GOD'S WORKING HOURS: 9 TO 5

Some speak of "sacred" versus "secular" to make the distinction. Others make the distinction without using terms to label its parts. It is an unfortunate thing in either case and deserves to be rejected by Christians.

God is sovereign over all of life. If you are a Christian, everything in your experience should be thought of in terms of its relationship to him, how to honor him in it, and his will for it. Bible reading, sleeping, praying, vacationing, going to church, fixing a flat - everything in your life should be seen as a means to seek and do the will of God. (I Cor. 10:31).

Sociologist Robert Wuthnow says that the assumptions of a faith perspective and the day-to-day details of work life and personal finance are kept in such distinct compartments that a disservice is being done to people. As he sees it, people wanting to lead honorable financial lives need clear signposts to guide them. But they are not getting help from modern religion. He blames a failure of nerve among religious leaders for the present state of affairs.

"Work and money are too central to our lives to be divorced from the values and assumptions of our faith. We need the guidance and the moral strength to make hard decisions - about cutting back when we find our work stealing too much of our energy, about difficult ethical questions at work, about our consumer spending, and about ways to be of service to others." (God and Mammom in America, p. 9).

Here are five questions that deserve to be asked:
1. Why should you work at all? (Gen. 2:15; Exo. 20:9; II Thes. 3:10; I Tim. 5:8)
2. What is the point of making money? (Eph. 4:28; I Tim. 6:6-10)
3. How did your faith guide you in making a career choice? (Matt. 6:33)
4. How does your faith determine how you spend the money you make? (I Tim. 6:17-19)
5. What is your responsibility to the job you have today? (Eph. 6:5-9)

Each of these questions has an answer grounded in scripture that should come to mind quickly upon reading it. Some of them can be answered by a direct appeal to a Bible verse. How well did you do with them?

God works the 9-5 shift, as well as Sunday mornings, devotionals, and prayer times. To Christians, he is the always-present, always-supreme, always-defining Lord of life. So what happens at work is as important to him as what happens in church assemblies.

Our world has suffered a profound loss of meaning by isolating God from the daily routine. Have you fallen into the trap?
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 6, Feb. 8, 1995, p. 3]

BEWARE OF OVERCONFIDENCE

Almost one year to the day that a devastating earthquake struck the West Coast of the United States and collapsed buildings and expressways, one with a magnitude of 7.2 hit western Japan. Kobe, a city of 1.4 million souls, suffered major damage.

The sixth-largest city of Japan lost power and telephone service. Hundreds of buildings literally toppled, and approximately 3,000 were ruined. Trains were knocked off their tracks, and several elevated highways collapsed. Thirty-six hours after the ground shook violently for 20 seconds, fires were still burning across the city. Thousands of people died in the disaster.

One of the major casualties of the disaster was Japan's confidence that its quake-resistant architecture could survive what American engineering could not. Following last year's damage to Los Angeles and San Francisco, for example, that nation's experts expressed their certainty that buildings and roadways there would stand up to the most serious earth movements.

"We used to believe that Japanese roads and houses were built well so what had happened in California won't happen here." said Suminao Murakami, a Yokohama National University Professor. "That was wrong."

The sad experience at Kobe reminds me of a Bible story involving Simon Peter. Talk about an example of overconfidence! When Jesus predicted that the apostles would all fall away in the impending crisis of his arrest and death, Peter arrogantly said...(Matt. 26:33). You know how that story ended, don't you?

Every disciple must be on guard against the notion that "It could never happen to me!" Really? Do you think Satan is that powerless against your great spiritual strength? Do you think your feet have no clay in them? Do you think your Christian friends who have fallen got up one morning with the intention to betray the Lord?

One of my Christian friends from Woodmont Hills was weighting a move from Nashville back to her hometown. She hadn't been a Christian when she lived there before and was afraid that going back to the old place and being near the old friends would undermine her new life in Christ. She said, "I'm scared." My response was to say, "I'd be much more worried about you if you weren't scared. Your fear is a healthy sign that your heart is pure enough to handle the old environment - and to be a faithful witness to Christ in it!"

Be confident of the Lord's faithfulness, but be careful of overconfidence in self.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 7, Feb. 15, 1995, p. 3]

THE PEACE CHILD

When the gospel is communicated from culture to culture, appropriate words and metaphors must be found. Saying that the blood of Jesus "cleanses white as snow" may communicate with you - but not with someone in a tropical region. The same sort of sensitivity with language must always be kept in mind in translating and teaching the Word of God.

Occasionally one enters a culture only to find a key concept that carries the message of Christ beautifully and powerfully. In his book Peace Child, Don Richardson tells of such a discovery he and his missionary team made.

Working among the Sawi people of Iraian Jaya, they were patiently searching for a culture-appropriate way to tell the story of Jesus. They spent many months in prayer and research. Then the Lord gave them the answer they had been seeking.

Richardson learned that all demonstrations of kindness among the Sawi were regarded with suspicion - with one notable exception. If a father gave his own son to an enemy, his deed of ultimate sacrifice was deemed proof that he could be trusted completely. Furthermore, anyone who ever touched that child was therefore held to be at peace with his father.

What a powerful picture of the central event of the divine drama. With their knowledge of the "peace child" and his significance to the Sawi, Richardson proceeded to explain the gospel against that background.

God the Father delivered his beloved Son to us while we were still living as rebels, sinners, and enemies. What an absolutely breathtaking act! It is an act of sacrifice that cannot be explained on the basis of obligation. It is sheer grace. How can we doubt the sincerity of such a love?

And everyone touched by the Son is at peace with his Father forever. It is not in his heart to reject anyone who has been accepted by the Son. Anyone whose name the Son confesses before his Father will be accepted for his sake. How could anything be simpler or clearer?

(Rom. 5:10-11).
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 8, Feb. 22, 1995, p. 3]

TEENS MORE HONEST THAN ADULTS?

There is good evidence that teens are considerably more honest than adults. Well, perhaps that statement needs some qualification. It would be more precise to put it this way: there is convincing evidence that some teens are considerably more honest than the adults who have published committee reports exonerating media for undermining the moral behavior of young people.

Seven hundred and fifty young people between age 10 and 16 responded to a poll done by Children Now. They gave their reaction to TV's influence on their behavior and that of their peers. Here are a few of the findings...

* Eight of 10 say they see too much sex among unmarried TV characters; 3 in 5 say this media portrayal encourages kids to begin having sexual experience.
* Two of every 3 say shows like The Simpsons and Married...with Children encourage kids to show disrespect to their parents.
* Four of 5 say television has a responsibility to teach young people right from wrong.

The report of this data in USA Today included this statement: "ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox Network all declined to comment." Of course they did. For they have promoted the line for years that TV "fantasy" does not have significant impact on the behavior of young people. And they have buttressed their claim by means of reports generated by adult "experts."

"Adults may not realize that if they see it on TV," said a 13-year-old boy, "kids probably think it's OK to do."

Are teens really so much smarter than adults? Or are they just more honest?

Perhaps the reason this report caught my eye is explainable in terms of a radio ad I heard on the morning it was published. While I was shaving, WSIX ran a commercial for that day's Ricki Lake Show. It invited viewers to tune in to witness people who would offer their virginity to certain "special persons" they had selected.

That's right. That was the radio commercial for Monday's TV offering! People were being asked to participate in what one U.S. Senator has termed "defining deviancy down." The phrase refers to a practice of encouraging people to accept behavior that once would have been frowned on and rejected within the culture.

The president of the advocacy group that sponsored the survey said, "The kids are saying, 'Hey, this is influencing us, and some of it is very bad.' We need to listen."

He's right. And since Ricki Lake, Geraldo, et.al. couldn't care less about you and your kids - so long as their ratings are boosted - it will be your personal responsibility to exercise responsible discernment.

Listen to the kids. They are telling you an honest truth that adults have refused to face.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 9, Mar. 1, 1995, p. 3]

BLUNDERS CAN HAVE GREAT VALUE

The March 13 issue of Coin World carries exciting news for coin collectors. The Philadelphia mint struck a number of 1995 pennies with a faulty die. What's so exciting about a boo-boo at the mint? It makes those coins with the out-of-focus words "Liberty" and "In God" valuable items for collectors.

Early estimates are that the penny could be worth somewhere between $175 and $225. That amounts to quite a return on a paltry one-cent investment!

The story that has excited numismatists everywhere made me think of the way God views you and me. Things as petty as a bad-hair day make some of us turn on ourselves in harsh judgment. Then there are the really serious problems that come as cancer, a child's death, or bankruptcy. For others, they come as a jail sentence, a divorce, or a homosexual lifestyle.

The hard thing is getting anyone to see these flaws and failings as having positive value in a life. How can pain bring a reward? How can embarrassment be good? How can doing something outside the will of God have a positive outcome?

One of the most spiritual and committed Christians I know will tell you in a heartbeat that he owes it all to alcoholism! When he first threw that account of things at me, I must have gone pale. So he explained how it was hitting bottom on account of the bottle that got his attention, broke through his barrier of lies, and forced him to seek God. Now that makes sense, doesn't it?

* If you have ever had your heart broken, you can never laugh at another person's pain.
* If you have failed miserably at something that was incredibly important to you, you can never be happy over a disaster in someone else's life.
* If you have ever been wrong about anything, you realize you have no right to gloat about an error you see in someone else's theology.
* If you have ever taken your personal sin seriously, you will find it impossible to be arrogant and judgmental about another's transgression of God's will.
* And if you have received and been grateful for God's grace, you will learn to be gracious with the people around you.

There's a key ingredient in all this, of course. Since not every life crisis has a positive outcome, it must be that only those persons who react in faith witness a happy ending to what started as a near-certain disaster. Otherwise there is only grief, bitterness, and anger. Surrendering all to the Lord is the only way to transform lead into gold, pain into joy, and defeat into victory.

Your most glaring flaw is God's most likely opportunity for your redemption.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 10, Mar. 8, 1995, p. 3]

HE'S BA-A-A-ACK!

The speculation has been wild about the possibility of his return. Some had said from the start he would be back. Others said, "No way!" Since the day he announced his retirement from the public eye, though, everyone had speculated about it.

Some pointed back to the feats he had accomplished the first time. Could he live up to those? Had memory enlarged them and made them larger than life? Had memory made him larger than life to some of his most devoted fans?

He had come from humble beginnings. Who would have thought that someone from a town with such a poor reputation would ever be in the spotlight of constant public attention? No one else in his immediate family had accomplished very much, so the expectations for him were minimal.

There was the racism he had to deal with all his life. From the time of his youth, the fact that his distinctive ethnic features set him apart from the "establishment" meant that he could have been inclined to a poor self-image. But he overcame all that.

