The Visitor » Cover Story

Is America in trouble? There’s abortion, AIDS, a skyrocketing divorce rate, etc. What’s going to happen next? Is there a solution? Prophets of Doom proclaim, “the END is near!� Honestly, the “End� could be TODAY, couldn’t it?

On the other hand, we must be about our Father’s business as long as it’s called “Today� (John 9:4). The “night� comes when none can work. The Lord’s work is our work . . . “seek and save the lost� (Luke 19:10).

Christians should realize all nations need the Gospel (go preach it to ALL nations, Matthew 28:19). Souls perish “for lack of knowledge� (Hosea 4:6). The nation’s need is identical to that of the individual. Without Christ, we are powerless (John 15:5). In Christ, we possess all spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3) and we can do ALL things (Philippians 4:13).

Is the church in trouble? What’s going to happen next? Is there a solution?

God’s answer to Solomon was: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land� (II Chronicles 7:14).

Did you note that the process begins with humility? Everything is not “OK� and we must “cry out� to God. Yes, we have to lose our composure. Peter cried out to Jesus as he sunk into the sea (Matthew 14:30). “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know� (Jeremiah 33:3). The Lord spots humble hearts and immediately reaches out to save!

God is not limited by hearing our spoken words …God looks right at the heart. As we are healed from the inside, our personal wellness is reflected outwardly – increasing the quality and power of God’s church. Individuals, marriages, families, communities, nations and the whole world becomes healthier and stronger.

A better world begins with me! See you Sunday… humble, praying, seeking God’s face, and turning from our checkered past.

Buck Gifffith

Stephen Covey said it in First Things First. ” Our struggle to put first things first can be characterized by the contrast of two powerful tools that direct us: the clock and the compass.

The clock represents our commitments, appointments, schedules, goals, activities …. how we manage our time. The compass represents our vision, values, principles, mission, conscience, direction-what we feel is important and how we lead our lives. The struggle comes when we sense a gap between the clock and the compass-when what we do doesn’t contribute to what is
important in our lives.”

I think I can sense the time element in the life of Jesus. He saw the need of working while it was day (and even made the most of their interruptions which came his way), but there was always the compass, which governed the clock.

If we misplace the compass we’re going to find our voyage messed up, for the clock doesn’t really matter if we are headed in the wrong direction.

But once we learn to manage our time, headed in the right direction, everything is working as it should. We must redeem the time as we keep looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.

It’s not a matter of either/or. We need both clock and compass.

John Gipson

In a recent bulletin that comes regularly to my desk came one with the above title. We are well aware as Bible students that the Lord’s Supper was created out of the Passover feast where Jesus met with His disciples to keep that most sacred annual event for Jews. It is significant that Jesus made a distinct separation between what he did with the disciples as the Passover Feast and what He passed on to us in our most sacred act of worship, the Lord’s Supper. None of the gospel writers, nor the apostle Paul who wrote the Corinthian church about how to conduct the Lord’s Supper, give us any encouragement to participate in the traditional Passover feast as part of our observance of the Lord’s Supper. The Passover Feast was the shadow of which the Lord’s Supper is the substance. And it seems to me that any effort, for whatever reason, to include any part of the celebration of the Passover in our worship assemblies goes beyond what the Scriptures instruct us to do. The only Passover Christians are to celebrate and the only sacrifice which avails anything is that of our Lord Jesus Christ. “For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.” (1 Cor. 5:7)

For years, I conducted annual Vacation Bible School programs at various churches in Texas and Oklahoma. And in many of those week long programs, we used the Old Testament to instruct children in the events of the history of God’s people, the Jews. Some of the most successful efforts to instruct children included such events as the Passover Feast, doing as best we could determine what the Jews did on that day. Never in my wildest imagination did I ever expect that some of those children, now mature adults, would be wanting to bring those events into the worship of the saints. I believe the Scriptures are still very clear about what is to be included in the first day of the week observance: Singing, praying, preaching and teaching the Word, the weekly giving and most impotant, the Lord’s Supper.

I am at a loss to see how we can improve on God’s simple plan for that first day of the week observance and worship. Do those who want to bring back the Passover Feast (including what is referred to as a “Sedar meal”) expect to gain any special spiritual benefit from doing so? Do they think it shows some special respect for present day Jews who continue to insist on keeping the Law of Moses-and no matter how hard they try, they cannot do it in full compliance with Moses” instructions – or do they think it replaces our walking by faith by a walking by sight? Whatever their reasons, and I do not condemn their honesty and sincerity, they are mistaken to believe it ought to be done. And isn’t it interesting that some of these same brethren also now make a much larger issue of Easter Sunday than we have ever done in the Lord’s church. What Jesus gave us to remember Him until He comes again was a simple supper of fruit of the vine and unleavened bread. Let’s continue to show Him our love and respect for His sacrifice which made it all possible. Would that we could convince other Christians that what Jesus instructed us to do deals more with what is in our hearts, not external pomp and ceremony. It shall always remain true that we are commended and commanded to do the right thing for the right
reason.

Wes Price