{"id":5739,"date":"2019-07-11T18:50:59","date_gmt":"2019-07-11T23:50:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=5739"},"modified":"2024-10-09T21:18:21","modified_gmt":"2024-10-10T02:18:21","slug":"the-sponsoring-church-arrangement-what-was-the-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-sponsoring-church-arrangement-what-was-the-issue\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sponsoring Church Arrangement: What Was the Issue?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

 <\/p>\nby Bill Hall\nI can’t say enough about the encouragement it is to me to see your continued interest in this effort that we’re putting forth.\u00a0 Your willingness to come and study with us — it means so much to me.\u00a0 When this was planned, I thought we could educate those who come as to what really took place back in the ’50s and ’60s.\u00a0 But I just didn’t know how much interest there would be.\u00a0 Your presence truly means a great deal to me.\nAs has been suggested, we’re talking about some of the differences that arose back in the ’50s and ’60s that brought about division among churches of Christ.\u00a0 Many people never knew what the issues were about.\u00a0 One of our problems, when controversies arise, is that we don’t listen to one another.\u00a0 We’re so busy thinking about what we’re going to say next or how we’re going to answer this person that we really don’t listen to what he says.\u00a0 And consequently, a lot of people knew there were problems but they didn’t really know where the real issues lay in regard to those problems.\nIt was a difficult time.\u00a0 I’m repeating what we said\u00a0last week<\/a>, but I think we need to do that.\u00a0 It was a terribly difficult time.\u00a0 Anybody that didn’t live back in those days and didn’t go through those things just could never imagine how difficult they were.\u00a0 A quarantine was called for by the\u00a0Gospel Advocate <\/em>of anybody who objected to institutions.\u00a0 I don’t think I stressed that enough last week.\u00a0 That was not just a matter of somebody writing to the Advocate and saying, “Well, you know, maybe it’s a good idea if we just quit using these brethren.'” It was more than that.\u00a0 It was a call for quarantine with the total approval of B.C. Goodpasture, who was the editor of the Gospel Advocate.\nLast week I made mention of a book,\u00a0Reviving the Ancient Faith<\/em>, by Richard Hughes, who is a professor at Pepperdine University.\u00a0 He mentions this quarantine as being a very important event that took place among churches of Christ.\u00a0 Because of that quarantine, meetings were canceled, preachers were fired.\u00a0 I mentioned Irven Lee specifically last week as just one of the best men I ever knew.\u00a0 He was fired, and no longer could preach for that congregation.\u00a0 Churches divided.\u00a0 A lot of mistakes were made.\u00a0 I didn’ say this\u00a0last week<\/a>, but I want to say it this week: I made some mistakes.\u00a0 I was so anxious for everyone to know as a young preacher, that I was sound; that I was among those ready to fight the battle for truth.\u00a0 I made some very serious mistakes.\u00a0 I look back and would change some things.\u00a0 Not anything I taught.\u00a0 But some tactics that I used.\u00a0 I don’t know, but it may be that nearly every preacher back in those days looks back and says, “I wish I had done this different or that different.”\u00a0 But it was a difficult time.\u00a0 Now we can look back with cooler heads in a more objective kind of a way, and ask the question, “What was that all about?”\n\"\"<\/a>Last week we talked about the orphan’s home, and where the real issue lay in regards to the orphan’s home controversy.\u00a0 The real issue lay within what I am calling “a middleman organization”, a board of directors that stood between the churches and the work to be done.\u00a0 The money went from the churches, but the work was overseen by an institutional board.\nThat was the issue.\u00a0 A lot of people never knew that.\u00a0 They couldn’t understand why anybody would object to helping orphan children.\u00a0 “How could anyone object to a church helping an orphan’s home?” they would ask.\u00a0 The objection was to an unscriptural organization standing between the churches and the work to be done.\u00a0 If somebody should ask, “What was wrong with this?” the answer is: there just was no authority for that institutional board.\u00a0 You will remember that we discussed that last Sunday<\/a>.\n\"\"<\/a>Now, today I want to get into the question of the sponsoring church arrangement.\u00a0 When you talk about the sponsoring church arrangement, you just erase the words “institutional board,” and put in here instead of a “sponsoring eldership.”\nNow, many people who could see the error of the institutional board had a difficult time seeing this error.\u00a0 In fact, if I may make a personal mention, I remember my father, as soon as he realized what the organizational arrangement of the orphan’s home was, immediately saw the error of that because he said, “The institutional board is an unscriptural organization; there’s no authority for this institutional board.”\u00a0 But then, when he saw this, he said, “But wait, this is a scriptural body of people.\u00a0 How could that be wrong?”\u00a0 He understood when it was pointed out that, while this was a scriptural body of people — that is, an eldership — it was an eldership, a scriptural body of people being put in an unscriptural role.\u00a0 The elders had become overseers of a work of many churches of Christ to which all of these churches were equally related.\n

