TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE?

What's the most astounding, sensational, eye-popping thing you've heard lately?

Charlie Brown hit a home run time after time after time, he hit a bona fide home run to win a game. The skies parted, birds sang, and continents shifted!

Here's my real-life, serious candidate for life's most implausible fact: God loves me, has saved me in Jesus Christ, and will soon welcome me to live with him in heaven!

(Rom. 8:1). Astonishing! Incredible! Too good to be true?

Here is the way teachers who are not led by the Spirit of God teach forgiveness and security: "Well, you need to realize that you can lose your salvation, that it is possible to fall from grace. So there won't be any condemnation for those who remain faithful, continue to grow in spiritual things, stay away from the old sins they used to commit, and show the fruit of continual transformation."

Can Christians fall from grace? Absolutely. Are we obligated to put off the old man and put on the new? Of course. But Paul announced God's merciful verdict on Christians before the trial starts. No condemnation!

"But you just can't put such strong emphasis on grace," protests someone. "People will take it as permission to sin!" Both Paul and I know that grace is subject to abuse. Does grace mean that Christians can just go ahead and sin deliberately? God forbid! (Rom. 6:1).

Grace is not God's permission to sin. We already have that! Not his advice or consent, mind you. But God made us to be radically free people and will not treat us as puppets. If we want to sin, he will not stop us. But the notion that it helps people to avoid sin by filling them with guilt, terror, and neurotic insecurity is an overrated theory of holiness.

God's answer to sin is not "Stop it, scumbag!" but "Look at my son on the cross, and see how much I love you!" Where sin increased, grace increased all the more. His one righteous act brings life for all men. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Unthinkable! But true!

So believe it and weep. Weep for joy. And out of a spirit of gratitude for his stunning love, honor him in obedience borne of gratitude rather than guilt, or security rather than shame.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 19, no. 32, Aug. 12, 1993, p. 3]

THE SPORT OF "RUINING PEOPLE"

The entire nation, regardless of political leaning, was shocked last month at the suicide of Vincent Foster. Deputy White House counsel and boyhood friend to President Clinton, Foster was found dead from what has been ruled a self-inflicted gunshot wound on July 20.

A handwritten note, torn into pieces but found in his briefcase, is believed to have been written about a week before his death. The full text of the note has been published in newspapers across the country. No one could read it and not be touched by the incredible sadness it reveals.

Emotional anguish is as real as physical pain. It is, in fact, more devastating than physical hurt. Many of you can testify that this is true. Some of you have even suffered so severely that you shudder to think how close you have come to Foster's desperate act.

The most revealing part in the note was this: "I was not meant for the job or the spotlight of public life in Washington. Here ruining people is considered sport."

Is Washington the only place it happens? You know better! Politics is played the same way in California, New York, and Tennessee. The best way to undermine a position or its advocate is to find (or create) dirt about her or him and get it published on the front page of the Times or Tennessean.

Do you ever wonder why people of character and restraint tend to shy away from the spotlight? Have you ever tried to figure out why principled people are reluctant to expose themselves to politics - whether city, state, federal, or church? People such as Buck Dozier and Hank Hillen or Marvin Phillips and Max Lucado could tell you something of the price paid by anyone who does accept leadership responsibilities. Many elders, preachers, and other church leaders have chosen to pull away in order to save their sanity or families.

Just as the Mafia gets away with many of its crimes by intimidating people, so do other evil people do their sorry work by harassment and threat. Attempting to ruin people is their sport. And some have proved themselves to be gold-medal caliber at it.

Their time is passing rapidly. People are sick of it and will no longer be threatened by them. Their attacks only tend to build credibility for their targets. People aren't as shallow as some speakers and writers suppose.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 19, no. 33, Aug. 19, 1993, p. 3]

THE HURRIER I GO...

Have you had a busy day? Rushing to and fro? Trying to meet deadlines? Cover all the bases? Do you ever get a tension headache? Knots in your stomach? Pain in your chest? Ever find yourself sighing and feeling drained?

We're all occupied with calendars and clocks. There's hardly any time for conversation. Taking a walk with someone. Driving below the speed limit. Enjoying a good book. Playing tennis with your wife. Going to the park with your little boy.

The epitome of our frantic pace may have been realized. A funeral home in Chicago has put in a drive-through service so people can pay their respects without having to get out of their cars. "The working person doesn't have time to come in," says the owner of the funeral home. "They want to see the body, but they don't want to have to wait."

A visitor drives to a speakerphone and pushes a button for service. An attendant asks whom they wish to view. Having given the name, the person signs a visitor's register beneath the speakerphone, drives forward a few feet, and views a closed-circuit TV shot of the deceased person in his or her coffin on a 25-inch screen.

When we are so busy that we have to pay our respects to the dead in the same way we buy fast-food hamburgers, we're just TOO BUSY. But where did it start?

* When we couldn't find time to be with our families? To eat together? To talk?
* When we became too busy to cultivate friendships?
* When we got too rushed to say table grace at meals?
* When the length of the preacher's sermon become more important than its content?

I am not a naive romantic who thinks the world would be better if we scrapped jets and cars in favor of ox carts and horses. It isn't so much that we have vehicles that move fast than bothers me as that we move about so thoughtlessly.

Some of us need to slow down dramatically. Not stop. Not quit life. Not withdraw from responsibility. But slow down. Smell the roses. Nurture a relationship. Be alone with God in a secret place.

Our culture promotes bigness and noisiness, hustle and bustle. But the metaphors of discipleship used by Jesus were frequently pictures of small and quiet things, modest and steady things. Salt. Candles. Seed. Leaven.

If the place has gotten too hectic, ask God to show you the secret of peace. Rest. And stillness.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 19, no. 34, Aug. 26, 1993, p. 3]

SOME CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE

Change is a constant factor in human experience. Governments rise and fall, medical theory and practice are revolutionized, lifestyles are altered, musical trends reverse themselves, clothing fads come and go. Everything seems to be changing! One hardly adjusts to the last change affecting him and has to start over again to accommodate a more recent one!

Change is often unsettling. It can make people feel threatened and insecure. It can spawn both resentment and resistance. But change does not have to be a negative factor in human experience; it can be positive, challenging, and exciting. A great deal depends on the attitude of the people involved.

Although Jesus Christ, the enduring Word of God, and the divine plan for the church are unchanging, certain human elements in the work of God in this world change, too. Elders move away, faithful members die, buildings are changed, and work programs are revised. And, oh yes, preachers come and go.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 19, no. 37, Sept. 16, 1993, p. 3 and Ashwood Leaves, Sept. 3, 1978]

A RELIGION "ADDICTION"?

Most of us have become familiar with our society's way of referring to certain of life's most destructive behaviors. Drunkenness, habitual lying, compulsive gambling, unrestrained spending - these and other actions are termed "addictive behaviors" in popular literature and by most mental health experts.

Contrary to the early fears of some, the term is not an attempt to help people avoid taking responsibility for their lives. To the contrary, it identifies a harmful component of one's lifestyle and challenges him to take positive steps to get free of its control.

There is certainly nothing inconsistent with scripture in this view of human conduct. Jesus spoke of sin's power to enslave (John 8:34), and Paul wrote of a mindset that is not only hostile to God's will but incapable of obeying it (Rom. 8:6-8). Sounds like what we call addictive behavior.

Know what one of the latest identified addictions is? RELIGION!

Religion addicts don't believe in God so much as they believe in some system that is supposed to deliver or manipulate him. According to the emerging theory, there are several types of religion addicts: lazy addicts, who leave everything to God; investment addicts, who believe they have to give something (especially money) in order to get anything from God; and churchaholics, who immerse themselves in religious activity to avoid facing painful realities.

The Pharisees in general and pre-conversion Paul in particular would make good candidates for religion addicts. They believed and taught that God was at the end of a set of legalistic requirements (cf. Phili. 3:2-6). They believed they could wring a blessing out of God by observing the detailed traditions they had built around scripture.

Paul's solution to his enslavement to religious tradition and ritual was not atheism but Christ. (Phili. 3:7-11).

Working the angles of a religious system produces frustration, intolerance, hypocrisy, and shame. The void in the human soul that can only be filled by God goes begging. Only a personal relationship with God through Christ can satisfy the urgent need for love, acceptance, and security that all people feel instinctively.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 19, no. 36, Sept. 9, 1993, p. 3]

ARE YOU A "RELIGION ADDICT"?

Pre-Christian Paul was neither the first nor last person to be addicted to religion as a substitute for knowing God. It took the Damascus Road experience to make him realize that his version of religion was self-defeating and damning.

It is a dangerous addiction that seeks to kill the pain in one's soul with the husks of some fragile system. Christianity is not a "system" but a relationship with God through Christ. It is founded on grace, accepted by faith, and lived in joy. Its addictive alternative is founded on human effort, accepted in some all-important ritual or ceremony, and lived in consuming fear.

Christian faith liberates, while religion addiction enslaves. The former speaks of accountability to Jesus alone and allows great freedom and respect within a group of companion-seekers of the kingdom of God, while the latter replaces Christ's salvation with approval by a set of human administrators/judges who negotiate one's acceptance within the group.

Are you wondering whether you might be a religion addict instead of a Christian? Here are a few questions that might help you decide...
Do you fear that God will turn his back on you if you do not do enough for him?
Do you give money to a church or ministry in order for God to bless you?
Do you often tell your spouse or children what to do without explaining your reasons, just because you know you are right?
Do you have to check with your minister or a trusted interpreter of scripture in order to decide your position on some spiritual issue?
Do you believe you are still being punished by God for something you did a long time ago?
Do you think that if you work harder for him, God will eventually forgive you?

An affirmative answer to even one of these questions may indicate that one is an addict to religion rather than a devotee of God. Multiple positive answers testify to a major problem.

The unfortunate irony is that people whose desire for God and motivation to do his will are strongest are the most susceptible to religion addiction.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 19, no. 38, Sept. 22, 1993, p. 3]

DAYDREAMING
(I Pet. 5:8).

Some downtown crosswalks have audio "walk/don't walk" signals. The first time I heard one of them I was fascinated. I had never encountered one before. Later as I thought about it, I realized what a good idea they were. I thought of times when one would have come in handy. Times when I have daydreamed through a "walk" signal and had to wait for another. I had come to the intersection planning to proceed on my journey as soon as possible. I hadn't planned to stand on that corner through two traffic signal cycles - I just wasn't paying attention. I missed the signal.

