A Glimpse of God's Hand by Craig Hill

The hair on the back of my neck is tingling as I sit here on the plane in Roanoke waiting for everyone to board.  Because I am thinking of what is going on in Dominica between the Lord, Lewis Romaine, and my eldest son Zach.  Something is going on but I am just not sure what.  You may see it too as I describe what has been going on there and between me and the man who baptized me 27 years ago in Texas.

 

Please let me explain.  27 years ago my wife asked a youth minister named Ralph Bryant to meet with me and talk with me about Jesus, whether he was real, who God was, and why I should believe in Him - the usual soul searching stuff.   He and others persuaded me to to follow Jesus.

 

Now Ralph had been spearheading mission work in some place named Dominica, not to be confused with the Dominican Republic, a totally separate island and country, but both are in the Caribbean.  Ralph went each year on a gospel mission to Dominica.  He planned and supported churches there.  Eventually he brought back a preacher from Dominica to visit the church in Alvin, TX, where I was baptized.

 

My wife Regina and I left Texas in 1988, and I've not seen Ralph for 27 years.  But we were Facebook friends in recent years, and chatted occasionally.

 

Now to my Son Zach.  He's been working to get into med school for a couple of years.  He's smart, like his Mom, and he is a Christian, and he has a decent head on his shoulders.  He's been on a couple of medical mission trips with Frank and LouAnn Black.  He's been working as a researcher at Rush University's Alzheimer Disease Center.  For some reason, we can't quite figure, Rush University, Indiana University, and a few other med schools weren't smart enough to ask Zach to come to their schools.  And Zach wants to be a doctor, if possible and maybe serve as a medical missionary doctor some day.

So Zach had heard of a med school in Dominica called Ross University and he applied there.  And he was accepted.  They'd like to teach him how to be a doctor.  And Zach decided to go there.

 

So Regina and I decided to take a Caribbean vacation.  We'd never been to the Caribbean.  And we wanted to see Zach's White Coat ceremony, which is held as you go into med school.

 

So I asked Ralph, via Facebook if he knew the preacher in Portsmouth, Dominica, assuming there was a church of Christ there.  Portsmouth is where Ross University is located.  Ralph told us that Lewis Romaine was the preacher there.  And we introduced Lewis to Zach over the internet, so Zach may have a church home there in Portsmouth.

 

Now for the interesting part.  Come to find out Ralph was going to be in Dominica the same week Regina and I were in Dominica.  Now what are the odds of that?  After not seeing Ralph for all these years it just so happens that we were going to be on an island 2200 miles from Indianapolis on the same week!

 

Ralph, Regina, and I had a joyous reunion.  And it turns out Lewis has a day job as a taxi driver, so we asked him to give us a tour of the island one day with Ralph, and an elder from Ralph's congregation in League City, TX.  Ralph is always looking for ways to spread the gospel, as is Lewis.  And so too is Zach.

 

Zach was able to break away from studying to have dinner with Lewis, his wife, and Regina and I.

 

Now I think something is going on here.  Zach is persuaded to go to a med school on this tiny island, with a population of 79,000.  Regina and I fly there and spend a week.  And Ralph shows up there the same week.  And Zach is a committed Christian, with a bent for medical mission work, with a med school 15 miles from where he grew up that doesn't want him.

 

I just think something is going on here.  And I think God is up to something good.  I just don't know what yet.  And that makes the back of my neck tingle with excitement.  Sometimes, if you look close, and you are paying attention, you can see the hand of God at work on this here old earth.  I do believe.

 

How about you?  What do you think?  Do you get a glimpse of God's hand sometimes?  I hope I am, in Zach's life.

Our Obdurate Nature

I like to read fiction on occasion.  Sometimes it feels like going on vacation without all the hassle and the hotel bills.  Anyway, I was reading this book recently about a man who was given the opportunity to time travel into the past in order to make some serious changes to history.  Without going into detail about the book, I’ll just say that early in the story, the author used a word I didn’t understand.  He said: “The past is obdurate.”

