E.A.G.L.E.S Guild - Writer of Faith (Non-Fiction)

Signs!

2011-10-02T01:38:00.000-07:00

For Signs of the End Times please read the

Gospels of Jesus Christ; Matthew chapt. 24 and Mark chapt 13.

If you do not have a Bible available; you can look them up at:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/

When you get to the Bible Gateway site: pick the translation you want and then type in Matthew 24 and after you are done reading it then type in Mark 13.

Many discuss, even debate over when Jesus is going to take us home if we happen alive when "the catching away" of true Christians" happen. That discussion is usually in relation to the time-table of the "Great Tribulation".

Whenever that is we need to be ready to suffer persecution for Jesus sake as well as to be faithful when things are too easy! God looks for faithfulness.

And of course do not believe "date-setters" because Jesus in the Bible told us no one knows the day or hour of His return. Only our Heavenly Father knows!
We can look at the signs Jesus talked about in what Matthew and Mark wrote and know that perhaps we are close to it.

Written by

internet Pastor Bill

Resurrection Sunday Message

2009-04-11T22:36:00.000-07:00

Resurrection Sunday Message
By internet Pastor, Pastor William Mazzulla III

Though I am writing this for resurrection Sunday, it is a good message of hope for all at any and every time of the year.

Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: John 11:25

Martha in that discussion said of her dead brother Lazarus; "Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days."

Martha thought Jesus was talking of someday but Jesus was a God of the now and still is the God of the now to meet our needs. Graves were often in caves, natural or carved out and blocked with a large stone, a boulder. So when Jesus told them to remove the stone she protested that by now Lazarus would smell bad . "He stinketh" the King James says.

A spiritual application would be that there are churches with false doctrine and just as dangerous compromising Pastors with compromising members and God would say fo those churches that they "stinketh"!

That is another whole message so let us get back to the literal meaning of this Bible incident.

Once they removed the stone Jesus prayed out loud to His Heavenly Father so that there would be no doubt as to why Lazarus came alive. Then Jesus just said 3 simple powerful words; "Lazarus, Come forth". Poor Lazarus bound up like an Egyptian mummy. He must have been hopping awkwardly, while struggling to breathe through his grave clothes in order to try to obey Jesus after death lost it's grip on his body.

And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. John 11:44

Sometimes when God does a miracle He often leaves a part for us to do.

Jesus did many healings, miracles including raising the dead back to life. The greatest miracle is Jesus Christ's resurrection. Jesus was beaten for our healing (Isaiah 53, 1 Peter 2:24), suffered judgment oif God in our place dying for our sins and on the third day arose from the dead. This resurrection is proof that Jesus is God in the flesh (John 1:14, 1 Timothy 3:16)

As proof that He was the son of God, Jesus allowed others to worship Him. often when they were healed or set free from demons, the person set free would worship Jesus. The final proof of Jesus being God was when he arose from the grave after 3 days.

As if that was not enough the resurrected Jesus Christ in the immediate days following the resurrection allowed others to worship Him. One time that stands out is when Thomas doubted and when Our Lord Jesus Christ appeared To Thomas, knowing Thomas's previous words was told by Jesus to put his hands in Jesus side and to feel the holes from the nails of the Cross. At that point Thomas worshiped Jesus as God and said my Lord and my God.

Jesus accepted Thomas's worship as He, Jesus, accepts your worship and my worship today and on into eternity.

Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. John 20:29

So this blessed time of year or whenever you read this begin to believe in Jesus. If you already have a personal alive relationship with the living God, Jesus Christ, then pray to Him about the Holy Spirit increasing your faith so that you will believe even more!

Amen!

Resurrection Sunday Message.
by internet pastor,
Pastor William Mazzulla III
aka Pastor Bill

Pastor of:
OLBC - Online Bible Church
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OLBC/

Founder of:
Ezekiel 37 Bible Watch Ministries
http://ezekiel37biblewatch.faithweb.com/
E37BW Ministries And Friends (webring)
http://www.webring.com/t/E37BW-Ministries-And-Friends
Bargains Market & Affiliates
http://www.geocities.com/bargainsmarket/index.htm

-----------------------------------------------------------

E37BWGuestbook@yahoogroups.com,
EzekielsPrayerWarriors@yahoogroups.com,
MissionsAndMinistries@yahoogroups.com,
GodandDisasters@yahoogroups.com,

Me? Who? What?

2008-09-25T10:32:00.000-07:00

by Beka
(c) 2004

Just who am I and how do I impact this life?

I'm 54 and just now realizing I've never had a real understanding of just me, apart from everyone else and their expectations or interactions. I'm trying to re-make my life, after a lot of illness and changes. I can't do a lot of things I've always defined myself by.

I've come to look at it like this - who do I WANT to be? and who did God make me to be?

I get a chance to start over, in a sense. As my health steadies, I find myself stepping back to re-evaluate everything I've stood for, or struggled for, or espoused to others in the past. At first this was frightening and I felt so lost. But now it's exciting - to not do over things already gone by - to just start again.

Am I an artist? A musician? A writer? What is really in my heart? Am I a person who just loves it all, who shouldn't try to embrace one piece of life's experiences too snugly?

The questions have become fun questions and the journey a happy one. USUALLY!! I still have a lot of pain too frequently. I still deal with too much anxiety and I still can't accomplish what I think I should - but I'm beginning to balance the caring for myself with the being there for others.

