The Erosion of Common Decency

We hear a lot about political correctness and how it gets in the way of the truth.  Everyone is enamored with Donald Trump for his tell it like it is bravado.  He says that political correctness is bad for America.  Let me preface this post by saying up front that this is not an anti-Trump diatribe.  It is not my intention to sway anyone's political position because at the end of the day, everyone has a right to vote for whichever candidate they choose.  Politics aside, is being rude, brash and apathetic towards our neighbors' feelings really the proper Christian attitude to have?  We need not reference a political candidate when considering how we are to treat one another.  Our best guide is the Bible!

The Bible does indeed tell us to speak the truth.  Not with hate or in an acrimonious fashion but rather the truth is spoken with love.  That's not politically correct, it is Biblical.  There is nothing wrong with speaking the truth but the way something is said goes a long way in determining how it is received.  Truth spoken with vitriol does not solve anything and most times will exacerbate an already awkward situaiton.  Truth spoken with love reminds the recipient of said truth that we are concerned about their feelings and their well being.  The Bible says in Proverbs 15:1 "A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger."  Harsh words hurt, period. 

What we are witnessing in America is the erosion of common decency.  Politeness, tact and discretion are giving way to just flat out rudeness.  Often that rudeness is applauded.  Since tact requires restraint, when we are able to be unrestrained, especially in our speech, there is a certain liberating quality about that.  However, we must not be so quick to jump on that train.  James teaches us to tame our tongue, not let it loose.  He says that the tongue is the smallest member of the body but wields the most power!  Look at what he says here in James chapter 3:

"4Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell."

The Bible also says that the life and death is in the power of the tongue.  We can figuratively kill people or give them life with our words!   The age of the internet has expedited our departure from decency.  The internet is a place where people can concoct fake identities, hide behind avatars and spit venom from a distance without fear of retribution.  Read the comments section of any article, especially in the area of politics or any topic that people disagree about, and you will need a wet wipe for your brain to cleanse it of the filth that is ingested by reading it.  The language that is used is deplorable.  Twitter is particularly vicious because of the free-for-all that it facilitates.  Any stranger from any part of the world can denigrate you in 140 characters, or less.  Once in a debate with an atheist, I was mobbed, insulted, cursed and mocked by hundreds of people who disagreed with my stance on God.  This was over the course of about two hours!  Needless to say, I ended up protecting my account to decrease the unwanted traffic.

When I think of Olympian and gold-medalist, Gabby Douglass and the hatred that she's had to endure while representing this country, I can only pray for her family and her close friends.  Being called a n***er or a monkey or being bullied for having natural hair by online cowards has to be particularly hurtful when you are doing nothing more than minding your own business.  Again, common decency says if you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything. 

We cannot allow the current cultural phenomenon to infiltrate the church.  Sure, the church has been on the end of vitriolic attacks from numerous detractors but we've always responded in love.  A sermon can make the point against sin without sounding hateful.  We can be real without being rude.  We can tell the truth without pouring vinegar into the wound.  I don't like the idea that being "politically correct" somehow diminishes our ability to speak the truth.  We don't have to cave in to cultural pressures but we don't have to be hateful either.  We must be loving just as Christ was loving.  When it was time for Jesus to expose hypocrisy, He did so with tact, even though he did not mince His words.  We should act like Christians and never allow ideology to supersede our theology.  That is a dangerous position to take in that it puts us into the position of being a cultural Christian i.e. being a Christian when it is convenient for us.  

I will leave you with a passage of Scripture where Paul instructs Timothy on how to carry himself.  Yes, this is a Pastoral epistle.  Yes, Timothy is a Pastor.  However, His position in the church does not change the principle communicated in the message which can be applied to all Christians.  There's not a double standard of conduct for Pastors and those under their care.  The Pastor should be the model.  Look at Paul's teaching in2 Timothy 2:22-26:

"22Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 23Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. 24And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will."

Grace and peace.  

A Grand Conspiracy?

There are many opponents of Christianity who use the argument that Christianity is some sort of conspiracy to brainwash unsuspecting human beings and make us docile lapdogs who accept anything that the church or the government pitches.  I chuckle when they think that this is some grand scheme cooked up by Constantine or by the council of Nicaea to deceive the masses.  How do these conspiracy theories even hold water?  Because people have a fundamental misunderstanding of how the church operates and what the true function of Christianity is.

