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No Fear Volume One Issue One
January 01, 1995
1. January Information
2. Reflecting Christ - Chuck Pilato
3. Recall - Christian Haller
4. Theophilus Part One - Alan Koch
5. A Call for Christian Action - Rick Savage
6. A Hidden Friend - Kristi Steele
7. Closing Comments
8. No Fear Member List
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1. INFORMATION - JANUARY 1ST, 1995
God is doing many good things during this age. I feel that one of
those things is No Fear. No Fear is a radical magazine that takes the
standpoint of an apostolic, pentecostal body. I've looked around this
world and the one thing I see that we need is truth. We need to know
what God is doing and what He has done. So many people shirk the duty
of the Great Commission but we at No Fear are taking it seriously.
No Fear is composed of six main authors and two freelance authors. No
Fear is more than a hobby. I feel that No Fear is the answer to the
hungry Christian. Meat is contained within. If you can't handle the
meat that is presented, most likely you will simply leaf through this
site and then never connect again. But the hungry Christian will
devour the following words. They will print them out and highlite them
and share what they've learned with their friends. No Fear is a
radical committment and is made up of people with a radical
committment to God. If you prefer to have your ears tickled then the
words inside of the magazine will create no joy for you. I hope and
pray that you will seek God before reading this magazine so that He
will show you His divine truth. I hope that you will delve into these
writings and let the words of God touch your heart as they have done
to me.
I have some big plans for No Fear but I need your help! If you would
like to write for No Fear then please read our writers guide and email
me with any questions or comments that you may have. Please share the
good news about what God is doing with all of your friends.
We thank you for taking the time to read No Fear, as we have put many
hours into this months production. We look forward to hearing from
you. Expect issue 02 to be out on February 2, 1995! God be with you
all.
-BC
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2. REFLECTING CHRIST
I remember a phone conversation I had a few months back with a dear
friend from my undergraduate school. This friend had become a
Christian while we were rooming together with another friend of mine,
also a believer. I had undertaken the task of discipling him, and it
was quite a frustrating time, because Chris seemed unable to grasp
even what seemed to me to be the simplest tenets of our faith; it got
to a point where tensions grew between us, and eventually we only
spoke to each other as much as absolutely necessary. The few times
that I saw him the following year, his senior year and my first year
of graduate school, he seemed quite bothered to be around me, and I
really didn't know what to say to him.
Well, towards the beginning of this, my second year of graduate
school, Chris called me on the phone. It was an absolutely wonderful
conversation. He asked me how school was; I told him. (I like my
program, but I hate everything else.) I asked him if he'd found a job
yet; he had, but it was a machinist job, and not the engineering job
he'd been hoping for. It would do for a while, though, seeing how
scarce jobs were. He then volunteered some information that...well, I
can't really explain what it did to me. Chris had found a church. It
was a very loose fellowship, not the absolutely rigid and methodical
structure of churches he had been to while he was still at college.
But that wasn't what made it special. These people had something. It
took Chris a while to understand what it was. They didn't just give
lip-service to caring about other people. They went out of their way
to show it. They did work for those in their community who were in
need, giving money, food, shelter, or just themselves for whatever
needed to be done. They loved each other, and hung out with each other
all of the time. When they prayed for a friend, they meant it. In
other words, they lived out the Christian faith before Chris' eyes.
They had Jesus. And they wanted others around them to have Him, too.
So a funny thing happened to Chris, something which my systematic
procedures in discipling him had never accomplished. Chris understood
who Jesus was. He understood who Jesus was because there were people
around him who were like Jesus. It wasn't that much of a stretch
anymore to see how God, in Jesus, loved the world so much that He was
willing to die for it.
The fact that this conversation took place back in September shows how
much it affected me at the time. I usually don't remember what
somebody said to me last week. But this was at a time when I was on
really shaky ground, spiritually, and it did me no end of good to get
a lesson in following Jesus from a guy who I tried to teach to follow
Jesus.
Now, let me preface this with the following statement (which really
ought to preface everything that I write): Christians are hypocrites,
through and through, and I am among the worst of the hypocrites. I see
some truth in my life, and I talk to somebody about it or write about
it. And every time I do this, somebody will have every right to come
up to me and say, "But why are you telling us to do this? You don't do
this yourself!" And 99,999 times out of 100,000, they will be
absolutely correct. I seem to have an easier time writing about things
that I personally struggle with than things that are strengths. I
don't know why that is...something about strength being perfected in
weakness, perhaps? (Check out 2 Corinthians 12:7-10.)
Whenever any church has failings and loses the impact that God intends
for it to have, the reason - no exceptions - is eventually reduced to
the fact that the church no longer reflects Christ. The fallen church
cannot understand what Paul says when he says:
If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a
material harvest from you? If others have this right of support from
you, shouldn't we have it all the more? But we did not use this
right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder
the gospel of Christ.
