Big changes coming! Take a look at some of them!

Yes, it is a comical title, but that is for a reason. There are a LOT of things going on right now at The Gospel of Christ and that is a GOOD thing!

Here we are, finishing out the month of October. That means that year-end is just around the corner.

We thought we would share some things with you about the efforts of our Field Rep program, evangelism efforts and Digital Evangelism stats from this year.

In Luke chapter 10, Jesus describes what we might find as one of the most impressive evangelism efforts of that day outside of Jesus’ teachings Himself. You will remember that He selected 70 (some translations may note 72) and sent them out “two by two.” This provides for some very interesting narrative that comes next, as well as some unique thoughts that we should also carry on with in our own evangelistic efforts.

t has been said that “the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, and the second best time is today.”

The idea behind this is that trees are not full grown when they are planted. I live near several nurseries and walk or drive past one nearly every day. Recently, they have been working the fields and over the past few days many little seedlings have been deposited into the ground.

Sin always required a sacrifice to be absolved (or pressed forward in the case of the OT), sacrifice always required the shedding of blood....except for one particular sacrifice.

In Leviticus 16, there is a depiction of a sacrifice that not only required the blood of a bull and a ram as a burnt offering, but also two goat kids. The first sin offering was to appease God of the sins of Aaron and his family, then he was to take the two goat kids from the congregation and cast lots.

Whichever goat kid that God's lot fell on would be the sacrificial goat kid, but the second goat kid would also be a part of the process of atonement.

Being a member of the church of Christ, I hear this question more times than I could count and answer. The question sometimes arises from those that want to define the church of Christ as a denomination. Other times, the question may arise when someone is trying to refute their beliefs that do not align with those of what I consider the doctrine of Christ described in Jude 3.

My spell check says that “arguism” isn’t a word. I would like to argue that! Maybe I need to define the word better for us. Arguism - the state of arguing just to win a battle and not a soul. Well, that may be a bit broad, but it fits.

Two weeks ago, we received a few calls from Ron that had watched the program on WTGL in Orlando, FL that is sponsored locally by Concord Street Church of Christ. This gentleman said:

Sin will always have consequences.

Sometimes the consequences are seen right away, sometimes it may take years.

Most times, the consequences will be of a personal nature, and personally related; however, many will also have innocent parties becoming a victim of circumstance.

When I was 17 years old, I LEFT the church. I had been offended by some of my "friends" in the church and segregated from a lot of their activities because I wasn't in the "cool kid" group.

I gave up. I knew my Bible very well I thought. I decided that I could live my life the way that I wanted to, and that there would be no consequence to that. I had been baptized right at the age of 10. I was in a "future preacher's" class by the time I was 11. I went to Short Mountain Bible Camp every summer. I didn't cuss. I didn't disobey my parents (much). I didn't do the things that seemed to be bad. I just didn't do them!

Recently, I filled the pulpit at my home congregation (when I am not visiting with The Gospel of Christ). It wasn’t completely short notice, but it was short enough that I did not have enough time to build a brand new lesson from scratch.

When you ask a question of such - “Are you going to heaven,” generally, you will get different answers. What would your answer be?

As was announced last month, we have made a decision to not renew our contract with NewsNation. This was a very difficult decision; however, just in a few weeks time, it has proven that the switch to FETV is a great move for our program as we have experienced a lot of new viewer activity!

t has definitely been an interesting summer!

With the field rep program, we were able to meet with multiple congregations in many states including Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Florida, Mississippi, as well as make new acquaintance via phone and email with several others.

Our media and field rep programs have been very busy lately.

About a dozen new congregations have been met with over the past 3 months in 5 different states, and many more are scheduled. We have some very exciting things happening and we want to share those with you.

“I watched your program this past Sunday. It was the first time I had seen it. I NEED to be baptized!”