It Begins In The Heart
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
(By Colonel Denny Phillips) - A story is told -- probably apocryphal -- that a man walking in Times Square was approached by an indigent soul begging money. The man was not a New Yorker, and he was inclined to help, but he wasn't carrying any cash on him, so he placed his hand on the man's shoulder and looked him square in the eyes as he said, "I'm very sorry, brother, but I truly do not have anything to give you right now." The beggar paused, feeling the warmth of the man's hand on his shoulder and sensing the dignity of the passionate look in his eyes as he spoke. Placing his soiled hand on the manicured one now resting on his shoulder, he returned the intense look straight into the eyes of this passer-by who had stepped away from the crush of the Times Square crowd to spend a few seconds...to speak to and actually touch this man in ragged clothes...this man that thousands of others deemed untouchable, and said to him, "You've already given me something far more important than money, for you called me your brother, and I'll never forget you." With that, the beggar straightened his shoulders and brushed his coat as he strutted away feeling validated by another human being.
Social justice means more than providing for the poor. In The Salvation Army, we deliver human services in the name of Christ, but we must also do so in the spirit of Christ. We must engage the poor with love and respect, kindness and dignity, see beyond the crust of soiled clothes and dirty skin. Overlook awkward, even hostile behavior. Would any of us behave any better if we were homeless, hungry, cold and lonely?
Beware, for behind the unshaven face, the dirt engrained skin and the ragged clothes, Jesus may be checking us out. Did He not as much as say so? Oh yes, when His disciples badgered Him about "What is the kingdom like?", "Who gets into the Kingdom", Jesus finally answered and said, "Come, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you, for I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you brought me water to drink; naked, and you clothed me; in prison and you visited me; sick, and you took care of me." Then He concluded His startling answer with, "Inasmuch as you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me."
General John Gowans summed it up well:
You came disguised, but still, I know it's You.
Today your eyes be black, tomorrow blue.
Your skin is sometimes yellow, sometimes brown;
At times you wear a loin cloth, today a tattered gown.
Your bony hand is held before your face,
But I'd know you, my Lord, in any case,
Grinning at me through leprous eaten jaws.
The broken limbs....the bloated belly...yours.
You bring these changes, Lord
And yet I know
That every soul in need
Is really YOU.
Social justice begins in the heart. Love thy neighbor.
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God Is Not Responsible
(By Mike Steinsland) - So today in class I had a really interesting, and altogether, boggling experience (I use the word boggling because, like the game, I’m currently in a mess). You see, there’s a man in my class from the Congo, and we all had to make presentations today, and his really spoke to me. While he was growing up in the Congo he lived through two civil wars, and had a lot that he wouldn’t talk about. He would just say that he saw very terrible things. My initial reaction was, “But it’s ok, because now you are safe, God has rescued you.” It soon happened, as it usually does, that I saw that that was a foolish thing for me to think. He met with several Christian refugees from the Congo, and asked them this question, “Do you think God loves the people of the Congo?” This of course led him to the question, “Do you think God is fair?” This is where it gets a little hard for me to stomach. They all said yes to both questions, and their reason why was the same as mine: God brought them out of the Congo, away from all that violence. The problem with such an answer is that it neglects the first question. How can God love the Congo, when only a few of its people get to escape? What about everyone else?
I don’t admit to becoming emotionally involved in things much, but this was it. I felt stirred, and I didn’t know what to think about it anymore. I kept asking myself over and over again, “How can God be fair in the eyes of the people still in the Congo, who where killed for no reason? How can I even ask this man about it when his family has been killed inside of a church?” Luckily for me, my teacher is a very smart man of amazing faith and was able to help. He said we were asking the wrong question. It’s a good question to ask, but it’s not the one we really want the answer for. The question we are attempting to ask is, “Is God responsible?” Is God responsible for what happened in the Congo, or what is happening in Uganda? Is God responsible for families becoming homeless? These are the questions we are trying to ask, but instead of asking if He is responsible, we sort of take the easy way out.
