Sermon Illustrations on Integrity — page 4

He Operated On Himself

Dr. Evan O'Neill Kane, a pioneer in the medical profession, was chief surgeon of New York City's Kane Summit Hospital.

During his thirty-seven years of experience, Dr. Kane had seen too many deaths and disabilities caused by general anesthesia. So, it was his studied opinion that most major operations could and should be done under the safer, local anesthesia.

His only problem was - he couldn't find any volunteers. Until one day ... someone finally stepped forward to put his theory to the test.

In thirty-seven years, Dr. Evan Kane had conducted nearly four thousand appendectomies, all fairly routine. But this one would be different: the patient would remain awake throughout the entire operation.

Before surgery, the patient was prepped and wheeled into the operating room, where a local anesthesia was administered. Dr. Kane began the operation and carefully cut through the surface tissues, clamping off blood vessels en route to the appendix. Locationg the organ, the sixty-year-old surgeon adroitly pulled it up and performed the surgery. The operation concluded successfully, with the patient experiencing only minor discomfort. In fact, the patient recovered with such remarkable speed that just two days after his surgery he was released from the hospital.

Dr. Kane's test was a brilliant success - the risks of general anesthesia could be avoided by using local anesthesia instead.

This milestone surgery was performed on February 15 ... 1921. And you might want to note this final interesting fact: Dr. Evan O'Neill Kane and the patient who volunteered for the experimental procedure had a great deal in common - they were the same man!

________

Paul Aurandt, "More of Paul Harvey's The Rest of the Story" (New York: William Morrow & Co., 1980) pp. 111-112

The Modesto Manifesto

The religion section of the "Tacoma News Tribune" (Saturday, November 6, 1993) carried an article commemorating the birthday of Billy Graham. Religious News Service writer, Randall Balmer, said, “Graham has had a remarkable career and there will never be another like him, who could combine charisma, conviction, integrity, and media savvy to become a speaker known and respected throughtout the world.”

He went on to point out that in Graham's lifetime there have been many other evangelists who have fallen because of various moral indiscretions. But throughout a career that has spanned fifty years there had never been a serious charge of malfeasance - financial, sexual, or otherwise - leveled against Graham.

That was not left entirely to chance. Early in his career Graham gathered his associates - “the team,” he called them - into a hotel room to discuss how they might avoid some of the pitfalls that had “done in” other evangelists. What emerged was what Cliff Barrows, Graham's longtime associate, called “the Modesto Manifesto.”

Graham and his organization resolved never to exaggerate attendance figures at their meetings and to accept only fixed salaries from their organization, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, rather than a percentage of the offerings. The team agreed not to criticize fellow members of the clergy, and they set up elaborate precautions to protect themselves from sexual temptation or even the appearance of sexual impropriety.

The writer then suggested that in an age that has seen evangelists succumb to all manner of spectacular scandals, Graham's greatest legacy may be his integrity.

________

Paul W. Powell, “Taking the Stew Out of Stewardship,” (Dallas, TX: Annuity Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1996) pp. 11-12

Don't Let Others Determine How You Act

One evening several years ago, Sydney Harris of the Chicago Daily News and a Quaker friend walked up to a newsstand. The Quaker bought a paper, then thanked the vendor politely. The vendor didn’t so much as acknowledge his thanks.

“Sullen fellow, isn’t he?” Harris remarked.

“I’ve been buying my papers from him for years, and he never responds,” the Quaker quietly replied.

“Why, then, do you continue to be polite to him?” Harris asked.

The Quaker’s answer was revealing. “Why should I let him determine how I act?”

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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #9597]

(untitled)

1 Kings 22:16

Following written by Richard Hopper, retired pastor.

Have you ever heard the story about the dishonest golfer? He was so

dishonest that when he made a hole in one he put down zero. No

quality reveals a person's true character more than honesty. A

person of integrity is a person of strength.

The late J.C. Penny, famous merchant, was known for his integrity.

In his book, "The Ninth Decade", he tells of a job he held in a

village grocery. He told his father of a shrewed method practiced by

the owner. He would mix two grades of coffee and sell the mixture at

the highest price. Young Penny thought it was a smart trick. But the

boy had a wise father, who pointed out the dishonesty in the

practice. He made his point so strong that the boy quit his job. From

that time on Penny made honesty the rule of his life, a rule he

practiced throughout all his years in business.

Intergity is an important word in one's vocabulary. It will mean the

difference between true success or failure; between lasting happiness

or sorrow.

"Tell me nothing but that which is true... (\reference{1 Kings

22:16}{1 Kings 22:16}).

. I will not forget you. See, I have engraved you on the palms of My

hands. \reference{Isaiah 49:15b-16}{Isaiah 49:15-16}

Mocking the Virtues

Job 15:3

"No Surprise Here! We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and then bid the geldings to be fruitful."

-- C. S. Lewis in "The Abolition of Man."

(untitled)

BreakPoint Commentary - September 17, 1998 "I'd Slap Him Silly" Out of the Mouths of Babes by Charles W. Colson Fourteen-year-old Kenny Prosper has some advice for Hillary Clinton. Kenny doesn't think much of the way the president has treated his wife, and if he were the First Lady, Kenny told the New York Times, "I'd slap him silly." It's an example of how children are reacting to the Clinton scandals. Another child, referring to Clinton's admission that he "misled" the nation about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky, told the Times: "He went to lie school, not law school." An eleven-year-old named Keith said, "he's lying to the people who love him and trust him. That's no president to me. He should be ashamed of himself for teaching kids bad things." And a seven-year-old girl came up with what she believed was an appropriate punishment for President Clinton: She said he ought to be made to fire the White House servants "and bring his wife breakfast in bed for a week." Well, these comments are funny but they're also refreshing, because they are unsullied by what the world calls sophistication as it tries to explain away immoral conduct. My favorite comments come from a 16-year-old boy named Christopher, who wrote a letter to the Arkansas Democrat. Because the letter so brilliantly explains why we cannot ignore or forgive away this scandal, I'd like to read it to you. Many have said, Christopher Vincent wrote, "that the president's private affairs are his own business and people should not pry. Others have said that his private affairs do not affect the job he does." And then Christopher quoted 17th century philosopher Hugo Grotius [Gro-shus]. "Grotius once said," Christopher wrote, "that a man cannot govern a nation if he cannot govern a city; he cannot govern a city if he cannot govern a family; he cannot govern a family unless he can govern himself; and he cannot govern himself unless his passions are subject to reason." "The president is accountable to the people," Christopher goes on. "We must know whether he can control himself or not. If [he] cannot control himself, he certainly is not capable of governing a nation." Yet, Christopher says, "we look at the nation and see a booming economy. We see good homes, cable TV, peace, security and prosperity and we say, "why should we mess this up?" Yes, he writes, "Bill Clinton has helped with all these things. But there are better things than financial security, and there are worse things than poverty. We give the control to a man who can make us feel good but cannot control himself." Christopher concludes: "I am asking you, the generation that holds power, to think of your children and the future of the world. You owe it to the world, to God and to your children to consider this." Well, in all the clamor over Clinton, with lawyers quibbling over what was meant by what the president said, and what's perjury, and what's not perjury and with politicians studying the polls, it took a sixteen-year-old kid from Arkansas to get right to the heart of the matter. As details about the presidential scandal continue to unfold, as we listen to the jaded talking heads on TV tell us when a lie is not a lie, and when sex is not really sex -- the words of Jesus come to mind: Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven." Maybe what we need in America today is a dose of child-like innocence. Call it wisdom. (c) 1998 Prison Fellowship Ministries Copyright notice: We encourage liberal distribution of these transcripts through email and print. Please do not post on the worldwide web or use this content for profit.

Fighting Logicide: the Death of Language

John 1:1

It’s time for a BREAKPOINT pop quiz. First question: What’s the meaning of the word IS? Second question: What does the word ALONE mean?

Well, most of us thought we knew what these words meant. After all, we use them every day. But the president’s now much publicized recently taped testimony has caused a lot of people to question the common meaning of words. It’s an indication that one dangerous effect of the Lewinsky scandal is not the everyday use of vulgar words, as bad as that is, but the vulgar MISuse of everyday words.

In his testimony before the grand jury, the president was asked about the truthfulness of the statement, “There is no sex of any kind,” which his lawyer Bob Bennett gave in the Paula Jones deposition. But the president answered: “It depends on what the meaning of the word IS is.” There was no sexual activity at the time the statement was made, Clinton said, so his words “there is no sex” is a true statement.

This semantic nitpicking didn’t stop there. When asked if he’d been alone with Miss Lewinsky, the president said it depends on what is meant by the word ALONE. Alone in the room? Alone in the suite of rooms? Alone in the White House? Who’s to say what ALONE means?

And then there’s the president’s tortured definition of sex. Through his obfuscation, the president has made the definition of simple words confusing and complicated. As Anne Carlson of TIME magazine said, Clinton was slicing the baloney so thin you could see through it.

Now a lot of people think Clinton’s strategy is comical, but it’s no joke. We really should be more outraged than amused, not only at Clinton but also at what his behavior represents.

The president’s semantic wiggling embodies one of the most insidious effects of postmodernism: the deconstruction of language. Our postmodern culture denies that words have any meaning apart from their specific cultural context. Remove them from that context and they can mean anything to anyone.