Obdurate?

Well, there was a word I’d never heard before.  Usually, in situations like that I just skim over the word and don’t worry about it.  I generally pick up the gist from the context and go on.  But then, he used the same phrase again.  I was perplexed that second time, but still skimmed it.  Then, there was the third time.  Okay, then I got really bothered, but I still stubbornly resisted the need to pull out a dictionary and look it up.  On about the fourth or fifth time he used the same word, I finally overcame my stubborn resistance and looked it up.  I just had to know. 

Guess what it meant!

A stubborn unwillingness to change.

Without knowing it, I was actually doing what the word meant.  I didn’t want to go to all the trouble of actually doing what I needed to do…change what I was doing…in order to learn what the word meant.  I was obdurate.

Since then, “obdurate” has become one of my favorite new words.

However, I’ve realized that I am obdurate in other ways in my life besides the refusal to pick up a dictionary.  For example, I think that eating healthier is an excellent idea, but I’m obdurate about changing what I eat.  I think that becoming more physically active would be so good for my health, but I’m obdurate about getting out of my Lazy Boy recliner.  (I’m sitting in it as I write this.)  I think a consistent morning quiet time would be an ideal way to start the day, but I’m obdurate about getting out of bed any earlier.  I sometimes have a problem with being stubbornly resistant to changing some lifestyle choices.

Can you relate?

Sometimes, I think churches can be obdurate.  The Bible describes some of our spiritual predecessors as “stubborn” and “stiff-necked.”  Those words seem like excellent synonyms for obdurate.

The problem with us is that we are fickle people.  We aren’t the first, and we won’t be the last.  And, we are creatures of habit.  As with the past in the book I was reading, we are obdurate to change. 

We love the idea of change as long as it doesn’t affect our routine.

We LOVE the idea of change…until it actually means really changing something.

We LOVE the concept of growing in our Bible knowledge…until we are asked to attend a Bible class on Sunday morning or Wednesday evening… when we’d rather sleep in or go home to relax.

We LOVE the idea of baptizing new converts to the Faith…until it means that we need to step out there and share our personal faith with someone new; putting our pride or our relationships on the line.

We LOVE the idea of a vibrant congregational worship…until it means that we (…I…Me…Myself…) need to sing out with more enthusiasm; allowing what we feel in our hearts to be seen on our faces.

Folks, admit it.  Sometimes we are even obdurate about where we sit.

Ugh!

But, isn’t change one of the greatest aspects of being a Christian?  Isn’t change at the heart of what we are about?  We start off our walk of faith by changing from a worldly lifestyle to a Christ-centered and Christ-driven lifestyle.  We are told in Romans 12:2 – Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Flexibility with a purpose has been demonstrated to us by the example of Paul:

Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.  To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews.  To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law.  To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law.  To the weak I became weak, to win the weak.  I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.  I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.  1 Corinthians 9:19-23

And then, of course, there is the example of Christ himself.  Present at the creation of the world.  Accustomed to the wonders of the heavenly realm.  An intricate part of the Godhead Trinity.  THE SON OF THE KING OF THE UNIVERSE!

Good thing He wasn’t obdurate!

Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.  Hebrews 5:8-10

What if he had been obdurate about changing his surroundings?  What if he didn’t want to share his Father with the world?  What if he didn’t want to come down and be with the rest of us?  What if he had been stubbornly resistant to the idea of sacrificing himself to save our souls?

But, Jesus was not obdurate.  He gave it up.  He gave it all.

So, I ask you to examine yourselves.  How do you react when some change takes place or some request is made?  Is your nature to be resistant, or do you look to the ways that the changes might be for the best…to help you grow…or to reach the lost?  Ultimately, will we be known for our heart for the Lord, our love for the lost, and our desire to do what it takes?  Or, will we be known for our stubborn resistance.  Will we be flexible, or will we be obdurate?

