The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
June 17, 2007
In
This Issue:
What
God has Joined Together
by
Steve Klein
Permissive
Parents
by
Bill Hall
What God Has Joined Together
In Matthew 19, Jesus teaches that in marriage a man and a woman are joined together by God. He says, "Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate" (Matthew 19:6). Although Jesus is applying this principal to marriage, it certainly applies to many other things as well. Humans do not have the freedom to separate things that God has joined.
The high divorce rate in our nation attests to the fact that many people, including many religious people, feel that they have the right to undo God's work. This utter disrespect for God carries over into other areas. Note with me a number of things joined by God that should not be separated by man:
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God has joined baptism with salvation. In Mark 16:16, Jesus said, "He who believes and is baptized will be saved." Comparing our salvation to that of Noah's household, the apostle Peter asserts that "baptism doth also now save us" (1 Peter 3:21. KJV). Those who claim to be saved without baptism or prior to baptism are separating what God has joined together.
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God has joined prospering with giving. Concerning giving for the work of the Lord, the Corinthian church was instructed by the apostle Paul as follows: "On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come" (1 Corinthians 16:2). If we prosper but fail to give, we are separating what God has joined together.
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God has joined the first day of the week with disciples assembling to break bread. In Acts 20:7, we learn that "on the first day of the week" "the disciples came together to break bread." Therefore, on each first day of the week, disciples should come together to break the bread of the Lord's Supper (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:16). Disciples are not to do this on some other day of the week, or fail to do this on the first day of the week. If we do, we are separating what God has joined together.
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God has joined hearing with doing. "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. {23} For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; {24} for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. {25} But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does" (James 1:22-25). Hearing God's word obligates to apply it. To fail to do so is to separate what God has joined together.
In the time of Malachi, The Lord was very grieved with His people when they unjustly divorced their spouses (Malachi 2:13-16). It showed a lack of respect for God's will - the Lord made husbands and wives "one" but the Israelites dealt treacherously with their wives and divorced them. Surely we grieve the Lord when we separate things that He intends to be together.
--
Steve Klein
Children can influence their parents just as parents can influence their children. The following story about an imaginary couple may have been duplicated in the lives of many of our readers.
George and Mary were a wonderful couple as they began their life together. Throughout their youth, they had received strong teaching concerning worldliness, and their conduct showed the effects of that teaching. They had been taught faithfulness in attendance, and they never missed a service for "anything." In character and conviction, they were blameless.
This young couple failed, however, to instill into the hearts of their children these same convictions. Consequently, as the children reached their teens, they began to put pressure on their parents to let them do what all the other young people were doing. Gradually, the will of the parents was broken down, and they began to permit their children to do things they never dreamed their children would do.
Rationalization came easy for George and Mary. "After all, the Bible is not specific in these matters," they thought. "The Bible says 'modest apparel,' but it doesn't define modesty." "And, they're only planning to go to the dance; they aren't planning to dance." "We can't say 'no' to everything," they said. When Junior began to show unusual athletic ability, the question of attending services became a problem. At first, they took Junior out of games and brought him to midweek services, but then the team began to depend more and more on him. The play-offs came, and the team's only hope in the play-offs was for Junior to play. George and Mary gave in. And, once they had given in, they had no argument for the future. Junior never missed another game to "go to church."
George and Mary often found themselves on the defensive in Bible classes. They began to argue for their children's behavior. And, the more accustomed they became to their children's actions, the more innocent their actions seemed to be. Eventually, their own conduct became affected. They reached the point where they thought nothing of missing on Friday night during a meeting to see Junior play ball. Mary even adopted some of the daughter's dress habits, although remaining sufficiently "discreet" to stay in the good graces of the brethren. Yes, George and Mary are still in good standing in the church, and their change has been so gradual that many fail to realize that they are not the strong Christians they formerly were. What happened to George and Mary? Instead of bringing their children "up" in the nurture and admonition of the "Lord," their children brought them "down" in the nurture and admonition of the "devil."
Our children may do wrong, but they must not do wrong with our permission! We do not seek anger, but repentance. Parents, would your names fit in the place of "George" and "Mary" in the above story?
-- Bill Hall in Two Men