Watchman Magazine

In our previous article, entitled Expressed Command, I wrote:

To properly understand how authority is established in religion, it is necessary to understand the nature of communication. God created man with the ability to communicate his will or desire to others. He chose to reveal Himself to man by the same methods. The divine hermeneutic (way of interpreting the Bible) is in accord with the logical rules of communication using written or spoken language.

One of these “logical rules of communication” can be identified as an approved example. The premise is simple. If in the New Testament we find Christians participating in an activity, and the example we find is spoken of as approved of God, we can rightly surmise that this practice is divinely authorized.

It is important to note that the example must be spoken of by inspiration as approved. There are certainly examples of unauthorized activity by Christians in the New Testament. We do not mean that we can engage in any activity found in the New Testament. Rather, only those which are shown to meet God’s approval.

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A couple of years ago, I wrote an article explaining my conversion to the use of an LCD projector as a means of supplementing my preaching with graphics displays.  At the time I was using Corel’s Presentations software, which is a very capable program, but not as widely used as Microsoft’s PowerPoint presentation software.

About three months ago I began using PowerPoint, and I am absolutely enthralled with the program.  Not only is it relatively easy to use, its printing and exporting capabilities make it a tremendous teaching asset.  Note the following features of the program, and the way I have been able to utilize the feature in my work:

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Editor’s Note: The following article has been featured at the Truth Magazine website for a while now.  It has engendered much discussion, and brother Hafley sent it for inclusion in Watchman as well.  Though we are a bit “behind the times” reprinting it, for those Watchman readers who may not have read it on the Truth Magazine site, here it is.  We appreciate brother Hafley’s kindness and candor in dealing with this young person.

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In a moment of oratory excellence, the apostle Paul wrote, “For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep what I have committed to him until that day” (2 Timothy 1:12).

Christian Paul had an enormous record of history behind that statement; his faith, you see was not blind, but intelligently secured and practiced. The fact is, there are certain things that our omnipotent God absolutely cannot do. One of them is lie and another is fail (Hebrews 6:17-18). The Bible account bears these great truths out and inspires confidence on every page that the faithful will be preserved.

There was the time in the book of Exodus when he sent a single, ineloquent man before Pharaoh to plead for Israel’s release from Egyptian slavery. After nine episodes of ultimate rejection, God carried the cause in the Passover night and sent his people on toward Canaan.

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This article is being written as the build up for the assault on Iraq seems to be nearing its completion.  The U.S. and Great Britain have assembled many of their best troops to accomplish their mission.  While not much is said about it, there are vast numbers of people in both countries of acceptable age who are not taking part in this effort.  Among this number would be those unfit for military service due to some physical or mental condition.  Likewise, those with a crippling fear of war or those unable to conscientiously take part in military service would not be found among the ranks in the Gulf.  Suffice it to say that not everyone can go fight in war.  There is a spiritual application of this truth.

The Lord gave the greatest commission of all time (Matt. 28:18-20; Mk. 16:15-16).  It is vitally important that the lost learn about the grace of God manifested in Christ’s blood that they may be saved from eternal damnation (Rom. 3:23-25; Eph. 2:8-9).  Much effort, in both the first century and since, has been put into carrying out this “Great Commission” (Acts 2-19; Col. 1:23).  In light of all this, it is sad to say that, just as in the case of important military service, there are those unfit for duty in carrying out the Great Commission.  Let us pause to reflect on the necessity of noting this fact.

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The old saying goes that “it all depends on whose ox is being gored.” Old sayings usually have a very strong element of truth in them as do the tales of the old wives. (How many of us preacher types could get along without the old wives?)

The gored ox problem is the problem of tolerance. We love to hear sin condemned from the pulpit, as long as our ox is not being gored, meaning that our sin is not being condemned. The employment status of many preachers, including this author, has changed when we have gored the wrong ox. (Wrong as it relates to the possessor of an ox, not wrong as in the eternal Judge of the universe). I personally have never owned an ox, nor do I desire one. It might end up being gored, and I might have to change my position on sin, God forbid, since my current position is that revealed by the Psalmist, Psalm 119:104, “Through Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.” And Psalm 119:128, “Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right; I hate every false way.”

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"Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17).  Without hearing the word of God, there can be no faith.

That is why communication is so important.  God wants to communicate to us and does so through the Holy Scriptures.  But if we don’t study, if we don’t read, God is not able to communicate. If God had chosen to do so, He could have written His will across the sky. But He didn’t. He could have spoken to us in some mysterious way that is "better felt than told." But He didn’t. He could have impressed His will into man as He has with animals (instinct). But He didn’t. He has expressed His will to us through the Holy Scriptures. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16). Are you aware that God is communicating with us through the Bible?

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Most are aware that a controversy exists among Christians today regarding what the Bible teaches about fellowship.  Included in the differences expressed by brethren is a disagreement on the bounds of Christian unity based on differing understandings of Romans, chapter 14.  Some believe the instruction of the chapter, "Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things" (vs. 1), to be inclusive of some sinful practices and some doctrinal error.  Others, rightfully I believe, limit the context of the admonition to matters of liberty.

Another area of disagreement is found regarding the true designation of a false teacher.  Some limit the term to those who are dishonest in heart.  They take the description of the false teacher in 2 Peter 2, which describes false teachers as being willful, and deceitful, as excluding a brother who teaches error, but who himself is sincere and honest.  Others, rightfully I believe, identify the false teacher by his doctrine, and believe God desires us to judge his works rather than his heart (cf. Acts 17:11; 1 John 4:1).

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(Editor’s Note: When brother Huddleston wrote this article and sent it to me, the war with Iraq had not yet begun.)

