FOUR GREAT FOUR-LETTER WORDS—GIVE

One of the greatest of the words of worth spoken bythe Saviour is related by the apostle Paul in Acts

20:35. "Remember," said he, "the words of the LordJesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than toreceive." Never was there a person more qualified tomake such a grand assertion, for he, as the Saviour ofmankind, is the great example of gratuity, the sourceof all grace, the greatest of all givers.

When Jesus made that statement he did not mean to imply that receiving is not good. He simply wants usto understand that our relationships are all made better by our giving. Paradoxically, his point is thathe who gives receives more than he who receives. Justa cursory examination shows us why. It is not the value of the gift that is important, but the attitude ofthe giver. That one who gives, gives more than thegift, he gives himself. His love makes the gift valuable. "It is the thought that counts," we say.Religion has to do primarily with giving oneself toGod (Matt. 16:24). And worship is not merely amatter of various acts, rituals, and ceremonies, butthe dedication of one's soul to God. It is giving atits most efficient level. We show our love for God when we give ourselves to Him.

There are things better to give than money. In Acts 3 when Peter and John went up to the Temple to pray,they saw a certain lame man begging alms at Beautiful Gate. Peter arrested his attention and he followed the tone of his voice, expecting some gratuity. "Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as Ihave give I thee: In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, riseup and walk." We too have something to give. Oh, wecannot with miraculous power cause a lame man to walk, but we have the gospel and by its power thosewho are diseased with sin can be made well, thoseimpotent to forgive themselves can claim the forgiveness of God, those who are blind in ignoranceand superstition can be shown the way to freedomfrom their enslavement. And what better thing to give?I can be the instrument through which this greatest of all gifts, Jesus Christ, is appropriated to the livesof a sin-sick and decadent society.

We can give ourselves. There are many gifts whichare of greater value than money. Time, for instance.And energy. And enthusiasm. And concern. Do yougive any time to God? How much time do you give inattending to and improving your character so that youcan "let your light shine"? And much good could bedone for the cause of Christ if only the energy necessary to get the job done were expended.Furthermore, only the successful, the winners, thosethat overcome really see the value of giving someenthusiasm, some zeal to a project. And how aboutgiving thanks? Anybody can and yet almost nobodydoes. It is important that we invest the time, energy,and zeal in Christ's cause so that we can confidentlyshow the world our dedication to our own salvation and to the salvation of the world. But we will not givetime, expend energy, enthusiastically participate untilwe first give ourselves.

We must learn to "give place to wrath (Rom.12:19). To assume that we, after becoming Christians,will exist in a germ-free atmosphere, totally protectedfrom the outside world is to be foolish to a fault. We are persons. The church is persons, forgiven people.And as long as there are people there likely will beproblems; and problems cause wrath. When we havebeen ill-treated it seems almost inevitable that we plansome retaliation, some retribution. To "give place towrath" is a hard "giving." It is best explained in thestatement, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" (Rom. 12:19). The human mind is not properlyfitted for the toleration of wrath and its resultant vengeful actions, and it does not operate efficientlywhen fueled with such inordinate thoughts. Wrath hasits place, but we must be acutely aware that evenrighteous indignation serves for good only when wegive proper place to wrath and are "angry short" (Eph.4:26).

Jesus was a giver. All that we have with anyquality or substance is a gift. Creation is a gift. Life isa gift. Even the food we eat, the light by which wesee, the rain which causes the earth's productivity, the warmth of the sun, the cool of the evening, all are butgifts from God. Jesus was God's greatest gift (Jno. 3:16). Jesus gave himself for us because he knewthat we had nothing with which to procure our salvation. Precious Saviour, the great giver of good!And he continues to give. He gives us hope by hisown resurrection (I Pet. 1:13). He gives us courage toendure (Heb. 12:2). He gives us the will to serve (Heb. 5:8-9). And he gives us the confidence to "come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtainmercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Heb. 4:16).

It is a privilege to give, an opportunity to showChrist living in us. Life would be barren, wretched if allwe did was take from it. To take away giving from lifewould be to take away love from life, for giving ismerely the action of a loving heart.

THINGS WHICH MAKE FOR PEACE

"Let us therefore follow after the things which makefor peace, and things wherewith one may edifyanother" (Rom. 14:19). In the midst of battle no wordis more pregnant with hope and comfort than the word"peace." The weary soldier thinks longingly of the days when he went about the quiet and orderlypursuits of his life. War disrupts all of that.

In the spiritual realm, there are often great struggles as faithful soldiers of Christ must wrestle against"principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness ofthis world, against spiritual wickedness in high places(Eph. 6:12). Sometimes the struggles are long and intense and take a heavy toll of the weak and fainthearted. Jude 3 and 4 is an earnest appeal to saints of God to contend for the faith when false teaching comes into the church. When such battle must be joined, there are often rude jarrings,shattered ties, heartaches and finally open division. Inthe midst of such conflicts, the thoughtful child of God sighs for peace.

New Testament Usages of the Word

The term "peace " has a variety of usages in theNew Testament. Proper distinctions must be made inorder to understand the will of the Lord and profitthereby. Observe these usages:

(1) Cessation from war and strife. Tertullus came toinform the governor against Paul and said "Seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness" (Acts. 24:2).This is the same word translated peace and bespeaksthe national tranquility they then enjoyed. "Then hadthe churches rest" (Acts 9:31). Again, this is the wordfor peace and indicates the cessation of persecutionagainst the churches. (2) Harmony between individuals. We are to "seek peace" (1 Pet. 3:10-11), "follow peace with all men"(Heb. 12:14), and as much as is in us "live at peace withall men" (Rom. 12:18). (3) Security or safety. "When a strong man armedkeepeth his palace, his goods are at peace" (Lk. 11:21)."For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them" (1 Thes. 5:3). (4) Form of blessing or good will. "Your peace shallrest upon it" (Lk. 10:6). (5) Peace between sinner and God. "Therefore beingjustified by faith, we have peace with God" (Rom. 5:1).Peter came to the house of Cornelius "preaching peaceby Jesus Christ" (Acts 10:36). (6) State of assurance of one who has obeyed theLord's will. "To be spiritually minded is life andpeace" (Rom. 8:6). "Now the God of hope fill you with

all joy and peace in believing" (Rom. 15:13). "That yemay be found of him in peace" (2 Pet. 3:14). Then, thereis the "peace of God, which passeth all understanding"(Phil. 4:7).

(7) Blessed state of devout men in the world to come. In Romans 2, Paul foretold the judgment and stated the basis on which men would be eternallysaved or lost. "But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also tothe Gentile" (Rom. 2:10). (8) By way of contrast to a state of discord andstrife between brethren. This is the case in Romans 14 where Paul discussed the problem of eating meats offered in sacrifice to idols. Some said it was proper whileothers said it was not. There was the danger that the weak brother might be emboldened to eat in violationof his conscience, thus the strong brother was taughtnot to cause him to stumble by acting contrary to hisconscience. It was in this vein that Paul wrote "Let us therefore follow after things which make for peace, andthings wherewith one may edify another" (Rom. 14:19). To the Ephesians Paul wrote "Endeavoring tokeep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph.4:3).

Peace at Any Price?

While all should desire harmony between brethren,peace at any price is not peace with God. Those whowalk not in the doctrine, have not God (2 Jno. 9-10).Peace with God is shattered when brethren cease to abide within the doctrine of Christ. Shall truth be compromised in order to have peace? "Buy the truthand sell it not" (Prov. 23:23). We could have harmonywith the Catholics if we would accept their terms. Isit worth it? In the digression which spawned theChristian Church, we could have had peace if everyone had accepted the innovations without question. There could have been peace with the premillennial brethren fifty years ago, if all hadbeen willing to accept their speculations.

There is presently a state of division over churchsupported human institutions, sponsoring churchesand assorted aspects of the social gospel. We could have peace by compromising what the Bible teachesabout the nature, work and organization of the church.The so-called fellowship-unity movement of recent years has spawned not brotherhood and peace but estrangement and war. If they had their way we would have truce and compromise with error but in the bargain we would forfeit peace with God. In each of theabove cases we would have to leave the doctrine of Christ and then we would sacrifice our blessed relationship with him. In order to have peace with God, it is sometimes necessary to be divided frommen. Jesus asked "Suppose ye that I am come to givepeace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:for from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three" (Lk. 12:51-52).

Peace is also jeopardized by those among us whoseek to bind their own private conscientious scruplesas articles of faith and lay them as heavy burdens uponthe shoulders of all others. That is the other end of the kind of problems discussed in the preceding paragraph. In both cases human opinion and judgment

are elevated to the status of divine revelation and the peace is destroyed.

God grant that those who yet stand in the truth shallhave the courage and persistence to continue in thegood fight of faith. We pray as well that those whohave broken the peace by inventing and then adheringto man-made dogmas and practices, will realize theirerror and return to the truth. It would be so pleasantwere the necessity for battle ended so that we mightconfront an unbelieving world with our full energiestrained on the sin, error and spiritual ignorance leading multitudes into everlasting ruin.

THE MULTIPURPOSE BUILDING

It all happened down South in a little town calledNew Albany, Mississippi. One of the good brethrenhere in Booneville is in the contracting business andreceived a contract to erect a building for the Church ofChrist in New Albany. The preacher for this church is

J. A. Thornton, former preacher here in Booneville anda life time resident of Northeast Mississippi. I workedwith Jean (spelled with a "j" instead of a "g") during agospel meeting at Corinth, Mississippi back in theearly fifties. About the same time, he authored a bookcalled, I was a Sky Pilot which was somewhat of a misnomer in that he was never a pilot at all. Back inthose days the "mystery of iniquity" had begun towork in the church but only in the fertile imaginationof the mind of man. Brethren, at this time were united, at least, in a physical way. I found Jean to be a sort of"happy go lucky" fellow with a likeable personality.When the ugly innovations made their way into thechurch, in the fifties, he acquiesced to the encroachments of the hour. Since Jean was a rather flamboyant character and well known in this area, hisinfluence was felt far and wide. As one might suspect,he helped carry many of the churches in NortheastMississippi into apostasy. It has only been throughthe valiant effort and sacrifice of fine and faithful brethren that congregations have been planted in thispart of the state. Since my wife is from this area and I have spent much time teaching in the area. I feel I canbe rather pragmatic with reference to these matters.