President Clinton is not only cynically trading on this trend; he’s also contributing to it: the kind of trend that leads people to say the Bible doesn’t mean what it says, or the Constitution doesn’t mean what the founders said.

But when we destroy the meaning of words as simple as IS or ALONE, we threaten our very ability to communicate with one another. With no agreed-upon definition, everybody speaks his own language and only you can know what you really mean.

Just think what this does to democracy and civil society. Without an agreed-upon language, there can be no understanding of the common values that tie us together. Our ability to maintain civil discourse, in forming shared values, is put in peril.

And there’s something else at stake. In John 1:1, Jesus is called the logos, the Word, meaning the plan of creation. The Word is absolute. It embraces the truth of creation and it’s understandable and communicated to us through Jesus and in God’s Scripture.

So, anything that debases language makes communion with God more difficult. That’s why Christians must be at the forefront of this battle against what C. S. Lewis so pointedly called LOGICIDE. And we need to help our neighbors understand that the president’s artful dodges aren’t just about politics or getting away with something.

They are the apotheoses of deconstruction, which, carried to its logical extreme, undermines the ability to maintain a responsible society.

No wonder Jesus said, let your “yea” be “yea” and your “nay” be “nay.”

________

How Good Is Your Word?

In January 1987 the U. S. Army disposal unit at Fort Bliss, Tex., sold several crates at an auction to scrap dealer Pedro Salas in Juarez, Mexico. When Mr. Salas got back to his scrap yard, he found a live rocket inside one crate. Checking further, he found another rocket, and another. Finally, he had discovered 23 live, high-explosive missiles designed to be fired from helicopters, capable of spraying thousands of fragments on detonation.

How did such potentially dangerous munitions end up being sold inside “empty” crates? An investigation revealed that a young lieutenant had signed a statement that he had inspected the crates and that they were empty. Because of that false statement the lieutenant's career may be over, the U. S. government was embarrassed, and worst of all, human lives were endangered.

He Was Afraid of Nothing But Sin

When the great Chrysostom was arrested by the Roman emperor he sought to make the Greek Christian deny his faith. But he was unsuccessful. So the emperor discussed with his advisors what they could do to this prisoner.

“Shall I put him in a dungeon?” the emperor asked. “No,” one of his counselors replied, “For he'll be glad to go. He longs for the quietness where he can delight in the mercies of his God.”

“Then he shall be executed!” said the emperor. “No,” came the answer, “For he'll be glad to die. He declares that in the event of death, he will be in the presence of the Lord.”

“Well, what shall we do then?” the ruler asked. The counselor replied, “There's only one thing that will cause him pain. Make him sin. He's afraid of nothing but sin.”

A Test of Honesty

A number of years ago the Douglas Aircraft Company was competing with Boeing to sell Eastern Airlines its first big jets. War hero Eddie Rickenbacker, the head of Eastern Airlines, reportedly told Donald Douglas that the specifications and claims made by Douglas's company for the DC-8 were close to Boeing's on everything except noise suppression. Rickenbacker then gave Douglas one last chance to out-promise Boeing on this feature. After consulting with his engineers, Douglas reported that he didn't feel he could make that promise. Rickenbacker replied, “I know you can't, I just wanted to see if you were still honest.”

Lincoln's Unknown Resolution

On August 23, 1864, Abraham Lincoln wrote a resolution on a piece of paper, which he folded and asked his cabinet to endorse without reading. They did as he asked.

We do not know what was written on that piece of paper, but we know it was important. These men didn't just suddenly trust Abe Lincoln. They had seen him display wisdom and character throughout his days as president of the United States. Each of them trusted him at that moment because of his faithfulness in his daily life.

________

Randy Brantley, “Speaking to Youth,” {Proclaim, }(Nashville: Sunday School Board, Oct-Dec, 1996) 19

He Wouldn't Repeat the Prayer

Mark 12:14

In his autobiography, "Donahue," Phil Donahue, shares an experience from Holden, West Virginia. He and a CBS television crew had gone to this Appalachian community to cover rescue attempts of thirty-eight miners. They had planned to be there one night but stayed three, eating doughnuts and drinking Red Cross coffee in bitterly cold weather.

At last the rescue teams emerged, covered with soot and grime, weary beyond words. Relatives of the miners were waiting in the snow. Gathered around a smudge pot, a preacher said, "Dear God, let us pray." They joined hands and sang, "What a Friend We Have In Jesus." Donahue says it gave him goose bumps. It was beautiful! He knew it would make a great film for CBS, but the camera was frozen; by the time it was warmed up, the service was over. At 2:30 in the morning, Donahue approached the pastor with a request.

"Reverend, I am from CBS News. Would you please go back through your prayer again? We have 206 television stations across the country who will hear you pray for these miners."

The humble minister looked at him and said, "Son, I just couldn't do it. I have already prayed to my God, and any further praying at this time would be wrong. No sir, I just can't do it."

Donahue was shocked that anyone would turn down a chance to be on CBS News. At last he made his way to a pay telephone to report to New York: "The _____ won't pray!"

Donahue claims that the preacher's stand was the greatest demonstration of moral courage he has ever encountered. The man would not "show biz" for Jesus. He would not sell his soul - not even to CBS. Donahue says he often thinks of that preacher and than night. "I don't know where he is now, but if he isn't going to Heaven, no one is."

-- Phil Donahue & Co., "Donahue" (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1979) 66-67

By His Grace I Have Kept It

Philip Dickerson, an aged Baptist minister, who died October 22, 1882, just before his death, said, “Seventy years ago the Lord took me into His service without a character. He gave me a good character, and by His grace I have kept it.”

- Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Three Lessons From Daniel 6

Daniel 6

Three lessons from Daniel 6:

1. You will seldom get what you deserve from people, so don't expect it.

2. You will always get what is best from God, so don't doubt it.

3. Your ability to handle both is directly related to the consistency of your walk with the Lord.

________

Charles R. Swindoll, {Man to Man }(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996) 54

Part of Her Was Faithful

Mark 5:9

Toni Tenner argues that she was faithful to her husband. It was one of her other 12 personalities, Andrea, that committed adultery, causing the breakup of her marriage. Tenner's suit to increase her alimony payments has made it all the way to the Kentucky Supreme Court. In an earlier ruling, an appeals court judge said that allowing her to prevail would be “more in keeping with the psychobabble prevalent on television talk shows than with sound jurisprudence.” Her attorney argues back that “The personality that considered herself married ... had been 100 percent faithful.” (AP)

Cassingham's comment: "Fine: double the alimony, then give Toni her 1/13th share."

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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #15903]

You Can Be One!

Jude 1:3

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

| My Source:

| THE RESTORER

| Volume 17, #7, Nov/Dec, 1997, p. 19

|------------------------------

| Author: Edith C. Lilly

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

YOU CAN BE ONE!

by Edith C. Lilly

When you're looking for a Christian

Who daily walks with God;

One who has a perfect conscience,

Does not chafe beneath the rod;

One who keeps himself peculiar

And unspotted from the world;

While his gaze is fixed on Heaven

Tho' hell's darts at him be hurled--

Well--you may not see one,

But you can be one.

In God's people, oh, what patience,

What tenderness you find;

What sincerity and meekness,

What purity of mind;

But so many who are perfect

In motive and in heart,

In performance may seem lacking,

So remember from the start--

Tho' you may not see one,

Still you can be one.

Does Everyong Have His Price?

Job 1:9

My Source:

THE GOSPEL REMINDER

June 27, 1999

Bay church of Christ

Author: Marvin Rickett

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

DOES EVERYONE HAVE HIS PRICE?

by Marvin Rickett

P.O. Box 159

Bay, AR 72411

Does everyone have his price? Will every person sell out his integrity and faith if the price is right? Many people think so. THEY would. So they judge others by the way they think. The devil thinks so, too. He challenged God concerning Job: "Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him? ... put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face" (Job 1:9-11). The devil caused Job to lose all his earthly goods and his children. When this failed to "buy" Job, the devil upped the ante: "Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face" (Job 2:4,Job 2:5). Cause him pain and suffering and he will compromise his integrity: That is his price, declared the devil.

Many people can be bought if the price is right. For some, the price is wealth. Dangle before them the prospects of money and property and many people will sell their integrity and faith. Give them the wealth and their greed and love for money will displace their love for God (1 Timothy 6:10, "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows"). Coming into money changes people. The first thing to go is their spiritual trust. The mere pursuit of a career has caused many to compromise their dedication and service to the Lord. Money can indeed buy the souls of many people.

Some folks can be bought off with power and prestige. It has happened numerous times, that when one has climbed the social lader of success and has obtained above-average power, recognition, prestige, and position, that he drifted away from God and the church. He has come to despise small things, such as his association with that little group of Christians who are the lowly children of God. Some quit the church and join a big prestigious denomination where he can circulate in the prestigious social circles. More often, he just quits and neglects spiritual things altogether.

Others can be purchased with sensual gratification. Multitudes have sold their integrity when they were presented with an opportunity to let their lust overcome their integrity. They sought out physical gratification. Perhaps they thought they wouldn't get caught. They wanted to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season (Hebrews 11:25, Moses chose "rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season"). In reality, they have sold their souls for a mess of pottage.

