Dripping Springs Weekly Bulletins

The Better Way! By this time tomorrow, we should know which is the better football team, the New England Patriots or the Philadelphia Eagles. Today, as we all know, is the day for the Super Bowl, and Jacksonville, Florida is the spot on the globe where this determination is made. Well, maybe we will know who is the better team, for such contests are often determined by factors that are less than objective. We often call that “luck.” Under some circumstances it is legal to claim your product is “best” or “better” than the competition. Sometimes, however, “best” and “better” are determined by “like” and “opinion” more than what is objectively true. As you can probably guess, I’ll take Blue Bell over broccoli every time. There is a way — an objective way — to discover what is better. The Bible plainly declares some things are better than others. Rebuke of the Wise Solomon wrote by inspiration: “It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools,” Ecclesiastes 7:5 The hard part is to know who are the “wise” and who are the “fools.” To receive rebuke from one who is wise is a genuine gift, for if we are headed in the wrong direction, our true friend is one who will correct and re-direct us. Peter tells us of some who had “forsaken the right way,” 2 Peter 2:9-15. Balaam was one, and he needed a donkey to correct him, Numbers 22. Find a wise person, encourage him/her to give you that which will help you maintain the “right way.” Yes, “Open rebuke is better than secret love,” Proverbs 27:5. A Better Covenant So many today prefer the Ten Commandments to the Gospel, but their same author says Jesus is the “mediator of a better covenant,” Hebrews 8:6. The truth is, that Old Testament has been “fulfilled,” (Luke 24:44, Matthew 5:17) replaced by a “better.” It is better because it: Has better promises, Hebrews 8:6. Redeemed by a better sacrifice, 9:23. Gives all mankind a better hope, 9:17. Promises a better possession, 10:34. Has a better “high priest”, 4:14-10:18. Directs us to a better way, 10:19-13:25. Affords us a better rest, 4:1-11. Yes, Jesus offers a better covenant. Better Homes, Better People If our homes are to be “better,” we all must be willing to be “better” people. Proverbs 15:17 says: “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a fatted calf with hatred.” Instead, we would probably say, “IT’S BETTER TO HAVE CORNBREAD AND BEANS WITH THOSE YOU LOVE THAN TO HAVE CAVIAR AND FILET MIGNON IN THE MIDST OF QUARRELING AND FIGHTING.” Most would agree with that, but few families have found a way to enjoy that “better” life together. To do so requires husband and wife and son and daughter living in harmony with biblical principles. Sadly, too few people know what those principles are. Slow to Anger The game of golf often reveals the true character of a person. When they miss a shot, or make a mistake, anger often takes control of that person. It is not fun to play a round of golf with such a person. They shout, throw their clubs, kick the ground and show themselves to be quite immature. We can be a good player in the game of life without having a quick, hot temper. Who wants to live with or be around someone who “flies off the handle” every time they don’t get what they want? Yes, it’s better to dwell in the wilderness than with a contentious and angry man/woman. Not Really Better Some things seem to be better, but when examined in the light of the truth, they are not. The story of the Syrian military leader, Naaman, illustrates this point. In 2 Kings 5, he searched for ways to rid himself of the dreaded disease of leprosy. When Elisha, God’s prophet, told him he could be cleansed by washing in the Jordan River seven times, Naaman could think only of the “better” rivers of his homeland. He was angered by the whole scene, and prepared to leave without being healed, saying: “Behold, I thought…” He thought he had something better, but it was not better. The leper was not healed until he dipped seven times as the prophet spoke from God. Note some other Bible “betters”: “To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams,” 1 Sam. 15:22. ”Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure with trouble,” Proverbs 15:16. ”It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man,” Psalm 118:8. ”He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city,” Proverbs 16:32. ”A little that a righteous man has is better than the riches of many wicked,” Psalms 37:16. ”A day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness,” Psalms 84:10. It’s time for us to seek the better life God has in store for us. Carl B. Garner

“What I gave, I have; what I spent, I had; what I kept, I lost.” Ancient Epitaph “The intoxication of anger, like that of the grape, shows us to others, but hides us from ourself.” Charles Colton

Who is the Architect I was passing through Columbus, Ohio some years ago and stopped to eat in the depot restaurant. My attention was called to a slice of watermelon. I ordered it and ate it. I was so pleased with the melon that I asked the waiter to dry some of the seeds that I might take them home and plant them in my garden. That night, a thought came into my mind --- I would use the watermelon as an illustration. So, the next morning, when I reached Chicago, I had enough seeds weighed to find out that it would take about 5,000 watermelon seeds to weigh a pound, and I estimated that the watermelon weighed about forty pounds. Then I applied mathematics to the watermelon. A few weeks before, someone, I know not who, had planted a little seed in the ground. Under the influence of sunshine and shower, that little watermelon seed had taken off its coat and gone to work. It had gathered from somewhere 200,000 times its own weight and forced that enormous weight through a tiny stem and built a watermelon. On the outside it had put a covering of green, within that rind of white, and within that, a core of red. Then it had scattered through the red core, little seeds, each one capable of doing the same work over again. What architect drew the plan? Where did that little watermelon seed get its tremendous strength? Where did it find its flavoring extract and its coloring matter? How did it build a watermelon? Until you can explain a watermelon, do not be too sure that you can set limits to the power of the Almighty, or tell just what He will do or how He will do it. The most learned men in the world cannot explain a watermelon, but the most ignorant man in the world can eat a watermelon and enjoy it. God has given us the things that we need, and He has given us the knowledge necessary to use those things. And the truth that He has revealed to us is infinitely more important for our welfare than it would be to understand the mysteries that He has seen fit to conceal from us. William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925)