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Euphemisms By Tom Edwards Virtually every Christian realizes that vulgar speech, curse words, swear words, using the Lord's name in vain, etc., are condemned in the Bible; yet how many saints have unknowingly been guilty of such by using today's euphemisms? First of all, what is a euphemism? Is it bad or is it good? Actually, it depends on what word it is standing for that would make it either one we could use or one we should not. It has been defined as "the substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh, or blunt." For instance, to say one has "passed away" or "is at rest" is euphemistic of simply saying one has "died." This is so because the former phrases are milder to sensitivities. In this example, the expressions "passed away" or "is at rest" are not standing for something bad and would, unquestionably, not be wrong for one to use. Also, in the advertising world, it surely sounds much better for the salesperson to refer to one who is a little on the heavy side as being "full-figured" rather than "fat," or for the car dealer to refer to his cars as being "economical" rather than "cheap." Or if I were a garbage man, I might refer to myself as a "sanitary engineer." In all these examples the euphemistic renderings would be all right to use because they are not signifying anything which would be improper, but let us consider some words in which their counterparts are terms that the Christian should not use -- for to do so would be wrong; the following is a list of such: - "gee" -- euphemistic for Jesus. - "golly"- euphemistic for God. - "heck"- euphemistic for hell. - "darn" - euphemistic for damn. - "gosh" -- euphemistic for God. Sometimes these words are used in combinations, such as in the phrase "gosh darn it." By looking at what these words are really standing for in the above section, it is easy to figure out what this wording actually means. Is it something that a Christian should be saying? Undoubtedly, it is not. Terms such as "Jesus," "God," "hell," and "damn" are found in numerous passages throughout the Bible, but never are these words used loosely or irreverently. Since the Christian would not want to say the Lord's name in vain then surely he should not want to use any of the euphemisms that would pertain to His name. Let us not be careless in our words, but careful. Just as a tree is known by its fruit, a person is also known by the "fruit of his lips." In Matthew 12:36, Jesus warns, "And I say to you, that every careless word that men shall speak, they shall render account for it in the Day of Judgment." & Going To Heaven By Ron Boatwright Our number one priority in this life must be to go to Heaven. Nothing else is as important. Jesus says in Matthew 6:33, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." Our soul is the most precious thing we have. There is nothing that can equal its value. We read in Matthew 16:26, "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" One certainly does not profit in the tragic loss of his soul. It is easy in today’s materialistic society to get caught up in the pursuit of materialism if we are not careful. Our Lord says in Matthew 6:19-21, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is there will your heart be also." Our bank account needs to be in heaven. Everyday we need to tell ourselves that the main thing in this life is to go to Heaven. We read in Colossians 3:2, "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth." We should regularly think about going to Heaven. Heaven is a prepared place (John 14:2-3) for a prepared people. It will be such a wonderful place, which is beyond our wildest dreams. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:9, "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." There is no way that Heaven can be described so we as mortal human beings can understand how wonderful it will be. A person will not accidentally go to Heaven. Going to Heaven is a lifelong race as we read in Hebrews 12:1, "Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." Going to Heaven requires endurance, patience, and persistence. We must finish the race. & Can You Count All The Stars? By Cecil F. Cox A song in our hymn books asks this question, "Can you count the stars of evening that are shining in the sky?" I'm sure the answer to the question is that you have not and cannot. Men who have studied the stars have told us that on a clear night one could probably count about 2000 stars. But that doesn't answer the question of can you count "all the stars." Someone may ask, "What about if you use a telescope?" A person may look long enough to count 1,000,000,000! But scientists would tell us this is not "all the stars", for no man really knows lust how many there are. Consider how large a space that is out there. Our sun, which is really a star and earth's closest, is 93 million miles away (that is, as someone has figured, over 3700 times around our earth. But the next closest star is 26 million miles away from the sun. The stars are not close neighbors! So, it is easy to see why we cannot count all of the stars. But there is someone knows how many there are! That1s right and this Person knows the name of each star! Listen to the evidence! "He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them by their names" (Ps. 147:4). Who is this? "The Lord." Read the 147th Psalm. The next verse tells us "Great is our Lord, and of great power; his understanding is infinite." Most of us could not even see or count 1000 stars. But God knows every star and their names. Yet this one mighty God is concerned about me and is concerned about you. He wants you to live with Him in eternity. He has made that possible. He has given us His word and tells us what to do. Please read Matt. 7:21-27. Yield your life in obedience to Him. On the day of Pentecost those believers were told to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:36-38). Verse 41 tells us, "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls." &
The Epicureans and the Stoics In his account of Paul’s visit to Athens, Greece, Luke tells us, Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, "What does this babbler want to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods," because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection. (Acts 17:18) Who were these “Epicurean and Stoic philosophers”? The Epicureans were followers of a Greek philosopher named Epicurus (342-270 BC). Opposing the idealistic and skeptical mood of the times, Epicurus wanted to provide security in an unsure world. He ground his system on the incontestability of sense experience; pleasure and pain are the ultimate good and evil. Intelligent choice is necessary for the good life. Although only fragments of his works remain, his loyal disciples passed on his doctrines of friendship, peace of mind, and spiritual enjoyment as goals of the good life. Under the Roman Empire, Epicureans chose to withdraw from view and the last know member of the school was Diogenes of Oenoanda (fl. 200 AD). The Stoics were adherents of Stoicism, dominant philosophy of the Hellenistic-Roman period, founded by Zeno of Citium (c. 333-262 BC). The highest Stoic virtue is to live in harmony with the cosmos. To do this, people must live austere and noble lives, above concern for trivial things, and be able to control emotions. The wise man, or sage, puts his own integrity and duty ahead of lesser interests and feelings. Stoicism was reworked but remained basically unchanged until it faded after the end of the 3rd century AD. &
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