____________________________________________________ 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). ____________________________________________________ January 6, 1991 ____________________________________________________ Learning to Listen by David Thomley Parents usually learn the hard way! A diligent father and mother spend countless hours trying to teach Junior to say ``Mama'' and ``Daddy.'' In two or three years, that same mother declares with frustration, ``If I hear him call `Mama' one more time today, I think I'm going to scream.'' So parents tune out that frequency -- until they learn their lesson. Dad comes home after a hard day, his mind cluttered with the problems at the office. With a glass of iced tea, the newspaper, and CNN blasting away in the den, he settles back into the recliner. Just about that time, his toddler wanders in and asks a question. No response. So he asks again, this time a little louder. (After all, the old man may be losing his hearing, you know.) Still no reply. By the fifth request, the toddler is up on his father's knees, banging the newspaper which obscures his view of his father's face. This time, without listening carefully to what the child is saying, the father quickly retorts ``Yes! Yes! Go ahead!'' Ten minutes later he hears his wife shrieking hysterically about Junior and the black shoe polish he has smeared all over her new shoes. Sometimes Christians seriously under-estimate the value of listening to one another. For this reason, more than a few problems arise from ``misunderstandings''; problems which could have easily been avoided. Paul instructed Christians to ``restore'' a brother who has stumbled (Galatians 6:1,2). James instructed Christians to ``confess'' their sins to one another (James 5:16). Unfortunately, brethren sometimes neglect to relate these passages. It is most difficult for a Christian to confess his sin and share his burden with another Christian if that other Christian is unwilling to listen! There is great value to be derived from this exchange. God said so! And ten-minute ``pew visiting'' before and after services does not always get the job done. Busy as we are, we need to be accessible to one another. And when our brother begins to speak, we must avoid the tendency to quickly respond before hearing him out. We need to learn to listen! One cannot comfortable bare his soul and discuss personal spiritual problems with a man who has one hand on the doorknob and is nervously glancing at his watch. Have you got a minute for a friend? Listen to him. ___________________________________________ Possible Solutions To An Age-Old Question by S. Scott Richardson One of the oldest questions asked by mankind is, ``Where did I come from?'' It is a question asked in homes, in churches, and in educational systems even today. A more general way of expressing this question would be ``What is the origin of matter (the material universe)''? Dr. Frank Allen, in his essay, ``The Origin of the World -- By Chance or Design'', listed four possible solutions to this problem: (1) it is an illusion, (2) it arose from nothing, (3) no origin, but existed eternally, and (4) it was created. An examination of these four solutions will lead to one logical possibility. The idea that the world is an illusion is not a very widely accepted notion -- even among those who would deny the existence of God. The reasons for the rejection of this idea are obvious. To quote Dr. Allen, ``accordingly, one may say that illusory trains apparently filled with imaginary passengers cross unreal rivers on immaterial bridges formed of mental concepts!'' As absurd as the first possible solution is, the second is perhaps even more unbelievable. Something from nothing is an idea that most scientists reject. From general observation it can be seen that in order to produce something material, there must be a substance and a force. This publication was produced through the combination of paper, ink and glue, with the force of the human mind driving the paper mills, typesetting equipment, printing presses, and paper cutters -- it did not come from nothing! It is totally absurd to believe something as complex as this universe could come from nothing; yet many ordinary ``good'' scientists must accept this basic principle to defend the theory of evolution. Matter existing eternally is another view that is not widely accepted. Scientifically speaking, this is not possible. The first and second laws of thermodynamics are often used to show this. The First Law states that no new energy is coming into existence -- _ QUANTITATIVE STABILITY. The Second Law is the law of energy deterioration -- QUANTITATIVE DECAY. To put it simply, everything wears out. The universe couldn't always have existed -- it would have worn out long ago. Physically and spiritually these previous ideas fall far short of being logically acceptable. Creation by some external power is the only logical possibility. The God of scripture is the only power sufficiently capable of having brought this material universe, with its multitude of complexities, into existence. ___________________________________________ GOD'S SALVATION PLAN 1. Hear the Gospel (Rom. 10:17; Rom. 1:16; John 20:30,31) 2. Believe in Jesus Christ (John 8:24; Acts 16:31) 3. Repent of your sins, which involves both a turning away from sin as well as a turning in a new direction toward God (Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30) 4. Confess your faith in Christ (Rom. 10:9,10; Acts 8:37; Mat. 10:32) 5. Be baptized into Christ in order to contact the blood of Jesus and be forgiven of your sins (Mar. 16:16; Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16; Rom. 6:3,4; Gal. 3:26,27; 1 Pet. 3:21) 6. Continue in the faith throughout your life by maintaining your loyalty to God through your obedience to the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Rev. 2:10; Heb. 10:35-39; Jude 3; John 15:1-6; Mat. 7:21-27; Luke 6:46) ___________________________________________ WHO IS ROBBED IN UNFAITHFULNESS? An interesting fable is told of a rich man who wanted to help a poor man. The rich man hired the poor man to build a house on the hillside and went away on a long journey. The carpenter said to himself, ``My boss is away and I can use cheap materials for the parts of the house which will not show. The house will be weak and undesirable but nobody will know except me.'' But when the rich man returned he said, ``The house isn't for me --it's for you!'' The carpenter accepted the key in astonishment. Instead of a first class home he now had a fourth-class home. God gives us a job, a life to build. We have to live in the house we build. If we do a shoddy job, we cheat one person, ourself. ----- author unknown ________________________________________ Tri-State CHURCH OF CHRIST 713 13th Street, Ashland, Kentucky 41101 Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Bible class 10:50 A.M. Worship 6:30 P.M. Worship Wednesday: 7:30 P.M. Bible study evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (606) 325-9742 e-mail: tedwards@zoomnet.net Gospel Observer web site: http://www.zoomnet.net/~tedwards/go ________________________________________