The Holy Spirit Guide

Posts Tagged ‘Harold Sala’

AUTHORITY, 3 by Dr. Harold Sala
All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever. 1 Peter 1:24-25

Voltaire, the French agnostic, said that Christianity would not survive him by a hundred years, yet a hundred years after his death the Geneva Bible Society purchased his old home and upon Voltaire’s own press, printed a complete edition of the Bible.

Voltaire was neither the first nor the last to attack the Bible, striving to deal it such a blow that it would be set aside once and for all. The eighth century BC prophet Jeremiah tells us how Jehoiakim, the king, didn’t happen to like what he heard which Jeremiah had written. The king took his penknife, cut up the parchment and threw it into the fire. But that was not the end of the message, for Jeremiah simply rewrote the book which has long since survived the king.

Upon occasion, kings and rulers have ordered the destruction of all Bibles. Diocletian, the Roman emperor, tried it in 303 AD, ordering all Bibles to be collected and destroyed, yet a decade after that, Diocletian was succeeded by Constantine, who declared Christianity to be the state religion and pagan temples were turned into churches. The paranoia which some have had over this book has to be a measure of its true stature and power century after century. It outlives its critics!

Someone put it poetically: Last eve I passed beside a blacksmith’s/ And heard the anvil ring the vespered chime, / Then looking in, I saw upon the floor/ Old hammers worn with beating years of time. / “How many anvils have you had?” said I, “To wear and batter all these hammers so.”/ “Just one,” said he; then, with a twinkling eye / “The anvil wears the hammers out, you know. / And so, thought I, the anvil of God’s word/ For ages skeptic blows have beat upon; / Yet though the noise of falling blows was heard, / The anvil is unharmed the hammers, gone.”

The first book to be printed by Johann Gutenberg and the first book to be taken to the moon by Astronaut Ed Mitchell was—yes—a Bible. No other book in all history has been so much in demand by so many and has so endured the test of time.

Why? There is but one reason: This book is no ordinary book. Given by God, it has an authority that rings loud and clear. No other book so lucidly tells me of my own sinful condition, but dashes the despair by telling me how salvation and forgiveness are possible through Jesus Christ. No wonder the Gospel is called Good News.

The indestructibility of the Bible is one of the witnesses to the authority of this book. Ultimately you accept this authority by faith and submit to it or else you push it aside and reject it, which is like refusing to recognize the periodic chart of the elements, or refusing to acknowledge the metallic pull of the North Pole, or the warmth of the sun.

But the argument for the authority of the Word doesn’t stop with the simple fact that it has outlived its critics. There are five powerful voices, which are all external testimonies to this authority: 1. The fulfillment of the prophecies of the Bible, documented and verified by secular history, such as the establishment of the modern state of Israel; 2. The spade of the archaeologist, which has only supported the historical statements of the Bible, such as the existence of the Hittites, the names of Biblical characters and secular rulers such as Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Abraham, and David; 3. Science also verifies the statements that the Bible makes; 4.The abundance of manuscript evidence supporting the integrity of the text itself; and 5. Changed lives, which can support the simple allegation that it works. Yes, the issue of authority is important, very important today!

Resource reading: 1 Peter 1

Duration : 0:4:59

Technorati Tags: bible, christian, Harold Sala, jackbigbox

WHEN LIFE IS NO LONGER SACRED by Dr. Harold Sala
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:13-14

For centuries when doctors have finished medical school, they have taken the Hippocratic Oath. A paragraph in that covenant reads as follows: I will not give poison to anyone though asked to do so, nor will I suggest such a plan. Similarly I will not give a pessary to a woman to cause abortion. But in purity and holiness I will guard my life and my art.

Today, however, doctors may affirm that oath but their commitment doesnt go very deep. When I was a youngster the most common surgical procedure was having your tonsils removed; today it is terminating a pregnancy. In the United States, this procedure takes place 1.5 million times annually; however, the number of abortions in the US pales in light of the number of procedures done in China, India, and Russia where the average woman has between 9 and 14 abortions during her lifetime. Rarely does a woman who terminates a pregnancy understand the awesome process of fetal development as Gods finger touches humanity and brings life. In short, heres what happens.

At conception 500 million sperm compete with each other to produce an ovum—one cell, so tiny it can be seen only under magnification, but then division and multiplication begin. By the eighth division, genes attached to the 23 chromosomes coming from both parents kick in and begin the process which will eventually determine the color of a babys hair, the color of his eyes, the shape of his brain, and the frame of the person, whether he will be tall or short, stocky or thin.

