file:  /pub/resources/text/Our.Daily.Bread: db940814.txt
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OUR DAILY BREAD                             Sunday, August 14, 1994
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READ: 3 John 

                        CLIMATE CONTROL

              May the Lord make you increase
             and abound in love to one another.

                     1 Thessalonians 3:12  


It's one of the few places on earth where the air is as fresh and clean 
as it must have been millennia ago. Constant winds keep out pollution 
and germs, and the climate discourages the growth of native viruses. 

It sounds like the healthiest place on earth. So why doesn't anyone want 
to live there? Because it's just too cold. With temperatures that drop 
to -100 Fahrenheit, the South Pole is too frigid even for germs. 

Some churches bear a striking resemblance to that sterile atmosphere. 
The truth of God is preached, Scriptures are meticulously quoted, and 
error has no chance to survive. But there is no corresponding obedience 
or love, and the spiritual temperature is sub-zero. The poor are given 
the cold shoulder (Jas. 2:2-6). Those weak in the faith engage in icy 
arguments (Rom. 14:1). Brothers in Christ are left out in the cold 
because they pose a threat to comfortable cliques (3 Jn. 5-10). Unloved 
and untouched, many people leave. 

The church was formed by the redeeming love of Christ and is designed to 
be a warm and inviting fellowship! Our desire must not be merely to 
"keep out the germs," but to let the Lord create a climate where 
brothers and sisters can open their hearts to His soul-healing love.

                                                         - MRD II 


                   The house of God should be a place
                     For praise and fervent prayer;
               How sad when folks let small things break
                      Their sweet communion there! 

                                                  - HGB  



THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:  
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The Church 
should always be 
a warm shelter in a cold world. 


THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Jeremiah 30-32 



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