Daniel 6

Daniel 6

Hughes on Integrity - Disciplines of a Godly Man - see also excerpt below from same source - enter page 123 for Chapter 10 - "Discipline of Integrity") THE DAY AMERICA Told the Truth, a new book based on an extensive opinion survey which guaranteed the anonymity of the participants, reveals an alarming crisis of integrity in America. Only 13 percent of Americans see all Ten Commandments as binding on us today. Ninety-one percent lie regularly — at home and at work. In answer to the question, “Whom have you regularly lied to?” the statistics included 86 percent to parents and 75 percent to friends. A third of AIDS carriers admit to not having told their lovers. Most workers admit to goofing off for an average of seven hours — almost one whole day — a week, and half admit that they regularly call in sick when they are perfectly well… The truth is, American culture is in big trouble. The colossal slide of integrity (especially masculine ethics) has grim spiritual, domestic, and political implications which threaten the survival of life as we know it. But for the Christian, the most chilling fact is this: there is little statistical difference between the ethical practices of the religious and the nonreligious. Doug Sherman and William Hendricks, in their book Keeping Your Ethical Edge Sharp, note Gallup’s statistics that 43 percent of non-church attenders admit to pilfering work supplies, compared to 37 percent of attenders. Seventeen percent of the unchurched use the company phone for long-distance personal calls, but 13 percent of those who attend worship do likewise. But is this true of real Christians? we may ask. Sherman and Hendricks answer yes. The general ethical conduct of Christians varies only slightly from non-Christians, with grand exceptions, of course. Sadly, Christians are almost as likely as non-Christians to: • Falsify their income tax returns. • Commit plagiarism (teachers especially know this). • Bribe to obtain a building permit — “That’s the way business is done.” • Ignore construction specs. • Illegally copy a computer program. • Steal time. • Commit phone theft. • Exaggerate a product. • Tell people what they want to hear. • Selectively obey the laws. My great-grandfather, Daniel Bell, Jr., was scrupulously honest. Here is what one of his sons wrote about his integrity. One time, we took Daniel to the lumberyard with us. Our little four-year-old daughter, Ruth, picked up a small scrap of wood. As we left, Daniel asked Ruth where she got the piece of wood. She replied, "I found it on the floor." He then asked, "Did you pay for it?" "No," she replied. "Did you work for it?" "No." "Did anyone give it to you as a gift?" "No." "Well, then, if you have not paid for it and if it was not a gift and if you have not worked for it and you took it, that is stealing. Now you go back into the lumberyard and return it." Ruth has never forgotten this lesson in honesty.—Tricia Truax, Durham, North Carolina (Discipleship Journal 104: March/April, 1998) EYES OF INTEGRITY - When friends at the pool teasingly told my husband that a beautiful blond was coming his way, they were amazed that he didn’t turn to look. "Aren’t you going to look?" they asked him. Dan joked that his wife wouldn’t let him. "But it is your wife!" they laughed. Dan’s obedience to Mt. 5:28 and his consistent modeling of Christ’s love for His church have made Jesus’ pure and unfailing love ever more real to me. —Julie A. Bailey, Carlsbad, California (Discipleship Journal 104: March/April, 1998) Psalm 101 - The Walk of Integrity • Integrity loves the Lord and His justice. Psalm 101:1-note • Integrity lives a blameless life. Psalm 101:2-note • Integrity keeps its eyes from evil. Psalm 101:3-note • Integrity protects itself from the perverse. Psalm 101:4-note • Integrity silences gossip and slander. Psalm 101:5-note • Integrity seeks fellowship with God’s faithful and wisdom from the wise. Psalm 101:6-note • Integrity denounces deceit and dishonesty. Psalm 101:7-note • Integrity confronts those who compromise. Psalm 101:8-note (From June Hunt's excellent resource - Biblical Counseling Keys on Dating) (Notes are from Spurgeon's Treasury of David) I. INTEGRITY OF A PERSON (Proverbs 11:1-9) A. Integrity in Business (Proverbs 11:1) B. Integrity and Humility (Proverbs 11:2, 3) C. Integrity and God’s Judgment (Proverbs 11:4, 5, 6) D. Integrity and God’s Deliverance (Proverbs 11:7, 8, 9) II. INTEGRITY OF A COMMUNITY (Proverbs 11:10-14) A. City Celebrates (Proverbs 11:10, 11) Communal Integrity B. Damage of Careless Accusals (Proverbs 11:12, 13) C. Nation Adrift (Proverbs 11:14) CONCLUSION A. Satan Hates Integrity B. The Hard Choice for Integrity C. Pray (Adapted from King James Version Standard Lesson Commentary) Related resource: Proverbs 11:1 Honesty is the Best Policy Integrity of Hearts not Walls! - In ancient China, the people desired security from the barbaric hordes to the north. So they built the Great Wall of China. It was too high to climb over, too thick to break down, and too long to go around. Security achieved! The only problem was that during the first hundred years of the wall’s existence, China was invaded three times. Was the wall a failure? Not really—for not once did the barbaric hordes climb over the wall, break it down, or go around it. How then did they get into China? The answer lies in human nature. They simply bribed a gatekeeper and then