"What Is Safe?" by Frank Black

“WHAT  IS  SAFE?”

(F. Black 11/22/15)

 

        The above was the title to one of the best talks I have ever heard.  Dr. David Thompson, a life-long medical missionary in Africa, gave this inspiring message at the Global Missions Conference about a decade ago.  His point was that we are safe nowhere in our world today.  [Remember that his talk predated all our current world crises.].  He reminded us that our earthly life is temporary and our eternal home is with God [our ultimate source of safety].  Dr. Thompson’s talk came at a time when he and his wife were preparing to return to Africa.  He also knew quite personally what he was talking about.  Both his parents, missionaries in Viet Nam, were killed during the Tet offensive. His father-in-law, a missionary in Cambodia, was taken away by soldiers and never seen again. 

 

        So what about today?  Are we really safe anywhere?  The answer is a resounding “NO”!  Of course we exert due caution, but none of us is safe or immune to tragedy or terrorists.  The recent events of mass killings with ISIS bringing down a plane and their horrific Paris attacks show quite starkly that no one is safe.  So, do we cover our heads, retreat, and hide in fear?  Another resounding NO!  We must remember that the forces of evil are prevalent and ever present, but that our God is greater! 

 

        But I do think that the USA needs a “reality check”.  Something to shake us up, so that we again can see what is really important.  Here we are in a nation of surplus and wealth – a nation where much of the world would like to live.  I’ve known many well educated African people, and virtually all of them have as their number one dream to come and live in America.  But it seems that many USA nationals have grown complacent with our wealth.  It’s taken for granted.  So we see too many people self absorbed, immature, and overly concerned about being “PC”, name calling, feeling entitled, feeling like the ‘victim’, others being ‘intolerant’ of or ‘offending’ them - just add in the current fad or trend.  Frankly, much of this behavior is sinful – not what Jesus would have us be or do.

 

        So, what do I mean by a “REALITY CHECK”?  I mean something worthy of being really distressed about – not like much of the piddly stuff of today. Something like not enough food.  Most Americans today cannot conceive of such a thing – real hunger and when it’s virtually impossible to get food.  I’ve used the phrase before, but we Americans have the “Blessing of Location”  as opposed to being the “Victim of Location.”  

I’ll let the words of Janice Bingham speak for themselves.  She’s our dear friend and co-worker, a nurse practitioner, who has been in Zambia with Harding University students this semester:

 

        “The Southern province of Zambia has experienced a significant drought.  Only about 1 out of 10 crops produced anything during the last harvest.   [One characteristic of Third World is that they have no stock or storage set aside for such disasters].  We hear of so many people suffering. So one Friday we loaded up several large sacks of corn meal and bags of beans and headed down some rough, dusty roads.  Most of the people we encountered were the elderly – weak and malnourished.  In the African culture it is the responsibility of the children to care for their aging parents, but many of the younger generation have died of AIDS, thus leaving many “elder orphans”, older people with no one to care for them.  One older woman, unable to walk due to extreme weakness, had come to meet us by traveling in an ox cart.  We came to a hut occupied by a man with polio – unable to walk because of atrophied and contracted legs. There was no family to help care for him.  He thanked us over and over for remembering him in his time of need. There was hardly a dry eye in the group as we drove away.  //  The next day we again came face to face with people in desperate need.  We went to a church where the people were told to meet us.  When we pulled in, a crowd of women came running out singing, clapping, and overwhelmed us with their welcome.  [In the Third World it’s the women who always come first – whether to church, to see a doctor, or to get food].  We had brought twenty 25kg bags of corn meal – one problem:  60 people were there.  Everyone got a portion.  As we sat on the bricks in the tiny church building, I had to wonder yet again, why did God chose to bless us?  ‘I don’t know.’ Now we know at least something of the plight of the poor, and I pray that these students will be motivated to dedicate their lives in service to the poor and down-trodden of this world. It is definitely what Jesus would do.”

