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Page 6...The Portland Observer...December 25,1991
• Portland Observer
RELIGION
The Bible Speaks On Humanity, Creation And The Environment
BY MICHAEL LINDSEY
Dean of North Portland Bible College
The text fo r the Sunday School
lesson (International Series) fo r next
Sunday is Psalm 8. Let me encourage
you again to build a new habit in 1 9 9 2 -
the habit o f Sunday School attendance.
Stronger adult Sunday School classes
will strengthen the outreach o f your
church, and also strengthen your fa m
ily spiritially.
O LO RD , our Lord,
how majestic (excellent) is thy name
in all the earth!
That is how our text, Psalm 8,
begins, and also how it ends. The name
o f our G od is all-im portant to a right
understanding o f who he is. The name
LORD in most o f our versions trans
lates the Hebrew name “ Y ahw eh” or
“ Jehovah.” There is no Conspiracy
here to obscure the name o f our God (as
som e have claimed); the English trans
lators are simply following the pattern
o f the New Testam ent writers, who
consistently translated “ Yahweh” with
the Greek “ kyrios,” which means
“ lord,” “ m aster,” even “ husband”
in some contexts. (Compare Matt 3:3
with Isaiah 40:3; and Matt 22:43-44
with Psalm 110:1.)
It doesn’t m atter very much what
pronunciation we give to the names of
G od (Yahweh is only one of them);
much more important is our understand
ing o f who he is, and w hat his name
means. The name LORD o r Yahweh
com es from their verb for being, and
therefore means “ the one who is,” i.e.,
the God who is real, self-existent, inde
pendent, not bound to people’s rituals or
sacrifices, like the gods o f other ancient
peoples. Surely our G od is excellent,
majestic, and worthy o f all our praise
and obedience.
And his name is excellent because
it reveals his self-sufficient character.
Don’t let anyone tell you that your church
is a false church because it doesn’t use
the right (English) name for God. They
miss the whole point: the names o f God
are not ritual formulas to follow; they
represent important aspects o f his char
acter.
King David wrote Psalm 8 and
addressed the entire psalm to the Lord.
And yet if we read it carefully, w e’ll see
that David is revealing the wonderful
relationship between God and hum an
ity, and praising God for that. Some of
the deepest questions we can ask as
human beings surface in Psalm 8: Are
people significant? W hat makes us im
portant? How do we relate to the rest of
Freshen Your Laundry
With Baking Soda
(NU) - As nights grow chilly and
frost lurks just around the comer,
it’s time to bring out the winter ward
robe
Experts suggest baking soda can
help freshen those clothes and keep
them looking good.
For baking soda laundry tips,
write to Ami & Hammer Use Wheel
Offer, P.O. Box 4533, Dept. E.
Monticello, MN 55365-4533. En
close $1 to cover postage and han
dling and allow four to six weeks for
delivery.
NE
of
2. Fundraising
3. Community News Letter
5. Board Participation
°
.Catfish .Red Snapper .BEG Ribs .Steaks
.Turnip Greens .Cornbread .Chitterlings
.Yams .Blackeyed Peas .Sweet Potato Pies
. Peach Cobbler
Wigland
.6AM Breakfast
. Hot Food Express Line 11am - 2pm
. Master Charge . Visa . American Express
One of the Northwest Largest Wig Displays
Wigs and Hairpieces For all Nationalities
E va G abor
N aomi S ims
R enee of P aris
AVENUE
Steen’s Kitchen
7332 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Synthetic & Human Hair
For Braiding & Weeving
SUNDAY SCHEDULE
Bible Study
9:30 am.
Morning Worship
10:45 am.
Men’s Training Leadership
Women’s Bible Class
5:00 pm.
Evening Worship
6:00 pm.
Attended nursery for all
services
Wednesday prayer meeting
Min ister Gregory Fobbs
* Down Home Cooking At Its Very Best!
Please call Rose Marie Davis @ 281-8976 any time.
