She Fixed Her Pleading Eyes Upon the Priest - Apples of Gold - July 20, 2010 -vi-

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for July 20, 2010

“She Fixed Her Pleading Eyes Upon the Priest”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

 

“She fixed her pleading eyes upon the priest.”

That’s a line from Madame Bovary, a classic novel you might have read in school.  It’s about a wife who becomes a prolific adulteress, and was very controversial when it was published in the 1850’s.

Before she went off the deep end, Emma Bovary took her aching soul to the local priest.  He didn’t know it, but her life hung in the balance.  She was at a critical junction, and he had a great opportunity to influence her for the Lord.

As she approached the church, the priest was trying to settle rowdy boys for catechism. 

That’s when many opportunities come, by the way, when we are distracted.

Emma walked up and the priest said, “How are you?”

“Not well,” she said; “I am ill.”

“What does Monsieur Bovary think of it?” asked the priest, referring to Emma’s husband, who was a doctor.

And now listen closely to Emma’s answer.  “Ah!” she said, “it is no earthly remedy I need.”

That should have caught the priest’s attention.  She was a true spiritual seeker, but he didn’t recognize it.

And the question for us today is, would we recognize it?  Would we recognize a spiritual seeker if they were standing right in front of us?

The priest didn’t.  He was distracted by the unruly boys.

Emma began to open up her very soul to the priest. 

“I should like to know…”

“Take care, Riboudet!” cried the priest angrily.  “I’ll warm your ears, you imp!”

He turned back to Emma and asked about her husband.  “He is a doctor of the body,” laughed the priest, “and I of the soul.”

He called himself a doctor of the soul, and before him was a soul in cardiac arrest.

“Yes,” she said, fixing her pleading eyes upon the priest.  “You solace all sorrows.”

But the priest was blind to the fact that she was referring to her own sorrows. 

Repeatedly she hinted that she was struggling and wanted to talk about it, and repeatedly he missed it. 

And here is one reason he missed it.  As far as he could tell, she had no good reason to be struggling.  She was a pretty young woman whose husband was a doctor.  Could a woman like that even have any struggles?

And we probably do the same thing.  It’s easy to look at the good things in someone’s life and overlook the hints that they may be struggling.

“Oh Doug, it’s just a novel.  Why are you making such a big deal out of it?”

Okay, well how about this true story I heard on NPR.  A woman from Wisconsin named Ruth Camps told about a pivotal time in her life. 

She was a city girl who had moved to rural Wisconsin with her husband.  She was poor and lonely and pregnant.  Then her mother died.  In fact, there were nine family-related deaths in one year.

To deal with her suffering she decided to go to the church.  The building was locked and the priest was standing outside.

“He knew me,” she said, “but he did not unlock the church.  I don’t know why.”

It might sound like I’m picking on priests here, but I’m not.  It could be any of us.

So there’s pregnant Ruth, cracking under the weight of many burdens, going to the church for relief, and the priest won’t let her in.  Maybe he had urgent matters elsewhere, who knows?  Ruth didn’t know, but listen to her conclusion.

“It was the nail in the coffin of my traditional beliefs.”

She was struggling mightily, at a critical fork in the road, and he did not recognize it.  And for over 40 years now she has had no use for the Lord or the church or Christianity.

People face these critical junctions everyday, but do we recognize it?  Is our heart open to others?  Emma Bovary looked at the priest with “pleading eyes.”  Do we see the pleading eyes of others?

In John 4:35 Jesus said, “Lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!”

Focus on His first six words, “Lift up your eyes and look.”  That’s what we need to do.  We need to lift up our eyes, up from our routines, up from our own needs and desires.

We need to lift up our eyes and look . . . for the fields are white for the harvest.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip 
 To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000
-vi-

Forgiveness Pulls the Plug - Apples of Gold - July 19, 2010 -vi-

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Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for July 19, 2010

“Forgiveness Pulls the Plug”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

They were cursing at each other, loudly.

My friend was stuck in the parking lot, forced to witness the scene.

He said it all started innocent enough.  A woman was simply driving through the parking lot, and a man started to pull out.

Now who knows what was going on in this man’s or this woman’s life before this moment.  Maybe they were frustrated with their kids.  Maybe they had a fight with their spouse.  Maybe they were ill.  Maybe they were just in a bad mood.

But anyway, when the man started to pull out, the woman laid on the horn. 

If you’ve ever been honked at, you know it’s a jolt.  It’s like being shoved.  It scrambles your brain for a second, then you must respond.  A honk requires a response.

So what did he do?  He started cursing at her.

Now I’m not a cursing man, but I have been honked at, and I can relate to the curser. 

Last week I was at a gas station/McDonalds on I-95.  I filled up with gas while my wife ran inside.  When I was done, I could see she was ready to come out, so I pulled up by the front door.  All of a sudden a woman honked at me.

I looked at the woman.  I looked at all the empty parking spots, but she wanted the very one I was blocking.  And no, it wasn’t handicapped. 

