God Does Not Need Editors!

When Moses descended from Mount Sinai, he had two tablets of stone with words written on the front and the back of the tablets. We know those words as the Ten Commandments. They were placed in a golden container called the Ark of the Covenant. Nearly six hundred years later, Solomon brought that container into the beautiful temple he had built. There was nothing inside that ark but these two tablets (1 Kings 8:9). If you had been there to look at the tablets, there is one thing you would not find there. There was no “whiteout” on the tablets! There were no changes to be made in the wording. God knew the needs of the Jews, and He gave a perfect message that did not need amendments. God does not need editors of His words.

Fifteen hundred years after Moses delivered the Ten Commandments Jesus came to this earth. He was the only man who was at Mount Sinai and also present in the first century. When a young man asked Him about the commandments, Jesus quoted some of them. “You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, honor your father and your mother” (Matt. 19:18-19). These are precisely the same words given by God and written by Him on the tablets of stone. No changes, no rewrites, no revisions, no whiteout. God knew man’s needs and He made no provisions for anyone to change what He gave. God does not need editors.

Think of how drastically the world changed in the fifteen hundred years from Moses to Jesus. The Jews were no longer a nomadic people in a wilderness. They were in cities with thousands and thousands of residents. They no longer were isolated from the world but were part of the economic world of the first century. They were likely more educated and had greater wealth, but God’s words were still applicable. Culture changes, but God does not need editors to make cultural changes to His words.

Yet, far too many in our day see the words of God needing to be edited and updated because of culture or other changes. Every word on the tablets of stone came from God; they were written by His hand. From the beginning of Christianity, on Pentecost, this had not changed. Those men that spoke words and the Spirit decided every word which was spoken (Acts 2:4).

God forbade any man to edit the words of the Old Testament (Deut. 4:2; 12:32). He forbids any man editing the words of the New Testament (1 Cor. 14:37; Gal. 1:8-9; Phil. 3:16-18: Rev. 22:18-19).  So, when you hold in your hands the words of God, rest assured that you hold the precise words He gave. He makes no provisions for editors. He said it perfectly and it needs no amendments or editing!

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What We Need

In today’s age, someone might ask us, “What do ya need?” “Surely, I have something you want,” cries out the salesman. Everywhere we go there is someone who is anxiously waiting to serve us . . . or should I say, to overhaul us. What is it about life that makes us desire beginning at birth?

An infant desires the milk of his or her mother and as that child gets older, they rely upon forks to service them, stoves to service their food and employers to give them their checks to pay for such things. As one enters into adulthood, they are waited on by others such as car dealerships who offer a $.60 cent bottle of water before lowering the boom on you, or closing on your first house not knowing that you just signed a loan with flexible interest and payments. Is it possible to say that while we were allowing others to serve us, that we actually became the servants of others?

Service to others must be a delicate balance because sin also has a way of creeping in this way. It pokes its head out of the hole like a servant to us and speaks of the things we really want in life, or so we think. Yet, Jesus said that whosoever commiteth sin is the servant of sin.” (Jn. 8:34) Is this what we really need in life?

While sin promises great rewards on the outside, it corrupts the soul on the inside. Sin is corrosive. It has hidden cost and fills our lives with emptiness. It is ironic that when we bring our automobiles in for a $49.99 routine checkup, we usually pay more because of other things they found. This can apply to the soul of man. A person may be beautiful and physically fit, but when he comes in for the scheduled maintenance before the throne of God, He may find that our soul is clogged and darkened with sin.

Therefore, our soul may need an overhaul. It may need a great physician. Jesus said, “They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.” (Lk. 5:31) Jesus is the Great Physician. He said, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Lk. 5:32) He has a cure for us and that is repentance. Repentance is necessary if we are to keep our souls in tip – top shape. Repenting blots out the sins from our lives. (Acts. 3:19) It allows us not to service sin, but to service God.

We need to know that what we really need in life is the same thing that we need in the afterlife . . . Jesus Christ. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (Jn. 14:6) Jesus has what we need. He has salvation for us and gives it freely to all who are obedient to the Father’s will. No matter whom you are, no matter where you are, everyone has an opportunity to fill the void in their lives by hearing, believing, repenting, confessing and being baptized for the remission of sins. (Acts. 2:38) Only then can we hope to have everything we need.

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Are You a Grumbler

The story is told of a wife of a hard-to-please husband who was determined to try her best to satisfy him for just one day.  “Darling,” she asked, “what would you like for breakfast this morning?”  He growled, “Coffee and toast, grits and sausage, and two eggs — one scrambled and one fried.”  She soon had the food on the table and waited for a word of praise.  After a quick glance, he exclaimed, “Well, if you didn’t scramble the wrong egg!”

You may know of someone like this man.  Perhaps you are this man (as it were).  Such a person as the grumbler in our story may remind us of someone who is discontented with life.  He or she struggles with happiness; they tend to have a “doom and gloom” outlook on things; they are seldom thankful.  They grumble about this, complain about that.  Nothing is ever good enough.  Being riddled with pessimism they often knit-pick and criticize nearly everything and everyone around them.  This type of person is a proficient back-seat driver or armchair quarterback: “They need to do it this way?” – “That’s just stupid!” – “If that were me I’d…” (and so on).

