Second Opinion

God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?" (Numbers 23:19, NKJV)

It was Mark Twain who said, “It’s not what I don’t understand in the Bible that bothers me, its what I do understand”.

We often find people hoping from one church to another until they find one that suits their particular interpretation of scripture. Rather like a patient who rejects a doctors bad news diagnosis and goes for a second, third, fourth, or fifth opinion until he gets the diagnosis he wants to hear.

God’s word is not a matter of personal bias or preference. His Word is sure.

"The revelation of God is whole and pulls our lives together. The signposts of God are clear and point out the right road. " (Psalm 19:7, The Message)

From DAY LIGHTERS by Nico Bougas. available from amazon.com

The Word Changes Lives

As reporter Clarence W. Hall followed American troops through Okinawa in 1945, he and his Jeep driver came upon a small town that stood out as a beautiful example of a Christian community. 

"We had seen other Okinawan villages down at the heels and despairing," he reported. "By contrast, this one shone like a diamond.  Everywhere, we were greeted by smiles and dignified bows.  Proudly," he continued, "the old men showed us their spotless homes, their terraced fields, and their prized sugar mills."

The newsman saw no jails and no drunkenness, and divorce was unknown in the town.

Why was this village so unusual?  An American missionary had come there 30 years earlier and had led two elderly townspeople to Christ and left them with a Japanese Bible.  These new believers studied the Scriptures and started leading their fellow villagers to the Lord Jesus.

The reporter's Jeep driver was equally amazed at the difference and exclaimed, "So this is what comes out of only a Bible and a couple of old guys who wanted to live like Jesus!"

That lone American missionary three decades earlier probably never saw the fruit of his work, and it is possible that he even became discouraged at times, but he steadfastly acted by love and faith in helping to fulfill the Great Commission to bring the gospel to these dear people in Okinawa.  He planted a seed for the gospel there, and God watered and nourished it, and brought it to fruition.  

"The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple." (Psalm 119:130, NKJV)
"This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" (2 Corinthians 5:17, NLT)