Between two farms near Valleyview, Alberta, you can find two parallel fences, only two feet apart, running for a half mile.<\/p>\n
Why are there two fences when one would do?<\/p>\nTwo farmers, Paul and Oscar, had a disagreement that erupted into a feud. Paul wanted to build a fence between their land and split the cost, but Oscar was unwilling to contribute. Since he wanted to keep cattle on his land, Paul went ahead and built the fence anyway.
\nAfter the fence was completed, Oscar said to Paul, “I see we have a fence.”\n
“What do you mean ‘we’?” Paul replied. “I got the property line surveyed and built the fence two feet into my land. That means some of my land is outside the fence. And if any of your cows set foot on my land, I’ll shoot it.”<\/p>\n
Oscar knew Paul wasn’t joking, so when he eventually decided to use the land adjoining Paul’s for pasture, he was forced to build another fence, two feet away.<\/p>\n
Oscar and Paul are both gone now, but their double fence stands as a monument to the high price we pay for stubbornness. Aren’t you glad such silliness does not pervade the church?<\/p>\n
Do you know any cities like this? Two, or more, churches, no elders, struggling with building payments, upkeep, and utilities. If either has a preacher working with them, each receives outside support. Neither church can afford anything other than “keeping house.” And their “houses” aren’t even half full.<\/p>\n
Neither church is willing to “close their doors” so that together they might have doors of opportunity opened to them by the Lord (Acts 14:27; Revelation 3:8). They possibly could have elders if they united, more to choose from. They could fully fellowship (Philippians 4:15), have one preacher, and have money left over for supporting others. Do they treasure more being married to brick and mortar than being married to Christ? Do they love their buildings more than their brothers?<\/p>\n
Borrowing from the beginning story, in some city, in some state, you can find two churches, only a few miles apart. Why are there two churches when one would do? Two Christians, Paul and Oscar, had a disagreement that erupted into a feud. Oscar and Paul are both gone now, but their two churches stand as a monument to the high price we pay for stubbornness.<\/p>\n
Oh, I forgot, such silliness does not pervade the church.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Perry D. Hall via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 4, December 1995 Between two farms near Valleyview, Alberta, you can find two parallel fences, only two feet apart, running for a half mile. Why are there two fences when one would do? Two farmers, Paul and Oscar, had a disagreement that erupted into a feud.…<\/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":[349],"class_list":["post-96849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-stubbornness"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":47131,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-impact-of-our-choices\/","url_meta":{"origin":96849,"position":0},"title":"The Impact of Our Choices","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 12, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dennis Stackhouse Just prior to his physical death, Joshua tried to encourage the people of Israel with these familiar words: \"If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond\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":58859,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-promise-and-the-law\/","url_meta":{"origin":96849,"position":1},"title":"The Promise and the Law","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 8, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Homer Hailey via\u00a0The Preceptor, Vol. 1, No. 7, May 1952. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul began his defense of the truth he preached by showing that the gospel is one gospel and that any deviation from it is a perversion of the gospel and not another gospel.\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":48158,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-not-love-the-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":96849,"position":2},"title":"Do Not Love the World","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 31, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dennis Stackhouse The fact that Christian people are to be different from those who do not follow Christ, is clearly stated for us in I John 2:15-17: \"Do not love the world nor the things in the world. 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If Paul had\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":46842,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-would-anyone-know-if-timothy-was-circumcised-or-not\/","url_meta":{"origin":96849,"position":4},"title":"How would anyone know if Timothy was circumcised or not?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 28, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I saw the recent reader's question - \"Why did Paul have Timothy circumcised after the council at Jerusalem?\" And your answer \"In regards to why Timothy was circumcised after the Jerusalem council, it is simply because Paul met Timothy after that council. Timothy wanted to join Paul, but because\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":57199,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/on-the-other-side-of-the-fence\/","url_meta":{"origin":96849,"position":5},"title":"On the Other Side of the Fence","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Philippians 4:4-9 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is so easy, so tempting to look at what someone else has accomplished and think \u201cThat could have been me.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When you are in school, have you ever caught yourself thinking, \u201cI can\u2019t wait until I have a job. 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