-------------------------<BrethrenVoice>------------------------- [which seeks to be guided solely by the NT Biblical pattern, facilitates free flow of Christian info. To God be the glory!] [eMail Moderator: ben@...] [<GLEANINGS-FOR-THE-DAY> archives/read online: http://associate.com/groups/brethrenvoice/ezmlm.cgi] <GLEANINGS-FOR-THE-DAY> <16 January 2003> Contents: ------------ 1) <Devotional> "Creator and Creature" - Jill Carattini 2) <Exhortation> ""Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." - D.Nicolet 3) <Poem> - "Beautiful Savior, King of creation" - Schoenster Herr Jesu 1) <DEVOTIONAL> "CREATOR AND CREATURE" Jill Carattini A small rock band commemorated the anniversary of September 11th with a controversial concert they called "Hit Another Tower." One band member justified their work saying, "We believe there is nothing so serious that you can't laugh about it." (Footnote 1: Wall Street Opinion Journal, "Rock group issues call to Hit Another Tower." September 13, 2002. www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/09/13/1031608303822.html) Other artistic controversy emerged recently when a sculpture depicting a woman with flailing arms and legs was placed on exhibit. The artist said his work was meant to honor those who jumped from the World Trade Center. Onlookers were so disturbed, it was quickly removed. I cannot think of a place where the lines of moral law are more vague and our inner need for these lines more heightened than in the realms of personal expression. Achievement in culture and civilization is defined by man's unique capacity to create and discern beauty, to express and utilize wisdom, virtue, and power. But we fail to remember that wrong use of these capacities is the defining trademark of evil throughout history. Reinhold Niebuhr once stated, "The destructiveness in human life is primarily the consequence of exceeding, not the bounds of nature, but much more the ultimate limits… There are such limits, because man is a creature as well as creator." (Footnote 2: Reinhold Niebuhr, The Irony of American History. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1952.) Fifty years have past since Niebuhr penned these words and yet they couldn't be more appropriate for today. We flaunt the freedom to create, all the while choosing to forget our Creator. But unbound by moral law, even our own heart's expression can lead to destruction. In his novel Brothers Karamazov, Dostoyevsky masterfully captures a heart wrestling with the lines of beauty. He writes, "Is there beauty in Sodom? Believe me, that for the immense mass of mankind beauty is found in Sodom… The awful thing is that beauty is mysterious as well as terrible. God and the devil are fighting there and the battlefield is the heart of man." (Footnote 3: Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov ) Only through a moral framework are we reminded of the sanctity of beauty, the sanctity of time, the sanctity of the word, the sanctity of life. When you desacralize these things, destruction entails. What contradiction is to reason, evil is to life. But in God there is no contradiction, and emerging from Him is that indestructible law. To all perfections there is a limit, says the Psalmist, but the law of God is boundless. (Footnote 4: Psalm 119:96) You see, God has made us to create, giving us all the freedoms for the design with which He fashioned us; but creatures, that we might find our reason for being in that moral framework with which He framed us. Dear friends, may you know beauty and truth not in abstract expressions but personally—in the splendor of Jesus Christ. --- Copyright (c) 2000 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries _______________________________________________________________________ 2) <Exhortation> "REDEEMING THE TIME, BECAUSE THE DAYS ARE EVIL" D. Nicolet Amazing scientific discoveries, extraordinary displays of human athletic ability, rapid advances in knowledge, spectacular architectural achievements, extraordinary technological advances--the golden years of the 6th century, B.C. 600 to 500--had it all. During one period of these years of exciting development and discovery, we have the account of a captive member of an outcast race, living in exile in a foreign land. However, it is obvious that he was not caught up in the "spirit" of that age of discovery. It seems very doubtful that the great social and moral philosophies of that day--developed by Confucius, Zoroaster, Aesop, and Buddha--were of the least interest to him. What we do know is that he diligently occupied himself with gaining a thorough