Changes I Have Seen Since I Began Preaching

by Forrest D. Moyer
www.cvillechurch.com

I began preaching in 1946. Some forty-seven years have gone by since I began. I have seen many changes both in the world and in the church. Means of travel and communications have drastically changed. People have even gone to the moon. Governments have toppled; new nations have begun. Standards of living have improved for millions. And yet poverty reigns in many nations. Crime has become the norm in most of our cities. A car is stolen every 42 minutes in Fresno. People are killed as they stand on the street corners; drug and alcohol use have become common even among teenagers. Violence, nudity and profanity are standard fare on television and in movies.

Homosexuality was one of the most disgraceful acts that one could think of when I was young. Now it is being heralded as being a normal lifestyle. Abortion was almost unheard of when I was a boy. Now millions of abortions are performed every year. We have an administration that endorses both homosexuality and abortion. Things have changed!

Changes in the Church

Not only have there been changes in the world, but we have seen many changes in the church of our Lord as well. Changes in such things as expedients might be most effective. Changes in God’s ordained worship, government, and work are always wrong. I have seen changes in both areas. With the coming of more efficient communications, we have been able to effectively teach more people. We have been able to sound forth the truth in radio and television as well as the printed page. I am happy to have been enabled to use such methods in gospel preaching.

I remember when I was young that tobacco use was quite common among members of the church. In fact, between Bible class and the assembly for worship, it was common to see dozens of men standing in the yard or on the steps smoking. We thought that anyone who said anything about such habits was a "fanatic" or "radical." Today most brethren have seen the danger in tobacco use. Here ... we see no one standing outside smoking.

When I was young, in every gospel meeting you would hear sermons on why we don’t use instrumental music or have choirs or groups singing in our worship. Today many churches are introducing choirs and groups. Some are even using instrumental music. Things have changed!

I have seen other changes that frighten me very much. When I began preaching, the Bible was accepted by all brethren to be the inspired word of God. Brethren everywhere demanded "book, chapter and verse" preaching. All preachers appealed to "command, example and necessary inference" as the way to establish Bible authority. The result was a united brotherhood. Today, it is different. Some brethren no longer regard the Bible as the truly inspired word of God. Even more have given up the demand for "book, chapter and verse" preaching and are calling for a "new hermeneutic" that rejects "command, example and necessary inference" as the way of determining God’s will for our lives. Max Lucado, a well known author and minister of the Oak Hills church of Christ in San Antonio, Texas, says: "I have a gut feeling that we (the church of Christ) have approached the Bible as engineers, looking for a certain design or architectural code. And I think we find that everyone finds a different code ... There is no secret code. The Bible is a love letter as opposed to a blueprint. You don’t read a love letter the same way you read a blueprint" (quoted in Behold the Pattern, Goebel Music, p. 114). When brethren regard the Bible as a "love letter," they cease to "follow the pattern of sound words" (2 Tim. 1:13). Truly, things have changed.

When I began preaching, I never heard of such things as so-called "fellowship halls," "church kitchens," or "family centers with gymnasiums" among our brethren. When such things were first introduced, there was a hue and cry across the nation against such. Now such are commonplace among many brethren. Yes, things have changed.

If in our study of the word of God, we find that we are failing to do what God says or are doing what He does not say, then we need to change. But let us make sure that our changes are what God requires and not what we decide that would be pleasing to us.

Paul said to Timothy, "Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 1:13). Jesus Himself said that "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My word will never pass away." His message is an unchangeable message in the midst of a changing world. While we are involved in the changes of the modern world, it is gratifying to know that we can hold on to an unchanging God and to an unchanging message. Let us determine that we will never turn from the doctrine of Christ to any other message (2 John 9-10; Gal. 1:8-9). When the winds of change are blowing, we can latch on to the Rock of Ages and know that we are secure under the shelter of His wings. (1993)

The Foundation of Spirituality -- Honesty

by Larry Rouse
www.cvillechurch.com

Why does the preaching of the gospel seem not to be effective in our society today? We know that God’s word has not changed, nor has its power (Rom 1:16). We are assured by God that His word will never return to Him void, but it will always accomplish the purpose for which He sent it (Isa 55:11). Today, with this present generation, as it has in past generations, the word of God is able to expose hearts and allow men to choose light or darkness (Jn 3:19-21). This choice depends upon the kind of heart a man possesses.