My first split-second thought was to jump out and give her a piece of my mind.  “How dare you honk at me.  My wife will be out in two seconds.  There are parking spots all over the place.  Use one of those and stop honking, you blankety-blank blank blank.”

But my next split-second thought was that it was no big deal, I could simply pull up a few feet and let the woman in, which I did.  She entered the restaurant as my wife walked out, and they probably shared a friendly greeting.  The incident was over, no big deal, and life went on.

Unfortunately, that’s not the way it went down in my friend’s town.  The man who was backing out and got honked at began cursing at the honker, and she began cursing back.

Uh-oh.  People cursing back and forth is never good.

Now get this.  Their cars ended up side by side.  They both had their windows down and were cursing like sailors at each other.

This is what I call escalation.  Since neither party was willing to pull the plug on the incident, it continued to escalate.

Finally the woman picked up her big drink and hurled it into the man’s face.  And what do you know, he also had a big drink, and he, too, hurled it into the face of his new enemy.

And finally, finally, someone pulled the plug on the incident and drove away, but not before both of them made screaming fools of themselves and got soaked in stickiness.

Another story.  I was in Palm Beach Gardens recently visiting relatives and went for a jog through the neighborhood.  I really enjoyed the scenery with all the palm trees and nice landscaping.  But then later I heard about a shooting right there on that sidewalk in broad daylight.

What?  In that nice little neighborhood? 

Yes, ma’am, and it happened because neither party was willing to pull the plug on the incident and walk away.

Two men were walking their dogs, and when they passed one another, the dogs got into it.

I don’t know why the men allowed it.  Maybe they both wanted their dog to win.  But anyway, one man said to the other, “Get your dog away from my dog or I’m going to shoot it.”

Well the other man didn’t pull his dog away, or at least not fast enough, so the first man pulled out a gun and shot the other man’s dog, and shot the man in the leg.

So because neither one of them pulled the plug on the incident, one ended up in the hospital and the other in jail. 

The other day someone asked me for one distinguishing mark of a Christian.  My first thought was “forgiveness.”

A Christian is quick to forgive. 

Jesus taught us over and over to forgive, and when Peter said, “How often…up to seven times?”  Jesus said, “Seventy times seven.”

Colossians 3:13 says, “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

So when you find yourself in an “incident,” be a Christian.  Be quick to forgive.  Be the one to humble yourself, and you will quickly pull the plug on the incident before it spirals out of control.

And if that sounds too weak or humiliating for you, I guess you’ll just have to end up in the hospital, or jail, or dragging yourself home with your tail between your legs, drenched in someone else’s soda.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip 
 To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000
-vi-

If You Do X You Will Get Y - Apples of Gold - July 15, 2010 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for July 15, 2010

“If You Do X You Will Get Y”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

I love if-then statements.

If you clean up your room, then you can go to Disney World next weekend.

If-then statements tell you what to do, and what you will get if you do it.

Most of life is not that black and white, and frankly, neither is a lot of the Bible.  But I decided to dig into the New Testament and uncover the most obvious, clearly stated if-then statements.  And this comes from the New King James Version.

I created a little formula for myself during the research.  I looked for scriptures that fit this formula, “If you do X, you get Y.”

Now I admit up front that some of these statements were made to specific people in the Bible, but I think that most Christians agree that these statements can be applied to all of us.  So here goes, what I found to be the most clearly stated if-then statements of the New Testament.

If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  (Matthew 6:14)

If you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.  (Matthew 6:15)

Jesus said, “If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.”  (John 12:26)

He said “…if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”  (Matthew 17:20)

He said “…if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.”  (Matthew 18:19)

He said, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”  (John 15:7)

He said, “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”  (John 14:14)

He said, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”  (Mark 9:23)

He said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.”  (John 14:23)

Jesus said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven.  If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever…”  (John 6:51)

He said, “I am the door.  If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved…”  (John 10:9)

He said “…if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.”  (John 8:51)

He said if we love one another, then all will know that we are His disciples.  (John 13:35)

If you just tuned in, let me remind you, we’re going through the most obvious if-then statements of the New Testament, judging by the formula “if we do X, we get Y.”  We just finished the if-then statements of Jesus in the Gospels.  Now let’s turn to the epistles.

 “…if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”  (Romans 8:13)

“If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him.  For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.”  (First Corinthians 3:17)

We are His house if we “hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.”  (Hebrews 3:6)

“…We have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end…”  (Hebrews 3:14)

If we do not grow weary while doing good, and do not lose heart, in due season we shall reap.  (Galatians 6:9)

“If we endure, we shall also reign with Him.  If we deny Him, He also will deny us.”  (Second Timothy 2:12)

If we show partiality between rich and poor, we commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.  (James 2:9)

If we ask anything according to His will, he hears us.  And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.  (First John 5:14-15)

And finally, here are a couple that most every Christian will recognize.

