MAKE READING AND STUDYING THE BIBLE A LIFELONG PRACTICE

One of my mother’s possessions that I now have since we went through her things after her death is the Bible (King James Version) she always carried when we went to church as I was growing up. As you can see it is torn and tattered from use. I also still have my first Bible (also King James). It shows wear and tear as well, although not as much as Mom’s.

The Bible is meant to be read. It is meant to be used to gain insight from God’s Word. When a Bible is used, it will show wear and tear.

I read this week about a worn Bible from China that has an amazing history. Here is a part of the story:

“Jiang Yuchun was a boy the first time he attended a Christian gathering in a home in Anhui Province, China. He and his father walked fifteen miles under cover of darkness because any kind of Christian gathering during the Cultural Revolution of 1966 to 1976 was an act of subversion according to government policy. Thousands of believers were martyred during those dark days; every Christian leader exposed was imprisoned or killed; the Bible was practically extinct. Yuchun watched the leader teaching the group, holding a tattered copy of the Bible tightly in his hand. The pages were torn and dirty, the corners worn to a rounded shape.

“The red edging had been worn to a faint pink. The cover hung by a thread to the binding. The preacher, who travelled from one location to the next to teach even during the Cultural Revolution, would not allow anyone to touch this Bible. Too much was at stake. But one day, one time, he allowed Yuchun to take it for a moment to glance at it. Yuchun was only in elementary school, so he could not make out much of the traditional Chinese script, but decades later he still remembered the reverence, awe, and joy he experienced when he held that subversive book in his hands.”

Thirty years later, he again found that preacher. Yuchun said about that meeting: “He gave the precious bible to me and I will forever treasure it” (read the full story here).

Since the Bible deserves to be studied and treasured and worn, I have been teaching a delightful Bible study for the last month on Monday mornings at Sawyer Terrace, the apartment complex where three of our ladies live. On March 8, Marion Greaser will begin a second Bible study for the residents at Sawyer Terrace. It is a joy to see these senior citizens, including one delightful couple who are from Sri Lanka, rejoice at the opportunity to study and to share insights from God’s Word together.

I still remember some of the early passages of Scripture that I read and memorized when I was young. I still cannot get enough treasure from the Bible. I hope you feel the same way. As Jiang Yuchun’s story reminds us, many people in the world find the Bible precious because it is banned. We should not take it for granted, but should make reading and studying it a lifelong practice.

Crafts for Christ at Westwood Christian Church

Dawn Zimmerman recently began a new ministry at Westwood — Crafts for Christ. Here is a description of the ministry from Dawn and volunteers who have worked with her:

I started Crafts For Christ to reach women who are trying to start over by teaching a craft and showing the love of Christ to them. We work with the ladies of Arc, a non-profit organization serving women and children for over 30 years, located in Madison, WI. The Arc house offers a four-month program and residential facility with minimum security for women offenders trying to rehabilitate themselves from former addictions and create a new life.

ARC House – Madison

The person in charge of this ARC house is Celesta who is excited about our ministry and is giving me her full support. She has explained to me how important it is to teach these women how to have fun without using drugs while at the same time improving their social skills and that this can be done through crafts. Sharing crafts with these women will teach them new skills that will increase their living skill. Completing projects helps to raise their self worth and self esteem and many of these women are mothers and can then teach these crafts to their children.

The women have been a lot of fun to meet and work with. I really didn’t know what to expect the first time I went there so that’s been really great. One cool thing is that the women write out prayer requests for us to pray for which is a privilege. You don’t have to be a crafting expert to help out. You can be involved in a variety of ways from donating to Crafts For Christ, helping me to shop for craft materials, putting together samples and supplies, to joining me in sharing a craft with the ladies of ARC. Prayers are always welcomed.

Dawn Zimmerman

Here are three volunteers reactions to their time at ARC House, along with pictures of the crafts they helped the ladies make:

I was excited to help with the ministry and to be able to encourage the girls. Here are my general impressions of Crafts for Christ during the time I helped Dawn with a Christmas craft.