First of all, there is no centralized aristocracy that benefits from the "church" or Christianity.  The Vatican and the Catholic church represent one of the most organized entities in Christendom.  However, the Vatican does not represent the whole of Christianity.  Catholicism is one denomination of thousands of denominations.  A brief Google search indicates that there are roughly 41,000 Christian denominations.  Certainly, other denominations are organized in a similar way but all follow different rules of polity.  There is no centralized "church" as many opponents propose.  The organization within denominations is more for dissemination of information and doctrinal/theological fidelity, not mind control of the masses.  But even with that, denominations such as Baptists, who are congregational in their polity, give every church within the denomination autonomy with the Southern Baptist Convention being used more as a model and mechanism for the allocation of funds to the member churches rather than acting as a ruling body.

Secondly, conspiracy theorists propose that churches are simply a mechanism to rob people of their funds.  If they only knew how giving has historically and progressively decreased in the church across every denomination, they may think again.  There is no central church bank that takes money from the masses.  Greedy churches are more reflective of their leaders than of Christianity as a whole.  Everyone always lobs pejoratives at the church for accepting tithes and offerings but the church's work in the community, feeding the homeless, foreign missions, giving to causes beyond itself and utilization of the monies collected to remain operational are rarely discussed.  Churches have bills just like everyone else. 

What many visualize as "the church" is the Catholic church and the ecclesiastical hierarchy that begins with the Pope and flows down to the other offices within that church.  The church scandals from the Middle Ages have tainted the perception of the church.  That was one period in the 2000 year history of the "church".  What opponents do not understand is that the "church" began as a nomadic group of thirteen men (Jesus and His 12 disciples).  Later, they got really organized after the death of Christ by meeting from house to house on the first day of the week.  How is that for a criminal super-organization?  Meeting house to house, eating together and talking about Jesus?  Sounds very conspiratorial, doesn't it?

Another thing that demonstrates the church is not some huge conspiracy is the fact that those who were critical in the foundation of the church were all martyred for their service.  All of the disciples, save for John, were martyred.  The foundation of the church, Jesus Christ Himself was killed by the Roman government with collusion from the Jewish religious leaders.  If there was some grand conspiracy, wouldn't it stand to reason that there would be some cooperation from Jesus, the religious leaders, the Roman government and the disciples who would be at most, surrogates/couriers for the centralized message?  That is not how it went down.  Jesus was murdered.  The disciples were hunted.  Nero burned Christians at the stake and even their burning bodies as torches to light areas during evening (Roman Candles?)!  It was a dangerous proposition to become a Christian, especially during the inception of the "church"!  Jesus even said Himself to Peter that you are going to be led away to a place where you do not want to go (See John 21:18).  He was speaking of Peter's eventual death.  Who becomes a part of a religion where the ultimate goal is death?  Death to self and potentially death because of your beliefs are both consequences of becoming a Christian! 

What many need to understand finally is this: becoming a Christian is a voluntary exercise!  Yes, we evangelize.  We do so, not because we are trying to suck you into a grand conspiracy but rather because we are concerned about winning souls for Christ!  We evangelize, not to put pressure on the lost but to remind the lost that Jesus loved them enough to die for them and forgive their sins.  It is up to the individual to accept or reject Jesus.  Rejecting Jesus does not mean that you've avoided being hoodwinked, it means that you'd rather live your life without Him.  The structure and order that a relationship with Jesus brings to the life of the believer is often shunned by those who would rather continue in sinful patterns that are pleasurable to them.  They don't want their applecarts upset.  Rejecting Jesus has eternal consequences but it may or may not affect your temporal existence.  For proof, look at the atheist authors and lecturers who have become rich denigrating Christianity or who live seemingly "normal" lives.  Conversely, accepting Jesus may or may not enhance our temporal existence.  Christians have issues just like everyone else.  The big difference is that our place in eternity is secured regardless of our temporal circumstances. 

Not only is becoming a Christian a voluntary exercise, believers can choose whatever church they please.  There are many ministries that simply meet in a home.  Not all churches are megachurches nor are all churches connected to some vast network of shadowy, illuminati groups.  The choice is strictly up to the individual. 