“…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”  (Romans 10:9)

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  (First John 1:9)

And there you have it, some of the most obvious if-then statements of the New Testament; things you can bank on, according to the formula that if you do X, you will end up with Y.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip 
 To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000
-vi-

Drive the Dark of Doubt Away - Apples of Gold - July 13, 2010 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for July 13, 2010

“Drive the Dark of Doubt Away”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

His girlfriend wasn’t faithful.

He had landed the prettiest fish, and with her came the agony of unfaithfulness.

He finally let her go (though she was already going) but now what? 

Now he resolved to find someone faithful.  He wanted a young woman of whom he had no doubts.  And he found one.  And they were married.  And they lived happily ever after.

“But there was that one day,” he said.

One day it suddenly occurred to him that she might have taken a “shine” to a friend of theirs.  As he pieced together the evidence in his mind, he felt the foundation washing out from beneath him. 

His strong foundation had been his unwavering belief in her faithfulness, but now there was doubt.  Scenarios played out in his head.  Was he a fool?  Were they sneaking around behind his back?

“It was the worst couple of days of my life,” he said. 

He was in anguish – until he found there was nothing to it.  She was faithful.  He had just blown things out of proportion until it drove him crazy. 

Up until that time, he had complete faith in his wife; but for a couple of days he let doubt creep in and it almost crushed him.

Doubt has a way of doing that.  Doubt is a poison that kills hope, a darkness that eclipses the sun.

Have you ever felt that doubt toward God? 

The disciples sure did.  After Jesus died they were rocked by doubt.  Even though Jesus told them He would rise from the dead, they doubted.  When witnesses said he had risen from the dead, they doubted – His own disciples!  The ones who saw all the miracles!

In Mark 16 we find the disciples hunkered down and depressed, then Jesus appeared, and the King James says He “upbraided them” for their unbelief.

For some reason I picture a Viking sitting there with long braided blonde hair, and the leader walks over and yanks his braid up.    

He “upbraided” them.  It means He rebuked them.  There were sitting there, wallowing in their doubt and unbelief, and Jesus upbraided them for it.

Luke 24 records Jesus asking them this:  “…why do doubts rise in your minds?”

Can you answer that question for yourself?  Why do doubts rise in your mind?

“Because I expected something and it didn’t happen.  Because God didn’t come through.  Because God allowed something He never should have allowed.”

Those are all good reasons to doubt, I suppose, but actually, Jesus makes it sound like there is no good reason to doubt God.

In fact, listen to this little twist.  In Mark 6, Jesus encountered some people, and it says “He marveled because of their unbelief.”

We marvel at people with no doubts, but Jesus marveled at people who had doubts.

Remember when Peter walked on the water, but then started sinking?  Jesus reached out and caught him, then said, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Of course he doubted, because it’s impossible to walk on water!  Yet while he had faith, he could do it.

See how that works?  Our doubt influences the outcome.  Peter couldn’t say, “See, I knew it was impossible.” 

Here’s how it works sometimes.  It’s not that our doubt confirms the circumstances.  It’s that our doubt affects the circumstances.

For example, Matthew 13:58 says that, in one place, Jesus did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

In Matthew 17 Jesus blamed some of the disciples’ lack of power on their unbelief.  Then He said “if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”

That’s a grand statement, but I believe it.  It’s the power of faith when it is unclouded by doubt.

You may call your doubt a “healthy skepticism” or “just being realistic,” but remember, doubt can affect the outcome.  Many things are not a foregone conclusion, but actually hinge on our faith or our doubt.

James 1:6 says “when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”

In Matthew 21 Jesus said “…have faith and do not doubt…”

Abraham set the bar for us.  Romans 4:20 says, “He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith…”

If your faith feels weak today, then pray like the man in Mark 9:24 who said, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

Doubt is a poison, it’s a darkness that eclipses the light of God in your life.

So pray for more faith.  Pray for God to remove your doubt.

Pray this favorite line of mine from the hymn “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee” that goes like this.

“Drive the dark of doubt away.”


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip 
 To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000
-vi-

The Kingdom of God is a Matter of These - Apples of Gold - July 12, 2010 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for July 12, 2010

“The Kingdom of God is a Matter of These”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

The kingdom of God is a matter of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

That’s what it says in Romans 14:17.

So let’s look at those three, starting with righteousness.

Some people’s eyes are glazing over already, just thinking about a five dollar word like righteousness, so just look at the first five letters:  right.

We’ve been told to do the right thing, to say the right thing, to think the right thing.  If everything about us is right in God’s eyes, from our actions to our attitudes, then we have righteousness.

The problem is, we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.  There is none righteous, no not one, the Bible says.

That’s why the world can be such a wretched place, because it is full of unrighteous people.  If everyone lived according to God’s righteousness, the world would be a wonderful place! 

