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 45, NOVEMBER 13, 2005

WHAT CANCER CANNOT DO

An Article in memory of Margaret Steinly, a dear sister in Christ.

Cancer!  This very word brings such a broad range of emotions to those who hear it: sickness, despair, disappointment, and the list goes on.  One would be hard pressed to find a family that has not been affected by this terrible disease.  Yet as the following poem, written by an unknown author, reminds us, cancer is still very limited:

Cancer is so limited…

It cannot cripple LOVE, it cannot shatter HOPE,
It cannot corrode FAITH, it cannot eat away PEACE,
It cannot destroy CONFIDENCE, it cannot kill FRIENDSHIP,
It cannot shut out MEMORIES, it cannot silence COURAGE,
It cannot invade the SOUL, it cannot reduce ETERNAL LIFE,
It cannot quench the SPIRIT,
It cannot lessen the power of the RESURRECTION!

Because of JESUS, cancer does not have the last word!  Because of Jesus, any disease – even death itself – is not the final chapter in our lives.  The Apostle Paul wrote the following words of assurance to the Christians who were suffering: “”Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a LIVING HOPE though the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you”(1 Peter 1:3-4).  This is the hope of the Christian.  Cancer cannot touch the hope that Christ brings.  Cancer cannot tarnish the inheritance of the faithful child of God.  Will you trust and obey so that hope can be yours?

Submitted by Phil Kraft, written by D. Sargent

STRONG CHURCHES

Occasionally, in some conversations, when a particular congregation is mentioned, comment is made to the effect that “that’s a strong church,” or “the cause is weak in that place.”  Wherein lies the difference between strength and weakness?  Why are some local churches a bulwark of strength and a tower of influence for good, whereas others are struggling for their very existence, and in some instances, the laughingstock of town?

Quite obviously, some churches are strong because they possess the ingredients that make for strength.  Others are weak because they possess the qualities of weakness.  Hence, the question, “Upon what does strength depend?”

UPON WHAT DOES CONGREGATIONAL STRENGTH DEPEND?

1. Congregational strength depends upon Bible knowledge.  God’s people are still being “destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hos. 4:6).  The members of the church at Corinth were “carnal” and stifled by “envyings, and strife, and divisions” and walked “as men.”  One reason lay in the fact that they were fed with milk, being unable to receive the meat of the word (1 Cor. 3:1-3).  Paul’s prayer for the Philippians was that “your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment: that ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ” (Phil. 1:9-10).  Take a look at the strong churches in our land and you will see congregations that have a well-rounded Bible instruction program, and a congregation whose members attend, prepare for and participate in these assemblies and classes where truth is being taught.

2. Congregational strength depends upon members who have a deep and abiding faith.  “Without faith it is impossible to please Him” (Heb. 11:6).  We, like Abraham was, should be “strong in faith” and not stagger “at the promise of God through unbelief” (Rom. 4:20).  But alas!  Too often “Christians” today are like the children of Israel who fell in the wilderness; the word preached does not profit them, being mixed with faith (Heb. 3:17; 4:2).  In such instances members in these churches are afraid to take a strong stand for truth and against error (“somebody might get offended”), engage in corrective discipline (“such would only cause trouble here”) or launch out into the deep (Lk. 5:4) with a program of work which requires considerable sacrifice of time, talent, and money.  In too many congregations, faith is something you read about in the Bible, but not something you see in the members.  Need we be surprised to learn that these congregations (whether large or small in number) are looked upon as weak, neither being regarded with favor by friend, nor with fear by foe?

3.  Congregational strength depends upon an informed, united, aggressive leadership.  Preferably, of course, in the leadership of godly, qualified, hard-working elders.   However, some congregations do not possess a plurality of qualified men to serve as elders (1 Tim. 3:1-7; Tit. 1:5-9), but nevertheless do possess a nucleus of several able brethren who insist on doing “Bible things in the Bible way.”  However, when there is discord or feet-dragging in the leadership (whether it be in the eldership, or the brethren who attend business meetings), one need not expect to find a strong church.

4.  Congregational strength depends upon congregational unity.  “United we stand and divided we fall” is as axiomatic as is the saying, “a straight line is the shortest distance between two points.”  Jesus prayed fervently for the unity of those who would believe on him through the apostles’ word (Jn. 17:20-21), and Paul besought the Ephesians to endeavor  “to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3).  Let it be remembered, however, that congregational unity depends upon every single member of the congregation.  A few chip-bearing, embittered, persistent soreheads can cause more heartache, misery, tears, strife, discord, dissension, and discouragement than any eloquent man has the capacity to express.

5. Last, but certainly not least, congregational strength depends upon brethren who love God, His word, and each other.

Abridged from an article by Bobby Witherington