Sound Teaching: Podcasts, Sermons & Articles by Stan Cox(Evidently, our comments on the Pentecostal who died while handling a snake last Easter have struck a nerve. Here is yet another response.)
Larry,
I am not interested in having a bible study with you. I am a snake handling preacher and did not appreciate the way you talked about our religion. Serpent handling is very much real. I have handled serpents and never been bitten. I sometimes go to the church that brother Wayne pastored at. Poorvalley, in Virginia, is the church he preached at. Wayne Long was a very generous man and a true man of God. Why do you consider our faith to be false? Why do you insist on slandering and putting down someone’s religion? You’ll be hearing from me again.
Rev. Kamron Guin
(For further information, go to our web site, biblework.com. There you may order video or audio tapes of, "Holy Spirit Baptism, Tongues, and Miracles," preached in 2001, and a copy of, "If They Have Received Holy Spirit Baptism," preached in 2002.)
What follows is an exchange with a Pentecostal Pastor who wrote regarding our recent article on a snake handling preacher who was bitten and died. The bulk of the correspondence appears in my second response to Mr. Bradshaw. It includes material from an article written more than thirty years ago which dealt with the same question.
In November of 2004, Bobby Holmes and I had a wonderful opportunity to travel to India, and preach the gospel. We were in the country for the full month, and much was accomplished in the effort, due to the grace of our Lord and the power of His word.
Background
While Joshua Mahendranath was working in Kuwait, he determined to use his time away from his family to study for himself the truth of God’s word. He signed up for many correspondence courses over the internet, and from them found that those courses he received from churches of Christ were different. They were challenging and Bible based, and from them he learned the truth.
The following joke appeared in the July 2004 edition of Reader’s Digest:
Reporter interviewing a 104-year-old woman: "What is the best thing about being 104? She replied, "No peer pressure."
While this is humorous as an age joke, it’s not so funny when you’re a teenager facing the very real challenge of peer pressure. This is especially true for Christian teens. Children and adults are either oblivious to such pressure, or are confident and secure enough not to care. Most teens, however, do care about what other people think.
When I was a teenager, lo these 20 years ago, we referred to this phenomenon as being part of the "in crowd." I remember an article in my school newspaper about what was "in" and what was "out." Nike shoes were in, Adidas was out. Walkman radios were in, transistor radios were out. Three-wheelers were in, motorbikes were out. Thinking back on that list, it was really about materialism and excluding kids whose parents didn’t have the money for whatever was "in" at the time.
Those who believe the Bible accept the fact that the church is part of God’s eternal purpose (Eph. 3:9-11). It was not an accident or aberration from His will. The church was planned and purposed before time began, because it is integral to the plan of salvation (Gen. 3:15; Eph. 5:25). It consists of those who are redeemed by the blood of Christ and is destined for heaven (Acts 20:28; 1 Cor. 6:20; 15:24). Yet, few men respect the church. They view it as an institution established and governed by the whims of man. It even serves their basest desires.
The purpose of the church is to save souls. It is the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15). As such, it supports the gospel in the world, spreading the faith to the lost (1 Thes. 1:7-9). By teaching this truth, it provides men the opportunity to be set free from sin and death (Jn. 8:32). In other words, the church teaches the gospel which is God’s power unto salvation (Rom. 1:16). When men obey it, they turn from being slaves of Satan to servants of God (Rom. 6:16-18). However, some do not honor the purpose of the church.
Both a major motion picture and a popular Meatloaf song of the 1970s depicted the irreverent sounding title of this article: Heaven Can Wait.
Yet as much as the Christian yearns for Heaven and to return to God, to escape the cold clutches of this world and association with its dark prince, when the moment of death impends, he becomes reluctant and does everything in his power to suggest that Heaven can wait.
Good King Hezekiah preferred 15 more years on this terrestrial ball to an immediate transport to the land beyond, perhaps because he was ignorant about what lay ahead (2 Kings 20). Today, medical advances have extended the life expectancy of the average American to nearly fourscore years, matching the zenith of Psalm 90:10. Death is feared, loathed and delayed, even on occasions when the only life left is functioning by virtue of a machine.
It has been a pleasure and encouragement to meet brethren in the Philippines and have the opportunity to work with them in the spread of the Gospel. Like other American preachers before me, a matter of great concern to me has been the number of Filipino preachers who work with little or no financial support for their labors. Time has not only caused me to appreciate the sacrifices of such men, it has also caused me to view the problem from the opposite standpoint, that of brethren in the U.S. Several preachers in the Philippines are supported by brethren or churches in America, but only a small percentage of faithful Filipino brethren receive such support. Still other Filipino brethren have sought support for their work and have not been successful. They have preached for years while supporting themselves by whatever means available and such men are worthy of our love and respect because of their sacrifices in serving the Lord without complaint.
It’s that time of year again, when millions make New Year’s resolutions — with many breaking them within the first week of the New Year. Resolutions are not bad. Making goals is a helpful way to achieve the improvements we wish to make in our lives. They need to be realistic and possible. Here are a few suggestions to be in 2005 that are within the reach of every Christian.
Asa was the third king of Judah in the divided kingdom. The two kings before him, Rehoboam and Abijah, exemplified the way of error. The inspired writer summed up the reign of Rehoboarn by saying, "He did that which was evil, because he set not his heart to seek Jehovah" (2 Chron. 12:14). Of the life of Abijah, the Bible says that he walked in "the sins of his father" and "his heart was not perfect with Jehovah" (1 Kgs. 15:3). Yet, Asa did not follow the path of apostasy, but "did that which was good and right in the eyes of Jehovah his God: for he took away the foreign altars, and the high places, and brake down the pillars, and hewed down the Asherim, and commanded Judah to seek Jehovah… and to do the law and the commandments" (2 Chron. 14:2-4).