There is no church conspiracy.  The New Testament, while organized by the Council of Nicaea who met in 325 AD, existed as a loose collection of accepted epistles before these men ever met.  This meeting occurred about 290 years after the death of Christ.  It should be noted that ALL of the gospels and epistles were already written and many copies of them existed with the latest gospel being written about 90 AD [the Gospel of John].  These men met not to establish the guidebook for their conspiratorial exploits but to separate fact from fantasy. 

They did not meet to "put the New Testament together" but rather they discovered what God intended to be in the New Testament (Geisler, Norman "I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist", p. 367).  Geisler posits that the Bible is not an authoritative list of books but rather an list of authoritative books.  Many of the so-called lost gospels were often so incredulous and contained such extreme embellishments that they simply could not be included within the Biblical canon.  For instance, the Gospel of Peter included an instance of a talking cross that emerged from an empty tomb.  Other "lost gospels" seemed to try to discredit Christ by claiming that he was married with children.  How could this contradictory material be included without destroying the credibility of the Bible? 

The Council of Nicaea was diligent in that they also weeded out pseudographs that were written by non-apostolic authors but were ascribed to the apostles to increase their credibility and believability.  It would be like me releasing a novel and putting John Grisham's name on it to ensure that it sells!  If you have ever read the Bible and paid attention to it, the integrity from Old to New Testament is impeccable.  It would be virtually impossible for the Law, the Prophets, the Gospels and the Epistles to be so closely aligned without divine authorship!  There are prophecies in the Old Testament that were fulfilled by Jesus hundreds of years after they were penned.  That is God-breathed inspiration, not man-made conspiracy!

Bottom line?  Get over the conspiracy theories.  There is no conspiracy within the church.  Are there churches that have not acquitted themselves well?  Yes.  Attribute that to human error and sin rather than condemning the entirety of Christendom.  If you choose not to believe, that's your choice.  Ask any Christian you know whether they are more docile since accepting Christ?  We still get angry, we still make mistakes and we still sin.  If you are following the election, you will see that many "Christians" are vehemently anti-government!  So much for controlling the masses.  There is no conspiracy alive that can fully subdue the human will of any given person.  The government has more than enough guns and jail cells to control man's actions.  They don't need the help of Jesus to do that. 

Pastor Russell McCutcheon is coming to Grace Community Church

Pastor Russell McCutcheon will be our guest preacher on October 23rd at the morning service.  He is the Outpost Pastor of Fellowship Memphis' Germantown campus, in the Memphis, TN area. Fellowship Memphis is a gospel centered, multi-ethnic, disciple making church.

Russell was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama. He got involved in sports early in life with his brothers, focusing on basketball. He was afforded an opportunity to play both college and professional basketball. It was in between professional teams that he was introduced to Jesus Christ and his need for Him. After accepting Christ, his passion for competing in sports diminished greatly and he sought to work among inner city high school students in Mobile. 

Russell and his wife Toya were married in 2000 and have a son named Zion and a daughter named Bria. Russell began working in ministry in 2005 with Young Life Ministries. He moved to Memphis in 2010 to continue to work in ministry. Russell is now Outpost Pastor at Fellowship Germantown. He has a Master of Arts degree from Easter University and a Master of Divinity degree from Mid-America Seminary.

What I learned about God from Sitting in the Sun

The sun is a star that sits roughly 93 million miles away from earth.  That's 93,000,000 to be exact.  To put it in perspective, if we were to fly to the sun, not that we would, but if we flew there at the speed of a rocket (around 17,000 mph) it would take almost a year to get there! 

Why is this such a big deal?  Consider that distance and think about the fact that even at that distance the sun is very intrusive!  The sun influences everyone on this planet.  It is especially evident now in summer when even in the shade the temperature soars.  The sun makes every man sweat. keeps everyone warm and bathes every flower in its light.  No matter what we do, until the earth rotates to the position from which we observe the sun "setting", we cannot get away from it! 

The sun is relentless.  It does not give up and it does not show any compassion.  Have you ever wished that the sun would just tone it down a bit so that everyone at your barbecue didn't faint?  It gives its light and heat no matter how we feel.

