"Mitigating, Michael Hodson said Charlton was not motivated by self-interest but had been trying to create a fantasy world to feel better about herself."Pardon?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/10408665.stm
Quiet wonderful and amazing, then, that it's turned out so well, don't
you think?
For example, the incredible range of tastes and complexions in all the
foods that humans can eat. It seems to have turned out precisely as if
we were meant to enjoy food, and find pleasure in the many different
varieties.
Or consider the beauties of the natural world - waters, green dales,
sunsets, shimmering oceans, etcetera. It all looks as if it was made to
be enjoyed. What a wonderful coincdence that no purpose or plan brought
about that beauty for us to enjoy, without it ever being intended!
Consider the variety of life as a whole and all its incredible breadth
of experiences. Given that we are allegedly just Darwinian
eating-and-mating machines, it's pretty amazing that we should have such
varied and interesting existences, isn't it?
Or look at the realities of morality, as all humanity understands itself
to be under laws of right and wrong - and that right is to be chosen
whilst wrong is to be rejected. It is a great blessing that people came
to believe that (even if they live it out very inconsistently),
notwithstanding the supposed fact that life is an undirected cosmic
accident, n'est ce pas?
How about music, and all of its beauty and variety - all the different
sounds and harmonies, together with our capacity to enjoy it. Perhaps we
might not have expected that, given that we are told that the only real
uses of noise are to warn off enemies and to attract a mate. But all the
same, it's a marvellous set of coincedences that have led it to turn out
exactly as if it was designed for our pleasure again, don't you think?
The world of the atheist thinker must be a painful one. His creed tells
him to expect nothing accept accidental by-products of the fight to
reproduce. But the world he actually lives in throws up infinitely more,
as a matter of daily routine in every area of existence. One further
great mystery is how little today's campaigning atheists seem to notice
these facts.
Or putting it another way: as an explanation for reality as it really
is, atheism simply does not work, and atheists are people who are living
in denial.
Many Christians discuss this question. Is there a special day of rest for Christians? If so, which day is it? Is it the seventh day of the week, or the first day? Or are all special days Jewish, and now abolished?
We believe that God does command that one day every week belongs to him, and on that day we must rest from our ordinary work. Instead, we should give the day to worshipping him, seeking him and any other “good works” that God gives to us.
We believe this because a weekly day of rest is part of creation. It is not simply Jewish. It is part of the order that God made at the very beginning, as a pattern for all time. We read in Genesis 2:1-3 that after God had made the world in six days, he rested on the seventh day. He then blessed the seventh day, and “sanctified” it. This word means that he made it holy – separate, set apart for himself. God himself does not follow times and seasons. Therefore, this holiness is something for mankind to observe. We are to follow his pattern which he gave us. In the garden of Eden, God gave man work to do, a wife to love, and a Sabbath to keep. We still live in the same creation (even though it is fallen), and we also are commanded to work, honour marriage, and keep God's day.
This is confirmed by the ten commandments. The ten commandments are laws for all people, for all time. They are about basic, moral matters – like worshipping the true God, stealing and telling the truth. They are not Jewish either. Included in those commandments is the fourth (Exodus 20:8-11), which tells us directly that what God did in the creation week was a pattern for all of our weeks: we work six days on our own labours (for God's glory, of course), and then rest one day (also for God's glory).
It is true that the New Testament tells us that there are no “Sabbaths” and tells Christians not to observe “days, months, seasons and years” (Colossians 2:16, Galatians 4:10, Romans 14:5-6). However, we must be careful when we read these words. The Bible does not contradict itself. Paul cannot be telling us that the ten commandments were abolished, or that we no longer need to honour the patterns given to us at creation. In the context of those verses, Paul is speaking about the Jewish, Saturday (seventh day) Sabbath, and the way it was observed since the time of Moses. The Sabbath was kept in a special way in Israel. As well as remembering creation, it also became one of the Jewish festivals. It is Jewish festivals that are no longer observed by Christians.
The New Testament instead shows us that it is the first day of the week that is God's special day under the New Covenant. Jesus rose from the dead on the first day (Matthew 28:1). Our Saviour appeared to his disciples on that day, and then again one week later on the same day (John 20:19-26). He gave the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, which being the 50th day after firstfruits (Leviticus 23:15) was again the first day of the week. We are told that Christians met together on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7), and Paul told them to put aside their offering for God on the first day of the week (1 Corinthians 16:2). No honour is given in the New Testament to the seventh day, or any other day. The Bible makes it clear that it is the first day – resurrection day – that Christians are now to keep. Because of his resurrection (and to avoid confusion with the Jewish “Sabbath”), we call this day “the Lord's Day” (Revelation 1:10). We do not live under the Old Covenant, and we are not commanded to keep the day with all the outward rigour of the law of Moses. Nobody today is to be stoned for collecting sticks (Numbers 15:32-36); we are given freedom in Christ. But we each must use that liberty for Christ, not to cover up our sin (Galatians 5:13). We must each give an answer to the Lord for how we used the day he has given to us, and whether we used it for ourselves or for his kingdom and glory.
"By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers."What is love? According to the Bible, we must measure it by the standard of Christ giving himself on the cross.
"If you send your children to Caesar, don't be surprised if they come back as Romans."
We have been studying Acts. We have chosen it because it is the record of the first churches – the original. It tells us what churches really should be. Last week we asked the questions, “What is baptism, who is it for, what does it do?” This week we have a new question – what are elders, and what do they do?
The word “elders” is first used in Acts in 4:5-8. There we see that the Jewish nation was led by elders (as well as others). This is how God prepared his church to be led by elders – it was not a new idea for them. (Remember that at the beginning, all the believers were Jews). In the church, the first time we read the word “elders” is in 11:27-30. But this passage does not tell us much.
In 14:21-23 we see the first missionaries (Paul and Barnabas) travelling through some towns – Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, Antioch. These were places they had preached, and where churches had begun. Now they returned to strengthen and encourage the churches again – and to appoint elders. Here we can see that: 1) Each church had its own elders to lead the work. Paul and Barnabas were not staying, and so could not be leaders, nor could anyone else who was not staying there. 2) There was more than one elder in each church – God's way is not to have people on their own in difficult work (e.g. Luke 10:1) because the temptations are too great. 3) The elders were chosen from each church – from among the people. They were not brought in from outside. This also is the wisest way – a local church needs to belong to the local people.
Acts 20:17-38 is the longest and most important passage of teaching on elders. Here, Paul called the elders from Ephesus to come and see him before he travelled. It was the last time he expected to see them, so he spoke to them directly about their work as elders. Firstly, Paul showed them his own example. Elders are to lead, first of all, by example – an example of continued, godly, self-sacrificing service. Elders are not trained firstly by sending them away to a school, but by seeing and learning from real men of God doing real work.
Paul told them that elders are shepherds, looking after God's flock. They must feed them all of God's truth. They must watch – always – against spiritual dangers. They are not kings, to reign – but servants, to give themselves. They must always be looking at the flock, and trying to build them up in God's truth. Paul then spoke again about his own example, in particular in the areas of hard work and money. He had always worked hard, did not lead for his own profit, but showed the people how to be generous, helping the weak. He showed them in practice that giving is better than getting, which is what Jesus taught. These are the kinds of men that God wants to lead churches: not the mighty and powerful, but humble, self-sacrificing servants of Christ.