His mother was incredibly strong. Devoted as she was to her son, it hurt her when he came up against prejudice or other barriers to his development. It particularly bothered her that his own brothers and sisters were skeptical of his dream.

But it was his relationship with his father that was most formative. No one heard him talk for long without picking up on his deep love for him. He said more than once that his ultimate life ambition was to please his father and make him proud. This was clearly the defining relationship of his life.

Why would he want to come back? Clearly he has nothing left to prove about himself and his abilities. He doesn't need attention and sometimes appeared to be bothered by it before.

Do you think his return could bring a championship to his team this late in what has been a so-so season? Can any one person make that much difference in the way things wind up for the whole group? Absolutely! There's no doubt of it.

When the trumpet sounds to herald the appearance of Jesus Christ, the lowly Nazarene who did such wondrous things during his coming 2,000 years ago will be seen in his royal glory. The one born of a virgin but defined by his love for the Heavenly Father will come back to his own and bring a victor's crown for every member of his team. The church's so-so history will end in radiant triumph!

What? You started reading this and thought it was about Michael Jordan? Well, that's a great sports' story all right, but it means nothing against that day when every eye will turn heavenward and we exclaim together, "He's ba-a-a-ack!"
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 12, Mar. 22, 1995, p. 3]

JESUS LOVES DOGS BEST

No offense to the cat-lovers who read this, but something came to me the other day. I was elbow deep in saliva and dog hair from wrestling with my dog Bear that day - smelling like a homeless person from lower Broadway - and it dawned on me that if Jesus had to choose between dogs and cats he'd choose dogs every time. At least if he was giving his disciples a parable on how to love, he would.

How many of you ever had a cat run to the door when you got home from a hard day's work? Jumping up and down to greet you, wanting nothing more than to spend time with you? Calling your name in their own version of speaking in tongues? You're more likely get a response from your can when it wants something. Remind you of anyone you know?

The commercial for Sheba advertises that it is the choice of extra-finicky eaters. The little cat actress snubs her nose at common cat food, requiring a more sophisticated morsel to satisfy her palate. After all, she is the center of attention and deserves only the best, the priciest, the worldliest.

Meanwhile Duke or Spot or Buster is happy if you just remember to feed him anything. It's the old joke that you can call me Spike, you can call me Daisy, or you can call me Hey Dog, just don't forget to call me to dinner. Dogs more nearly remind us that Jesus told us to ask for daily bread, not a French croissant with fresh blueberry jam.

And another thing! Cats spend all day in the window sunning themselves, licking their fur, dreaming of ways to satisfy their own needs. A dog waits at the gate for you to show up and enjoys nothing more than showing its love for you with a little yelp. It's as if he has spent his whole day thinking "Oh, boy! I can't wait for mommy to get home!"

So please don't get me wrong. I don't have anything against cats - at least, not a lot. But I just know that I need to love Jesus the way a puppy loves its master. Unconditional love. Loving to spend time with him. Excited just to be near him.

Pray to him. Read about him. Study him. Share the fellowship of others with him. Let people know how much he means to you. You can even serve others in his name, although you might end up smelling like a homeless person from lower Broad yourself.
[by Randy Wolcott from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 13, Mar. 29, 1995, p. 3]

UP WITH FAMILIES!

As we move toward Sunday's New Arrivals Day, perhaps it is a good time to affirm again the importance of the family. We not only dedicate 41 babies to the Lord, but we also commit their families to him.

Just last week the Council on Families in America, a volunteer panel of scholars and policy analysts, weighted in with a heavy pro-marriage, pro-parenthood message. Marriage in America: A Report to the Nation was released Friday. It contains some encouraging news about families, reflects a major societal shift on marriage, and issues some relevant challenges.

The encouraging news is that today's generation of parents is putting more positive emphasis on family than their parents did. Paul Popenoe, a sociologist at Rutgers University says, "The baby boomers are in their 40s, with kids. They are turning conservative, pro-family; this is a real turnaround."

The major societal shift is that institutions serving families have turned away from a laissez-faire or sometimes even hostile attitude toward marriage. A divorce attorney who heads the family law division of the American Bar Association has started an anti-divorce project called Partners. Best-selling author and therapist Michele Weinter-Davis has coined the term "divorce busting" in a book arguing that divorce is not the answer to marriage problems. And marriage therapists generally are much slower now to encourage divorce, for they have seen the problems its creates - especially for children; more have a commitment to saving troubled marriages.

The challenges contained in the report are very positive. It asks the entertainment industry to stop glamorizing sexual promiscuity, single parenthood, and marital infidelity. It encourages employers to stop uprooting and relocating so many families and to offer more parental leave and opportunities to work at home. It rebukes liberal religious leaders for equating "committed relationships" with marriage and urges that marriage-with-children be promoted as a social good and not simply as an "alternative lifestyle."

It's nice to know that social research is creating more allies for families. God has been on their side all along.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 14, April 5, 1995, p. 3]

NO ASHES

How do I describe the moment when I witnessed the scene of watching the ashes of my father's body be thrown across the waters of Bear Creek lake?

I spoke to my family before this moment and reminded them that the Word of God states clearly that we came from dust and that these bodies would return to dust, but this was not spoken of the soul. I will never forget seeing the ashes thrown to the wind and settling on the waters near "Taylor's pasture" - the name of my Dad's favorite fishing place. The family then scattered rose petals on the waters, and we watched in silence as the wind rippled the waves and the ashes sank to the bottom of the lake.

It was a radiant morning, and the sting of death had been ripped away and hope of a grand reunion was planted deep in the heart of each family member. God's creation declared His inexpressible and unfailing love. The words of Jesus rang out with power and authority that whoever believes in Him will never die. The things that are unseen are the real, and what we see is only the temporal.

Because of the promise I believe, there is one scene that I know I will never have to witness: I will never have to witness the ashes of God thrown upon the waters! My Heavenly Father who came to my Daddy as he lay in God's waiting room making preparation to enter through the valley of the shadow of death sealed His promise with the precious blood of His dear son. "Because my Son is raised, you will be raised. Because my Son lives, you will live never to die again."

It was good for me, my family, and the friends of my Dad to experience this past weekend as a celebration of the life journey my Dad was on, and how God sealed his victory through faith in His only resurrected Son. I just needed to write it down and witness to the hope and joy we share in a Grand Reunion to come.

Thank you to all of you who held us up in your prayers through this last month. We felt the full impact of your love and concern. Thank you, Father, for your angels who ministered and continue to minister to those who continue to call upon you. Thank you Holy Spirit for your gentle presence and power. Thank you Christ Jesus for the authority you demonstrated in rising from the dead and taking the sting out of death and sealing an inexpressible hope in those who believe.
[by Terry Smith from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 15, April 12, 1995, p. 3]

BO KNOWS FATHERHOOD

Bo Jackson was once the most famous two-sports star among all professional athletes. After his Heisman Trophy career at Auburn, he was the Number One pick in the NFL draft - only to go play baseball for Kansas City. The next season, he signed with the Los Angeles Raiders to play football as an offseason hobby.

A powerful and gifted athlete, he was popular with fans of both sports. But the thing that made him a star was the famous advertising phrase "Bo knows." A football injury in 1991 required hip-replacement surgery, and the widespread assumption was that his career as an athlete was finished. The determined young man returned to baseball with the White Sox and Angels.

On April 3, 1995, Bo Jackson announced his decision to retire. It wasn't that his body wouldn't respond anymore or that clubs weren't interested in his services. Something happened at home.

During the strike that turned some of us lifelong baseball fans into disinterested bystanders, Jackson spent more than the usual time with his family. "His pleasure at being at home with his wife and three children grew faster," wrote Ben Brown in USA Today, "than his frustration at not being on an athletic field." As the strike was about to end, he left home to get in shape in Phoenix.

As Jackson recounted it, six-year-old Nicholas "asked his mother why his daddy wasn't home to play with him." When he still couldn't understand, the little boy pressed his case. "He wanted to know if I had some other family I went to when I was away," said Bo. "And then he started crying. If that isn't enough for any man to make up his mind, then he isn't a man, and he isn't a father."

Dads and Moms have to make some tough decisions about work, moving, and use of time. As you make those decisions in your family, you likely can't decide to quit your job and stay home with your children. That isn't the point. But as you make your decisions that affect your children, you can weigh their impact on them prayerfully.

Please don't force your child to grow up in a single-parent home. And here I am not thinking just of marriages that could end in divorce but of many that stay together on paper only to be separated in fact.

Personal attention by parents to their children creates a healthy sense of self-worth for them. While parents - especially fathers - excuse themselves their neglect by thinking there will be "more time for them later," children grow up without a sense of being highly valued and loved. Talk to them. Listen to them. Be with them.

Reach out and touch them. They deserve a break today. Just do it. Bo knows how important it is - and so do you.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 16, April 19, 1995, p. 3]

A PRAYER FOR OKLAHOMA CITY

Holy Father in Heaven,

We continue to be shocked and horrified at the depths of human sin and depravity. We grieve over the horrible inhumanities that our race is capable of thinking up and carrying out. Thus we lament the carnage in Oklahoma City.

We pray for the families who have been touched most directly. For those who had family members and friends killed in that office building, we plead for your healing mercies to touch their broken hearts. Though every one of those lives was precious, we particularly ask that you bless the parents who lost infants and small children.

Thank you for the men and women who rushed to the sight of the bombing to help others. Not only are we grateful for professionals such as firemen and policemen, emergency technicians and bomb squads, doctors and nurses, but we also thank you for stunned men and women who acted instinctively to put themselves at risk trying to help their neighbors. You have made us in your image and likeness, and tragic situations such as these expose good as well as evil.

Bless government officials, counselors, and spiritual leaders who will try to help people involved in the Oklahoma City tragedy to cope with their nightmarish experience and to move on with their lives. Again, we especially ask that you bless parents who are trying to make frightened children feel secure.

Father, we pray for the capture of the people responsible for what happened. We pray they will be caught and kept from the possibility of ever doing such a vile and despicable thing again. We further pray that the horror of this event will curtail the growth of hate groups and their ability to draw angry, impressionable young people into their ranks.

Above all else, Holy Father, we pray for revival in this land. We pray that your people will rise up not only with compassion toward victims but with a renewed commitment to sharing the gospel with men and women throughout our country and into all the world. We know that the cure for hatred is not more laws and swifter punishment but cleansing by the blood of Christ and filling by your Holy Spirit. We specifically pray for the perpetrators of this terrible evil to repent of their actions, to turn to Christ, and to renounce what they have done.