 

In another letter from Janice she told me of an African man who cried [most unusual] because the Clinic had none of the heart medicine he so desperately needed.  Can you even imagine such a thing in America – not being able to get the medicine you needed.  She told of another teenager with severe rheumatic heart disease and heart failure, who desperately needed heart surgery in order to survive much longer.  Not possible there!!

I know I’m “preaching to the choir”, but let us keep our priorities in order and count our blessings and remember, “What Is Safe?”

Peace and a Red Coffee Cup by Mike DeCamp

Last year, when Kent Brantly said that he felt a “sense of peace” when he was first advised of the diagnosis of having Ebola himself, I think I sort of scratched my head and wondered how in the world that could even be possible.  How can a man get a death sentence—a sentence to die a horrifying, miserable death—and somehow be at peace?  I think I was a little in awe of him.  I was in awe of his faith that could provide him that peace.

As if this was somehow his own doing.

Anxiousness can be debilitating.  It can lock us up so that we can barely function.  It can cause us emotional, spiritual, and physical distress.  We can literally get ill from worry.  These days, it seems that potential sources of anxiety are hitting us from all sides.  Politics.  Elections.  Culture.  Terrorism.  Wars.  The color of coffee cups.

How do we find that sense of peace?

Would it help us if a certain coffee company printed “Peace on Earth” on the sides of their cups?  I doubt it.

Two things happened this week that have helped me better understand this whole “sense of peace” thing.

First, I was part of a meeting and discussion the other day that had the potential to be quite intense and I was very concerned, both about the way it would transpire and the outcome at the end.  This anxiety even affected the quality of how I slept the night before.  Frankly, despite my  best attempt to be faithful, I was worried about it.  Prior to the meeting, I did a little praying.  I asked God to help, and you know what?  All of the sudden, I was at peace about it.  I can’t explain it.  I just was.  Not only that, but the meeting actually went off very well.

 

I think it was a God thing.

Second, I related the following story about my dad to some friends as we discussed Veterans Day.

Ralph DeCamp is the first man on the left.

In World War Two, my dad served in the Army Air Corps.  He was a crewman on a B26 Martin Marauder flying out of North Africa and the Mediterranean.  He wasn’t a kid.  Rather, he was a man in his early thirties.  He didn’t tell me many stories from the war, only a handful.  One stands out, though.  He said that on his very first combat mission, he was scared to death—literally terrified.  I got the sense that he was nearly frozen with fear.  If you need help to understand why, try watching those scenes from the mini-series “Band of Brothers” where they were flying over Normandy to drop the paratroopers for D-Day.  That will give you an idea of what he was facing.  Anyway, as he struggled with his tremendous sense of terror, he prayed.

 “God,” he said, “please take away my fear.” 

My father told me that at that point, a sense of peace came over him.  He couldn't explain it.  It just happened.  As a result, not only could he fly with his crew and do his job, but when his own crew was idle, he began to fill in with other crews.  When men would find a reason to avoid a planned mission, he would volunteer to fly in their place.  He reached the required number of missions to be sent home long before the other men on his own crew, but instead of leaving them behind for the safety of home, he stayed.  He wouldn’t leave until they all could leave.  I have a document provided by a commanding officer that lists his missions--over seventy.  

Then he came home.

I used to be in awe of my father’s faith.  The faith that allowed him to be so brave.  Like he had something to do with it.

I’m proud of him, of that there is no doubt, and it was his faith that spurred my own.  However, this wasn’t about my dad.  It was a God thing.

Consider Philippians 4: 6-7....

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and you minds in Christ Jesus.

We may not know the answers, but God can still give us peace.  We may not understand where it comes from or how it even works, but God can put our hearts at rest.

So, let me just encourage you to turn to God the next time you’re feeling anxious.  If you’re worried about a test.  If you’re concerned about an election.  If you are bothered by the direction of our society.  If you’re frightened by world events.  Give it to God.

He’s got this.

Now, after all this, if you want to talk, I’m available.  If you need an ear to hear you, I’ve got a couple of them.  Give me a call.  I’d be glad to meet you at Starbucks for a cup of coffee.

