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It is utterly fascinating how the mind works. Certain conversations,
words, or lectures become etched in our minds—some recalled at strange
moments in time, others brought to mind recurrently throughout
life—countless others simply forgotten.

I still recall vividly a sermon that somehow managed to penetrate my
stubborn teenage mind. A visiting pastor told a story about a young
hippie under his care who became impassioned about his newly found faith.
Wanting to spend his life serving the One who transformed it, the young
man decided to become a preacher. Returning years later, a trained
theologian still looking very much like the hippie that left, the young
preacher came to visit his old pastor. And to the man now speaking at my
church, the young preacher pronounced: "I've figured it all out. It's
just Jesus." The pastor wasn't sure how to respond. This is what
seminary had taught him? But a response was not necessary because the
young man excitedly continued. "I've figured out why the landscapes of
the world are dotted with church buildings, why the disciples and early
Christians were willing to die for their faith. And I've figured out why
my heart is so on fire for truth and my life so dramatically transformed
by faith… It's just Jesus. It's just Jesus."

The pastor continued the sermon with his own reaction to that
conversation, the pride he didn't want to notice as he dealt with the
rookie in front of him attempting to sum up life and theology in three
words, and the conclusion he made about that statement even years after
that young man had led countless men and women to Christ—he was right.
"It's just Jesus."

It seemed a bit simplistic. Even as a teenager I was aware of certain
church politics, bickering committees, and other complicated matters of my
own church—not to mention church history. And theologically, the
statement almost seemed risky. Where were the creeds we were made to
memorize, the doctrines that were important enough to divide churches?
Still, the words of that message were engraved into my mind, returning
sometimes annoyingly at rebellious intersections of life, other times
almost refreshingly—a welcomed reminder in the mire of humanity. And
years later, I realized that though I had changed in countless ways, the
truth of his words, like the One he spoke of, had not.

You see, undeniably, the uniqueness of Christ is truly captivating,
unchanging and life changing. But even more so, it is a truth that
deserves to be reckoned with, a truth that commands a response. Scottish
nobleman James Stewart in his book The Strong Name, speaks of Christ with
words that, like Jesus himself, reach out both powerfully and personally:

He was the meekest and lowliest of all the sons of men, yet he spoke of
coming on the clouds of heaven with the glory of God. He was so austere
that evil spirits and demons cried out in terror at his coming yet He was
so genial and winsome and approachable that the children loved to play
with Him and the little ones nestled in His arms. No one was half so kind
or compassionate to sinners yet no one ever spoke such red-hot scorching
words about sin… His whole life was love. Yet on one occasion he
demanded of the Pharisees how they ever expected to escape the damnation
of hell… He saved others but at the last, Himself He did not save. There
is nothing in history like the union of contrasts which confront us in the
Gospels. The mystery of Jesus is the mystery of divine personality.

How do you respond to that divine personality? Those famous opening lines
of the Gospel of John remind us of the unchanging permanence of Jesus
Christ amidst our impermanent experiences, fleeting feelings, and
ever-changing preferences. "In the beginning was the Word… And the Word
became flesh and dwelt among us." (Footnote 1: John 1:1,14) It is Jesus
who has touched all of history and yet seeks the one that has wandered
off; it is Jesus who sees us as we truly are and yet offers us all that we
need. Indeed, it's just Jesus. Jill Carattini
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This is love: not that we loved God but that He loved us and
sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
--1 John 4
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For all those born before 1945
------------------------------------

Consider all the changes we have witnessed .....

We were born before television, before penicillin, before polio
shots, before frozen foods, plastics, Xerox, contact lens, Frisbees and the PILL.

We were born before radar, credit cards, split atoms, laser beams,
and ball point pens, and before panty hose, dishwashers, clothes
dryers, electric blankets, air conditioners, drip-dry clothes and
before man walked on the moon. We got married first and then lived
together. How quaint can you be? In out time closets were for
clothes, not coming out of. Bunnies were small rabbits and rabbits
were not Volkswagens. Designer Jeans were scheming girls named Jean
or Jeannie, and having a meaningful relationship meant getting along with your cousin.

