THE POUND
PROCLAIMER
Volume VI
May 2011
Number 3
Sing
to the Lord, bless His name; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day
to day. Psalms 96:2
CREED BOUND
MINDS
By
Robert F. Turner
By some strange travesty those who cry
loudest for liberty are often the ones who mean liberty for their opinions
only; and “non-sectarian” preachers have a way of becoming the most “creed-bound”
of all. The absence of an official written “discipline” is no guarantee of an
“open pulpit”.
What is a “creed”? The word comes from
the Latin “credo” which means, “I believe.” Many creeds of today retain the
form of the so-called Apostles Creed, each article beginning with “I believe.”
They are concise statements of belief, or doctrine, which identify the
“position” of the maker.
Perhaps the first creeds were formulated
in an effort to combat what was believed to be error; to state with clarity
some matter that was being questioned; or simply an unashamed affirmation of
principles upon which certain ones stood. Today our brethren write little
creeds in tract form, to show what “we believe”; or as clauses in deeds to
church property, to keep a church building in the hands of men who gave the
same “I believe” as the original owners. (This seldom works, because of the
failure to apply yesterday's principles to tomorrow’s problems.)
Are such “creeds” wrong? Not necessarily!
After all, “we do believe” certain things, whether we write them or not. But
should we claim to state that which must be believed, anything less than God’s
word is too little, anything more than God’s word is too much, and anything
different from God’s word is condemned by this fact. A Christian’s “creed” may
be stated as his confession that Jesus Christ is Lord which recognizes the Son
of God as having “all authority,” and accepts everything taught in His
covenant. We believe, accept, and practice recognizing as a basis of fellowship
with Christ and Christians only those things which may be proven to be “by His
authority.”
The error of “man-written creeds” (as we
call them) is (1) man’s presumption to shorten, lengthen, alter, or better
arrange God’s revelation of truth; and (2) the setting up and acceptance of
some man’s “I believe” as a standard of right and wrong.
“Creed-bound” minds are minds tied to
one’s own or some other’s “I believe”; no longer free
to approach God’s word objectively, to be changed by this unchanging divine
standard.
Creeds and sectarianism have moved hand
in hand through history. Certain “beliefs” are accepted as “orthodox,” and
become the standards for determining “fellowship.” Tradition, majority rule,
big churches, papers, preachers, and such like take the place of God’s word;
and all who object must be marked and ostracized. These seem to think Romans
But someone asks, “Should we not believe
something and should we not have firm convictions, wanting others to accept
what we believe to be the truth?” We should indeed! And, we may state, even
write, what we believe about a matter without being a creed maker, or
“creed-bound.” The difference lies in one's attitude toward his beliefs. Have
they become his standard, or is he still willing to “prove” them by God’s word?
Do we become angry if someone questions
our “beliefs”? Are we unwilling to discuss them in the light of God’s truth? Do
we refuse to consider any conclusion other than our own? Are we fair with
ourselves in answering the questions of this paragraph? There is One who knows my heart and yours!!
-
Via
Plain Talk, Vol. 3, No. 3,
-
The Editor’s
Page
Reaping What We Sow
How we view life has a great influence on
what we are able to accomplish. Those who think life is unfair are the ones who
constantly bemoan what they do not have. The very fact they think life is
unfair hinders them from putting forth the needed effort to accomplish what
others have accomplished.
The law of cause and effect teaches us
that every effect has an adequate/equal cause. The effect cannot be greater
than the cause. God created the universe to be governed by laws. For this
reason, fairness in life does not enter into the equation. No rational person
can deny the universality of cause and effect.
Every thing that happens in our lives,
every circumstance in which we find ourselves does not occur by random chance.
God created all things with order. So, how does that pertain to Christians?
Christians can fall into the same trap
that Job was ensnared by Satan. We are told that Job was a righteous man which
was also declared to be true by God (Job 1:1, 8). At Satan’s challenge,
God allowed him to inflict pain and grief upon Job. In all that happened to him,
Job did not sin (Job
When we consider closely what Job says
throughout the record, we begin to see through his words that Job felt that
what was happening to him was unfair being that he was a righteous man. Job’s
three friends were convinced he had committed some great sin for God to punish
him so severely. Job’s defense of himself was correct. God was not punishing
him. He was a righteous man.
What Job failed to consider was that
there are causative variables in our lives. In this case, it was Satan and
Job’s thinking that his righteous life should shield him from this kind of
suffering. Can we not see how that kind of thinking would cause an increase in
sadness for Job?
Christians must guard against falling
into Satan’s trap by thinking that life is unfair. There are causes that create
the effects of unhappiness, pain, suffering, and unfaithfulness in our lives.
We must look into ourselves to find those causes. Too many times in our lives,
we blame others, fate, or even God for our misery. It is not easy to think that
our own actions are causing the effect in our life which in turn is causing us
great discomfort.
If a Christian is unhappy, they need to
consider whether or not it is their own actions that are causing the
unhappiness. If there is tension in the home, what actions have caused it? If
there is animosity with a fellow Christian, again, what has caused it? If there
is discouragement in the local church, who is to blame?
