63rd Street Christian Congregation

Billy Bob and Discipline Billy Bob
Cut Them Off Church
All Truth Where I Am, USA

I want to address the subject of �Taking a Stand.�

I am certainly tired of all the liberalism and worldliness entering the church these days. There is a lot of digression out there and it�s creeping into the church. Brothers and Sisters it�s time that we �Take a Stand!�

A few weeks ago a brother missed church because the job he works on required it. They said to him, �you work on Sunday morning or don�t come back.� He has 7 children, a house payment, and a payment on his 1985 Ford. Also food bills and utilities. He talked to the church about this problem and asked for financial help if he quit his job. We proudly told him, �that was his responsibility not ours. We all have our personal burdens to bear.� He replied to me, �that�s easy for you to say Billy Bob since the church supports you and you don�t have to face this problem. You just draw a check from the church and hold meetings to get your livelihood.� I looked at the brethren and said, �enough of this foolish talk, let�s take a stand!� Well to make a long story short, he worked on Sunday so I called a meeting of the faithful and recommended we not call on him to lead a song or anything else in church till he walked the isle and confessed to the church. We took a stand and I�m mighty proud of this church!

We caught a sister wearing pants and cutting her hair so we told her husband to make her stop. He appeared to be supportive of her so we told him, �get her in line or we aren�t going to use you in church.� We took a stand!

A preacher we know believes in Christmas and that the guilty party in a divorce can remarry. We called him about the matter and he said after trying to dodge the question for a half hour, �I do believe in what you said.� So I told him, �you will hold no more meetings at the Cut Them Off Church till you change your convictions.� We took another stand!

Now we did all of this in Love but sometimes brethren are ignorant and hateful in this discipline. Let me explain what I�m talking about. I believe in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, going to movies, and mixed bathing. A church where I often hold meetings found out about this. I have tried to keep it a secret and not talk about it because it causes trouble among the ignorant. These so-called brethren called me the other day and said, �Billy Bob we are not going to use you in meetings any more because of your liberalism.� That made me so mad that I called my fellow preachers who agree with me and told them what had happened so they could help me get even with those brethren (we�ll work on them when we have our big meetings). I couldn�t believe they would be so cruel and ruthless as to bench me. What happened to love, long suffering, and patience? Also what made me so angry was that some from my own Cut Them Off church agreed with those brethren, that I should be benched. �Excuse me!� but I thought the Bible said, �we should stand with and defend those being persecuted and mistreated.� Well they sure were not standing with me. Some of my fellow preachers (those who agree with me) are also upset at what they have done to me.

In conclusion brethren, we should take a stand but not be like those ignorant, radical brethren I�ve just mentioned. It is probably best to allow us preachers to decide who should and should not be called on so none of the important, faithful brothers, like myself is hurt unnecessarily. I realize church discipline should be administered but not on us preachers because we are trying to do right and have clean consciences. That is one reason we �cry so loudly� when the brethren try to bench us. Not because we are to good but because we oppose the injustice of it all!

I want to encourage the faithful to continue to �take a stand� but be careful who you discipline as to not hurt the innocent!

Billy Bob Bookme
Billy Bob Bookme