When Jesus described the kind of heart in which the word of God would be received and would prosper, He described it as “good and honest” (Lk 8:15 KJV). Will a man choose light or darkness, honesty or dishonesty? If a man decides that he “hates the light” then God will let him “believe a lie” and will not do anything further other than the presentation of His word (2 Thess 2:10-11).

We must fight the temptation to be dishonest

The battle for honesty lasts a lifetime. God emphatically warns the Christian to guard his heart and to keep it pure. “Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds” (Col 3:9). God has plainly told us: “He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house; He who tells lies shall not continue in my presence” (Psa 101:7).

The nature of man has not changed. Without continual exposure to the word of God, men’s hearts will be pulled back to self-justification and blindness (Prov 16:2; Jer 17:10-11). Why do men prefer dishonesty? Psychologists suggest that men tend to make up the reasons for their behaviors after they do them, and that their “reasons” and behavior usually have nothing to do with each other.

King Saul was a prime example of a good man who gave in to dishonesty to his own destruction. Do you remember the various explanations that he made to Samuel when he was confronted about his direct disobedience to God’s command (1 Sam 15:3, 15, 20-21)? “I was going to sacrifice them! No, wait, it was the people that did it!” Finally, after a spiritual wrestling match, Saul admits his sin, but without true repentance! Saul thought that his outward confession without a changed heart would put him right with God. In this he had deceived himself! This pattern would remain throughout Saul’s life.

We must recognize dishonesty

God’s love will lead us to look to the good in others. Indeed, we want to believe the best about others and not be quick to judge another’s actions without sufficient evidence. Nonetheless, the Bible is filled with warnings concerning those who would deliberately mislead us and the kind of tactics they will use to accomplish this task. “That we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting” (Eph 4:14). “These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage” (Jude 16).

It is a difficult thing for good and honest Christians to see the deceit and manipulation from those who have a hidden agenda to pull others into their circle. Flattery is first used to gain a closer association and trust. Then lies are told in secret to inflame emotions and close minds (Prov 18:19). Finally, these men succeed in having their new disciples cut off association with their former brethren without so much as talking about these newly discovered “differences” over an open Bible (Gal 4:16-17).

A commitment to honesty will keep us from these “closed door decisions” that result in one “cutting and running.” Instead we will openly discuss and test those who have beliefs that they say are of God (1 Jn 4:1). Also, we will not accept testimony about the personal actions of another without first giving that person a chance to defend himself (Prov 18:17; Mt 18:15-17)!

Pride always leads to dishonesty

Those who do not know God cannot stand to look at themselves honestly. The driving force behind pride is the desire to be recognized and have praise because we wish to appear to be something that we are not. “For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself” (Gal 6:3). Those that follow this path must wear a mask. They must fight to “keep up appearances” and work to tear others down so that they can receive this vain and temporary recognition of men. There is a better way to live your life!

God’s forgiveness allows us to be honest

God sees me as I am, and, in spite of that, He loves me and seeks my best. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). God sees the darkness of my sin and has provided a sacrifice that will wash away my sins and restore my relationship with Him (Rom 3:23; 6:23). What do I need to do? I need to be honest! I must see my own sin and make no excuses. The love of God must move me to change my heart in repentance that will result in a changed life. I then will take the final step in water baptism, yielding my body to a burial and resurrection like the Lord’s (Rom 6:3-5). I now am the Lord’s, not because I am perfect, but because I am forgiven and have yielded my heart to Him (Acts 2:38-39).

The Christian life is characterized by the forgiveness of God. Rather than run from my shortcomings, I can now run to God for a greater sight and to seek His help in growing to be something more in His service. I come to love the truth, to love bold and honest preaching because it allows me to see what God already sees and what I need to know. Most of all, I am thankful that God’s word is able to penetrate my heart when it drifts into dishonesty and point me back to Him. “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Heb 4:12-13).

Be honest. Are you genuinely serving the Lord with all of your heart
(2 Cor 13:5)?

“He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy” (Prov 28:13).

