While the Catholic Church will tell you that the first Pope was Peter and he reigned in the first century, church historians will tell you otherwise.  In the first place, the New Testament never calls Peter a Pope.  In fact, he seems to put himself on exactly the same plane as every other elder (bishop, pastor, presbyter) in 1 Peter 5:1:  The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed…
            So who exactly was the first Pope?  Well, it might amaze you to know that all bishops were called "popes" in the beginning, from the Latin Papa or "Father."  But the first Bishop of Rome to take that title in the way we think of today was Leo I, "the Great," who ascended to the papacy on September 29, 440 (Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, vol 3, p 315).
            But do you know what?  A lot of us also use faulty information when we just repeat what we have heard for years without checking it out.  Are you still using the old argument, “Reverend is only found once in the Bible and it refers to God, so men should not be called reverend?”  If so, you need to shelve that one.  It is a specious argument based totally on an accident of the King James translation.  The word is only translated “reverend” once in that version.  The Holy Spirit originally used the Hebrew in Psalm 111:9.  That word is yare, and it is used by the Spirit over 300 times in the original Hebrew Scriptures.  Some of them refer to men, including righteous men like David.
            But in Matthew 23:8-12, Jesus gives us the same concept.  Be not called Rabbi; for one is your teacher and you are all brethren.  And call no man your father on the earth, for one is your Father, even he who is in Heaven.  Neither be called masters for one is your master, even the Christ.  But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant, and whosever shall exalt himself shall be humbled, and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted.
            Now some people do call their earthly father, “Father,” and there is nothing wrong with that.  The point, you see, is not the word, but setting someone up as better than his brethren by the use of a [capitalized] Title, be it Father, Holy Father, Reverend, Most Reverend, Most Right Reverend—you get the point.  The New Testament has no concept of laity and clergy at all.  To be quite honest about this, it is even possible to misuse the word “brother” in the same way, by applying it only to people we consider to be worthy of it due to their knowledge or role in the church.  Jesus said in that quote above, “You are all brethren.” 
            Let’s take this a step farther.  I have an aunt and uncle who both have doctoral degrees in chemistry.  They both taught at a prestigious university and one was even head of the department for many years before retirement.  You know what?  No one in the family calls them “Dr. Ayers.”  They would be insulted.  They accept the title only in the realm of academia, but never in the family circle.            
            The church is our spiritual family circle.  We were all born again, raised to walk with Christ as a new creature, and when that happened, we were all “created” equal.  Just as my aunt and uncle would not want anyone in the physical family to use their academic titles, I don’t think I know a true brother or sister in the Lord who would ever expect the family to use their earthly titles except in the worldly realm in which they apply.  As Jesus so clearly explained in Matthew 23:  whoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled, and whoever shall humble himself shall be exalted.
            One of the greatest Bible students I know has a high school education.  But he has studied so hard for so long on his own, and has developed such great insight, that I would sit at his feet to learn at any opportunity.  Others, who sport more letters after their names than if they spilled a bowl of alphabet soup, make it obvious in their teachings that they spend more time studying things other than the Word of God.  Those things may have their place, but it is not as a substitute for the Truth.
            The only titles we wear are Christian, child of God, saint, heirs and joint-heirs with Christ.  Truly, among the family of God, that should be all the honor any of us needs.
 
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.  There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can be neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus, Gal 3:26-28.
 
Dene Ward     

You can find some strange things in the footnotes.  Sometimes they illuminate the text you are reading, but sometimes they cause even more confusion.  Sometimes they answer the questions in your mind, and other times they cause even more.  Sometimes they sound like utter gibberish—sometimes they are in another language and might as well be gibberish.  And sometimes they are downright funny, as was the case this past Sunday morning.
 
You have heard that it was said to our ancestors, Do not murder, and whoever murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you, everyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Fool! ’ will be subject to the Sanhedrin. But whoever says, ‘You moron! ’ will be subject to hellfire.  (Matt 5:21-22)
 
            Perhaps it is because I was reading this out of my newest Bible, a Holman Christian Standard I purchased because it has the largest "large print" I have ever seen, that I paid more attention than usual to those verses.  I mean, that last line really gets your attention.  Then I noticed the footnote on the word "fool" and laughed out loud.
 
