Truth Magazine

By Edward O. Bragwell, Sr.

Fresh on the heels of an astounding victory at Jericho, the young Israelite nation, under Joshua’s leadership, focused on the next objective in their campaign to capture Canaan – the land promised by Jehovah. Ai, a small town, was next on the list. Upon their return, the men sent to spy out Ai advised Joshua to send only two or three thousand men against Ai “for the people of Ai are few” (Josh. 7:3). The men of Ai turned the battle into a rout, chasing the Israelites back to where they came from, striking down thirty-six men in the process, almost completely demoralizing Joshua and Israel.

Joshua could not understand why God would bring them over the Jordan only to be destroyed by the Amorites. He poured out his heart to the Lord about the matter. Then the Lord revealed the reason for this defeat. Achan had taken spoils from Jericho, which were forbidden of the Lord, and had hidden them among his stuff. This sin had to be corrected before God would permit Israel to continue her conquest of the promised land. Achan, his family, and his livestock were stoned and burned along with the rest his goods. What a price to pay for one sin.

After the matter was corrected, Israel, with the guidance and help of God, defeated Ai. (Read Joshua 7 and 8.)

Achan’s case illustrates the power of sin. His sin caused a whole nation to suffer. “But, that was back then,” says someone, “what about now?” The Hebrew writer compares sin back then and now: “For if the word spoken through angels (during the Old Testament era, see 1:1-eob) proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so a great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard him” (Heb. 2:2-3, read also Heb. 10:28,29).

The case of Achan refutes three popular myths about sin.

Myth: One sin won’t hurt.

How often have you heard it said that it won’t hurt to do it just this one time – “it,” meaning whatever sin is under consideration at the time? Achan’s one sin hurt him greatly, along with his family, his nation and the cause of his God.

One sin does hurt. “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all” (Jas. 2:10). Eve’s one sin brought death to the whole world. Moses’ one sin caused him to miss Canaan (Num. 20:7-13). Nadab and Abihu’s one sin cost them their lives (Lev. 10), as did Uzzah’s (2 Sam. 6:1-8) and Ananias and Sapphira’s (Acts 5). The rich young ruler only lacked one thing to inherit eternal life (Lk. 18:22-23), but lacking that one thing caused him to go away sorrowful. Simon the Sorcerer was said to be “poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity” after committing one sin (Acts 8:23).

One who thinks that one sin will not hurt needs to be aware that one sin may very well be a launching pad for many other sins.

Joseph’s brethren became envious of him. This fostered a hatred to the point they could not even speak peaceably to him. This was followed by conspiracy and bodily harm. They sold him into slavery; and, to cover up their crime, they lied to their father (Gen. 37).

David, a man after God’s own heart, looked on a woman to lust after her. This led to fornication. Then, in a futile effort to cover his sin, he resorted to treachery and finally had the woman’s husband killed (2 Sam. 11). Did his one sin hurt? He wrote, “My sin is always before me” (Psa. 51:3).

Apostasy from the Lord is taken one step at a time. Paul urges Timothy to preach so as to prevent apostasy, then explains why the urgency by showing how apostasy progresses. First, “they will not endure sound doctrine.” Such people begin their downward slide into apostasy by becoming annoyed at sound preaching – preaching that truly reproves, rebukes and exhorts. Secondly, “they will heap up for themselves teachers” to scratch their itching ears. They will seek and find teachers to teach it their way – more pleasing to the car and less negative toward sin. Thirdly, they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables. Going, going, gone! They have completed the plunge into apostasy. But, where did it start? When they took the first step of not enduring sound doctrine.

Each sin that one does weakens his resistance to the next one until he finally develops a seared conscience.

Myth: One’s sin is nobody’s business but his.

Achan’s sin affected the entire nation. It hindered their progress in capturing Canaan. His sin caused all the children of Israel to be rebuked: “But the children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed things” (Josh. 7:1); “Israel has sinned, and they have transgressed My covenant which I commanded them” (Josh. 7:11). This sin caused the whole nation to suffer defeat: “Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies” (Josh. 7:12). Achan’s household was gravely affected by his sin (Josh. 7:24).

