BBD 10.23.06 Pinkwashed

#1 · October 23, 2006, 7:57 am

Quote from Forum Archives on October 23, 2006, 7:57 am
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>

Visit the Burning Bush websites:

www.theburningbush.net

www.theburningbush.org

Several devotional booklets are available for free download in PDF format at
the new site. Just click on the "Free Book Downloads" link.

Join the Burning Bush Prayer Group! Send and receive prayer requests and be
a part of a great ministry. More than 400 wonderful people make up this
group. To join send an email to: BBPG-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Be a part of the Burning Bush Community! Share prayer requests,
inspirational material, find help for addictions, and help others. Find out
more at the Burning Bush Community webpage:
www.theburningbush.net/pages.asp?pageid=37647

The Burning Bush Devotional

Welcome to the 2,718 new subscribers since November 1, 2005!!

10.23.06

Pinkwashed

Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, "Men and brethren, I have
lived in all good conscience before God until this day." And the high priest
Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth. Then
Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! For you sit to
judge me according to the law, and do you command me to be struck contrary
to the law?" - Acts 23:1-3.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have
passed away; behold, all things have become new. - 2 Corinthians 5:17.

As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and
godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue. -
2 Peter 1:3.

They are painting the town pink in Aurangabad, India. Why? It is an attempt
to encourage the people and improve their quality of life. The town has been
overrun with criminal activity including inter-caste wars, extortion,
kidnapping, and murder. There are two million people living in the city in
the Indian state of Bihar, which is one of the poorest in India, and their
morale has been severely degraded because of the increasing violence.

It could be that painting the town pink may help with the crime problem.
Painting over gang graffiti in the United States has been helpful in
reclaiming gang-infested areas and preventing continued criminal activity.
It has also improved the morale of the community. One sheriff department
website has this statement about graffiti, "ALWAYS paint over graffiti
immediately or call an agency which will paint it free for you. Research
done in California shows that areas that are immediately painted over are
much less likely to be "hit" again. Graffiti that is left up becomes a
status symbol."

Does painting over the graffiti or painting a whole town actually solve the
problem? It may help but the problem is much deeper. The apostle Paul
referred to the high priest Ananias as being a "whitewashed wall." What did
that mean? It meant that Ananias may have been wearing religious garments
but he was still dirty inside - he still acting in a sinful way.

What if you were to take someone that has been living on the streets all
their lives, someone who has survived through criminal activities - you can
take them and clean them up put them into new clothes and a new home. Would
their criminal activities cease? It is very unlikely that their nature would
be changed just because you gave them new clothes and a new home. In other
words, you "whitewashed" them. It is unlikely because there is a deeper
problem than what you see on the outside. It is a spiritual problem that
must be dealt with if you want to really see a lasting change.

When there is a move of God in a community (a revival), there will be a
decrease in sinful activities. This has been seen many times in the past.
When the evangelist Billy Sunday came to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania it upset
the saloon (bar) owners because their business dropped by 40 to 70 percent.
Cab drivers were upset too because those wanting cab rides to the red light
district had virtually ceased. In the 1905 Wales revival with the move of
God public drunkenness stopped, stolen goods were returned and the police
had nothing to do. In 1972, a revival that had begun in Canada overflowed
into Mansfield, Ohio. There a store manager was puzzled because as he said
in response to a woman paying for merchandise that she had not been charged
for but should have been, "Something is going on in this town you're the
sixteenth person to come in and do the same thing." A businessman drove 500
miles to pay back customers he had overcharged. Young people hooked on drugs
and alcohol were able to change and broken homes were healed. The same type
of thing has occurred again and again when God intervenes in the hearts and
lives of people and changes them from the inside out.

God can give a city or you the power to experience real and lasting change.
As the apostle Peter says God has given to His children, "all things that
pertain to life and godliness." When Jesus enters into a person's life it
changes everything, "he is a new creation; old things have passed away;
behold, all things have become new." Just imagine the difference for that
city in India that is being painted pink if the people there would turn to
the One true God. Everything would become new, the old would pass away, and
they would have real change, lasting change and not just some new paint.

Copyright © 2006. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals
on a non-profit basis with source credited. The Burning Bush website has
been online since January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998 the email version of the
Burning Bush Devotional was first sent.

Prayer Requests: Many prayer needs are posted at the Burning Bush website on
the Prayer Request page. You can also post your prayer requests there and
they will be forwarded to the Burning Bush Prayer Group.

If you enjoy the devotional please recommend it to your friends. They may
subscribe by sending a blank email to
burningbushdevo-subscribe@welovegod.org

Streaming Videos of some of my sermons are posted at:
www.theburningbush.org/fbcswvideo.html

There is a complete devotional archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here
is the URL: www.theburningbush.org/33.html.

You can unsubscribe to the pure text version of the devotional by sending a
blank email to burningbushdevo-unsubscribe@welovegod.org and then respond to
the confirmation email.

You may subscribe to the html text group by sending a blank email to
burningbushhtml-subscribe@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by sending a
blank email to burningbushhtml-unsubscribe@welovegod.org and then respond to
the confirmation email.

Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>

Visit the Burning Bush websites:

http://www.theburningbush.net

http://www.theburningbush.org

Several devotional booklets are available for free download in PDF format at
the new site. Just click on the "Free Book Downloads" link.

Join the Burning Bush Prayer Group! Send and receive prayer requests and be
a part of a great ministry. More than 400 wonderful people make up this
group. To join send an email to: BBPG-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Be a part of the Burning Bush Community! Share prayer requests,
inspirational material, find help for addictions, and help others. Find out
more at the Burning Bush Community webpage:
http://www.theburningbush.net/pages.asp?pageid=37647

The Burning Bush Devotional

Welcome to the 2,718 new subscribers since November 1, 2005!!

10.23.06

Pinkwashed

Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, "Men and brethren, I have
lived in all good conscience before God until this day." And the high priest
Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth. Then
Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! For you sit to
judge me according to the law, and do you command me to be struck contrary
to the law?" - Acts 23:1-3.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have
passed away; behold, all things have become new. - 2 Corinthians 5:17.

As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and
godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue. -
2 Peter 1:3.

They are painting the town pink in Aurangabad, India. Why? It is an attempt
to encourage the people and improve their quality of life. The town has been
overrun with criminal activity including inter-caste wars, extortion,
kidnapping, and murder. There are two million people living in the city in
the Indian state of Bihar, which is one of the poorest in India, and their
morale has been severely degraded because of the increasing violence.

It could be that painting the town pink may help with the crime problem.
Painting over gang graffiti in the United States has been helpful in
reclaiming gang-infested areas and preventing continued criminal activity.
It has also improved the morale of the community. One sheriff department
website has this statement about graffiti, "ALWAYS paint over graffiti
immediately or call an agency which will paint it free for you. Research
done in California shows that areas that are immediately painted over are
much less likely to be "hit" again. Graffiti that is left up becomes a
status symbol."

Does painting over the graffiti or painting a whole town actually solve the
problem? It may help but the problem is much deeper. The apostle Paul
referred to the high priest Ananias as being a "whitewashed wall." What did
that mean? It meant that Ananias may have been wearing religious garments
but he was still dirty inside - he still acting in a sinful way.

What if you were to take someone that has been living on the streets all
their lives, someone who has survived through criminal activities - you can
take them and clean them up put them into new clothes and a new home. Would
their criminal activities cease? It is very unlikely that their nature would
be changed just because you gave them new clothes and a new home. In other
words, you "whitewashed" them. It is unlikely because there is a deeper
problem than what you see on the outside. It is a spiritual problem that
must be dealt with if you want to really see a lasting change.

When there is a move of God in a community (a revival), there will be a
decrease in sinful activities. This has been seen many times in the past.
When the evangelist Billy Sunday came to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania it upset
the saloon (bar) owners because their business dropped by 40 to 70 percent.
Cab drivers were upset too because those wanting cab rides to the red light
district had virtually ceased. In the 1905 Wales revival with the move of
God public drunkenness stopped, stolen goods were returned and the police
had nothing to do. In 1972, a revival that had begun in Canada overflowed
into Mansfield, Ohio. There a store manager was puzzled because as he said
in response to a woman paying for merchandise that she had not been charged
for but should have been, "Something is going on in this town you're the
sixteenth person to come in and do the same thing." A businessman drove 500
miles to pay back customers he had overcharged. Young people hooked on drugs
and alcohol were able to change and broken homes were healed. The same type
of thing has occurred again and again when God intervenes in the hearts and
lives of people and changes them from the inside out.

God can give a city or you the power to experience real and lasting change.
As the apostle Peter says God has given to His children, "all things that
pertain to life and godliness." When Jesus enters into a person's life it
changes everything, "he is a new creation; old things have passed away;
behold, all things have become new." Just imagine the difference for that
city in India that is being painted pink if the people there would turn to
the One true God. Everything would become new, the old would pass away, and
they would have real change, lasting change and not just some new paint.

Copyright © 2006. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals
on a non-profit basis with source credited. The Burning Bush website has
been online since January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998 the email version of the
Burning Bush Devotional was first sent.

Prayer Requests: Many prayer needs are posted at the Burning Bush website on
the Prayer Request page. You can also post your prayer requests there and
they will be forwarded to the Burning Bush Prayer Group.

If you enjoy the devotional please recommend it to your friends. They may
subscribe by sending a blank email to
burningbushdevo-subscribe@welovegod.org

Streaming Videos of some of my sermons are posted at:
http://www.theburningbush.org/fbcswvideo.html

There is a complete devotional archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here
is the URL: http://www.theburningbush.org/33.html.

You can unsubscribe to the pure text version of the devotional by sending a
blank email to burningbushdevo-unsubscribe@welovegod.org and then respond to
the confirmation email.

You may subscribe to the html text group by sending a blank email to
burningbushhtml-subscribe@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by sending a
blank email to burningbushhtml-unsubscribe@welovegod.org and then respond to
the confirmation email.