Walking With Christ

Webers.Home · Mar 1, 2022

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• 2Tim 4:5c . . do the work of an evangelist

The Greek word for "evangelist" is euaggelistes (yoo-ang-ghel-is-tace')
which means: a preacher of the gospel.

Here in America, we typically think of evangelists as guys like Billy Graham
and Louis Palau. But according to Paul, pastors are supposed to be
evangelists within the walls of their own churches rather than on the road.

My ex-Catholic wife begged and cajoled her Catholic father to accompany
her to a Protestant church back in the 1970's before we met. On that
particular Sunday, of all days, the pastor spoke about money; especially
giving it to support his church and its programs.

My father-in-law was disgusted, and commented afterwards: Protestants are
no different than Catholics; all they care about is money. He never went
back. Had that pastor spoken about Christ instead of money, my father-in
law might have returned.

The same goes for tongue services, political activism, and people dancing
with rattlesnakes, shouting, shrieking, rolling on the floor and fainting in the
aisles. That kind of stuff is entertaining but certainly not conducive to
fulfilling Christ's command to go and make disciples of all nations.(Matt
28:18-20)

Sunday morning services are a mission field right here at home. A sharp
pastor will make sure that visitors leave his church with a full hour of real
gospel preaching to think about.

Paul described pastoral evangelism as: fulfilling their ministry. (2Tim 4:5)
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Webers.Home · Mar 2, 2022

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• Titus 2:2 . . Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in
faith, in love, in perseverance.

The Greek word for "older men" is presbutes (pres-boo'-tace) which means:
an old man. Presbutes is different than presbuteros, which refers to church
officers; e.g. deacons. (1Tim 5:17)

I used to get my watches serviced by an aging repairman at a local mall
until the day finally came when I could no longer tolerate his manners. He
was around seventy-five years old, cantankerous as can be, and perpetually
cross. I often felt like asking him if he ever gave any thought to his future.
You know, heaven is a place of peace. A hateful man like that repairman
would not only never fit in there, but it wouldn't be fair to the others to
permit him in their world.

"Cantankerous" can be defined as: habitually ill-humored, irritable,
disagreeable, bearish, cankered, cranky, cross-grained, dour, morose, sour;
crabby, cross, crusty, huffy, petulant, prickly, snappish; dyspeptic, ill
conditioned, thin-skinned, complaining, and ill-natured.

A Christian man in old age really ought to be a sweet, mellow guy: a pal and
a big brother for the younger ones rather than somebody they'd prefer do
the world a favor by stepping in front of a bus.
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Webers.Home · Mar 3, 2022

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• Titus 2:3a . . The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as
becomes holiness: not traducers,

Traducers are particularly ugly human beings; especially the kind that
misrepresent their own friends and say things about them that their friends
would never approve; thus needlessly disparaging their friends' reputations
save for the pure pleasure of having something to say about somebody.

Traducers aren't regular gossips, no, they're malicious gossips. Webster's
defines malice as: a deep-seated, often unexplained desire to see another
suffer. In other words, traducers like to hurt people for no reason other than
that it's gratifying.
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Webers.Home · Mar 4, 2022

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• Titus 2:3b . . The aged women likewise, that they be not addicted to much
wine

A sensible amount of wine isn't forbidden. It's the alcoholic consumption of
wine that's a no-no.

One of the problems associated with booze is it's negative effect upon the
heavy drinker's judgment, and also the sometimes strange way they
interpret reality.
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Webers.Home · Mar 5, 2022

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• Titus 2:3-5 . . The aged women likewise . . teaching what is good, that
they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their
children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their
own husbands, that the word of God may not be dishonored.

Too many young women in America have been trained for marriage by
militant feminism. Far from teaching younger women to respect their
husbands, feminism teaches the younger women to stand up to their
husbands; and rather than be keepers at home, feminism has them out
seeking means to compete with men and break the so-called glass ceiling;
and rather than love their children, feminism has them dominating their
offspring in a home-life society structured on divisions of labor, command.
and control, tyranny, and regimentation. Those behaviors certainly can
never be categorized as honoring the word of God.

The biggest road block to feminism-trained women becoming true disciples
is Christ's gender. You see, at the heart of women's hostility towards men is
the drive to resist male supremacy. Yet the very lord and master of
Christianity, the supreme male in the universe; demands death to a
woman's self interests, and her subordination to his monarchy.