And, as for me…will I get out of my chair, exercise, and start eating right?  Will I get my tail out of bed early enough to have a quiet time?  Will I battle my obdurate nature?

I will if you will.  What do you say?

Fifty Years of Serving the Lord by John Wright

Fifty Years of Serving the Lord

                                                                                                                                                                                by John Wright

 

                April 12, 2014 will mark fifty years since the first worship service occurred here at 6500  Southeastern Avenue.  The day is about eleven months away and there will be some discussion soon on what we should do then to celebrate the day.  However, the purpose of this article is to look back and remember some of the people and memories that are part of the legacy of this Church.

            As a people, who are we?  And what are we all about?  To borrow a phrase from one of my favorite songs, a good summary might be: "It's what the Lord has done in me" and you.  We are all standing on the shoulders of many great men and women who have gone on before us.  There are a handful of us that are still around that could remember that first service.  Okay, I'm going to name a few but this list is not complete.  Ralph and Alice Brown, Donna Hall, Jackie Watts, Dave and Doris Law, Jenny Basham, Roger Caruthers, Judy Oakley, Diane Cox, Laura Giroud, Helen Strykowski, and I apologize for missing a few names.

            Some early memories are of my mother, and it was her that made sure we all went to Church every Sunday.  We were riding with the Gaines since we had no car, our ride after that was with Margaret Sterns, then Marilyn, and then later we rode the Church bus.  I remember Sunday School and a teacher who I was fascinated with because she had a finger missing.  It was Donna Caruthers.  I remember sister Riddle.  I did not know she had Parkinson's; I thought her head shaking up and down meant she was agreeing with the preaching, and the side to side shaking meant he wasn't preaching it very well.  The preacher then was Bill Flatt, and my opinion of him was whatever sister Riddle indicated to me by her head shaking.

            In those days we were a people of character who were known for doing good deeds in the name of Jesus.  I remember on several occasions Claude and Becky Cates and Walt and Alberta Troyan helping our family in some very touching ways.  My Father was eventually led to the Lord and delivered from alcoholism through many acts of kindness done in love.

            Jesus said, "A new command I give you: Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  Ordinary people who love their families and living a simple, ordinary life may not sound like the way to achieve greatness.  But I say it has been the people here at Southeastern being themselves and doing small works of service that has had the most profound effect on me.  I may not be able to do great things, but maybe some small thing I do in the name of the Lord may affect another to want to live a life of doing good.  And wouldn't that be great!

Are You a Hero by Frank Black

Are You a Hero?

You probably don’t consider yourself a hero.  Well then, who would you consider a hero?  Do you know any heroes?  A few summers ago at Bible Camp I was teaching a teens’ class on “Heroes.”  My first question to them was the same: “Who do you consider a hero?”  Their answers were – you guessed it – people in the “popular press” a sports, movie, recording stars.  But are they really heroes?  No!  That leads us to the question of who is a hero?  [We’ll use the masculine form, hero, to cover both genders.]

You can look up the word, but the meaning generally connotes courage; sacrifice – often sacrifice in the face of danger; acting for the greater good of others; often acting in acute, unexpected situations.  You can see why with such a definition we often attribute “hero status” to soldiers or fire fighters, etc.  Many other situations would also call for someone acting suddenly with the threat of personal danger.  For example:  someone diving into an icy pond to rescue a mother and child whose car has skidded into the water and is sinking.