Our security, our hope, our comfort - all are in you. So we commit ourselves to you in faith and ask that you hear this prayer in the blessed name of Jesus. Amen.
[from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 17, Apr. 26, 1995, p. 3]

A COMMON BOND

Last Saturday morning, about 40,000 people marched through the streets of downtown Nashville. Moving along Deaderick, the group eventually wound up on the knoll behind the Tennessee Supreme Court building, near Eighth and Charlotte. There were approximately 5,000 more in this year's March for Jesus than in the 1994 gathering.

Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that what was happening in Nashville was happening in 600 American cities and in 70 other countries. Organizers expected something between six and eight million participants worldwide.

It was my first time to participate, although many people from Woodmont Hills are regulars now. Some of the people there had expressed reservations about "hokeyness" they feared might be part of the day. But it was simply a great morning of singing and smiling, praying and parading.

Myra and I walked the early part of the route with a young father who had three children there. (His pregnant wife wasn't quite up to the walk - and was taking care of their three others!) It was hard to tell who was having more fun, the Dad or the kids. They clapped their hands in time to the music and alternately walked and rode in a Radio Flyer wagon their father wisely brought along.

Who was in the crowd? There were senior citizens as well as children. We saw people from any ethnic backgrounds. There were Catholics and charismatics, celebrities and common folk. Some raised hands, and others didn't. Most clapped in time to the music. Everyone seemed to be smiling.

What was accomplished? Well, poverty wasn't eliminated. The city wasn't evangelized. And Nashville's crime problem wasn't resolved. All that admitted, however, something very positive did happen. Let me see if I can put it in words...

Occasionally something happens in America that pulls Republicans, Democrats, and Independents together. It may be a crisis or simply a July 4 celebration. But left- and right-wingers, establishment insiders and radical protesters, young and old - all come together for a time. They rally against a common enemy. They sacrifice for the common good. They salute the same flag.

Something of that happens on March for Jesus days. People who have their distinctive interpretations and different traditions come together for a time. Sprinklers and immersers, premillennials and amillennials, King Jamesers and Cotton Patchers - all bear witness to the truth that Jesus Christ is Lord.

It doesn't eliminate denominational walls, resolve doctrinal disputes, or achieve all the Lord had in mind when he prayed for the unity of those who believe on him. But it doesn't drive wedges any deeper either. It exposes people of goodwill within one tradition to others of their sort in another tradition. It establishes bridges of respect and communication. And these are worthwhile achievements!
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 22, May 31, 1995, p. 3]

WHO LOVES THE UGLY BABIES?

Two psychologists have just completed a study that suggests some babies have a difficult time being accepted - even by their own parents. One newspaper headline about the study put it this way: "Ugly babies get less love from moms."

The researchers asked 40 people to judge the attractiveness of 144 newborns from photographs. Then they observed how the infants' mothers interacted with those babies at the hospital and three months later at home. The results were disturbing, to say the least.

The mothers who had babies judged "handsome" by the panel paid them more attention. The moms with less attractive children took more notice of the infants surrounding theirs and were less affectionate with their own offspring.

Furthermore, homelier babies were regarded as more of a hindrance in their parents' lives.

Perhaps some comfort can be taken in the fact that three months after the births, the mothers were as affectionate with less attractive girls as with pretty ones. The bad news on this score is that homely boys continued to get less affectionate care.

What's going on here? If this study is correct, we may have a preliminary indicator about why some children are more likely to get in trouble than others. Children reason that even negative attention (i.e., shouting, spanking, etc.) is preferable to being ignored.

And what's going in the heads of the parents? Are babies worth loving only if they are cute, pick up tricks quickly, and ultimately show they are smart? If so, they are being judged by the same standards as puppies and kittens. But our children are our own flesh and blood! They are worth loving for no other reason than that.

Abortion "cures the problem" for some parents who don't want their lives inconvenienced. Other children will be tolerated along a scale that ranges from "abuse" on one end to "neglect" on the other. And what about the infant with a cleft palette, club foot, or Down's Syndrome? Shall we assume they are not worth loving?

How grateful I am to be God's child! He doesn't love just the performing and productive babies in his family. He loves those of us who have prominent spiritual deformities, ugly scars, and personality defects.

God loves even the ugly babies in his nursery. Hallelujah! And what a relief.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 21, May 24, 1995, p. 3]

WORDS REALLY DO MATTER

In the aftermath of an evil act of violence on April 19, 1995, in Oklahoma City, America has been embroiled in a national debate about the power of words. Do they really shape attitudes and change behavior? Are they capable of altering us? Should there be any limitations on what people can say in a free society?

It has been a curious thing to hear what President Clinton and others have had to say about what has been dubbed "hate speech." Rush Limbaugh has been upbraided for his tirades against government. G. Gordon Liddy has been quoted thousands of times for his infamous 1994 radio declaration: "Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents - don't shoot at their vests, shoot at their heads! Kill them!" Oliver North has defended himself before news cameras for several things attributed to his radio program.

I have no excuse to make for anyone who uses radio to make false, inflammatory, or hate-mongering statements. Racist language, sexist speech, insulting caricatures, defamatory innuendo - all these evil uses of the wonderful gift of verbal communication are deplorable. Whether on radio, in print, or from pulpits, words should be used that affirm what is true in a spirit that is wholesome.

What people say really does matter. The Bible says: "By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell" (James 3:6, The Message).

The irony of much that is being said in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing is that it is being said by people who have winked and turned the other way for years about other misuses of language in this culture. What of the graphically violent language about women in Gangstra Rap Music? What of the violence in movies like Natural Born Killers and Pulp Fiction? What of the exploitation of sex both in hard-core pornography and on such TV programs as NYPD Blue?

Are we really expected to believe that right-wing radio is dangerous but that Hollywood's gratuitous violence and explicit sexual content is harmless? Media moguls have defended their obscene films, racy magazines, and on-line filth with studies claiming to show that they actually play a positive role in society. They allege that these forms of sex, violence, and exploitation "sublimate" negative urges and keep them from being acted out in real life! So why shouldn't we be grateful for hate speech's ability to siphon off aggressive behavior and reduce violence in the real world?

Consistency would be a wonderful thing here. But don't expect it anytime soon. Words matter. Regardless of the medium being used to carry them, they either build up or tear down.

God's words were powerful enough to hurl the stars into space. And our own are powerful enough to create hatred and violence. Maybe it's time we paid more attention to them.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 20, May 17, 1995, p. 3]

BUILDING FOR GOD'S FAMILY
It is the theme that has been chosen for the project that has been launched at Woodmont Hills. It is not about bricks and mortar, but about reaching the goals God has put before this church. It is about a vision of who and what we are.

This church exists to glorify God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are the objects of our worship and desire. We want to be known as a worshiping church that delights in praising our God. We celebrate him as Creator, Savior, and Sovereign.

We are meant to share Jesus through our lives and words. No, we do not exist for ourselves. The knowledge we have of Jesus - limited and imperfect as it is - is such Good News that we cannot keep it to ourselves. By imitating his grace, compassion, and holiness, we try to gain credibility for speaking the message of redemption to others.

The church is committed to encouraging individuals to grow in Jesus. We strive to be a nurturing community for everyone who is a member here. Thus we teach the Word of God and challenge each other to its understanding and obedience. As we are obedient to what we know today, God will provide greater opportunities and challenges for tomorrow.

This church inspires a sense of belonging by sharing joys and burdens. It is a safe place for people to be honest about their hurts. It is also a place where one can rejoice without the fear of another's envy. Our task is only to love and accept one another; it is God's task to save and transform each of us.

The church reaches out with loving support to people in need. No church can be faithful to Christ without learning the meaning of love for people in need. Some needs are physical - shelter, clothing, food, or medicine. Others are emotional - comfort, encouragement, understanding, and challenging. The ultimate need of everyone is spiritual - to know Christ as Savior and Lord.

A church building provides a central "base of operation" for all your family's activity. This is where we will eat the food of God's Word, bathe our daily failures in God's grace, and revive our tired spirits with the healing events of worship and fellowship. It is where we will stock our pantry and fill our closets for sharing with people who are hungry or cold. It is where we will pray, sing, and celebrate.

We are not building a house so much as we are allowing God to build us into his family. It is an exciting time to be alive, to be here, and to be open to him.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 27, July 5, 1995, p. 3]

CHOOSING ADDITIONAL SHEPHERDS [elders]

For the functional life of the church, God has given the responsibility to various persons to serve it in a variety of leadership roles (Eph. 4:12). All these leaders work together (Eph. 4:12-13).

There are three general qualifications for everyone who leads in the life of the church that were pointed out very early in the Christian era. When the Jerusalem church was told by the apostles to select men to oversee the care of widows in that church, they were selected on the basis of three qualities (Acts 6:3). These same traits must be the basis for choosing church leadership in every generation.

(1) Church leaders must be "full of the Spirit." The Holy Spirit is given to every Christian at baptism. The remainder of one's Christian life is learning to depend less on self and more on him. The achievement of that goal is measured by the fruit of the spirit in one's character (Gal. 5:22-23), particularly in a profound love for other believers.
(2) They must be "full of...wisdom.'" Wisdom is the gift of being able to apply the truth of scripture to difficult life situations. It is a level of spiritual maturity that shows itself in responsible decision making. It is a manifest ability to discern the will of God in times of challenge - whether threat or opportunity.
(3) Leaders must also be "known" for such qualities. That is, as translated in the New King James Version, they must be persons "of good reputation." Without being pushy or drawing attention to themselves, they must be persons of salt and light whose behavior leads others to know Christ more perfectly.

Each of us would do well to ask where he or she is on this three-point test of leaders God is seeking. Since we will soon submit names of men to be considered as additional shepherds, please focus your prayers on asking God's guidance in this important matter. He will give his wisdom generously.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 29, July 19, 1995, p. 3]

IT DEFIES EXPLANATION!

There is an axiom in math that a sum cannot be greater than its parts. While I don't want to argue with it as a principle of mathematics, I know it doesn't hold in relationships.

I have been in too many groups - some large, some small - where things happened that were beyond the combined powers of the persons present. Cowards have become bold. Liars have become truthful. Defeated and dispirited people came alive and found a reason to live.

Something happens in the context of interaction with other human beings that simply cannot happen when people remove themselves from one another. And that is the concern I want you to think about for a moment.

The White House is now located on a street closed to automobile traffic. We are putting up walls, gates, and guards everywhere - to protect us from one another. We stay inside, watch television, and flinch at answering the phone.

Yes, I know about terrorism at the World Trade Center. I am painfully aware of the bombing in Oklahoma City. And I have locks on my doors. There are reasonable precautions any thinking human being will take to protect herself from harm or his property from theft. But some precautions are unreasonable.

