The Omagh Church of Christ

We do not generally consider abstract things as having power and yet some abstract things are the most powerful things we know of. Things like love, honor, and courage, are not thought of as being physically powerful, yet they have great strenght.

Kindness is one of those abstract ideas that has great power. It can bring about sweeping changes or it can be subtle almost unnoticed. It is a characteristic  of love and is often coupled with longsuffering. It is a listed requirement for the spiritual man (Col 3:12).

The parable of the good Samaritain is a teaching about kindness. "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus was asking. Jesus answered the question by pointing out that your neighbor is anyone who needs your help regardless of whether they ask for it. Regardless of whether they deserve it. Regardless of whether they understand it. You may ask the question; What will I get out of it? Maybe nothing. Maybe trouble. Maybe you'll get dirty. Maybe wet, even hurt. And I should do it anyway!

Kindness has the power to melt the hard heart. Its hard to fight with someone who will not fight back. It is hard to be mad at someone who is smiling back at you. It is hard to slander the person who has been singing your praises (Proverbs 25:21-22).

People can be taught the gospel because of kindness. You can not teach someone who has no confidence in you. Kindness instills confidence, gains trust, builds bridges, finds common ground. Speaking with kindness will always win more souls for Christ than screaming. Kindness seldom turns anyone away. And a teacher that displays kindness will command respect (Proverbs 12:18).

The power of kindness can reach people of every age, no matter their education or cultural background. Kindness motivates. The kind person can not contain their desire to do good. The kind person who sees an opportunity will get involved no matter the risk. Kindness causes taskes to get done (Eph 2:4-8).

As I close this article I am reminded of the great need for more kindness. First, we need to be kind when we don't want to. It helps in every situation. Second, We need to be kind to people of all ages. We need to share kindness with the older people if we are young. We need to share kindness with younder people if we are older. It will bring you joy. Thirdly, we need to be kind to those who do not deserve it or who will not repay it. Finally, we need to be kind in our disagreements. Bretheren have far to much unkindness in their disagreements. I we think we are "right" than kindness is no longer the consideration - winning is. Conflicts will come. Disagreements will arise. But should their presence erase kindness? Should it disappear from the scene even when someone is wrong? Could it be that kindness is one of the real issues among brethren today? We need to remember that those who are kin are kind because that's the kind of people we are!

At the beginning of every day the Priests under the Mosaic Law started anew, the service of God in the temple. The alter was set in order, the lamb made ready, and as soon as the day dawned the sacrifice was offered (Numbers 28:3-8). In this, there is a lesson for us, each new day calls for a fresh consecration of ourselves to God.

David commented that day by day he set about to deliver his petitions to God. As soon as the day broke, his first order of business was to offer up his prayer to God.

Prayer is in fact a sacrifice to God (Heb 13:15). I can't think of a better way to start the day than by talking with God. "As for me, I will call upon God . . . evening and morning and at noonday . . . and he will hear my voice" (Psm 55:16-17). We sometimes sing the song that says, "Father in the morning unto thee I pray." It is a noble sentiment but it must become more than a sentiment it must become our practice.

Over and over in the Psalms the importance of prayer is stressed, especially in the propriety of morning prayer. "But I will sing of thy strenght; yea, I will sing aloud of thy loving kindness in the morning: for thou hast been my high tower, and a refuge in the day of my distress" (Psm 59:16). or "But unto thee, Oh Jehovah, have I cried; and in the morning shall my prayer come before thee" (Psm 88:13). Most of us are probably not as diligent about our praying as we should be. In such cases we are missing out both on our duty and the blessing that God wants to give us. Think about it, if we, like David, consider prayer as the first work of the day, what benefits we would derive.

In the first place, it would make us more conscious of God's presence as we begin the day. We must never forget who we are and who our Father is. He is with us every moment of the day. It is all to easy to forget that. But when we do we can become careless and carnal in our activities. To begin the day with God emphasizes His presence in our lives and we ask for His assistance for this day.

Second, it gives us more strenght to deal with our problems. Let's face it, our faith is challenged every day. The pleasures and pressures of the world assault us relentlessly. I can not live the christian life by my own strenght, but I can, with God's help. "I can do all things through Christ who strenghtens me" (Phil 4:13). Jesus even taught us to pray which should speak of it's importance. "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" (Matt 6:13).

Finally, it will give us the cleansing of our sins. There is something about having a shower first thing in the morning. You start the day feeling fresh and clean. But how about a double freshness, both body and soul. "Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow" (Psm 51:7). "And their sins and iniquities I will remember know more" (Heb 10:17).

