This Rejoice & Praise God Sunday Open Thread, with full respect to those who worship God on the Sabbath, is a place to reaffirm our worship of our Creator, our Father, our King Eternal.
It’s also a place to read, post, and discuss news that is worth knowing and sharing. Please post links to any news stories that you use as sources or quote from.
In the QTree, we’re a friendly and civil lot. We encourage free speech and the open exchange and civil discussion of different ideas. Topics aren’t constrained, and sound logic is highly encouraged, all built on a solid foundation of truth and established facts, and not by agenda-driven accusations and pronouncements.
We have a policy of mutual respect, shown by civility. Civility encourages discussions, promotes objectivity and rational thought in discourse, and camaraderie in the participants – characteristics we strive toward in our Q Tree community.
Please show respect and consideration for our fellow QTreepers. Before hitting the “post” button, please proofread your post and make sure your opinion addresses the issue only, and does not confront or denigrate the poster. Keep to the topic – avoid “you” and “your”. Here in The Q Tree, personal attacks, name-calling, ridicule, insults, baiting, and other conduct for which a penalty flag would be thrown are VERBOTEN.
In The Q Tree, we’re compatriots, sitting around the campfire, roasting hot dogs, making s’mores, and discussing, agreeing, and disagreeing about whatever interests us. This board will remain a home for those who seek respectful conversations.
Please also consider the Guidelines for posting and discussion printed here:
https://www.theqtree.com/2019/01/01/dear-maga-open-topic-20190101/
On this day and every day –
God is in Control
. . . and His Grace is Sufficient, so . . .
Keep Looking Up
Hopefully, every Sunday, we can find something here that will build us up a little . . . give us a smile . . . and add some joy or peace, very much needed in all our lives.
“This day is holy to the Lord your God;
do not mourn nor weep.” . . .
“Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet,
and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared;
for this day is holy to our Lord.
Do not sorrow,
for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Pride
According to Dictionary.com, pride is a high or inordinate opinion of one’s own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether as cherished in the mind or as displayed in bearing, conduct, etc. The opposite of pride is humility, a Fruit of the Spirit and a most desirable characteristic in Christians.
Pride is an elevated view of and a preoccupation with self. Pride is a fault we despise in others yet freely excuse and even justify in ourselves. Many theologians believe that pride, not drunkenness, adultery, or murder, is the deadliest of all sins, for it was pride that led to Lucifer’s rebellion (Isaiah 14:14) and the first couple’s attempt at usurping God’s authority in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:5). Many other sins originate from pride.
God’s warning that pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall (Proverbs 16:18) is illustrated again and again in the pages of Scripture. One particularly notable episode, the story of Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar, begins with his boasting, continues with his downfall, and ends with his confession. After being duly warned of his prideful nature by the prophet Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar stood on the rooftop of his palace and praised himself, saying, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30, ESV). Immediately, God judged his pride, and for the next seven years, the once grandiose monarch groveled about on all fours in the manner of a wild beast while grazing on the palace lawn. From regal to rags and from banquet table to mouthfuls of fodder, King Nebuchadnezzar completed a seven-year course on the dangers of pride and the virtues of humility.
We must understand that pride, like dangerous narcotics, is addictive and detrimental to our well-being. The more we feed pride, the firmer its grip. Pride is a loathsome garment that is not easily shed, and it’s deceitful: those who think they have already achieved humility are probably mistaken. D. L. Moody used to pray, “Lord, make me humble, but don’t let me know it.”
Ethnic pride is the belief that one’s particular ethnic group is superior to others and other ethnic groups are to be subjectively measured in relation to one’s own. It is a system of belief that leads to an unhealthy level of pride and lack of concern for others. Since race is often a part of ethnicity, racial pride is usually related to racism, which has been a plague on humanity for centuries. There is no place among God’s people for the racially superior attitudes that lead to racism. Such attitudes are contrary to Scripture and displeasing to God.
Biblically, racial pride is sin. All men and women are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26–27; 9:6), although that image is corrupted by sin. God does not show partiality or favoritism (Deuteronomy 10:17; Acts 10:34). Jesus did not lay down His life for a particular race, culture, or tribe, but by His death He “purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9). The Scriptures tell us that Jesus came to save the world, both Jews and Gentiles. Paul bears this out by saying, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28) and “There is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all” (Colossians 3:11).
Jesus superseded all barriers of race, culture, and ethnicity with His death on the cross. Paul wrote of the uniting of Jew and Gentile in Ephesians 2:14: “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.” Ethnocentrism, whether based on historical grudges, erroneous assumptions, or overt human pride, is wholly contrary to God’s Word. We are commanded to love one another as He has loved us (John 13:34), and such a command precludes any discrimination based on race, ethnicity, or culture.