Resolution

by Dave Branon

The contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. —Acts 15:39

In May 1884, two young parents disagreed about what middle name to give their newborn son. The mom preferred Solomon; the dad, Shippe—both family names. Because John and Martha couldn’t agree, they compromised on “S.” Thus Harry S. Truman would become the only US president with an initial for a middle name.

Over 120 years later, we still know about this conflict—but we also know that a reasonable resolution was reached.

In the New Testament, we read about another disagreement that has lived on in history. This one was between two missionaries: Paul and Barnabas (Acts 15). Barnabas wanted to take Mark with them on a trip to check on some churches they had helped previously (v.37). But Paul did not trust Mark because of an earlier incident (v.38). Paul and Barnabas disagreed so sharply that they parted ways (v.39).

We still read about this argument 2,000 years later. What’s important is not that it lived on in history, but that it didn’t leave permanent relationship scars. Paul apparently reconciled with Barnabas, and in his final days asked for Mark to be with him because “he is useful to me for ministry” (2 Tim. 4:11).

Arguments happen. But let’s make sure they are resolved. Grudges are a burden too heavy to carry.

Arguments can lead to grudges,
Which, if left, will cause a rift;
But if we bring resolution,
Our relationships won’t drift. —Sper

http://odb.org/2011/02/21/resolution/

 

The Core Of The Problem

by Bill Crowder

For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. Romans 7:18

One of my favorite television cartoons as a boy was Tom Terrific. When Tom faced a challenge, he would put on his thinking cap and work through the matter with his faithful sidekick Mighty Manfred, the Wonder Dog. Usually, those problems found their source in Tom’s arch-enemy, Crabby Appleton. To this day, I remember how this villain was described on the show. He was “Crabby Appleton—rotten to the core.”

The fact is that all of us share Crabby Appleton’s primary problem—apart from Christ, we’re all rotten to the core. The apostle Paul described us this way: “There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God” (Rom. 3:10-11). None of us are capable of living up to God’s perfect standard of holiness. Because of our condition of being separated from a holy God, He sent His Son Jesus to give Himself to die on the cross for the punishment we deserve, and then rise again. Now we can be “justified freely by His grace” through faith in Him (v.24).

Jesus Christ has come to people “rotten to the core,” and makes us “a new creation” by faith in Him (2 Cor. 5:17). In His goodness, He has fixed our problem completely—all the way down to our core.

I know I’m a sinner and Christ is my need;

His death is my ransom, no merit I plead.
His work is sufficient, on Him I believe;
I have life eternal when Him I receive. —Anon.

We need more than a new start— we need a new heart.

http://www.odb.org/

The Great Sin- C. S. Lewis

“There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which every
one in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else; and of which
hardly any people, except Christians, ever imagine that they are
guilty themselves.”

“The vice I am talking of is Pride or Self-Conceit: and the virtue
opposite to it, in Christian morals, is called Humility. …it was
through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every
other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.”

“Greed will certainly make a man want money, for the sake of a better
house, better holidays, better things to eat and drink. But only up to
a point. What is it that makes a man with $10,000 a year anxious to
get $20,000 a year? It is not the greed for more pleasure. $10,000
will give all the luxuries that any man can really enjoy. It is Pride—
the wish to be richer than some other rich man, and (still more) the
wish for power. For, of course, power is what Pride really enjoys:
there is nothing make a man feel so superior to others as being able
to move them about like toy soldiers.

“…Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and
every family since the world began. Other vices may sometimes bring
people together: you may find good fellowship and jokes and
friendliness among drunken people or unchaste people. But pride always
means enmity—it is enmity. And not only enmity between man and man,
but enmity to God.

— C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Chapter 8