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                        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).
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                         January 6, 1991
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                        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.
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                       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.
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                     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)
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                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
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                            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
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