When there is tension in your home, seek
out God’s instruction on how to be a good husband/wife and put them into
practice. If there is animosity between brethren, listen to God when He tells
us how to love the brethren and put it into practice. If you are discouraged because
of a lack of growth in the congregation, seek to grow in grace and knowledge of
the Lord.
Why, because, the law of cause and effect
applies to all of life. “Do not be
deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows,
that will he also reap.” Galatians 6:7
WORKING FOR THE
MASTER
LEARNING FROM HISTORY
It is difficult for man to learn lessons from the past. Be that as it may,
history is a great teacher. Someone has said, “We must learn from the mistakes
of others because we don’t have enough time to learn from our mistakes. They
are too numerous!” I know this statement is meant to be humorous; however, there
is a lot of truth in it. It is a wise person/people who learn from history lest
they repeat the same mistakes of their ancestors.
The historian, Gibbons, wrote a history of the Roman Empire concentrating
on what made it great and what caused its down fall. The work is entitled; The
Rise and fall of the Roman Empire. As a people, we would do well to consider
his conclusions in this work. Gibbons gives five reasons for the fall of this
once great empire.
He lists them as follows: 1) Rapid increase of divorce, with the
undermining of the sanctity of the home, which is the basis of society. 2)
Higher and higher taxes; the spending of money for bread and celebrations. 3)
The mad craze for pleasure, sports becoming every year more exciting and more
brutal. 4) The building of gigantic armaments, when the real enemy was within;
the decadence of the people. 5) The decay of religion; faith fading into mere
form, losing touch with life, and becoming impotent to guide it.
Can anyone deny that these five “causes” sound extremely familiar? America
seems to be going the way of the Roman Empire. Divorce is rampant. There is
hardly a family that has not been affected either directly or indirectly.
Higher taxes are expected by politicians to support their pet projects. The
national debt is being used to justify the need for our government to collect
more taxes. The general population is given to pleasure. More of people’s
income is spent on entertainment than on any one expense in each household. We
are continually deploying our military into foreign places at a phenomenal
cost. Religion is just a passing thought to a majority of Americans. Although
many will profess with their mouth a religious belief, very few are dedicated
to servitude to God. In the cases where people practice a religious belief, it
is usually within a religion that caters to their desires. The prevailing
attitude in religion is the “you’re OK, I’m OK philosophy.” Instead of a life
changing event for the person, it is religion that must change. Instead of
being relevant in the lives of people by teaching the moral principles of God,
religion is reduced to “anything goes, what was once sin is no longer sin
because we are in a different more enlightened age.”
What is the solution to our woes? How do we fix the national debt crises?
How can we be a strong power in the world again? The answer to these questions
is not found in following greedy or immoral politicians. The answer is found in
God. Let us listen to what He says will bring a nation to greatness and dignity
among the nations of men. God says, “Righteousness
exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” (Proberbs
14:34) And again He says, “Blessed
is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his
heritage!” (Psalms 33:12)
What will history record about these United States of America? Only time
will tell. However, the history that is yet to be written is in our hands.
Christians must stand upon the principles of God and never waiver. As
Christians, we can lead the way by being an example to the world and show them
the way to be a society whose God is the Lord!
THE LAST WORD
FROM THE MONKEY'S VIEWPOINT
THREE MONKEYS SAT IN A COCONUT TREE,
DISCUSSING THINGS AS THEY’RE SAID TO BE.
SAID ONE MONKEY TO THE OTHERS: “NOW LISTEN, YOU
TWO;
THERE’S A CERTAIN RUMOR THAT CAN’T BE TRUE;
THAT MAN DESCENDED FROM OUR NOBLE RACE.
THE VERY IDEA! IT’S A DIRE DISGRACE!
NO MONKEY EVER DESERTED HIS WIFE,
STARVED HER BABY AND RUINED HER LIFE.
AND YOU’VE NEVER KNOWN A MOTHER MONK
TO LEAVE THE BABIES WITH OTHERS TO BUNK;
TILL THEY SCARCELY KNEW WHO IS THEIR MOTHER.
AND ANOTHER THING; YOU'LL NEVER SEE,
A MONK BUILD A FENCE ‘ROUND A COCONUT TREE
AND LET THE COCONUTS GO TO WASTE,
FORBIDDING ALL OTHER MONKS A TASTE.
WHY, IF I’D PUT A FENCE AROUND THIS TREE,
STARVATION WOULD FORCE YOU TO STEAL FROM ME.
THERE’S ANOTHER THING A MONK WON’T DO -
GO OUT AT NIGHT AND GET ON A STEW.
OR USE A GUN OR CLUB OR KNIFE
TO TAKE SOME OTHER MONKEY’S LIFE.
YES, MAN DESCENDED, THE ORNERY CUSS,
BUT, BROTHER, HE DIDN’T DESCEND FROM US.
- Author Unknown
####################
WHAT MUST
I DO
Hear: Rom
Believe: Heb 11:6
Repent: Lk 13:5; Ac
17:30
Confess: Matt
Be Baptized: Ac
TO BE
SAVED?
###################
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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