Letters
I noticed Flavil Yeakley’s article in “Views” in December’s The Christian Chronicle.
I have been concerned for some time about members of the church being ashamed of the “label” Church of Christ, and trying to run away from it. As Christians, we must stand firm on the Bible as the Word of God (and remember that John says “and the Word became flesh and dwelt among men” — a clear reference to Jesus the Christ/Messiah/Savior of all men).
We should stand shoulder to shoulder against all efforts of Satan and denominations/denominational schools to downplay the importance of any religious organization claiming to be THE church established by, bought by and married to the Christ. …
GENE CONNER
Grand Prairie, Texas
Thoughts about “Insight”
In your rather comprehensive “Reflections…” piece in the December issue, you say a few things in passing that pricked my interest. …
You say that while churches respond cooperatively in certain matters (terrorists attacks), “churches continue patterns of self-absorption.” Even with a “flood of messages about connection, most churches proceed their individualistic ways with almost no knowledge of what the congregation down the street is doing.” I agree with you that this is the case. I am 67 and have been a member of the churches of Christ all my life — mostly in Tennessee and Texas. This independence among congregations has always been true. When we had gospel meetings, congregations did announce each other’s meetings, but that was about all. Your concern about “connections among churches” in churches of Christ with no central organization and a strong appreciation for congregational independence is most interesting. …
Carl H. Stem
Lubbock, Texas
More about web sites for Bible materials
I read with great interest the short piece regarding Oklahoma Christian University’s Web site for Bible school material. I rejoice that we are realizing the tremendous potential for spreading the gospel via the Web.
ScripturesSay.com has been doing exactly that for four years. We have now exceeded 5 million hits at our site; we average over 10,000 hits daily. We have answers to hundreds of Bible questions in both audio and text, books and music as well as an online Bible course. If anyone in the world needs help with a Bible question we offer free assistance. This generates on the average 300-500 questions per month from all over the world. We have heard from over 50 countries and all 50 states. …
Mike Scott
Prescott, Ariz.
Reader faults story of Lucado
In your paper’s mission statement, you state one mission is to “seek to … unite churches of Christ.” An admirable goal indeed; however, I think you need to clarify what you mean by “churches of Christ.”
The reason I bring this up is that while you call Max Lucado “controversial,” I think you do The Christian Chronicle and its subscribers a disservice to acknowledge him and his followers as members of the “church of Christ,” although admittedly they use that name. I had the opportunity to attend the Oak Hills Church of Christ where Mr. Lucado ministers. I was shocked to see that they do not include immersion as part of obeying the gospel, meaning one may be saved without being baptized. In a nutshell, they preach a different gospel than you or I preach.
David Dill
Kerrville, Texas