But there is good news.  God will give us His righteousness.  Romans 3:22 says, “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”

The kingdom of God is a matter of righteousness, and here is where that righteousness comes into our lives – through faith in Jesus Christ.  It’s called being “born again.”  I was lost in sin, but Jesus saved me and gave me His righteousness. 

And then I lived happily ever after, right?  I wish, but that’s not the way it works.  Christians still have the choice to sin.  We come to forks in the road and we make choices.  Romans 6:13 says, “Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God…offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness.”

The good news is that we are empowered by the Holy Spirit inside of us to choose righteousness.  Ephesians 5:9 says that a fruit of the Spirit is righteousness.

I remember as a young man kind of wanting to do what was right, but feeling powerless to do so, not even really wanting it that badly.

Now, as a believer with the Spirit of God inside me, I have a deep passion to do what is right, and I feel the Spirit stirring within me to empower me to do what is right.  I still have the choice to sin, but I am not a slave to sin. 

Paul said in both First and Second Timothy to flee evil desires and to pursue righteousness.  And he said that all Scripture is useful for instruction in righteousness.

So by faith we receive righteousness from God because we are powerless to be righteous on our own.  Then we are empowered by the Spirit to learn and to pursue righteousness.

This all sounds very spiritual, and it is!  If you haven’t experienced it yourself, it may all sound like nonsense.  But everyone who has truly put their faith in Jesus Christ as the savior from their sins will know what I’m talking about.  God makes you right with Him, and gives you the desire to live right for Him.  You have a new sense of right and wrong, and a new ability to choose what is right.  Yes, it’s an ability that must be trained and sharpened, but this is a cornerstone in the kingdom of God:  righteousness.

Second, the kingdom of God is a matter of peace.

First of all, as Christians we have peace with God.  Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

This is something you hear from new believers all the time.  They feel a peace inside that they’ve never felt before. 

Galatians 5:22 says that one fruit of the Spirit is peace.  The Holy Spirit inside of us is producing peace, among other things.

Now once again, we have a choice.  We come to forks in the road, and we can choose peace or not.  Colossians 3:15 says to “let the peace of God rule in your hearts…”  It’s a choice, but clearly the best choice.

Just as Paul told Timothy to pursue righteousness, he also told him to pursue peace.

First Peter 3:11 says to “seek peace and pursue it.”

The good news is that the Holy Spirit will empower us to pursue peace, and to live in peace with God, with others, and with ourselves.

Third, the kingdom of God is a matter joy.

Once again, this is something new Christians often experience, a joy like they have never known, a joy that bubbles up within, almost tangible. 

And again, this is a fruit of the Holy Spirit inside of us.  First Thessalonians 1:6 calls it “the joy given by the Holy Spirit.”

Galatians 5:22 says that joy is a fruit of the Spirit.  The Holy Spirit inside of us is producing joy, among other things.

First Peter 1:8 talks about “joy unspeakable and full of glory.”  It says “…you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.”

Righteousness, peace and joy – these are cornerstones of the kingdom, experienced widely by new believers, but often buried by the struggles of day-to-day living.

So maybe it’s time to renew these in your life.  It’s time to pursue them and make them a priority.  It’s time to step back and the let the fruit of the Spirit come alive!

For according to Romans 14:17, the kingdom of God is a matter of these:  righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip 
 To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000
-vi-

What Is Your Big Dream? - Apples of Gold - July 6, 2010 -vi-

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for July 6, 2010

“What Is Your Big Dream?”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

I picked up a new book at the library the other day.

It’s called “Put Your Dream to the Test” by John Maxwell.

It’s designed for people who have a dream for their life but need help getting it off the ground.

So do you have a big dream for your life?

I was confronted with this question a few years ago by another book, “The Dream Giver” by Bruce Wilkinson; and I remember at that time thinking, “No, I don’t have a big dream.”

It made me feel kind of inadequate, like “What kind of loser am I, that I don’t have a big dream?”

But then I realized that I have had a lot of dreams in my life that have already come to pass. 

For example, I dreamed of having a wife and children, and being a successful family man.  I dreamed of working in Christian radio, and now I’ve done that for about a quarter century.  I feel gifted and called to teach based on the Bible and I’ve done that in several formats over the years, including this format, Apples of Gold.  I’ve dreamed of keeping myself healthy and in shape, and I’ve done that. 

I could go on and on, but none of this did me any good while reading Maxwell’s book.  It’s not about dreams that have already been fulfilled.  What he wants to know is, what is my dream right now, my dream for the future?

Well I don’t have a big dream.  I don’t dream of being president or governor.  I don’t dream of being world famous or getting my face on TV or billboards or magazine covers.  I don’t dream of “hitting the big time.”  I don’t know why.  Those things just don’t excite me.

So I’ve been reading this book, and thinking about it, and praying about it, and I keep asking myself, “What is my big dream?”

Well the good thing is, the book has some guiding questions.  On page 21 it says, “To better understand yourself, answer the following:

What would I do if I had no limitations?

What would I do if I had only five years to live?