             "Literally Raca, an Arab term of abuse similar to 'airhead.' "
 
            Airhead?  Do you mean the ancients talked like that too?  Of course they did.  People have not changed for centuries.  But reading that footnote also hit home.  When I was driving, one of the more common terms I tended to use about other drivers was, "Idiot."  What other term better fits people who swerve in and out of traffic at high speed, tailgate at those same speeds, text while driving, suddenly slow down ten miles an hour whenever they answer their phones as if that will instantly make them safe drivers despite the distraction, sit at a stop sign while you approach on the main road at the posted speed of 55 and then pull out when you are a car length away?  Idiots, all of them.
            And then, reading that new version and knowing what that footnote said, made me wonder why the Lord connected calling people "airhead," or something similar, with murder.  I have pondered this for a few days now and maybe I have it.  When you consider someone to be that kind of person, whether you use the word airhead, moron, idiot, or "things like these" (cf Gal 5:21), you really mean they are not worth caring about, not worth your consideration, not worth "the air they breathe or the space they take up," as some would say.  And that is exactly the mentality you must have to commit murder.  De-humanizing in any manner someone made in the image of God, someone whom Christ also died for, would make it a whole lot easier to simply eradicate them.  I may not realize that is what I am doing when I call people these names, but it is, and that is exactly why I should never have done it in the first place.
            Even if they don't drive, or talk, or act, or live--or vote--like I want them to.
 
A fool’s displeasure is known at once, but whoever ignores an insult is sensible.  (Prov 12:16).
 
Dene Ward

I have been exercising regularly for over thirty years now, both aerobic and light weight exercise.  At my age I understand that when I decide to sit down, I may very well never get up again.  But exercising in Florida in the summer brings special challenges.  I do have an elliptical machine inside in the air conditioning, but, to be blunt, it's boring.  I usually turn on some innocuous rerun of an old television show just to make myself get through it.  But I still sweat and not only that, the temptation to just quit is strong, especially when all you have to do is stop and step off.
            Walking outside, though, is far more interesting.  I have found huge limbs fallen off old live oaks that I would never have seen otherwise because they are so far from the house.  I have discovered that my impatiens were completely devoured by the deer.  I have found gopher tortoises lumbering across the field.  I even had a bobcat sprint across the drive in front of me.  I also have a furry companion who keeps me company and who is just as slow as I am these days.  But in the summer, the heat is far more oppressive and the sun beats you like a woman pounding a dirty rug with a broom.  The biggest advantage is that when I have walked a good two hundred yards from the house I can't just quit—I still have to turn around and go back.
            The other morning Chloe and I were both near the end of our heat tolerance.  She was panting behind me with every step and my own were less than steady.  Then we turned a corner.  I had not noticed the breeze because it was behind me, following along just like Chloe, but suddenly it was in my face.  It may have been a ninety+ degree breeze, but it felt like heaven on a soaking wet and weary body.  Suddenly walking was much easier.  Is this why they say that simple things are "a breeze" to accomplish?
            I felt the same way when our congregation began assembling again in the late summer.  We had been away from one another for over four months, not even hearing from one another.  We could not take advantage of the online "assemblies" because Keith is deaf, something most people cannot seem to comprehend.  We had our own services, and while we had some of the best Bible studies I have ever sat in, and enjoyed sharing it with one of the single ladies in our group who also had no family nearby, it was not the same.
            Less than a fourth of us met that first time because many of the rest felt it was too dangerous.  We are "at risk" ourselves, but followed all the protocols and safety guidelines.  The audience was sparse and scattered, the singing was muted, the sermon was short, the Lord's Supper was a bit awkward as we all served ourselves, especially the poor folks having to deal with those pre-filled cups and tasteless paper-like wafers rather than something homemade, but it was like a breath of fresh air to see those faces and hear those voices again, to see the smiles in those eyes above the masks, and hear the genuine joy of meeting as God's people once again.  Do you think we complained about one single thing that day?  Not on your life.  We now understand like never before why God wants His people to meet and worship Him together.  It was like a cool breeze on a hot day.  Things may still be unsettled in our lives and more difficult to handle, but that day made the next week the easiest we have had in four months now.  That day made it possible to get through the next and the next and the next, and those weekly meetings will do the same until finally this crisis is over, or until our lives are over, whichever comes first.  Now we can turn around and make it home, one way or the other.
 
