The Italian Memorandum

“A glad heart makes a cheerful face”

(Proverbs 15:13)

“When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all up hill,
When the friends are low, and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh…

Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the cloud of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far…”

–Author unknown

The story is told of a man visiting the Louvre in Paris. He went through the entire museum and commented sarcastically to the doorman upon his leave, “I didn’t see a thing in there!” The doorman smiled and gently replied, “Don’t you wish you could have?” (Arlie J. Hoover, Fallacies of Unbelief, p. 64). We cannot always be of a chipper disposition (John 11:35; Philippians 4:11; Proverbs 15:13). But, what determines whether we spend our days in a chipper mood or a dismal flurry of bitterness? It is written, “good news refreshes the bones” (Proverbs 15:30). The gospel is a message that must be internalized and verbalized (Romans 10:8-11). If we wait for chipper days, we miss the point. We must activate what we know by the gospel. There are no chipper days, only chipper people (see James 5:13). May it be so with you.

-Robert M. Housby

(Rethinking 2 Corinthians 6)

“If I only had the time…”

The apostle Paul urges all Christians to live with a redemptive view of time (2 Cor. 6:2; Eph. 5:16). To rethink 2 Corinthians 6 is to be confronted by Paul’s Biblical philosophy of time:

1. Grace (6:2 is connected to 6:1). Often, in the church, we hear—let’s study “grace,” “reconciliation,” or “ministry”. Note: these are all present in the verses leading up to 2 Corinthians 6 (see 5:11-21). There is a place for topical Bible study. But, it mustn’t be forgotten that biblical context is as much a part of inspiration as are isolated Bible words.

2. Now (6:2, twice). Note the strong sense of contemporaneity (now-ness). This stands in contradistinction to procrastination or laissez faire.

3. Favorable time (6:2, twice). There is a complete theology behind this phrase (see Isa. 49:8; Ps. 32:6; 69:13; Heb. 3:13).

4. Salvation (6:2, twice). What is it? (see 5:14,15). Where is it? (see 5:16,17). How is it acquired? (see 5:18-21). Is it worth it? (see 6:3-10).

Although these Christians had been baptized, some were not living the life (5:15). “We implore you…be reconciled to God…Now is the favorable time” (5:20; 6:2).

-Robert M. Housby

In the World War II military movie, Patton, George C. Scott portrays General George Patton, Commander of the United States 3d Army. Throughout the movie, General Omar Bradley is shown constantly counseling Patton on political decorum. One scene in the movie shows Patton confronting a G.I. in a hospital in Sicily for his apparent mental battle fatigue. Patton started striking him on the head and screaming at the man for alleged cowardice. Then he ordered the soldier out of the hospital to a separate location. He would not have this coward to share the tent with honorably wounded American soldiers.
A warm and sensitive psychologist–Patton was not. Still, there are statements made by the Holy Spirit which lead one to know for certain that God hates cowards among his people.

1. Revelation 21:8 reads: “But as for the cowardly…their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.”

2. The opposite of cowardice is courage. Joshua 1:9 reads, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.” And, the way to “courage” is to realize that fear is replaced with the promise of Joshua 1:9b—“Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” The promise of the Lord’s presence with his disciples in a New Testament sense is axiomatic to Christian faith— “…teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matt. 28:20; see also 2 Chronicles 32:6-8; Acts 28:15).

3. Honor is conditioned upon service (John 12:26).

For all that you’ve done, and all that you’re going to do in the name of Christ, it will not be forgotten (1 Cor. 15:58). Serve Him today!

-Robert M. Housby

(Genesis 24)

When Abraham became old, he expressed to his oldest servant his wishes regarding a wife for his son Isaac, (Gen. 24:1-4). It is naturally presumed that this servant was Eliezer of Damascus (Gen. 15:2,3). However, since Genesis 24 does not identify this servant by name, perhaps this unnamed servant, whom we presume to be Eliezer, was meant to imply by prophetic typology–the Holy Spirit (Heb. 1:1; 10:1). This we know for sure: (1) Abraham, as a father, sought a bride for his son (24:4). (2) He sent his servant with a message (24:33). And, (3) the LORD “led” him (24:48; 24:7,40).

When we open the pages of the New Testament, we are immediately confronted with terms like: Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Bible speaks in terms of a mission to take a spiritual bride for his son. The apostle Paul explains this mystery in terms of the church of Christ (Eph. 5:31,32). Recall, in the story of Eliezer and Rebekah, that Abraham gave all that he had to his son Isaac (24:34-36). John 3:35 states that God the Father has given all things into the hand of the son. There is unmistakable similarity between the story of Eliezer and Rebekah in Genesis 24 and the gospel. But, then, isn’t that one of the purposes of the Old Testament (1 Cor. 2:7; 15:46-48).

As Abraham sent his servant to seek a bride for Isaac, God seeks a bride for his son. The Bible says that Rebekah was a maiden, “very attractive in appearance” (Gen. 24:16). God would comfort Isaac after his mother’s death through the love of Rebekah (Gen. 24:67). God will comfort you today through the love of Christ and his church.

-Robert M. Housby