Living in the Now

As a child, we are familiar with longing for the next age. When I was 15, I couldn’t wait to be 16 and drive. When I was 17, I couldn’t wait till 18. Then, I could vote and go off to college. As a parent, it’s a similar view. If we can just get to that next stage, when she sleeps through the night, or he is out of diapers. Now, the stages are getting a child trained through high school, getting another child through college, and continuing to be a source of encouragement for one whose schooling is completed! If I am not careful, I can still look forward to the next stage view. As a Christian, I need to learn to live in the now.

This is a complaint against Christians. We tend to look back or look ahead and miss what is right before our eyes. Honestly, the same complaint could be leveled at all people. As Christians, we look back to the cross. We look forward to heaven. Those are great blessings and should not be taken for granted. Keep in mind, there are many blessings right before our very eyes.

Here are some passages that come to mind. “Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34 NIV). When I worry, I am borrowing tomorrow’s troubles today. “A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God.” (Ecclesiastes 2:24 NIV). Be thankful for your food. Enjoy it. Hopefully, you find satisfaction in your work. I have always felt for people who did not find pleasure in their profession. A person has to work, but it is really a chore when you don’t gain satisfaction from a job well done.

Throughout the gospel of John, Jesus says, “I am the door,” “I am the gate,” “I am the bread of life,” and “I am the good shepherd,” just to name a few. Notice, he does not state it, “I was,” or “I will be.” He always uses the present tense. In our hymns we sing, “Bow before the Great I Am.” “The Great I Was,” or “The Great I Will Be” doesn’t have the same ring to it. As Christians, we should reflect on the past of Christ on the cross. We should look forward to eternity in heaven. God has also blessed us to enjoy the present. As the old saying goes, “Time flies when you’re having fun.” Whether it’s gathering for worship, an evening with friends, a family get together, working on a project, reading a good book, taking a hike in the park, fishing at the lake or watching a ball game; time flies and you are taking in the now. Be thankful to God for it!

Jimmy Hodges

The Church was Established at the Right Time

We live in a world where complaining comes easily. We complain about slow service, frustrating work situations, government inefficiency, and any number of daily inconveniences. Sadly, that same spirit can sometimes find its way into the church. Members may complain about leadership; leaders may complain about members. Yet Paul wrote, “Do all things without grumbling or disputing” (Phil. 2:14). If we are going to help the church grow, grumbling will not do it. Instead, we need to focus on what is right with the church.

One great truth is this: the church was established at the right time. Long before Acts 2, God had revealed both the time and place of the coming kingdom. In Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed of a great image representing successive world kingdoms. Daniel identified Babylon as the first and then spoke of kingdoms that would follow. During the days of the fourth kingdom, God would set up a kingdom that would never be destroyed (Dan. 2:44). History shows the succession of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. It was during Roman rule that Christ came and His kingdom began.

The place was also foretold. Isaiah said that “the word of the Lord” would go forth from Jerusalem (Isa. 2:1-4). Jesus confirmed this when He told His apostles that repentance and remission of sins would be preached in His name, beginning at Jerusalem (Luke 24:46-48). He told them to wait there until they received power from on high (Acts 1:4-8). Mark 9:1 promised that some standing with Jesus would live to see the kingdom come with power. In Acts 2, the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles in Jerusalem, Peter preached the gospel, and about three thousand souls were added. The church had begun—at the right time, in the right place, and according to God’s promise.

This was not an accident of history. Paul wrote, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son” (Gal. 4:4). God’s timing is never late and never premature. He had prepared the world for the spread of the gospel. The great empires had contributed to the conditions of that day. The Greeks spread a common language, Koine Greek, which made communication across nations easier and preserved the New Testament message with clarity. The Romans built roads and provided a measure of order that allowed the gospel to travel rapidly throughout the empire. Even the Jewish dispersion had placed synagogues in many cities, giving early preachers places to begin teaching about Christ.