By the eighteenth day—long before a woman even knows she is expecting—a tiny heart begins to pulsate, growing stronger every day. By the forty-second day, brain waves can be recorded, and in the process the hypothalamus gland in the brain kicks into operation producing progesterone or testosterone which make that baby male or female. Soon thereafter the thyroid and adrenal glands are working too.

By the end of the thirteenth week, or the first trimester, the babys fingers are developed, including a fingerprint that, with his DNA, will be his identifying mark for the rest of his or her life. And by the way, that baby knows what to do with that thumb, too—not just hitchhiking a ride the same direction mom is going. The baby sucks his thumb and moves it at will.

Nurses who watch ultrasound, which is something like a video movie of an unborn child, say that by the end of the thirteenth week, they can detect personality in those little people that the world wants to call a fetus, denying that a human being, created in the image of God, endowed with life, personality, and emotions is in the process of developing into a full blown member of the human race.

Long before they are born, babies recognize the voices of their mothers and are quieted when they sing and talk to them. When David pondered this, long before science had given us ultrasound, he said, For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! (Psalm 139:13-16).

Because life is sacred, terminating the life of an unborn child is never written on the page in Gods book which has your name on it. Of that, you can be certain.

Resource reading: Psalm 51

Duration : 0:4:58

Technorati Tags: christian, Harold Sala, jackbigbox, Life, Purpose of Life

EARTHQUAKES–MORE OF THEM? ABSOLUTELY! by Dr. Harold Sala
There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven. Luke 21:11

Unable to sleep in the early hours of the morning (of January 17), my wife, Darlene, got up and decided to work on a Bible study she was preparing. At 4:30 AM she was working on Luke 21–the passage where Jesus said, “There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven” (Luke 21:11). Moments later, the table began to shake and the windows rattled. The house began to sway rhythmically. It was the effect of the earthquake which hit area where we live with a quake that measured 6.6 on the Richter scale.

Darlene thought, “Lord, you don’t have to illustrate this passage so graphically!” The tremor, which lasted for about a minute, left over 50 dead and hundreds injured. The quake flattened freeways, collapsed homes, businesses, and structures as though they had been made of match sticks, and left thousands homeless and destitute.

Question: Are earthquakes a sign of the lateness of the hour? And are there more earthquakes today than, say, a century ago?

Let’s take the last question first. There is no doubting the fact that earthquakes are increasing in both frequency and in severity. In his book Re-Entry, author John Wesley White quotes a historian of seismology. The earthquake authority says that in the 14th century there were 137 major earthquakes. In the 15th century there were 174. In the 16th century there were 253. In the 17th century there were 2,119. The 1974 World Almanac says, “There have been more earthquakes in this century [meaning the 20th century], than in all recorded history.”

One Harvard University seismologist says that earthquakes have increased by a frequency of 2000 percent in the last six centuries. I began writing this commentary in 1963, and since that time, my earthquake file has continued to grow yearly. In 1964 Alaska was shaken by an earthquake measuring 8.4 on the Richter scale. The decade of the 70′s saw nine major quakes. Here’s the record, in part: Peru, 1970–66,000 dead. Southern Iran, 1972–5,000 dead. Then came the big one: China, July 28, 1976–T’ang-shan, a city of 4 million people living nearly 100 miles from Beijing, was hit with a massive quake measuring 8.2 on the Richter scale. Intelligence sources estimated as many as 1 million people died in the buildings that collapsed in indescribable piles of rubble and fire. Sixteen hours later a jolt of 7.9 intensity shook the area again.

But even as the memory of that earthquake fades, consider what happened in 2008. A recent headline read, BEIJING, China (CNN) — China on Tuesday marked the first anniversary of a devastating earthquake that left nearly 90,000 dead or missing one year ago in mountainous Sichuan province. (May 13, 2009). Only eternity will actually reveal the number of children who died in that quake, most of whom were an only child.

The earthquake register grows longer and darker year by year. Is it a challenge to consider the implications of that first question, “Are earthquakes a God-given sign of the lateness of the hour?”

Earthquakes are mentioned 19 times in the Bible. In the New Testament Jesus clearly mentioned earthquakes as a sign of the lateness of the hour, pointing towards His return.

C. S. Lewis wrote that pain is God’s megaphone, and that may well be true, but when God sends an earthquake, no megaphone is needed. You can hear the rumble of His footprints clearly and distinctly.

