The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psa. 14:1)

‘Tis the Season for Fools

Have you seen or heard of the billboard in New York and other places, put up by American Atheists? It has wise men traveling toward a star. It reads: “You KNOW it’s a MYTH. This season, celebrate reason.” The American Atheists have been “celebrating reason” since 1963. Apparently before that, they were fools too…?

Christmas and Easter are the seasons for the fools to come out of the proverbial wood-works.  Not the ones who are celebrating Christ’s birthday – although it’s safe to say that God’s not concerned that we celebrate the birth of Christ. If He was, He would have told us to celebrate it. We ought not to do God’s thinking for Him nor think that we can “out-spiritual” God by creating celebrations, for His sake, that He did not command.

Having said that, the incarnation is at the heart of Christianity. Contrary to the beliefs of certain religious groups like the Muslims and Jehovah’s Witnesses, if God did not become flesh, there could be no salvation. It’s only because of the incarnation that we have a perfect sacrifice for our sins.

No, the fools to which I refer are those who incessantly attack Christians for believing that this world didn’t happen by accident or for believing that – yes – Jesus was born without a physical/human father and yes – He did rise from the dead.

I’m referring to fools like Dr. Stephen J. Hawking – professor of physics at Cambridge University and best-selling author.  His most recent work, The Grand Design, purports to show that the universe could have come into existence by itself.  What?  That is a totally stupid idea.  How could anything produce itself? Where did the energy come from that produced the thing in the first place?

Perhaps you’ve heard about the billboard above – Celebrate reason this season.  Yes – please! It is reasonable to believe that either mind is eternal or matter is eternal.  Hawking does not believe the latter; why can’t he see the former?

“The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psa. 14:1).

Take Time To Be Holy

Bible Thought for the Week

1 Peter 1:15-16 “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”

One of the best descriptions of life that I have come across is one that says, “Life is our dressing room for eternity”. We know that one day we are going to shed these earthly bonds, this weak, frail tabernacle will be dissolved (Heb. 9:27; 2 Cor. 5:1). We know that one day the heavens will pass away, this earth and all the works in it will melt with fervent hear (2 Pet. 3:10). We know that one day, in just a moment, a twinkling of the eye, we will be changed (1 Cor. 15:51-52). There is nothing permanent on this earth and it is not our permanent dwelling place (1 Pet.2:11). We know that one day we will stand at the judgment seat of God (2 Cor. 5:10; Rom. 14:12). Since all of these things are absolute truth, they should influence us to  holy lives as we prepare to depart this world. Only by living lives of holiness will we be able to look with great anticipation and joy for that day to come Phil. 1:20-21, Phil. 3:13-14).

Now comes a most intriguing question: What would you say are the marks of a holy life? Allow me to suggest three things in response to that question. A holy life is one that is dedicated to God, one that is disciplined by God and one that is distinctive for God (Rom. 12:1; Heb. 12:5-13; 1 Pet. 2:9). Is this not a most appropriate description of all those heroes of faith spoken of in Hebrews 11? A life that is dedicated to God, disciplined by God and distinctive for God is truly priceless.

Some of the keys to a holy life are found in one of the beautiful hymns we often sing: “Take Time To Be Holy”, “Speak oft with thy Lord” (1 Thess. 5:17, Rom. 12:12)—“Spend much time in secret with Jesus alone” (Matt. 6:6)—“Forgetting in nothing his blessing to seek” (Matt. 7:7, Phil. 4:6-7, Heb. 4:16)—“And feed on his word” (2 Tim. 2:15, 1 Pet. 2:2)—“Let him be thy guide” (Jer. 10:23, 2 Tim. 3:16-17)—“In joy or in sorrow, still follow thy Lord” (Rom. 8:28)—“Each thought and each motive under his control” (Col. 3:1-2, 16)—“Help those who are weak” (Rom. 15:1, Gal. 6:1-2)—“Abide in him always” (John 8:31, 2 John 8-9)—“Thus led by his Spirit to fountains of love, thou soon shalt be fitted for service above” (2 Tim. 4:6-8, Rev 14:13).

There will be obstacles placed in our way in order to prevent us from being holy, the devil will see to that (1 Pet. 5:8) but with God on our side, we will overcome all obstacles and one day gain the greatest victory imaginable (Rom. 8:31, 1 Cor. 10:13, 1 Cor. 15:57).

Charles Hicks

Things to do in the new year

A Girl’s Lunch

    After surveying earthquake damage in Managua, Nicaragua, a humanitarian worker spoke to an elementary school assembly. The youngsters donated packaged food they had brought from home for the occasion.

    As he loaded the food into his station wagon, he noticed a brown paper sack. Inside were an apple, a peanut butter sandwich, and a cookie. On the outside, printed in a young girl’s handwriting: “Christi Room 104.”