"If you want to be my follower you must love me more than your own father
and mother, wife and children brothers and sisters-- yes, more than your
own life. And you cannot be my disciple if you do take up your own cross
and follow me." (Luke 14:26)

In Christ's era, crosses were for executions. So when he told his disciples to
"take up their own cross" it meant stifling their own way; viz: it was a call to
abandon self interests, and comply with their Master's wishes.

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies
as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-- this is your spiritual act of
worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and
approve what God's will is-- His good, pleasing and perfect will." (Rom 12:1
2)

Those instructions run 180° counter to militant feminism's self-aggrandizing
attitude that homemaking is oppressive and demeaning to women, and that
respect for one's husband is somehow abusive; which is obviously an
attitude that vilifies the word of God instead of honoring it.

Christian marriage and motherhood are not for militant females; no,
marriage and motherhood are for grown-up, mature, emotionally stable
women; and I'm not talking about years of life; no, even some 35 and 40
year-old women often fall short of being grown-up. Their association with
men is on no higher a level now than when they were the 17 year-old, self
absorbed insolent brats they were in high school. Christian women like that
seriously need to read, and heed, the guidance offered in the three books
recommended below.

For Women Only
By Shaunti Feldhahn
ISBN 1-59052-317-2

The Proper Care And Feeding Of Husbands
By Dr. Laura Schlessinger
ISBN 0-06-052061-2

What Our Mothers Didn't Tell Us
By Danielle Crittenden
ISBN 0-684-83219-4
ISBN 0-684-85959-9 (paper back)
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Webers.Home · Mar 6, 2022

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• Titus 2:6 . . Similarly, encourage the young men to be sensible.

Just in case the young women were feeling a bit persecuted; Paul switches
over to the guys and urges them to be just as sensible as the girls; in other
words: to love their wives, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste,
keepers at home, and good; that the word of God not be dishonored.

Chastity is getting to be almost non-existent in America as more and more
male celebrities engage in extra-marital affairs. Not all that long ago
Governor Kitzhaber here in the state of Oregon was shacking up with a
woman right in broad daylight in the governor's mansion and cared not what
anybody thought about it. Former US President Clinton messed around with
women while he was in office, and former New York Governor Elliot Spitzer
was discovered to be seeing expensive escorts. So Christians really can't
depend upon America's leaders to set the example for young men.

Paul urged Titus to "encourage" the young men in his church to be sensible;
which is quite a bit different than hounding them or getting on their backs.
There's an awful lot of young men out there today with metal pinned in their
faces and tattoos on their necks, taking ecstasy, smoking pot, joining gangs,
using meth, shoplifting, and missing school because the adults in their lives
refuse to let them grow up at their own pace.

Many years ago, before I was even interested in having a family of my own,
there was a cartoon in the newspaper comics called Rick-O-Shay. Rick was
sheriff in a small town out in the olde west. Well, he had a son that was a bit
immature and Rick was concerned the boy was never going to amount to
anything and he didn't know what to do about it.

So, while he was complaining about the son to his good friend Hipshot
Percussion (a local gunfighter) Hipshot interrupted and gave Rick some very
good words of wisdom. He said (in so many words): Instead of frettin' about
turning your son into someone you can admire, why not instead try and find
out who he is and go with that?

Relentless criticism and ridicule, unreasonable expectations, zero sympathy,
and disapproving everything they think, say, or do are the surest ways I
know to ruin a young man's attitude and drive him far, far from home and
from their parent's religion.
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Webers.Home · Mar 7, 2022

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• Titus 2:7-8 . . In all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds,
with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach,
in order that those who oppose us may be put to shame, having nothing bad
to say.

Young men today desperately need morally sound, grown-up role models
because you can't just disapprove their life-style and not show them an
alternative; and the best way to do that is by your own example; viz:
instead of preaching to youngsters with words; preach to them with your
lifestyle.

NOTE: It's very important for church officers to practice what they preach
because conduct unbecoming reflects on Christ. (cf. 2Sam 12:14)
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Webers.Home · Mar 8, 2022

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• Titus 2:9-10a . . Bond slaves are to be subject to their own masters in
everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering;

A bond slave is someone who has sold themselves into slavery for any
number of reasons. But the one aspect I would like to dwell on is pilfering
because this is a serious problem for employers here in the USA.

The Greek word for "pilfering" is nosphizomai (nos-fid'-zom-ahee) which
means to squirrel something aside for one's self, viz: embezzle; which
Webster's defines as: to appropriate (as property entrusted to one's care)
fraudulently to one's own use.

Embezzling isn't limited to strictly stealing money; no, it's also the misuse of
an employer's property such as company cars, office materials and office
equipment, and/or shop materials and shop equipment; including water and
electricity.

