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COMMENTS AND POINTS
TO PONDER
This page will contain comments from Lucy and Dennis,
fellow missionaries, friends and anyone that has something interesting
to say. It will also contain spiritual comments, short messages
from scripture and things, as Christ followers, we need to consider
(points to ponder).
If you have a comment you would like to have posted,
send it to us and we will consider it. But please remember, it must
be centered on Christ, mission activities or our walk with Jesus.
POINT TO PONDER: You don’t need gimmicks to bring people
to church. What is needed is a pastor and members that walk the
walk (James 3:13), practice what they preach, try to please only
Jesus, and match their walk with their talk.
Pastors are to:
Deuteronomy 4:2 (NIV) Do not add to what I command you and do not
subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that
I give you.
Deuteronomy 12:32 (NIV) See that you do all I command you; do not
add to it or take away from it.
Proverbs 30:6 (NIV) Do not add to His words, or He will rebuke you
and prove you a liar.
Acts 20:28 (NIV) Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of
which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the
church of God, which He bought with His own blood.
Galatians 1:9 (NIV) As we have already said, so now I say again:
If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted,
let them be under God’s curse!
1 Corinthians 4:6 (NIV) Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied
these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you
may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond
what is written.” Then you will not be puffed up in being
a follower of one of us over against the other.
Matthew 23: 1-4 and 13 to 29 tells us about what do when listening
to the Pharisees and what will happen to them for their hypocrisy.
23:1-4 (NIV) “A Warning Against Hypocrisy: Then Jesus said
to the crowds and to his disciples: ‘The teachers of the law
and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful
to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for
they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome
loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves
are not willing to lift a finger to move them.”
23:13-29 (NIV) “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees,
you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s
faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter
who are trying to. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees,
you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert,
and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child
of hell as you are. Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If
anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears
by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’ You blind
fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the
gold sacred? You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar,
it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar
is bound by that oath.’ You blind men! Which is greater: the
gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Therefore, anyone
who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And
anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who
dwells in it. And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s
throne and by the one who sits on it. Woe to you, teachers of the
law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint,
dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters
of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have
practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides!
You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. Woe to you, teachers
of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside
of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and
then the outside also will be clean. Woe to you, teachers of the
law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs,
which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of
the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on
the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside
you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. Woe to you, teachers of
the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets
and decorate the graves of the righteous.”
Revelations also tells us what will happen to those who do not follow
God’s word. Revelation 22:18-19 (NIV) “I warn everyone
who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds
anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described
in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll
of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the
tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.”
Remember these scriptures and check to make sure your pastor/church
are following His principles. Also check them against yourself to
see if you are following them …or are you like the Pharisees?
Peace and blessings,
Dennis Smith
Dennis@ManosdeDios.org
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