Are you committing the sins of Sodom? Take the test - it might surprise you.

Q.1. Comparing yourself to the 1 billion half starved, poverty stricken Asians and Africans, do you think you might be considered a proud person?

Q.2. Do you have more than enough to eat every day? If you are 1 lb. overweight the answer is yes.

Q.3. Do you have a lot of spare time? There are 168 hours in a week. If you have a 40 hour work week there are 128 hours remaining. Sleep 8 hours a day? You have 72 hours left. That's almost half a week. What do you do with those 72 hours? Watch tv? Play video games? Shoot hoops? Hang out?

Q.4. What exactly are you doing for the poor and needy? A 5 dollar turkey once a year? Your generousity overwhelms me.

Now read the "other" reasons why God sent fire and brimstone down on Sodom.

MAYBE IT'S TIME FOR ALL OF US TO DO A SERIOUS SELF EXAMINIATION AND REARRANGE OUR PRIORITIES. WE MAY BE GIVING AN ACCOUNT BEFORE THE "BEMA" OF CHRIST SOONER THAN WE THINK.


Ezekiel 16:49
"Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy."

III John - A New Testament Character Study

Read III John with the purpose of examining the character of three men mentioned in the letter; Gaius, Diotrephes and Demetrius.

Here are the results of my examination.

Gaius - was a man who was "walking in the truth". What does it mean to "walk" in the truth? Well, first of all, it implies a knowledge of the truth. "Thy Word is Truth". A person cannot walk in the truth if he has no knowledge or a distorted knowledge of the Word of God. For example: a man in a foreign place without a map or with an inaccurate map will not be able to find his way. The Bible admonishes us to let the Word of God dwell in us richly and to study the Word. We cannot walk in the truth if we do not know what it is! Then, "walking in the truth" means to put our knowledge of the Word of God into practice. It is not enough to know what the Bible says, the devil can quote scripture. We read in James 1:22 "But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves."

"Gaius was a man who knew the Word of God and put it into practice in his daily life.

Diotrephes - was the "pickle in the middle" or the "thorn" among the roses. Nothing good was said of him. If you list his characteristics in vs. 10, they are:
loves to be first - egotistic
does not accept what the Apostle says - ignorant of the Word of God
unjustly accuses us - slanderous
uses wicked words - foul mouthed
puts hospitable people out of the church - drives decent people away

In vs. 11 John admonishes us not to imitate evil (Diotrephes).

In the common language of today we would say that he was an evil and egotistical Biblical ignoramus with a foul mouth full of slander who drove decent people out of the church. vs. 10,11

Demetrius - had a good reputation. Everyone testified of his integrity even the Apostle John himself who added, "and our testimony is true". I wonder why John added that phrase? Could it be that Diotrephes slanderous, lying tongue had slashed away at Demetrius to sully his good name? But John said, "our testimony is true."