Are the above examples the only way heroes can be described?  The answer is “NO.”  Let me explain.  Have you heard of “silent heroes;” “unknown heroes;” “everyday heroes;” a people doing heroic things who are not recognized and don’t desire to be?  No, you don’t have to be recognized as a hero to be one.  These are people who are putting others above themselves; serving others; sacrificing themselves [their time; their money; perhaps their health or even their job; etc.] – serving without any expectation of personal gain; not serving with the flare of one dramatic event, but over time by an ongoing series of small events.  Do you know any people like this?  Are you one?  Then you are a hero!  ----  [Example:  The first example I think of are the caregivers for the aged, infirm, or handicapped of all types – family members or others.  How about those who continually and sacrificially help the financially unfortunate; and then people who perform services for those who are needy – driving, physical chores, etc., and on and on? …..]

These qualities sound quite Biblical don’t they?  Well, they should!

n  Matthew 20:28 – “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

n  Matthew 10:42 – “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”

Most of us will never be recognized as a hero by the world’s standards.  But so what!  This is not what we should desire as Christ followers.  We should desire to be the “silent hero” I depicted.  There are many “silent heroes” among us.  If you know them, follow their example!  And tell them that they are your heroes and you’re trying to follow their example – [Isn’t this another trait of heroes – that people want to follow their example?].  Let us all strive to be this type of HERO!!

I conclude with one of my favorite quotes which relates somewhat to this topic.  It is from President Theodore Roosevelt:

“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where those who do things could have done them better.  The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who falls and comes up short again and again.  But such a person has great enthusiasm and great devotion and spends himself in a worthy cause.  At best he knows the triumph of high achievement.  At the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly.  His place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have failed to try and know neither victory nor defeat.”

* Frank Black

Magnificent Defeat by Dale Robinson

 

Magnificent Defeat by Dale Robinson

 

“What’s lost is nothing to what’s found,

and all the death that ever was, would scarcely fill a cup.”

 

– Frederick Buechner, The Magnificent Defeat

 

 

“How long has it been since your son’s death?” I asked Jack Jacobs. 

 

“One month and nineteen days,” he responded without hesitation.  The emotions are still raw—and understandably so.

 

Jack’s son Jackie quietly passed away in his sleep sometime during the early hours of Saturday, Feb. 27.  Jackie was 33 years old.  Despite years of past drug abuse, Jackie was in the best of shape and in the prime of his life, or so it seemed, when he died.

 

Jackie graduated from Warren Central and worked for many years as an iron worker, just as his dad and granddad had done.  When he died, he had two young sons living with him, Jamison and Jace.  Jackie had finally put many of his personal struggles behind him, and was taking an active role in the small Christian church he attended in Johnson County.  He and the minister had become close friends, often working out at the gym together.  The night before his death, Jackie had been in a Euchre tournament at the church. 

 

After we got the call that Saturday morning that Jackie had died, Dana and I drove down to Jack’s house.  For many years, our small group had prayed with Jack as he agonized over how to minister to his son through one bad situation after another.  If Jack had struggled mightily before, how would he respond now?  Several times that morning, Jack relayed the facts of discovering his son, calling 9-1-1 and trying to resuscitate him.  Each time he shared the details, Jack expressed gratitude that God, in His great mercy, had given his son enough time to get his life turned around.  I marveled at Jack’s strength and his resolute confidence in God, the Stronger One.

 

Last week, when I asked Jack how much time had transpired since his son’s death, Jack held up his Bible and, pointing to it said, “I wouldn’t make it without this.”  Jack’s reference isn’t to the book per se, but to the God revealed through it—the God who through His Spirit of holiness powerfully declared Jesus to be the Son of God by virtue of his resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:4).

 

Has Jack had his moments since his son’s sudden and tragic death?   Certainly.  At times, overwhelmingly so.  But faith isn’t measured by one’s feelings but rather by one’s convictions.  And in Jack’s situation, his overriding confidence is in the Easter story—that the empty tomb proves death does not have the final word.   

 

On Sunday, the day after Jackie’s death, thirty family members gathered for worship at the little country church that he attended.  Most of the family was not accustomed to attending church.  In fact, the grandfather hadn’t darkened the door of a church building since he was twelve.  Uncles and aunts, nieces and nephews, and many more cousins all squeezed into that small building.  Grief brought them together, but the gospel message keeps them coming back.

