Truth Magazine

By Steve R. Graham

(The use of mind-altering drugs has become a wide-spread scourge in modern America. Conditions contributing to this scourge are not now our interest, but the legalizing of one of these drugs, marijuana is.

Such legalization has come close to the forefront of political debate in our country. It is, however, more than a matter of political debate. It holds the potential of ruining lives, paving the way for hard drugs, and destroying spiritual usefulness. It is this potential for spiritual harm that makes the matter of a concern in this article.

Steve Graham, my brother and the District Attorney in Lauderdale County, wrote a letter to the editor, printed in the Times Daily of Florence, Alabama, on November 20, 1995. He was responding to an earlier letter promoting such legalization. Part of it is here used because of the information contained and the warning urged. Concerned Christians will shout their concern not only in the political arena but also in the lives that they can influence for good and help to avoid the pitfalls set by Satan. It is amazing that even this ploy is his strategy  his wile  to ensnare many and to desensitize us so we become easy prey. Read and pass on this information to others, especially the young.  Bobby L. Graham)

“Don’t fool yourselves; drug dealers will sell what-ever they can to make money. They don’t care what it is or what it does to you.

“Mr. Ricks seems to base his belief that marijuana should be legalized on the fact that alcohol and cigarettes are legal, and that he believes marijuana is no more harmful than those substances. I certainly do not condone the use of alcohol or cigarettes. But two, or even three, wrongs do not make a right.

“Many studies have been conducted on the short-term and long-term effects of marijuana usage, and showing that use of marijuana has many detrimental effects. The first and most obvious harmful effect is that it impairs brain activities. These include short-term memory, judgment, learning ability, coordination and the ability to follow moving objects.

“The most insidious harm is that marijuana usage destroys initiative  initiative to engage in any kind of meaningful activity.

“Young males who smoke marijuana will incur a decrease in the male sex hormone called testosterone. As a result, the ability of their bodies to produce sperm is impaired, and could result in the inability to father children later in life.

“The menstrual cycle of women can be affected by the use of marijuana. It is the belief of many health professionals that birth defects have been and are caused in children whose mothers  and even grandmothers  used marijuana in the past. And due to the fact that the active ingredient, THC, is stored in the fat cells of the body, it can endure for long periods of time, causing long-term problems with which we are not yet familiar.

“The heart, lungs, and immune system are also affected by marijuana. We know that the “cannabis sativa” plant, from which we get marijuana, contains over 400 chemicals. Very few of these chemicals and their effects have been identified.

“Although an actual physical dependence on marijuana is rare, it does have those who are mentally and emotion-ally dependent on it. More importantly, however, it serves as a threshold drug for many people. That is, they start with marijuana and when a tolerance for this drug is developed, they must move on to something stronger.

“I would invite you or any of your readers to ask any mental health professional or substance abuse counselor about marijuana. All that I know or have had any experience with would tell you that marijuana almost always leads to other things. It is almost without exception that those who abuse or are addicted to other drugs started with marijuana.

“With all of the problems that we now have as a society, we certainly do not need to compound them with the legalization of marijuana.”

Reprinted from the Weekly Bulletin of the Market Street Church of Christ, Athens, AL, March 14, 1996.

Guardian of Truth XL: 12 p. 5
June 20, 1996

By Lewis Willis

I sat there for almost an hour. I have no recollection of ever having done what I did before. No, not sitting down for an hour, but making the observations which I wish to share with you. Hopefully, there will be something good for the soul in these reflections.

I arrived to speak in a meeting in Shelbyville, Tennessee on Monday, October 16. We had traveled about 60 miles southeast of Nashville. The town is the Tennessee Walking Horse capital of the world. Each year a gathering called “Celebration” brings about 100,000 people to see the selection of the new World Champion walking horse.

But, Shelbyville is a small town of about 15,000 people. I thought how deprived these people were to live in such a small place. I saw no Red Lobster, Olive Garden, or Chi Chi’s restaurants anywhere. But I still was not where I would stay for the week. We drove five or six miles out of town to the country home of brother and sister McCarty with whom I would spend the week. They are fine people, but I was not sure how I would handle a week in the country!

I’m not trying to be snobbish about this. I was born and raised in the country. Certainly, as far out in the country, if not further than I would stay this week. However, since 1956, I have either lived in small towns or large metropolitan areas like Dallas, St. Louis, and Louisville, Kentucky. I’m used to the city, and I like all the things available to us in the city. It is for that reason that I found my thoughts affecting me so strikingly, so surprisingly, when I sat down on the McCarty’s patio that Friday afternoon. A few moments of solitude was just what I needed!

I would describe the countryside as “rolling hills,” not big hills, but certainly not flat. The McCarty home is about 75 yards from the country road, on a small hillside. It is a very lovely home. Extending on up the hillside for about another 50 yards is their backyard. Just beyond their fence stands a grove of hardwood trees. I sat there on the patio for about an hour looking toward that grove of trees. I was surprised at what I saw and heard.

I saw too many mockingbirds to count. I had seen them before be-cause they are the state bird of my home state, Texas. I saw several blue jays and sparrows. Also, several cardinals. I watched as a woodpecker, with a blazing red head, perched near the roofline on the garage, pecking away at what I guess must have been ants. At the same time, I heard another woodpecker, apparently from the grove of trees, pounding away with that distinctive sound woodpeckers make. I became aware of what I was observing when two crows came flying into one of the trees, cawing loudly.