While we all may have an opinion on some issue, the fault-finder believes he or she is everyone else’s measuring stick.  More is the pity. The apostle Paul says, “Do not be wise in your own opinion” (Rom. 12:16).  He also says, “Do all things without complaining and disputing” (Phil. 2:14; cf. Jas. 5:9).  With that said, friend, let me ask you: are you a grumbler?

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Response to a Debate Request

A Preacher’s Response to a Debate Request

Question: Dear church of Christ preacher; would you be willing to defend your apparent views of the necessity of baptism for salvation’s sake in open public debate with another local church leader from, say the Baptist, or some other local church?

Answer: No; I would not be willing to defend “my views” on that or anything else. Why should I want to defend or have anyone accept “my views” on anything? After all, I am just a lowly sinner saved by grace. And my humanistic, personal viewpoints are just as pointless as the Pope’s, Martin Luther’s, John Smyth’s, or anyone else’s, unless, unlike so many of their views, they are completely rooted, grounded in, and absolutely validated, without contradiction, by Scripture (II Tim. 3:16-4:5).

However, I would be absolutely delighted, honored, and very humbled to defend the gospel (Phil. 1:7) in any well-structured, public debate with any local church leader in order to present/discuss the crystal clear truth of exactly what God’s Word emphatically reveals to us about the Biblical essentiality of baptism for the forgiveness of one’s sins in order to be saved, and it’s inherent inclusion in the God-given instruction regarding “saved by grace salvation.”

But please be advised, while I would welcome nothing more, I humbly doubt it will ever happen; in decades past many great debates have often occurred between our brethren and some of our denominational friends and neighbors; and the end result was quite often that many, many people – sometimes almost whole congregations of those denominations – were Biblically converted to Christ and became members of the Lord’s church… certainly not because our brethren were any smarter or anything like that, but simply because the Scriptures have not changed (Psa. 119:89), and true seekers will always be able to easily see said truth once pointed out upon the printed, sacred page.

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Heart of the Matter: “Have To”

We’ve all said it before, sometimes without ever considering the underlying message: “Get ready, we have to go to….” The words “have to” oftentimes send a message to our children that this may not be something we “want to” (or get to) do. Not too many children would ever say “we ‘have to’ go to an amusement park.” Their joy and desire would change their demeanor and language to exclaim, “We get to go to an amusement park!” Our attitude and vocabulary are extremely influential in how young people view things. So what is the verbiage we use when we discuss the Church, prayer, worship, mission works, giving, singing, and even Heaven? Is it something we “have to” do, or do we remind our children that these are things we “get to” do?

Here’s what I intend on teaching my children about “having to” vs. “getting to” and the power of attitude.

Unfortunately, there will always be things in life that we don’t look forward to but we still “have to” do them. For instance, I have to clean out the garage, or my car won’t fit! I have to take out the garbage on Sunday nights, because our pickup day is Monday. But when it comes to Christianity and serving our God, these are things we should want to do—things we look forward to. That’s why on Sunday morning you hear your mom and I say, “Get ready, we get to go to Church today.” Or why before we eat we will often remind you “we get to pray” instead of “we have to pray”.

Anytime you begin to approach your Christianity with a feeling of “have to,” I want you to stop and remind yourself who you are and Who God is (Psalm 46:10). Spend a few minutes in the Psalms to help refresh your memory of the power of our Creator (e.g., Psalm 19). David wrote, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” (Psalm 8:3-4, emp. added). When we approach the Church with an attitude of “have to” then it tells me we have forgotten Who God is, how powerful He is, and ultimately what He did for us. How can anyone read John 3:16 and consider attending worship something we “have to” do?

The temptation may arise during your life in which you view your life as important or too busy–and thus church is one more thing you have to fit into your schedule. But remember, without God you would have no life or schedule to fill. Never view worship or spiritual matters with “have to” attitude. Joyfully make the time to praise His name and thank Him for all your blessings.

Throughout God’s Word, we see people with both the “have to” and “get to” attitudes. Consider the difference in Jonah’s life if he had viewed God’s initial request to go to Nineveh as a “get to” opportunity (Jonah1:1-17). Do you think Paul viewed going to Macedonia as something he “had to” do? The text says, “Now after he saw the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them” (Acts 16:9-10). Do you think those who were convicted in their hearts on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:37-41) were thinking, “Oh man, now I have to get baptized to have my sins washed away?” Or rather, did they gladly receive the Word and were baptized?

Before you were born, your mother and I had the opportunity to do some mission work overseas. On one occasion, the building that we were supposed to hold a meeting in had been chained and locked by local authorities and local orthodox priests. But that didn’t stop those in the area who wanted to hear the Truth. These people possessed a deep “want to/get to” attitude toward God and His Word. Do not let the cares of this world affect your attitude toward God and His Church. When it comes to giving, mission work, worship, singing, praying, and ultimately getting to Heaven, these should be things we look forward to—things we want to do.

Lionel Richie sings a song titled “Easy Like Sunday Morning.” In a few years you may have children running around the house and you will realize the falsehood (and utter ridiculousness!) of this song. Many Sunday mornings are downright hectic and crazy as we search for the right socks or bows. But I pray if you ever find yourself telling your own children, “Come on, we have to go to church,” that you will stop and remember this simple lesson on the power of your attitude.

Love,

Dad

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