Resource: Matthew 24:1-35

Duration : 0:4:58

Technorati Tags: bible study, Harold Sala, jackbigbox

TAKE A LESSON by Dr. Harold Sala
Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day’s out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ’s law. Galatians 6:1-2 The Message.

Anyone who does anything on an occasional basis never gets very good at it. A famous pianist once said, If I miss practice one day, I know it. If I miss practice two days, the critics know it. If I miss practice three days, the audience knows it.

As an occasional golfer, I have a handicap of two: woods and irons. That means my game isnt very good. Recently, however, I got so disgusted that I decided to either get some help or quit. Frankly, I enjoy getting together with friends and having a few hours of good fellowship. Rather than quit, I decided to take a lesson and let a pro tell me what I was doing wrong.

With business-like efficiency, the pro took one look and began to point out little things: close the face of the club, take an easier swing, loosen up, keep your head down and your eyes on the ball. Really profound, right? Not at all. Simple stuff. I heard it a long time ago when I took golf in college. Only one thing: I wasnt doing what I really knew theoretically. And I couldnt fix it without someone saying, Heres what you need to do.

Then I got to thinking about this whole concept of someone telling you what you are doing wrong. I paid money for that young man (about the age of my son) to tell me what I was doing wrong, and I liked it. Athletes have all sorts of people who help them—even psychologists who supposedly help them keep their cool when they are behind and getting thoroughly whopped.

In business they do the same thing. Corporations pay lots of money to bring in experts to tell them what they are doing wrong. Efficiency experts do improve performance. But most of the time, the pros tell us what we already know and arent doing. Their tips, however, pay off substantially.

Yes, I took the pros advice and my game seemed to improve. Of course, I wont get to play again for quite a long while, so who knows?

Then I got to thinking about how our spiritual lives might improve if we had someone tell us what we are doing wrong. Why not? When someone tries to point out our flaws, we get defensive. We are embarrassed at the thought of someone telling us what we are doing wrong. We think, Religion is a personal business. Everybody makes mistakes, we reason. We put up a mental roadblock that sends a message, Dont interfere in my life. Yet if an athlete responded to his coach the same way, he would be booted off the team immediately.

Im convinced that spiritually, everyone needs to be accountable to someone. Periodically, someone needs to ask the tough questions, and help us see our flaws. Its OK to prod someone and help them get back on track. Paul told us to do this long ago. He said, Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted (Galatians 6:1). Question: Is your golf game more important than your relationship with God, than keeping your marriage together, than being the dad who is there, the one who makes a difference in the lives of his kids?

Beginning to get the point? I paid hard-earned money to get a lesson. Yes, it was worth it. I suspect, however, that a trusted friend could help me spiritually if I had the strength to say, Right now things arent going very well. Something is wrong, and Im not sure what!

What we cant see, ourselves, is usually obvious to those who are close to us. Suppose a friend asked, Are you in the Word every day? How much time do you get to spend in prayer? When have you done something for someone else? Your priorities need adjusting. Chances are you wouldnt have to pay for that advice, at least not more than the cost of a Coke or a cup of coffee. It will make a difference.

Resource reading: Galatians 6

Duration : 0:4:58

Technorati Tags: bible, Golf, Harold Sala, jackbigbox, Life

MALCOLM MUGGERIDGE by Dr. Harold Sala

If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself. 2 Timothy 2:13, KJV

I never met the old gentleman, but when newspapers reported his death at the age of 87, I felt a profound sadness and loss. In his youth Malcolm Muggeridge had a tongue which was as sharp as a sword, and he never spared anyone of position or influence when it came to using it. He referred to Britain’s monarchy as “a royal soap opera.” He wrote of the American president, Dwight D. Eisenhower, as “a meandering old President.” When he edited Punch magazine, he wrote a lot of things which caused a wisp of smoke to rise as people read them.

As a young Marxist he went to Russia for two years, then returned to Britain to write a scathing bestseller condemning the entire system. Muggeridge could be described as a brilliant man of letters, a cynic and a skeptic, a liberal, one who was able to penetrate the hypocrisy and veneer of society and describe it as it was. In his more skeptical hours he dismantled the entire household of western life and dethroned God, venerating science and power.

Later in life he admitted that he had moments of doubt when he secretly read the Bible. Actually he said that he read it at all stages of his life—in Egypt, India, the USSR, and, of course, at home in his native Britain. In the Gospels he “discovered a new world” which was grossly different from twentieth century life. In his Confessions, which he wrote at the age of 84, he admitted that the most marked‑up passages of his Bible concerned the Passion, and bear “stains that might be from tears.” Remember, if you would, that these words came from one of the most cynical and hard-nosed critics who ever put ink to paper.