Again, the dying church cannot understand Paul when he says:
"Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to
everyone, to win as many as possible."
(This and so many other good things are said in 1 Corinthians 9.)
In short, when the church knows Christ and from what kinds of hell He
has saved her, then the logical response of the church is to see that
as many people as possible are saved from that same hell by whatever
means necessary. The "material harvest" ceases to mean anything. The
"spiritual harvest" comes to mean everything.
In keeping with my hypocrite mood, I must admit this: I cannot
understand what Paul is saying here, either. I have not been a slave
to everyone in hopes of saving as many as possible over the course of
this week. I have been a slave to myself, filled with lust and
laziness and not love for the world. There is a world to be saved, and
I love my couch and my television and myself too much to care. (Didn't
Keith Green once say something about Jesus' ability to rise from the
grave and our inability to get out of bed?) So these words from Paul
(still talking to the Corinthians! This comes from 2 Corinthians
4:5-7) are such a relief to me:
For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ our Lord, and
ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said 'Let
light shine out of darkness,' make His light shine in our hearts to
give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of
Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this
all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
In case you're like me and you lack the historical knowledge to be
able to see the "jars of clay" bit the way that Paul saw it in his
time, my Student Bible (thanks to Zondervan Bible Publishers!) says a
good modern-day comparison would be putting diamond earrings in a old
cardboard box. We are the cardboard box - we are the jars of clay -
and God has put in us the gift of His Spirit - the diamond earrings.
How blessed we are! I wish I could understand better - and desire
better - the precious gift that God in His undeserved mercy puts into
me, a worthless jar of clay!
____________________
My ending on this piece, from the time I wrote it last week until just
now, the day the article goes up on the web-site, was quite weak.
Something about not being quite sure how to end it, but pray for me to
see and desire that precious gift and all that, and when I have that
gift, then I'll be satisfied. That would have been an OK ending, I
suppose, and I really could use the prayers, but there's something
more important that needs to be said.
All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling
their possessions and goods, they gave to everyone as they had need.
Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They
broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere
hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all of the people. And
the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. -
Acts 2:44-47
This is where the good news lies. I've been really down while writing
this piece, wondering if there was any hope for me. There is. These
people Luke writes about here, just like the people in Christ's church,
are jars of clay in which God has chosen to place the gift of Jesus. I
am no better than they, nor am I any worse than they. So there is no
reason why God cannot use me to show others Jesus the same way God
uses these people to show the world Jesus...
...and, I pray, the same way God will use you to show the world Jesus.
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3. RECALL
As I look around the world I see so many things with problems. I see
high taxes and low interest rates. I see governmental problems and
political problems. I see domestic problems and foreign problems. All
of them have a solution which seem so vague and hard to find, yet
there is one problem that this age has decided to skip over. It is the
problem in our churches. In the days of Moses the Israelites were
God's people. They looked to Him for every need; He supplied. They
sinned and then cried out for forgiveness and were forgiven. They were
in oppression and cried for freedom and it was freedom that they
gained. In today's age I don't know many people that actually look to
God for help. Has He fallen in His ability to help us, or is it us
that have fallen in the ability to ask? There is a new idea that has
hit our "market" of ideas today: atheism. Since the beginning of time
no one had denied the fact that there was a God until several hundred
years ago. Even pharoah, with his hard heart, believed that there was
a God. So my eyes scan the horizon of our age and the problem with the
church stands out so vividly. It almost blinds my eyes. It seems to me
that if we could fix the problem of our church, the rest of the
governmental, domestic, and foreign problems would fall into line.
What is the problem with the church?
As I look deeper into the problem of the church I see many problems
which stand out but all have one main root. The basis of a church are
those that attend it. The basis of THE church (the world-wide
conglomeration of the body of Christ) is then, in fact, the people and
their actions. Yes, what people DO makes up the church. As I start to
look around I see a lot of things that people DO but several things
that people aren't doing. People go to church every Sunday and
Wednesday night and sing songs and praise the Lord and then they go
home to their troubled beds; they go home to their closets and their
hidden treasures. They go home to their dirty deeds and their pain.
Yes, the church is covered in sin from head to toe. This mighty giant
that once shook the entire world system has fallen so dead asleep that
there are those few that even deny the existance of a God! What is
wrong?! Where have we gone wrong? I have searched and searched for an
answer to this question; it is an answer that the entire world needs
to hear. It's something that people should perk their ears to and take
to heart. They should not simply nod their heads and agree, but look
in their own hearts and see if they too are guilty of this problem!
The problem starts with commitment. No one is committed any longer.
