MARCH 2009 EDITION

I have been re-reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s great work, “Life Together”.
In his opening chapter entitled “Community”, he describes Christ’s life as being lived among his enemies. He makes this startling statement. “So the Christian, too, belongs not in the seclusion of a cloistered life but in the thick of foes. There is his commission, his work.” Bonhoeffer goes on to quote Martin Luther:

”The Kingdom is to be in the midst of your enemies. And he who will not suffer this does not want to be of the Kingdom of Christ.; he wants to sit among friends, to sit among the roses and lilies, not with the bad people but the devout people. O you blasphemers and betrayers of Christ! If Christ had done what you are doing who would have ever been spared?”

O.K., ouch, that hurts! I hate it when that happens….when someone like Luther or Bonhoeffer or Oswald Chambers goes “from preachin’ to meddlin’.” I happen to like my “holy huddle; thank you very much! It is very comfortable and clean here. Go out there and get my hands dirty among the “unwashed.” I don’t think so. I don’t have “the gift of evangelism.” Don’t ask me to “share my faith” with someone. What if they rejected me? I couldn’t stand it. It would hurt too much. (Like a nail driven in a crossbeam through flesh???) I would be too embarrassed. (Like being stripped naked, flogged, and hung on a cross in front of all the townspeople????) What if my friends thought I was being too religious and didn’t want to be seen with me for fear of being identified with me? (Like being in a garden at night with hostile soldiers and men with clubs after you, ready to arrest you and all your closest friends ran away and left you all alone????)

You know, when I have seen a great movie, eaten at a great restaurant, seen a great game on T.V., I cannot wait to tell someone about it. I want them to share the experience. So what is it about me that is unwilling to share the greatest thing that has happened in my life… that affects all time and eternity for me?
Fear… Fear of rejection, fear of embarrassment, fear of inadequacy, these are the things that keep me from sharing the “good news”, the gospel, with others.
“Fear not, for I am with you.” That phrase is repeated over and over in Scripture. God has gone ahead of you and prepared the hearts of those with whom you share this “great news” that God loves them. He wants to have a relationship with them. He is standing at the “door” of their hearts waiting to be invited into their lives, if only they will ask. He wants to forgive them and make them new creations, if only they will ask Him. We do not know whose hearts have been prepared. It is not our responsibility to get people to choose to follow Christ. That is the job of the Holy Spirit. It is our wonderful privilege to tell them about the greatest thing that happened to us. We want them to experience it also.

Oops! Have I gone from ‘preachin’ to meddlin.’ I am challenging myself on this one. What’s the old saying? “When you are pointing at someone else, there are three fingers pointing back at yourself.”

MINISTRY NEWS:

 THANKS, IN LARGE PART, TO THE EFFORTS OF A FRIEND OF THE MINISTRY, ATTORNEY MARK BULLMAN, A JUDGEMENT WAS WON AGAINST THE WOMAN WHO MISUSED THE FUNDS OF A DISABLED MAN WITH WHOM NET WORK HAS BEEN WORKING. HOPEFULLY, WE CAN NOW COLLECT THE MISSING FUNDS FROM HER. MARK SPENT MANY HOURS OF HIS OWN TIME AND MONEY TO ASSIST THIS GENTLEMAN.

 WE ARE “KICKING OFF” A NEW PROGRAM FOR THE FRIDAY MORNING GROUP CALLED “FIRST FRIDAYS.” THIS IS THE IDEA OF MARSHALL DYE. WHEN HE FIRST CAME TO THE GROUP, SOME 15 YEARS AGO, HE WAS SIGNIFICANTLY YOUNGER THAN MOST OF THE GROUP. IT MEANT A GREAT DEAL TO HIM TO BE INVITED TO THE GROUP BY MEN HE RESPECTED. TO THAT END, HE SUGGESTED THAT THE MEN IN THE GROUP INVITE SOME OF THE YOUNGER MEN IN THE COMMUNITY TO ATTEND FRIDAY MORNINGS.

WE WILL HAVE ONE OF OUR MEMBERS SHARE A STORY FROM HIS LIFE. ON APRIL 3RD, GLENN GRAY, A RETIRED LOCKHEED TEST PILOT WILLSHARE HIS STORY AND A FILM OF HIS ADVENTURES FEATURING A TEST FLIGHT OF A MODIFIED C-130 THAT WAS TO BE USED IN AN ATTEMPT TO RESCUE THE IRANIAN HOSTAGES IN 1979. OTHER FUTURE FEATURED SPEAKERS FROM OUR GROUP WILL BE NEAL SISSON AND PAUL PAYNE. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO JOIN US ON FRIDAY MORNINGS AT 7:OO. FOR MORE INFORMATION AND DIRECTIONS,
CALL BUCK AT 678-986-4814.

MINISTRY NEEDS:

DUE TO SHORTFALL IN CONTRIBUTIONS, AS OF THIS WRITING, NET WORK WAS UNABLE TO MAKE A PAYMENT TO THE RETIREMENT ACCOUNT FOR 2008. THERE IS STILL TIME, HOWEVER. WE HAVE UNTIL APRIL 15TH TO MAKE AN IRA CONTRIBUTION FOR 2008. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN HELPING OUT WITH THIS, IT WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

BUCK WOULD LIKE TO FACILITATE ANOTHER MEN’S GROUP DURING THE WEEK. PLEASE CONTACT HIM IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN FORMING A GROUP.