 

Each week they’ve had the opportunity to hear the gospel, many for the first time.  The following Sunday, four family members were baptized into Christ.  Since then, four more have been baptized, bringing the total to eight who have committed their lives to Christ as a result of Jackie’s death.

 

What seemed an ending, is actually only a beginning.  God is using Jackie’s death (and life) as a way of drawing people to Himself:  God’s magnificent defeat. 

 

2 Corinthians 1:8-10 says, “…We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.  Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death.  But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. …On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers.”

Special Contribution 2013

As part of our 2013 Vision & Challenge, this collection will improve many capital improvements outside our general operating budget. Additionally, the first $5,000 will go toward funding the construction project that Southeastern agreed to complete in Honduras this summer. We’ve set a goal of $50,000 in cash and pledges.

 

Improvements will be made as money allows, however, the first priorities are to seal the parking lot and drives as a way of protecting our recent paving investment ($11,000) and to replace an auditorium air-conditioning unit ($9,600 beyond what we’ve already raised). Additional projects include refurbishing Room 500 (paint, carpet, drop-ceiling), installation of an automated door at the office entrance for handicap accessibility, improving the quality of sound in the auditorium (upgrading speaker arrays for singing, not just voice), and renovations to the lobby restrooms.

 

While completing all these projects will cost more than $50,000, the budget team wanted to place these needs before the congregation so that, if we exceed our goal, you will know how the additional money will be spent.  If you would like additional detail, please see Mark McKee, Dale Robinson, Mike DeCamp, or Greg York.

 

Pledges are welcomed if you aren’t in a position to give on April 28 but would be able to fulfill your pledge by the end of May. 

Living Out Grace Retreat-A Report by Chris Kirby

Report from Winter Retreat: “Turn the Page”

Back in early March, the Youthreach spent a weekend in Gatlinburg, TN.  It ended up being a great time of fellowship, fun, and snow.  It snowed off and on all weekend.  I think we ended up with 5-6 inches of snow at our chalet perched on top of a mountain a few minutes from down town Gatlinburg. 

It was great to spend time with the teens playing a few games, going on a scavenger hunt in Gatlinburg, eating Donna’s fantastic cooking, worshipping together, and pelting a few people with snow balls.  But, I’d like to share with you the meat of what our weekend was all about.  We had a powerful guest speaker with us.  David was one of Jill’s good friends from high school.  He graduated high school last century in 1996.  Now, David is different from many of the speakers we hear on our “circuit” of youth ministry events.  There are guys out there who are very moving with the rhythm they speak with or can really draw you in with story-telling and the dramatic ability they have.  This isn’t a bad thing.  God has blessed these speakers with the ability to deliver God’s message in a captivating way. 

David was powerful in his speaking.  But, it wasn’t quite like many of the polished orators we hear.  David’s power came through the story he told.  But, it wasn’t just any story.  It was his story.  Not long after his high school graduation, this “kid” (he was 19 at the time) that grew up as a leader in Jill’s youth group was involved in a serious crime.  He wasn’t the primary assailant, but none the less, he played a role in a mugging gone bad.  After being convicted of murder, he spent more than a decade in prison before being released early on good behavior.  He has now been out of prison for a couple of years.  David came and shared his story of going down the dark path and poor decisions that led to his incarceration, what his time was like in prison, and how he rediscovered what freedom in Christ is all about.  The message really made an impact on our group as David talked about recognizing the need that he had for God’s grace and how even while still imprisoned physically, his soul found freedom through the peace and hope of God’s grace.  That realization led to some great opportunities while still in prison for healing and to share his faith with others. 

