Truth Magazine

“And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Mt. 4:19). With this challenge Jesus began to gather the men who would turn the world upside down. They “fished” for men as they went into all the world to preach the gospel to every creature. Like their master, they went out to “seek and save that which was lost.” But how are modern-day disciples doing as fishers of men? Do we have enough nets or lines in the water? Fishing takes patience. My grandmother would sit on a creek bank all day long if she could just get a “bite” once in awhile. When they bit just now and then, she knew there were fish down there. Successful fishermen also know that there are times when fish bite more eagerly than others. That is the time to gather in the catch. There are times when men are more receptive to the gospel than others and we need to be alert to that. I hear much lamentation about the deteriorating morals in our nation and I have equal concerns as to where this will all lead. But the gospel was born in bad times. Immorality was rampant in the first century world. Philosophy had proven to be a failure in satisfying the needs of the soul. Dissipation had disappointed the licentious and many were ready to listen to the gospel. Remember it was the publicans and sinners who came to the Lord more readily than the aristocrats and religious leaders. Who knows but what we have come to the kingdom for such a time as this. What kind of fisher of men are you?

 

Coming Back to the Lord

My friend, Hugh Davis, told me recently of a brother of a homespun wit who was a little frustrated with a small church in a rural community. They were notorious for being tardy with services and for bickering and fussing among themselves. This brother had drifted away from the Lord and had absented himself from services for a long time. He decided it was time to go before the brethren and straighten it all out. On a Wednesday night he slipped in and sat on the back row. They were about to disperse when this penitent brother spoke out and said, “Will one of you say what you’re supposed to say so I can come back to the Lord?”

 

Good News From Afar

“As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country” (Prov. 25:25).

A recent report from Rody Gumpad of Tuguegarao, Cagayan in the northern part of Luzon tells of the recent preaching there of Ken Marrs, Sr. and Jim McDonald which resulted in 52 baptisms in that area. A later report from Jim McDonald in The Precepter says there were 90 baptisms in all on this trip. We have yet to hear of the results where Wallace H. Little and P.J. Casebolt have preached. Word has come from Allan Turner that the efforts in Kenya have gone well. Encouraging news is still coming out of eastern Europe and several countries there where souls are being added to the Lord.

The Gays Rights Agenda

A Cox News Service Report states the following six points in the gay rights agenda:

 

1. Federal Gay and Lesbian Civil Rights Act banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in the areas of housing, employment, public accommodations, credit and federally assisted programs. It would extend to homosexuals the same protections now provided on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin and disability.

 

2. Lifting of the ban against gays and lesbians serving in the military.

 

3. Increased government funding for AIDS research and for breast cancer, which strikes lesbians at a much higher rate than it does heterosexual women.

 

 

4. Legal recognition of homosexual domestic partnerships so that couples could share in health insurance benefits, emergency leaves of absence from work and other such family programs.

 

5. Abolishment of adoption and child custody laws that homosexual activists see as biased against gays and lesbians.

 

6. Local and federal law making violence against gays and lesbians a hate crime, as racial violence is sometimes designated now.

 

So there you have it. This agenda calls for legitimizing homosexuality in all areas of life. It is to be put on a par with race and disability, eligible for insurance benefits for those living in this sinful state, and even the right to adopt children into this immoral mess. While every faithful Christian would deplore and oppose violence against these sinners, it is not “hate” for them which prompts our opposition but the clear teaching of the word of God.

Any leader from the president on down who seeks to pro-mote this wicked agenda contributes to the downward spiral of the nation’s morals and will answer one day to the true governor of the universe. Why anyone should be surprised at the presidential priority given to this agenda is beyond me. He told us he was going to do this! May the Lord have mercy on us all.

Guardian of Truth XXXVII: 11, p. 3-4
June 3, 1993

By Micky Galloway

Israel was commanded to teach their children (Deut. 6:6ff, 20ff). They were to teach them the law of God, to know God, and to fear him (Deut. 31:9-13). The observance of the Passover was to be a means of reminding their children of the great works of God (Exod. 12:24ff). So also were the twelve stones that Joshua set up in Gilgal as a memorial of God parting the Jordan River so that the people could enter the land of promise (Josh. 4:20ff). They were to teach their children so that they would not forget God (Deut. 6:10ff). This involved talking with their children as well as teaching by their example. Yet, we read in Judges 2:10, “And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, that knew not Jehovah, nor yet the work which he had wrought for Israel.”

