power of man ends. Christ clearly distinguishes between the state of the body and the state of the soul. The state of the soul would not be different at death, if the soul sleeps after death as does the body. Jesus Christ taught that a soul could be lost but not annihilated.
The soul outlives the body and is superior to the body. When Rachel died at the birth of Benjamin it is said that "her soul was in departing" (Gen. 35:18). Here we see death is the departure of the soul from the body to the world of the spirits. When Elijah wanted the dead child to come back to life he prayed: "O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again" (I Kings 17:21). The Lord answered Elijah's prayer, "and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived" (v. 22). Here again we see the soul left the body at death and existed separated from the body. This proves its immortality. Then we see that this immortal soul returned to the body of the child and the child lived. If the soul can exist separated from the body, it is not the same as the body.
The powers and properties of the soul are amazing. The soul retains its powers when the body is mutilated or destroyed. This demonstrates its superiority to the body. The soul is capable of thought and reflection, matter is not. It has power to contemplate God's being as well as His government over the world. The soul is capable of enjoying the friendship of God and of reciprocating His love.
The body is the house of the soul (II Cor. 5:1; Job 4:19; 13:12). The body is compared to the house, and the soul to him that lives in the house. Man is more noble than the house he lives in, so is the soul more noble than the body. The body is the clothing or garment of the soul (II Cor. 5:2-4), and we know that the body is more than raiment (Matt. 6:25). As clothing is worth less than the body, so the body is worth less than the soul that it covers. The body is a tabernacle in which the soul worships God (II Cor. 5:1; II Pet. 1:14), and a worshipper is more honorable than the place of worship (Heb. 3:3). Even so the soul is more honorable than the body.
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