My last job before retiring was as a civilian employee with the US Army
Corps of Engineers in the Portland Oregon district. It was a violation of
Federal law for us to even take anything out of a dumpster, or use a battery
charger to jump-start our cars, or even to so much as pump up a low tire on
our cars with the air produced by a government air compressor. We were
definitely not supposed to use the government's computers for surfing the
web or composing personal e-mails.

Everything on the facility where I worked was US Government property,
including the trash, and could not be used in an unofficial capacity without
first obtaining special permission. Violators were subject to prosecution for
Fraud, Waste, and Abuse.

Unofficial use of office computers alone is costing employers multiplied
thousands of hours of wages and benefits paid to employees who are online
during the work day for personal reasons. The most outrageous case I heard
of at work was a lady downtown in the district office who was caught
conducting her Mary Kay cosmetics business via a US Government
computer; and on official time no less.

Those are examples of things from which Christ's followers are ordered to
cease and desist.
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Webers.Home · Mar 9, 2022

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• Titus 2:10b . . but showing all good faith that they may adorn the doctrine
of God our savior in every respect.

The Greek word for "adorn" is kosmeo (kos-meh'-o) which means: to put in
proper order; viz: decorate

When women buy a pretty new dress, they usually get things to go with it;
things we call accessories; like a purse, shoes, stockings, necklace, earrings,
and/or a watch and a bracelet. In the old days, women usually bought some
gloves to go with their new dress too-- thus they create an "ensemble"
which gives them a complete look rather than an unfinished look as if they
just threw the dress on to work around the house or run down to a nearby
convenience store.

Well, a Christian who's a Christian in label only is like a pretty dress without
accessories. In point of fact, they are quite basic: just a house-dress
Christian. In other words; religion without piety is like leaving the house for
work in the morning half dressed.

NOTE: This touches on the very thing that hampered Cain's association with
God. Cain had religion, that much is evident (Gen 4:3) but he didn't have
piety. That much is evident too (Gen 4:7). In other words: Cain had a faith,
but it wasn't an "all good faith" like his brother's.
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Webers.Home · Mar 10, 2022

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• Titus 2:15 . . These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority.
Let no one disregard you.

I'm pretty sure this doesn't mean that pastors should speak with a bullying,
imperialistic, intimidating tone of voice. Pastors, after all, are supposed to be
shepherds rather than a bull o' the woods bossing a logging crew; so to
speak.

The Greek word for "disregard" is periphroneo (per-ee-fron-eh'-o) which
basically means to depreciate; viz: to marginalize. i.e. to consider
superfluous, expendable, and/or nonessential.

Once a minister has been made to feel that he's weak and ineffective and/or
that in the grand scheme of things he doesn't really matter; then for sure
he'll lose heart in his vocation and likely won't give it his best effort. The
ministers with whom I've been in contact over the years all agree that one of
their most difficult personal obstacles to overcome is discouragement.
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Webers.Home · Mar 11, 2022

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• Titus 3:1 . . Remind your people to submit to the government and its
officials. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good.

A popular form of anarchy here in the USA is something called civil
disobedience-- defined as the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey
certain laws of the state, and/or demands, orders, and commands of a
government, or of an occupying international power; i.e. non compliance
with constituted law and order.

Henry David Thoreau insisted that individuals should not permit
governments to overrule or atrophy their consciences, and that they have a
duty to avoid allowing such acquiescence to enable the government to make
them the agents of injustice.

At first glance, Thoreau's ideas makes good sense. However; it's important
to take into account that Thoreau was a secular humanist indifferent to the
dictates of a supreme being whose commandments, laws, rules, statutes,
and edicts trump all other forms of government.

Self-rule in accord with one's conscience got its start in the garden of Eden.

"Then the Lord God said: Behold, the man has become like one of us,
knowing good and evil." (Gen 3:22)

Unfortunately the conscience that Adam obtained via tasting the forbidden
fruit transformed himself into a deity guided by its intuition instead taking
directions from his maker.

Self-rule was the primary form of government during the Judges' era of
spiritual decadence in the land of Israel.

"In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was
right in his own eyes." (Judg 17:6)
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Webers.Home · Mar 12, 2022

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• Titus 3:2 . . malign no one, be non-contentious, gentle, showing every
consideration for all men.

The Greek word for "malign" is blasphemeo (blas-fay-meh'-o) which means:
to vilify, defined by Webster's as: to lower in estimation or importance,
and/or to utter abusive statements against. In other words; blasphemeo is
talking about tearing someone down and changing people's impression of
them; mostly for the worse. There's a lot of that goes on in the world of
politics.