Back to the building syndrome, the contract calledfor the erection of a building which most people wouldcall a gym. The contract called for a basketball courtwith baskets and all. While the building was beingconstructed, one of the workers asked, "What is this going to be, 'a gymnasium?" Jean Thornton replied,"Some might think of it as a gym, but we prefer tocall it a MULTIPURPOSE BUILDING." There youhave it,

neighbor. It looks like a gym; it feels like a gym; itsmells like a gym and if one could taste, it would tastelike a gym but it isn't. Call it a multipurpose buildingand this cures everything. Pshaw, who is he kidding?Incidentally, in the same conversation one of theworkers told Jean about a gymnasium they had builtfor the Baptist people up the road a little way. Jeanresponded, "Yeah, that is where we got the plan for thebuilding." The only difference is that the Baptistswere honest enough to call their building a gym butour brethren prefer to call theirs a multipurposebuilding. Now kind friend, does a horse become a cowbecause someone says it is? If one calls a man a mouse,is he a mouse? Some are ready to ask, "Why is brotherThornton apprehensive about calling the building agym?" The answer is obvious. You see some membersof the church do not have the acumen to see that this building is really a gym. They are not ready to accept agymnasium but will accept the multipurpose building.Besides, the term multipurpose sounds much betterthan gymnasium. To the average member of thechurch it sounds unscriptural for the church to builda gym, but much better if it builds a multipurposeplant. Like Mike and Ike they look alike but thepurpose of the innovator has been achieved.

In all apostasies brethren have been careful not to"scare" the brethren with their terminology. Paul talks about men who would spoil "through philosophy and vain deceit" and warned by using the word "beware" (Col. 2:8). When brethren want a social function in the meeting house, they will say, "The meeting house is not sacred nor a shrine." When theywant a recreation hall, you will hear them say, "Thechurch should take care of the whole or complete man." When one hears this nomenclature he had better look out because nine times out of ten someone is trying to slip his error under the door.

But alas, it seems all is not peaceful on the Northeastfront. It seems that Jean is losing some of his cloutamong his brethren. The flak seems to be falling on Jean and his gym. Just last week, the preacher for theEast Main Church in Tupelo, W. N. Jackson, wrote anarticle titled, After the Gymnasium, Then What?" He lowered the boom on Jean and the gym. He said there was no authority for such activity. He went on to say,"Just a few years ago who would have thought any ofour congregations would come to this?" Well, I havenews for brother Jackson, many of us warned twentyyears ago that churches would have gymnasiums in afew years. At this time they said we were shouting"wolf" when there was no wolf! Now the chickens have come home to roost and they are crying crocodile tears.Brethren need to stop that crying and get back to theBible. This preacher in Tupelo believes in the sponsoring church and the support of orphan asylumsbut he is weeping over Jean's gym. He will find theauthority for all three on the same page of his Bible.

I see in all of this a ray of sunshine which I haven't seen for years. Like the proverbial mule who has to behit between the eyes to get his attention, it seems thegymnasium has gotten the attention of a few! A case inpoint is a call last week from a woman in a liberalchurch who said she along with others were going toleave a church if they brought in the "Church Suppers." It seems the preacher was insisting on using themeeting house for social purposes. I realize this isn'tmuch but every little bit helps. It might mean that afew will get their eyes open before it is too late. W. N.Jackson, that preacher in Tupelo, said, "By the 'reasoning' of some in 'justifying' the gym, what is next — a swimming pool? Swimming is one of thebest exercises! How about a golf course, a bowlingalley? Why not have a stable of horses, and thus themembers could exercise both themselves and the congregation's mascots? The riding trails could beplanned to circle the golf course, go around the gym,circle the swimming pool and the polo field, etc."When a liberal preacher starts writing like the abovesurely some will see the light. At least we hope so.

Kind friend, the gym for Jean will be built. Nothingcan stop it now. Articles written by men like W. N.Jackson, who bemoan the fact that the church wouldgo this far will not stop the gymnasium. But where will they go from here? Will some return by starting backthe other direction? Let us hope so. I will make a prediction that in a few years no one will be ashamed tocall their multipurpose buildings gymnasiums. Theywill tell it like it is. By this time they will have so manyother innovations that a gymnasium will look diminutive. There is an old song which says, "Turn outthe lights, the party's over." Friend, when Churches ofChrist start building gymnasiums, the lights havebeen out for a long time and the party is history.

Only God knows what throbs had to pervade Paul atthe sight of Puteoli harbour wharf, which went into thesea for quite 372 meters resting on 14 imposing largearcades. His boat had to dock beside those coming from Sidon and Ephesus, from Alexandria of Egyptand from Gaul, Spain or Africa. From Alexandria therewas a regular service of frumentarious cargo boats, inaddition to the passengers service, for the supplying of cereals to Rome.

To Puteoli converged CAPUANA ROAD, comingfrom Capua, ANTINIANA ROAD from Naples. After33 years the arrival of Paul at Puteoli would have beenopened DOMITIANA ROAD too. Here Paul had tofind a well-established congregation of Christians.Most likely news of his arrival had preceded him and in consequence of his delay brethren perhaps were worried about his destiny. They welcomed him withgreat honour and joy getting by the centurion to lethim stay with them for seven days. Rome was awaitingfor him and into Paul's heart had to happen often an anxiety's or a wish's feeling, or perhaps a thrill or athrob because of the uncertainty which was waiting forhim in the caput mundi (the world capital city), but I believe before all a pressing stimulus to go there toembrace and know brethren, many of them perhapswell known to him by reputation. Some years before hehad expressed this wish writing the Epistle to theRomans. After spending seven days there the groupset out again for Rome. Through CAPUANA ROADthey went away from Puteoli; the city's noise was growing weak and to their sight were offering only thesuburb's inns and taverns. Few years ago on a wall of ataberna (tavern) excavated near Puteoli amphitheatre,archaeologist Amedeo Maiuri found drawn among letters and scrawls a figure with folded arms. But on the same wall there were other graffiti (writings scratched on wall), which were caricaturist and licentious which according to a scholar like Ferrua prove the existence of the church indirectly corroborating what is written in New Testament, especially because these figures and graffiti were mockeries and insult against Christians. The very firstwho used the crucifix in that epoch were the pagansand for a completely and unlike purpose. Christians weren't idolaters. Sure to the tavern's customer liked perhaps to repeat against Christians the insultingslander of staurolatry (cross worshippers). POMPEI—Became a Roman colony in the year 80 B.C. with the name of Cornelia Veneria Colony, was in the first decennia of Empire a flourishing center of aristocratic and magnificent life. It was built bySamnite people coming from Sarno valley. Just insideour courtyard recently local Museum excavated andfound interesting samnite tombs of ninth centuryB.C.). During August 24 of the year 79 A.C. it sharedwith Stabia, Oplonti and Herculaneum the exactlyalike lot of death: in awfully apocalyptical scenery the city disappeared underneath a cover of stones andashes having a thickness of many meters. Rich inpatrician villas, decorated according the Alexandrianfashion and in majestic public buildings, Pompei was afairly good trading center, furnished with its ownharbour on the mouths of Sarno river. Hebrews were present in the city, even if they weren't organized by acommunity like that of Puteoli. A certain number ofgraffiti and inscriptions support sufficiently all that bydocumentary evidence. It is possible that isolated Christians would have tried in this city the proselytism just at dawn of missionary spreading work and is probable too that in a small number ofpeople they had constituted the first ecclesia (church)at a willing family home. There aren't direct evidences,but we can deduce indirect ones from graffitti (even ifin a small number): "XXXIGNI GAUDE CHRISTIANI" (Enjoy the fire Christian) with evidentallusion to the Neronian fire of Rome and to the torches of Christians covered with tar and fired in order to light Nero's gardens.

"AUDI CHRISTIANOS SAEVOS OLLERE"

(You hear wild and stinking Christians). Last in orderof discovery the inscription on a wall of the villa ofPoppea family. Poppea was Nero's wife. They had many sumptuous villas in Pompei and Oplonti, a residential palace 3 miles from Pompei. Just someyears ago has been discovered a villa having 95 roomsin Oplonti (now Torre Annunziata) and a large poolbelonging to this family. Latin inscription on an

amphora 'Secundo Poppeae (To Secundo of Poppea family) let us understand where wine was sent to. Perhaps Secundus could be an administrator or a freedslave belonging to this family. Another important villais in Pompei and in the courtyard (Peristilium) of thisvilla there were discovered many masks which indicatethat it was used as a little family theatre where theEmperor could recite as actor, being fond of this art.Interesting is a graffito on the top at height of firstexcavation work "Qui sunt a Deo amati" (Those who are loved by God). One gropes one's way in the dark in order to interpret and understand the facts. This inscription could be not only a charge of massacre, buta certainty of their faith in God and of their eternalsalvation too, while punitive ashes were yet warm. Aninscription sure opposite to that of "enjoy the fire Christian" or of "you hear wild and stinking Christians." Paul left Puteoli and found by the way toRome a first group of brethren coming from Rome asfar as the Forum Appius and then another at the ThreeTaverns to meet him. Three Taverns, the present cityof Cisterna, was an important post-stage and Inn onAppia road. All that reveals that in Rome was a consistent congregation, while in Campania there wereonly little groups in the coast cities which revealed aweak and scarce initial presence. Three years afterPaul's arrival in Rome the Roman church, accordingTacitus informations, became "an huge multitude". From the time of Carthaginian general Hannibal, theJew community in Rome had been always consistentand sure this was the principal reason of the Lord's Word preaching success there. All that leads us to think that the Gospel's word could have started from Rome to penetrate deeply in Campanian cities. A scholar like Omodeo is of this opinion for further expansion of Christianity during following centuries.The church of Rome which had the blood bath during Neronian persecutions, was the most qualified one tosend preachers and missionaries to Naples, Nola, Nuceria Alfaterna, Cuma, Pompei and Stabia. This perhaps is the echo of Pompeian graffiti in replay tothese surviving preachers arrived from Rome to stir upatavistic pagan religions? It is an acceptablehypothesis that surviving Christians had slunk awayfrom Rome and that they had directed their stepstowards Campania Felix, famous for temperate andmild climate, for its schools and culture, for the richesof its trades, let alone for its tolerance about whatever creed and religion. The poet Titus Statius inviting hiswife to leave Rome so wrote her: "Don't believe that Vesuvius' top and the flaming surge downwardsthe pernicious mount had wholly depopulated theanxious cities: there are inhabitants, on the contrary they get on and grow in number"