Then there is price presented to Job by the devil's second try: Avoid pain. Many people can be bought off with the threat of pain, suffering, discomfort, ridicule, embarrassment. In the early church, multitudes of Christians renounced their faith when they were threatened with persecution and death. Probably the most powerful motivation is applied when one's family is threatened. Some would sell out to this type of coercion when nothing else would move them.

But the devil is wrong! One who says "everyone has his price" is wrong! Thee are a few good men and women who have yielded themselves to Jesus Christ. They cannot be bought. The most precious possession they have is their faith and their integrity, given to them by Jesus Christ. They stand on principle and ideal which they will not compromise. They are offered fantastic prices, but they will never sell. Neither wealth nor power, nor lust, nor pain will cause them to "make a deal." Instead of folding, they are merely tempered by temptation and trial.

You be one of those who will not sell out his integrity and faith for any price.

What we practice

Matthew 7:21

It is not what we eat

but what we digest

that makes us strong;

not what we gain

but what we save

that make us rich;

not what we read

but what we remember

that makes us learned;

and not what we profess

but what we practice

that makes us Christians.

-- Author unknown

See: Matthew 7:21; Matthew 13:23

Preaching what you practice

Two preachers who didn't get along very well met on the street. One of them said, "I heard you speak the other night and recognized that sermon -- you preached it 14 years ago." Somewhat chagrined, the other shot back, "I heard you speak just 3 weeks ago, and I can't remember a word you said!"

A lesson can be drawn from this story. Our lives should be like good sermons, conveying a message that leaves a lasting impression -- one that motivates others to godly living. When we've finished our course, what will folks recall about us?

A mixed up Mother

A little boy asked his mother, "Mommy, what is a lie?" His mother answered by saying, "Son, a lie is an abomination unto the Lord ... but a very present help in time of need!"

Sad to say too often we teach a similar pattern to our children. Let's be careful to model clearly what we teach with our lips.

Integrity worth more than paper

In 1789 an uncertain George Washington is urged to seek the presidency by Governor Morris, a Pennsylvania delegate to the Constitutional Convention. Morris writes Washington: "No constitution is the same on paper and in life. The exercise of authority depends upon personal character. Your cool steady temper is indispensably necessary to give a firm and manly tone to the new government."

Everything but A Conscience

What is going on in North America today? Is it the blind ambition of the “Baby Boomer” generation bent on upward mobility at any cost? Brux Austin, the editor of Texas Business, has written that the only sign we seem to be looking to for direction is the dollar sign: “We have no built-in beliefs, no ethical boundaries. Cheat on your taxes, just don’t get caught. Cheat on your wife, just don’t get AIDS.” Our high-tech society, he writes, has given us everything -- “everything but a conscience.”

George Munzing, a minister, tells of a time he went to counsel a family about their son’s drug use. The father was distraught as he described the impact of drugs upon his relationship with his son. He said, “The thing that bothers me most about his being into drugs is the fact that drugs have made him a liar.” Moments later the phone rang and his wife went to answer. She came back into the room with the message that the call was for the father. He told her, “Tell him I am not at home.” Munzing then commented that drugs had not made the boy a liar; the father had.

Sincere Statues

Job 2:3

The word "sincere" comes from two Latin words meaning "without wax." Artificers of Middle Eastern countries fashioned highly expensive statuettes out of a very fine porcelain. It was of such fragile nature that extreme care had to be taken when firing the figurines to keep them from cracking.

Dishonest dealers would accept the cracked figurines at a much lower price and then fill the cracks with wax before offering them for sale. But honest merchants would display their uncracked porcelain wares with signs that read, "sine cera," "without wax."

____________

George M. Bowman, (Chicago: Moody Press, How to Succeed With Your Money, 1974). Contributed by Rev. Shelton Cole, http://www.sermon.org

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Another version from "Messages from the Masters," editor Jim Rohn, 11/4/02

BE A PERSON WHO PRACTICES NON-SITUATIONAL INTEGRITY by Denis Waitley

Integrity, a standard of personal morality and ethics, is not relative to the situation you happen to find yourself in and doesn't sell out to expediency. Its short supply is getting even shorter, but without it, leadership is a facade. Learning to see through exteriors is a critical development in the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Sadly, most people continue to be taken in by big talk and media popularity, flashy or bizarre looks, and expensive possessions. They move through most of their years convinced that the externals are what count, and are thus doomed to live shallow lives. Men and women who rely on their looks or status to feel good about themselves inevitably do everything they can to enhance the impression they make - and do correspondingly little to develop their inner value and personal growth. The paradox is that the people who try hardest to impress are often the least impressive. Puffing to appear powerful is an attempt to hide insecurity.

In the Roman Empire's final corrupt years, status was conveyed by the number of carved statues of the gods displayed in people's courtyards. As in every business, the Roman statue industry had good and bad sculptors and merchants. As the empire became ever more greedy and narcissistic, the bad got away with as much as they could. Sculptors became adept at using wax to hide cracks and chips in marble and most people couldn't discern the difference in quality.

Statues began to weep or melt under the scrutiny of sunlight or heat in foyers. For statues of authentic fine quality, carved by reputable artists, people had to go to the artisan marketplace in the Roman Quad and look for booths with signs declaring sine cera, which translates in English to mean, without wax. We, too, look for the real thing in friends, products, and services. In people, we value sincerity, from the words, sine cera, more than almost any other virtue. We expect it from our leaders, which we are not getting in our political, media, business and sports' heroes for the most part. We must demand it of ourselves.

Integrity that strengthens an inner value system is the real human bottom line. Commitment to a life of integrity in every situation demonstrates that your word is more valuable than a surety bond. It means you don't base your decisions on being politically correct. You do what's right, not fashionable. You know that truth is absolute, not a device for manipulating others. And you win in the long run, when the stakes are highest. If I were writing a single commandment for leadership it would be, "You shall conduct yourself in such a manner as to set an example worthy of imitation by your children and subordinates." In simpler terms, if they shouldn't be doing it, neither should you. I told my kids, "clean up your room," and they inspected the condition of my garage. I told them that honesty was our family's greatest virtue, and they commented on the radar detector I had installed in my car. When I told them about the vices of drinking and wild parties, they watched from the upstairs balcony, the way our guests behaved at our adult functions.

It's too bad some of our political and business leaders don't understand that "What you are speaks so loudly that no one really pays attention to what you say." But it is even more true that if what you are matches what you say; your life will speak forcefully indeed.

It's hardly a secret that learning ethical standards begins at home. A child's first inklings of a sense of right and wrong come from almost imperceptible signals received long before he or she reaches the age of rational thought about morality. Maybe you're asking yourself what kind of model you are for future generations, remembering that people are either honest or dishonest, that integrity is all or nothing, and that children can't be fooled in such basic matters. They learn by example.

To remind myself of my responsibility to live without wax, with sincerity and integrity, I took the liberty of re-writing Edgar A. Guest's poem, "Sermons We See" to apply to setting an example as a real winner for my children and grandchildren.

I'd rather watch a winner, than hear one any day.

I'd rather have one walk with me, than merely show the way.

The eye's a better pupil and more willing than the ear.

Fine counsel is confusing, but examples are always clear.

And the best of all the coaches are the ones who live their deeds.

For to see the truth in action is what everybody needs.

I can soon learn how to do it, if you'll let me see it done.

I can watch your hands in action, but your tongue too fast may run.

And the lectures you deliver may be very wise and true.

But, I'd rather get my lessons by observing what you do.

For I may misunderstand you and the high advice you give.

But there's no misunderstanding how you act and how you live.

I'd rather watch a winner, than hear one any day.

Hey, politician, business leader, motion picture producer, television actor, rock star, sports star. Hey mom, hey dad. Don't tell me how to live. Show me by your actions. You're my role models.

Action Idea: When you talk to others, beginning right now, don't try to impress them by talking about your accomplishments. Let your actions speak for you. Ask more questions.

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Another version from SermonCentral.com:

In the Greek original of the New Testament the word often translated ‘sincere’ means ‘judged in the sunlight’; and the English word is derived from the Latin:’sine cera’, which means ‘without wax’. In the days when art flourished in ancient Greece, it was the common practice to repair with ‘invisible’ wax any vase or statue that had, as a result of carelessness or misadventure, been damaged.

A rich man or a person of high rank might employ a sculptor to chisel his bust in marble. Sometimes, if the chisel slipped, the end of the nose would be chipped off. Rather than go to the trouble of making a new bust, the sculptor would mend the features with wax so that the flaws could not be detected unless by very close scrutiny, and he could palm off on the customer his defective workmanship.

If the client happened to be a knowing person, he would carry the finished statuette out of the studio into the open before paying for it, and examine it carefully in the sunlight: otherwise in the course of time, he would have the chagrin of seeing the nose drop off his statuette in the heated room of his house. The statue was not ‘sincere’, not ‘without wax’, and could not bear careful scrutiny in the sunlight.

________

Source: A. Naismith, 1200 Notes, Quotes and Anecdotes. Great Britain: Pickering Paperbacks, 1998, p. 185. Contributed by John Williams III.