David’s story was powerful.  It was real.  It gave us a foundation to talk about finding redemption through Christ and living that out in our daily lives.  Our primary passage for the weekend was 2 Corinthians 5:17-21.  This presentation of the gospel by Paul encourages us in assurance that we are made new by the grace of Christ.  However, it goes on to challenge us to accept our roles as His representatives, or ambassadors, in delivering God’s message of reconciliation to the world.  We, as His saved children, have been blessed through God’s great gift of salvation.  Let’s not be a people that keep that gift to ourselves.  Instead, just as David did for our teens, let’s humbly share our stories of being set free from the imprisonment of our sin.  Each of us has a story.  If we’re honest, our stories include sin that has held us captive at some point.  But, the awesome thing about God being the author is that we get to look forward to what happens next when we “Turn the Page.” 

Don't Worry by Terry Gardner

Don’t Worry!

By Terry Gardner

“Don’t worry, be happy,” is the refrain of an old song. Good advice but very hard to follow. Jesus tells us, “Do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” (Matt. 6:25) Sounds simple, doesn’t it?

The reality is every human being worries. This past year one of my feet developed a condition called “drop-foot.” The foot simply was not striking the ground properly, it was slapping the ground and nothing I could do seemed to control the problem. Was this a symptom of some much more serious condition? Was it the onset of Parkinson’s? MS? Or perhaps even the dreaded ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease)! I ignored the problem, worried about the problem, was tested by having mild electrical shocks sent through the muscles in my legs and finally a test was completed in which acupuncture type needles were inserted in my legs. Time was spent in worry combined with money spent on physicians, only to find out the problem was minor and would go away on it’s own!

Of course, most of things we worry about never come to pass. Jesus directs us to the lesson of the birds in the sky that don’t plant crops nor gather the produce into barns “and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.” The key to minimizing our worry time is to remember that no matter what this life holds for us our heavenly Father loves us, cares about us and has prepared a place for us with him. “Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God believe also in Me. In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:1-3).

How then can we minimize worry? Three thoughts come to mind:

First, “cast all your care on Him, for He cares for you.” (I Peter 5:7). If you are not praying like you should you will worry constantly. Faith helps drive worry far away. Paul reminds us to worry “about nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” (Phil. 4:6).

Second, remember to be about our Father’s business. That is why we are here. Worry does not help me or anyone else. Jesus asked, “Who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?” (Matt. 6:27) When I am doing the Father’s will the time available for worry goes way down. Usually in helping others, you discover how blessed you are. I remember a poem from childhood one line of which was, “I felt sorry for myself because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet.” Both our happiness and worries are driven by what we compare ourselves to and how we handle the troubles that life sends to every human being. Remember that the storms came to both the wise man whose house was built on the rock and the fool who built his home on the sand. If your life is anchored to the bedrock of Faith in God Almighty, the storms of life will not shake you.

Third, focus on the positive. Paul tells us, “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely whatever is of good repute; if there be any excellence and if there be anything worthy of praise, think on these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” (Phil. 4:10). What do you watch? What do you read? Whom do you spend time with? What songs do you sing?

Peter walked on the water as long as he focused on Jesus. When Peter took his eye off Christ and saw the storms, he immediately began to sink. We will all worry some, it is the human condition, but we can minimize our worries by remembering that our Father made the Universe and all things in it and I am his heir.

Hindsight is... by Greg York

Hindsight is… (A Little Meditation on Human Memory for the Week of Easter)

 

Hindsight is always in HD, isn’t it?  Memory filters out so much of the material— whether fact or opinion—which seemed important, so right at the time, but later is revealed to be utterly unimportant or simply wrong.  It’s as if our collective memory washes all of that out.  All that’s left is amazing clarity.

 

And once that forgetting has taken place, it’s easy to look back at the now sanitized version of the past and think it was not possible that it could have happened any other way.

 

We look back on World War II as a “good war.”  It’s completely clear to us (from our present vantage point) that it was always a foregone conclusion that the United States would enter the war.  It’s clear to us that it was a foregone conclusion that once we were in, victory was assured.  Shed of any pesky details, it’s an easy picture to remember and “know.”  It must have happened that way because that’s how we remember it.