marched right in through a gate. The fatal flaw in the Chinese defense was placing too much reliance on a wall and not putting enough effort into building character into the gatekeeper. In all the daily tasks we do, The Bible helps us clearly see That if the Work is good and true, We’re living for eternity. In God’s eyes it is a great thing to do a little thing well. Little Things Count (cp Da 1:8) - The story has been told of a bank employee who was due for a good promotion. One day at lunch the president of the bank, who happened to be standing behind the clerk in the cafeteria, saw him slip two pats of butter under his slice of bread so they wouldn’t be seen by the cashier. That little act of dishonesty cost him his promotion. Just a few pennies’ worth of butter made the difference. The bank president reasoned that if an employee cannot be trusted in little things he cannot be trusted at all. (Illustrations for Biblical Preaching) Charles Simeon in a sermon on Job 23:10 (see commentary) discusses a great benefit of personal integrity… A consciousness of their own integrity is a rich source of consolation to them in a trying hour—There are times and seasons when almost all the other springs of comfort seem dried up: sometimes it may be painful even to reflect upon God (Ps 77:3-note). Job acknowledges in the context, that God’s “presence was a trouble to him:” but knowing that God was acquainted with his heart, he could yet appeal to him respecting his own integrity: and from this source he derived a pleasing satisfaction, an encouraging hope. St. Paul, under a daily and hourly expectation of martyrdom, experienced much joy in the same thought (2Co 1:8,9,10,11,12): nor shall we find it a small consolation to us, under any trials we may be called to endure. (The Upright Person's Comfort Under Afflictions) Lord's Prayer - A minister parked his car in a no-parking zone in a large city because he was short of time and couldn’t find a space with a meter. So he put a note under the windshield wiper that read: “I have circled the block ten times. If I don’t park here, I’ll miss my appointment. Forgive us our trespasses.” When he returned, he found a citation from a police officer along with this note: “I’ve circled this block for ten years. If I don’t give you a ticket, I’ll lose my job. Lead us not into temptation. (Illustrations for Biblical Preaching) Integrity of Lincoln - Throughout his administration, Abraham Lincoln was a president under fire, especially during the scarring years of the Civil War. And though he knew he would make errors of office, he resolved never to compromise his integrity. So strong was this resolve that he once said, "I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end, when I come to lay down the reins of power, I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside of me." Today In The Word Truth and Integrity - Our relationship with an ever-faithful God demands an ever-faithful life from his people. Others should be able to bank on our promises and entrust to us any important matter, with no further thought. We need to be known for our integrity as Tiffany’s is known for jewelry. We are called to be moral absolutists in a society of moral relativists. We need to be responsible and to act responsibly. We need to integrate our faith in the God we trust with a personal integrity that can always be trusted. (Hurley, V Speaker's sourcebook of new illustrations Dallas: Word Publishers) Warren Wiersbe in his book The Integrity Crisis (referring to the church in America) writes that "In order to understand integrity, we must first realize that two forces are at work in our world today: (1) God is putting things together; and (2) sin is tearing things apart. God wants to make us integers; Satan want to make us fractions… Integrity is to personal or corporate character what health is to the body or 20/20 vision is to the eyes. A person with integrity is not divided (that's duplicity) or merely pretending (that's hypocrisy). He or she is "whole"; life is "put together," and things are working together harmoniously. People with integrity have nothing to hide and nothing to fear. Their lives are open books. They are integers!… Jesus made it clear that integrity involves the whole person: the heart, the mind, and the will. The person with integrity has a single heart. He doesn't try to love God and the world at the same time (Mt 6:24-note). His heart is in heaven (THINK OF DANIEL PRAYING 3X A DAY) and that's where his treasure is (Mt 6:21-note)… An integrated person takes the command seriously "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart (Mt 22:37). The person with integrity also has a single mind, a single outlook ("eye") that keeps life going in the right direction. After all, outlook helps to determine outcome; "a double minded man [is] unstable in all his ways" (Jas 1:8-note)… Jesus also said the person with integrity has a single will; he seeks to serve but one master… The first duty of every soul is to find not its freedom but its Master! Once you find your Master, Jesus Christ, you will find your freedom… for "if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed" (Jn 8:36). No one can successfully serve two masters. To attempt to do so is to become a fractional person, and a fractional person does not have INTEGRITY! Instead he is someone with a divided heart, a divided mind, a divided will." (Warren W