Sure, there are a few here and there, and I applaud you all, yet there
are so many who claim to be God's children and who are so tolerant of
this age. They tolerate sin yet are we not supposed to HATE sin? I've
seen youth groups where masses of the young people would head to the
closest party joint as soon as service let out. What happened to us?
Where did this sickness come from?! One offspring of the problem with
lack of commitment is that of mediocrity. We have an "army" of people
who call themselves Christians yet they are so mediocre in everything
they do. They are neither hot nor cold; that, I fear, is the worst
place of all to be when you are in God's sight. Somehow this world has
fallen prey into the frame of mind where people believe that being a
Christian is like being in politics; they have to make everyone happy.
If I may add an extremely radical point, Jesus was murdered in three
years after His ministry began. And He was very popular. I wonder how
many of us have even stepped on some toes? Christians tip toe around,
hoping to make everyone happy when all they are doing is angering the
God of the universe. And I ask you: what is worse; to anger man whose
opinions will fall away, or to anger the Almighty God whom you serve?
We are still God's people. We have always been His people and always
will be His people. It's time that we started noticing this.
Christians today have somehow forgotten the stories in Exodus and feel
that they are different from the Israelites because their group is
much larger. Perhaps this is true but as a whole we are a group. We
are the church. We have a duty here in this world to the people of
this world... a duty that will never be accomplished with mediocre,
apathetic souls. You may be sitting in your chair shouting, "Go Chris!
Preach, brother!" But may I remind you: I'm talking to YOU! If you can
honestly look at your heart through God's eyes and say that you are
perfect then applaud away. I myself am not living up to what I would
love to live up to. I want to step on some toes and I want more
commitment. So I ask you: where have we gone wrong in our walk with
the Lord? I look deeper into the problem (with this analytical mind of
mine) and I take you to a place far, far away.
I take you to the place of your salvation where you knelt at the altar
and gave your heart to God. You said, "God! I can't do it on my own! I
accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ! I plead your forgiveness! Come,
Lord, live in my heart too, please." Do you remember that time? I
remember it as if it was yesterday. Most Christians, I feel (because I
was one of them), have forgotten this day. They still mutter prayers
and think about God now and then but for the most part they are simply
the same as they were before they were saved. God changes from the
core. He doesn't wait too long either. If you were saved and one or
two months later you felt the same way, something is most likely
wrong. I was one of these Christians. I grew up in a Christian home
and then one day about a year ago I realized that I was no more saved
than a tin can. I had prayed my neat little prayers that I'd heard my
parents pray. I went to church yet I also had lived my own entire life
separate from God. I didn't rely on Him. I claimed that I could do it
on my own. This isn't salvation; this is a pathetic excuse of a
Christian who is lukewarm. Some would claim that I was saved but in my
black and white mind I was on the path to hell. I saw sin all around
me and it didn't even phase me because I fit in. I never wanted to
stick out too much; I never wanted to see people angry at me. Somehow
I had forgotten that God, the most important of all, wasn't happy with
me. He was going to spit me out of His mouth! In light of this
situation I feel that I should tell you all what was told to me. I am
going to tell you about salvation. You may say, "Chris, I've heard
this all before!" I say: read it again. If you have that attitude then
I pity you. Our salvation is so glorius! We were on the path to hell
and Jesus stepped out and stopped it! Read on.
A Worthy Sacrifice
Jesus was born in a small, dirty barn because the world had no room
for Him. He lived a life that no one knows much about except we know
that from birth there were plots to assasinate Him. He grew up as the
son of a carpenter. He was a strapping young lad, larger than most of
the other Jewish children. Before He began His ministry (which begins
in John 2), He had already amassed a small group of followers. This
man emminated "Messiah". He began to perform miracles and to make a
long story short, within three years had gained twelve ultimately
chosen follower. He had performed so many miracles that if the world
was full of books there would still be not enough room for them all
(John 21:25)! He helped everyone and despite His popularity He was
still a compassionate man. He had every right to be a snob and turn up
His nose at the poor and lame individuals but Jesus never did that. He
came as King yet He was the biggest servant of us all.
It came down to the fact that the Jews would not accept Jesus as their
Messiah (God's gift to mankind) and they set out to have him killed.
After attempt and attempt again they could not capture this elusive
man due to the fact that if they took him, the people around him would
murder those capturing Jesus or perhaps start a riot. But God's plan
was that Jesus die. Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus as he kissed Him on
the cheek. The guards rushed to surround Jesus. Jesus never said a
word for He was a gentle lamb. He knew! He didn't resist what HAD to
happen!
