The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
October 3, 2004
In
This Issue:
The
One Time Wednesday Night Visit of a Young Person
by
Steve Klein
The
Beautiful Hope of Heaven
by
Tommy Poarch
"Thou
Mighty Man of Valor"
by
Sewell Hall
The One Time Wednesday Night
Visit of a Young Person
Have you ever thought about how your Wednesday night attendance (or lack thereof) might affect someone else? Consider the following hypothetical experience of one young person taken from an issue of the religious publication Pulpit Helps.
"I refused a date to the movies, choosing rather to go to the Wednesday night Bible class. I looked for several people who were important to me. I looked for my Sunday Bible class teacher, but he wasn't there. I looked for the familiar faces of a couple of deacons whom I know, but they were not there. I looked for several of the members who seemed to be real spiritual and who had greeted me warmly at the Sunday morning services, but they were not there. Perhaps these Christian friends do not think the Wednesday night services are so very important. I guess next Wednesday night I'll go to the movies."
Could this young person be someone you know? Jesus said, "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea" (Matthew 18:6).
Don't misunderstand. There are certainly valid reasons for being absent from an assembly of the saints, and our thoughts in this article are not meant to condemn the guiltless. But we all need to do our best to attend all the services we can, not just for our own benefit, but also for the benefits that others receive from our presence. Most of us have influence that is far greater than we realize.
By Steve Klein
The beauty of heaven gives constant encouragement to true believers. The bleaker the moment, the more precious is the song, "How Beautiful Heaven Must Be." Christians must keep before them the longing desire and hope of heaven. While engaged in the good fight of faith, each saint must constantly observe heaven through the eye of faith.
Christians are depicted as pil-grims who are journeying toward their homeland. If their voyage home was likened unto a ship upon the sea of life, we would describe the waters upon which they sail as troubled waters. Life is not always fair, and it is certainly not always easy. The discomforts and disappointments of life produce a strong desire for relief. In this life we experience - sickness, frustration, loneliness, temptation, persecution, death and decay. How does a Christian spell ultimate relief? H E A V EN!
The Devil does not want us to dock our ship in the haven called heaven. He will try to cause the storms of life to destroy our faith. The hope of heaven will see us through these storms. If I were the Devil and wanted to destroy a Christian's voyage to heaven, one of the first things I would want to do is to destroy his anchor so that he would lose stability in the time of storms and give up all hope.
Hope is the anchor of the soul that keeps one from being pushed oft course. Our hope is laid up for us in heaven (Col.1:5). Let us read of that hope as it is described in Hebrews 6:18-20: ". . .we who have fled for refuge in laying hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the, soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us..." Faith and hope must be firmly tied to the anchor of hope (1 Cor. 13:13). "For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope;...But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it" (Rom. 8: 24-25).
Christ was mistreated and longed to be with the Father. Paul wrestled with the temptation, persecution and unfairness of this world and longed to be with the Lord: Tired and weary pilgrims see a beautiful city and long for its peace, comfort, happ1.ness and rest (Rev. 14: 13).
Confidence in one's hope does not encourage sin, it purifies one's life. "Everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure" (1 In.3:3). Christians must have an abundant hope -- there should be no uncertainty. When one is not sure about his future abode, the world will overcome him.
Without question, one can fall from grace (Gal.5:4). However, a Christian can live in confident hope without any uncertainty concerning his future abode. John wrote his first epistle in order that ye might know that you have eternal life (1 John 5:13). This hope will save you in the times of storms, if it is firmly fastened to the Rock of Ages.
By Tommy Poarch
"The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor.. Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the Midianites." To what brave and stalwart soldier were these words spoken? To Gideon, a man who truly deserved them - eventually. But when they were first spoken to him, he was far from what the words implied.
If Gideon had ever wielded a sword there is no record of it. When God called him he was threshing wheat secretly for fear of the Midianites who regularly plundered his coun-try. Being told by the Lord to throw down Baal's altar, he did so - but under cover of darkness "because he feared his father's house and the men of the city." Before he would even attempt to organize an army he required not one, but two signs from the Lord involving a fleece and the dew of heaven. And before he was ready to go into battle, God had to grant him yet another omen, allowing him to overhear Midianite soldiers expressing their fear of Gideon. "Mighty man of valour," indeed! God must have been looking at what he would become, and not at what he was.
Simon's friends must have raised their eyebrows when Jesus called him Peter - a stone. How unlike a stone he was throughout the personal ministry! Yet following the resurrec-tion and the encounter with Jesus by the sea, Simon was indeed Peter, exactly what Jesus challenged him to be.
Does not God still deal with us in this way? Sometimes he speaks of the unconverted as His people (Acts 18:10). Those newly converted are addressed as saints, though possessing only the faintest suggestion of that holiness that is implied in the word. They are "children of God," though only beginning to be "partakers of the divine nature." They sit together with Christ in heavenly places," although they are still struggling with the flesh and their old worldly habits.
Shall we not learn from this? Recently, I expressed doubt that a certain alcoholic could ever be changed. Another brother (formerly a heavy drinker himself) disagreed, expressing hope for him. Which of us will be more likely to reach him?
Our children are all potentially devout faithful Christians. We must let them know this is what we expect. They must never be labeled "bad." Occasionally they make mis-takes, perhaps grievous ones, but these must be dealt with as actions out of harmony with their true character. We are disappointed, but never disillusioned.
If Paul could write to the church in Corinth with all its problem, "I thank my God all concern-ing you," then surely we can speak positively to any modern congregation. More is accom-plished by encouraging and exhorting than by constant browbeating and faultfinding. Regu-lar commendation of what is good lends effectiveness to rebuke when that is necessary. Even to the weak, we may say, "Go in this thy might!"
by Sewell Hall