____________________________________________________ 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, 1999 ____________________________________________________ Fellowship Halls, Recreation, and Rest Rooms by Clarence W. Fell Did you know that in our modern times when some churches spend more time and money on recreation than on preaching, that there is still a church that keeps recreation out of the church and focuses on sowing the seed of the kingdom? It's A Rare Church In our day churches like this are rare. Most people look to their church to provide recreational activities. A wide variety of recreational programs are common place today, but just because such programs are common place does not make them right. What we need to know is if recreation is a work that God assigned to local congregations. Paul and Recreation The church in Corinth turned the Lord's Supper into an outrageous party. Paul, by inspiration, wrote to them to restore the proper order. He untangled the mess that they had made. He took the recreational element out of their worship and placed it in the realm of the home. Please take careful notice of this point: When God, through Paul, untangled recreation from their worship service He did not place it in the church basement nor create a fellowship hall for recreation. God put it in the realm of the home. God took it completely out of the work of the local congregation. God directed Paul to write, ``But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home,'' I Cor. 11:34. ``Yes, but...'' Seldom will anyone seriously try to defend adding recreation back into the church after God took it out. After all, it doesn't take a college degree to understand God's simple statement, ``But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home.'' Those who ignore God's word generally just keep the matter quiet; but, now and then, someone will offer an excuse. For example, one excuse is: "Well, the church building has rest rooms so it can have fellowship halls too." This argument assumes that rest rooms and fellowship halls stand together or fall together. Let's take a look to see if this is so. Same Purpose? The common activities in a fellowship hall (dinners, baby showers, bridal showers, anniversary parties, holiday parties, etc.) are recreational activities. Rest rooms, on the other hand, are not for recreational purposes. Just the opposite as a matter of fact. Rest rooms are designed for individual privacy. A rest room is clearly not a recreational facility. Same Necessity? A rest room meets a necessary need. Rest room facilities are essential for any assembly whether an assembly is religious or non-religious. Recreational facilities, on the other hand, are not necessary for an assembly. Same Convenience? Rest rooms are not just a convenience. When the need for a rest room occurs most people have a limited time to tend to this matter. Some people with various medical conditions have almost no time. It is the responsibility of those who organize an assembly to see to it that appropriate rest room facilities are provided. A fellowship hall is merely a convenience. The recreational activities commonly found in the fellowship hall do not parallel the urgency and necessity of tending to one's rest room needs. The Early Church Some try to defend disobeying God by pointing out that the church in Jesus' day did not have rest rooms as we have today. This, of course, is true. They did not have electricity and plumbing either. Neither were they under laws that require the providing of sanitary rest room facilities as we are today (Rom. 13:1,2). The fact that someone would have to resort to such an argument as this to defend disobeying God should tell us something. What Was Assigned? Simply put, recreation has not been assigned by God as a work for local congregations. When congregations add recreational programs and facilities to their work, they stand in violation of verses that forbid adding to God's word (Gal. 3:15 and Rev. 22:18,19). Someone might object and say that God did not assign congregations the task of providing rest rooms either. While we do not find a verse that directly says, ``Build thou rest rooms,'' we understand that when God commanded us to ``Forsake not the assembling of ourselves together'' (Heb. 10:25) that He included those things necessary to assembling decently and in order (I Cor. 14:40). And, seeing that rest room facilities are necessary (facilities that comply with local and state health codes), we understand that churches are authorized by God to provide rest rooms. On the other hand, congregations have not been assigned anything that requires providing recreational facilities. Men have added recreational activities based on their own wisdom ignoring the direct word of God, ``But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home.'' See also Jer. 10:23; Prov. 14:12; 28:26. Misappropriation of Funds Congregations have been authorized to collect money for preaching and for some limited benevolence of needy saints. To use the collection for other purposes, such as recreation, is a misappropriation of funds. This would be illegal in any other organization, but people think that God does not care that they have ignored His direct statement and made changes in the work He assigned the church. They are wrong!!! God's Word Stands The supporters of such programs will have to build their defense upon some other excuse. Fellowship halls and rest rooms do not stand or fall together. The presence of rest rooms in a church building does not annul God's clear