April Fool

Do Not Be an April Fool!

When was the first ever April Fools’ Day hoax? Have you ever thought about it? I submit to you that it must have been April 1, 6000 BC (roughly). It was not really a joke at all; it was a mean, horrible and malicious attack. I am talking about the very first April Fools’ Day in history. This sad event is recorded in Genesis Chapter Three. The first ever April Fools’ hoax was pulled on Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden by the father of the foolish – Satan himself. On that April Fools’ Day, foolishness (sin) first entered the world, marring God’s perfect creation, and mankind has been falling for the same old April Fools’ hoax ever since.

What is a fool? Webster’s defines a fool in this way,

“1. One who is destitute of reason, or the common powers of understanding; an idiot. Some persons are born fools, and are called natural fools; others may become fools by some injury done to the brain. 2. In common language, a person who is somewhat deficient in intellect, but not an idiot; or a person who acts absurdly; one who does not exercise his reason; one who pursues a course contrary to the dictates of wisdom. 3. In scripture, fool is often used for a wicked or depraved person; one who acts contrary to sound wisdom in his moral deportment; one who follows his own inclinations, who prefers trifling and temporary pleasures to the service of God and eternal happiness.”

The Bible defines the fool in this way, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7) Therefore, a fool is one who does not fear God and who despises His wisdom and instruction. That is exactly what Satan was able to tempt Adam and Eve to do.

God Had told Adam and Eve, “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17). A proper fear or reverential awe of God should have kept Adam and Eve from ever approaching that particular tree. Yet they listened to Satan’s lie, “Ye shall not surely die…” (Genesis 3:4). And they fell for his sick joke, “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil…” (Genesis 3:5).

Their foolishness opened the door for more foolishness to follow and we have all at one time fallen for Satan’s April Fools’ hoax. “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned…” (Romans 5:12). We can thank God, however, that there is a remedy for that mistake, a way to escape the eternal consequences of the horrendous April Fool’s hoax perpetrated by the devil. “For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many… Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous…” (Romans 5:15, 18-19).

Don’t fall for the same old April Fools’ Hoax. It has not changed in thousands of years. Though it has many guises and variations, it remains essentially the same. Satan knows that if he can first get you to lose your respect and awe of God then he can cause you to despise God’s wisdom and instruction – resulting in sin. Don’t fall into his trap! Avoid being entangled in his web of lies and deceit. Flee temptation – run away from its presence! Follow Solomon’s advice, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Don’t be a fool!

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Autonomy

Not long ago a person I was working with in an attempt to convert him from a false religion stopped me while I was presenting a statement about the independence of each congregation by exclaiming “I did not know that.” After some consideration it dawned on me that there may be many people who are seeking true Biblical doctrine who were unaware of the independence of each congregation of churches of Christ. For that reason this article has been written.  I do pray that some will examine my reasoning and exegesis of the Bible texts to follow and find satisfaction (i.e. acceptance) of the Biblical doctrine of local congregational autonomy.

What does the word autonomy mean? – (Autonomy: “self-law”, hence, self-governing…the right of self-government…a self-governing community.)  -Autonomy = Independence & self-government.

CHURCHES IN THE EARLY N.T. ERA WERE AUTONOMOUS:

The Biblical pattern of the early church (i.e. independent congregational government) is the only way a congregation may organize to this very day. There is no other organizational structure reveled for the local congregation found in the New Testament.

Each Local Church Is A Complete Organization Within Itself:

Acts 14:23 – And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed. KJV

Acts 20:28 – Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. KJV Phil. 1:1 – Paul and Timothy, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: KJV

CONSIDER THIS:

The organizational structure of a congregation is revealed in the three references sited above; the Biblical organization for local congregational function consists of elders, deacons, and other members.

This concept will work perfectly with each congregation wherever the congregation exists in the world. The congregation has no organizational function beyond its own ability. The ability of each congregation is determined by the size, spirituality of its members (i.e. maturity), and its financial strength.

Each congregation is responsible to God in three area of work:

Eph. 4:10-16 – 10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: 14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: 16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

1.     Evangelism – spreading and supporting the teaching of Christ.

2.     Benevolence – Taking care of the congregation’s needy.

3.     Edification of itself – building up the membership of the congregation (i.e. aiding the members to grow – mature in the faith).

The above three areas of work assigned by the Lord for the congregation when performed to the extent of their ability with their resources is authorized, pleasing to the Lord, and completely acceptable to God.

Through the above process each congregation is acceptable to God.

I know of no Biblical teaching that authorized a plurality of elders in one church to assume or accept the responsibility of a sister congregation’s work; either in part or the whole.

The concept of sponsoring elderships, congregational interlinking such as is current in the Roman Catholic Church, the Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Baptist, and many others religious organizations pursuing unauthorized means and methods to activate the universal church (i.e. all the members throughout the world or all the churches throughout the world) is without Biblical support.