I wish there was some way I could have an audio "walk" signal on my spiritual life. Sometimes I have every intention of continuing to "walk in the light", to proceed on my spiritual journey, but I get temporarily stopped in my walk because I miss a signal. I get caught spiritually daydreaming and before I know it, my walk is stalled.

Thinking about daydreaming and missing the "walk" signal has helped me lighten up on myself a little. It has allowed me to forgive myself when I get caught spiritually flat-footed. I think about that audio "walk" signal and I remember that my plan had been to keep going. My desire was to keep making progress. I just missed the signal. I can forgive myself for that.

The best lesson to come out of this was the realization that everybody else is in the same boat. Since I heard that audio "walk" signal and understood its significance, it's harder for me to be unforgiving and accusing. I am now better able to identify with those brothers and sisters whom I belittled and called "weak" in the past when they got blind-sided by Satan. Probably, as I do, they desire to keep going forward in their journey. They, just like me, sometimes get caught daydreaming. Even a legalist like me can forgive them for that.
[by Ron Crabtree from Love Lines, vol. 19, no. 40, Oct. 5, 1993, p. 3]

We pledge to You, O Lord, our hearts in dedication because of the ways in which You have shown Your love toward us.
We pledge to You, O Lord, our voices in worship because of who You are and what You have done to show the world that You are a compassionate God.
We pledge to You, O Lord, our spirits in commitment to your children.
We pledge to You, O Lord, our eyes so that we may see the many opportunities to serve You.
We pledge to You, O Lord, our ears so that we might hear a word from You each day.
We pledge to You, O Lord, our mouths so that we might proclaim who you are and what You have done and want to do for all mankind.
We pledge to You, O Lord, our bodies in sacrifice because You have not withheld Your only Son from us.
We pledge to You, O Lord, our time because of Your unending concern for us and for all the world.
We pledge to You, O Lord, our money because of the bounty You have bestowed upon us.
We pledge to You, O Lord, to become more every day what You want us to be.
[by Jeff Hartline from Love Lines, vol. 20, no. 1, Jan. 5, 1994, p. 3]

MIGHT CRUDENESS BE TERMINAL?

Many people are wondering aloud about the possibility that America is destroying the modicum of propriety that is necessary to preserve a culture. The issue here is less the bizarre behaviors of a few within identifiable subcultures as it is the general indifference toward (even defensiveness of) attitudes, languages, and actions in the mainstream of American culture that are vulgar and crude.

Is it possible for a culture to become so open-minded that its brains fall out? So liberal that nothing can be called "wrong"? So tolerant that it embraces the very things that will destroy it?

By now everyone knows Madonna's taste in underwear and her fantasies about kinky sex, Ice-T rap that glorifies killing cops, Howard Stern's creativity with dirty words and book-cover photos, and the fascination of both newscasters and comedians with John and Lorena Bobbitt.

But have you heard the gangster rap lyrics of the Geto boys? "Her body's beautiful so I'm thinking rape./Shouldn't have her curtains upon so that's her fate./Slit her throat and watched her shake..."

The music industry's wisdom on this sort of stuff is: If you don't like it, don't buy it or listen to it. Sorry, that's just not good enough! Why should women have to endure a (declining) culture's tolerance of music that advises the people who do listen to it to dominate and abuse them?

Invoking the fear of censorship here is a red herring. The issue is whether our society is so morally spineless that it can no longer call what everyone knows to be wrong, wrong. The issue is human dignity, quality of life, values.

A new poll of 1,000 women in ESQUIRE enlightens us with this tidbit of boorish information: Al Gore would be "hotter in bed" than Bill Clinton by 67% to 26%. Who are the weirdos who think up these crude topics? Defended by the magazine as a tongue-in-cheek poll, it would more correctly be called a spit-in-your-cultural-eye poll.

Maybe athletics has contributed to the widespread adoption of in-your-face confrontation. Surely it went to seed for most of us, though, when Tonya Harding was reacting to her rival, Nancy Kerrigan, being maliciously attacked and forced to withdraw from a skating competition. She said she couldn't wait to compete against her at the Olympics. "And let me tell you," she said, "I'm going to kick her butt." And this insensitive remark from a woman whose bodyguard and ex-husband have been implicated in the attack - and who herself is being investigated.

If crude, vulgar, and boorish behaviors can be terminal to a culture, the symptoms are here for everyone to see that we are desperately ill.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 20, no. 3, Jan. 19, 1994, p. 3]

OVER THE FENCE

Play ball! There is nothing my two-year-old chocolate Labrador named "Bear" likes better than playing ball. Whether I'm tossing it in the back yard, lake, or ocean, he will wear out my arm before he gets tired of chasing tennis balls and bringing them back to me.

It was late September, and we were playing in the yard. It's about 200 feet from my elevated deck to the back yard's rear property line. Bear had made countless trips in the past 45 minutes. He had run up and down the 12 steps, flinging gravel as his paws dug into the driveway and wearing an every-deepening path into the lawn. I told him (for the tenth time!) that it was my last throw and threw the ball deep so I could run inside before he returned with his brown eyes begging for "just one more."

I stopped in the doorway as I heard Bear bark, a sure sign the ball was lost. "Bear, stop!" I yelled and ran back to the fence to quiet him. The ball must have rolled under the fence, because he was flat on his stomach with legs and paws extended under the chain link fence. "Bear, no! Bear! Stop!" I yelled, but it was too late. His frantic pawing had knocked the ball four feet away, out of my reach.

I dragged a whining Bear from underneath the fence and made him sit. Rather than walk 200 feet to the gate and across two neighbors' yards, I decided to climb the fence. By grabbing the top rail and digging into the fence with my feet, I was able to make it over with just a tiny scratch on my bare chest from sharp, protruding tines. Bear yelped with joy as I picked up the ball and threw it in the yard for him to chase again.

My jeans got snagged on the tines as I hoisted myself back over the six-foot fence. Putting all 180 pounds of me on my hands, I twisted and lifted until I worked myself free. Bear gave me a big old wet lick right on the lips to show his gratitude for my act of returning his prized possession. I spit the warm slobber out of my mouth and wiped it dry with my hands. Then I noticed that my hands were stinging and saw that each had been slightly pierced when I lifted myself off the fence.

Then it dawned on me. Christ had done the same for me. The life I wanted desperately, the happiness I frantically grabbed for and ended up pushing farther away, Christ had already given me. By being crucified. By being nailed to a cross. By being pierced in his side and in his hands. Jesus of Nazareth died for my sins.

He went to the other side, but he came back! And he came bringing my eternal salvation to me, a salvation I could never have earned for myself. I dropped to my knees and thanked him.

Some say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but sometimes a dog can teach you an old lesson.
[by Randy Wolcott from Love Lines, vol. 20, no. 5, Feb. 2, 1994, p. 3]

AMERICA'S FAITH: ONLY LIP SERVICE?

Many of us have wondered aloud how a nation so apparently religious as ours can be so morally deficient.

We have more church buildings than any other nation in the world, yet we also have a higher percentage of our citizens incarcerated than any other country. Over 90 percent of us claim to believe in God, yet violent crime has increased 500 percent since 1960. We say Americans are religious people, but we embrace aggressively secular values and lifestyles.

A team of sociologists may have come up with the answer: American faith is mostly lip-service. One member of the research team explained that "most people believe voting or going to church is a good thing to do and, when surveyed, often say they did vote or go to church even when they didn't." The claim is that fully half of the people who say they go to church on Sundays just aren't telling the truth.

The findings were published in the December 1993 issue of American Sociological Review. It would appear that while religion pervades the national landscape, only a handful take it very seriously.

Another piece of research from the Ray C. Bliss Institute confirms this suspicion. It claims that only about 19 percent of adult Americans regularly practice their religion. Using rather minimal standards to define the "committed," slightly under one-fifth of our people are serious about basing their attitudes and behavior on the tenets of religious faith - whether Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or any other.

The life situation of serious Christians in today's America is roughly the same as that of their counterparts in the first-century world. Such persons are a minority group. They have limited impact on public policy and public institutions. Therefore it would be a fatal mistake for them to put their hope in such things.

Before you begin to feel too desperate in light of these findings, you need to realize that it has always been this way. The power of righteousness is not in the number of people affirming or embracing it. It has its own internal power, supplied by God. Truth is like light, goodness like salt, and a godly example like leaven.

God's people are called to live with integrity and power. The impact such persons can have in their world is not limited by minority status but is in direct proportion to their obedience to God. One person with God still makes a majority.

So if you are discouraged about the deepening darkness in our culture, just remember how bright the glow of just one candle's flame looks in such an environment. Wherever you are today is the place where heaven wants to use you as an instrument of holiness.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 20, no. 6, Feb. 6, 1994]

LETTING OURSELVES OFF THE HOOK

Making excuses for inexcusable behavior seems to be the standard defense we human beings adapt in the face of moral failure. It's time to grow up, accept responsibility, and hold one another accountable.

Someone molests a child. A drug addict kills someone in the process of stealing to buy more drugs. A serial rapist is arrested. An unmarried 17-year-old gives birth to her second child. Someone fired from the company seven months ago walks into one of its outlets, pulls out an automatic pistol, and leaves four dead and three wounded.

What do all the situations just named have in common? Each will produce questions like "What is wrong with our world?" or "What sort of sick person could do that?" Furthermore, each will result in a series of expert witnesses being brought into court by defense attorneys to explain how the deed in question was produced by early childhood trauma, poverty, or diminished economic-social opportunities. Thus the perpetrator should be pitied, treated, and rehabilitated.

This demeaning view of human behavior hold that all human behavior is simply the deterministic outworking of prior impressions. We do not really make meaningful, free choices. We are not really "moral" beings at all.

The implications of such a view of humanity are horrific. People are free (sometimes even encouraged) to give in to their dark and sinister impulses. Having done some terrible deed, they are told not to feel guilty. Perpetrators are given sympathy and support, while their victims suffer without relief.

There is no doubt that trauma, childhood experience, and other influences beyond our control incline us toward certain behaviors. Genetics, for example, seem to play a role in alcoholism, and children who have been physically abused by their parents are more likely to abuse their own children. But genetics and environment do not tell the story of what it is to be human. Personal freedom and moral responsibility must also be taken into account.

We do make choices. We can say no to our negative impulses. Seeing undesirable traits surface in our actions, we can seek help to confront and control them. We have been given the power from God to respond to our physical limitations, psychological issues, and spiritual deficiencies. That we affirm our ability to respond is at the heart of showing ourselves to be responsible (i.e., response-able) beings.

