Living With Integrity

It seems that fewer and fewer people live with integrity. Politicians intentionally distort the truth in order to gain support for their political positions and pet projects. People lie in the workplace, both bosses and those who work for them, in order to cover up for their own shortcomings. It seems like we regularly hear about celebrities who have been dishonest with their spouses or children. If it happens to them, it happens to many more people who are just not well enough known to have their story reach the news.

Sadly, it also happens with Christians. This week, Jonathan Acuff discussed this very thing on the Belief Blog of CNN with a piece titled: “My Take: Why Christians Are Jerks Online” (Read the complete blog entry here). Acuff writes his own blog www.stuffchristianslike.net and has recently written a book titled Stuff Christians Like.

Acuff makes the point that Jesus taught us the greatest commandment is to love God, and the second commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. Then, he asks these questions: “So then why are there so many hateful Christian blogs? Why do Christians write bitter messages on Twitter? Why do we send hate mail?” He offers two conclusions:

(1) The business traveler approach — Many people, Christians and non-Christians, are different people when they are away from home and no one knows them. Acuff suggests that Christians treat the Internet the same way, approaching it like the normal rules of their lives don’t count on the Internet. They write hateful things and portray unloving attitudes under the guise of “whatever happens on the Internet stays on the Internet.”

(2) Room cleaning Christianity — Acuff discusses how energized a college student will become about cleaning his/her room when a final paper is due. We do that, he suggests with loving our neighbor. It is hard to love someone who is not easy to love. So instead of showing our neighbor the grace of God, we get online and police people. We find small things to focus on that will distract us.

Christians, though, are to live with integrity whether we are in a different environment where no one will likely recognize us or when we notice the little problems in people’s live and become critical of them. That is, we are to be the same people and loving people in every circumstance.

Joseph was this kind of person. As we have begun to look at his life in my messages and our adult class discussion this summer, that becomes clear almost immediately. The stories we are studying about his life are captivating, but even more they demonstrate how to live with integrity in a world where integrity is often absent. You can change that: live with integrity.

North American Christian Convention is July 6-9

One of the great opportunities that I have most summers is to attend the North American Christian Convention (NACC). It is held every summer, usually in early July or late June, in a different city around the county and brings together 10,000 or so fellow believers from Christian churches/churches of Christ all across North America. In a conference-type setting, the NACC inspires and teaches through preaching, teaching, worship, workshops, and fellowship.

This year the NACC will be held in Indianapolis from July 6-9. Next year the NACC will again be in the Midwest as it goes to Cincinnati from July 5-8. If you would like to consider attending a NACC, check out the NACC website to learn more: http://www.gotonacc.org.

I get to see many people from around the country that I know at each year’s NACC. Most years, I exhibit for WCMA (the church planting organization for which I am Executive Director), along with ministry and mission organizations from all over the world.

While our congregation is a non-denominational and independently governed church, we are part of a network of such churches from around the world. The NACC comes out of that fellowship of churches, but is open to all believers in Christ. If you would like to find out more about our fellowship of churches, Standard Publishing has two publications available that will give you some good insights: “What Kind of Church Is This?” and “Simply Christians.” Check them out. If you would like further information on these two publications, please contact me.

Stephen Bilak – A Life of Service

We enjoyed having Pat and Nadya Oja update us at our church, Westwood Christian Church, last month on the mission work of Slavic World for Christ. That ministry was started many years ago by Stephen Bilak. Since Oja’s were here, the ministry has launched a new website that has a one page biography of Stephen’s life and how the ministry began and developed. Stephen’s story is a wonderful story of faith that you will enjoy reading. You can access it at the ministry’s website: http://www.slavicworld.net. Click on the picture next to the “How it all got started” on the home page to access the history and a gallery of pictures.

Westwood Message – June 10, 2010

Thank You Note From Oja’s

We received the following thank you note from the Oja’s who were at Westwood on May 23 to update us on the ministry of Slavic World for Christ and the Old Park Church in Ternopil, Ukraine:

Dear Brothers and Sisters at Westwood,

We are so appreciative of the kind and generous reception a couple of weeks ago when we visited! It was a great pleasure to be with you and we are very grateful for your interest and continued support of the work in western Ukraine. We look forward to our next opportunity to be with you and will continue to keep you updated on current events in Ternopil.

With much love in Christ,

Pat, Nadya, Evie and Jules

Birthday Card Shower for Wendell and Helen Smith

Wendell and Helen Smith’s 66^th anniversary is on July 24. We would like to shower them with cards for their anniversary. On June 20, we will have a basket in the church entry way labeled “Card Shower” that you can place your cards in. Or, you can mail your card directly to Wendell and Helen. If you need their mailing address, please contact Chardel at the church office: cjohnston@westwoodchristian.com or 274-0266.

Christmas in July Red Kettle Campaign

The Salvation Army will hold their Christmas in July Red Kettle Campaign from July 9-17 with 38 kettle sites throughout Dane County, including the Copps on Whitney Way. They have 1,806 two-hour shifts to fill.

The Salvation Army is experiencing a high demand for their services at this time due to the economy. They have set a goal for their campaign of $27,500. Last July we went above their goal of $25,000 by raising $38.295.