May I interject at this point and show you the common view amongst
Christians today? They tell you about how Jesus died and they'll sing
"Jesus Loves Me" all day long but for the most part they don't know
what it means. They can tell you about the crucifiction again and
again but they don't even know about it themselves. Perhaps they know
facts, but not ramifications. They'll tell you that "Jesus opened His
arms THIS wide and then He died!" but the words don't phase their
soul. Those words should bring tears to the eyes of every sayer. If
you were standing in front of an oncoming car, sure to meet your death
and an old man undeserving of his fate pushed you out of the way to
save your life and committed his own to death you would never forget.
You would be thankful daily. You would weep at night thinking, "What
kindness! How could he have done this for me!?" And this is what Jesus
did for us! Why have we forgotten? Why do we Christians not weep over
the fact that we have been saved from a sure death when we are so
undeserving of life?! Please allow me to attempt to paint an accurate
view of what Jesus did for us. Please ask God to show you the severity
of this sacrifice if you even care to learn.
Jesus was a popular man and the courtyard filled below was filled with
those jealous of His high position. Twelve trials were held and Jesus
was acquited on every count. No judge could find Him guilty of
anything. He was finally sent to Pilate for a trial. They questioned
Him and finally got Him to say several words which were, "I am the Son
of God." The crowds cried, "BLASPHEMY!" They never bothered to think
twas the truth. Jesus was sentenced to death by Pilate even
though Pilate rung his hands of Jesus' blood. Pilate believed that
Jesus was innocent man yet he sentenced Jesus to death to please the
people. Barabus, a common thief and murderer, was released to the
people. This was a common tradition amongst the Romans. What was
happening? Jesus was taking Barrabus' place. Jesus was going to die
for Barrabus and all of us at once.
I may point out that what I'm about to say is not for the faint of
heart. It's not for the people who don't want to hear the truth. It's
not for the people that want to think Jesus was put to death via
injection. Jesus was brutally murdered yet we treat it as so light.
"Oh, He never felt any pain" they say. I believe differently. If you
don't want to hear that truth about what happened to my Lord please
don't read any further.
He taken to a certain place in the Roman kingdom and in a small
room they stripped Him of His clothes. Our King stood there naked.
They strapped Him to the ceiling and floor as they slammed their fists
into His face again and again. They took a cat of nine tails (leather
with chunks of ceramic and stones) and ran it through sheeps blood and
then through crushed ceramic. The weapon slammed into His olive skin
39 times. 40 lashes would kill a man yet Jesus still breathed. He
never said a word. He only poured love out onto those beating Him. As
soon as the lamb's blood hit his blood, a violent reaction took place
and gangrene started immediately which was evidenced by the most
horrid burning sensation that could ever be felt. The crushed glass
rested in His skin so that with every breath they dug in deeper. Blood
poured from His back and front, dripping onto the floor. They did this
to my Jesus! Then they took a velvet robe and placed it onto His back
allowing the blood to dry and stick to the robe. The fashioned a crown
of thorns and forced it into His skull.
Most pictures show Jesus with the crown of thorns and perhaps a small
amount of blood issuing forth. Yet as far as I can recollect, they
forced the thorns deep through the skin and all the way to the skull.
From what I gather, Jesus' face was covered in blood. Yet you'll see
no pictures that show this.
The forced a cross onto His back and made Him walk to Calvary hill
where all common thieves and miscreants were crucified. It was a hill
where all passer-bys could see what happened to those who did not
follow the law. As He walked, the splinters dug deep into His back
rough the robe. He was so weak and so disfigured that the cross
finally pushed Him to the ground. Another man was chosen to carry the
cross and the crowd finally reached Calvary. Soldiers ripped off the
robe which reopened all of Jesus' wounds again. There He stood, naked
cold in the afternoon air. They threw His body down onto the cross
which was lying on the ground. They drove the spikes through His hands
and feet and blood issued forth. The cross was raised and dropped into
the ground. Instantly Jesus' shoulders were both dislocated which made
breathing extremely difficult. This is a basic trait of crucifiction
death.
You may see pictures of Jesus' on the cross with a little towel on and
Him looking up to heaven and whatnot. From the way I see it, Jesus was
so disfigured at this point that He hardly resembled a human. Yet no
one will acknowledge that it was a disgusting sight.
They spit on Jesus and called Him names. They even played a game to
see who would win His clothes! (Isaiah 53:7, Matthew 26-62-63) (Psalm
22:18, Mark 15:24) Jesus hung there with two common thieves. The King
of the universe hung there on this cross, beaten worse than either of
the two thieves. His name was Jesus. He was favored. He performed
miracles. He saved this world! Why did He hang on this cross?! He
pushed up to gain every breath and they came with such difficulty. He
hung on the cross for nine hours, bleeding and attempting to breathe,
and then His life passed from Him. As He died, He muttered the words,
"It is finished."
Oh, Christians, do your eyes issue forth tears?! Do you weep over what
you read?! Do you weep because this INNOCENT man took what YOU
DESERVED?! You were condemned to hell and this Jesus took your place!