We can't wait any longer to act on what we all know but have been too intimidated to say: Some things are wrong and others are right, and we have the obligation to hold one another accountable for choosing properly between them.

The solution for the things scaring our nation silly right now is not in Congress but in human hearts. Letting ourselves off the hook so easily has put all of us on the spot.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 20, no. 7, Feb. 16, 1994, p. 3]

DOING RIGHT: WHAT'S THE USE?

The question was asked by a high school student. "What's the use?" he wondered aloud. "Evans did the right thing and look what happened to him."

Evans Jean was a high school senior in Brooklyn, New York. He had high goals for his life. "I must and I will be successful in college," he wrote in an assigned essay, "to keep myself from becoming a statistic in a world that does not care." His ambition was to become a nurse and help save lives. "There's too many people trying to take a life out here and I want to be on the other side."

On January 30, 1994, Evans became the second student from his school to be killed within a month. He had gone to his girlfriend's house that Sunday night. Her former boyfriend showed up, pulled out a gun, and ordered Evans to lie down on the floor. Insofar as anyone has been able to learn, there was no verbal or physical struggle. He did what he was told. Authorities say the ex-boyfriend then leaned over and fired a single bullet into Evan's head.

How do you make sense of something like that to his adolescent friends? How do you comfort his grieving parents? What lesson is there for anyone in the senseless murder of a young man who was trying his best to live a decent life and make something of himself? How do we answer the question his friend asked at the memorial service on the Thursday following his death?

I do not propose to "make sense" of murder, and I am confident that his parents' grief cannot be relieved by the point I want to make. But the question his friend asked after he died must be addressed. It contains an assumption that seems to be built into many of our discussions of right and wrong, what we should or should not do with our lives.

The death of Evans Jean does not mean that he had made a wrong choice about how to live his all-too-brief life. Whether a decision is good or bad is not always determined by the happy or sad ending that follows. That most of us want to immediate payoff as proof that we have chosen well and contributed greatly to the ethical confusion of our time.

Doing the right thing does not guarantee a happy outcome. Joseph did the right thing when Potaphar's wife tried to seduce him - and got thrown into jail for his trouble. Socrates tried to be a "gadfly" to his beloved-but-declining Athens - and was forced to drink hemlock by a citizen tribunal. And Jesus did the right thing in relation to the will of his Father - only to be rejected and murdered by the people he came to bless.

Pimps and drug traffickers get rich in Evans Jean's old neighborhood, while his parents mourn his death. Defenseless kids such as Evans get scared or killed by others with guns. No, it isn't right. It isn't fair.

So what's the use? Evans could have suffered a far worse fate than being murdered. He might have lost hope, quit school, run with thugs in his neighborhood, and become the murderer rather than the victim on that tragic Sunday night.

The untimely death of a decent person is more appropriate to our humanity than the long life of a man or woman whose very existence is a sin against the human race.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 20, no. 8, Feb. 23, 1994, p. 3]

SCHOOL IS IN SESSION

Suppose you have been given the assignment to create an ideal learning environment. How would you proceed? What would it be like?

Surely it would be designed to CHALLENGE students. If everything in it is easy, self-evident, and free of difficulty, no learning will take place. There would never be a sense that one needs to apply herself or pay attention. Correct?

There would even be TESTS at strategic times during the course. Some would be announced in the syllabus given out on the first day, but there would be space left for occasional "pop tests" as well. The final would need to be comprehensive.

There would need to be a DEADLINE. When we have unlimited time to get our work done, things get delayed and put off. They are even forgotten altogether sometimes. When we know there is an end date to the course, though, we start to prioritize our time and focus on the things that are critical to succeed in it.

And we would want a GOOD TEACHER, of course. At the least, a "good teacher" has a demonstrated mastery of the material, puts a quality TEXTBOOK in the students' hands, and supplements the text with LEARNING EXPERIENCES that make its occasionally formidable content meaningful. The text prepares one for and even assigns life-application projects, and experiences from life force one back to the textbook for still more helpful insights.

Have we about covered the bases? Surely we could fine-tune our specifications for particular subjects, but these appear to be the essentials needed for education to take place.

If you stop to think about it, you will realize that this is exactly the kind of world God created for us. Although we sometimes complain and even blame God for certain conditions, the truth is that our world is ordered just the way it needs to be for the sake of our mental, physical, moral, and spiritual education.

Life has enough challenges for all of us to keep us alert, on our toes, and always stretching. There are tests of the sort that are common to humanity that all of us must face. Some are predictable and we get ready for them, but some are unexpected and come without warning. Both kinds contribute to learning about ourselves - especially about our weak areas that will need more attention - and remind us how serious life is.

And there is a deadline for getting everything done. Although some try to ignore the fact of their mortality, death sets a time limit to our life project. We cannot put off important things indefinitely. We must set priorities and order our days in light of the things that matter most.

Our teacher, Jesus Christ, has made the only perfect grade in the history of the course. With the Bible as our primary textbook, daily experience drives us back to its pages again and again for knowledge of the divine will. It is the personal, flesh-and-blood example of Jesus, however, that provides the greatest enlightenment and confidence.

Atheists charge that an all-loving and all-powerful God could surely have created a world better than this one. Really? It seems to me that it is an ideal world for teaching us the meaning of life. Maybe some of our classmates are just playing hookey and then trying to put the blame on our Teacher for what they have failed to learn.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 20, no. 9, Mar. 2, 1994]

BAPTISMAL REGENERATION?

On two different public occasions recently, I have had people from different religious backgrounds than my own ask the same question: "Do Church of Christ people believe in baptismal regeneration?"

How would you answer the question? Do you know what "baptismal regeneration" is? Do you believe in it? Do you know why people would wonder about our belief in such a thing?

Baptismal regeneration is a doctrine to the effect that baptism really and actually forgives sins. It holds that immersion is a sacramental action that secures pardon. It is the notion of "water salvation" taught in the name of the gospel.

My response in both cases was to say that I know of no theologian within our fellowship who believes or teaches such a view of baptism. I explained my understanding that it is the blood of Jesus Christ alone that really and actually forgives sins; baptism is a symbolic act whose true significance is found in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Son of God (Rom. 6:1-4).

Baptism is a necessary, though not sufficient, evidence of saving faith; it is therefore a necessary, but not sufficient, condition of salvation. Baptism's significance is that it confesses and claims the cross. It does not save except as it points a believer to Christ's death on his or her behalf.

I entertain no fear of damnation, for example, for that soul my questioning friends press me about who "dies on his way to the baptistery." I do have deep concern, however, for the one who professes faith but whose faith does not show itself in such commanded actions as baptism (cf. James 2:24).

As to why anyone ever thought we held such a doctrine, I suspect it traces to one of two things: (1) our poor articulation of biblical teaching about baptism or (2) the fact that we have taught the false doctrine of baptismal regeneration in some instances. When someone says, for example, that the Jesus' blood is "God's part" in salvation and baptism is "our part," he has taught something dreadfully false.

The blood of Jesus is the sum total of what is required for human redemption. We contribute nothing to our salvation. We can only trust what God has done at the cross and indicate our willingness to accept it as a free gift in our submissive, obedient faith.

For our historic insistence on the importance of baptism, I don't want anyone to think we trust baptism for our salvation. Our faith must be in Christ alone.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 20, no. 17, April 27, 1994]

DOES YOUR FAITH MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

The assumption that Christ's followers live transformed lives was a theme of primitive Christianity that seems largely to have gotten lost along the way. We have abandoned it in favor of mere lip service to Christianity. My fear is that most people who claim to be Christians can be identified as such only by their claim.

(I John 2:3-4).

A recent poll was done by U.S. News & World Report on religious beliefs in America. From one set of statistics, it could be boasted that we are the most religious people in the world. Yet from other findings in the same poll, one could conclude that there is precious little religion in our secular society.

The survey of more than 1,000 registered voters said 95% believe in God, yet 82% said they could be "a good Christian or Jew" without attending religious services. Now I don't want to be misunderstood on this point. Attending religious services does not equate with living a transformed life, and participating in public worship is neither the most critical test of faith nor an adequate substitute for day-by-day right conduct.

Yet it seems to me that "attending religious services" is both necessary and desirable to people who are undergoing daily transformation. At the very least, as a simple man once put it to me, participation in public assemblies of the church "lets ole Satan know whose side I'm on."

The U.S. News article that reported these statistics likely put its finger on the critical issue with this observation: "As a people, we are uneasy with the perpetual tension between our religious impulses and our unwavering commitment to secular society.... We profess fidelity to traditional morality, yet we champion individual freedom and resist religious authoritarianism."

In other words, we want to be connected with God's world yet make it plain that our priorities are in this one. We want to cast a vote for the superiority of spiritual things but refuse to turn loose of the trappings of secularity. We want to be Christians without having to demonstrate any qualitative difference in character and lifestyle from people who are admittedly unbelieving and worldly.

If we want to restore primitive Christianity, it must take place at the deepest level of personal renewal within a larger community of faith. (I John 2:5b-6).
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 20, no. 15, April 13, 1994]

THE FLAP OVER A WHIPPING

Over a ten-day period in September of 1993, a group of teenagers living in Singapore went on a tear of vandalism. They threw eggs at some cars, spray-painted others, switched automobile license plates, and ripped down traffic signs. One of the young men charged in the incident was 18-year-old Michael Fay of Dayton, Ohio, who was living in Singapore with his mother and stepfather.

Fay pleaded guilty on March 3 to vandalism, mischief, and possession of stolen property. In a country where laws are strict and punishments clear, he was sentenced to a fine of $2,215, four months in jail, and six strokes to his bare buttocks with a split bamboo cane called a rotan. The whipping has caused an uproar.

The claim is that people receiving such beatings sometimes pass out, go into shock, and suffer permanent scars. An appeals court upheld the sentence. Now the State Department is hoping that Singapore's President Ong Teng Cheong will extend clemency.

As harsh as the penalty sounds, Americans have called radio talk shows, written syndicated columnists, phoned the Embassy of Singapore in Washington, and voiced their opinion in a variety of ways to support the penalty.

In a country where paddling has been outlawed at schools and where laws have been proposed to make parental spankings of their own children illegal, it may seem strange that so much should be said in defense of an extreme case of administering corporal punishment to an adolescent.

Aversion to punishment for wrongdoing is a fairly recent thing. The Bible can even be quoted in favor of it...(Prov. 23:13-14). But this text endorses punishment, not abuse.