We also are to teach our children. “And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath; but nurture them in the chastening and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). In a world where the minds of our children are influenced by the degenerate teaching of worldly minded people, we must ask, “What are we teaching our children?”

What Are We Teaching Our Children About God?

God is the creator of heaven and earth and as a divine creator he possesses all the attributes of deity (Gen. 1:1). As the apostle Paul declared the one, true God unto the Athenians in Acts 17, he declared that even though they worshiped in ignorance, God had made them to “seek God, if haply they might feel after him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us”(v. 27). The Athenians were then commanded to repent, implying that they were account-able to God even though they were ignorant of God (vv. 30-31). Whatever they were doing, it was displeasing to God and they needed to repent. Yes, they were under law to God or they would need no repentance (cf. Rom. 4:15).

Paul spoke of the goodness and severity of God (Rom. 11:22). God’s goodness is manifested in the sending of his Son to die for the sinner (Jn. 3:16; Rom. 5:8). His severity is also revealed by Paul when he said, “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men” (2 Cor. 5:11; cf. Heb. 10:26-31). Examples of God’s righteous indignation are numerous. It is this righteous God of goodness and severity before whom we all stand and give an account of our lives (Rom. 14:11-12). Let us speak of him with honor and reverence that our children might learn to fear him and love him (Psa. 111:9).

What Are We Teaching Our Children About Jesus
As the Son of God?

His coming fulfilled prophecies that were made from the beginning, revealing the eternal purpose of God in Christ Jesus (Gen. 3:15; 12:1-3; Eph. 3:10). Even his conception was a miracle (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:18-25). He came to offer salvation to a lost and dying world (Matt. 1:21; Lk. 19:10; I Tim. 1:15). What do we teach our children about why Jesus died? Oh yes, he died for our sins, but why was it necessary for Jesus to die for our sins? Do we teach our children how horrible sin is, to require the blood of Jesus? Do we teach them that the justice of God is seen in this sacrifice (Rom. 3:23-26)? Unfortunately, all that many children hear about Jesus is when something tragic occurs and the name of Jesus is uttered as a byword.

What Are We Teaching Our Children About the Bible?

It is the most wonderful and most available book in our age. Its message is from the mind of God (1 Cor. 2:10ff; cf. Jn. 12:49-50). It contains the words of life (Jn. 6:66-68; cf. Jn. 12:49-50). That word was delivered unto the apostles and recorded by them upon the pages of the New Testament (Jn. 17:8,14,18; Eph. 3:3). This message is all sufficient and complete (2 Tim. 3:16-17; Jude 3). It is revealed in such a way that it is understandable (Eph. 3:3; 5:17). We are commanded to read it, study it, and teach it unto others (2 Tim. 2:15; 2 Pet. 3:18; 1 Tim. 4:13; 2 Tim. 2:2).

Do our children see us spending time with this wonderful book? Do they hear it read and taught in our homes? Do they perceive our reverence and respect for the words of Almighty God? I will never forget the words of sister Lena Hope (wife of brother B.G. Hope). She said that while her children were just babies, she would tell them that the big old book on the table in the living room (the family Bible) was God’s book. It was different than their story books. It contained the words of God. Perhaps we are just too busy to impress upon young minds the importance of understanding the words of God. Yes indeed, we are teaching our children about the Bible.

What Are We Teaching Our Children

About Their Purpose In Life?

Ecclesiastes 12 teaches that children are to “remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth.” If parents are not living lives before their children emphasizing that their purpose in life is to “fear God and keep his commandments, ” how can we expect children to realize the purpose for living and remember the Creator (Eccl. 12:13-14)? It takes time to obey God’s commandments. Considering that life is short and time is limited, many have so misconstrued their values that they do not have time to visit or teach or pray or study (Jas. 4:14-16). These are so busy “making a living” that they don’t have time to make a life for themselves or their families. When we diligently lay up treasurers on this earth and we believe that our lives consist of what we possess, be not deceived, we are teaching our children the purpose in life, but it is not to “fear God and keep his commandments” (Matt. 6:19ff; cf. Lk. 12:15ff). Small wonder why many sons and daughters of Christians cannot find time to worship and serve God. They are worshipping and serving God, just as their parents taught them!

What Are We Teaching Our Children

About Respect For Authority?