He died for you! That cross was for YOU! You were to endure all of
that! Why have we forgotten? Why do the words, "Jesus died for me!"
not phase us when they should make us crater in emotion? Hell is real!
We were headed there until Jesus stepped in to take our place? Is this
not the God that we owe our commitment to? As Jesus died He had the
sins of the entire world, past, present, and future, on His shoulders.
Every little bit of guilt that you've ever felt, He felt ten times
worse. Multiply that times several trillion people and the fact
becomes clear that truely this was the Son of God. He could have said,
"No, NOT CHRIS' sins! He's a bad guy! I've got everyone else's sin; I
don't need his too!" But Jesus didn't say that. Jesus said, "Yes,
Father, I'll take Chris' too." We were sentenced to death, a price
that we could not pay and come back succesfully from. Jesus came to
earth and said, "Don't worry! I'll take those sins of yours if only
you'll put them on me! I'll take them to the grave and they'll be gone
from my sight forever!" We need only repent and our sins are forgiven.
Why has this age forgotten?! Why do we no longer weep for what our
Jesus did for us so graciously?! We act as if we are doing God a
favour by being Christians yet it is God who is doing US the favor!
open your eyes, oh adulterous nation, and see that the price has been
paid!
Is there anything more important than eternity? Don't we owe God the
prayer to straighten up our lives? He does it! Once you realize that
hell is real and your sentencing is real and that the sacrifice is
real don't you find it worth sharing? Jesus saved you! Your owe Him
your life! So many people give it halfway and unhappiness abounds.
Jesus paid for our lives with His own blood; do we not owe Him ours?
Can't we not be ashamed of Him; He was never ashamed of us even in His
nakedness and everything else. Why do we run and try not to learn
about this man? This man, whom we owe our lives to, receives nothing
these days but a bunch of false prayers and made up excitement. It's
time. It's time to turn around and go. It's time to go against the
tide once and for all! It's time to say, "Jesus! You died for me so
I'll live for you!"
Jesus is WORTH being committed to! Why is there such a lack of
committment?! Oh, if only people could remember what the price was and
how it was paid they would never forget! If it's real to you you'll
weep and travail and be so thankful. If it's not real to you most
likely you will just blow off this whole thing. Think about it. Come
to a SAVING knowledge of Jesus. Acknowledge that He paid the price!
Quit relying on your parent's experiences and get your own! Get on
your knees and talk to the Lord for He is worthy! This age shirks Him
almost altogether but He had our sins on His back when He died! How
could we forget?! How could we have turned away?!
You may hear the Lord's voice in your lifetime. He may ask you to
witness to someone. The people of this age would say, "Oh, Lord, what
would he think of me? I don't want to do that!" The Lord may ask you
to quit watching some TV so that He can spend time with you. This kind
of communication may just come in the form of a thought like, "Hey, I
oughtta read the Bible instead of watching this trash." But the people
of this age would say, "Oh, Lord, this is 90210! I can't miss this
episode! Next week! I promise!" Or the Lord may ask you to quit
listening to some music that exalts itself above the saving knowledge
of Jesus Christ. The people of this age would say, "Lord! How dare YOU
ask ME to stop listening to THIS music! It's just fine! I heard so on
rec.music.christian that these guys are Christians so shut up!" Yes it
IS that bad. People turn a deaf ear to the Lord daily. Aren't we
supposed to die to ourselved daily?! Something is wrong! What is
happening here? What can be said?
Turn from your ways! Repent from your evil deeds! God will forgive you
if only you'll ask! He's worthy! Oh, please take to heart these words
and let them eat at your soul. I'm not advocating that you fall into
the law and try to make Jesus' happy on your own strength. Acknowledge
Him as the King and ask Him to change you with a sincere heart. Give
Him your heart once and for all! He hates the lukewarm! Don't be that
way! Either give it all to God or take it all back! He's real! He's
with you at all times! Oh, how sick it must make Him to see His
children disobeying Him daily instead of pleading for His help daily.
My God wins over sin; let Him change your heart. My God will bring
that light back into your eyes; let Him fill you with His Spirit. My
God didn't worry about you in front of thousands; why should you worry
about Him in front of your co-workers and friends? Nothing else
matters except Jesus Christ and the knowledge of Him. Share it. Oh,
please share the good news. Let it fill your heart, church. Yes, I'm
talking to you who think you've got it all down. You think that you've
got everything worked out and God is happy but if you're living two
lives it just doesn't work! There's victory in this battle! Just ask
God, from deep within your heart, to change you and He will! He'll
prove to you everything that you've believed so blindly and without
strength to back it up.