 

This week, I heard an interview with the author of a new book about the political climate in the United States between 1939 and 1941.

 

Those are not arbitrary dates:  Germany invades Poland and the war is underway in September, 1939.  Then the United States enters the war after the events of December, 1941:  the attack on Pearl Harbor, our declaration of war on Japan in response, and then Germany’s declaration of war on the US in response to that.

 

Between 1939 and 1941, there was a huge internal debate in the United States between those who felt we should enter the war (the “Interventionists”) and those who felt we should stay out (the “Isolationists”).  The rhetorical and political battles involved such luminaries as President Roosevelt (sympathetic with the interventionist view) and Charles Lindbergh (who was an unofficial spokesman for the isolationists).  Both sides of the war in Europe had active espionage operations in this country trying to influence public opinion.  Isolationist leaders on campuses included two future presidents and a future Supreme Court justice.  Interventionist leaders included titans of industry and Hollywood figures.

 

One of the isolationists’ reasoned arguments was that in the wake of the Great Depression trying to fight a war would cause the nation’s economy to take another dive, if not collapse totally, leaving us unable to defend ourselves should we need to.

 

Another of the isolationist arguments (based on the experiences of trench warfare in the First World War) was that millions upon millions of American soldiers would be needed to effectively wage the war and that millions would die…and it wasn’t even “our” war.

 

In point of fact, neither of those arguments turned out to be “what actually happened.”  The economy actually benefited from the war production.  The casualties, reprehensible as any are, turned out to be far less than the “reasonable estimates” of the isolationists.

 

Here’s the point:  It’s very easy for us to sit on this side of that history and see that the isolationists’ arguments were wrong and that World War II is the dictionary definition of “the good war.”  Because we’ve scrubbed the history clean.  In our collective memory, the history of World War II goes straight from “Germany invades Poland” to “U.S. enters war and victory is assured.”

 

But absolutely no one could know that in 1939-1941.  No one.

 

Is there a point lurking somewhere in here, Greg?  (I know; wordy.)

 

Here goes:  As I listened to the interview, I went further back in history in my mind, to a spring weekend almost two thousand years ago when a young artisan-turned-preacher died on a Roman cross.

 

Some thought, “That’s the end of that…and good riddance!”

 

Some thought, “That’s the end of that…what’ll I do now?”

 

Some thought, “That’s the end of that…and it might as well be the end of the world, because this is the worst thing that could ever happen!”

 

Some thought, “That’s the end of that…and how can I ever trust God again?  If God won’t save this guy…”

 

Some thought, as they laid him in a tomb, “That’s the end of that…”

 

I wonder if we have scrubbed and sanctified our shared memory of that weekend to the point that there’s no Saturday left.  We jump straight from “died on the cross” to “raised from the dead.”

 

But maybe what makes Sunday so unbelievably sweet and joyous is that Saturday.  A Saturday in which there is no assured outcome, no sure next step, no future to anticipate.  A Saturday filled with numbness and fear and disorientation.  A Saturday seemingly emptied of any hope.

 

But now, in retrospect (and only in retrospect!), it’s all so clear.

 

My hunch is that most of us live a great deal of our lives in “Saturday.”  “Saturday” is a hard time to live, a hard time to trust God.  But in all of our “Saturdays,” those times of fear and hopelessness, we can remember that “Sunday” is coming, with its proof that God is faithful and that all of our “Fridays” and “Saturdays” are redeemed and vindicated.  In fact, “Sunday” with God turns out to be so amazing that “Saturday” with all its doubt and disorientation may be utterly forgotten.

"Getting the Message" by Mike DeCamp

Last weekend, the elders and ministers gathered together to work on another project that we have derived from our congregational vision statement.

“Growing hearts toward God—

                Where people are…

                                devoted to God in love.