I was impressed with the way the girls looked out for each other, i.e., 1 ) made sure everyone was there, 2) gave suggestions to each other about their particular project, and 3) when a suggestion was made, the girls seriously considered the advice.

They showed pride in their finished projects, making places to display their creations. Many of them probably had not felt pride in themselves for a (long) period of time.

Several of them were comfortable writing prayer requests and submitting them to Dawn for prayer. They were often about family members and their needs rather than something to the effect of "Help me get out of here soon."

This Christmas project gave the girls the opportunity to comment about what they knew, thought, or had heard about Christ's birth. Some girls with some Christian background made comments such as "My grandmother told me that."

The craft was fun for the girls and they had the extra bonus of knowing that someone cared for them and was willing to spend time with them when it was not necessary to do so.

I think it would be beneficial to provide Crafts for Christ more than once a month. That would give an opportunity to discover what an individual girl’s needs are and perhaps to find more ways to help her.

Clarissa Shockley

“The ladies who gathered lived in a home atmosphere of togetherness and they welcomed us with smiles, though a bit tentatively as they weren’t too sure what origami is all about. But they joined in whole-heartedly with chatter and much laughter at their mistakes. It was a fun time for all.”

Betty Anderson

“I was surprised at the enthusiasm and cheerfulness of the ladies, all so friendly and looking forward to doing a craft. They really seemed to enjoy it. I was really tickled by the one table I gave all the bling (shiny stuff) to. They were like little kids. Here there are women whose kids have been taken away or are in foster care and they are still delighted with simple things. They seemed so appreciative and I really think it makes a difference for them.”

Kathi Seman

Responding to the Questions That Jesus Asks

In a post last week, I commented on a passage from Stan Guthrie’s book All That Jesus Asks, which I am currently reading. Let me take you deeper into the book by asking a question: Have you responded to all of the questions that Jesus asks of us?

First you might ask a question: What questions does Jesus ask? Since we are talking about questions, that is a good question. The answer is quite simple: All you have you to do is read the Gospels — just as we are going through the Gospel of Luke with my messages this year — and you will find that one of Jesus’ primary methods of teaching is to ask questions.

Guthrie sums up the questions Jesus asks us like this: “His questions prompt our participation, inspection, and reflection. His questions draw us into the mind of God and invite us to grow as we walk with him. As we grapple with Jesus's questions, we learn what we truly believe-and what we don't…. Jesus, the master teacher of history, asked probing questions of all who came to him: friend and foe, skeptic and follower, seeker and betrayer. And he still asks today.”

Here are some of the questions Guthrie explores that Jesus asks:

First Guthrie seeks to answer the vital question, “Who is Jesus?” Guthrie says, “Jesus was intensely interested in knowing what people thought of him, because our relationship to him determines our eternal destiny.” So he explores questions such as:

• “What did you go out into the wilderness to see?” in exploring the crowds’ response to John the Baptist.
• “Can a blind man lead a blind man?” as he discussed the context of his teachings.
• “How can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man?” in discussing his authority.
• “Why do you not know how to interpret the present time” as he discusses his mission and his followers’ awareness of that mission within the world.
• Most importantly, “Who do you say that I am?” as Jesus explores with us his identity.

Those are just some of the questions that Guthrie suggests explore Jesus’ identity. Jesus also asks questions about following him, questions that explore our thinking and whether we love the Lord with al of our minds, questions that explore our character, and questions that challenge some of the critical doctrines we must believe.

As I read Guthrie’s book while I am also studying Luke in preparation for my messages each week, I find myself paying closer attention to Jesus’ questions and how I would answer them. Let me give you one brief example:

The first question that Jesus asks in Luke during his ministry is in Luke 5:23: “Which is easier to say, ’Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ’Get up and walk.’” With this question, Jesus forces us to think about the forgiveness that we need and his ability to forgive anyone, in any circumstance, of their sins. You and I need to keep the power of his forgiveness in front of us.

