CHURCH OF CHRIST-SAN MATEO

EDITORIAL COLUMNS & COMMENTS

We have become increasingly aware of the various liberal positions being taken by brethren in the church today. We refer to the extreme positions voiced by LaGard Smith ("Who Is My Brother?"), Jeff Walling, & Rubel Shelly, and the attempts to introduce denominationalism through "private interpretation", such as we see from the book ("The Peaceable Kingdom") of Abilene professor Carroll Osburn. What has become a veritable snowball of liberalism does not seem, for some, anything to be overly concerned about. However, in order for the church to maintain the distinctive and unique quality of "truth" (that which we must earnestly contend for), there must be boundaries.

We in San Mateo cannot support various mission projects because of the tie to more liberal brethren. The various magazines & publications in the brotherhood, the Defender, Yokefellow, the Christian Courier, & Apologetics Press among them, have all exposed the new trends espoused by the change agents lurking around us. We also see the very dangerous views on divorce and remarriage surfacing with a vengeance in surprising ways (for the church, at least). There are congregations and lectureships fighting mightily to prevent souls from being lured into a false sense of security on this issue. Some congregations don't even face the problem, but rather avoid asking the marital status of new converts or those wishing to place membership. This is an accident waiting to destroy any congregation.

The church must address several immediate concerns in order to stifle this emerging and corrosive liberal trend. We must identify (expose) those who are responsible, and we must educate our members of the inherent dangers present in the false doctrine tossed out as truth on topics such as marriage, drama groups, group & solo singing, the indwelling of the spirit in ways other than through the word, and engaging in fellowship with or promoting acceptance of denominations. If you would like to see more information regarding doctrinal issues, please go to our "Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth" pages, we also think that our BIBLE BASICS page will provide information on vital issues. We hope that they will be profitable. We highly recommend that you visit our "Core" page for the full site menu selection & our new QUESTIONS & ANSWERS page.

We join with congregations such as Pearl Street, Brown Trail, Getwell, Bellview, Airport and all others that see the need to "fight" for the "truth of the gospel".

Thank you defending truth,