To be so cautious (as the man was in the fast-food place today) that "Hello!" startles and unnerves is unreasonable. To be so frightened (as the woman was at the hospital a couple of weeks ago) that one cannot get on an elevator when it opens to reveal a man already inside is preposterous. To be so predisposed against people of other races (as a man admitted to being on I-65 recently) that he would not accept help from someone of a different color is indefensible.

A scientific study was released earlier this year showing that people without social and emotional support are more than twice as likely to die following a heart attack as people with caring friends. A study of 194 men and women revealed that six months after having a heart attack, 53% with no social and emotional support were dead, 36% who had one source of support had died, and only 23% with two or more sources of support had died.

Our culture is losing its sense of civility and community. Too many of us are pulling back into shells of isolation. We are losing the capacity to care for one another. God didn't make us to live that way.

It may not fit a mathematical equation, and it defies explanation in words. Yet it is a reality. And Christ's church is the one group above all others that must live the reality of community and model it to others.

It is a distinctive feature of faith that people need to see - and share.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 30, July 26, 1995, p. 3]

"OPEN YOUR EYES!"

The words of the title are from Jesus. They were meant to be exactly what they should sound like when they come from your mouth. A rebuke. A criticism. Perhaps even a signal of irritation.

The larger setting for them is the periscope in John's Gospel which tells of a conversation between Jesus and a Samaritan woman beside Jacob's well. Jesus was resting beside the well while his disciples had gone about half a mile away. As he waited for their return, a woman of Samaria came to draw water from the well.

Jesus startled her by asking, "Will you give me a drink?" (John 4:7). Hostility between Jews and Samaritans were back almost a thousand years. He startled her even more by dropping a hint about "living water" which, if drunk, would take away thirst forever and by telling this woman he had never met before about her past life. With a not-so-subtle approach, he said...(John 4:18). He revealed himself as the long-awaited Messiah.

At that point, the disciples returned from the city. Assuming their return marked the end of her conversation with Jesus, the woman left her water jar and ran to Sychar and pleaded...(John 4:29).

Ready now to eat, the disciples offered Jesus some of the food they had just purchased. When he replied...(John 4:32), they were as slow to grasp the meaning of his "food" as the woman had been earlier when he spoke to her about "living water."

It was then that Jesus said...(John 4:34-35).

The disciples had just been to Sychar and had apparently invited no one there to come meet Jesus. They had met the Samaritan woman going into the town as they came out and said nothing to her. Had they ASSUMED Samaritans were no part of the harvest God wanted? Were they so wrapped up in the mundane quest for groceries that they had forgotten that men do not live by bread alone?

Soon the woman returned with a host of townspeople. (John 4:39).

In an early commentary on Tatian's Harmony of the Gospels, Ephraem the Syrian said: "Jesus came to the fountain as a hunter....He threw a grain before one pigeon that he might catch the whole flock....At the beginning of the conversation he did not make himself known to her, but first she caught sight of a thirsty man, then a Jew, then a Rabbi, afterwards a prophet, last of all the Messiah. She tried to get the better of the thirsty man, she showed dislike of the Jew, she heckled the Rabbi, she was swept off her feet by the prophet, and she adored the Christ." Yes, all that. And she was the unlikely agent of God that day for leading many others to faith.

Why was she God's instrument that day? Because the disciples couldn't be. Refused to be. Were too blind to be. They were distracted by prejudice and preoccupation with routine.

Are things any different today? Don't the prejudices of present-day disciples keep us out of certain parts of the world - or of the city? Doesn't the everyday routine absorb us so fully that we often forget to offer "living water" to thirsty people we meet and thus fail to nourish our own souls with the "food" which is doing God's will in the world and finishing his work?

You are probably going to meet someone today under the most unlikely of circumstances who will need to drink from the holy fountain. You will have the opportunity to be God's instrument for point someone to life.

Open your eyes!
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 39, Sept. 27, 1995, p. 3]

THAT HOMELESS STAIN

Approaching the Cathedral on my way to a wedding, I noticed a homeless person at the entrance sitting on the steps. He looked at me and said, "Do you have enough money..." - the rest he mumbled, and I didn't understand.

As I looked at him, my heart sank. He was dirty. No, not dirty - he was filthy, and I felt a big empty pain go down inside me. His body was dirty, not dirt you could wash off in a bathtub; it was crusted. And his clothes were ragged and greasy.

As I looked at him, he dropped his head and seemed to be ashamed or intimidated. I wanted to tell him not to be embarrassed; the embarrassment belongs to me.

The thoughts that ran through my mind were many. I thought of giving him money, but what little I had could not help him. I considered taking him to a restaurant and feeding him but wondered if his stomach was so conditioned to alcohol that it would not tolerate food, and he would be repulsed by it.

I felt frustrated and helplessness in my inability, and lack of knowledge of what to do for him. I passed by him and went on into the church.

The wedding pictures were being taken of the beautiful party at the altar, and yet I could not get this man on the steps out of my mind. I felt shame that I sat inside the church in my nice clean dress and this man sat outside in his rags.

I felt pity, but I also felt shame that I could do nothing for him and that a society exists in a way that a human being can go to this extreme depth and no one notices. I felt ashamed that I was part of a society that would allow this to happen to another human being.

I sat there and, instead of seeing the bridal party at the altar, I could see that man's empty, hollow eyes and a soul of despair. I cried out of compassion for him. I also cried out of anger at myself and toward all the people who have roofs over their heads and bread on their tables.

I also cried out of anger over the greed that those who have plenty only want more while he has nothing. That man is everybody's brother. I felt a responsibility to that man. I felt everybody's responsibility to him.

Leaving the church, I expected to find him still there, but he was gone. I felt a profound loss. I stood there, oblivious to those around me, wondering where he might be. Recalling the expressionless look of death in his face, I knew it was not he who chose his destination but something beyond his capability. And I knew that without someone's help, he surely would physically die.

It angered me that people walked by him as though he had always been there or was supposed to be there. And, had I taken him to a restaurant or hospital, he would not have been fed nor given physical comfort, because compassion carries a price tag.

I wondered what tragic turn of events brought this man to such a state of existence. And I wondered why his pain, his life was considered any less important than others.

Driving home, I thought of how on Thanksgiving and Christmas, we will rally around, everyone chip in food and place it before this hungry, destitute man. Then, with a clear conscience, we will enjoy our exchange of Christmas gifts. While we continue the celebration, he will go back under his bridge, to his alley or his cardboard box.

Two brief days out of 365, we bend down and toss a crumb to that desperate man. Somehow, this does not make my Thanksgiving any more thankful, nor my Christmas any more real.
[by Evelyn Tagliente from The Tennessean, Oct. 10, 1990 via Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 40, Oct. 4, 1995, p. 3]

WHAT TO DO ABOUT CHANGE

My wife's favorite comic strip is Calvin and Hobbs. In a recent one, the bratty kid is barreling down a hillside in his wagon. Turning to his stuffed tiger, he says, "Nothing is permanent. Everything changes. That's the one thing we know for sure in this world." Then, in the next frame, he adds, "But I'm still going to gripe about it."

That might well be offered as the sentiment of most people about our fast-paced world. And it surely seems to sum up the attitude of many people in my spiritual heritage.

Musical styles, architecture, vocabulary, communications media - all are changing at a dizzying pace. With the natural (and understandable) desire we all have for stability in life, we have a built-in resistance to these changes. We insist on the security of something unchanging. We especially want to find that security in personal spiritual life and in the church.

Some of us have dug in our heels on the wrong things, while others of us have introduced unsuitable and ineffective changes in an attempt to be "relevant." Where is wisdom to be found? How can we live through these times without destroying our churches? Is there anything to do other than "gripe"?

* Accept change. It doesn't go away because someone tries to ignore it. After all, we have changed lots of things - from the introduction of four-part harmony to Sunday Schools to salaried church staffs.

* Be discerning. Earlier I said we want the "security of something unchanging." We must not confuse the King James Version with the gospel. Translations can be improved with the result that the message becomes clearer and easier to comprehend. The same thing can be said of traditional hymns and contemporary praise choruses, sermons and multi-media presentations, or congregational singing and solo or small-group singing.

To introduce into your church setting what is being done somewhere else might be helpful. On the other hand, it might be disastrous. Not every permissible thing is a beneficial or constructive one (cf. I Cor. 10:23-24). There must be godly discretion and deliberate preparation for the introduction of change into a group's life and practice.

* Be biblical. Above all things, we must function under the authority of the Word of God. To follow the apostolic precedent of becoming "all things to all men" (I Cor. 9:22b), we will have to do some things outside our personal comfort zones and show some creativity. Thus we may use multi-media presentations or drama in addition to speeches. Someone may present Psa. 23 in a solo as well as by reading or reciting it from memory.

It is the eternal message that is critical, not the preservation of archaic methods. If our congregations are to be anything other than museum curiosities, we must - without once compromising the gospel - understand and employ change for the sake of presenting Christ to our generation.

If we mean it when we say that we want to do a better job of lifting up Christ to our generation, then we are admitting the need for change. If we keep doing the same things we've always done, we'll surely keep getting the same unsatisfactory results.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 41, Oct. 11, 1995, p. 3]

An Unusual and Positive Forum: Jew, Muslim, and Christian Discussed...

"THE VEHICLE TO HEAVEN"

On Thursday, August 17, 1995, a discussion took place at The Temple, Congregation Ohabai Sholom in Nashville on the topic "What is the Vehicle to Heaven? Works, Belief, or Faith?" The participants were Rabbi Stephen Fuchs, Imam Ilyas Muhammed, and Rubel Shelly.

Each speaker made a ten-minute prepared statement, then responded to each other with five-minute statements. The floor was then opened for questions and answers for 30 minutes. A five-minute closing statement each by the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian teacher-leader ended the program.

The tone of the meeting was positive, with each participant affirming respect for one another and identifying certain commonalities they shared. Then they moved to the particular and unshared beliefs that each brought to the discussion.

Rabbi Fuchs and Imam Muhammed stood together on the theme that good works constitute the key to getting to heaven. They both confessed that the best hope we have is to do your best and hope for the best. Dr. Shelly insisted that though he believed in and tried to do good things in his life, he had no hope in the presence of God expect by divine grace. Against the uncertainty of simply "hoping for the best," he could claim heaven with confidence because of the redemptive act of Jesus.

Rubel explained the Christian doctrine of atonement from its Jewish background. He acknowledged the "scandalous" nature of the cross but affirmed that the resurrection was heaven's vindication of all Jesus' claims. Like Paul, he offered the resurrection as the central doctrine of Christianity that verifies Jesus' role as Messiah, Savior, and Lord.

