"For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him. . ." Numbers 23:9

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THE MOUNTAIN MESSENGER

Sample Issue
December 2003...................Number 1
Crum, West Virginia

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The Need For &
Purpose Of This Paper

In the 1940's and 50's, brother Garland Corns published a paper from Crum, WV, called "The Mountain Messenger." We see a need for the paper to be re-established throughout the hills of southwestern West Virginia, the eastern counties of Kentucky, and the extreme western counties of Virginia. Brother Corns did most of his preaching throughout this region, and I too am somewhat familiar with churches of Christ in the hill country of this region

The Primary purpose of The Mountain Messenger will be to spread the good news about Jesus Christ and His church throughout our region and beyond. (Mark 16:15). The majority of people living in the world today are lost! Therefore they need a Savior, and our purpose is to point them to Jesus Christ. People cannot be saved except upon the Lord's terms. Man-made doctrines and man-made churches will save no one.

We will also strive to strengthen coingregations of God's people wherever the paper goes. Many congregations in our region are suffering from a lack of sound teaching. Our purpose will be to encourage members of the church to study their Bibles, and to know the Truth. We will contrast the Truth with error in the paper so that members will be able to recognize false teachers and false teaching. (Romans 16:17-18; 1 John 4:1; 2 John 9-11). The apostle Paul said that he suffered at the hand of "false brethren" (2 Corinthians 11:26; Galatians 2:1-5). We are living in a time when "false brethren" are bothering churches again...some loosing where God has not loosed and others binding where God has not bound. We will boldly expose both extremes in The Mountain Messenger. These must be marked and avoided (Romans 16:17-18) There are some whose mouths must be stopped. (Titus 1:11).

We will have love as our primary motive in publishing The Mountain Messenger. We are to be "... speaking the truth in love ... (Ephesians 4:15). We know our hearts and we therefore know that we love God ... we love Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God ... we love the church for which Jesus died and shed His precious blood ... we love the Holy Bible for it serves as a light and a lamp for us in this dark world of sin and error ... and we love the souls of men and women everywhere.

Having said that, we will also be bold in our proclamation of the Truth, and in our exposure of error. There is no contradiction between real love and boldness in proclaiming the truth. Real love always sounds out a warning of danger. (Compare Ezekiel 3:17-21; Acts 18:6; Acts 20:25-32). The first century church of Christ was bold and militant in taking the gospel to a lost world, and in confronting all that was opposed to the Truth. (Take a minute to look up and read Acts 4:13, 29, 31; 5:42; 6:6; 8:4; 9:27-29; 11:24; 13:5-12, 44-46; 14:3; 19:8, 20, 23; 28:30-31; and Ephesians 6:18-20).

The Word of God says, "The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion ... They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend with them." (Proverbs 28:1,4).

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As you and I read the Acts of the Apostles we clearly see a group of people who were ...bold as a lion" as the contended with those who were opposed to God's right ways. They were "set for the defense of the gospel." (Philippians 1:17). They were earnestly contending for the faith which was once and for all time delivered to the saints. (Jude 3). Their militancy in proclaiming the right ways of God caused people of their day to say, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also." (Acts 17:6). Of course what they were actually doing was turning an already upside down world right side up! The world is still upside down, and our task is to do all we can to insert God's values into this world. The sad fact is, many in the church are worldly and carnal, and their view of how things shold be is upside down too, as far as God is concerned. These must be warned and corrected, but if they will not repent, they need to be marked and avoided. We are to have no fellowship with darkness. but we are rather to reprove them. (Galatians 6:1-2; James 5:19-20; Romans 16:17-18; Ephesians 5:11). In proclaiming the gospel through The Mountain Messenger, we will obey 2 Timothy 4:1-4; we will "...reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine ..."

We will be open to your comments, suggestions, and even your criticism. We will consider every correspondence we receive from you concerning what is written in the paper. We realize that criticism is inevitable, and that much of the cdriticism we receive will be constructive in nature. We welcome such. However, KNOW THIS... if a letter comes to us unsigned, we will discard it as quickly as we received it, and will have nothing to do with it. Our readers will have every opportunity to know who we are, and where we may be contacted. If one writes to us and offers a comment or criticism, common decency will cause one to sign his name and to give an address where he may be contacted. We will give no quarter to cowards who have no sense of fairness. We will not play the "hit and run" game that some seem to want to play.

It is our sincere hope and prayer that The Mountain Messenger will be of help to all of us as we strive to know the Truth in order to be free thereby. (John 8:31-32).

James E. Farley -To Contact Jim by email, click here

Acts 26:28 reads, "Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian."

That answers our question, does it not? Paul wanted Agrippa to be a Christian. He said, "I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day were both almost and altogether such as I am, except these bonds." (Acts 26:29).

My friends, this is precisely what we among the churches of Christ, want for you. We want you to be what Paul was. Paul was a Christian ... nothing more and nothing less. He was not a member of some sort of religious denominational church, but he was JUST A CHRISTIAN.

You see, when you plant a sunflower seed in the soil, that which grows will be a sunflower plant...nothing more and nothing less. You cannot plant a sunflower seed and get cucumbers, right? Every seed produces after its kind. (Genesis 1:11-12). Each seed has "information" in it that "tells" the seed what it is. A tomato seed knows it is a tomato seed and will only produce a tomato plant.

The Bible calls itself "seed" (Luke 8:11). If one plants ONLY the Bible in an honest and good heart, the only thing it will produce is a Christian...nothing more and nothing less. You cannot plant JUST The Bible and get a Baptist, a methodist, a presbyterian, a Lutheran, a Catholic, a Mormon, etc., etc., etc. You must plant different seeds to get those differing plants. One cannot go to God's "seed" and read of any of those denominations. That information is NOT in God's "seed." Jesus said, "Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up." (Matthew 15:13). If you cannot read about a certain church in the Bible, it is not God's! It is just that simple. We must abide in the doctrine of Christ, for it is His "seed". (Compare 2 John 9-11).

Friends, why not accept the Bible ONLY as your guide in matters of faith and practice THE BIBLE ONLY MAKES CHRISTIANS ONLY.

James E. Farley -To Contact Jim by email, click here