Forthright Magazine http://www.forthright.net Straight to the Cross Keep up with the news. Get an email notice whenever Brotherhoodnews.com is updated. Click here for this free service: http://brotherhoodnews.com/ COLUMN: HANDS-ON FAITH One New Year, Two Portraits by Barry Newton "Begin with the end in mind" remains a well-worn and worthy proverb. If each of our lives could be displayed as a portrait, how would we want on the forthcoming New Year's Eve painted? If the apostle Paul were the painter, his Ephesian letter suggests he would splash ink pigments creating forms and lines on a canvas in fundamentally one of two ways. Although Paul's brush was a quill and his paints the arrangement of words, nevertheless his portrait of the ungodly life is clear and stark. The painting would reveal a life driven by an internal sense of purpose built on the transitory, such as seeking enjoyment from life. Yet, the bright lights of God's studio expose the insatiability and futility of the pursuit. Dark muted colors would convey a life being hopelessly lived out in ignorance of the reality of God's judgment and salvation. The alternative portrait is a canvas that has been divinely scraped removing the pagan remnants of a former life. Using the bright colors of Jesus' light, Paul would convey a divinely created portrait infused with the purpose of emulating God's righteousness and holiness. This is a life empowered by the mindset of Christ. Such a transformed life seeks the well-being of others while conforming ever more closely to the image of Jesus. You can read in Ephesians 4:17-5:14 all about Paul's portrait of the pagan lifestyle contrasted alongside of a holy and faithful person who serves Christ. Self-portraits may not reveal much truth about one's own life. What matters is how our lives measure up to eternity and reality. How would we want Paul to paint our life this year? ---- Read this article online, write your reaction, and read others' comments as well. Click here: http://tinyurl.com/2w8cjz4 COLUMN: RESTORATION HISTORY Peace, Prosperity and Division (5) by Michale D. (Mike) Greene By 1880, attempts at reconstruction of a nation after a long and bloody civil war were bearing fruit. The union had been saved, the slaves freed and folks were making attempts to heal the division that had been so devastating to the country. But among the disciples or Christians, division was becoming an ever present reality as individuals, preachers, congregations, editors and periodicals made known and debated their positions on the recently introduced innovations of the Missionary Society and instrumental music in the worship. Some accepted both. Some rejected both. Others accepted the missionary society, yet rejected the instrument. Since membership in the Missionary Society could be on an individual basis, which would not affect the immediate work and worship of the local congregation, accommodations might be made within a congregation on the Society. The introduction of the instrument into the worship was another matter, altogether. When an instrument is introduced to the worship, the very nature of the worship is changed. Those who held the conviction that its use violated scriptural principles could not in good conscience worship with the instrument. What were they to do? There were only two options, compromise their convictions or leave. Leave churches where they had worshipped for many years? Leave churches they had helped to grow through efforts at converting the lost? Leave churches that were meeting in houses of worship they had helped build? In some cases leave family members who did not share their convictions? Compromise or leave. Neither presented a pleasant alternative. Most chose to leave. As the decade of the 1880's passed, all astute observers of the brotherhood of disciples, or Christians as they were variously known, knew that the division was real. Folks who rejected the innovations were leaving and establishing new congregations that held firm to the principles upon which the great Restoration Movement had been begun and carried on for so many years. Congregations built upon what were believed to be scriptural principles were established. Separate houses of worship were built in which no instrument was to be used and in time what had been one great brotherhood became two. Those that accepted the innovations became known as the Christian Church and/or Disciples of Christ. Those who rejected the innovations generally took the name churches of Christ. This division or distinction was officially recognized in the 1906 U.S. Religious Census as the churches of Christ were for the first time listed separately from the Christian Church/Disciples of Christ. Some years later another division took place among the Disciples as some led the Disciples to accept more liberal positions and moved to accept denominational status, rejecting wholesale any plea of restoration. The more conservative among them who rejected denominational status became known as The Independent Christian Church. In 1906, the Disciples were the larger of the two groups with many more congregations, ministers and churches. However, through the 20th century the churches of Christ out grew both the Disciples and the Independent Christian churches. Over the intervening years since the late 1800's many debates and discussions on the use of the instrument in worship have been conducted between members of the two brotherhoods. Other efforts have been made to heal the breach, particularly between the churches of Christ and the Independent Christian churches to no avail. However, the basic issue that brought about the division remains. Those with firm convictions that there is no authority for the use of an instrument of music in worship cannot in good conscience worship with one and those who accept the instrument as a matter of expediency are not willing to forgo its use for the sake of unity. That unity, based upon the scriptures, or the "ancient order of things," which was the original goal of the early Restoration leaders such as the Campbells and Stone, remains an elusive goal. ---- Read this article online, write your reaction, and read others' comments as well. Click here: http://tinyurl.com/277gqpc You can help get the word out. Here's how: http://www.forthright.net/editorial/lend_a_hand.html