Dr. Marion Henderson — 1922-2012

On May 6, I began my message by telling our congregation that on Friday, May 4, Dr. Marion Henderson was called to his eternal reward. While you may not know him, his life is a testimony to a long life lived serving the Lord.

When I enrolled at Lincoln Christian University in 1969, the first class I attended was Gospels, taught by Dr. Henderson. That class met four times a week at 7:30 in the morning — but did we ever learn the Gospels! I had read the Gospels, but I learned the Gospels under Dr. Henderson. He taught the Gospels to countless Lincoln students from 1951-1976 and again from 1986-2006. He had a way of making the Gospels come alive. His last lecture of each course was an event every semester as he took us through the Garden of Gethsemane. Every student eagerly anticipated hearing that lecture for the first time. It was the stuff of legends at Lincoln. If I know anything about the Gospels today, it began with Dr. Henderson.

In my senior year, I completed the circle and took third year Greek from Dr. Henderson. I have forgotten how many classes I took from him in between, but each one offered something powerful from the Scriptures.

Besides teaching, Dr. Henderson filled many others roles. For many years he coached the college basketball team. As I said last Sunday, I never played for him. His last year of coaching was the year before I enrolled, but he still coached me — after games, as I came or went from class, or when we met in the hallway. In his own way, whether it was teaching in the classroom or talking about how you played in your last game or just talking to you about life, he encouraged you to give your best to Christ.

He also had a third legacy. During most of the years during his first stint at Lincoln, he preached for the South Fork Church of Christ, outside Rochester, Illinois, about 30 miles from campus. For those of us who were going to be preachers, he modeled every week what he taught in the classroom.

We can model someone with Dr. Henderson’s commitment to Christ and his church — and we should. It will not be the same going back to campus knowing I will not have a chance encounter with Dr. Henderson, but I will always be grateful he was my teacher. See you in heaven, Doc.

The Importance of Recognizing Who Jesus Is

On April 29 in our worship service at Westwood Christian Church, we shared together the most basic belief for we who follow Christ. First, we heard it in the confession a young lady made as she confessed her belief in Jesus as the Son God and was then baptized. Then, we repeated that confession together: “I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Nothing is more central to Christianity than that confession.

Many people, however, think that you can have Christianity without that confession. For instance, Jeremy Bowen, the presenter of a 2001 British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) documentary on Jesus stated, "The important thing is not what he was or what he wasn't—the important thing is what people believe him to have been. A massive world wide religion, numbering more than two billion people follows his memory—that's pretty remarkable, 2,000 years on."

Bowen, of course, couldn't be more wrong. It seems that everyone has a theory about Jesus, and different religions have differing views about Jesus than the Biblical view. Mormons, for instance, are often considered just another Christian denomination, but they are far from that, which can clearly be seen from their view of Jesus.

I was asked recently for information about Mormon beliefs. About a week later, I came across a sermon from April 29 comparing Mormon and Christian doctrine by Brian Jones, church planter, pastor, and author from Philadelphia. Mormon belief about Jesus is by no means Biblical. They believe that Jesus’ father came to earth and had a relationship with Mary that resulted in the birth of Jesus. They also believe that Jesus had a brother, Lucifer, who volunteered to redeem mankind, but when God chose Jesus instead, he rebelled against God and became Satan. These and other Mormon beliefs are clearly not Christian beliefs.

Who Jesus is and what he did is, of course, the foundation of our faith. Just because another religion claims a belief in Jesus does not make them Christian. We actually have to look at the content of their belief.

The most well-known passage about Jesus in this regard is in Matthew 16. The same incident is also told in Luke 9, verses that will be included in the passage from Luke that I will preach from on Sunday. On the occasion of these two passages, Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do the crowds say that I am” (Luke 9:18), and then asks his disciples, “But you, who do you say that I am?” Peter is the one who responds: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” or as Luke gives his response: “God’s Messiah.” Peter’s answer forms the basis for our Christian confession when we accept Christ as Savior and the basis for our following Christ.

This basic belief in Jesus had been announced by God’s Spirit upon the occasion of Jesus’ baptism at the beginning of his ministry. Peter’s confession was followed by another confirmation of Jesus as God’s Son at his transfiguration. On both of those occasions, God announced with a voice from heaven, “This is My Son, the Chosen One, listen to Him” (Luke 9:35).

On the basis of that belief, as stated in Peter’s confession, Jesus called for everyone who confesses him to “deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” He asked this of his first disciples, and he asks it of each of us. He is the Savior that we need to meet. He is the one we confess with our words and our lives.