Pride Caused the Challenger Disaster

Job 20:4

When the space shuttle Challenger lifted into the sky and blew up seventy-three seconds into its flight, the world was shocked. Most of us have seen the videotape of that terrible moment many times. And we can recreate the picture in our minds of a deep blue sky marked with twisted trails of smoke and large chunks of metal plummeting toward the ocean. And we know, as we recall the grim specter of the explosion, that among the falling pieces were the bodies of some of America's finest men and women.

Most of us also know that the investigations into the cause of the tragedy pointed out some serious shortfalls in human judgment and materials management. The New York Times put it frankly: the ultimate cause of the space shuttle disaster was pride. A group of top managers failed to listen carefully to the warnings of those down the line who were concerned about the operational reliability of certain parts of the booster rocket under conditions of abnormal stress. The people in charge were confident that they knew best and that they should not change the launch schedules. They were wrong.

-- Gordon MacDonald, Rebuilding Your Broken World.

See: Proverbs 11:3

Good Call

Reuben Gonzales was in the final match of a professional racquetball tournament. It was his first shot at a victory on the pro circuit, and he was playing the perennial champion. In the fourth and final game, at match point, Gonzales made a super "kill" shot into the front wall to win it all. The referee called it good. One of the two linesmen affirmed that the shot was in. But Gonzales, after a moment's hesitation, turned around, shook his opponent's hand, and declared that his shot had hit the floor first. As a result, he lost the match. He walked off the court. Everybody was stunned. Who could ever imagine it in any sport or endeavor? A player, with everything officially in his favor, with victory in his hand, disqualified himself at match point and lost!

When asked why he did it, Reuben said, "It was the only thing I could do to maintain my integrity." Reuben Gonzales realized that he could always win another match, but he could never regain his lost integrity.

submitted by Missionary J. Daniels

Misc. Quotes

Psalms 51:10

The streams of life flow from our inner heart. And at the heart of one who ministers must be character. Financier J. P. Morgan once commented that a man's best collateral is his character.

-- Wiersbe & Wiersbe, Making Sense of the Ministry.

See: Psalms 51:10; Matthew 23:25-28; Ephesians 3:16

The words that house speaker, Jim Wright, quoted upon his resignation, really hit home;

Horace Greeley had a quote that Harry Truman used to like: "Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, riches take wings, those who cheer today may curse tomorrow, only one thing endures -- character."

See: Psalms 1:1-2; Proverbs 20:7; 1 Samuel 16:7

Concerning John Tower's failed nomination as the nation's secretary of defense, former Senator Barry Goldwater said:

"If they chased every man or woman out of this town who'd shacked up with somebody else, or gotten drunk, there'd be no government."

An interesting comment about the leadership in our nation's capital.

See: Psalms 11:7; Proverbs 10:9

Abraham Lincoln said that for a man to train up a child in the way he/she should go, he must walk that way himself.

See: Proverbs 22:6

"Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder."

—George Washington

"I would rather fail in a cause that someday will triumph than to win in a cause that I know someday will fail."

—Woodrow Wilson

"Character is a victory, not a gift."

"A precious stone; though it falls into the mire, does not thereby lose its brilliance."

—Malay Proverb

"The measure of a man’s real character is what he would do, if he knew he would never be found out."

—Macaulay

"Two opposing candidates were debating on a street corner while a group of spectators listened. “There are hundreds of ways of making money,” challenged one, “but only one honest way.”

“And what’s that?” jeered the other.

“Aha!” exulted the first speaker. “I knew you wouldn’t know.”

—Capper’s Weekly

==================

The following two statements from Abraham Lincoln tell of his integrity leading a war-torn nation:

“I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end, when I come to lay down the reins of power, I have lost every other friend on earth. I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside of me.”

“I do the very best I know how; the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing it to the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me will not amount to anything. If the end brings me out all wrong, then a legion of angels swearing I was right will make no difference.”

==================

Famous men of the past have bequeathed us statements that have become mottoes. History declares that Henry Clay was about to introduce a certain bill in Congress when a friend said, “If you do, Clay, it will kill your chance for the presidency.”

“But is the measure right?” Clay asked, and on being assured it was right said, “I would rather be right than be president.”

—The Watchman Examiner

Father without Integrity

Psalms 127:4

Griffin O'Neal has accused his father, Ryan, of turning him onto cocaine at the age of 13.

In an explosive interview, a bitter Griffin also charged that his womanizing dad encouraged him to follow in his footsteps when Griffin -- then just 11 -- began having sex.

Now 23, and the veteran of 2 1/2 years on a drug rehabilitation program, Griffin recalled the day he was introduced to coke 10 years ago.

"We were going to a movie and Dad said, 'Let's do a little of this to get us through. It's a long film.' He pulled out some coke, and that was that. I'd smoke hashish before that with him.

There were always drugs in the house. I was an old hand at smoking pot when I was 6.

Dad would rather I did drugs with him than with some person I didn't know and perhaps get myself killed," he says. "I think he was trying to prepare me for the atmosphere I was going to grow up in.

Dad never gave me any fatherly advice about sex, because I was 11 going on 30 and I didn't need it. He just said, 'If it feels good, go ahead.'"

Griffin claims that these days, he gets no advice at all from Ryan. In fact, he says, they haven't spoken for more than a year.

"He has rejected me and considers me scum," say Griffin. "My own father gave me cocaine and yet he won't take the blame. If he'd given me a stronger fatherly message against drugs, who knows? My life could have been different."

Griffin -- Ryan's son from his marriage to actress Joanna Moore -- lived with his mother after his parents divorced. But then her own drinking problems drove him to move in with his father.

"It felt great for a while, but it comes down to the fact that it was all dangerous, all wrong. My father was older and should have known that. The only time he changed his attitude was when I started to do drugs on my own. He realized it was getting out of hand. But he had started it."

He says his wild behavior was partly caused by sister Tatum's success. She had won an Oscar at 9 for her work in Paper Moon, which she co-starred with their father.

"I felt like a puppy that wasn't petted," says Griffin.

-- The Star

See: Psalms 127:4-5

Lies of A Different Color

Exodus 20:16

A boy visited his aunt, who reprimanded him for telling a fib. "Do you know," she warned, "what happens to little boys who tell fibs?"

"No, what, Aunty?" he asked.

"Well," she said, "there is a man up in the moon, a little green man with just one eye, who sweeps down in the middle of the night and flies away to the moon with little boys who tell lies and makes them pick up sticks all the rest of their lives. Now you won't tell lies any more, will you, for it's awfully, awfully naughty."

See: Exodus 20:16; Ephesians 6:4

The Little Things

1 Thessalonians 4:10

The saintly Horatius Bonar, reflecting on this subject, realized that the little things can either make or break the Christian. He wrote, "A holy life is made up of a multitude of small things. It is the little things of the hour and not the great things of the age that fill up a life like that of the apostles Paul or John, or David Brainard, or Henry Martyn. Little words, not eloquent speeches or sermons; little deeds, not miracles or battles, or one great heroic effort or martyrdom, make up the true Christian life. It's the little constant sunbeam, not the lightning, the waters of Siloam that go softly in their meek mission of refreshment, not 'the waters of the rivers great and many' rushing down in torrent, noise, and force, that are the true symbols of a holy life."

See: 1 Thessalonians 4:10-12; 1 Timothy 2:1-4; 1 Timothy 4:7-8

Self Respect

Alfred Whitney Griswold, who was president of Yale University, said: "Self-respect cannot be hunted. It cannot be purchased. It is never for sale. It cannot be fabricated out of public relations. It comes to us when we are alone, in quiet moments, in quiet places, when we suddenly realize that, knowing the good, we have done it; knowing the beautiful, we have served it; knowing the truth, we have spoken it."

Quotes On Integrity, Honesty, Conscience

Job 2:3

"If you want to take the meaning of the word integrity and reduce it to its simplest terms, you'd conclude that a man of integrity is a promise keeper. When he gives you his word you can take it to the bank. His word is good."

-- Bill McCartney, founder of Promise Keepers

"Honesty may be the best policy, but it's important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy."

-- George Carlin

"The virtue of man ought to be measured, not by his extraordinary exertions, but by his everyday conduct."

-- Blaise Pascal

"Confidence on the outside begins by living with integrity on the inside."

-- Brian Tracy

"The 'Inside-Out' approach to personal and self; even more fundamentally, to start with the most inside part of self - with your paradigms, your character, and your motives. The Inside-Out approach says that private victories precede public victories, that making and keeping promises to ourselves precedes making and keeping promises to others. It says it is futile to put personality ahead of character, to try to improve relationships with others before improving ourselves."

-- Stephen Covey

"The most important persuasion tool you have in your entire arsenal is integrity."

-- Zig Ziglar

"In matters of style swim with the current; in matters of principle stand like a rock."

-- Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), 3rd U.S. President

"The greatest homage we can pay to truth is to use it."

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), writer

"Never give in! Never, never, never, never give in. Never -- in anything great or small, large or petty -- never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense."

-- Winston Churchill, QFTM 7/3/02

"If you want to take the meaning of the word integrity and reduce it to its simplest terms, you'd conclude that a man of integrity is a promise keeper. When he gives you his word. You can take it to the bank. His word is good."

-- Bill McCartney, football coach, QFTM 8/22/02

"Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience."

-- George Washington (1732-1799), first U.S. President, B&P 10/31/02

"I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man."

