Truth Magazine

By Alan Roskos

My purpose is to help young people realize the blessing the five acts of worship are to them. Many children and teenagers seem to think of the worship service as dull or boring. Usually, during the sermon, there is even someone asleep who should be listening. Hopefully, this article will help us all to participate in the worship service in a productive way.

I would like to emphasize here the importance of the worship service over all other activities. If you have a big test Thursday, and you think you have to study for it and miss church service Wednesday night, you are wrong. God’s worship service should come before any other activities.

If you view the worship service of the Lord as boring, you need to change your ways, not change God’s plan. I find that if I am tired, I tend to get bored. So be sure to get plenty of sleep the night before. Also, I find that if I pay my full attention to what is going on, I become a lot less bored. Keep in mind that this is the worship service of God, not just some boring ritual we go through three times a week. The more you learn about God’s plan of salvation, the better chance you have of making it to heaven.

Singing

Singing is a good way to show your love to the Lord. If you just sit there with your mouth open and only a little sound coming out, that is not a very good way to show your love to God. Sing with feeling. I am sure it makes God very proud (Eph. 5:19). If you sing and understand what you are singing, it becomes less boring (1 Cor. 14:15,19). God probably will not think much of it if you just make noise come out of your mouth. By singing loudly, clearly, and with your heart (no matter how off key you are), you can teach yourself and others, and set a good example (Col. 3:16-17). When I am depressed or sad, singing praises to the Lord helps me feel better. Also, when I am happy, it makes me feel like singing to God (Ja. 5:13). So please apply this to your life and take part of the bore out of worship.

Prayer

As you know, prayer is talking to God. That, in itself, should spark you enough to view prayer as a blessing. Talking to God comforts me. He will listen to all your troubles (1 Pet. 5:5).

During a prayer in worship service, you should follow along in your mind. After all, all the man at the front of the building is doing is leading our minds in prayer. If you would like to read a biblical example of a good prayer, please turn to Matthew 6:9-13. This is Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, and he is telling us how we should pray. You should always remember that when you ask for something, or ask for God to help you to do something, to be sure to know that it is his will that will be done. It is also very important to remember to ask him to forgive you of your sins. If you are having trouble with worldly temptations or influences, ask him to guide you. Also remember to thank him for your blessings.

Always remember to pray as many times as you can (1 Thess. 5:17). I am not telling you a certain schedule or that there is a certain number of times you must pray a day. Use your own judgment. You must also remember that it is through Jesus’ name you are praying. If Jesus had not come down to earth to die for our sins, we would not be able to pray to God. Do not worry about whether or not God will hear your prayers. If you are faithful to him, he will (Jn. 14:13).

The Lord’s Supper

The Lord’s supper should certainly not be a bore to you. It is a very important part of the worship service (1 Cor. 11:23-26). The bread that we break every first day of the week symbolizes Christ’s body that was broken for us. Likewise, the fruit of the vine that we drink symbolizes the blood that was shed on the cross (1 Cor. 10:16). It is a time to meditate upon the sacrifice both God and Christ made so that we could go to heaven. Sometimes, my mind has a tendency to stray off and think about other things.

I will work on it, and I hope that you will refrain yourself from the same mistake. Never forget how important this part of our worship is.

The Contribution

Another important aspect of worship is the contribution. You and your family’s contribution is to the Lord, to carry out the work of the church. Be careful that you do not regret what you give to the Lord (2 Cor. 9:7). It is used to improve your local church’s work, which should take away the grudging feeling you may have. 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 commands us to “lay by him in store as he may prosper.” That means that if your family has more money than the average family, you should give more than the average person. On the other hand, if your family has less than the average family, God does not expect you to give as much. God very much appreciates it if you give a little more than usual (Rom. 12:8). It shows him that you are glad to help the work of the church.

Gospel Preaching

The final aspect of worship is preaching and teaching the Word. The sermon is perhaps the most likely time for some people to become bored. When you pay close attention to what the preacher is saying and follow along in your Bible, you will be less likely to become bored. Also, do not let what the preacher says roll right out of your head as soon as you leave the building. Try to apply it to your everyday life. All Christians are commanded to “teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19-20). Learning more about God’s Word will give you a much better opportunity to reach heaven.

Also, you should take what is said in the sermon and teach it to others. That is all part of God’s marvelous plan to spread the gospel all over the world (Matt. 28:19-20; 2 Tim. 2:2). All Christians should teach people, whomever they can, whenever they can. Do not be afraid to point out people’s mistakes. If you care about their soul, you will do it. However, you must be patient with your students. You need to tell them exactly what the Bible says, not just what they want to hear. If you do tell them what they want to hear, they may turn away from the gospel of Christ (2 Tim. 2:2-4).Therefore, in all things, set a good example as Paul reminded Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:12.