God’s plan unfolded exactly as He intended. The church was not a last-minute response to human failure. It was part of His eternal purpose, revealed through prophecy and fulfilled in Christ. In the church, Jew and Gentile are brought together in one body and reconciled to God through the cross (Eph. 2:14-16). In Christ, we have redemption through His blood, and God is gathering all things together in Him (Eph. 1:7- 10). We may find plenty of things in life to complain about, but the Lord’s church should not be one of them.

It was established by God, promised by the prophets, purchased by the blood of Christ, and opened to all who will obey the gospel. Just as the church was established at the right time, now is the right time for us to be in Christ. Why wait? Come to Him, and be added to the body of the saved. 

Dale J. Babinsky

Great Smoky Mountains Church of Christ; 3078 Veterans Blvd. Pigeon Forge, TN 37863 865.428.9749; Church@gsmchurchofchrist.com

Sarah and Minnie

It has been quite a few years since I visited one of our church members in one one of the hospitals in Nashville, but I remember one incident very well. The incident really had nothing to do with the actual visit with my brother in Christ. It actually took place while I was leaving the facility.

Since I had never been to that particular hospital before, I was unsure about where to park and find things once I was in it. My confusion caused me to leave from a different place from the one through which I had entered. Apparently, I had entered some secondary entrance and left via the main entrance. I figured that out when I saw a very large picture of the person for whom this medical establishment was named.

The portrait looked somewhat similar to somebody I had seen on television and who had performed at the county fair where I grew up when I was much younger. I thought that this woman in the portrait could not have possibly been her, though. It is not unusual for me to think that one person I know or whom I’ve met reminds me of somebody else. Surely that was the case this time.

The lady in the picture had the look and the wardrobe of a successful business person. The comedian I saw at our county fair was dressed like and looked like a “country bumpkin” and regularly began her performances with “How-Dee!! I’m just so proud to be here” (pronounced kind of like hyear). There couldn’t possibly be any connection between the professional looking woman from Nashville and the woman from Grinders Switch with the $1.98 price tag hanging off of her floppy straw hat.

I don’t think I can adequately communicate my surprise when I learned that Sarah Cannon and Minnie Pearl were (was?), in fact, the same person. It was hard for me to believe that one person could be two totally different individuals.

As I thought about that, I started doing some thinking. That’s always dangerous for me, because it often leads to self-examination.

I wonder if my family would tell you that they see a different “me” than the one I “portray” when I am with others. Would they and/or others notice a difference between the Sunday “me” and the Monday through Saturday “me.” Does my vocabulary change depending on the people I’m with? What about my wardrobe, my choices of entertainment, and any number of other things?

You may remember that some of our Lord’s most scathing denunciations were leveled at religious leaders whom he labeled as hypocrites. You may also remember that one of the definitions of the Greek word used is “a stage actor.”

Apparently, Sarah Cannon was rewarded well for being a stage actor named Minnie Pearl. Even people like me who did not know her real name understood that it was an act. We also understood that it was – as the saying goes – all in fun.

My memory of a long ago hospital was about much more than a trip down memory lane. It reminded me of something that I think is valuable. If any of us choose to be two different people in “real life,” we will also be rewarded – and it will be no laughing matter. -Jim Faughn

 

We’ll do whatever you say

Jeremiah 42:5–6 (ESV)

It’s easy to make a promise in the moment. Someone asks for our word, and we give it freely, without counting the cost. We tell a friend we’ll be there. We tell our kids we’ll change. We tell God, in a hard season, that if He’ll just get us through this, we’ll do whatever He says. The promise costs nothing to speak. It’s the keeping that gets expensive.

Jerusalem has fallen when we meet the remnant in Jeremiah 42. The city is rubble, the king is gone, and the survivors left in the land are terrified of what Babylon might do next. A group led by Johanan comes to Jeremiah with one request: pray, then tell them what the Lord says. Should they stay in the land, or flee to Egypt?

Their promise, before they’ve heard the answer, is remarkably strong. They call on the Lord Himself to be a “true and faithful witness” against them if they fail to obey. “Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God” (Jer. 42:5–6, ESV). Read that carefully. It’s about as serious an oath as a person can make.