I think finally accepting God loves me just like I am, right this minute, no matter what, has made all the difference for me. Stop with the guilt trips, stop with the worry about what is the most "right" and perfect choice every moment, stop with the self-reproach. Stop trying to "sort" my talents/skills/interests. Know that I am God's child and that He looks at me like I do at my small grandchildren - with nothing but love. That He'll guide me with that same love.

I've finally come to understand that God WILL work His Purpose in me, I don't have to go out and MAKE it happen. He will use me His Way, right now, right here. So I can just deal with the moment He has given me. I'm finding when I take time to pay attention to who I am in the moment, and to what my needs and goals are, while trusting His guidance, it all works out! After all, He made me.

If I trust my Father with me before anything or anyone else - well it sometimes seems like selfishness but - it really is selflessness, because being settled with who I am makes me able to be my best for myself which IS my best for God.

Who am I? God's Child.
What am I? God's Child
That's all I really need to understand.

2008-07-26T14:40:00.001-07:00

Is it God's Will?
by Beka
(c) 2004

"In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence:
and his children shall have a place of refuge."
Proverbs 14:26 NIV

I have a lot of guilt that I deal with about IF I am doing God's will. Know what I mean?

I'm in a recovery process which apart from a miracle I will be in until I die. But I'm on my way back from the worst, toward better wellness. Before I could get started back, I had to get a few things straight in my mind and heart.

One of these things was to trust God's oversight. I've found if I really trust God, I can move forward in the best of my own thoughtful, careful decision-making. I can TRUST GOD to stop me or turn me if I am going a wrong way.

Thanks to this better trusting, I've been able to step out in several areas of my life where I've always before been fearful. OR in areas where in the past I've been tempted toward an OH WELL, stubborn, or risky attitude, instead of a trusting God attitude.

One day, trying to help a friend with some difficult decisions, I found myself back in my old, negative self-doubting kind of thinking. Did I say the wrong thing? Did I give ungodly advice? Should I just keep my mouth shut? I said to God, "I hope you helped me." Suddenly, in the middle of second-guessing myself, I realized I was questioning GOD's power to help me. HHMMMMMMM

DUH - of course He helped me. I am His. I try to stay close to Him. I try to learn His Word. My heart was right, I was careful and thoughtful before speaking and I remained open to the Holy Spirit. I felt certain I'd not taken a selfish mode, or closed my mind to God's leading. I had ignored no spiritual "nudges". That doesn't mean I did say all the right things but it does mean God was in it.

"Watch your life and doctrine closely.
Persevere in them, because if you do,
you will save both yourself and your hearers."
1 Timothy 4:16 NIV

God rarely puts the "writing on the wall" - does He? If I understand this right, He "leads" through His Word (the Bible), through His Example (Jesus), and through His Essence that abides in me (the Holy Spirit). If I am accepting His Word, His Example and His Spirit in my life, then I have to set aside the fear that I might take a wrong step, because that is NOT trusting Him.

Trusting God is KNOWING that He is there and WILL Protect and Guide my thoughtful stepping out. He'll guide me by "nudging" me spiritually if I am straying. He'll protect me by catching me if I "fall".

It's right for me to analyze my actions or words, but not with an attitude of self-doubt. I should always be double-checking what I am saying or doing, but ONLY with a spirit of openness, learning and obedience. I should always be waiting for, listening for and hearing God's "nudgings" in my life, pursuing God's will for me.

"If a man cleanses himself from the latter (ignoble purposes),
he will be an instrument for noble purposes,
made holy, useful to the Master
and prepared to do any good work."
2 Timothy 2:21 NIV

If I'm pursuing sin, God may have to scream and yell and throw things at me to get my attention! - because He loves me and won't give up on me THAT easily. But, if I'm pursuing HIS WILL, He only has to whisper. I should just Listen with all the faultiness of my ability to listen, and trust Him to work His Will in and through me anyway. I need only to trust Him, while I Walk On.

In the Fear of the Lord is strong confidence.

"As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life
for evil human desires,
but rather for the will of God."
1 Peter 4:2 NIV

2008-02-23T18:22:00.000-08:00

Squirrel, Tenacity and Joy

If you've seen the “Ice Age” movie, you know about the squirrel and his nut. I don't think there's anything else in that squirrel's life at all, except his nut. I'd say that nut is this squirrel's god! And he never gives up. He tenaciously “serves” his nut-god through the worst of crises. He experiences one small moment of the joy of accomplishment, relief and rest at the end of some unimaginable ordeal. And it all starts again!

I have tenacity. (Well, some of the time.) I can go at a task and push through at all costs – if I value my goal enough. And if I reach the goal I am very happy. Then along comes a new valued goal and off I go just like this crazy squirrel. I get "stuck" or over-focused when I get "into" something and in the end I become overwhelmed. I'll be excited and enjoy the work then lose the joy and have to struggle to finish the commitment. And to not stress myself to do such a "good job" every single day. I don't know about you, but I want lasting joy, not lasting suffering.

Too many of us Christians don't understand how to have joy in serving God. Some of us even go to an extreme of believing we aren't really serving Him if we enjoy it. We're supposed to suffer for the Lord. And if we are suffering in serving, or outside of serving, there seems to be no relief from pain.