    Christi had not brought any canned goods, but her heart had been touched and she wanted to help. So she gave her lunch.

    It does not matter how small our efforts are to help someone else. Even the smallest, coming from a big heart, can do a lot of good.

    “Whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones, even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you he shall not lose his reward” (Matt. 10:42).

    May each of us use our resources in the service of others during this new year.

--Paul Holland

The last day of the year

"Christianity is not a theory or speculation, but a life; not a philosophy of life, but a living presence."   --  Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Well, it’s the last Lord’s Day of the year and I suppose that our lesson today ought to reflect that thought in some way. I’ve given some thought as to how to go about that and I decided that I’d tell you a little story about some thoughts a retired state trooper had about his life, his career and life in general. His story centered around this holiday season of the year so I thought that I could tell it to you and then draw some spiritual thoughts from its telling. Here’s his story, as he told it, paraphrased by me for space restraints.

It was Christmas Eve and retired trooper Bob Welch was alone at home now as his kids had long since grown up and were gone from the house and his wife had passed away. The holiday season is good for bringing to mind old memories of past seasons and as he sat in his easy chair, he began reminiscing about some of those long past Christmas Eves.

He said that his wife usually did most of the holiday things for the family as he was usually working. One of those memories was the Christmas Eve when he was dispatched to the scene of a terrible accident wherein a woman was killed. And then he was tasked with having to make the "next of kin" notification. (Trust me, this is one part of the job you do not relish having to do)

He drove to the family’s address and knocked on the door. A little girl about 4 years old answered it and said, "I’m Sue McKay." He asked if her daddy was home and after a pause, she said "my daddy ran away." She wanted to know if he was Santa Claus because her mother had told her if she stayed in bed, Santa Claus would come and bring her a doll.

That night, he went against the rules and did not call Child Protective Services. Instead, he took her home to his wife who cleaned her up, put her into bed and then wrapped up a doll for her to open the next morning. She was later adopted by a loving family and they moved away from the area. He said that he had never forgotten that Christmas Eve and little Sue McKay.

He recalled working another Christmas Eve in a severe blizzard and he happened upon a family who’s car had slid off the icy highway into a ditch and was stuck. He said that it was by "the grace of God" that he happened to come down that road and find them that night, very cold and very scared. He took them to a motel where they were able to spend the night safely.

Then he remembered one other rainy Christmas Eve when he found a homeless man standing by the highway trying to catch a ride. It seemed pretty apparent that he’d never get a ride on this night so he picked the man up and took him to a diner down the road and left him where he could get dry and warm and gave him $5 to get some food.

He said that it’s strange when later you’re all alone and you get to thinking about those past occasions and about all that you’ve done with your life. You think about God, and your wife, and your family. About the job and the career you had and you ask yourself, "Was it worth it all? Did I do good? If I could live my life over, would I do it the same way? "

Then he heard a knock on his front door. It’s late, who could possibly be at his house? He answered the door and had a sudden fright as he saw a uniformed State Trooper standing there with a solemn appearance. His immediate thought was, "Oh no, who has died tonight?" It briefly crossed his mind that maybe this was some sort of "pay back" for some of the wrongs he’d done in his life.

Then he noticed the trooper was a girl and she smiled and held out her hand and at the same time he saw a tear run down her cheek. She said, "I’m sure you don’t remember me, but God bless you. I’m Trooper Sue McKay."

I have to admit that I got emotional when I heard that story as all of us who spent a career in law enforcement can relate to a lot of tragedies, especially while working on holidays. But, the reason I chose to use this story is to use it as sort of a parable. To lay it alongside our lives, so to speak.


In all aspects of life as Christians, we strive to keep ourselves right with God and to influence those we live with and around to want to also be right with God. And we know that, at some point it all comes to an end, just like the ending of the year. It wasn’t all good and it wasn’t all bad, but we got through it with a lot of help from our brethren and friends. And, we look forward to the coming year, should the Lord be willing to grant it to us, and to still having our brethren and friends there to help us.

Then when our final "years end" comes and we’ve been "faithful unto death" (Rev. 2:10) we’ll look forward to the coming "life" where we’ll rejoin those departed loved ones again. And, we’ll meet those who we’ve influenced along our journey of life to also want to be on the "right hand" of God.

And, this is a life that has no ending, no accidents or bad things to deal with. No sickness, no danger and especially, no death notifications having to be made. That life will be in a place we simply call "heaven."


Ron Covey

What is wrong with Situation Ethics?

  "They said to you (the apostles), ‘In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.’ It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit." (Jude 18-19 ESV)

This may seem at the outset to be a "political" lesson but don’t be alarmed, it isn’t. It’s just that "politics" provides such an abundance of inspiring material for an editorial lesson that I sometimes just have to dip into its vast reservoir of examples to make points in my lessons. As an example, you may have seen the results of a recent poll that shows that 71% of Americans think our federal government is a major problem.

