Barnes church of Christ

Circular reasoning goes like this:

Eva: “These fossils are 100 million years old.”
Manny: “How do you know?”
Eva: “Because the rock layers in which we find them are 100 million years old.”
Manny: “How do you know the rock layers are that old?”
Eva: “Because the fossils that are buried therein are 100 million years old.”

Such a fallacy is obvious to everyone except those who are blindly bent on believing in evolution. Circular reasoning “consists in making two propositions reciprocally prove each other” (Bales, Christian, Contend For Thy Cause¸ page 91) and is such a procedure proves nothing—it is a logical fallacy.

Are we likewise guilty of using circular reasoning in proving the inspiration of the Bible by saying, “The Bible is the inspired Word of God because it tells us it is, and we believe what it tells us because it is inspired of God”? True, if that is all upon which we have to base our belief, it would be circular reasoning. However, we are able to prove that the Bible is inspired of God due to evidences and characteristics contained in the Bible itself which can only be the result of the mind of God. The logical argument is as follows: If the Bible contains characteristics which are capable only by God, then God wrote the Bible. Such characteristics include: prophecies made and fulfilled, scientific foreknowledge, and its amazing unity of numerous doctrines by forty different writers of different backgrounds and different lands during a fifteen-hundred year time span. Since such features can be accomplished only by God, and since they are contained in the Bible, then the Bible is written by the inspiration of God. Such is not circular reasoning; it is reasoning right!
Gary Henson

Physical exercise has become very popular as millions of people are taking up walking, biking, skating or dozens of other activities. Perhaps the major reason for this increase is the discovery of the wonderful benefits of exercise. When considering the following list of major benefits of exercising, could it be that God was mistaken when He said, “For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come” (1 Tim. 4:8)?
MUSCULOSKELETAL SYSTEM
Increases muscle strength * Increases flexibility of muscles and range of joint motion * Produces stronger bones, ligaments, and tendons * Lessens chance of injury * Enhances posture, poise, and physique.

BODILY PROCESSES
Improves the way the body handles dietary fat * Reduces heart disease risk * Helps lower blood cholesterol and triglycerides * Raises HDL, the “good” cholesterol * Helps improve calcium deposits in bones * Prevents osteoporosis * Improves immune function * Aids digestion and elimination * Increases endurance and energy levels * Promotes lean body mass, burns fat.

HEART AND BLOOD VESSELS
Lowers resting heart rate * Strengthens heart function * Lowers blood pressure * Improves oxygen delivery throughout the body * Increases blood supply to muscles * Enlarges the arteries to the heart.

MENTAL PROCESSES
Provides a natural release from pent-up feelings * Helps reduce tension and anxiety * Improves mental outlook and self-esteem * Helps relieve moderate depression * Improves the ability to handle stress * Stimulates improved mental function * Relaxes and improves sleep * Increases self-esteem. 
Julian Whitaker, M.D., Dr. Whitaker’s Guide to Natural Healing, pp. 31-32

This list certainly reveals remarkable benefits, but, no, God was not mistaken. He knew about all these things (and, no doubt, many other benefits which man has yet to learn) long before doctors discovered them. The point that God is making is that, if physical exercise gives man such extensive and amazing benefits, but are considered little in comparison to spiritual exercise, then how truly astonishing must be the benefits of spiritual exercise!
The point is easy to see. Let’s exercise spiritually!!
Gary Henson