-- George Washington, QFTM 2/21/04

"The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience."

-- Harper Lee, "To Kill a Mockingbird", HarperCollins, B&P 10/31/02

"Honesty is like an icicle; once it melts, that’s the end of it."

-- (unknown)

"A man always has two reasons for the things he does -- a good one and the real one."

-- Attributed to J. P. Morgan, business tycoon (B&P)

“If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn.”

-- Charlie Parker, jazz legend

"There is one thing alone that stands the brunt of life throughout its course: a quiet conscience."

-- Euripedes (c. 484-406 B.C.), Greek dramatist, B&P 5/5/03

"The ultimate test of a man's conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard."

-- Gaylord Nelson, politician and founder of Earth Day, , B&P 5/5/03

"I don't want any yes-men around me. I want everybody to tell me the truth even if it costs them their jobs."

-- Samuel Goldwyn (1882-1974), film producer, B&P 6/9/03

"I am a big believer in the 'mirror test.' All that matters is if you can look in the mirror and honestly tell the person you see there, that you've done your best."

-- John McKay, football coach, QFTM 2/21/04

"When you endeavor to do what's right against all odds, even if you don't at

first succeed, there's nobility and even majesty in such setbacks."

-- Herb Cohen, negotiation expert, Wit & Wisdom, 5/10/04

“I’d sooner live among people who don’t cheat at cards than among people who are earnest about not cheating at cards.”

-- C.S. Lewis

“Success is the prize for those who stand true to their ideas!”

-- Josh S. Hinds

“Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching.”

-- Thomas Jefferson

“People ignore what you say. They are only concerned with what you do.”

-- Brian Tracy

“Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.”

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Confidence on the outside begins by living with integrity on the inside.”

-- Brian Tracy

“The ‘Inside-Out’ approach to personal and self; even more fundamentally, to start with the most inside part of self – with your paradigms, your character, and your motives. The inside-out approach says that private victories precede public victories, that making and keeping promises to ourselves precedes making and keeping promises to others. It says it is futile to put personality ahead of character, to try to improve relationships with others before improving ourselves.”

-- Stephen Covey

“The most important persuasion tool you have in your entire arsenal is integrity.”

-- Zig Ziglar

“The virtue of man ought to be measured, not by his extraordinary exertions, but by his everyday conduct.”

-- Blaise Pascal

"I thief believes everybody steals."

-- Edward W. Howe, author, quoted in the BBC.com; The Week magazine, 5/9/08

He Admitted He Only Trapped It

Job 6:25

There was a young Christian man in a southern university. He made the football team as the starting split end. And he continually was before God saying, “Help me in the climax of moments to be absolutely honest. I pray for honesty -- that one mark of integrity. I want to be that, Lord, and I'll work on it through the season.”

The rival team came that night, homecoming. He ran his route and went into the end zone. The quarterback shot him the pass and he got it low. He landed on it, and the referee shouted, “Touchdown!” But that boy knew he had trapped the ball. (For you who aren't into that, it means that he didn't really catch it. He landed on it while it was on the ground and it looked like he caught it). The stands were just cheering, you know, sending him on his way, the hero of the game. He said, “Wait a minute.” Can you imagine this?: Walked up to the referee and shook his head. He said, “I trapped it.” The referee canceled the touchdown and they lost the game.

Now you may not understand much about football, but you know what it is to be a fan. And that boy stood all alone, not only against a team that said, “What does it matter, man?” but against the stands full of people. He said, “I can't take the credit. I did not catch it.”

________

The Tale Of The Tardy Oxcart

Charles R. Swindoll, Word, p. 304.

When Trust Is Lost

2 Corinthians 8:20

The financial collapse of Enron's energy empire sent shock waves through America's financial community. When questions began to arise about the practices of Enron's accounting firm, the damage from the quake spread faster and farther. That firm has been one of America's "Big 5," doing both the accounting and financial consulting for some of this country's biggest corporations. It may take many months, even years, to sort out what really happened. But the questions alone have had a devastating effect, with client after client bailing out of their relationship with the accounting firm, leaving it severely crippled. And it all happened so fast.

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When Trust Is Lost."

That's what happened when all the questions about an accounting firm's integrity arose - trust was lost. And when trust is lost, sometimes all is lost. Not just for companies, but for individuals, too. That's why it's so important that you and I make integrity and honesty our non-negotiable bottom line in everything we do or say.

There's a shining example of that in our word for today from the Word of God in 2 Corinthians 8:20-21. The Apostle Paul has collected a large offering from many sources to help the believers in Jerusalem who are really hurting from persecution. Notice how he takes the high road in how he handles this money. Paul says that Titus "was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering which we administer in order to honor the Lord Himself and to show our eagerness to help. We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift. For we are taking pains to do what is right (and honestly, sometimes it is a pain to do what's right, but he says to do what is right) not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men." Paul makes sure that he does not handle this money alone - that there is a person selected by others to accompany him on this relief mission. Smart man. Paul knows what we dare not forget - a reputation, people's trust in us takes years to build - and only a day to lose. So he is taking every precaution to insure that there cannot even be a question about his integrity.

So should we. Yes, when it comes to handling money, but also in how we handle everything. The Bible describes integrity as the inner guidance system of a person God and people can trust. Proverbs 11:3 says, "The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed in their duplicity." That's why it is so important that you only make promises you can keep and keep the promises you make - whether it's to your boss, your business associate, your mate, or your child. Don't risk the trust people have in you by showing partiality, by being slippery with the truth, with deceptive practices, with a hypocritical difference between what you say and how you really live.

Trust is the glue that holds relationships together. And it's too precious to lose no matter how great the short-term gain may seem to be by compromising what's right or what's true. Don't leave people wondering, "Now should I believe what he just said?" ... "Can I trust what she just told me?" No - always take the high road, no matter what it costs, no matter how long it takes. Because when trust is lost, everything can be lost.

________________

*

Character of A Happy Life

HOW happy is he born and taught

That serveth not another's will;

Whose armour is his honest thought

And simple truth his utmost skill!

Whose passions not his masters are,

Whose soul is still prepared for death,

Not tied unto the world with care

Of public fame, or private breath;

Who envies none that chance doth raise

Or vice; Who never understood

How deepest wounds are given by praise;

Nor rules of state, but rules of good:

Who hath his life from rumours freed,

Whose conscience is his strong retreat;

Whose state can neither flatterers feed

Nor ruin make oppressors great;

Who God doth late and early pray

More of his grace than gifts to lend;

And entertains the harmless day

With a well-chosen book or friend:

-This man is freed from servile bands

Of hope to rise, or fear to fall;

Lord of himself, though not of lands;

And having nothing, yet hath all.

The Harvard classics, edited by Charles W. Eliot. English Poetry I: From Chaucer to Gray. Vol. XL. The Harvard Classics. New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1909-14; Bartleby.com, 2001. Vol. 40, of 51 www.bartleby.com/40/. 6.25/02.

Published April 27, 2001 by Bartleby.com; c 2001 Copyright Bartleby.com, Inc.

Amid Corporate Scandal, the Prophet Still Speaks

Amos 1:6

The phrase "Business as usual" has taken on new meaning as every few days journalists and prosecutors add a new name to the corporate scandal tally: Enron, Andersen, WorldCom, Quest and ... Martha Stewart? Yes, not even America's favorite homemaker could escape the recent allegations of financial scandal.

The fifth amendment is getting a lot of exercise, as CEOs and CPAs stand up before courts and committees and swear that they will tell nothing at all, at least not until they have to.

Employees simmer and rage as they learn the fate of their jobs and their retirement packages. Investors burn with anger as their stocks and their childrens' college funds plummet while some in top management plan exotic trips overseas with stolen cash.

The stench of deceit fills the air. A matrix of manipulative, strategic cunning has been exposed. The public confidence in the corporate world cascades exponentially with each new breach of trust. Who knows the extent of this matrix?

Where is Amos, shepherd of Tekoa, prophetic voice of the northern tribes of Israel, when we need him?

He spoke a firm word from the Lord during the reign of Jeroboam II, when the "haves" of business, politics and religion manipulated its prosperous times by "selling the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes" (1:6) and using false measurements to trample the "poor into the dust of the earth" (1:7). They built houses of "hewn stone" and planted "pleasant vineyards" (5:11) as they neglected the needy, leaving them at the gate to fend for themselves.

The warnings of the Lord through Amos to violators of the covenant were firm and the judgment of the Lord was powerful -- only a remnant of the northern tribes, "two ankle bones and a piece of ear" as Amos vividly put it (3:12) -- would survive as a result of their systematic deception, oppression of the poor and religious hypocrisy.

But the grace of the Lord was powerful as well, for indeed, a remnant did survive.

Interestingly, moral relativism, in the public forum, ceases when financial responsibility is at issue. There is a renewed cry for fidelity, for trustworthiness, for integrity. And in the wake of Sept. 11, people are looking both for stability, for protection and for transcendent meaning in life -- things only the King of Kings can give.

May we keep our nation and ourselves from the greatest famine of all, the famine which the Lord brought on Israel in the eighth century B.C. -- the "famine of hearing the Word of the Lord" (8:11). May we speak this Word powerfully and prophetically, forth-telling the Lord's judgment, grace and desire to re-create a people for himself.

