{"id":58529,"date":"2010-01-28T18:30:00","date_gmt":"2010-01-29T00:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=58529"},"modified":"2023-01-28T18:35:21","modified_gmt":"2023-01-29T00:35:21","slug":"our-own-yard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/our-own-yard\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Own Yard"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\tby Shane Williams
\nvia The Lilbourn Light, Vol. 10, No. 1, May 2009.\n

\"\"What would you think of a business establishment if you passed by every day and saw the same thing: grass needing to be mowed, weeds taking over, the color is not a uniform green, and maybe there were dead spots scattered about? You might not think too much about it or maybe you would. However, IF the place of business was home to a lawn care company, you would probably take notice. The irony would be too great. You probably would not accept an excuse that they were too busy or didn’t have time to showcase their talents in their own place.<\/p>\n

Throughout history, the people of God have been in a similar position. They have always been on display, representing the true and living God. Unfortunately, as the apostle Paul pointed out, many professing Christians have been a poor example for the Lord.<\/p>\n

The Jewish Christians thought themselves better than the Gentiles, even though they were guilty of the same sins. “Therefore you are without excuse, every man of you who passes judgment, for in that you judge another, you condemn yourself, for you who judge another, practice the same things … And do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment upon those who practice such things, and do the same ourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? … For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you<\/em>” (Romans 2:1,3,24).<\/p>\n

Today, as we call ourselves Christians, we have a name to live up to. People naturally watch us, just as we do others. They want to see if what we claim to have is really working — right in our own yard. Are we consistent? Or do we blaspheme the Holy Name of God because of our claims versus our actions?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Shane Williams via The Lilbourn Light, Vol. 10, No. 1, May 2009. What would you think of a business establishment if you passed by every day and saw the same thing: grass needing to be mowed, weeds taking over, the color is not a uniform green, and maybe there were dead spots scattered about?…<\/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_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1570],"class_list":["post-58529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-examples"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":18283,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-would-golgotha-be-located\/","url_meta":{"origin":58529,"position":0},"title":"Where would Golgotha be located?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 2, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was reading an article on your website titled \"The Offering of Isaac\" and had a couple of questions about it.\u00a0 The fourth paragraph says this: The place chosen for the sacrifice was about 50 miles from Abraham's home. It took Abraham three days to reach the place. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Jerusalem.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Jerusalem.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Jerusalem.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Jerusalem.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":91738,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/employing-our-opportunities\/","url_meta":{"origin":58529,"position":1},"title":"Employing Our Opportunities","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 1, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Greg Kline via\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 15 No. 2, February 2015 \"Eat your food. There are kids around the world who are starving.\" This may be one of the most clich\u00e9d lines a parent can give a child who is resisting their vegetables. Frankly, it is an attempt to shame\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":62470,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-want-me-to-lose-everything\/","url_meta":{"origin":58529,"position":2},"title":"Does God want me to lose everything?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 2, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Pastor Hamilton: Thank you for always answering emails throughout the many years. I'm writing you to say that I lost my job. I thought it was God's will for me to be at this job because it was only a block away from my home, it matched my\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":96553,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-your-children-leave-home\/","url_meta":{"origin":58529,"position":3},"title":"When Your Children Leave Home","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 10, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Brandy L. Pack Some of my friends' children are becoming independent, moving out, or getting married. They asked me for help dealing with this transition. It was a question that caught me off guard a little. I have three faithful children, and two of them are living independent lives.\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\/2026\/07\/Leaving-home-300x215.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":88499,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/more-sure\/","url_meta":{"origin":58529,"position":4},"title":"More Sure","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 9, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton The prophetic word is made \"more sure\" (II Peter 1:19). In other words, it was sure on its own merits, by its own credibility, by its own historical accuracy, by its own factual detail, and dedication to truth without fear or favor of man. But now\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":67451,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-move-forward-from-a-breakup\/","url_meta":{"origin":58529,"position":5},"title":"How do I move forward from a breakup?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 12, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good evening, I'm relatively new to this website, but I have found it particularly helpful for hearing Q&A's specifically related to Christian life. I'm a freshman college student who dated a girl for around 4-5 months when college started. It has been almost three months since she broke up.\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":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58529","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=58529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58529\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}