____________________________________________________ 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 27, 1997 ____________________________________________________ Americans Are Hooked On TV! by Bob Buchanon Do you spend much time watching T.V.? L.M. Boyd, in one of his syndicated columns, said that the average person spends 50 days, of 24 hours each, watching television out of each 365 days. Just think of it! This means that one who spends his life in our TV-oriented society will consume 3,500 days or 84,000 hours of his life watching television (using average lifespan of 70 years). Ninety-seven percent of the homes in America have televisions. It has become accepted as a standard piece of furniture for every family room. More people have TV sets than bathtubs, telephones, toasters, vacuum cleaners, or receive the daily newspaper. Jerry Harris said, ``95% of these people have their TV sets fixed within 24 hours of breakdown...Many people are addicted. TV has become a god, enslaving our time'' (World Radio News). Marie Winn says in her book The Plug-In Drug that this electronic marvel is a drug that parents give to their children, take themselves, and end up lulled into a passive state harmful to human health. Many families sit for hours upon hours each night glued to the TV. The only time they ever speak is during the commercials or when an argument begins over what program to watch next. As one of my college classmates Steve Cawthorne said, ``Nowadays a husband and wife have to have minds that run in the same channel--or else they must have two TV sets.'' Now I've owned a TV set for about 12 years. I sometimes watch it. TV has some fine features and could be a great benefit if used properly. Some programs provide wholesome family entertainment, a few are actually educational, but all must admit that most are a waste of time. Fred Friendly, a professor of broadcast journalism at Columbia University and former president of CBS News said, ``Broadcasting is going to determine what kind of people we are.'' Think about that for a minute! Experts say there is a race on to see which network can show more of the female anatomy. If you will add to this alcoholism, insanity, Satanism, homosexuality, anti-religion, and anti-Americanism, you will cover about 75% of what TV has become. Even the most optimistic person has to admit that this is a serious moral problem and we as God's children have to guard what comes into our homes. TV is changing the moral climate of America. The TV producers say that the current change on TV is nothing more than a change in our social values. I ``Amen'' Jerry Harris' comment, ``God help us if this is true.'' A decade ago a theater would have been padlocked and its manager run out of town if he had dared to show some of the filth that now comes over our TV sets. Yet many professed Christians will sit for hours with their eyes glued to this kind of trash and think nothing about it. Jimmy Thomas once wrote, ``It seems to me the height of hypocrisy for one to deplore the immoral condition of our society and then spend much of the time being entertained by the same sins on T.V. If you are unable to see anything wrong in watching such programs then you must be already spiritually dead.'' However, the foregoing isn't the thrust I intended to give this article. Time is the thing under consideration. TV is robbing us. When families could be studying God's Word and being aided spiritually, they are watching TV. As a result, most people know more about TV programs than they do about the Word of God. So much emphasis is given the scriptures to the use of time. Jesus set the example when he said, ``I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day; the night cometh when no man can work'' (Jn. 9:4). There's an urgency about Jesus' message here, as well as His personal actions. We read where Jesus rose early ``a great while before day'' to pray (Mk. 1:35). Jesus surely left us an example of being engaged in useful activity and using His time to the fullest. The Hebrew writer exhorted those saints, ``But exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called Today; lest anyone of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin'' (Heb. 3:13). James wrote to those saints of the Dispersion: ``Come now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into this city, and spend a year there, and trade and get gain: whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow'' (James 4:13-14). The wise man said, ``Boast not thyself of tomorrow; For thou knowest not what a day may bring forth'' (Prov. 27:1). I don't mind telling you that I am concerned. Concerned about my children and about the church. TV has so much influence on people that it is frightening. God's Word speaks loud and clear as to how we are to use our time. As Christians, our lives are to be filled with prayer, meditation, exhorting one another, seeking the lost, worshiping and in general preparing for the life to come. Just suppose that the Christian lets himself slide into the ``average'' category of spending 50 days per year watching TV (or 3500 days or 84,000 hours of his God-given time). What do you think will happen if Christians continue to watch six hours a day with its current trend of soft-core pornography turning into hard core pornography? Beware...Remain the master of your TV! -- from ``Imhoff Avenue Messenger of Truth,'' February 1982 ___________________________________________ Why Do You Wait? by Raymond Harris From the preacher's standpoint, perhaps one of life's greatest mysteries is why so many are so unresponsive when they hear the Gospel. The word Gospel means: ``Good News.'' And, the good news of the New Testament is that the remission of sins and eternal life with God are now available to all. The good news is that through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, mankind can escape the clutches of death and hell. Hence, it all comes down to the fact that the God of Heaven has made provision whereby, NO ONE need be lost! Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:8, ``For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.'' And later he wrote: ``For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in the present world'' (Tit. 2:11-12). Since all sin and come short of the glory of God, it would be expected that an appreciative world would jump at the opportunity to escape the consequences of their unrighteousness. Yet, multitudes offer countless excuses for rejecting this magnanimous offer from the Almighty. Contrariwise, the New Testament relates numerous accounts of people who accepted God's offer of forgiveness and salvation the very first time they heard the offer extended. 1) On Pentecost: Fifty days after Jesus' resurrection from the dead, Peter preached the Gospel for the first time in the history of the world. He explained that God's offer was conditional and that if they would repent (turn from their sins) and be baptized (immersed in water) God would forgive their sins (Acts 2:37-38). What was the result? Three thousand responded immediately. 2) In Samaria: In Acts 5:5,12 Philip went down to Samaria and preached Christ and the people responded by believing and being baptized. 3) The Eunuch: In Acts 8:35-39 Philip preached Jesus to a man from Ethiopia. As they rode along the man believed that Jesus is the Son of God and immediately he wanted to be baptized. After he was baptized he went on his way rejoicing in his new found salvation. 4) True Of Others: The same immediate response is recorded of Saul, Acts 9:1-18. Cornelius, Acts 10:1-48. Lydia, Acts 16:14-15. The Jailor, Acts 16:25-34. The Corinthians, Acts 18:8. God continues to extend a hand of salvation through Christ. Why do you wait? ___________________________________________ Romans 8:31,32: "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?" ___________________________________________ The Set of the Sail One ship sails east and another west By the selfsame winds that blow; `Tis the set of the sail and not the gale That determines the way they go. Like the winds of the sea are the ways of fate, As we voyage along through life; `Tis the set of the soul that decides the goal, And not the calm or the strife. -- author unknown ________________________________________ Tri-State CHURCH OF CHRIST 1314 Montgomery Avenue, 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 ________________________________________