The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Titus 1:7-16, “…the overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain,
8 but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled,
9 holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.
10 For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision,
11 who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain.
12 One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”
13 This testimony is true. For this reason reprove them severely so that they may be sound in the faith,
14 not paying attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the truth.
15 To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.
16 They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.”

The Apostle Paul was a straight-up guy! Previous to his salvation, he had been exactly what he is here forbidding of elders within the church. To be an elder, a man (not a woman or a child!) is to be above reproach! That is, if anyone is to lead the church, he is to be so utterly honest, so scrupulously clean, and so thoroughly inscrutable that no one would dare to call him to account for his lifestyle. Wow! Where are church leaders like that today? Yes, there are some; but they are becoming less detectable by the day.

I am personally thankful for my pastors! They differ some in their styles of preaching; but, they hold solidly to the veracity of the Bible as the Written Word of God! There is no “glossing over” the tough areas of the Scripture!
They “tell it like it is!”

Why is it that some people want cleanliness, honesty, and intelligence in their medical personnel, but are slip-shod when it comes to their spiritual doctors?
Understandably, we willingly accept the diagnosis of those in the medical field because we admit to possessing no expertise in that area ourselves. Yet, we challenge our pastors, who are often equally or more thoroughly trained than we, yet, in the Word of God.

Be careful to shun those, who merely profess to know God, but deny Him in the conduct of their lives! We will all be held accountable before Almighty God not only for how we live our lives, but for whom we knowingly follow when they do not follow God according to His Holy Word.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom