Topic : Division, 1 Corinthians

An amusing news story from Wales told of a feud in a church looking for a new pastor. It read: “Yesterday the two opposition groups both sent ministers to the pulpit. Both spoke simultaneously, each trying to shout above the other. Both called for hymns, and the congregation sang two—each side trying to drown out the other. Then the groups began shouting at each other. Bibles were raised in anger. The Sunday morning service turned into a bedlam. Through it all, the two preachers continued trying to out shout each other with their sermons.

Eventually a deacon called a policeman. Two came in and began shouting for the congregation to be quiet. They advised the forty persons in the church to return home. The rivals filed out, still arguing. Last night one of the group called a “let’s-be-friends” meeting. It broke up in argument.

The item was headlined, “Hallelujah! Two Jacks in One Pulpit.” It could have been bannered, “Two Factions in One Fellowship.”

Source unknown

It is said that when the British and French were fighting in Canada in the 1750s, Admiral Phipps, commander of the British fleet, was told to anchor outside Quebec. He was given orders to wait for the British land forces to arrive, then support them when they attacked the city. Phipps’ navy arrived early. As the admiral waited, he became annoyed by the statues of the saints that adorned the towers of a nearby cathedral, so he commanded his men to shoot at them with the ships’ cannons. No one knows how many rounds were fired or how many statues were knocked out, but when the land forces arrived and the signal was given to attack, the admiral was of no help. He had used up all his ammunition shooting at the “saints.”

Our Daily Bread, October 6

A recent issue of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC included a photograph of the fossil remains of two saber-tooth cats locked in combat. To quote the article: “One had bitten deep into the leg bone of the other, a thrust that trapped both in a common fate. The cause of the death of the two cats is a clear as the causes of the extinction of their species are obvious.

When Christians fight each other, everybody loses. As Paul put it, “if you keep biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other” (Gal. 5:15).

Peter A. Alwinson

Source unknown

Christians are often likened to an army: we sing “Onward Christian Soldiers” and read, “Put on the whole armor of God.” Imagine Christ reviewing the troops, who are supposed to be fresh and ready for battle. But some have fairly recent wounds, nicks in their armor, arms in slings, casts, etc.

He asks, “What’s the matter here? Why are they wounded already?”

“Oh, they’ve been fighting in the barracks again.”

Source unknown