It probably goes without saying that the kind of vilification were talking
about here is mean-spirited and unwarranted. For example; is it tearing a
Ponzi scheme mogul like Bernie Madoff down to say that he's a louse of
marginal integrity who can't be trusted with other people's money? No; the
man has been proven to be exactly that.

"non-contentious" refers to peaceable; i.e. not ready to fight at the drop of a
hat.

"gentle" actually means mild, i.e. temperate: exercising self restraint; viz:
controlling one's impulses.

"showing every consideration" is simply making an effort to avoid hurting
people's feelings for no good reason. This no doubt includes common
courtesy along with keeping a civil tongue in one's head.
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Webers.Home · Mar 13, 2022

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• Titus 3:8 . .This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I
want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God may be
careful to engage in good deeds.

To "speak confidently" implies speaking with an assertive, "no buts"
attitude; viz: the things a preacher teaches his congregation should not be
open to debate and/or perpetual bull sessions that never get to the bottom
of anything.

The Greek word for "deeds" is very common throughout the New Testament;
more often translated "works" than deeds. We're not talking about Boy
Scout kinds of deeds but just simply the spiritual morality of one's day to
day conduct; viz: a life that pleases God instead of one that irritates Him to
no end.

"Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the
day of redemption." (Eph 4:30)
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Webers.Home · Mar 14, 2022

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• Titus 3:9 . . Shun foolish controversies, and genealogies, and strife, and
disputes about the Law; for they are unprofitable and worthless.

The "law" in question is the covenant that Moses' people agreed upon with
God in the Old Testament. Disputes generally revolve around its
interpretation and its correct application. The Lord stipulated the formation
of a panel of lawyers to interpret the law for those among His people who
lacked the wherewithal to do it for themselves (Deut 17:8-13).

But since Christians are outside the covenant's jurisdiction, then they can
get by without those lawyers to interpret it for them; and besides; when you
consider there are nine Justices on the US Supreme Court who seldom agree
unanimously on anything, how much chance do you reckon a panel of
seventy has of reaching a consensus?

One of the "foolish controversies and genealogies" I would highly
recommend that believers avoid is Rome's roster of so-called apostolic
successors. Don't even go there. It's unprofitable, futile, and pointless to
strive over something like that. Pick your battles, and make sure your
conflicts accomplish something truly useful for Christ. And besides; the
Vatican has much bigger problems within its walls and its dogmas than that
one.
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Webers.Home · Mar 15, 2022

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• Titus 3:10-11 . . A man that is an heretic after the first and second
admonition reject; knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth,
being condemned of himself.

The Greek word for "heretic" is hairetikos (hahee-ret-ee-kos') which means
a schismatic; which is someone in your very own church who causes dissent,
rebellion, division, discord, and disharmony.

Webster's defines a heretic as: 1) a dissenter from established church
dogma; especially one who disavows a revealed truth, and 2) one who
dissents from an accepted belief or doctrine; viz: a nonconformist.

I and my wife are former Catholics turned Protestant. However, we don't fit
the definition of a heretic. We're what's known in Christian circles as
apostates; viz: defectors; which Webster's defines as people who forsake
one's cause, party, or nation for another often because of a change in
ideology.

Heretics don't usually defect; but remain inside to foster insurrection: to
undermine hierarchy, to bring about reform, to weaken unity, and to cause
division. Every church has its fair share of heretics and they can be very
disruptive in a Sunday school class.

The Greek word for "reject" is paraiteomai (par-ahee-teh'-om-ahee) which
means: to beg off; viz: deprecate, decline, and shun. In other words, don't
give heretics the time of day, i.e. don't engage them in discussions related
to resisting your church's leadership, its management practices, and/or its
curriculum.

Some religions, e.g. Jehovah's Witnesses, practice total shunning; viz: not
only in church, but outside too; even in homes and families. That's pretty
extreme and I really don't think Paul means we should go that far with it;
instead limit our shunning to matters related to church life rather than
regular life.

NOTE: Heresy is oftentimes subjective. In other words: what's heresy
to a Catholic may not be heresy to a Methodist, and vice versa. And what's
heresy to a Mormon may not be heresy to a Jehovah's Witness, and vice
versa. And what's heresy to a Baptist may not be heresy to the Church Of
God, and vice versa.

Many of us would be wise to limit the heretic label to divisive folks within our
own particular denominations, viz: be circumspect with your choice of words
lest the hapless day arrive when you are forced to eat them.