We thought fast food was what you ate during Lent, and outer Space
was the back of Loews Theatre. We were born before house-husbands,
gay rights, computer dating, and dual careers. We never heard of FM
radio, tape decks, electric typewriters, artificial hearts, word
processors, or guys wearing ear rings. For us time sharing meant
togetherness and hardware and software weren't even words.

In 1939 "made in Japan" meant junk and the term "making out"
referred to how you did on your exam. Pizzas, MacDonalds and
instant coffee were unheard of. We hit the scene when there were 5
and 10 cent stores, where you bought things for 5 and 10 cents. For
a nickel you could ride on the street car, make a phone call, but a
Pepsi or enough stamps to mail one letter or 2 post cards, and gas
for your car (if you had one) was 11 cents a gallon.

In our day GRASS was mowed, COKE was a cold drink, and POT was
something you cooked in. ROCK MUSIC was Grandma's lullaby and AIDS
were helpers in the Principal's office. We were certainly not
before the differences between the sexes was discovered, but were
surely before the sex change. And, we were the last generation that
was so dumb as to think you needed a husband to have a baby. No
wonder we are so confused and there is such a generation gap to-day.

BUT WE SURVIVED!!!
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Maybe you can
help me. As near as I can tell . . .

To be a liberal, you have to believe the AIDS virus is spread by a
lack of government funding.

To be a liberal, you have to be against capital punishment, but for
abortion on demand - - - in short, you support protecting the
guilty and killing the innocent.

To be a liberal, you have to believe that trial lawyers are
selfless heroes, and doctors are overpaid opportunists.

To be a liberal, you have to believe that guns in the hands of law
abiding Americans are more of a threat than nuclear weapons in the
hands of the Red Chinese.

To be a liberal, you have to believe that gender roles are
artificial, but being a homosexual is natural.

To be a liberal, you have to believe that businesses create
oppression but governments create prosperity.

To be a liberal, you have to believe that self-esteem is more
important than actually doing something to earn it.

To be a liberal, you have to believe there was no art before federal funding.

To be a liberal, you have to believe the military, not politicians, start wars.

To be a liberal, you have to believe that standardized tests are
racist, but racial quotas and set-asides are not.

excerpt from "A Philosophy for Liars, and Lawyers." by Terry
Garrison in the Wall Street Journal
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Been Thinking About: The Day God Died

On April 8, 1966, the cover of Time magazine asked in bold black letters,
"Is God Dead?" The lead story described the work of several theologians who
no longer held to traditional concepts of God. They were alike in concluding
that the God of our fathers had not survived the dawn of evolution and birth
control.

The debate that followed wasn't as much about God as it was about us. We
were in the middle of a turbulent decade. Our world was changing. An
unpopular war in Vietnam was prompting bumper stickers that said, "Question
Authority." Science and technology were improving our lives and making us
less aware of our need for a supernatural God.

Other reasons to believe God is dead.

Challenges to the traditional view of God multiplied in the decades that
followed. Not all were secular. Consumer fraud in religious broadcasting
subjected the God of the Bible to public ridicule. Promises of "blessings
for dollars" associated the name of Christ with "get rich quick" or "get
thin fast" scams. Most recently, evidence of clergy abuse surfaced in the
public media. With these reports came stories of victims, who, because of
their abuse, no longer considered the God of the church a live option.

Those enlightened by science or disillusioned by religious leaders, however,
are not the only ones talking about the death of God.

The Bible also talks about the death of God.

The God of the Bible was so deeply moved by the harm people do to one
another that He actually died because of it. At a moment in time, the
eternal God closed his eyes and stopped breathing. Under the weight of
wrongs that had hurt those who were dear to Him, His body fell limp and
lifeless. At that moment God was dead--not just in the perception of others,
but in a real time and an actual place.

