____________________________________________________ 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). ____________________________________________________ July 27, 1997 ____________________________________________________ "Back'ards" When I tell folks that I'm from East Tennessee originally, they say, ``But you weren't born there.'' My speech always gives it away. You see my parents were Californians. We moved to Tennessee when I was six. So I grew up in a West Coast home located East of the Mississippi in the Central East Tennessee Valley. No wonder I can't talk right. Our West Coast relations call us ``hicks'' because we say, ``ya'll,'' instead of ``you guys.'' And we've developed a kind of mild twang in our speech -- too mild however to pass as natives. No sir, you can't fool the South. They know when you're faking the accent. And we still talk too fast. So the regulars know as Andy Griffith used to say, ``You folks ain't from around here.'' One word on the East Tennessee vocabulary list I never could master was ``back'ards.'' I said it right sometimes. But when I was rambling on, without caution to what words were on the horizon of my discourse, out that ``w'' would pop and the whole speech was ruined. ``Back'ards'' was the word our neighbor Lum Smith used when I had him look at the lawn-mower that quit cutting grass after I sharpened the blade. ``You got the blade on back'ards!'' he said. When it came to mechanics and home repair ``back'ards'' for me was more than a speech impediment. It was a conceptual problem as he pointed out. On to the point. We have difficulty at times in the local church of getting things right side up. It's not a vocabulary problem. We all speak the same language. We read the same Book. It's a conceptual problem as Mr. Smith pointed out. When we get to the mechanics of life, to the business of home maintenance, and to the practice side of what we preach, we just put it on ``back'ards.'' Our homes are back'ards. The husband who is Biblically charged with bringing the children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph. 6:4) has handed the ``bringing the children up'' part to the wife. It used to be that when kids misbehaved in school or there was a problem that required a parental meeting, the father would deal with the problem. No more. You talk to the mother nowadays. Even my neighbor Lum will tell you, ``That's back'ards.'' When his kids were in trouble Willie stayed at home. He took care of it. O for the days that Archie Bunker eulogizes ``when girls were girls and men were men.'' They've died the death to our topsy-turvy roles. ``The nurture and admonition of the Lord'' part of the commandment is left to the church which is neither equipped nor commanded to function in that capacity. When the Bible class and the preaching is our children's primary fount of exposure to the word of God we've got it ``back'ards.'' We've turned the church into a school -- no matter that ``institutionalism'' is not a part of our vernacular. We've started it in concept, regardless of what we call it. And our concept is skewed. We've just put it together ``back'ards.'' Our worship is flip-flopped. The emphasis has changed from exalting God to glorifying self. And edification rather than being a ``one another'' procedure is a ``oneself'' enterprise. You hear folks talk a lot anymore about what they got out of the services. Whether they got much or got little, if the Lord got nothing out what they gave, they've got it all wrong. The fact is that we'll never get much satisfaction from our worship until we start giving our energy and enthusiasm. We certainly won't get any recognition from God in the effort if we've not first recognized Him. That's the right-side-up approach. Here's another turn for the worse. Folks don't sing because they don't like to sing. God said sing. Does anyone care what He likes? Those folks have it all ``back'ards.'' They've ``worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator'' (Rom. 1:25). Our priorities are topsy-turvy. Anymore, the criteria for judging class materials and teacher qualifications is not a matter of meeting needs. The worst crime that a teacher can commit is to be judged boring. No one feels obligated to ``attend'' to the teaching unless their attention is ``captured.'' Where is that criteria in the Bible? I know not. I do read about ``hungering and thirsting for righteousness'' however. The disciple concept has been turned ``back'ards.'' Our kids whose incomes are not necessary to the family's survival are working and missing the services. Say what you want, our actions speak volumes about ``back'ard'' priorities. The rich young ruler didn't have to say that he loved riches more than the Lord. He just walked away. That settled the matter. I suppose that our kids are learning to be responsible adults. Solomon said, the ``whole duty (that's King James for responsibility) of man is to fear God and to keep His commandments'' (Ecc. 12:13). Seems like our wisdom is ``back'ards'' from his. And from His too. Well, ``What shall we do?'' Lum said, ``Let's just turn this here thang over and it'll work right.'' Sounds like good advice, neighbor. We'll just turn this thang over. It'll work. Thanks Lum. erooM nosaJ -- (Online Southside Reminder, Vol. XVIII September 6, 1995 No. 