(Selve, v. 72-4); later he gives an important news;although Naples city was narrow and condensed forits own population, however it didn't fail to openthe gates to numerous foreigners. Listening to TitusStatius, immigration to Campania had to be stablerather than touristic owing to its fame which followed its name. "Over there flaps a serene peace,life is comfortable and relaxed, and rest, never upset,can be protracted by peaceful sleeps. There are nofierce meetings of electors, nor laws become instrument of wranglers:

citizens have an innate wont of life to be respectfulto laws, nor there needs the power to achieve thejustice" (vv. 84-8). "In the surrounding placesthere is no lacking in the delights of a varied life,either you would like to visit with the steaming cityof Baia, whose beach is a delight, or the inspiredcaverns of the prophetic Sibyl, or the Misenus hill,memorable for the Troian oar, or the juicy vineyards of Bacchic Gaurus Mount, or Capri, old abode of Teleboi people, where a lighthouse, emulous of the moon which wanders by night, raises its propitious light to the advantage of anxious sailors, or Sorrento hills which produce adry and strong wine, or the salutary ponds of IshiaIsland, or Stabia that revives." (95-104). When he composed the poem of wishes for the neapolitan Menecrates, son-in-law of Pollius Felix, his dearest friend, in the villa of whom in Sorrento he was often guest, in occasion of the birth of a third child, Statiusthus expressed his feelings and the need of a repeopling in which he believed: "To my compatriot Julius Menecrates, young man of high rank and son in law of my Pollius, I address mycongratulations having honored our Naples by alarge family" (Epis. 1, IV). Then he addressed to Parthenopes (the name of a Syren, old name of thecity) inviting it to dress up by one's Sunday best; the prolificness of the neapolitans could "restore the losses produced by the Vesuvius furies" (v. 4 s.). It is much likely from what comes first that many Christians saved from the Neronian massacre had taken a way of escape for the cities of Campania Felixand that like the great persecution following the deathof Stephen, the dispersion had produced a greater penetration of the Lord's Word in the Italic and Campanian cities (Acts 8:1-4).

Archaeological evidences at the end of first centuryand during next centuries are much more consistentand traces remain indelible. In Naples S. Gennaro catacombs with a large baptismal pool completely destroyed by an interesting carelessness, of which remains foundations and ruins, where of a surety baptism was done by total immersion, speaks a language of truth. In the city of Cuma, near Puteoli,there is another large pool for baptism. In Nuceria Alfaterna (four miles from my home) there is the largeand very fine baptistery (named "La Rotonda")surrounded by binary columns, built on an old hall of apagan Temple near a grove of trees. The baptistery isbuilt on the old mosaic pagan floor to let water drainout after people had been baptized. It was built during V or VI century A.D., after Constantine's Milan Edict and is understandable that Temple was bought ratherby political power than by money. It is understandabletoo that during this century baptism was done by immersion and administered only to the believing adults. As this monument had been saved from the destruction of a corrupted church, which in the darkcenturies of Middle Ages by carelessness and ignorance, by refashioning and new constructions, cancelled footsteps and documents of past, isn't difficult to imagine. The Vesuvius thought it over. Inthe year 685 A.D., by another Vesuvius eruption, thedome-shaped vault of it collapsed and was interred formany centuries and preserved. During this centurymany church buildings were built and this one had no

importance having no images and statues. In a word itlacked the principal characteristic of a Roman churchbuilding: the altar and the idols. It was rebuilt duringXIII century according to the new canon of Roman church, with the construction of an altar and of somepaintings, but remaining of a minor importance compared with new cathedrals. Why they didn't destroy the large baptismal pool? Before all just near itwas built another Roman church building and the dome-shaped vault had many collapses, the last in theyear 1944. Remaining buried for many centuries andbeing soothed every doctrinal controversy, peopledidn't know anything about the pool and the truebaptism, all was forgotten and the clergy could sleeppeaceful rests, or the death's sleep. The ignoranceinterred what wasn't buried and those who had the darkness' power could continue to rule the play and tokeep the reins of others destiny into their hands. Allthat will continue until the kings of the earth, whocommitted fornication and were wanton with her, standing far off will say: "Alas! Alas! thou greatcity, thou mighty city, Babylon. In one hour hasthy judgment come" (Rev. 18:9,10).

LET US RISE UP AND BUILDThe Place of the Individual,Nehemiah 3

Did you ever wonder why certain chapters are in theBible? Oh yes, we know they are inspired but do wewonder what purpose they are to serve? One suchchapter is in Nehemiah 3. Open your Old Testament tothat chapter and you will simply see an endless listof names that no one except Alexander Scorby can pronounce. What was God's purpose in preservingin the sacred text this list of names? Is this portionof the Scriptures just "filler" to take up space? The answer is ABSOLUTELY, NOT! There are at leasttwo important reasons why Nehemiah 3 is included in the text, and these two reasons are extremelyimportant to us.

First, the list of names of families demonstrates to us that GOD IS INTERESTED IN PEOPLE. God's work has never been "program" oriented, butinstead is always "people" oriented. There is no doubtabout God's program by which He will save the world,but it is always linked to the activity of people. Everyindividual in that program is important to the Lord! These names may not mean much to you and me, butthey mean a great deal to Him. He knows every individual most intimately. The individual is not simply a speck in His giant plan to bring the Messiahinto the world. He is not simply a small gear in a bigmachine. Rather, each individual that walks on thisearth com

mands God's personal love, attention and concern.Consider for a moment how important people are toGod. People are the only thing that God promises thatHe will rescue from this planet before its ultimate destruction. God will not rescue church buildings,colleges or para-church organizations. He will rescueonly people. So, if we want a "labor" that will endure,don't try to build buildings, write books, or establish movements. Even the pyramids are subject to theravages of time and are destined to destruction. But aministry of people will last.

Secondly, the list of names in Nehemiah 3 shows usthat God is not only interested in people, but He is alsoCONCERNED ABOUT THE WORK THEY DO. Our work seems too insignificant, doesn't it? Go to work, wash the dishes, mow the lawn, and clean the house—all are necessary, but so seemingly insignificant. Yet, when we give an honest day's labor,we are working as to the Lord. When we work in thehome to raise a family, this seems so insignificant, orso we are told by the world. Yet the Scriptures teach usthat there is not a more important and vital work inthe world than raising a family. Notice in the text ofChapter 3 that no one goes unnoticed! Everyone thatworked and everyone that didn't work was recognizedby the Lord. V. 5, "next unto him the TEKOITESmade repairs but their nobles did not support thework . . . ." God saw the effort of labor by the Tekoites,but He also saw those that didn't work. He saw the bricklayers and the gold-brick. Notice Verse 20, "Afterhim Baruch, the son of Zabbai zealously repaired ANOTHER section...." Baruch must have puteverything he had into the labor because he finishedone section and then went to work for another section. God saw, recorded, and judged his effort. Again, inVerse 27, the Tekoites repaired another section. Whatwe see in this section of Scripture is that God had aprogram of work, (to rebuild the walls), but everyindividual who gave of himself to achieve these goalswas noticed by God. Doesn't that seem important toyou, even today? Don't we really feel that God justdoesn't see it if we fail to visit the new family that attended the services last Sunday? Don't we getdiscouraged when we try to teach someone the Gospeland they don't respond, even after we put in hours ofBible study? The lesson of Nehemiah is that God sees, knows, and remembers our efforts in His cause; thatHe is interested and concerned about us as individuals.

To view life from this perspective is both comfortingand chilling at the same time. After you have spent 5or 6 hours in preparation for a Bible class and 2children show up, the question always flashing , through the mind: "Was it worth it?" "Yes," is the answer that must be, simply because God knows yourefforts. Yet, on the other hand, when you spend 10minutes while someone else drives the car, in preparingyour class lesson, He knows that just as well. Heknows when you have invited people you know to cometo a Gospel meeting, and He knows when you haven'tasked even one. Therefore, from this long list of nameswe find 2 most important lessons for our everydayliving: First, God is interested in people and second, heis concerned about the work they do. In our next study we will talk about Nehemiah's working in planning as seen in chapter 3.

Page 8

join the church at Jerusalem, namely, because they

can't get in the Church of Christ without joining it

(Acts 9:26)."

This answer reveals a typical sectarian concept of

the church and salvation. When Paul obeyed the

gospel in Damascus, he became a Christian then and

there and was added by the Lord to the church.

Remember, as a praying, penitent believer, he was told

by Ananias to "arise, and be baptized, and wash away

thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord" (Acts

22:16). When one is born again, at that time and by

that same process he becomes a child of God. God's

children are in His family. His family (house) is

the church (I Tim. 3:15). The idea that one is saved by

one process and then enters the church by another is

not taught in the Bible.

