In his first letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul writes (4:8), "For bodily exercise profiteth little..." This verse has been used as an excuse by Christians to not exercise. Is that what Paul intended? What was he really saying?
First of all, we should consider the fact that the world of Paul (and of Jesus) was very different than the one we live in. Whi1e most of us lead very sedentary lives, such was not the case in the first century. There were no televisions, no computers, no telephones, no planes, and no automobiles. Although there were chariots, only the very wealthy and powerful could afford them.
The principal mode of transportation was walking. People walked. They walked everywhere and often. Even today we are told that walking is one of the best (and easiest) ways to exercise. It is estimated that the average first century person walked three to ten miles a day in the course of their daily life and work.
The evangelist Arthur Blessitt once calculated on maps the total miles that Jesus walked during his three and a half years of public ministry: 3125 miles! Jesus also walked from Egypt to return to Nazareth (400 miles) and from Galilee to Jerusalem (120 miles) for the annual feasts commanded in the law. Adding all this mileage up, Blessitt concluded that Jesus walked at least a total of 21,595 miles during his time on earth.
Certainly Paul valued physical health. He writes that our bodies are the temple of God. As such we should take care of them and keep them pure. Most people in his day, however, did not need additional exercise. Extra exercise was usually only done in the Roman empire to increase muscle size and strength for participation in spectator sports. Paul did not believe that this was the most profitable use of a Christian's time and energy.
Paul was contrasting physical exercise with spiritual exercise. He wasn't saying that there was no benefit to physical exercise. He was saying that exercising one's body was profitable only for a little time. In contrast, spiritual exercise had eternal benefits.
The Phillips translation of 1 Timothy 4: 7-8 reads, "Take time and trouble to keep yourself spiritually fit. Bodily fitness has a certain value, but spiritual fitness is essential, both for this present life and for the life to come." This nicely conveys the true intent.

It was centuries ago, when all of North America belonged to its Native people. One nomadic Indian tribe in the Great Plains was blessed with a chief that was loved and respected by everyone who knew him. He was known as a man who deeply loved his people, and he showed it. He was also a man of absolute justice and fairness and he showed that in all the decisions he made concerning the tribe.
One day some braves brought a very troubling report to him; there had been several mysterious thefts from people in the tribe. The chief wanted to nip this kind of stealing in the bud so he announced a severe penalty for the thief. He would be tied to a post when the sun was high, his back laid bare, and he would be beaten with a whip twenty times. Then the chief set a trap. He asked two of his trusted braves to leave some animal pelts in front of a teepee one night and to watch all night from another tepee.
It was the middle of the night when one of those braves awakened the chief with the news, "We've caught the thief." "Then bring him in," the chief ordered sternly.
You could see the reluctance and even the pain on the braves' faces as they brought the thief into the chief's tent that night. The chief was stunned to see who they had caught. It was his own mother. The next day, when the sun was high, everyone in the tribe gathered around the pole in the center of the village. There was heated discussion about what the chief would do. Would he sacrifice his love for his mother for the sake of justice and fairness? Or would he sacrifice his justice for his love?
Now it was time. Very sadly, two braves marched the chief's mother to the whipping post and they tied her there as two women bared her back for the whip. "The chief is putting his justice above his love," the people whispered as the warrior with the whip raised his right arm to administer the first lash.
Suddenly, the chief emerged from his tepee and he shouted, "Stop! Let her go!" As the people turned to look at their chief walking toward the whipping post, they began to say, "His love is greater than his justice. He's letting her go unpunished for what she did."
The chief untied the thief he loved, and then to the shock of everyone, as he removed his buckskin shirt, he said, "Tie me." Hesitantly, the braves tied their chief to the post. Then he barked out his final command, "Begin the whipping." There, before all his people, their honored chief took the full and painful punishment for the crimes of the one he loved.
That story is my story, and that story is your story. The chief is no one less than the Prince of Heaven, the Son of Almighty God. The one who has broken the law and deserves the punishment is you and I. God's justice could not be compromised; all our sinning against Him, all our defiant choices that have ignored what He wanted had to be paid for. And the penalty established long ago is death. Because of His justice, our sins had to be punished.
God loved us so much, that in spite of our sins, He gave us His only Begotten Son that who ever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. God’s precious Son stepped into our place and, on a blood-stained cross, took all the punishment for all your sins and mine. God is offering to give you the pardon He secured for you with His Son’s precious blood. If you haven’t accepted this wonderful gift of salvation yet, won’t you accept this sacrifice as your own?
Tell Jesus, "Lord, because you died and rose again for me, I repent of my sins and I'm putting all my trust and my life in your hands. Lord I know how much You love me and I offer You and Our Heavenly Father all my love, gratitude and thankfulness for the sacrifice You made for me and the world of mankind.”
Isaiah 53:5-6, "He was pierced for our transgressions ... the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him ... we all, like sheep, have gone astray ... and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."

