Tag: church of Christ

This World Is Not My Home: Some Reminders


Neal Pollard

  • “My team” got crushed last night in embarrassing fashion. Today, life continues.
  • A talented actor succumbed to his cruel coping mechanism and craving and is found dead in his apartment. Heroin is not the answer.
  • Unrest and fighting in Bangkok, Kiev, Aleppo, Moscow, and Bangui remind us that men of various earthly motives continue to use carnal warfare to gain power and subjugate their enemies.
  • Conservationists and whalers literally colliding their ships in Antarctica show how passionate we can be about things that ultimately cease. The same is true of those arguing over a pipeline from out of the north.
  • Even morally conservative people cheer the “good news” that abortion rates are their lowest since 1973—but over a million babies per year were still slaughtered in that 13% decline.
  • Handwringing over government healthcare and economic volatility dominates some people’s focus, while so little attention is given to the church’s mission to get heaven’s inheritance into the hands of as many as possible.
  • One “alternative lifestyle” is trumpeted, promoted, and force-fed the public through every media means possible, while the most important “alternative lifestyle”—Christianity—is sneered at and belittled.

Hey, but the reminders are not nearly all so negative.

  • I derive deep joy and peace from my daily communion with my Creator.
  • The church, though imperfect, is filled with people who are trying to please God and help each other get to heaven.
  • Jesus is greater than every challenge, discouragement, and strife.
  • Every spiritual blessing in Christ keeps every faithful child of God buoyed up in the most turbulent circumstances.
  • So many are going against the popular tide out of devotion to Him.
  • In the darkest times, the promises of God shine their brightest.
  • Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Nothing!

So, what kind of day are you having.  Maybe adjusting your perspective will help!

  • Our happiness is not tied to our net worth, worldly acceptance, or access to pleasure and ease. It is often most found where these are most lacking.
  • Evangelism still works and will always work.
  • Through consistent compassion and Christlikeness, we can reach the hearts of people struggling with so many of the ills previously mentioned and explode their stereotypes and prejudices against Christianity.
  • In the end, we will be victorious through Christ!

 

A Wonderful Legacy

Neal Pollard

It is a blessing to be in a family of preachers.  Though the men in my personal heritage have not necessarily been well-known to our entire brotherhood, their faithfulness and steadiness has proven exemplary to me.    Three uncles are or have been gospel preachers for several decades.  A cousin is a Bible professor in one of our Christian colleges.  His father was a preacher in the Atlanta area for many years.  My brother, brother-in-law, and father-in-law all preach.

My father, who has been preaching the gospel for 50 years, has started a program called “Carolina Outreach” to try and help struggling congregations in the Carolinas.  There are scores of congregations in both states doing all they can to keep open their doors.  Of course, like so many works, he is in great need of financial help to aid his ability to do this (the work is overseen by the North Charleston congregation in Charleston, South Carolina).

What is ironic in the most wonderful way is that my dad is standing on the shoulders of another man in our family.  My great-grandfather, Gilbert F. Gibbs, worked with T.H. Burton to establish the “first congregation of present churches of Christ in South Carolina” and “directly or indirectly had part in most now there” (from a tract published about him in Lawrenceburg, TN, in 1970).  A 1918 graduate of David Lipscomb, Grandpa Gibbs went to Union, South Carolina, with brother Burton to establish the work there.  In 1921, they went and held a tent meeting in Greenville and planted the church there.  In both cases, Christians converted in other places moved to South Carolina and found that the church was not in existence in their communities.  Grandpa Gibbs did local work in Tennessee and Indiana and did foreign missions in Canada, Puerto Rico, St. Croix and on the continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa.  But perhaps his greatest evangelistic legacy may have been in the Carolinas throughout most of the 1920s.

We don’t think of the Carolinas as a mission field, but it is certainly not part of the Bible belt as we think of it.  The need continues to be great to evangelize and edify the church of this part of the world.  I can think of no one more capable than my dad.  We do not have very many wealthy or famous relatives, but I could not want a better family legacy than I have.  Please pray for “Carolina Outreach” and help if you can!

A Beautiful Tribute

Neal Pollard

Kathy and I attended the funeral of Mildred (Millie) King, Larry’s mom and relative to several Bear Valley members, this morning at the Loveland church of Christ.  Ron Lauterbach, the local preacher there, delivered a fine tribute to the godliness of this woman.  So many kind things were said by Ron as well as family members about her faithful Christian life.  It was all very inspiring.  However, the crowning moment of the service was her widower’s words in her honor.  Ron saved these words for last, and they were touching.  He spoke of his “sweetheart” of 62 years, reflecting on how she put Jesus Christ before anything and anyone else.  Then, he spoke about what a devoted mother and wife she was throughout these many decades.  It was touching to hear about this wife who dedicated her life to raising faithful children and standing faithfully behind and beside her man.  When the service was over, Kathy whispered to me, “I don’t know her, but I want to be just like her.”

