To Habitual Late-Comers How often are you late for worship services? Once every two months? Once or twice every month? At least once a week? If you fall into one of these categories, these thoughts are for you. It must be extremely difficult to get your mind on the worship or Bible class when you're late. There's the stress that you experienced as you anxiously glanced at your watch every few seconds while hurrying to the building. "Maybe they'll start late," you kept thinking. You're not so fortunate, though, so you face the embarrassment of everyone turning around and staring as you come in. "Why don't they have better manners?" You think, as you try to focus on their guilt rather than your own. You glance at your neighbor's Bible or song book to find out what's going on, but it just takes a while to get into the groove. And, worst of all, you may be showing, unconsciously no doubt, a disregard for the occasion, for we are rarely late for any occasion which we really think is important. Your habit is a hindrance to others, too. The thoughts of sincere worshipers are disturbed as you come in and find a seat. The Bible class teacher may feel the need to interrupt his train of thought to "catch you up" on what has been said. If there are several of you at the same congregation, the singing suffers. In short, your practice may be far more discouraging to sincere people than you have ever realized. We could schedule our services fifteen minutes later if that would help, but we are quite sure this would place your arrival time fifteen minutes later, too. You see, habitual tardiness results from planning too close "to the minute." The solution is really simple. If you live five minutes from the building, plan to leave home twenty minutes before starting time instead of five minutes before starting time. If you succeed in leaving according to plans, you will have time to speak to other early arrivals, and to prepare yourself for worship. On the other hand, if some last minute problem caused you to leave later than you planned, you can still arrive before services begin. This is exactly what people do who are "never late." Why don't you try it? Sometime the fault lies with just one member of a family who causes all the rest of the family to be late. If you're that one member, you are being inconsiderate and unfair to your family. I urge you to be more helpful and thoughtful. You may be late rather frequently because of circumstances beyond your control. This article does not pertain to you. You come on to services even if you are thirty minutes late. What will this article accomplish? I shall probably never know. But if it leads jut one habitual late-comer to become an habitual early-comer, it might prove to be this writer's most effective article. Will you be that one person? -- Bill Hall * * * * * * * * * * * True Repentance By David Riggs Two brothers, convicted of stealing sheep, were branded on the forehead with the letters ST, meaning "Sheep Thief." One of the brothers was unable to bear the stigma, and tried to bury himself in a foreign land. However, men kept asking him about the strange letters, so he kept on wandering restlessly, and at length, full of bitterness, died and was buried far from home. The other brother said to himself, "I can’t run away from the fact that I stole sheep. I’ll stay here and win back the respect of my neighbors and myself." As the years passed, he built a reputation for integrity. One day a stranger came and saw the old man with the letters on his forehead. He asked a native what they signified. "It happened a great while ago," the villager replied. "I’ve forgotten the particulars, but I think the letters are an abbreviation for ‘Saint.’" Have you ever done something you were ashamed of and wished you and other people would forget about it? We all have, of course, but have you ever tried to run away from your past? You can’t do it. It always follows you, no matter how far you try to run. The best thing to do is to face up to what you have done, accept your punishment, and live such a life that people will remember you for your good works, rather than your mistakes. Acts 8:3 tells us, "As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison." Saul tried his best to destroy the church, but he learned the truth about Jesus Christ, repented of what he’d done, and served the Lord all the rest of his life. The respect and forgiveness of our fellow man doesn’t come overnight; it must be earned. God knows our hearts, and he knows when we have truly repented. Are We Doing Worse Than Our Parents? During the time I was growing up, it was common for young people to openly reject the values and teachings of their parents. The feeling was that parents had made a mess of the world, and (given the chance) our generation could do much better. In large part, the arrogance of my generation continues today. This, despite the fact that after many years in our hands, the social, political, and moral affairs of our nation continue in a downward spiral. The words of Proverbs 30:11-13 seem so apropos: "There is a generation that curses its father, And does not bless its mother. There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, Yet is not washed from its filthiness. There is a generation; oh, how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids are lifted up." Anything that has widespread impact in a society usually impacts churches within that society as well. And so, as they came of age representatives of my generation began to deplore how their fathers had been handling affairs in the churches. The "traditional" order of worship was one subject frequently discussed. Things needed to be changed! We could do better! We can make it so much more uplifting! Dissatisfaction was also expressed about other things, particularly the way the previous generation had handled controversy, both with denominations and within the church. Lines had been drawn in bold. Those who would not teach God’s plan of salvation were not fellowshipped. Churches of Christ were separated from one another based on whether they would or would not support human institutions with church funds. To some of my generation, this all seemed so unnecessary. We would have done it differently! We would have worked things out! Time has come and gone. My generation is having its turn at the controls. Here’s what some are doing: They’re improving worship by turning it into an entertainment event, complete with musical and dramatic performances, hand clapping, and motivational speeches based on the current pop psychology. They’re solving the problem of fellowship with denominations by declaring that baptism is not essential to salvation. They’re fixing the controversy over institutionalism by advocating that every church do its own thing in supporting human institutions. In short, they’re simply ignoring what God has said about these issues in His book. "And you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, each one follows the dictates of his own evil heart, so that no one listens to Me."(Jeremiah 16:12) -- Steve Klein |