We live in a fast paced society. We think we'er to busy to pray. In 1621 Bishop Burnet wrote, "In the days of our fathers, when a person came to the door early in the morning, and desired to speak with the master of the house, it was a common thing for the servants to tell the guest, "my master is at prayer." Today it is probable that the master of the house is up and busy with the carnal things of the day, rushing around, mind pre-occupied with worldly things. There is a better way to start the day!

"Oh wretched man that I am!" This is the exclamation of the admitted "chief of sinners" who expresses a misery felt by all who have honestly faced their spiritual plight. Not only are we plagued by the burning guilt of past sins, but we become frustrated while trying to deal with present temptations. In our minds we want to do what is good and right but often the opposite happens ". . . For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do." (Romans 7:15).

This description that Paul gives sounds way too familiar. Have you ever determined to quite a sin only to find yourself engaged in it again? And even when you try your hardest not to think about it, you find yourself entangled in it again. The struggle is to try and overcome sin. What misery! What wretchedness!

In this predicament the bible declares that Christ is the answer. First, Christ is the answer to guilt. The Law of Moses only served as a reminder of sins. It's animal sacrifices simply reminded the people of the need for a sacrifice that could take away sins once and for all. " . . . but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." (Hebrews 9:26). So now the good news is the redemptive power of the blood of Christ.

That solves part of the problem. What is to prevent our hearts from becoming defiled with sin again? What is to keep our cleansed bodies from returning to the filth of sin again? After all the same selfish spirit that got me into trouble in the first place still exists within me!

Again Christ is the answer. In Jesus' death, burial and ressurection, He showed us how to quite living in sin. "All we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death. We were buried therefore with Him though baptizm into death; that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so also we might also walk in newness of life." "Our old man was crucified with Him that the body of sin might be done away, so that we should no longer be in bondage to sin." (Romans 6:3-4, 6).

In order to become a christian one must die. he must crucify the old self. Christianity demands self denial. So with the Old Man out of the way, we are now motivated by the will of Christ. When a christian commits sin it is because we have temporarily denied Christ's rule in our lives. When we confess our sins, we are forgiven (John 1:9). Christ remains our advocate with the father. He is still the answer.

Jesus Christ came to become the Great Physician. When we all become honest enough to acknowledge our own spiritual wretchedness, and humble enough to seek forgiveness, and deliverance, from our sins, than Christ can become the answer for all of us.

In 1878 Harly Proctor and his cousin James Gamble, a chemist, created a new creamy white delicately sented soap they hoped would compete with the finest imported soaps of the day. They called the newly invented soap "White Soap" for a lack of a better more imaginative name, and they decided to have it chemically analyzed. One report said the soap had very few impurities - only 66/100 of one percent which lead Gamble to a stroke of advertising genius. He promoted this new soap as "99-44/100" percent pure.

Interestingly, a new name for this ultra pure soap came to Gamble one Sunday morning while sitting in church listening to the sermon when the preacher read from Psalm 45:8 "All there garments are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia; out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made thee glad." In a flash of inspiration, Gamble had a new name for his soap - Ivory. And so a psalm that prophetically speaks of the relationship of Christ and His bride, the church, inspired the name of a product prized for its purity.

More than 100 years later, purity is still an important consideration for manufacturers and consumers. Despite recent incidents with Mad Cow our food leads the world in purity. Pollutants in the water we drink and the air we breath are subjects of major concern. We have enacted laws and entered into treaties to protect the purity of our water and air We have set up federal and provincial agencies that pursue people and companies that would willingly contaminate our land and water. Fewer countries take greater pride in the purity of their commodities and enviroment.

But what about the purity of our character? As individuals and as a nation we need to be concerned. Moral uprightness both in principal and in practice seems much less of a standard than a generation ago. Canadians in general, at least according to the polls are less concerned about toxic waste flowing out of the entertainment industry. Social taboos regarding premarital sex, homosexuality and once other forms of sexual conduct have crumbled. Political coruption, corporate scandals and moral failures of religious figures have all contributed to the notion that old fashioned virtues like morality and integrity are all but extinct.

Christians are obligated to debunk the idea and demonstrate that purity is not only viable for society but also an admirable standard to live by. how else do concepts like holiness (separateness from sin) and righteousness (ourward obedience and inner devotion to God) figure into our fast paced, competitive, money oriented world that we live in.

We must live purified lives, "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit . . ." (1 Peter 1:22). And the foundation for a pure life is a pure mind, "Finally, bretheren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely and of good report, think on these things" (Philipians 4:8). Our standard is high indeed. And the strenght to live by those standards is in Jesus Christ.