And since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.  (Heb 10:21-25).
 
Dene Ward

I found an article from Slate, an online magazine, about the problems the deaf are facing with Covid 19.  The writer, a deaf woman, reminded her audience that the deaf need to lip read, and the mask requirement kept her from being able to do so.  Considering that the magazine is generally classified as liberal, I was shocked at the tenor of the comments the article engendered.  "So she doesn't care if she kills someone because she is left out of a conversation?!" was the tenor of one of the worst.  Suddenly the woman had become a would-be murderer because she even mentioned the problem.

For someone who, as a liberal, is supposed to be so much more enlightened and compassionate than the general population, the commenter showed herself to be remarkably stupid.  "Being left out of a conversation" was not the issue.  That was a synecdoche for being left out of life, in fact, being put in danger oneself.  You have no idea what it is like not to hear warnings like fire or smoke alarms or sirens.  Not being able to casually pick up in the background from television or another conversation a piece of news that might change your special plans or your established routine, information that might save endless delays or even a life.  Not knowing what in the world you doctor is telling you at your checkup.  All these things and so much more the hearing world takes for granted.  That comment was completely unsympathetic to the needs of the deaf. 

If you think it was uncommon, you have not been deaf or lived with a deaf person as I have.  This has been going on far longer than Covid 19.  A deaf friend told us about the time many years ago when she was in someone's way in an aisle at the grocery store without realizing it.  Evidently the other shopper had tried the usual, "Excuse me," several times because when she finally put her hand on our friend's arm, her aggravation was apparent.

"I'm so sorry," our friend said, "but I am deaf and did not hear you," and instantly moved out of the way.  The woman was embarrassed but rather than apologize herself, acted like it was our deaf friend's fault.  We have found that the general reaction to not having heard someone is that you must be either rude or stupid.  No one ever thinks you might be deaf. 

And the treatment we have received in doctor's offices the past few months has been no better.  Nurses have been rude and officious when I insist on going into the exam room with my husband so I can hear for him, no matter how calmly or politely I phrase it.  In fact, one acted like he had become deaf on purpose just so he could cause her trouble!

It isn't the lack of sympathy that we are seeing, though.  It is the lack of empathy.  Keith says that he can be sympathetic, but he is not sure he can be empathetic.  I beg to differ.  He may not know exactly how someone feels who is experiencing something he never has, but he always treats their feelings as valid.  Not many others do.

I noticed this when the "Me Too" movement started.  While I am just as worried as anyone else about unscrupulous women who might use this new ability to talk about these things openly to ruin a good man's reputation, that doesn't mean that what millions of women have gone through is not true.  I sat in a Bible class of 9 women and 4 of them—that's nearly half for the math-challenged—had a story to tell.  We were all "of a certain age," and the events had happened when it was not considered acceptable to report them, especially if you needed the job, or the grade, or any number of other things.  For a man to disregard these stories just because the women didn't turn the men in, shows yet more lack of empathy.  They had not been through it with the cultural baggage that was laid on women in those times, so "it just can't be."  Yes, it can.    When you dismiss the experiences in the context of the culture at the time and the effects on another person's attitudes or life, you are dismissing them.  You just. Don't. Get it.  Some of the statements and attitudes I have seen from even my own brethren, instantly vilifying people from other cultures or life experiences simply because they are different from theirs, horrifies me.  That is what Romans 14 is all about, and what they don't realize is that God expects us to "get it." 

