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Treasure Digest
First ImpressionsOur Sabbath services are family get-togethers with spiritual lessons for all of us. What can we do to make our guests as well as our brethren feel more welcome each Sabbath? We can help others feel right at home and part of our family! Yes, first impressions are important, especially when greeting a newcomer to your local congregation! Here at the Los Angeles, California, congregation, we have a greeter program. As we hand out songbooks and church announcements, we have the pleasure of welcoming all who come in our door, wishing them "Happy Sabbath" with a cheerful smile! Whether they are members or visitors, we want all to feel at home. Strangers or visitors are given an extraspecial welcome and invited to sign our guest book that's close at hand. Some helpful tips for greeting guests and members:
In our hurried and fast-paced world, things have become more important
than people. Let's do the unusual and take time to extend the right hand
of fellowship. A smile says: "I love and care about you." Abe
Lincoln once said, "A day spent helping no one but yourself is a day
wasted." —Sherry Michaud "There's the Miracle Lady"Many medical doctors don't like to mention the intervention of God when it involves the survival of one of their patients. I heard it for the first time when Darlene, my wife, went to see her heart specialist for a follow-up appointment. Both heart doctors greet her each and every time by saying, "There's the Miracle Lady." During the 18 days in the hospital waiting for the right time to place a defibrillator near Darlene's heart to keep it from stopping, Darlene's heart quit five different times. The first time her heart stopped, it came back on its own. The second time, the nurses came to get me, as they thought she was deceased. Our pastor, Victor Kubik, came in and gave a quick prayer, and amazingly her heart started beating. The doctors immediately transferred Darlene to a hospital where they had the necessary equipment to take care of her. During the next few days, Darlene's heart stopped three more times. She was on a ventilator for a short time with no hope of placing a defibrillator in her, when one of the heart specialists decided that a higher being was watching over Darlene, and that it would be OK to take the chance. The doctors and the hospital staff were amazed to see Darlene leave the hospital on her own initiative. Darlene still has a weak heart muscle, but God made sure that she still has life. Thank you doctors, thank you Mr. Kubik and, most of all, thank you God. —Bill Ennis Quotable QuotesDebbie Ash of the Houston North, Texas, congregation saw these anonymous quotations on signs and on the Web: "Help fight truth decay—brush up on God's Word." "Patience is a virtue that carries a lot of wait!" "Forbidden fruits create many jams." "Even a mosquito needs to work before it gets a slap on its back." Small Kids, Small Car: Tips for a Fun Feast TripWith three small children, ages 3, 7 and 10, and a very small car, we try to make the trip to the Feast as enjoyable as possible. Below are some of the things we've found that helped make travel easier and more fun for the cutest members of the family. Of course there are many other products and many free fun things as well, but these are ones our children liked: Best Travel Activity Book Ever! (Rand McNally, $3.95). This book is full of puzzles, mazes, riddles and much more. The Most Incredible, Outrageous, Packed-to-the-Gills, Bulging-at-the-Seams Sticker Book You've Ever Seen (editors of Klutz Press, $10.36). All three kids literally spent every extra minute in the car silently playing with this book. Imaginetics: License Plate Game (www.cambitoys.com, $7.99). This magnetic toy allows you to look for license plates from different states on the way and put them on the magnetic car board. —Shari Fooshe From the Proverbs: The Apple of Your EyeProverbs is one of the most fascinating books of the Old Testament, and its teachings are even more relevant in today's world than they were when it was written. One of my favorites, a most thought-provoking proverb, is Proverb 7:2: "Keep my commands and live, and my law as the apple of your eye" (emphasis added). The term apple of your eye is an old one, first used in Scripture in the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32:10. Today it evokes images of something we are fond of or love dearly. But in the Hebrew, it had a deeper, richer meaning. Vine's has this to say: "The 'apple' is the most precious and most securely guarded part of the eye. It feels most intensely the least injury; the loss of it is irreparable." Do we treat