The meeting was conducted with respect among the speakers, and anyone seeking information on the points of view of these three religions would have been enlightened.

Admitting my own bias, I was delighted with the presentation Rubel made. He articulated what he called the "particularity" and "exclusiveness" of Christianity in a clear, uncompromising way. Yet he avoided and disclaimed the stereotypical "firebreathing, judgmental Christian evangelist" that some of the 350 listeners were likely expecting to find in him.

Perhaps some old barriers were budged a bit in this exchange. Maybe continued dialogue and search for the truth on important spiritual issues can follow from this beginning. Christians have gone into synagogues before, you know, and God was able to use that beginning for the exaltation of his Son. Pray that the same will happen here.

If you would like to hear the full exchange for yourself, you may get the full discussion on audiotape.
[by Terry Smith from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 34, Aug. 23, 1995, p. 3]

THE MICK

He was my boyhood baseball hero. I read everything I could get my hands on about him and his exploits. On grainy black-and-white TV, I watched him make that marvelous running catch that saved Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series.

And those towering home runs he hit! One was measured at 565 feet. He hit three in one game on May 13, 1955. He still holds the record for the most home runs by any player in World Series history with 18.

He is the only sports hero from my childhood who stays with me. My children had heard me speak of him so often that they went together a few years ago and bought me an autographed picture through a sports memorabilia store. It has been on display in our den every day since they gave it to me.

Now The Mick is dead. Cancer. Cirrhosis of the liver. Alcoholism. He squandered a gifted life and warned those of us who thrilled at watching him play baseball that he was no role model. "God gave me the ability to play baseball. God gave me everything," he said. "For the kids out there - don't be like me."

Those of us who knew Mickey Mantle the public figure saw his muscles, boyish grin, and brilliance at baseball. Yes, we even knew about the osteomyelitis and the terrible injury to his knee from stepping in a Yankee Stadium drain in right field during the 1951 World Series.

What we didn't know was the out-of-control lifestyle of the real man. His Dad died within a year of the 1951 injury to Mickey's knee. His marriage was rocky, and his sheltered sons had very little of their father. He was banned from baseball for a time after his retirement because of his involvement with gambling. His 36-year-old son, Billy, died of a heart attack while in a drug and alcohol treatment center. Then there was his own self-destructive drinking.

So I guess it wasn't always all that great being Mickey Mantle. He was just a mortal being with some notable strengths and frightening weaknesses. All the fame and attention probably served only to mitigate the former and intensify the latter.

Among all the World Series records he still held at his death is the one for most strikeouts. God's love and Christ's cross are for all of us who swing for the fences only to keep striking out.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 33, Aug. 16, 1995, p. 3]

FLAWS MAY INCREASE VALUE

Reach into your purse or pocket right now. Got any shiny new 1995 pennies? Any one of them might be worth somewhere between $175 and $225.

Who knows? It might be worth far more! You see, COIN WORLD magazine has reported the existence of a rare 1995 Lincoln penny. And experts aren't sure yet how many of them exist. You just might have one of the valuable little copper pieces in your purse, on your dresser, or in the kids' piggy bank.

What could make a one-cent piece worth a couple hundred dollars? Believe it or not, a FLAW!

It appears that a faulty die was used during penny minting at Philadelphia for a time this year. The pennies were not stamped correctly. The words "Liberty" and "In God" are slightly out of focus on the cents in question, and Lincoln's hair is blurry. Coin experts call these coins "double-die pennies."

In a photograph reproduced on the front page of USA TODAY, you can see the fuzzy letters. The last time something comparable to this happened with a penny was in 1984. The double-die pennies from that year are worth up to $425 now.

All this tells me that Lincoln pennies are must like people. FLAWS OFTEN INCREASE OUR VALUE. The very things we lament and whine about add worth to our character. They increase our compassion. They make us passionate for God and his presence.

"God, why is this happening to me!" screams the cancer patient. Maybe it was allowed to happen so she could discover the true center of the spiritual universe. Many people who thought life revolved around them and their petty whims discovered otherwise during a serious illness.

"God, how could I be losing by family!" cries a philandering man or alcoholic woman. People often find out that the rules of righteousness are very much like the law of gravity. We think we can violate them without paying a high price. Painful experience shows us how wrong we have been.

The wonderful thing about our sins, failures, and heartaches is not that we have them but that they teach us our desperate need for God and his grace. When that happens, something wonderful is the outcome of a painful beginning.

From the divine perspective, your flaw doesn't prove your worthlessness. It may turn out to be the cause of your treasured status is a place you would have fled otherwise - God's heart.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 32, Aug. 9, 1995, p. 3]

HIS MOTHER'S BIBLE

The sign in the window read: "Boy wanted." A youngster named John Simmons, though he was a lazy boy, applied. An elderly Mr. Peters hired him immediately. The pace was usually slow and leisurely, so John thought it might be just the job for him.

Toward the middle of the afternoon, however, John was sent up to the dingy attic. "You'll find a long, deep box there," explained Mr. Peters. "Please sort out the contents and see what should be saved." John was disappointed and frustrated by what he found. It was a big box full of nothing but junk.

After only a few minutes, he went back to the ground floor. "It's dark and cold up there," he explained, "and there's nothing up there worth the trouble." At closing time that day, John was paid and told not to come back.

Next morning the "Boy wanted" sign was back in the window. Crawford Hill was the next to be hired. When he was asked to tidy up the same box in the attic, he spend hours separating usable nails and screws from things that were to be discarded.

Suddenly he raced down the stairs. "At the very bottom of the box," he exclaimed, "I found this!" And he held up $20 bill. At last the old man had found a boy so conscientious and honest that he knew he could entrust his business to him to manage when he retired.

Years later, Mr. Peters said, "This young man, Crawford Hill, found his fortune in a junk box!" Then, correcting himself, he added, "No, he actually found it in his mother's Bible, because he heeded the verse she made him memorize that says: 'He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much.'"

Did you have a godly mother or father whose Bible was the source of wisdom imparted to you in your tender youth? And where are you today in relation to that holy wisdom?
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 42, Oct. 18, 1995, p. 3]

SATAN WHISPERS

Satan whispers, so cleverly that it seems it is only my voice reasoning things out in my mind. I think I am hearing a truth from my heart, when it is, in reality, the voice of the evil one whispering his lies to me. I listen and consider what I hear because I think it is coming from within...

"God will not do anything," the voice within me says. "It doesn't make sense to believe that God will act. Why would He respond to you? After all, you know how sinful you really are. If God listens to anyone, surely it is only to people less sinful than you. Go on, and do as you desire, because it really doesn't matter, anyway. You know that you are lost, your faith is only an illusion.... It really doesn't matter, anyway."

You see, I expect Satan to shout, to scream his unholy words at me, in order that he might frighten me into reacting before I consider what he has said. Instead, Satan whispers, so that I will go on carelessly listening to what he has to say.
[by Jeff Stephens from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 43, Oct. 25, 1995, p. 3]

THE COMPASSION SEASON

If you balk at the title above, I don't blame you. I hesitated to use it. Can anyone possible think that Christian compassion has a special "season"?

In theory, the answer to such a question is "No!" People who walk with Jesus daily are always on call to exhibit the mercy and kindness of their Lord. Whether on a mission of mercy or going into the grocery store, Christians see people through the same eyes as their Lord. They do not look to judge, condemn, or condescend. They look to find ways to encourage and assist.

In practice, however, all of us know that the time of year we are entering tends to bring out the best in all of us. The Thanksgiving-Christmas season reminds all of us not only of our general good fortune in life but of God's special generosity through Christ's coming into the world.

Harvest Sunday is one of those special days we wait for all year. Singles, couples, children, senior saints - everyone gets into the act of putting groceries together to provide Thanksgiving Dinner for people who are experiencing special stress.

Then there is the Christmas Wish Tree. We work together to provide Christmas gifts to adults and children whose special needs we know. If there is someone whose name you wish to submit for the Wish Tree, you will have the opportunity.

There will also be the Christmas Party at NCSC, the minimum security prison where some of our members lead Sunday worship and teach weekly Bible studies. It means a great deal to the inmates for free-world people to show an interest in them. A number of other special opportunities will surface as well.

No, you won't be able to help with or attend every function over the next few weeks. Neither will I! But we can pick one or two and participate meaningfully.

"If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit mean anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care - then do me a favor:....Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand" (Phili. 2:4, The Message).
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 44, Nov. 1, 1995, p. 3]

THE ULTIMATE FREE RIDE

On Friday, October 13, I was driving back to Nashville from a three-day business trip in Atlanta. It was about 4 p.m. and just before the sign that reads "Now Entering Central Time Zone" - a welcome marker, I might add - I passed three large yellow Ryder car haulers. Going in the opposite direction were two more big yellow truck haulers, each with three truck chassis being towed behind them.

Meanwhile, I'm driving on a drizzly slick road, caught in the "rocking chair" - with a semi in front of me and a semi behind me. The fog hung low over Lake Nick-a-jack, and it was all I could do to keep my eyelids from slamming shut. Being tired from 14- to 18-hour work days, I sure wish I could have pulled up on the back of one of those haulers and just let them carry me back home.

Finally it dawned on me: Isn't it nice that in our quest for eternal life we have our own trustworthy carrier!

Think about it. What would it be like if you had to get to heaven on your own? What if you had to outgive God in order to get to heaven? What if you had to be good enough to deserve God's fellowship? You would be like a puppy chasing his tail in circles to the point of exhaustion.

What if you had to live a perfect life, never breaking one of the 613 laws the rabbis alleged to find in the Law of Moses? In order to make sure you weren't breaking a law, you would have to write a computer software program. Every thought, action, inaction, decision, and word would have to be processed through a decision tree. Soon you would get to the point of immobilization and just give up.

Instead of such a depressing project, God gave us the ultimate "free ride" when He gave us His beloved Son. Just as a car hauler carries several cars thousands of miles to a dealership, Jesus carries all those who come to him in faith across life's perils to heaven.

So the next time you are tired and climbing up Mt. Eagle and wish you were getting a free ride on the back of a truck, just remember that you have a better deal. Jesus is carrying you piggyback over the otherwise impossible mountain of sin. So relax, and enjoy the ride.
[by Randy Wolcott from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 45, Nov. 8, 1995, p. 3]

IN THE NAME OF GOD...

What do the following horrible things have in common: slavery in the pre-Civil War South, apartheid in South Africa, bombing an abortion clinic in Pensacola, "ethnic cleansing" in Bosnia, bombing the World Trade Center, the Iran-Iraq War, the Crusades, terrorism in Northern Ireland, and the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin?