It is true that when Paul returned to Jerusalem he desired to "join himself to the disciples." That doesn'tmean that he was out of the church, the body of thesaved, until that time. He simply desired to identifyhimself as a Christian with the saints in Jerusalem,and because of his past reputation they were reluctantto accept him into their fellowship until they had beenassured that he was a Christian. He left Jerusalem to kill Christians and came back one of them! When a Christian goes to a place and asks to be identified withfellow Christians and become a part of the work and worship, in that sense it would be scriptural to speak of"joining the church." There is a difference, in someways, between the universal body of the saved and alocal congregation of disciples. The Lord adds thesaved to the first; man has a choice in the second.

Did you notice that in his answer Mr. Taylor referredto the church in Jerusalem (he gave Acts 9:26 andthat's where that was) as the "Church of Christ"?We are making some progress. He must recognize thatas a scriptural term, and we agree. But the queristdidn't ask about the Church of Christ; he asked aboutjoining the Baptist Church. Of course Taylor wouldcontend that the Baptist Church is the Church ofChrist, but we deny it. If it is, why don't they callit that and wear the term?

By taking the liberties with the word of God which they take, and using the same sophistry they use intrying to establish that "Baptist" is a scriptural namefor the church and the disciples of Christ, we could prove (?) almost anything. For some examples, consider the following:

1. "They" of Acts 2 refers to the church. They wereunited. This was on Pentecost. Therefore, it was theUnited Pentecostal Church.
2. First Corinthians 14:14 says "let all things bedone decently and in order." Order includes method.Therefore, the Methodist Church.
3. The apostle Peter was a saint. He preached in the last or latter days (Acts 2:17). Therefore, he was aLatter Day Saint.
4. Christ commanded his disciples to go into all the world. They were the church. The world is universal.Universal means catholic. Therefore, the Catholic Church.
5. The church in Jerusalem was the first on earth. It was composed of Christians. Therefore, the First Christian Church.

Do I believe that the above examples are scripturalterms or names? Of course not! But they are as logical,reasonable and scriptural as the arguments used tojustify the term "Baptist Church." Nothing is scriptural in name that is not named in the scriptures,and the Baptist Church is not named in the scriptures.

But we really have no argument or difference here. By their frequent use of the term, they admit that"church of Christ" is a scriptural designation. He hasalso admitted that the church is never called "the Baptist Church" nor the Lord's followers called Baptists anywhere in the Bible. That should settle it.

"(5) Call the church together to hear people relatetheir experience and then vote as to whether or notthey are fit subjects for baptism?"

Answer: "Because the apostles so practiced (Acts10:47). Because Paul taught the churches to do so(Rom. 14:1 and 2 Cor. 2:6-8). And also because Baptistchurches are pure democracies, and the only way toascertain the will of a democracy is by a vote. Monarchies, oligarchies, plutocracies, bureaucraciesand aristocracies can settle things by ruling elders, or a bishop or a pastoral boss, but democracies let thepeople vote to settle things."

Again he perverts the scriptures and manifests anunscriptural concept of the church.

The conversion of Cornelius and his family (Acts 10),the first Gentile converts, was unusual in several ways.The requirements were the same as for all others, butthere were some attendant circumstances which were not a part of the gospel plan of salvation. The Jews had been slow in preaching the gospel to all people, and,generally speaking, unwilling to accept the Gentilesinto their fellowship. When Peter was called to go andpreach to the Gentiles, he took some Jewish brethrenas witnesses (Acts 11:12). As Peter was completing hissermon, there was a miraculous manifestation of theHoly Spirit. This was to show God's approval of whatthey were doing. This is stated very clearly in Acts11:17,18: "Forasmuch then as God gave them the likegift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord JesusChrist, what was I, that I could withstand God? Whenthey heard these things, they held their peace, andglorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life."

Peter's question of Acts 10:47 was simply a way of3aying to the Jewish brethren who accompanied himthat they had no right to forbid the Gentiles into thebody or church of Christ. They did not vote onanything. The issue had been settled once and for all!

The other passages he used do not justify the practice of voting. And what "experience" did Cornelius or any of the others relate? There is no record of such in the Bible.

He declares that the church is a democracy, and that accounts for much of his misunderstanding. Thechurch or kingdom of Christ is an absolute monarchy. Christ is the king over the kingdom and head of thebody. He rules with all authority through his will, the New Testament. It is true that congregations are autonomous, but each one is under the authority ofChrist, and no one has the right to rule in the realm offaith or regulate the conditions of membership in thebody of Christ.

When one obeys the gospel, if everybody on earthvoted against him, the Lord would still add him to thechurch. If one has not obeyed the gospel, and everybody on earth voted for him, the Lord would notadd him to the church. Then why vote? The only"voting" the Bible reveals is very simple: God hasvoted for you; the devil has voted against you; youhave the deciding vote!

"(6) Baptize into Baptist church?"

Answer: "Because Paul said: 'For in one Spirit werewe all baptized into one body' (I Cor. 12:13). Thechurch at Corinth was a body of Christ (I Cor. 12:27). Every local Baptist church on earth today is a body ofChrist. He has no other kind on this earth today. Webaptize people into Baptist churches because God toldus to do so."

That is a bold statement to be completely withoutscriptural justification. Where in the Bible did Godever command anyone to be baptized into a BaptistChurch? Paul was not speaking of a Baptist Church,for such did not exist then and he never heard of one! In that chapter and the two following, Paul is discussing the work of the Holy Spirit and miraculousgifts. It is by the teaching of the Spirit that people arebaptized into the one body (Acts 2:4, 38). No one isbaptized into a local body or congregation. And thechurch at Corinth was called "the" body there, not "a"body of Christ.

If it be true that the Baptist Church is the body ofChrist, and he has "no other kind on this earth today,"Since salvation is in Christ and his body it wouldfollow that salvation is only in the Baptist Churchtoday. That's the logic of the argument, but Baptists don't believe that. And if the Baptist Church is the body of Christ where salvation is,and the Bible teaches that we are to be baptizedinto the Baptist Church, that makes baptismessential to salvation. Again, that is the logic of theirargument, but they don't believe that either. (To be continued.)

When one mentions "the beatitudes" our mind vividly recalls the beginning of the Master's greatmountain message recorded in Matthew five, six, and seven where Jesus placed a blessing on those who werehumble of heart and who possessed a spiritualdisposition. Yet, there is another group of beatitudesoften overlooked and neglected which if consideredwould help us greatly. These appear in the Revelationto John.

The word "beatitude" has to do with happiness. "Blessed are the poor in spirit..." i.e. happy are they,truly fortunate are they who are not burdened downwith the cares and labors here, but rather they are in ablissful state for they have laid hold of the greatpromises and blessings of God.

Happiness is the great question confrontingmankind. Like Ponce de Leon's search for the elusive fountain of youth, man seeks in his own inventivegenius to concoct some kind of formula that will deliver him a life of happiness. Many in the search turndown the broad avenue of sin. Satan holds up a signadvertising pleasure and most accept his invitation.Yet, while sin appears to grant happiness it is asthe Hebrew writer concludes, a "passing" happiness.The pleasure of sin has no lasting value, no substanceand grants only limited satisfaction. However, Jesussaid if a man wants true happiness—HERE IS THEWAY! Here is the person who is happy and blessedbecause he has reached above the temporal and attained a hope eternal. The Savior taught that as long as we continue to reach down for the fleshly, material, and earthly there is no happiness. Only by reaching up to the spiritual and heavenly can there betrue happiness and only then can it be said that we are"blessed."

I. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the thingswhich are written in it; for the time is near"(1:3).

It's sad that the very book that can make one "blessed" has been so neglected, misunderstood andsorely perverted. The book of Revelation is a book ofvisions and symbols as announced in the very first verse, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which Godgave him to show unto his servants, even the thingswhich must shortly come to pass: and he sent andsignified it by his angel unto his servant John"(A.S.V.). The message was "signified" to John, i.e.it was sign-i-fied to him. A failure to understand the symbolic nature of the book is at once a failure tocomprehend its great and glorious message. That greatmessage is that come what may God is in

control! While it may appear that the wicked areprospering and the righteous are suffering, in the endthe wicked will be destroyed and the righteous raisedto eternal glory! Victory through faith is stressedrepeatedly. Seventeen times the Christian is encouraged by the word "overcome." How can we overcome? Through Jesus Christ. Why? Because Heovercame! "And they overcame him because of theblood of the Lamb" (12:11). "Faith is the Victory"is what Revelation is all about. Note the progressive nature of John's writing:

Gospel of John— written that we might

believe.

1st John— written that we might

know that we have life

through Him that we

believe.

Revelation— written that we might

know that through Him

we can overcome and

attain the life.

So we are told in 1:3, "Blessed is he ..." He who? (1)"He who reads." The pronoun is singular. Because ofthe scarcity of the sacred scriptures each congregationprobably had a public reader. Such an one who readsand enlightens the congregation is indeed "blessed."

(2) "Those who hear." Not only is the reader blessedbut also all in the assembly who listen receive the samecommendation. (3) "Those who heed." Note the progression:

READ HEAR HEED!

The blessing is not just in reading and hearing, but thereading and hearing is to be done with a view towardACTION! James remarked, "prove yourselves doersof the word, and not merely hearers" (James 1:22).Jesus said to His disciples, "Blessed are your eyes,because they see; and your ears, because they hear"(Matt. 13:16). Jesus is not concluding that seeing is thething and hearing is what it is all about. Rather, theseeing and hearing must lead to action. "Blessed arethose who hear the word of God, and observe it" (Luke 11:28).

Why is such a blessing pronounced at the beginningof the book? The answer: "For the time is near." The book of Revelation has a historical setting surrounding historical events. It was written to encourage the saints who, because of their allegiance to Christ, came into direct conflict withthe empire of Rome. Seeing Christianity as a threatto national security Rome tried to destroy the church.Revelation then is the account of Rome versus the church, Satan versus Christ, and the allies of the devil versus the allies of God. To say thatRevelation pictures the rise of the Roman Catholicchurch or predicts future events presently unfoldingis to deny the plain statements of the first and last chapter of the book! Note the time referencegiven by inspiration:

1:1 —"must shortly take place"

1:3 —"for the time is near" 22:6

11:6 —"must shortly take place"

22:7 —"I am coming quickly"22:10— "for the time is near"22:12—"I am coming quickly"22:20—"I am coming quickly"

The Christian of the first century needed help. He wasfacing a great onslaught of persecution as had neverbeen before. Revelation answered his need. Let it be here noted that while the book has a definite historical setting; the underlying principles involved (goodversus evil) are timeless. Truth WILL triumph in the first century or in the twentieth. Evil WILL wage warnow as then, yet the cause of our great God will always be victorious! WHAT A BLESSING!