A Daughter's Heart
by Tracie Elliott

It was the last day of Mark’s summer break, so I decided to do something special with my kids: we went to the movies! Going to the movies is really a treat for my kids because there are not many movies we let them see, but this time I was excited. We went to see “March of the Penguins.” I was sure my kids would love it, since they are big fans of any show that appears on the “Animal Planet” network. I was amazed at how much I loved it.
The movie is a documentary made by a French scientist about the life cycle of the monarch penguins in Antarctica. Thousands of penguins make an amazing 70 mile walk to their birthplace each year to find a mate, lay an egg, warm it all winter, and hatch it in the “spring.” The male penguin keeps the egg tucked under his fur between his legs all winter. Months later when the egg finally hatches, the mother returns from the sea to feed the baby. As the father prepares to leave, he and his chick sing to each other, memorizing each other’s call. Then the father leaves the chick in the care of the mother, and he returns to the water to feed.
Now this is the truly amazing part to me. A few months later, the mothers leave to return to the sea to eat, and the chicks are left alone for the first time, but only for a short time. The fathers are on their way back to care for and feed the chicks. Now each father has only one chick out of many hundreds. When he returns to the nest, he must locate his chick and the chick must locate her father. Remember, they met only briefly right after hatching day and sang to each other. Now, the father returns and “calls” to his chick. The chicks all start wobbling about, searching for their own father. Each chick must listen for his father’s call, sorting it out from all the other calls ringing in the air. The amazing thing is, they do! Each chick locates his own father by hearing his father’s call.
How about us? Do we run when our Father calls? Are we able to recognize his unique sound and ignore all the other calls we hear in our lives? In 1 Corinthians 1:20-26, we read, "Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to gentiles, but to those whom God has called both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. Brothers, think of what you were when you were called."
Though it might look crazy to the world (just like those penguins look crazy to us), we must listen for our Father’s call and follow His direction in our lives only. The world may think it foolishness, but we know without a shadow of a doubt when our Father is calling us. Listen to His call.

An Ecuadorian Adventure
By Sara Whittaker

This past summer, I decided to finally fulfill one of my life goals and take advantage of a study abroad program offered through my college that consisted of an 11-week summer excursion through Ecuador that wrapped up with a 10-day trip through Perú. The objective was to learn Spanish or at least improve it. The end result was something so much more.
During the first week of the trip, we traveled through Quito, Salasaca, Peguche, Otavalo, and Patate while seeing beautiful landscapes, going on hikes, visiting museums, and slowly becoming more and more exposed to the culture. Ecuador, hardly the size of Nevada, is a gorgeous country containing a variety of geographical areas including coastal beaches, rolling mountains, active volcanoes, cascading waterfalls, and jungle. After five days of traveling, our group arrived, thankfully, in Cuenca, somewhat south and to the center of the country located at about 8,000-9,000 above sea level, after a tire blow out that occurred and after an 11 hour drive through a windy mountainous road. The next 9 weeks were passed in home stays, where we were able to live with Ecuadorian families. It was then that I became part of the Flores-Ochoa family with a host mother, father, 3 brothers, and a sister. Only one of my brothers spoke English, but according to him, he was only supposed to speak in Spanish around me. At first it was frustrating, especially since most of my sarcasm was lost in my broken Spanish, and then there’s the whole not understanding anything. That can get you down. Somewhere between asking “what?” a million times, and learning to laugh at my blunders, I did get closer with my family and found myself calling Cuenca home. During this time I was taking classes during the day centered on contemporary and historical Latin America. During the weekends, the program usually scheduled outings including a trip to Cajas national park, Principal, Jima, the Jungle, Giron, etc. On other weekends we were free to spend the time with our families or do our own exploring.
One of toughest things I faced throughout the trip was finding someone I could talk to about God. Our group was the oddest bunch of characters, myself included, with all sorts of personalities, but no one that I could really connect with on the basis of a spiritual conversation. At first it made me uncomfortable, and afraid that I wouldn’t be accepted. After all, the majority, if not all, of my closest friends are Christians. Now I realize how dumb that assumption was. They might not have shared the beliefs as me, but they always treated me with respect of my beliefs and by the end of the trip we were like a family that looked out for each other.
I think the scariest moments of the trip can be summed up in the first week in Cuenca. Everyone who knows me, knows how terrible I am with directions, and that I don’t mind being lost. I do mind being lost in a foreign city and not remembering the name of the street I live on. Yet, despite these moments, God always brought me through and gave me the strength to trust in him and get through whatever it was that I was challenged with. Weeks later, I found myself conversing with strangers on the streets, mastering the public bus system, jay-walking like the best, taking my own day trips to the pueblitos in the country, eating guinea pig, and screaming my lungs out at the soccer games.
Leaving Cuenca was probably one of the more difficult things I’ve had to do in my life. (I guess that shows I have a lot to be thankful for). I was pretty emotional for a while, being savagely ripped away from my Cuencana family and forced on a ten-hour bus ride (at least that’s the way I like to tell it). After finding myself in a hammock on the coast of Perú watching the Pacific foaming along on the beach I got over it. In Perú we spent a lot of time traveling by way of bus along the coast, stopping occasionally to look at the ruins of pre-Incan societies. Here I started to think my 6th grade career aspirations of being an archeologist might not have been such a bad idea. Once we reached Lima, we flew from there to Cuzco (sea level to 12,000 ft. above in 45 minutes can have some not so wonderful results on the human body). Cuzco was the capital of the Incan empire, and up to my shoulders exist the walls that the conquistadors built their colonial buildings upon. The place is like a dream come true for a history buff, especially since regulations are weak, and you can walk among and touch pretty much everything. From Cuzco, we visited many other sites including Machu Picchu, also known as the lost city of the Incans, built among the steep peaks of awe-inspiring mountains. The Incans and I might have worshiped a different God, but I can understand why they would build their cities where they did. You could not help but feel somewhat closer to God among such beauty.
Being home since the trip has certainly been strange. Immediately I was hit with the realization of how much stuff we have, and really how luxurious our lives are. As citizens living in the U.S. we have so many rights, resources, and conveniences that I feel I really do take for granted. How awesome is drinkable water! I have much to be thankful for.