What's your guess? That they are all forms of terrorism? That they are all in violation of decency and civility - as well as biblical norms? That such deeds are perpetrated by evil people? That these are among the most repulsive of human behaviors?

Perhaps you are right in what you suggested, but what I have in mind may be a bit different. All these terrible deeds were done in the name of God!

Perhaps because it is so holy and powerful, religious sentiment can be perverted into something destructive. People who are devout can be whipped into a frenzy by a trusted or charismatic leader and caused to do terrible things. After all, Jesus was murdered at the instigation of religious leaders determined to maintain orthodoxy.

I have seen crowds of preachers at church or college lectureships turned into bloodthirsty mobs. I have read vicious attacks on decent people in religious journals. And I have known people who have either left our fellowship or abandoned Christianity altogether because of hateful things done to them or someone they loved.

Zealots scare most of us, for we have seen the harm they do. Yet they continue to get followings and funding. They periodically surface to destroy a good person or good program of work. Then they strut off the field with pride in what they have done.

Do you remember the episode from Jesus' ministry when two of his disciples had their egos wounded and wanted to retaliate? A certain Samaritan village did not welcome Jesus and his followers as they passed through. So James and John asked...(Luke 9:54).

In response to the suggestion that the village be annihilated, Jesus rebuked the men who had proposed the idea (Luke 9:55). He had no time for a proposal of murder and terrorism in the name of God!

When God came among us, it was not to destroy and intimidate. It was to heal and unify. If we ever learn godliness, we will denounce the tactics of fear for the practice of civility. We will stop tearing down and begin to build. In a word, we will give up satanic hatred for Christ-like love.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 46, Nov. 15, 1995, p. 3]

THE GREATEST THREAT

It sounds a bit presumptuous to identify anyone or anything as the "greatest" of its order. Yet there is a greatest person, a greatest commandment, and a greatest sin. A while back I read a piece that raised the possibility of naming the greatest threat to life, joy, faith, virtue, and all other good things.

Elie Wiesel survived the Auschwitz and Buchenwald death camps. He speaks and writes extensively concerning the Holocaust. It is his conviction that man's inhumanity to man during that awful time must not be forgotten - lest it be repeated.

Something Wiesel said is a magazine interview has stuck in my mind. He said, "Indifference, to me, is the epitome of evil. The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. Because of indifference, one dies before one actually dies. To be in the window and watch people being sent to concentration camps or being attacked in the street and to do nothing, that's being dead."

Indifference. Maybe it is the greatest threat to virtue. It is easy, for example, to imagine the following...
* People die, not because we steal their bread, but because we refuse to notice or care that they have none.
* Community morality erodes, not because we introduce or practice great evils, but because we are silent as others do so.
* Neighbors are lost, not because we seduce them into sin, but because we fail to tell them that God has sent them a Savior.

It is better to question and argue with God than to ignore him. It is better to ask the hard questions of faith than to pretend they aren't there. It is far better to fight a personal vice or community ill and fail than to pretend there is no problem.

Surely the ultimate insult to Jesus himself is cool indifference. G.A. Studdert-Kennedy wrote of the cruelty of men who put Jesus on a cross and murdered him. In the same poem, he wrote of the gentler spirit with which Jesus would be treated if he were to come to our generation. We would likely just pass him by, causing him no pain and leaving him to his own devices.

In Studdert-Kennedy's poem, he pictured Jesus crouching against a wall and crying for Calvary. Is it impossible?
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 49, Dec. 6, 1995, p. 3]

AN UNMESSUPABLE HOLIDAY?

We humans have managed to mess up just about every lovely thing in this world. We have polluted the natural environment and we have adulterated the spiritual world God Almighty created for us. We have found countless ways to tarnish goodness and diminish joy.

During this Thanksgiving season, I have been made to think of how we have even spoiled so many of our holidays. July 4 is less about patriotism and love of country these days than fireworks. For many people, Easter is now bunnies and colored eggs rather than an empty tomb. And Christmas' central figure has come to be Santa in a sleigh instead of Jesus in a manger. What a pity!

But Thanksgiving seems to have escaped the worst of holiday pilferage. It does not have the commercialism of Christmas or the drinking-party atmosphere of lesser holidays. It seems still to focus people on the positive things in their lives, to draw families together for meals and conversation, and even to generate prayers that acknowledge God as the generous giver of life's best things.

It is Tuesday morning before Thanksgiving Day, and I have just come from a Bible Study time with eight dear friends. It was what happened there that sent my mind down this trail of reflection about what will happen this fourth Thursday of November. It inclines me to think that Thanksgiving may escape the damage we have done to most of our holidays and turn out to be un-mess-up-able after all.

* Grown children reflected aloud about their godly parents and what they did to shape their faith and character. It's refreshing these days to hear kids do something other than blame their parents for all their problems!
* Parents gave God thanks for the spiritual strength they see in their young and growing children. Not all kids are in trouble up to their eyeballs!
* People spoke of their deep love for mates who have stood by them, loved them, and brought out their best. Yes, marriage is still a great idea!
* Christians praised God for church shepherds who have created a challenging and safe spiritual environment that fosters growth. What Moses would have given for such people!

How are you spending your holiday weekend? Has it been positive? It isn't too late yet to nurture some gratitude. What a shame it would be to spoil something so special and to get nothing greater than a tight tummy this Thanksgiving.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 47, Nov. 22, 1995, p. 3]

THE PERFECT VOLUNTEER

Hears what children are really saying. Sees problems as opportunities for growth. Permanent smile. Thick skinned. Big hearted. Willing to lend a hand. Hands covered with play dough and print. Knees calloused from constant kneeling. Never puts foot in mouth.
[from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 3, Jan. 18, 1995, p. 2]

REFLECTIONS ON CHANGE

Change causes some people to rejoice, some people to campaign, some people to grow, some people to adjust, some people to run away, some people to come back.

Change causes some people to ask "Why?", some people to ask "Why not?", some people to cry "Too much!", some people to cry "Too little!"

Change will happen! Sometimes it's planned, and sometimes it happens because there has been no planning.

Either way, with time, it will happen. It is better to pray that God guide it to his purpose rather than rail against it
[from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 6, Feb. 8, 1995, p. 1]

DON'T LET GO OF MY HAND

My Father God, so often my heart wanders and I won't go where you would lead me. I struggle against your guidance and seek my own way. I know it's foolish, and I cause so much pain for myself, for you and for those who truly love me. And, Father, though, like a rebellious little child, I struggle to pull away, please, don't let go of my hand.

It's only my own stubborn human will, my selfishness, and my lack of faith that causes me to resist your loving touch. You are always there, and I know you will never give up on me. You look on me with eyes full of grace, compassion, and forgiveness. You want to bless me much more than you would punish, though, sometimes, I leave you with no other choice. So, Father, my only hope is your faithfulness, and that is why I plead: though I struggle to pull away, please, don't let go of my hand.
[by Jeff Stephens from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 19, May 10, 1995, p. 3]

DAILY PRAYER FOCUS

1. As your beloved child, I give you thanks and praise for your great mercy and forgiveness. You know that I am a sinner. (Isa. 6; Rom. 7:14-Rom. 8:4.)
2. I pray that I might be fully devoted to you. (II Chron. 16:9; Rom. 12:1-2)
3. I pray for these people I have vowed to you to love. (I Cor. 13 (name the people))
4. Help me, God, to be a good steward of all your assets. Help us as a church family to provide a facility that honors you and serves the people.
5. Lead me to a small group of your servants who have acknowledged you as their Lord and Savior. I want you to complete the work you have begun in me. (I John 2:6; Phili. 1:4-6)
6. I pray for those in my life who have chosen to be my enemies. May I forgive them as you have forgiven me. Help me to trust vengeance to you, God, so I can be kind to them as you have taught and modeled. (Matt. 5:43-48; Rom. 12:17-21)
7. I pray for this church family that glory and honor will come to you by the way this church loves you, each other, and the world. Two key focal points: Pray for the widows and orphans. Pray for church leaders.
[from Love Lines, vol. 21, no. 28, July 12, 1995, p. 2]

THE HIGH-GROUND POSTURE: TAKING RESPONSIBILITY

The most widespread epidemic of our generation is whining.

"Yes, I sometimes get drunk, beat my wife, and slap my kids around, but my father used to get drunk and beat me with his belt."

"I'm pregnant. He's gone. I don't know what to do! This is so unfair!"

"They're sending me to jail because I got caught with cocaine in my car. Why don't they go after people who sold it to me?"

"My wife moved out and told me she never wanted to see me again. I told her the affair was over and that the other woman didn't mean anything to me. Why can't she forgive me and take me back?"

Trash-talk television, celebrity adulteries, drug-busted-and-still-playing athletes, the abolition of unbending moral codes - all have combined to make us believe we don't have to be accountable for our wrong choices and bad behaviors. Until we reject this lie and quit whining, our cultural situation will continue to deteriorate. Until we accept responsibility for our lives, we will not change the destructive patterns that are ruining so many of our relationships and causing us so much unhappiness.

We choose our actions and reactions. Sometimes we don't choose our circumstances, but we do choose how to react to them. We never choose our parents, have no control over the genetic hands dealt us, and are frequently confronted with temptations we didn't solicit. But it is irresponsible to appeal to these things as excuses for behaving as cockroaches rather than human beings.

When people make wrong choices, they should be held accountable and allowed to suffer the consequences. This is their incentive to change, to handle the situation better next time, to get help in understanding and controling their negative impulses.

When somebody you love messes up, don't abandon that person. If she asks forgiveness, try to give it freely. But don't clean up her mess, excuse her rotten behavior, or let her off the hook for the penalties that follow. Above all else, don't listen to her whine, lay the blame on someone else, or manipulate you into "fixing it" for her.

There is a difference in being loving and supportive to someone's principled act of taking responsibility on the one hand and enabling his continued misbehavior on the other. It is the difference between being truly helpful and making a bad problem worse, between fostering character development and inviting moral ruin.

The challenge of a noble life is to resist and triumph over our weaknesses, not to excuse ourselves for giving in to them by whining.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 22, no. 19, May 8, 1996, p. 3]

WALKING THROUGH THE GALLERY

In Europe last week, I stayed at a beautiful hotel in Zagreb. As I went to breakfast my first morning there, I realized that I was walking through a vestibule of photographs. Along both sides of the corridor were pictures of famous people who had stayed in the same place.

Many of the pictures were of world-famous entertainers. Louis Armstrong, Morgan Fairchild, Orson Welles, and Jane Seymour were there. So were Tina Turner, Deep Purple, Michael York and Anthony Quinn.