What would I do if I had unlimited resources?

What would I do if I knew I couldn’t fail?”

Does anything come to your mind when you hear these questions?  Maxwell says that your God-given dream might be found in your answers.

So I pondered these questions, and here is what I came up with.

It’s based on First Thessalonians chapter one.  Paul writes “…our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.”

It’s also based on First Corinthians 4:20 which says, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.”

Do you see a trend here?

I am a teacher and a communicator.  I can blab on and on and on if I have to.  I emceed a holiday event over the weekend and basically talked for three hours.  I did a radiothon one time where I was on the air for 12 hours.  It can be done.

But that is not what I want.  I don’t want to hear myself talk.  I don’t want to add my hot air to all the other hot air being bellowed about. 

Here is the way I see it.  Most words are thin and shallow.  They are cheap and hollow.  Oh, they can be loud and blustery, but listen – do they have power?  And by that I mean the power of God.

In First Corinthians one, Paul said that Christ sent him to preach the gospel “not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”

He went on to say that the message of the cross “is the power of God.”

So a message, the right message, God’s message has power.  We can communicate with human wisdom, or we can communicate with the power of God.

That is my big dream!

I don’t know how to bring it to pass, but Jesus talked about being “endued with power from on high.”

I feel gifted and called to teach and to communicate, but it must bear good fruit in the kingdom of God.  I want to plant godly seeds that go deep into people and bear good, eternal fruit that replenishes itself long after I’m gone.

That’s what I would do if I had no limitations.

That’s what I would do if I had only five years to live.

That’s what I would do if I had unlimited resources.

That’s what I would do if I knew I couldn’t fail.

I would communicate “not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.”

That is my big dream


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip 
 To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000
-vi-

Children Should Not Have to Carry Such Burdens - Apples of Gold - July 2, 2010 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for July 2, 2010

“Children Should Not Have to Carry Such Burdens”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

(begin music)

Maple leaves cartwheel across the sidewalk.

A little dog runs to the chain link fence and barks.

She shoves her hands into her coat pockets, and keeps walking.

Her backpack slips off her left shoulder, again, so she does the dorky thing and puts both arms through.

She looks at the sidewalk with intense concentration, but her little glasses slip down her nose.  She pushes them back and looks up for a while, but thinking weighs her head down, and she resumes looking at the sidewalk.

Children should not have to carry such burdens.

How long has school been out?  She can’t tell, it’s so gray.  Everything gray.

Teenage boys drive past and yell at her, words lost in the wind.

She stops at the corner church – a beautiful church, but all white – and wipes the specks from her glasses.  Was it rain or tiny flakes of snow?  Not really cold enough for snow, but maybe it is up there in the clouds.

And then she remembers.

The sack on the counter.

Children should not have to carry such burdens.

A young woman walks out of the church, talking on her phone.  “Mom!” she waves, snapping her phone shut.  Coatless, she runs like a girl to the SUV as it stops at the curb, and off they go.

She turns and walks back.

But she knows.

She knows the light will not be on.

She could stay out until dark, it didn’t matter.  The light would not be on.

A balloon tied to a mailbox.

Happy Birthday.

She looks up the concrete steps into the brick home.  It sounds like a playground, and every light in the house is on.

She turns back to the sidewalk and notices that yes, it’s starting to get dark. 

But not at the birthday house.  It was probably never dark at the birthday house.

And sometimes it wasn’t dark at home.  Sometimes every light was on there, too.

But that was the problem.  You never knew. 

Well, she used to not know.  She was just a stupid little girl back then.  She would bring friends home after school and…stupid, just stupid.

A car flicks on its lights, and now she can see the spits of moisture in the air.  Her coat is warm, but not waterproof. 

But who knew?  The day started sunny enough.  Sunshine in the window.  Mom making breakfast and singing with the radio.  A beautiful day.

And then she had seen it. 

What – are you trying to hide it behind the blender?  Really?  I’m ten not three.

The sidewalk is running out, daylight is running out, and she is hungry.

One, two, three houses down, then a dark space. 

She enters, but there is no greeting.

In the kitchen there is no meal. 

She sits, backpack pressing her forward.  Toward the sack.  Empty.

Thinking weighs her head down, and it rests on the cold table.

Children should not have to carry such burdens.

(long fadeout of music)


© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip 
 To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000
-vi-

We Are Members of One Another - Apples of Gold - July 1, 2010 -vi-

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Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for July 1, 2010

“We Are Members of One Another”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

There is no such thing as a lone wolf Christian.

If you are a Christian, you are a part of the living and active body of Christ, also called the church.

Jesus Christ is the head, and we – the Christians, the saints – are the body.

Paul writes beautifully about us as the body of Christ in his letter to the Ephesians.

When you think about church membership, you probably think, “I am a member of First Baptist, you are a member of First Pentecostal, and Bob is a member of First Nazarene.”

But listen to these beautiful words of Paul in Ephesians 4:25.  It’s not that we are members of this church or that church, but it says, “We are members of one another.”