Sponsoring Elderships At The End of World War II<\/h2>\n\"\"<\/a>Now I think in fairness we need to say that there had been sponsoring elderships through the years on a very small basis, more or less on a local basis.\u00a0 But right at the end of World War II, there was a tremendous interest in missionary efforts especially missionary efforts in some of the very nations that we had defeated in World War II.\u00a0 And so the Broadway church in Lubbock, Texas, became interested in evangelizing Germany.\u00a0 And what they said to all the churches was, “You send your money here, and the elders of the Broadway church will take on the oversight of evangelizing Germany.”\u00a0 Some of you may remember Otis Gatewood was the man that was sent to Germany under the oversight of the Broadway elders in Lubbock.\u00a0 So, the German work was done by churches of Christ but overseen by the elders of one church of Christ, the Broadway church in Lubbock.\n\"\"<\/a>About the same time, there was interest in evangelizing Japan.\u00a0 And so one of the churches in Memphis, Tennessee, Union Avenue, took on the evangelization of the work in Japan.\u00a0 All the churches sent their money to that eldership and that eldership then for all of the churches took on the responsibility of evangelizing Japan.\u00a0 One eldership oversees the work of many churches.\nSomebody says, “What’s wrong with that?”\u00a0 Well, the thing that’s wrong with it is: there’s no authority for one eldership to oversee the work of many churches of Christ.\nLet me remind you of some scriptures we used\u00a0last week<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0II Timothy 3:16-17: “All Scripture is given by the inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.<\/em>”\u00a0 If this is a good work, then you would be able to establish it on the basis of Scripture because Scripture furnishes us to every good work.\nColossians 3:17: “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.<\/em>”\u00a0 You can’t do anything in the name of anybody unless he’s authorized it.\u00a0 You may say you’re doing it in somebody’s name, but you can’t do it in his name unless that person has given his authority behind it.\nII John verse 9: “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God.\u00a0 He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.<\/em>”\u00a0 If this is in the doctrine of Christ, then let’s do it.\u00a0 If this is not in the doctrine of Christ, we must not go beyond the doctrine of Christ.\nNow, let me add to that.\u00a0 Turn with me to I Peter 5:1.\u00a0 I Peter, chapter 5, gives us a very definite statement concerning the extent of oversight of elders of any one church.\u00a0 Begin with verse 1 of I Peter 5: “The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by constraint but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.<\/em>”\u00a0 Now back to verse 2, “Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers.<\/em>”\u00a0 Overseers of what?\u00a0 Shepherding what?\u00a0 “The flock of God among you.<\/em>”\nThe elders of the Pepper Road church have no oversight whatsoever outside of those who make up this congregation and the work of this congregation.\u00a0 They have no oversight of anything beyond this.\u00a0 It’s the oversight of the flock “among you.”\u00a0 Now, in keeping with that, I think most of us are familiar with Paul’s statement to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:28: “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among whom the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.<\/em>”\u00a0 Now you have a flock.\u00a0 What flock do you think he was talking about?\u00a0 The Ephesian flock.\u00a0 The Ephesian elders were to take oversight of that flock, but the Ephesian elders had no oversight of anything beyond the activities and work and people who made up that flock.\nNow, there’s no way we can look at this arrangement and say that the Broadway elders in Lubbock, receiving funds from all of these churches of Christ and taking oversight for them for all the work in Germany, were limiting themselves to the work and activities of the flock of God which is among them.\u00a0 They become more than that when they do that.\u00a0 There’s the objection.\u00a0 That’s the issue.\u00a0 We need to make sure that we see what the issue is.\u00a0 It was the same with the elders of the Union Avenue church in Memphis.\u00a0 They took on more than what God had given them as elders.\n

The “One Nation Under God” Campaign<\/h2>\nThe most recent really big program along this line was the “One Nation Under God” campaign.\u00a0 Most of you will remember this: the Sycamore church in Cookeville, Tennessee, wanted to send out literature to every home in the United States, and their original goal was to collect 17 million dollars.\u00a0 Do you remember that?\u00a0 Then they brought it down to 10 million dollars.\u00a0 Where was this 10 million dollars going to come from?\u00a0 Well, churches all over the country were asked to send so much money.\u00a0 I was living in Florence at the time, and the Shoals area really got caught up in this. I think I would not be mistaken in saying that at least a million of those dollars came from the Shoals area.\u00a0 Then, the next year, they were going to evangelize Canada and the Caribbean Islands, and then the next year, another and another.\n\"\"<\/a>Now, is that really an example of one church simply taking the oversight of the activities of that local church, or was it more than that?\u00a0 One thing I know is, I was down in Florida, and I passed by a church building that said, “Church of Christ, One Nation Under God”.\u00a0 Now that’s a city in Florida; that’s not Cookeville, Tennessee.\u00a0 Obviously, that church in Florida thought that the “One Nation Under God” ministry was a part of its work.\u00a0 They sent money to this Cookeville church for this work to be done.\u00a0 But all of this work being done, including their work, is being overseen by another eldership.\nSomebody interestingly pointed out that if some of the evangelistic efforts of some of the churches can be done under one eldership, then why could not all of the evangelistic efforts of all the churches be done under one eldership?\u00a0 Why couldn’t we just place all the evangelistic efforts of churches of Christ under one eldership?\u00a0 Why would we not be able to do that?\nBut somebody says, “Didn’t churches in Macedonia and Achaia send to the church in Jerusalem?”\u00a0 Weren’t there occasions in the New Testament when funds went from one church to another church?\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 In fact, we’ll be talking about that more in just a few minutes.\nThere were funds sent from the churches in Macedonia and Achaia to the church in Jerusalem.\u00a0 But the church in Jerusalem was in need.\u00a0 That’s where the need was.\u00a0 Now, the Broadway church in Lubbock wasn’t a needy church; it was a big church.\u00a0 In fact, I suspect that at that time, it may have been the biggest church in the United States, with a huge contribution.\u00a0 The Union Avenue church in Memphis was not a needy church.\u00a0 They had all the things they needed.\u00a0 Jerusalem was a needy church.\u00a0 Now, if we’re going to make Jerusalem a sponsoring church, then what you would have is: Jerusalem wouldn’t have any needs at all.\u00a0 Jerusalem would be able to take care of all of their needy without any problems.\u00a0 But money would be sent to Jerusalem so the elders at Jerusalem could be the sponsoring church for all the needy in the eastern Mediterranean territory.\u00a0 That would make Jerusalem a sponsoring church.\u00a0 The churches of Macedonia and Achaia were sending to a church in need.\n

Bible Cooperation<\/h2>\n“Surely churches can cooperate,” someone may be thinking.\u00a0 In fact, many referred to these issues as “questions about cooperation.”\u00a0 Churches that objected to institutionalism were referred to as anti-cooperation churches.\u00a0 Yes, churches can and must cooperate.\u00a0 However, there are two types of cooperation: collective and concurrent.\nLet’s illustrate these two types of cooperation.\u00a0 I live in Rogersville, Alabama, in the Comer subdivision.\u00a0 Suppose things were to get somewhat unsightly in the area, and an appeal was to be made to clean up the subdivision.\u00a0 There are two ways all the families could cooperate.\u00a0 They might all bring money to Jerry, my next-door neighbor, and have him clean up the subdivision.\u00a0 That would be “collective” cooperation.\u00a0 Or, Jerry could clean up his own yard; we could clean up ours; Steve, across the street, his; Dorothy, down the street, hers; etc.\u00a0 But next to Steve, there is an elderly widow who is unable to clean up her own yard.\u00a0 She is needy and dependent.\u00a0 So we who are able and independent go over and provide help for the dependent widow.\u00a0 There is no pooling of funds.\u00a0 There is no central oversight.\u00a0 Each cooperates by doing his own work.\u00a0 This is “concurrent” cooperation.\u00a0 This is Bible cooperation.\n