But this is serious business! I'll use the Apostles as an example. The
Apostles were a lot of cowardly people that were so self centered
before Jesus died. One book later (Acts) they were leaders of the
world, challenging the system and turning it around. Let God make that
change in you. You, too, can be just like the Apostles. The book of
Acts is full of men who took the Great Commission seriously, and look
what happened! Perhaps they were persecuted but that's ok! Your
heavenly crown is so much more important than your worldly crown! Step
on some toes! It's time to tell some people about Jesus. It's time to
turn to the God who paid for your sins. It's time to give up your
life, for it's not your own anyhow. Quit hanging on to what the WORLD
says is comfortable and hold on to God, the Rock of Ages!
The people of this age are living a lie of selfish, manufactured
security. Jesus still saves, heals, and delivers. Will you turn to Him
or will you keep going your own way? Let Jesus' grace fill you again.
Turn to the Bible and read it all over again or for the first time and
let the words of wisdom fill you up. Ask God for His help! Oh, please,
look in your heart and see that these words are for everyone including
myself! Oh, read through the story of Jesus' death until it's real to
you (because it IS real)! Oh, please, church, make a choice! Be either
hot or cold but you persecute my Lord even more with your
indesiciveness.
- BC
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4. THEOPHILUS PART ONE
My Dear Theophilus[1],
Some men came [to where Jesus was] bringing to him a paralytic,
carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus
because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus
and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was
lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son,
your sins are forgiven." -- Mark 2:3-5
Now, if I had been that paralytic, my thoughts at that point would
have been, "... and?" Let's face it, this man came to Jesus to be
healed of a physical ailment. Jesus' proclamation about his spiritual
state begged the question.
What if this story had ended at this point? What if Jesus had chosen
to leave this man as a forgiven paralytic? He might have been tempted
to despair that the one thing he desired more than anything else in
the world had been denied him. But what had he just received?
Forgiveness! Relationship with God! Spiritual life, itself!
One of our failings as we spend our time in this world, is that we
think too highly of our physical life, and too lightly of our
spiritual life. Although Jesus finally did heal this man's legs, what
did that healing amount to? Did it give him life? No, not even
physical life. It simply changed the quality of that physical life --
for a while; maybe a few decades. Then he died, and his body, which
Jesus had healed, rotted in the grave.
No, the really significant gift that the paralytic received that day
was the spiritual one. For in forgiveness, he received spiritual life;
a life which has continued to this very day, and will continue into
eternity!
And this has everything to do with you, dear Theophilus, and with me.
Let us remember, as we bring our desires and petitions day by day
before the one true God, that the important thing is NOT that He
chooses to grant some and withhold others, but that we are in such a
privileged position! Who can fathom that he has adopted us as His own
children, and made Himself our beloved Father? That He has invited us
to present our petitions to Him? That even now, He is preparing a
place for us, and will one day bring us Home to live with Him forever?
When taken in the context of the grand scheme of things, our most
pressing desires seem petty, our most urgent needs are trivial, and
our pain from which we cry for relief is but a passing wind. All of
the things that engage us and consume us in this world are passing
away! But He has decreed that we should live with Him forever! May we
focus on that which is eternal!
For His glory, Theophilus[1]
[1] The name "Theophilus", to which Luke addressed both his Gospel and
the book of Acts is derived from the Greek words, "Theos" meaning
God, and "Philos" meaning friend. Therefore, I join Luke in
addressing what I write to all who are friends of God.
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5. A CALL FOR CHRISTIAN ACTION
"...Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be done, ON EARTH as it is in
Heaven..." Matthew 6:10.
Do Christians understand what they are praying for when they pray the
Lord's Prayer? It seems those who came to America on the Mayflower had
a good idea of what it meant. Before coming to shore they made a
proclamation that began with these words... "Having undertaken for the
Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour
of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first colony in the
Northern Parts of Virginia; do, by these Presents, solemnly and
mutually in the Presence of God and one of another, covenant and
combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better
Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid; And
by Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equall
Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Offices, from time to time,
as shall be thought most meete and convenient for the Generall Good of
the Colonie; unto which we promise all due Submission and Obedience."
These Christians understood that part of the advancement of the
Christian faith included covenanting together with God and one another
into a Christian community, or "civil body politic."
These people were community minded and came with the purpose of the
"advancement of the Christian Faith...." Have Christians today
abondoned this goal? It would seem this way when there does not appear
to be any interest in what it means to "mutually in the Presence of
God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a
civil Body Politic, for our better Ordering and Preservation." Have
Christians become so 'heavenly minded' as to be of no worldly good? I
don't believe so. We have just forgotten that liberty requires eternal
vigilance. I am writing this in the hope of re-awakening Christians in
part to their civil duties to God and one another in the spirit of
"loving thy neighbor as thyself."
