Friday, November 23, 2012
Hurray For Christianity
I
still distinctly remember one particularly arrogant lecture that I was
subjected to over thirty years ago. I
was pursuing a degree at Eastern Montana University and my History professor,
who had just recently graduated from an Ivy League school, was talking about
colonial America. She had a habit of
reading her lectures word-for-word, so usually her classes seemed
interminable. What caught my attention
on that particular day was a sudden burst of intolerant and hateful accusations
which she made against the Christians who settled this continent. I wasn’t used to that kind of bigotry. I was later surprised to discover that many
places of higher education tend to be adversarial toward Christianity. This is ironic since many of those very
schools were established by Christian organizations.
Christians
are not perfect, but it is a shame that much of what they have accomplished has
been repeatedly ignored or misrepresented.
A Nazi propagandist supposedly said, “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it." Whether or not a Nazi really
said that, I am convinced that the statement is true. Every once in a while it
is refreshing to hear someone speak more fairly on the matter. Allow me to share a few such quotes:
“I am not a Catholic and I am aware
that the Catholic church has had it’s struggles, but there are still many
things that we can all commend them for.
One historian puts it this way: ‘That Western civilization stands
indebted to the Church for the university system, charitable work,
international law, the sciences, important legal principles, and much else
besides has not exactly been impressed upon them with terrific zeal. Western civilization owes far more to the
Catholic Church than most people-Catholics included-often realize. The Church, in fact, built Western
civilization.’” (Thomas Woods)
“Early Christians campaigned against
the totalitarian powers of Roman emperors and European kings. Later Christians
would act as emissaries for peace, fighting against the horrors of slavery and
for the rights of the “Indians” found in the New World. Women’s suffrage found a home in Christian
churches. Many of the civil rights movements in our modern time were supported
by Christian organizations, and, for generations, Christians have worked to
alleviate hunger and disease.” (Chris
& Ted Stewart)
While
Christians should be expected to apologize for their errors, their mistakes and
vices should not overshadow the many wonderful things their faith has birthed
in spite of human weaknesses. In America, all but one of the Ivy League schools
and hundreds of major hospitals were founded by Christian organizations. Scores of homes for the elderly, shelters for
the homeless, soup kitchens, rehab centers, crisis pregnancy centers are owned
and operated by Christian organizations.
Most churches also serve their communities in many ways.
Let’s
be honest. Christians are not perfect,
but they have certainly been a great blessing to a whole lot of people. There’s
no need to revise history. There is a
great need to celebrate the good things that are being done. Hurray for Christianity!
Friday, November 16, 2012
Good Preaching
Good preaching is good living. When people live out the principles for good,
clean living that God has outlined in Scripture, their lives become shining
testimonies of the grace of God in a dark world. Christians are not just supposed to be
people with a particular set of opinions; they are supposed to be people who
live abundant lives in spite of the challenges that come their way. Christianity is a way of life that is aligned
with the Creator of life – it works!
Of course, in this war between good and evil the Devil works
incessantly to con mankind. Maybe you
have picked up on his MO (modus operandi or method of operation). He capitalizes on the God-given liberty of
free will, and finds willing individuals through whom he can instigate trouble. He uses things like cultural influences,
popular opinions, celebrities and selfishness to tempt people to steal, cheat,
abuse, abandon, etc. These people’s sins
result in hurt and pain to others. Then
the Devil (the original source of trouble) gets those who did the hurting and
those who were hurt to blame God for allowing all the trouble. Keep in mind that all God did was let people
make their choices.
Gods MO is very different.
Contrary to popular opinion, God is more interested in godly
relationships than He is in religion. He
inspires people to do good, to be selfless, to value life, to show one another
respect, to love and honor others, to be fair… The end result is good marriages, strong
families and safe communities. When we apply
God’s rules, life works better.
Wholesome and happy people are God’s best preachers.
In her book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe gives
a snapshot of how good preaching can play out.
In her story a family of three runaway slaves sits down for breakfast
with some Quakers in Indiana. It is the first time George had ever eaten at the
same table as an equal with whites. She
writes, “This, indeed, was home, --home,-- a word George had never yet known a
meaning for; and a belief in God, and trust in His providence, began to
encircle his heart, as, with a golden cloud of protection and confidence, dark,
misanthropic, pining, atheistic doubts, and fierce despair, melted away before
the light of a living Gospel, breathed in living faces, preached by a thousand
unconscious acts of love and good-will, which, like the cup of cold water given
in the name of a disciple, shall never lose their reward.” (p.160)
Saturday, November 10, 2012
We're Rich
We live in an amazing country
famous for its God, its liberty and its variety. For centuries, this combination has served us
well. May God give us the sense to hang
on to Him and liberty so we can continue to enjoy the variety.
Those of you who have had the
privilege of traveling the U.S. have witnessed it richness of climate and
geography. Most of us have sung about
the purple mountains and golden plains in the patriotic song “America the
Beautiful”. We are rich in land, in
natural resources and in history. But America’s most important resource is its people. We are a melting pot.
Did you know that:
·
More Jews live in
America than live in Israel.
·
More persons of
African descent live in America than in any country except Nigeria.
·
More Samoans live
in America than in Samoa.
·
More Hispanics
live in America than in any country except Mexico or Spain.
·
Within a few
years more Hispanics will live in America than the total population of Canada.
·
More Cubans live
in Miami than in any city except for Havana.
Our founding fathers embraced
the idea of legal immigration. They
greeted people from around the world with open arms. This philosophy was made obvious in 1903 when
a plaque was mounted on the Statue of Liberty, which was the first sight most
immigrants to New York would behold. The
statue is located on Liberty Island in New York harbor and the plaque mounted
inside the monument includes these famous lines written by Emma Lazarus:
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
America is rich in
resources. We are rich in geographical
features. We are rich in History. We are
rich in people groups. We have enjoyed prosperity because all this richness was
nourished by a people who prayed for God’s blessings and provided a sanctuary
for people to worship freely, no matter their color or creed. God has blessed this conglomeration of people
and cultures as much as He possibly could. Pray for America that we would stay
free and under God – that is a winning combination. God has heard our prayers and responded to
our free worship and made us rich.
Psalm 67:1 God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and
cause his face to shine upon us; Selah.
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