Blessings After the Creation of Man

The first seven blessings after the creation of Man - Genesis 2 Vs 7) And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

1. Good surroundings - Vs 8) And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

2. Good food - Vs 9) And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food;

3. Good labour - Vs 15) And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

4. Good rest - Vs 21) And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

5. Good companionship - Vs 22) And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 23) And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24) Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. 25) And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

6. Good salvation - Ch 3, Vs 15) And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

7. Good covering (atonement) - Vs 21) Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

-- Lionel Hartley

Degrees of Honesty

(Luke 16:10-12)  He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. 11) If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 12) And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?

Yesterday afternoon I was making a purchase in a local shop and the checkout girl was about to undercharge me 50¢. When I drew her attention to this she remarked that I was 'very honest'. I responded by saying that there is no such thing as being very honest. Either a person is honest or they are dishonest. There are no degrees of honesty, just as there is no such thing as a white lie or a black lie, as all lying is dishonest. She remarked that I could have just forgotten about the 50¢ and walked out of the shop. 'Oh no, I couldn't', I replied, 'If my God-given sense of honesty didn't stop me, my conscience would.'

Lionel Hartley 18 January 2013

One Another Ministry

So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members of one another. (Rom 12:5)

The phrase One Another appears 234 times in the Bible. For it to appear that many times suggests that it is important enough to seek for a lesson. One Another Ministry is that lesson. As brothers and sisters in Christ, how should we regard one another? Here is a truncated version of One Another Ministry, by Lionel Hartley. (Quotations are from the King James Version of the Holy Bible)

The very first reference to One Another in the Bible introduces the aspect of team work: And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. (Gen 11:3) This is the same as God saying to God, “Let us make man in our image (Gen 1:26). It is this teamwork that forms the basis of One Another Ministry. This One Another Ministry is not outreach, but reaching within—reaching to one another. Here are a few other things One Another Ministry entails (in alphabetical order):

Admonish: And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. (Rom 15:14)

Care for one another: That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care for one another. (1 Cor 12:25)

Comfort: Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Th 4:18)

Compassion: Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: (1 Pet 3:8)

Confess faults to one another: For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. (Titus 3:3), Confess your faults one to another(James 5:16)

Consider one another: And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: (Heb 10:24)

Eat together and wait for latecomers before eating: Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another. (1 Cor 11:33)

Edifying: Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another. (Rom 14:19)  Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do. (1 Th 5:11)

Envy not: Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. (Gal 5:26)

Exhortation: But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. (Heb 3:13) Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. (Heb 10:25)

Fellowship: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)

Forbearance: With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; (Eph 4:2) Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. (Col 3:13)

Gentleness: But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. (Gal 5:15)

Greeting: And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of a place toward the south, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept with one another, until David exceeded. (1 Sam 20:41) Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you. (Rom 16:16)  All the brethren greet you. Greet ye one another with an holy kiss(1 Cor 16:20) Greet one another with an holy kiss. (2 Cor 13:12) Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen. (1 Pet 5:14)

Grudge not against one another: Grudge not against one another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door. (James 5:9)

Help: For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. (Eccl 4:10)

Honesty: Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another (Eph 4:25) Lie not to one another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; (Col 3:9)

Hospitality: Use hospitality to one another without grudging. (1 Pet 4:9)

Humility: And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another. (1 Cor 4:6)

Judge not: Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way. (Rom 14:13) There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another? ? (James 4:12)

Kind, tenderhearted, forgiving: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. (Eph 4:32)

Kindly affectioned: Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; (Rom 12:10)

Likeminded: Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: (Rom 15:5)

Look one to another for support – and then support on another: And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. (Exo 25:20)

Love: there are at least fourteen verses that admonish us to love on another. These are so important that they have been listed separately at the end of this booklet.

Minister: As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. (1 Pet 4:10)

Not to steal nor or lie: Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another. (Lev 19:11)

Not to oppress: And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest ought of thy neighbour’s hand, ye shall not oppress one another: (Lev 25:14 KJV) Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God: for I am the LORD your God. (Lev 25:17)

Not to rule one over another with rigour. (Hebrew: perek (peh’-rek): severity or cruelty):  And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour. (Lev 25:46)

Have peace: Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another. (Mark 9:50)

Pray one for another: Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:16)

Pray together: Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. (Mal 3:16)

Question together: And they … questioned with one another what the rising from the dead should mean. (Mark 9:10)

Receive one another: Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God. (Rom 15:7)

Remembering:  [Therefore the name of it was] Mizpah; for he said, The LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent from one  another. (Gen 31:49)

Respect  one another and think of others, other than yourselves And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die? . (2 Ki 7:3) … For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us. (2 Ki 7:6) … And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and came again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it. (2 Ki 7:8) … Then they said one to another, We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will come upon us: now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king’s household. (2 Ki 7:9)  I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality. (1 Tim 5:21)

Same mind: Be of the same mind toward one another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. (Rom 12:16)

Serve: For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. (Gal 5:13)

Shared responsibility: And they said to one another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us. (Gen 42:21)

Sharing gifts:  As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day: that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.  (Est 9:22)

Speak joyously: And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? (Luke 24:17) And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? (Vs32)