It is looking more and more like the United States is going to war with Iraq. With all the talk and hype, many people are getting very worried and anxious. The US government is telling its citizens in the USA to carry on as usual and not to get too anxious or paranoid. They did advise citizens to be more alert about what is going on around them and to exercise good security measures at home, when traveling, at work, etc. Many are buying plastic and duct tape to seal up their homes, buying can goods to last for weeks and on and on. Of course, it is good to be prepared, but many are going overboard. Many have let fear get the best of them and will not travel by plane or travel overseas. Should we let infidel terrorists scare us to the point that we stop evangelizing overseas? As Christians we are to be concerned with what the Bible has to say about these things.

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More than forty years ago, I shared in the Lord’s work with a faithful gospel preacher in Birmingham, Alabama, who was the only preacher among our black brethren in that area who truly stood firm for the Truth and preached it with all boldness.  Brother James Ashhurst, now deceased, was one of the finest men that I have ever had the opportunity to work with in my efforts to preach the gospel.  Brethren Frank Smith and Bob Crawley, both now deceased, had the same confidence in this brother and diligently worked to help him in every way that they could to carry the gospel to the black people who made up almost half of the population of Birmingham during those difficult years of the 60’s.

Brother Ashhurst was telling me one day about a brother whom he was trying to strengthen through teaching and said to me, “brother Reed, helping this brother is like trying to charge a battery which has a dead cell – you can charge it, and charge it, and charge it, and it will still be dead!”  I thought then, and think even more today that our lack of effectiveness in providing strength, soundness, and knowledge to a great many of our brethren is being hampered tremendously by our having to try so hard to charge a battery which has a dead cell!

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I will never forget the time that I had just begun to work with a new local church, and was waiting, on a Sunday morning or afternoon (I cannot remember which) to deliver one of my first sermons.  Immediately before the worship began, I was herded and pinned in by a group of older men who had all grown up in a certain part of Kentucky.  They asked me whether I believed women could speak in Bible class, and, practically before I could utter a word, they inundated me with their own arguments why they thought women could not.  One of them even went so far as to say something to the effect of, “I would rather have musical instruments than women speaking in Bible class, because the Bible doesn’t say not to have them, but it does say women can’t speak.”  After having been thoroughly, verbally assaulted by these men, meaning well no doubt, I was hardly in a frame of mind to deliver a good sermon!  But, the fact that this question meant so much to these men made me realize that it is not merely some intellectual, theological question, but a valid question which local churches must study and answer.  To merely ignore or avoid the question is to have congregations where women do not know what to do, and some are afraid to speak, and some feel that they have something worthwhile to contribute to the class, while some men sit fuming, believing these women to be in sin.

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Presidential candidate, Senator John Kerry, is not the only one who recently had surgery to remove a cancerous prostate gland.  Pat Robertson, he of the 700 Club, a socio-politico, religious television news program, had prostate surgery on February 22.

Mr. Robertson often has endorsed modern day miracle claims and has featured faith healers on his television program.  One wonders why this man, who believes in the miraculous, divine healing power of the Holy Spirit today, needed to have surgery for his ailment.  Seems to me that this would have been the perfect time for one of his miracle working preacher friends to have laid their hands on him and healed him.  Since he surely had sufficient faith to be healed, why did he not call one of the prominent healers of this generation (Oral Roberts, for example), and ask them to rid him of his malady?

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When I was a “boy preacher” it seemed that getting enough material together for a fifteen minute sermon was almost an insurmountable task!  One who is limited in experience may feel that he has enough material to preach for an hour or more, but when his lesson is delivered, it only turns out to be ten or fifteen minutes.  We have all had those experiences in preaching, whether as the one doing the preaching or as one who is listening and seeking to encourage young men to dedicate their lives to preaching the Word of God.  My personal experiences with those efforts go back well over fifty years, and every opportunity we have, we are still trying to encourage others to take on these responsibilities.  I am most happy that I can continue to hear those ten or fifteen minute sermons from young men who are just beginning to preach the Word!

But, brethren, I am greatly disturbed, filled with perturbation, and absolutely upset emotionally when I hear of experienced and able men who have “toned down” their preaching to these fifteen, or twenty minute sermons! On top of that, they are leaving the impression with the young and inexperienced preachers that such is really what “preaching” is all about!  And if all that is not frightening enough, I am also realizing that much of this preaching is almost totally void of scripture and is nothing more than a simple story or tale of some kind, with much of the “few” minutes being filled up with jokes or humorous tales!  To call such as that “preaching” is to absolutely disgrace the concept!  It seems obvious that those who are engaged in this practice are either ignorant of what gospel preaching is all about, or else they are intentionally seeking to avoid saying anything which is spiritually instructive or edifying!  Could it be possible that they simply want to “entertain” their audience (Galatians 1:10)?  Or is it  possible that they are very limited in “intestinal fortitude” and are therefore just cowardly staying away from condemning sin, exposing error and false teaching, and refusing to  boldly encourage fellow Christians to live soberly, righteously, and Godly in this present world (Acts 20: 26-27) (Titus 2: 11-12)?

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Please refer to the first article that I wrote, "Remembering Sister Lela" in the July 2001 issue of Watchman Magazine (click here) to connect the thoughts of this final article regarding the life of this precious saint.  Thank You.

Bobby R. Holmes

Since I wrote the first article, "Remembering Sister Lela", many things have happened.  Monies for a memorial stone to honor sister Lela and a fence to be installed around the cemetery plot was slow coming in, but, enough was finally generated by good brothers and sisters in the Lord to have first the memorial stone cut and placed and then the fence installed.  The stone was placed there fall of 2001 while I was in Mississippi for a gospel meeting and I drove up there in June of 2002 to watch and take pictures as the fence was installed with the final work completed.   I have taken pictures of the memorial stone and also have a picture of sister Lela and her husband.

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