Ebenezers
Simeon and Anna: Expectations and Faith
Luke 2:25-38

Luke 3:15 says, “The people were in expectation... of the Christ.” It says that because God’s chosen people knew an anointed one had been prophesied. The Christ would come to earth and make things right, and bring the times of restitution which every holy prophet had spoken of since the world began. (Acts 3:21)
In that context, they mused in their hearts whether John the Baptist was the Christ. But John told them, “One mightier than I cometh.” Now John knew quite well the Christ was already on earth. He had known it all his life, because while still in his mother’s womb, John leaped for joy in the presence of the Christ. (Luke 1:41) Yes, God’s people were in expectation of the Christ, yet when he came among us, few saw it.
To begin with, the people expected someone like John, a take-charge leader, who would lead them out of the oppression of Rome. In other words, they believed the Christ would fulfill their expectations. The Bible explains there is a time for every purpose under heaven, and this was not the time appointed to deal with Rome.
Having an expectation and getting what you expect are two different things. For example, the Sanhedrin, as the spiritual leaders of Israel, expected the Christ to come to them. Well, Jesus never did, and so, no matter what miracles he performed, they could not believe Jesus was the Christ. The vast majority of God’s people saw Jesus as someone who seemed in many ways to be the Christ. But he didn’t usually do what they expected, and this was a big problem for them. For example, one day, the people laid palm branches in the path of Jesus, crying out, “ Hosanna! Blessed is the King of Israel!” Then, just a few days later, the people cried out, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
Why the change of heart? It was because Jesus did not do what they expected of the Christ. They expected the Christ to put Pilate on trial, not the other way around! So, you see, when their expectations went unfulfilled, they turned on Jesus with a vengeance.
However, a few blessed individuals understood that their expectations should never overcome their trust in the living God. For example, we have Simeon and Anna.
Simeon had watched and waited his whole life for the Christ. He did this because he believed in the prophecy that the Christ would bring the consolation of Israel. Now, at the time, the vast majority of God’s people expected the consolation of Israel to mean deliverance from Rome for starters. But, for Simeon and Anna it was enough to know and acknowledge the baby Jesus as the Christ. Their expectation was that the Christ would come, and, praise God, he had come!
Simeon took the baby Jesus up in his arms, blessed God, and said, “Mine eyes have seen your salvation!” The fulfillment of Simeon’s expectation was this baby in his arms and the knowledge of who he was. The prophecy that the Christ would come was fulfilled, and Simeon, by faith, saw what few others were blessed to understand.
The same is true of Anna, a prophetess who was of great age; more than one hundred years old, depending on your translation. Anna had watched and waited all her life, and now served God with fastings and prayers, night and day. But then came the time for Anna’s faith to be rewarded. The instant Anna saw the baby Jesus, Anna knew, gave thanks, and told others the Christ who brought redemption was with them.
So, you see, Simeon and Anna, because of faith, saw the Christ. Just as all of God’s people, they spent their lives in expectation of the Christ. But Simeon and Anna didn’t let what they thought would happen get in the way of what was happening. Simeon and Anna were blessed to see the fulfillment of God’s sure word of prophecy in that baby, while most everyone else just saw a baby.
The lesson of Simeon and Anna is that future and current prophecy should never be just about expectations. Rather, we need a mixture of faith and expectations, looking unto God to fulfill every prophecy in its time.