Daily Faith (031311): Somebody Is Watching Me

I love cartoons. Although the Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies were movie theater features a few generations before I was born, television made them readily available. Even now, my DVD case is home to a few collections of these cartoon classics. I always love it when Bugs Bunny would speak to the movie goers regarding his antics (“Ain’t I a stinka?”). One time, Bugs said, “did you ever get the feeling that you were being watched?” The play on reality is fun, because here is a fictional character feeling that he is being watch by a world beyond his own. It always makes me chuckle. But in the spiritual world, this takes on a more sober tone. We Are Being Watched It is important for Christians to realize that we are being watched. At a universal level, of course, God watches us all; and truth be told, we do not surprise Him, because he knows all things – even our very concerns (Prov. 15.3; Matt. 6.8). There are, however, many other eyes watching us. For example, Dan Merchant, in his Emergent-friendly movie, Lord, Save Us from Your Followers (2008), has a segment where he asks random people about “Jesus” and “Christians”. In general, people “liked” Jesus, but often expressed negative feelings about “Christians”. Why? The “Christians” were charged with behavior inconsistent with the teachings of Jesus . Is this really new? No. Jesus spoke of the Jewish leaders of his day who sat in “Moses’ seat” in the synagogues teaching the Scriptures (and additional back breaking traditions), but they did not practice what they taught (Matt. 23.1-4). Even Paul spoke about the condemnation of those who condemn others for their sinful behavior, while at the same time practicing “the very same thing” (Rom. 2.1). Moreover, a reading of the New Testament letters demonstrates that the early Christians were constantly reminded to maintain their Christian living consistent with the c alling of the gospel (Eph. 4.1-3, 17, 5.1-2, 8, 15 - 21). In fact, 1 Corinthians is a classic example that Christians can struggle –even fail drastically– to apply godly principles in their lives. The reality is quite simple: Christians are people too. If we take the Divine Word at its Word, then Christians are sinners too (Rom. 3.23 ). However, if we are going to be maligned, the Scriptures teach that it is not supposed to be because we are hypocrites (1 Pet. 4.12-16). Any social distress we incur should be because we will not live immorally (1 Pet. Somebody Is Watching Me | Jovan Payes News and Notes A Note to Our Visitors: Welcome! We want you to know you are our honored guests. Let us know how we can serve you. We have free biblical literature and offer free home bible studies. Ed Strickland | Keep Ed (and family) in your prayers as he has had several surgeries, and recently started dialysis. Remember in Prayer: our Dreams, Rozella (ribs), Pat O’Hara (cancer), Carol Maxfield (injury), Victor Barrios (grieving), Fred (neck), Linda (knees), Gerald (recovery), Hazel (recovery), Mike (back), Shelly (testing), Tammy (upcoming surgery) Connie Payes (dialysis), Elsa Avalos (Alzheimer’s ). March 11-13 | Gospel Meeting (Neal Pollard) @ E. Main church of Christ (Stockton). March 25-27 | Stronger Marriages Seminar at the Ripon church of Christ. March 25-27 | Face Your Giants family camp in Oakhurst (Turlock). March 31-April 2 | Recharge: Excellence in Ministry in Monterrey, CA. The Weekly Bulletin of the Livingston Church of Christ Meeting at 639 2 nd Street, Livingston, CA 95334 Office: (209 ) 394-3511 | Preacher: Jovan Payes Subscribe & Email: [email protected] March 13, 2011

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Daily Faith (031311): Somebody Is Watching Me