Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? 2 All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.
And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Timothy Leary’s famous encouragement to America in the sixties was to turn on, tune in, and drop out.
What he wanted to do was change the world by altering the individual’s perception of it; not by actually
transforming reality. To do this, he didn’t praise the power of positive thinking, he didn’t advocate the
gated, cloistered life, nor did he push Zenlike fantasies. He encouraged recreational drug use. Reality,
Leary argued, is what we perceive and perception can be altered. He envisioned a good government
lovingly lacing the town water with the perfect narcotic concoction that would pacify the animal instinct,
ennoble the angelic in us, and unleash the creative. Rose colored glasses creating a rosy world.
Leary’s vision eventually proved a nightmare and Haight-Ashbury was more hell than heaven. But the
idea that the mental machinery can be worked on chemically and that immaterial man can be mastered
by the material has not died but only grown in favor. The approach the ancients took in treating the ills
of the world holistically by addressing the needs of body and soul together has largely been dismissed in
the Scientific Age. The integration of psychology and theology is understood to be a simple
impossibility. Twenty-first century Christians often grapple with the question of taking prescription
medicine prescribed by their psychiatrist. Are these drugs taken in lieu of a miracle or is the drug itself
miraculous? Do drugs effect a change in me and reverse the effects of the curse or are they a
capitulation in the war for personal sanctification. Or is the answer somewhere in between? This is a
very important, personal, and possibly sensitive issue for most of us, but one we really need to be
talking about. Please take a few minutes to read the link to the article by Jeremy Pierre and think
through some of the insights he offers on this question and come prepared to discuss it on Sunday
morning. We’ll be meeting upstairs in the Family Life Center at 8:30 am. Hot coffee and a fresh baked
goodie will be there to warm you up. See you Sunday!
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
The sad and sometimes grim realities of life lived amongst the rubble of a ruined paradise are not lost on the Christian. Faith in Christ doesn’t mean an escape from clogged toilets and flat tires; from flu bugs, computer viruses, potholes, pickpockets, and lightning strikes. It’s a mud pit of a world we’ve made and nobody’s keeping entirely clean. But there’s a big difference between getting a pebble in your shoe and getting an officer’s handcuffs on your wrists. Sometimes we’re the nail and sometimes we’re the hammer; sometimes bad things happen to us and sometimes we do bad things. Some things are merely our problem and some things are also our fault.
So, is war in the world something that every Christian must deal with in season, just as he would deal with winter’s blizzards and autumn’s leaves? Or is war something that Christians must steadfastly oppose and withdraw from regardless of circumstance, like he must steer clear of organized crime, internet smut, and street drugs? It’s an important question, because every Christian is a citizen of some country and every country has allies and enemies. Every country faces the near constant prospect of war and funds a defense for itself. What should the American Christian’s stance be toward the defense of the homeland and the declaration of war? Are we doves or hawks, angels or knights, conscience or encouragement? Saint Augustine, one of the most influential of the early Church fathers, developed a theory of “just war” complete with criteria for action and inaction. The tenets of this theory have stood the test of time and are still in use today as leaders wrestle with the decision to take the sword from its sheath. As the sound of sabers rattling is heard across our land today with the recent escalation of tensions in the Middle East, I thought it would be a good idea to have us all read Augustine’s old theory and throw it in the middle of the room for discussion on Sunday morning. Follow the link to read a brief but comprehensive introduction to the theory published by the Catholic League. Please consider joining us for coffee, a baked treat, and a hearty discussion of an age-old question at 8:30am upstairs in the Family Life Center. I’m looking forward to it!
The Newsletter Podcast is a production of Emmanuel Church for Emmanuel Church. With new episodes each week, we’ll hear what’s coming up, what’s gone down, and we’ll have a little fun along the way.
The guys find themselves surrounded by lots of canned goods and boxed sustenance in this episode, and thankfully they're joined by Mr. Keith Eustis to help them sort it all out!
Conversations with folks from the Emmanuel Church Family and friends about life, faith, and our God who knits us all together.
Young Life… An Upward Spiral into apologetics… The most fun wedding at the Governor's Inn… Scale Free… All this and more with our very own Roosevelt Pires!
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