Danville Enlightener
VOL. VIII, No. 35
What are you doing this week?
Priority! We hear a great deal about setting our priorities in order. Do we even understand what it means to prioritize? A priority is what is valued. For example, if I value my job then I make it a priority to be at work and perform my duties with thoroughness. Or, said another way, what is valued (worth a great deal) is what one treasures.
Treasure is something Jesus discussed. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,” (Matt 6:21). Jesus is teaching us that what we value (our priority) is our treasure; this is where one’s heart is.
Recently I was introduced to a man who owned a boat dock and marina. The dock had 400 boat slips that were rented out on a yearly basis. The cheapest slip cost $3,500 per year, many cost three and four times that amount. Just calculating rental fees at the minimum means a gross income from slip rental alone at $42,000 per year. Total receipts each year is more than a million dollars. Since the dock and marina are owned outright, the owner is known to be worth several million dollars. “He is he richest man in the county and probably in this part of the state,” I was told.
Now, this man is pushing hard to change the law (by ballot) to allow beer, wine and liquor sales in the county. He sees an opportunity to boost his income each year by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Now, I ask you what seems to be this man’s priority? What does it seem this man values? Where does his heart seem to be? So far as I am able to determine, he has a love for money and he dedicates himself to the accumulating of more and more of it. His treasure is wealth; this is where his heart is and he devotes himself to doing whatever he can to get more money.
Beginning today and continuing through Friday night (Sept 23-28) the Danville church of Christ has proclaimed that the worship of God and the preaching of His gospel are to be done in a special effort. We have set aside this week to honor God and reach the lost. We have collectively announced that we are going to make a concerted effort to evangelize our family, friends, neighbors and this community. Now, if this is truly what we value; if this is really what we treasure; if this is in fact what our priority is this week – then certain specifics will become evident.
It
means
that we
have
cleared
our
calendars
so that
we can
personally
be
present
at each
assembly.
“Not
forsaking
the
assembling
of
ourselves
together,
as is
the
manner
of some,
but
exhorting
one
another,
and so
much the
more as
you see
the Day
approaching,”
(Heb
10:25).
These
special
assemblies
of this
week are
not to
be
forsaken.
If we
refuse
to
participate
in these
assemblies
we have
purposely
rebelled
against
the
commands
and
wishes
of our
heavenly
Father.
Also, we
have
announced
to the
community
that
things
of this
world
mean
more to
us that
the
souls we
are
trying
to bring
to the
Lord.
Several years ago a preacher had a son who was an exceptional baseball player. Playoffs conflicted with a gospel meeting where his father preached. He couldn’t let his team down was the reckoning of his dad. So, the boy traveled with the team and missed a few nights of the meeting. In recalling the incident, I for the life of me cannot remember how his team did in the playoffs, but I know the boy has gone through two marriages, and today is unfaithful to God. I don’t know when he last attended a worship assembly of the church. And, for the record, he has not been on a baseball field for twenty years. Is there any direct correlation between his unfaithfulness and his parents’ choices when he was young and impressionable?
If this gospel meeting is a priority, it means that we have already discussed the meeting with those we wish to have visit. “So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, do you understand what you are reading?” (Acts 8:30). Philip “cut straight to the chase” with a pointed question.
A friend told me about a man he knew who had been admitted to the hospital with cancer. Someone ask my friend if he had ever talked to the sick man about becoming a Christian. He had not! The sick man was released from the hospital and committed suicide because he felt hopeless. Would he ever have become a Christian if he had been approached? Who knows! But what I do know is a man who grieves and who is burdened with guilt for not trying.
If this meeting is a priority, it means that we are praying diligently for God to bless this special effort. “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel,” (Eph 6:18-19).
Often the reason meetings are not successes are because members fail to pray. Far too many believers have a deist view of God. That is, many behave as though God does not answer prayer, other than making the petitioner “feel” better by talking over a matter with God. That is, God listens, but never, ever responds because He set nature in motion and never interferes.
Such a view is unscriptural! “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly,” (Matt 6:6).
Jesus promised that God does answer prayer. He said that prayer is answered OPENLY. That is, God does respond and His response is evident. Let’s pray for the meeting. Pray for those who are lost. Pray their hearts will be honest and open to the saving gospel of Christ. Pray for brother Ken Sils; pray that he will have the knowledge and wisdom to say just what needs saying. Pray that this week will be a blessing to all, the church here and the community.
This gospel meeting is now underway. What are YOU going to do this week? Your deeds will reveal your priority (treasure).
-- jrb
"As I See It"
It seems that a new Baptist preacher came to Cumberland County, KY. He wanted to have a new sign erected at the building and someone told him to contact my good friend Raymond Castillo, who preaches for the Waterview church of Christ. Raymond is also a talented sign painter.
Baptist Church painted on the sign. Raymond asked him “Don’t you want to have any reference to Christ?” The Baptist preacher found himself in a dilemma; if he was part of the Invisible Church of Christ, why then did he not honor Christ by mentioning His name in the sign? The Baptist preacher told Raymond, “Hold off for a few days, and I’ll get back with you.”
I can only imagine what went on in the “Deacons/board meeting” of that Baptist Church. After a few days, the Baptist preacher came back to Raymond and said that he wanted to add the expression “Church of Christ.” So, now you have this group who calls themselves the “Mt. Pisgah United Baptist Church of Christ.” I’m sure some in the Baptist Fellowship frown upon such as this. They want to be part of the “Invisible Church of Christ” but they do not want to publicly identify themselves as such. Such is the contradictions of denominationalism. They claim to be Christians but they call themselves Baptists.
AS I SEE IT, maybe this group of Baptists will one day recognize the unscriptural quandary they are in and remove “United Baptist” from their name. And maybe, just maybe they will remove all unscriptural doctrines, practices and innovations and make their stand upon the Word of God. We will keep you posted!