It saddens me at the long hours that Christians spend bickering (to no
avail), and accomplishing nothing but throwing words around. What is a
"Christian?" What does it mean to be Christ-like? Many know the 'pat'
answers for those questions, but fewer walk in its reality. Too many
simply have a religion - regardless of how accurate it may be.
As true as this type of criticism may be, is it productive? How do we
encourage action out of people in a way that encourages participation
rather than runs them down personally? How would you encourage people
to care enough about something to work toward its creation or
preservation? I ask these questions out of a desire to inspire som
thought toward answering them in light of seeing God's "will be done"
and His "Kingdom come on Earth as it is in Heaven."
We need to move beyond the criticism stage and move on into offering
successful solutions people can duplicate. Anyone can be a critic but
it takes a successful example that people can model to multiply
productive activity. I speak from the perspective of feeling like I
and other Christians are spinning our wheels and not gaining any
ground in the battle for the Christian principals that made America
great.
Christ has provided many successful examples for emulation but have we
translated these examples into modern circumstances? Some call for
Restoration and Reconstruction, but what needs to be restored and
Reconstructed? I'm seeking such successful models, and hope to inspire
others toward the same end.
There is a document on the Internet entitled "How to Defeat the
Radical Right in Your Community" put out by the National Jewish
Democratic Council. It is a complete battle manual that gives
successful models for people to emulate in their attempt to organize
and defeat "Rightist" (Christian) initiatives in their communities.
Where is the Christian's comprehensive battle plan for educating our
average community-minded John and Jane Doe Christian who want to
oppose the leftist anti-Christian intitives in their community? Those
who want to simply say, "We have such a plan, the Bible," are merely
offering the source for solutions but not the solutions themselves.
For such an answer, the next questions should be, "What sort of
successful models does the Bible offer for right-minded Christians to
emulate that will bring their communities a little closer to the
Kingdom of God? Who has put together a Biblically modeled community
action plan to defeat and replace the leftest anti-Christian
initives?"
Community action is something Christians should start thinking more
about once again. Christianity, with its strong foundation in the
family, is supposed to be a community oriented faith. Our lack of
knowledge of this aspect of Christianity surely shows in our lack of
practical guides for building Christian Communities in our own
back-yard. IMHO, this is an area Christians need to start focusing on
more. If we can't clean up our own home and back-yard communities what
makes us think we can clean up our nation's government?
Maybe Christians would not have lost sight of what those on the
Mayflower had in mind when they came to America if we would understand
the full and true meaning of the word "church." The word "church" is
actually the Greek word "kuriakos" (or kuriakon) which means
"pertaining to the lord." This word may correctly fit Christians idea
"church" today, but it doesn't even resemble the Greek word
"ecclesia" whose place it has usurped. When people use the word
"church" they probably think of a meeting place or a building.
Ecclesia means much more than this. It is an assembly of the
"called-out ones" (Christians), with Christian government, i.e. a
community. The body of Christ was meant to be more than just a
"church." Ecclesia includes the concept of community and a Christian
civil body politic. Those who came to America came for the
"Advancement of the Christian Faith" in the full spirit of the concept
of "ecclesia."
Maybe Ephesians 6:12 would give us a better insight into the full
meaning of what the early Christians were fighting for. It wasn't
simply for a new religion or an establishment of a "church," but
rather an ecclesia (a Christian civil body politic):
"For we fight, not against flesh and blood, but against the
governments, against the authorities, against the world rulers of
this darkness, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Eph.
6;12)
The early Christians were Kingdom builders! They prayed the Lord's
prayer in more than just words but also in deeds and action! They were
dethroning rulers in the minds of the people and preaching Christ as
King of kings and Lord of lords. They were teaching the principles of
Christian government. They were preaching the Kingdom of God "on
EARTH, as it is in Heaven."
Jesus defines, in His Word, what it means to follow God. It saddens me
at how many of the preachers, teachers and believers of Jesus the
Christ are similar to the Judeans/Pharisees of the first century. If
we look around we can see this tendency is found in all religionists
of all persuasions. What differentiated the Christians from the
Pharisees? Maybe the more we think about that question, the closer we
will come to understanding the Way that leads to Life.
We all have different gifts and talents. We need to acknowledge that
there are different jobs that need doing and refrain from criticizing
those active in other areas from those we excel in. David Barton in
his talk, "8 Principles for Reformation," talked about the Ezras and
Nehemiahs. The Ezras being the prayer/praise warriors and social needs
ministers. The Nehemiahs being the wall builders who tend after civil
affairs of the community and state. If we get the two working together
as a team we will have a more productive effort which will accomplish
more than bickering over whose job is the more important. Both are
needed for rebuilding the walls of our crumbling Christian Republic.
is the Word, and His Word is the Truth. We need to consult it
more often and make it part of our private and public lives. We hear
much talk about living the Word, but who has really held us
accountable to this standard, or given us scriptural models to emulat
toward building Christian communities?
