We define the word “symphony” as an intricate composition of music. I imagine that diverse parts are coordinated into a whole and fit the composer’s design. We get our word “symphony” from the Greek word symphonia. It’s a compound word, and the two parts mean “together” “sound.” It’s not the case that every word that looks like a similar English word has a similar meaning. Nor is it the case that every word’s meaning is like the parts of the word that make it up. Though, this is what symphonia does. Two hundred and fifty years before Jesus was born, the Septuagint used this word in Daniel 3 to describe the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre and psaltery together “in symphony” (vs. 5, 7, 10, 15). The usage of the word didn’t change much in the next two and a half centuries. In Luke 15, Jesus’ description of the celebration of the return of the prodigal son described the older brother drawing near and hearing “music.” Using this word picture, we have a vivid illustration of how inspiration works. When the addition of Gentiles to the church was a point of sharp contention, there was a meeting in Jerusalem to discuss the matter. The simple, yet important, decision was that the Scriptures taught it was always in God’s plan for the Gentiles to be part of the church. Before elaborating with Old Testament Scripture, James began his case explaining, “…with this the words of the prophets agree…” (Acts 15:15 NKJV). “Agree”

The next thing you purchase could be a lifetime supply. This isn’t a sweepstakes. Read the first line again. It’s a fact we take for granted most seconds of every day. It would drive us crazy spending every waking hour wondering if it was our last. Perhaps we couldn’t even sleep due to fear. So, what do we do? Scripture teaches us that we need to live for our last hour, not wonder about it. Decide about What to Wonder – If the Lord wills. Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. (James 4:13-17 NKJV) Learn about What Not to Worry – Not Things. Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not

How many had eaten in Matthew 14:21? “Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children” (NKJV). Five thousand? If you said, “No, more than five thousand. That wasn’t counting the women and children,” you are correct. That’s the idea of the word translated “besides.” The men were counted separately, not counting women and children. However, the word can also mean “without.” Why wouldn’t the translators use that word here? Let’s try it. “Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, without women and children.” While “without” is one shade of meaning of the word, it would give the wrong idea given the context. Someone might come away asking, “Were there women and children? Did they not get to eat?” In John’s account of this miraculous feeding, there was a young boy who had loaves and fish (John 6:9). It was a great multitude, and there were women and children in it. Jesus was healing the sick. The word is translated “besides” because they were there. They just weren’t included in the counting. Here’s why this is important. Some take Paul’s emphasis on righteousness being by faith, in places like Romans 4, and try to remove anything we do, “works,” from faithful living. Romans 3:28 concludes “that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds [works] of the law.” Abraham was a great example of this because he was justified without being under the Law. However, it wasn’t because what he

Andrew might have been a man one would consider average. He came from a city of little reputation. In fact, if one heard of it in the first century, he would know the industry of the place by the meaning of its name, “house of fish,” which may have been all for which it was known. We know it today as Bethsaida, a city that would probably be lost if it were not for its preservation in the Scriptures (John 1:44). This city was probably located around the northeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, where average Andrew practiced an average trade, fishing. The only reason we probably know of Andrew is because he is mentioned about a dozen times in the Bible. Even so, at a glance, Andrew’s life seems rather unexciting as compared to others of whom we read. He was a disciple of John the Immerser (John 1:35-40). He even followed Christ and became an apostle (Matthew 10:2). However, in light of the accomplishments of the other apostles, Andrew’s seem to fall into the shadows. We do not have any of his preaching recorded like his brother Peter’s. He never wrote Scripture. Actually, none of his actions, which are recorded in the Bible, would be considered significant by the world’s standards. Nonetheless, because of the One he followed, we would contend that his life has an eternal effect on many souls. Today, Andrew provides a great example of action. Often, when we feel there is nothing we

Atheists have tried for years to prove that God does not exist. This is impossible, however, because God does exist, and the nature of the atheist’s position is self-defeating. An atheist makes the claim, “I know God does not exist.” This is what is called a universal negative. That means, that in order to know what they claim, they must have all of the evidence. Imagine the following illustration: There are two men in the woods. One man says to the other, “I know that there is not even one deer in these woods, nor has there ever been.” The other man says, “I know that there is, at least, one deer that exists, or has existed in these woods.” The first man would have to know or do a couple of things that would be impossible for him to know or do. 1) He would have to be able to see the whole area that he was considering. 2) He would have to know that there had never been a deer in that area. The man that said that he knew there was at least one deer that exists, or had existed, in the same wooded area, would have much less to prove. He would simply have to provide one deer track, some deer hide, rub marks from a buck, deer bones or even some droppings. If this man provided any one of these, he could uphold his side of the case. The first man is holding a position similar to