The point is that we shouldn’t ask if God is fair because, just like in the story of Adam and Eve, we had a choice, and God knew what was going to happen and still let us make that choice. You could say God’s full time job is correcting the wrongs that people do. If we could look at all of existence, and I’m going to try to not seem like a know-it-all, we would understand how fully awful and treacherous the human race truly is. Through Jesus Christ our sins were forgiven though, which makes us clean right? Well, we sort of have to try to stay clean. I mean, you don’t take a shower and then go play in a mud-pit, or maybe you do. The fact is no matter how clean you were before playing in that mud-pit you are filthy afterward and need to be cleaned again. That’s what a relationship with God is like, except in the process we help others get clean too, hopefully.
So here’s my closing statement. Though, don’t let this stop you from thinking about these questions, because they are beautiful ways of seeing how great God is. God knows how things are going to end, and it frustrates us and so we complain. I’m beginning to realize the question isn’t a matter of whether God is fair, and how deep the question of God being responsible really goes. If God is not responsible, which I hope by now you know he isn’t, then the question isn’t about God being responsible at all, it’s shaking a finger, an awfully big one, at the entire human race. We are responsible, we are responsible because God gave us a choice and right now that choice is to help the homeless or not to, to help the people of the Congo or not, to stop the genocide in Darfur or not. I’m not an incredibly intelligent person, but I understand to a limited extent what purpose this gives me as a Christian and what the actions of loving my neighbor should look like. Am I stopping injustice, or am I letting the sin of this world corrupt me into apathy? Am I responsible? By listening to God and obeying his word, we can make an impact and change the world for his glory.
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Did Someone Drop The Ball?
(By Sarah Kincaid) - I recently had an email conversation with my future brother-in-law (by the time this is posted, brother-in-law!) about the love of Christ, sinners, compassion, the
In Matthew 22:37-40 Christ responds to a Pharisee’s question about what is the most important commandment and Jesus replies, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest command. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” Wow. So a huge part of following Christ, the son of God, is about love. Well Christ is God and God is love, so that makes sense. 1 John 4: 7-8 says, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” So we should be striving to be love, because God is love.
Yet another thing God is is just, and it is fair to say that we live in an unjust world. Unfortunately, Chicago leads the pack in the country for highest murder rate in 2008. The Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe is responsible for their economic and humanitarian crisis which has caused the nation to face acute shortages of fuel, electricity and medical drugs. The inflation rate -- the highest in the world -- is 231 million percent. Currently there are 3,000 kidnapped people in Columbia being held hostage by rebel groups. Where is the love in this unjust world?
Just before Christ left this world, after he died for our sins and was resurrected, he gave his disciples some very important instructions. He said, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and makes disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” So he is saying we are responsible for what happens on this earth? We are supposed to teach others his commandments? And the most important is to love God and love each other?
I guess someone dropped the ball. I think I’ve dropped the ball. But the good news is there is hope. That last line of instructions Christ gives says “And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” So it is our responsibility, but Christ is saying he will be there. We need him because we can’t love or save. It’s him loving and saving through us. 1 John 4:11-12 “Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.”
These things aren’t easy; loving others. The people we love the most, our family, are usually the people we forget to show love to. And showing justice in an unjust world? Also not easy. But the Lord never said it would be easy. He actually said it would be difficult, but he also said he has overcome. "But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when you will be scattered, each one going his own way, leaving me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” John 16:32-33
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Celebrate Responsibly
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
(By Kirsten Gorton) - Let’s face it. Our society is completely consumer-driven. If there are any doubts, take a look at the way Americans celebrate Christmas. Our commemoration of the season can be summed up into one word: shopping. Averaging the past ten years, every American spends an estimated $1,000 on Christmas gifts each year.* Here’s how it works: the media bombards us with advertisements, offering products guaranteed to bring that warm, fuzzy feeling for the holidays, and we inadvertently develop OCD (Obsessive Consumer Disorder), subsequently agreeing that the one important way to celebrate is to buy and buy and buy.