For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.  (1Cor 9:19-23).

You see, the ultimate purpose of our empathy is to gain lost souls.  If I do not recognize what other people have gone through, what they are bringing to the table as cultural baggage, or the kind of life they have led previously, or the way they were brought up, I will never be able to reach them.  If I am not regularly practicing the kind of empathy that, while it might not be able to feel the exact emotions of the affected person, at least treats them as real and valid, I won't be able to "turn it on" when it really matters—when a soul can be lost if I don't.  That patronizing little smile is insulting, not flattering.  That brush-off of an answer is infuriating, not comforting.  People know when you are truly trying to reach them where they stand and when you are simply too arrogant to consider their backgrounds and emotions real and worth the trouble.

The Lord thought we were worth the trouble.  He did what it took so he could "get it."  Are you a disciple who follows in the Master's footsteps or not?
 
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb 4:15-16).

I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome (Rom 1:14-15).
 
Dene Ward

I have discovered a little trick to help me get more out of my Bible study.  Too often, I read through passages that deal directly with things in my life without even realizing that they do.  It just goes right past me.  So, after a little meditation, I find something comparable in my own culture and time that I can “plant” into the passage.  Please note:  I am not trying to change the Word of God or make my own “private interpretation.”  I just want to be able to apply it to me and my problems so I can grow.  Here are a couple that have really helped me.  The bracketed words are the ones I planted.  You might want to read the cited passage before reading these altered ones.
            Rom 2:24,25:  For the name of God is blasphemed among [people of the world] because of you, even as it is written.  For [baptism] indeed profits if you are a doer of the law, but if you are a transgressor of the law, your [baptism] has become [un-baptism]. 
          Since circumcision, the token of the Old Covenant, is compared to baptism in Col 2:11,12, this was a no-brainer.  However, if you press it too far, you could wind up with a theological problem or two, so be careful.  The point is to make a passage sing out loud to you!  Reading the passage this way I can see that I cannot rely on having once been baptized to save me if my life does not live up to the New Covenant it represents.
            1 Cor 13:1-3:  [If I go to church three times a week in a certain building with a certain sign over the door] but have not love, I am become a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.  [If I take the Lord’s Supper every first day of the week, give more than a tenth, sing loudly, and say amen to every prayer] but have not love, I am nothing.  [If I don’t cheat on my spouse, lie, drink, or cuss] but have not love it profits me nothing. 
            As you can imagine, that one really strikes home.  How many times do I define faithfulness as “going to church and not doing the big bad sins?”  Faithfulness to the Lord involves striving to become like Him, and that means learning a selfless love, not following a learned routine.
            I believe the Word of God is alive and relevant to everyone’s life; God meant it to be that way.  Keeping it limited to another time and culture may make me feel better, but it won’t do a thing for my soul.  So give yourself some help today with a little wordplay.
 
For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart, Heb 4:12.
 
Dene Ward
           

Every afternoon following our midday meal, we walk our property, counting new blooms on the roses, smelling the jasmine, and looking beneath those large scratchy leaves for new squash blossoms.  Usually I end up with a handful of wildflowers, blooms so tiny I cannot see them until Keith hands me one I can pull up close.
            Do you know what I see?  Blooms of all colors--red, pink, blue, white, yellow, orange, purple in all shades and combinations—and shapes—bells, tubes, bowls, cups, stars with five or six points, some flared, some rayed, some as complex as orchids.  And did you know that even the stems are different?  Some are wiry, some are leafless, some are hairy, some sprawl and others stand up straight, and some are square!  Some of these flowers are exquisite, but most of us don’t know that.  We’ve never taken the time to bend over and really look.
            A long time ago a woman who has since become a close friend, told me that looking across the pews at Keith had made her think he was stern and unapproachable, and so she had decided to make it a point to get to know him.  It wasn’t really Keith’s fault.  He has large, piercing blue eyes that look like they’re boring into you, a strong Roman nose, and a voice that, because he is profoundly deaf, is always in projection mode.  Even when he isn’t, he often sounds disapproving, and is always loud, which is often translated “angry.”  A lot of people just go with that first impression.  This woman did not, and she proclaimed that year of getting to know him “delightful.”   I wonder how many others have missed out on that delight, how many have formed an opinion, and kept it despite what others might have said.
            How many do we overlook?  The elderly because we think them dull and uninteresting?  The teenagers because we’ve branded them all shallow and naïve?  The disabled because we think they have nothing to offer?  The scholarly and intellectual because we think those dry old men can’t possibly know how to have any fun?  The ones who seem so well put-together that we think they wouldn’t possibly want anything to do with “someone like me?”  None of these judgments is fair.            
          Jesus told the Jews, “Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment,” John 7:24.  Maybe I should take the time (sacrifice) to bend over (be humble) and examine (make some effort) a few wildflowers out there, instead of passing over them (negligence) as if they weren’t worth my trouble (arrogance).  When I think of it that way, I finally understand why judging by appearance is NOT righteous.
 