Is there any better tribute that can be paid than a life lived well?  She served at times as a preacher’s wife, but mostly a school teacher’s wife.  She made many a meal and sent many a card to others.  Her service was very well attended, especially for a late Thursday morning.  All of this honored her, but nothing more than the ones closest to her lavishing such praise about her spiritual maturity and service.  And the one closest to her of all people, Leland King, spoke most tenderly, fondly, and cherishingly.  No praise outshines the genuine admiration and affection of one’s spouse, the person with the most intimate knowledge of that one.  This kind of legacy lives on, even after that one dies (cf. Heb. 11:4b).

 

A PLEA TO THE OLDER AND YOUNGER GENERATIONS

Neal Pollard

I am at a unique crossroads at which I cannot hope to long remain.  Currently, I am young enough to exercise vigorously, play sports, appreciate indie music,  vaguely cope with technology and its changes, and not feel old.  Yet, I am old enough now to have seen all my children reach the teen years, accumulate some life’s experience, and deepen my appreciation for the living history and wisdom that is our senior citizens.  Subtly, but surely, I will loosen my grip on youth and embrace old age.

As a 43-year-old, I still am able to hold hands with both sides.  No generation is perfect, nor does any have the clear advantage over the others. There are things all of us should keep in mind, no matter our age.

To our older Christians, may we appreciate that our youth and young adults need so much more than a constant diet of teaching and preaching on sexual and moral sins.  They need a larger diet of Christian evidences, how we got the Bible, and similar subjects in a post-faith world that is increasingly hostile to biblical principles. They deserve as many textual and deeper studies as anyone else. May we further appreciate our need to meet the younger people of our churches with technological savvy, newer (though scriptural) songs, and an empathetic view of the challenges they face in the culture. They need us to believe in them, listen to them, and go to bat for them.  May we view them as “innocent until proven guilty,” hoping the best for them.  May we value them, empower them, and use them in meaningful service in the Kingdom today!

To our younger Christians, may we appreciate that the church is comprised of more than those 30 and younger. There may be some things that are lawful but are not expedient. The fact that you are a part of your culture does not mean you should not strive to rise above it, excel, and be an example to it.  That even should impact how you dress for worship (not meaning coat and tie, but meaning doing better than ratty shirts, “holey” jeans, and flops).  Remember that the church has more than one generation in it, and the servant-hearted does not insist on his or her “rights” or liberties but rather strives to serve through love. Wisdom should propel you to “rise up before the gray-headed and honor the aged” (Lev. 19:32).  As was said of Lot’s wife, so we do well to “remember Rehoboam” who listened to his peers instead of his elders (1 Ki. 12:8).  Beware the temptation to hold the “older generation” in contempt and disrespect the greater wisdom that usually accompanies the accumulation of years.

We all truly need each other, now more than ever!  There must be empathy for everyone else, a love that seeks the best for others. Let us look through each other’s eyes as best as we can and so “preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (cf. Eph. 4:3).

Dale Pauls’ Reflections On Women’s Role

Neal Pollard

An article written by Dale Pauls, minister for the Stamford, CT, Church of Christ, is rapidly making its way across the internet (www.gal328.org/good-news-naomi-walters-named-minister-in-residence-at-stamford-church-of-christ/).  I do not know brother Pauls and certainly harbor no personal animosity toward him.  However, I very strongly disagree with his apology (i.e., defense) of women serving in pulpit ministry.  As his statement seems to have drawn so much interest from so many, please allow me to contribute a few observations about this situation.

This is not a new position for him.  For those unfamiliar with brother Pauls, you might assume that he has just studied himself into a position favorable to hiring the Christian sister as a part-time Minister in Residence job.  In fact, a June 1, 2006, article in the Christian Chronicle featuring that congregation revealed they had long established the practice of women deacons, the eligibility of women to serve as elders, leading in worship and even occasionally preaching (from “Exodus Connecticut,” Bobby Ross, Jr., 6/1/06, online ed.).  Thus, the congregation and Pauls were already clear on where they stood on the matter.