In order for a person to be acceptable before God he MUST know AND do the Will of God. Regarding the extent of fellowship, God’s Will is that they who are in fellowship with God have no fellowship with false teachers nor practitioners of false doctrine (1 John 1:7; 2 John 9-11; Eph. 5:11).
Although Promise Keepers present the admirable plea for men to keep their promises, with further investigation it becomes clear that a member of the Lord’s church cannot participate (thus, fellowship) in Promise Keepers without sinning in so doing.
I. The meetings of Promise Keepers are meetings of fellowship in worship. Many who have not attended a meeting do not realize this. “By attending a Promise Keepers conference, you will join men from around the nation and world for worship, prayer and teaching” (PK, pp. 8-9). Thus, by participating in their national conferences or their community rallies (CR), you fellowship with (as presented in the next point) false practices, teachings and teachers.
II. If you participate in Promise Keepers, you fellowship with false practices, teachings and teachers. [1] Promise Keepers teach salvation by faith only (MC, ‘96). [Note: How can a Christian have spiritual fellowship with a man who has never become a Christian?!] [2] In their rallies they sing with mechanical instruments (CC, pp. 14-15; CR). [3] They teach that the Holy Spirit gives a special empowerment in a mysterious or miraculous way (MC ‘95, inside cover; PK, p. 1; CFF, p. 4). [4] They preach, practice and accept denominational-ism (PK, p. 4). The inside back cover of the program for the Men’s Conferences of 1995 has the pictures of numerous speakers and leaders who are of various denominations. While there are many other false teachings involved, it is clear that one who is in fellowship with God cannot participate in Promise Keepers without loosing his fellowship with God (see: 2 John 9-11).
III. Promise Keepers is an ecumenical movement among denominations. Their attempt to unite all denominations is just as crucial to their agenda (if not even more so) as is their well known plea to “fix America’s men.” “We believe that we have a God-given mission to unite Christian men who are separated by race, geography, culture, denomination, and economics. We refer to something much greater than humanistic unification and more powerful than political equality. Rather, the biblical directive to pursue reconciliation compels us to address the division that has separated the body of Christ for too long (John 17:20-23; 2 Cor. 5:18-19)” (PK, p. 4). Promise #6 states: “A Promise Keeper is committed to reach beyond any racial and denominational barriers to demonstrate the power of biblical unity” (PK, p. 11). The Promise Keepers’ booklet closes with this statement: “More than an event, we believe God wants Promise Keepers to be a spark in His hand to ignite a worldwide movement calling men to reconciliation, discipleship, and godliness” (p. 12). How then, can a member of the church be loyal to promise #6 and their ecumenical goals, while at the same time be loyal to God and Ephesians 5:11 and 2 John 9-11? A man may deceive himself, but he does not fool God.
Brethren, do not wet your finger and hold it in the air to see which way the wind is blowing in the church to determine what you are going to believe in this (or any) issue. Rather, learn God’s Will on the matter and then stand fast in the Lord!
PK=Promise Keepers Men of Integrity booklet. MC=Men’s Conferences program. CR=Community Rally at Harrah, OK, ‘97. CC=Christian Chronicle, Aug. ‘95. CFF=Contending For The Faith, July ‘96.
Gary Henson

A genius architect designed and built a masterful tree-house for his son and said, “Son, here is the house I said I would build you.” The house provided perfectly for every need of the boy. However, much to the grief of his father, the son gathered up some scrap lumber and built a tree-house of his own design.
Jesus the all-knowing (Heb. 4:13), built the perfect church (Mat. 16:18), and gave to it and it alone the mission of making known to man the Word of God (Eph. 3:9-11) by which “the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). However, from time to time, men try to establish an organization to replace the church and her mission. Promise Keepers is such an organization. Founded in 1990 in Boulder, Colorado, it still recruits and attracts today.
That Promise Keepers is a religious organization, there is no doubt. Promise Keepers president Randy Phillips stated, “It is not political preferences we are concerned with but biblical convictions” (The Sunday Oklahoman, Oct. 5, 1997, p. 1, 16). The October ‘97 gathering at Washington D.C. was described as “…one of the largest religious gatherings in American History…” (Ibid.). Yes, Promise Keepers is a religious organization. Thus, it must be asked, “Isn’t God’s organization good enough anymore? Or can we snub our nose at what our Father has provided and go about building our own ‘tree-houses’?”
That Promise Keepers has a creed, there is no doubt. In the booklet Promise Keepers: Men’s Conferences, 1996 (Firm Foundation, Jan.’97, p. 18), there is the “Promise Keepers Statement of Faith.” Again, it must be asked, “When did God’s Word stop giving man everything we need to become ‘ perfect, thoroughly furnished unto every good work’?” Or, are we to make ourselves out to be God by making our own creed (tree-house) and replacing His?
Although Promise Keepers certainly has in mind that which is good, they fail like Uzzah, Nadab, Abihu and others who, while doing God’s things, did not do it God’s way. They “…have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge” (Rom. 10:2). They have taken it upon themselves to “…go onward and abide not in the teaching of Christ…” (2 John 9). They have gone about “teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men” which is vanity before God (Mat. 15:9).
Since Promise Keepers has such a noble cause, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, for some good people to accept the fact that religiously, the Promise Keepers movement is not of God. However, we must not see things through men’s eyes, but through God’s: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways, my ways, saith Jehovah. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:8-9).
Gary Henson

