Sim Yoder

We will start with a few definitions.
Moral has to do with right and wrong behavior. Pure is free from moral fault or guilt, marked by chastity, which is personal integrity. Pure contains nothing that does not properly belong and where the inside mirrors the outside.
As the title suggests, this article will be about doing right and being free from moral fault and guilt, living a life of integrity, and keeping our inside and outside free of anything that doesn't properly belong.

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind (2Ti 1:7).
Solid rational thinking does not happen by accident. Sound thinking requires feeding our minds on good things, and then throwing out the false and pursuing the true. Paul told them to Hold fast the form of sound words
(2Ti 1:13). He told the Philippians in 1:10 to ...approve the things that are excellent.

Often, we hear comments made about baptism that would make the listener believe that the mode of baptism matters little, and further would lead you to believe the Bible has little direction to give.
I will not keep you wondering, I do believe the mode of pouring can be backed from scripture, and in the same sentence I will tell you I have respect for those who have been taught otherwise. Let’s look into scripture for direction on the subject.

Habakkuk had several complaints to the Lord. In Habakkuk 1:2 he asked the question, “how long shall I cry and you will not hear, even if I cry violence you won’t save me?" He went on to tell God how awful the conditions were. God answered that He would do a work that Habakkuk would not believe even if it was told him. (Hab 1:5)
Habakkuk asked another question, “Why do you look on the wicked and hold your tongue?” In chapter 2:1 Habakkuk said he would stand on the tower to see what God would say to him.

It is usually difficult for those coming behind us to relate to the issues that we have gone through with the same passion and zeal that we have for those issues. A few years ago our family visited one of the civil rights museums in Selma, Alabama. It was tremendously interesting to me, and I’m sure I wandered through the museum much longer than what the children thought was needed. It stirred a lot of memories, and as we traveled on, I told the children how it was in the sixties when I was a young boy in public school.

It may seem strange to think of “the last miles” as we start a new year. We usually think of last miles being at the end of a hard journey. Those miles are the ones that are the hardest to endure and stay awake for. Maybe it is unusual to talk of these at this time. We could be talking of new beginnings, resolutions, and new goals. This would not be completely inappropriate. But we are in unusual times. Even a casual observer of current events, with only a small understanding of the Word, can see that we are walking the last miles.

Recently I saw a sign that boldly proclaimed that America is a Christian nation. I was not able to figure out the thinking behind that statement. I felt more kinship with Isaiah in chapter 1 verse 4, where he said, “Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.”

As Jacob traveled to Egypt with his family, he had no idea what would be the mind set of his posterity when they would travel that same path back towards Canaan. Other instances from the Bible could be cited as similar examples of men that made a choice, only to have their posterity depart widely from the intended path chosen by the previous generation. In recent history, we have seen changes in society that on the surface appeared good, but have produced an outcome that few anticipated.