Mike

A Fresh Start by Clint Davis

 

A Fresh Start

By Clint Davis

 

Jeff Walling tells the story from several years back when he was having some problems with his computer.   He had tried everything to get the problem resolved, but nothing worked so he had to call telephone tech support from the place where he bought the computer.  The person was very helpful, but after trying numerous fixes nothing worked.  And that is when the person said I think we are going to need to re-install your operating system.   Those are never the words you want to hear because that means you have to strip everything off the computer and start all over.  It is the only way to get a “fresh start”. 

At times, there are things that I don’t want to deal with that I must deal with in order to get a fresh start in my life.  Sometimes I want to just press a button.  I want to find the Staples “EASY” button to press and suddenly my problem is solved or my life will be different, but it does not work that way. 

From the start of creation, humanity started corrupting itself with the virus of SIN.  Our natural reaction when we do something wrong has not changed.  Our first reaction is to cover-up because we do not want someone to see the “real me”.  We want to hide it.  If we make a mistake or have an accident our reaction is to run away and hide. 

I remember several years back, Karen and I were getting ready to head out on a short vacation to Mexico.  We were in the airport terminal and my phone rang.   It was Chandelle.  She had been in a parking garage and hit a parked vehicle; actually she had ripped the bumper off the parked car.  She was not sure what to do.  I have to be completely honest and say that my first thought was to tell her to take off and not tell anyone.  But that was not the right thing to do.  We talked and I told her to leave a note to have the person give me a call so we could pay for the damage.  She did, and the person called me and we paid for the damage.

How do we get a fresh start when we have made a mess, when we have made a mistake, when we have sinned?

We have to realize, that we cannot fix it. Covering it up will not fix it and lying about it will not fix it.  Running away from it and rationalizing it will not fix it.  It can only be fixed by God.  In Jesus, God gave us a new beginning, a fresh install.  We just need the courage to accept it from Him.

I think it was Bob Herndon that gave an analogy that trying to cover up your sin is like being in a swimming pool with several balls where you are constantly trying to keep them all under water at the same time so they cannot be seen.  It can never last and you grow weary.

Psalm 32 describes a new beginning and fresh start for David.  It starts painfully….Blessed is the man in whose spirit there is no deceit.  The picture here is that a person has to carry around their deceit/ sin like a bag around their neck for all to see.  David tried to carry his deceit and not let it be known, and the passage says his bones wasted away from his groaning all day long.  Carrying the burden of his sin wore him out.  David kept trying to cover up his adultery with Bathsheba to the point that he literally committed murder for having Uriah purposefully killed in battle.  But God sent Nathan to convict him of his sin and David confessed his sin to the Lord and God “forgave the guilt of his sin”.  David tried something else; he acknowledged his sin to God and did not cover up his iniquity.

To have a fresh start today, have the courage to accept the gift of God’s grace.  God will forgive you and his grace will lead you to different life choices.

Stop running and lying and covering and hiding and say to the Lord this is who I am….please forgive me.

Titus 3: He saved us because of His mercy…He saved us through the washing of rebirth and the renewal of His Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ our Savior. He saved us because of His grace.

Ocean Depths Praise the Lord by Craig Hill

Ocean Depths Praise the Lord

Craig Hill

Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths . . . Psalms 148: 7

When my home office, my laptop, my phone calls, my work get too much for me, one of my favorite things to do is to go see nature. You know, God’s creations. God’s creations are amazing.

I like to go canoeing on the White River down from 146^th Street in Carmel. The river is always beautiful, barely touching civilization for the first 2 or 3 miles, which is a long canoe ride.

Putting in under the bridge at 5am on a cold winter day to go duck hunting with my Son Zach, Daughter Rachel, my Nephew Jacob, or my friend Fred Carter is something. You get all your gear in the canoe, tie it down in case you capsize, make sure your life vest is snug over your chest waders and heavy camo coat, and you push off. You push off with one foot and step in with the other, and into the current. It’s dark. The water envelops the canoe all around. The current takes you in and the flow laps on the side of the canoe about 8 inches down the gunwale. You know the river is in control now, and you are paddling at its behest. You are safe, dry, and warm, except your nose, which is cold. But you know the river can take you down if it wants to.