C hrist
M ALLORY
Family Dining ▼ Catering < Specialty Menu
We need volunteers interested in:
1. Community Service
psalm a lot better, since idols and
pagan gods are not even mentioned.
Since mankind has such a status,
we are unique in the creation, with a
special honor over all the rest. There
is no distinction in this honor between
male and female (Gen 1:27), nor among
any o f the races o f humanity (Acts
17:26; Gen 3:20).
W hat else does God tell us? (2)
That humanity has a tremendous re
sponsibility to rule over the earth (Ps
8:6-8; Gen 1:26 again), and we will be
judged on how well we have handled
the marvvelous creation he gave us.
As such, people have the right to ‘ ‘sub
due” the earth, but not to ravage it, to
contral its resources for human bene
fit, but not to destroy i t
The earth is not an organism, nor
should it be worshipped as a mother
goddess. These things are being glibly
taught today as obvious fact. The
truth is, “ the earth is the L ord’s, and
the fullness thereof, the sea, and those
that dwell therein” (Ps 24:1), I be
lieve Christians should be in the fore
front of recycling efforts, cleaning up
toxic waste sites, anti-nuclear activ-
ism -not because we “ love our mother’ ’
(earth), but because we know and love
its Creator.
Homestyle Cooking
Interested in Community Development in Northeast Portland? The
Northeast Genesis Project needs your help!
M allory
3908
folks to train carnivores to eat plant
life? O r should that be protected too?
My point is, without some clear
revelation of the nature of God, and
nature, and humanity, people will o f
ten respond to immediate situations,
with emotional responses that seem
self-contradictory on reflection. Many
o f my friends have adopted little bits
of eastern religion, reincarnation, as
trology, nationalism/patriotism, Star
Trek optimism and other philosophies.
But they don’t understand that there is
a god, who is there, who has com m u
nicated the truth about the human race.
We don’t need an ET to tell us our
past, or our future. God is a Super-
Terrestrial, and he’s given us all we
need to know. W hat does God tell us,
then? (1) That humanity is created in
the very image of God him self (Gen
1:26) and as such is only a little lower
than his Creator. In Psalm 8:5 we read
“ for thou hast made him a little lower
than the angels, and hast crowned him
with glory and honour.” The Hebrew
word translated “ the him with glory
andhomour.” The Hebrew word trans
lated “ the angels” in this verse is
actully elohim, which means either
“ G od” or “ the gods,” depending on
the context. I think the former fits this
Volunteers Needed
I“
C hurch
mines the very basis of human dignity
and society.
Fortunately, we still have a resi
due of Judaeo-Christian values in our
society, and materialistic evolution as
a world view is still widely resisted.
The Gallup organization tells us that
four out o f five Americans would label
themselves Christians, and nine out of
ten Americans believe there is a God.
But it’s obvious that a lot of people
have adopted a different view o f God
from the revelation of the Bible. Their
lives reflect many strange views of
morality, o f the value o f life, o f stan
dards of right and wrong. I call their
approach ‘ ‘God is there, but he doesn’t
com m unicate.’ ’ Some o f the extremes
of the Earth-First ecology movement
result from these attitudes. Animal
rights activists believe that all animal
life is valuable, even sacred. So they
must believe something about God. If
they are fully consistent, they teach
that animals have as much right to
exist as people. As a result, some
become vegetarians by conscience, and
believe all people should do the same.
I’m not sure what they expect such
animal-eaters as eagles, tigers, salmon
and spotted owls to do.
W ouldn ’ t it be consistent for these
CLEAN CLOTHES
Christmas Give
“ T here’s no place like this place,
nowhere near this place. This is the
place.” This is the place where family
needs are met spiritually and physi
cally: See schedule below.
Tuesdays-Free clothes for the entire
family
WED. & FR I’s-F o o d Distribution
Day.
Times--1:00pm to 3:00pm.
