The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
June 13, 2004
In
This Issue:
VBS
-- A Special Effort
by
Steve Klein
Have
You Noticed?
by
Larry Ray Hafely
VBS -- A Special Effort
If a housewife is diligent she'll see to it that house cleaning gets done a regular basis. Sweeping, vacuuming, dusting, washing dishes, and doing laundry are just a few of the chores that she accomplishes routinely. But even if all of these things are done regularly, every once in awhile, the entire house will be in need of a good spring-cleaning. This involves a more concerted effort to clean the house more thoroughly. Perhaps windows, walls, baseboards, and light fixtures that are normally neglected are now given special attention. Spring-cleaning takes more time and energy, but it is necessary. There are some things in life that just deserve or require a special effort.
Long ago, when the Jews returned from Babylonian captivity, they saw the need for a special spiritual spring-cleaning. In the seventh month, for the first two days of the month, they all gathered to hear Ezra and others read and expound the Law (Nehemiah 8:1-3). When they found instructions to keep the Feast of Tabernacles, they made preparation and did so. "Day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. And they kept the feast seven days&ldots;" (Deuteronomy 8:18). So, for several days, much time was spent assembled together to hear God's Law read and taught. No doubt, this required both the speaker and the listeners to take time out from their normal activities. Obviously, many made a special effort, and it was worth it.
Vacation Bible School is an annual special effort for us here at New Georgia. Already, several of our Bible teachers and their helpers have labored many extra hours in preparing lesson material and classrooms. Most of those who attend VBS will have to take time away from their normal activities of work or play to do so. Few of us could keep up with the demands VBS makes on our time and energy if it were to be extended for a whole year. But for a few days, with God's help, we can do it! Let us all make every possible effort to make our VBS a success. To God be the glory!
by Steve Klein
Certain things are apparent, obvious; yet, we often fail to consider them until someone says, "Have you noticed. . . ?" So, we shall bring some items to your mind by this method.
Have You Noticed...
(1) That preachers or religious people are portrayed as ignorant, superstitious buffoons in the entertainment media? They are made objects of ridicule and scorn. Their roles place them in an unfavorable light. Hence, all true faith is mocked and people reject belief in God and the Bible.
(2) That homosexuals are presented as normal, persecuted, misunderstood people in television shows, movies, etc.? The advertisement says that the show deals with a "real life" situation "with taste and sensitivity." What that means is that a sexual pervert is going to be made into a persecuted hero. His family will be shocked and turn against him (horrors!). Never fear, though, because in the end they will accept his "alternate lifestyle" and the community will see that he is really not to be shunned as an ungodly, immoral reprobate. Again, the Bible's view of homosexuals is overturned as merely the misguided rantings of unenlightened zealots. (See Rom. 1:24-32 and 1 Cor. 6:9-11.)
(3) That "public outrage" against rape, robbery, drunkenness and crime in general never proceeds from a fixed, authoritative moral base? Committees are formed to "get drunken drivers off our highways." Neighborhood watch groups are organized to prevent rapes and robberies. Citizens demand 'beefed up" police patrols. Meanwhile, those same people fight to keep pornography on the newsstands and laugh at those who would attempt to keep strict liquor laws. They contend for an amoral, non-judgmental presentation of sex education and for contraceptives on demand. But only when people believe there is a God in heaven to whom they shall give account for their deeds, only when our youth are taught that they did not come from animals, only when they are raised to avoid sin and strive to enter into the strait gate, only when God's Word is upheld as the bounds for piety and morality, only then will the problems of crime begin to abate.
(4) That agnostics, those who proclaim they do not know whether there is a God or not, are always willing to deny the Bible and poke fun at the creation account of Genesis? If they do not know, why not turn their sarcasm and unbelief toward the inadequacies and absurdities of the theory of evolution? The truth is that these pseudo-intellectuals are not agnostics. They are mock-ers and scoffers walking after their own lusts "to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever." (2 Pet. 2:17.) "Keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: which some professing have erred concerning the faith." (1 Tim. 6:20,21.)
(5) That profanity has pervaded and. permeated society? Even Junior High School texts contain cursing. Children, youngsters, learn all manner of filthy and vile words and expressions at home, and their language with their friends is filled with it. Their mouths are dirty as a drain. Schools and camps operated by brethren are not immune to such sewer speech, according to some young people. Constant teaching, admonition and example in the home is the only hope to avoid raising a child so his words will not become verbal fertilizer.
(6) That "equality" and "freedom" are equated with a denial of separate roles and functions? A person is not necessarily inferior and in bondage because his area of endeavor is different from that of another. Feminists and labor union leaders need to learn this lesson. Because it is not learned, several clear teachings of the Bible are being contradicted and blasphemed.
(7) That some advocates of religious unity seek a union of amalgamation and confederation rather than the unity of God's revelation? What is wrong with the unity of the 'Seven Ones" in Ephesians 4:4-6? Today, unity as revealed by the preaching of the apostles and confirmed by the Spirit must be denied and alien, denominational doctrines exposed and accepted. Is their union to be preferred over that which the Spirit revealed and to which the apostles appealed? "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine" (Acts 2:42), one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father. (Eph. 4:4-6.) That unity was stamped with the Spirit's seal of divine approval and approbation, with "many wonders and signs." (Acts 2:43.) Should we extend the hem of the garment of grace so as to include those who deny those seven, heaven sent "ones"? If so, we do that which the Spirit of God does not advocate or propagate.
(8) That a "legalist" has come to be defined and described as anyone who demands and commands obedience to the faith? Let a man insist that one must be baptized "for the remission of sins," let him plead for the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ and instruct people to avoid human religious institutions, let him encourage the work, worship, and organization of the New Testament, and he will be chided and derided as a "legalist." If instructing sinners to obey the gos-pel as was done in the New Testament, if singing, taking the Lord's Supper, and giving on the first day of the week as the Bible directs makes me a "legalist" in the eyes of some, then I shall just have to be a "legalist." Did a "1egalist" say, "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever have commanded you" (Matt. 28:20)?
(9) That negative Christians are self-fulfilling prophets? They see sinister intrigue in a preacher's every act; they see power structure and partisan politics in every church business meeting. What they see is what they get. Their attitude, their private whisperings, and their insidious insinuations, all given with "great reluctance" and pious presentation, lead to things they say they "feared" and "predicted." What they say is what they foment; what they foment, they invent; what they invent, they cannot prevent.
(10) That people who are guilty of some of the above items rarely like articles like this?
By Larry Ray Hafely
Caprock Church Bulletin, 5/3/84