In making this claim, the Bible goes far beyond the cover and pages of Time
magazine. Instead of asking, "Is God Dead?" the theology of the Bible leaves
us with a mystery that is beyond human comprehension (1 Timothy 3:16). The
second Person of a three-in-one God became a real man to die a real death
for us (Philippians 2:5-12; John 1:1-3,14).

As this unparalleled drama unfolds, physical death was not our God's
greatest sacrifice. Even before breathing his final breath on a Roman cross
He endured the hellish darkness of spiritual separation from His Father in
Heaven. As the skies darkened in the middle of the day, His anguished cry
echoed through the halls of heaven and history: "My God, My God, why have
you forsaken Me?" (Matthew 27:46).

According to the Bible, our Creator endured such an agonizing death not only
to show us that He is alive, but that He loves us.

What the death of God tells us about ourselves.

Those of us who are inclined to think of ourselves as victims, rather than
offenders, might conclude that Christ's death probably says more about the
evil of others than about ourselves. We can always point to someone we think
gave us an excuse to respond in an unloving way.

We get a different picture, however, when we look more closely into the
suffering of Christ. If the Bible is right, He didn't just die for someone
else's sins. He died for us (Romans 5:8; John 3:16). The pain He endured
says volumes about the extreme nature of our own need (Romans 3:10-20).

Anyone who wants to be included in Christ's death must admit that, in God's
eyes, our own wrongs rise to the level of those who violate federal law with
capital offenses. The extent of His sacrifice says that without His
intervention we would still be condemned lawbreakers, without hope waiting
on "death row" for what the Bible calls "the second death" (Revelation
20:14; Romans 6:23).

How the death of God can help us find a new life.

The Scriptures offer no hope to those who refuse to believe Christ suffered
for them. The Bible offers a whole new life, however, to those who believe
that Christ lived and died as their substitute. Like persons who enter a
witness protection program, those who find refuge in Christ take on a new
identity. Their troubled past is hidden in Him (Colossians 3:3). They assume
His name. They receive His Spirit, and become temples of the living God (1
Corinthians 3:16).

Those who allow the Spirit of Christ to be seen in them are an antidote to
the opinion that "God is Dead." Their happiness and tears become a quiet
showcase for the love, and joy, and peace of a God who is alive and reaching
out to others through His people. No one does this perfectly. But few things
are needed more than imperfect, troubled, grateful people who are growing in
their willingness to let Christ live His life through them (Romans 8:11).

How can we come to that surrender? We can begin by watching Jesus our Lord
move through the Garden of Gethsemane to the center page of human history.
On the way He groans, "Nevertheless, not my will but Yours be done." Then in
the middle of a howling mob, on a hill outside of the walls of Jerusalem, He
willingly endured the eternal weight of our sin and death--for us.

Father in Heaven, we don't want to ever stop thanking you for the price you
paid for us. Yet we are so easily distracted. Please help us this day to
renew our gratitude for Your Son's death. Please use the surrender of this
moment to let His life, and Yours, be seen in us today. Mart De Haan
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THE ANXIETY OF THE UNINITIATED
by Candice Z. Watters

She never doubted that abstinence was right. But she still
wondered if something was wrong with her. She doesn't any
more.

http://www.boundless.org/2002_2003/departments/beyond_buddies/a0000758.html
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The widow lay crying on her psychiatrist's couch. "We were
married twenty-five years before he died," she said, dabbing
away a tear. "Never had an argument in all those years."

"Amazing," said the doctor. "How did you do it?"

"I outweighed him by forty pounds and he was a coward."
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Send this to four people and you
will lose two pounds. Send this
to all the people you know (or
ever knew), and you will lose 10
pounds. If you delete this message,
you will gain 10 pounds immediately.
That's why I had to pass this on --
I didn't want to risk it.

Howdy
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