Man: Good or Evil?

Man by nature is evil. Nature is defined as inherent tendencies of a person or in other words "instinct." Instincts are acts where thinking or reasoning is excluded. This is sometimes referred to as "gut feeling" or for women it's "women's intuition." In example, if someone throws a stone at you, "instinctively" what will you do? Without thinking, we would respond to this in the same manner and would throw back a stone. Other examples are; when we were born, they say that our clenched fist symbolizes our greediness, any person abused or hurt would result to violence, revenge and hate. Our nature or flesh (as in the bible), which is evil will never get along with the spirit, which is good. Gal. 5:16-17 says, "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For⁽ the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do."
I say man in nature is evil because the bible says in gal. 5:19, "You know what comes from the flesh: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality... jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21envy, drunkenness, etc." The word "comes" from the flesh tells us that the things are inherent to the flesh, while on the spirit they are referred to as fruits, which means something that takes time, effort and is a result. One saying often heard is "there is always a good in every man," which explains that human is full of evil but the spirit convicts us to do good.
If man by nature is good, what comes into our mind when we see our enemy? What comes out of our mouths when we are angry or insulted? What do we do when we hate someone?

Man is evil. Man is sinful and only God is good, citing the words of Jesus in Mark 10:18, "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone." That's why we need a savior to save us from the evil we are in, and we need to follow Him to be like Him; perfect and holy. Lastly, I'll quote Romans 3:10, "As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one."


*This essay was written by Jeff

Who Am I?

Here's a great song with a very nice lyrics from Casting Crowns!

Who am i, that the lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt
Who am i, that the bright and morning star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart

Not because of who i am
But because of what you've done
Not because of what i've done
But because of who you're

Chorus:
I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
A vapor in the wind
Still you hear me when i'm calling
Lord, you catch me when i'm falling
And you've told me who i am
I am yours, i am yours

Who am i, that the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love and watch me rise again
Who am i, that the voice that calmed the sea
Would call out through the rain
And calm the storm in me

I am yours
Whom shall i fear
Whom shall i fear
'cause i am yours
I am yours

A Poem for our Dads

Before I was myself you made me, me
With love and patience, discipline and tears,
Then bit by bit stepped back to set me free,

Allowing me to sail upon my sea,
Though well within the headlands of your fears.
Before I was myself you made me, me

With dreams enough of what I was to be
And hopes that would be sculpted by the years,
Then bit by bit stepped back to set me free,

Relinquishing your powers gradually
To let me shape myself among my peers.
Before I was myself you made me, me,

And being good and wise, you gracefully
As dancers when the last sweet cadence nears
Bit by bit stepped back to set me free.

For love inspires learning naturally:
The mind assents to what the heart reveres.
And so it was through love you made me, me
By slowly stepping back to set me free.

A Mother's Love

There are times when only a Mother's love
Can understand our tears,
Can soothe our disappoints
And calm all of our fears.

There are times when only a Mother's love
Can share the joy we feel
When something we've dreamed about
Quite suddenly is real.

There are times when only a Mother's faith
Can help us on life's way
And inspire in us the confidence
We need from day to day.

For a Mother's heart and a Mother's faith
And a Mother's steadfast love
Were fashioned by the Angels
And sent from God above...

- Author Unknown.

Summer Camp

Every year, Shiloh Christian Fellowship Inc. is having its Summer Youth Camp. This year's camp was entitled "Thirst for God" where young people quenched their thirst for serving God. We had visitors from other countries like New Zealand and Australia. We were inspired by our speaker Brother Steve Dunne, who taught us how to surrender our lives to God and to take a step in saying yes to God's calling in service of our church and our country. Everybody had a great time, enjoying God's presence, participating in every game prepared by the staff, displaying their talents and skills on every contest and even having fun at the beach.

Youth

Youth is not a time of life - it is a state of mind, it is a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over love of
ease.

Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old only by deserting their ideals. Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, doubt, self-distrust, fear and despair -
these are the long, long years that bow the head and turn the growing spirit back to dust.

Whether they are sixteen or seventy, there is in every being's heart the love of wonder, the sweet amazement at the stars and starlike things and
thoughts, the undaunted challenge of events, the unfailing childlike appetite for what is to come next, and the joy and the game of life.

You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear, as young as your hope, as old as your despair. When the wires are all down and all the innermost core of your heart is covered with the snows of pessimism and the ice of cynicism, then you are grown old indeed.

But so long as your heart receives messages of beauty, cheer, courage, grandeur and power from the earth, from man and from the Infinite, so long you are young.

THE OTHER FORGOTTEN 10 COMMANDMENTS

1.Thou shall not worry, for worry is the most unproductive of all human activities.

2. Thou shall not be fearful, for most of the things we fear never come to pass.

3. Thou shall not cross bridges before you come to them, for no one yet has succeeded in accomplishing this.

4. Thou shall face each problem as it comes.
You can only handle one at a time anyway.

5. Thou shall not take problems to bed with you, for they make very poor bedfellows.

6. Thou shall not borrow other people's problems. They can better care for them than you can.

7. Thou shall not try to relive yesterday for good or ill, it is forever gone. Concentrate on what is happening in your life and be happy now!

8. Thou shall be a good listener, for only when you listen do you hear different ideas from your own. It is hard to learn something new when you are talking, and some people do know more than you do.

9. Thou shall not become "bogged down" by frustration, for 90% of it is rooted in self-pity and will only interfere with positive action.

10. Thou shall count thy blessings, never overlooking the small ones, for a lot of small blessings add up to a big one.