Faithful are the Wounds of a Friend
Joe Slater
	“I wish something would happen to me so I could go to the hospital and have surgery!” Have you ever said or heard this? Nor have I. If I ever hear it, I’ll assume the person is either joking or else is a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic!
	No one likes surgery; but we recognize that sometimes it is necessary, and we are thankful for skilled physicians who can do the job. We accept that there may be some pain and perhaps even a scar associated with the operation. Despite the unpleasantness, we not only thank the surgeon, but we pay him or her a hefty chunk of cash!
	Solomon wrote, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend” (Proverbs 27:6). Should you undergo surgery to correct a serious problem, or would it be better to listen to a “quack” telling you that you’re in great shape when you really aren’t? The same principle holds true in spiritual matters. Religious quacks are ready and willing to tell us anything we want to hear, especially if the price is right. Unfortunately, what we want to hear is seldom what we need to hear. The false prophets of old cried out “Peace, peace!” when there was no peace (Jeremiah 6:14). God’s people needed spiritual surgery (i.e. they needed to repent, cutting the sin out of their lives); but they listened to the quacks instead of heeding true friends like Jeremiah.
	After chastening the Galatians severely, Paul asked the rhetorical question: “Have I become your enemy because I tell you the truth?” (Galatians 4:16). Paul’s words were cutting! “Oh, foolish Galatians!” (3:1).  . . . “Are you so foolish?” (3:3).  . . . “You have become estranged from Christ . . . you have fallen from grace” (5:4). Ouch, Paul! That hurts! Words like that might even leave scars! Ah, but those are faithful wounds. Paul was a genuine friend, for he loved them enough to tell them the truth, even when it hurt.
	Again it was Solomon who wrote: “Rebuke a wise man and he will love you” (Proverbs 9:8). Are we wise or foolish? When the truth hurts, do we repent, or do we stone the messenger? Think about it!
	()	()	()	()	()	()	()
How Does It Look To You?
This . . . is . . . how . . . the . . . church . . . sometimes . . . looks    . . . to . . . the . . . . preacher . . . when . . . he  . . . stands . . . in . . . the . . . pulpit . . .
Itwouldloooklikethisifeveryone wouldbringafriendwiththemto church!
Divine Sequence
	Italian mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci lived from 1170-1250 A.D.  He discovered a series of numbers where the next number is made by adding the previous two numbers.  The series look like this: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, etc., and is called the Fibonacci Sequence.  Mathematicians and scientists have since learned that this series of numbers has some amazing properties.
	The Fibonacci Sequence abounds in nature.  A few examples include the arrangement of branches on a tree, the number of petals in a flower, the spirals on pine cones and pineapples, the circles of a nautilus shell, and the shapes of galaxies.  Countless examples abound in our world, and they are just one more reminder that our God designed the world and everything in the universe.  The mathematics in creation demonstrates intelligent design.
	"O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out," Paul exclaims in Romans 11:33.  Man has discovered many things.  However, the more man learns, the more he sees that he understands very little.  For example, man can combine an egg and a sperm, but he can't infuse a soul into the unborn child.
	"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts," God declared (Isaiah 55:9)  Perhaps the Fibonacci Sequence should be called the Divine Sequence, for it was God who created it and used it in creation.  From a tiny flower to a galaxy with so many stars that they cannot be numbered, His wisdom and power are amazing.
	--Donna Richmond Wittlif (Denver, CO)