PARSON PONDERS 01/06/05 CHURCH OF THE COWBOY    We find in our study of the Bible that there was never a formal name for the people of God. All the terms found in the scriptures just describe us in our various roles or relationships with Him. We are a fold, a flock, a house, a building, a body, a family, a church (the called out), etc. There was never one designation used to the exclusion of the others. Often the term church (which should be translated as assembly or congregation) is used to tell us the location where these saints met or who comprised it, for example, "the church (congregation) of the Thessalonians" (1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 2:1), "the church (congregation) of Ephesus" (Rev. 2:1), "the church (assembly) in Smyrna" (Rev. 2:8), etc. Most of the time it refers to our head or savior, "church (called out) of God", "body of Christ", or "kingdom of God". Have you ever wondered who picked out one name, said that this was the only name the saved can wear and those called by any other name were not our brethren? In a few weeks, in our regular article series, I will tell you who but in the mean time I will give you a hint: It was not the Holy Spirit! While you wait, ponder this: If we condemn our religious neighbors because their churches have a start date which is after the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, could they not say the same when "we" have a date when "our" church adopted its exclusive name? Make no mistake about it, the Parson is not a part of the "we" or the "our." I desire to be only a New Testament Christian and a Christian only.     Let us now turn our attention to Romans chapter 16. This passage (always quoted with Mt. 16:18 "upon this rock I will build my church") is used as proof that God's people must be called the "Church of Christ." The verse says, "Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you." (v. 16) However, this is the one and only time the phrase "churches of Christ" is found in the scriptures while "church of God" is used 9 times and "kingdom of God" about 73 times! These facts alone should cause every nondenominational Christian to reject this and every sectarian name. As we all know, a text without a context is a pretext. Let us look then at the context, the rest of Romans 16. It begins in verse one with, "I commend unto you Phebe our sister, who is a servant of the congregation which is at Cenchrea." As Paul commends her and others who labor and sacrifice for the cause of Christ he lists Priscilla and Aquila and "the congregation that is in their house." (v. 5) He lists others and "the brethren which are with them," (v. 14) and still others, "and all the saints which are with them." (v. 15) These verses put the phrase "the congregations of Christ salute you" in its proper context. The Apostle Paul is not giving the called out a name; he is only sending greetings to and from the various assemblies of the saved. If, however, you can take verse 16 out of context and make it the name of the church then I can use verse 4, i.e., the name of the church should be that of those who make it up, as "the churches of the Gentiles." So in the spirit of sectarianism and my western heritage, Christians must be members of the "Church of the Cowboy." If not, why not? The Parson 12/27/04 CHURCH NAME SCOREBOARD    Before we start there are three things you should understand. 1. The church of the N.T. did not have a formal name. Why? Because it was the only one and did not need to be distinguished from anything else. 2. While I hope we learn something from this, part is just for fun and 3. Don't quote my numbers. The parson ain't good at ciphering.     So here we go. We will take the terms referring to the to the body of the saved in the N.T. when the word "of" is used with it. Like the bowl games this week we will keep a scorecard. HOUSE OF GOD (6)   HOUSE OF CHRIST (0) HOUSEHOLD OF GOD (1)   HOUSEHOLD OF CHRIST (0) FLOCK OF GOD (1)   FLOCK OF CHRIST (0) BUILDING OF GOD (1)   BUILDING OF CHRIST (0) BODY OF GOD (0)   BODY OF CHRIST (3) KINGDOM OF GOD (73)   KINGDOM OF CHRIST (0)   KINGDOM OF DEAR SON (1) CHURCH OF GOD (7)   CHURCH OF CHRIST (0) CHURCHES OF GOD (2)   CHURCHES OF CHRIST (1)     FINAL SCORE: GOD (91)   CHRIST (4)   HIS DEAR SON (1)     What can we learn from this? (1) If we use the inspired words of the Apostles we will call ourselves the kingdom of God (if we call ourselves anything other than Christians.) (2) Based on the numbers, if we want to call ourselves a "church", church of God wins 9 to 1. (3) Should we be telling our religious neighbors that we are the "Church of Christ" because that is what God called his people in the Bible? (4) We might be safer if we followed the New Testament pattern and didn't use any name to the exclusion of the others. Now this is really something to ponder! The Parson   12/22/04 PONDER THIS!    Will Parson Preaching be a first principle website? NO! NO! NO! As the logo says, we desire to "Restore The Restoration Plea." The body of Christ has, over the last 50 years, drifted in speech, attitude and action into denominationalism. Saying: "we are not a denomination" is not enough. We must speak and act in ways that show we are different from the sectarian religious world. Articles in the brotherhood papers and sermons from the pulpits prove how far we have gone.     Remember when we emphasized the word church had to be with a small "c" because a capital "C" would make it the name of a denomination? "Church of Christ!" Remember when we preached that using one scriptural designation to the exclusion of the others would make us a denomination? Remember when saying "we in the Church of Christ believe" would bring immediate rebuke? Remember when if asked what church we belonged to we told our neighbors "the Lord's church?" Remember when if asked "what denomination" we replied, "none, just the church you read about in the N.T.?" Remember when an elder would stand in protest if the preacher said something like, "when you obey the gospel the Lord adds you to the Church of Christ and not the Baptist or Methodist Church?" Remember when one of the seven passages where the Apostle Paul called the saved the "church of God" was read in the pulpit the preacher didn't feel it was necessary to follow with, "this is the Church of Christ?" Remember when being a faithful Christian wasn't determined by which scriptural name was on a sign over the door (if any name at all)?     While we still protest the "Church of Christ" is not a denomination, our neighbors know the truth. There is wisdom in the old saying, "If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and is seen in the company of ducks, it probably is a duck." The Parson will do everything he can to shock, upset and even make you angry. Why? Because we are dying (numerically and spiritually) and the facts prove it. The lost are not rejecting the "truth" they are rejecting a group that preaches, "our church is right and yours is wrong." They need and long for what we used to preach: "the Lord adds the saved to HIS church and not to any denomination." They need to hear the old time story, JESUS SAVES, not the church, any church! If we don't return to the old paths millions of souls will be lost because we didn't give them an alternative to religious division and strife. The time is far past to stop preaching the "Church of Christ" and return to preaching "Jesus Christ and Him crucified" to a lost and dying world. The Parson     12/20/04   I am adding a new page today. The name comes from an old country word that is not used as much today. Your grandparents would say, "Now that is something to ponder" or "I will need to ponder on that." It is also used in the Bible many times. In the Old Testament it comes from the Hebrew word "Sakal" which means "to pay attention to, consider or turn mind to." While the KJV uses the word "consider" other translations use the word "ponder." It is also found in the NT in Luke 2:19, "But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart."     Our Biblical studies will be updated each week starting January 1, 2005 but other issues or thoughts may arise which I would like to address. These may be items in the news which have an effect on Christians, communication or feedback from you the reader or even little words of wisdom from The Parson. Check back often, this will be the fun page. The Parson