"Voting"

I am writing this article mid-morning, Tuesday, May 29th. On my way to the
office I stopped by the designated voting place for Precinct 1, Tarrant
Country, Texas. Until I picked up the ballot I was not aware of some of
the issues that we as Texans were voting on, and I was pleased that I had
some input into a couple of issues that, in my estimation, had serious
consequences. The fact that I had the right, and the privilege to vote
made me think of voting in general, and how some folks have either neglected
the practice all together, or they have assumed that voting does wonders in
the social and political realm, so why not in the spiritual realm? As for
our social duty, Sean Hochdorf addressed this point very well several years
ago in a lecture he prepared for the Memphis School of Preaching lectureship
of 2005: "It is an absurdity to be passive when issues such as gay
marriage, abortion, stem-cell research, and the like are on the ballot.
These are all issues with which Christians should be gravely concerned.
These are moral, biblical issues. If Children of God do not take a stand for
truth and morality in choosing our leaders, then we are to blame when
ungodly men take office. One can be sure that the devil is voting whether
Christians are or not" (MSOP Lectures 2005, page 228). Brother Hochdorf
then provided a quote from Mark Twain, a portion of which appears here:

Whenever a Christian votes, he votes against God or for Him, and He knows
this quite well ... God is an issue in every election; He is a candidate in
the person of every clean nominee on every ticket; His purity and his
approval are there, to be voted for or voted against, and no loyalty to
party can absolve His servant from his higher and more exacting loyalty to
Him. If Christians should vote their duty to God at the polls, they would
carry every election, and do it with ease. If the Christians of America
could be persuaded to vote God and a clean ticket, it would bring about a
moral revolution that would be incalculably beneficent. It would save the
country - a country whose Christians have betrayed it and are destroying
it. Christianity is on trial now. And nothing important is on trial except
Christianity (MSOP Lectures 2005, pages 228-229).

Mark Twain was ahead of his time in many respects, but if he could have
looked 100 years into the future I think he would have doubled down on his
remarks. Most folks who are responsible with regard to their civic duties
understand the importance of voting and the impact they can make on society
in general and upon generations yet unborn.

There is, however, a growing tendency in religious circles to take the same
approach toward spiritual matters. Various denominations have, for years,
practiced voting prospective candidates into their religious body. I came
across the following humorous story that illustrates the foolishness of
"voting" people into a church: There was a man who attended services with
his wife every Sunday, but who had not yet received any kind of "sign" that
he was one of the chosen. His wife used to pressure him to seek a sign more
earnestly than he appeared to be. So the man made up a story that he told
the church one Sunday and the church "voted" the man in as a member. On
their way home the man told his wife what he had done. She insisted that he
go forward the following Sunday to confess what he had done. He did, and he
was withdrawn from. On the way home he told his wife that it was an odd
thing to him that when he told a lie the church voted him in and when he
told the truth, they voted him out. While we might smile at this simple but
fictitious story, it well illustrates the foolishness of men seeking to
determine right and wrong by the power of human "vote." In 1989 a group of
"biblical scholars" voted on whether or not material in the gospels
(Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) was actually representative of the
"historical Jesus." One example of the hatchet job they did on the inspired
word of God had to do with the Lord's prayer. It was concluded by a vote of
26 to 4 that the Lord's prayer was not the words of Jesus. A good
description of these so-called scholarly elite was penned by a fellow
preacher several years ago. Such are "mass bred in humanistic incubators
with only a few inductees maintaining any real Bible faith."

Would that our brethren were exempt from such foolishness. Unfortunately
some of our more "liberal minded" brethren have succumbed to such sophistry.
A couple of examples will suffice. Fifteen years ago a "progressive" (that
just another word for liberal, do-your-own-thing mentality) congregation of
the churches of Christ decided that they would conduct a Christmas program
for the holidays. A poll was taken in the congregation, and they "voted"
on whether or not they thought using instrumental music was "uncomfortable."
The result of the poll? With only a small handful voting that they would
feel "uncomfortable" using instrumental music, it was decided that the
program would go forward, the planned activity having won the majority of
the votes.

Another example of such sophisticated silliness occurred just over ten years
ago in a congregation that was torn by strife and division. There were
actually two congregations meeting in one building. Wanting to go beyond
the word of the God, the liberal element decided to call for a "vote" at the
next men's business meeting, and the decision reached in that vote would
become the policy of the congregation. As it turned out, 61% of the
congregation determined the direction they would go in matters pertaining to
doctrine. No appeal to the Bible; no "thus saith the Lord"; no study to see
what God had to say on the matter - just a simple "vote" of the members.