18) ___________________________________________ One of Those Days! by Dennis Tucker I should have known that April first was going to be ``just one of those days.'' First of all, the University of Kentucky Wildcats lost to the Arizona Wildcats last night. Then, I got up to walk and one of the kids had taken my headphones and misplaced them. I know what you are probably thinking. Losing a ball game and not being able to find something is not earth shattering. However, the morning had just started. After trying to record a radio lesson, it was time to type on the computer. Word Pro is the word processor I use for the bulletin, lessons, and class material. It is vital! However, once I tried to use it I got an error message: ``APPLICATION ERROR, PROGRAM WILL SHUT DOWN AUTOMATICALLY, IF PROBLEM PERSISTS CALL VENDOR.'' That sounds serious! In fact, I almost expected the program to self-destruct or call my parents next. So, I tried a couple of ``things,'' and it kept giving me the error message. My day was getting worse. Next, I tried to uninstall (delete, eradicate, annihilate, etc.) the program. My intention was to get the program off the computer and just reinstall it. Maybe the problem would be taken care of. My next problem (I told you it was one of those days) was, once I had deleted (eradicated, nuked, etc.) the program, the computer told me that part of the program was still on the computer. So I decided to call John Duvall. John is a preacher over at Jonesboro; he is a friend, nice guy, and a computer nerd. So I called John to ask for help. To my surprise, John said, ``That sounds serious, you better call LOTUS.'' It was turning into ``one of those days.'' I found the phone number for the LOTUS people. I called the number and got a personalized recording. The recording told me to call during normal office hours. This was the normal office hours, at least that is what the recording said. It was in the middle of Tuesday! It was just ``one of those days.'' Thankfully, Dewey came along and rescued me, and we went visiting. I really owe Dewey a lot for keeping me sane. I was really upset and worried. However, Jesus addresses occasions such as these and much worse: Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ``What shall we eat?'' or ``What shall we drink?'' or ``What shall we wear?'' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you (Matt. 6:26-33). We must keep everything in perspective. What we want and want we need are often different. Let us notice some points that Jesus makes. 1. We must have our priorities right. A lot of things are not really that important. We take our games too seriously and the serious matters we treat like a game. 2. We must have faith in God to help us. God knows what we need, and he is able to provide for us. ``I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread'' (Ps. 37:25). 3. We must let tomorrow take care of itself. ``Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble'' (Matt. 6:34). We fret, agonize and anguish over a lot of things that will never happen or we cannot control. 4. We must allow our problems to make us better. Patience and endurance are by-products of problems we face. A lot of our growth comes when we are tested. ``My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing'' (Jas. 1:2-4). 5. We need to count our blessings. While we get upset over mundane things, others are struggling with problems much worse. I remember my Momma saying that things are not so bad that they could not get worse. There have been times I wondered how much worse things could get, but I realized she was right. By the way, the University of Kentucky will be better next year, the computer is running, and April first is over. -- Via Guardian of Truth, July 3, 1997 ___________________________________________ NEWS & NOTES The Gospel Meeting at the Daugherty Street church of Christ in Charleston, West Virginia, begins next Sunday (August 3) and will continue through Friday the 8th. I will be preaching for them. If you live in the area, we'll look forward to seeing you there. In my stead, Brian McCauley will be preaching for the group next Sunday morning. Angie Pitman is away this weekend visiting with her grandparents down in Louisa, Kentucky. We are all happy to see how well she has been doing over the last several months. The John Hurt (8-lesson) Bible Course can be mailed to you upon request. Or, if you would prefer the 6-lesson Acts of the Apostles Bible Course, we could also send this to you. Both courses are free. Would you like to make an appointment for a personal Bible study with a couple of us from church? Would you like to see helpful Bible film slides in your home (the Jule Miller 5-lesson series)? May we answer any Bible question you might have? Feel free to let us know how we can help you. To those of you who are visiting with us today, thank you for being here! Your presence gives us even more reason to be glad. Please come again! ___________________________________________ SENTENCE SERMONS Gossip is a negative that is developed and enlarged. No power on earth can make people sin without their consent. A different world cannot be built by indifferent people. ________________________________________ 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 ________________________________________