Author: Roberts, Tom

May I suggest that there are enough critics of the Bible in the world who cast doubts on the integrity of God’s word without brethren raising questions about the text? Preachers of the gospel are to make a “certain sound” (1 Cor. 14:7-8), not an “uncertain” one.

Be of the same sentiment as the Bereans of old who “searched the scriptures daily to see whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11). Truth has nothing to fear from honest investigation. We remain open to brotherly discussion of these issues. May we hear from you?

How far have we gotten from old-fashioned Bible study? How far have we gotten from a “thus saith the Lord?” Do we yet speak “as the oracles of God” (1 Peter 4:11)? Do we “speak where the Bible speaks and remain silent where the Bible is silent?” We have always said that “truth has nothing to fear from investigation.” Is this really true or have we been mouthing platitudes all these years while we chide denominationalism for their closed minds? Is your mind open? Will you study these vital issues? Ask your preacher. See what he has to say.

Many colleges operated by brethren have gone the way of digression and have ceased to be effective in their original purpose. Nevertheless, the church continues on in its divine mission as the body of Christ, seeking the lost and edifying the saved. If Florida College insists on academic freedom to the extent that it overshadows biblical soundness, it will be a tragic change.

Proposition 2: The Scriptures teach that the elders of a local church are authorized to assemble privately to make decisions in matters of judgment for the local church before and without calling together the whole congregation.

Proposition 2: The Scriptures teach that the elders of a local church are authorized to assemble privately to make decisions in matters of judgment for the local church before and without calling together the whole congregation.

Proposition 2: The Scriptures teach that the elders of a local church are authorized to assemble privately to make decisions in matters of judgment for the local church before and without calling together the whole congregation.

Proposition 1: The Scriptures teach that the pattern of decision-making in matters of congregational judgment must always include the whole church (including women) under male leadership in all local churches (both with and without elders).

Proposition 1: The Scriptures teach that the pattern of decision-making in matters of congregational judgment must always include the whole church (including women) under male leadership in all local churches (both with and without elders).

Proposition 1: The Scriptures teach that the pattern of decision-making in matters of congregational judgment must always include the whole church (including women) under male leadership in all local churches (both with and without elders).

Those who will not stand for anything will fall for everything; those who will not stand for the truth will fall for error. Will you take a stand?

Dear reader, we encourage you, also, to stand. Be unyielding to error. Have conviction about the word of God and what it teaches. Don’t give in to compromise and weak preaching. Stand!

With John, Jesus and the apostles, communication was often a one-way street: they preached, but not everyone listened or agreed with what they had to say. I know this is also true today because we get an occasional message to “remove my name from your mailing list”, as a result of the teaching we do in our mail out bulletin at Forest Hills. Of course, we will do so. But what does it cost to read and study? The truth is needed today as much as it ever was and it is available to all who “hunger and thirst after righteousness” (Matthew 5:6).

Faithful churches of Christ are actively preaching the Great Commission and are reaching out to the community around them with its saving message. We are attempting to communicate the “good news” (gospel) of Christ today, just as it was delivered in the first century.

This is written to communicate with you concerning the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. Have you accepted Jesus by faith (Hebrews 11:6)? Have you repented of your sins (Luke 13:3)? Have you confessed your faith in Jesus (Matthew 10:32; Romans 10:9-10)? Have you been baptized for the remission of your sins (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:38; Romans 6:1-7)? Are you following Jesus as a faithful disciple (Revelations 2:10)?

Husbands, wives, children: serve God as a family. Which member(s) of your family are you content to see drift into hell? Do you sit across the breakfast table from a loved one who is lost? Talk humbly and lovingly to him (her) about it. Let them know that your love for them won’t let you sit idly by while they are lost. Do you have young people who are drifting away? Let them read this so they will know you care. Reach out. Fight. Don’t give up. Don’t stop caring. Shed some tears. Pray about it. Determine to remain faithful all alone if you have to, but let them know you don’t want to. You want your family to be in the Lord’s family.

My conclusion is that a church may use a bulletin and its influence may be widely felt without invading another church’s independence. Let us not be critical of any method or medium which a church uses so long as care is used to respect local autonomy. And finally, let us extend the same courtesy to those who stand for the truth as for those who constantly agitate. Don’t call for one to cease while allowing the other to continue. Common fairness and decency demands this much.

Yes, my friend, you will be on your own, to stand or fall, for good or bad. There will be no one to blame but yourself. Your mistakes will be yours and no guilt can be handed back to your parents any longer. And there is an additional thought worthy of consideration: when you have children, you will be faced with the same responsibilities your parents had. If you love your children, if you want their life to prosper, if you want them to grow up respecting others and being prepared to face life, you will have to set some rules. And the cycle will have come full circle!

God is surely longsuffering and full of mercy. But remember that God’s spirit “will not always strive with man” (Genesis 6:3). The Day of Reckoning will surely come, just as the rains descended in Noah’s day. Will you ignore God’s mercy? Will you outlast His patience? Will you refuse to obey the gospel?

Brethren and friends, there is such a thing as “sound” and “unsound” doctrine. We are to support the truth and oppose error. Such has been the case since Satan led Adam and Eve astray in the garden. Not all the rhetoric and faulty definitions in the world can change the nature of truth and error. Nor can all the soft and compromising attitudes among brethren conceal false teaching or false teachers. The Bible says much more about error, false doctrine, etc., than space here permits in our study. But let’s not be moved off the sure foundation of God’s word as a reference for fellowship to the quicksands of emotional compromise. “Contend for the faith…” (Jude 3).