There was a variety of experiences which slowly caused his doubt and skepticism to erode, such as the time he was serving with British intelligence in Mozambique during World War 2. Depressed, he decided to terminate his life by drowning. He started swimming but saw a great light which caused him to turn back towards shore. He didn’t drown, but neither did he convert to Christianity at that point. Mother Teresa left her mark in his life as well, as he saw in her the selfless spirit of Christlikeness. Russian Christians with whom he worshiped also left their mark in him. Of his experience with them he wrote, “I should have found myself nearest to You, Jesus, in the land where for half a century past the practice of the Christian religion has been most ruthlessly suppressed.”

On November 27, 1982 Muggeridge was received into the Roman Catholic Church, but this did not really date his time of conversion. It was his way of making a statement condemning the carnality and depravity of life today, and a reaffirmation of his commitment to life, including his opposition to abortion.

When a news magazine reported his death, it ended speaking of his life, saying, it “ended last week at 87.” No, for Muggeridge, life just began.

In his book Christ and Media he wrote, “As the old do, I often wake up in the night, half out of my body, so that I see between the sheets the old battered carcass I shall soon be leaving for good, and in the distance a glow in the sky, the lights of Augustine’s City of God.” For the old British journalist, the distant light which was a glow in the sky has become a reality. As Paul put it, “Now we see through a glass darkly, but then we shall see face to face. Now we know in part, but then we shall know even as we are known.” Malcolm Muggeridge was promoted to heaven at age 87. For him life had just begun.

Resource reading: Acts 9

Duration : 0:4:58

Technorati Tags: bible, christian, Harold Sala, jackbigbox, MALCOLM MUGGERIDGE

SIGNS OF THE TIMES by Dr. Harold Sala
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. 1 Thessalonians 5:1, KJV.

Certain individuals with claims to prophetic insights have always been quick to come up with a date for the second coming of Jesus Christ, and while Scripture says that Unto them who look for Him will He appear the second time. The question is, Are most of us oblivious as to what is really happening in our world?

There is one thing for sure. God doesnt want His children to be unaware, caught sleeping in relation to the circumstances pertaining to the return of His Son, nor does He want His own sleeping spiritually as that day approaches. On one occasion the religious leaders of his day—Pharisees and Sadduccees—came to Jesus to trick Him, asking Him for a sign. He didnt give them what they asked for but He said, When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red, and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times (Matthew 16:2,3).

There is another thing that must be acknowledged. God does have a timetable, and there are indications we are moving toward the end. When Paul wrote the Thessalonians, he said, Of the times and seasons, brother, I have no need to write to you, but if he were to send a letter to us today, he couldnt say that. Why? Because most of us dont have a clue. And thats an ignorance you can ill afford.

There are some criteria that you need to use in evaluating the signs of the times, and on todays commentary I have only enough time to give them to you, and hopefully well develop them later.

Question #1: Ask yourself, What are the present signs and are they local or global? Thats a fair question. The United States is not the center of the world, in spite of what some think. Are earthquakes taking place in greater frequency all over the world or just on the Pacific Rim? Is the power of the Euro a possible universal coinage for the entire world, or is the discussion of a totally new currency—one touted by both China and Russia and given tacit endorsement by the US President Barak Obama—the possibility described by John in the book of Revelation?

Question #2: Ask, Are these signs different from what we have seen before in the world? Almost every generation has seen some despicable world leader—from Nero to Henry Kissinger—as the Antichrist of prophecy. Corruption in leadership is abhorrent but not without precedent. Moral failure is inexcusable, yet a study of Gibbons Rise and Fall of Ancient Rome demonstrates that the Caesars werent exactly Sunday school boys either.

Question #3: Ask, Do what I consider to be signs of the times conform to clear statements of Scripture associated with the end times? This is the most important issue of all. What should be my ruler or my barometer to measure whats happening? Make a study of Daniel 7 and 8, Matthew 24 and 25, the book of 1 Thessalonians, and—yes, of course—the book of Revelation. Discount the doomsday prophet who quotes Scripture out of context or stands on an island of alleged truth all alone without the company of godly men who have spent a lifetime of conscientious study.

But be sure, those signs are there and they reflect the tremendous changes which the past century has brought—unprecedented and alarming changes. Scriptures allusions to the thief in the night demand vigilance and a preparedness that we must not neglect.

Resource reading: 2 Corinthians 7.

Duration : 0:4:58

Technorati Tags: bible study, Harold Sala, jackbigbox, Sign