“That Many Pastors Can’t Be Wrong”

So asserted an advertisement for a direct mail service used by more than 1,000 churches. One would think that even with a passing familiarity with the Bible, people would be reluctant to determine the validity of something based on the number of people who believe in it.

When the twelve spies returned to the camp of Israel to report what they had seen in Canaan, ten of them said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us" (Numbers 13:31), while only two said, "We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we shall surely overcome it" (Numbers 13:30). The people, evidently thinking that surely ten spies couldn't be wrong when only two spies offered a contrary opinion, balked at trying to invade Canaan. The ten were wrong - the two were right.

Goliath was a giant who opposed the army of Israel in the days of King Saul. It was the prevailing opinion that Goliath could not be defeated. "When all the men of Israel saw the man, they fled from him and were greatly afraid" (1 Samuel 17:24). It would have been easy for a youth such as David to assume that so many trained soldiers could not be wrong. But you know the rest of that story.

The law of Moses warned against being swayed by a multitude: "You shall not follow a multitude in doing evil, nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after a multitude in order to pervert justice" (Exodus 23:2).

And Jesus said, "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it" (Matthew 7:13-14).

And yet the stumbling block for many in obeying the pure gospel of Jesus Christ is that doing so would be an implicit denunciation of what the world views as Christendom, and it seems that "millions of professing Christians can't be wrong!" They can be, and they are. And the only way I can be right is to follow God's word without being swayed by the multitudes.

-  Jeff Smelser

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Body and Soul

As Jesus was dying on the cross he cried out, “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit!”  -  Lk 23:46

The Bible reveals that we are physical (body) and spiritual (soul or spirit).  Death is simply “the body without the spirit.”  -  Jas 2:26

Have you ever wondered how your soul could be conscious and retain its memory when the body (including the brain) has returned to dust?

The relationship between consciousness and the brain has been the object of much scientific study.  After many years of experimentation, world renowned neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield wrote a book entitled The Mystery of the Mind.  His extensive research led him to the conclusion that there is something distinct from the brain, something that uses the brain much like a programmer uses a computer.  He chose to call this “the mind,” and acknowledged that this is what many people call “the soul.”

Materialists, who believe that we consist solely of physical matter, do not understand and cannot explain this.

-  Selected

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“It Is Good For Me . . .”

A godly Christian lady knew that the cancer attacking her body would soon take her life.  More than the physical pains she suffered was the recent loss of her husband, who had preached the gospel around the world, and upon whom she had depended so much.  As she lay for months on her deathbed she found comfort in reading her Bible and making notes in the back.  Such circumstances might make some people despondent or even bitter, but not her.  To the very end she never lost her cheerful countenance and pleasant speech.

When death finally came many friends and loved ones grieved at the loss, but those who knew her best gave thanks for her life of faithfulness and for the end of her suffering.  As her personal belongings were being gathered together, her daughter noticed that in the back of her Bible she had painstakingly scribbled a number of verses of scripture:

“It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.”  -  Psa 119:71

“I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.”  -  Psa 119:75

“Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me.”  - 

Psa 131:1

“This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.”  -  Psa 119:50

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A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.

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