It is no mystery that crime is at an all time high and schools have difficulty with rebellious students and yes, even churches are plagued with the introduction of unauthorized practices when children are not taught respect for God’s authority. Respect for authority begins in the home. Children must be taught to obey (Eph. 6:1-4). Sometimes that involves the rod of correction (Prov. 13:24; 19:18; 22:15; 23:13; 29:15). Notice what was to be done with a rebellious son under the law of Moses (Deus. 21:18ff). Unfortunately, many are not consistent in their teaching, but operate on the principal, “Do as I say, not as I do.” Our children are more perceptive than we think. They see our inconsistency and they are learning from our example.

What Are We Teaching Our Children

About the Church and Its Work?

Do our children ask on the Lord’s day whether or not we are going to church? My friends, this decision should have been made a long time ago (Heb. 10:25). It should be understood if it is time to assemble with the saints, we are going! Do our children understand why we have assembled? We have not come together to play or be entertained, but to worship God (Jn. 4:24). I have great admiration for the parents of children, who are teaching their children reverence for the occasion of worship and the distinctiveness of what the church is.

What Are We Teaching Our Children About Morality?

Oh, we may well teach against adultery and fornication, but dress our “sweet little Sally Mae” in attire that tempts everybody on the block to propose fornication (Matt. 5:32; 19:9; 1 Cor. 10:8; Prov. 7:10). We must teach our children regarding the permanence and sanctity of marriage and the home, but we must also help them understand what it means to “flee fornication” and to “abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Cor. 6:18; 1 Thess. 5:22). There was a time when parents instructed their children that certain circumstances were to be avoided because “it just doesn’t look good.” We live in a time when people commit all kinds of “abomination” and are not “ashamed, neither could they blush” (Jeri 6:15). Let us accept soberly the responsibility to teach our children to behave and dress modestly that their lives will be an example of purity (1 Tim. 4:12).

Israel failed to properly teach their children and the next generation did not “know Jehovah, nor yet the work which he had wrought for Israel.” Therefore, they did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah. We are teaching our children both verbally and by our example, but what are we teaching our children? Certainly, the next generation will tell.

In the words of Helen M. Young from the poem “Children Won’t Wait,”

. . I will not exchange this birthright for a mess of pottage called social position, or business or professional reputation, or a pay check. An hour of concern today may save years of heartache tomorrow. The house will wait, the dishes will wait, the new room can wait, but children won’t wait. . . . May I know that no other career is so precious, no other work so rewarding, no other task too urgent. May I not defer it nor neglect it, but by the Spirit accept it gladly, joyously, and by Thy grace realize that the time is short and my time is now. For children won’t wait.

When we diligently lay up treasurers on this earth
and we believe that our lives consist of what we possess, be
not deceived, we are teaching our children the purpose in life,
but it is not to ‘fear God and keep his commandments’ (Matt. 6:19ff; cf.
Lk. 12:15ff). Small wonder why many sons and daughters of Christians cannot
find time to worship and serve God. They are worshipping and serving God,
just as their parents taught them!”

Guardian of Truth XXXVII: 10, p. 14-15
May 20, 1993

By Joy Fuentes

I’d do almost anything for “my best friend”  some of my friends and family hate “my best friend,” but I don’t care.

I can be alone with “my best friend” for hours and never get bored.

I will defend “my best friend” to the end No one has the right to pick my friends 

I’ve noticed more and more people disapprove of our association.

Some say “my best friend” isn’t good for me.

I tell them to mind their own business, “my best friend” is not as bad as they say.

People can be so unfair  “my best friend” goes with me everywhere.

When I’m depressed, unhappy, or nervous, “my best friend” calms me down.

I’ve noticed some people move away from me when I have “my best friend” with me  that’s their problem.

More and more people are telling me some day “my best friend” will hurt me 

Some people are so radical. .

Signed, Mr. Macho Man P/L

 

Have You Met “My Best Friend”? (2)
My friends and family were right about “my best friend.”

“My best friend” ha! become my worst enemy, taking the most precious thing from me  my life. Now when I breathe I am racked with pain. I used to be Mr. Macho Man.

Now I am depressed all the time.

Because of my association with “my best friend” I have lost my hair, my memory, and my weight. I throw up and have diarrhea all the time (it’s like having the flu 24 hours a day every day).

Then there’s the radiation that’s used to control my pain (except that it doesn’t). Instead I receive radiation burn what torture.