It ain't what you know that gets you into trouble.
It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.
( Mark Twain )
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Webers.Home · Mar 16, 2022

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• Titus 3:13-14 . . Do everything you can to help Zenas the lawyer and
Apollos with their trip. See that they are given everything they need. For our
people should not have unproductive lives. They must learn to do good by
helping others who have urgent needs.

Zenas and Apollos of course passed on long ago, but Paul's instruction are
applicable to missionaries in any age.

"urgent needs" implies necessities; e.g. food, water, shelter, companionship,
assistance, medical attention, etc.

"our people" excludes congregational heretics who, by their very nature, are
essentially a destructive element rather than benevolent.
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Webers.Home · Mar 17, 2022

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• Heb 2:1-4 . .We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we
have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by
angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just
punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This
salvation, which was first announced by The Lord, was confirmed to us by
those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various
miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will.

NOTE: The pronoun "we" probably refers specifically to Jews because, in
essence, that's to whom, and for whom, the letter was penned. (Heb 1:1-2)

I don't think the words "drift away" imply apostasy; not in this case anyway.
No; it's more like a curious crowd that gathers around a soap box speaker,
and little by little, man by man, boredom sets in-- the audience begins
dispersing and people move on to find something else to do. That would be
akin to attending a Billy Graham crusade for its entertainment, and a month
later totally forgetting everything he talked about.

BTW: The passage above mentions angels. Stephen verified that Moses
received the Law at the hands of angels (Acts 7:53) but if you go back and
read that story, you won't find any celestial beings in the picture other than
Jehovah and that's because the Hebrew word for angels doesn't always
speak of personages. Sometimes it speaks of apparitions; for example:
smoke, fire, earthquakes, thundering, and loud horns. (Ex 19:10-20, Ex
20:18, Heb 12:18-21)
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Webers.Home · Mar 18, 2022

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• Heb 3:1 . .Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling,
consider the apostle and High Priest whom we acknowledge: Christ Jesus

The "holy brethren" are Moses' people as per Deut 14:2 and Ps 135:4; and
the "heavenly calling" very likely refers to the nation that God promised to
make of Abraham as per Gen 12:1-2, Gen 13:14-16, and Gen 22:16-18.

The Greek word for "consider" is katanoeo (kat-an-o-eh'-o) which means: to
observe fully; viz: to study; to examine.

You know, giving Christ a cursory glance as if he were a curiosity or a brief
distraction leads nowhere. His purpose and his mission are just too
extensive for that sort of once-over approach.
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Webers.Home · Mar 19, 2022

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• Heb 4:14-16 . .Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone
through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we
profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with
our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just
as we are-- yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace
with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in
our time of need.

The Greek word translated "confidence" is parrhesia (par-rhay-see'-ah)
which means all out-spokenness, i.e. frank, blunt, and/or candid.

A recited prayer-- especially rote repetition --is neither frank, nor blunt, nor
candid.

Take the Old Testament's luminaries for example. Their one-on-one prayers
with God were typically conversational and to the point.

NOTE: Jesus is depicted as a high priest in the above passage. Those are
chosen from among men rather than from among celestial beings because
it's necessary that mediators between God and Man-- e.g. Aaron -- be
someone who can relate to their constituents.

It's much to everyone's advantage to be represented before God by a fellow
man rather a divine being because the gods don't know what it's like to live
in this world as an h.sapiens. Guys like Jesus and Aaron know because
they've been down this road of ours. (Heb 5:1-10)
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Webers.Home · Mar 20, 2022

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• Heb 6:1-3 . . Let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on
to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that
lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on
of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And God
permitting, we will do so.

At this point in the letter to Hebrews, the author begins talking to Jews
about a high priest named Melchizedek back in Abraham's day.

Mel is largely ignored on internet forums; which is really a shame due to the
fact that his priesthood, and its constituents, are outside the jurisdiction of
the covenant that Moses' people agreed upon with God per Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy because the laws of God are not
retroactive (Deut 5:2-4 & Gal 3:17) which is just the thing Jews need
because they are in constant danger of prosecution for even the tiniest of
infractions; most especially for willful sins, viz: acts committed by folks who
know very well that what they are doing is forbidden.

"But the person, be he citizen or stranger, who acts defiantly reviles the
Lord; that person shall be cut off from among his people. Because he has
spurned the word of the Lord and violated His commandment, that person
shall be cut off-- he bears his guilt." (Num 15:30-31)

"Cursed is the man who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying
them out." (Deut 27:26)
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