Frankly, however, I suspect the outpouring of support for this radical instance of whipping an American teenager in Singapore is based on neither scripture nor reason. It is sheer frustration with what people see happening in our own country.

People fear being (or have already been) victims of crime and sense that criminals have no fear of our justice system. Perhaps they simply want to see one instance where someone is held accountable.

The switches our mothers used on some of us were hardly rotans. But they instilled a sense of accountability and fear of punishment that could still serve our society well.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 20, no. 14, April 6, 1994]

KILLED BY FRIENDLY FIRE

It may be the ultimate oxymoron to speak of death by "friendly fire." But the team was in the headlines recently when 26 soldiers were killed in Iraq on April 14.

Two U.S. Army helicopters were shot down by American F-15s. Some sort of identification snafu led to deaths that should not have happened. There are families grieving today who ought not be going through such negative emotions. There are men lying dead who ought to be enjoying the sights, sounds, and joys of life.

One estimate is that so-called friendly fire accounts for somewhere between 15% to 20% of combat deaths in wartime. To think that one-fifth of the men who went into battle against the Nazis in World War II wound up dying because of Allied error is outrageous. Before we get too enraged over breakdowns in the military, however, we should think about the history of the church.

Many Christ-seeking people have been victims of friendly fire, driven away from salvation and lost to the kingdom of God because of Christians they encountered.

* A hypocrite made them doubt the sincerity of all believers.
* A teacher tacked his personal legalistic creed onto the gospel.
* A preacher spewed personal anger rather than gospel from his pulpit.
* A church's lack of compassion for divorced people excluded them.

Many who were already Christians have been put to spiritual death by friendly fire, too. They lived through an ungodly experience with a church or individual that caused them to renounce the faith they had once embraced.

* Her church split over which preacher should be hired.
* He was told that his grandmother was going to hell because she was Baptist.
* He was humiliated before his study group for asking an honest question.
* He was replaced as song leader because he started a song during communion.

It is the responsibility of us all to think about the consequences of our actions on other people. When we act in ways that contradict Christ's example, sit in judgment on others, and shatter the fragile faith of some brother or sister, we serve Satan rather than Christ.

There is no excuse for littering the Body of Christ with friendly-fire corpses.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 20, no. 16, April 20, 1994]

THE POWER OF ONE

Once there was a notion of the "heroic ideal" that we preserved in Western culture, made the theme of stories we told our children, and cherished in our hearts. It inspired people at critical moments and enabled them to act both correctly and courageously. This ideal affirmed to us that a single life could make a profound difference.

Occasionally stories are still told that affirm the heroic ideal. They show how individual acts spread like ripples on the surface of a still lake to reach distant places. They encourage the rest of us to take our behaviors more seriously.

Schindler's List is such a story. A bestselling novel by Thomas Keneally that was put on film by Steven Spielberg, it won the Academy Award for "Best Picture of the Year" for 1993 by telling the story of one man's far-reaching heroism. It is the true story of Oskar Schindler and how he came to save more Jews from the Nazi gas chambers than any other single person during the Holocaust.

Schindler is not a particularly appealing character at the start of his wartime experience. He is apolitical and hedonistic. Moving to Poland in order to profit from the war trade, he buys a factory from Jews who are being dispossessed and herded into the Warsaw ghetto.

With a sexy woman on one arm and a Nazi official on the other, Schindler serves his own selfish interests as an entrepreneur making money off human depravity and suffering. Working Jews in his factory by special permission from the Nazis, he fills contracts for mess kits and utensils for German troops and accumulates great wealth.

As time goes by, Schindler gets to know first one then another of the people that come to be known as the Schindlerjuden (i.e., Schindler's Jews). Compassion emerges and conscience prompts action. Putting principle and the value of human life above his selfish interests, he puts himself at some personal risk and spends his entire fortune to save some 1,100 Jews from sure death.

You will probably never save hundreds of people from murder or head a mover-and-shaker organization. But you can love God with your whole heart and treat your neighbor as you want to be treated. You can protest injustice when you see it, champion the rights of the weak when you are allied with the strong, and pay attention to someone everyone else has ignored.

When you do these things, you will be imitating the One whose single life gives all of us hope.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 20, no. 13, Mar. 30, 1994]

WHEN THE DARKNESS DESCENDS

Most people appear to be aware that something terribly wrong and very disheartening has happened to Western culture. Statistics about crime, family disintegration, and drug abuse scare all of us. And many of us either know or are the victims of these evils.

As to why this cultural breakdown has taken place, a statement first published in 1836 in the old McGuffey's Eclectic Reader seems prophetic: "If you can induce a community to doubt the genuineness and authenticity of the scriptures; to question the reality and obligations of religion; to hesitate, undeciding, whether there be any such thing as virtue or vice; whether there be an eternal state of retribution beyond the grave; or whether there exists any such being as God, you have broken down the barriers of moral virtue and hoisted the flood gates of immorality and crime.... Every bond that holds society together would be ruptured."

People, it is obsolete to cry out about "barbarians at the gates." The barbarians are on the inside, in charge, and at the gate controls!

The response to all this by too many Christians has been cringing, passive silence. We have acted as if we are helpless against the onslaught. We have given the playing field over to the enemy, surrendered our public institutions to him, and appear to be resigned to his being in charge. Nonsense!

Has God abdicated his throne? Has he taken back his promise of power to his people? Are lies and hatred more powerful than truth and love? No. No! NO!

Shortly before his death, Moses exhorted ancient Israel to faithfulness unto the Lord. "Be strong and courageous," he said. "Do not be afraid or terrified because of [your enemies], for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you" (Deut. 31:6). If God's covenant people could count on his strength to be at work in them 3,500 years ago, why are we so reluctant to believe in that same power at work in us today?

You are still called to be salt and light in this world. You are a citizen of the kingdom of God and are expected to exhibit your heavenly citizenship here and now. In the deep darkness of our time, the light from even a dim lamp gives off incredible brilliance.

Student, claim your classroom for the Lord. Secretary, be Christ's presence in your office. Teacher, know that you serve Jesus first in your work. Factory worker, professional, foreman, athlete, entertainer, short-order cook - you are called to model faith, hope, and love in a world that has "fallen and cannot get up". Your message is that Christ lifts the fallen.

Don't give way to despair, then. Now is your time to shine, shine, shine!
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 20, no. 12, Mar. 23, 1994]

SOME THINGS CAN'T BE FIXED

Let's face it. Some situations cannot be put back in their original state. Eggs can't be unscrambled, and some messes we make in the course of a lifetime can't be repaired.

Some marriages are broken forever. Some criminal deeds entail jail time that has to be served. Infection with HIV doesn't go away with time. And some of our deeds (e.g., drunk driving) have imposed their own cruel penalties that can never be reversed.

Because of situations such as these, many people despair. They don't understand that God gives people the chance to start over.

Science fiction has dreamed of time machines that could give us fresh starts on events. But even God cannot undo yesterday, erase the fact of what has happened from history, and let one of us relive wasted days or reclaim lost opportunities. You cannot have back that one awful day or hour that has been responsible for so much horror and pain for so many.

It is possible, however, for the past to be forgiven, overcome, and overshadowed.

Saul of Tarsus could not relive that period in his life during which he blasphemed Jesus and persecuted Christians. He could not bring Stephen back to life. But he could acknowledge his sin and receive Christ's pardon. He could use the remainder of his life to the glory of God. He could even "forget" the past by virtue of the bright hope he had for eternity (cf. Phili. 3:14b-16).

Having experienced a "fresh start" in his own life, Paul was able to write with intense passion about the reality of new life in Christ Jesus. (II Cor. 5:17).

The fresh start all of us need is not a time-machine experience that lets you undo the past. It is forgiveness and release from guilt. It is permission to move on with your life from this point. It is God's Spirit empowering you to overcome and overshadow a dark past with a bright future.

Remorse, faith, and baptism put one's feet on a new path. Once walking in darkness, she how walks in the light of God's grace and constant forgiveness. Challenge, progress, stumbling, success, disappointment - all will be part of the experience. But there is the promise of a crown of life at the end for those who stay with Jesus. (II Pet. 1:10b-11).

No, you can't fix the past. That's why we must all be open to the wonderful work of God in our lives. He knows what to do with the past in order to free us from its burdensome and deadly hold.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 20, no. 10, Mar. 9, 1994]

A "BINDING" EXAMPLE

A considerable quantity of ink has been wasted over the years in our brotherhood papers about the value of example in establishing Bible authority. "When is an example binding?" has been the common way of framing the problem.

As a matter of fact, there is only one episode from the life of Christ where he explicitly said he was leaving his disciples an example. Just before his final Passover and passion, Jesus ate a meal with the apostles. In the course of the evening, he rose from the table, poured some water in a basin, and proceeded to wash the feet of the men who were present.

(John 13:14-15.)

A few have been very literal with this text and have enjoined periodic sessions of foot-washing in their churches. I would have no problem performing such a ritual with you, if I were convinced that was the meaning of the story. On the set say, I have no doubt that your feet would be clean, manicured, and odor free.

In point of fact, I do not believe the point here is to require occasional foot-washing ceremonies. Most students of John 13 view this scene as an invitation into the spirit of that holy night. If our Master and Lord could humble himself to serve the menial needs of his followers, we should be willing to imitate his example of a servant spirit in dealing with one another. (John 13:16-17).

Yet we tend to care more still for spotlights than towels, attention than anonymity, recognition than submissiveness. What has gone wrong? We have not learned the lesson of Jesus' model of humble service.

Over the next few days, why not use your creativity to find ways to follow this binding example? Go by a nursing home or hospital to visit someone who is lonely. Make a child smile and feel special. Compliment someone with whom you work. Pray for someone who is discouraged. Put a $20 bill in a card to a missionary or someone on hard times - and don't sign the card.

You can think of more ways than these few starters for entering the spirit of our Lord's binding example. As you do so, you will experience an intense joy in simple things and give glory to God.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 20, no. 21, June 1, 1994, p. 3]

THE MEANING OF FAILURE

Unfortunately, most of us equate our performance and our personhood. It is a terrible mistake that sets people up for unhappiness, depression, and even suicide.

Some women aren't stunning, and some men aren't good-looking. Only a tiny percentage of students graduate with 4.0 averages. Not everybody who applies gets into graduate school or professional school, and some who get in either can't take the pace or decide it's not worth it. Some people can never break into the career they want. You may never be the top salesperson in your company. You may not make top-level management. You may have no musical talent.