The fornicator of 1 Corinthians 5 affected the whole church. Paul asked, “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” While it may be true that some sins, because of their personal nature, only hurt the individual and his relationship to God, all too often an individual sin has a way of hindering the gospel of Christ and hurting other members of one’s family and/or congregation.

Myth: One can keep sin hidden.

Achan probably thought that he had done a pretty good job of hiding his ill gotten gain. It was hidden in the earth in the midst of his tent – in the privacy and safety of his own home. God knew it all along and ultimately all Israel found out about it. Every diligent Bible reader today also knows about it.

Moses warned the children of Israel: “be sure your sin will find you out” (Num. 32:23). One can never sin and rightly feel secure in the belief that no one will ever know. There are too many ways for even secret sins to become known for one to depend on the protection of secrecy. We once heard the story of two preachers, traveling far away from home, stopping at a tavern and deciding to have a little drink. After all, they were so far away from anyone who knew them that their secret sin would never be known. Since no one knew them or that they were preachers no harm would be done. As they were about to leave they got into a mild argument about who would pay the bill. While they were discussing the matter, the bartender leans over and says, “That’s all right fellows, we don’t charge preachers in here.” No, my friend, do not count on your sins remaining hidden.

Sin is never hidden from God: “And there is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Heb. 4:13).

More often than we may realize our sin is not hidden from others. When Moses killed the Egyptian, “He looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ” Still the thing was known (v. 14). We may be more transparent than we think. We may be seen when we are not aware of it. But, if no one on earth ever knows – God knows and will judge us according to the works done in the body, whether good or bad (2 Cor. 5:10).

One sin, not repented of, can make a big difference. Let us not have any illusions about it. Just one sin does hurt. Just one sin may very well hurt someone else. Just one sin may very well be found out by others. It is already known by the Lord, for sure. Let us be careful. Strive to avoid even one sin. When we do sin, we need to correct it immediately, to minimize the damage it can do to ourselves and others.

Achan, his family, and all Israel suffered from a sin that Achan thought he had carefully concealed. We should not go and do likewise.

Guardian of Truth XXXV: 17, pp. 526-527
September 5, 1991

By Paul K. Williams

Occasionally I read an article in which elders are taken to task because they do not answer when preachers write to them asking for support. The authors of these articles seem to assume that elders are under an obligation to answer, even when it is not possible for that church to give support to the preacher.

During my 23 years in South Africa I have made a number of appeals for support. I have received a wonderful response and my needs have always been met. I thank God and the brethren for the love they have shown for the preaching of the gospel to the whole world.

In making these appeals, I expected the ones who decided to help me to communicate with me, and this is what happened. I received some replies from those who wished they could help but could not, and those were always encouraging. But I did not expect every church to take the time and spend the money to write me their regrets. I can see no reason why they should, and they have better things to do with their time. It takes a lot of time to answer letters, and it is my understanding that churches receive quite a few appeals for help. It is a proper use of time to reply to those whom the church can help.

Because we preachers do not know which churches can be expected to help and which cannot, we usually send out a large number of letters. This is why churches are burdened with such a large number of appeals. I cannot think of a better system of reaching the churches which may be interested, but it is asking a lot to expect all those churches to reply who are not going to help.

Let’s be charitable, brethren, and put ourselves in the position of those elders who are burdened with countless spiritual problems. It seems ungrateful to complain when they do not reply to every appeal they receive.

Guardian of Truth XXXV: 17, p. 524
September 5, 1991

By Bobby Holmes and Ron Halbrook

As we pointed out earlier, the church of Christ at Sturgis, Mississippi began in 1974 with the conversion of Lela McCarter. This was the result of evangelism by the Lee Blvd. church in nearby Starkville. When the Sturgis church building was constructed about 1984, these brethren were put under the oversight of the Lee Blvd. church. Sturgis was told to send their Lord’s day contribution to Lee Blvd. and the deed to Sturgis’ property was put in Lee Blvd.’s name. The Sturgis brethren learned the truth about the autonomy of the church and requested in early 1988 that their treasury and deed be turned over to them, in keeping with the Scriptures.

