From the Desk of…

Bulletin articles and other news from the ministers

A Day that Will Live in Infamy

January 22, 2011
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Yesterday passed like any other Saturday, but do you know what happened on that day?

On January 22, 1973, a panel of seven men who were not elected, who were appointed for life made a decision without vote or public discussion that legalized abortion in the United States. Since that time, 45 million children in our country have been killed thanks to Roe v Wade.

I suspect it will be interesting when we meet those babies in eternity. Perhaps some of them would have been great scientists who could have cured AIDS or the common cold. Others might have been school teachers or factory worker or farmers who would have upheld the fabric of our society. Maybe among their number was someone who could have been the Paul of the 21st century preaching repentance and revival wherever he went.

What can you and I do about this injustice?

1. Pray. Let’s plead for them at the Father’s throne. Let’s pray for wisdom for those who are considering this procedure. Let’s pray that the doctors will realize what they are doing, and that our lawmakers will consider the will of the True Lawgiver.

2. Provide. Let’s continue to support works like the Tennessee Children’s Home or Agape or any of our missions that provide counseling and care for young mothers. Let’s open our hearts and give—even provide homes for those who need it.

3. Prod. Thanks to the digital age, it’s a piece of cake to send a message to our elected officials. It doesn’t matter if they are in your party or not, or what their position is. You can email them or send them a letter explaining that abortion is a crime against the defenseless and that it needs to be stopped. A simple, polite note can go a long way to encouraging these men and women to make better decisions. We need not be a “silent majority.”

These three actions treat the symptoms of abortion. We must still treat theroot cause of the problem. We must spread the news about Jesus and tell people how following him is the only way to have value and beauty and truth and goodness. We will educate people to know that loving Jesus is better than sex, convenience, or money. When people’s hearts turn towards Jesus, anything can change.

33,830

January 16, 2011
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That’s the number of Christian denominations and sects recorded by the World Christian Encyclopedia. I don’t know how to describe that number except to use the word “insane.” There almost as many divisions among the people who call themselves Christians as there are people living in Dickson County, Tennessee!

I’m not that naïve; I understand that as long as the devil is in the world, there will be division. But this number is unacceptable. Too many people have given up on churches too easily. Too many people have abandoned the bedrock of unity—Scripture. Too many people have followed a preacher rather than the gospel. As a result, our testimony before the world is hindered. Our fellowship has been broken too easily.

Unity does not come easily. It requires effort and dedication to the words of Paul in Philippians 1:27-28: “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.”

The three-fold recipe is simple, but not always easy. We must stand firm in one spirit—God’s Holy One. We can’t act in ways that would grieve him (Ephesians 4:30) or quench him (1 Thessalonians 5:19). We must have one mind. We share goals and ambitions. We communicate with each other. We have the mind that is in Christ Jesus—one of humility and obedience (Philippians 2:5). Finally, we have to “strive” side by side.

We’ve made a lot of progress towards unity in this church, but our future success will come only if we heed the words of this scripture. Are you doing your part?

Consistency

January 10, 2011
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A few years ago I was given the opportunity to try oysters. Raw oysters. I’m not sure whether it was the peer pressure or just morbid curiosity, but I decided to give it a shot. Open the hatch, past the gums, look out tummy, here it comes!

I learned something that day: I am not a big fan of raw oysters. It wasn’t so much the flavor that bothered me, but the texture. I don’t know any way to describe it except for the word “slime.” In food, consistency can make or break something. I think that’s true in all of life.

It’s not hard for us to stand and acknowledge that the Christ is king. What is difficult is to live that truth day after day after day. It isn’t that hard to be a Christian on Sunday mornings. Our consistency on Tuesday at four-thirty is what tells the whole story.
It’s the second Sunday of 2011. Many of you have started the year off with perfect attendance! Will you strive to maintain your commitment and your consistency throughout the next fifty weeks? Some of us are new Christians. Are we planning and working to build a faith that is built on the rock that will weather the storms of life? (See Matthew 7:24-27). Some of our number are experiencing the difficulty of failing health. Will you “finish well” even in times of physical difficulty?

Let’s work to encourage each other to be more consistent in 2011. Jesus says, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (Revelation 2:10)

Finish Well

December 23, 2010
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Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life. 1 Timothy 6:12

As we close out 2010 there are many thoughts that caress our minds. Some have lost loved ones; others have had major medical problems. Some have changed jobs and others have seen relationships die. Some have made it through the year without any crisis. Others have fared well in spite of crisis. Some have succumbed to drifting and slipping away from truths taught and practiced for so long.

