____________________________________________________ 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). ____________________________________________________ September 4, 2005 ____________________________________________________ Contents: 1) Jesus: Man of Action (Larry Ray Hafley) 2) The Beautiful Hope of Heaven (Tommy Poarch) 3) News & Notes: Katrina Update ____________________________________________________ -1- Jesus: Man of Action by Larry Ray Hafley What image do you have of Jesus? Did Jesus affect the society in which he lived? Were people aware of His presence? The New Testament presents Jesus as a man of action. His words and works were earthquakes. He sent waves and ripples roaring and rumbling through cities and communities. Perhaps a sense of His personal presence has been lost. Observe the record of His life. You will not see a feminine featured fellow walking around or sitting down with a little lamb in His arms or lap. None Took Him Lightly Jesus was not received or believed by everyone. But even His enemies felt the force of His life. "And it came to pass when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes" (Matt. 7:28,29). They knew this was no ordinary teacher! His doctrine fomented debate and raised questions which the religious leaders could not answer. This is shown in that they placed a quarantine on Him and His teaching. "Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews" (Jn. 7:13; 9:22; 12:42). The word came down from the highest echelons of the Jewish hierarchy: "This man is not to be considered under threat of excommunication." See what that tells you about Jesus' influence. Excerpts from "the beloved physician," Dr. Luke, are also revealing. "And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him into the power and authority of the governor" (Lk. 20:20). "And after that they durst not ask him any question at all" (Lk. 20:40). Why resort to underhanded tactics? Why were the wisest men shamed into silence? They were selected for their guile. They were sly and clever, but they were stifled. Their speechlessness is an eloquent oration on Jesus' divine authority. Do you hear it? The general public hummed and buzzed with imagination in consideration of Him. Some said He was John the Baptist; some said He was Elijah, Jeremiah -- or one of the other Old Testament prophets. Some suspected that He might be the Christ. Others said He was "mad," but none took Him lightly (Jn. 6:15; 7:12,31,32; 10:19-42; Matt. 16:17). When they stooped beneath the weight of His impeccable life and doctrine, conniving councils sent "front men" to investigate and castigate him (Matt. 22:15). Whether for good or ill, all men sought Him. The attention which Jesus generated frustrated the Pharisees. In desperation they said among themselves, "Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? Behold, the world is gone after him" (Jn. 12:19). Mark's Gospel "Mark's idea is to set before us the Wonder-worker, the individual personality of the Son of God, and to show how continuously active he was...Mark's gospel is the gospel of activity...The Gospel according to Mark is crowded with action. "...For example, you have in Mark a spirit of restless activity; he recognized in Christ just that which satisfies the demand of his particular nature. There is no word in the whole Gospel according to Mark that is more characteristic and significant than the word `immediately,' or `straightway.' You find that word two or three times in Matthew; two or three times in Luke; but in Mark it is perpetually recurring. In Mark it occurs forty-one times. In Mark, whatever is done is done 'straightway,' `immediately,' and there is rapid passage from one event to another. As soon as Christ works a miracle, straightway something else happens. Mark seems to be bent upon passing rapidly from one thing to another, and recognizing the continual activity of the Savior's life. It is Mark that tells us that the room where they were was so full they could not stand. It is Mark that tells us that our Savior was so busy with the disciples that they had no time to eat. It is Mark that tells us that Jesus was so restlessly active that the people thought he was beside himself" (A. H. Strong, Popular Lectures On The Books of the New Testament, pp. 75-77). Jesus' Works Undeniable The Lord's words could not be successfully resisted. As we have seen, He squelched captious conspirators who were sent to "entangle him in his talk." His works were no less powerful. They show us the power of His life and influence. As witness thereto, Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, whom He raised from the dead, led many to believe on Him (Jn. 12:11,18). So, they plotted to kill Lazarus. They could not discredit the miracle of Lazarus' resurrection, thus, "The chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death" (Jn. 