Reflections From Sunday Evening

Today we talked about the difficulty many people have reconciling our belief in a good, gracious, kind, powerful and wise God with the reality of sin, evil and suffering in the world. There is no definitive answer to this issue. However there is a very real hope that we find in Jesus Christ. While I cannot give some secret answer to the problems encountered I can offer the hope of Christ with great confidence. We looked at an illustration from Leonard Sweet. It is always nice to adapt others illustrations to our own purposes! The idea centered on learning a second language. It is one thing to learn vocabulary and grammar but that does not make us fluent in a new language. The test comes when we "dream" in the new language. That comes when we go beyond vocabulary and grammar. This comes when we are immersed in a new culture. We learn to recognize the sounds, sights and smells of a new culture. We not only learn the language, it becomes part of us. Then we "know" a new language. We applied this to the Christian life. John the Baptist came calling people to repent. They were baptized in water and entered a new relationship with Jesus Christ. Sins are forgiven. Abundant life is experienced. Eternal life is promised. Coming back to the challenges of our day we wonder if this sufficiently empowers us to live a redemptive life in a world laced with sin, evil and suffering. Perhaps we should listen to John the Baptist again. "I baptize you with water for the forgiveness of sins. One comes after me who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." We can be immersed in the Holy Spirit and when we are we will emerge new people. To be immersed in the Holy Spirit is to enter a new culture and know the language, the smells, the sights and the sounds. This is when we dream the dreams of God. This is a way we know and experience a good, kind, wise, powerful and gracious God living in redemptive ways in the world of sin, evil and suffering. By faith, be immersed in the Spirit and emerge a new person. On a personal note... Cindy's mom, Ruth Ann Grizzell, passed away this weekend. She had battled cancer. She had two good years after undergoing treatments three years ago. She lived the faith and looked forward to heaven. We would love your prayers for Cindy, her brother and sisters and the extended Grizzell family as we share in the celebration of her life. It's been a good day. I hope you've had a good day too. steve