Ten days later, Jeremiah brings the word. Stay in the land. Don’t go to Egypt. The same people who swore to obey whatever the Lord said turn on the prophet, accuse him of lying, and head for Egypt anyway. Their promise didn’t survive contact with an answer they didn’t want.

Words come too easily to us too. We make promises without much thought, and plenty of us have made commitments we never intended to keep. Little white lies feel harmless. Fine print hides in every offer. Prices climb while the product in the package shrinks, and we’ve even given that trick a name. A person’s word doesn’t carry the weight it used to.

We do the same thing with God that Judah’s remnant did. We promise obedience in the crisis, at the hospital bed, in the middle of the night when we’re scared enough to mean it. Then the answer comes, and it isn’t the one we wanted, so we go do what we intended all along.

God does not operate that way. Every word He speaks, He keeps. He “is not slow to fulfill his promise… but is patient” (2 Pet. 3:9, ESV), even when we’re the unfaithful ones. Christ’s own faithfulness, all the way to the cross, makes room for people who’ve broken more promises to God than they can count.

That’s exactly why our words still matter now. Jesus said, “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’” (Matt. 5:37, ESV). Truthfulness isn’t a small virtue for a Christian. It’s a mark of belonging to Christ, and when we’re careless with it, the world takes notice long before we do.

Most of us have told God we’d do whatever He said. The question this week isn’t whether we’ve made that promise before. It’s whether we mean it this time. -Jeff Arnette

Jeff Arnette preaches for the Central Haywood Church of Christ (Clyde, NC; 828-565-0500; centralhaywoodcoc@gmail.com)

Biblical Archaeology and the Bible

I posed a question to AI (the internet’s “artificial intelligence”): “Has there ever been any piece of biblical information proven false?” The answer that came back: “Yes—individual biblical claims have been shown to conflict with established historical or scientific evidence, but no scholar claims that all biblical information has been proven false. The picture is mixed: some passages are strongly corroborated by archaeology and external records, while others are contradicted or remain unverified” (COPILOT; 7.3.26).

I pushed back against this answer and said archaeology does not prove anything and, moreover, archaeology is data that must be interpreted. COPILOT accepted this as a reasonable push back: “You’re right to push back here, Ron — and this is exactly the kind of precision you like.”

I want you to notice there is no evidence of the biblical record ever being “proved” false by archaeology. Archaeological data, by its very nature, is limited, because a small spec (or piece) of information is too little to make broad, sweeping claims. When I asked COPILOT about archaeological data disproving the Bible, COPILOT’S answer was in relation to the conquest of Canaan, a historical event that occurred around three thousand five hundred years ago, wherein archaeology is especially sparse. The archaeological data giving evidence of this is limited, but there is evidence. “… archaeology does not show a single, sweeping, rapid military conquest of Canaan, but it does show several specific destructions, burn layers, and cultural shifts that align with parts of Joshua … The evidence is mixed, and the interpretation depends heavily on chronology” (COPILOT 7.8.26).

Three things about this: first, COPILOT offered no direct contradictory evidence of the conquest; second, the data that is available is interpreted by some negatively; third, there is some evidence of destruction that corresponds with the biblical record. This means that assertions of “contradictions!” is factually false, a lie (at worst) or ignorance (at best). A negative interpretation of information/data that is available is not a contradiction, but a presupposed interpretation.

Thus, nothing proven false, only a negative (unbelieving) interpretation given.

There is some good to be said about “modern scholarship,” but one thing that stands out very badly against modern scholarship are its presumptions. In other words, some so-called scholars of today go into the realm of interpreting biblical data with the presupposition the Bible can’t be trusted as a historical record. They judge this through the lens of atheism, skepticism, and unbelief. Rather than let the record of biblical information stand on its own and reserve judgment until more information than is currently available comes to light, they take what little information there is and make sweeping judgments.

