A Devotional from Billy Graham - keep sin out...

The following is a devotional written by Billy Graham. He wrote:


As Christians, we have the Spirit of God in us. But ours is the responsibility to keep sin out of our lives so that the Spirit can produce His fruit in us. Become grounded in the Bible. As Christians, we have only one authority, one compass: the Word of God. Abraham Lincoln in a letter to a friend said, “I am profitably engaged in reading the Bible. Take all of this Book upon reason that you can, and the balance upon faith. You will live and die a better man.” Begin the day with the Book; and as the day comes to a close, let the Word speak its wisdom to your soul. Let it be the firm foundation upon which your hope is built. Let it be the Staff of Life upon which your spirit is nourished. Let it be the Sword of the Spirit which cuts away the evil of your life and fashions you in His image and likeness.


Proverbs 13:13  Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.

How Will We Stand?

Some thoughts that stick in my mind.....

In today's Christian circles we find that there is much confusion. People say they are followers of Christ but yet do not want the Bible to have authority in their life or in the their decision making processes.. Here is what I have noticed:
The Bible clearly teaches in Revelation about the coming antichrist and mark of the beast etc. We read that whoever participates and accepts the number 666 will not be allowed into heaven.

 Read Revelation 14:8-10

 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

But just as clearly as the Bible teaches this about the 666 mark, the Bible also teaches us to abstain from fornication, fleshly lusts, and that no person who continues to live this kind of lifestyle will inherit the kingdom of heaven.
Read 1 Corinthians 6: 8-10
No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren!  Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals,nor sodomites,  nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

Why then do the so called Christians accept homosexuality, and other forms of immorality as acceptable for the Christians. We hear our Bible teachers saying that we must not judge others, that we all have things in our lives that displease God. I believe that if we are serious about God at all, then we will rid ourselves of all things that God has clearly opposed in the Bible. We are saved by grace, in faith we accept Jesus and His finished work on the cross - Jesus paid our sin in full.  But God clearly states in the Bible that as Christians we are to repent of sin and leave the life of sin behind. We live a new life in Christ. The old has gone - the new has come through Jesus Christ!

Lent Series - Sin and Addictions

Sunday Sermon Review - March 10, 2013
( from my home church I attend regularly )

We are continuing on in our Lent series. This is the 4th Sunday of Lent. Today our topic was "Sin and Addictions". Pastor Ben was our speaker today. Next Sunday Mike will be speaking on the topic of "sickness" in our Lent series.

Ephesians 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

Today we had a student from SBC share about his recent missions trip to Mexico. He spoke of the work that the missionaries are involved with there and the ministry opportunities that the SBC team had to share with the people of Mexico. Seventeen Mexican people came to know Jesus as Lord and Saviour during this time. Praise God!

The Thought for the week : "The wages of sin is death....Repent before payday."

Pastor Ben was our speaker today. His discussion was about stepping in to help people who are living in sin and addictions. This includes the homosexual issues that are surfacing around us including in our schools.

 Here is some of what he said:

As Christians, we are God's representatives in this world. We are all broken in some way.

As we walk together, speaking to sin and addictions we will find things getting messy.

* A broken relationship with God is the primary problem.

Ephesians 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

First Love
We are to speak the truth in love. Both love and truth.

What is our goal in speaking?
Is it to create morally responsible citizens? - That is great but it is not the calling.
Matthew 28:19 says  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

A disciple pursues Jesus. Becoming morally responsible will happen as a result of being in right relationship with Jesus. Therefore a broken relationship with the Lord is the primary problem.

We need to see people with the eyes of Jesus
- you are not your sin
- you are desperately loved by God
- you have been created in the image of God

The Holy Spirit plays a part
- God's Spirit is very active
- He has not abandoned us
- trust He is here, PRAY

What does " speaking in love" mean?
- love is action
- love is not merely words or feelings
- love is taking action
- do we really care about this person who is living in sin, caught in addiction?
- do we want what is best for him/her -(  for life now and eternally speaking )


How are we doing this?
- what is the action we are going to take?
- do they know that I love them?
- if they don't, then why not?
- what should I be doing differently
- love is fundamental, they need to feel that you love them

John 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
We have messed this one up.
Sometimes we have turned our backs to the problem.
LOVE DOES NOT IGNORE things - pretending everything is alright is not an option!

Now Truth
What does it mean to speak the truth?
- this means we are speaking about things that are destroying and ruining lives
some examples include - any kind of sexual activity outside of marriage, greed, lying, habitual lying, gossip, unforgiveness, bitterness and more

It is not OK for these to continue
- admit these are problems
- pray, pray for wisdom
- remember our purpose as God's representatives is to rescue and restore
- to draw people into close relationship with God

Excuses we give for not speaking up
- we are nervous, scared to talk about these things
- maybe the person we are confronting will not like us anymore after this
- we don't want to hurt people's feelings
- they will think we are intolerant

People might become offended but we still need to speak up - out of compassion because this is ruining the person's life!