II. "And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, "Write, 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!' " "Yes," says the Spirit, "thatthey may rest from their labors, for their deedsfollow with them" (14:13).

Someone remarked that this is such a new concept ofdeath that it took a voice from heaven to deliver the message. Death is usually pictured as the grim reaper,is greatly feared, and is uncomfortable to discuss. Yetwe are told, "Blessed are the dead!" How can this be?We see the weeping loved ones, the silent march to thetomb, and the loneliness that accompanies the loss.How can the dead be blessed? The answer: "In the Lord!" There are only two places to die: in the Lord orout of the Lord. The latter holds no blessings, butwith the former there is total bliss. How does one get "in the Lord?" The answer is in verse 12, "Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus." Yes,the dead are blessed in the Lord "from now on." From the moment of their death they are in a blissful state.To the thief on the cross Jesus said, "Today you shallbe with me in Paradise."

What blessings are in store for the deceased saints?"That they may rest from their labors." What about those who gave in to the pressure? What ofthose who proclaimed Caesar as Lord and activelysought the pleasure of "the great city?"

"And the smoke of their torment goes up forever

and ever; and they have no rest day and night"

(14:11).What a difference it makes to follow the Lamb! Can't you picture the Master as He with open arms extendsHis invitation and says, "Come to me, all who areweary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." Whata joy it is, after working eight to ten hours a day on thejob, to come home and find temporary rest and refreshment. And what a greater joy it will be, afterlaboring amidst all the toils and difficulties here below, to find that death is nothing more than anentrance into a home where there is an eternal rest and refreshment with God. The Hebrew writer plainlyasserts that God provides a rest for His people (Heb.4:1, 8-11).

Just think of the conflict that was theirs. It was so easy to give in, so easy to rationalize. Rome said, "Youeither worship the emperor or you can't live!" Unlessyou were willing to put a pinch of incense on the altarand proclaim "Caesar is Lord," you couldn't buy a loafof bread! Just imagine if you were the father of a household, the head of a family, and you, because ofyour loyalty to Christ, couldn't provide for your own.And you had to watch your wife and children literallystarve to death before your eyes. And you could endthe hunger, you could end the pain, you could end themisery by just placing a little incense on an altar andsaying "Caesar is Lord." Brethren, we don't realize theprice they had to pay. Many paid the price, and paid itwith their own lives. To them and to us God comforts by saying, "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord..that they may rest from their labors."

To Be Continued...

There are some brethren who sincerely believe that itis unscriptural to address Jesus in prayer or singing.Several years ago brother James W. Adams penned anexcellent article on the subject which appeared in The Gospel Guardian (Vol. 14, p. 775). Supplemental towhat has already appeared on the subject is someadditional material which is also recommended for consideration.

Well meaning brethren, who attempt to sustain theircontention that it is wrong to pray or sing to Jesus,refer to several passages in the New Testament whichteach that we are to pray to the Father through the Son. Their conclusion is that we cannot address our prayers or songs to Jesus. This approach reminds us ofthe Baptists, who in their attempt to prove that salvation is by faith only, list the many passages thatteach that we are saved by faith. We do not deny thatwe are saved by faith. We accept all of the "faith" passages, but the question is: are there other conditions of salvation? Is salvation by "faith only"?So, while none of us deny that we are taught toaddress God in prayer or song, the issue is: are wealso authorized to pray and sing to Jesus? Are we topray and sing to God the Father "only"?

Thomas addressed Christ, "My Lord and my God"! (Jno. 20:28). That Thomas was testifying to the deityof Christ cannot be denied. Those who object to songsor prayers specifically addressed to Jesus admit thatJesus is deity. But when they refuse to sing or pray toJesus they only address one third of the deity, God theFather. They can sing or pray to one part of deity butthey cannot sing or pray to another part, God the Son.According to these objectors, the only part of theGodhead that can be addressed is God the Father. This is really a serious matter, thus these brethren should stop and reconsider their position. Jesus is deity butthey cannot address Him. However, Thomas did. Hedeclared, "My Lord and my God". How pathetic it is that some cannot sing, "Fairest Lord Jesus" and othersuch wonderful songs addressed to Jesus our Lordwhich exalt Him and praise Him!

Stephen prayed to Jesus, "Lord Jesus, receive myspirit" (Acts 7:59). That this was a prayer, no one can successfully deny. Referring to the petition of Stephen as being after the pattern of Jesus' own dying prayer,

R.C.H. Lenski asserts, "That prayer was heard" (TheInterpretation of the Acts of the Apostles, p. 309).That the request made by Stephen was a prayer is veryobvious.

Albert Barnes, commenting upon Acts 7:59, wroteas if the question of praying to Jesus was one of thelive issues of this day. His comments are noteworthy,in view of modern day objections to praying to Jesus."The word God is not in the original, and should nothave been in the translation. It is in none of the ancient MSS. or versions . . . That is, he was engaged in prayer to the Lord Jesus . . . This was, therefore,an act of worship; a solemn innovation of the LordJesus . . . And this shows that it is right to worship the Lord Jesus, and pray to him. For ifStephen was inspired, it settles the question. Theexample of an inspired man in such circumstancesis a safe and correct example . . . the inspirationof Luke, who has recorded it, will not be called inquestion. . . . (1) there is every evidence that heregarded the conduct of Stephen in this case as rightand praiseworthy ... (2) It is one of the caseswhich has been used to perpetuate the worship ofthe Lord Jesus in every age ... (3) The case isstrikingly similar to that recorded in Jno. 20:28,where Thomas offered worship to the Lord Jesusas his God without reproof. If Thomas did itin the presence of the Saviour without reproof, it was right ... (4) These examples were usedto encourage Christians and Christian martyrs tooffer homage to Jesus Christ. Thus Pliny, writing to the emperor Trajan, and giving an account ofthe Christians in Bithynia says that they were accustomed to meet and sing hymns to Christ as to God (Lardner) (5) It is worthy to remarkthat Stephen, in his death, offered the same actof homage to Christ that Christ himself did to theFather when he died (Lk. 23:46). From all these considerations, it follows that the Lord Jesus is aproper object of worship; that in most solemn circumstances it is right to call upon him, to worship him, and to commit our dearest intereststo his hands" (Notes on the New Testament, Actsof the Apostles, p. 135).

The worship of Jesus is proper. In Matt. 28:9 weread, "And behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail.And they came and took hold of his feet, and worshipped him". Praying and singing are acts of worship; therefore, we are authorized to pray and singto Jesus.

Paul's petition to Jesus to remove his "thorn in theflesh" (2 Cor. 12:8) is another example of a prayer toJesus. "The Lord" in this verse has reference to Jesus as is apparent in verse 9 ... "that the power of Christ may rest upon me".

In the book of Revelation we take note that songsand praises were uttered to Jesus. When the Lamb hadtaken the book from the right hand of him that sat on

the throne, the four living creatures and the four andtwenty elders fell down before Him and sang a newsong. It was a song of praise to the Lamb (Rev. 5:9). Inthe 11th and 12th verses we observe that the greathost around the throne (angels, the living creatures,and the elders) praised the Lamb with a great voice.There is no doubt that "the Lamb" in this passagerefers to Jesus.

One of the very last utterances in divine Revelationis a prayer to Jesus. Toward the close of the last bookin the New Testament (the book of Revelation) Johnwrote, "Come, Lord Jesus" (22:20).

But not only do we have examples of prayers toJesus in the New Testament, we are actuallycommanded to pray and sing to Jesus. In Jno. 14:14Jesus said, "If ye shall ask anything in my name, thatwill I do". Lenski's comment on this verse is veryinteresting and worthy of consideration. "The textualevidence supports the retention of me, as well as of ego, in place of touto; with this the inner evidence agrees.The stress is no longer on what the disciples shall ask but now on the person who answers. To the silent implication that the disciples will direct their petitionsto the Father (vs. 13) there is now added the explicitstatement that they will also address them to Jesus, 'if you shall ask me,' etc. The enclitic pronoun has no emphasis and thus no contrast of this 'me' with the Father. In verse 13 we have only an implication that itis the Father who is asked, for this is altogether usual;and likewise in v. 14 the enclitic me implies that asking Jesus is also usual and in the nature of the case. The objection that, after the Father is indicated as the oneto whom the petitions are addressed, Jesus cannot alsobe indicated, is pointless, because the very thing Jesuswants to say is that he as well as the Father may be soaddressed. If, however, it is assumed that the Scriptures show no warrant for praying to Jesus, thisdogmatical assumption, lowering the person of theSon, is more than answered by the Scripturesthemselves in Acts 2:21; 7:59, etc.; 9:14 and21; 22:16; Rom. 10:12, etc.; I Cor. 1:2; 2 Cor. 12:8; 2 Tim. 2:22" (The Interpretation of John, p. 993). Marvin R. Vincent also comments on Jno. 14:14, "Some authorities insert me. So Rev. This implies prayer to Christ" (Word Studies in the New Testament, Vol. 2,

p. 243). A. T. Robertson also observes, "The use of me here is supported by Aleph B 33 Vulgate SyriacPeshitta ... If it is genuine, as seems likely, here is adirect prayer to Jesus taught as we see it practiced byStephen in Acts 7:59 and in Rev. 22:20" (Word Studies in the New Testament, Vol. 5, pgs. 251-52).

And now, consider Heb. 1:8. The author quotes fromPs. 45:6, "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever ..."Jesus is addressed as God in this Psalm because Heb.

