THE POUND
PROCLAIMER
Volume II
October 2007
Number 12
Sing
to the Lord, bless His name; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day
to day. Psalms 96:2
ENTANGLING
AFFAIRS
BY
JIM DEASON
The life of a faithful
disciple of Christ is one of single-minded dedication. The disciple’s
relationship with his Lord is to always be the guiding star of his life. To the
Christian, every circumstance he faces in life must be viewed through the
glasses of spiritual mindedness.
For this reason the apostle
Paul told Timothy, “No soldier in active
service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may
please the one who enlisted him as a soldier” (2 Timothy 2:4).
The greatest danger I face
as a Christian is not that of committing some clear, easily definable sin. I
have never been tempted to commit murder, and to steal from my neighbor is
presently the most distant thing from my mind. But there are far more subtle
influences at work in our lives which threaten our relationship with the Lord.
Jesus has taught us to “...seek first His kingdom and His
righteousness…” (Matthew 6:33) thus defining our
priorities. It is easy, however, to get priorities out of order.
A regular part of everyday
life for the faithful Christian is that of “laboring...
with his own hands what is good, in order that he may have something to share
with him who has need” (Ephesians 4:28). In fact, Paul told
Timothy, “If anyone does not provide for
his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith,
and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8).
However, more than a few
men have gotten so involved in their secular labors that they have forgotten
their greater responsibility to the Lord. It’s not uncommon in our age to see
men choosing to work more overtime while not only missing services but
rendering them almost powerless to do anything else related to the Lord’s work
such as teaching the lost, visiting the sick, etc. Sometimes such wrong can be
attributed to outright covetousness, but at other times the problem is simply a
matter of losing touch with the more important and misplacing our priorities “...become entangled… in the affairs of
everyday life.”
The list of everyday things
in which we can become entangled is endless. The message for us then should be
quite clear. Let’s work to keep our priorities in order. When becoming like our
Savior is the focal point of our lives then every thought and deed will be
directed with that end in view. Becoming Christ-like will be our passion, the
ruling influence of our lives. It will make us better students of the Book. It
will make us a stronger influence for good on the job, on the ball field, in
our neighborhoods, and in our families. More lost souls will be brought to the knowledge
of the Savior. Dying churches will be revived. And nothing but good can result.
A friend once made this
observation in a sermon he presented, “We have raised up an army in which only
the generals do the fighting.” His comment is probably more accurate than we
like to admit. How utterly impotent we are to try to do battle with the forces
of evil while soldiers are picking posies. With our life hidden in Christ, “set your mind on the things above, not on
the things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:2) and let not Satan
distract you from serving the Lord with all your heart (Matthew 22:37).
— jhdeason@bellsouth.net
The Editor’s
Page
We all know that King David
fought a giant named Goliath. We also know that he triumphed and won a great
victory. How many know that Goliath was not the only giant David fought. In 2 Samuel
21:15-16, we read the following; “There
was war again between the Philistines and
Although this event in the
life of David is overshadowed by his encounter with Goliath, it can illustrate
to us some important lessons.
David’s battle with
Ishbi-benob points us to the lesson that a past victory doesn’t get us a free
pass for future conflicts. As long as we live, we are going to be faced with
temptations to sin. Jesus expressed it this way when talking about trusting God
for all we need; “Therefore do not be
anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for
the day is its own trouble” (Matthew 6:34). The reality is that
Satan is going to continue to do battle with us every day all the days of our
life.
Another lesson to be learned
is that Satan is not impressed by our reputations. Satan knows that the
‘mighty’ can fall. The greatest victory for Satan is to overwhelm the Christian
with temptations and by so doing, wear down their resolve to remain faithful.
The wise person understands that a reputation for faithfulness does not cause
Satan to cower in fear. If it does anything, it increases his resolve to destroy
the faithful.
A third lesson we learn is
that past victories over temptation can give us a false sense of security.
While it is strengthening to win a battle over Satan, Christians do not gain
‘superpowers’ spirituality with one victory. It takes an alert watchfulness
over one’s desires to maintain faithfulness to God. The order of the day is ‘be
vigilant’ because each giant we face must be overcome one by one.
The battle is upon us. Pray
that our faith be strong so we can say as did Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept
the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which
the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me
but also to all who have loved his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8).
ROCK THROWERS AND LEADERSHIP
When Deborah was judge in
“Then
sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying, For that the
leaders took the lead in Israel, For that the people offered themselves
willingly, Bless ye Jehovah”
(Judges
5:1-2).
In their song, Deborah and
Barak praise the fact that
Today, we do not need someone
to rise up and lead an army against our enemies. However, we do need men who
are willing to place themselves in the lead in matters pertaining to the
church. If a local church is organized scriptural, it will have an eldership to
exercise leadership. Even in the absence of elders, there is a need for
leaders. Work will never get done, problems will never be solved and no one
would ever be edified, if there isn’t someone who is willing to step forward
and lead.
To have leadership in a local
church, you must have two things, someone who is willing to lead and people who
are willing to follow. It sounds simple, but it isn’t.
To place one’s self in a
leadership role is to make your self a target for the rock throwers. Rock
throwers are those who constantly criticize leaders. They, like the cowards
they are, engage in a clandestine campaign of backbiting and caustic criticism
of the leaders’ efforts. These rock throwers will not do the job themselves and
do all in their power to hinder its completion by others. This is discouraging
to those who could otherwise be leaders among God’s people.
The rock throwers also hinder
the people from being willing followers. I don’t suggest that we follow
blindly. The people need to examine their leaders and know where they are
headed. If they are unworthy or headed in the wrong direction, then refuse to
follow them. If they are godly men who are leading in the right direction, then
follow.
The irony is that if godly
men who follow godly paths are not leading, then the rock throwers have gotten
their way and they are the ones leading the local church. See Matthew
15:14.
THE LAST WORD
GOSPEL MEETING
OCTOBER 7 – 12, 2007
AT
THE
JIM DEASON WILL BE DOING THE PREACHING