I hear many Christians complaining and grumbling about the way our
government is becoming increasingly hostile to Christianity. What sort
of response is needed from Christians to turn the tide? Where are th
Christians with their Bible-oriented solutions and alternatives for
implementing change in our homes and communities?
Part of the problem is that the few Christians who are becoming
involved in their communities, are issue orientated. While being
pro-Life and pro-family are desirable goals you can't build a
Christian community campaign on single issues. We need a whole new
world and life view to re-build the crumbling fabric of our
communities in the true healing spirit of Christianity. This means
education and a bringing together of a comprehensive community vision
that can turn the world right-side up again!
Another problem to be overcome is religious factions within
Christianity. Too many are captive to the traditions of man-made
religious groups and institutions. They fear to stray lest they be
outcasts of their "fellowship." But their fear is misplaced. They do
not fear God before man and thus compromise His Truth. We must also b
careful that we don't use our "righteousness" as a defense and an
excuse to be self-ordained outcasts from other Christian groups. A
loss of fellowship does hurt, but love is patient and longsuffering
and we should never burn bridges between our brothers and sisters in
Christ.
This short article was not designed to provide all the answers, but
rather to help inspire our thinking toward the solutions which we need
to turn our lives, families, communities and nation back to God. This
will only be done through Christ, revealed in His living Word for
those who would follow the Way that leads to life. My hope and prayer
is that these questions will generate many thoughtful responses that
follow-up articles can reflect in this important work toward
fullfilling the Lord's prayer in our lives, communities and nation.
The spirit of this publication is "No Fear." I ask, if your life has
already been bought by the precious shed blood of the Lamb of God,
what do you truly have to fear? "The whole duty of man is to fear God
and keep His commandments." Eccl. 12:13,14
Understand the nature of your God, in what spirit we should live our
lives, and what He has truly accomplished for those who have sincerely
turned their lives over to Him:
"Having received a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us be joyful,
by which we serve God acceptably with reverence and awe; for our God
is a consuming fire." Hebrews 12:28,29
- RS
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6. A HIDDEN FRIEND
There were two men from Galille who walked along and discussed a
certain man. Jesus walked behind and listened. Jesus was a stranger
then, but as the journey continued, He became a friend to these men.
As a Christian or non-Christian, Jesus can be a stranger to us. On
that road to Emmaus, the stranger wanted to walk with these men and He
still wants to walk with us. And somewhere along that road, when your
heart yearns for Christ and the flame of Truth, you will find that He
is not a stranger any longer. He becomes a friend, a guiding light,
and hope for the next day or hour to pass. As you continue to grow,
the Lord shows you that pain is something you learn to look for, and
learn to yearn for as well. Steve Green put it best when he said, "I
choose the Refiner's Fire." Growth with God becomes something that
comes along with maturity and also with the realization that God knows
what is best in your life and that there is always a purpose, even
though it may hurt sometimes.
There are many times that we may never know the reason God allowed
something to occur or happen. Leaning on Him makes Him less of a
stranger and more the Lord of out life. It's such a simple conecpt,
but so hard to attain and maintain. God gives us loves and forgiveness
so freely, yet WE do not give anything so freely. As you walk down
this road with this Man, there will be times when you may want to go
the other way. But then He begins to become a stranger to you again.
Don't lose touch with the Man who can make the most of your life. My
question to you is: on this road, right now, He may be a stranger to
you, but what will He be when your journey is through?
-KS
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7. FINAL COMMENTS - JANUARY 1ST, 1995
On behalf of all the members of the No Fear staff I would like to say
thank you for checking out this site. We hope and pray that the
articles presented here have ministered to you just as much as they
have ministered to us. If you are interested in more information about
No Fear please email any one of us or if you would like to be a part
of the team then please read the writers guide from the main menu.
If the articles presented here have ministered to you we would love to
hear about it! Please share this site with your friends and family and
spread the good word around about what God is doing on the internet.
No Fear will be issuing hard copies of the magazine beginning February
1st, 1995. If you know anyone without a computer or without internet
access that would be interested in this form of communication, please
let us know.
Once again we thank you all for reading. May God richly bless you.
-BC
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8. Author List for January 01, 1995
Alan Koch - Editor / Author
- ask@sei.cmu.edu
Christian Haller - Publisher / Author
- pdh@tenet.edu
Chuck Pearson - Author
- dopearso@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
Cory Berry - WWW Coordinator
- ab132@rgfn.epcc.edu
Kristie Steele - Missionary Outlook / Author
- ad204@rgfn.epcc.edu
Rick Savage - Freelance Author
- rsavage@netcom.com
- Future Contributors -
Allen L Elson - alelson@mailbox.syr.edu