Quotes On Leadership

Mark 9:34

“All great leaders have understood that their number one responsibility is cultivating their own discipline and personal growth. Those who cannot lead themselves cannot lead others.”

-- John Maxwell

“A platoon leader doesn’t get his platoon to go by getting up and shouting and saying. ‘I am smarter. I am bigger. I am stronger. I am the leader.’ He gets men to go along with him because the want to do it for him and they believe in him.”

-- Dwight D. Eisenhower

“Leaders make things possible. Exceptional leaders make them inevitable.”

-- Lance Morrow, journalist, B&P 7/28/2003

“The trouble with being a leader today is that you can’t be sure whether people are following you or chasing you.”

-- (unknown), Bits & Pieces, February 4, 1993, Page 8

“Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.”

-- Tom Peters, Wit & Wisdom, 10/13/03

“You have achieved excellence as a leader when people will follow you everywhere if only out of curiosity.”

-- Gen. Colin Powell

“A leader is a person with a magnet in his heart and a compass in his head.”

-- Vance Hainer

“Leadership is getting someone to do what they don’t want to do, to achieve what they want to achieve.”

-- Coach Tom Landry

I Sweep Under the Rugs Now

John 4:34

Rev. H. A. Ironside was a famous pastor and teacher at Moody Bible College in Chicago. He used to tell his students of the maid who was asked how she knew she had really become a Christian. She replied, "I know I'm a Christian because I sweep under the rugs now!"

Integrity Or Morals

James 4:4

549 Integrity or Morals

In Chicago, 1929, a 26 year old government agent named Eliot Ness formed an

elite team of 9 incorruptible men to bring down Al Capone's 120 million dollar

mob empire. At the time, Ness was making $2800 a year working for the

government. One day a young man walked into his office and handed Ness an

envelope with 2 one thousand dollar bills and promised this weekly if he would

lay off Capone. Ness sent the money and the messenger back.

Desiring to make a point, Ness called a press conference. Newspapers and

newsreels from various agencies were in attendance. Ness told the story of

Capone's attempted bribe and Ness' response to it. The next day, headlines read

"Ness and his men are 'UNTOUCHABLE.'

TS--As Christians, our morals must remain "untouchable" by this corrupt culture.

In James 4:4, it reads "You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship

with the world is hated toward God? Anyone who chooses to become a friend of

the world becomes and enemy of God." Submitted by Joe Putting & Jeff Rohrer of

Tomoka Christian Church

Immovable Boundaries

Job 24:2

The men in our family are avid football fans. It is not an uncommon malady in the American male. And no matter how many games you’ve watched, there is one highlight that never ceases to be exciting – when the quarterback lofts a long pass downfield to a receiver who leaps into the air to catch it. Unfortunately, as dramatic as those catches are, they don’t all count. Because sometimes the pass receiver steps out of bounds in the process of bringing in that pass. That’s why those players try every kind of twisting and turning imaginable to stay in bounds. Because it doesn’t matter how impressive the play is – if you’re out of bounds, it just doesn’t count.

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about “Immovable Boundaries”.

Staying “in bounds” at all costs – that’s not just good football ... that’s integrity – refusing to go out of bounds morally, no matter what. Because as far as God is concerned, it doesn’t matter how impressive the play is – if you go out of His bounds, it just doesn’t count.

Unless you’ve been living in a cave recently, you’re probably faced with temptations to compromise your integrity over and over again. To tell something less than the truth ... to cut corners ethically ... to do something financially that is less than honest ... to compromise your purity for someone you care about ... or to watch or listen to or laugh at things Jesus would never be a part of. For all of us who feel that pull to make the play by going out of bounds, there is some powerful encouragement in the life of Nehemiah, the man God chose to lead His people in the amazing rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls and gates.

In our word for today from the Word of God, Nehemiah is now the governor of the city. He has an opportunity to use his position to his own advantage, but against a background of people who are exploiting their own people, Nehemiah is a glowing model of integrity. In Nehemiah 5:14, he says, “Neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor. But the earlier governors – those preceding me – placed a heavy burden on the people and took forty shekels of silver from them in addition to food and wine. Their assistants lorded it over the people. But out of reverence for God, I did not act like that. Instead, I devoted myself to the work on this wall ... we did not acquire any land.”

Nehemiah’s predecessors had done it ... many of the people he governed had done it ... but Nehemiah refused to exploit his position. He had immovable boundaries, even when it would have benefited him greatly to compromise them just a little.

On the job application of one of our new Team members, I was impressed with three little words that described his “reason for leaving” his last job. His department insisted on continuing some unethical practices to which he had objected – but, in his character-revealing words, “I could not." While this man has an impressive resume and some great abilities, that integrity was what impressed me most. It’s what impresses God the most – and qualifies you for His greatest blessings.

Compromise may be the order of the day around you – but, “in reverence for God”, will you say, “I cannot." Compromise might get you ahead, maybe give you something you really want – will you, for God’s sake, say, “But I cannot.”

Immovable boundaries – the heart of a man or woman God can trust, God can bless. As far as your Lord is concerned, if it isn’t inside His boundaries, it just doesn’t count.

________________

*

Duty, Honor, Country and Too Many Lawyers

Amos 8:5

As most of you know, my father [Col. W. B. Holwick] wanted me to go to a very special school - West Point. Maybe it is a good thing I didn't (I went to Wheaton College from 1974 to 1978), because in the middle of my college career West Point was shattered by a huge scandal. 235 students who took a take-home engineering exam were suspected of cheating. At West Point, this is a big deal. Its honor code states:

"A cadet will not lie, cheat or steal, nor tolerate those who do.

A cadet who violates the Cadet Honor Code shall be separated from

the United States Military Academy."

151 were found guilty of cheating or resigned on their own.

How was it found out? One student wrote on his test that he received help. An instructor compared the other tests and found very similar answers, and the scandal split wide open. You might say that this student cheated with integrity. He made an error but admitted it right up front.

How much moral courage do YOU have? If everyone around you is cheating, will you stay honest? Do you compromise in any area of life? What is your standard for morality? The average morality of society, or something higher? The Bible's morality is not a human invention but God's gift to us. It doesn't have to be whittled down and made more palatable.

________

(original article copyrighted by American Bar Association Journal)

He Brought An Empty Pot

An emperor in the Far East was growing old and knew it was time to choose his successor. Instead of choosing one of his assistants or his children, he decided to do something different. He called young people in the kingdom together one day. He said, “It is time for me to step down and choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one of you.” The children were shocked, but the emperor continued. “I am going to give each one of you a seed today — one very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next emperor.”

One boy, named Ling, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his mother the story. She helped him get a pot and planting soil, and he planted the seed and watered it, carefully. Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Ling kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by. Still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants, but Ling didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure. Six months went by — still nothing in Ling's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Ling didn't say anything to his friends, however. He just kept waiting for his seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their plants to the emperor for inspection. Ling told his mother that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But his mother asked him to be honest about what happened.

Ling felt sick at his stomach, but he knew his mother was right. He took his empty pot to the palace. When Ling arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other youths. They were beautiful — in all shapes and sizes. Ling put his empty pot on the floor and many of the other children laughed at him. A few felt sorry for him and just said, “Hey, nice try.” When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Ling just tried to hide in the back. “My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown,” said the emperor. “Today one of you will be appointed the next emperor!” All of a sudden, the emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front. Ling was terrified. He thought, “The emperor knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!”

When Ling got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. “My name is Ling,” he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him. The emperor asked everyone to quiet down. He looked at Ling, and then announced to the crowd, “Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!” Ling couldn't believe it. Ling couldn't even grow his seed. How could he be the new emperor?

Then the emperor said, “One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds that would not grow. All of you, except Ling, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Ling was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new emperor!”

What we need transplanted into us are hearts like Ling's. Honest and courageous hearts that drive our spiritual centers, that operate the rest of our parts. The emperor was wise to look at the hearts and not the parts. And that is exactly where Jesus is looking when he looks at us, when he is looking to see who it is that will carry on his kingdom’s work.

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[Original illustration at this number was a dupliate of HolwickID #1841]

How's Your Integrity Level?

Acts 8:9

“Whoever lives with integrity fears the Lord, but the one who is devious in his ways despises him” (Proverbs 14:2).

Is there such a thing as a “sneaky” Christian? Unfortunately, yes, but it’s not the sort of behavior our Lord wants us displaying. We who have been bought by the blood of the Lamb are still very capable of being worldly, self-absorbed and even “devious.”

Let’s put together a scenario. You’re up for promotion, but so is Brandi. You’re a Christian, but you still want to do everything you can to be sure your name will be the one on the door of that prized corner office. So you work diligently, faithfully, dependably, and you pray for the Lord to give you favor for that position.

But you do something extra. You begin a quiet campaign of destruction against Brandi.

Sticking your head into your boss’s office –- the one who’ll be making the decision about the promotion -– you innocently say, “Hey, I really need to head on to lunch if that’s OK, but I hate to leave us shorthanded. Brandi’s a bit late getting back again today.” You put an ever-so-slight hint of emphasis on the word “again.”

