March 2003

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Ever grab a dog's ears?

He who passes by and meddles in a quarrel not his own Is like one who takes a dog by the ears Prov. 26:17 .

I am a huge fan of dogs. Big ones, small ones, tall ones, fat ones. I love dogs. They are friendly, loyal, fun, loyal, hard working, loyal, furry and loyal (not necessarily in that order). I once heard an old story that when God threw Adam and Eve part of the punishment was a huge divide between them and the animal kingdom. In the last second before the divide opened, the story went, the dog jumped across to forever stand with humans. While that story certainly isn't biblical it sounds pretty good to me because it reminds me of most of the dogs I've ever known. more...

Colossians 4:16 and Sponsoring Churches

Does Colossians 4:16 establish authority for churches sending to one another in evangelism?

Where can Bible authority for a congregation to send money to another congregation for evangelistic purposes be found?  While there are many, many verses that discuss churches sending funds for benevolent relief the New Testament says nothing about sending to help a church do evangelism.  No verse exists in which Paul implores a church to send funds over to another church because a door is open to that church and just a few shekels would help them save many souls.  In no place is there any reference to a church sending a single cent to another church for evangelism.  There is no command, no example, and nothing that would cause one to infer that Jesus wants congregations to send to one another in evangelism. more...

A Final Debate Note

Last year I met Ben Vick Jr. in a written debate over the sponsoring church arrangement.  That debate came about as a result of Jim Waldron’s scurrilous attack on non-institutional brethren in Jim’s paper Bulletin Briefs.  Jim wanted to deride “parachurch organizations” as unscriptural while still holding on to the sponsoring church arrangement (an impossibility), and then went out of his way to blame non-institutional brethren for today’s rampant liberalism. more...