It’s not deep, like the ocean depths, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s still dangerous. At 24°F, your in chest waders and there’s rocks under the water big enough to tip you over if you hit them the wrong way, and it is 3 to 8 feet deep there. Over 6 feet it doesn’t matter, you can’t touch the bottom. Thrill seeker? Maybe, but I just do it to get away from the modern world and feel closer to God.

God is all around me. He’s all around me in my home office too, but on the river in these conditions (or any conditions for that matter) it is more apparent to my feeble mind that I am in God’s hands. If He wants me to stay dry, I will. If He wants me to get wet, I will get wet. If he wants me to almost die from hypothermia and have my paddling partner save me with a big roaring fire, then that will happen too. I know that I only pass through the 5am darkness down the gently flowing river at God’s discretion – you know with His grace.

It’s kind of a physical metaphor of God’s grace for my sins. He lets me have salvation despite my sins if I believe in Jesus. I feel more in touch with God, in His surroundings. Man made my home office, but God made the river!

And the river praises Him. It was made by God! The 3 foot long catfish that swim under it were made by God. The buck we saw when I asked Rachel to turn on the flood light to get a bearing – the buck is God’s creation. The barred owl that usually hoots at us nuts in the canoe in the dark – the owl is God’s creation. And the pack of coyotes that starts howling just before we get to our duck hunting island – the coyotes are God’s creations. They all praise out to God. They all are lifting their voices, their presence, their form, to praise God. And I see God in who these creations are.

And I see God in the river. The river praises God in how beautiful it is. The river praises God in how cold it is, in how massive the flowing water is all around me, in how gracious it is to gently let me pass, despite my fear and respect for it – just like God. He is strong, he is loving and gracious. He is dangerous, holding the key to life, the key to time, the key to everlasting life in His hands.

Praise the Lord from the earth, you sea creatures and all ocean depths, lighting and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and women, old men and children.

Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens. Praise the Lord.

What I learned While Driving (Only Briefly) Above My Pay Grade by Greg York

What I Learned While Driving (Only Briefly) Above My Pay Grade          

 

No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

–Jesus, in Matthew 6.24

 

A little over a month ago I stumbled into (was led into?) a very informative experience; here’s what happened:

 

The 1991 Nissan Maxima I drive seems to need something major done to keep it moving along once a year or so. That’s to be expected. And (so far) it is still less expensive than 12 months’ worth of car payments a year. It was leaking a couple of bodily fluids and the diagnosis indicated that it was going to require some parts that needed to be ordered and shipped in (I have no idea why so few places are not well-stocked with parts for vehicles twenty-five years old…). It was all going to take about three days and so I was going to need a rental vehicle.

 

As it happened, there were none available at the dealer, but they arranged for me to pick one up at a rental place up the street. Apparently, they wanted whatever vehicle I was given to be a Nissan. Advertising, I suppose.

 

At the rental place, apparently there was only one Nissan available at that time.

 

And that is how I came to spend three days tooling around in a 370z.

 

 

As fun as it was to drive such a vehicle (and it was, in fact, great fun!), it was the various reactions to Greg-in-a-370z that I found most thought-provoking.

 

 

Predictably, there was some gentle ribbing about my less-than-graceful entrances and exits from the car (although, in fairness to myself, I got better at it over the three days…). It was not designed with 55-year-old fat men in mind.

 

 

And, among those who assumed I had purchased the car, there were comments (only a couple of which seemed to have truly sharp edges to them) that clearly “we’re paying our preacher too much.”

 

(I have to admit, though, it felt pretty cool that anyone thought I might actually have taken leave of my senses long enough to purchase such a vehicle…)

 

Kaelan enjoyed riding around in it with me and we even took the long way home a couple of times just to do it. Maybe for a few moments (at least until he learned it was only a rental) I was actually a neat person to have as a dad, not the kind of guy who drives a car that will soon technically qualify as a “classic” (a car he probably fears he will “inherit”). He told me he thought I should keep the 370z. I told him that if we did, his brothers would have to come home from school and he might not be able to go to college at all. He may still be thinking it over.

