THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER
"Search the scriptures: for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. " (John 5:39)

VOLUME 5, NUMBER 24, JUNE 19, 2005

FUN AND FELLOWSHIP

            Several years ago while driving through the south central Kentucky countryside late one Friday night, if memory serves me correctly I was returning from a Gospel Meeting, an announcement came on the radio that I had never heard before.  It began with a fellow saying, “Ah, Sunday, my day of rest.”  He than proceeded to name all of the things that he had to do on that day.  He was going to change the oil in his wife’s car.  He was going to cut the grass, trim the hedges, edge the lawn.  He was going to see to it that both of his cars got washed, go to the store, clean out the garage, and take his family out to dinner.  In between the mention of all these chores, he kept saying, “Ah, Sunday, my day of rest.”

            Toward the end of the 60-second spot, another announcer came on.  He said something like, “Our lives are so busy and all of us need to take a little time out for ourselves.  Do you go to church on Sunday?  Why not take the time for fun and fellowship?  Go to church.  Just a little message from your friends of the Southern Baptist Association.”

            Is it just me, or does this message strike you as approaching the subject of “going to church” from the wrong perspective?  Throughout the entire spot, there was not one mention of God.  That is not necessarily wrong.  God is not mentioned in the Book of Esther either, but the whole book is about Him.  Throughout the entire spot there was not one mention of worship – even though it was about “going to church.”  Throughout the entire spot there was no mention of the Lord Jesus.  Throughout the entire spot there was not one mention of praise or thanksgiving.  The complete emphasis was upon the person and “going to church” as a way to get a break from work and to have some fun and fellowship.

            Don’t get me wrong.  I do have fun at services, but it is fun from the sense of enjoying worshipping my God.  I enjoy studying God’s Word, singing praises unto Him, partaking of the Lord’s Supper, giving back a portion of what God has blessed me with, and praying.  I enjoy the joint participation in worship with my fellow Christians and I enjoy the opportunity to see and talk to everybody when the services are completed.  However, what brings me here is not the idea of fun and fellowship (especially in the way that fellowship is being used).  It is “Jesus Christ, and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).  I find it incredible that the Southern Baptist Association could produce a radio spot meant to encourage people to attend “church” services and never mention the Lord.  What they were using to entice people was fun and fellowship.  I guess those folks want to improve upon what the Lord said would draw the people.  He said that the drawing power was to be the cross.  “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me”  (John 12:32).

            I am reminded of Paul’s words in Galatians 1:10.  He wrote, “For do I now persuade men, or God?  Or do I seek to please men?  For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.”  That radio spot was just another example of “Give the people what they want.”  Well, what about what God wants?

                                                            Greg Litmer

OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES

            A little four year old girl came in from playing outside one day and complained to her mother of a sore stomach.  “That’s because it’s empty.  It’ll feel better when you have something in it,” the mother soothed her.

            That very afternoon the preacher stopped by the house to pick up some material that he had loaned to the mother.  He complained of a severe headache.  “That’s because it’s empty,” the little girl told him.  “It’ll feel better when you get something in it!”

            On Tuesday evening Vicky and I had the pleasure of watching Maggie and Jake for a little while.  In our basement we have a little practice putting rug, with a machine at the end that shoots the ball back to you if you put it in the hole.   The kids love to play with it.  After watching me putt for a little while, Maggie was able to figure out the problem even though none of the men that I have played with here have been able to do so.  Maggie said, “Man, you are really bad at that.”  Truer words have never been spoken.

TELL HER SO!

Amid the cares of married life,
In spite of toil and business strife,
If you value your sweet wife,
Tell her so!
There was a time you thought it bliss
To get the favor of a kiss;
A dozen now won’t come amiss –
Tell her so!
Don’t act as if she’s passed her prime,
As though to please her were a crime –
If e’er you loved her, now’s the time,
Tell her so!
You are hers and hers alone;
Well you know she’s all your own;
Don’t wait to carve it on the stone –
Tell her so!
Never let her heart grow cold,
Richer beauties will unfold.
She is worth her weight in gold,
Tell her so!

Mrs. John H. Whipple