I’m surprised that it’s not higher because I think that more and more Americans are becoming more and more distrustful of their government leaders. I wonder why? It can’t be because of the behavior of many of them, can it? And not because of actions said and done, both in ignorance and intentional deceit, could it?

I cited verses 18-19 of Jude to you and I think that you’ll have to agree that (1) we’re living in the "last time" and (2) that we’re witnessing the behavior that Jude is referring to. And I realize that Jude is talking about everyone, not just government, but it’s our government leaders that standout, publicity-wise, therefor serve well as examples.

I also know that there must be some in government that are honest and truthful, but they are blocked from view by the large crowd of liars and other leaders "void of the Spirit." It has gotten to the point that one has trouble believing anything that is said by our government.

When I think about our governmental situation I recall a couple of skits performed by a great comedy act of the late ‘60's - the Smothers Brothers. In one of them, Dick is explaining to Tom that you can tell who’s running the country by the amount of clothes that they’re wearing. When Tom asks him how this works, he replies that the "ordinary people" are the "less-ons." Tom asks, "So who are the ones running the country?" and Dick replies, "The more-ons."

Perhaps that one is a comical example of those who operate in ignorance, but the next skit addresses the intentional actions. In this one, Tom and Dick are being interviewed and Dick is telling the interviewer that he flew them to the interview in a private airplane. He describes their flight and what they flew over in getting there and Tom interrupts and says to Dick, "That’s not true. You’re not even a pilot and none of what you just said happened."

Of course, if you’re old enough to remember them, Dick just stands there with a dumb look on his face and then Tom then asks him, "Why did you deliberately lie about all of that?" Dick replied, "Well (long pause)... it’s national policy."

The skits were funny, but the underlying implications aren’t. They’re sad. 1 Tim. 4:2 provides me with a phrase I see very fitting to what is transpiring today as regards people’s veracity and why this lying seems to be so prevalent. That phrase is: "...through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared..."

It just seems to me that it doesn’t bother a lot of people to intentionally lie to others in order to deliberately deceive people. That we have an over-abundance of conscience-seared people today with a lot of them serving in various government capacities. Just recently, a highly-placed government official admittedly lied to Congress but, absolved himself of any wrongdoing by claiming it was done for the sake of national security. It’s like he’s saying, yeah I lied, but it’s OK because of the circumstances - the situation.

This brings to mind a book published in 1966 and written by a man named Joseph Fletcher entitled "Situation Ethics." He espoused a philosophy that, depending upon the situation, the violation of moral or ethical codes, especially the ones found in the Bible, are acceptable. Rest assured that he might have written the book, but his philosophy was preceded by the real originator of "Situation Ethics" - Satan.

In Genesis 3:4-6 we find the account of Eve being mislead by the "Serpent" using the philosophical strategy of Situation Ethics. He convinces her that she will be justified in willfully disobeying God’s command because when you eat the forbidden fruit, "you’ll be a god yourself." Because of her falling for Satan’s lie and her deliberate violation of God’s law, death came into the world (4:19).

One might ask, what is basically wrong with Situation Ethics? What’s wrong with the various behaviors that fall into the category of things "void of the Spirit?" The answer is easy and simple: it violates the two laws on which Christ said "hang all the law and the prophets." (Mt. 22:37-40) The first: the love for God, and second: the love for our fellow man. Those two are the lowest common-denominator of all the statutes and commandments of God.

In closing our thoughts here today, let me say as plainly as possible, convenient lies, ignorant or deliberate, or any other actions "void of the Spirit" are not acceptable behavior for Christians. I believe that any who do so will, in the words of the apostle Paul, "depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of devils." (1Tim. 4:1 ESV)

Our "faith" demands that we are to "provide things honest in the sight of all men." (Rom. 12:17) I further believe that the things "void of the Spirit" are precisely the things Paul warns us about in 1 Tim. 4:1, to wit: "deceitful spirits and teachings of devils." The words of Paul in Philippians 4:8 will be the final thought of this lesson and serve to tell us what the things "of the Spirit" are.