Later that day you see the boss coming your way, so you hurry over to Brandi’s desk to ask her about the one project on which she’s behind. Timing yourself to the boss’s arrival, you question: “Don’t mean to pressure you,” you smile sweetly, “but how much longer do you think you’ll be on the Simmons proposal? I’ve gone as far as I can with what you’ve been able to give me.” You gaze down at the seated Brandi with a look that clearly says that you’re doing the very best you can to be patient with an obvious inferior.

Did you say anything about Brandi that wasn’t true? No. Did you start a rumor? Tell a lie? No. Were it not for the intent of your heart, you’d be perfectly innocent, wouldn’t you? But you knew that every action you took was for the express purpose of casting a negative light on your competition.

But when we trust God, we don’t need to tear someone else down in order to build ourselves up. “Whoever lives with integrity fears the Lord....” We can’t have integrity in our relationship with the Lord and still be devious. We can’t deviously manipulate people or circumstances if we truly [fear] the Lord -- that is, have a healthy respect for His Person and His power.

In Acts 8, we read the account of the man Simon who, seeing the Holy Spirit come on people as Peter and John laid their hands on them, offered money for the disciples to enable him to have this same power. Peter and John were appalled. And Peter told him:

“[R]epent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that the intent of your heart may be forgiven you” (Acts 8:22).

If you read the full account in Acts 8:9-24, the Bible leaves no doubt that Simon had truly believed and had even been baptized (verse 13) -– he was a believer. And yet he was told to repent of the intent of his heart.

“...[T]he one who is devious in his ways despises [the Lord].” We can’t be “sneaky” Christians. There is no room for pretense or subterfuge. To treat other people in such a manner is to have so little respect, so little obedience to the way in which Christ wants us to live, as to actually despise God.

Be honest here: would you consider yourself to be a bit sneaky? It’s a choice, you know. It’s an old habit that you haven’t gotten around to getting rid of. Hey, if we’re flat-out truthful, it’s an old sin that you love too much to part with.

Examine the intent of your heart, and if there’s anything within it that doesn’t honor Jesus, repent so that it “may be forgiven you.”

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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #11100]

Being the Best

Some time ago, an article in National Racquetball Magazine told the story of Reuben Gonzales, who was in the final match of a professional racquetball tournament. It was Gonzales' first shot at a victory on the pro circuit, and he was playing the perennial champion.

In the fourth and final game, at match point, Gonzales made a super "kill" shot into the front wall to win it all. The referee called it good. One of the two linesmen affirmed that the shot was in. But Gonzales, after a moment's hesitation, turned around, shook his opponent's hand, and declared that his shot had "slapped" into the wall, hitting the court floor first. As a result, he lost the match. He walked off the court. Everybody was stunned.

The next issue of National Racquetball Magazine displayed Reuben Gonzales on its front cover. The story searched for an explanation of this first-ever occurrence on the professional racquetball circuit.

Who could ever imagine it in any sport or endeavor? A player, with everything officially in his favor, with victory in his hand, disqualified himself at match point and lost!

When asked why he did it, Reuben said, "It was the only thing I could do to maintain my integrity."

By Denis Waitley, Being the Best

Source: Bits & Pieces, October 12, 1995, Copyright (c) Economic Press, Inc., www.epinc.com

Your Internal Guidance System

Proverbs 11

It happened during the Gulf War, and we've seen it in the war in Afghanistan. It's those amazing high-tech weapons that hit their target with pinpoint accuracy. There are, as they say, occasional "targeting errors," but, for the most part, those weapons go right to their intended target - weapons like Cruise missiles and what they call "smart bombs." I still remember a correspondent in Baghdad, during the Gulf War, who described this Tomahawk missile roaring in over the city, pausing, and then turn left and then straight down into a military facility. Its tracking system apparently determined that it was slightly off course, corrected it, and went to the target. Amazing!

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about "Your Internal Guidance System."

The secret of hitting the target is, of course, an internal guidance system - for a missile and for you and me. And the Bible clearly describes what that guidance system should be for those of us who belong to Jesus Christ.

One place it's described is in Proverbs 11, beginning in verse 3, our word for today from the Word of God. The Lord says, "The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity ... the righteousness of the blameless makes a straight way for them, but the wicked are brought down by their own wickedness."

So, your integrity is supposed to be the guidance system in you that always determines where you'll go and how you do things. When you make up your mind that you're always going to do what is honest, what is right, what has integrity, then you'll be making a "straight way" for yourself. In other words, you won't be one way one time and another way another time. You won't live by one set of principles with one group and another with another group. You'll always be the same in all your dealings, no matter where, no matter with whom, and no matter what it costs. You're always fair, you always tell the truth, you do what you said you'd do.

When integrity is your internal guidance system, you've actually pre-made a thousand decisions that will come up along the way. It simplifies decision-making, because doing what's right will usually rule out most of your other options. The motto of any person, any business, any ministry that's committed to integrity is: "Always take the high road." Paul actually modeled that for us in 2 Corinthians 8 when he was assigned to deliver a large offering to needy believers in Jerusalem. He said, "We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift. For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in the eyes of men." That's interesting, "Taking pains to do what is right" - that's the kind of integrity that God blesses mightily. Frankly, sometimes doing what's right is a pain - but it is so worth it.

So, as you're facing the choices ahead of you right now, remember that it is the "integrity of the upright" that "guides them" - that makes a "straight way for them." If you follow your culture, the way other people do things, or your emotions, you will go off course and miss where you're supposed to be. But the man or woman who makes integrity their deciding factor will always end up hitting the target.

________________

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Living and Operating With Integrity

Integrity is where it all begins!

Integrity is real and concrete!

Integrity is measurable and includes traits like being honest, keeping your word, standing your ground for what is right, and maintaining your honor.

It is something you can't pretend to have.

Real integrity is treating others the way you want to be treated even when nobody is watching.

If your foundation is one of integrity, your choices and decisions will bear that out. On the other hand, if you lack integrity, that too will become evident.

Your upright actions will show in every instance that: "I do the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do."

In the book of Proverbs, it says: "The integrity of the upright guides them." Also, "A person of integrity works securely, but he who walks a crooked path will be found out."

Here are some benefits I have found from keeping integrity:

* Inspiration and motivation

* Unexpected favor

* Respect and appreciation

* A good name and reputation

* Peace and contentment

* God's blessings in every part of my life

Integrity Before God Affects All of Life

Psalms 25:21

These days can, and are, bringing many pressures on the Christian in their workplace. The economy is affecting many in adverse ways: loss of income, loss of jobs, bills unpaid, felt needs unmet and a financial future at best uncertain.

However, pressure is often self-induced. That is, we let our changing circumstances unsettle us, or put pressure on us. For the Christian, the changing and often volatile circumstances in our environment or our nation and even our world need not cause pressure on us.

David had incredible pressures on him. He was king over God's people, and he had many enemies both from within and without. He cried aloud to his God, who had promised to be his God in all circumstances. Knowing that God had promised to keep him in all his ways, David desired only that he have integrity before God. That is, that his heart would never shift from trusting God completely, regardless of the circumstances.

Here is his prayer: "... let my integrity and uprightness preserve me. For I wait for You...." (Psalm 25:21). Then again, "Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity. I have also trusted in the LORD; I shall not slip. Examine me, O LORD, and prove me: try my mind and my heart. For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth...." (Psalm 26:1-3). Then David seemed to summarize his walk before God in his marketplace: "... as for me, I will walk in my integrity; redeem me and be merciful to me. My foot stands in an even place; in the congregations I will bless the LORD...." (Psalm 26:11-12).

David was far more concerned about his integrity before God than he was his popularity or success before men. He was more concerned that his trust for his life, his family or his future not shift from God. He wanted integrity before God. He wanted to please God and to serve God uninterrupted. He knew that this integrity would give security. David trusted that God would always keep his feet steady and would uphold him, even in the eyes of men. So he turned to God to help him, at all times, under all circumstances -- so his God would be honored.

In these uncertain times (in the minds of men, but not with God) we must keep our relationship with God FIRST. The person who truly does "seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness" (Matthew 6:33) will find that God will "add everything else to him...."

This makes for real peace in times of turmoil, real certainty and hope when so much seems to be changing and uncertain. God doesn't change! He remains in charge -- especially of the life that puts their trust in him, and does it openly in their home and their workplace. The one who puts their trust completely in the LORD, and walks in God's ways with integrity, will experience God vindicating his integrity, especially before God -- but also before those in the world who are watching him/her.

If there ever was a time when our world needed to see the faithful presence of God working in the life of those who trust him, it is now. May God grant us the wisdom he gave David to "walk in ... integrity" (Psalm 26:11) before a watching world.

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Living Up To Your Name

Exodus 20:7

Alexander the Great conquered most of the then-known world by the age of 33. One of the reasons for that was the iron discipline that he insisted on among his troops. That's why a young soldier was so terrified as he was hauled into Alexander's tent to answer for charges of cowardice and desertion in battle. The general was seated at a table, and the accused soldier was standing before him. Alexander said, "Soldier, you've been accused of deserting during a battle - guilty or not?" "Guilty," he replied almost inaudibly. The general followed up then by asking, "What's your name, soldier?" The answer came back - "My name is Alexander, sir." It was at that point that Alexander the Great leaped to his feet, reached across the table, grabbed the soldier by the collar and shouted, "Either you change your life or you change your name!"

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about "Living Up To Your Name."