We need to go humbly remembering that we also do not have it all together. We may be more messed up than we ourselves realize. Are we willing to also accept and be ready to be challenged for what we are doing?
Jesus is not saying we should not challenge others but we must admit our own brokennesss as well.
Take care of the stuff in our own lives and then go help others.

When do we intervene?
- no three step answer
- each situation is different
- pray for the Holy Spirit to guide you

Church Discipline

Sunday Sermon Review September 16,2012

This is a sermon review from my home church that I attend regularly.
The topic today was titled Rescue Mission but it falls under the category of  Church Discipline.
Pastor Ben was the speaker and he continued on in the Matthew series.
The service began with the singing of several songs ( newer songs which I am sorry I cannot remember) and also an old favorite - How Great Thou Art.
The text Scripture passage was from Matthew 18: 15 - 20 which says : Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
¹⁶ But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
¹⁷ And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
¹⁸ Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
¹⁹ Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
²⁰ For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Pastor Ben suggested that we look at this passage more as a Rescue Mission than discipline because through the steps taught within the passage, the goal is the restoration of a fallen believer.
Here is some of what Ben said:
Jesus instructs us to seek people who have wandered away. Each of us is required to go to his brother or sister who is living in sin.
How do we do this without judging? We recognize that God is the only one who can make the call whether the person is saved or unsaved.
Our attitude is to rescue - not to condemn
We need to pray long and hard and examine ourselves before we attempt to go to our brother or sister who sins. We go humbly.
We must realize that we do not know the details or all the why's but at the same time it is very important to remember that circumstances do not justify sin.
Some people say - You worry about your own sin and I will worry about mine, I won't confront you if you don't confront me , we just love each other. The above statement is not how Jesus taught us. Jesus specifially says to - go tell him his fault.
At baptism we pledge to renounce all sin and to live in righteousness and truth. We make this covenant before God and with our fellow believers. Therefore we need to be willing to be involved in seeking freedom for a fellow believer.
The Three Step Process of the Rescue Mission
Step 1: You go to your brother or sister alone, point out the problem to them. The goal is that they will repent and turn from their sinful ways. You stay in relationship with them and help them to gain freedom. - go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
Step 2: The brother or sister refuses to listen to you in Step 1 so now you -  take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.  Now you take one or two others with you as you go to confront the brother or sister again. This shows unity and grace and the goal is still to restore the fallen believer back to a right relationship with the Lord.
Step 3: The fallen brother or sister still refuses to listen so now you - tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. If the person refuses to repent at this point - he or she must be removed from service in the church and  from membership.
This doen't mean deciding  heaven or hell for the person's eternal destiny. Only God can be the judge of that. The church does not make that decision. If a person doesn't want to follow Jesus, he or she is probably not a Christian.

In verses 18-20 Jesus gives the two or three together the authority to bind or loose. This means that the church has the authority to bind the evil spirit and the darkness that holds the sinner captive and can set the person free from continuing to live in his/her sinful condition.
Sin enslaves people and makes them prisoners. We want to see freedom come to people's lives.

1 Corinthians 5:4-13
⁴ In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
⁵ To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
⁶ Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
⁷ Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
⁸ Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
⁹ I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:
¹⁰ Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.
¹¹ But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolator, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
¹² For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?
¹³ But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

The closing song was It is Well With My Soul.

Biblical Repentance....

We see the need of repentance in our own personal lives. We see the need of it in our churches and on a national level. If we want to see God withhold His Hand of judgement in our lives and in our churches and on our nation, we need to come to Him in humility and repent - turn from the wickedness and seek the Lord God with our whole heart.
But what is repentance? Repentance is a change of mind to the point where it changes your actions. It is a point of turning. You are going in one direction - you come to the knowledge of sin and you make a complete change and turn from it. You seek forgiveness from that sin with a determination to not repeat again.
In the Old Testament we read many places where it uses the word repent to describe how God withheld the punishment he was going to inflict on people when they turned from their sinful ways. A good example of this is in the story of Jonah. Jonah preached to the people of Nineveh saying that God would destroy Nineveh in 40 days if the people continued on in their sin and in Jonah 3: 10 it says  And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
The story of Jonah is also a good one to show us what real repentance from sin looks like. It is not just saying "oh sorry God I messed up" and then continue on without any further thought and next thing you know, you are doing that very same thing again and the quick "sorry God"  did not change you at all.
Our sin grieves the heart of God and in the story of Jonah, God was grieved over the sin of the people in Nineveh. In Jonah 1:2 God says to Jonah - Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. Jonah did not go as the Lord God instructed and he had that whole experience inside the belly of the great fish. But in Jonah 3 God again sends Jonah to the city of Nineveh.and this is the message he brings -  Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. At hearing this the people acknowledge their sinful ways and turn to the Lord for forgiveness. Jonah 3:5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. Here we see that the realization of their sin brings sorrow to their hearts. They believe God's message - God is Holy and we have sinned against Him.
Jonah 3: 8-9  But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

