One of the lessons I’ve learned and re-learned in more than one church is the danger of selecting a man to serve as elder who has a history of protracted, repeated, and/or unresolved conflict. On more than one occasion I have overlooked conflict in a man’s life, reasoning either that it was justified by the circumstances, a function of immaturity that has been outgrown, or foisted upon him as the innocent party. The fact is, however, that even when circumstances or theology vindicate his side of the conflict, a man can still be a quarrelsome man. This may demonstrate itself in a lack of gentleness, a propensity to taking rigid positions when none are required, an inability to lose graciously, or simply an over-love of debate. Whatever the form it takes, quarrelsomeness is a serious impediment to effective service as an elder; unchecked it is a clear disqualification (1 Tim. 3:3).
Michael Lawrence

Groups

Forum Navigation
You need to log in to create posts and topics.

BBD 11.03.09 It's Loose! (New)

Avatar
Forum Archives
2,135 Posts
#1 · November 3, 2009, 2:51 pm

Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>

Visit the Burning Bush websites:

http://www.theburningbush.net

http://www.theburningbush.org

The Burning Bush websites have received visits from more than 170 countries.
Celebrating 11 years online since January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the
Burning Bush Devotional has been spreading the truth of God's Word to more
than 11,000 subscribers across the world.

Please join the Burning Bush Prayer Group. The group began in 1998 and is
made up of over 300 prayer warriors. Send prayer requests and receive prayer
requests. To join send an email to: bbpg-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

You can now leave comments/feedback about the devotionals at
http://www.theburningbush.net.

I'm now on twitter and you can find me at http://www.twitter.com/edwrather.

The Burning Bush Devotional

Welcome to the 1212 new subscribers since January 1, 2009

11.03.09

It's Loose!

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in
us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not
sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. - 1 John 1:8-10.

For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is
guilty of all. - James 2:10.

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies,
outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders,
drunkenness, revelries, and the like.. - Galatians 5:19-21.

If you happen to see a green reptile, five feet long, with a long snout
wrapped with tape and a long tail wandering around call the U. S. Fish and
Wildlife service. They've lost one! Just in case here's their website
address http://www.fws.gov Dave Brady an officer for the service had a great idea
after he captured the reptile. His daughter's school in Panama City Beach,
Florida was having a show-and-tell day and so Officer Brady taped up the
alligator's snout and showed off the reptile to his daughter's class.
According to a spokesperson for the wildlife service "They were impressed."
However, when the officer was putting the alligator back into his truck it
jumped out and ran to a nearby pond. So far, the alligator has escaped being
captured and is still on the loose.

Some of us have pets that we keep, and we are very attached to them. I am
not talking about little animals like dogs and cats, these pets are
spiritual. These spiritual pets are what we like to think of as little sins
that everyone does to some extent. There are many lists of these pet sins
and depending upon your denomination and convictions you might or might not
consider some to be sin. Here are some of those spiritual pets that we
become attached to: procrastination/laziness; lying; substance abuse;
gambling; anger; lust; ambition; greed; gluttony; dishonesty; gossiping;
envy; arrogance; foul language; and, as Paul ends his list in Galatians 5,
"and the like."

We become comfortable with our little pets, and usually they are well
behaved. It is rare if we engage in lying that we are caught in telling a
really big whopper, and even if we are we can laugh it off. But if the FBI
comes to your door, and you do not tell the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth you can end up in prison just like Martha Stewart and
many others have. Our substance abuse may seem like a minor thing until the
patrol car lights are flashing in our rear view mirror, and we face the
embarrassment of arrest with our names in the newspaper and possibly even
some time in jail or prison. Lust is one of those sins that is insidious.
Lust in the mind can spill out into the physical resulting in adultery,
divorce, and even murder (as in the case of King David and Bathsheba).

Our little pet sins are usually kept under control, you know we have their
snouts all taped up, and we try to keep them on a leash. What many people
forget about alligators is that they can jump, and they can run. The same
with our little pet sins, sometimes they have a mind of their own, and they
can jump, they can run, and they can cause all kinds of havoc in our lives.
So, before your pet sin makes a break for it, now is the time to remove it
from your life. 1 John 1:9 is always a good place to start.

Copyright © 2009. 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: Please continue to pray for Cody, and Mica who are young
boys with cancer. 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 (Of course, I am
always in need of prayer - please pray for me.).

If you are not my friend on facebook or myspace you can be, just add me. The
devotionals are posted in my blogs on those two social networks and you can
leave comments, feedback about them there. There are other social networks
designed just for Christians, however, this is an outreach project to reach
those who may not know the Lord or may have wandered away. You can help me
reach out to them.

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

Two videos of my sermons are posted on GodTube at:
http://www.godtube.com/Wrather

You can listen to services at my son, Clark Wrather's church (First Baptist
Church of Broken Bow, Oklahoma) live on Sunday mornings at 10:55am CST
http://www.kkbifm.com/

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. If the link does not work, copy and paste the link.

Click for thumbs down.0Click for thumbs up.0