I wonder if Jesus doesn't feel that way about some of us. We're carrying His name around - a Christian ... a Christ one. And we're reflecting on His name by the way we're living, the way we're treating people, the way we're doing business, and the way we're reacting. Does the life live up to that holy name we carry?

Suddenly, we're looking at one of the Ten Commandments in a different light than we usually do. In Exodus 20:7, our word for today from the Word of God, He says, "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold guiltless anyone who misuses His name." Now, that commandment is usually used in the context of not using the Lord's name as a swear word or using it lightly or irreverently. And that is sure included in what God meant. We are supposed to always use the name of our Lord with great respect.

But swearing or irreverence are not the only ways to "misuse the name of the Lord your God," or, as the King James Version says, "take the name of the Lord your God in vain." When you claim to be a "Christ-one" and you live or talk in a way that is the opposite of what Christ is like - you're discrediting the name of the One you claim to serve. There's an example of that in Romans 2:24 where Paul says of his fellow Jews, "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."

And we all know that the inconsistencies and hypocrisies of a believer give unbelievers a reason not to come to Jesus. Probably the most common reason people give for rejecting Jesus is another Christian. And probably the most common reason people come to Christ is because of another Christian. Before most people start believing in Christ, they believe in a Christian they know.

You're not an island. You're being watched - especially if you claim to be a Christian. And someone is sizing up Jesus based on what they see in you. They can't see Him - they can see you. What a horrible thought - you or I might be a reason for someone we care about to miss Jesus - and to miss heaven forever.

So look at your life in light of the holy name of Jesus that every Christian carries. What kind of feeling are you giving your children about Jesus, based on how you treat them? How about your coworkers? Your employees? Your fellow students? Your friends?

In heaven, they bow down at the name of Jesus. One day every being in heaven, on earth, and under the earth will bow down at the name of Jesus. It is to Almighty God the highest, the holiest name. And you, as His follower, carry that name. If your life is dishonoring the name, it is time to change your life.

________________

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A Jew In Form and In Reality

Romans 2:28

“For he is not a Jew who [is one] outwardly, nor [is] circumcision that which [is] outward in the flesh; but [he is] a Jew who [is one] inwardly; and circumcision [is that] of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise [is] not from men but from God.” (Romans 2:28-29 NKJV)

A Jew In Form And In Reality

• he…outwardly — Matt 3:9, Joh 8:39, Jer 9:25-26, Rom 9:6-7 — mere circumcision does not make an Israelite indeed

• neither…flesh — Gal 6:15, 1 Pet 3:21, Rev 2:9 — which was but the outward sign of the true cutting off of sin; as baptism is only the visible sign of a needful inward cleansing

• Jew — really, and truly

• inwardly — in his inner life

• and…heart — Phil 3:3, COl 2:11 — of which all else, so-called, is but the symbol

• spirit…letter — 2 Cor 3:6 — not in form, but in spirit

• men — who only see the sign

• God — who knoweth the heart

The submission of Christ to circumcision — the Homilist

By submitting to circumcision Christ

I. Honoured the law

II. Received a foretaste of His death, and thus commenced the work of our redemption

III. Connected His Church with the saints of the Old Testament

Learn

l. To avoid unmeaning ceremony in religion

2. The vanity and evil of self-inflicted austerities

Outside and inside — Many have clean hands but unclean hearts. They wash the outside of the cup and platter when all is filthy within. Now, the former without the latter profits a man no more than it profited Pilate — who condemned Christ — to wash his hands in the presence of the people; he washed his hands of the blood of Christ, and yet had a hand in the death of Christ. The Egyptian temples were beautiful on the outside but within you shall find nothing but some serpent or crocodile. “He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly.” Judas was a saint without but a sinner within; openly a disciple, but secretly a devil. — Mede

A questionable silence — For a time I feared he (Judge Hale) was wanting in experimental religion, as he seldom spake of his own spiritual views and feelings; but upon better acquaintance I found that I was mistaken. He had heard from many in his time so much of hypocrisy and fanaticism, that he was urged towards the extreme of silence. — Buxton

“The Jewish circumcision would be an absurd and unreasonable thing, did it not intimate and prefigure the circumcision of the heart.” – Dr Donne

It Takes Courage

It takes courage

To refrain from gossip

When others delight in it,

To stand up for the absent person

Who is being abused.

It takes courage

To live honestly

Within your means,

And not dishonestly

On the means of others.

It takes courage

To be a REAL man or a TRUE woman,

To hold fast to your ideals

When it causes you

To be looked upon

As strange and peculiar.

It takes courage

To be talked about,

And remain silent,

When a word would justify you

In the eyes of others,

But which you dare not speak

Because it would injure another.

It takes courage

To refuse to do something

That is wrong

Although everyone else

May be doing it

With attitudes as carefree

As a summer song.

It takes courage

To live according

To your own convictions,

To deny yourself

What you cannot afford.

To love your neighbor

As yourself!

The Christian and the Decalogue — Integrity

Exodus 20:16

The Christian and the Decalogue — Integrity — Exodus 20:16«Leaders material shown in these braces»

2 I am Jehovah thy God, … 16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. — ASV

“Walk the talk” — it’s a popular saying but not such a popular practice, even for Christians. But, for the Christian, living a life of faith, that is just for what this command calls.

A. society is based on a minimum of honesty

1. hence in most places, perjury is a C________,«Crime» because

a. Proverbs 25:18 «the rights of the one on trial are at stake»

b. Malachi 3:5 «the right and wrong of society are at stake»

2. to start with, for any society to exist, to have reasonable understanding amongst its members, words have to mean what they S____;«Say» give some examples where they do not:

a. in the secular realm

(A) «advertising»

(B) «public relations press releases»

(C) «responses of politicians to questions»

(D) «jargon used by the salesman, or by the customer service people (to explain that your problem is not really a problem)»

b. in the religious realm

(A) sects use biblical, Christian words but with the meanings altered

(1) «in the church of Rome, “penitence” means acts of penance rather than repentance»

(2) «the Jehovah’s Witnesses speak of “ransom” but they are not talking of spiritual redemption but of “bringing back a perfect human life with its rights and earthly prospects”»

(B) Christians can use evangelical terms when they witness, but if they do not explain their meaning, «then these words become mere jargon»

3. then business needs to be conducted “in good faith” if it is to be sustained; people will not long deal with a company or a person who seeks to take advantage of them. “In good faith” means that both parties to a transaction reveal their expectations as to what they will give and what they will receive; any difficulties or warnings that may be present; and the warranties they make for the protection of the other party.

a. in God’s covenants with His people — Israel and the church — we find they are made “in good faith”

(A) God is F______________ (Deuteronomy 7:9)

(B) God does not L____ (Numbers 23:19)

(C) God fully R___________ the situation in His word (all the Bible, but look at Ezekiel 20:11, Micah 6:8)

(D) man, in turn, is expected to adhere to his part in the covenant by his O___________ (this means that he keeps to his part “in good faith,” doing that to which he has committed; example: Exodus 19:5;)

B. under faith, language in all its forms is to be used to the glory of God, to the service of the neighbour, and to the expression of truth

1. this should have some implications for the Christian who is engaged in the following fields — what?

a. history: «one must stay with the truth even though it be embarassing to our church or contrary to public opinion — many have been guilty of revisionism»

b. literature: «it is not satisfactory to write something that is based upon a false premise and then tidy it up with a neat little Christian application at the end — a pastor can fall into the trap of using such illustrations»

c. art: «do you use visual illustrations of the Bible simply because they will appeal to your audience or sell a book — or do you ensure they are worthy of their subject?»

d. music: «do you let the appeal, style, and popularity of some musical idiom take precedence over being true both to the words and to the context of Scripture; eg., “Ave Maria” and the chorus we sung a few Sundays ago.»

2. how does this command impinge on the seven abominations to God found in Proverbs 6:16-19; (NKJV): 16 These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: 17 A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, 19 A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren.

a. a proud look:« is self-deception»

b. a lying tongue: pretty obvious!

c. shed blood:« falsehoods can physically injure others»

d. wicked plans:« often means dealing falsely»

e. running to evil:« as part of evil or to avoid punishment»

f. false witness: again, pretty obvious!

g. sow discord: «the lie, the most underhanded weapon»

C. In the following passage we have two men, both rulers, but with totally different concepts of truth: John 18:33–19:1; (NIV): 33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” 34 “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?” 35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?” 36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.” 37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” 38 “What is truth?” Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. 39 But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?” 40 They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion. 19:1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.

1. what are some ways in which their “truth” differed?

a. «in the matter of steadfastness or faithfulness»

b. «in the matter of compromise»

c. «in the matter of expediency»

2. what is the enduring contrast between these two men? «Pilate is only remembered because of his association with Jesus in His trial; Jesus is cherished by billions as the Saviour.»

D. what are ways that we as Christians lie — bear false witness — often without being aware we are doing so?

1. «by our silence, allowing another to make a false conclusion»

2. «verbally — oral or written — by our complaints, innuendo, and gossip, where we may only tell one side of the story»

3. Proverbs 6:12–14 «non-verbally by our body language, shrugs, and other ways of conveying a false or perverse message»

4. «by our action — or inaction — in supporting the truth»

222 Sermon Illustrations on Integrity