Repentance involves your mind, your emotions, and your will.
1) Mind - within your heart you must be convicted that God has the authority to tell you what is sin. You must believe the Bible when it tells you what God considers to be sin. The Ten commandments tell us the heart of God. I would encourage everyone to read my blog post on the Ten Commandments. If anyone reading this doesn't know what grieves the heart of God, Galatians 5: 19-21 tells you
¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
²⁰ Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
²¹ Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

2) Emotions - You become broken and ashamed of your sin. This definitely involves crying out to God for mercy and you grieve over your sin and for most people this would involve the shedding of some tears.
3) Will - You need to have a plan of action. You need to plan how you together with the help of God are going to make this change happen. This involves making things right with other people. This involves prayer, burying yourself in the Word of God, seeking Him with your whole heart. You hate the very sin that you used to love because now you see it as God sees it. You hate the sin and want no part in it at all.

You will know you have repented when you see these Fruits of Repentance in your life:
1) Absence of rationalization - you are no longer looking for a way to justify what you have done, or blame it on others or explain it to make it seem like no big deal. There is an absence of phrases like - "everyone is doing it" or " the devil made me do it", or "I just couldn't help it", or " it's just how I am and you will just have to accept it", etc
2) Genuine Sorrow, Heartbrokeness - You are genuinely sorry for what you have done. Even if you get the chance to do that sin thing again, you will not do it because now you hate it, the very thought that you did it other times sickens you. As I mentioned earlier you are grieving over your sin.
3) Open Confession of Sin - You are no longer trying to hide it. It is out in the open now. You have stepped away from that former lifestyle. You need to confess this to the people close to you and sometimes to your church. You are accountable to God.
4) Restitution - You want to make things right with those you hurt. You are willing to do whatever it takes to make things right. We see the heart of one who wants to make restitution in the story of Zacchaeus  Luke 19 verses 8-9 :  And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.  And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.

So again I say we see the need of repentance in our own personal lives. We see the need of it in the churches and on a national level. If we want to see God withhold His Hand of judgement in our lives and in our churches and on our nation, we need to come to Him in humility and repent - turn from the wickedness and seek the Lord God with our whole heart.

Ephesians 4 - Contrast of Good & Evil

Isaiah 5:20  Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Sin is a blinder. Living in sin keeps a person from seeing truth and from seeing things from God's perspective. Sin grieves the heart of God. I have heard people say that sin is really no big deal to God and that He is bigger than all of our sin and weakness. I find such a statement almost blasphemous because of the huge sacrifice that was required to atone for our sin. Our sin costed God the death of His only begotten Son Jesus in order to make a way for us to get into a right relationship with God. To think that He was willing to do that for me ( so that heaven will be my eternal home) just fills me with joy and wonderment that He would do that for me. It also causes  a desire to spring up inside me to live my life in a way that pleases Him. I do not care to please the world or to live in its luxuries. My focus is on my Heavenly Father and the blessed hope of being with Him.
As Dr Randy Carlson always used to say ( when he was still on the radio in my area) "Find out what pleases Christ and then do it." So I ask myself - What pleases Christ? The Bible says we are to live a sanctified life. That means to be "set apart". As Christians, we do not live our lives in the same way as a non-Christian does. There is a difference because we seek to obey the Bible which is the Word of God.
In Ephesians 4 we are called to 1) walk no longer as the Gentiles do- in sensuality, and practicing all sort of immoral lifestyles 2) lay aside the old manner of life - falsehood, stealing, unwholesome talk etc. We are called to put on the new self which has been created in righteousness and holiness.

Just to see the contrast in the life of a saved person to a non saved lets look a little more closely into Ephesians 4 and 5. Some people believe that they can say they are saved and still continue living in the ways of the world but here are some  of the distinct differences in the fruits found in the life of the Christian and non-Christian.  Please take the time to read Ephesians 4:17-32 which I have posted below.

