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"...Shepherd the flock of God which is among
you, serving as overseers..." (1 Peter 5:2)
Elders
Morris Bass, Rick Holt , Joe
Price |
"...let them serve as deacons,
being found blameless..." (1 Tim. 3:10)
Deacons
Aaron Bass, Rich Brooks, Mike Finn
John Hague, Dan Head |
"And take...the sword of
the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Eph. 6:17)
In this issue:
Gospel Meeting Sept.
25-30, 2005
Master, the Tempest
is Raging
Too Negative?
Noteworthy News:
The 100-Minute Bible? Wait a
Minute!
Gospel Meeting Sept. 25-30, 2005
THE
MT. BAKER
CHURCH OF CHRIST
(1860
Mt. Baker Highway, Bellingham, WA)
Invites you to our
GOSPEL
MEETING
with
Evangelist
Dennis
Scroggins
(Lometa, Texas)
Sept.
25–30, 2005
Monday-Friday: 7:00 PM
(Sunday: 9:30 & 10:30 AM, 6:00 PM)
Sunday:
9:30 AM: This man is the Great Power of God
10:30 AM: Noble Hearts
6:00 PM: The Race is not to the Swift
Monday: Recognizing the Tares
Tuesday: No Other Name!
Wednesday: Give Me Strength!
Thursday: The Fear of Hell
Friday: Zeal Without Knowledge: A Spiritual Killer
(From
I-5 take Exit # 255 and go East 4.2 miles)
more information: please call (360) 752-2692
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Master, the Tempest is Raging
Joe R. Price
As this is being written,
hurricane Rita is bearing down on the coastal plains and bayous of Texas and
Louisiana. Man-made seawalls and levies will be put to the test. Will they
hold? Or will the fury of the wind and the unrelenting pounding of the
waves overwhelm man’s best efforts to hold back destruction and death?
Historically, man has been no match for the sheer strength and power of
nature’s forces.
Long ago a great
windstorm arose on the Sea of Galilee, endangering the lives of those trying
to reach the shore. The raging water was filling the boat and the men were
terrified of drowning – all but one, that is – he was asleep in the stern.
When awakened by his companions and rebuked for his apparent lack of concern
– “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” – he “rebuked the
wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace, be still!’”, and a great calm
replaced the violent tempest (Mk. 4:35-41). He then reproved his disciples’
fear and challenged their lack of faith, “And they feared exceedingly,
and said to one another, ‘Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea
obey Him!” (Mk. 4:40-41). The God who lifts His voice to the clouds and
sends out rain and lightning can also make them cease (Job 38:34-35). On
that occasion, He did. Oh, the mighty hand of God!
The power to calm a
raging storm indicates another power of the Almighty; His power to calm the
storm of sin and save the sinner from death. God takes no pleasure in the
death of sinners. He is “not willing that any should perish but that all
should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9). So, the question is, will
sinners have the faith to “turn, and live” (Ezek. 18:31-32)?
Because God does not want
sinners to perish, He commands that we:
1) Believe in
Jesus Christ or perish: “And as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jno.
3:14-16).
2) Repent or
perish: “I tell you, no; but unless you repent
you will all likewise perish” (Lk. 13:3, 5).
3) Confess faith
in Christ or perish: “Therefore whoever
confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in
heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My
Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 10:32-33).
4) Be baptized
into Christ or perish: “The like figure
whereunto even baptism doth also now save us…” (1 Pet. 3:21). Bible
baptism is “into Christ” and “into His death” in order to be
saved from sin by Jesus (Rom. 6:3; Acts 22:16).
5) Live
faithfully to Christ or perish: “My sheep hear
My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal
life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of
My hand” (Jno. 10:27-28). Jesus said, “he who endures to the end
will be saved” (Matt. 10:22).
Will you believe and obey
the commandments of Him who ordered the great storm be replaced with great
peace? If so, He will command life and peace to replace the sin and death
that is in your life (Rom. 6:4, 23). Safe in Christ, the tempest of sin
will not overwhelm you. Obey Jesus now. Peace, be still.
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Too Negative?
Joe R. Price
On more than a few occasions it has been said
that our teaching is “too negative.” What about it: Why isn’t it being
negative to charge us with being negative? The glaring contradiction of
such a charge reveals its purely subjective, self-comforting nature.
The word of God
says, “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove,
rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2 Tim. 4:2). At
running the risk of sounding negative, could it be that those who complain
about the reproof and rebuke of sin have a greater love for sin that they
have for truth (1 Jno. 2:15: is John being “negative” here)? Isn’t this
what the apostle Paul said: “For the time will come when they will not
endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to
themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their
ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables (2 Tim. 4:3-4).