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”  1Sam 16:7      
                          
Dene Ward

My little boys used to bring me bouquets all the time.  Sometimes it was Queen Anne’s lace.  Sometimes it was a bright blue spiderwort.  Sometimes it was a rain lily or a stem of pink clover.  Sometimes it was just a dandelion bloom.  All of these are wildflowers, what any suburban lawn grower would call “weeds.”  Yet I put them all in vases of various sizes because they were all precious to me.  My little fellows had no idea the difference between domesticated flowers and wildflowers.  All they knew was “flowers,” and out here in the country we are surrounded by them.
            But even they would never have gathered a bunch of them, ripped off the blooms and handed me a fistful of stems.  The problem with religion today, including some of my own brothers and sisters, is they value the stems and not the flowers. 
            A few months ago someone told me how listening to a certain teacher had made his day so much better.  I anxiously awaited the lesson he had heard, but he never once said a word about the content.  All I heard was the teacher’s name, at least three times, and how that person had made his day better.  What he had done was throw away the flower and put the empty stem in a vase of water to admire.
            I understand having favorite speakers and teachers.  Nothing makes me happier than to hear someone compliment my husband and my sons.  But none of them teach for the glory.  They teach to help people. If all people remember is their names, then they haven’t been much help, have they? 
            If I can’t tell you what a person taught me, did I learn anything, or was I just entertained for a few brief moments?  One of my favorite teachers isn’t much of an entertainer, but I always go away with a new way of looking at things, even things I have been looking at for decades now.  He makes me think, and he makes me see the possibilities.  He makes me want to go look at it again myself, and I often do.  He makes me examine my life in ways I never have and want to change for the better.  Can your favorite speaker do those things, or does he just make you laugh and feel good?
            There is absolutely nothing wrong with going to someone for help with your Bible study.  God did ordain the role of teachers in spiritual things (Eph 4:11).  He meant for us to have brothers and sisters we could go to with questions and problems.  Paul told Timothy to pass on what he knew to “faithful men.”  He told the older to train the younger.  But God also holds us individually accountable for what we do with what we hear.  “Work out your own salvation,” Paul told the Philippians, well after Jesus had already said, “If the blind lead the blind, they shall both fall into the ditch.”  It is up to each of us to be careful to whom we listen and to examine what they say against the Word (Acts 17:11).
            A good teacher doesn’t care if he receives praise or not—that is not his purpose.  All he does is hold up the Word of God and present it to you.  “What is the straw to the wheat?” God asks in Jer 23:28.  That word “straw” has several meanings according to Strong’s, and one of them is the wheat stalk, or stem.  Which is more important, God is saying, the stem or the wheat it holds up?
            I knew a man once who nearly tore a church up because he insisted on “his turn” to teach when not only was he a lousy teacher, he didn’t even know the Word of God accurately enough to teach it.  Clearly, it was all about the glory of teaching to him, and clearly he needed the admonition in Rom 12:3:  For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
            I know the temptation.  So did Paul.  I refrain from [boasting], so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited, 2 Cor 12:6,7.  It shouldn’t matter to me what people say about my speaking or writing.  What should matter is how many I reach, how many are helped and encouraged and how many souls are saved.  And that is what should matter to those who listen and read too. 
            And do you know why this is so important?  If you value the who above the what, then someday, sooner or later, you will be deceived into believing a lie.  Even good teachers make mistakes, and you might be deceived by an honest error too.  That is why James tells us in 3:1 that teachers will receive the “greater condemnation.”  Teaching is a responsibility, and anyone who craves the glory is manifestly unable to handle that burden.
            Most of the preachers and teachers I know will tell you the same things I am now.  If you want to make me happy, then use what I give you, remember it and grow.  Share it with others who might need it.  Even if you forget where you got it, just pass the good news along.  That is what really matters.  Give them a bouquet of flowers, not a handful of stems.
 