My loved ones pleaded with me to quit smoking 

But I told them, “Not everyone that smokes gets cancer.” (Now I realize that not everyone that plays Russian Roulette gets shot either.)

1 also told my friends that “some people get cancer that never smoked.” That’s really a dumb statement now that I think of it.

But the worst argument of all is when I said, “Everyone has to die from something.” (I can tell you now, no one in his right mind would choose this death.)

Yes, I defended “My Right” to smoke 

Now, the same loved ones that wanted me to give up smoking have to remind me to take my medication, help me walk across the floor, try to get me to eat, cry with and for me.

My sister has to humor me when I’m depressed, cry with me when I’m overwhelmed with sadness 

And worse, she has to watch me, her only brother, die before her eyes.

I have to see my grown son cry uncontrollably.

I have caused my family to pay a high price because I insisted on “my right to smoke.”

This letter may not cause anyone to quit smoking, but I can tell you one think that will Lung Cancer

I can guarantee you one thing smoking is a slow and painful form of suicide.

If you think you have the right to take your own life and burden your loved ones, smoke away.

You can be selfish, as I was, or you can give your loved ones the gift of your living a few years longer.

Sure, some people will die from cancer that never smoked

But the worst words you’ll ever hear is a Doctor saying, “I’m sorry, you have lung cancer and it was caused by your smoking.”

Signed, Not So Macho Anymore P/L

Bob Colbary died at 5:45, September 22nd, 1992.

(Note by Ron Halbrook [654 Gray St., West Columbia, TX 774861: Brother and sister Paul Fuentes worshipped with the saints in Hemet, CA when I was there, but have moved and are worshipping with the Tustin-Santa Ana Church of Christ in Tustin. Sister Fuentes was once addicted to tobacco, but gave up smoking. She went through the painful ordeals of nursing two family members who died from cancer caused by smoking and another family member who died from cancer caused by drinking alcohol. She wrote “Have You Met ‘My Best Friend’?” with the direct input of her brother, Bob Colbary, reflecting his thoughts when he was dying from cancer. She feels that its publication will be worthwhile if it encourages even one person to quit smoking.

Joy Fuentes is another example of someone who has come out of error on divorce and remarriage. When she embraced such error, she was closely associated with some preachers who teach false theories on the subject. She has seen them (and their wives!) order their intoxicating drinks in restaurants. She has seen some of these preachers so addicted to tobacco that they smoked while conducting home Bible studies, which in some cases discouraged the student from continuing the study. When this disastrous result was pointed out, responses would include such comments as, “If someone quits studying the Bible with me because of my smoking, that is their problem, not mine. “Such preachers have also expressed their resentment against brethren who teach that we should not participate in mixed swimming in modern swimsuits. All of this has given her keen insight in-to how sin and error “increase unto more ungodliness,” and how “evil men and seducers . _ . wax worse and worse. deceiving, and being deceived” (2 Tim. 2:16; 3:13).

So that our readers will know I have not misunderstood or misrepresented sister Fuentes, she has read and approved this “note” before its publication. Her story is not unique. Others who came out of the same error told similar stories. Not every preacher who holds some false theory on divorce and remarriage will openly approve the other worldly practices named above, but there is a logical reason for the pattern which is developing. “Their word will eat as doth a canker” (2 Tim. 2:17). The ongoing development of institutional liberalism illustrates the degenerative nature of false doctrine. Error on divorce and remarriage has an inherent tendency to loosen the constraints of sound doctrine, oral conviction, and godly living. I am thankful for brethren like the Fuentes who are not afraid to speak up in the defense of the gospel and in opposition to sin and error.

Preachers who know the truth but are not teaching it and not exposing error need to wake up and realize what a grave injustice they are doing to people who would stand up for the truth if only someone would teach it to them! Jesus said, “Every man . . . that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me” (Jn. 6:45). Men cannot learn if we do not teach. The “positive, non-controversial” philosophy will not get the job done. Sound teaching of the whole counsel of God is designed by God “to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant” (Jer. 1:10). We labor under the inspired man-date, “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2 Tim. 4:2). It is high time for all of us to remember the stirring words of Isaiah, “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet” (Isa. 58:1). Gr

Guardian of Truth XXXVII: 10, p. 6-7
May 20, 1993

By Dean Gibson

The cross of Jesus Christ. What does it mean to you? What does it symbolize? Is it an image to be worn proudly by a Christian? It is referred to in the Bible as the power of God (1 Cor. 1:18). It is also referred to as a symbol of shame (Heb. 12:2)! Symbols can be very strong messages of attitude. Consider the sign of the swastika during World War II, unleavened bread and fruit of the vine, or the “sign of the cross.”