What is the key to longevity? In physical life it is clean living, good genes, healthy habits and care taken. At the relational level it is clean living, good partners, healthy habits and careful living. In the emotional life it is care taken, proper self-control, kindness given and received, emotional outlets that don’t scar and Spirit controlled actions. In our spiritual lives it is all the above plus the following:

Being intentional rather than drifting. God has built us so that we follow the way we set our minds to. Half-hearted commitment will not last beyond ill-advised New Year’s resolutions. Make them January 1 and forget them January 15. The choice must be made with all the heart, soul, mind and strength. Anything less will fade as the year goes by.

Being committed no-matter-what, rather than committed-as-long-as. What does it take to finish the year as faithful servants to Jesus? When the first temptation comes and we fall, it means that we have not really stepped into this new life for Christ. When we choose to miss being with our church family once, it makes it so easy the next time. Many have made a resolution to service but found it easier to make than to keep.

Being in community rather than lone rangers. A branch disconnected from the root will wither and dry. Branches joined together on regular bases will encourage faithfulness and will help us complete the year as faithful to the one who was faithful to us.

This is how the birth of Jesus took place…

December 17, 2010
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This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about… Matthew 1:18

No law of science can explain the birth of the Christ Child. It can only be explained by an act of the Almighty God. Mary couldn’t explain it herself, much less explain it to her friends and family. Neither could Joseph. The unusual visitor caused Joseph to change his prospective. 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.

Mary and Joseph decided to remain in Bethlehem after Jesus was born. Faithful to the Law of Moses they had Jesus circumcised when he was eight days old. Jesus was presented in the temple at Jerusalem when he was forty days old.

It was at this occasion that Mary and Joseph were met by two senior saints: Simeon and Anna. The shepherds had already told their story. Now it was time for Simeon and Anna to tell theirs. What a story they told!

Later the Magi will arrive from the East. The “East” could be Parthia, Babylon, Persia or Egypt. Older scholars pick Persia; the scholars of today seem to favor Babylon. Either way they would have taken several months to travel to Bethlehem. That would explain the statement in Matthew 2:11 “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary.

It is a time of special intervention from heaven. God will now keep his promise to Abraham that “In your seed will all the families of the earth be blessed”. Is was a giant step for God and a giant step for mankind.

We rejoice with the shepherds, the magi, the angels, Simeon and Anna, Joseph and Mary. We bow the knee to Jesus who was born in Bethlehem and we bring gifts to him: our very souls!

God, Everywhere.

December 10, 2010
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“God be in my head, and in my understanding;
God be in mine eyes, and in my looking;
God be in my mouth, and in my speaking;
God be in my heart, and in my thinking;
God be at mine end, and at my departing. Amen.”

This short paragraph is a simple prayer written many centuries ago. These words serve to remind me that Christianity is an all-or-nothing proposition. Christianity is the lens through which Christians view the world—it affects our view of everything!

Here are a few examples:

Titus 1:5 “To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.” Christ defines our standards of right and wrong; Christ becomes our righteousness!

Colossians 3:22 “Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.” Whether we are desk-jockeys, car salesmen, or construction gurus, we do not work for our foremen—our vocation is in the service of the son of God!

Matthew 6:19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven…” Our security isn’t in governmental power, financial stability, or anything else tangible.

What a difference Jesus makes! He was given the name Immanuel—“God is with us.” May we never forget his presence in every aspect of our lives.

A Plentiful Harvest…but few workers?

November 27, 2010
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“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” Matthew 9:37

Most of us are aware that we don’t tell the old, old story as much and as enticingly as we would like. If we are honest we probably are a bit uncomfortable with the whole idea of evangelism.

Most people associate evangelism with hard-sell methods and fire scares.  There are many approaches to this tactic.

  1. The scalp hunter – This person tries to save souls to add to his collection of trophies.
  2. The shoehorn approach – This person uses any opening to slip in the gospel.
  3. The con-man approach – The gospel is introduced under false pretenses.
  4. The 2×4 approach – Pressure it put on the lost as he seeks to blast him with a blessing and clobber him into the kingdom.