Now for a more personal example. Some years ago my wife and I were doing
mission work in South Africa. An issue over marriage and divorce came up,
and I announced that I would begin a series of lessons designed to see what
God had to say on the matter. A meeting of the men of the congregation was
called, and it was determined by unanimous vote that I was not to teach,
publically or privately, on the subject of marriage and divorce. When I
received the signed statement from the men informing them of their decision,
I borrowed one of the men's Bibles, took out my pocket knife, and proceeded
to cut out the page in his Bible containing the first 15 verses of Matthew
19. When asked what I was doing, I told him that the men had essentially
"voted" to do precisely that, though not actually cutting it with a pen
knife!

So you see, we have not escaped the mind set that we can somehow "vote" in
or out what we may like or dislike. When the judgment day comes, those who
have "voted" against God will find themselves being "voted" out of heaven.
But the vote cast against them will not be a vote cast by the angels in
heaven, or a vote cast by unbelievers and disobedient associates. The
"vote" will be cast by God, and as someone has wisely noted, "God is a
majority, whether we are on his side or not!"


byTom Wacaster

Memorial Day

Folks today seem to have lost some of their enthusiasm regarding Memorial
Day. I know that is a general statement and surely doesn't include everyone.
However, ask almost any young person what Memorial Day is about and they
won't be able to tell you (probably a few of the adults also). For most
folks today, it means a day off work and a big party, cook out or picnic.

What is Memorial Day? A "Memorial" is an object or action which serves as a
focus for memory of something. "Memorial Day is a federal holiday observed
annually in the United States on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as
Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate
the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War. (Southern ladies organizations
and southern schoolchildren had decorated Confederate graves in Richmond and
other cities during the Civil War, but each region had its own date. Most
dates were in May.) By the 20th century Memorial Day had been extended to
honor all Americans who have died in all wars. Memorial Day is a day of
remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States
Armed Forces." (Wikipedia)

The idea of a memorial is not new. We find a memorial mentioned 78 times in
the Old Testament and twice in the New Testament (KJV) and it always has to
do with people's relationship to God. Whenever we do anything that focuses
our memory upon God we have a memorial to him. In Acts 10:4 we read of
Cornelius, "The angel answered, "Your prayers and gifts to the poor have
come up as a memorial offering before God."

The principle of course we want to think about is the most important
memorial, which is remembering our God. We read in Psalm 135:13, "Your name,
O LORD, endures for ever; and thy memorial, O LORD, throughout all
generations."

Let's not forget the fallen hero's of America, but more important, don't
forget a memorial to our God for his sacrifice.

Russ Lawson

From the Trash Heap

After Deb Kirby washed her hands at her Attleboro, Massachusetts home one
day last week, she took off her rings and wrapped them in a paper towel to
let them dry. A little later she was cleaning up the area and inadvertently
threw away the folded paper towel that contained her rings, including her
engagement and wedding bands.

She took out the trash and it was soon picked up by a garbage truck from the
city's trash collection company, Waste Management.

Later, when she realized what she had done, she frantically called Waste
Management. The company had the truck that picked up her garbage unload at a
transfer station. Kirby and some of the employees dug through heaps of
stinking garbage to find her five valuable rings. She knew that the rings
were in a black garbage bag with a blue drawstring. In just 30 minutes, the
bag - and the rings! - were found. *

One day Jesus was passing through the city of Jericho (see Luke 19). His
presence attracted a crowd.....

There was a man who wanted to see Jesus, but he was having difficulty
because of the crowds - because he was short in stature. His name was
Zacchaeus. He wanted to see Jesus so badly that he climbed a sycamore tree
so he could see over the crowd.

When Jesus reached the place where Zacchaeus was in the tree, He looked up
and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your
house today" (v. 5). Zacchaeus came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
The people of Jericho saw this and began to mutter, "Jesus has gone to be
the guest of a sinner" (v. 7).

Zacchaeus was one of the most hated and despised people of Jericho because
he was a tax collector. He was viewed by many in Palestine as a traitor
because he collected taxes for the Roman government. Many tax collectors
grew very rich by "charging extra" while collecting taxes and lining their
own pockets.

According to most people in the land, tax collectors like Zacchaeus belonged
on the trash heap. But Jesus had good news for Zacchaeus: "Today salvation
has come to this house, . for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save
that which was lost" (vs. 9-10).