There is “one body,” Paul said, “and one Spirit…one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

God’s Spirit is coursing through us, like blood through veins – through me, through you, and through every saint of the living God.

Ephesians 5:30 says “…we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.”

And just like we as humans take care of our bodies – feeding, cleaning, etc. – Jesus cares for His body, the church.

Ephesians 5 says that Christ “loved the church and gave Himself for her.”  He cleanses the body and eliminates all spots and wrinkles and blemishes.  Verse 29 says He nourishes and cherishes the body.

That’s the kind of TLC we get as the body of Christ! 

So does that mean we just sit back and soak it all in, like a permanent spa day?

No.  A body is subject to the head.  A body carries out the will and the desires of the head, and Christ, our head, has some goals for His body.  They include growth, maturity and unity, and we don’t just sit back and wait for them to happen.  We get involved and do our part to make them happen.

Ephesians 4:15 has two powerful words, “grow up.”  We are to “grow up in all things into Him who is the head…Christ…”

This is not a pretty picture, but imagine a man’s head on a boy’s body.  The body needs to grow up to fit the head.  We, the body, need to grow up to fit our head, which is Christ. 

Verse 13 offers this goal, “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” 

Think of a little boy who has a great big daddy.  He’s little now, but we expect him to grow up and reach the measure of the stature of the fullness of his daddy.

Well that’s what’s expected of the body of Christ, that we will “fill out,” that we will grow up and mature, getting bigger and stronger.

Yes that means we as individuals will mature, and it also means that we together will mature.  We are members of one another.

Imagine a weightlifter with a huge right arm and a skinny-minny left arm.  It would just be weird, wouldn’t it?  So the whole body of Christ needs to be working and growing, not just one part here and there.

Verse 16 says “…the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies…”

Are there any lone wolf joints in your body?  They just do their own thing and are disconnected from the rest of the body?  That would be ridiculous, and it’s ridiculous in the body of Christ.

The body of Christ is “joined and knit together by what every joint supplies.” 

So what are you supplying?

That verse goes on to say “…according to the effective working by which every part does its share…”

If you are a Christian, you are a part of the body, and you need to be doing your share.  Are you?

“Well Doug, I don’t even know what my part is.”

I’m so glad you said that!

If you don’t know what to do, the Lord has chosen other parts to help you.  Ephesians 4 says, “He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God…”

It’s a beautiful thing, this body of Christ, and if you are a Christian, you are a part of it. 

There’s no such thing as a lone wolf Christian, and there aren’t separate bodies here, there and everywhere.

We are all members of one another, and the Spirit of God is coursing through us all.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip 
 To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000
-vi-

Desire Is a Raw Material - Apples of Gold - June 30, 2010 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for June 30, 2010

“Desire Is a Raw Material”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

Desire is a raw material.

We each have this raw material inside of us, a rocky chunk of desires loaded with possibilities.

Our desires are like an engine that drives us.  When you really break it down, we tend to do what we desire to do. 

“But Doug, I desire to quit smoking.  So why don’t I?”

Because you desire something else more, and that desire drives you to smoke.

Your desire to smoke is an unrefined desire.

See, desire is a raw material, and raw materials aren’t much good when left to themselves.  They can be volatile and unpredictable.

It’s like crude oil.  Why can’t we just scoop some oil spill out of the Gulf and pour it in our car?  Because it is unrefined.  Crude oil must be refined to reach its highest use.

Or take iron ore.  Dig it out of the earth, hammer on it a while and what do you have?  But refine it and you can make some of the must useful instruments known to man.

Our desire is the same.  It’s a raw material that must be refined.

Unrefined, our desires will lead us in very crude directions, and it will be a bumpy ride. 

But some people say we must let our desires guide us.  In fact, we are in danger of severe psychological damage if we try to squelch our natural desires.

Well crude oil and iron ore are quite natural, but we don’t leave them that way.  Dirty water is natural, but we don’t leave it that way.

And we don’t leave our raw desires that way.  We need to refine them.

First Peter 1 says “…do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.  But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do…”

We refine our desires toward holiness, toward righteousness, toward God.

Now let me give you a practical example.  It’s Friday night and you are feeling restless.  You have a desire for action.

That is a raw desire.  Unrefined it can propel you toward no good. 

On the other hand, you can take that raw desire for action and refine it.  You can channel it and put it to work within proper boundaries.

This is important because many times we don’t even examine our desires.  We just sense a raw desire, release the brake and let it careen down hill.

This causes so much pain and trouble in the world. 

For example, a young man sees an iPhone and he wants one.  That’s a raw desire.  Unrefined, his desire compels him to steal one.  Refined, he decides to work hard, earn the money, and buy one.

Unrefined, a man takes his sexual desire and meets it anywhere he can.  Refined, he fulfills that desire within the proper boundaries of marriage.