My Dad was one who believed in self-deprecation and suffering. He wanted to become a pastor. He was a substitute pastor in small churches for many years. But Dad never did understand joy. He criticized people who were joyful and services that emphasized uplifting music and teaching. He felt that kind of thing was for self-satisfaction (in his opinion a sinful thing), not for worship or devotion. He had his happy times, but if he ever had a deeper joy, it wasn't there for me to see.

I'm sure I picked up on Dad's attitude unconsciously, even though I have always disagreed with his point-of-view. I spent nearly 50 years as a Christian who rarely experienced real joy. It took me a long time to understand God wants me whole and at peace, not worn out, anxious and over-burdened. He doesn't want me over-committed to His service – or to anything else in my life! God gives peace and joy, contentment, satisfaction - not drudgery, anxiety and self-chastisement.

The Bible asks us to "stay the course". That phrase would be a good definition for tenacious, wouldn't it!? Our squirrel sure has tenacity – we know he'll never, ever, give up protecting his nut! And why not? After all, he needs this nut. He's “staying the course”. I'd say he's committed to “sacrificial service”. But at what cost? He lives in fear for his life. Talk about anxiety! Where there's a will, there's a way! I don't think that's what God means though . . .

God doesn't want our works, as in us making it happen. He wants our surrender, the sacrifice of our will to let Him make it happen. The Bible talks about striving and carrying our burdens. But this isn't meant as physical effort and physical suffering. What God wants us to strive toward is yieldedness, closeness with Him, openness in witness and so on. The burden we carry is that we are compelled by having received God's gift of Grace to share the news of His great love! “Stay the course” means stay yielded. Let Him work in you and through you.

I watched a Christian TV program recently about dealing with difficult people - fools the Bible calls them. The point was made that we can't "get our needs met" by people, but through dependence on the Lord. We expect others to be what we "need" them to be. We live as if another person's attitudes can influence ours. This program was about relationships. But the principle applies to anything we think we need in order to be happy. We live in a perpetual “cup is half full” life, thinking, “If only, if only . . .” We are always pushing for our physical needs to be met and we miss out on spiritual satisfaction.

I think we can have joy in the midst of struggle, despair, discouragement and persecution. By getting our focus off providing for ourselves and trusting God to do that for us. Real joy lies deeper than physical satisfaction. It comes through the Holy Spirit by our yielding to God. That squirrel has no real joy during his struggle, he needs that nut! But also, that nut needs him! He has no spiritual source because his god is a nut. Our God is GOD! He is the need meeter.

We can't have our sense of spiritual joy all the time, because we're human. We face all kinds of physical limitations. I think I now understand joy. Yet I get distracted and forget, falling back into old anti-joy habits. In particular, stubbornly following my own will. I often have a very difficult time experiencing joy because of severe clinical depression and anxiety. I've "stayed the course" in that I haven't given up my faith, but I've fallen down many, many times. There has been joy at the end of each life struggle. But the greater joy is knowing God will get me through. The sun will come out again, this storm will be over. That knowledge brings a sustaining joy.

When I remember to be yielded during the worst, my pain can keep me from the physical experience of joy but it can't keep me from a deeper contentment and hope that comes from the Holy Spirit. The sense of accomplishment together with the Lord is far better than a sense of my own accomplishment. In the end joy comes from knowing God never left.

I had a difficult time getting the help I needed initially, for debilitating depression, because when medical people would ask if I was suicidal I would say "no". I wasn't trying to end my life or even tempted. That was because of God's sustenance and because of the faith He gave me. When I finally realized my situation wasn't being taken seriously, my true answer to the suicide question became, "I want to be dead." I was praying for God to take me. I wanted desperately to just go home - to Heaven - to the Lord. But somehow (someone!) I just couldn't even think about making it happen on my own. God was there sustaining me even when I didn't know it.

We all have a desire for Heaven but it shouldn't include the giving up of living. God wants us to want to go forward. I got the medical help I needed. It has taken a long time to recover, but that deeper joy has been there for me, despite the agony. During that time, I couldn't direct my will at all. I couldn't care enough. I had no choice but to surrender! Praise God, He has given me back a desire to live.

That little squirrel - he's so excited when he finally gets past a hurdle! Then along comes a new avalanche! Too bad he doesn't have the Lord to brace him through it! He experiences the joy of his own accomplishment, not of the Lord's love. And only for a few moments. Accomplishment is important in our earthly life but not in our spiritual walk. Leave the squirrel to his endless efforts and aim your tenacity toward the goal of yielding to God. I believe you will experience joy.

by Rebekah Wells

Christmas Kindness...... Touched By an Angel

2007-12-23T23:42:00.000-08:00

Christmas Kindness... Touched By an Angel?

For those of you who have not received
Pastor Bill's Newsletter
This post is from my Newsletter so enjoy.
Written 12-15-2007
Copyright 2007 Pastor Bill Mazzulla III

PastorBill3rd@JesusAnswers.com
(Permission to forward

Pastor Bill's Newsletter
in it's complete form is granted.)

IV Christmas Kindness
Touched By An Angel ?

Because my legs bother me constantly but worse when I am on my feet,
(except for while I preach under the anointing),
I try to use a riding cart many stores make available.
Thankfully Walmart is one of those stores.

A side note for the fist time in years, our local Walmart has lawn Nativity scenes.
This gladdens my heart, that even in their merchandising they are acknowledging Christmas and not just a "Winter Holiday". If only I could afford a set!

