PLEASE GOVERNOR BENTLEY

                During 55 years of service as the pastor of Baptist churches I have sought assiduously to avoid politics in my preaching and writing, whether local, state or federal. I have never had anyone’s bumper sticker on my auto or sign in my yard. I have had my opinions and faithfully voted in all elections. But I did not want politics to interfere with ministry to any person or group. (This was doubly true when members of the same small town church ran against each other in a local election.)

 There is a current issue, however, that demands that I speak out. As a part of healthcare reform, the federal government is offering to expand Medicaid in each state, providing 100% of the cost of such expansion for the first years and the bulk of the cost in following years. Such an expansion in Alabama would provide more than 300,000 Alabamians with healthcare coverage who are not now covered. There is one person who can say “yes” or “no” to such an expansion. That one person is the Governor of Alabama, Dr. Bentley, who has indicated that he will say “no,” thus depriving these many citizens of healthcare coverage.  

Although I do not know Governor Bentley personally, I believe him to be a good man. He is an active member of a Baptist church in Tuscaloosa. He is therefore my brother in Christ. I do not intend any disrespect for him as a person, nor as our Governor. But I appeal to him to change his mind on this issue. He has given reasons for rejecting this benefit for the people, such as Medicaid in the state being “broken” and needing to be fixed. I know nothing of these things. I suspect his position has much to do with politics and resistance to the President. But whatever informs his thinking, I would, as a fellow Christian, like to remind him of our responsibility in Christ. May it also inform his thinking.   

In Matthew 25 Jesus speaks of His judging of the nations. The criteria He will use will be how we treated the needy among us, the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked (i.e. the poor), the sick and the prisoner. Is it too farfetched to imagine Him saying “I was sick and you denied me healthcare?” “Lord, when did we deny you healthcare?” “Inasmuch as you denied it to the least of these, you denied it unto me.”

If I were the sole person in the state of Alabama who must decide to give or deny healthcare to hundreds of thousands of Alabamians, pushing aside all “reason” and “politics,” I would certainly opt to provide this healthcare. I would not like to live out my life and go into eternity with a“NO” on my record. 

Grace and Peace

KILLING CHILDREN

            The world was shocked by the use of gas to kill an estimated 1400+ in Syria, many of them babies and children. As I write this the U.S. Congress debates what, if any, response the U.S. should make to such an atrocity. But, think about this - Jehovah, God of the Israelites, is guilty of something very similar. He commanded the Israelites to wipe out the nations completely. They were to kill the men and women, the children and little babies, as well as the animals. The babies were dashed against rocks or on the ground and they were just as dead as those gassed in Syria.

            On Wednesday evenings we have been studying the books of Moses, and I have confessed to those present that I have a difficult time with this God. I do believe that Jehovah of the Old Testament and Jesus of the New Testament are God, and with the Holy Spirit comprise the Trinity, the three in one, a concept difficult for people to comprehend.  The July/August issue of Christianity Today has three articles which seek to reconcile God in the Old Testament with God in the New Testament. For me they failed. No commentator I have ever read has successfully done so.

            Many reasons have been suggested as to why God was such a terrible and fearful God in the Old Testament, but none fully explain it. Some claim God is sovereign over all things and does not need to justify Himself to us. I agree.

            Some say the Trinity is a mystery that we must accept by faith. I say the same thing about the God of the Old Testament. He is a mystery that we accept by faith. I have hope that He will explain some of these things to us in heaven. That may not be necessary, however. We may just know by then. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:12 “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” 

Grace and Peace

LABOR DAY

            As a child, Labor Day was a big deal. We lived blocks from the steel mills and in their nighttime illumination. It seemed most of the men worked in the steel mills and were members of a labor union. Labor Day celebrated working people with parades and speech filled gatherings. It was a really big deal.

            Today Labor Day is just another holiday. There are still a few parades and other activities. (In Tuscumbia you can go to the Coon Dog Cemetery celebration.) Most of society sees it as the last long weekend of summer.

            To us children, Labor Day meant other things. Labor Day was the day the local swimming pool in Ensley closed for the season, a real downer. But more of a downer was the beginning of school. School always commenced the day following Labor Day. Also, the minor leagues were winding up their seasons. Needless to say Labor Day was a melancholy time for us.         

             As we grew into adulthood, however, we recognized that every time and season had its own pluses. Still left in the year were football, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Also we saw the changing seasons as a reminder of God’s promise, His assurance of the consistency in this world we occupy. God’s promise in Genesis 8:22 is , “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, Winter and Summer, and day and night shall not cease.”

 

Grace and peace.

IN CHRIST ALONE

             A debate over the lyrics of a gospel song, “In Christ Alone,” was reflected editorially in the last two issues of The Alabama Baptist. The focus is over changing the words “Till on that cross as Jesus died/The wrath of God was satisfied” to “Till on that cross as Jesus died/The love of God was magnified.”  The basic question concerns the nature of God. Was God at the cross pouring out his wrath upon Jesus, who bore our sins, or was God at the cross manifesting his love for us, through giving Jesus to die to save us?

