Hodge Podge Lodge - A FRESH START #1-6

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		A FRESH START 1-6...#6 IS NEW THIS WEEK
	THE CHURCH ON HIGHER GROUND
		HOMEPAGE
	HODGE PODGE LODGE a little of this and a little of that
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	THE NATURE OF MAN
		A BASIC STUDY OF MAN
	SCIENCE AND THE WORD
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	CULT CORNER
		MORMON DISCUSSION
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Hodge Podge Lodge
A FRESH START #1-6

A FRESH START
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INTRODUCTION

This is a series of short messages on getting a new start. We all need a FRESH START from time to time. I was always glad to hear my teacher say, "Let's start with a clean slate."

In earlier generations they actually did their lessons on slates, and a clean slate meant erasing the previous work and starting over. In my generation the phrase had come to mean, "Erasing the past mistakes and starting anew." As I said, I was always glad to hear my teacher say, "Let's start with a clean slate."

We all need a FRESH START from time to time. These messages were written at the beginning of 2003, but they can be applied whenever we are getting a fresh start; in our relationship with our spouse, children, parents, friends, and God. It can happen at the beginning of the calendar year, the school year, the coming of summer, at a wedding, birthdays, anniversaries or any time.

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#1 MOCKING INNOCENCE
I would like to share some thoughts with you as we prepare to turn a new leaf in our lives. I will use the lines from a popular childrens song to guide our thinking. Before I get into the specifics however, I would like to reflect briefly on America's blatant rejection of innocence and purity.

As children we were taught a song in Sunday School with verses which told us;

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vs... Oh be careful little eyes what you see,
vs... Oh be careful little ears what you hear,
vs... Oh be careful little hands what you do,
vs... Oh be careful little feet where you go,
vs... Oh be careful little mouth what you say,
vs... Oh be careful little mind what you think,
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After singing each verse we would sing;

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For the Father up above,
Is looking down in love,
So be careful little........
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I still sing that song occasionally.

Often I will sing to my grandchildren the theme from Barney,

I LOVE YOU...
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I love you...you love me,
Were a happy family,
With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you,
Won't you say you love me too?
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When my firstborn came along I would join Mr. Rogers in singing,

IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY...
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It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and,

It's Such a Good Feeling...To Know You're Alive
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When I was a child I would sing with Roy and Dale,

HAPPY TRAILS...
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Happy Trails to You...Until We Meet Again
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And when I was really young, I would join with Pinky Lee in singing about the,

TWO IMPORTANT LITTLE WORDS...
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Two Important Little Words...Please and Thank You
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I know it is popular to bash these sentiments and those who promote them, so I may have already lost some of my readers at this point. I also know people want to attack the Big Purple Dinosaur, the Quiet Little Man, Cowboys and Cowgirls (especially those who wear white hats and don't cuss at you..."Pil-grum." And you better be one tough hombre if you say that you were a Pinky Lee fan.

BE CONSISTENT

I find it interesting that people will display such antagonism and disgust toward characters who were designed to communicate traditional values to children: characters who did no harm to anyone, did not insult anyone, did not use bad language, drugs, violence, sex or prejudice. While these same critics are fans of programs which promote homosexuality, disrespect for parents and females, disobedience to legitimate authority and rejection of Christianity and Its belief system. Vulgarity and violence are in vogue. Promiscuity and perversion are the popular pass-times fare for oldsters and youngsters today.

I think this tells us more about our society and its real values than they want to admit. These same people will listen to "music" which defames females; promotes violence, hatred, racism, drugs, rape, anarchy; promotes vulgarity, profanity and perversion. Yet at the same time they demean those programs and people which have tried to lift us up.

I am not offering an endorsement for all of those behind the programs, but why "throw out the baby with the bath water?" To find fault with some of those who produced and presented these programs is a cop out. It is just another attempt to excuse insensitivity, crude-ness, political correctness gone rampant.

THE REAL REASON

People want to attack those who lift up love, kindness, gentleness, honesty, sensitivity and fairness. It is easier to attack the polite and peaceful characters who embody these wholesome traits than it is to attack the traits themselves. In attacking those who represent these traits, a person is able to justify his own lack of high standards.

Cruelty, rudeness, prejudice, hatred, deceit and selfishness don't look as bad if everyone is practicing them; and the higher standards are not as attractive if we can turn popular opinion against the ones who promote them.

Our world has gone haywire and it is easier to go with the crowd than to stand alone. People laugh when I sing these songs (and I do still sing these songs) but then they wonder why they can't seem to live the Christian life. They fill themselves with negative attitudes toward that which is good and they open themselves to that which is detrimental and then wonder why they can't be consistent in their walk with Jesus.

JESUS WOULD BE MOCKED TODAY

If Jesus were physically living amongst us today and if He had a TV program, people would be mocking Him. Jesus would be considered a wimp because He would be living and proclaiming the traits of godliness.