Persons who had been in Zagreb to represent their governments in official roles were photographed at the registration desk - Lord David Owen of Great Britain and Cyrus Vance from the United States. Indeed, a United Nations representative completed arrangements for opening a major road out of Zagreb May 6, closed for four years by war, as we ate breakfast across an aisle from each other.

There are also some famous-but-not-so savory characters whose likenesses are on the wall. Still there, for example, are Leonid Brezhnev and Milton Obote. Other heads of state from the Communist period in Zagreb's history are also recalled at the Hotel Esplanade.

As I walked through the gallery of photos and read the occasional note to the hotel's employees framed on the same wall, I thought about the text from scripture...(Heb. 12:1).

So there I was, a nobody in a hallway of famous names and faces. But there was something exhilarating about it. Unless you have had a similar experience, I'm sure I can't describe it adequately. I saw those famous people walking through the same front door, registering at the same desk, and eating at the same restaurant where I had been.

Now here you and I are today. We are walking down the same faith-testing path Abraham had to travel. We get as confused as Joseph did and embarrass ourselves like Moses. Some of us have reputations (and life stories!) as sordid as Rahab's and as pained as Job's. But we're heading to the same glorious destination!

(Heb. 12:2-3).

Feeling stressed, discouraged, or uneasy today? Others have been there before you, and God has seen them through. He is not about to abandon you.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 22, no. 20, May 15, 1996, p. 3]

ROOTS REVISITED

The late Alex Haley of Henning, Tennessee, penned his family's gut-wrenching story in Roots. Most of us are familiar with the moving account of his tireless and painful search for his ancestry.

On June 1, 1996, Tennesseans will officially celebrate the 200th anniversary of our statehood. Many of us are not native sons and daughters of Tennessee and yet we too are included in all the festivities. Even out-of-state visitors as well as tourists from foreign lands may choose to take part in the Volunteer State's big "to-do."

Volunteer? Hmmm. About 2,000 years ago, someone volunteered for me on a cross. Please don't try to convince me that wasn't gut-wrenching.

Isn't it reassuring to know that our Sovereign Father has made provision for all of us to be included in his diverse family? He meets us wherever we are - regardless of our ancestry, background, social status, health, race, gender, age, baggage, you name it. Not only that, but he accepts us just as we are! None of us is a second-class citizen in his sight. Not one of us is homeless. Talk about GRACE!

Some things we have control over and some we do not. None of us can change his or her ancestry, even if we wished we could! Maybe we've been disowned by our biological families. Or maybe we've turned our back on someone in dire straits.

Some of us may have isolated ourselves from family and friends, but guess who will never turn his back on us? Or leave us stranded? Or betray us? Check out Rom. 8. I hope you're a volunteer in his army.

Even though I was born in the great Magnolia State, I have allegiance to the laws of Tennessee. I was also born an American and owe a great debt to my forefathers for the abundant freedoms I enjoy. But to whom do you suppose I owe the greatest of all debts?

Knowing what I know about my spiritual roots offers comfort from what I don't know about my family lineage. And although I strongly affirm the separation of church and state, guess whose love will never be separated from me? Rom. 8 tells me of that blessed assurance.

Curious about where you came from and where you're going? It's a natural process to ask such questions. Just remember who holds the answers. Blue blood or Bluebeard, we will never be disinherited by Yahweh. Top that for upward mobility!

Our heritage on this earth may be lacking, but our heavenly birthright is priceless! Happy Birthday, Tennessee. And claim your spiritual heritage, soldier.
[by Ann Duncan from Love Lines, vol. 22, no. 22, May 29, 1996, p. 3]

CARING: SIGN OF GOD'S PRESENCE

A man was on the ledge of a 32-story building in Manhattan, weeping. The first police officer who responded tried to talk the man away from his dangerous perch. They talked, cajoled, and pleaded. It was all pointless, though, because the man was deaf and mute.

Eventually a neighbor told the police what they were facing. They immediately sent for a property room clerk from a police station in the Bronx. Officer Elizabeth Cook has a brother who was born deaf, so she is fluent in sign language. With more than a dozen other officers standing by and with a crowd of gawkers hundreds of feet below, she began trying to make contact with the 31-year-old man.

She waved her arms and tried everything she could think of to attract his attention. When he looked up several minutes later, Officer Cook signed: "Tell me what happened. I'm here to help you. Tell me what happened. I'm here to help you." Over and over, she repeated her offer to "listen" to a man who can't talk.

He finally responded by signing to her. "My girlfriend died in a car accident last week," he told her through deliberate and slow hand movements.

"I'm very sorry," she signed back. Reaching out to a man trapped in the terrible solitude of his grief, Ms. Cook reminded him that there were people who loved him and needed him. She promised that there were people willing to help him cope with his pain.

Finally he conceded that he wanted to live. He demanded that all the other police officers move away. Then he worked his way off the ledge and through a window. He and Officer Cook collapsed into each other's arms. Both sobbed. A tragedy had been avoided.

Because of her own brother, a woman understood how intense the loneliness of a silent world can be. As she put it afterward, it can make a person feel that "no one's listening." So she could reach to the man, genuinely care about him, and save his life.

The New York Times story of this rescue ran under this headline when I saw it: "Signs of Humanity Help N.Y. Police Save a Life." Listening to and caring about another's plight is a sign of humanity, all right. Helping that person through a tough time is also a sign of God's presence. At the last day, Jesus will say...(Matt. 25:40).

The next time you see someone who is hurting and feeling isolated, you may be able to make the connection that makes the difference. The secret is caring and seizing the chance to do something for Jesus.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 22, no. 23, June 5, 1996, p. 3]

I SEE JESUS
...when, in a moment of tense confrontation, a softly spoken answer is given in place of a harsh reply.
...when, in the middle of all the 'important things' to be done, a parent stops to listen to what a child has to say.
...when, in the midst of a struggle against strong temptation, a friend offers you encouragement and prayer instead of rebuke and rejection.

I used to look for God mostly in the beauty and power of His creation and in the wisdom of His word. Now, though I still see Him there, it is in the words, actions, and attitudes of those who love Him that I see Jesus most of all.
[by Jeff Stephens from Love Lines, vol. 22, no. 26, June 19, 1996, p. 1]

PERFECT IN EVERY WAY?

There's an old Mac Davis song that goes: "Oh, Lord, it's hard to be humble / when you're perfect in every way. / I can't wait to look in the mirror, / I get better looking each day."

When you hear the song, you catch the parody immediately. First you give a wry smile. Then you snicker just a bit. If you really get the spirit of the song, you finally start to sing along on the chorus - while laughing. The one thing you just can't imagine is someone singing the song and meaning it.

Surely the non-Church of Christ world (which is, by the way, 99.67% of the world's six billion souls!) thought we were kidding when they heard us say we are the ONLY Christians. What else could our preaching rhetoric have been? Surely it was parody designed to elicit a laugh! With sad embarrassment, no. We meant it.

I met one the other day. He had spent almost half an hour trying to put questions to me that even he was embarrassed to ask outright. It seemed obvious that he wanted me to give him the assurance that I believed only such people as were members of the Church of Christ could be children of God.

He has a college education and is not dumb. I thought that perhaps he was simply confusing categories by equating the church one reads about in the New Testament with what I dubbed "the Church of Christ in the Yellow Pages." That wasn't enough, though, for he insisted that there was no confusion in his mind: the two were identical. It was I, he insisted, who was "confused" if I could not see that they were one and the same thing.

"Let me be clear about what you are claiming." I said. "Are you telling me that anyone who is not been baptized in a Church of Christ baptistery in a Church of Christ building by a Church of Christ preacher could not possibly be a Christian?" He paused only briefly at hearing his views reflected so crassly. "If you insist on putting it that way," he answered, "yes."

At that point in what I realized was a pointless conversation, I was overwhelmed by incredible sadness. It was less for the man across the table than for myself, perhaps, because his sectarian answer was the same one a parade of preachers in summer gospel meetings pumped into me as a child. It is the view whose grip I had to wrestle myself free from as an adult. It is the perfect-in-every-way theology that right-wing preachers, journals, and schools still claim for themselves but which makes those who hear them start to smile - until they realize they really mean it!

The early goal of our historical movement that envisioned being "Christians only" somehow got manhandled into the perverse claim to be "the only Christians." God, forgive us!

Mac Davis was at least trying to be funny. We have no such defense.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 22, no. 26, June 19, 1996, p. 3]

WHEN CHURCHES BURN

In the 1930s and '40s, the non-Jewish world looked on passively as synagogues were desecrated and burned in Europe. What happened was wrong - both the Nazi burnings of Jewish houses of worship and the silence of the civilized world. Kristalnacht turned into arm bands on Jews, confiscation of private property, and Auschwitz.

In the 1960s and '70s, African-American church sites were firebombed and destroyed by racists in the American South. All-too-pervasive silence characterized the white population in general. Arson soon became fire hoses, dogs, and murder.

In 1995 and 1996, houses of worship are burning in the United States. Most have been in the South, although the phenomenon has reached all the way across the continent now to Oregon. Most have involved churches with predominantly black membership, with no particular denomination targeted.

Although some appear to have been copycat arsons or motivated by reasons other than bigotry, those in which perpetrators have been arrested and charged are more often than not racially motivated. If these evil acts are not challenged by a strong, multiracial, and nonsectarian response, what will come next? Will bigots go after synagogues and mosques? Will they torch Catholic schools?

"Those things could never happen here!" says someone. That's what Germans said about Nazi-inspired malignity sixty years ago. And it's what incredulous while Southerners told the media, their children, and their congregations thirty years ago. But "those things" were happening. They continued to occur and only escalated as the silence reigned.

What some have dubbed a "conspiracy of silence" has affected the body politic of European and American culture since the events in Germany and the American South just named. Many Jews are justifiably skeptical of the sincere goodwill of non-Jews like me, and many African-Americans still see me as the real or potential enemy. I don't like that, but I do understand it.

Occasionally history gives people - even whole races, nations, or cultures - the chance to demonstrate that progress has been made. Perhaps we are at such a juncture now. The sins of the past cannot be erased, but neither must they be repeated.

What has been happening is sinful, and decent people cannot stand by in silence. Christians must unite not only to condemn it but to heal the attitudes that have made it possible.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 22, no. 27, June 26, 1996, p. 3]

THE BIBLICAL CANNON

If you proofread the things you see, you raised an eyebrow at the title above. Believe me, I really try to proof things closely. We still get our share in the church newsletter. For the most part, you are a kind and patient readership! But back to the title...

I read an article by a friend of mine in a Texas church bulletin recently. It made passing reference to the "cannon of the Bible." I knew what he meant to write - canon. The term "canon" refers to the accepted list of 39 Old Testament books. "Cannon" - with two n's - is a different thing altogether. It is the big thing that goes "boom," lobs shells onto one's enemy, and has the capacity to kill.