Anyway back to my main thought.
Usually, my wife Minister Rosemary helps me. She helps me by getting a regular grocery cart and putting all of our groceries in it as I check out. Then once I park the riding cart I lean on the regular grocery cart which now has our groceries placed in it and I push it out to the parking lot.
But she is home-bound during her recovery.

This true story happened to me earlier this week.
I did so much shopping that the small basket in the riding cart was almost over full (grocery shopping and Christmas dinner shopping).
I was also carrying a large box (plastic shelves kit) with one hand while steering the riding cart with the other.
When I got to the check-out the woman in front of me asked if I would be able to fit everything back in the small basket of the riding cart. My response was to thank her and say something like;
"It's OK, I will get by".
She was done ringing up her stuff and I thought was gone.
The next thing I know she had an empty cart, and was putting my bagged up groceries and merchandise in the regular cart as the cashier rang them up. Then she pushed the regular cart out to the entrance for me while I parked the riding cart.
I thanked her immensely and offered her $5 for her helping me and for her time (over 20 minutes, maybe over 1/2 hour). She told me; "No that is alright. Just give it to Salvation Army".
I had to drive to the other entrance because Salvation Army was not at both entrances but after experiencing such kindness; I was glad to give to the Salvation Army who helps so many low-income families have a nicer Christmas.

It almost felt like I was in a mini-Christian Christmas version of "Touched By An Angel".
Now that lady had the Christmas Spirit. I never found out if she was a Christian or not but she had the Christmas Spirit of taking the time to give of herself and then still think of others again. People that give of themselves like that at Christmas time, often are the kind that do give of themselves all year long.
Was I touched by an Angel?
Maybe.
That stranger's kindness is one more reason that this Christmas Season special to me;
knowing that there are still strangers willing to take time to help others.

Which reminds me of something else.
Yes, Jesus is the reason for the season
and to remember it; that is an excellent start!
But I also saw this slogan recently:
"Jesus is the reason for every season."
AMEN!

PastorBill3rd@JesusAnswers.com
(Permission to forward

Pastor Bill's Newsletter
in it's complete form is granted.)
Also permission to copy and/or forward this with copyright
and Pastor Bill's Newsletter link included is OK.

Christmas Devotional

2006-12-24T22:12:00.000-08:00

Conceiving Jesus!

John chapter 1
1 In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,
(and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Luke chapter 1
31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb,
and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
35 And the angel answered and said unto her,
The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee,
and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee:
therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee
shall be called the Son of God.

John chapter 1
10 He was in the world,
and the world was made by him,
and the world knew him not.
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 But as many as received him,
to them gave he power to become the sons of God,
even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man, but of God.

In John chapter 3 verse 7b
Jesus said; "......Ye must be born again."

May you all conceive Jesus in your life through the Holy Ghost.

Have a very Merry and Blessed Christmas!

Sincerely in Christ,
Pastor Bill & Minister Rosemary

The Reason for the Season

2006-12-22T11:39:00.000-08:00

Myspace Codes: MyNiceSpace.com

Going and Growing through the Hurts

2006-10-07T10:14:00.000-07:00

by Brother Earl Adams

Have you ever seen the illustration of the zebra whose stripes are unraveling?The caption says,"I Think I,m having stress!"

It always gets a good laugh,although I know from first hand experience that streess is anything but a laughing matter.

You can't identify because you have a problem free life? Then as I tell the folks who have attended my writing group, you probably haven't suffered enough to be a good writer.
Ouch! That's not want you want to hear. But Jesus never promised it would be easy to follow him. While I do not believe that he send stress into our lives, I believe he allows it. Fire is the only way through our faith, which is far more precious to God than mere gold", is refined and purified.(1peter 1:7)

How can you go through the hurts in your life?

Here are some things good has been teaching me-again.

Don't distance yourself from the Lord. It may sound like a cliché, but it's true. If God seems distant,he,d not the one who has moved.By and act of our wills we need to keep drawing near to the Lord during those times when we feel almost numb from the
Problem pressing in on us.(problems are groupies,they never seem to come single but rather attack in mass)

I remember the time when I was pasturing a small church that had planned to get me out of there church and lives. I had done nothing wrong, but satan was working hard to destory the church which was growing,his plan was to do it through me, to make a long story short the church sent me to take battery of test hopeing to prove that I was unfit to pastor.I Passed all test and returned to the church. In the process of a few months the church had ask me to leave in a manner that was anything but Christ like. I felt like God and man had left me and I was alone in solace and time with no direction in my life, Satan filled my mind with thoughts of killing some people and myself. I Went to stay with a friend and his family who got me some help through a Christian doctor, Who said I was suffering the worse case of clinical depression he Had seen. The thing that hurt me the most was the feeling that god had left me. For years I had felt so close to God I could reach out and touch him, Now he was not there, so I though. However what god did was allow to suffer through this depression and pain to prepare me for future ministry with people who had a simpler problem. I could not see it at the time and felt alone. He also changed my ministry to one of helping people face to face in small groups rather than a church setting. Thank God he had not left me at all, rather putting me through another tanning program.

Refuse to dwell on the negatives or to live in the land of regrets and if only. hanging in my office at home is a little sign that says "Today God and I can do anything together" and I need a reminder that no matter how dark things may seem, we can choose to look for and celebrate the blessings we take for granted. Ears to hear with eyes to see with legs to walk,a voice to speak for him and others and to sing his praises.Friends ,family and church we may not Have all these things ,but we can choose not to take for granted what we do have and to think about all we can praise god for and be glad about it. ( phil 4:8)

Be still and Know he is God ps:46;10

Focus on him-on his greatness and power,his love."His peace will keep your thoughts and you hearts quite and rest as you trust Christ.

