About The Georgia post. (Knoxville, Crawford County, Ga.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 2013)
PAGE 4 THE BYRON BUZZ SECTION of The GEORGIA POST Thursday, February 21,2013 The Requirement OfFaithfullness One of the greatest ques tions which will confront people at the judgment is that of faithfulness! Faithful ness is much more significant than accomplishments; that is the obvious lesson of the Lord’s parable of the talents (See Matt. 25:14-30). No tice the first to whom was entrusted five talents began active service and used the talents in such a way as to bring great gain to his master. Likewise the second servant who was entrusted with two talents used them and gained two other talents. The third servant who received only one talent, he did not exercise the ability that he had, did not take advantage of his op portunity, and failed to gain anything! He was honest in that he did not squander his Master’s goods; however he was unfaithful in gaining ad ditional talents. The reason Jesus spoke the parable was to teach the need for fidelity to duty in all relationships of the children of God. The idea on which this parable is based Got News? Email us at byron- buzz@pstel.net is that man is the depository of a great trust, and only by faithfulness to that bust can he be pleasing to God. There is in man a divine capacity for truth, duty and righteousness. In order to guide that capacity in its development, man needed a code of instructions so God gave man the Bible to help him along the way of devel oping those desires of truth, duty and righteousness. This code of instructions is found in the New Testament for the Christian. By obeying that code, which is another name for faithfulness, that man can have the power to administer his trust so as to be pleasing to the Lord. Man’s sole business in this life is to be a faithful steward of the trust reposed in him by God thru His inspired word. If there is any one thing taught in the Bible, it is that God will have a final reck oning with His people. 2 Corinthians 5:10 tells us, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, ac cording to what he has done, whether good or bad.” In making this reckoning, there is only one test, that of faithful ness! We are not simply asked to perform certain deeds or to give certain amounts, but rather to do our best. It is our faithfulness, rather than our ability which will count in the last great day! In the parable of the tal ents, the Lord used exactly the same words to commend both the five talent and two talent servants, “.. .Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” But to the one talent servant who did nothing with what was entrusted to him, the Lord said, “.. .You wicked and lazy servant.. ..And cast the unprof itable servant into the outer darkness...:” (Matt. 25:14-30) In order to go to heaven there are three major require ments: (1) to become a Christian as the Bible teaches (John 3:1-5); (2) to worship God as the Bible teaches (John 4:24) (3) to live as the Bible teaches (1 Cor. 15:58) How easy it is for one to be satisfied with a lack of faithfulness and growth in the family of God. How easy it is for one to lose the original fervor for Christ as when faith was confessed and one was joyfully baptized into the body of Christ! How convenient it is to get wrapped up in the James Earnhardt Evangelist Church of Christ present world and forget the matter of the judgment and the eternal consequences for a lack of faithfulness. Let each one determine to make a greater effort to remain faithful to the trust God has reposed in him. We are told a great reason to be faithful in Rev. 2:10,”Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. BE FAITHFUL UNTIL DEATH, AND I WILL GIVE YOU THE CROWN OF LIFE.” (emphasis mine JE) All Bible quotes are from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted. For questions or comments please contact James Earn hardt at 478-825-7517. ^ Photography Classes www.BeginningPhotoClinicS.coxn Classes for all ability levels - (478) 956-6973 bonniesworkshops@gmail.com Becky Carroll Wilcox FREE CONSULTATIONS! 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Byron (478) 956-4007 Consaguineous Conglomorate I listened intently to the Congressional query on Feb ruary 7, into the affirmation of a new CIA Director, the hysterical, ambiguous, and diametrics of ’’Water Board ing”; and a (questionable) historic brief on Benghazi, by Department of Defense Director Leon Panetta. As the rambling continued, I shook my hearing aids, scratched my head, and pondered my experiences (and observa tion) stretching over eight decades—-and academically searched for explanations on what was being uttered. Though I stand vitally con cerned with ’’all that goes on”; I will confine my re marks of the moment to that phraseology pointed toward the Libyan debacle—and the projected reasoning for the loss of our Ambassador (and others) being that ”we could not mount a Military Response to the terrorist raid in progress!” Obviously, much of this has taken our citizens by surprise—their supposition being that we were capable of doing much better! It may be a fact, that emergency provisions were not intact— that we really were not able to launch a retaliation. If that is so; I am first of all, totally disenchanted with the present regime that is saddled with ’’absolute responsibility”! Such a fact speaks volumes of the nation’s appraisal of world conditions; and thusly, no contingencies in place for the worst scenario. From Military experience, I know what goes on when chaos is expected. Since Israel became a Na tion (actually before) in 1948, the entire Middle East has been ”an explosion awaiting detonation”! Such conditions are undebatable. American interest in that sector should be priority, on a 24-7 ba sis! Military preparedness within one thousand miles, should be Condition 1— Satellites, AWACS, ships, bases, and aircraft; with up to the minute information on events-and armed accord ingly. Those with their heads Daniel W. Gatlyn, USNRet., Minister/ Journalist ’’screwed on” should antici pate an imminent alarm. A vehicle that travels at Mach 2 (plus) is of little value, if it takes hours to be made ready. I am only a layman—but I see the viability of being able to launch planes or missiles, within fifteen minutes-with exact targets in mind- supplied by orbiting vehicles that ’’can read a license plate from space”! Such readi ness would demand a tighter schedule for warriors, but would not ’’break the bank economically”. It is past time to realize that ”we are at war”! It is not ’’party time”, East or West-which accounts for our loss of Ambassadors, and global position. The same mistakes that sent the Titanic to the bottom, have reappeared! The consanguin eous conglomerate (perhaps a definative stretch)—co joined at the ballot box, the oval nook, and the spillway- and assembled in the beltway, will not prevent the ’’next calamity”! In short, we have the equipment, the Team, the professional bodies that can function accurately—what we are lacking is policy, planning, and preparation by the overall leadership. Mo tivation for an ’’immaculate prep” stems from a realiza tion that we are ’’living under Emergency conditions”; and have the initiative to function within those perimeters. Such alertness diminishes the need for dubious explana tion !
