Tag Archives: church of christ

Jun 16 2009

Who is my brother?


I was once instructed by a dear brother that all of those with “like precious faith” are our brothers. That on its face is true. What this dear saint meant though was church of Christ only. Our further conversations confirmed that clearly.

So, here is my question. Is every member of a church of Christ my brother or sister?  Isn’t there some things one must believe to be considered a true Christian? Or, is the fact that he is a member of a coC congregation enough. That is obviously the view of many.

A man who shows none of the Christian graces and spends his days being critical of other church of Christ men who don’t agree with him about the supremacy of a cappella music and insists that everyone who does not agree with him is lost.  Is this man my brother?

A preacher denies the bodily resurrection of Jesus saying as some of the cults that the resurrection of Jesus was only “spiritual”. Never mind the passages that record Jesus walking and talking, and eating meals with his friends after he arose. Thomas touched him as did others. Is this man my brother?

A fellow denies the divinity of Jesus, the bodily resurrection, and even pokes fun at Paul for incorrect teaching and brags that the Jehovah’s Witnesses have invited him to speak for them. Is this man my brother?

What are the foundational doctrines one must hold? What are the fundamentals of the Christian faith? Is the kingdom of God broader than “some” Restoration Movement churches? If so, on what grounds?

Is a person who has been “scripturally baptised” yet believes Jesus was a fraud and liar my brother? Is there an answer to these questions? Where do we draw the line of brotherhood?

Royce

Jun 11 2009

The Jesus deficit…


jesus-savesI recently visited some unnamed blogs by church of Christ preachers who had their “tag cloud” visible. (A tag cloud is the group of key words used to point readers to a post) These are men whose church is so and so “church of Christ” so you would think that “Christ” would be the most often used key word on their blogs. Nope, “church of Christ”, “baptism”, and even “a cappella” were ahead of “Christ” and “Jesus”. What does this prove? Perhaps not much but it does deserve some thought.

Jesus promised that if He is lifted up He would draw all men to Himself. (John 12:32) Paul and the other Apostles preached Christ, the gospel of grace (Acts 20:24) and He was the center of the message and mission they served.

Are our churches of Christ known for their devotion to Christ? Do we put Him first? Is He and His story the center of our message? I’ll let you decide. I do know this for sure. Not one person will be in heaven because they were right about how to do communion or because they sung a cappella. There will be no saving grace extended to one person because they despised the Baptists.

There is one mediator between man and God, His name is Jesus. (1 Timothy 2:5) Jesus declared “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life and no one comes to the Father except through me”. (John 14:6) Since these things are true why don’t we preach Christ? Why isn’t He the focus of every ministry? Why isn’t He the most talked about on our “Christian” blogs? Why do we talk far more about the “church of Christ” than the Christ of the church? Why?

I think it is because many don’t really believe He is the only way to God. They think he is a part of the way but not the way. Or, some my believe that the sum total of believing the right doctrine, having communion each Sunday, singing a cappella, being in the right church, and believing the historic stories about Jesus combined with living a good life puts one in good standing with God. What Jesus told one of the most religeous men in his day is still true, you must be born again.

 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

Unless you have this right nothing else matters. Please brothers and sisters, lets put Christ in his rightful place at the center of our living, our giving, our missions, our worship, and our dying. Let us become known for making a fuss about Jesus Christ and loving people as He did. Unless we are loving the unlovable as they are where they are seeking nothing in return we are not doing what Christ wants us to do. There is no greater task, no higher honor, no more noble endeavor than to make Christ and His work for sinners known.

In Him,
Royce

May 18 2009

Mission Church Needs Air Conditioning


new_roof_0208The Hemley Road Church of Christ in Bayou La Batre, Alabama desperately needs air conditioning for their church building. They are growing, (about 20 baptisms this year), had 80 for worship last Sunday, and are cooled by one large fan. The heat on the bayou by Mobile Bay is a muggy, wet heat and almost unbearable in the hottest months of summer.

This church has no means of getting air conditioning except by praying, trusting, and telling friends of their needs. (All biblical) Can you help? Do you have an A/C company? Do you have a friend or church member who does? Will you ask them to consider this project? Or, can you give a gift toward the $12k needed?

Any gift can be directed to either the Whites Ferry Rd church in West Monroe, or the El Campo church in El Campo, Texas. Either address is very easy to find by “googling” the name. Just designate your gift to “Bayou La Batre” or “Hemley Rd” and of course it is tax deductible.

Daphne German said to me recently in a phone call, “We either need air conditioning or a hundred funeral home fans!”. Daphne lives in a rent house on the church property with only one small window unit in one bedroom. Can you imagine cooking and other activities in the other rooms?

Please, please pray, please ask, please help.

Royce

***UPDATE*** God has provided the necessary funds to install one unit for the main building. One is still needed for the house and of course utility bills will increase sharpley once the large unit is installed and put to use. They still need help! Praise God for His faithfulness to provide every need.

May 18 2009

The Wholeness of Truth


Today’s post is from the pen and heart of my friend Edward Fudge. The title of this gracEmail is “Wholeness of Truth”. It spoke to my heart and so I decided to share it with you. I am interested in your thoughts on this.
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(gracEmail list) wholeness of truth
Edward Fudge
May 17, 2009

THE WHOLENESS OF TRUTH

As a child, I naively thought that the particular subgroup of the non-instrument Churches of Christ into which I was born had discovered “the truth” and that all other Christian groups were either ignorant or dishonest because they differed from us. By the grace of God, when I became a man, I put away those childish ideas.

I gradually realized that almost all the hymns we sang were written by Christians from other denominations, as were nearly all the biblical commentaries our preachers studied in preparing their lessons. That didn’t mesh with the notion that of all God’s people, we were the most informed.

As I came to know other Christians personally, I quickly discovered that they were not dishonest at all — their piety and commitment to Christ often dwarfed mine, and what I usually saw within my own religious movement.

Over the years, there gradually emerged in my mind a picture of the wholeness God desires for his church universal. The fact is that every orthodox Christian group has important truth to share. Each such denomination, fellowship or Christian tradition began by a move of God’s Spirit to recover, renew or restore some element of Christian teaching, activity or experience then dormant, lagging or lacking in the church at large. All of us believers in Jesus need all the truth — and we dare not fail to receive it just because someone else found it first.

In this quest, we all must learn to eat the meat and throw away the bones. The danger is that we misuse the truth we do discover, or get it out of balance. Every part of the Church — including our own — has abuses and extremes, confusions and errors, which we do well to reject and to avoid.

The point is not who said something first, but whether it came from the Word of God. If it came from God, it is for all his people. I want all the truth anyone else has found. I also want to share any truth that I might find with others who also love and follow Jesus Christ.

Edward Fudge

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Thanks for reading,
Royce