CONSIDER THIS:

Any system or any organizational arrangement that is not authorized by the Bible is unacceptable to our Lord.  Anything that is unauthorized by our Lord via the Holy Scriptures that is practiced by man is sinful. There is no other statement that will adequately define this departure from the Biblical pattern; this is transgression of God’s instruction.

SEE ALSO THE FOLLOWING BIBLICAL REFERENCES:

Jesus Christ is the only Head of the Universal Church and has not delegated any authority to any man or men to take His place while he sits at the throne of the Father in Heaven.

Matt. 28:18-20 – And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. KJV

Eph. 1:22-23 – 22 and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him that fills all in all. KJV

Col. 3:15-17 – 15 and let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. KJV

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I Believe Everything

Not too long ago, I was having a conversation with a friend about religion, and she said, “ I believe in everything.”  I was a little taken back with this response, and did not reply to her immediately, but decided to ponder upon it for a while.  Knowing a little something about this person, I am pretty sure that she did not mean something like “ I believe red lights mean ‘go’,” or “I believe that 2+2=2365.”  Given the context of our discussion, she seemed to be referring to religious beliefs, and so, to be charitable with her statement, I will comment upon that.

Even given religious beliefs, however, one will soon find that not all of them can be accepted so that one could truly say, “ I believe everything.”  For example, popular Hindu beliefs accept reincarnation.  This is the idea that one’s soul leaves one’s body and comes back in another life to inhabit a different body.  In Hindu belief, this happens impersonally.  One’s soul is simply the “energy” from one body that inhabits a new body, but no personality is transferred.  Hindus also believe that reincarnation can take place into other beings like dogs, cats, horses, cows, birds, rats, and other animals.

However, Christianity does not hold to reincarnation.  Christians believe that one’s life on earth is the only life that one has to live before final judgment, and that there is no cycle of reincarnation that occurs (Hebrews 9:27).  Each individual is a separate person unique in identity for all time and space.  Each person has one body, which will be resurrected on the Day of Judgment (John 5:28-29).  On that day, everyone will be judged by Jesus the Christ according to what he or she has done in that body whether good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10).

Perhaps one might say, “I can believe both of these things, and do well.”  Such seems like a high-minded way of looking at it, but that both sets of beliefs cannot be maintained is easily seen by simply considering the differences.

Christianity -Resurrection Popular Hindu Belief – Reincarnation
Personhood is real; The self is personal. Personhood is an illusion; The self is not personal.
Death occurs once. Death occurs multiple times.
The self is resurrected into his own body. The self is reincarnated into a different body.
The self is resurrected for eternal judgment. The self is reincarnated according to karma (a type of judgment that is cyclical).
The self survives resurrection. The self does not survive reincarnation.
Resurrection occurs once. Reincarnation occurs multiple times; it is cyclical.
Judgment occurs once and is final. Judgment is cyclical occurring many different times.
The personal self spends eternity in heaven or hell; in fellowship with God or not, respectively. The impersonal energy that was one’s self eventually merges with cosmic oneness.

It seems clear that one cannot believe both sets of teaching (reincarnation and resurrection) at least as these doctrines are set forth in Christianity and Popular Hindu Religion.  One may try to synthesize these beliefs somehow, but one will wind up with something different and end up compromising one set of beliefs or the other.  The new set of beliefs will still be different from the old set and one will still end up not believing everything.

Most importantly, though, an individual who professes to believe everything must ask himself how he is going to live his life right now?  If one accepts the teachings of reincarnation, there really is no motivation beyond one’s own personal feelings as to how he should live.  So, if one lives in such a way so as to destroy his or someone else’s life, then no big deal.  One is reincarnated into the next life as something lesser than human and one’s energy moves to that state.  If one fulfills the purpose of that state (whatever that is), one may then move back up and take on being human again.  If one becomes “enlightened,” then he may move on to an impersonal state of existence with the whole of the cosmos.  One would never know all of this is happening because in this religious system, each change destroys one’s personality.

However, if one truly believes in resurrection, one will order his or her life so as to anticipate the Day of Judgment when all will be judged according to his deeds.  One will seek to ensure that his deeds have been of the sort that accord with the Judge’s standards of right and wrong (John 12:48).  If one only has one shot at life and doing the right thing therein, then one had better get it right lest his soul is lost eternally.  Such circumstances do not entail impersonal cosmic union, but the eternal persistence of an individual consciousness under just punishment for wrongdoing.  However, should someone act according to the Judge’s standards, he or she will receive judicial mercy and eternally persist in a state of harmony and union with the Judge (God) in a personal loving relationship.

Surely these two sets of beliefs entail different sets of life choices.  One will either believe he has another opportunity to do right in the next life, or he will believe this life is his only opportunity to do right.  One will act according to the one belief or the other, and consequences will follow.  When it comes down to making personal decisions, one simply cannot believe everything.