The problem with our commercialized Christmas is that the true meaning is lost. Santa Claus and the anticipation of presents becomes the central symbol of Christmas, and the expectation of Jesus Christ, Emmanuel is no longer at the heart of it all. The issue isn’t only that we have lost focus in result of our overindulgence, but that we are overindulging at the expense of the poor. You see, we don’t have any idea how the majority of these products are made; we don’t know whether or not they were made halfway across the world in a sweatshop where workers are compensated unjustly. So how does this kind of consumerism surrounding Christ’s birth reflect His teachings?
The Possibilities: 25 Alternatives
So what does this kind of gift-giving look like exactly? Below is a compiled list of twenty-five alternative gift-giving ideas for creative, eco-friendly and fairly traded:
Homemade gifts: Think about the most meaningful gift you have ever received. Chances are, it’s a homemade one. That’s because homemade gifts show appreciation and love through the evidence of time and energy spent, which means a lot more than dollars spent. They are also unique and creative, specially made for one person, instead of produced for the masses.
2 Collage Box
3 Notebook
4 Photo Cube
5 Magic Duct Tape Wallet
Instructions for any of these crafts can be found at craftsandrecipes.weebly.com. Check out one of these sites for more ideas and how-to guides: craftster.org, mindbites.com, diynetwork.com
Baked goods: Everyone loves a good dessert during the Christmas season, especially Sunday school teachers! (Unfortunately, I don’t think any of my 1st Grade Sunday school students are reading this.)
7 Fudge
8 Chocolate-covered Pretzels
9 Chex Mix
10 Trail Mix
Check out one of these sites for recipes: foodnetwork.com, 101cookbooks.com
Love in Action: Give to the Salvation Army! Our Central Territory
12 Mobility ($50)
13 Food ($35)
14 Mosquito Nets ($15)
15 Farm Animals ($30)
Fair-trade products: Buy fair-trade products and bless the hands of those who have made them! Though some of these gifts may be a bit more costly, the money that you give will support fair compensation for the labor put into these cool gifts.
17 12 oz. of Delicious Peace Coffee: $10.50 (deliciouspeace.com)
18 Kikoy Notebooks: $10.99 (amaniafrica.org).
19 Chocolate: $8.50 (chocolatebar.com)
20 Recycled Silk Sari Drawstring Bag$5.95 (thehungersite.com)
Green Gifts: Do something for the environment and help a friend or family member reduce their carbon footprint! There are plenty of options to choose from.
22 Non-Planner Date book: $20 (fredflare.com).
23 Microwave-safe Porcelain Coffee Cups: $18.98 (ochelly.com)
24 Colored Pencils: $10 (fredflare.com)
25 Chesapeake Bay Candles: $9.99 (hesapeakebaycandles.com)
The problem with our commercialized Christmas is that the true meaning is lost. Santa Claus and the anticipation of presents becomes the central symbol of Christmas, and the expectation of Jesus Christ, Emmanuel is no longer at the heart of it all. The issue isn’t only that we have lost focus in result of our overindulgence, but that we are overindulging at the expense of the poor. You see, we don’t have any idea how the majority of these products are made; we don’t know whether or not they were made halfway across the world in a sweatshop where workers are compensated unjustly. So how does this kind of consumerism surrounding Christ’s birth reflect His teachings?
__________________
*Americanresearchgroup.com/holiday
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Takin' Out The Trash
(By Jonathan Tuabe) - "Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful."
- Mark 4:18-19
This scripture really struck me as I was reading the Word recently. The quotation is of course from the Parable of the Sower which is well known, and often a subject addressed in sermons and devotionals. I guess the thing that really stood out me about Mark is the fact of how specifically Jesus addresses wealth and the desire for material gain as a main component of the "worries of life" which lead to being unfruitful. I think we usually infer that Jesus is pointing to the fact that the cares of this world being our focus lead the strangling of our faith. But really, I believe that he's not making a statement concerning our faith, but rather our bearing of fruit. The plants being choked don't necessarily die, they just don't bear the fruit they were meant to. They don't fulfill the purpose they were meant to. Being wealthy doesn't necessarily need to have any effect on our "faith", but it can have a huge effect on our fruitfulness. And we're not called to just believing, but rather to serving our God.