So what did the sun teach me about God?  A lot!  First of all, God is more powerful yet He is as gentle with us as a feather at times!  God is just as relentless.  He pursues us with a relentless love but unless we accept it, we cannot receive it.  Like the sun, God is unmoved.  Fixed in His position as the creator of the universe.  He's unshakeable and He gives light but that light must be received!  It's not forced or overbearing.  God has influence over every person but that person cannot feel that influence except that man/woman respond to God's grace. 

What I learned is that God is so loving that He is not intrusive.  He does not force Himself upon anyone.  While we may be able to feel His presence, we cannot truly commune with Him until we accept His gracious offer of salvation.  God personally influences those who have responded to His grace in the affirmative.  This is what separates Yahweh from all other gods.  He is personal with His people and He desires a personal relationship.  We should thank Him that He is so loving!  We thank You God for Your grace!

The White Man's Religion?

Many African-Americans have an aversion to Jesus and to the Bible claiming that Christianity is the “white man’s religion”.  They also have beef with the Bible saying that it supports or condones slavery.  The slavery aspect is an interesting one because every civilization had slaves in some form or fashion.  The Egyptians, who many African-Americans turn to as their alternative when seeking to discredit Christianity, enslaved the Israelites!  Many turn to Egyptology or other mystery religions because of this perception that the Bible condoned slavery and that whites used it to keep Africans in America enslaved.

That is partially true.  Whites did indeed use the Bible, fear and intimidation and violence to keep slaves subservient.  But what no one seems to mention is that they were wrong.  As a Christian, I have no problem in honestly saying that many of those men who owned slaves were not real Christians nor did they use the Bible for its intended purpose.  Rather than being transformed by it, they manipulated its words and played on the fact that many slaves were illiterate.

As for the Bible condoning slavery, as I mentioned before every civilization held slaves.  Slavery is a reality that existed throughout the history of mankind.  What we need to understand is this: The Bible HUMANIZED slaves and their treatment.  Those who were enslaved to the Israelites were not treated as animals.  God mandated in the book of Leviticus that they must be treated fairly and not harmed or abused.  The American concept of slavery was ghastly.  Lynching, beating, rape, torture and death were all components of the American system of slavery.  Freedom was not a reality for most slaves.  However, the Bible in the Old Testament pronounces that every 50th year was considered the year of Jubilee and all slaves, whether indentured or not had to be set free (Leviticus 25:10).  Many sold themselves into slavery to pay off debts.  American slaves were captured in Africa or sold from Africa, often against their will.  No one could have predicted the horrors of American slavery and the utter dehumanization of the African people when the first slave ships landed here.

Even in the New Testament, although slavery still existed, the humanity of slaves was evident.  Paul writes the following in his epistles:

1.       Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven (Colossians 4:1).

2.       Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.  Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. (Colossians 3:22-24).

Paul writes these things with the understanding that the slaves would be treated fairly by their masters.  He also warns those who own slaves to provide them with what is right and fair.  In American slavery, there was no such thing as right and fair because masters did not regard their slaves as human beings but as chattel.  They did not heed this warning because of the racism and the hatred in their hearts for the slaves that they owned.  It’s appalling but we cannot blame the Bible for their misdeeds.  I blame them.  The instructions in the Bible are clear.

In another place, Paul tells those who are enslaved- who were probably more indentured servants than slaves because many sold themselves into slavery to cover debts- to be free if you are able to be free.

1 Corinthians 7:17-24 “Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches. Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commands is what counts. Each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.

Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so. For the one who was a slave when called to faith in the Lord is the Lord’s freed person; similarly, the one who was free when called is Christ’s slave. You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings. Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.”    

Clearly, the Bible is not advocating for slavery or even condoning the harsh treatment of slaves while it does recognize the existence of slavery.  Paul is telling slaves here that if they could gain their freedom they should absolutely do so.  He is also, in the same thought, telling men to be content with their standing in life.  How is that possible?  Because Paul understood that God can work through our situations but there are also some situations that warrant release i.e. slavery.  This does not sound like a justification of inhumane treatment to me.  What is sounds like is a secret that American slaves were not privy to because of their inability to access true Christianity.  What they experienced was a tainted version of the truth and therefore many are turned off by it.  The same thing happens all the time in the church.  People get turned off by inauthenticity!  I don’t like it.  But much credit belongs to those slaves who endured the horrors of slavery and still believed in God because they did indeed find the TRUE God and He brought them through!  They sang about Him, they prayed to Him and they knew that massa’ was not in the least bit representative of Him.