Practically speaking, one must act one way or another at any given point in life.  One will act based upon what one believes about one’s actions.  It is important that we believe the right things so that we will act the right way.  However, in order to believe the right things, we must have the right standard of behavior.  The Bible is that standard.  It is the word of God that God has given for us to study, learn, and believe so that our actions may be ordered correctly.  The apostle Paul wrote, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:  That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).  Why not ask someone today to sit down and study the Bible with you.

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Hold Fast

One of the saddest occurrences in this life is to witness the falling away of a Christian. Sadder yet is the death of a Christian who has failed to walk worthy of his calling and stepped into eternity separated from the gift of God’s love he once held to be precious. Peter wrote “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire” (2 Peter 2:20-22).

This is why I have taught that the most important word in all of Scripture is the word ”faithful.” It is my deepest desire to hear the Father of our souls say to me “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord” (Matthew 25:21, 23). Seven times in the King James Version the phrase “hold fast” is used (1 Thessalonians 5:21; 2 Timothy 1:13; Hebrews 3:6, 4:14, 10:23; Revelation 2:25, Revelation 3:3). This teaches us at least two things:

  • The Calvinistic doctrine of “once saved, always saved” is erroneous!
  • If we hope to spend eternity with God we must be faithful!

So I want to share just a few thoughts about the idea of “holding fast” to our salvation:

  1. Remember Why You Became a Christian! You obeyed the gospel in order to be cleansed from your sins, not to continue in them (Romans 6:1-9). You were baptized to be delivered “from this present evil world” (Galatians 1:4) so we should keep ourselves “unspotted” from it (James 1:27). You came to the cross to obtain salvation (2 Timothy 2:10). Hold Fast!
  2. Remember What Lies Ahead! When Jesus gave us a glimpse into the Day of Judgment he stated unequivocally that there would be only two options: One for the disobedient and one for the righteous, “And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:46). Paul reminds us that “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). Plus, hell is to horrible of a place for anyone to ever have to go and was not a place intended for the souls of men, but for Satan and his angels (Matthew 25:41). Hold Fast!
  3. Remember We Have Not Yet Attained! While the blood of Christ has saved us through our obedience to the gospel we have not yet been perfected (Philippians 3:12), and will not be until the Lord shall come. So Paul said, “I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.” So we run with certainty “that ye may obtain” the prize (1 Corinthians 9:24). So we must be faithful; we must… Hold Fast!

Have you obeyed? Do you have the hope of what lies ahead? Have you held fast? Why not?

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Effective Evangelism

How Can We Be More Effective in Evangelism?

While not much has been announced as of yet, the elders have determined to emphasize the role of evangelism in the congregation, and to execute their plan, we will be having an evangelism class this summer to prepare for our “Fishers of Men” class this fall. Moreover, our lectureship begins this weekend, and because our theme centers on questions that non-Christian seekers are often asking, we can utilize this format to accommodate our need and joy to share the gospel with others.

Why do we often fail in evangelism? Reasons could include fear of embarrassment (as opposed to shame of Christ) and fear of resentment, rejection and controversy. In addition, we very often assume that people will not be interested before we even ask—by so doing, we overlook some who may be interested that we misjudge. Finally, we as Christians need to convince ourselves in the power of the gospel and the condition of lost souls. What are some practical ways of being more effective in evangelism? First, we need to find a method that suits our talent. According to Jesus, we all have at least one talent (Matt. 25:14-30). I know that the word “talent” indicates a financial term, but the Bible is clear that God has given us all abilities (at least one ability) to carry out the mission of the church—to preach and teach the gospel to those who are lost (Luke 19:10; Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:15). Therefore, we must begin by searching inwardly to see what abilities we have that match well with evangelism. If we are outgoing individuals, then conducting Bible studies will not be difficult. If we are shy, then we may want to become involved in things such as distributing and grading Bible correspondence courses, distributing tracts and such like that involve less personal contact. If we love to be sociable, then we may use our abilities of hospitality to focus on evangelistic efforts. Whatever ability we may have, we need to get busy and use it for evangelistic causes!

Second, we need to revive our enthusiasm for Christianity. The psalmist declared it best: “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee” (Ps. 51:12-13). We need to radiate with a joy of salvation! When people in the world who are facing problems of every nature see the true joy and contentment of the Christian life, they will want to know what makes the difference!

Finally, we need to demonstrate Christianity at its finest! The apostle Peter makes a powerful statement concerning the non-Christian husbands of Christian wives: “… they may without the word be gained by the behavior of their wives” (1 Pet. 3:1 ASV). Evangelism can take place by simply demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit (cf. Gal. 5:22-23). This will take an exhibition of the change that God has made in our lives (Rom. 12:1-2). I hope that these practical points will help all of us to become more evangelistic, and may God bless our efforts to sow the seed of the kingdom!

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