LET THE BIBLE SPEAK.

                    Should Women in the Church Attend Business Meetings? W.R. Jones Conroe, Texas As the Women's Movement grows in the world about us it is having its effect on some ladies in the church. I was recently confronted with this question by a Christian who worships with a congregation where sisters attending business meetings is a fairly common practice. I am told they attend and speak out concerning their views. The first thing this practice tells me is that sisters who attend and so exercise themselves do not properly understand their role in the kingdom or they have no respect for God's &vine arrangement. The second thing this practice tells me is that brethren who allow it are either poorly informed of women's role in the New Testament or they have lost their courage to speak against such conduct. In either case it is an indicator of spiritu...

We All Fail, At Times, To Exercise  Self-Control The word "self-control" is translated from a Greek word which literally means, "one who holds himself in." It is a better rendering than "temperance," since today the word "temperance" is usually limited in the meaning to one form of self-control, i.e., abstaining from alcohol. Self-control is the bringing of all our appetites, desires and passions into harmony with the will of God. It is self-restraint, self-discipline. The ability to restrain ourself. What if the diabetic did not control his appetite for sweets, or if the person with high blood pressure did not control his intake of salt, or if the person who needs to study for a test let his mind wander off, etc.? We all know there are consequences to be suffered when we do not maintain self-control. Self-control is mastering the whole person. This may be the hardest task each of us has (Matt. 16:24). There is a great need for self-control since...

             Sexual Sins Paul K. Williams Indianapolis, IN "Flee fornication," warned Paul (1 Cor. 6:18). And "flee" is what we must do if we are to succeed in keeping ourselves pure from sexual sins. The Old and New Testaments are full of admonitions concerning sexual sins. These warnings are especially necessary, for the emotions involved are so strong that some of the mightiest of God's people have fallen victim to them. King David, whom God described as "a man after my own heart," fell victim to passion when he saw a beautiful nude woman. The adultery committed by the pair then led to a chain of sins, culminating in the murder of her husband and resulting in the death of the infant boy as punishment. The New Testament describes false teachers who used lasciviousness to entice newborn Christians (2 Peter 2:18), and some who taught their followers to commit fornication (Rev. 2:14-15, 20-23). A number of se...

Discipleship Denny Diehl Claremore, Oklahoma For many years I was under the false impression that the main thrust of Matthew 28:19-20 was "Go." I saw charts of the commandment to "Go," but Jesus didn't say how we were to "Go," therefore, we could go by whatever means were available to us. Even though I agree with the conclusion, I believe that a disservice has happened in misdirecting our attention in that important direction of Jesus. "Go" is not the main idea but is only a participle, a subordinate to the main thought of the sentence, as the following original translation will show: "Therefore, after you have gone, disciple all the nations, while you are baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and while you are teaching them to obey everything which I have commanded you . . ." We notice that the main thrust is not going, baptizing or teaching, but, after having gone, and while baptizing an...