As I write this right now I am on the phone with a state government office and have been on hold for the last 56 minutes and counting...and counting. Now while I can appreciate that this is a busy office with important work, I do think that this is inefficient at best and dereliction of duty at worst. If I were a more cynical person I would think that this war on the auditory senses (repitition of only 20 bars of the worst elevator music I have ever heard) is designed to get people to give up. This may seem like an overreaction from a frustrated citizen but you must understand I was hung up on by a computer 5 times in the last two weeks because "they were experiencing greater than normal call volume and should call back later." This is why I happen to be a small goverment conservative politically.
The only problem with my political ideas is that if the goverment gets out of the "helping people" business, it appears to be in lately, that vacuum must be filled by the faithful of our towns, states, and country. That may sound like a great idea to you and at first glance it did to me too. One would ask what's wrong with the idea of churches doing the charitable work? After all didn't Christ teach us to love our neighbor as we love as ourselves, and didn't Paul write to Timothy that the goal of the apostles instruction is charity/love from a pure heart?
I am afraid the sad fact is that while Christ modeled caring for those who were sick and dying in sin and its consequence and Paul reaffirmed that model again and again, the church would still be no more effective than the goverment. Why you ask. One must first look at the main work left by Christ for the church, to make disciples. Would it shock you to know that in this country a majority of people still profess to be Christian? That is great news for the church right? Well not so much because the majority of those same self professing Christians do not believe that Jesus is the only way to eternal life in heaven one of the most central aspects of all Christianity. If that were not bad enough it seems that even right now the universal body of Christ is growing exponentially on every inhabited continent on Earth except North America, home of two of the wealthiest countries in the world.
So when you go to bemoan the ineffectiveness of the goverment as I know almost all of you will. Or when you start to complain about how inept the employee at Walmart or McDonald's seems to be. Stop and think a moment about whether or not you are being as effective as possible at the most important job a Christian has, making more Christians. It is easy to complain about other peoples actions (or inactions for that matter) while we judge ourselves by our best intentions. Maybe we should rechannel that energy into being more effective in all that we do but most importantly to be more effective for the Kingdom of God.
I know that is what the Bible has called us to do and we need to get on it or one day when we really look into our mirrors we will find that we are as just as ineffective as a huge goverment. May God bless us with mercy and grace as we continue on the route of righteousness He has called us to.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Death and New Life
It has been at least two weeks since I last posted here and for good reason. In the last two and a half weeks I have buried my father in the ministry and my wifes great grandmother. Throughout it all there has been such a great sense of peace around not only me but the family and that can only be the outpouring of the peace the Bible talks about that surpasses all understanding. a peace that can only come from the Heavenly Father above.
From the outside looking in these deaths so close together would make you think how difficult life can be, but it is actually quite the contrary, this has been a great time in my life. Now that does not mean that I have not and do not continue to mourn the losses of Papasan Craft and Granny Womac here on Earth, it is just that both of their funerals were testimonies to the fact that death had no sting for them or any other believer in Christ. While one went quickly in the prime of life, and the other after a prolonged illness it was equally better for both of them to leave this Earth and go home to be with Christ. You see they did not have reason to fear death for their Savior had conquered death for them and given them the keys to His kingdom.
It is that realization that has gotten me through this trying time. At the visitations and funerals these two bodies were surrounded by friends and families that they had impacted while they were here. The reach of their impact on the world around them was evident to all in attendance even if it had not been to those who were deceased. This is inspiring to me because these great ambassadors of the faith had no idea how many lives they touched while alive, and just continued in lives of obedience and godliness hoping only to please God, and in pursuit of that goal they both pleased God but made an indellible impact on those around them.
How freeing it is for me and all Christians to know that whether we ever realize the impact we have on others or not if we keep our eyes focused on walking in the newness of life that Christ has provided for us we will please God and by His power we will have an undeniable impact on those around us. It is amazing to me that even a man as wretched as I am might be able to impact anyone on this Earth much less impact them for the Kingdom of God through the newness of life God extended to me by the death burial and resurrection of His only begotten Son.