As I told you in the beginning, always put the worship service before any other activities. You will find time to do other things later.

In conclusion, I would like to remind you that the five aspects of worship (singing, praying, the Lord’s supper, the contribution, and preaching and teaching) are a blessing to you, not a bore. Try to remember this and remember how important it is to do what God says (Rev. 22:14). Hopefully, this article will help people of all ages, not just the young people.

Guardian of Truth XXXIX: 6 p. 5-6
March 16, 1995

By Richie Thetford

I was raised in the church of Christ and through the years I have noticed in many cases that our children are not receiving the kind of discipline that God would want children to receive by the hands of their loving parents. As a result, children are being raised without any clear standard and often times the discipline they receive is inconsistent.

First of all, let us define discipline. Webster’s New World Dictionary defines discipline as: (1) Training that develops self-control, character or efficiency. (2) The result of such training; orderly conduct. (3) Submission to authority and control. (4) A particular system of rules or methods. (5) Treatment that corrects or punishes.

What is discipline? It means “the treatment suited to a disciple.” The word disciple basically means “a learner” such as “taught or trained one” (Young’s Analytical Concordance). Dr. Clyde Narramore, author of Understanding Your Children, has written, “A mother and father cannot avoid the role of a teacher. Parents teach by what they say, what they do and what they don’t do.” Grant Caldwell once wrote that the design of discipline is to produce obedience in purpose and fact. Parental authority should be:

(1) With firmness to make obedience advisable.

(2) With wisdom to make obedience natural.

(3) With consistency to make obedience uniform.

(4) With love to make obedience pleasant.

One must have a discipline (standard) before effective discipline can be administered. Look back at the definition of discipline. One needs to have a particular system of rules or methods (No. 4) before effective treatment can be administered that will correct or punish (No. 5). In other words, before we can have effective disciple in the home, there must be a standard to go by (Ps. 127:1). As parents, God must be our standard and our discipline should be to follow that standard! Without God’s standard, we’ll aimlessly strive to guide the footsteps of our beloved children. We need fathers like Joshua who will say: “… as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Josh. 24:15).

A home that does not use the Bible as its guide in ruling the home and raising the children will be a home with no direction and, as a result, the children will often times be punished under different rules and guidelines depending upon how the parents feel at the time. Notice the following poem entitled “A Home Without A Bible.”

A Home Without A Bible

“What is a home without a Bible?

Tis a home where day is night,

Starless night, for o’er life’s pathway

Heaven can shed no kindly light.

“What is home without a Bible?

Tis a home where daily bread

For the body is provided,

But the soul is never fed.

“What is home without a Bible?

Tis a family out at sea,

Compass lost and rudder broken,

Drifting, drifting, thoughtlessly.”

(Author Unknown)

Godly Instruction

We should want to work hard to produce homes that will glorify God and save the world. Are you letting God set the discipline (the standard) in your home? Are God’s words being echoed by each of us fathers to all the members of our household? “And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up” (Deut 6:6-7). This is where the home environment is breaking down today. Fathers are not letting God dictate to them how the home should be governed. As a result, the children wonder “Who’s in charge of this home anyway, mom or dad?” We fathers have a God-given role and are responsible for how we operate our homes. We should diligently teach our children the ways of the Lord. Why? Because their soul and our soul depend upon it!

Some parents, when their child leaves home and no longer attends church, are often heard to say, “I just don’t understand, I trained them in the ways of the Lord.” But did they really? The proverb writer says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6). We can see from Deuteronomy 6:6-7 what kind of training one is to receive and I would say that most of us parents are not giving our children that kind of Bible training. Do we as parents really sit down and read the Bible with our children? Do we talk about how the Bible applies to their life during the day? Do we put time aside to help them with memory work and their Bible lessons? If not, is it any wonder our children eventually leave God’s service? We can also read other passages from Scripture concerning godly instruction in Proverbs 1:2-5; 2 Timothy 4:2; and Titus 2:15. What are you doing today to ensure that your child is getting God’s instruction? Are you, as head of the house, making sure God is taking priority and is setting the discipline in your home? Is the Lord ruling your home-life today?