Peter warned that as some people do (did) this with the writings of Paul, we are reminded that some people will do the same with the data/information of the Scriptures, attempting to show the biblical record unreliable: “…as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; wherein are some things hard to be understood, which the ignorant and unstedfast wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:16). RT

Brethren

Often, in the New Testament, Christians are called brethren. The term brethren refers to the family relationship between God our Father, Christ our brother, and the fellow members of the body of Christ. Members of the church are the adopted children of God by the process of adoption He has described in His Word. Along with His only begotten Son, God the Father has adopted us as His children and has made us His heirs together with Jesus of the eternal home in His Glory. With God as our Father, the risen Savior as our brother, and the Holy Spirit as our guide, we are one family: “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him” (Rom. 8:14-17).

Paul pleads for the church to be in unity, peace and harmony in Christ: “Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Cor. 1:10). Without unity in doctrine with Christ, there cannot be a family relationship: “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God” (Heb. 3:12). Almost all New Testament writers remind us of our responsibilities as brethren, members of God’s family, to work together, guided by the gospel of Christ, caring for each other and helping each other remain faithful.

The teachings of Jesus often use nature to illustrate the close family relationship between Christ and His sanctified adopted children. The illustration of the vine and branches recorded in John 15:1-8 is an example. Jesus said: “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (v. 5) He also affirmed: “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit” (vv. 1-2). The close association of Christ to the members of His church is shown by the branches being attached to and drawing strength from the vine. A useless branch can be taken away, cut off as a family member.

Paul speaks of the adopted children of God, added to the vine, as being “grafted in among them and became partaker with them” (Rom. 11:17). He also writes of the planned adoption into God’s family: “He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will” (Eph. 1:5). Peter refers to the brethren in the church as “A spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5). And Paul stresses the need to keep the sanctified family of God pure and undefiled as he writes to the church in Corinth: “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘and do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you. And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,’ Says the Lord Almighty” (2 Cor. 6:14-18).

Paolo DiLuca

Paolo preaches for the Bridge Street Church of Christ, (1139 S. Bridge Street - PO Box 292; New Martinsville WV 26155)

God’s Divine Institution

 In the first 4 chapters of Ephesians, the Lord’s apostle (Paul) gave some brief attention to a divine institution called the church, the church that belongs to Jesus. There are some today who speak of the importance of the church, but not in the same way the New Testament does. They speak of the importance of attendance but only in respect to “Attend the church of your choice.”  

The importance of the church in the New Testament is great. In Ephesians 4:11-16, we receive guidance from the Holy Spirit concerning a significant function of the local church. The Lord gave gits unto those He chose for the purpose, in Ephesians 4:11-16, to build up the body of Christ, the church (1:22-23). Those who received gifts of the Holy Spirit are men in positions of leadership and service. They had significant roles in the church to teach (4:11), with the immediate goal of edification (4:12), teaching the brethren to pattern themselves after the Lord Jesus (4:13-15). The corresponding result of that teaching would be (and is) glory to God (4:16).  

The elders (also known as bishops / pastors / presbyters) of the Lord’s local church of Christ needs to give attention to those within, not to those outside. This is an important point to emphasize. There are many “policemen” in the brotherhood who seek to point out the failings of others (individuals and churches). Their benefit to the Lord and the brethren is minimal, if any exist at all. Probably, it is more accurate to say they cause more harm than good. Those part of this “policemen posse” refuse to see themselves as the problem, but instead see themselves as “sound brethren,” faithful to the Lord in all respects seeking to thin out the chaff (as they determine it).

Some in the community responds: “There they go! Fighting again. I’m glad I am not a member of that church!”

An important lesson to learn: Within the local church, let us give attention to the Lord, His Word, and how each of us within that body can better serve the Lord and our neighbors. Let us be mindful of the two great commandments of the Lord (Matthew 22:34-40), and remember there are some in the world and, sadly, the brotherhood, who seek the local church’s impairment. Give them no attention, but serve the Lord faithfully in action, worship, and understanding His will. “Wherefore be ye not foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Eph. 5:17, ASV).

Ron Thomas, editor Bulletin Gold