 

I guess my own internal reactions, though, were the most instructive, the most revealing spiritually.

 

Why did it make me feel, well, younger, more alive, to be driving around in such a car? (Don’t suggest “mid-life crisis,” unless you think I’m living to 110…)

 

Why did I enjoy being seen driving it?

 

Why did it make me feel a little more “with it,” more special?

 

And, why did I like feeling that way so much?

 

Whatever else it might be, the 370z is just a car, a material object that will decay, rust, and eventually be no more. It will not last, and therefore any meaning I give it or any value I derive from it cannot be lasting.

 

 

Now, I know all that in my head. But behind the wheel of a 370z (mediocre gas mileage and all), it was so easy to forget.

 

And, why, by the way, do I not allow myself to feel all those things because I know that God loves me, Jesus died for me, and the Spirit lives within me? Really? I’ll let a car do that for me, but not God?

 

I’m not saying it’s a sin to own a nice vehicle or to derive pleasure from the things we possess or are fortunate enough to use. On the contrary: I believe God meant for us to enjoy things. (And my personal opinion is that sometimes the better part of stewardship is not to “go cheap,” but to pay on the front end for something that is of a quality that will have long-lasting usefulness.) But God is extremely clear that he does not want us to define our lives by material things. Again, God meant for us to enjoy things, but he did not mean for us to be controlled by them. So, we have to be vigilant. The material has such a powerful pull on our hearts. And if we are not careful, it can be bait concealing a hook that will get set in our hearts to pull us away from what is of lasting value, true value.

 

…we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen;

for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.

 – 2 Corinthians 4.18

Free Salvation? by Ron Peterson

FREE SALVATION?

By Ron Peterson

(Ron Peterson coordinates the Domestic Missions Ministry Support for the Southeastern Church of Christ)

 

I had the opportunity to listen to part of Mike Allen’s presentation at the Southeastern Church of Christ Men’s Advance. I was astonished at the insight of what it means to be saved and what Greg has been trying to share with us for the last year when we are together.

 

Salvation is not free, because you have to give up everything which is difficult, but Jesus said his burden is light compared to the Devil’s burden. David once said I will not sacrifice to my Lord what cost me nothing.

 

The Christian accepts the Holy Spirit to combine with his spirit, which puts God within you. Paul said everything you do is an act of service to God, which is worship. Worship is what you do 24/7. You do not come into the presence of God when going to the Church building, for He is already in you. He is always there. Thus, you attend Church to get together not to worship, but to build each other up by learning, encouraging, and helping others through study, interaction, and giving praises, funds, support, promises etc. so that your act of Worship (service) can have more influence.

 

The acceptance of Jesus as the Christ provides the gift of the Holy Spirit through Baptism, thus freeing the Christian from Sin, but it does not free us from the consequences of that sin. Sin diminishes our influence in the World. God is like an artist with paint brushes in His hand painting a portrait of your life. Sin is when you take a brush and paint something for yourself which makes a flaw in the portrait. God forgives that sin as we walk in the blood of Jesus, but He has to work it into picture which reduces the quality of the portrait. Paul is example of that flaw. He carried the burden of what he did to Jesus’s followers his whole life and knew it affected his service to God.

 

Let us praise God for the salvation through Jesus knowing our portrait will hang on God’s wall until we come to view what He has made for us to see. Fear not the flaws, for God is the expert and will make a beautiful portrait to be admired by all.

 

May we thank Jesus always for such a wonderful sacrifice for us!

 

Thoughts to remember,

Ron Peterson

"How Litte We Know" by Terry Gardner

“How Little We Know”

 Terry Gardner

   In 1899 David Lipscomb wrote about “The Bible and Evolution” and “The Bible and Geology,” topics that Lipscomb had “studied . . . in my younger days.” Lipscomb was disinclined to accept the view that the “day” of Genesis 1 “was an indefinite length of time,” thinking that it was an “ordinary day of twenty-four hours.” Yet, Lipscomb hastened to add, “We have not felt sure about this, but the style naturally suggests the common day.”  The plain text of Genesis seemed to suggest that a “day” was a twenty-four hour day, but Lipscomb could not be “sure” about the matter.