I don’t subscribe to the notion that because of the evil inflicted by slavery that Christianity somehow should be discredited.  What men do in the name of God is not always what God has called them to do.  God did not call for Africans in America to be brutalized and dehumanized.  Men chose to do that and use God as a cover.  Christianity did not start in America!  There were Christian churches in Ethiopia long before colonial times (Ethiopia).  There were Christians all over the world before whites got into the slave trade.  Christianity is not the "white man's religion".  It can't be because it was started by a Jew named Jesus who was born in Bethlehem, hid out in Egypt, raised in Nazareth and was the Light of the WORLD, not just a select few.  Don't be snowed over by these claims of Christianity being white.  Do your research.  Those images of a milky skinned Jesus are not accurate [What did Jesus look like?]. Those depictions are just that, depictions.  No one has an accurate depiction of Jesus but the Bible says that his feet were like burnished bronze (Revelation 1:15) and his hair was white like wool not His skin. 

We must also understand that regardless of what color Jesus was (not race because he was clearly not African nor was He Caucasian), the main issue is that His blood ran red!  It is His blood that breaks down every dividing wall of race or class.  His blood ensures that we understand that both male and female are equal in His sight.  He broke down the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile (See Galatians 3).  Here is where our focus should be, not on the color of His skin!  What is most important is that Jesus died for the sins of the WHOLE WORLD!  Every race, color, creed, ethnicity or whatever box you want to check.  That's more important than someone's perceived superiority complex.  I thank God that He is not as shortsighted as men are!  Grace and peace be with you all.

How Do You Know that Jesus is Real?

Our Vacation Bible School on June 8th opened with a question to the first group of children.  “How do you know that Jesus is real?”  I was sitting in my office but the presenter was loud enough for me to hear.  The silence was too.  That’s a hard question for a child.  Some adults still struggle with this question!  Atheists stake their eternal future on the supposition that He is not real.  The wheels in my head started turning because this is a question that an apologist must answer succinctly and honestly.  How would I answer this question if someone asked me?  The presenter answered from the perspective of looking at creation and understanding that the things that we see didn’t create themselves.  We know that the Bible tells us that all things were created THROUGH Christ and FOR Christ (Colossians 1:16; John 1:3).

We know that Jesus is real from what the Word of God tells us.  If the Word of God is the truth and God cannot lie (Numbers 23:19) ever then when His Word says that Jesus was born in Bethlehem (Luke 2:1-7), raised in Nazareth (John 1:45,46), performed miracles to validate His identity as the Messiah (John 2 Luke 7, Mark 1:29-34), died at Calvary (Matthew 26,27) and rose again on the third day (all Gospel accounts, Psalm 16:10,11), we believe it to be the truth.  That is called faith.  The Word of God is not a set of books thrown together but the message within it is cohesive and the authority comes from God, not from the people who compiled the books.

Contrary to what many believe, faith is not blind.  Much of what we believe from the Bible has been archaeologically and historically verified.  The birth of Jesus was not recorded as a story but as a historical event because the book of Luke has been verified and trusted as a historical document.  The same can be said for the book of Acts (Acts 1) that clearly depicts Jesus walking with His disciples after His resurrection.  His crucifixion and His impact on the world has not only been written about in the Bible but in other non-Christian sources.  Namely, the Jewish historian Josephus wrote about Jesus and discussed how His movement, what we now call Christianity, did not die after Jesus no longer walked the earth.  That is the true test of whether Christ worked for God or whether He was simply a figment of people’s imagination.  Thousands of years later, people are still following Him and the numbers are being added to daily.  

As with any supernatural reality, He must also be experienced.  There is no way to quantify experience but that does not make it any less real.  You can’t bottle experience in a flask or measure it with a ruler any more than you can count the number of bubbles in a bar of soap.  There is an old song that says that God is real because I can feel Him in my soul.  Many a skeptic turned Christian will attest to this.  Lee Stroebel (The Case for Christ), Antony Flew (There is a God) and Frank Morrison (Who Moved the Stone?) are notable former atheists who converted to Christianity after some experience that they had.  For Stroebel, it was his quest to find out if Jesus was real; for Flew, it was an epiphany after years of staunch atheism; for Morrison it was a sudden realization that as he sought to disprove the gospels, he couldn't.