"A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions."
- Matthew 7:17-20
We're called to bear good fruit for the Kingdom, and in doing so, to point to our Heavenly Father and display the qualities which he has shown to us. Qualities like a love of mercy, a zeal for justice, rich compassion and love. But how often are we distracted by our wealth? Or our jobs? Or even our desire for more? And can we compare that to how often we see the Fruit of the Spirit displayed in our lives? And more importantly, how often others are seeing the Fruit of God's Holy Spirit in us? Is there a disconnect there in your life?
I can clearly see in my own life how my wealth, and my desire for material things clouds my focus on "Your kingdom come" and gets in the way of my bearing of fruit. If gone unnoticed or ignored, it can become a trap for any of us.
I am reminded today that Jesus said, "Anyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice..." (Matt. 7:24).
I'm still just working through this in my life, but it seems clear to me that we are not judged solely on our belief. We must be working each day for His Kingdom, bearing fruit for His glory. Anything that becomes a hindrance must be cast off, be it sin, or maybe just too much stuff.
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On Humility
Friday, December 12, 2008
(By James Davisson) - Many of you who know me, and—I suppose—all of you who don’t, may not know that I struggle with Pride. Pride is one of the Seven Deadly Sins recognized by the very early church, and it’s pretty much the deadliest. It is for me, anyway.
Matthew 21:28-32 (NRSV)
28 ‘What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, “Son, go and work in the vineyard today.” 29He answered, “I will not”; but later he changed his mind and went. 30The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, “I will go, sir”; but he did not go. 31Which of the two did the will of his father?’ They said, ‘The first.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, the tax-collectors and the prostitutes are going into the
A steadfast refusal to admit even the possibility that someone who disagrees with you is right is a sin. In placing your opinion, which you got from fallen reason, totally above someone else’s, you put yourself above them. You forget that we are all sinners, and that none of us can know fully. You commit the sin of Pride.
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited, but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.” (Philippians 2:6-7
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This Is Your Home, And This Is Your People
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
(By Andres Villatoro) - On April 28, 2007, 68,000 people gathered in 15 major cities across the United States to remind U.S. and world leaders that there are over 1.5 million people displaced in Northern Uganda;1.5 million people who have been kicked out from their homes and villages by foreigners and through war. I know a couple of us had the privilege of participating in this great event in
Posted By: Anonymous at 8:50 AM : Link : 1 Comments
Sell All You Have And Give To The Poor
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
(By Amanda Keene) - In his book, The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical, Shane Claiborne quotes the Danish philosopher/theologian Soren Kierkegaard: "The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly." This quote resonates with the internal struggle in which I have found myself entangled. This Thanksgiving, as I’m writing this article, I have found myself thinking about this quote and applying it to the culture we find ourselves in today.
Let’s take a look at Matthew 19; a passage that I think we all struggle with on some level. Basically, a man comes up to Jesus and asks him what good thing he must do to get to heaven. Jesus says to obey the commandments: do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal and so on. The young man had kept these commandments and still wondered what else he lacked. Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." Verse 22 then says “When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.” As Christians, we know what Jesus is saying here: sell your possessions and give to the poor. He said it simply so that we would understand, yet how is this played out in our lives?
This leads me to the internal struggle I was talking about earlier…what is my role? Am I selling all of my possessions and giving to the poor? Well, no. What does it look like to even do that? I am not sure. Tomorrow is “Black Friday,” which is the biggest shopping day of the year. Our society has become consumer driven, and the culture we have formed tells us that we need to have the I-Pods, the most up to date cell phones, and the most recent fashions. People will start off the Christmas season by buying present after present for loved ones and spending hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars in order to bring Christmas cheer. Does this fit with the words of Jesus? I have a hard time believing that it does, but I will be the first to admit that I don’t know what that means. Looking at my life in the context of this consumer driven society, I know that I need to readjust my way of thinking, re-prioritize what is important in my life and really meditate on Jesus’ words to all of us. Maybe instead of spending money on our friends and family, we can spend quality time with them. Maybe instead of buying tons of presents, we can give the money to those who really need it.