The Lee Blvd. church relinquished Sturgis’ treasury but retained the deed to Sturgis’ property, though they offered to sell Sturgis the property for $35,000. When additional efforts were made in late 1990 to persuade Lee Blvd. to give the Sturgis deed to the Sturgis brethren, the deed was transferred instead to a third church: the Hwy. 82 church in Starkville. The Hwy. 82 church planned to sell the property and evict the Sturgis’ brethren. When the Sturgis church asked for help in resolving this injustice, brother Thomas D. Keenum, Sr. of Booneville, Mississippi recommended that Sturgis offer $17,000 to Hwy. 82 to settle for the property. Brother Keenum, an elder in the church at Booneville and an attorney, is working at his own expense to help the Sturgis brethren.

The Hwy. 82 church agreed to sell the Sturgis church building to the Sturgis church for $17,000 but set a deadline of May 1991 to receive the money. Brother Keenum told Hwy. 82 that more time would be needed to raise the money, and understood that Hwy. 82 accepted this arrangement. Appeals for individual help in raising the money began appearing during June and July 1991 in gospel papers published by faithful brethren. The response has been good. As this “Update” is being prepared in mid-July, well over $3,000 has been received by the Sturgis brethren!

Right when the brethren at Sturgis could see light at the end of the tunnel, they received a shocking notification. The Hwy. 82 church notified the Sturgis brethren to vacate the Sturgis church building because it has been sold to a denominational group for S19, 000! Furthermore, Hwy. 82 says they have already spent the money on a building program for themselves!

Rather than take the Lee Blvd. and Hwy. 82 churches to court, brother Keenum urged the Sturgis brethren to suffer the wrong and let the final accounting be made at the Judgment Bar of God. He has urged them to find another piece of land to purchase, offered to provide free any needed legal services to secure a clear deed, and promised to locate brethren who will donate their labor to construct a new meeting place. He estimates that a modest building could be put up for about $20,000, including the land and materials.

The church at Sturgis has suffered the loss of its property but not of its faith in God’s Word, its love of truth, and its hope in the Lord. Like Paul, they can say,

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed (2 Cor. 4:8-9).

These good brethren are already searching for a new piece of property. In the meantime, they are continuing to faithfully worship and serve the Lord.

Our hearts are touched to the point of tears when we think of how this band of saints has been abused, robbed, and defrauded by people professing to be brethren. Error and liberalism have no ethics. Error and liberalism make great professions of love, but John had such apostate brethren in mind when he warned of their hatred and their abusive conduct:

We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.

Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth (1 Jn. 3:14-15,18).

Those who love the Lord, the truth, and the brethren have a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate that love “in deed and in truth” toward the saints in Sturgis. Let us unite our hearts in prayer on their behalf. Let those who have the ability send $5, $25, $50, $ 100, or whatever we can to the Sturgis Church of Christ Building Fund, P.O. Box 418, Booneville, MS 38829. The need is real and urgent! Act without delay!

Guardian of Truth XXXV: 17, p. 517
September 5, 1991

By Steve Wallace

Much has happened in the last five months and things are really hopping here. First to the work here in Ramstein.

We made it through the war without anyone in the church here being sent to the Gulf. Also, no one has had to take part in any of the follow up actions in the Middle East that are still underway.

We have had one baptized. Three have been transferred back to the U.S. We will lose six more in the next three months. We have had one man transferred in and some visitors. . .

Sewell Hall held us a good meeting the 26-28 April. It was good to be with him again and Martin Broadwell, who was traveling with him. There were no visible responses but his preaching encouraged the brethren.

Valerio Marchi, of Udine, Italy, and his wife Patrizia were with us the weekend of the 5th of May, along with Andrea and Elena Miola, also of Udine. Valerio spoke to the church here about the Lord’s work in Italy. It was encouraging for us to hear of the work going on there and the way the brethren there have overcome various trials they have faced. One cannot help but be impressed by the dedication our Italian brethren have shown. In addition to their public and private teaching efforts, Valerio and other preaching brethren there have done good work in publishing various tracts, bulletins, and a magazine. It was wonderful having them in our house. It would be both rewarding and enlightening for American brethren to pay visits to both the Italian and Spanish works.

