God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)
It seems fair to ask, “God, do You really expect less of me – who has your Holy Spirit within and lives in the wealthiest society in human history – than You demanded of the poorest Israelite?”… The tithe is God's historical method to get us on the path of giving. In that sense, it can serve as a gateway to the joy of grace giving. It is unhealthy to view tithing as a place to stop, but it can be a good place to start… Tithing isn't the ceiling of giving; it's the floor. It's not the finish line of giving; it's just the starting blocks… True, some would be sacrificing more by giving 5% of their income than others would be by tithing or even giving 50 or 90%. Certainly the affluent should never “check off the box,” as if giving 10% automatically fulfills their obligation. The 90% belongs to God, too. He doesn't look at just what we give. He also looks at what we keep… When people tell me they can't afford to tithe, I ask them, “If your income was reduced by 10% would you die?” They say, “No.” And I say, “Then you've admitted that you can afford to tithe. It's just that you don't want to”… I have no problem with people who say “we're not under the tithe,” just as long as they're not using that as justification for giving less. But in my mind the current giving statistics among Christians clearly indicate most of us need a jump-start. If you find a gateway to giving that's better than the tithe, wonderful. But if not, why not start where God started His First Covenant children?
Why is the wife in marriage required to be the one who submits (Eph. 5, Col. 3, Tit. 2, 1 Pet. 3)? Because God set it up this way, based on the order of creation (1 Timothy 2) and ultimately to show the primary purpose on marriage. Marriage is to be a visual picture of the Gospel. Sex before marriage is wrong because we do not have intimacy with Christ until covenant. Adultery is wrong because we are to be entirely devoted to Christ and not other idols. Divorce is wrong because God would never leave us nor would we ever want to leave Him. We are one flesh in marriage to show the oneness we have with Christ – Him in us, us in Him. We leave our parents and cleave to our spouse to show how we leave the world and cleave to Christ. Marriage is between one man and one woman to show the marriage between Christ and His bride. And we have God designed roles in marriage whereby the husband would show Christ by leading through example and sacrificial love and the wife would show the bride of Christ (the church) by trusting her husband’s spiritual leadership for her well-being. After a lengthy discourse on the marital roles, Paul in Ephesians 5 makes the point clear in verse 32. “This mystery is great [marriage]; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. It’s all Gospel-centered.
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix margarine and sugar and vanilla. Add
crushed potato chips and nuts mixed with flour. Roll into balls
about the size of a walnut and place on ungreased cookie sheet.
Flatten down with a glass that has been dipped into sugar. Bake for
14-16 minutes. Makes approximately 5 dozen cookies
From Dottie Theriault's collection
Posted to MM-Recipes Digest V3 #237
Date: Sat, 31 Aug 1996 08:34:56 -0500
From: pickell@cyberspc.mb.ca (S.Pickell)
A Message from our Provider:
“Lust and selfishness do not equal love”
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