Some people get married and are unable to make their marriages work. Some people break the law, get caught, and spend time in prison. Some unmarried women get pregnant. The list can go on and on indefinitely. All of us fail at some things, and some failures (e.g., relationship failures and moral failures) are worse than others (e.g., being a success in your own business or mastering the piano or golf).

But no failure means that you are worthless as a person, that your life is without meaning, or that you are unimportant in the eyes of God. Some people I know would never have risen from the ashes of a failure like King David's adultery or Simon Peter's three denials. They would have told themselves that they were worthless failures as people, that their lives could never again be vulnerable, and that God would never given them another chance.

To fail at something means simply that, well, you have failed at something. It most assuredly does not mean you are useless, insignificant, and meaningless as a person. (Matt. 10:29-30).

Your failures don't mean that God has given up on you either. God is determined and persistent in his quest for your salvation. He is the shepherd who searches the open country until he finds one stray sheep from his fold (Luke 15:3-7). He is the woman who sweeps her house until she finds a lost coin (Luke 15:8-10). He is the father who keeps his eye on the horizon, looking for the outline of his prodigal son starting toward home (Luke 15:11-32).

Our God is in the forgiving and renewing business. Don't ever doubt that. And don't ever let Satan convince you that your Father would give up on you - no matter what you have done or how far from him you have strayed.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 20, no. 44, Nov. 16, 1994, p. 3]

WHY BEGIN WITH SHEPHERDS?

The most consistent thing I have noticed about God's revelations of himself has to do with the people selected for them. They tend to be the most unlikely of choices for coming into contact with deity.

Moses was a criminal fleeing Egyptian authorities. Amos was a farmer going about his work. Peter was a fisherman on the lake. Paul was an avowed enemy of the church on his way to put Christians in prison.

Did ever so unlikely a group of people receive a divine revelation as when shepherds tending their flocks were called to the birthplace of the Son of God? No public-relations firm worth its salt would have come up with this plan.

Shepherds who lived in the fields with their animals smelled no better than the animals themselves. As a group, they had a bad reputation. They were known for "confusing" sheep as they moved from one grassy spot to another. They were considered so unreliable that they were not permitted to testify in Jewish courts.

But God wanted shepherds nearest to his son on the night of his birth. It was as if their presence was meant to signify that God would henceforth be nearest to the people others despised. He declared himself that night to be not only the Lord Almighty but the God of the Outcasts. True to that image, the babe adored by shepherds grew up to be called Friend of Tax Collectors and Sinners. It was meant to be derision. I understand it as my basis for hope of eternal life.

If you were charged with choosing a handful of people to see heaven come down to earth, would you pick a group that included you? "It isn't likely!" you say. "And neither would anyone else pick me."

Look at what you've just done. You have placed yourself in the very class of people to whom God has most consistently revealed himself. You are the most likely of candidates on God's list.

With all your hang-ups, problems, and quirks, God loves you. In spite of the alcohol, divorce, or poverty, you are made in his image. No matter that you have doubts, a criminal record, or a prodigal child, God seeks to reveal himself to you. Whether you can read well, know the name of your child's father, or think today that the world would be better off if you had never been born, you need to be aware that God comes to just such people as yourself.

How would you describe this phenomenon of God's tendency to seek out the most unlikely of people? Perhaps your word of choice is strange. The one that occurs to me is wonderful.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 20, no. 46, Nov. 30, 1994, p. 3]

WALKING BY FAITH

There is no inherent power in FAITH itself. Faith's value is found in its object.

A strong faith is an unworthy object will disappoint, while a weak faith in a worthy object will bring fulfillment and joy. Abraham is called a "man of faith" and the "father of all who believe" in scripture. His faith was fixed on the Lord, and it was Yhwh who saw him through the ordeal of testing with Isaac. That he appears to have been so serene in the process testifies to the strength of his faith.

But even a questioning and struggling faith that is fixed on the God who has revealed himself in Christ will provide you the victory you are seeking. The size of one's faith is thus far less an issue than its object.

Garrison Keillor, the American humorist, made this serious comment about faith in troubled times: "A little faith will see you through. What else will do except faith in such a cynical, corrupt time? When the country goes temporarily to the dogs, cats must learn to be circumspect, walk on fences, sleep in trees, and have faith that all this woofing is not the last word."

A female missionary to the Congo once told the story of how older men served as night sentries for Christian workers among them. They were very much the living telephone lines from house to house, compound to compound. One evening she went to the door to receive a note that had been brought by a man everyone called Papa John.

There was neither moonlight nor street light at their station, and she could barely make out his form by the light from his six-inch kerosene lantern with its smoky chimney. Thinking what a pitiful light he had for such a dark tropical night, she said, "That lamp doesn't give you much light, does it, Papa John?" "No, it doesn't," came the reply, "but it shines as far as I can step."

That isn't a bad commentary on the nature of faith. Trust God for today, though you cannot see the future. He will always give light for as far as you can step now. So believe this much, obey all that you know, and do what is right according to his will.

Commit your way to the Lord, and he will direct your path.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 20, no. 39, Oct. 12, 1994, p. 3]

THE LATEST SEX SURVEY

There seems to be a new sex survey about every three days in America. Sex has become something of a national preoccupation, and some of us have suspected that the survey technique has become a method with an agenda for some reporting groups.

Support for the "agenda" theory traces back to Margaret Mead's documented misuse of social science data from her research among tribes in Samoa. She set aside facts in favor of using her platform to argue for promiscuity without guilt. Might other researchers have been guilty of similar things? Is it possible that the Kinsey Report was flawed by its anecdotal nature? Could Masters and Johnson have promoted as well as reported some deviant behaviors?

Now comes a new, rigorously scientific, and carefully monitored survey from the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center. Based on 210-page questionnaire that was answered by 3,432 people from a wide spectrum of American society, is says some pretty conservative things about sex in our culture.

* 94% of married people were faithful to their mates during the past year. (So much for the myth of infidelity as the "norm" for married people.)
* Married persons report the greatest "pleasure" and "emotional satisfaction" in their sex lives. (So much for the myth of sex without commitment as a satisfying lifestyle.)
* Just 2.8% of males and 1.4% of females consider themselves to be homosexual or bisexual. (So much for the widely claimed figure of 10% of the population being gay.)
* To be sure, the survey does not reveal a culture that embraces a biblical ethic of sexual conduct. And there are some very disturbing facts that have emerged from it.
* 22% of women have been forced to have sex with someone. (Abuse of and disrespect for women is still widespread.)
* Only about 30% of Americans say their religious beliefs guide their sexual behavior. (If religious beliefs don't affect one's life, of what value are they?)
* Only about 30% believe that premarital and extramarital sex are always wrong. (It likely isn't accidental that this percentage corresponds to the one immediately above.)

It is important for Christians to remember this in reflecting on samplings of public attitudes and surveys of behavior in any area of life: Right and wrong are defined for us in the Word of God, not by polls or public opinion. Regardless of shifting cultural attitudes, God's will on premarital chastity, marital fidelity, homosexuality, and related subjects remains fixed.

The surveys are only interesting. The Word of God is still correct.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 20, no. 40, Oct. 19, 1994, p. 3]

THAT DRAINED FEELING

Computers are daily companions for many of us. For a CPA's work with speadsheets or a writer's drafts and revisions, they are indispensable. Some of us even go on the road with our notebook computers and use them on planes, in waiting rooms, and in motels.

My portable runs off power supplied by a nickel-cadmium battery. Of late, however, I hadn't been able to get the optimum three hours or so it is designed to supply. Batteries just don't last forever, so it was time to invest the necessary $60 to buy a new one.

Unpacking my new battery and reading the instructions, I was reminded of a spiritual lesson many of us tend to resist. "Note: Your computer's battery can lose its capacity to store power if it is not deep-discharged and recharged every 90 days or so."

Sounds strange, doesn't it? In order for the battery to work at peak efficiency, it is my responsibility to regularly configure it runs to drain all its power over a 12-hour period. Then it gets recharged - and is stronger for the process.

Do you ever wonder why God created the world to operate the way it does? There is stress in every life, every day. We are subject to physical, psychological, and spiritual forces that wear us down. We are subject to periods of exhaustion that are painful. But why? Why? Why?

Paul looked back over a series of hardships he had endured and wrote...(II Cor. 1:8-9a). Even apostles weren't spared what company presidents, mothers, elders, school teachers, and the rest of us have to face. But why, Paul? Why?

But this happened that...(II Cor. 1:9b). Paul's feeling of being "drained" of all his own resources sent him back to God. It taught him to rely on the Lord, not himself. Later in the same epistle, he returned to this theme again and added...(II Cor. 12:9-10).

Your money woes, health problems, and relationship struggles are very real and genuinely painful. But you can let them have a positive outcome. If they expose your shortage of power and goad you to seek the Lord, they are blessings in disguise.

By the way, my battery instructions add: "Four to five deep-discharge cycles may be required before achieving maximum capacity." Ouch! Please give us patience for the process, Lord!
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 20, no. 41, Oct 26, 1994, p. 3]

ONWARD, CHRISTIAN VOTERS!

The kingdom of God is not a democracy. Under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are called to be obedient in service to the one who has redeemed us from our sins. Right and wrong are not determined by votes taken at church.

But the United States of America is a democracy. Much of what happens in our nation is decided when people go into voting booths to choose the men and women who will hold public office. Next Tuesday we will have the responsibility of making some important decisions in the voting booth.

Thomas Jefferson won the presidency by one vote over Aaron Burr when the election was thrown into the House of Representatives.

Being a Christian in America does not commit one to being a Democrat, Republican, or Independent. Our citizenship is in heaven, and we are only sojourners here. But it is part of our Christian responsibility to be good citizens in whatever earthly environment we live.

Part of that responsibility may involve a decision to run for office. More often it will mean helping choose among those who offer themselves for office. In other words, voting.

The English language was chosen over German as the official language for the United States of America in 1775 by a margin of one vote.

As of the 1992 Presidential Election, there were 189,044,000 Americans who were 18 years old or above and eligible to vote. Of that number, 104,426,659 (55.2%) actually took the initiative to vote.

In Tennessee the percentages were much the same. In 1992, there were 3,660,581 Tennesseans eligible to vote. Of that total, nearly one million (934,132) were not even registered to vote. On election day, 1,982,638 (54%) voted. This means that 743,811 (27%) of the registered voters in Tennessee did not bother to go to the polls to vote for a President of the United States.