1:8 begins, "but of the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God is forever and ever". This is one of many verses which teach that Jesus is deity. We are admonished in Eph.5:19, "speaking one to another in psalms and hymnsand spiritual songs, singing and making melody withyour heart to the Lord" (see also Col. 3:16). We are tosing Psalms and Jesus is addressed in the Psalms (seealso Ps. 110:4). Is it not scriptural, therefore, to singPsalms which address Jesus?

Some might question whether the psalms in Eph.

5:19 and Col. 3:16 refer to the Old Testament psalms.For what it is worth to our study, let us consider a fewcomments on some music passages. "Since psalmos issomething historical (Lk. 20:42; 24:44; Acts 1:20; 8:33),the word should here retain the meaning of Old Testament Psalms, which were well-known and had been accepted in public service" (Karl Braune on Ephisesians in Commentary on the Holy Scriptures by J. P. Lang, p. 192). "It denotes sometimes the Book ofPsalms (Lk. 20:42; Acts 1:20; 13:33)" (John Eadie, Commentary on the Epistle to the Ephesians, p. 400)."... a religious song in general, having the character of anOld Testament psalm" (Marvin R. Vincentv Word Studies in the New Testament, Vol. 3, p. 269). "With psalms (psalmois, the Psalms in the Old Testament originally with musical accompaniment) . . . " (A. T. Robertson, Word Studies in the New Testament, Vol. 4, p. 505). "The Psalms of David were sung by the Jewsat the temple, and by the early Christians (Notes, Matt. 26:30), and the singing of those psalms has constituteda delightful part of public worship in all ages" (AlbertBarnes, Notes on the New Testament, Ephesians, p. 105). "When we are differentiating the three forms ofpoetic utterance, not only the etymology but also theuse of the terms must be noted. 'Psalms' thus seem to refer to the Old Testament psalms, their use being carried over into the Christian Church. They have everserved to voice our feelings" (R. C. H. Lenski, Ephesians, p. 620). "Psalms, psalmoi, may probablymean those of David" (Adam Clarke, Commentary onEphesians, p. 462). It seems evident from the testimony of these scholars that the psalms which weare admonished to sing at least included those in the Old Testament.

Scriptural authority is established by (1) command,

(2) example and (3) implication. Having examined the scriptures, we have evidence from all three of the abovethat it is scriptural to address prayers and songs bothto God the Father and Jesus the Son. We appeal to ourgood brethren who oppose this action to reconsidertheir position. May we honor deity by honoring boththe Father and the Son and readily sing and pray toboth. In view of what the Bible teaches we should sing with fervor from our hearts such beloved songs as "MyJesus, as Thou Wilt" and "My Jesus, I Love Thee".We believe it is proper to pray and sing not only to theFather but also to the Son.

"DE-SEXING" THE SONGBOOK,

The Mass, and The Bible

The first two of the above would not merit much comment except for the fact that they are reflectionsof the general drift of our time. There has fallen intomy possession a copy of the little songbook, "BecauseWe Are One People" published by the Ecumenical Women's Centers, Chicago, Ill., and in use by severalmodernistic groups. The preface states: "As personsbecome increasingly aware of the impact of sexistlanguage on our private and collective thought, many women and men are finding they can no longer participate in worship events with a sense ofjoy . . . Because of the power of language to shapeour images and attitudes, we have chosen to rewritetraditional hymns which are frequently used in churchworship services.

Here are of couple of the revisions:

"Dear Mother-Father of us all,Forgive our foolish ways;Reclothe us in our rightful mind,In purer lives Thy service find, Indeeper reverence praise."

"In the dawn of the ages, God created the earth,

To all the creatures she gave birth,

To the birds in the sky, to the deer in the wood,

And God said," It is good, it is good.

One God and Mother of us all

Creator of all things large and small,

We praise your name in all the earth,

And we worship you, O Lady of Birth."

Now if referring to God in the masculine gender is"sexist", why isn't referring to Him in the femininegender "sexist" as well? And if this poor, foolish group sees a need to revise "Faith of our Fathers" to say, "Faith of our Ancestors," why not, "Round yonradiant (sic) Mother and child," to "father and child"or "parent and child"?

But then, along the same line, The Parkersburg (W. Va.) News of November 16, 1980, reported that this nation's Roman Catholic bishops had voted the previous week to "eliminate sexist language from theirprayers of the mass, rewriting Christ's declaration He would shed His blood 'for all men.'"

These folks are certainly free to apply theirfoolishness to their song books and humanly ordainedrites. But it makes our blood boil when they discuss"de-sexing" the Bible. Such talk has been heard now and again for the last few years. U.S. News & World Report recently editorialized on the matter and observed that such a possibility is now under study bya panel of the National Council of Churches.

A task force of "religious scholars and officials"describes the thousands of passages referring to God as "Father", "Lord", "King", or "He", as "accidents"resulting from "limitations of human language."

Feminists and their sympathizers are clamoring forsexually neutral language in a new edition of theRevised Standard Version which is scheduled to be completed in the mid-1980's. The following quotationsshow some examples of the sort of changes envisioned:

"God loved the world, loved it so much that the beloved child of God was given to the world, and all who trust in this unique being will never perish but have eternal life."

"I am returning to the Source of my being, formy Source is greater than I."

"And because you are sons and daughters, Godhas sent forth the spirit of the Child of God into ourhearts, crying 'My loving parent!!"

In case you didn't recognize those quotes, they areperversions of John 3:16; John 14:28; and Gal. 4:6.

One letter writer, a woman, called the idea,"sacrilegious, asinine, inflammatory, hell threateningand so stupid that it's hard to believe."

The only words I know that more aptly describe itare those of Proverbs 15:2: "The tongue of the wiseuseth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness."

And I'm just curious enough to wonder how theyplan to de-sex I Cor. 11:3 "But I would have youknow, that the head of every man is Christ; and thehead of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ isGod."

When I was in secular employment in a statewidepublic television network, all employees were required to give a one month notice before terminating theiremployment. In return, the company would requitewith a two month's notice of any change in position,pay or status. Our contracts were granted on Julyfirst of each year, but we would know by April first(usually) whether our position was to be continuedfor the following fiscal year. When I left their employI gave them a six month notice that I would no longergrant to them my services as their chief video tapeeditor. Although there were several attempts byvarious producers and directors to dissuade me, therewere no hard feelings. I gave them fair and amplewarning of my changing status . . . which they alsowould have given me if they were the ones changingstatus.

I would that brethren learn this basic courtesy whichmost of the heathen world has learned. Too many times I have heard of brethren being "cut off" or terminated as a soldier in the vineyard of the Lord.Especially, it has been too many times without any kind of notice whatever. The ungodly of this worldhave more consideration than that! No, I am notsaying that brethren are obligated to support falseteachers and indeed, false teachers need to be cut off..but fairly. What I am specifically referring to is theidea that brethren have that if a preacher does not "toethe line" with every elder in every "whim, opinion,human tradition" and other matters of expediency,then that preacher must be terminated as far as receiving support is concerned.

Preachers are people? I do not know if I had todetermine it by the way some congregations treatthem. Preachers have families to care for. Not according to the way some brethren treat them. Onewould get the idea that the preacher never has needs,does not have a wife and children who also need a consistent amount of care. Of course, we all know thatthere are no financial obligations for the preacher andhis family, right? I mean, if we cut off the preacher,that is no big thing ... he does not have any "legitimate" bills to pay. He should not have obligated himself financially the way the rest of us do. After all, why doesn't he realize that "we" might cuthim off without any notice! We do not want him to getall that secure and be able to concentrate on anything except "our" pet projects. He needs to be worried about our opinions, not out there concentrating on truth and the winning of souls.Certainly, the preacher must come to know that "our"pet traditions are more important . . . we will teachhim that by destroying his families welfare (withoutnotice, of course). Then, after we cut him off we will have to castigate him as a dead-beat for not paying allthose obligations that he should not have had. It is hisown fault!

Brethren, if you can see yourself in the previous paragraph, then shame on you! Preachers are people.Preacher's families are also made up of people; moreover, they are brethren! People we are to fervently love. "Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you havesincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart" (1 Peter 1:22). Brethren, whenwe put preachers and their families out in the street, webring a reproach upon ourselves as the people of God.The world and the heathen who occupy it rebuke usby their care for fellow human beings. The world recognizes that just being a person, made in God's image, entitles one to be treated in a kind and considerate way. The world would not put out a person on the street without any notice, yet mybrethren, I am ashamed to say, have treated preachersthat way times without number.

I see this happen and I can very definitely say withJesus, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you . . . Look, yourhouse is left to you desolate" (Matthew 23:37-38). Isuppose there is no way of knowing how many haveleft preaching and gone into secular employment tosupport their families, but one is too many. I have evenheard of some who have become so down-trodden bybrethren that they have left the faith entirely. "Let usnot therefore judge one another any more: but judgethis rather, that no man put a stumbling block or anoccasion to fall in his brother's way" (Romans 14:13).Brethren, we must be more supportive of preachers.We need more preachers and the Lord's church must be more supportive of them as they go forth preachingthe kingdom and truth in a dark and hostile world. Thechurch is to be a pillar and support of such men (1 Tim.3:15). Where else can these men turn if they cannot relyon their brethren in Christ?

Probably the largest class of preachers who havebeen affected by this problem (support cut off withoutnotice) are those in what some brethren refer to as"mission" fields. Sometimes there is very poor communication, if any, between the supporting churchand the supported preacher. The brethren sending thesupport are to be commended for trying to do as muchas they can to spread the borders of the kingdom.However, in such arrangements, the supported brethren sometimes become simply liabilities instead of real, touchable people with real human needs. Such preachers become (in the eyes of brethrensending the support) simply numbers, objects withprice tags on them which can be used as budgetcutting and balancing items. Their attitude seems tobe summed up by "we will have our newly pavedparking lot (rug, air conditioning, etc.) even if wehave to terminate a soldier of the cross . . . after all we must take care of our NEEDS first." All the while souls are being tossed into eternal torment. Suchbrethren need to come spend some time in a spiritually desolate place for training in "wants" and "needs."