Seek Prayer and Counsel of Christian friends and if necessary a professional.Gal;6:2 says,"Share each others troubles and problems, and so obey our Lord,s command."Doing so means taking off the mask we ware most of the time.Plus we need to go a step futher: Admit your faults to one another and pray for each other so you may be healed."(james 5:16) In the process not only will we find Gods healing but our own problems will seem less overwhelming as we reach out to others.

Search for the truth that will set you free.
(john:8:32 so often we listen to the w wrong word as my friend Sue Cameron points out in her poem. We believe the evil one's accusations and accept his condemnation despite the fact that the Bible says"there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus>"(roman 8:1)

Hang on to his promises
All things do work together for good although we may not see how this side of eternity. We can however rely on the promises that
"he heals the brokenhearted, binding up their wounds(ps 147:3) But just as it takers time for the body to heal so too it takes time for battered emotions to heal,Don,t deny the reality of your pain.It,s okay to cry.That,s why god gave us tears.and remember,"Even when we are to weak to have and faith left,He remains faithful to us and will help us.(2 timothy 2:15)

Ask the Lord what are you trying to teach me? Then share what you learn with others.God does not waste pain and suffering. Instead, he uses it to mold us into the image of his son and to teach us lessons we would probably learn no other way. He wonderfully comforts and strengthens us in our hardships and trials. And why does he do this? So that when others are troubled needing your sympathy and encouragment,we can Pass onto to them this same help and comfort God has given us>(2 cor.1:3-4) that's a promise we can cling to and act on. He is a Redeeming
God…………..amen.

2006-09-23T18:45:00.000-07:00

Lies, Lying and Liars by Earl Adams, Evangelist

Leviticus 19:11-19:11

How many of you have ever received a gift you didn't like? Maybe it
was a really hideous tie. Maybe it was a fruitcake. I've heard of
families where the same fruitcakes were passed along from member to
member for years.

Nobody could bring themselves to eat it. Well, in the interest of
helping you handle these situations without having to hurt someone's
feelings, I offer

The top 7 things to say about a gift you don't like

7. Hey! There's a gift!
6. This is perfect for wearing around the basement.
5. If the dog buries it, I'll be furious!
4. I love it - but I fear the jealousy it will inspire.
3. Sadly, tomorrow I enter the Federal Witness Protection Program.
2. To think - I got this gift the same year I vowed to give all my
gifts to charity.
And the Number One Thing to say about a gift you don't like:
1. "I really don't deserve this."

We're all faced with such situations...and we can debate on what's
appropriate to say in protecting someone's feelings in given
situations. I don't want to get bogged down this morning in these
kinds of questions, these special cases, as much as I want to look at
the bigger picture of what scripture has to say about Lies, Lying and
Liars.

Maybe you agree with the little boy who was asked what a lie was and
replied,
"A lie is an abomination to the Lord, but a very present help in time
of trouble!"

But the truth is that there is a cost to lying. Those who lie,
sometimes even once in a given situation, find it hard to win their
way back to being trusted again.

I find it very interesting that in our culture of lying, which we'll
examine in depth this morning, it's still one of the worse things you
can say of someone...He or she is a liar.

Almost everybody does it, but no one wants to be labeled a liar. A
look at secular bookshelves tells you that.

On the left these books include Al Franken's Lies and the Lying Liars
Who Tell Them. On the right of the political spectrum, you have Ann
Coulter's Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right.

If there's anything in scripture that's absolutely clear, even if
only by the sheer force of the number of times it's prohibited, or
spoken about negatively, it would be lying.

Leviticus 19:11 " 'Do not lie. " 'Do not deceive one another"

As people who follow the One who said, I am the Truth, Our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ, the hallmark of our character, a mark of our
integrity, should be that we are truth-tellers.

It's interesting that, the admonition to tell the truth, and the
corresponding injunction against lying, is something that is spoken
of clearly in almost every major world religion.

It's a standard on which most of the world seems to agree, even if,
as we'll see, that agreement doesn't seem to affect behavior as it
should.
Taoism says: Do not assert with your mouth what your heart denies.
Buddhism say: "Lying is the origin of all evils; it leads to rebirth
in the miserable planes of existence, to breach of the pure precepts,
and to corruption of the body."
Oooh. Rebirth in the miserable planes of existence can't be good.
Hinduism says: All things are determined by speech; speech is their
root, and from speech they proceed. Therefore he who is dishonest
with respect to speech is dishonest in everything.
Islam says "There are three characteristics of a hypocrite: when he
speaks, he lies; when he makes a promise, he acts treacherously; and
when he is trusted, he betrays.

Confucius says, "I do not see what use a man can be put to, whose
word cannot be trusted."

I believe the world agrees that lying is not a good thing for very
practical reasons. Have you ever thought about what the world would
be like if there wasn't at least a general agreement that we should
relate to one another on some level of truthfulness?

Nietzsche said: What upsets me is not that you lied to me, but that
from now on, I can no longer believe you.

