____________________________________________________ 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 14, 1996 ____________________________________________________ Rumors: How They Fly by Dee Bowman Reporting is hard business. It takes a disciplined mind. It's hard to be objective. A good reporter must divorce himself from all his pre-suppositions, prejudices, pre-conceived notions. He has the responsibility to his readers or viewers to report facts as best as he can determine them. He has no business reporting hearsay, opinion, or other part-truths unless he identifies them as such. It takes concentration and a high regard for truth. Distributing any truth requires the same integrity as that which is necessary for the good journalist. It, too, calls for intense concentration, an unbiased mind, a desire not only to know the truth, but to use it for good whenever and wherever possible. No person has the right to distribute untruth, hearsay, gossip. The Scriptures assign an attitude for those who would dare speak of things to others publicly. For instance, ``If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God'' (1 Pet. 4:11), addresses the tendencies to report opinions and is God's warning against such. ``There is a time to keep silence, and a time to speak'' (Eccles. 3:7) speaks to the tendency to want to speak more than the occasion calls for, a constant problem for all of us it seems. ``But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine'' (Titus 2:1) calls to mind the necessity of adorning the doctrine of Christ with a disposition toward correctness, making sure that you do not speak opinion or promote your own surmisings. The Scriptures also warns about speaking things to others privately as well. ``Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt'' (Titus 2:8) reminds us to make sure that our speech has just the right flavor, that we make sure we do our best to say palatable things in every situation. ``A fool is full of words,'' says the wise man (Eccles. 10:14), indicating that you become suspicious when you say too much about a thing. ``A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger'' (Prov. 15:1) tells us about how to handle controversial matters and is a passage everyone would do well to commit to memory. Then there are those private reporters, those who speak in hushed tones and report in secret, those who seemingly take great delight in spreading rumors and other hurtful information. A Gossip is a newsmonger, one who carries about information that is mostly undocumented in nature and unproductive in effect. It is speech which is seldom intended to edify and will usually include such things as idle talk, tattling, rumors. Sadly, most everyone has participated in it at one time or the other. And even more sadly, many have done so with full knowledge of what they were doing. ``Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth!'' (Jas. 3:5). It takes only a small amount of kindling to start a huge conflagration and the skilled gossip knows just how to do it. He may just lift an eyebrow or crook his mouth. He may offer some innuendo or half-truth. He may start some rumor in a place where he knows it will spread like wildfire. He may write something without confirming the source or examining all the facts just because the rumor he is reporting fits what he wants to report. Gossip is ugly. Gossip is sinful. But gossip is effective, too. ``Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savor; so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honor'' (Eccles. 10:1). A man's reputation, which may have taken years to build, can be destroyed by one little, well-placed rumor, just as the ointment which may have taken months to prepare can be destroyed when one little stink-fly lands in the potion. It is a serious thing to report information which is not true or pass along what has never been proven. But people do it all the time. And get away with it. Two things would help. Don't repeat anything you don't know for sure. The world of gossip operates on a chain reaction. When the chain is broken, the gossip stops. Remember you are responsible for what you tell. No matter where you got it, it's still your responsibility. Just don't re-tell and you won't have to worry about it. Make sure it needs to be told before you tell it. -- via The Harvester, July 11, 1993 ___________________________________________ IS ONLY ONE CHURCH RIGHT? by Sewell Hall Probably no charge creates more prejudice against a group of people than the charge that they think there is only one church that is right. This fact clearly indicates that most Americans consider all churches right. Is it possible that only one church is right? At least three other questions must be answered before this one can be answered intelligently. 1. Is there such a thing as right and wrong? Many who complain so bitterly about such a claim do not believe that anything is absolutely right or wrong. If there is no right and wrong, then obviously any claim to be the only right church would be ridiculous. However, if there is a God and if He created us, then He is the standard of right and wrong (Romans 3:4). His word is truth (John 17:17). 2. Is there a right and wrong in religion? Some who accept the concept of right and wrong in the realm of morals exclude it from religion. They seem to think that God is so loving and good that He will accept anything man may do and dedicate to Him. But Jesus warned of false teachers who would come in sheep's clothing (Matthew 7:15). He stated that worship was made vain by teaching the doctrines of men (Matthew 15:9). Paul informed the Galatians that anyone who preached any other gospel than what he had preached would be accursed (Galatians 1:8), and Peter predicted that there would be false teachers among us (2 Peter 2:1). So religious teachings can be false and religious practice can be wrong. Jesus also said, ``Every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted'' (Matthew 15:13). This is equal to saying that churches not planted by the Lord will be rejected. 3. Has God designated any exclusives in religion? Consider Ephesians 4:4-6. ``There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.'' The ``one'' in these verses obviously means ``one and only one.'' These verses do not allow for our modern broad-mindedness. Such broad-mindedness, however, is not really new; it existed in the first century among the Ephesians to whom this was written. Paul became the focus of a riot because he insisted ``that there are no gods made with hands'' (Acts 19:26). To put it another way, he preached there was ``one and only one'' God. The Ephesians were tolerant of many gods, but intolerant of anyone who said there was only one. Most of us would agree that there is one and only one God. But the same verses say, ``there is one body.'' What is this one body? The same writer says in Ephesians 1:22-23 that God has given Christ ``to be head of all things to the church which is His body.'' So if there is one body and that body is the church, this is saying there is one church. If one God means only one God, then one body means one body or only one church. What is the one church? Without doubt, the one body (church) referred to in Ephesians 4:4-6, was the church than Jesus promised to build (Matthew 16:18). It was to be founded on the fact that He was the Christ, the Son of God. That church began on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), when Jesus was first publicly proclaimed to be the Christ, based upon the facts of His resurrection from the dead. Those who believed asked, ```What shall we do?' Then Peter said to them, `Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit'...Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them...And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved'' (Acts 2:37-38, 41,47). Please note that all who were saved were added to the church. It includes all who were saved, for the Lord added all who were saved to it. But if it included all who were saved it was not a denomination, for a denomination by definition is only one part of a whole. Neither was it a combination of all denominations, nor even an association of local churches known as ``churches of Christ.'' The one body was made up of individual members, not of local churches. It was the one true church to which all who were saved were added. It was that one body described in Ephesians. How can this church be identified? Jesus said that the gates of Hades would not prevail against His church (Matt. 16:18). It must be in existence today. If it is, it has Jesus Christ as its only Lord and the gospel as its only faith. It is entered by the one baptism, it still includes all who are saved, and it is not one of many. It is the body of Christ (Colossians 1:18), Christ's church (Matthew 16:18), the church of God (Galatians 1:13), the house of God (1 Timothy 3:15). It is the one and only church that is right. -- Via Search, January 1996 ___________________________________________ The Sports Fan (?) I've been a sports fan all my life: football in the fall; basketball in the winter; baseball in the spring and summer. But I'll never go to another game because... they always asked me for money. the people I sat with weren't very friendly. the seats were too hard. the coach never asked my advice. the referee made some bad calls. some people cared more about their looks than the game. some games went into overtime and I was late getting home. the band played some numbers that I didn't know. too many games didn't fit into my schedule. my parents took me to too many games when I was growing up. I just read a book on sports and I know more than the coaches. I don't take my kids to any games so that they can make their own choices what sport they like best. DO YOU USE THE SAME EXCUSES FOR NOT ATTENDING CHURCH? God says: ``Seek the Lord while He may be found...You will find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.'' -- selected ________________________________________ 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 ________________________________________