The Herald Of Truth<\/h2>\nNow, obviously, the sponsoring eldership that created the greatest division was the Herald of Truth, where the elders of the Highland church in Abilene took the oversight of the Herald of Truth radio and television program.\u00a0 A huge number of churches sent to the Highland church.\u00a0 An interesting outgrowth of the sponsoring church arrangement that I had never thought of was brought to my attention recently in the book that I have already mentioned by Richard Hughes, Reviving the Ancient Faith.\u00a0 Whenever you centralize influence and control, you open the door for a lot of problems.\u00a0 Richard Hughes is a professor at Pepperdine University.\u00a0 He and I would be poles apart in our thoughts concerning how to use the Scriptures.\u00a0 But he made a point about the Herald of Truth that I never thought of.\u00a0 He said in his book that the anti-institution people missed this and that the Herald of Truth people missed this; it was such a subtle thing that people were not aware of what was taking place.\u00a0 But he says that when the Herald of Truth began, the greatest influence among churches of Christ shifted from the brotherhood papers to the Herald of Truth.\u00a0 People all over the country were supporting it, and people all over the country were listening to it.\u00a0 He further says that a major change took place in the preaching on the Herald of Truth.\u00a0 He says that when the Herald of Truth first began, the preaching was focused on the one true church, baptism for the remission of sins, no instrumental music, and the Lord’s Supper every first day of the week.\u00a0 It convinced people about the idea of restoring New Testament Christianity.\u00a0 That was the first teaching on the Herald of Truth.\u00a0 But by the late ’60s and early ’70s, they had begun to realize that the radio and TV programs that were really attracting the audiences were those that’s emphasis was more on family relationships, finding inner peace for yourself, and how to build a strong self-image.\u00a0 Eventually, the preaching of the Herald of Truth shifted from this more doctrinal, controversial type of teaching into this more “finding peace for the soul and a good self-image” type of teaching.\u00a0 Now, he said, all of the preachers of the country were listening to Herald of Truth, and as the Herald of Truth made that shift, the preachers made the same shift so that by the ’70s and ’80s, you could attend most churches of Christ for months and months and months and months and never hear a sermon on the one true church, restoring New Testament Christianity, or instrumental music.\u00a0 You might hear the plan of salvation given, but that’s about it.\nAnd let me tell you something.\u00a0 There are some (I’m not going to say a lot.\u00a0 I believe most of the preaching I hear is good preaching) churches of Christ right now that are considered to be opposed to institutionalism that rarely ever gets any sermons that are distinctive at all from what you could hear in denominations all over the country.\u00a0 And I want to make sure you hear me and hear me well.\u00a0 If you attend worship at some church where you never hear the question of instrumental music, or baptism for the remission of sins, or the Lord’s Supper every Sunday, or the one true church — if you never hear teaching along some of those distinctive lines, you need to get out, and you need to go somewhere else.\u00a0 You’ll lose your conviction.\u00a0 If you don’t hear it regularly, you’ll lose your conviction.\u00a0 We have to give our support to the kind of preaching that helps people see that we’re different from the denominational world around us.\u00a0 Be sure you get that point.\u00a0 That was a shift, and the shift was led by a centralized program.\u00a0 This is not me saying this; this is Richard Hughes, a professor who gave a history of churches of Christ in America.\n

What Is The Pattern?<\/h2>\nNow we ask the question: What is the pattern?\u00a0 When you read your Bible, the funds from churches always just simply went to where the need was.\u00a0 They never sent their funds to some “middleman organization”, whether it was an institutional board or a sponsoring eldership.\u00a0 The funds just always were sent to where the need was.\u00a0 Now, let’s get our Bibles and just take five minutes or so and look at that very quickly.\nGo to Acts, chapter 4.\u00a0 Start with verse 32: “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.\u00a0 And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.\u00a0 And great grace was upon them all.\u00a0 Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need.<\/em>”\u00a0 At this point, there was only the church in Jerusalem.\u00a0 The apostles were acting apparently in lieu of elders (there were no elders mentioned until Acts 11).\u00a0 People were bringing their money, laying it at the apostles’ feet, so distribution might be made within that local church.\u00a0 A problem arose, you remember, in Acts 6.\u00a0 Some of them said, “The Grecian widows are being neglected in the daily distribution.<\/em>”\u00a0 The apostles didn’t reply, “We need a central organization, and we’ll send our money to this central organization so they can see that this is done right.”\u00a0 No.\u00a0 They appointed seven men, within their number, who could see after this matter.\u00a0 It was all done within the framework of the local congregation.\u00a0 The money simply went to where the need was.