Other Articles by Larry Rouse
Fools are not Friends
David's Mighty Men
A People of Refuge

Going Home

by F. Yater Tant

www.cvillechurch.com

The summer's work has ended. After a long and lonely absence I am going back to Texas. Only a few hours ago I was speaking to a house filled with people in Sunnyvale, California. Now it is shortly after midnight, and I am nearly three miles above the Mojave Desert, flying almost six miles per minute in the direction of—home! There are eighty‑one of us in this monster of the skies, five crewmembers and seventy‑six passengers. We left Oakland airport an hour ago, and will set down at Love Field in Dallas about daybreak. One brief stop there to change planes, and by the middle of the morning I shall be home.

There are few words in any language that have the power to grip the heart and stir the emotions as does the word "home". All that is sacred and holy, all that is tender and loving clusters around the word. The memories of childhood, the smiles and tears of youthful years, the security of love and devotion, the hallowed associations of the past are wrapped up in the word. In early years home is the place of mother and father, perhaps brothers and sisters; in later years home is the place of husband or wife, and perhaps children. Bereft indeed is that poor soul who has no home. But infinitely more wretched is he who has never had a home!

Surely it is not without cause that Christ has pictured to us the Christian relationship in terms of home and family. God is our Father; we are his children. Christ is our brother, and we are brethren one to another. It was not to the Ephesians alone, but to all the faithful of every age that Paul wrote, "So then ye are no more strangers and sojourners, but ye are fellow‑citizens with the saints, and of the household of God." (Eph. 2:19)

Now we are over Nevada. The pulsing roar of the four mighty engines seems to make this leviathan of the air a living creature. The stars in the sky as I look out my window are big and luminous. Most of the passengers are sleeping. But I cannot sleep. I have been gone too long. The eagerness of "going home" is too great. Here and there I can make out the dim, crawling light of an automobile on the desert floor, thousands of feet below. There are not many; and they seem to move at a snail's pace. Perhaps some of these people are going home, too. The same eagerness and anticipation that fills my heart may be theirs. Likely it is so. For we are all of us cut from the same cloth. Our needs, our hopes, our fears, and our joys are pretty much of a pattern. And the God who made us knows what is best for us. He has made provision with loving and infinite care.

Mile after mile slips by in the darkness below. And every mile brings me closer home. Already we are in Arizona; and‑then we shall sail through the star‑studded skies of New Mexico, and on into Texas. My thoughts are nostalgic as we cross the miles. It was to New Mexico (Alamogordo, and then Hope) that my father brought his family when I was still too young to go to school—more than forty years ago. Indeed, my earliest memories are not of Tennessee, the state of my birth, but of the wild grandeur of the Sacramento Mountains and the then curious, but now famous White Sands. It was here in New Mexico that I had my first acquaintance with death. A beloved sister (oldest in the family) had stayed in Tennessee with her husband when the rest of us moved west. And now comes the fateful wire that tells us we shall see her face no more. My father does not weep; he can not. His misery is beyond tears. As I sit in this plane, high in the heavens, I can see him once again at his table upstairs, writing, writing, writing, endlessly writing. I approach to ask him about Davis, but I can not speak for the aching lump in my throat. He raises his head and sees me standing there in childish grief. He puts his pencil down and takes me up into his lap—a rare thing indeed for him, for he was a man of deep emotions, but inarticulate and undemonstrative concerning them. Finally, I realize he is weeping, and of course I weep too. He speaks one brief word, "Your sister has gone home to live with God."

Home! It won't be long now. It will only be a few hours until I sit at my desk and try to type down the thoughts that fill my heart at this moment. And it will only be a few years until I see once again those dear faces in that eternal home, where sorrow and death can never come. My honored sire has slept these fourteen years beneath the blue skies and bright stars of Texas He died in the Lord, and it was of such as he that John was told to write, "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; for their works follow with them." (Rev 14:13) He has gone home. After the turmoil and strife of "life's fitful fever" has ended, what more blessed and glorious thought than to know that one is "going home."

And here is Dallas. Ever so gently the huge ship touches the earth. Thus far the journey has been safely accomplished. Only a few more miles now. And then, home. Is it possible that I am even closer to that heavenly home than to the familiar scenes of my own frame cottage? God knows. Any one of us may at any given moment be only one heart‑beat from eternity—an eternal home with God, or banishment forever from his presence. There is something terrifying about that, and yet something infinitely thrilling. May God grant to all of us that when our eyes shall close in death we may take that sweetest of all journeys—the path that leads to home. - Gospel Guardian, October 13, 1955