Certainly, Christ can be experienced.  Every believer has experienced Christ at least at the moment of their conversion which is evidence that points to His reality.  Paul’s experience was different from Peter’s.  Peter’s was different from Levi’s.  The woman at the well experienced Jesus in a different way than those whom she went to tell.  Which brings up another point, we must witness to others as to the “realness” of Jesus!  We are witnesses to His realness and we must tell others.  This is how the Gospel is spread and proliferated, by word of mouth.  We have evidence that Christ is real and we have to convey that evidence to others. 

What I Learned from VBS Last Night

Vacation Bible School has been a blast.  The Cave Quest theme deals with man being in darkness and Jesus being the light of the world.  The church has been transformed into a cave, especially the upstairs!  The workers have been phenomenal.  Last night, I was sitting outside observing the outdoor activity.  It involved two people having to walk through a gauntlet and cross over three hurdles all while being pelted by wet sponges, shot at by assailants carrying super soaker water guns and having buckets of water dumped on them at various points along the path.  It was a real eye-opening experience.  Without consultation from the coordinators, I quickly figured out what this event was representative of. 

Of the two people walking, one of them was blindfolded and the other was not.  The un-blindfolded person was to act as the guide for the blindfolded person.  They helped them maneuver through the gauntlet and all the while they were also taking the exact same punishment.  My spiritual eyes were opened immediately and I thought "Wow, that is the exact same way that Christ walks with us!"

What did I learn?  Here are my thoughts about that event and how we can apply it to our lives:

1. We NEED a guide in the Christian life.  None of us are equipped to walk the narrow path alone.  We have Jesus and we have the Holy Spirit to assist us.

2. We WILL be attacked along the way.  The water guns and the sponges were indicative of the fact that the Christian life is not a perfect life.  We will face challenges every day of our walk. 

3. At NO POINT does Jesus leave our side.  Through the obstacle course the guide and the blindfolded person were joined at the hip and the guide could not leave them.  It is the exact same way in the Christian life.  Jesus said in Matthew 28 that He would be with us even to the ends of the earth.  The Moses said to Joshua, "Be strong and courageous...He will never leave you nor forsake you." (Deut 31:6)

4. There is an END to the attacks.  The obstacle course had an end point.  So do troubles in our lives.  David said that weeping endures for a night but joy comes in the morning.  We know that God can bring good out of bad and therefore we endure until the good comes.

5. We MUST walk by faith and not by sight.  We will not always know what is coming around every corner of our lives.  We must have faith in Christ to see us through our difficult moments.  Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.  Faith is not blind, it is based on God's promises.  We must hold on to those promises even if we do not see them at the moment.

I believe that VBS this year will have a transformative effect on our church and on the youth that we are reaching.  I pray that God would illuminate the minds of everyone involved.  I know that He definitely illuminated my mind last night.  God's grace and peace be with you. 

Do You Want to Get Well?

There is a popular sentiment that Jesus "hung out" with sinners and tax collectors.  This was the same line that the religious leaders used to condemn Jesus.  Many view this as a reason to assimilate with popular culture.  Assimilation means that we become one with the culture.  There is a huge difference between assimilation and association.  Assimilation means when in Rome do as the Romans.  Historically speaking that might mean drinking. participating in orgies, participating in homosexuality or whatever was popular at the time.  It's the same as "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas."  Well, no human may know what we did in Vegas but God certainly does.  There are no secrets safe with Him.  Association, on the other hand, means when in Rome stay true to who you are and do not compromise. 

Jesus, my friends, did not assimilate.  He infiltrated, he associated and he brought about radical change in the culture.  He never tried to become a part of the culture.  He told His disciples that they would be hated because of Him.  He also told them that the world would not accept them because it did not accept Him.  Jesus maintained the standard of holiness and even demanded that those who wished to follow Him pick up their own individual crosses and follow Him, forgoing their own personal desires.

As an example, Jesus asks the man who was ill for 38 years (see John 5) "Do you want to get well?"