Because I've let so many typographical errors get through, I was feeling sympathy rather than superiority toward my friend. And I thought of some of the ribbing he would have to take from people in his home church.

Then I thought about those people who still use the Bible to hurt others. There is less concern to discuss the canon than there is a rush to employ its contents as a cannon. The Word of God becomes a springboard for making loud noises, lobbing arguments at one's perceived enemies, and pronouncing anathemas on people.

Is that why God went to the trouble of giving and preserving the inscripturated word? Is that the use spiritual people make of its contents? Hardly!

On July 19, 1996, the Associated Press carried the story of two Alabama men who got into an early-morning contest of Bible knowledge and scripture quotation. One of the men realized he had been bested by his rival. It made him mad and elicited a threat. "I'll kill you before the night is out!" witnesses quoted him as saying.

He left, got a gun, came back, and shot the 38-year-old man once in the face. He killed him!

Sounds like a direct and immediate form of what happens at some lectureships, from some pulpits, and in some conversations. Sounds evil. Sounds like the sort of thing I never want to approach doing either with a .45-caliber pistol or with a biblical "cannon".

When you read that the Bible is the "sword of the Spirit" (Heb. 4:12), remember that it is used against the Enemy (i.e., Satan) for the sake of freeing his captives (i.e., human beings). It is for hacking down the creeping vines of falsehood and beating back the demons of hell who might destroy a precious man or woman. The Bible is not a tool to use for beating up people who are valued by God - even in their sinfulness and error.

Affirm the canon, but silence the cannons. God is not honored by human strife, rivalry, and shooting matches - but by right-living and healthy respect for all who seek to give him the glory he alone is due.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 22, no. 31, July 24, 1996, p. 3]

WHAT FAILURE CAN DO TO YOU

By all accounts, he was a decent and generous man. He reportedly made $800,000 a year from 1988 to 1994 as the host of TV's Family Feud. Then he made a dismal business investment and began losing huge amounts of money. Yet he had to "keep up appearances" and refused to get personal help.

When 40-year-old Ray Combs committed suicide on June 2, he left his family with nothing but debts and trouble. His wife and six children have lost their house, and they have been getting food from a church pantry. Saturday's newspaper told the story under the following headline: "Combs' family has no way to pay the bills."

I recount one man's story because I fear it has the potential for becoming practically anyone's story in this culture. Most of us have been taught to equate our performance and our personhood. It is a terrible mistake that sets people up for unhappiness, depression, or even - as with Ray Combs - suicide.

Some women aren't stunning, and some men aren't handsome. Only a tiny percentage of students graduate with 4.0 average. Not everybody gets into graduate or professional school, and some who do either can't take the pace or decide it was a mistake from the start. Some people can never get the career break they want. Some who do make rotten investments and lose their shirts.

Some people get married and are unable to make their marriages work. Some 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 a moral or relationship failure is certainly much worse than failing to get rich or failing to master golf.

But no failure means that you are worthless as a person, that your life is without significance, 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 they were worthless failures, that their lives could never again have significance and value. To fail at something means simply that, well, you have failed at something. It most assuredly does not mean you are a useless, meaningless person. And it doesn't mean that God has given up on you either.

God is persistent in his quest to save you. He is the shepherd who searches the open country until he finds one stray sheep (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 glues his eyes on the horizon, looking for the outline of his prodigal son starting toward home (Luke 15:11-32).

We serve a God who is in the forgiving business. So don't ever let Satan convince you that your Father would give up on you - no matter what you have done or how embarrassed you feel over some failure.

You'll always have a home waiting and a Father watching. There'll always be brothers and sisters who know something of how you feel and who will stand with you through the hard times.

You mean more than your failure, for you are created in the likeness and image of God himself. So don't let failure drive you to despair. Let it drive you to your Father.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 22, no. 33, August 7, 1996, p. 3]

$ WON'T BUY

Two stories made headlines recently that illustrate again what most people know but few believe - money can't make you happy, solve your problems, or fix what aids your life.

An Associated Press story tells about Buddy Post. Now 58, Post was a former carnival worker and cook who hit the lottery jackpot in 1988. He won $16.2 million in the Pennsylvania Lottery. He was on Easy Street, and all his problems were solved, right? Hold on.

Since his big win, he has been convicted of assault, his sixth wife left him, his brother was convicted of trying to kill him to get the money, and his landlady successfully sued him for one-third of his winnings. The gas has been cut off to the crumbling mansion he bought, and he feels lucky to have electricity and a telephone.

"Money didn't change me," Post said. "It changed people around me that I knew, that I thought cared a little bit about me. But they only cared about the money." The whole experience has been, to quote the AP headline, a "nightmare come true."

In the Dallas Morning News, a similar story ran on the very next day (Aug. 30, 1996) about a couple from that Texas city. Lynette and Jimmy Nichols experienced the thrill of quick riches when Lynette bought 23 $1 tickets in July 1993. On that Wednesday night she discovered that one of her tickets matched the six lotto numbers and was good for one-third of the near-record $48.6 million prize.

Lynette and Jimmy are getting divorced. The big money that came to them exposed the 12-year-old marriage's existing fault lines and created several new ones. For more than two years now, they've been trying to get a divorce but have been in a bitter divorce court battle over - you guessed it! - who should get how much of the money.

"We had about one month of good times...and about three years of misery," Mrs. Nichols said. "It was a curse. It didn't help at all." Mr. Nichols added his view: "More bad than good has come out of it so far."

The Bible says more about money - both positively and negatively - than any subject other than idolatry. It speaks of the good money can do for people (I Tim. 6:17-19), but it also contains severe warnings about the harm it more commonly does in people's lives (I Tim. 6:9-10).

(I Tim. 6:6-8). Is that "too idealistic" for you?

Money can't buy happiness, peace, or love. It won't produce the ideal mate for you or fix a troubled marriage. It certainly won't buy heaven - and, as the Post and Nichols experiences demonstrate - can sometimes purchase a corner of hell on Earth.

So pray for financial self-control, contentment, and unselfishness. But don't wish for or run after lightning in a bottle. You might be unlucky enough to catch it.
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 22, no. 38, Sept. 11, 1996, p. 3]

"I DISTINCTLY REMEMBER FORGETTING IT"

Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross. One day a friend of hers reminded her of a particularly hateful thing someone had done to her years before. When she ignored the comment and acted as if she had never heard of the event in question, her friend called the conversation back.

"Don't you remember that?" she asked.
"No," said Barton. "I distinctly remember forgetting it."

Forgiveness really does involve remembering to forget some things. Oh, it doesn't necessarily mean that you will erase the memory of what happened. That may not be possible. But to forgive someone means that you will henceforth treat that person as if he had never done the wrong thing to you in the first place.

Did God forgive Saul of Tarsus for what he had done as a persecutor of his people? Absolutely. That he did not lose that fact from his memory banks is evident in that the Holy Spirit later moved Paul to write about his past as a testimony of hope to others (Gal. 1:13ff). But God "forgot" what Paul had done insofar as the way he viewed him after his conversion.

Around 20 years after he had been sold into slavery, Joseph had been elevated to the position of vizier of Egypt and has his first child. He named that son Manasseh - a word meaning "forget" - and said, "It is because God has made me forget all my troubles and all my father's household" (Gen. 41:51). He had blotted it from memory? No, he had forgiven his brothers and would not hold their wicked deeds against them (cf. Gen. 45:1-11).

When God forgave you for something you did yesterday or six weeks ago or 50 years ago, he turned loose of it. Ever since that day, he has viewed you as if it never happened. Even if you have had to live with certain consequences of it, God has never once considered putting it back on your record or calling you into account for it. Even if others who say they have forgiven you have not been so gracious, God will not pull it out of a dusty file on Judgment Day. He forgave it - put it as far away as the east is from the west, buried it in the depths of the sea. He distinctly remembers to forget it!

Does remorse over the past haunt you still? Are you inclined to confess to God the same sin over and over? Here is my advice: Confess it and ask his forgiveness once - just once! Whenever Satan brings it to your mind again to accuse you for it or to unsettle your spiritual health with false guilt, pray, "Holy Father, how thankful I am that you have forgiven me of that! Let me live with the consciousness of how faithful you are to forgive your people!"

(I John 1:9).
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 22, no. 40, Sept. 25, 1996, p. 3]

YOU DON'T HAVE TO GIVE IT BACK!

Computers are wonderful - but they aren't perfect. Just ask the First National Bank of Chicago. Their computer glitched earlier this year to the tune of $763.9 billion!

The largest computer error in the history of banking in the United States occurred in mid-May of this year when a faulty computer program deposited millions of dollars each into more than 800 First National Bank customer accounts.

Jeff Ferrera called his bank to check on his balance. After going through the list of menus, an automated voice told him his checking account balance was $924,844,208.32. To say the least, he was startled! Then the computer technician at Zenith Electronics began weighing his options.

Some of his friends suggested that he wire it to the Cayman Islands and buy himself a new identity. Then he thought about putting his millions into a short-term account, earning a few thousand dollars in interest, and then returning all $924.8 million to the bank in a few days. "I figured they won't catch it for a week," he told himself, "and I'd put it all back. What's the harm?"

As it turned out, he needn't have worried. The bank spotted the computer error of depositing more than six times its total assets into various accounts and froze all accounts. By 1 a.m. on the morning of May 18, everything had been cleared up.

Can you imagine finding such a staggering sum in your bank account? What wild possibilities might come to your mind? But you know it would all be fantasy, though, for you'd have to give it all back. It was a mistake.

Christian, God has given you eternal life! He has made the full deposit into your account - a deposit paid and guaranteed by the blood of Jesus Christ. You don't have to give it back. It's yours to keep, celebrate, and enjoy.

Your name is not in the Lamb's Book of Life in pencil. It isn't erased each time you mess up, then reentered when you ask for forgiveness. If that were the case, there'd probably be a hole in my page by now. And I'd be worried about the guy's name on the next several pages below my own!

You name is there in ink - no, in blood! Your past has been forgiven, really and fully forgiven. And now, as you "walk in the light" with God, you have the assurance that "the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies (i.e., continually purifies) us from all sin" (I John 1:7).

I know the temptation to live as if a mistake has been made in heaven's accounts that will soon be set straight. It's just too good to be true that you could be forever forgiven and everlastingly emancipated. But it is true!

Praise God! Your account is overflowing with grace that never has to be given back!
[by Rubel Shelly from Love Lines, vol. 22, no. 41, Oct. 2, 1996, p. 3]

To select another section of literature

To the instructions

To Home Page