Saved                                                      
Light - life, truth                                        
renewal of the mind, holiness                
righteousness, work and share,              
kind, forgiving, tenderhearted,               
forgiving, walk in love, thankful   

Not Saved           
 Darkness - hard hearted , callous
sensuality, impurity, greediness, lust,
deceit, immorality, filthy talk, idolatry
drunk with wine, lies, anger, stealing
slander, malice, coveting
 
This clearly points out that there is a difference between the saved and the unsaved person in his or her desires in living the daily life. The good news is that God wants all of us to come to Him for forgiveness and cleansing.    We can come to Jesus today and be saved.   Ephesians 2:8   For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:        

Ephesians 4:17-32    
     

¹⁷ This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
¹⁸ Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
¹⁹ Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
²⁰ But ye have not so learned Christ;
²¹ If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
²² That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
²³ And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
²⁴ And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
²⁵ Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
²⁶ Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
²⁷ Neither give place to the devil.
²⁸ Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
²⁹ Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
³⁰ And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
³¹ Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
³² And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

                                                            
                                                                      
                                                   
                              

My Vegetable Garden - Sowing and Reaping

I enjoy having a garden and seeing it grow. This picture here is of my vegetable garden. Among other things I planted potatoes, tomatoes, peas, beans, corn and onions. My garden doesn't look quite as good as I had hoped since we got frost here about two weeks ago and it damaged a lot of the plants. Then last Sunday we got a big rain mixed with hail so the garden is now regrowing from both the frost and the hail. I am hoping to get a better picture of my garden in a couple of weeks or a month when the plants have had time to mature. The Bible says our lives are somewhat like a garden and that we will reap what we sow.

 Galatians 6: 7-10 says :
⁷ Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
⁸ For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
⁹ And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
¹⁰ As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

If I make the comparison to my garden, I can expect that in the later part of summer I will be able to pick peas from the peas plants, beans from the beans plants, and tomatoes will grow on the tomato plants. I do not expect to harvest any beets or zucchini since I have not planted that kind of seed in my garden.
If we sow good seed in our lives, that is we walk in the Spirit, we fill our minds with Scripture, truth, pure and lovely things, we will reap, the fruit of the Spirit.  Galatians 5: 22-23 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

On the other hand if we fill our minds with evil and with things of the world, that is we live in the flesh and fill up on the sinful desires of the flesh, we will reap pain and misery like it says in Galatians 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption

Galatians 5: 19-21  Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery,  fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,  idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,  envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

 The works of the flesh can respresent weeds, the unsaved person which Jesus says will be reaped at the end of the world.
 Good seed represents the people saved by the blood of Christ, those who will reap life everlasting with God in the heavenly kingdom. ...but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
Matthew 13:38-40
³⁸ The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;
³⁹ The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
⁴⁰ As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.



I added a picture of my garden today July10, 2012. It has been really dry and hot out here for quite some time now.

God's Way verses Satan's Alternatives....

Have you ever considered how satan tries to make people believe that his ideas are good alternatives to God's true ways?
Take for example marriage. God says marriage is to be between one man and one woman.
Satan suggests sinful alternatives such as homosexual and lesbian relationships.
God's way is to save sex for after the wedding. Satan's sinful alternative is to not wait for marriage. Satan's way is fornication - sex with whoever you choose, the if it feels good then do it attitude.
God's way is to love your spouse deeply and dearly. Satan's way is lust and pornography.
God's way is for a couple to begin sharing a home together after marriage. Satan's way is for a couple to shack up together and then give the excuse that you need to try it out first before making any real decisions.
 God's ways are best because His way  provides protection from foolish choices that lead to unnecessary heartache and failure.
God's plan is for us to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Satan's sinful plan is for people to fill up on alchol, drugs and abusive substances.
God's plan is for women to be modest in the way they dress and to not be sensual and flirting in character. Satan's way is for women to wear the skimpy, the tight, the short, the low tops and to show skin inappropriately and to attract attention to your body.

Now let us examine another one of satan's counterfeits, one that is more difficult to understand.
 The one true holy God is a trinity. He is Father, Son ( Jesus) and Holy Spirit - three in One. Not three Gods but One God in three distinct persons. Just as God has three persons so Satan also tries to copy a trinity for himself  and it is displayed quite clearly Revelation.  So if you study the book of Revelation 12, satan is depicted as a great red dragon. Then in Revelation 13 the beast comes on the scene which is the Antichrist. It says that the dragon which is satan gives his power to the beast.  Then thirdly, also in chapter 13 another beast comes onto the scene which is a false prophet. The false prophet then makes the people on the earth worship the Antichrist. In order to be able to make any business transactions that is buy or sell anything, people are required to obtain a number in either their right hand or their forehead. Without this number people will not be allowed to do business. Revelation 13: 18 tells us what that number will be 666. -¹⁸Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
However, we who are Christians must be prepared to never accept this mark 666 as no one who does will enter the kingdom of Heaven.
To be sure there are many more of satan's counterfeits that we could discuss. Perhaps one comes to your mind even as you read this.