Wes said; ........ if you don't have your's near you, take the one that is.
This reminds me of a story.....in a former life when I was a traveling salesman. An aquaintance in the business related to me a true story, of which I can only imagine the ending. (God Knows!) He was the typical traveling salesman and in one of the larger cities on his itinerary he arranged for a “lady of the evening” to come by his motel room one evening. He mentioned that he, that afternoon, picked up at his bank several crisp, brand new $100.00 bills. Fearing that the “lady of the evening” might not have any more scruples than he, he decided to hide all but one of the new $100.00 bills. His hiding place....of course, the Gideon Bible . He stated that the next day..while on the plane returning home he suddenly remembered the $100.00 bills in the Gideon Bible. Now... my imagination sees, perhaps a motel maid, discouraged, despondent needing spiritual AND financial help and as she is sitting on the edge of the bed pouring her heart out to God..He impresses upon her to seek His Word. She doesn’t have her bible near her...so, as you say,..she takes the one that is ,opens it, and finds God’s true treasure AND several brand new crisp $100.00 bills.
Who is the pastor of the Gideons ? ? ? ? ? And what local church has commissioned them ? ? ? ? ? I stayed in a hotel this past week end and it had the book of mormons. I threw it away like it or not (poison !)
When I started reading your reply and you said, ..."in a former life," I thought for just a minute you were going off into another religion. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> However that's an interesting tale. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> If the maid or another businessman took the Bible they got both God's Word and mammon. So they could be ministered to both spiritually and physically.
BookMark said: Theres nothing Mammon about 100 dollar bills Wes.
Its the LOVE of 100 dollar bills Mammon is interested in
1 Timothy 6:10
That's right Mark, it is the "love of money" not money in and of itself. Paul's admonition to Timothy is firmly rooted and based upon this:
Exodus 20:17 (ASV) "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's."
Job 31:24-28 (ASV) "If I have made gold my hope, And have said to the fine gold, [Thou art] my confidence; If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, And because my hand had gotten much; If I have beheld the sun when it shined, Or the moon walking in brightness, And my heart hath been secretly enticed, And my mouth hath kissed my hand: This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judges; For I should have denied the God that is above."
Psalms 10:3 (ASV) "For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, And the covetous renounceth, [yea], contemneth Jehovah."
Proverbs 1:19 (ASV) "So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; It taketh away the life of the owners thereof."
Proverbs 23:4 (ASV) "Weary not thyself to be rich; Cease from thine own wisdom."
BookMark said: Theres nothing Mammon about 100 dollar bills Wes.
Mark,
I beg to differ with you Mark. The word "mammon" rightly interpreted means "riches" or "materail possessions."
In Matthew 6:24 our Lord says, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."
In this quote our Lord is telling His disciples you cannot serve both. It isn't sinful to have riches. It's sinful to love them and serve them. I hope you can see the difference.
The Bible doesn't tell us that money is the root of all kinds of evil. It tells us that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.
1 Timothy 6:10 "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
Wes
When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, my richest gain I count but loss and pour contempt on all my pride. - Isaac Watts
Hi Tom, and Hi everyone, I've just joined the Highway and perhaps I can shed some light upon the Gideons. I'm chairman of the Devon East branch ('camp') of the Gideons in England. To be a Gideon you have to be a member in good standing of a Protestant Church, not be a Pastor or Minister and
1. Believe in the Bible as the inspired inerrant Word of God. 2. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the eternal Son of God. 3. Have received Him as your personal Saviour. 4. Seek to follow Him in your daily life. 5. Believe that unrepentant sinners will be condemned to everlasting (endless) punishment.
The aim of Gideons Int. is 'to win men and women, boys and girls for the Lord Jesus Christ.' This is done by the distribution of scriptures and by personal witnessing, in which the Gideons set great store (though it's not my strong suit!). Scriptures are placed in Hotels, Prisons, Hospitals, Doctors', Dentists' and Solicitors' waiting rooms. Copies of the New Testament and Psalms are presented to the Armed Forces, Police, Nurses and Prisoners. (I believe that the NTs are known as 'bullet stoppers' in parts of the US Army since a soldier was shot (in Vietnam, I think) in the Testament he was keeping in his breast pocket).
The Gideons are active in 179 countries. We have given out more than 1.1 Billion(!) Scriptures since we started. This increases by about a million every 8 days. One of the most recent countries we started in is Outer Mongolia, where there is a real revival going on brought about by the translation of the Bible into Mongolian. However, of the 179 countries, only 11 are self-supporting! The rest need money to pay for the Scriptures. That's why we come to churches to talk about the work, though we're not supposed to ask directly for money. Gideons in the Third World make great sacrifices, and sometimes risk their lives to give out the Scriptures, but they have no money to pay for them.
Yes, many Gideons are Arminian, and some are Charismatic, but they all love the Lord Jesus. I am a 5 point Calvinist and Reformed Baptist, but sometimes it does me good to get out of my 'holy huddle' and meet others who are my brothers in Christ, even if we don't agree on many points. Also, sometimes I have the opportunity to steer some of these brethren in the direction of the sovereignty of God and the sufficiency of the Scriptures.
If any of you brothers have a little free prayer time, on Tuesday I am speaking before an assembly at the largest school in Britain (Exmouth Community College). I shall have 20 minutes to talk to 450 eleven and 12 year-olds about the Bible and encourage them to read it for themselves. Then we shall give each one his or her own New Testament and Psalms (no separation of church and state over here!). Please pray that I can keep their attention that long and that the Lord will open their hearts to take the NTs home and read them; and that by reading, they may find life.
I hope to get to know everyone here really well in the future. If anyone wants to know more about the Gideons, please ask.
Thanks for the information about Gideon's. I will say a prayer for your address to the students, but I'm sure that the Spirit will put the right words in your mouth when you need them.
We look forward to your participation here, and getting to know you too!
<img src="/forum/images/graemlins/hello.gif" alt="" /> Welcome to the Highway, Steve! I will be praying for your talk on Tuesday. May the Lord be pleased to use you and those Bibles to turn many of those students to Himself!
In recent years Mormons have been giving out the book of Mormon. If you see the book of Mormon in a Hotel room, chances are that Mormons approached the Hotel managers about putting the book of Mormon in the Hotel. I used to be a motel manager and all maturial that went into rooms (such as Bibles, fliers, etc) was put there by motel/hotel management.
Hi Susan and Ruth, The School Assembly went really well. I'm not aware that even one child refused a New Testament! Please go on praying that the Testaments may be read and that the Lord will be glorified in the saving of sinners there in the school.
Steve, That's great news! <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/joy.gif" alt="" /> I will be praying for those kids! May the Lord give them a hunger for His Word!
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