If you would be willing to volunteer for one or more shifts during the July campaign, you can contact Chardel at the church office, and she will get you registered. You can also register on your own at www.ringbells.org by setting up your own username and password.

Laufenberg’s Help Dedicate Flag Pole in the Town of Brooklyn

Lyle and Linda Laufenberg of Westwood are members of a Civil War reenactment group that participated in the dedication of a new flag pole in Brooklyn, WI on Memorial Day. Liberty Pole Hill Park, southwest of the village of Brooklyn, is the highest point in Dane, Green, and Rock Counties. In 1861, during the Civil War, the park became a gathering place for volunteers in the Wisconsin Infantry to register for enlistment in the army. From there, they would walk to Evansville, Janesville, and other places to begin serving.

The park’s flagpole was torn down by vandals in 1963 and not replaced until this year. The battery of which Lyle is a member was invited to participate in the flag pole dedication.

The event was featured in local news reports, including a report on WISC-TV in which Lyle was interviewed. You can access that story and video here: http://www.channel3000.com/news/23750282/detail.html. WKOW-TV also ran a story on the event. Their story and video can be accessed here: http://www.wkowtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12571923.

Results From the Million Pound Challenge

We put out information at the first of the year about the Million Pound Challenge that would benefit food pantries in Dane County like our own. This was the first ever Million Pound Challenge. We have received information that the effort reached 624,424 pounds of food.

MAKING CHRIST SUPREME IN YOUR CHURCH

In 2001 an article appeared about a new church in the state of Maryland in The Washington Post. Using market research and focus groups, the denomination starting the new church designed weekly services that deliberately de-emphasize Jesus Christ. One of the founders of the church said, “The sad fact is the name of Jesus Christ has become for many people exclusionary.” Using Hindu and Zen, intermingled with a few verses from the Bible and recorded music by Willie Nelson, the leader of this group was quoted as saying, “We’re enabling people to discover God themselves, maybe through Jesus, maybe through Buddha, maybe through any number of ways.”

While those of us who have come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior would disagree with such an approach for church teaching, we do often function this way on a practical level. Instead of calling people to faith, repentance and submission to the supremacy of Christ, many tell people things such as Jesus wants to give them a happy marriage or a stress-free life.

While Jesus will certainly change our lives, our marriages, and our stress levels when we make him our Lord, we must not settle for “What Jesus can do for me” but for “Am I living in light of his lordship?” We don’t simply “add” Jesus to our lives; we adore him with our lives through our obedience.

Dwight L. Moody understood this and demonstrated it in his ministry. In 1893, when the World’s Fair was held in Chicago, Moody led a great evangelistic effort in Chicago. It was perhaps the greatest evangelistic work in his career. One of the features of the world’s fair was the “World Parliament of Religions” exhibit which many of Moody’s friends and associates wanted him to attack during the evangelistic effort. Moody, however, refused to attack the other religions. He said, "I am going to make Jesus Christ so attractive that men will turn to him."

That needs to be the spirit of the church. Paul’s letter to the Colossians, of all his New Testament writings, especially makes this clear. In a recent study of Colossians 1, I discovered three areas in which we should make Christ supreme or preeminent in the church.

(1) Christ is supreme in creation. In Colossians 1, Paul describes Christ as “the image of the invisible God.” He is the portrait of God, revealing the personal character of God to us. He is also the “firstborn over all creation.” This phrase is a difficult one to translate, but refers to Jesus’ existence before all creation and his priority over all creation. As a seminary professor of mine wrote, “It is Christ who makes the universe a cosmos instead of a chaos.” In the church, we dare not cave in to the pressure of our culture to water down creation to the philosophy of our culture that our world just evolved into existence. We must hold to the biblical teaching on creation and doing everything we can to care for the world God has given us.

(2) Christ is supreme in the church. Paul describes Jesus as existing “in the beginning,” a reference not just to being first in the order of things, but to being the source of the church and is therefore superior to it. He is “the firstborn among the dead.” Jesus’ resurrection is superior to all others. Without his resurrection we cannot be raised. Jesus is “supreme,” that is, he is superior to all else in life and in the church. We need to give Jesus superior status in the church. The church is not run by the pastor or elders or any other church leader. The church should be led by Jesus. We receive our marching orders from him. Our mission is not to run our church programs, but to carry out his mission.

(3) Christ is supreme through the cross. Paul says in Colossians 1 that Christ “reconciles all things to himself…through his blood shed on the cross.” The word reconcile could be translated “unite.” He unites all things to himself. That is, the very act that brings harmony and peace to all the universe is the act that brings redemption to the church – his death on the cross. The church should never apologize for the cross, but needs to hold it up as the one source of redemption for those we counsel and teach.

So, make Christ supreme in your church. Check your attitude in everything you do in the church to b e sure that you are putting Christ before everything else and following his direction.

Ternopil, Ukraine Church Celebrates an Anniversary

On May 23, Pat and Nadya Oja were at Westwood Christian Chruch to update us on one of the missions we support, Slavic World for Christ and the Church of Christ in Ternopil, Ukraine. On that same Sunday, the Ternopil church celebrated the tenth anniversary of being in their church building. They have posted a couple of short videos of the celebration on their website. If you are interested in viewing them, go to this link: http://www.ternopilchurch.com/.