So let me ask you, are you willing to let Jesus explore your commitment to him by seriously giving consideration to his questions?

SPENDING TIME THINKING ABOUT GOD

In our Sunday morning adult class, we recently discussed God as Jesus’ Father and how they relate to each other and the Holy Spirit, and considered our inadequacy to completely understand the nature of God. Following that discussion, I shared the following story:

Shortly after St. Augustine had finished his theological tome On the Trinity, he was walking along the Mediterranean shore on the coast of North Africa when he chanced upon a boy who kept filling a bucket with seawater and pouring it into a large hole in the sand.

"Why are you doing that?" Augustine asked the boy.

"I'm pouring the Mediterranean Sea into the hole," the boy replied in all seriousness.

"My dear boy, what an impossible thing to try to do!" chided Augustine. "The sea is far too vast, and your hole is far too small."

Then as Augustine continued his walk, it dawned on him that in his efforts to write on the Trinity he was much like that boy: the subject was far too vast, and his mind was far too small!

We may not be able to understand God, but we do need to give constant consideration to God and how he works in our world and in our lives. In his book All That Jesus Asks, Stan Guthrie suggests that we do not study the questions about God as readily as we do matters about things around us. Guthrie comments on and analogy Jesus used in Luke 12:54-56:

He also said to the crowds: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, right away you say, ‘A storm is coming,’ and so it does. And when the south wind is blowing, you say, ‘It’s going to be a scorcher!’ and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why don’t you know how to interpret this time?

Guthrie says:

Their priorities are wrong. They study the weather, which comes and goes, but this moment, this opportunity to align oneself with God's purposes, will never come again-and yet people don't use their brains to evaluate these unique circumstances and make the right decision. It is damnable ignorance.

Such attitudes are just as prevalent today. People study the stock market, the weather, the baseball box scores, how to land a good job, and many other subjects, some more worthy, some less. But they expend few or no brain cells on the most important matters: Is there a God? What is he like? What does he require of us? How do we get into heaven and stay out of hell?

Most of us know about many things today. There is an extremely large amount of information available to us about every subject imaginable, more than at any time in the world’s history. We know details about our jobs, how to run our computers (some more and some less than others), our cars, the features in our homes, and a myriad of other things. But how much time on a daily basis do we think about God and what he is like and how he needs to affect every aspect of our lives?

Jesus raised just that point in Luke 12. When we know Jesus as Savior, we also need to know him as Lord and open every aspect of our lives for him to influence. That takes constant thought.

Opportunities in a New Year

As a congregation, we will have plenty of opportunity to evaluate our spiritual lives in 2012 as I preach through the Gospel of Luke. There is no more important person to learn about or to measure our lives against than Jesus . He is the center of our faith.

I try to preach at least one series of messages each year that puts the emphasis squarely on Jesus’ life or ministry. In the last three or four years, we have, at various times, examined his teachings through his parables, his miracles, the people he encountered, and the Gospel of Mark.

The salvation that Jesus offers is the beginning and ending point of our faith, so in 2012 we will let Luke teach us about Jesus as our Savior. Luke, more than the other Gospel writers, emphasizes that Jesus came as the Savior for everyone. The key verse in his Gospel is Luke 19:10: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

So through this year, consider what it means for Jesus to save you and how he can use you to offer his salvation to others. If you have struggled with whether to put your faith fully in Christ, let Luke’s Gospel speak to you about Jesus this year, and determine to trust him completely.

There are other tools that you can use this year to keep your spiritual focus sharp. Here are a couple:

Commit to spending time every day in the Word of God. If you already spend time in God’s Word every day, find a new way to approach Scripture so that it speaks to you in a fresh way.