That's Good News for ALL of us! When we were on the trash heap of sin and
headed for eternal destruction, Jesus came looking for us. His search and
rescue mission is an indication of His great love for us, not our intrinsic
value. In fact, it is His love that makes us valuable to Him. He loves us so
much that He gave His life for us to save us from sin and sin's punishment
(John 3:16).

If we will place our faith and trust in Him (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their
sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Him before men (Romans 10:9-10),
and be baptized (immersed) into Christ (Acts 2:38), He will save us from sin
and give us the gift of eternal life (Ephesians 1:7; Romans 6:23).

Deb Kirby says she's "extremely grateful and so very impressed" by Waste
Management and its employees who helped her to find her lost valuables.

We should also be "extremely grateful and so very impressed" by the love
that Jesus had for us to leave heaven and come to find us and save us from
eternal destruction.

Won't YOU accept His offer of salvation and eternal life?

David A. Sargent

            "No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been

              the reward for what he gave."       President Calvin Coolidge

Memorial Day, 2012. In my way of thinking, this is one of the two most solemn and meaningful holidays we celebrate in our country. The other being Veteran's Day in November. Why these two days mean so much to me is that if it weren't for those whom we honor on these two occasions, we would not be here as a nation to observe the other holidays. That is how much, at least in my mind, that we owe our honored fallen and all of those who have served in the military.

Today, as you read this editorial, my wife and I will be in our nation's capital, Washington DC, and will be taking part in some of the activities honoring our country's heroes. So, I'm leaving you with some thoughts regarding this occasion and some scriptural connections to these thoughts. Thank you for considering them with me.

Memorials. They come in varied and different forms, don't they? Forms such as "days" and sometimes longer periods of time plus various material objects. One of those objects that, perhaps you've never considered as a memorial, is grave markers or headstones in cemeteries. In specific, to those whom we're honoring today, our fallen veterans, these memorials are found in cemeteries all around the world. From Europe to Asia and places in between, we've left too many of our nation's heroes buried in those countries where they fought and died.

In your mind's eye for a moment, picture those rows and rows of headstones. They all have a common feature. Inscribed upon them is the name of the person (if known) buried there. Isn't that a memorial to that person? Of course it is.

But, there's an even better location for a memorial to be inscribed. A Greek philosopher, about 400 years before Christ, said in regards to fallen military heroes, that "their praise should be found in the 'noblest of all sepulchers' graven not on stone, but in the hearts of men." Think about it, what better place could something be written that should always be remembered than our "hearts?"

It's my humble opinion from reading the scriptures, that God apparently feels this to also be the best inscription location wherein to honor and memorialize something. I base this opinion on the words found in Heb. 8:10 where we're told that God's new covenant with man would be "put in their mind" and "written on their hearts..." Then in 2Cor. 3:3 we see where the Spirit of God wrote the "teachings of Christ...not on tables of stone, but in the fleshly tables of the heart."

And, God saw the importance of establishing various forms of memorials with His people so that they would not forget the things done for them. Which is exactly the same reasoning for us having days like today set aside each year. So that we do not forget those things done for us by our soldiers in all of our wars.

President Lincoln referred to them as the "honored dead" who gave "the last full measure of devotion." - their lives for their country - us. Otherwise, if no special day were to be devoted to this cause, I can guarantee that they would be forgotten within a couple of generations. Truth be known, we should remember them every day and not just one or two days a year.

President George W. Bush accurately expressed my way of thinking regarding our continual remembrance of the fallen in a speech he gave on a Memorial Day service at the Normandy Cemetery in France. He said, regarding those buried there: "We should honor today and everyday of the lifetimes that they had hoped to live."

Think about those words for a minute and then consider that laying along side the grave of that fallen one is the grief of a parent, a wife, their children and the others who loved them and "the lifetimes they had hoped to live" with them.

While I was reading the words said by Pres. Bush at Normandy and considering my thoughts about the families, I was reminded of some words written by the apostle Paul and recorded in Romans 14:7, "For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself." How true we know that to be on occasions such as this.

Another way of honoring our fallen military is with the thoughts expressed by Gen. George Patton when he stated in a speech that, instead of mourning them, we "rather should thank God that such men lived."

I have a grave concern about this particular holiday and that concern is that I'm afraid that it has become an occasion for playing and partying. That it has just become another three-day weekend for a lot of people to travel and party. With some exceptions, doesn't it seem that, in all the pictures we see regarding memorial events, the attendees are mostly older people? Seems that way to me.

