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TGOC ANNOUNCES
LESSONS THREE AND FOUR
IN ITS NEWLY REVISED
TRUTH SERIES
We are pleased to announce in this newsletter the availability of the third and fourth lessons in our newly revised Truth Series by Ben Bailey. In his lesson on "The Truth About Pornography," Ben begins by first defining pornography, a term that comes from the Greek porneia, meaning "sexual immorality." When porneia is combined with graphos ("to write"), it refers to the portrayal of illicit sexual activity by writing or viewing (such as by video tape, DVDs, magazines, the Internet, etc.). One of the main points throughout Ben's presentation is the serious nature of pornography in society today. The pornography industry brings in more than six billion dollars a year—a figure that is larger than the revenues from all professional football, baseball, and basketball franchises combined, and that exceeds the combined revenues of ABC, CBS, and NBC. Nearly 900,000 theaters show pornographic films, and more than 15,000 adult bookstores offer pornographic material. In fact, as Ben notes, adult bookstores alone outnumber McDonald’s restaurants in the United States by a margin of more than three to one.
As Ben points out, pornography is addictive in nature, is harmful to society (because of the marriages it destroys, and because of the sex crimes it has been documented to cause), and is sinful. Proverbs 23:7 says, "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he." If a person's mind is focused on things that are unholy and ungodly, then his self-worth and self-value will plummet. Plus, as Jesus pointed out in Matthew 5:28, "Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." That certainly would apply to much pornography in existence today! Jesus also said, "Blessed are the pure in heart" (Mt. 5:8). Paul commanded in 1 Timothy 5:22, "Keep yourself pure." A person cannot keep himself pure if he is looking at ungodly and unholy images. Pornography is a blight on any nation. And, as the writer of the Book of Proverbs pointed out, "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Prov. 14:34). Enough said.
In his lesson on "The Truth About Alcohol," Ben begins by reminding us of another statement from the Book of Proverbs: "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise" (Prov. 20:1). He then points out that there are over one hundred million Americans who suffer from alcohol-related problems. Little wonder that the prophet Habakkuk wrote, "Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbor, pressing him to your bottle, even to make him drunk..." (Hab. 2:15).
In his presentation, Ben offers up an impressive list of the well-known negative effects of beverage alcohol, which distorts a person's perception of reality, weaken one's moral awareness, impairs one's decision-making ability, causes physical illness (such as cirrhosis of the liver), ruins one's example and reputation, and even can become a stumbling block to others. Little wonder that Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:18, "Do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit." That was good advice then, and it is still good advice today. As Christians, we are to "abstain from every form of evil" (1 Thess. 5:22). Beverage alcohol certainly would fall into that category!
Both of these new lessons are now available on our Website, where you will find them in video, audio, and written transcript formats. We invite you to examine them for yourself, and to share them with others.
NEW "MORE ABOUT JESUS"
BIBLE QUIZZES
NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE
We are pleased to announce in this newsletter the addition to our Website of the first four Bible quizzes in our More About Jesus Series. The new quizzes can be found on our Website at www.thegospelofchrist.com/quiz. Take a look at them. You may find that they can teach you much (or refresh your memory) about things related to Christ as the Savior.
TGOC ANNOUNCES
NEW BIBLE-READING
SCHEDULES!
Here at THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST, one of our most frequently used adages is, "There's no moss growing around here!" By that, of course, we mean that we are always looking for additional ways to "take the whole Gospel to the whole world," to help spread the borders of the Lord's kingdom, and to help people increase their spirituality.
What better way to accomplish all three of those things than to encourage people to read their Bibles more? As the apostle Peter put it, it is in God's Word that we find "all things that pertain to life and godliness" (2 Pet. 1:3).
So, in order to help more people learn more about God's Word, we have developed two different Bible-reading schedules. There are already a number of good daily Bible-reading schedules available for people who want to read through the Scriptures once in a year. But have you ever seen a schedule that allows a person to read through the Bible twice in one year? Or four times? Well, that is what our two new schedules are designed to do. The first one presents a schedule of Bible readings by which a person can read through the entire Bible twice in a twelve-month period. The second schedule takes a person through the Bible four times in that same period.
Both schedules are available as PDFs through a dedicated link on the left-hand side of our Website. Each schedule consists of two 8.5x11-inch pages which, when printed front and back, can be folded in half to form a single 5.5x8.5-inch sheet that is convenient for inserting into a purse, briefcase, billfold, Bible, etc. [The schedules are especially eye-catching when printed on colored paper.] We hope you enjoy these new Bible-reaching schedules, and that you will profit from their use. [For your convenience, you can click the following links to preview each of the schedules.]
Daily Bible-Reading Schedule Two Times Per Year
Daily Bible-Reading Schedule Four Times Per Year
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