THE POUND
PROCLAIMER
Volume II
April 2007
Number 6
Sing
to the Lord, bless His name; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day
to day. Psalms 96:2
“Will Work For
Food”
By Greg Gwin
A homeless man frequently
stations himself near a major intersection and holds up a hand written sign
which reads: "Will Work for Food". Several have attempted to offer
him work. One such offer was reported by an investigative reporter for a local
TV news department. All have been refused. This man, despite what his sign
says, is looking for a handout – not for work. We are disappointed and
disgusted by the situation. The Lord has something to say about it, too: "If anyone will not work, neither let
him eat" (2 Thessalonians 3:10).
There is a spiritual
parallel to this sad tale. It goes like this: Christians assemble to worship
God. They unite their voices to sing: "Lord Send Me"; "I want to
be a soul winner for Jesus"; "We'll work till Jesus comes";
"I want to be a worker for the Lord".
But, when challenged with
opportunities to serve God, they hold back and do nothing. Bible study is
neglected, prayer is abandoned, worship assemblies and special classes are not
attended, financial support is not forthcoming, personal work efforts are
largely ignored. Do you see it? Isn't this like the homeless man who says he
wants work but will not accept it?
There are too many who want
the rewards of Christianity without doing any work. They're looking for a
spiritual "handout". They will not receive it. God views the
spiritually lazy in the same way He views the physically lazy: no work, no
reward. "Be ye steadfast, unmovable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor
is not in vain in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 15:58).
The Editor’s
Page
Over the years, I have
contemplated why it is that people of other religious beliefs are so violently
opposed to those of us who claim membership in the one body of Christ, or as we
commonly say
There are many religious
people who have the idea that we cannot be sure of what we believe. Their view
of the Bible is that it is filled with mysteries which man cannot hope to
understand. Hence, no one can affirm their understanding of the Bible is
absolutely correct. To affirm your position on a Bible subject is correct and
all others incorrect, is anti-Christian, at least to their way of thinking. As
I observe my brethren, I fear many of them have drunk from the same cistern and
also flounder on the sea of doubt.
It is one thing to admit that
we do not have all the answers and that our knowledge is incomplete. It is
quite another to fall prey to doubt which robs us of stability in belief and practice.
If brethren persist in following this course, they will find themselves without
the means to oppose false doctrine. Without the confidence to proclaim the
Truth in opposition to error, brethren loose their unique identity and become
like the man-made religions around them.
The solution to this plague
upon the soul is to understand the destructive nature of doubt. Paul taught the
Roman brethren that eating meat, which is acceptable to God, with a doubting
conscience, is sin (Romans 14:23).
James tells us that those who
doubt are like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed (James
1:6). James describes those who doubt as being like waves that rise
and fall against the shore. The doubter will today be happy and confident in
his beliefs, but tomorrow he will only waggle his head in confused disbelief.
To that person, James further says he will not receive anything of the Lord (James
1:7).
The key to the problem which
James describes is found in verse eight. James refers to the doubter as a double-minded
man who is unstable (James 1:8). The problem with the
doubter is the problem of compromise. He wants to have eternal life with the
Lord in one hand and to have the sinful pleasures of the world in the other.
Therefore, when questions arise concerning the teachings of the New Testament,
the doubter cannot give a definitive answer least he hurt someone’s feelings or
condemn himself.
I shall continue to
confidently affirm that my personal faith is in compliance with the Faith (Romans
10:17; 14:5; Jude
1:3), until such a time as I am shown differently. And though I
recognize my limited knowledge and the need to grow in knowledge (2 Peter
1:5-6; 3:18), I will not
embarrass my Lord by failing to give answer to any who ask nor by failing to
contend with those who malign the Truth He died to establish (1 Peter
3:15-16).
Do we need a
squirrel?
