Gettysburg

The first of July Kathy and I went to Gettysburg with a wonderful couple. It was my first time and since I loved history I soaked it all in. We strolled the battlefield. We read the historical markers. We watched films and took tours to get the picture of what happened on July 1, 2, 3, 1863 in the small Pennsylvania town. The causalities were enormous. Fifty-three thousand soldiers died in the largest battle to take place on American soil.

There is a soberness that goes with being on such "holy" ground. A place where men were willing to die for a cause. The blood that must have been shed. But an interesting side to the story is that a number of the officers, though on different sides, were friends. Two such friends were General Winfield S. Hancock (Union Army) and General Lewis A. Armistead (Confederate Army). Good friends, but now enemies. What makes friends fight against each other?

That is a good question for those of us who follow Jesus. What makes friends fight against each other? May we take the words of Paul and apply them - Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. (Ephesians 4:2).

The Civil War and more particularly Gettysburg stands as a bloody memorial of what happens when friends fight. May that not be true of God's church. May it not be true in your church. May it not be true with me.

Sid

Dealing With God

The new movie Evan Almighty is a great movie. Being a visual person the plot gave me all kinds of illustrations and clips that once the movie is released on DVD I can share them with my church. But there is one episode that really impacted me.

God (Morgan Freeman) summons narcissistic newscaster turned congressman Evan Baxter (Steve Carell) to build an enormous ark in preparation for a devastating flood. Unfortunately, Evan's perplexed family interprets his latest hobby as a midlife crisis gone wrong rather than as a divine assignment from the man upstairs. They abandon him as do all others.

Then God appears to Evan's wife in a restaurant. God asks her if she believes that when people ask God for patience does God just get rid of the problem, or does he give them the ability to endure? If someone asks God to bring their family closer together (that had been her prayer), does God give them warm and fuzzy feelings or does he give them the opportunity to be closer?

What a theological statement. I want relief. I want the warm and fuzzy, but God gives me opportunity. What a God!

See your hardship, struggle, or battle as an opportunity. God is faithful. He will see you through. I'm betting on God instead of myself. What about you?

Sid

Glad It’s Not Cat Poop!

One of my elders has a couple of great nieces that he and his wife love to have over to their house. They are about 6 and 4 years of age. They spend a lot of time with their great uncle and aunt. The other day the oldest child stepped in some dog poop while in the family garden and the uncle and aunt had to clean up her shoe. The matter seemed to be over, but as they were leaving the youngest one declared, “it could be worse, it could have been cat poop! It really stinks.”

It amazed me that a four-year-old could make that deduction. Then I thought about how we as human beings rationalize our sins. “Oh, I may have this sin in my life, but I don’t do that sin, it is a lot worse.” Don’t we rationalize like that? Jesus dealt with that with a “log-in-the-eye” story (Matthew 7).

Don’t get me wrong, some sins have more consequences in this life than others. But don’t miss the point – all sin demanded payment with the blood of Jesus.

May we as his disciples rid our lives of the waste that God calls sin. It is an honorable lifestyle. God will gives us strength and power if we rely on Him and not ourselves. May God’s Spirit empower His church to be holy. Live for God because eternity without him is worse.

Sid