Adolf Hitler won leadership of the Nazi Party in Germany by one vote in 1923.

Most of the people who don't vote probably reason like this: What possible difference can my one vote make? Well, occasionally it turns out that a single vote does change the direction of history. It is very unlikely that your vote or mine will ever be so monumental. But that hardly means that your vote doesn't matter.

What your one vote will say next Tuesday is that you care about the shape of the future. It registers your intention to support persons and policies you think will make a difference for the better. So please plan to be part of the process next Tuesday.

May God give those who vote on November 8 a collective wisdom to choose those who will serve well.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 20, no. 42, Nov. 2, 1994, p. 3]

HEARTLESSNESS

There is a terrible word in the original language of the New Testament that has come to mind for me recently. The term is used only twice in scripture, and it appears in the most unflattering of contexts.

The word is astorgos. Older versions such as the King James and American Standard render it "without natural affection." The New International Version translates it "heartless" (Rom. 1:31) or "without love" (II Tim. 3:3). A little history of the word will likely help you understand why it jumped into consciousness last week.

Among the several words for "love" in Greek, one (i.e. storge) particularly signified the sort of affection that exists within families. Astorgos was formed by adding a prefix that served to negate the term. Thus it refers to a family situation where the normal affection one expects to find there is missing.

In the Roman world of the first century, unwanted babies were simply exposed to die. Seneca, the Roman philosopher who was Paul's contemporary, took for granted the drowning of weak or deformed babies. Christians saw such behaviors as heartless and inhuman, as illustrations of a lack of natural family affection.

The shocking deaths of two little boys in Union, South Carolina, last week is a modern case of heartlessness and lack of natural affection. After more than a week of national publicity in which there were sought as having been abducted, three-year-old Michael Smith and 14 month-old Alex Smith were found dead in the back seat of a car at the bottom of a lake. Their mother has confessed to murdering them.

In the past two weeks alone, two other cases have been in the press where mothers have either killed their own children or conspired with the men in their lives to do so. A South Florida woman confessed to making up an abduction story to cover up the beating death of her seven-year-old daughter by her husband, the child's stepfather. And police in San Jacinto, California, charged a woman will killing her three children, ages nine, eight, and four.

Unthinkable as it may seem to you, the murderers of young children are most often their own parents. A recent Department of Justice study of 8,063 homicides in urban areas found that parents were charged in 57 percent of the murders of children under the age of 12. In 80 percent of these cases, the murderous parent had also abused that child.

In Rom. 1, such behavior is held to be a mark of a "deprived mind" that has resulted from the rejection of God. In II Tim. 3, it is a mark of "terrible times in the last days." It isn't regarded as a symptom of mental illness but of spiritual depravity. When having one's own selfish way is a consuming goal, not even those people to whom he or she has the most natural of ties can be allowed to stand in the way.

Among the various theories that will be offered for how such horrible things can happen, this biblical insight will likely be neglected. It ought not be over looked by Christians.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 20, no. 43, Nov. 9, 1994, p. 3]

CHECK YOUR DIRECTION!

James Rich was proud of the job that had been done restoring the 1972 Piper Seneca. With its overhauled twin engines and smart new paint job, it fairly begged to be put on display.

So early on the morning of Feb. 17, 1994, Rich crawled behind the controls of the small plane at an airport near Louisville, Ky. His plan was to make a 30-minute flight to Crossville, Tenn., where a friend of his is the airport manager. He would arrive just about the time his friend was showing up for work and show off the plane.

The 40-year-old pilot had not slept much the night before. He had spent most of the night visiting some other Tennessee friends and then driving back to his home outside Louisville. So he was still tired when he cleared the runway and pointed the nose of the plane southward for the quick trip. After climbing to 3,500 feet and putting the Seneca on automatic pilot, he fell asleep.

He must have dozed for about three hours. The next thing he knew, he was trying to get his head clear while looking through broken clouds onto what he took to be a lake. A closer look revealed that the "lake" extended to the horizon in all directions. Then a glance at the gas gauge told him he was out of fuel.

Knowing that he was in trouble, he radioed an SOS. It was then that he discovered his true location - 188 miles west of Clearwater and 190 miles south of Panama City. He was over the Gulf of Mexico and had a few minutes of gasoline left at best.

The crew of a radar plane flying drug surveillance in the area picked up his distress signal and advised him to turn toward Clearwater. Eighty-five miles short of the safety of dry land, the last drop of fuel was exhausted. The plane began its nosedive for the Gulf.

When it hit the water, Rich - who cannot swim - jumped out with the only flotation devices he could find. The uninsured $70,000 plane went down in about 45 seconds and pulled him under with its undertow. The two discount-store cushions he had pulled from the seats popped him back to the surface and would have to keep him afloat until help came.

Within 15 minutes, a helicopter was overhead and dropped a rescue basket. Rich scrambled in and was hoisted to safety "still holding those cushions under my arms."

Mr. Rich's humorous-though-harrowing experience reminds all of us to stay alert about the direction of our lives. It appears to be all too common for us to get up, work, eat, and sleep day after day with our lives on automatic pilot. Thus a person, family, or church winds up far off course and bewildered. Sometimes there is no one there for the rescue when a crash comes.

The fact that you are getting there fast will be small comfort if the landing site is off.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 20, no. 34, Sept. 7, 1994, p. 3]

PITY THE CHILDREN!

This short piece caught my eye in USA Today (Sept. 8, 1994, p. 1D) and hasn't left my mind since:

George and Tina Rollason say God had nothing to do with the birth of their daughter on July 20, so they gave her a fitting moniker: Atheist Evolution Rollason. The York, Pa., couple say her name is their answer to other parents' use of biblical names. "There's so many people named Christian, or Christine," George says, "This is just one person named Atheist. What the heck's the difference?" The Rollasons have clashed with the school district over angel decorations in the classroom and Bibles in the library.

I confess to feeling a strong sense of pity for little Atheist Evolution. Her parents' choice of a name for her surely declares their intention to expose her to an anti-theistic, anti-scripture, anti-Christian worldview. My prayer is that, through God's overruling sovereignty, A.E. (sounds better to me!) will be exposed to some persons and environments that will disclose the faith alternative to her in an appealing way.

But what of the children of some Christian parents? Regardless of the names chosen for them - maybe Sarah, Timothy, Charity, Andrew, or David - many of them are being exposed to such negative things in their homes that their fates are equally in jeopardy with that of Atheist Evolution Rollason.

Some hear God's name often, but as an exclamation rather then in reverence. Some must endure the angry, loud screaming and name-calling their parents hurl at each other - or at them. Others suffer blows of abuse or cruel punishments in the name of "discipline" from a mother or father.

Some children are never taken to Sunday School by parents to learn the Bible stories that can ground their life. Others are taken to Sunday School, only to go home and witness the abuse of alcohol or drugs by the parents who took them. Others are taught not to lie at church, but they are told by their parents to tell callers that Mommy or Daddy is "not at home."

Do we wonder that some children are so confused that they cannot get their lives on track? Are we surprised at the anger some of them act out? Is it impossible to make sense of their rejection of their parents' values?

Atheist Evolution Rollason isn't the only child starting life with two strikes against her. It isn't fair. But you can only control the atmosphere of your own home. Please be responsible and faithful, for someone's destiny is in your hands.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO GUMP

Within a few days of its opening, I saw the 1994 summer sensation Forrest Gump. Or, as the fellow buying a ticket in front of me renamed it, Forrest "Grump".

Gump was a "sleeper" this year, far more successful than anyone expected. It is a thoughtful, emotional, frequently evocative movie. Grown men cry when they see it and are typically unashamed about doing so. Word of mouth has been its most effective advertising, and many people have made more than one trip to the theater for it.

In case you've missed it, this modern fable is about a child born with an IQ of 75. He is naive, gullible, and trusting. Played by Tom Hanks, Forrest grows up an embarrassment to everyone but is mother, gets sent to Vietnam, and bumps into such famous people as John Kennedy and Elvis Presley. Along the way, he becomes a world champion Ping Pong player, wins the Medal of Honor, and makes incredible money in the shrimping business.

Wide-eyed and innocent, Forrest is most notable for two traits. First, he can run with incredible force and stamina. Thus he plays football for the University of Alabama and saves the lives of several wounded platoon members in Vietnam. Second, he loves his childhood neighbor and lifelong friend, Jenny. And it is the story of his love for Jenny that tells the story of the gospel within one of the movie's subplots.

The relationship between Forrest and Jenny is traced over three decades. They are children who play together. Forrest needs her, for there are few children who will befriend a slow-witted boy; Jenny needs him, for he is trustworthy and gentle in the life of a little girl who is being abused by her father. They are adolescents who go to school together. They are adults whose lives never quite get out of touch with each other.

The battered child Jenny becomes a woman. She is in a woman's body, at least, though you are quite sure that her soul is still caught in her incomprehensible pain. She is still praying a form of her childhood prayer, "Dear God, make me a bird; let me fly far, far away." Trying to escape her pain, she follows every fad that comes along - drugs, uninhibited sex, wander-lust. The "suspense" of the movie is whether she will ever feel secure, find peace, accept Forrest's pure love for her.

"I may not be a smart man," he tells Jenny when they meet in their hometown late in the movie, "but I know what love is". Can she accept his love? Will she ever allow his unfailing loyalty to overcome her fears? Will she accept redemption from her enslavement to emptiness?

Forrest has always loved Jenny. He has always communicated with her. He has always wanted to give her what no one else ever could. Why, he is by her the way Jesus has always been with you!

If you haven't seen the movie, I'm not about to give away the ending to you. But I'm even more curious to know the end of your story and to do whatever I can to help you see that Christ's offer to you is legitimate and fully capable of putting an end to all the fear, running, and emptiness that may have been in your life.

As Forrest is fond of saying, quoting his beloved Mama, "Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're gonna get." Because that's true, there'd better be someone whose love you know you can depend on. In the movie-fable, it is Forrest Gump. In real life, it is Jesus Christ.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 20, no. 38, Oct. 5, 1994, p. 3]

HOME OF THE HOMELESS

Home. To most of us this word brings comfort and security. Thoughts of growing up in a loving family brings tears of joy and make us grateful to God. A broken home or an abusive parent may cause us to block out those memories. Instead of cherished memories, we dream of what should have been but never was.

