Hello wonByOners!!
Just to let you know, I spent Thanksgiving week...in Argentina!...working!!. Argentina is a country in South America, and it borders Antartica.
Actually, a friend of mine from my first church has a ministry with an orphanage down there so when I heard he was going I wanted to join him. Besides going to watch a great soccer match (Argentines loves soccer like Americans love baseball) I had the chance to help dig a new drainage on the orphanage's soccer field. The field would always turn to a swap after a heavy storm. So we spent eight days digging and getting the old pipes out and placing new ones in. By Friday morning, the drainage was completed. A lot of the older kids helped out a lot. It was a humbling, yet rewarding experience and I thank God I had a chance to help. I admire the missionaries helping out there and I thank God for their faithfulness, which includes going out every week to ask companies for any help, dropping kids to school every day and most importantly, teaching them the Word of God daily. Well, let me know if you have any questions and I'll answer them. In the meantime, here are some pictures...

1) This is the drainage we dug.
2) This is the "microbus" used to carry the kids to school and anywhere else. They used to use an old Chevrolet 2500 before it.
3) This is a delicacy in Argentina: "Asado". Not many condiments nor sauces, but tasty, specially the ribs.


4) This is the back of the orphanage.
5-6) These are at "River Plate" stadium. Great soccer match.
7) Another view of the new drainage.

Romans 13:1-7
Now, the unbeliever’s heart is totally bent on personal rights and personal opinions! It is the very notion that the Bible, the God breathed Holy Scriptures, being the absolute authority over their lives, both temporal and eternal, that the unbeliever suppresses with unrighteousness, being slaves to "the flesh". Submission to true authority is totally against the grain of the "the flesh", that is the unredeemed portion of a believer’s body and heart, and the totality of an unbeliever (for a better understanding of "the flesh", go back to your notes on Romans 6-7, reread it, and see also Galatians 5:19-21; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Romans 2:28-31 and Mark 7:21-22).
It is here that Paul, adding to his command for us to be renewed by the transforming of our minds, as we give ourselves to the grace of God in sanctification through obedience, declares to us that the applicable authority that governs our earthly lives: parents, teachers, the government, church leadership, employers, a spouse, etc, are in place by the will of God, and are to be obeyed, only according to the truth, from the heart, regardless of circumstances!!!
We’ll look at why I’ve added "regardless of circumstances" and "from the heart" later, but first we’ll look at "only in the truth".


First discussion question: Why only in the truth? For a grasp of what is meant by "truth", see Romans 2:5-8 and context (hint: think back to the source of the authority)


If the word of God says "do *****" whatever the command, that command has behind it God’s authority, who spoke the universe into creation! If "so and so" says "do *****", and that command is a direct contradiction to the word of God, the divine authority of the Scriptures obviously over-rules the authority of flesh and blood. The Bible is the Word of God, and it commands obedience, therefore over-rules all other sources of authority. This is why preaching the gospel, even if flesh and blood commands us not to, is to be done anyway, for God commands us to, and all believers have been commissioned as missionaries in an alien world, and the authority behind that command over-rules any other authority that would prop itself up against it.


Second discussion Question: What is the difference between obedience from the heart, with joy and pleasure, and dragging one’s heels, obeying begrudgingly?


Now, why from the heart? Ephesians 6:5-8 reads, " Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh (authorities in the world), with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart." Paul here zeros in on the reality of regeneration, that is, a relationship with God, empowered by the Holy Spirit, through Christ, existing in the heart of the believer. Paul identifies the authority, a slave master; the command, obedience; and the reality, do so as slaves to Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. Paul also helps us to understand what this looks like. In his letter to Titus, through the Holy Spirit, Paul writes, "Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men. (Titus 3:1-3)". Now, I don’t know about you, but when it comes to obedience to authority, it is totally against the grain of indwelling sin inside of me. We see unbelievers all of the time, daily, obeying surrounding authorities; however, can an unbeliever, from the heart, with reverence, not maligning anyone, being gentle and peaceable, with good deeds, do the will of God from the heart? The answer is obviously no, and Paul reminds us of that immediately after he gives the command to Titus to be passed down to the congregation Titus preached to; and he writes in verse 3, "For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.". Then Paul launches into what happened to those who are now believers, and why they can do the will of God from the heart!


Third discussion question: Under what circumstances, provided the satisfaction that a believer is not commanded to do something contrary to God’s word, is a believer to obey authority? (hint, under who’s custody did Paul execute a good portion of his ministry?)


Let’s look at an example, the Lord Jesus Christ. To what extent, and under what circumstances did He submit to authority? First, let’s look at some passages that identify what Jesus was doing while He was on the earth. Jesus, in His High Priestly Prayer (John 17) prayed to The Father, "I glorified you on the earth, having accomplished the work which you have given me to do. (John 17:4)". Hebrews 5:7-8 says, "In the days of His flesh (His earthly body, different from "the flesh" spoken of above), He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His Piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered." Philippians 2:5b-8 describes the magnitude of Christ’s obedience to His Father, and reads, "Christ Jesus who although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." The word obedience shows up often in regard to Christ’s relationship to The Father! However, the Roman, Pilate, who ordered Jesus’ crucifixion under the pressure of the scribes and Pharisees, after having Jesus beaten and scourged (and at the that time the Romans soldiers pressed the crown of thorns upon Jesus’ head) was told by Jesus, "You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above...(John 19:11)". And we see in Romans that although Pilate order Jesus' crucifixion, it was carried out throug the sovereign will of God; for Paul writes, inspired by the Holy Spirit of God that Jesus Christ is He, "Whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation...(Romans 3:26)" It was God who crucified Jesus, even though it was carried out through Pilate’s "authority", and Jesus submitted Himself to it!!!


Fourth discussion Question: Who can find passages that command believers to obey authorities, even if it means temporal suffering? One example is 1 Peter 2:18-19!

This Sunday, November 18th is collection day for the Operation Christmas Child boxes at church. So, if you have a chance this week, grab a shoebox from the basement or attic and start picking up stuff to fill it with. You can do this as a group (2 or 3 people) or with your family, or on your own. Check out more details at their website: www.samaritanspurse.org/OCC.
Make sure you include a note to the child and tell them about Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross. We're trying to teach Napoleon to write so he can send a note in his box too. He's not making much progress yet. Happy box filling!!

Well, we finished up chapter 12 of Romans two nights ago- and I don't know about you- but I had so much to think about. Paul is the kind of guy that doesn't exactly "beat around the bush"; if you know what I mean... With all the information over the last month or so ( on chapter 12) I guess the best way to summerize is with a question: Who do you live for? Do you live for Christ? Do you live for men? In verse one Paul says that we should "present ourselves as holy and living sacrifices." With all the strange connotations, it's easy to get side-tracked, but the point is very clear. Those who profess to be Christians must die to themselves; they must live to die for Christ. However, this does not mean simply saying, "I would DIE for Christ!" Ben has said, "It's not a question of whether you will die for Christ; will you live for Him?