Censorship

Censorship
Taking observations on the world around us which we live, we are constantly bombarded with censorship. It seems as if the media and lawmakers censor what is right, so that minorities (not ethnic, but any group that has ideas or beliefs not believed by the mainstream) will not feel uncomfortable. Our society strives to maintain a fair and balanced approach to life. This is all fine in the world, but let us keep it out of the church. As it says in Jeremiah 6:16, we should walk in the old ways, the good ways. There are many doctrines circulating the Primitive Baptists nowadays, that are not of God or His word. We’ve all heard of the no-hell doctrine, mission boards, tithing, rapture, and other things that are manmade, not sanctioned by God’s word for his New Testament church. These ideas are not new, they have been around in protestant churches (keeping in mind our church isn’t protestant) for generations. What must we do when we hear or read something that is not of God? We see in the first chapter of Titus, that false and deceiving teachers "mouths must be stopped" (verses 10 and 11). Its only common sense, that falsities being taught in our churches can only confuse people, and hurt the church. Churches with Elders who teach falsities become isolated, and eventually ridges are formed between churches and between friends. This is an unfortunate situation, but could be controlled easily with courage, prayer, and love. If something does not agree with our beliefs sanctioned in The Bible, let us first pray that God will guide us. We must be brave enough to stand for what is right, but we cannot proceed with hatred and anger. There is no need to backbite, or confront one another with hostility, but non-scriptural teachings cannot be allowed to be broadcasted. If a church knows it a fact that a man teaches doctrines that are false, do not make use of him in the pulpit; it would only lead to confusion. Editors: refuse to publish writings that are not true. Parents: do not allow your children to be taught things unscriptural. You see, a singer with no microphone or stage cannot perform his show. If we give no occasion for untruths to be told, we would save a lot of heartache and hurt feelings from occurring. When censorship comes down to filtering out blasphemy, we must do all we can. We must strive to please the Lord, rather than please man’s intentions.