Let us consider the cross in both history and Scripture. The first time we read of “a cross” in the Bible is in Matthew 10:38 and 16:24, where Jesus says if one wants to follow him, he must “deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” This does not refer back to Jesus’ cross, for he had not yet been crucified. It is unlikely, at that time, that his disciples knew what he meant. “The Greek word stauros means merely `a stake'” (Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible, 1863 Ed., Vol. 1, p. 364). Whether Jesus spoke in Greek or not, the word is not used literally, but from this context we can see that the idea which best fits for the word “cross” is “attitude of self-sacrifice.” This, then, is one way the word “cross” is used as a literary symbol (a “word” symbol as opposed to a “thing” symbol).

What other ideas are symbolized by the “cross” in Scripture? First, where the four witnesses of the Gospel describe the actual crucifixion of Jesus, there is no metaphorical or symbolic meaning at all. He did not carry a symbol up the streets of Jerusalem; nor was he symbolically nailed to a metaphorical cross. It was as real as pain and as literal as the blood from his side.

In 1 Corinthians 1:18, Paul wrote, “For the preaching (lit., “word”) of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” He referred to the part of the gospel which says that God died on the cross by Roman hands, a fact which seems self-contradictory to unbelievers (“How could men kill a god?”), but the most wonderful of miracles to the saved! In the parallel passage of Romans 1:16, Paul says the “gospel of Christ” is the “power of God unto salvation.” So, sometimes the word “cross” stands for “the gospel.”

Again, in Ephesians 2:16, Philippians 2:8, Colossians 2:14, and Hebrews 12:2, the word means his “death by crucifixion.” The “cross of Jesus” is, then, a literary symbol of several scriptural ideas. The songs that we sing about the cross, which use the same metaphors as the Scriptures, do not misuse or abuse the word.

But what about the cross as an image: used as the “logo” of Christianity; an architectural design on buildings; worn as a talisman or charm against evil in the form of a crucifix (the body of Christ on a cross)? Historians are in unusual agreement about these practices:

As the emblem of a slave’s death and a murderer’s punishment, the cross was naturally looked upon with the profoundest horror, and closely connected with the ideas of pain, of guilt, and of ignominy (shame DG, E. Gibbon, Rise & Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 2, p. 153).

The early Christians generally avoided representing the body of Christ on the cross, for the first evidence of such representation comes from the 5th century. In fact, until the 4th century, even the simple cross rarely appeared in public (New Catholic Encyclopedia [NY: Catholic Univ. of America, 1967], Vol. IV, p. 473).

It was not till the 6th century that the emblem of the cross became the image of the crucifix (Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible, p. 366).

It is often hard for present-day people, after the cross has been glorified for so many centuries, to imagine the disgrace linked with crucifixion during Roman times. For the ancients, the word itself carried not a single positive connotation. . . . Centuries were to pass before Christians felt at ease representing Jesus on the cross pictorially (emphasis mine  DG) (After Jesus: The Triumph of Christianity [Reader’s Digest: 1992], p. 7).

Where did the glorification of the cross come from? What brought about such a change of attitude?

But after the celebrated vision of Constantine (312 A.D.), he ordered his friends to make a cross of gold and gems, such as he had seen, and the towering eagles resigned the flags unto the cross (R.L. Fox, Pagans and Christians [New York: Harper & Row, 1986], p. 613).

Thus under Constantine the church experienced a profound alteration in its attitude toward reproductions of the cross

The discovery of the word of the Savior’s cross, together with the worship and honor rendered to the cross, rapidly transformed the former reticence into conspicuous public devotion (The Encyclopedia of Religion (New York: Macmillan, 1987], Vol. 4, p. 162).

For those of us who are dedicated to restoring first century faith and practice, when the churches were built by the “apostles’ doctrine and fellowship” upon the foundation of Jesus Christ, we should limit the cross to a literary symbol and use the proper symbols to “show the Lord’s death till he come” (I Cor. 11:26).

Guardian of Truth XXXVII: 10, p. 5
May 20, 1993