12:10). Everyone was talking about Lazarus being raised; the people were clamoring to meet the young Nazarene. Can you sense the furor Jesus' raising of Lazarus created (Jn. 12:10,11,17-19)? In Matthew 12:22-24, Jesus healed a blind, speechless man who was possessed with a demon. "All the people were amazed!" The area was all "aflutter" about it! They said, "Is not this the Son of David?" They asked their religious overseers about it. The Pharisees said, "Well, he casts out devils, but he does it by the power of the devil." This shows the miracle was genuine. Their charge proves the man was healed. All they could do was to try to cast aspersion against Jesus and prejudice the minds of the people. Again, Jesus is in the very center of action; His works sent tremors rattling through the hearts of men. Conclusion Zacchaeus and the woman with a bloody malady could not get to see Jesus, nor could the paralytic man -- why? Because of the masses thronging to see and hear Him! On and on we could go with incidents of this nature. How many more can you recall? Does this give you a little more insight into the might, manhood, and majesty of our Lord? Jesus was a man of action. He was the focal point of thought because of His deeds. How does this compare with certain of His followers who hide and reside in quietness and obscurity within four air conditioned walls? -- Via Truth Magazine XXII: 3, pp. 56-57, January 19, 1978 ____________________________________________________ -2- The Beautiful Hope of Heaven By Tommy Poarch The beauty of heaven gives constant encouragement to true believers. The bleaker the moment, the more precious is the song, "How Beautiful Heaven Must Be." Christians must keep before them the longing desire and hope of heaven. While engaged in the good fight of faith, each saint must constantly observe heaven through the eye of faith. Christians are depicted as pilgrims who are journeying toward their homeland. If their voyage home was likened unto a ship upon the sea of life, we would describe the waters upon which they sail as troubled waters. Life is not always fair, and it is certainly not always easy. The discomforts and disappointments of life produce a strong desire for relief. In this life we experience sickness, frustration, loneliness, temptation, persecution, death and decay. How does a Christian spell ultimate relief? H E A V E N ! The Devil does not want us to dock our ship in the haven called heaven. He will try to cause the storms of life to destroy our faith. The hope of heaven will see us through these storms. If I were the Devil and wanted to destroy a Christian's voyage to heaven, one of the first things I would want to do is to destroy his anchor so that he would lose stability in the time of storms and give up all hope. Hope is the anchor of the soul that keeps one from being pushed off course. Our hope is laid up for us in heaven (Col. 1:5). Let us read of that hope as it is described in Hebrews 6:18-20: "...we who have fled for refuge in laying hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us...." Faith and hope must be firmly tied to the anchor of hope (1 Cor. 13:13). "For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope...But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it" (Rom. 8:24-25). Christ was mistreated and longed to be with the Father. Paul wrestled with the temptation, persecution and unfairness of this world and longed to be with the Lord: Tired and weary pilgrims see a beautiful city and long for its peace, comfort, happiness and rest (Rev. 14:13). Confidence in one's hope does not encourage sin, it purifies one's life. "Everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure" (1 Jn. 3:3). Christians must have an abundant hope -- there should be no uncertainty. When one is not sure about his future abode, the world will overcome him. Without question, one can fall from grace (Gal. 5:4). However, a Christian can live in confident hope without any uncertainty concerning his future abode. John wrote his first epistle in order that ye might know that you have eternal life (1 John 5:13). This hope will save you in the times of storms, if it is firmly fastened to the Rock of Ages. -- Via The Bulletin of the Church of Christ at New Georgia, October 3, 2004 ____________________________________________________ -3- News & Notes Our prayers go out for all of those who have been caught up -- whether directly or indirectly -- in Katrina's recent havoc (and its aftermath) upon our nation. May God help each one. (The following was written September 14.) Some of you have been inquiring about the churches of Christ in Metairie, Gulfport, and Mandeville. Though not all the members have returned home to these areas, there has, so far, been only one fatality: a pregnant woman from Metairie, who