THE POUND
PROCLAIMER
Volume V
March 2010
Number 1
Sing
to the Lord, bless His name; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day
to day. Psalms 96:2
EVIL SUSPICIONS
“He is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions,” (1 Timothy 6:4).
A man steps out of the local bar and stumbles, almost falling. Just as this happened, an acquaintance of his is passing by and sees the incident. The one who observed the incident hurries home and begins calling friends. He tells them that he had seen brother Ned Virtuous stumble out of the local bar drunk.
Before we continue, we need to define the phrase ‘evil suspicions’. Evil n. 1. The quality of being morally bad or wrong; wickedness. 2. That which causes harm, misfortune, or destruction: (THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY). Suspicion n. 1. The act of suspecting something, especially something wrong, on little evidence or without proof. (IBID)
By taking the dictionary definitions of these words and by looking at the context of how it is used in Scripture, we come to the following conclusion. Evil suspicion is the sin of putting the worst possible conclusion upon events that are observed. Paul warns Timothy about perverse teachers with corrupt minds who would strive about words and create an environment where envy, strife, railings, and evil suspicions would flourish.
With this in
mind, let us investigate the incident further. Brother Ned Virtuous is an elder
in the local
What do you think? Maybe something similar has happened in your home congregation. Were you quick to believe the worst about a brother or sister? Why is it that we want to believe the worst about others? We see it in all walks of life. Someone at work gossips about a fellow worker and we wag our heads in agreement. A political candidate tells some outrageous thing about his opponent for the purpose of discrediting him, and we can’t wait to tell others, especially if the opponent is of a party different than ours. It is sad, but we find Christians doing the same when they put the worst possible spin on the actions or words of their brethren.
As Paul Harvey would say, now the rest of the story. Brother Ned Virtuous is a plumber. The owner of the bar had hired him to do some plumbing work. When brother Virtuous stepped out of the bar onto the sidewalk he stumbled, because he kicked his toe against a break in the concrete. He was on his way to his truck to get some tools for the job. He had not gone to the bar to drink and he was not drunk when brother Inquisitor T. Remnant saw him stumble.
If you are ready
to believe the worst about a Christian whose reputation is above reproach and
without knowing all the facts, then you are guilty of evil suspicions. You need
to ask yourself what is my motive for such action. You would do well to
remember that tearing another Christian down does not make you righteous.
The Editor’s Page
With this issue,
we are back publishing The Pound Proclaimer.
There have been so many kind comments about the bulletin as well as our getting
behind in publishing. I, personally, want you to know how much I appreciate all
of our readers. Your understanding and encouragement have made a great
difference to me.
It is easy to
get caught up in our own trials and tribulations of life. When we are not able
to do as we once did or when the demands on our time become overwhelming, there
is a tendency to doubt one’s ability to keep up.
Christians have
an advantage over others in times like these. No matter how dark the night or
troublesome the events of life, they have God as their Father. Paul understood
this for he said, “And we know that for
those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called
according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28).
The Christian
knows that the difficulties in life cannot destroy them for the Lord is with
them. This is not to say that Christians are never sad or discouraged with
life. It is to say that Christians have their priorities in order. When life is
at its most difficult, we must take account of what is truly important. The most unhappy people I know are those who have allowed the
things of the world become their top priorities. The happiest people I know are
those who have put God and His righteousness first in their lives (Matthew
And yet, it is
not uncommon for Christians to feel inadequate at times of trial. We think that
we are just not up for the task that the Lord is requiring of us. This is, of
course, what the Devil wants us to think. In this way, he can keep us from
practicing a living faith full of good works (James
The reason this
happens is because we are given to leaving the Lord out of our work. Consider
what Paul writes, “I can do all things
through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13). What or who is it
that “strengthens me” to be able to do all things? It is the Lord!
The absolute
worst thing that can happen is for us to think we can accomplish good works
without the Lord’s help. This self-righteous attitude will keep one from being
justified in the sight of God. Jesus spoke to this in Luke 18:10-14 when He
spoke of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. The arrogance of the Pharisee is
manifest in his use of ‘I’. He attributes all that he does in the way of
righteousness as personal triumphs. On the other hand, the Tax Collector
recognized that any accomplishments in his life were nothing compared to that
which can be accomplished through the Lord.
