____________________________________________________ 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). ____________________________________________________ December 12, 1993 ____________________________________________________ Lite Church! (1/3 Less Commitment) by Calvin R. Schlabach Have you noticed the current craze in America for ``Lite'' foods? The market has been flooded with products promising to give the consumer all the taste but with reduced calories of 1/3 less fat. The appeal of these ``Lite'' foods is that someone can get just as much enjoyment from the product without having to ``pay'' for it by putting on excess pounds. There is nothing wrong with that, and inasmuch as it reflects a proper concern for one's health it is a good thing. This ``Lite'' mentality seems, however, to have infected all of our society and our way of looking at things. Without everything from weight-loss programs to book clubs, people want more benefits but less commitment. This doesn't always present a really serious problem until we approach God and His church with this attitude. With frightening frequency, people are flocking to ``Lite'' churches, ones that will promise them all of the benefits they seek yet require of them only a fraction of the commitment God expects. They don't ask much of their members in the way of attendance (Heb. 10:25), giving (1 Cor. 16:1-2), evangelism (Matt. 28:19), moral purity (1 Cor. 6:9-11), prayer (1 Thess. 5:17), or Bible study (1 Tim. 2:15). These churches therefore get to be quite popular and draw huge crowds. The ``Lite'' mentality stands in stark contrast to the approach taken by David. When one of his subjects approached him and offered to give him everything necessary in order to offer a sacrifice to God, the godly king responded, ``No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing'' (2 Sam. 24:24). Cheap worship was not appealing to David, that ``man after [God's] own heart'' (1 Sam. 13:14). He understood that if service to God did not cost man something it was probably worth nothing (cf. Isa. 1:13). What God wants from us is complete devotion, 100% commitment. ``You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength'' (Mk. 12:30). ``Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you'' (Matt. 6:33). ``He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf'' (2 Cor. 5:15). ``If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me'' (Lk. 9:23). Christian, God calls us to excel (2 Cor. 8:7)! We must rise above the mediocrity with which the common crowd is satisfied and give God our all! He will accept nothing less than total commitment! Beware of those who offer a ``Lite'' religion. Less commitment may mean less (i.e., none at all) salvation! ___________________________________________ PROMOTION by Robert R. Hines A fellow Christian who is a successful business man told me that years ago a visiting boss or supervisor told him he would never be promoted, never make any headway in the company, unless he ``set him up'' whenever he came to town. By ``set him up'' he meant provide women for him while he was there, immoral women for his immoral desires. My friend did not do so and was not promoted. He now works for himself and is doing quite well. We know of a legal secretary who told her employers she could not lie for them. One of the ``smaller'' matters was her inability to say, ``I'm sorry. Mr. __________________ is not in.'' They fired her. But this faithful Christian is doing well, living with a clear conscience, keeping going. A dear young friend who sang in her high school chorus respectfully told her teacher she would have to miss a performance out singing at the mall. She explained she needed to be ``at church'' on Wednesday night. He told her he would flunk her if she was not here for the concert. She came to Bible class. He gave her an ``F'' for the course. She graduated from high school the next year and is now married to a man who is also a Christian. They have two children and their life is proceeding in the faith. Three stories with three things in common: all were urged to do something they believed wrong...all suffered loss because they did what was right...all are alive and well, having what they need to live, God still blessing them in their faithfulness. ''...being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, 'I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,' so that we confidently say, 'The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What shall man do to me?''' (Heb. 13:5-6). ___________________________________________ We Can No Longer Preach Against Sin! by Roy Fields Bob Papenhaus told me last Sunday evening that he heard of a church in Colorado that was severely fined by a judge for preaching against homosexuality. They had to sell much of their property (furniture) to pay the fine. I heard on the radio a couple weeks ago that there is a bill before the legislature of Georgia that will ban any discrimination (to include teaching and preaching) against this abominable sin. If such continues to be the way of our government, are we going to be committed enough to God to make a stand? If we do not, there will be homosexual elders and preachers within ``churches of Christ.'' There will be no stopping them. The prophets of the old testament stood up with God against the wicked and vile sins of Israel, Judah, and the heathen nations around them. We must be ready to do the same, at any cost. ___________________________________________ ``What Is Man That Thou Art Mindful Of Him?'' by Tom Edwards The above title is taken from Psalm 8:4. The entire verse in the New American Standard version says, ``What is man, that Thou dost take thought of him? And the son of man that Thou dost care for him?'' Though we normally think of the ``son of man'' as being a title applied to Christ, in this particular passage it has reference to merely mankind in general. Certainly, there should be no wonder why God would care for Jesus and regard Him highly, for Christ always did those things that were pleasing to His Father and never failed in even one area. Obviously then, the question is ``What is man that God would take thought of and care for him?,'' for all mankind who have reached an age of accountability have fallen short of the glory of God and stand in need of the Lord's saving grace (Rom. 3:10, 23). None of us deserve any of God's blessings; but, yet, He still reaches to us with His hand of mercy. Why does the Lord do this? It is simply part of His nature. The Bible declares that God demonstrated His own love toward us ``in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us'' (Rom. 5:8); and John writes in 1 John 4:10, ``In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (atoning sacrifice, TTE) for our sins.'' Were it not for God's willingness to save, all the wanting-to-be-saved on our part wouldn't amount to anything, nor all the obedience which we could do. But because the Lord is willing and wants to see none perish, but all come to the knowledge of the truth and to repentance (1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Pet. 3:9), our faith and obedience can put us in the family of God--thus making a major change in our lives, as we tap into the resources of the Lord's truth that can secure us with Him now and throughout eternity, if we remain faithful. What greater blessing can there be than simply to be brought into a harmonious relationship with God Himself? Many of the songs we sing at church express not only the question of why God sent His Son into our world, but also joyfully ring out the answer--BECAUSE HE LOVES US. One such song, entitled ``He Loved Me So,'' is a good example of this. Hear the lyrics of its first two stanzas: ``Why did my Savior come to earth, and to the humble go? Why did He choose a lowly birth? Because He loved me so! Why did He drink the bitter cup of sorrow, pain and woe? Why on the cross be lifted up? Because He loved me so!'' Because Jesus did this for us, we are also able to blend our voices in melodious harmony and jubilantly declare the last stanza of this song: ``Till Jesus comes I'll sing His praise, and then to glory go, and live with Him thru endless days, because He loved me so!'' We need to continuously take the time to be mindful of God, for as we consider what He has done for us--especially in giving to the world His only begotten Son to become the redeemer of mankind--it is without question, that God is truly mindful of man and cares for him with a love unsurpassed. ___________________________________________ We welcome those of you who are new to our mailing list. We are glad to be sending The Gospel Observer to you and pray that it will be of great benefit to you. Feel free to write to us, expressing your comments and/or questions. ________________________________________ 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 ________________________________________