 

   A few weeks later Lipscomb published a letter from Samuel Jordan.  Jordan conceded the possibility that the author of Genesis 1 had twenty-four hour days in mind, but Jordan pointed out that “the first three days of creation lacked the phenomena that are so essential to our twenty-four-hour periods, sun and stars.”  As Jordan regarded “these periods,” he concluded, Lipscomb’s “thoughts seem to be correct and, of course, beautiful, because unanswerable; but to think of the six-days’ creation as six days of twenty-four hours each, your thoughts are remarkable, geology as taught decidedly wrong, and the Bible language forced to imply miracles needlessly.”

 

   “It has not been my purpose,” Lipscomb replied, “to present or discuss any theory of geology or of creation, but to present the truth that there is no discrepancy between the facts of geology that are regarded as established and the teachings of the Bible.  As I have said heretofore, my study of the facts and the theories date back from twenty-five to fifty years ago.  I have not kept abreast of the investigations of late years, save in their general theories.  I have held doubtful the idea of the day of Genesis one being a long period of time, but I have not formed a very fixed judgment on the subject.  I have long cultivated the habit of holding doubtful questions in doubt—not forcing a conclusion—for years.  The theory would readily solve all difficulties on the subject; but while the Bible does not forbid such a construction, does it suggest it, with our present knowledge of the structure of the earth?  If not, I hesitate and wait.  I do not wish to force a statement of the Bible.  What I wished was to suggest that men of science often put forth crude conjecture as scientific truth; and believers in the Bible frequently form their ideas more from popular sentiment than from Bible teaching, even on common subjects, and, from failure to observe, oppose the simple statements of the Bible.  Between the two antagonism is presented, where, with regard for the true teaching of science and the Bible, they would be found to harmonize and sustain each other.  We recognize the positions of our brother as in not contradicting the Bible, and, if true, fully removing all difficulties on the subject.”

 

  No one knows everything.  Lipscomb knew enough to know that surely he was not an expert in all areas and candidly admitted it.  His statement, “I have long cultivated the habit of holding doubtful questions in doubt—not forcing a conclusion—for years,” is remarkable.  We live in a world of increasingly shrill argument. We hear “authorities” and “activists” from all sides of every spectrum speaking and acting as if they know everything. Lipscomb did not know everything, as surely as no one of us knows all.  I don’t even know all the questions anymore, much less all the answers.

 

   The letter of James reminds us that we “know … everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God” (James 1:19-20).  People become violently angry about things posted on the internet (especially on Facebook) and respond with ill-tempered wrath.  Often they are responding to things that are patently false and sharing them with others as fact.  We shall do well always to restrain our anger and, like Lipscomb, keep from forcing a conclusion for years, if necessary.

 

   Many years ago, I was working for Procter & Gamble when a rumor got started that the company had been purchased by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon and as proof the corporate symbol of a man in the moon and thirteen stars was cited.  Later, the rumor changed, claiming that Mr. Gamble (who had been dead for 100 years) had prayed to God for healing and when that did not happen he prayed to the Devil, was healed and now gave 10 per cent of the profits of the Company to the Devil.  Again, people cited the man in the moon symbol, arguing that if you held the logo up to a mirror (and looked at it backwards) three strands of the moonman’s beard made the number 666. Both rumors were, of course, false and misleading.  Many “Christian” people spread these rumors until the company began suing the most vocal propagandists and removed the man in moon from the company’s packaging. Among those who peddled these rumors were people whose business enterprises competed with Procter & Gamble.

 

   “For every careless word that people speak,” Jesus tells us, “they shall account for it in the day of judgment.”  I enjoy the internet and Facebook, but I suggest a little less Facebook and a lot more of God’s Word will do us all a world of good.  Every day I must remind myself that I don’t know everything.