The longer I sat there the more that little world came alive. The sun was doing what the sun is supposed to do; it was ruling the day (Gen. 1:16-18). Its beams lit up the still green lawn and trees. A gentle breeze was blowing, and I was surprised to hear a limb fall to the ground. I’ve seen a lot of fallen limbs in my life; I just can’t remember when I last heard one.

I heard a rooster crow from the home next door, but next door was about 300 or 400 yards away. I also heard the dog barking from down there, and it must have been about something funny because I heard his owner’s rather loud laughter. I could not see it, but I heard a large jet some-where in the distance. The quiet was only occasionally interrupted by the sound of cars passing in front of the house.

There was something therapeutic about this. It was so comforting and fascinating. Still, I was surprised at how it affected me. You see, in the city, we have birds, trees, sun-light and dogs. But we also have noise  always cars, trucks, airplanes and such. Sirens from police and fire emergency vehicles sound loudly and frequently, but we city folks tend to tune them out. We sit in our homes where the air conditioners filter out the fumes and smog, but they also filter out the singing of the birds and our view of the trees swaying gently in the breeze. We can drive in minutes to the nearest supermarket and purchase about anything we want. We’re not like those poor country folks who have to drive six or ten miles to a small country grocer who may or may not have what they want. But, on one level, I’m not sure that they have missed that much.

After dinner, I returned to that patio to call Joyce and learn how her day had gone. As we talked, I looked up to the grove of trees and there stood a deer not many feet away. The image is still sealed in my mind.

I thought of the song that we like to sing which begins with this verse:

When we behold the wonders of creation,

The flow’rs that bloom, the raindrops as they fall;

The spacious skies and life’s perpetuation,

We cannot doubt that God controlled it all.

Lord, I believe, yes, I believe,

I cannot doubt or be deceived;

The eye that sees each sparrow fall,

His unseen hand is in it all.

A. W. Dicus

The music of that song in my mind was the perfect accompaniment to the scenes which I saw and heard. Like a movie scene, it seems etched in my mind days later. I’m reminded of the observations of David. He said, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God’ (Psa. 90:2). He also wrote, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork” (Psa. 19:1). Sometimes the most profound of truths convey themselves to us in the simplest of ways  a quiet, serene, pure and beautiful scene from the patio of a country home.

Make no mistake about it; I like the city. I like spaghetti dinners and large supermarkets. I like the freeways and noise. But it was refreshing to the soul to behold the wonders of creation. I am either growing insightful, or very old!

Guardian of Truth XL: 12 p. 
June 20, 1996

 

Did you ever get home from services quick,

And call the brethren who are sick?

And ask them if there’s anything you can do;

Maybe even say, “I love you”?

Did you ever teach a young one’s class,

The joys of it are unsurpassed!

To sing and teach them all to pray,

And watch them grow into faithful saints some day.

Did you ever take on the small task,

To bake the Lord’s bread for to pass?

And fill the cups with grape goes fast;

For our Lord it shouldn’t be a hard task.

Did you ever open your home doors wide,

To let friends and brethren oft’ inside?

This is a great blessing to do our share;

To show God and our brethren we care.

Did you ever clean the meeting place so;

‘Tis our Heavenly Father’s house, you know.

We clean our husband’s home it’s true,

Does God deserve the same care too?

Did you ever miss the women’s Bible class;

And let the weeks slip on past?

Oh, how will we become better wives and mothers,

When we won’t make time to study God’s word with others?

Did you every pray along, and sing to be heard;

And even hear the preacher teach God’s word?

These things all daughters of God can do,

And teach them to your children, too!

Kathleen M. Berendt

Guardian of Truth XL: 12 p. 4

By Donald P. Ames

In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus referred to his followers as “the salt of the earth” and as “the light of the world.” Some-one wisely commented, “As salt, it is our duty to make the world thirsty for Christ.” Certainly that fits the context, as Jesus also said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they might see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).

Peter said, “Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear” (1 Pet. 3:1-2). Certainly we know the word is necessary (Rom. 10:17, 1:16), yet Peter here says that even if they can’t reach them with the word, their actions may be the influencing factor to lead them to the truth.

He also said, “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 Pet. 2:11-12). Again, it is our actions that will make them re-consider their charges, and ultimately lead to their obedience (that they might glorify, not fear, God in the day of visitation). Realizing the importance of what people look at, Jesus prayed the night before he was crucified, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe You sent Me” (John 17:20-21).

And he also said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). This love for one another, when seen by the world hungry for such love, motivates them to seek to learn more of that love, as John again says in 1 John 4:19: “We love Him because He first loved us.” “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (4:11). Can you not see the drawing power of such love being manifested to the world? Paul said, “You are our epistle, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ” (2 Cor. 3:2-3).

Is your life such as to have a wholesome effect on other Christians (i.e., to edify and build them up)? “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another . . .” (Heb. 10:24-25). Again Paul said, “Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all” (1 Thess. 5:14-15). Will it draw others to Christ, by how you live as a Christian? Will it cause them to glorify God for such godly examples of what Christianity is all about? Or, is it only fit to be cast out and “trampled underfoot by men” (Matt. 5:13)? Again, Peter says, “For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again en-tangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them” (2 Pet. 2:20-22). Jesus said, “Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!” (Matt. 18:7).

Let us truly try to live in such a way that we might make others thirsty for Christ!

Guardian of Truth XL: 11 p. 11
June 6, 1996