Those in the church and those out of the church know that the Christian is not to use words of cursing. Followers of God are to “curse not” (Rom. 12:14); “put off…filthy communication out of your mouth” (Col. 3:8); and “let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth” (Eph. 4:29). Yes, the good and honest Christian willingly keeps his vocabulary wholesome so as to glorify God, to stand approved and to be a good example among men.

Since most non-Christians recognize this truth, they will, if they normally use foul language, employ the use of “lesser offensive words” which are not deemed by the general public as outright curse words. While we certainly appreciate their consideration, we would also wish (at least for their sake) they look up those words in the dictionary. Upon doing such, it would be learned that words such as “gee,” “golly” and “darn” are euphemisms. A euphemism is “…the substitution of an inoffensive term for one considered offensive.”1 Consider some of these:

“Gee” is an euphemism for Jesus.1 “Dickens” is an euphemism for devil.1
“Gosh” is a substitution for God.1 “Heck” is an euphemism for hell.1
“Golly” is an euphemism for God.2 [Consult the dictionary for others].

Furthermore, as Guy N. Woods stated:
It is of serious consequence that many members of the church today have allowed to creep into their phraseology words and phrases the use of which amounts to profanity. Others, who would not dare use the holy names, God, Christ, Jesus, Jerusalem, Heaven, Hell, Hades, as interjections (“An ejaculatory word or form of speech, usually thrown in without grammatical connection,” Webster) and for emphasis, will, nevertheless, use euphemisms (the substitution of a word or phrase less offensive or objectionable), the derivation of which goes back to one of the foregoing forms. Were those who thus do aware of the origin of many of these common by-words they would be shocked!3

May we, of all people, be aware of this trick of the devil, and truly “let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth.”
Gary Henson

1 The American Heritage Dictionary, 1985.
2 Webster’s New International Dictionary.
3 Guy N. Woods, A Commentary on the Epistle of James, Gospel Advocate Co., Nashville, 1967, pp. 290.

It is certainly true that God is a loving and kind God, but it is also just as true that He is perfect in His justice, judgment and punishment which necessitate His warnings (negative preaching).
Doesn’t the person who makes the claim that no one should preach/teach negatively (i.e., concerning sin and what not to do) realize that he is doing the very thing he forbids?! Such a claim is not a biblical teaching because it is both hypocritical and self-contradictory – – neither of which does God commit (Mat. 23:13-14; Titus 1:2).
Furthermore, it is impossible to make a positive statement without implying a negative statement. To preach the positive statement: “Jesus is the Son of God,” is to imply the negative statement: “Jesus is not merely a man” (as many critics maintain). Thus, those who claim there is to be no negative preaching are implying negative statements every single time they preach a positive claim!
A casual reading of the Bible quickly reveals that God required much negative preaching. There was negative preaching toward Adam and Eve,1 Lot and his wife,2 in eight of the ten commandments,3 and in hundreds of the old law.4 It was negative laws by which Jesus overcame Satan.5 Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is full of negative preaching.6 Jesus’ Apostles and prophets spoke and wrote continuously with negative preaching.7 Truly, all throughout the Bible, God required negative preaching.
Why does God require negative preaching? The answer: for our admonition so that we should not sin.8 Thus, as it turns out, negative preaching is an act of love! Hence, what kind of act is it to withhold negative preaching?!!

1Gen. 2:17. 2Gen. 19:17. 3Ex. 20. 4Lev. 4:2. 5Mat. 4:4,7. 6Mat. 5,6,7. 7Acts 2:36; 3:13-15; 7:51-52; 8:21-23; 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Tim. 4:2; etc. 81 Cor. 10:6-11.
Gary Henson