\nOn to Acts, chapter 11.\u00a0 We’ve already read this, but we’ll read it again.\u00a0 Acts 11, starting with verse 27: “And in these days prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. Then one of them, named Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar.\u00a0 Then the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea.\u00a0 This they also did, and sent it to the elders…<\/em>”\u00a0 What elders?\u00a0 The elders where the need was.\u00a0 They didn’t send it to some “middleman organization”, some board of directors, or some wealthy large eldership somewhere.\u00a0 They sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.\u00a0 The money went to where the need was.\nRomans chapter 15.\u00a0\u00a0Paul, in Romans 15, talks about his plans to go to Spain, but he says in verse 25, “But now I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints.<\/em>\u00a0 For it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem.<\/em>”\u00a0 Where did the money go?\u00a0 Churches of Macedonia and Achaia sent to the elders in Jerusalem.\u00a0 Somebody will say, “Now, wait a minute.\u00a0 This doesn’t say anything about the elders in Jerusalem.”\u00a0 Well, go to Acts, chapter 21.\u00a0 A study of the chronology of the life of the apostle Paul helps us.\u00a0 This collection of funds from Macedonia and Achaia for the saints in Jerusalem took place at the end of the third missionary journey.\u00a0 Now, keep that in mind.\u00a0 All this took place during Paul’s third journey.\u00a0 Now, when we get to Acts 21, the third journey ends.\u00a0 At this point, Paul is coming into Jerusalem.\u00a0 What is he coming into Jerusalem with?\u00a0 The money that has been collected from these churches for the poor saints.\u00a0 Who’s with him?\u00a0 Representatives from all those churches are with him.\u00a0 Now they’re coming into Jerusalem.\u00a0 Look at verse 15: “And after those days we<\/em>” — we — Who’s in the number?\u00a0 Luke?\u00a0 Yes, Luke’s in the number.\u00a0 He must have joined them at Philippi.\u00a0 “We packed and went up to Jerusalem.\u00a0 Also some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us and brought with them one, Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we were to lodge.\u00a0 And when we had come to Jerusalem…<\/em>”\u00a0 Who is this “we” that came to Jerusalem?\u00a0 Paul and his company with this money for the poor saints in Jerusalem.\u00a0 That’s what the last of the third journey is about.\u00a0 So they came to Jerusalem.\u00a0 “The brethren received us gladly, and on the following day,<\/em>\u00a0[the very next day after they got to Jerusalem — BH]\u00a0Paul went in with us to James and all the elders were present.<\/em>”\u00a0 The day after they arrived in Jerusalem with these funds from the churches of Macedonia and Achaia — the day after they arrived in Jerusalem, they met with the elders. Now, look at verse 19: “When he had greeted them, he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through\u00a0 his ministry.<\/em>”\u00a0 What had God done among the Gentiles through his ministry?\u00a0 Numbers of things.\u00a0 But one of the things He had done was He had brought them to make this contribution to the poor saints in Jerusalem, and when they arrived in Jerusalem, they met with the elders.\u00a0 This money went to where the need was.\nPhilippians 4: let’s go to it quickly.\u00a0 Look at verses 15 and 16: “Now you Philippians know also that at the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only.\u00a0 For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities.<\/em>”\u00a0 The church in Philippi sent to Paul.\u00a0 The money went to Paul, where it was needed.\u00a0 The money just always went where the need was.\u00a0 That is the New Testament pattern.\nWhat should we do today?\u00a0 Find out where the need is and send directly to the need, not to some “middleman organization”.\u00a0 If we do this, we might make some mistakes.\u00a0 We’re going to err in judgment all along.\u00a0 But we will be staying with the New Testament pattern.\u00a0 What is the issue?\u00a0 The issue concerns “middleman organizations” standing between supporting churches and the work to be done.\u00a0 It may be a board of directors, as with the orphan homes, or an overseeing eldership, as with the sponsoring church arrangement.\u00a0 But wherever you have a “middleman organization,” you have left the pattern of sending directly to where the need is.\nAll right, you’ve listened well.\u00a0 Next week I want to get into the question of the fellowship halls, kitchens, other things that churches of Christ are doing now that they were not doing when I was a young man.\u00a0 I am amazed at some of the things that are going on now, at some of the practices taking place among many churches of Christ.\u00a0 But you have listened well; we’ll talk about that next week.\u00a0 And if you can come back and study with us that question, we would appreciate your presence very much.\n\u00a0And please, let’s all have the best attitude we can have.