newsletter
Servant Ministries, Inc.
Issue No. 93 Ira & Judy Milligan Feb 1, 2006

United Ministers' Fellowship Conference
March 23 - 25, 2006 

The conference is only one month away, so if you haven't made your reservations yet, better hurry and call 1-800-942-3553 while there's still time (and room!). We pray that those who come will be blessed, true, but we also pray that each one who comes will be a blessing! Our vision is to see the Church united in spirit and functioning as one body ­ with the members faithfully ministering one to another, as Peter admonished us in First Peter 4:10: "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." Come and fellowship with us as, "...we walk in the light, as he is in the light, [and] have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). Come and be refreshed. See you in Branson! 


The Prophet's Perspective 
True or False Holiness? 

I jokingly tell people that I come from a Pentecostal background where everything was considered a sin except breathing, and that was only allowed if it was done in church! Men wearing short sleeve shirts, going to ball games, women wearing sleeveless blouses, shorts, pants or makeup; things like going to movies, watching TV, wearing bathing suits at public beaches, lying, cheating, cussing, drinking, smoking, chewing, dipping; all were considered serious, near unpardonable sins.

At one time, even divorce was on the list, but not anymore. Some of the biggest names in Pentecost have succumbed to that temptation ­ and to be fair, divorce is rampant among more than just the Pentecostals; the Church's altars are littered with broken marriage vows from one end of Christendom to the other!

Are all these things sin? If so, why are so many things now accepted that only two or three decades ago were deemed to send one straight to hell ­ and that without passing "Go" and without collecting $200.00? When something becomes widely accepted by society as a whole, including religious society, does that automatically make it acceptable behavior? Or, are Christians to judge themselves by some other standard? And if so, just what is that standard? Also, to use Pentecostal terminology, does "holding a standard" make one holy, or is holiness something entirely different?

In Ephesians, Paul admonished us to "put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteous-ness and true holiness" (Eph. 4:22-24). The fact that Paul specified "true holiness" in that verse indicates there must have been a "false holiness" that some were being deceived by.

Jesus encountered and confronted the like in Matthew 23:25-28: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.

'Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."
From Jesus' stern rebuke one can deduct that outward holiness and "true holiness" are entirely two different things. Paul described the conditions relating to true holiness in his admonition to the Romans in Romans 12:1-2: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..."

Holiness isn't about "holding a standard" and obeying rules. Holiness is about having a pure conscience. Christians who walk in true holiness don't need a list of do's and don'ts. When men and women are "renewed in the spirit of [their] minds", living with a pure conscience, societies' norms are not even a consideration. Jesus' life and ways reveal the standard to emulate and live by. After all, that is the one we will actually be judged by!

"Helping Hands"

God spoke to me a few mornings ago and told me that we needed "many small miracles." Some of our needs are financial but, as the following prayer request explains, we also have other needs, and I'm sure that we are not alone. Many of God's precious children are in need, and your contributions are providing help for many, both home and abroad. Thanks, friends! 

Prayer Partners' Update

Judy and I are both in our mid- sixties and as we age, 2 Corinthians 4:16 becomes both meaningful and relevant ("...though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day"). We both have health issues that are affecting our ability to continue traveling and ministering as we have in the past. Please pray that God would give us healthy bodies so that we can continue ministering without undue distractions. Thanks, and God bless!

The Dreamer's Corner

Last month, we discussed the family of symbols that includes lions, bears, serpents, wolves, eagles, owls and foxes. We ended the article with, "Interestingly enough, of these seven, in Scripture God uses three of them to portray Himself! See if you can identify which three He uses, and why."
If you identified the lion, the eagle and the serpent, as the three in question, you were correct. Christ the King is known as "the Loin of the tribe of Judah", the eagle symbolizes the prophetic aspect of the Holy Spirit (see Exodus 19:4; Hosea 12:13) and as the serpent was cursed because of sin in the Garden of Eden, Christ was cursed for our sake in the Garden of Gethsemane. As previously stated, all these creatures are predators.

Another biblical symbol that God uses to portray Himself, though not a predator, is the dove. As everyone knows, the dove represents the Holy Spirit. This bird is given this honor because, like the Holy Spirit, it has a peaceful and gentle nature. As one can see from studying these living creatures, each one is individually chosen to illustrate a specific aspect of either Christ, God or the Holy Spirit.

God chooses almost every symbol that He uses in our dreams the same way, for the same reason. Each symbol has specific, unique characteristics that illustrate what the chosen symbol represents.

Another interesting family of biblical symbols is herding animals. The Scriptures use sheep, goats, cows and deer to illustrate people. Three of these animals are used as sacrificial offerings (deer being the exception). Of the four, sheep are the most familiar because they are often mentioned in the New Testament. Sheep are used, in part, because their weak, defenseless nature makes them totally dependant upon a shepherd for both food and protection. Although John called Christ the "Good Shepherd", it is interesting to note that Jesus is also known as "the Lamb of God", because of a lamb's harmless and sacrificial nature (John 10:14; 1:29). Sweet Dreams!