For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself, Gal 6:3.
 
Dene Ward
           

On April 9, 1939, African-American contralto Marian Anderson stood before a mixed race audience of 75,000 on the National Mall and sang a concert.  She had been banned by the Daughters of the American Revolution from singing that program in Constitution Hall, which they owned, when she was invited to sing there in a concert series for Howard University.  First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was outraged and resigned her own membership in that group.
              NAACP executive secretary suggested the Mall, and because it is a national monument, Secretary of the Interior, Harold Ickes, did the planning and arranging.  The crowd stretched from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument.  Even though she could, and did, sing many Italian arias from the operas she sang across Europe, Miss Anderson's first song was "My Country Tis of Thee."  One wonders if the irony shook the ground as she sang the lyrics, "Let freedom ring."
              To Americans, liberty is almost a sacred word.  As Christians, we, too, have liberty, but we seem to have misplaced the emphasis.  Most of the verses that proclaim our freedoms are talking about freedom from sin and the liberty we have in Jesus.  What we often want to proclaim instead is the liberties to do certain right things no matter the consequences.  Can we just point out today that it is possible to do right things and still be wrong?
              Right things can become wrong when they are given too high a priority for their actual level of importance.  There are many things that are right to do, but when they keep us from doing things more necessary, when they allow us to excuse ourselves from duties God has given us, they become wrong.  When we use our work, for example, to excuse our serving, that right thing—making a living and providing for our families—has become wrong.
              Right things can become wrong when they are done from the wrong motivation.  How many times have you thought of "doing good to your enemies" as the ultimate revenge instead of the correct attitude of heart for a disciple of Christ?  But God commends his own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom 5:8).
              Right things can become wrong when they will leave an obviously wrong impression.  This one can be abused by petty tyrants who want to micromanage everyone else's life according to their sensibilities, but when the babes (not the wolves) are involved, we must bend over backwards.  …but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.  (Rom 12:17).
              Right things can become wrong when they cause others to sin.  Don't use that word "offend" because you will miss the point.  This isn't about someone who considers himself a strong Christian not liking what you are doing.  This is a babe who does not have the knowledge that he needs to understand difficult distinctions.  But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to the weak.  (1Cor 8:9).
              Right things can become wrong when they come between me and my service to God.  It is good to care for your physical temple.  It is not good to spend more time on that than you spend on serving God, or when something like obsessive dieting keeps you from spending time with brethren or fulfilling the sacred duty of hospitality.
              While the world may consider a Christian's life to be a life of chains, they do not understand the true liberties we have in Christ.  We are no longer in bondage to sin and Satan and the corruption of this world.  We can control ourselves and are not "mastered by anything."  But we must always remember to use those liberties wisely and compassionately, with tender regard to the weak and those we are trying to reach.  To do otherwise is to make a mockery of our freedom.
 
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (Rom 6:22-23).
 
