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Blog Archive
June 29, 2020
Terry's Thoughts July 2020
Here we are halfway through 2020 experiencing things most have either never experienced or have not experienced in many years. When I think of how this year has unfolded, I am struck by how different it has turned out than we had originally planned. If you happen to remember we, during our Annual Meeting last year, adopted a theme for 2020 titled “Return to Holiness.” Never imagining things would unfold as they have, we began our planning by dedicating our programing toward that end. As a result of COVID – 19 and many other factors all our plans have fallen through. Did you hear that all of “our plans” have fallen through, but not His plans. So, since we are more than six months into 2020, I believe it is fair to ask the question, have we, in fact, returned to the Holiness He has commanded us to strive for? In many ways I think we have but in some ways we, along with our culture, have not. When tackling such a goal one must first look within themselves to determine if there is anything in them that needs removing for the Holiness of God to exist. Realizing many of us are not in the practice of evaluating our lives daily the Lord forced us to do so by shutting things down, therefore affording us plenty of time to look within ourselves. Have you done so? Because of the COVID -19, the civil unrest, the horrible tragedies plaquing our society, and being forced to examine our lives some have begun the process of returning to a sense of holiness that, I am sure, will be pleasing to our Lord. Of course, there are those who have not examined their lives, therefore, falling victim to the consequences of their own choices. I see this as an opportunity for the church to jump headlong into this gap to share the gospel and the hope that is found only in Jesus. Have you been thinking about what your part might be in this effort? My prayer is that we would all learn from what we have had to deal with and make whatever future we are in store for better than it has ever been concerning the ministry of the Gospel.
There is one more especially important question that needs to be asked and dealt with as we begin reopening and reestablishing our new realities. Why does there seem to be a decline in the enthusiasm of God’s people to be more reflective of his will rather than our own? The answer is quite clear to me. Once given the opportunity to return to the activities we once believed to be essential but found out were not we, because of fear, have chosen to be safe and not faithful. Therefore allowing “FEAR” to guide our reopening and not faith. WE MUST REMEMBER THE ANSWER TO ALL OF LIFE’S PROBLEMS AND DIFFICULT ISSUES BEGINS AND ENDS WITH JESUS!! (PLEASE KNOW I AM NOT ADVOCATING FOR US NOT TO BE SAFE, BUT RATHER MORE TRUSTING IN OUR LORD’S PROVISION). For those without a personal relationship with Jesus it is certainly understandable they would allow fear to be their guide, but for those who know Him as their personal Savior we should expect more from them. Jesus is the antidote for Fear. In fact, the Bible speaks a great deal on this subject and helps us to understand how to overcome our fears. One such example is found in Matthew 8:23-27. In this episode of Jesus’ ministry, He and the disciples had gotten into a boat in order to travel across the sea when a violent storm arose and caused a great deal of fear among the early disciples. The interesting part of this story is that Jesus had crawled into the lower parts of the boat and fell asleep even during the storm. Due to the fear that was consuming the disciples they quickly attempted to wake Jesus so he could possibly help them survive this violent storm. The response from our Lord was classic and should serve as an example for us who know Him. Jesus said, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” So that they would know just exactly who He was and to calm their fears Jesus commanded the storm to subside and it did. Why, because He is not only Jesus the man, but Jesus our God. In like manner for those who know Him Jesus is saying to us “Why are we afraid?” Is our faith so shallow or unused that we do not realize that nothing has escaped His noticed? I see Jesus using this time in our life much like He did for his disciples that day on the violent sea. He is saying remember I am God and I will protect You and guide You through any storm no matter how violent. Let us all remember this and never forget who or whose we are in Jesus!! Finally, my prayer is that we will not be afraid of the new realities we are all facing and would get genuinely excited about the gospel opportunities presented to us because of difficulty. Also remember I love you and consider it a privilege to serve the best association in all the world.
Terry