I wonder if Jesus felt "homeless" during his stay on earth. He was taken from his real home, from his real Father, and from the comfort and security he had known from eternity past. He agreed to live as an outcast in a foreign environment - so he could tell us about home.

Our Lord spent so much of his time trying to comfort lonely people. He befriended his society's outcasts. He paid attention to those who had been abused. He wanted them to know that they really did have a home, a place to call their own, and a loving Father who was waiting with outstretched arms for them.

The body of Christ must continue Christ's compassionate concern. He must seek out the hurting, the destitute, those overcome by a cruel and unjust world. We must have pity and show kindness. We must extend our family borders to encompass those who have no family and say, "Come, be a part of our family. This can be your home."

Our religious tradition has prided itself in being "right," in knowing and keeping the rules and regulations of a Savior - who came to abolish the shackles of law. We have forgotten that we cannot be right in God's eyes by our efforts; we are made righteous through his grace by the blood of his son.

We have sometimes been guilty of pursuing the trivia of religion to the neglect of the weightier matters - love, compassion, kindness, humility, and service to others. The Lord wants a people concerned about relationships, both with himself and with those whom their lives touch.

How are Christians to measure our spirituality? How can we know we are building a Spirit-filled relationship with him? Matt. 25 provides a critical indicator.

Knowing Jesus is not in keeping rules. It is in being a servant to others - giving food to the hungry, clothing the naked with the blanket of his love, giving thirsty people a drink, taking care of the sick, and visiting those in prison.

Jesus said that people who do these things with a heart of compassion are actually doing them to him. And when we stand before the Savior in judgment, he will say, "Welcome to your home. This is the place I told you about. You're not homeless anymore because this is the home of the homeless."

How can you worship a homeless man on Sunday and ignore one on Monday?
[by Mike Hutton from Love Lines, vol. 17, no. 1, Jan. 2, 1991]

RESOLUTIONS: SIGN OF SPIRITUAL HEALTH

There is a theory of causation which holds that all things are as they are because they cannot be otherwise. Put in its simplest form, universal determinism is the belief that every event in the universe is an inevitable consequence of some prior event.

B.F. Skinner's theory of human behavior is based on this model; past conditioning and reinforcement have made us into what we are, thus "freedom" is an illusion.

New Age mysticism has tapped into determinism; whatever we are has been settled by the stars, past lives, and physical processes over which we have no control, thus we can only roll with the cosmic flow.

There are even theological forms of this theory in all religious traditions; divine omnipotence and omniscience are often understood to imply that everything in human experience is the result of God's influence and activity, thus whatever happens is called his will.

From whatever background, typical expressions of this mindset are found in statements like these: "What will be will be," "It was just his time to go," "No one can avoid his fate," or "I can't help being this way."

There is a natural insight common to human hearts which knows that the theory is false and that these expressions mask a fatalistic attitude toward life. A copping out on responsibility. An unwillingness to make and live out right choices. Yet the sentiment of our day encourages pessimism about change.

Here we are, for example, at the dawning of a New Year. It is a traditional time for reevaluation, clarification, and commitments. It is customary to make New Year's resolutions which focus on change. But most of what I have heard about resolutions this year has been negative. How pointless they are. How few are kept. The need to keep them few in number and minimal in scope.

Maybe it's because so many people no longer believe in a personal God who makes a real difference. One of the ways to test the nature of your faith is to ask about your spiritual ambitions. If you have no meaningful goals which relate to the kingdom of God, maybe you've stopped believing.

The Bible encourages people to think in terms of change. Significant change. Life-altering change. Thus sinners are asked to believe that the power of God can work in them to forgive sin, redirect behavior, and heal relationships. Christians are asked to believe that the Holy Spirit will work in them to produce growth and increased resemblance to Christ.

Have you made any spiritual resolves for the coming year? If not, could it be that you've stopped believing?
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 17, no. 1, Jan. 2, 1991, p. 3]

WAR CRIES!

As we inch toward January 15, we must brace ourselves for the cries of war. We must brace ourselves with clear thinking. With firm commitment to seek the will of God. And with constant, fervent prayer.

Just when we thought the world would be at peace because the Cold War was declared finished, the Persian Gulf Crisis reared its menacing head. Saddam Hussein's troops are now occupying Kuwait, pillaging its resources, and abusing its citizens. An international unity unprecedented since World War II has materialized to withstand Iraq.

Most Americans agree Iraqi aggression must be confronted. How long such a resolve would last in the face of actual fighting and death is anyone's guess. And Christians hold very diverse views about taking up arms for carnal warfare.

War cries will go up from some of our fellow citizens on behalf of a militant national pride. We must be cautious about a tantalizing "euphoria of war" in a distant place against people we hardly understand at all.

War cries will arise from some who will argue that we should do nothing at all about Saddam. But, as George Brushaber put it in a Christianity Today editorial, "For the U.S. and its allies to have the power to restore justice and not to do so may actually be immoral, which is why we sympathize with our President when he draws the line against Iraqi aggression."

Variants of a war cry will come from some Christians who are passionately interested in eschatology and prophecy. They will try to read "signs of the end" in daily news reports and will see fulfillments of Ezekiel and Revelation. Jesus said no special sign of the end would be given and that his people should be ready at all times (Matt. 24:36-44).

But the most piercing of war cries come from mates, children, and parents of soldiers at risk. Tears of separation, fear, and hardship are falling all around us. And those cries will become shrieks of pain if the war which now seems so imminent is actually fought. We must offer comfort to these people.

God's church must be in prayer. So please pray for President Bush and our country's leaders. Pray for the welfare of our military personnel. And pray for our enemies.

A B.C. comic strip recently offered "holy war" as the granddaddy of all oxymorons. And that is why we must be in prayer for a just peace. Pray without ceasing. Pray with faith. Pray with tears.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 17, Jan., 1991, p. 3]

DO RIGHT! FEEL GOOD!

It is a radical concept. I know that. But before you dismiss it too casually, turn the idea over in your head.

For the past several years, we've been told that we're all just fine. I'm OK. You're OK. They're OK. Of course, I'm ripping off the company, you're beating your kids, and they're a circle of transvestite drug addicts supporting their habits by stealing audio-system components from cars.

Are we all OK? Couldn't just one of us be really wrong about something? Do something that is genuinely bad? Even, perish the thought, feel unhappy because he ought to on account of what he's done? I'm not trying to be unkind, only to ask you to think about it.

Would that parents and teachers and clergy would do more than tell people "Feel good about yourselves" and "Celebrate your personhood." Why not prod people to think, learn, and master skills? Challenge them to succeed and achieve, to strive and change? And, by all means, would that these influential persons should tell people to do good things instead of bad ones.

"But...but...but...you can't be claiming that behaviors are morally right or wrong!" somebody sputters. "Surely we are enlightened enough by now to know that we are individuals responsible to no one but ourselves."

You're really catching on now. Those brain calls are firing! Yes. Some things are right. Such things as telling the truth, being kind, or respecting others' rights and property. And some things are dead wrong. Things like stealing, breaking promises, and mistreating people because of their color or powerlessness within the system.

So let's have fewer pep rallies where the cry is "Take charge! You're entitled!" or "Feel good! Do your own thing!" These lame attempts at boosting self-esteem simply wind up promoting our root problem - selfishness.

Self-esteem comes from thinking and learning, even from failing and learning from your mistakes. It arises from an understanding that you are in God's image. It comes from embracing and following a value system which is firm and tested, which both affirms the worth of the individual and protects the welfare of the larger group.

I can almost hear it now. The new chant for people who want to build genuine and lasting self-esteem. "Do right!" shouts one side of the arena. "Feel good!" comes the echo.

Could it be? Or was I only dreaming.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 17, 1991]

JESUS AND SOLDIERS

War is horrible business. It is the sort of thing Christians pray about in terms of cessation and relief. Like sickness or crime.

With our nation at war in the Persian Gulf, many believers are struggling with conflicting emotions. Didn't Jesus talk about turning the other check? So how can we support war and killing?

It is interesting that Jesus' highest words of praise in the Gospels are for a soldier. He told a Roman centurion...(Matt. 8:19). And he didn't require that he leave the army (cf. Luke 3:14).

The centurion Cornelius was "devout and God-fearing." God sent Peter to him that he might learn of Jesus. When he became a Christian, there is no evidence to suggest that he ceased being a soldier (Acts 10).

Our revulsion toward war and the duty to uphold (or be) soldiers are not necessarily incompatible. Paul's distinction between individual rights and civic duty in Rom. 12 and Rom. 13 points to a resolution.

Individual believers and/or whole churches are to live peaceably, forgo retaliation, and feed our enemies (Rom. 12:17-21). Vengeance-taking is not the role of private citizens, whether Christians or not, but of the government. The state, however, is "established by God" and is an "agent of justice to bring punishment on the wrongdoer" (Rom. 13:1-7).

When a government uses its powers of force against wrongdoers, it is not acting against God; it is expressly called "God's servant." And the government Paul knew when he wrote Rom. 13 was not a perfect or even "nice" one but the occasionally militant Rome.

Yes, in situations of personal insult, Christians should turn the other cheek, suffer abuse, and even die rather than deny Christ. In God-ordained roles as protectors of communities (i.e., police) or opponents of international wrongdoers (i.e., armies), they serve with the confidence of being servants not only to their fellow citizens but God as well.

Christians abhor wars because they result from human greed, lust for power, and aggression. But they sometimes pray for, support, and feel called to serve in armies to stand against these evil things which begin armed conflicts.

War may be necessary at times to check an aggressor's advance. But only Christ's redemptive power will ever rid the world of the evil motives that create aggression in the first place.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 17, 1991, p. 3]

THE GOOD LIFE

When our society speaks of success and "the good life," it most often defines them in terms of what we have and where we are. These concepts rarely point to what we are.

So it is important for us to remain youthful, trim, and well-groomed. These are the keys to a pleasure-seeking lifestyle. Girls must be beautiful to be desirable, and guys must be athletic and well-heeled to catch them.

Power and popularity are also critical to success in America. All of us know their symbols: titles, office size, salary, and invitations to the right events by the right people.

Then there is the compulsion to produce, to achieve, to get results. So the pressure is on to steal an account or to do something unethical to make a profit. Lies are told. Figures are juggled. Friends are betrayed.

Finally, of course, is the real yardstick of "the good life." Money. Or at least the appearance of money. Big house. Fancy car. Expensive clothes. Membership in the right clubs. Vacations to the chic spots. There is a frighteningly realistic speech in the 1987 movie Wall Street in which Michael Douglas, playing the dollar-thirsty takeover specialist Gordon Gekko, says: "Greed is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cut through and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit."

