A Touch of Humor - Convenience

Can we use God simply for our own convenience? How do we avoid this?

Old Erich Proverb - System

We must build our system from Scripture, not reinterpret Scripture to fit our system.

A Voice from the Past - Chesterton

But there are some people, nevertheless - and I am one of them - who think that the most practical and important thing about a man is still his view of the universe. We think that for a landlady considering a lodger, it is important to know his income, but still more important to know his philosophy. We think that for a general about to fight an enemy, it is important to know the enemy's numbers, but still more important to know the enemy's philosophy. We think the question is not whether the theory of the cosmos affects matters, but whether, in the long run, anything else affects them.

G. K. Chesterton, 1876-1936, Heretics, Chapter 1 (Barnes and Noble, 1905, p.3)

Is this the correct approach to life? How would it affect how we live?

The Committee

Doctor Norman rolled his eyes as he walked by the protester. His sign said, "Human Beings Are Worth Preserving." He represented an archaic and hopefully vanishing attitude. The kind of attitude he had worked so hard against in establishing the committee. Humans were just another animal, and not always the most useful kind, and there were too many of them anyway. Why should society be burdened with carrying the burden of the imperfect and unfit and unwanted? Why should we, as a people, be required to pay the money required for treating the unlikely to be healed or training those unlikely to be normal? But the committee decided who should receive treatment and who, in a kind and merciful way, should be put to sleep.

"So you are out here protesting the committee," he stated to the protester. When he received merely a hostile stare, he continued, "Surely you must realize you are putting yourself on the wrong side of history."

"When history is going the wrong direction, it must be turned around," returned the protester. "And seeing human beings, who God made, as simply disposable is the wrong direction.We have no right to play God."

"So you believe in some mythical being who controls the world," the doctor retorted. "Do you not see that we are nothing but the products of nature? Mere matter and energy."

"If our thoughts are nothing more than the results of the atoms bouncing around in our brains," replied the protester, "how can we expect to know anything reliably, including that we are just matter and energy? But if we are creations of God, we cannot be treated as merely disposable."

The doctor turned away, shaking his head, murmuring under his breath, "Sentimentalism."

As approached the front door, a disheveled-looking young man jumped from the shadows. "Are you Doctor Norman?" he shouted.

"Yes," the doctor mumbled, taken aback.

"You are the architect of the committee," he shouted even louder. "You killed my wife!"

"Now, calm down," the doctor muttered, "let's discuss this."

"There is nothing to discuss. She would have lived even after the accident. I was willing to take care of her. But your committee killed her."

The distressed young man drew a blaster from his pocket. But as he fired, the protestor came running at him from the side, knocking him away. The blaster fired, but its aim was off, hitting the wall behind the doctor. The wall exploded, sending a mass of bricks falling down on him. As a brick hit him on the head, he lost consciousness.

He woke up on a hospital bed, his friend Doctor Lyman looking down over him and his wife hovering in the background. He tried to sit up, but his arms would not obey his will. "What happened," he croaked.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but your spinal cord was damaged when the bricks fell on you," said Doctor Lyman in his best medicinal voice. "I am afraid you have been paralyzed from the neck down."

He sat for a minute in shock. What good was a surgeon without his hands? But he still had his medical knowledge.

"It will be all right," he said, his eyes fixed on his wife, "I can retrain. I will be as good a doctor as I am now. Maybe even better."

His wife turned away, tears filling her eyes. "I am sorry," said Doctor Lyman, maintaining his medicinal voice, "but the committee has already made its decision. It is really what is best for all involved."




  

The King on Zion - A Song

The King on Zion

By Mike Erich

To the tune of “Majestic Sweetness Sits Enthroned” (Ortonville)

Why are the nations gathering

And a vain thing devise,

To fight against the Mighty King

Who dwells above the skies,

Who dwells above the skies.

“I have My King on Zion set,”

The Holy One declares.

Eternal Son today begot,

True Deity He shares,

True Deity He shares.

The Rod of Jesse forth was brought

To blot out sin and shame

And we from Adam’s sin were bought

To triumph through His Name,

To triumph through His Name.

He laughs who sits in heav’n above

And conquers all His foes.

Let us embrace His Son of love

’Fore His wrath overflows,

’Fore His wrath overflows.

Now we call, “Come, Lord Jesus, come,

With all Your glory shown,”

Who us our heavenly home did gain

And death has overthrown,

And death has overthrown.

And when this present world shall pass

And sin and toil shall cease,

We shall have with our heav’nly Friend

Eternal joy and peace,

Eternal joy and peace.

Trust Him whose righteousness we bear

While here below we live.

He who His own Son did not spare

Will with Him all things give,

Will with Him all things give.

(Should anyone wish to use this song, permission is granted, provided it is not altered or sold or performed for monetary gain without the author's prior agreement.)  

Who Is in Charge?

If we are to avoid simply promoting the church organization rather than following God, we have to ask who is in charge in the church. The answer is Christ (Colossians 1:18; 2:19; Ephesians 1:22,23). The church is Christ's body, His visible manifestation in the world (1 Corinthians 12:12-26; Romans 12:3-8; Ephesians 4:15,16), and He is working through it to accomplish His purposes (Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Corinthians 3:6,7). And everything we accomplish is through His power (2 Corinthians 3:5,6; Colossians 1:29; Philippians 2:13). God has not left us on our own to figure out how to do His work. Much less has He left us to use His church to accomplish our purposes. Rather, every decision we make should be made with the conscious awareness that it is Christ who is really in charge, and our goal is to be His people, doing His will.

Much of the struggle in the Christian church comes from people trying to exert their power over others. We see leaders versus congregations, one leader against another, factions striving against against one another. Realizing that Christ is in charge is not a magic formula for harmony. We can convince ourselves that our plans are Christ's plans. But it is the necessary first step. Leaders are meant to be followed (Hebrews 13:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:12,13;  Ephesians 4:11-14), but also meant to be servants (Matthew 20:24-28; Luke 22:24-27; 1 Peter 5:1-4). It is important to test everything (Acts 17:11; Galatians 1:8,9; 1 Thessalonians 5:21,22), but also to realize we do not have all the answers (1 Corinthians 3:18; 8:1-3; 4:3-5). But most fundamentally, we must learn to put others before ourselves (Philippians 2:3-11; Matthew 7:12; Romans 13:8-10).

One thing that stands in the way of this is the search for the silver bullet to fix all the problems of the church. Because if I am convinced I have that quick fix, I will be tempted to use any means to make it happen. If I am a leader, I will bend every effort to make things go my way. If I am a member of the congregation, I will attempt to prevent the leaders from straying from the path or look for new leaders. It does not matter whether this panacea is a new thing we are trying to introduce or an old thing we are trying to preserve. But if we recognize there is no such magic formula, it makes a difference. There will still be certain boundaries we will not cross and certain positions we will not accept. But we are will be less likely to make mountains out of minor differences. And even major differences can be faced in a matter-of-fact manner. For if I recognize that Christ is at work in His church, I will still feel it is my obligation to work for what is best. But I will be less likely to take the whole fate of the church on my shoulders, with disastrous results.   

A Touch of Humor - A Problem with Self-Indulgence

Is it possible for a set of values to lack the determination necessary to put those values into practice? What does that say about the values involved?