Many years ago, on another Memorial Day occasion, these words were spoken by Admiral McKinney and, in light of his thoughts, I just wonder what he would be thinking if he could see us today. Here is some of his thoughts from that long-passed occasion: "We must not allow our riches to make of us satiated citizens of weak physical characteristics, loose morals and decreased mentality. If we do so, we are not honoring those departed war heroes whom we memorialize today. They will have died in vain." To that I add my - AMEN!

So, as I've done for the past three years, I'm traveling across this great country with a large contingent of veterans en route to "The Wall" in Washington, DC. Not to say "goodbye" to those inscribed thereon, but rather to say "hello" and thank God that "such men as them lived."

In Deut. 6:12 Israel was given a warning to "take care lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt." As mentioned earlier, they were commanded to observe certain "memorials" specifically so they wouldn't forget. We now have a "new covenant" written in our "minds and hearts" and we also have a "memorial" to be observed for the same reason as the "memorials" of Israel. That we don't forget the commemoration of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ "lest we forget" the sacrifice given for our salvation.

I'm going to close with an ode taken from a poem entitled "For The Fallen" written by Laurence Binyon and inspired by those who fought and fell during "The Great War."

        "They shall grow not old, As we that are left grow old,

        Age shall not weary them, Nor the years condemn.

        At the going down of the sun, And in the morning,

        We will remember them."

Ron Covey

　

It was a dark and stormy night

Seriously, I thought these words were immortalized by Charles Shultz with
his famous cartoon character "Snoopy". Often Snoopy would be shown sitting
in front of a typewriter typing those words. Needless to say, I was somewhat
surprised when I just began a new SiFi novel (new to me) written back in
1962. The first words on the first page were, "It was a dark and stormy
night" (From: "A wrinkle in time").

As I read those words, my mind flashed back to the night in the New
Testament when a few men were making their way across the Sea of Galilee on
a dark and stormy night. Have you ever experienced one of those nights? The
ones that seem to bring total darkness, that leave you feeling totally
alone, that cause you to feel like no one in this world cares?

Those disciples felt that way, but what they forgot was that Jesus was right
there with them all of the time. Notice the story in Matthew 8:23-27, "Then
Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples.
Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat.
But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, "Lord,
save us! We're going to drown!" Jesus responded, "Why are you afraid? You
have so little faith!" Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and
suddenly all was calm. The disciples were amazed. "Who is this man?" they
asked. "Even the winds and waves obey him!"

Have you ever forgotten that Jesus was right there in the boat with you on
your "dark and stormy night"? Or like these men, failed to realize his power
or who he really was? After Jesus stilled the storm these men ask, "Who is
this man?" they still didn't get it, they still didn't understand. What
about you?

When you are in the middle of your personal storm, to who to you cry out? Do
you call your parents, or your friends, or your work mates, or your school
mates? Why is it that far too often we don't think to call out to the one
who can still the storm until we have no where else to go, rather than
calling on him first?

Russ Lawson

A special day set aside to honor our mothers

"Mother's day", a special day set aside to honor our mothers. Mothers we do
honor you and thank God for your influence in our lives! Now having said
that, I realize that not everyone has that kind of relationship with their
mother, which will allow them to honor her. That is a pity for all involved,
but that is Satan's influence with sin in the world.

Each year, we and most churches across our land acknowledge Mother's Day in
some way. Have you ever wondered whether or not we should be doing this (as
a church activity)? Have you every considered whether or not it is
scriptural to celebrate Mother's Day? I mean, is it based upon scriptural
doctrines, principles or example?

Well, I hadn't either, so here is what I came up with, I think it is. No, it
is not commanded in the scripture and we have no example of the early church
setting aside a special day to recognize mothers. However someone did
acknowledge just how important mothers are to us and honored their mother.

Nine times in the scripture we are commanded by God to "honor your. mother."
Think about Jesus' last few moments upon the cross, who did he remember out
of all of the people gathered there? His mother! In John 19:25-27, we read:
"Standing near the cross were Jesus' mother, and his mother's sister, Mary
(the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother standing
there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, "Dear woman, here is
your son." And he said to this disciple, "Here is your mother." And from
then on this disciple took her into his home." (NLT)

If our God feels it is important to honor our mothers, even when he is dying
in agony, then I feel it is important for us to do so also. So, for each of
you mothers, I wish you the happiest of Mother's Days. May your husbands and
children honor you as God intended.

Russ Lawson