Please don't misinterpret the biblical message about youth, health, popularity, and money. Not one of them is judged. Not a single one of them is evil. But to define human worth in terms of any or all of them is evil.

To live one's life in pursuit of one or more of these things to the neglect of God, relationships, family, or integrity is wrong. To look down on, mistreat, or shut your compassion from the people who are at the bottom of the "ladder of success" is to compromise your own humanity.

Jesus met a man once who had all the things most people envy. He was young, popular, powerful, and rich. And when that man asked the Lord about eternal life, Jesus told him to sell everything he had and give it to the poor. Talk about getting a shock! And when the man decided his bank accounts and holdings meant more to him than Christ, his fate was sealed.

And so is ours if anything means more to us than Him.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 16, no. 47, Nov. 14, 1990, p. 3]

OUR "SUBTLE ADJUSTMENTS" TO LIFE

I drive a 1994 Ford Explorer. It is a wonderful vehicle.

The thing that makes it special to me about any other car or truck I have ever owned is the way it came to be in my possession. Though it was exactly what I wanted, I didn't have to qualify for a loan to finance it and have never made a single payment on it. It was a gift from my church family at Woodmont Hills. It even has a name - Grace.

Because it came to me as a gift, I have felt a special sense of responsibility to take good care of it and to keep it clean. (My previous car got washed every six months, whether it needed it or not, and got new plugs at 70,000 miles!) The unique nature of the gift has made its upkeep a matter of joy rather than drudgery.

On a much smaller scale, it has to be something like the way Christians feel about our salvation. It is the ultimate gift of grace that was purchased for us by the blood of Christ. We contributed nothing whatever to it and know that it is in our possession by the goodwill and charity of God. And far from understanding God's grace as license to do whatever we please, we feel a keen sense of responsibility to honor and serve the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Our daily obedience is grounded in gratitude rather than uneasiness about our relationship with him.

So it surprised me the other day to find out something was wrong with Grace. My wife drove it and came back saying, "What's wrong with the front end on your truck? I had to fight for all I was worth just to keep it on the road!" My response was that nothing was wrong, and it was driving just fine when I was last behind the wheel.

We got in to give it a road test, and I felt both reassured and vindicated. It drove just as I had remembered. There was certainly no problem keeping it on the road. "But don't you feel it pulling to the right?" Myra asked. "Not at all!" was my reply.

"Then try turning the steering wheel loose on this straight stretch of road," she suggested. When I did, Grace practically dove for the shoulder of the road! But for a quick and strong-handed recovery, we could have wrecked on I-65!

The truck is driving as it should now, after a brief stop at a Firestone store. A defective tire was causing the problem. Because I drive Grace every day, I had simply made enough subtle adjustments to its increasing pull to the right that I wasn't even aware of a problem. It took someone who could be objective to spot it.

Isn't that the way life is for all of us? Adjusting one's standards to permit an occasional off-color story or white lie can create a person her Christian friends no longer recognize. Convincing oneself there is nothing wrong with a little office flirting may set one up to become an adulterer. Rationalizing a certain genre of literature or movies can erode character safeguards that once served a man well. Adopting shady-but-common business practices can wind up putting a once-decent person in jail.

It is wise to listen to the voice of conscience, the rebuke of the Word of God, or the loving counsel of a friend. Be honest. Check your life direction. Pray for the Lord to keep you spiritually sensitive.

Those "subtle adjustments" may have you headed for really serious trouble.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 1, Jan. 4, 1995, p.3]

FANATICISM

John Salvi is accused of murdering two persons and wounding five in attacks on two abortion clinics in Brookline, Massachusetts, Dec. 30, 1994. On Dec. 21, 1993, Paul Hill shot and killed a doctor and his bodyguard outside an abortion clinic in Pensacola, Florida.

Some anti-abortion activists have gone on record to declare Salvi a "hero" and to express the view that Hill will be a "martyr" if he is executed for what he did.

I strongly oppose abortion on demand and have no defense to offer for the very liberal attitudes and behaviors on abortion the characterize the United States. But neither can I defend Salvi, Hill, and their sympathizers. The notion that one has the right to oppose something he believes to be evil by any available means - including threats, violence, or murder - is a false and dangerous thesis.

Perhaps there is no class of people with so sordid a history in this regard than religious zealots. It was churchmen who forced Galileo to recant his theory that the earth revolved around the sun because it did not correspond to their interpretation of the Bible. The Inquisition was an extended period during which orthodoxy was maintained not by replying to "heretics" but by torturing and killing them.

The same tactic of trying to destroy people and projects by any available means has been used in our own fellowship. I was there as a young preacher when a group of men I had respected tried to destroy Lynn Anderson at an ambush in Memphis. I was a faculty member of a college when a group of visitors at lectureship defamed Batsell Barrett Baxter with an out-of-context and misrepresented quote.

We have an incredible tendency to yellow journalism. From attack-dog church bulletins to brotherhood-wide papers whose identity is bound up in denouncing persons, churches, and projects, they are encouraged by people who fund and read their venomous lines. And some pulpits are far more notable for their scathing disparagement of brothers than for their proclamation of the gospel.

It is inevitable that there will be disagreements over method among Christians. It is equally inevitable that there will be differences of understanding about biblical texts and doctrines. These disagreements need not be divisive for people who stand agreed in the orthodox core of the gospel. That is, people who believe in the saving work of Christ at the cross and who have been born anew in response to his gospel are called to be one church.

The oneness Jesus prayed for among his followers is neither organizational nor doctrinal. It is relational unity in Christ. People who understand this important truth will not malign, undermine, or assail one another. They will not promote division among believers. Against a sectarian spirit that believes one's understanding and practice is the only (or best) one that all must accept, people who live in relational unity treat sisters and brothers who have different beliefs with respect and civility.

Whether a personal, social, or religious protest, one must be cautious about the manner of making it. Battles engaged for the sake of what one holds to be the most virtuous of causes must not be fought with unprincipled methods or weapons.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 2, Jan. 11, 1995, p. 3]

WHO'LL WIN THE BIG GAME?

Whether you are a 49ers or Chargers fan, even if you are not a football fan, 87% of all the televisions in the United States this Sunday will be tuned to the greatest game of the football season, The Superbowl.

Someplace between the pre-pregame show and the kickoff, Deon's dance in the endzone or Natrone Means' dive for a touchdown, Steve Young's arms raised in triumph or Junior Seau's thirteen tackles, the cheerleaders and the Bud Bowl, the $1,000,000 per 30-second commercials and the announcer's overuse of "Well at least Buffalo is not playing this year" - somewhere in this maze you will see Endzone Man holding up his John 3:16 sign.

Maybe the glimpse of that Scripture citation will drive home the fact that each of us is playing his or her own Superbowl, the Game of Life. But isn't it comforting to know that, because of our faith in Jesus, we will win the game. Regardless of the odds. No matter the opposition. Believers win!

That's because God owns our team; it has been purchased with blood. He is the Front Office, the General Manager, and the Coach. For that matter, he is the quarterback, running back, and man in the trenches. We are simply his receivers.

God passed his grace to us, and now we are headed for the goal line. Due to our own self-centered desires, however, we may fumble somewhere along the route. Then the opposition, led by Satan, picks up the ball and seems to be taking away our chance for victory.

So we fall on the ground, pounding our fists into the artificial turf of the worldly ways that prompted us to sin. We head back for the sidelines in shame and disgrace. Then our Coach puts an arm around us and tells us that he still loves us.

Even though the home team - for we are not of this world - has outplayed us in a particular instance, God stands us on our feet again and puts us back on the field in his power. Running for the prize under his power, victory is guaranteed to his people. Even if it comes as the final seconds tick off the clock in the fourth quarter.

When our celebration begins in heaven, Jesus will be named the team's MVP. We'll celebrate at the pearly gates as if they were goalposts. Maybe we'll even get to take a cooler of Gatorade and...Well, let's not press this metaphor too far!

But do you get my point? Whether you watch this Sunday's game or not, the winner of life's Big Game had already been decided. It's you, Christian. Praise God!
[by Randy Wolcott from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 4, Jan 25, 1995, p. 3]

A DIFFERENT KIND OF RACE

Among its several metaphors for the Christian life, the New Testament likens it to a race. (Heb. 12:1).

While it would never occur to me to challenge heaven's choice of using this figure of speech, it does appear that we need to challenge the interpretation some have place on it. By the way some Christians live, one would think it is a competitive race in which our goal is to outdo one another to see who comes in first. Even the apostles had difficulty with competition to be the "best" or "greatest" within the group.

The truth of the matter is, however, that the race we are running is not a 100-yard dash or competition run. It is more like a marathon - without jostling for a first-place finish - in which the real issues are faithfulness and perseverance.

It is like the experience a few years back of Bill Broadhurst. He entered the Pepsi Challenge 10,000-meter road race in Omaha, Nebraska. His rather unique experience illustrates the common experience of believers in the Christian race.

Ten years before Bill's Omaha run, he underwent surgery for an aneurysm in his brain. The surgery left him partially paralyzed on the left side of his body. So, on a misty July morning in 1981, an impaired Bill Broadhurst stood with 1,200 agile runners at the starting line. The starter's gun sounded, and the crowd surged forward.

Bill threw his barely responsive left leg forward, pivoted on it as his right foot hit the pavement, and began his run. By the time he had taken only a few slow steps forward, the rest of the participants were pulling out of sight.

His slow plop-plop-plop rhythm almost seemed to mock him as the others ran off from him. Sweat rolled down his face. Pain pierced his ankle. But he kept moving. One foot awkwardly in front of the other, over and over again.

Six miles and two hours and twenty-nine minutes later, Bill Broadhurst reached the finish line that day. As he crossed it slowly but triumphantly, a man approached him from a small group of bystanders still hanging around. Bill recognized him from newspaper photographs as the world-class marathon runner Bill Rodgers.

"Here," said Rodgers, as he put his just-won medal for the days marathon around Bill's neck. "You've worked harder for this than I have."

The race you are running is like that one. Others may have speed and grace you don't. It may be harder for you than for some. You may trail the pack. Your pace may be painfully sluggish. Not to worry! All you need to do is stay on the course. Don't measure your pace by another's. Just stay on course. Persevere. Be faithful.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 5, Feb. 1, 1995, p. 3]

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