Around Europe

1. The Lord’s work in Bitburg, Germany. There is now a sound church in Bitburg. Conservative brethren there had tried to work with the liberal brethren in an effort to unite on truth but were unable to change the majority of them. When they left they took with them five brethren who had been members of the liberal church. The brethren there want to give notice of their existence and location in the Bitburg area. They will call themselves “the Eifel Church of Christ” (Address: Gary Sowell, P.O. Box 3025, APO, NY 09132). They are looking for someone to come work with them. They would be happy to have a man interested in the work in eastern Europe to come work with them for a while, while being free to travel to the East every so often.

2. A trip to the USSR. I was contacted by a sister in Tennessee who wanted to spend $ 1,000 on Bibles for the USSR. After talking it over with the brethren in Prague, it was decided that Jeff Young, Bill Bynum and I would go to the cast Ukrainian city of Lvov the third weekend in March. The trip itself was practically a saga that I doubt any of us will ever forget. We spent a good part of two afternoons on the square there in Lvov taking addresses from people who wanted Bibles. (The government will not allow them to be imported but one can mail Bibles into the USSR.) The only thing with which we could compare our experiences there was to Jesus and the multitudes. We were thronged continually for hours. Many of the people would talk to us very happily even though we usually understood none of the things they said. We ended up getting more names than we had Bibles for. It has only been recently that it has started to look like we would get enough Bibles for all them. The men in Prague have gotten Bible lessons translated into the Ukrainian language to put in the Bibles when we mail them.

Incidentally, some have sent Russian New Testament with Helps, which can be had cheaply from the International Bible Society. While the price is good, the “helps” included in the back pages of these Bibles contain denominational teachings, which have to be torn out before we can give them to anyone.

3. Budapest, Hungary. I was in Budapest, Hungary, the third weekend in February to meet with the brethren there, and to hand out Bibles and Bible lessons in Hungarian. On my trip back through Austria one of the Nigerian brethren in Vienna had made arrangements for me to study with some friends of his in Linz, Austria; I had a study with two of his friends there. Bill Bynum, then in Prague, also helped in doing follow up work with these men. We did not end up baptizing either of them.

I was in Budapest again the third weekend of April. I was able to spend a good amount of time teaching the Nigerian brethren there. There are not many of them left. They leave Nigeria seeking a better life and go wherever they think they can find it. Of the 25-30 that have been baptized there, I only know the whereabouts of maybe three at this time. When Hungarian nationals are converted a more permanent work will exist in that city. I handed out Bibles and Bible lessons in Hungarian and made a real encouraging contact in the man who owned the room I was staying in. We had several hours of discussions and studies. I was also able to have a study with one of his friends. I found a Hungarian lady to help with further translations of Bible lessons into their language.

Lynn Trapp was in Budapest for about a month the last of May and beginning of June. Charlie Brackett, who made a recent trip through some of the eastern countries in preparation for moving there, also spent some time in Budapest. The most encouraging news from their time there is the contacts they made among the Hungarian people. Buddy Payne is now traveling through some of the East European countries with several men interested in working with them. He is now in Budapest and has made contact with at least one contact Lynn and I had given him. Richard Copeland and Jeff Archer will be moving to Budapest in July. Lynn plans to move there next year.