Guardian of Truth XXXIX: 5 p. 20
March 2, 1995

By Steve Wallace

The most good in mission work, in cases with which I am familiar, comes when a man (or men) moves to the mission field of his choice and stays for an extended period of time preaching the gospel. Churches that have been planted by such efforts in various places in the U.S. and around the world testify to the effectiveness of this method of evangelism. Surely all would agree with the above assessment.

But what if a man who cannot move to a foreign country is able to spend a period of weeks or months spreading the Word there? Can this be productive good? Some have objected to such efforts, and they have objected at a bad time. Doors have opened in more places than we would have ever thought possible 10 years ago and, speaking from experience, it is generally difficult to find men to commit to either short or long stays. If a man cannot be found to move to a prospective field of labor is there no other way to spread the gospel in that field? Are brethren who oppose short efforts right? I agree that some short preaching efforts are  as far as can be outwardly judged  a waste of time and money, and would even admit to having participated in some such efforts in the past in ignorance. However, can short trips produce good results? The following points are in defense of such efforts

1. They are scriptural. Paul and his companions were only in Thessalonica for a very short time and yet were able to establish a church there (Acts 17:1 ff).

2. They are effective. In my own experience I know of two churches that have been established as the result of short trips by a number of brethren. Such brethren have planned their trips to a given city so as to overlap with one another and thus make a lengthy effort at reaching the lost in that city. As people were convened other brethren were stirred to come and work with the small churches that sprang up. Two men, having seen the need, moved to one of the cities. What I have described above is the preaching efforts that have taken place in Vilnius and Kaunas, Lithuania.

3. More cost effective than our modern gospel meetings. Everyone is concerned that money be spent wisely, that we get the “most bang for the buck.” Short term preaching efforts, when properly done, touch thousands more lost souls with the gospel than the average gospel meeting in the U.S. And yet they cost only a few hundred dollars more than the average gospel meeting! The dollar is still ridiculously high against most East European currencies. Lecture halls can be rented, tracts can be printed, and interpreters hired for very low prices. “Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful” (1 Cor. 4:2).

4. They bring long term workers to the mission field. A good number of men who have moved to foreign fields have done so after having first worked for a short time in the place they eventually moved to. Some, including this writer, had no intention of ever moving away from the U.S. when they first ventured abroad.

Conclusion

Short term workers are needed in the mission fields just as much as are long term workers. Please do not be misled by well-meaning brethren who argue to the contrary. Facts show that such trips can be productive of observable good results if they are carried out correctly. So, can you come?

Guardian of Truth XXXIX: 5 p. 15
March 2, 1995

By Lewis Willis

A sad awakening has occurred among those brethren who left us 40-plus years ago so that they could have church-supported benevolent institutions, unscriptural congregational cooperation which produced sponsoring-churches and sponsoring-elderships for programs like Herald of Truth, and activities such as fellowship halls and church dinners. It is increasingly apparent that many of the same brethren who promoted these unauthorized practices are distressed over the direction their efforts have taken them. I heard several years ago that “the student always goes further than the teacher.” That was the warning issued to these brethren years ago. They were told that they could fight the war that would introduce these unscriptural practices, but that they would be left behind by the next generation that would go even further into apostasy. These advocates of liberalism, without repentance or apology, have learned, but have not admitted, that those warnings they heard were justified.

For the last 8-10, years several indications. of concern over what is happening in liberal churches have surfaced. This article will mention three specific statements from those brethren, with an accompanying word of caution concerning us.

1. In 1986, the Firm Foundation, a liberal paper that led the fight for institutionalism, printed a special issue, mailing it to churches across the nation. It was a 48-page study of “the fellowship question.” They identified the problem they were addressing. They were trying to stop a movement to fellowship the Christian Church, accept instrumental music and women preachers/elders, and to oppose those who would deny the inerrancy of the Scripture (Firm Foundation, Alan E. Highers, Vol. 103, No. 6, March, 1986, pp. 1,5-7). To thwart this effort, they argued: (1) Authority was necessary before the church can act, (2) The New Testament is that authority, (3) The N.T. authorizes practice with commands, approved examples, and necessary inferences, (4) The authorization may be either specific or generic, and (5) They wrote of the law of inclusion/exclusion. Ironically, this was the same argumentation they had rejected as invalid years earlier, when they insisted on introducing unauthorized activities which they wanted into the church. Back then they argued, “We do many things for which we have no authority” and they issued tracts on “Where there is no pattern.” Now, they suddenly have decided that we need authority for our practices after all.