He later say the man after healing Him and reminded the man not to sin any more lest something worst happen to him.  This does not sound like someone who is trying to assimilate.  If so, Jesus could have high-fived the man and went about His business, but Jesus realized that the man's condition was tied to his sin!  Too often, Christians want to assimilate- to be in the world AND of the world AND of God.  It does not work that way.  We are trying to look and act like the world without maintaining our standards.  I'm not advocating dressing a certain way (although modesty is always best) but thinking a certain way.  Jesus was all about infiltrating and He did not condone sin in any way.

The question asked to this man could e asked to this generation of Christians.  Do you want to get well?  Or, would you rather continue excusing away your acceptance of sinful attitudes and lifestyles?  Do you want to get well or is being "not far from the Kingdom of God" (Mark 12:34) good enough?  Do you want to get well or are you comfortable with the "only human" excuse?  Do you want to get well or are you comfortable just sitting by the pool? 

I think a more appropriate question is, do you want to stay well?  Paul says that he became "as" and "all things to all people so that by all means I might win some." (1 Cor 9:21-23)  He also says that we cannot avoid sinners otherwise we would have to go out of the world.  Avoiding sinners is not what I am advocating, avoiding sin is.  If we compromise our beliefs to make sinners more comfortable then we may as well stay next to the pool.  The goal is not a pharisaical rigidity or separation but rather continuing to live and abide by Christ's standards no matter who we are around.  The culture should not be changing us, we should be changing it.

We must pray to be continually filled by the Spirit of God so that He can empower us against sin.  We battle a dualistic nature and therefore if sin is present, the spirit may be willing but the flesh is weak.  We must therefore be careful how far we tread into shark infested waters- and be sure to wear the lifejacket that we know as the Holy Spirit.  Further, our motive ought to be the same as Paul's- not to blend but to win.  I speak from experience because I am guilty of trying to placate sinners and not disturb them in their sinfulness.  That is the wrong attitude.  We should be asking anyone who will listen, do you want to get well? 

Church Happenings

Here is a look at what's happening at grace in the upcoming weeks:

1. VBS Cave Quest begins Monday June 6th.  Make sure you bring a friend.  Limited transportation is available.  Please call the church office for information 334-285-4655.

2. The Nursing Home ministry will not meet on June 19th due to our observance of Father's Day.

3. June 14th is an official Operation Christmas Child (OCC) organization day.  We will meet at the church at 9:30am.

4. June 18th is an OCC shoebox packing day.  Meet at the church at 9:30am.

5. If you have announcements for the bulletin, send them to Jan Murley (murleyd@knology.net

6. Get ready for "Going Fishing" which is our annual picnic at the park.  This year, make it a point to invite an unsaved person!  We want to share the gospel with the lost and we are praying for a great harvest of souls.

Why Should We Support Missions?

Jesus said that we are to go and make disciples of all men.  Discipleship, not conversion, is the goal of every Christian effort.  Discipleship allows us to multiply rather than simply add to God's Kingdom.  Some are called to be missionaries in foreign lands.  Others are called to support them.  Paul's work would have been virtually impossible had it not been for churches supporting him as he traveled to various places preaching the gospel and making disciples.  The church must support missions as a part of our fulfillment of the Great Commission.  The Cumberland Church is by nature and by history, a missionary, evangelical church.  Historically, one of the reasons for the split from the Presbyterian Church was the lack of desire on the part of the Presbyterian Church to send missionaries out into the American frontier.   The Cumberland Church took that charge and began sending men into the frontier to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Missions are our heritage.  From J. Edmund Wier in Liberia to the Chickasaw Indians and Robert Bell, we have always brought the gospel to the world.  Let's continue to do this by supporting the Stott-Wallace Missionary fund.

Here is a description taken from the Stott-Wallace website:

"The Stott-Wallace Missionary Offering Fund is an ongoing fund which is used to support current and future Cumberland Presbyterian missionaries. One hundred percent of all donations is used to pay missionary salaries and benefits. Donations can be made to the fund or to specific missionaries. Contributions can be made at any time throughout the year. Pentecost Sunday is the day set aside on the church calendar to receive and celebrate the offering, learn more about the missionary program of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and to pray for the missionaries. Each year resources are developed to help observe this offering – worship aids, educational pieces, brochures, envelopes and new in 2016 a DVD!"

You can donate online by going to https://cpcmc.org/mmt/giving/ and read more about the program at https://cpcmc.org/mmt/sw/.