\u00a0 I’m certainly not wanting to just cram something down people’s throats and I hope you can see that.\u00a0 I do want to reason with you and help you to see why I take the position that I take in regards to these things.\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat Was the Issue?\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  by Bill Hall I can’t say enough about the encouragement it is to me to see your continued interest in this effort that we’re putting forth.\u00a0 Your willingness to come and study with us — it means so much to me.\u00a0 When this was planned, I thought we could educate those who come as…<\/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":[78,154,1508,192,667],"class_list":["post-5739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-authority","tag-church-funds","tag-institutionalism","tag-liberalism","tag-organization-of-the-church"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":95004,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-your-congregation-have-a-hospitality-team\/","url_meta":{"origin":5739,"position":0},"title":"Does your congregation have a hospitality team?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 9, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am seeking to better understand whether certain practices are becoming more common among congregations of the Lord's church. Would you please reply to the following question: Does your congregation currently have an organized 'Hospitality Team' (or similar group) that is tasked by the church with planning, coordinating, promoting\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":44034,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wasnt-luke-a-disciple-of-paul\/","url_meta":{"origin":5739,"position":1},"title":"Wasn’t Luke a disciple of Paul?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 21, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Wasn't Luke a disciple of Paul and not Jesus though he did follow Jesus. So were the other three gospels were written even later because Luke didn't come in the picture till 30-40 years after our Lord's death. Answer: Luke is never described as being a disciple of Paul.\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":55563,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-church-will-never-be-the-same\/","url_meta":{"origin":5739,"position":2},"title":"The Church Will Never Be the Same","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 7, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bob Plunket via The Sower, Vol. 54, No. 3, May\/June 2009. Several years ago, Time Magazine carried an article, with the caption, \"The Church Will Never Be The Same,\" because, they say, \"The baby boomers are coming back to church.\" The article said among other things, \"These returnees are\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\/2005\/11\/hippies-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":87417,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/escape\/","url_meta":{"origin":5739,"position":3},"title":"Escape","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores Now there's a word we think more of lately. Remember when many avenues of escapism - dining out, movie-going, etc. - were taken away from us in hopes of mitigating the virus? Our hopes for escape were higher than ever. One way to be transported to a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/music-200x300.avif","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":58521,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/orphan-institution-in-search-of-family-homes\/","url_meta":{"origin":5739,"position":4},"title":"Orphan Institution in Search of Family Homes","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 28, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dennis Carrow From the sponsoring church arrangement in the effort of evangelism, (i.e., the missionary society), grew the same carnal diversion from the divine pattern in the realm of benevolence. Brethren were not content with following the simple arrangement of the giver sending directly to the needy. The claim\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":18088,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-foolish-consistency\/","url_meta":{"origin":5739,"position":5},"title":"A Foolish Consistency","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 9, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ken Green When I first began preaching, I was enamored by religious debates. They were declining in popularity, but there were still a few taking place. They are now extremely rare. Some debates were transcribed and published and I read all of them that I could find. I eventually\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\/2020\/01\/sandwich-300x240.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5739","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=5739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5739\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}