2. A front-page article in another liberal paper, Christian Chronicle (Vol. 46, No. 1, January, 1989), lamented what was happening to urban churches. The article described “survival-based competition” driving churches to add pro-grams and facilities to assure their own growth. An Oklahoma City preacher said, “A grandparent church knows it can’t survive financially without young people, so they have to try to do what’s necessary to get them.” The problem was, they borrowed money to provide facilities for Day Care, Christian Schools, gymnasiums, swimming pools, and about anything else the membership wanted. Unfortunately, when a new congregation started, they offered “better” facilities than the other, so the young members left, leaving the older brethren overwhelmed with debt. That would be a problem, wouldn’t it?

Again, we have noticed that practically every issue of Firm Foundation for the last two years has been fighting a battle over the “new hermeneutic” among liberal brethren. Primarily the advocates who reject New Testament authority, seeking a new way of interpreting the Scriptures, are the professors of Bible in the so-called Christian colleges. These professors are repeatedly accused of not believing in the inspiration and inerrancy of the Scriptures. Administrators are challenged to dismiss these “heretics,” only to discover they defend and support what the professors are teaching.

3. The editor of the current issue of The Spiritual Sword (Vol. 26, No. 1, October, 1994) is again bemoaning what has happened to liberal churches. The theme of the issue is “Who Are We?” Alan Highers, the editor, describes their “loss of spiritual identity.” He said”… it is not uncommon to hear about members leaving the church and uniting with a denomination . . . their action represents a lack of understanding about the nature and identity of the church. We are reaping the harvest of twenty-five years of non-distinctive preaching. Many of our young people no longer know the difference between the church of the New Testament and the ecclesiastical kingdoms of men.”

What has caused this to happen? Highers said these members have not been taught at all. “They have never heard the old arguments relating to Bible authority, speaking where the Bible speaks, and remaining silent where the Bible is silent. They have grown up in `socialized’ churches where the youth program was strong, but the teaching program was weak.” ” Do you suppose these younger members are able to see the inconsistency of opposing human missionary societies, while endorsing human benevolent societies? Or, possibly they do not agree that you can support, from the treasury, a benevolent society, but it is sinful to support a missionary society. The reason they do not know the difference between liberal churches and denominations is because there is no difference. When a church decides to act without authority (Col. 3:17), it becomes a denomination! That is precisely what Highers and his liberal brethren persuaded churches to do when they abandoned N.T. authority on institutions and cooperation. Now, they have created a monster of modernism, and they are afraid of it. It is devouring them, and they cannot stop it.

Highers condemned his own brethren, quoting from the Baptist Messenger, “We have raised a generation of sissy preachers. Nobody … is preaching that the Word of God is the Word of God and that Hell is hot. God has not called us to be ambassadors of good will; he has called us to be ambassadors of God’s will.” Thus, he sadly concludes, “Churches of Christ are facing an identity crisis as we near the end of the twentieth century.” I would suggest that their movement is not facing an identity crisis, but it is facing the fact that they are the fathers of yet another exodus into denominationalism. Their only hope is to come back where we all used to stand; where conservative churches of Christ have remained through these years following the division the liberals manufactured and directed. It is sad to see their liberal baby bite them!

4. Within conservative churches there is a need to be alert! We read too many articles giving the latest quotations from a host of denominational authors, with little Scripture basis, if any at all. These pleasing little platitudes that describe how to feel good and get along better with our peers are replacing plain-old-Bible-teaching. If these sectarian authors have such an outstanding grasp of the truth, why are they still in denominationalism? Sermon topics are now advertised with catchy titles that amuse, or offer self-help philosophies, instead of being based in the terminology of the Scriptures. Have these men discovered a pattern of words which is better than Scriptures? Or, are they mimicking the same errors that institutional preachers made? Before it is too late, preaching brethren, let’s examine our sermons and determine if the emphasis is on a “thus saith the Lord” or on the wisdom of men. We are eyewitnesses of what human wisdom produces, and we must not allow history to repeat itself among us!

Let us never forget that God’s people were once destroyed for lack of knowledge (Hos. 4:6); that they were sent into captivity for lack of knowledge (Isa. 5:13). Amos prophesied that a famine of hearing the word of the Lord was coming (Amos 8:11). Let us not be guilty of helping the Devil in his destructive work (1 Pet. 5:8). We must never become a people who love it when preachers “prophesy falsely,” speaking smooth things that deceive and tickle our ears (Jer. 5:31; Isa. 30:10; 2 Tim. 4:2-4). If your preacher is more impressed with modem writers than he is with God’s word (and you can easily tell), send him a direct message to “preach the word,” and accept nothing less.

Guardian of Truth XXXIX: 5 p. 10-11
March 2, 1995