A Noisy Gong Or A Clanging Cymbal

In 1st Kings 18, we read of the dramatic contest between Elijah, the true prophet of God, and the 450 prophets of Baal. Each group was to offer sacrifices to their deity and let their god offer the fire. The prophets of Baal did so with much enthusiasm. For the entire day, they jumped around, cried out with loud voices and even went so far to cut themselves in order to bring forth their god. But in the end the Bible says, “they raved until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention.” For all their excitement and drama, nothing happened and consequently no one cared.

In today’s modern religious world, people think that the more dramatic and exciting the worship service, the more people will want to attend. But this passage shows that while a ruckus may garner some quick attention, if it makes no real difference, people will eventually lose attention. That is why it is so important that our worship is not an abnormality in our lives but a focus of it. When people see our worship as an extension of our changed lives not just an event, they can come to see the new life the true God wants for them.

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Why Does A Lion Tamer Use a Chair?

Ok, I know you have seen the image. A lion tamer enters in the cage of the beast and forces it to obey his commands using a whip, a gun and a chair. Now you can see how the whip and gun could come in handy but you might be wondering why a chair would intimidate an animal as powerful as a lion? Clyde Beatty taming a lion with a chair It's not that the lion is afraid of the chair -- it's that the lion is confused by the chair. Cats are single-minded, and the points of the chair's four legs bobbing around confuse the lion enough that it loses its train of thought. Casually put, the chair distracts the lion from wanting to claw the lion tamer's face off. The powerful creature could destroy the chair in moment’s notice but instead it is distracted into submission. It’s not too much different than how Satan controls us today. By the power of God we could overcome anything that he would use to subdue us. We can overcome the evil one (1 st John 2:13-14). ...

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Ecclesiastes 12:10

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