Have you heard the one about
the Mississippi Squirrel of Ray Stevens’ fame? Well, when Ray was a boy, he
carried a squirrel to church services. The inevitable happened. The squirrel
got loose. After visiting awhile in Harv Newman’s overalls, that little
squirrel found his way to the amen corner where sat sister Bertha Betterthanyou
and as they say the rest is history.
You should have seen the look
in her eyes when that squirrel jumped her garter and crossed her thighs and she
jumped to the floor and said “Lord, have mercy on me!” As the squirrel made
laps inside her dress, she began to cry and then to confess to sins that would
make a sailor blush with shame. She told of gossip and church dissention, but
the thing that got the most attention was when she talked about her love life
and she started naming names!
Mr. Stevens goes on to tell
us that a revival broke out in that
The aforementioned song is
humorous, but it also has a point to make. Now, Mr. Stevens’ point, no doubt,
is that hypocrisy is rampant in religious
Preaching truth, by
necessity, will identify those who practice error. We should not be ill
mannered or malicious in our preaching. We must speak the truth in love. Ephesians
4:15. But neither should we tip-toe through the tulips, for fear we
will offend someone. Catering to the feelings of individuals is like allowing a
sick child to dictate what medicine they will take for their illness. Both will
die.
John the Baptist called those
Pharisees and Sadducees, who came to him for baptism, offspring of vipers. He
demanded they bring forth fruit of repentance before he would baptize them. Matthew
3:7-12. Too often, we are willing to baptize someone without
evidence of true conversion.
Jesus was not as soft spoken
as some want to believe. On one occasion, the Pharisees confronted Jesus about
His disciples eating with unwashed hands, thus violating the tradition of the
elders. Jesus responded by saying, “And
why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?” Once
He had said this, He identified the doctrine to which He referred. So Jesus
dealt with a doctrine of a religious sect and showed it to be a violation of
God’s commandment. Later, the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Do you know that the Pharisees were
offended when they heard this saying?” He answered, “Every plant that my
heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. Let them alone; they are
blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
[Matthew
15:1-14]
Notice what Jesus didn’t say.
He didn’t say, “Will you disciples excuse me while I go and apologize to the
Pharisees.” He didn’t say, “I am sorry I was so blunt.” If Jesus had gone to
the Pharisees, what would He have said, “I am sorry I told you the truth.”
Paul instructed the
evangelist Timothy, “As for those who
persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand
in fear.” [1 Timothy 5:20] If some don’t want the error of
denominational churches condemned publicly, what do you suppose they would do
if preachers began to rebuke the sinning Christian by name in the presence of
all?
According to Mr. Stevens, the
Lord brought about a revival by using a half crazed squirrel from
####################
WHAT MUST
I DO
Hear: Rom 10:17
Believe: Heb 11:6
Repent: Lk 13:5; Ac
17:30
Confess: Matt 10:32; Ac
8:36
Be Baptized: Ac 2:38;
22:16
TO BE
SAVED?
###################
FAMILY
MATTERS
RADIO PROGRAM:
A reminder about
our weekly radio program called Walking By Faith. We upload the program to a
web site. If you would like to check out our radio program you can download an MP3
file of the program at http://www.savefile.com/projects/808471668.
Each file is approximately 7mg in size. Please note that the numbers in the address have changed
if you have bookmarked this site.
AUDIO SERMONS:
We have updated
our Audio Sermons page on our web site. You are encouraged to access the page
and listen/download any sermon that you might be of interest.
GOSPEL MEETING:
We are blessed to have Greg Gwin joining us
today to begin our gospel meeting. We look forward to a good week. Make every
effort to participate and we will have a successful meeting.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Pound church web site = www.poundchurchofchrist.org/
WALKING BY FAITH
9 AM
102.3 WDXC Radio
The Pound Proclaimer is published monthly by the Pound
All articles by the editor unless
otherwise stated
Editor: Glen Young
Phone: 276-796-5767=Office
804-365-8694=Home
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E-mail: gyoung47@adelphia.net
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