BE A REAL MAN

Somehow we have adopted images of crude, vulgar, mean, violent and abusive men as being real men. Being a Christian is not a matter of being a wimp or a sissy, it is a matter of being like Jesus, which is what people do not like. Christ-like traits in us condemn the un-Christ like traits in others. Men should be men, but they should be men in the likeness of Jesus. He was no cowardly, effeminate, limp wrist, lace wearing sissy. He was a man. But He was a man of love, peace, kindness, gentleness, sensitivity. He was afraid of no man, no devil, no system. We should be men like Jesus was a man.

It is not a matter of men "getting in touch with their feminine side." It is a matter of all of us being conformed to the image of Jesus. A man, a real man, does not need a gun in order to take a stand, he does not need to find his courage in a bottle, he does not need to express his manhood in vulgar and demeaning words, he does not need to prove his masculinity by sexual conquests. A man, a real man lives in the power and holiness of God.

This probably explains why there are so few men, real men in our society.

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#2 FAITH AND WORKS

BASICS
In the world of sports there are three premises upon which all great teams are built. Basics, Basics, Basics. Teams which do not have "super stars" may still attain to extraordinary heights if they learn and practice the Basics. Teams with "super stars" may not reach play-off status if they fail to observe the Basics. This is true in all disciplines. This is true in the Christian experience and walk.

The Basics are... well... uh... basic. They are the foundations upon which the rest of our knowledge and experience are built. They are the First Truths of a given subject, from which all other truths on that subject arise.

TRUST AND OBEY

In the life of following Jesus, and exercising the graces which He provides to His saints, there are certain First Truths we are taught which we must follow. We can boil them down to TRUST AND OBEY. Trust is another word for faith. Obedience is Faith in action. According to the Bible,

FAITH AND WORKS

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Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. (James 2:17)

But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? (James 2:20)

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (James 2:26)
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PROFESSION AND POSSESSION

Our western world has seen enough of the dead and useless faith. We are surrounded by those who claim to have faith in Jesus but live contrary to His will. It is profession of faith without possession of faith.

The robe of the High Priest of the Old Testament shows us the proper relationship of profession and possession of faith.

BELLS AND POMEGRANATES

At the hem of his garment were hung bells. The bells would be heard as the Priest went about his service in the tabernacle. The bells were an audible declaration of his service to God. They represented what he professed

Also hanging from the hem of his robe, there were embroidered pomegranates. The pomegranate is a fruit containing many seeds, which are enclosed in a juicy pulp. Seeds of course are symbolic of fruitfulness or productivity. The embroidered pomegranates were a visual declaration of his service to God. They represented what he possessed.

These two symbols were hung alternately from the hem of his garment. For each bell there was a pomegranate. For each pomegranate there was a bell. This tells us we should possess the fruit of our profession. We should not claim that which we do not have. Faith should be shown by the works we perform.

FAITH WHICH WORKS

This is not calling for "Works Salvation", but for Salvation which Works. Salvation which does not work is not salvation at all. God's Salvation saves from sin; Salvation which does not save from sin is not God's Salvation. Faith which works is Saving Faith; Faith which does not work, is not Saving Faith.

We are not saved by self discipline or self denial, and we are not saved by resisting temptation. We are saved by trusting in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who died for our sins. However, when we trust, we obey.

Saving faith is obedient faith. Though many argue against this truth because they are not willing to accept the clear and final authoritative Word of God on this issue of obedience, it is not debatable. Regardless of what Christians may say, the Bible makes it totally clear that saving faith is obedient faith. Faith which does not obey is not saving faith. Faith which does not save is not Bible faith.

Though we cannot save ourselves through our good works, we can destroy ourselves through our evil works. The Bible clearly states and re-states again and again that sin separates from God. This is why Christians must guard their hearts. Guarding the heart means guarding the entrances to the heart.

FAITH PRODUCES OBEDIENCE

From the hidden stream of Faith, flowing deep in our souls, the well of Obedience rises up. From the well of obedience, springs all of our actions which are pleasing to God. Obedience expresses itself outwardly through the sensory gates of our physical bodies. In his book, The Holy War, John Bunyon referred to these gates as Eye-Gate, Ear-Gate, Nose-Gate, Mouth-Gate and Feel-Gate. However, these gates serve two purposes. They allow for the outward flow of the sweet graces of God through our service to Him and others, and they prohibit the inward flow of evil pollution from satan and the world. Our focus will be on EYES, EARS, HANDS, FEET, MOUTH AND MIND. Guarding the heart is like guarding a Palace or Castle. We guard our hearts to keep the adversary, satan, from robbing us of our spiritual treasures and from invading us with his corrupting influence.

That is the reason I am going back to this little song we learned as children. It tells us how to guard and use the gates of our lives.

The verses to this children's song instruct us,

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(vs) Oh be careful little eyes what you see,

(vs) Oh be careful little ears what you hear,

(vs) Oh be careful little hands what you do,

(vs) Oh be careful little feet where you go,

(vs) Oh be careful little mouth what you say,

(vs) Oh be careful little mind what you think,
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After singing each verse we would sing;

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For the Father up above,
Is looking down in love,
So be careful little........
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A fresh start means going back to basics. Let's start with the understanding that faith works for the glory of God.

Remember,

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For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)
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#3 A JOINT VENTURE

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