What are we to do when people say “the word of the truth of the gospel”
that we preach is “too negative” (Col. 1:5)? Are we to stop reproving and
rebuking sin? Some do. But, Paul told Timothy to “preach the word”
and to “be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an
evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Tim. 4:2, 5). If Timothy was told
to keep preaching sound doctrine when people didn’t like it and rejected it,
shall we be blessed if we do any less?
We usually visit a
doctor because we are sick. Do we only visit the doctor when you are sure
to hear positive news about your health? No, we all go to the doctor to
hear about what is ailing us – even if it is “negative,” so we can also
receive the treatment we need to help heal us. When it comes to our
physical health, we want to hear the “negative” news because we are willing
to listen to the doctor’s recommendations and take the medicine he
prescribes. We want to get better.
What about our
spiritual health? Jesus said, “Those who are well have no need of a
physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but
sinners, to repentance” (Mk. 2:17). Should we charge Jesus with being
“too negative” because He talked about sin and repentance in an effort to
heal sinners? Yet today, when spiritual diseases are identified and the
Great Physician’s remedy is prescribed from His word, not a few say they
don’t like the “negative” preaching!
The light of truth
exposes sin: “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into
the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds
were evil” (Jno. 3:19). Just as an MRI or a CT scan reveals what is
inside the human body, the word of God reveals what is inside our hearts and
lives (Heb. 4:12). We are thankful for the “light” of modern medicine that
helps cure physical disease, yet the divine light of truth that cures the
disease of sin is maligned as being “too negative.” Why? Because
“everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light,
lest his deeds should be exposed” (Jno. 3:20).
The gospel of Christ
heals, but it also divides (Matt. 10:34; Lk. 12:51). It gives sight and it
blinds (Jno. 8:12; 9:39-41). Why? Because some do not have a “love of the
truth, that they might be saved” (2 Ths. 2:10; Jno. 8:37, 31; 6:60-68).
The next time we get
the urge to criticize the teaching of sound doctrine as “too negative,” it’s
time to turn the light of God’s word on ourselves to see “whether (we)
are in the faith” (2 Cor. 13:5).
The medicine that
cures an illness may not always taste good, but the result is positive.
Likewise, to identify sin and error so it can be removed is a positive
thing. Negative things like sin and error must be reproved and rebuked,
else sinners will not be saved (Acts 2:36-41).
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NOTEWORTHY NEWS
(Current events in the
light of Scripture)
The
100-Minute Bible? Wait a Minute!
Joe R. Price
A new version of the
Bible, The 100-Minute Bible, was unveiled on Wednesday in London, England.
The Rev. Michael Hinton of the Church of England is its author. Here are
some descriptions of it from its author and publisher (100-Minute Press),
along with some analysis from the complete Bible.
“…It summarizes every
teaching from the Creation to the Revelation…”
-I guess we’ll just
have to take their word for it, right? But, since “the entirety of Your
word is truth,” isn’t it presumptuous to summarize God’s word and then
offer it to the public as “every teaching?” (Psa. 119:160) More accurately
stated, the 100-Minute Bible contains “every teaching” Mr. Hinton thinks is
important (Isa. 55:8-9; 2 Tim. 3:16-17).
“…ideal for an upcoming
rail or aeroplane journey.”
-Are we to believe the
entire Bible isn’t? (Deut. 6:6-9; Psa. 1:1-2)
“…a new way of looking at
the Bible.”
-The Bible says,
“Then I would not be ashamed, when I look into all Your commandments”
(Psa. 119:6). We’d better be looking at the Bible in the “old” way to find
the “good way” (Jer. 6:16 – I wonder if that verse is in the
100-Minute Bible).
“…written for those who
want to know more about Christianity but who do not have the time to read
the original Bible…”
-Those who want to
know about the gospel of Jesus Christ will take the time to read and know
(Jno. 7:17; Eph 3:3-4).
The 100-Minute Bible
“picks out the principle stories of the life and ministry of its central
character, Jesus Christ.”
-The Holy Spirit
already did that in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John (Jno. 20:30-31; 21:25; Lk.
1:1-4; Acts 1:1-3). We are not better equipped with less than what the Holy
Spirit gave us? (Jno. 16:13; 2 Pet. 1:3; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; Rev. 22:18-19)
- (‘100-minute
Bible’ is launched, CNN, USA, Sep. 21, 2005)
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