            We know in the Bible that God hates sin and sin will be punished. The wrath of God against sin is beyond doubt. And the Bible tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) All of us deserve punishment.

            But the Bible also tells us that, “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) The reason Jesus was on the cross was the love of God. Otherwise this passage would need to read, “for God was so angry at or wrathful toward the world that he gave his only begotten Son.”

            So the basic question is, what was on God’s mind as Jesus hung on the cross? Was He full of wrath or full of love? Or was it a combination of both. It does not challenge the truth that He is a wrathful God to imagine that at that particular time He was concentrating on His love for mankind and for Jesus who had become our sacrifice for sin.

            That people disagree on that question should not question anyone’s belief in the substitutionary atonement. Jesus died for us, as our substitute, to satisfy the holiness of God.

 

Grace and peace. 

JUST A LITTLE BABY

             The eyes and ears of the world were trained on Great Britain as a new prince, Prince George, was born. Prince George is now third in line for the throne, behind both his father, William, and grandfather, Charles. Coverage of his birth by the media exceeded any such coverage of any other birth, recent or ancient.Everyone knows his name, who he is and what he can become.

            How different this is than when Jesus came into the world. The angels announced his birth to the shepherds. The wise men knew of it in their readings of heavenly bodies and they informed Herod the King. Otherwise, Jesus snuck into the world unnoticed. Yet, He is the one who already was and has become Lord of Lords, and King of Kings. Because of his life, death and resurrection, and because of his followers spreading the gospel through the years, His name is now known in the entire world. Very few remote villages in remote jungles or isolated islands have not heard his name. With the advent of computers and the internet, more and more people have access to his story and his followers. This reality prevents nations who want to suppress Christianity from doing so. Anyone in their country with access to the internet can read of Him and His followers. Indeed, the gospel has been made known in all the world.

            But knowing His name and knowing the gospel are not sufficient. How we respond to this knowledge is of utmost importance.  A simplistic instruction is: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31) But a reading of the New Testament demonstrates that simple believism is not sufficient for salvation. A real and committed walk with Jesus is demanded. I hope your walk is going well.           

Grace and peace. 

WHO NEEDS PROOF?

I just finished a new book by neurosurgeon Eben Alexander. The name of the book is Proof of Heaven. Alexander is well trained, teaches neurosurgery and has operated on the brains of thousands of people. He formerly dismissed the idea of the “soul” as merely the product of brain chemistry. Near Death Experiences, although seeming real to the persons who are having them, are simply fantasies produced by brains under extreme stress. This is what he believed until it happened to him.

In 2008 he suffered severe undiagnosed pain and seizures and lapsed into a coma. His brain was being attacked by an extremely rare illness. The part of his brain that controls thought and emotion, which in essence makes us human, shut down completely. It wasn’t that his brain was malfunctioning, it wasn’t functioning at all. He lay immobile, in a deep coma for seven days. The neurosurgeons who attended him concluded that he would not survive and after these seven days were preparing to pull the plug on all the systems which were helping his physical body survive. But then he awoke, a true medical miracle.

The greater miracle was his memory of those seven days. While in the coma his spirit journeyed beyond this world and encountered an angelic being who guided him into the deepest realms of super-physical existence. He traveled with this angelic being between different realms of heaven.

Reading his story reminded me of someone who had a like experience, the apostle Paul. He claimed he knew a man (conceded by Bible scholars to have been Paul himself) “who was caught up to the third heaven.” (2 Corinthians 12:2) Interesting is the report of Dr. Alexander that he experienced three levels of heaven.

His is a marvelous account, but those of us who believe the Bible need no proof of heaven. 

Grace and peace. 

ON BEING A FANATIC

            An article in the newspaper a few weeks ago noted the passing of Dick Coffee, Jr. of Birmingham at age 91. He merited an article in the newspaper because as a University of Alabama graduate and football fan, he had not missed a single Alabama football game since November 1946, both home and away games, for a total of 781 consecutive games. Now he was a truly dedicated fan.

            I noted also that he was an active member of the Methodist church. The thought occurred to me; was he as faithful to his church as he was to Alabama football? I remember some Sunday Schools which awarded “Perfect Attendance” pins to those who didn’t miss a Sunday all year and would award bars to fasten under the pin for each additional year of perfect attendance. I remember seeing photos of people with perfect attendance pins for 20 or 30 straight years.

            I could list dozens of reasons a person needs to be a consistent, if not perfect, attender at Sunday School or church worship. But I’ll name only one. By doing so we declare that we are a dedicated fan of Jesus Christ. By being regular at church/Sunday School, we demonstrate who we are. In fact, it would be nice to be known as a “fanatic.”  The dictionary defines a fanatic as “one marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion.” Truly, I would welcome being remembered as a fanatic for Jesus.

            So, “let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.” (Hebrews 10:24-25)

Grace and peace.