Scripture gives three approaches to reaching the lost:

  1. Proclamation – Peter used this in Acts 2 and 3,000 people were baptized.
  2. The confrontational approach – Philip used this method when he met the Ethiopian in Acts 8. “Do you understand what you are reading?”
  3. The relational approach – Paul’s approach to the people in Thessalonica (I Thessalonians 2:8) We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.

It is this last approach that can make a difference for us.  Daily we make relationships at work and play.  Every day we can use these relationships to influence others for good.  Our example and our love for Jesus should be the armor we wear and others can take note.  In our families and among our friends there are many who could be influenced to come to Jesus.  Let’s do what we can to help people to come to know Christ.

The Power of Forgiveness

November 16, 2010
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Lord, Increase our faith! Luke 17:5

Forgiveness is one of those areas where we look at scripture and frown. We sometimes winch as we read the Bible and see how much God forgives and how much He requires us to forgive.

Many have suffered the atrocities of others and have either become embittered or developed a spirit of forgiveness. Our ladies book club has recently read and discussed Corrie ten Boom’s The Hiding Place. This book chronicles the atrocities in the wake of the German invasion of Holland. (1942 family very active in Dutch underground hiding refugees. 1944 arrested with entire family, sent first to Dutch prisons, finally to notorious Ravensbruck in Germany.)

Desmund Tutu wrote a book in 2000 about the need to forgive and move on. He called his book, No Future Without Forgiveness. He describes the liberating power of confession in paving the way to freedom. Dietrich Bonhoffer suffered great inhumanities from the prison guards and the system that was so diabolical. Yet, he was able to move on within this suffering and write some of the greatest literature known to us today.

Terrible things have happened to people of our world and the call for forgiveness seems out of place. Most of us will not suffer such terrible atrocities. The little offences that have so upset us are trifling compared to the inhumanities of prison camps and deaths of loved ones.

Back to Luke 17: If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” Little wonder that the disciples ask for an increase of faith. I sometimes do the same. Do You?

Where were you baptized?

November 13, 2010
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Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. Mark 16:16

Israel government officials and environmentalists are clashing over one of the holiest spots in the Holy Land. In July, Israel’s health ministry discussed closing access to the spot on the lower Jordan River that Christians traditionally link with Jesus’ baptism. The environmental group calls attention to the sewage, pollutants, and heavy diversion of water. Israel’s Ministry of Tourism insisted the water was fine.

One of my friends from high school who married into the Spere Gospel Singing family took his children to the Jordan to have them baptized when they reached the age of accountability. He thought that it would have greater meaning if done there. When I was in Israel in the late 80s we took a man down to the Sea of Galilee and baptized him into Christ.

Did it take on greater significance than the recent baptisms in our local baptistery? The place of baptism has little significance. The person doing the baptism has little to do with the result of baptism. What is important is what is going on in the heart of the person being baptized.

Jesus set the example for baptism when John baptized him in the Jordan. Since then millions have given their lives to him and have been buried with him in baptism. If he delays his coming we hope that many others will take advantage of his blood and receive the forgiveness of sins. Heaven awaits our entrance when we are wearing Jesus as our clothing.

I’m sorry about the pollution of any river and certainly hope the Jordan can be cared for properly. I hope even more that many in our community will study the Bible and come to Jesus for their eternal destiny.

I Want to Know Christ

October 30, 2010
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I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:10-11

Paul had a prayer and a goal. He wanted to know Christ and he wanted others to know him. Knowing here is more than knowing facts. It has to do with a personal relationship with Jesus our Lord.

One of the most common stumbling stones to real knowledge of Christ is to think we know him and identify with one part. Some are like the blind men who felt different parts of an elephant. One assumes that spiritual life is like a trunk, another thinks that the spiritual life is like a tail, yet another feels the part and concludes that the spiritual life is like a leg.

Even the great apostle Paul knew that there is more to Christ than is humanly possible to fully comprehend. Everything in the spiritual life resists neat categorization. As we read and reread the gospel stories, we find new gems and new riches. We never fail to learn new truths. We can study the Bible for years and know that there are new truths awaiting us as we eagerly await our next reading.

To some who seem to know the scriptures well, the knowledge can become a conceit and a way to control. The humility of wisdom always whispers that there is more.

As we approach the study of the Holy Scriptures with open minds, this teachable spirit will allow us to gain new insights from the Word of God. Our prayer is as Paul prayed: I want to know Christ!

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