knowledge of that which was despised by the world in which he lived--the law of Jehovah given to Moses. The world applauded Pythagoras, when he introduced his system of mathematics, reverenced Nebuchadnezzar who built one of the "seven wonders of the world" (the hanging gardens of Babylon) and a half mile tunnel under the river Euphrates, benefited from the system of banking and coinage existing in Babylon, and cheered athletes competing in the Olympic games in Athens. But it had no interest in the goals, interests or accomplishments of Ezra, the young man who was a direct descendent of Aaron, the high priest of Jehovah, the God of the nation of Israel. There were no schools in Babylon where he (Ezra) could learn the law of God. Nobody, except his own countrymen, despised outcasts and exiles like himself, had any interest in or appreciation of Scripture. Babylon, in all of its efforts at gaining knowledge and making advances in culture and technology, saw nothing of value in the "oracles of God", nothing which would help to achieve its goals. What kept Ezra from giving up his faith in view of such obstacles? Why didn't he, an obviously intelligent and gifted man, take the easy and popular path and join in the prevailing spirit of the world in which he lived? The answer is both beautiful and encouraging: "Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it..." (Ez. 7:10) When, by the Spirit, Ezra heard that lovely Divine entreaty from Pro 23:26, "my son, give me thine heart," and he obeyed. Faith gave him to see that the "present evil world" was not worthy of his heart's affections. Ezra saw what Abraham, the "father of the faithful" had seen, a city "whose builder and maker is God". This he embraced, happily confessing that he was but a "pilgrim and stranger" in the world of Babylon with its vast ocean of human intelligence. Ezra's purpose of heart caused the great Persian monarch, Artaxerxes, to confess that "the wisdom of God" was in his hand (Ez. 7:25). The books of Ezra and Nehemiah record the great blessing to God's people which resulted from his faithfulness to God and his purpose of heart in obedience to the Word of God. Today, believers live in times which are strikingly similar to Ezra's. Current advances made in science, technology, medicine, telecommunications, engineering, and all other areas of the human life, are almost beyond comprehension. Knowledge is increasing at such an explosive rate that much of what a student has learned during four years of college training is outdated by the time he or she graduates! In view of this, how important that Christians lay hold of what is really lasting, that which is of eternal value! Faith alone can give eyes to see and purpose of heart to follow a path which realizes that the present world, with all its grandeur and glory, is a quickly passing and Divinely judged scene. It recognizes, values, and lays hold of that which is eternal and unchanging, the Word of our blessed, unchanging God. (Mal. 3:6, Mat. 24:35) May God grant that each believer, with renewed purpose of heart, follows the wonderful example of Ezra! "Whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation" (Heb.13:7) --- [Reproduced by permission of Peter Rule - 'comelordjesus'] _______________________________________________________________________ 3) <POEM> "BEAUTIFUL SAVIOUR, KING OF CREATION" Schoenster Herr Jesu* Son of God and Son of Man! Truly I'd love Thee, truly I'd serve Thee, Light of my soul, my joy, my crown. Fair are the meadows, Fair are the woodlands, Robed in the flowers of blooming spring; Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer, He makes our sorrowing spirit sing. Fair is the sunshine, Fair is the moonlight, Bright the sparkling stars on high; Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer Than all the angels in the sky. Beautiful Savior, Lord of the nations, Son of God and Son of Man! Glory and honor, Praise, adoration Now and forevermore be Thine! [*Words written by German Jesuits as Schoenster Herr Jesu in the 17th Century. Published in the Muenster Gesangbuch, 1677, and translated from German to English by Joseph August Seiss, 1873.] ---------------------------<BrethrenVoice>--------------------------- Subscribe, eMail:<brethrenvoice-subscribe@...> Unsubscribe, eMail:<brethrenvoice-unsubscribe@...> FAQs/Faith Statement, eMail: <brethrenvoice-faq@...> <BrethrenVoice> Home: www.brethrenvoice.net <eFellowship> Home: http://groups.msn.com/BrethrenChristiansForum/ "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith." 2 Cor 13:5 "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Jn 8:32