Under the Hood

I don't know anything about what makes a car run. . . now days. As time has gone by it has become more and more difficult to work on a car under a "shade tree" so to speak. Days were when you could find any man worth his salt working on his car in the back yard. With the advent of computers and diods and unibody construction under the hood became full of stuff that no one can work on without the help of an electronic gizmo that "reads" what is wrong.

As time has gone by life has become more complex as well. Without getting into the nuts and bolts of relationships, consider just the matter of the church. When I first began serving in a church there were some certainties associated with the church.

Among those certainties were: 1) "EVERYONE" went to church! 2) "Everyone" was part of a church and at least sent their children to Sunday School. 3) "Nobody" worked on Sunday unless they were in the helping field like hospital or police or firefighter. 4) When you moved into another community, you always joined or at least found another church to call your own. 5) Pastors were looked up to as being well educated and honorable people. 6) By in large there was among main stream denominational churchs, what was called the "right way" to do church.

Well as you can see there have been some changes in the last almost 35 years. Now we live in what is called a diversified society. Is it any wonder that church is rather diversified now as well. There really is NO "EVERYONE" in any context of the church. Probably wasn't back then either. As society has changed though we, the church, hasn't kept up with that change. Especially in the hinter lands we find life is really slow and change is too.

We, the church, need a PIT CREW to look under the hood and see what makes the church run or tick or function, whatever. We have created just such a crew fromt he leadership team of the Hamilton United Methodist Church. We will meet this coming Saturday morning at 9 a.m. at the SE corner of the 4 way stop light in downtown Hamilton. This gathering will be totally about prayer and dedication to looking deep under the hood of HUMC. Pray for us or at least with us.

later steve

REAL EXPERIENCE!

An interesting concept is found in the book mentioned in the last post. . . "The Word Became Flesh." E. Stanley Jones attests to a desire to know God first hand. The opposite of such an idea is where we rely only on another person's experience.

It would be like having someone else describe what a prime rib was like but never actually taking a bite for yourself. Ya, you hear about the texture and the flavor and the smell but you miss the taste all together. Jones put it this way. . . "Regarding God, I shall be not a second hander but a first hander."

The Apostle Paul put it this way: "For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." (I Cor. 2:2 NKJ) First hand experience is so important. When we live by the experience of others we are cheated. Cheated by not having all the facts, all the emotions all the support and knowledge offered by one's own experience. It is like playing the game where we share a secret to a person in the circle until it comes back to us. By that time the secret is blown out of proportion. It may not even resemble the facts at all.

I would, like Paul, want to know Jesus to the very fullest extent. Wonder if he is saying that to know Christ and Him Crucified is to know Him the most intimate way possible. To see him on the cross, to hear his words and groans. To shudder at his feeling of desertion. He alone faced this death on the cross. For me, to know Jesus first hand is to associate my sins with his suffering.

Maybe the problem today is that too many have disassociated themselves from the cross. They have not found a relation between their sins and Jesus' experience on the cross. First hand ought to be the cry today.

Lord Bless

The Word Became Flesh

In my stack of books, I found a book I didn't realize was there. It is The Word Became Flesh by E. Stanley Jones. This is a modern reprint of a 1963 book. Jones was in his day was considered a great evangelist to the world having spent time in India, Japan and many other countries.

I first came across him when part of a Christian book club. The book I bought was The Divine Yes. In this volune Jones wrote that the answer to all the questions we might have in life. . . is
Jesus. He quoted 2 Cor. 1:20 "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God." Thus Jesus is the answer we need to all the matters of life. That message and book made a BIG impression on me personally and as I have worked with those in need of answers for life situations.

E. Stanley Jones said that "the Word became flesh. . .," (John 1:14) was the most significant verse in the Bible. In the introduction he writes: "In all other religions it is Word became word--a philosophy, a moralism, a system, a technique, but for all time and all people everywhere, "the Word became flesh"--the Idea became Fact."

I look forward to sharing in the next few weeks some of the insights that come from the pen of such a man as E. Stanley Jones. "Affirmation for the day: If the word is the expression of the hidden thought, I shall be, in some real way, the expression of the hidden God."

steve