God's law as the "most precious and most securely guarded part" of our lives? We should, just as we closely guard our eyes from smoke, dust and foreign objects, and wouldn't dream of putting just any old thing in them, as they feel "most intensely the least injury." Are we so careful with our beliefs? Do we allow any idle wind of doctrine that comes along to injure the beliefs we hold dear? Our ministers go over the same subjects again and again because they are so easily forgotten, so easily subject to injury through neglect. Jesus Christ, who inspired the Proverbs, echoed this theme in Matthew 13:45-46 when He likened the Kingdom to a "merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it." He also cautions us not to "cast [our] pearls before swine" (Matthew 7:6). Why? Because pearls are not indestructible or easily replaced. Why take chances with something so precious? Also, Vine's said "the loss of it is irreparable." That's a disturbing word, irreparable. Beyond repair. We lose our eyesight and we are blind ever afterward. Are we as concerned with losing our spiritual eyesight? We should be, for to lose God's law from our hearts is much more permanent than this physical body. Thankfully we have a loving God who "delights in mercy" (Micah 7:18) and who is quick to forgive us, upon repentance, every time we slip or take His laws for granted. So let's apply Proverbs 7:2 and keep God's law as the "apple of our eye." — Layne Partin Interconnected Laws"For He who said, 'Do not commit adultery,' also said, 'Do not murder.' Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law" (James 2:11). Does this scripture make sense to you? Do you believe it is true? If so, then you must also believe that the Sabbath commandment (part of the same Ten Commandments) is still binding, for otherwise this scripture has no credibility. Think about it. —Bill Wassner, God Is Not Creating a Race of HermitsGod is in the process of building a loving family—not a scattered race of hermits. We were made to have deep, caring friendships with our physical and spiritual family members. God designed us to have the feeling of loneliness as a warning signal that we are insufficiently connected to our fellow human beings. It's not sinful to feel lonely—but it's meant to motivate us to change, not something that must be sacrificially endured. We were not made for isolation from human contact, but for deep, intimate relationships (Genesis 2:18). As Christians, we are to love one another as family (Romans 12:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:9; 1 Peter 1:22; 3:8; 1 John 4:7, 11). Our connectedness to Christ and each other is likened to being various parts of one human body (Ephesians 4:16; 1 Corinthians 12:12-26), and Paul specifically points out that we need each other (1 Corinthians 12:21). The notion that we should be isolated from human relationships and relate only to God comes from the gnostic notion that the physical universe is evil and that to attain a higher spirituality we have to disconnect from the material world and concentrate purely on God. This idea prevents healing in Christians who desperately need to grow in their ability to relate to others. Christ lived among us, and suffered as a human being, so that He could experience firsthand what it is like for us. He gained a deeper dimension of compassion for us through this experience (Hebrews 4:15; 5:8). By learning to deeply love others and have compassion for them, we grow in one of God's most important character traits. This is one reason for the existence of the Church (Romans 1:12; 2 Corinthians 1:4). God does not do everything Himself. He gives us opportunities to participate
in what He is doing and to grow in His ways—by working through us
(2 Corinthians 7:6). We were made for deep, satisfying friendships—with God and our fellow human beings. — Jay Turner A Map to LifeThe Ten Commandments are a map to life—the right road. Go this way and you won't get lost. No dead ends, no broken bridges or deep gullies, no abrupt steep cliffs. This is not a grumpy old man saying, "You do it my way or else," but a loving Father telling you the right way, looking out for you. Just as a loving mother holds you tight and kisses away the bumps and scratches, so God is a million times more loving. He has lived forever; He's "been there," so to speak. He doesn't make mistakes as we do. Even our parents, who try to do all things for our good, make mistakes, in love. But our Father God doesn't. Sometimes there are tests, but we have had tests in school too. Just study a little harder and you'll make A's. — Marie Lisson Be Ready to Give an Answer:
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