God has given us
a physical body that is subject to decay and death. He has also numbered our
days upon this earth. Therefore, we must be busy about the Lord’s work. When
things happen to hinder our efforts, we must remember our limitations and
depend upon the Lord for strength to continue, to Him belongs all the glory and
praise.
WORKING FOR THE
MASTER
THE WORK OF ELDERS
One indisputable truth is this; nothing
works at one hundred percent efficiency unless all elements comprising the
entity are present and working as intended. An automobile only works when all
of its elements are installed and performing. Likewise, an automobile
manufacturing company only works efficiently when all its elements [CEO, factor
workers, etc] perform their various functions. Christians understand this
indisputable truth. This being the case, why is it that a large number of
Christians are satisfied to be members of a local church that is not operating
at peak efficiency because there are no elders to oversee that church?
It has been the experience of this writer
that establishing an eldership in a local church is difficult if not impossible
to accomplish. This leads me to ask “Why?!” Is it because God has not given us
information on this subject? Is it because the character and caliber of
Christians today is inferior to those of times past? Maybe it is because too
many Christians have become satisfied with the status quo. In many instances,
the problem is that a portion of the membership fears they will no longer have
a say in what is done or not done in the local church. This article will
proceed on the assumption that it is ignorance of the work of elders and not
something more sinister, which has created the lack of elders in local
churches.
At the foundation of establishing an
eldership is an understanding of the office as to its authority, work and
affect on the local work. In speaking to the elders at Ephesus Paul said, “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to
all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the
Men who serve as elders must engage in
personal evaluation if they are to serve acceptably. “The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of
overseer, he desires a noble task.” (1 Timothy 3:1).
The office of overseer is not just a title to be worn but a work (noble task)
to be preformed. Paul gave instructions to the Ephesian
elders by pointing out that the local church faced coming dangers. Further
more, he places the work of protecting the flock directly upon the shoulders of
the elders (Acts
Not only are elders to oversee the local
church by protecting it from the evil one who would destroy it, but they are
also to shepherd, i.e. pastor the flock (Acts
The Scriptures have thus far instructed
us as to the importance of the work of overseeing or shepherding a local
church. This makes us to understand why Paul would tell Timothy that a man must
desire (aspire) to do this great work. A man who is shy about being in a
leadership position does not qualify to serve as an elder. Further more, if he
does not show forth leadership qualities before being appointed, he will not
begin to show this leadership after he is appointed. It is the conviction of
this writer that a Christian man, or men, who would scripturally qualify for
this great work, must, to some degree, be active in the work prior to their
appointment. A local church cannot know to follow those who would desire the
work of a bishop unless it observes men whose example manifests the life
described by Paul in 1 Timothy chapter three and Titus
chapter one.
No one should take what has been said as
an indictment against comparing the lives of men who desire the office of
bishop with the qualifications given to us by Paul. I have written the above as
a means of emphasizing the need for leadership qualities in men who do this
work. We must not get hung up on personal opinions about the several different
characteristics mentioned in the first Timothy and Titus verses. The
unrealistic expectations of some Christians regarding the qualifications of
those who desire the work of a bishop has stopped any and all efforts to
establish an eldership. It has also discouraged future efforts by causing men
to think they could never qualify.
Do we have a dearth of qualified men
today or is the problem found in the attitudes of men? Pray that our attitudes
will always be to serve our Father to the best of our abilities.
THE LAST WORD
GOSPEL MEETING
At
The
Pound church of Christ
Speaker:
David
Thacker
Times:
Sunday
–
Monday
thru Friday –
Building
Location:
The Pound church’s building is
located at the 53.6 mile marker on hwy. 23 [
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WHAT MUST
I DO
Hear: Rom
Believe: Heb 11:6
Repent: Lk 13:5; Ac 17:30
Confess: Matt
Be Baptized: Ac
TO BE
SAVED?
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FAMILY
MATTERS
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like to hear a sermon you can access our Audio Sermons page. Also on this page
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a page where you can download a program. The program is a weekly so there will
be a new program uploaded each week. We also keep the sermons updated as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Pound church web site = www.poundchurchofchrist.org/
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The Pound Proclaimer
is published monthly by the Pound
All articles by the editor unless
otherwise stated
Editor: Glen Young
Phone: 276-796-5767=Office
804-365-8694=Home
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