____________________________________________________ THE GOSPEL OBSERVER ____________________________________________________ "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20). ____________________________________________________ February 16, 2003 ____________________________________________________ Contents: 1) Cloned for Eternity (Steve Klein) 2) "Unto the End..." (Jim R. Everett) 3) All in the Family (Tom Roberts) ____________________________________________________ -1- Cloned for Eternity by Steve Klein Cloning is the process of producing an individual from a single cell of its parent -- creating a genetic twin without following the normal course of heterosexual reproduction. Someone once explained it to me like this: "Clones are people two!" There has been a lot of attention given lately to the cloning of humans. Some of that attention is no doubt due to the prominent place of clones in recent science fiction books and movies -- not the least of which is the movie Star Wars: Episode II. But news reports of the possible cloning of a human have brought the subject of cloning into the bright spotlight of our national news media. A group known as Clonaid is claiming to have actually cloned a human; a baby girl named Eve was supposedly born on December 26, 2002. Clonaid is a branch of a religious sect known as the Raelian Movement. The Realians describe themselves as follows: "The Raelian Movement is an international religious organization which claims that life on Earth was created scientifically by a human extraterrestrial race whose name is Elohim. The Raelian Movement was founded in France following the contact between an extraterrestrial and Rael (a.k.a. Claude Vorilhon) on the 13th December 1973. The extraterrestrial, who called himself Yahweh Elohim (Hebrew for Jehovah God, sk) ...promised to return openly, bringing all the prophets of the past as predicted in the religions, if we establish an official embassy for them" (From the Clonaid & Raelian websites). The Raelians believe that cloning is the key to obtaining eternal life. They explain it like this: "Once we can clone exact replicas of ourselves, the next step will be to transfer our memory and personality into our newly cloned brains, which will allow us to truly live forever. Since we will be able to remember all our past, we will be able to accumulate knowledge... Thus today, man's ultimate dream of eternal life, which past religions only promised after death in mythical paradise, becomes a scientific reality...(eventually) eternal life in a computer will be possible without the need for any biological body..." (From the Clonaid & Raelian websites). The Raelian Movement also claims that Jesus was resurrected through an advanced cloning technique performed by the Elohim. While the Raelian Movement may seem bizarre and just plain kooky to most of us, it's not very much different from some widely accepted religions. For instance, the Mormons make a connection between eternal life and human reproduction; they believe that marriage and family are designed to be eternal relationships, so that couples who are married in a Mormon temple will continue as a family "into the eternities." Heads of families will become the "fathers" of future worlds over which they will be as God is to us. Another religion, Scientology, holds that the human struggle for survival on earth is the result of an ancient conflict on another planet. Scientology is the religion of a number of well-known celebrities such as John Travolta, Kirstie Alley, Jenna Elfman, Priscilla Presley and Tom Cruise. Scientologists also believe that "all life forms evolved from the basic building blocks: the virus and the cell." These religions all have similar problems. First, like the woman with whom Jesus spoke at Jacob's well (John 4), they fail to understand the spiritual nature of eternal life because they are focused on the material world and on physical relationships. Second, they fail to appreciate the true nature of God because they cannot conceive of someone who is as superior to man "as the heavens are above the earth" (cf. Isaiah 55:8-9). Being lifted up with pride, they imagine that duplicating themselves for all eternity is a worthwhile goal, and never stop to consider that in their present state, they may not be worth duplicating! The Bible teaches that eternal life is obtained not by duplicating oneself, but by replicating Jesus. God desires sons in the image of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. The Bible says, "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren" (Romans 8:29). If I'm to be a clone for all eternity, I do not want to be a clone of myself, but of God's Son. "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body..." (Philippians 3:20-21). This Jesus is not some superhuman from outer space -- He is not from this world at all. He said, "You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world" (John 8:23). Jesus is not of this world, and neither is eternal life. As children of Adam, made of the dust of this world, we will return to dust. But as children of God, bearing the image of His Son, we may live forever. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:49, "And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." "And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son" (1 John 5:11). -- Via The Bulletin of the Church of Christ at New Georgia, January 12, 2003 ____________________________________________________ -2- "Unto The End..." by Jim R. Everett How do you feel about someone who starts a sentence and never...? How about someone who starts a job but never gets around to completing it? Do you feel that you owe a man pay when he does not finish a job for which he has been contracted? Do you expect to win the prize, if you do not cross the finish line! For some reason we understand that truth as it applies to our physical world but seem to think that it will not apply in eternity. We do not receive the crown of life until the end (cf. 2 Tim. 4:6-8) Ä "...I have finished the course...." Paul said, "henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness." The crown does not adorn the head of the weak, indifferent, worldly minded, negligent, quitters. It is always our prayer, as it was the Hebrew writer's, that "...we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end. That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises" (6:11-12). Starting is the easy part -- it is the finishing, the grinding it out when it hurts, the bearing up under exasperation, the enduring when it seems there is no end in sight -- that is the hard part. Sometimes folks start walking the narrow way but it becomes too difficult and the price is too great to pay. Like the shallow soil, there is no depth and they quickly fall away (Matthew 13:5, 21). If we do not faithfully endure to the end, there is no crown of life. ____________________________________________________ -3- All in the Family by Tom Roberts There is something especially beautiful to me to see an entire family worship God together. When I was a young boy, I remember a man who worshipped with the church at home whose wife was a member of a denomination. Each week the family would leave home in separate cars, the man and wife going to different places of worship. Their daughter was pulled between the two. My own father was not a Christian and he either remained in bed on Sunday morning while we all went to worship, or, as often was the case, expressed his displeasure at our going. The fact that he was not saved tore at our hearts and kept us from being a close family. There was a barrier there that was never removed and sin finally tore the family asunder. It takes strength and character to keep a family together in Christ. There are strains and stresses that would pull it apart if possible. A husband has problems that are different from a wife's and understanding is required. And there must be a common bond that binds stronger than the stresses that would tear apart. A family that has Christ as its center is stronger than a family without Him. I admire Joshua's attitude when he said, "As for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah" (Joshua 24:15). I admire Cornelius who gathered his household together and said, "We are all here present in the sight of God, to hear all things that have been commanded thee of the Lord" (Acts 10:33). Husbands and fathers have a special responsibility before the Lord. They are to be heads of their households and guide the family in the way it should go. When a man abdicates this place and fails to lead his family in God's way, he will have much to answer for in the Judgment. Men, are you facing up to your place of responsibility? Women are often the strength in the family. Especially is this so when the men are not Christians. But even where men are Christians, it is often the woman who determines whether or not a family will be faithful. It is often left up to the wife to prepare breakfast, get the children ready, and do the multiple chores that are necessary if a family is to be able to attend. When a wife sleeps late, doesn't prepare, or doesn't want to attend, it is extremely difficult for the husband to get everything ready and leave. He can do it, but it is hard. Wives, are you helping or hindering your family in its service to God? Children can make worship pleasant or a chore. If they are allowed to dominate a family with their whims and dislikes, an hour or two in worship becomes a battle. It is hard to get them ready and then wrestle with them when they had rather stay home and play. As children get older, sullenness can set in and a poor attitude can destroy any worshipful attitude. Young people must come to realize that they are spiritual as well as physical and it is wrong to spend all their time on purely physical pleasures. They must be taught to feed the soul. Young people, do you help matters at home by your attitude or are you part of the problem? If you haven't been doing so let me encourage you to worship together as a family this Lord's Day. Read this article in the presence of the entire family and discuss your hindrances. If each of you will determine to put the Lord first, you can be closer to one another. Don't let the problems of life short-change your happiness, now or hereafter. Husbands, wives, children: serve God as a family. Which member(s) of your family are you content to see drift into hell? Do you sit across the breakfast table from a loved one who is lost? Talk humbly and lovingly to him (her) about it. Let them know that your love for them won't let you sit idly by while they are lost. Do you have young people who are drifting away? Let them read this so they will know you care. Reach out. Fight. Don't give up. Don't stop caring. Shed some tears. Pray about it. Determine to remain faithful all alone if you have to, but let them know you don't want to. You want your family to be in the Lord's family. Again, as a young boy, I remember the first Bible class teacher I had, long before I became a Christian. She was faithful but her husband was not a Christian. Year after year, she taught class and lived as she should, teaching her children until they all became Christians. It took over thirty years, but she lived to see the day her husband became a Christian. Thirty years means somewhere in excess of 1,500-1,600 Lord's Days when she went to worship without her husband. But she lived to see him baptized into Christ. And that is what she wanted all along. Do you want it badly enough to do the same? -- Via The Watchman, February 2003 ____________________________________________________ -4- News & Notes We want to continue praying for Robert Tice, who is Anne Mae Jackson's brother. His surgery for cancer of the esophagus will be February 20. Let us also keep remembering in prayer James Shuff (Luther and Agnes' son) who has been having trouble with hepatitis C for the last several years now. He actually contracted it more than 25 years ago, when in the hospital due to a car accident, but it had remained dormant for most of that time. He is to have surgery, but the date has not yet been scheduled. If you are visiting with us today, we want you to know that we are happy for your presence and hope that you will come again. ____________________________________________________ MYRTLE STREET CHURCH OF CHRIST 1022 Myrtle Street Denham Springs, LA 70726 (225) 664-8208 Sunday: 9:15 AM, 10:00 AM, 4:00 PM Wednesday: 7:00 PM evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (225) 667-4520 e-mail: tedwards@onemain.com web site: http://home.onemain.com/~tedwards/go ____________________________________________________