An author named Sissela Bok wrote a book called "Lying : Moral Choice
in Public and Private Life." She thought through this question:
"In such a world, you could never trust anything you were told or
anything you read. You would have to find out everything for
yourself, first-hand. You would have to invest enormous amounts of
your time to find out the simplest matters. In fact, you probably
couldn't even find out the simplest matters: in a world without
trust, you could never acquire the education you need to find out
anything for yourself, since such an education depends upon your
taking the word of what you read in your lesson books. A moment's
reflection of this sort, makes it crystal clear that you benefit
enormously by living in a world in which a great deal of trust
exists – a world in which the practice of truth-telling is
widespread. All the important things you want to do in life are made
possible by widespread trust."
I thought of a few practical examples related to a form of lying
called cheating:

How about putting yourselves in the hands of a surgeon who might have
cheated on his tests, or in some other ways lied about his
credentials and training?

Do you want someone like that holding a sharp instrument, getting
ready to cut into your flesh? What if he cheated on his anatomy
final, and doesn't know where your spleen is? Up here, right?

That kind of scenario would lead to a couple of things you don't want
to hear a surgeon say in the operating room:

Wait a minute. If this is his spleen, then what's that?

Hand me that...uh...that uh....thingie.

Or how about an engineer who would have flunked bridgebuilding 101,
except he cheated on his final? Keep me away from any bridges he
builds.

The world recognizes that, for a wide variety of practical reasons,
we need to be able to trust, that what people tell us, is true. When
people don't tell the truth, havoc reigns, in society, in
relationships. When people don't tell the truth, it can have serious
consequences. Did you ever stop to think how much of our world is
messed up by lies? Did you ever think about many of the practical
consequences of lying, and the ripple effect it has on our culture?
We've seen it in heads of major corporations that lie about their
companies' financial picture, and cause millions of dollars to be
lost in the stock market, resulting in thousands of people losing
their jobs.

Think of that huge ripple effect. Our legal system relies on people
telling the truth. Justice relies on truth-telling. Without it,
there's no real justice. And so much of our court system depends on
getting at the real truth. In so many court cases, someone is clearly
lying.

It's the job of judges and juries to determine who's lying and who
isn't. That's not always easy, so justice is far from perfect.

Lisa was in a wreck a couple of months ago. She was approaching an
intersection, and the light was green. The light turned yellow right
as she entered the intersection, so she continued through. Well, a
young man driving another vehicle hit her front end as she got into
the intersection, the impact spun her car around to the other side of
the intersection, and flipped his vehicle onto its roof.

Lisa said she had the right of way because the light was green, then
yellow. The other kid said he was trying to get a jump on the green,
I guess implying that he didn't slow down as the light turned green
for him. Someone didn't tell the truth.

Now, I believe my daughter, but the point is that regardless of who
you believe, someone lied. They couldn't have both had a green light.
The police at the scene, because there were no eyewitnesses, wouldn't
determine fault. The insurance investigators for both companies
denied the other's claim. So both sets of parents were out the cost
of a car, because someone lied.

We could give many other examples, but the point is, because our
society relies on people telling the truth, when someone lies, in
many circumstances, everybody pays.

Yet, despite the fact that we can readily agree that our society
needs to have a common understanding about telling the truth, it's
clear something's gone awry.

One study shows that 74 percent of high school students out of 12,000
surveyed,said they had cheated on an exam at least once in the past
year. That's up from 61 percent of students surveyed in 1992.

After doing 3.8 million background checks, Automatic Data Processing
Inc. announced that 52 percent of job applicants had lied on their
résumés.

In another survey, students at religious schools proved more likely
to cheat and lie to parents and teachers than the national average.

A university of Massachusetts psychologist did a study recently that
said the most popular students in school sometimes are the best liars.

Robert Feldman said: We found that convincing lying is actually
associated with good social skills. It takes social skills to be able
to control your words as well as what you say non-verbally," said
Feldman.

Study after study shows that lying seems to be a way of life for
many. Of course, that's if you believe the study.

The book The Day America Told the Truth says that 91 percent of those
surveyed lie routinely about matters they consider trivial, and 36
percent lie about important matters; 86 percent lie regularly to
parents, 75 percent to friends, 73 percent to siblings, and 69
percent to spouses.
• A national survey by Rutgers' Management Education Center of 4,500
high school students found that 75 percent of them engage in serious
cheating.
• More than half have plagiarized work they found on the Internet –
we'll look at that more closely in a moment.
• Perhaps most disturbing, many of them don't see anything wrong with
cheating: Some 50 percent of those responding to the survey said they
don't think copying questions and answers from a test is even
cheating.

I found this quote in an article about high school students cheating:
"What's important is getting ahead," says (one student). "The better
grades you have, the better school you get into, the better you're
going to do in life. And if you learn to cut corners to do that,
you're going to be saving yourself time and energy. In the real
world, that's what's going to be (happening). The better you do,
that's what shows. It's not how moral you were in getting there."
Here's another couple of quotes:
"I actually think cheating is good. A person who has an entirely
honest life can't succeed these days."

How about this one:

"I believe cheating is not wrong. People expect us to attend 7
classes a day, keep a 4.0 GPA, not go crazy and turn in all of our
work the next day. What are we supposed to do, fail?"

All I can say is that I hope the person who said this will not be a
doctor holding a scalpel over me someday. Or an aviation engineer who
helped build a plane I'm flying on.

Just as seriously, we see people dumbing down lies and making excuses.

Alexander Haig once said this: "That's not a lie, it's a
teminological inexactitude."

