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| Volume 22 Number 11 November 2020 | Page 10 |
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| Volume 22 Number 11 November 2020 | Page 10 |
Mark McWhorter
Have you ever watched an old movie with scenes of wooden ships at sea? Movies about pirates have such ships. Movies about the early sailors have such ships. One of the dangers with sailing wooden ships was hitting rocks in shallow water. Another danger was sailing in severe storms. Either one of those dangers could lead to the ship breaking apart and sinking. The ancient Greeks had a word to describe a ship breaking into pieces – “schizmata.”
The word “schizmata” was also used by the Greeks to describe the use of an ax in dividing something. It could be the act of bringing the ax down on a person’s head and breaking it apart. It could be bringing the ax down on a piece of wood and splitting it.
This word “schizmata” is used in 1 Corinthians 1:10, which reads, “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” “Schizmata” is translated as “divisions” in that verse. God sees division of His church like a ship being torn apart at sea. For someone to cause division in the church is like taking an ax and swinging it down on another Christian’s head.
God does not like division in the church. He desires unity. Christians are to all have the same mind in spiritual things.
Study your Bible. Make sure you know what God wants you to do. Help others learn God’s wisdom so that everyone can think the same things spiritually.
The Marijuana Craze
Donald R. Fox
The Gin Craze was a period in the first half of the 18th century when the consumption of gin became popular with the working classes in Britain – especially in London. There ensued an epidemic of extreme drunkenness that provoked moral outrage and a legislative backlash which some compare to the modern drug wars. (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Gin+Craze)
I was an alcohol and drug counselor for the Region Three Chemical Dependency Program in Tupelo, Mississippi for five years from 1987 to 1992. We counselors all understood the plain fact is that marijuana is a gateway drug. A gateway drug is the starting point for those who want an unnatural high. In other words, marijuana leads one to more powerful drugs. Surely, all of us can understand this truth. With truth known, why in the world would some states legalize this gateway drug? The creating of an epidemic of potheads and worse is silly nonsense. Why would our lawmakers cave to the chemical dependency community? We must remember the truism; we will reap the consequence of bad decisions. Mark that down!
Wrong moral decisions of our government will cause confusion and sinful outcomes. “…they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch” (Matthew 15:14 KJV). “In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion. Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline thine ear unto me, and save me. Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress. Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man” (Psalms 71:1-4).