Unrefined, a wife desires intimacy that’s lacking in her marriage, and she finds it in the first welcoming arms.  Refined, she decides to work on her marriage and channel her desires within its boundaries.

I think this applies to homosexuality.  It is desire unrefined.

“Oh they can’t change their desires, Doug.”

Again, I think that desire is a raw material, including sexual desire, and it can be refined.  And there are plenty of former homosexuals who say their desires have been refined, so take it up with them.*

Unrefined, a student cheats to pass a test.

Unrefined desires lead to cutting corners and taking the low road.  Jesus called it building on sand.  But refining our desires is building on rock.

Think of Eve in the Garden.  She apparently had a raw desire to gain wisdom, and what do you know?  There’s the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  All she had to do was take a bite and she’d have her wisdom.  Genesis 3:6 called it “…a tree to be desired to make one wise…”

She should have refined that desire, and sought her wisdom from the Lord.  So why didn’t she?

One of our major hang-ups with refining is that it takes time, and we are impatient.  But try using iron ore horseshoes, or pouring crude petroleum into your lawn mower.  The refining process is well worth the time and saves so much time and trouble later.

So take a look at your desires, those things that compel you from within, and think of them as raw material.

Desire is a raw material, and instead of leaving it that way, we need to refine it for its highest purpose, for the holy and righteous life that God has called us to live. 


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.

*  Exodus International:  http://www.exodusinternational.org/
Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays:  http://pfox.org/default.html
A ministry for people “refining” their same-sex desires in Jacksonville, FL:  http://www.laughterfrompurity.com/

© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip 
 To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000
-vi-

So Your Son Has Been Looking at Internet Porn - Apples of Gold - June 29, 2010 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for June 29, 2010

“So Your Son Has Been Looking at Internet Porn”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

So you think your son has been looking at pornography on the internet.

Now what?

Whatever you do, don’t bury your head in the sand and hope it goes away.  It won’t.

This is a time when parents must take action.  It’s a challenge we cannot run away from.

“But Doug, I don’t know what to do.  This caught me by surprise.”

First of all, I recommend a reasoned and loving approach.  Don’t fly in and give him a smack down while calling him the scum of the earth. 

On the other hand, don’t just say “boys will be boys” and walk away.  Yes, boys will be boys, but we want them to become men – men of God and men of integrity – and pornography is not part of that plan.

It helps to have that ultimate goal in sight so you can always be steering toward it.  The ultimate goal is that our children have their own close walk with God, that the Holy Spirit is alive and at work inside them, and that they are living by God’s standards and principles.  That means they are making wise decisions within themselves, without our intervention.

So when you talk to your son about pornography, the goal is that he will grow up and be a man who can make good decisions on his own, whether you are looking over his shoulder or not.

So if you think your son has been looking at pornography on the internet, the obvious first step is that you must talk to him.  This needs to be a private conversation with no humiliation. 

But what do you say?  Well let’s go back to the ultimate goals.  What is your ultimate goal regarding your child and sex?  I think the goal should be that they grow up and have a full life in that area – within God’s boundaries.   Sex itself is not a taboo, but a gift from God.

Your son has the raw material of curiosity and desires and hormones, and that raw material needs to be refined until it sparkles and blossoms into the final product of a deep, fulfilling marriage.

Are things starting to clear up for you?  Can you see your way through the woods, now that we know where we want to go?

So have that talk with your son, with the big picture in your mind.

But how to get from here to that big picture?

One step at a time, and the most immediate goal is to shed light on the situation, to bring it out of dark isolation and into the light.

Ephesians 5:13 says “all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light.”

You hold your son accountable.  He has done something you don’t want him to do, something you think is bad for him and will lead him down the wrong path.

So you have this conversation, which can go a lot of different directions depending on the child and the situation.  Just keep in mind the goals for his life, and the ideas of accountability and keeping light on the matter.

Now about keeping things in the light, one wise thing to do is to limit computer use to public areas of the house, and to times when others are around.  That really keeps things in the light.

Sure your son wants to get online at midnight in his bedroom, to do “homework.”  Too bad.  No computer in the bedroom and no computer when everyone else is asleep.  It’s your house and you make the rules.

Now listen.  Due to technology, these rules are always changing.  Don’t think your son is on lockdown if you yank the computer cord when you go to bed, and he’s still up with his iPhone.  If your son has internet access on his phone, that is an open gateway to filth all over the world.

Open your eyes, Mom and Dad.  Even video games these days have internet access.  I heard of one mother who walked in and saw porn playing from her child’s Wii.  And according to recent statistics, the average age of a child’s first exposure to porn is now about 11 years old.

Vigilance.  That’s what this requires of parents.  We must stay on top of things, because the kids sure will. 

And listen.  You have permission to make unpopular decisions.  If your son has to cough up his cell phone to limit his access to porn, so be it.  If you have to get the internet out of your house entirely, then do it; just beware of wireless access from the neighbor’s house.