How far we've fallen as a society. How dangerous this is getting for
our future. I hope I'm not tempting any of our youth by telling you
this, though I'm guessing many of you already know it.

There are more than 250 web sites where you can buy term papers.
One's called killeressays.com
"Welcome to killer essays! We're got all the killer essays for you to
download. We care for you, the student, so please do not copy, steal,
or plagiarize our essays because cheating is wrong and teachers know
about this website. Our essays are for research purposes, so read our
essays and get some ideas out of them, not plagizarize them. Enjoy
the site!"
How many of you believe these sites are used for research? Not at up
to $10 a page! I found one term paper on a site called
freepapers.net, and the ironic title of this paper was Ethics in
Business.

Educational institutions are having to go to great lengths to fight
this form of lying.
Coastal Carolina University had a page on their website devoted to
this issue. One purpose was to show the teachers where students were
getting papers. The other was to try to convince the students that
this was a foolish way to get a good grade.
"Students: read the warnings at these sites. If you turn in one of
these papers as your own work, you are plagiarizing. If you need help
with research, ask the experts at your institution, the professors,
librarians, Writing Center personnel, etc. You are capable of
producing work that is much better than what is offered at these
sites.
These are business sites, they exist for one purpose, to make money
off you. They don't care about your grades, your integrity, or your
problems, despite their assurances to the contrary. They want your
cash or credit cards. Caveat Emptor (Let the Buyer Beware)."
To fight back against plagiarism, another web business is doing a
sort of detective work to help teachers determine when students have
turned in plagiarized work. It's called turnitin.com Here's their
pitch to teachers:
":Our plagiarism prevention system makes it easy to identify students
who do submit unoriginal work, and also acts as a powerful deterrent
to stop plagiarism before it starts. At the heart of our plagiarism
prevention system are our customized Originality Reports, which
contain extensive documentation of any potential plagiarism. Any text
in the paper that is found by our system to be unoriginal appears
underlined, color-coded, and linked to its original source. All work
submitted to Turnitin is checked against three databases of content"
So, here we see the problem. When you don't believe the rules of life
are fair, you make up your own moral code. Students think it's unfair
to have to study to get a grade, so they cheat. People think that
music companies make too much money anyway, so they download illegal
songs. One writer said: "For working stiffs, stealing office supplies
and fiddling expenses feel like petty acts of revenge against an
exploitative system in which rich people wangle their way out of
their proper share of the tax burden, and corrupt CEOs get away with
rap-on-the-knuckle fines. Stealing cable or downloading MP3s doesn't
feel like theft, either, if you justify it as reprisal against
impersonal corporations with their overpriced wares."

Even secular writers notice this. Lying and a form of lying,
cheating, like many sins, is contagious. First, you start with what
we might call "little lies, or white lies." And it grows from there
to more serious consequential lies.

Then, the more people do it, the more it becomes accepted. The more
people accept it, the more people do it. In fact, David Callahan,
author of a book called, The Culture of Cheating, writes:

"If you feel like everyone is cheating, then not cheating seems
foolish. You're just shooting yourself in the foot -- you'll suffer
while all the other cheaters get ahead. Being scrupulously honest may
seem like a nice idea, but to some people it's pointless, as quaint
and as practical as ditching your computer and writing with a quill."

Remember earlier, we saw how the world agrees that lying is not a
good thing for very practical reasons? We considered what the world
would be like if there wasn't at least a general agreement that we
would all relate to each other on some level of truthfulness?

We all benefit from the system when it works like it should and
everybody participates. But in reading the secular authors about this
idea, where they get bogged down is this:

How does this idea of the personal benefits of truth-telling
translate into a personal, moral conviction of, or allegiance to,
telling the truth?

Here's how the author Sissela Bok we quoted earlier dealt with this:

"(people have found) the social practice of truth-telling to have
great value both generally and personally. You benefit directly from
the practice. But how does this fact of personal benefit translate
into a personal moral allegiance to veracity? The fact that a system
of truth-telling benefits you enormously, doesn't by itself justify
your adhering to the Principle of Veracity. After all, if personal
benefit is all that counts for you, then why not reap all the
benefits that a system of truth-telling brings, and then reap a
little bit more by lying for personal gain?"

Of course, you don't want people to distrust you. A lie is to your
advantage only when other people will believe it. People will believe
it, only where a practice of truth-telling generally prevails. Such a
practice prevails only when most people are doing their part to
support it. That is, when most people are telling the truth.
The liar, then, wants to be what this author calls "a free rider." He
or she wants others to do their part to maintain a system, while he
or she doesn't do his or her part. Isn't it interesting how upset
liars get when they find you lie to them?
The liar reaps the benefit of the system, without investing the
sacrifice of supporting it, that is, by telling the truth.

But, what gets you from

point a: the recognition that a system of truth-telling benefits you
personally,

to point b: living by a moral principle against lying?

In other words, we don't lie simply because it's wrong to lie, not
just because telling the truth benefits society and ourselves by
extension. Again, here's where our secular society gets stuck. This
author's answer:

What she called "a simple egalitarianism." She described that like
this:

"You can't see any reason why you are special, why you are different
from all the rest of mankind. Yet you have to view yourself as
different if you think a different rule applies to you than applies
to everybody else. In wanting there to be a system of truth-telling,
and in wanting also to lie, whenever it benefits you, you want to
make an exception for yourself – an exception from the rule you want
everybody else to follow, which is to tell the truth."