I have made it my practice most years to read the entire Bible through the year. In recent years, I have used computer Bible apps and online services to determine my reading plan for the year. There are plenty of tools available today for reading the Bible, many of them free. I have one resource that has over twenty Bible reading plans. If you need to find one, I would be glad to help you, but anyone can take a book of the Bible and read through it or just divide the number of pages in your Bible by 365 and read that number of pages per day.

It also helps to change up your Bible reading. I have read and preached from the New International Version of the Bible for many years, but last year I changed and read through the Bible in the English Standard Version and began using an updated NIV that came out in 2010 when I preach. This year I will read the Holman Christian Standard Bible and will read from it when I preach. In just a few days, I have noticed some of the differences in phrasing. That is enabling me to think about the passages I am reading in new ways.

And one more thing: Commit to regular attendance at worship in 2012. If you are out-of-town and cannot attend Westwood, attend church wherever you are. I have learned much from attending other churches over the years. Regular worship keeps you sharp in your Christian walk as you worship, fellowship, and encounter the Word of God.

So meet the Savior in fresh ways in 2012. Keep him at the center of your life.

The Real Story of Christmas

Black Friday is generally the biggest one-day shopping day of the year, and the “beginning” of the Christmas shopping season. With the rise of online shopping has come the advent (excuse the pun) of Cyber-Monday, which offers a whole new way to get great shopping deals leading up to Christmas. By all accounts, both Black Friday and Cyber-Monday were outstanding successes this year.

It is not just about Christmas shopping, though. This year I saw news pieces about people finding great shopping deals to buy for themselves. It seems that the season is not just about giving. It is about getting the best deal that you can on something you want.

While America is shopping, the world, it seems, is sinking into deeper and deeper trouble. Our Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, is currently in Myanmar (Burma), one of the world’s greatest abusers of human rights and a country suspected of cooperating with North Korea on ballistic missiles. In addition, world-wide economic woes continue, with general concern around the world about the impending collapse of economies in Europe.

While pondering these national and international issues and with Christmas approaching, I have been pondering two passages of Scripture that ought to give us hope. It seems that Jesus came into a world where personal selfishness and international turmoil reign. Behind it all is the ongoing battle between good and evil. In the midst of that battle, Jesus brings us hope and ultimate victory.

Micah 5:1-4 predicted the birth of a new ruler would take place in Bethlehem at a time when a siege was laid against Israel that would strike their ruler with a rod. Although Bethlehem was an insignificant place in Israel, this coming ruler was tied to the nation’s heritage — his “origins are from of old, from ancient times.” Micah prophesied that “He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God” and “his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.” The baby born in Bethlehem would bring stability to a world of selfishness and turmoil.

The great victory that Christ’s birth brings into the world is underscored in Revelation 12 when the scenes from the birth of Jesus that we read about in the Gospels are set in cosmic terms. One commentator says that the Gospels tells us the story of Jesus’ birth from an earthly viewpoint, while Revelation 12 tells us the story of Jesus’ birth from a heavenly viewpoint.

In Revelation 12 the story pictures “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head” who cries out as she is about to give birth. Then an enormous dragon attacks with the purpose of devouring her child as soon as he is born. The child is protected, resulting in a war breaking out in heaven. But the dragon is defeated, and a loud voice from heaven announces the salvation and power and the Kingdom of God that have come as a result.

Both Micah and Revelation show us the great battle we are engaged in that is, in part, a product of the selfishness and turmoil of our world. In the midst of the battle a child is born. He is born in the humblest of circumstances, but he is the greatest child, the greatest king of all who will yet rescue the world for God. That is the story of Bethlehem.

Fred Craddock – A “Preaching Genius”

One of the preachers who has influenced my own preaching through his sermons and books is Fred Craddock. He is a master storyteller-preacher who has taught and influenced dozens of preachers. This week CNN’s Belief Blog has an excellent profile of Craddock, who is now 83, that discusses his preaching as well as his personal journey of faith. You can find the profile here. I highly recommend reading it.