                                                trained by Christ for life.

                                                                and led by the Spirit to serve.”

And the project we were working on?  EVANGELISM.

We discussed our views, some of the congregational comments from our Vision class, and how to develop better tools and efforts toward that end.  During the discussion, two comments in particular struck a chord with me, and I’d like to share the thoughts that I’m contemplating as a result.  As I am thinking these things through, I really think the first comment will be greatly addressed as we get a better handle on the second one. 

Here goes:

COMMENT ONE:  Evangelism has a negative connotation in our society, so we should call it something else; something less offensive.

Really, this shouldn’t surprise any of us.  Persecution has tended to follow Christians across the centuries and Christ himself predicted it.  More than likely a good deal of it comes because Christians “share their faith” with those who don’t have a faith, or those whose faith is contrary to Christianity.  I have three primary responses:

A.      Evangelism is NOT optional to Christianity.  It is our mission given to us by our Lord.  We are called to “pay it forward” when it comes to the Grace we have received, and we do that by sharing it with others that are still “like sheep without a shepherd” in our lost world.  “Go into all the world,” Jesus said in Matthew 28, “and make disciples of all nations.” (See Matthew 28:18-20)  In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul said: “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us.”  (See 2 Corinthians 5:18-20)

B.      Even in times when the message is not appreciated, Christians continue to share.

On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.  Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.  But Saul began to destroy the church.  Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.  Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.  Acts 8:1-4

As Christians, like it or not, evangelism is something we are supposed to do.  As a result, we may be disliked, insulted, and punished, but we must never scream “RETREAT!” and flee from our mission.  We can call it something else if we want.  “Community Outreach.”  “Sharing your faith.”  Whatever makes the effort not get in the way of the end result is fine with me, but we need to be about the business of making disciples. 

C.      Our message needs to have integrity.  No hidden agendas.  No mixed messages.  If our message comes from the heart and holds to the gospel, then folks will normally at least respect our effort.  For instance, we don’t feed the poor so that we can bring them to church.  We feed them because they need food, then we share the message because they need hope.  We don’t want to be guilty of hiding the message behind a façade of service.  Whatever we do needs to be real.

And that leads me to…

COMMENT TWO:  We need to understand what The Message really is.

I’d like to open my response here with what it is NOT.  First, it is not our doctrine.  And, it isn’t our church affiliation, or even church attendance.  It isn’t our view of worship or our understanding of the purpose and point of baptism.  The message is not to "avoid Hell!”

All of those things are important.  They really are.  But, they are not at the core of the message.

So, what is our message to this dark world?

The Gospel = The Good News.  What is the “Good News” of our message?

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  John 3:16-17

·         Despite all of our personal failures and weaknesses, God loves us!

·         He has taken the first step…a drastic step…and before we have shown any interest in Him…to provide for us hope in an eternal life!

·         God will not count our faults against us, but wants to be reconciled with us…brought together with us…bonded to us.  He wants a relationship with YOU, ME, and that guy that lives next to you.  You know.  The guy who sleeps around, gets drunk, shoots off his mouth, and makes fun of your dog.  Yep.  Even him.  And, you have the job of telling him.

The creator of the universe…the King of all kings…the Master among the stars…

He loves us...you, me, and that guy.

And, He is going all out to convince us to love Him back!

He is just looking for us to trust Him…have faith in Him…in that love.

The response of faith in the love of God will lead us to all of those other important details.  We can share those in our further studies.  However, it is the genuine trust (faith) in that gift of the love of God that will motivate us (and those folks we share the good news with) to take action.  That’s how God’s Grace has its effect on us.  It moves us to respond.

So, in my view, the message in a nutshell is:

God loves us and wants us with Him.  Jesus died to make that happen.  The Holy Spirit awaits our response.  We can find love, relationship, and an eternal hope in our trusting response to that loving sacrifice.

Is that something you can share?