However, if you are unwilling to make an exception of yourself, and
you are unwilling to believe you are more special than everybody
else, then the author supplies you with one argument she says you
need, to see why you should adhere to the Principle of Veracity:

She says telling the truth is just your doing your part to uphold the
practice you benefit from. She writes:

"So, there are two steps to defending the Principle of Veracity: (i)
the fact that you personally benefit from a system that you want
others to do their part in maintaining; and (ii) a principle of
reciprocity or fair play, requiring you to do your part in
maintaining the system if others are doing their part."

Let me ask you something. Even though I appreciate this philosophical
thinking about truth telling, and I think it's pretty good as far as
it goes, and maybe even reflects in part a sort of Biblical view of
lying vs. truth telling.

How many of you think appealing to fairness is enough to keep people
telling the truth? This is the problem with modern secular teaching
on ethics.

Appealing to fairness isn't enough. Without a stronger foundation
than that, we just breed more liars. What it takes is a fundamental
change. It takes a change of heart. Scripture recognizes what modern
man doesn't. Our hearts are inherently evil. Only God can work this
kind of change. And as believers in the One who is the Truth
embodied, we can rely on Him to make that change.

One passage seems to appeal in part to the same argument this author
did.

Ephes. 4:25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak
truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.

Here, the apostle Paul is appealing to the fact that lying hurts the
body of Christ.

Life Application Bible says about this verse:

"Lying to each other disrupts unity by creating conflicts and
destroying trust. It tears down relationships and leads to open
warfare in a church."

We belong to the same society. In Christ, we belong to the same body.
Lying tends to threaten that life together. So this is a worthy
appeal. But there's a phrase here that also appeals to something else.

That's the idea of the old man – what we used to be before we were in
Christ. Paul says "put off" falsehood. This is the same language he
uses in the verses just prior, as well as in other passages.

Ephes. 4:22-24 You were taught, with regard to your former way of
life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its
deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds;
24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true
righteousness and holiness.

Then, Paul writes, Therefore....

"Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to
his neighbor, for we are all members of one body."

Paul's reminding the Ephesians, and us, lying is part of the old
life, the way we used to live. Telling the truth is part of the new.
Now, remember, Paul is writing to believers here.

Colossians 3:9 makes a similar point:

Col. 3:9 9Do not lie to each other,

Why?.... since you have taken off your old self with its practices.

So, both the Ephesians and the Colossians needed to be reminded by
Paul that lying was not only not a good thing, but that it was a part
of the way they used to be, it was a practice they should no longer
adhere to.

Let's read a bit more of the context of the Colossians passage:

Col. 3:7-10 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once
lived. 8But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these:
anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9Do
not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with
its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed
in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

There are other things here that tell us how seriously God sees the
habit of lying. Look at the other things he bunches it with:

anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language.

You think – well, I don't do those things.

If that's not bad enough, look at Revelation 21:8

Rev. 21:8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers,
the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters
and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning
sulfur.

Lying is not seen in very good company here, either. It's classified
with murderers, sexually immoral, idolaters, etc. And again, you
think, well, I don't do those things. But what we see here is that
lying is not a lesser sin. The Word of God speaks throughout the NT
and OT clearly on this issue, too.

Here's just a small sampling:

Proverbs 12:22 The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in men
who are truthful.

Proverbs 6:16-19 There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are
detestable to him: 17haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed
innocent blood, 18a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are
quick to rush into evil, 19a false witness who pours out lies and a
man who stirs up dissension among brothers.

John 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry
out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not
holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he
speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

So, lying is not something we should avoid just because it causes
trouble for us, and for the people around us. It's true that lying
hurts our culture, hurts those around us, hurts the church.

But another reason that we are not to lie, is because it's part of
that old man, that old part of our old selves that has been nailed to
the cross, has been tried and convicted, and put to death. Our lies
are sins that Jesus died to pay the price for. Lying is part of our
old life, and we shouldn't have any use for it anymore. We've only
scratched the surface this morning, but let's close with this
admonition.

Let's tell the truth....

In all of our interactions with one another, and with the world we're
trying to reach for Christ, let's reflect the character of the One
who is the embodiment of truth, the one described in

1 Samuel 15:29 He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie

Let's be truth tellers. Let's take lying seriously, so seriously that
we cannot do it... we must not live in it

Amen

2006-09-18T00:05:00.000-07:00

Prayer for this blog.

Dear heavenly Father ,

We ask that your name be glorified through our every day lifes and through our writings.
Please anoint those who would write for this blog let all that is said and done here be Truth, that others would find strength and encouragement through this blog.
We also pray that the writings, sharings, musings etc. in this blog not only encourage others emotionally but also encourage others to draw closer to your son Jesus Christ.

We ask all of this in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.

Note:
I said "we" in this prayer
because I expect others
to read and pray this prayer
so it is a prayer of agreement
for the writers, visitors and readers of this blog.

2006-09-13T20:17:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the E.A.G.L.E.S. Guild - Writers of Faith (Non-Fiction). This group is dedicated to Christian writers for sharing information, musings and thoughts in the writing world of non-fiction.

Members of this group need not be published writers. A love of writing, a respect for fellow writers and the willingness to share is all that is required.

It is good to have you with us. Please jump in at anytime and share with us.

GROUP BLOG PURPOSE:

To be a meeting place for Christian writers who like to Write in the non-fiction genre.