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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Unity With jesus

Unity Between Jesus and Paul

A new Christianity Today article called “Jesus vs. Paul” looks at the current debate among evangelical New Testament scholars (and their students) who seem to be divided into two main camps: those who emphasize Jesus and the kingdom, and those who focus on Paul and justification by faith. Stan Guthrie, who wrote our Bible study of the same name says, “While this seems to be a knotty problem, unprecedented in church history, such theological turf wars are all too common. As Paul disapprovingly told the Corinthians, ‘One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?’ (1 Cor. 1:12-13). For Paul, it’s all about Jesus.”

“So how do we bring Jesus and Paul together, while doing justice to both? How do we hold to the doctrine of the full inspiration of Scripture, allowing Paul and Jesus to speak for themselves rather than fitting them into our preconceived theological categories? Which gets priority? Which comes first—kingdom or justification?”

Consider this:

The above two paragraphs appeared in Christianity Magazine recently apparently seeking to unite Jesus and Paul as if there were some question about the unity of doctrine espoused by Paul or by Jesus.

In the first place there is no reason to consider that Paul taught or intimated that there was ever any conflict between the teaching of Jesus and his teaching. The only conflict that we find in the early church between the Apostles of Christ was between Peter and Paul over the matter of racism (i.e. Gal 2:11-17 – 11 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face , because he was to be blamed. 12 For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. 13 And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. 14 But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, lives after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? 15 We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, 16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. 17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. (KJV).

Consider This:

The Major roadblocks to Christian unity of God’s people resides in the theological concepts that have been introduced by theologians that do not exist in the texts of the New Testament. The concepts that have divided those that sought the true unity for which Jesus pleaded in John’s Gospel {e.g. John 17:6-22 – 6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. 7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. 8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. 9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. 10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. 11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. 12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. 18 as thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. 20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word. 21 That they all may be one ; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one.  (KJV)

The division that exist in the religious world today exist because of false interpretations and false assumptions regarding the meanings of selected passages of Scripture by individuals who are bent upon causing schism in the church. The individuals who are responsible for schism in each generation will find some passage or passages of Scripture and place an interpretation upon that passage or passages that meet their particular point or understanding and then create more schism which eventually brings into existence another church with some new name that  God will surely bring to naught; even if the person or persons initiating the division are/were honest in their commitment and zeal for their particular doctrine –

NOTE … concerning God’s attitude toward schism or beginning a new denomination … Rev. 22:18-19 – 18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. (KJV) 2 John 9-11 – 9 Whosoever transgressed, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. 10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed. 11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

CONCLUSION:

Yes; the Lord built but one church; but man has built many churches with many different names and many different doctrines. These will surely answer for their apostasy – “SOMEDAY”

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