4. Prague, Czechoslovakia and Slovak Republik. The work in Prague is the most encouraging of all the work going on in Eastern Europe. There have been four baptisms in recent months. They have had as many as 16 Czechs visit services. (There has been more work done in CSR than in any other East European country.) Charlie Brackett had extremely encouraging results from work he did in a city north of Prague: he got so many contacts through a contact that Bill Bynum had given him that he could not cover them all in the time he had. Buddy Payne called last night to say that their work in Brno, CSR, had resulted in 10 people studying with them. Dale and Marlene Smelser, their son Scott and his wife, Bertina, and Mike Morrow moved to Prague in February. Bill and Nancy Bynum, having stayed longer than they had planned to stay, but have now gone back to the U.S. Jeff and Melanie Young, who were living with the Bynums, have now moved. Their new address and phone number: Jeff Young, 28 Rijen 9, 1000 Prague, CSR, ph. (0) 2-268214. Sewell Halt and Martin Broadwell visited Prague during their time in Europe. The brethren were greatly encouraged by their coming.

6. East Germany. Brother Trapp’s being in Hungary freed me to go to East Germany the third week of May. Derek Chambers, who preaches at the church in Mainz, went with me. We already had a contact in Eisenhuttenstadt, a city on the border with Poland, so we decided to make that the hub of our work in the area. We met twice with the aforementioned contact, a lady whose address had been given us by a Christian in Texas who knew her. I hope to see her again during my trip to East Germany this week (20-24 June). What she told us in conversation confirmed what I had read about life under communism. Pretty grim. We arrived on a Thursday. We set up the next morning in Eisenhuttenstach with a table full of literature in German. Hardly anyone showed any interest except for one Jehovah’s Witness who made proof of his indoctrination for about 20 minutes. The next day in Frankfurt was better. We were set up there for about seven hours and handed out about 30 packets of literature. On Sunday we drove to Cottbus and set up there for a day. About 15 people took literature. German television had aired a special program warning the East Germans about American sects, especially Scientology and Moonies. We noticed a fairly hostile reaction on the part of many and a marked avoidance at making eye contact on the part of others when they looked at the literature laying on our table. This was especially so in Cottbus. In contrast to this, we found the East Germans to be about the friendliest and most helpful people we had ever met when it came to asking for directions or help in other ways. We quickly learned to have packets of information ready whenever we had to ask someone something. They were always very friendly and had plenty of time to talk. We had a return address on all the material we handed out and hope to hear from those who took it.

While there, we were able to take some time out to seek information for Ivan Valdes, who is moving to East Germany with his family on 20 June.

Many of the church buildings in towns we drove thru had been destroyed in the war and were never rebuilt. This presents an opportunity to start all over in establishing religion in such places – real religion.

About the “Western Standard of Living.” Our visit to East Germany brought to remembrance a conversation I had last year with a man here in Ramstein who had recently come from there. I asked him about the differences between living there and here. One of the things he said was that in East Germany they knew all their neighbors and their needs, and tried to help one another with the difficulties of life under Communism. Whereas, in wealthy West Germany, people often do not even know their neighbors. The people in East Germany are generally not well off and there is much talk of bringing their standard of living up to “western standards.” The many kindnesses shown us during our visit to East Germany, including one couple who insisted on taking us out to dinner and paying for it, brought a question to my mind: Do we really want them to have our standard of living? 7. Mary and I took a week’s vacation to Switzerland at the beginning of this month. While away we visited with the churches in Bern, Swtz., and Alessandria, Italy. In Italy, we stayed a couple of days with Arrigo and Patrizia Corazza, and their family. I was asked to preach during Sunday services and Arrigo translated for me.

Brother Corazza’s needs. Arrigo is doing a good work in a section of Europe where there is no other sound church for about 150 miles in any direction. He lost about $900 of his support as of I April of this year and is having trouble replacing it. Arrigo has a Masters degree in ancient languages and is thinking about finding a job as a teacher if he cannot replace his lost support. He and his wife are already dipping into their savings to make up the difference. It is hoped that a church or churches will come to Arrigo’s aid with the necessary support. He has been preaching for almost 15 years in a country where gospel preachers are scarce and he is a worthy man. If you know of a church willing to help him, Arrigo’s address is: Arrigo Corazza, Via Magellano 32, 15100 Alessandria, Italy; phone: 0131-226639.

Interest in the works going on in Europe continues to increase. Please pray for the efforts being made here. Thank you for reading this report.

Guardian of Truth XXXV: 17, pp. 522-524
September 5, 1991