For further ¡information ask for
Pat Gamble or Ruth Glass at 288-1092.
life (and non-life, for that matter) here
on earth?
As I see it, there are really three
schools o f thought today that give an
swers to these questions. In one case,
humanity is really an amazing “ acci
dent of evolution.” Given billions of
years, some cosmic ooze, and a whole
lot of lu c k -o r some other mechanism
which no-one has discovered yet—and
the end product turns our to be mj !
A ren’t you excited? Think carefully
before you answer.
If we are merely a highly devel
oped product of matter, plus time, plus
chance (as many evolutionists argue),
then we have no purpose for existence.
We are no more important than a sea
fish, or an amoeba, or a pile o f rubbish.
O r else we are only as important as we
choose to make ourselves-and w ho’s
to say w e’re wrong? Someone may
argue that his race is superior to all oth-
e rs-w h o can claim that all people are
equal, unless someone created them
equal? Someone else may claim that
men have the right to abuse (weaker)
women and children, because they are
inherently stronger-how can evolution,
and “ survival of the fittest,” deny his
point? I think that evolution, when fol
lowed to its logical conclusions, under
ThePrudential
Jim Werner
District Agent, 19 Years Service
Mon - Fr. 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Saturday 10 - 5:30 pin
11300 N.E. Halsey, Suite 100
Portland, OR 97220
Residence: 503-771-6113
N e a r L lo y d C e n te r
284-1664
1105
N.E. Broadway
M MM M MM MM M MeM MeMM M MM fittM MM
Jesus Loves You!
and???,e
All en Temple CME CL urch
Cold-weather goods needed
7:30 pm.
Radio Ministry Each Sunday, 11:00 AM - KBMS
Psalm 34:3
As winter nears, blankets, heavy coats and other
cold-weather clothing are once again atop our list of
desperately needed items. Among the other needs:
workboots, rain gear and tents (for the homeless), .
blankets, pillows, bedsheets, baby blankets, pots,
pans, dishes, kitchen utensils, tables and chairs,
chests of drawers.
For details: 284-6878.
288-1092
R E S TO R IN G
N E W TESTAMENT C H R ISTIAN ITY
4236 NE Eighth Avenue
(corner of 8lh & Skidmore)
Portland, Oregon 97211
(503) 287-0261
Phillip S. Nelson Pas,or
^ B a p tis t d f u r c t f
8101 N. Fiske Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97203
Church Phone: 2 8 9 -0 1 4 7
Sunday Service
10:45
Sunday School
9 :3 0
Bible Study
6:00
Evening Service
7:00
Study Phone: 2 8 9 -1 9 1 1
M allory Avenue
Christian Church
D
I
s
p
I e
o
f
C h r
s
MT OLIVET BAPTIST
CHURCH
WE ARE MOVING
SUNDAY SERVICES
TO
t
God’s Presence promises
Power through Jesus Christ In
Good Times and Bad Times
Stone Tower Church,
N.E. Sandy Blvd. & 3Oth
AAnttfiecu / 7:f?&
W orship Services 8:00 A.M. & 11:00 A.M.
C hurch School 9:30 A.M. to 10:30 A.M.
Bible Study. Wednesdays. 116 N.E.Schuyler
10:30»A.M. and 6:30 P.M.
"Come to me oil you who ore
weary and heavy laden and I
will give you rest"
9:45om
11:00am
7:30pm
Pasta: Rev James C E Faulkner
rheme: Whatever you're going to do
'or the Lord, do it now
I Peter lv .1 1
t , » « « < *
Sunday School
Morning Worship
Tuesday Bible
Study and Prayer
Inter-racial Congregation
Radio M in istry each Sunday. 8:00 A.M .-KBM S
A Teaching C hurch W ith A Reaching M in is try
Dr. James E. M artin. Senior Pastor
Denise P ßell, Postor
Church Office 116 N.E. Schuyler,
126 N.€. Alberta + Portland, OR 97211 + (503) 288-5173
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