by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
“My son, fear the LORD and the king;
\nDo not associate with those given to change;
\nFor their calamity will rise suddenly,
\nAnd who knows the ruin those two can bring?<\/em>” (Proverbs 24:21-22)<\/blockquote>\nTo be “given to change” is to be reckless. This is not a person who is careful to “prove what is acceptable to the Lord<\/em>” (Romans 12:1-3). This is a person who likes to push the “change for the sake of change” button because it gives them a sense of power and control and because they cannot be content and operate within the established order. They cannot prove the established order is unscriptural and therefore needs to be changed. Scriptural authority is the least of their concerns.<\/p>\n
It is therefore not wise to associate with those given to change, for they are not afraid to act without the authority of God or even against the revealed order. When change is needed, it is to be because we have learned that the will of God demands it, or because it is most expedient in doing the will of God, not because we are drawn to the personality and whims of people who are “given to change”.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Terry Wane Benton “My son, fear the LORD and the king; Do not associate with those given to change; For their calamity will rise suddenly, And who knows the ruin those two can bring?” (Proverbs 24:21-22) To be “given to change” is to be reckless. This is not a person who is careful to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[78],"class_list":["post-40415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-authority"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":90687,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/removing-ancient-landmarks\/","url_meta":{"origin":40415,"position":0},"title":"Removing Ancient Landmarks","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 23, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton \"Do not remove the ancient landmark which your fathers have set\" (Proverbs 22:28 NKJV). \"Bring in no new dogmas, nor rites, nor ceremonies, into religion, or the worship of God, that are not clearly laid down in the sacred writings. 'Stand in the way; and see,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/landmark-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":93352,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/clouds-without-water\/","url_meta":{"origin":40415,"position":1},"title":"Clouds Without Water","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 21, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Peter spoke of change agents as false teachers who creep into churches, promise liberty from the old way of doing things, but they \"despise authority\" (II Peter 2). They are \"clouds without water\". What does that mean? It means they have no real substance to their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69991,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-authority-of-scripture\/","url_meta":{"origin":40415,"position":2},"title":"The Authority of Scripture","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 30, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Two fundamental and opposite approaches to biblical authority are common today: View #1: Everything is permissible unless the Bible expressly forbids it. If the Bible does not say not to, then we can. View #2: We can do nothing unless the Bible permits it, and we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":85765,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-change-always-better\/","url_meta":{"origin":40415,"position":3},"title":"Is Change Always Better?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 20, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer I recently went to my favorite donut shop to get an apple fritter and, to my dismay, found that they had changed it. This was my favorite fritter, so when I saw it was not recognizable, I wondered why they would do it. (Honestly, it was a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68413,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-the-catholic-church-edit-matthew-2819\/","url_meta":{"origin":40415,"position":4},"title":"Did the Catholic Church edit Matthew 28:19?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 18, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What baptismal proclamation was used in your baptism? Probably you were baptized, \"In the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit.\" Do you know that this Baptismal Proclamation is not the original text commanded by Jesus Christ as in Matthew 28:19? The Roman Catholic\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93642,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/prayer-for-our-nation\/","url_meta":{"origin":40415,"position":5},"title":"Prayer for Our Nation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 2, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton \"Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40415\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}