attended at Lake Villa Drive, lost her unborn child, due to the probable cause of stress that the mother underwent. In our area, Leilani Armstrong, who is a member of the Park Forest church of Christ in Baton Rouge, had a great aunt who had been in a nursing home in New Orleans and did not survive the evacuation. Leilani also has many other family members who had lived in New Orleans, but now are scattered across the nation in different shelters (and to areas where they might remain to begin new lives). As you can imagine, this has been an emotionally difficult time for her. I learned about two minutes ago that the Mayfields who are members of the church on Lake Villa Drive in Metairie had sustained about 14" of water in their home. It damaged almost everything on the first floor; but, fortunately, they have insurance. They had also checked out the church building. Eddie Pagan reports that "It had water about two feet high in it. This was high enough to soak into the seat cushions for the pews and it is likely that they will be unusable. The structure of the building is cinderblock, so it may be salvagable. They did not have flood insurance on the building, so they will almost certainly need some help when it comes time to repair that." All but three of the members at Lake Villa Drive have been accounted for. The church building at Mandeville had minor damage of some siding blown off, along with a couple shingles, and part of their fence; but there were some of the members' homes that received major damage. David and Karen Parks, who live in Slidell, had 4 to 6 feet of water in their home; but, fortunately, the things most important to them were upstairs. Their son Michael, who lives in Texas, brought a crew of three others, along with chain saws and a tractor, to help out with the clean-up for brethren who needed it. They had set up camp in Ken Wilt's front yard and had also helped him with the numerous trees that had fallen on his property; and some which struck his house, resulting in numerous damages. Before the crew arrived, it had taken a day and a half for Ken and his neighbors to clear the road in their small subdivision just to make it to the main road. They have continued to be without power since the day of the hurricane. Jeff Carr (the preacher at Mandeville) and his wife Jana were in a back room when trees began hitting their house. When the wind blew open the front door, Jeff went to close it. It was then that one of the trees came down, crashing into the living room. It was a close call. Though the Carrs were renting the house, they had extensive damage done to their furniture. Writing for the church in Mandeville, Ken Wilt (one of the elders) is thankful to say that not one of the members received even a scratch; but due to home damages, needs have been estimated at $25,000. He states that "Any financial help that anyone can send would be greatly appreciated." Ken mentioned that funds are already coming in, so you might want to contact him first to see of the current needs: Ken Wilt Elder Northshore church of Christ 418 Acadian Dr. Folsom, LA 70437 Contact numbers for Ken: 985-796-8082 Home (Best) 985-705-1450 Cell (comes and goes) Though the church building in Gulfport received minor damage, some of the brethren had major damage done to their homes, due to falling trees. One family of five (daughters' ages: 4, 11, and 14) lost their home and business, but they are insured. Mike Vickery and his family also had a tree that pretty much split their house in two. But there have been many brethren from other parts of the country who have been volunteering their time and skills by helping these brethren in Gulfport to rebuild, which is going on right now. I was able to reach Don Davis, the preacher at Morris Road in Gulfport, before losing connection after several minutes, which I couldn't regain. He said that all the needs of the members there are being met for the time being, but that people concerned might want to contact the church there in about 30 to 45 days to see how things are going then -- so about October 12 at the earliest. As mentioned, it will probably be a while before all the needs can be determined -- since many of the evacuees haven't returned to their homes yet, and some of them are now without jobs and will probably not have their old jobs to return to. So, there might be some new needs arising later. The number for the church building in Mandeville is (985) 871-0099. Here are numbers for the other churches asked about, but it might be a while before they are operable: Lake Villa Drive church of Christ (Metairie, LA): 504-455-6154 Morris Road church of Christ (Gulfport, MS): 228-832-5529 ____________________________________________________ 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 ____________________________________________________