 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence; if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." (ESV)

Respectfully submitted,

Ron Covey

On A Hill Far Away

What is it about the cross of Christ that draws men to Jesus? Surely it is not the fact that it was some instrument of death, for other means of execution remain to this day as symbols of only infamy and disgrace. Who has ever written a song about the electric chair, or what poet has ever glorified the gas chamber or the hangman's noose? But let men erect a cross in their yard, or display it upon a billboard, and immediately the attention of those who see that cross is drawn to one figure in history Who made that cruel instrument famous. Let someone display an electric chair in the front of their yard and the onlooker might wonder why such a display. But his attention would not be drawn to any particular figure in history. But let a man put a cross in his yard and immediately those who pass by think of Christ and Christianity. Even as I write these lines the ACLU in cooperation with liberal judges have succeeded in removing the cross from a Veterans cemetery in the state of California for no other reason than the fact that it is in the shape of a cross. From the fields of Arlington Memorial Cemetery in Washington, D.C., to the beaches of Normandy, and around the world, grave yards have been graced with small crosses at the head of each tomb declaring the hope that men have in a resurrection - a resurrection found only in Christ, and made possible because of His death upon the cross. Oh yes, "On a hill far away, Stood and old rugged cross, The emblem of suffering and shame..." For 2,000 years the cross of Christ has cast its beacon of hope across the tumultuous sea of human misery and sin, and the message of the gospel is so closely associated with that cross that to speak of the one is to bring to mind the other. It has been nine centuries since Abbot Rupert wrote the following tribute to the cross of Christ: "We venerate the cross as a safeguard of faith, as the strengthening of hope and the throne of love. It is the sign of mercy, the proof of forgiveness, the vehicle of grace and the banner of peace. We venerate the cross, because it has broken down our pride, shattered our envy, redeemed our sin and atoned for our punishment. The cross of Christ is the door to heaven, the key to paradise, the downfall of the devil, the uplifting of mankind, the consolation of our imprisonment, the prize for our freedom. The cross was the hope of the patriarchs, the promise of the prophets, the triumph of kings and the ministry of priests. Tyrants are convicted by the cross and the mighty ones defeated, it lifts up the miserable and honors the poor. The cross is the end of darkness, the spreading of light, the flight of death, the ship of life and the kingdom of salvation" (http://www.rc.net/wcc/throne1.htm). Dear friend, that cross, and all that it stands for demands some kind of response. Men can ignore it, ridicule it, mock it, and seek to eliminate its presence, but in so doing they stumble over the One Who Himself said, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself" (John 12:32). It has been more than twenty years since Lois Cheney wrote the following lines:

I once saw a cross so big, it was as high as the church in front of which it stood. It was made of railroad steel, and it was very dramatic, and I was moved, and I was impressed, as I walked by and away from it.

I once saw a cross so lovely. It was a work of art, carved and polished. It was made to look both strong and delicate. And I was moved, and I was impressed, as I walked by and away from it.

There once was a cross not so high; not so lovely. It was not a work of art. Rough, full of splinters, uneven, unsymmetrical. Its simple mystery unfathomable. And I cannot walk by it, and I cannot walk away from it. 

by Tom Wacaster

Job 14:1 “Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble.”

Without a doubt, we need to be acutely aware of how brief and uncertain life is.  Job goes on to describe life as a flower that comes forth and then is cut down. James tells us that life is like a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanisheth away (James 4:14). Job describes life as being swifter than a weaver’s shuttle (Job 7:6). David really brings into focus for us how uncertain life is when he says there is but a step between us and death (1 Sam. 20:3). Realizing how brief and uncertain life is, we need to conduct ourselves in such a way that we do not live as if we know what is going to happen to us in the next moment of time. Perhaps, this is one of the reasons David utters the prayer, “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom”. Everyone of us can testify to the fact that even when life is full of happiness and all is well, sooner or later our world is going to come crashing down upon us in a cruel way so quickly and there is absolutely nothing we can do to prevent it from happening.  Even though we often must live with sadness in our life, thanks be to God, we do not have to live our life sadly (Isa. 12:2-3; 1 Pet.1:3-9).

Every day we have those momentary aches and pains along with burdens and cares but nothing devastating. Then one day, suddenly it happens, some horrific event comes crashing into our life. What will we do? How will we respond?  Sometimes our world will come crashing down upon us. The question is not will this ever happen but rather how will we respond when it does happen? I know what the response should be: “Tell it to Jesus, Tell it to Jesus, He is a friend that’s well known” (1 Pet. 5:7; 1 Thess. 5:17; Phil. 4:6-7; Heb. 4:16).

God’s love, mercy, presence, exceedingly precious promises, redemption, forgiveness, salvation are all reasons why the child of God should be happy (Ps. 146:5). No matter what dampens our spirit or causes our heart to be troubled with sadness, so long as we abide under his wings of love the troubled heart will only be momentary (John 14:1; 1 John 3:1).

We are frail, emotional human beings and sometimes we are going to be engulfed in sadness but our religion, that is, our faith in God should be such that it lifts us above the storm and allows us to “rejoice in the Lord always”(Phil. 4:4; Isa. 40:31,;Romans 8:28, 31; Psalms 90:14; 1 Thess. 5:16)

Charles Hicks