Lest any get me wrong, I am not saying that acongregation must send support outside their locale, orto a certain place. I am simply saying that this is aBiblically enjoined principle and that the great commission is world wide. I thank God for the manycongregations who recognize this and treat these "mission" soldiers with concern and care as befits brethren. Additionally and more importantly, Godpraises the ones who look out beyond themselves inservice to the King. The world is a big place and we,Christ's churches have a great responsibility to have a part in the salvation of the most precious thing inGod's sight, a soul! "The harvest is plentiful but theworkers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest,therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field"(Matthew 9:37-38). Let us resolve to treat preacherslike brethren, with greater love, concern and consideration. If we find it necessary to terminate support to a faithful preacher, then let us not standrebuked by the world. Let us send them on their way "in a manner worthy of God." Let us all pray, as theJudgment Day approaches and as people die in sin every day, that we will have fewer terminated soldiersof truth and more active in His service. Pray also thatthe attitudes of brethren, God's only people on earthsanctified by truth, will be ready and eager to helpand not hinder this God-enjoined goal. Brethren, letus pledge to be mutually more considerate of suchthat God's name is held up to the world, especially in the way we conduct ourselves in the matter of preacher support.

Just suppose you were Paul. Enemies of the truth were plotting your death. Forty men had boundthemselves under a curse that they would neither eatnor drink until they had killed you. Your nephewbrings word to you of this plotting, and you send himto the chief captain with this information; then withthe help and protection of several hundred soldiersyou are taken out of the city of Jerusalem and finallyinto Caesarea, where you appear before Governor Felix. A letter from the chief captain informs the governor that his findings had not resulted in provingyou had done anything worthy of death or of bonds, sothe governor places you in the Praetorium, thejudgment hall with prison cells attached, because hecannot accept the chief captain's findings as final.You are to be kept in this place until the arrival of your accusers.

Now, while you are held there as a prisoner thegovernor sends for you to appear before him to hearyou "concerning the faith in Christ" (Acts 24:24). Inother words, you now have the opportunity to preachto this one in high authority. What would be yoursubject? What would you preach about in such circumstances? You could use a break! The decision of the court could result in the death sentence, so nowis your opportunity to make a special appeal for yourlife. You might even be able to appease the governorin such a way that he will decide to simply dismissthe case and set you free. What will you say on thismomentous occasion? Well, what did Paul do? Acts

24:25 tells us.

1. ". . . . he reasoned of righteousness." This word"righteousness" means "Up-rightness, correctness inthinking, feeling, and acting." When one possesses this attribute he will conduct his dealings with hisfellowman in the proper and correct way. What? Youmean Paul discusses this as a topic in his sermon tosuch a man as Felix? History tells us that Felix had not treated his fellowman right, for he had murderedJonathan, the high priest, by the hands of the Sicarii.And, Josephus claimed that Felix had used a Cypriansorcerer to help him seduce Drusilla, the beautiful wifeof Azizzus, king of Emesa, to leave her husband andmarry him. He had lived everything but a righteouslife! Verse 26 tells us that he expected Paul to pay hima bribe for his release. Well, he needed a sermon on"righteousness," but Paul certainly was not being very diplomatic in his choice of sermon material, washe?

1. "He reasoned of .... temperance." This means "self-control, or self-mastery." It has been defined tomean "The virtue of one who masters his desires and passions, especially his sensual appetites." This wasespecially applicable to Felix and Drusilla. Their marriage was based upon lust instead of love. He had used deceit and fraud to get her! Felix knew nothing of self-control. He even used his governmentalpowers to satisfy his desires. Thus, when Paul dealtwith this subject, we know he was not using any tact.
2. "He reasoned of . . . judgment to come." Whatdid Paul say about the judgment? "So then every oneof us shall give account of himself to God" (Rom. 14:12). Again, he said, "For we must all appear before thejudgment seat of Christ; that every one may receivethe things done in his body, according to that he hathdone, whether it be good or bad" (2 Cor. 5:10). Do yousuppose for a moment that Paul was able to paint avery hopeful picture of the judgment day for Felix andhis wife? Certainly not! From all accounts, their marriage was an adulterous union, and as we havealready seen, his entire life was so drenched in the filthand slime of sin that there was no hope for him at the judgment. So, it seems that Paul "bombed out" again if he thought he was dealing smoothly with the governor.

No, gentle reader, Paul did not use craftiness norcleverness and try to simply "win friends and influencepeople." He hit people where they lived! One time hesaid directly to a man's face: "O full of all subtlety andall mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of allrighteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?" (Acts 13:10). Such straightforwardness is reminiscent of the way Jesuspreached. For example, His sermons were characterized by such expressions as "Thou hypocrite . . . ." (Matt. 7:5). Note again, "Woe unto you, scribesand Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: thereforeye shall receive the greater damnation" (Matt. 23:14). Note other such language which the Lord used in Matthew, chapter 23.

Well, the record says as Paul preached these exaltedthemes "Felix trembled," but we have no informationto indicate that Felix ever gave up his old life of sin and turned to Christ; thus, he will have to face the Lord injudgment as a guilty sinner condemned to spend eternity in a devil's hell. And, while Paul had to remain there in prison for two years, and in Rome fortwo more years, was released for a short time, thenrecaptured

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and finally beheaded in the Roman prison—yet hisconscience was clean—his sermon was SUITED TO THE OCCASION.

"A LITTLE NONSENSE"

T. B. Larimore, the well-known gospel preacher of apast generation, never spoke or wrote a word for publicconsumption that could properly be called "nonsense."It was only on rare occasions that humor or anythingremotely foolish crept into his preaching or writing. Sowhen he wrote a short item for publication with theabove title, he very appropriately put it in parentheses.

This man of God was very likely the most successful evangelist of his day, if such may be measured bypopularity, influence and visible results. Yet he neverrelied on gimmicks, but depended fully on the power ofthe word of God alone to bring lost souls to Christ and Christians to greater purity of life and deeper devotionto the Lord.

The fact that some people turned up their noses atplain Bible preaching, and went into ecstasies overlearned preachers "who always put their masterly arguments into 'logical form,' " disturbed him. Whilehe himself was highly intelligent, well-educated andskilled in the use of the English language, he made noattempt to appear profound or to sound scholarly. Hissermons were delivered in words most common peoplecould readily understand.

The "little nonsense" Larimore wrote about was an imaginary conversation engaged in by a fictionalbrother, his wife and son, after returning home from ameeting where one of the "learned preachers"preached. The dialogue, as he related it, went like this:

Brother Earnest: "I couldn't exactly get the hang ofwhat Brother Bigum was a-preachin' about to-day. What is the 'Kurnel precepts of a sillybub?'"

Sister Earnest: "That's not what he said, John. He said 'the Major precepts of a sillybub.'"

Johnny, Junior: "No, ma; that's not what he preached about. He said it so often that I just wrote itin my song book. This is it exactly, letter for letter: 'the Major pennies of a sillygism.'"

Brother Earnest: 'Well, that's exactly what I said." Sister Earnest: "No, John; you said Kurnel, and it's Major."

Brother Earnest: "S'pose I did? What's the difference?" (Letters and Sermons of T. B. Larimore,Vol. 2, pp. 435-436).

Larimore did not say who won the argument, but so far as the sermon that prompted it is concerned,brother Bigum might as well have been preachingabout the Battle of Bunker Hill, at least in the mind ofthe Earnest family.

The sad thing about this little tale of nonsense isthat, while the thing was invented, it was too true tolife to be devoid of good sense. That is why Larimorewrote it, and the point he made is still needed.

Whenever preachers are more interested in impressing people with their learning than in impressing them with the plain and simple truth ofGod, the Earnest families will always go home wondering whether the preacher was talking about a "Kurnel," a "Major" or a buck private.

A highway patrolman was announcing on the radioabout why people should observe the 55 mile an hourspeed limit. He explained how it would result in lessgas consumption and save lives by causing less trafficaccidents. But his last reason really caught myattention. "The best reason," he explained "for going55 mph is because IT'S THE LAW!"

Do we really take sin seriously? An acquaintance ofmine was "goin' on" about his new car and bragged that on the interstate the other day he checked on theCB (to see if any "smokies" were around), then set hiscruise control on 80 and barreled down I-64. This is typical of all too many people (including Christians)who, while solemnly denouncing such crimes as debauchery and murder, think nothing of exceedingthe speed limit, telling "little white lies", cheating ontheir income tax, "borrowing" things from work,drinking socially ("as long as I don't get drunk"),overeating, gossiping, wearing revealing clothing, using vain and profane language, and otherwise courting the world. It's as if life were a smorgasbord in which they can pick and choosewhich sins are "bad" and which sins are somehow all right.

Such a flippant attitude toward sin involves severalproblems:

1. It arbitrarily categorizes sin into "big" sins and "little" sins and then concludes that "little" sins are relatively unimportant. But God has no such value system. Sin is a transgression of the law of God (IJohn 3:4) and it is still SIN no matter which law isbroken. The liar is no better than the murderer — theywill both be in the same boat on "the lake that burns with fire and brimstone," (Revelation 21:8); neither the covetous man nor the homosexual, thejealous woman nor the drunkard "shall inherit the kingdom of God," (I Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians5:19-21); the boaster and hater of God are "worthy of death" (Romans 1:29-31). And sin is sin whether it's running a stop sign or snatching a purse or firebombing a crowded hotel building.

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2. It can cause a subtle but steady deterioration ofmoral values. If a person can justify taking company pencils and paperclips home for personal use, what is tostop him from eventually justifying embezzlement of company funds? Or if he can rationalize drinking an occasional beer or cocktail, odds are sooner or later he will become a drunkard. In other words, if we can manage to make one sin a "little" sin, it will become that much easier to do the same thing with other sins,until (in extreme cases) EVERY sin is a "little" sin! Such rationalizing (or "ration-of-lies") is a hardening process by which the conscience becomes increasingly calloused toward sin (SEE Hebrews 3:12-13 and I Timothy 4:2).

