STRAIGHTENING OUT WHAT IS CROOKED (2 OF 4)
by Jeff Strite
Scripture: Titus 1:5-16
This content is part of a series.
Straightening out What Is Crooked (2 of 4)
Series: The Successful Church
Jeff Strite
Titus 1:5-16
OPEN: A 3 year old boy went with his father to see a litter of kittens. On returning home, he breathlessly informed his mother, ''There were two boy kittens and two girl kittens.''
''How did you know that?'' his mother asked.
''Daddy picked them up and looked underneath,'' he replied. ''I think it's printed on the bottom.''
APPLY: As far as that little boy was concerned it was obvious:
Daddy was the authority.
Daddy knew how to decide whether those kittens were male or female.
Daddy had picked them up - looked underneath… and from there his little mind reached the obvious conclusion that the information had to be printed on the bottom side of those cats.
Now, that little boy was right about the which kittens were male and female. And the reason he was right was because he started with trusting the right authority.
But he was wrong about how he could know the difference.
Hold that thought.
In the chapter we just read, Paul is writing to a young preacher named Titus and told him ''The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.'' Titus 1:5
This Greek word translated ''straighten out'' is actually a medical term.
The Greek word is ''epidi-orthoo'', from which we get the words orthopedist and orthodontist, and I've been told it refers to the practice of ''setting a bone that's been broken.''
Have you ever had a broken bone and gone to the ER or to your doctor?
What do they do there?
They ''set'' the bone.
They take the two broken ends of the bone and they put them back together so they ''fit'' properly. If they don't do that - if they allow the bone to heal without setting it - the bone can grow back together crookedly and lead to weakness in that bone later in life.
And if the bone has already begun to knit, but it isn't properly set, the d ...
Series: The Successful Church
Jeff Strite
Titus 1:5-16
OPEN: A 3 year old boy went with his father to see a litter of kittens. On returning home, he breathlessly informed his mother, ''There were two boy kittens and two girl kittens.''
''How did you know that?'' his mother asked.
''Daddy picked them up and looked underneath,'' he replied. ''I think it's printed on the bottom.''
APPLY: As far as that little boy was concerned it was obvious:
Daddy was the authority.
Daddy knew how to decide whether those kittens were male or female.
Daddy had picked them up - looked underneath… and from there his little mind reached the obvious conclusion that the information had to be printed on the bottom side of those cats.
Now, that little boy was right about the which kittens were male and female. And the reason he was right was because he started with trusting the right authority.
But he was wrong about how he could know the difference.
Hold that thought.
In the chapter we just read, Paul is writing to a young preacher named Titus and told him ''The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.'' Titus 1:5
This Greek word translated ''straighten out'' is actually a medical term.
The Greek word is ''epidi-orthoo'', from which we get the words orthopedist and orthodontist, and I've been told it refers to the practice of ''setting a bone that's been broken.''
Have you ever had a broken bone and gone to the ER or to your doctor?
What do they do there?
They ''set'' the bone.
They take the two broken ends of the bone and they put them back together so they ''fit'' properly. If they don't do that - if they allow the bone to heal without setting it - the bone can grow back together crookedly and lead to weakness in that bone later in life.
And if the bone has already begun to knit, but it isn't properly set, the d ...
There are 16314 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.
Price: $5.99 or 1 credit