teaching, ``But if anyone is hungry, let him each at home.'' Jesus taught, ``Not everyone that says to me `Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my father in heaven,'' Matt. 7:21. Is the congregation you attend doing the will of the Father? If you want to know more about a church that leaves recreation in the realm of the home where God put it, then call or come by and visit with us. We would like to meet you. ___________________________________________ Guns and the Gospel by Jere E. Frost YOU CANNOT make me love my neighbor, not even at the point of a gun. Great armies and a display of power cannot convert a sinner. Even an ideal society cannot drive hatred, greed and lust from the heart of the selfish. But what guns, armies, and society in general cannot do, the gospel can. It is therefore more powerful. The gospel centers on the love of God for man, and the death of Jesus on behalf of each and every one of us. As to its message, and what it calls upon a man to do and be, it is remarkable how different it is to the approach of human wisdom. It does not call upon you to improve society or to organize and orchestrate a system of reform. It rather calls upon you to: (1) Change yourself! Repent of and repudiate the evil in your own life. Love and worship your God. Love and be kind to your fellow man. Understand that even if no one else in the world changes, you are obligated to change and to be a faithful servant of the Lord. (2) Teach your fellow man about Jesus. Do not try to force anything on anybody. A people can be overrun by armies and subdued by bombs, but the likely result is that their old animosities will remain and, given opportunity, they will wreak vengeance. That is the story of the Balkans for at least the past 500 years. In fact, it is the story of mankind. When wounds are nourished, woes are perpetuated. The human approach is cosmetic; change the face of things, the society and circumstances. God's approach is to change the heart. Those who are converted will work in society as salt and light. They force nothing, but oh, how wonderfully they affect almost everything. But more importantly, it gives them a right relationship with God. This should be our goal--not the changing of society, but the changing and saving of individuals. Although there were audiences and crowds to which the gospel was preached, it is striking and significant to note the number of times in the book of Acts where the gospel was preached to one man, or to a few. Peter did not preach politics to the Ethiopian eunuch or Cornelius, although both were men of significant public responsibility. He preached Jesus. The eunuch believed, confessed Christ, and was baptized. Cornelius was converted and baptized. There is more lasting power and benefit to society in converting individuals than in political power or military might. The hope of Kosovo, and the world, is not NATO or American policy. It is the gospel. It is in individuals believing in it, practicing it, and preaching it. The gospel is God's power to save. -- The Bulletin of the North Courtenay church of Christ, April 11, 1999 ___________________________________________ Life is composed of waiting periods: the child must wait until he is old enough to have a bicycle. The young man, until he is old enough to drive a car, the medical student must wait for his diploma, the husband for his promotion, the young couple for savings to buy a new home. The art of waiting is not learned at once (Howard Whitman). The Chained Being by James Burns There is a modern painting by Shields which symbolizes the qualities of patience. A being with great strong wings is represented as standing with ankles chained to a sundial. She possesses powers of flight, but these she cannot use until God's appointed time comes. Meanwhile she waits, crowned with thorns, encircled with briers and brambles--briers which put forth fresh green shoots, which speak of increasing troubles. But she clasps to her breast the Word of God. She bears on her shoulders the yoke of Christ. Her lips are closed uncomplainingly; her eyes are looking forward to things afar. So she waits in faith, knowing that in God's good time the call will come, the fetters be struck from her, and her wings given opportunity to soar. ___________________________________________ NEWS & NOTES Let us be praying for John Pitman who will be undergoing surgery on his shoulder this Friday. The Tri-state church of Christ that began in the home of Joe Fix, June 30, 1982, with just six Christians present, has had about 100 regular attenders since then--though not all at one time. About 70 of these were members; and about 30 who were non-members because they were non-Christians, often due to still being too young. Unfortunately, we have seen many move away over the years--the majority having to relocate due to their work, though several simply wanted to attend elsewhere. I am now in the process of looking for a new place to preach; and when I move, it appears there will be no more Tri-state church of Christ, since we have been meeting in a house I have rented with part of it fixed up with pews, pulpit, chalk board, communion table, etc. To those of you who have visited with us from time to time, we will miss you. We always enjoyed having you with us. I hope to continue with a weekly bulletin wherever I'll be going so that those of you who are now receiving this bulletin via e-mail may continue to do so. ________________________________________ 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 ________________________________________