Eastland eBulletin 9.24.06

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Area Meetings
. Sept 24-29 - Taylorsville Rd; Harrodsburg; College View (E'town).
. Sept 30 - Women's Study, Lakeview (Columbus, IN).
. Oct 1-4 - Charlestown Rd (New Albany, IN).
. Oct 1-6 - Park St (Charlestown, IN); Galena, IN; Clarksville, IN.
. Oct 8-13 - Douglass Hills.
. Oct 13-14 - Men's study, Carlisle, KY.

Potpourri
. Remember the kid's bulletin in the foyer.
. Today's speaker is Cloyce Sutton. Copies of today's sermon notes are in
the literature rack in the foyer.
. The October calendar is now available.
. Per Reggie's article, the booklets on instrumental music are available on
the table in the foyer.
. The new teaching quarter begins one week from today, October 1.

October Duties
. Transportation: Broderson, McPherson
. Lord's Supper: P Reece, T Reece
. Meals: B Crowder, B Barnett
. Deacon: J Mindel
. Usher: S Riggle
. Sound: B Blain

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Slip Sliding Away
By Reggie Robarts

You may recognize the title of this article as the same of an old Simon and
Garfunkel song, which I happen to like very much, but have no idea what the
lyrics mean. Not unusual for their songs and me. But the song title suits
well the idea that I am discussing in this piece.

There is a pattern in religious bodies that they often times begin with very
conservative attitudes about scripture but gradually, as their membership
becomes more sophisticated, become more and more liberal in their theology
and consequently in their attitudes and practice. They evolve from sectarian
thinking into denominational thinking. They become more broadminded and more
accepting of other views and more tolerant of theological differences with
other churches. They minimize the importance of such differences. Most end
up typically denominational in their thinking and practice and, when the
transition is complete, they proudly take their place in the mainstream of
the denominational religious community.

The churches of Christ have not been exempt from the phenomena. You can look
at what have become very theological liberal churches that wear the name
church of Christ, that have little resemblance to those that started out to
restore simple New Testament Christianity. In fact, they are far removed
from "us conservatives" and our teaching and practice. But conservative
churches have not been untouched by these modern trends either.

This article is to point out what I believe to be an ever-increasing threat,
in one particular area, namely instrumental music in worship, to our stated
intention of having authority for what we do (we here at Eastland) in our
worship and teaching. This is by no means the only area where danger
threatens but I believe it to be an eminent one.

How far in the future is the time when the sound of organs, pianos,
orchestras, praise bands, etc. will be heard in churches where, heretofore,
only vocal music was used? My prediction is not long at all. Some of the
liberal congregations among us have already started using instruments in
special services, especially to appeal to the young of the congregation.
They cannot adopt it for all services because the "old guard" would be
offended and leave. They can't afford to lose these old stalwarts because
they are the ones who give most of the money (At least that's my opinion).
But as soon as the old ones are gone instrumental music will be ushered in
with little or no opposition.

A couple of years ago a former classmate of mine at Florida College retired
from David Lipscomb University where he served as head of the Bible
department. There was a lengthy interview with him published in the
Nashville Banner. Among the things this brother said was, "Our tradition has
held that instrumental music not be used in worship, that is our heritage."
If those who educate our young people, especially our young preachers, do
not endorse instrumental music only because it is not "our heritage, or our
tradition," can the acceptance among the masses be far behind? Many of our
young people already believe, I think, that it is a matter of indifference.
How many have left us here at Eastland and joined themselves to groups where
instrumental music has been used for years in their worship and have
accepted it with no reservations? If it is a matter a matter of indifference
then by all means lets bring it into our worship. It has a broad appeal and
would possibly add to our numbers, which could use some stimulus since we
have been stagnant for some time.

Let me hasten to add that it is not a matter of indifference whether it is
incorporated into worship or not. A few months ago we had a nice young
family to visit us. After visiting for a few months they indicated a desire
to place membership with us. They had come from a conservative, independent
Christian church, but which did worship with the instrument. This young man
was very well grounded in the Scripture and had done a great deal of reading
about instrumental music. He had determined that instrumental music was
perfectly acceptable to God but one could worship just as acceptably without
it. He had preached extensively for Christian churches and intended to
continue, if called on to do so, after placing membership with us. I told
him it would be a gross inconsistency for us to take him into our fellowship
when he was encouraging others in something we understood to be wrong. He
was quite surprised to learn that not using the instrument was not a matter
of preference with us but a matter of principle. He and his family
reluctantly left us and I was very sorry to see them go.

Now, all of this to say that there is a book by L A Mott, which the elders
are going to give to each family in the congregation. It is probably
different from anything you have ever read on instrumental music. The
proviso that comes with the book is that you will agree to read it. If you
are ambivalent about the issue of whether instrumental music is permissible
by God in worship the elders believe you will get a somewhat different
perspective after reading this booklet. Please take the time to read it
carefully and prayerfully. My little children if we don't make every attempt
to walk in the ancient paths we will find ourselves "slip sliding away," not
on just instrumental music but on many other issues. Biblical authority has
not lost its importance even if the religious world holds little regard for
it.

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Putting the Lord on Hold
By J. R. Bronger

Punching in the numbers, I hear the ringing indicating my call had gone
through. "Hello," the voice on the other end says. I begin my conversation.
Suddenly, the voice says, "Oh, wait a minute, I have another call." The line
goes dead and I sit listening to silence. In a moment, the voice returns.
"Now, what were you saying?" I begin to respond, but am interrupted with:
"Hold on, I have another call coming in." Silence! I wait. "I'm back, sorry
about that. What were we talking about?" I begin and before long, I'm told,
"Oh, please, I've a call and it's my neighbor; it might be important; can I
call you back?"

We hang up with the promise being made that my call would be returned just
as soon as possible. I wait, but I guess the neighbor's news was so
overpowering that a return call was impossible. Talk about making one feel
somewhat insignificant. I realize that in the great scheme of things my
little call was not earth shattering, but I sure thought it was important.
Whether intentional or not, the treatment I received indicated the low
priority I rated with the person on the other end of the line.

People are saying, "Oh, wait just a minute Lord. The world is calling and
you just gotta hold on a minute, so just stay right there. I'm going to put
you on hold. I promise I'll get back to you momentarily. In the meantime,
I'm going to see what the world wants."

As I see it, we are really telling the Lord, he does not rate very highly on
a list of priorities whenever we have something "more important" than
assembling for worship and Bible study. In truth we are putting the Lord on
hold when we put the world before the church and faithful attendance. "Lord,
could I call you back in a few years? I mean as soon as I finish pleasing
the world then I'll get back to you and we'll continue this conversation."

>From Biblical Insights,
August 2005, p 24

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