3. "Little" sins become second nature to us. They

are committed easily and frequently without even really considering them as sins, they are seldom repentedof and seldom confessed — which has serious implications. If, as the Bible says, we must both repentand confess our sins to be forgiven of them (Acts 8:22, IJohn 1:9), then we are carelessly putting our souls in dire jeopardy by our thoughtlessness and callousness toward such sins.

What is the answer? It calls for a total re-evaluation of our actions and attitudes. Have we relegated any sins to the realm of insignificance? Do we reallyunderstand and appreciate the severity of sin — of anyand every sin? The next time the speedometer swings past 55, just ask yourself, "Do I really take sin seriously?"

Send all News Items to: Wilson Adams, 317 Trinkle Ave., N.E., Roanoke, VA 24012

PREACHER NEEDED

PIGGOTT, AR — The church here is looking for a full-timepreacher. We are self-supporting. Contact Oather Williams, 357 N.4th St., Piggott, AR 72454.

DEBATE KEN GREEN, 2212 Jordan Lane S.W., Huntsville, AL 35805. On the dates of March 2-5 (4 consecutive nights) I will be debatingMr. Jesse F. Pratt of the church of God of Union Assembly. The starting time each evening will be 7:00 P.M. and each speaker will have three twenty minute speeches. The propositions are as follows:Monday — The word of God teaches that miraculous divine healing ceased forever at the end of the apostolic age. Also all other miraculous gifts of the Spirit have ceased.Tuesday — The word of God condemns the use of mechanical instruments of music in the service and praise of Godin the church. Wednesday — The word of God condemns using the word "Reverend" in giving reverence to anyone except God. Thursday — Washing feet is a commandment of Jesus Christ and is to be practiced in the church as well as the Lord's Supper. Bro.Green will affirm the first three propositions and deny the last. TheVon Braun Civic Auditorium in Huntsville has been rented for the discussion. Seating capacity — 2,400.JIM ALLEN, P.O. Box 181, Oglethorpe, GA 31068. After 3 1/2years with the church here in Oglethorpe, I have decided to move towork with the new congregation in Brandon, MS. This church hadits beginning about a year ago when some families left the liberalchurch in Pearl, MS. They met in a home for a short time but arenow meeting in a club house in Brandon. The church in Brandon issmall (30) and not self-supporting at this time. We are making plansto move the first of February to start work with this congregation.We will need a great deal of financial support. If any of the readersof STS can help us in this new work I would appreciate you getting in touch with me at the above address. Or phone (912) 472-8734. Forreferences brethren may contact Ron Halbrook, H. F. Sharp, WileyAdams, David Tant, or Bruce James. DONALD P. AMES, P.O. Box 516, Leland, IL 60531. The new work in Leland is going very well. We are happy to report oneAdventist man baptized, an unfaithful liberal restored, and threeBaptists are expected to obey the gospel any day! We are meeting in the old school building and invite you to stop andworship with us when in this area.LARRY R. DeVORE, 7872 Cleveland Rd., Wooster, OH 44691. Since my last report we have had one baptism and one restoration.On December 31st, 1980, I will complete four years work with theBur-bank Rd. church. Bro. Craig Meyer of Zion, will follow me inthe work here. I will be available for preaching appointments within75 miles of Wooster. If I can be of service please call me at (216) 345-5330.

EARL KIMBROUGH, 2212 Malibu Dr., Brandon, FL 33511. The church at Brandon (10 miles east of Tampa) has grown to the pointthat thought is being given to beginning a new work in the area. The facilities have been enlarged twice within the past few years buthave expanded all they can at the Bryan Road location. Three activeelders oversee the congregation, assisted by ten deacons. Disciplineis maintained, an effective educational program is in its eighth year,considerable interest is given to evangelistic work locally, and nearly half of the current budget goes to help support preachers inother places. The congregation has always been "missionary minded."

The church recently began conducting services on Sunday afternoons at the Zephyrhills Correctional Institution, one of the major prisons in the state. A Bible correspondence course is advertised in the local papers and about 35 are presently enrolled.One was baptized last week as a result of the course. Three othershave been baptized within the past few weeks as a result of personal teaching by members of the church. A young people's class is conducted in various homes on Tuesday nights, with about30 in attendance. For several years, a preacher-training programhas been carried on by the church, but this has been temporarilysuspended. About a dozen men in the congregation take turns preaching on Sunday evenings and on other occasions. The presentevangelist of the church is now in his ninth year at this place.

TWO CONGREGATIONS UNITE GLEN R. BURT, Pasadena, TX. On December 14, 1980 the Red Bluff church of Christ and the College Park church of Christ will beunited into one congregation. The congregation formed by the unionof these two congregations will be known as the College Park church of Christ and will meet in the present building of the College Park church at 1202 E. P. Street in Deer Park, TX. After this date the "Red Bluff church of Christ" will no longer exist "as such" and thebuilding which the congregation has assembled in for over twentyyears will become the meeting house of the Randall St. church ofChrist, a Spanish speaking congregation in Pasadena.Many will wonder, why combine two active congregations? Thereare a good number of reasons which have been considered for over ayear, and several recent factors have caused the union to be pursuedand agreed upon at this time. Among those reasons is the firm conviction that all the changes brought about by this union willresult in a better arrangement and effort for the cause of the Lordin the Deer Park — Pasadena area, including reduced expenses onphysical facilities. They will be reduced from three to two with themove of the Randall St. church from their over-crowded, inadequate facility into the Red Bluff building.The Red Bluff elders and deacons will resign and the College Park elders and deacons will continue to serve in that work for the combined group. Bill Collett, evangelist with the College Park church, and Glen Burt, evangelist with the Red Bluff church,will work

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together as evangelists. The program of work now being done by the two congregations will continue as the work of the one congregation. Among those works are two radio programs overKXYZ (1230 AM). "Gospel Lessons" with Bill Collett can be heardon Sunday mornings between 7:30 and 8:00 and "Bible Answers" with Glen Burt can be heard each night between 9:00 and 9:30.People in the Houston area are encouraged to listen to these programs. Also, all are welcome to visit with us at the College Parkchurch of Christ. A warm welcome awaits each one.

NEW CONGREGATIONS BEATRICE, NE — A new work has begun in Lincoln, NE. Approximately half of the group from Beatrice, NE have begun worshipping in Lincoln. Anyone wishing to make contact with thisnew work can contact Bob Cann, 3330 S. 31st Street, Lincoln, NE 68502. Or phone (402) 423-7373. This now makes four congregations of the Lord's church in Nebraska.THOMASVILLE, GA — On Oct. 19, 1980, black members from the Moultrie Rd. congregation in Thomasville, GA became the West-side church of Christ, Since the beginning of the church on MoultrieRd., black and white Christians have worshipped and worked together. After discussing how the cause of Christ in Thomasvillecould be more productive, we decided to begin a black congregationon the West side of the city with the prayer that more blacks andwhites could be reached with the gospel. Among the black members,Walter Marria was asked to work with this group. Walter, his wifeAndre and their two children are a fine, faithful and respectedfamily. Bro. Marria is capable, knowledgeable, and very zealous.There are very few sound black congregations in the Southeast, and we believe the brethren at Westside will truly be a power for good.Bro Marria is trying to get support and is presently receiving lessthan half of what he needs. I can recommend Bro. Marria as worthyof any support you can give him. If you can help him, address your letters to: Walter Marria, 707 E. Walcott St., Thomasville, GA 31792. Any questions you may have abouthim, his work, or our work at Moultrie Rd., I will be happy toanswer — Bill Pierce, 123 Lakeview Dr., Thomasville, GA 31792. SARASOTA, FL — On Sept. 14, 1980, fifteen Christians met in arented building to begin a new work in Sarasota. The church meetsin the Sarasota County Agriculture Extension Building, 3,000Ringling BL, in Sarasota. This new work is of special interest to me. For years a conservative work has been needed in Sarasota. Ospreyis the only other congregation to my knowledge in Sarasota Countyfree of institutional ties or extremism. I am accepting this challenge

by faith and taking on this workload without support. Surely, theLord will provide. If any church can help, your assistance will beappreciated. For more information about the work contact me: J.Paul Branch at 2505 - 20th Ave. W., Bradenton, FL 33505. Or phone

(813) 748-5592 or (813) 792-5107. References from faithful brethrenavailable upon request. This church will be known as the church ofChrist in Sarasota until permanent location is found. When in thearea worship with us. Call myself or Paul Johnson (813) 953-6964for meeting information,

E. L. Upham

Bro E. L. Upham departed this life on 27 November 1980. Let mequote from a note from his wife. "On November 13, late afternoon,he fell from a tall ladder as he attempted to remove the egg some prankster evidently threw on the white part of the end gable. The ladder slipped into a hocusing it to fall in one direction, and he in another. He sustained multiple injuries. He fought valiantly to live but could not overcome the complications...."

Brother Upham was one of God's unknown but faithful servants. He, his wife, and very few others had sustained a small country congregation for years after liberalism swept through that part of the country. And even after most of the young people moved off, he remained. He was retired from military service and in addition, had an independent source of income. But he did not lavish this on himself. He and his faithful wife sacrificed in their service to the Lord. I am sure only the Lordis fully aware of the extent of their service, but this much I doknow: they supported five Filipino preachers personally, in additionto the other work they did.

He will be missed—by his wife and family, by those beloved in theLord, by me and by all who knew him. The greatest tribute I cangive is that he was determined to serve the Lord with all his heart.Now, he has departed to be with the Lord he served for so long.

Wallace H. Little 1201MeeksSt., Corinth, MS 38834

IN THE NEWS THIS MONTH

BAPTISMS		276
RESTORATIONS		151
(Taken from bulletins and papers received by the editor)