The Church: Changing Lives

Charles Blondin is credited with having crossed Niagara Falls several times – on a 1,100-foot tightrope, 160 dizzy feet above the thundering water. His high-wire feats often included theatrical variations, such as walking on stilts or pushing a wheelbarrow. He’d even pause to stand on his head, turn a backward somersault, balance on top of a chair, or cook an omelet!

One day in 1860, Blondin was again preparing to cross the famous falls. He turned to the huge crowd and asked if they believed he could cross without falling. They shouted their assent. He asked if they believed he could make the walk while carrying another person on his back. Again the crowd roared. But when Blondin turned to a man who was standing nearby and asked if he would be the volunteer, the man refused.

Had the man believed, I mean really believed, his faith would have prompted him to climb atop Blondin’s back. True faith is more than just mental assent or verbal agreement. It involves action. The same is true, James writes, of those who profess to believe in Christ. Your faith is dead if it is not accompanied by action.

James 2:14-17 says, “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

Put your faith to the test by getting actively involved in the lives of others. Don’t just pray for those with needs; roll up your sleeves and help to meet their needs. Everyone can spout, “Praise the Lord!” But how many are willing to spend time with the unpopular whom others ignore? Your faith in and love for God ought to motivate you to love others – actively and in practical ways. It’s that kind of faith that speaks loudest.

Have I told you lately that I love you?
William

Posted by William Eudy at 03:09 PM | Permalink

You’ve heard of oxymorons before, I’m sure. The word, “oxymoron” doesn’t describe a goofy person. It’s a word that we had a lot of fun with in high school English classes. An oxymoron is two words used together that actually have opposite meanings. You’ve heard them before—phrases like “jumbo shrimp,” “organized chaos,” “military intelligence,” and “postal service” (just kidding about that last one). What about this one: “constant change?”

Very few things in life are constant. But, change certainly is. To be honest, I like changes! That is, if they are good changes. However, many of them are not.

We see change as being an unwelcome guest when it comes in the form of illness, job changes, difficult relationships, marital unrest, family problems, or financially challenging situations. We fear change, especially when it is tied to something we think is negative.

But, what about that statement that many of us would agree with that says this: “When you’re in Christ Jesus, everything that happens is in your favor?” Is that really true?

As a child of God, I can claim His promises which make that statement true. I have some advantages when it comes to facing change. In fact, after the initial shock of the change, if I keep things in proper perspective, I can look at change as an adventure. I’m working with God in His work to make me what I ought to be.

When I was baptized into Christ, I received the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). According to 2 Corinthians 3:18, He (the Holy Spirit) has been working in me to transform me “into His likeness.” God uses the changes in my life to make me lean on Him more, and realize just how weak I am, and how strong He is.

With that in mind, I can approach the change in my life with confidence, even if Satan brought them to me to harm me. I can also understand that the things happening to me are not fate, bad luck or any other superstitious event. These changes are adventures, meant for me and the Lord to use for the increasing of my faith.

I’m not trying to say that change shouldn’t hurt. They hurt us deeply at times. But broken hearts are usually the ones that God uses in His restoration work. How’s that for an oxymoron!

Constant change. Constant growth. You can have them both…..if you have Jesus!

Have I told you lately that I love you?
William

Posted by William Eudy at 03:05 PM | Permalink

Why do you think Jesus was so welcomed by the common people? Isn’t it amazing to you that sinners were drawn to Him? He was righteous and they were not. But Scripture says that He was a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Do you think that’s strange?

It could be that a part of the answer is found in the way Jesus looked at Himself. He came to be a Physician. He came, not to hurt people, but to help them.

Think about this. Can you imagine going into a doctor’s office, being scolded because you were sick, and then told to go home without any treatment or cure? I’m really thankful that medical science does more than scold and rebuke. Doctors do their best to find a cure for what’s ailing you.

It’s that way with Jesus. John 3:17 says, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”

Sinners absolutely trusted Jesus. They just kept coming to Him, one right after another. They knew He was their Friend, and they were comfortable in His presence.

So, if we’re the church of Christ (the church like Christ), it seems to me that our main responsibility as Christians is to herald the good news of a cure. The cure is found in the Gospel of Christ. Romans 1:16 reminds us, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

You know, there’s not going to be much accomplished by us saying, “If people would only live up to what God commands… If they would just follow the Golden Rule… If the world would just straighten up…” That is a lot of “ifs.” Wishing the world would change will not cure spiritual disease. But, loving sinners and sharing the cure? People all around you will start getting well.

Have I told you lately that I love you?
William

Posted by William Eudy at 03:02 PM | Permalink

By J.D. Reppart of Nairobi, Kenya (guest editorial)

Six wooden stools, two small tables, a stuffed mattress, a bed made of 2X4 planks with strips of old tires as webbing, one old oil painting of Mt. Kenya that we gave to him eight years ago, a small pillow with a rip and stuffing falling out, and two plastic buckets – these were the last of my friend and worker, Stephen’s possessions.

He had died of cerebral malaria while we were in the States last year, and we were now taking his belongings back to his home. All he owned fit in the back of a Land Cruiser. As I loaded it, I wondered how long it would take for people to pack up my belongings when I die and how many trucks it would take? I thought of closets, attics and garages back in the States. It really messes up your materialistic mind when you see simplicity in its raw form.

We head down the road and up into the hills of Ukambani land where Stephen’s family lives. The Cruiser grinds up the windy hills in low gear to his home. His house sits on the top of a ridge from which one can see endlessly in two directions. The irony of it – Stephen could see “half the world” and yet he possessed so little of it. A small three-room mud brick house, a halfacre, six wooden stools, two small coffee tables, a stuffed mattress…

While sitting on one of those stools and eating a meal with his widow and four children, I glanced at the wall and saw photographs of my own family. Stephen loved and cherished us all and we were on his walls as a memorial to what he believed important in life – the relationships he had with his loved ones. My mind flashed back to a time I visited a room he rented in Nairobi. I was shocked when I realized that most of the things I was seeing were mine! At least they had been. I had thrown them away. A broken stool, an old picture, a piece of rope now used as a room divider with a curtain on it. A stubby brush, a computer box, tin cans, plastic containers, video tape hanging as streamers, paper cupcake holders, an old family photo – my family. All these things I had thrown away and he found them to be utilitarian. Even my old family photos – he cherished the memories more than I did.

It all served to remind me of the beauty of the African people that I work with. In general, they value relationships far above the collection of material goods. Things are not as important as people. Two truths from our Savior come to mind: “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts.

What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight” (Luke 16:15), and “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15).

Six wooden stools, two small tables, a stuffed mattress...

Posted by Ryan Trammell at 02:54 PM | Permalink