The majority of his defense of the position is either his interpretation of history or an appeal to emotion.  Pauls’ declaration was reposted on gal328.org, a site created to appeal to churches of Christ to place women in a fully “egalitarian” (i.e., equal) position when it comes to their role in worship and church leadership.  What is striking from his “Reflections on Announcement” is that his appeal is mostly built around a contrast between his genesis in ministry and the young woman’s.  Essentially, he says that we, as the church, are behind the times and will cause our own serious decline. He appeals to women like this young lady, with the desire and the ability, being unfairly denied the chance to act upon such.  Scant little scripture is asserted for their decision. In fact, direct reference to scripture appears in only two of the 14 paragraphs of his article.

His appeal to scripture for his position begs the question without proving anything. An uncritical analysis of his brief use of scripture might satisfy one who asks for biblical proof.  He asserts that the two passages that restrict woman’s participation, 1 Corinthians 14:33-35 and 1 Timothy 2:9-15, “address specific circumstances in the particular cultural context of their original first-century audiences.” Interestingly, he does nothing to prove that.  Here is why.  There is not proof.  The text allows for no such interpretation.  In 1 Timothy, Paul explains that the epistle was to allow him and Ephesus to know how the church was to conduct itself (3:15).  The role of women is just one of a great many “household matters” dealt with in the letter.  A weak and illogical comparison is made to Paul’s words to slaves to obey their masters, an apples (gender distinctions are present all places for all times) to oranges (slavery has not been all places in all times) comparison.  One is instruction for what a person does who happens to be a slave, while the other, in which Paul leaves his own culture to appeal to the beginning of time, governs on the basis of gender.  His other “proof text,” Acts 2:17-21, deals with the miraculous.  Ironically, this is a text that can be shown to be restrictive to a particular culture and time but Pauls uses these verses to appeal to the “universal” he attempts to establish.

To say that we are holding people back or down, that we do not respect them or believe in grace because we wish to respect, trust and obey Scripture is both dangerous and insulting.  If certain ones are intent on changing God’s command for the sake of their own preferences, they are going to do so.  Jeroboam did the same thing in 1 Kings 12.  But, as Jesus said, “Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35). No man can do that, but he can break himself trying.

CONVENIENT CONFESSION

Neal Pollard

Lance Armstrong went on Oprah Winfrey to confess his doping, but he has refused to testify under oath about the cheating.  The World Anti-Doping Agency director, David Howman, said of the TV interview, “What he is doing is for his own personal gratification. He’s welcome to do that, no one is going to criticize that component, but if anyone thinks that in his wildest dreams that it is going to have any effect on his life ban then they are in the same fairyland” (Steve Keating, Reuters, 1/18/13).   It is reminiscent of baseball power-hitter Mark McGuire’s famous, tearful confession to MLB Network of using steroids.  He said it was wrong, but maintained he only did it (cheated) to help mend or prevent his injuries, not enhance his power.  But, as journalist Larry Stone wrote, “He confessed because he had to confess” (Seattle Times, 1/11/10).  I remember being at a congregation which supported a missionary in Africa. The missionary was repeatedly asked by the elders if he taught polygamists that they could keep their wives when becoming a Christian so long as he did not accumulate more.  Other missionaries in the region reported that he did, that they confronted him, but that he refused to change his teaching.  But, the missionary vehemently, repeatedly denied teaching that.  Several years later upon retiring from that mission work, he saw one of the men who had served as an elder. The now former elder asked him if he had told polygamists they could keep their wives.  He answered, “Of course, but ‘everybody’ did it.”  His confession was convenient at that time because telling the truth would not cost him financial support.

Christians are told in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  James adds, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much” (5:16).  This is a confession driven by a conviction to please and obey God and make things right with those we have offended.

“Convenient confession” is not convicted confession.  Confessing if and only if we are caught is convenient rather than convicted confession.  Confession meant to conceal or control the discovery of other and even greater sins is not convicted confession.  Pharaoh confessed to get relief from God’s punishment (Ex. 9:27; 10:16). Balaam went from cursing to confessing only when he could see the angel of the Lord (Num. 22:34). Achan only confessed when God picked him out of the crowd (Josh. 7:20). Saul confessed when his back, spiritually, was against the wall (1 Sam. 15:24, 30; 26:21).  Time and testing proved the insincerity of these confessions.

Everyone will confess Jesus at the Judgment, when doubt will have died (Ph. 2:11).  Each of us are confronted with a sin problem, and at best we will wrestle with it (Rom. 7:14ff).  For confession to be effective, the Bible urges honesty and sacrifice.  Self-serving, self-preserving confession is convenient confession.  “Convenient confession” is not convicted confession.