Dene Ward

Have you ever apologized to anyone?  Let me rephrase that.  Have you ever apologized in the Biblical way?  You mean there is a difference?  I think there is a huge one.
              The first two definitions of “apology” in my Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary are 1} a formal justification; a defense; and 2) an excuse.  The original word is Greek, apologia.  Paul used it in Acts 22:1 and 25:16 when he made his “defense” at his trials.  Understand this, in no way was he admitting wrong, and none of us would have expected him to.  He was in trouble for preaching the gospel.  He was defending himself, giving “a formal justification.”  That is not the kind of apology I am talking about either.
             Yet that is exactly the way most of us apologize—we defend ourselves.  We say, “I’m sorry you got hurt,” placing the fault on the other person, instead of “I’m sorry I hurt you.”  We say, “If I did anything wrong, I’m sorry,” as if to call in question the one we are “apologizing” to.  We give excuses for why we did what we did to make sure everyone knows “it wasn’t my fault.”  We do everything we can to avoid admitting wrong.
              Webster finally gives this as his last definition:  “An admission of error accompanied by regret.”  More to our point, this is the definition Jesus gives:  if he sin against you seven times in the day, and seven times turn again to you, saying, I repent; you shall forgive him.  Luke 17:4.  If he “turn again to you saying, I repent.”  No defense, no excuses, no justification, just “I was wrong.”  Have you ever apologized that way?
              I daresay most of us have not.  Yet that is exactly the way we are to apologize to God too.  Have you? Or do we, in our prayers, justify ourselves with phrases about being “only human,” or about “how hard it is, Lord,” or even “how mean he was to me first—you know he provoked me, Lord.”  What God expects from us is change for the better, Vine’s definition of the word.  That necessarily involves admission of guilt.  If not, why would we need to change?  And that is the same word Jesus used in Luke 17: 4.  “I repent,” plain and simple.
              So I ask you again, have you ever truly apologized in the Biblical sense, what Jesus called “repentance?”  The next time you begin with, “I’m sorry,” just stop after that second word.  Don’t allow yourself excuses or justification.  Just apologize.  You cannot correct error in your life without admitting it first, and once it’s been admitted, if you truly are a child of God, the responsibility to change cannot help but affect you.
 
God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble, James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5.
 
Dene Ward
 

I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.  (Phil 4:2-3).
 
              One of the saddest things about having been part of many different congregations in my lifetime is seeing people just like those two famous women above.  These were good women who had worked hard for the Lord, but for some reason they just could not get along.  We have seen it in every church and it is never takes long to figure out who the two parties are.  Once we were only at a place for a week-long gospel meeting and we still knew who they were well before the week was up.  That time it was two men, by the way.
              A lot of people may say that it doesn't really matter as long as they don't gather up parties on either side or cause a ruckus because, after all, the Bible doesn't say we have to like each other.  Yet the older I get and the more I study, the more I believe it does matter for one very simple reason.  Let me show you quickly this morning.
              Grab your Bible and look up Ephesians 2:11-22.  Christ came here with a mission.  The first one was making peace between God and man (Rom 5:1-3).  But he also came to make peace among men.  Look at verse 12 in this passage.  What was happening before Christ?  As Gentiles we were separate from Christ, alienated from the Jews, strangers from the covenant of promise, had no hope, and were without God.  Do you see all those words of separation and disunity?
              But now that we are in Christ we have been brought near, are one new man, are in one body of the reconciled, have access to the father, have become one nation and one family, and are built into one spiritual Temple (vv13-21).  Notice the difference in the words—nearness, access, oneness.  And why did that have to happen?  Because (v 22) God, who is a God of peace (Phil 4:9) cannot dwell in a Temple where there is no peace.
              When we think we can hang on to our little peeves and animosities and have it not affect the church, we are sadly mistaken.  It isn't just the Jew/Gentile or black/white problem, though they are bad enough.  It took Christ coming to fix that and make us one nation.  But we can still ruin the whole thing if an outsider can come in and see the disunity after just a few days, when one family fights another, when two men behave like children who want their way "or else," when two women avoid one another like the plague. 
When you just can't get along, and don't really even seem to care, you may as well hang a sign on the door that says, "God not wanted here."
 
I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, ​that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.  (John 17:20-21).
 
Dene Ward