I pose these questions in order to inspire some thinking: Are we going to be those Christians who pretend to not understand the words that Jesus spoke just because we don’t want to take action and apply them to our lives? Are we going to be like the young man who chose to not follow Jesus’ words because he couldn’t part with the wealth that didn’t really belong to him in the first place? What does this mean for our lives? What does it look like to sell our possessions and give to the poor? It’s a lot to think about, but let’s think about it, talk about it and then act on it together as we move toward the Christmas season.
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How Scary Is Your Movie?
Monday, December 01, 2008
(By Anwar Smith) - For the most part I really dislike scary movies. I have problems with the senseless violence and completely unrealistic plot and characters. Of all the scary movies out there, and I must confess I have only seen a few, the ones that I have found to be the scariest are the Jaws movies. Many of you reading this may not have been around in the 80’s so to catch you up on the storyline; there is a very large shark in the ocean off the Coast of Amity
Here is what makes the movie so interesting. This Great White Shark looms in the murky, ocean water. You never know when it’s going to strike until you hear the classic, someone’s about to get eaten, music. This music starts off slow and then it gets faster and faster as you realize that the person that is just having an enjoyable time swimming has no idea what’s about to happen until . . . So many times, I find myself yelling at the people through my television screen:
“Look out, don’t go swim there by yourself!”
“Behind you, it’s coming behind you!”
“Don’t try to swim for shore, you’ll never make it!”
No matter how hard I scream, the characters never hear me and they succumb to the same fate every time I watch the movie; someone or some group of young people go off by themselves, and there the giant shark lies and wait. It’s really quite sad but for some reason wildly entertaining.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but often times many of us are living lives very similar to scary movies. We connect with people we shouldn’t connect with; we go places we know we shouldn’t go, we do things we know we shouldn’t do. All the while, I could imagine God in Heaven looking at us and screaming just as I have done many times before in front of my TV screen:
“Look out, don’t go in there, it’s not safe!”
“Don’t play that music, it’s a trap, it’ll harden your heart!”
“I didn’t design you for that purpose, don’t do that, it’ll hurt you in the long run!”
“Run away, just run away, now!”
When God is screaming into the scary movie that you are living each and every day, do your hear him? Jaws, the Great White Shark, is fake, he was simply a figment of someone’s imagination created through animatronics and other special effects. You, on the other hand, are real flesh in blood, soul and spirit. Do you know the voice of God as he calls out to you? Though I am no longer speaking of a scary movie created in Hollywood, there is still an enemy out there seeking to devour you (John 10:10). The enemy is lurking about just waiting for a hapless victim to come along unaware and unprepared so that he can consume them. Sounds scary? It does not have to be.
In John 10:1-18, Jesus is teaching his disciples about the work of the Shepherd and how the sheep know the shepherd’s voice and respond to it. The shepherd’s role is to protect the sheep from wolves and other dangers but the sheep must be willing to follow the shepherd. Ladies and gentleman, we are those sheep Jesus is referring to and through right relationship, we can get to know and trust our Shepherd so that he can protect us from the enemy. It is only through knowing the voice of Jesus our Good Shepherd that we will be able to escape the traps of the enemy.
I am challenging you to build a strong relationship with Jesus Christ, learn to recognize his voice so that when you are tempted to go somewhere you shouldn’t go, or do something you shouldn’t do, that you would know the voice that is yelling for you not to go there, or not to do it. Unlike us, God has seen our movie before and he knows the outcome well before we do. Listen to him calling out to you; trust Him and heed His warnings because He has your very best interest in mind.
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