Speak not evil: Speak not evil of one another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. (James 4:11)

Subjection and submission: Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject to one another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. (1 Pet 5:5) Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. (Eph 5:21)

Teaching and admonishing:  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Col 3:16)

Worshipping together: And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. (Isa 6:3)

And finally the thing which sums it all up, loving one another: A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. (John 13:34) By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. (John 13:35) This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you (John 15:12). These things I command you, that ye love one another. (John 15:17) Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. (Rom 13:8) And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: (1 Th 3:12) But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. (1 Th 4:9) Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: (1 Pet 1:22) For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. (1 John 3:11) And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. (1 John 3:23) Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. (1 John 4:7) Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. (1 John 4:11) No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. (1 John 4:12) And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. (2 John 1:5)


From One Another Ministry, by Lionel D C Hartley, PhD ©2000

Did God Create Sin?

Did God create sin?

Isaiah 45:7 I form the light and created darkness: I make peace and CREATED Evil: I the Lord do ALL these things.

This verse, in its context is referring to Cyrus - a type in Scripture of the Devil (Satan) whom God did create!

Did God create sin?

Perhaps this is best answered by asking what is sin?
In a perfect world sin would not exist.

This is because sin is a "nonentity reality" (a phrase I have coined).
Now, before you label me an heretic, let me explain. (I do believe in Sin!)

We know that God didn't create Dark, he created Light
You can't make Dark. Dark is simply the absence of light. Take away the Light and you are left with Dark.

Now I would like to suggest that God didn't create Cold, he created the Sun (Heat).
You can't make Cold. Cold is simply the absence of heat. Even a refrigerator gets cold because you remove the heat, not because you make Cold. Take away the Heat and you are left with Cold.

God didn't create Vacuums. A Vacuum is simple the absence of matter (e.g. air). Take away the Air and you are left with a Vacuum.

God didn't create Silence. A Silence is simple the absence of Sound. Take away the Sound and you are left with Silence.

There are many examples of this in nature.

In the same way God didn't create fear. (2 Timothy 1:7 - "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." Fear is the absence of Love. (1 John 4:18 - There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.)

Now back to our discussion of Sin. Sin is the absence of God. GOD DIDN'T CREATE SIN but when he gave man freedom of choice, man could then choose to live apart from God and His law.

This, then, is Sin - being apart from God and His Law. (1 Corinthians 15:56 "The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law." and 1 John 3:4 "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.")

Sin is separation from God (Romans 8:35, 39 " Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ... Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.")

Sin is so serious that it cost Jesus His life just to bring about a reconciliation between Man and God.

Lionel Hartley, Feb 8 2005

http://www.christian.net/messages.php?forum=515&topic=7597&page=0

The Miser and the Waterfall

Once upon a time there was a wise old miser who lived in a cave behind a waterfall. As he neared the end of his life, he sent word into the nearby town that whoever could carry a clean milk-jug under the waterfall without getting water in it would have it filled with gold. The next day, many townsfolk lined up at the waterfall with their milk-jugs. Many carried them in bags, but as the miser could not see the jug passing under the waterfall they got no gold. Others carried them upside-down, but an upside-down jug could hold no gold either. One smart person had filled his jug with water and frozen it overnight so that no water from the waterfall could land in the jug. But a jug with frozen water couldn't hold gold. Another had filled his with axle grease but it could not be filled with gold as it was no longer clean. However one person had filled his jug with sweet clean honey. When he came through the waterfall no water could enter the jug, and as the gold was poured in, sweet honey overflowed for others to share and enjoy.
--A dream by Lionel Hartley, 2003

The Mini-skirt Craze

The Mini-skirt Craze

A good friend of mine related the following true story to me.
In the 1970s when mini-skirts were a fashion craze, she was a young 'independent' girl, wanting to keep up with the latest fashion and wear a mini-skirt.
Her mother, concerned for the maintenance of modesty, had other ideas. She verbalised it this way, "Pamela, That's not a skirt -- it's nothing more than a velcro valance! If you insist on wearing a pelmet for your panties, then it's curtains for you!"

-- Lionel Hartley
(Note: a pelmet or valance is a decorative heading to conceal curtain fixtures at the top of a window casing.)

Written Communication hazards

There are times when even written communication is fraught with hidden hazards:

The mother  of a fellow student called Mary went on a busines trip to Japan. When the mother returned, Mary asked what hotel she had stayed at. She said that she didn't know the name of it as her employer had handled the bookings. However she had written down the name on a piece of paper. The only problem was that neither of them could decipher the Japanese pictographic writing. Mary brought the piece of paper to class for another student, who was fluent in Japanese, to translate. The Japanese student asked Mary where her mother had read the sign. "On the front door of the hotel," was the reply. "Well that would explain why the hotel is called 'PUSH.' (Pusshu)"
-- Lionel Hartley

(Nikki Scarlett writes, 'The company where I work services cargo access equipment on ships.
After each service job, a report must be filed listing the ship's name, location, and summary of the work performed.
One of our service engineers was writing his report on a recent job, but was unsure of the ship's name.  His boss told him to read the name off the stern of the ship.
The report came back with the ship name listed as: "Beware Of Propeller."')