Smacks Of Sectarianism

1. Offering Thanks For The Contribution: There is an example of offering thanks for the Lord’s supper when Jesus "blessed" the bread and "gave thanks" for the cup.(Matt. 26:26-27) But I do not recall anything said about giving thanks when the command was given for "laying by in store."(I Cor. 16:2) Do you? The only example of one praying along this line was that of the Pharisee, who prayed, "I thank thee that I give tithes of all that I possess."(Lk. 18:12) We can give thanks for all things, but this practice came from the sectarians, who begged for money at every service and introduced prayer to get more and more from the people. Such binding prayers are but smacks of sectarianism.

2. Silent Public Prayers: The practice of "silent prayers" was first witnessed with denominational revivals. Jesus said that prayers that were being prayed to be seen were to be done "in a closet."(Matt. 6:5) Prayer is to be "with the spirit and understanding."(I Cor. 14:15) The Bible knows nothing about public silent praying!

3. Hand-Clapping During Worship: Human churches practice hand-clapping when the preacher says something they like or the music is good. Whenever such is done among our brethren, they have borrowed it from the denominations. There is no authority in the Bible for such being done. Did anyone lead a cheer when Peter’s sermon was being preached on Pentecost? I do read concerning the sermon, "Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter, and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?"(Acts 2:37) No hand-clapping!

4. Providing Social Activities: Some churches of Christ have borrowed the social gospel concept from the sectarians. Many have built fellowship halls, family life centers and are providing other forms of entertainment from church funds. We need to quit letting the denominations influence us and get back to teaching that, "…the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."(Rom. 14:17) The Scriptures will not allow the New Testament church to involve itself in such work but are smacks of sectarianism!

We must quit trying to be like the denominations around us and just let the church be the church as planned and purposed by God.(Eph. 3:10-11)

-- Johnie Edwards

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[Note: Bro. Clyde Mahan gave me the following from a newspaper clipping. I added the Scripture notations. How drastically our family life would improve if all of us practiced these principles. The author is unknown. – p.a.o.]

The 10 Commandments of Love

Angels & Related Matters

Angels were/are messengers. That is what the word means. Hebrews 1:14 states they are "sent forth to do service for the sake of them that shall inherit salvation." While we learn what some of these messengers did during the early church (see Acts 1:10,11; 5:19; 7:53; 8:26; 10:3; 12:15; 27:23 & others), it seems impossible to know exactly what they do or how God uses them today. What service they provide now I do not know; I know of no passage which implies anything relative to this. However, Hebrews 13:2 says, "Forget not to show love unto strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." One thing this verse teaches is that when we extend hospitality, care, and help to others through problems in life (like the Samaritan—Luke 10:30-37), God can providentially teach us lessons we need and bless us in ways we might not ever consider, appreciate, or understand. The following story illustrates this principle.

His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to eke out a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog. There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.

The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved. "I want to repay you," said the nobleman. "You saved my son's life."

"No, I can't accept payment for what I did," the Scottish farmer replied, waving off the offer.

At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of the family hovel. "Is that your son?" the nobleman asked.

"Yes," the farmer replied proudly.

"I'll make you a deal," said the nobleman. "Let me take him and give him a good education. If the lad is anything like his father, he’ll grow to a man you can be proud of."

And that he did. In time, Farmer Fleming's son graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin.

Years afterward, the nobleman's son was stricken with pneumonia. What saved him? Penicillin. The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill. His son's name? Sir Winston Churchill! -- p.a.o.

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And On The Lottery…

In our mail last week was the usual monthly envelope, "Coupons from Local Merchants." Among the coupons was a Vote No on the Lottery Oct. 12, 1999 advertisement. It was paid for by the Limestone Baptist Association. Numerous other churches have made similar advertising efforts in an attempt to keep the lottery out of Alabama.

No one could be more against the lottery than I am. It is gambling. Gambling violates the Bible teaching concerning the work ethic, how we are to obtain a living, is addictive, violates the golden rule, is the product of greed and selfishness, is stealing by mutual consent, and is associated with and spawns a number of other sins.

However, while I hope it doesn’t pass, it is no business of the church to tell people how to vote on anything. It is the business of the Lord’s church to preach the gospel(I Tim. 3:14-15), not how to vote! Just as prostitution, abortion, drunkenness, and other sins have societal consequences, preaching and teaching about these matters (and other sins) and what to do to obtain forgiveness of them is what our business is about!

Consider: If all churches of Christ in Alabama pooled their resources to fund a massive political drive to stop the lottery (in which such organization itself would be unauthorized), and if the lottery was voted down, how many souls would have been saved? None! The same could be said of churches mounting political drives to stop abortion, drunkenness, etc. As terrible as abortion is, how many souls would be saved if churches exerted enough political sway to make abortion illegal? Right again—None!

The point: As bad morally and socially for our state as the lottery would be, Christians not only waste their time involving themselves in political schemes to overthrow it, they also emphasize the wrong thing. Spend all the time and money you can to defeat the lottery, and people are still lost and bound for hell!!

Further, churches have no divine authority to engage in any political activity whatsoever. If so, where is the passage? -- p.a.o.