Some people think there’s nothing wrong with porn.  Well I think they’re crazy.  The internet has every imaginable abomination man can think of, and a child of any age can access it in about 2 seconds with an open internet connection.

So eliminate the open internet connection.  Use filters and passwords.  Establish rules and enforce them.  Do your homework and stay informed, or find someone who is.

And if you suspect your son – or your daughter of course, either one – has been looking at pornography on the internet, take action. 

Talk to him and tell him the ultimate goals.  Then do what it takes to help him reach those goals by loving him and teaching him, by keeping the situation in the light and holding him accountable.

And yes, by shutting down the access to pornography on the internet.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.

There are a ton of websites to help you understand computers and how to make internet usage a little safer.  Here is one of them – not a Christian site per se, but very helpful:  http://www.komando.com/tips/index.aspx?id=8954


© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip 
 To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000
-vi-

Scarecrow in a Melon Patch - Apples of Gold - June 25, 2010 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for June 25, 2010

“Scarecrow in a Melon Patch”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

Those foolish old tribes.

They worshiped sticks and stones and contraptions made by their own hands.

They cut down the tree, whittled on it a while, then put it up on the mantel and said, “There is my god.”

Seems silly, doesn’t it?  But it wasn’t just some nutty backwoods weirdos.  Listen to what Paul wrote about some church members in First Corinthians 12:2.  “You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.”

Now pick up on those last two words, “mute idols.”

That is a major weakness of idols – they don’t speak.  They are mute.

What good is a god that doesn’t speak?

Habakkuk 2:18 says that they made “idols that cannot speak.”

Psalm 135 says, “The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.  They have mouths, but cannot speak…”

Jeremiah 10:5 says, “Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak…”

The Bible paints a thick black line between idols and the real God, creator of the universe.  And one major difference is that idols don’t speak, but God does.

Moses was well aware of this when God spoke to Him through the burning bush.  God spoke to various people throughout the Old Testament. 

And He spoke through people.  Acts 3:21 says that God spoke “by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.”

Second Peter 1:21 says that holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

Acts 4:25 says that God spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of King David.

That’s God speaking, by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of holy men of God.

In Matthew chapter 10, Jesus told His disciples that something like this would happen to them.  He said, “But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it.  At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”

Well sure enough, the disciples were arrested, and they certainly spoke.  So when they opened their mouths and words came out, was it the Spirit of God speaking through them?

Before Stephen was stoned, he delivered a powerful speech.  Acts 6:10 says his enemies were not able to stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke.

In Second Corinthians 13:3, Paul made the audacious reference to Jesus Christ speaking through him.

In First Corinthians 2:13 Paul said that he and the others spoke “not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit…”

Okay, so God spoke through the Old Testament prophets, and through early Christians up to the apostle Paul.  Then it ended there, right?

Ah!  Some of you said yes, and some of you said no! 

Well we know it didn’t end with Paul based on Paul’s own teachings.

But first, let’s go back to Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost.  In Acts 2:17 he said this was taking place, “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy…”

Prophesy?  What does that mean? 

It means speaking under the influence of the Holy Spirit. 

Jesus said the Holy Spirit would be speaking.  In John 16:13 He said that when the Spirit of truth comes, “He will guide you into all truth.  He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”

Paul brings up two interesting points in First Corinthians 12.  In verse two he brings up the old criticism of “mute idols.”  Then by contrast he introduces this fascinating topic – people “…speaking by the Spirit of God…”

Then he talks about manifestations of the Spirit in the church, including prophecy as well as messages of wisdom and knowledge.

“But Doug, that all passed away.  God doesn’t speak to us anymore.”

If that is true, then our God is mute, like the idols.  Is that what you are saying?

But First Corinthians 14:39 says “…my brothers, be eager to prophesy…”

Romans 12:6 says some were given the gift of prophesying.

First Corinthians and Ephesians both say that God has placed prophets in the church.

What is a prophet?  Someone who speaks under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

First Corinthians 14:31 says, “For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged.”

“Doug, that is ridiculous.  That is all past.  There is no prophesying today.”

Well First Thessalonians 5 says, “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt.”

“But Doug, you are opening the door to all kinds of nonsense!”

Well First Thessalonians also says, “Test everything.  Hold on to the good.”

First Corinthians 14:29 says, “Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said.”

So yes, we must be wise and mature.  We don’t accept every “word” as a word spoken through the Holy Spirit.  And we definitely use the written Word, the Bible, as our foundation and authority upon which any other “word” must be tested.

But God, the real living God, is not like those mute idols!  The Holy Spirit is alive within us, and He speaks.  And He speaks not only to us, but He speaks through us to others. 

I know this is a tricky area.  I know there are charlatans out there, even liars and thieves.  I know it’s easier to shy away from this than open up to it.

But this is the contrast. 

The other so-called gods are mute, mere scarecrows in a melon patch.

But our God speaks, through His Holy Spirit, as He moves upon His people.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.



© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip 
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Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
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