I thank God that He has finally allowed me to see firsthand why a Christian's funeral should be a celebration and that it is only dependent on my obedience to Him. That is something I can do and so can anyone else.
As if that were not great enough, I have continued to be blessed over the last few days as my life has "gotten back to normal" so to speak. I was honored with the opportunity to preach at Solid Rock Baptist Church last night and they were so much more than generous with their love and support of me. That means the world to me because as a preacher the hardest thing to do is to not be able to preach anywhere. As if that were not enough today my wife and I found out that the new physical life that Christ has entrusted to us is going to be a boy!! I have to admit I have been praying hard for our child to be healthy and a boy (the idea of raising a girl scares me!!!) While I would have been extremely happy either way I am ecstatic that we will be welcoming David Samuel Jenkins on June 20th as the Lord wills.
It has been a rough road on the rural route lately but even in the midst of the low and trying times God has continued to bless beyond measure. So for those who might ever read this who are experiencing the rough stretches of life on God's route for them, keep holding to the faith because as you will learn like I have these past few weeks that even when life is the roughest God still blesses and makes it better than a seemingly easy life of disobeying Him.
May God's grace and mercy bless and comfort you from to rural route to whatever route God has placed you on.
From the outside looking in these deaths so close together would make you think how difficult life can be, but it is actually quite the contrary, this has been a great time in my life. Now that does not mean that I have not and do not continue to mourn the losses of Papasan Craft and Granny Womac here on Earth, it is just that both of their funerals were testimonies to the fact that death had no sting for them or any other believer in Christ. While one went quickly in the prime of life, and the other after a prolonged illness it was equally better for both of them to leave this Earth and go home to be with Christ. You see they did not have reason to fear death for their Savior had conquered death for them and given them the keys to His kingdom.
It is that realization that has gotten me through this trying time. At the visitations and funerals these two bodies were surrounded by friends and families that they had impacted while they were here. The reach of their impact on the world around them was evident to all in attendance even if it had not been to those who were deceased. This is inspiring to me because these great ambassadors of the faith had no idea how many lives they touched while alive, and just continued in lives of obedience and godliness hoping only to please God, and in pursuit of that goal they both pleased God but made an indellible impact on those around them.
How freeing it is for me and all Christians to know that whether we ever realize the impact we have on others or not if we keep our eyes focused on walking in the newness of life that Christ has provided for us we will please God and by His power we will have an undeniable impact on those around us. It is amazing to me that even a man as wretched as I am might be able to impact anyone on this Earth much less impact them for the Kingdom of God through the newness of life God extended to me by the death burial and resurrection of His only begotten Son.
I thank God that He has finally allowed me to see firsthand why a Christian's funeral should be a celebration and that it is only dependent on my obedience to Him. That is something I can do and so can anyone else.
As if that were not great enough, I have continued to be blessed over the last few days as my life has "gotten back to normal" so to speak. I was honored with the opportunity to preach at Solid Rock Baptist Church last night and they were so much more than generous with their love and support of me. That means the world to me because as a preacher the hardest thing to do is to not be able to preach anywhere. As if that were not enough today my wife and I found out that the new physical life that Christ has entrusted to us is going to be a boy!! I have to admit I have been praying hard for our child to be healthy and a boy (the idea of raising a girl scares me!!!) While I would have been extremely happy either way I am ecstatic that we will be welcoming David Samuel Jenkins on June 20th as the Lord wills.
It has been a rough road on the rural route lately but even in the midst of the low and trying times God has continued to bless beyond measure. So for those who might ever read this who are experiencing the rough stretches of life on God's route for them, keep holding to the faith because as you will learn like I have these past few weeks that even when life is the roughest God still blesses and makes it better than a seemingly easy life of disobeying Him.
May God's grace and mercy bless and comfort you from to rural route to whatever route God has placed you on.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)