10, 2011

Wilberforce: The Great Parliamentarian Reformer

"Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God."1

To be politically correct many would say that Christians should keep out of the political arena. But think about William Wilberforce (1759–1833), the British politician who became the leader of the movement to abolish the inhumane slave trade. His life is a prime example of Christian political activism par excellence.

When he first became a committed Christian, however, he seriously considered withdrawing from parliament, but John Newton (a former slave trader himself) and author of one of the world's best known hymns, "Amazing Grace, " convinced Wilberforce to remain in parliament, as God had placed him there for a useful purpose. It turned out that as a politician Wilberforce had a much greater influence on the social ills of his day, and campaigned fervently for decades to help, with other Christian leaders, end the slave trade. He was actually dying when he received word of his success re the end of the slave trade.

Wilberforce said, "God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of manners."

To this task this one man committed his entire life … and helped greatly to change a great part of the world. Would that we had such parliamentarian reformers today! There is a desperate need for them. Furthermore, you and I may never become another Wilberforce, but with God's help each one of us can make a lasting and eternal impact on the world in which we live and circulate. Will YOU volunteer today to be one of these persons? Remember, we Christians are called by Christ to be the salt (purifying effect) of the earth.2

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please help me in whatever role my life is invested to be actively involved in being 'salt of the earth,' and thereby help in a positive way to be a purifying effect in every area of life here on earth. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."

1. Romans 13:1. (NIV).
2. Matthew 5:13.

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敬拜神是人類受造的目的，也是人的本性

神創造人時，就已將一個空處擺在人心裡，所以
人會有尋求真理、尋求永生的渴望，直到在敬拜
時遇見這位造他的真神，才得到滿足。「認識你
獨一的真神，並且認識你所差來的耶穌基督
，這就是永生。」(約十七3) 過去我們都是在
敬拜世上各種不同的人事物，但這一切終究會讓
我們失望，那時我們就發現這些不過都是虛幻。
惟有找到我們的造物主、這位創造天地萬有的神
，我們心裡才會得到真實的滿足。人只有在敬拜
神的時候，才會找到他人生的意義，並認識自己
是誰。我們要認識自己，就必須要先認識那創造
我們的神，因為我們是照祂形像所造的。 林大中

PROCLAIM THE GOOD NEWS TO ALL CREATION

Jesus said to them, 'Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation'. (Mark 16)

I feel like praying that my life might become simple enough for me to be able to say 'yes' when Jesus looks at me with love and invites me to leave everything behind and follow him.

Henri Nouwen

LORD, help your servants to proclaim your message with all boldness

And now Lord... help your servants to proclaim your message with all boldness. (Acts 4)

We seldom fully realize that we have to choose how, where and with whom to live. We act as if we were simply dropped down in creation and have to decide how to entertain ourselves until we die. But we were sent into the world by God, just as Jesus was. Once we start living our lives with that conviction, we will soon know what we were sent to do.

Henri Nouwen

Good Friday - April 22, 2011

Like a sapling he grew up in front of us, like a root in arid ground. Without beauty, without majesty (we saw him), no looks to attract our eyes; a thing despised and rejected, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering, a man to make people screen their faces; he was despised and we took no account of him. And yet, ours were the sufferings he bore, ours the sorrows he carried. (Isaiah 52)

The enormous anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane is the anguish of Jesus who yearns for the love of his friends, but they don't realize it. He longs to give them love but they haven't opened themselves to receive it. This is the enormous anguish of God who is only love...who leaves people free to accept or reject that love.

Henri Nouwen

ASH WEDNESDAY - 9TH MARCH 2011

A Lenten Prayer

The Lenten season begins. It is a time to be with you, Lord, in a special way, a time to pray, to fast, and thus to follow you on your way to Jerusalem, to Golgotha, and to the final victory over death.

I am still so divided. I truly want to follow you, but I also want to follow my own desires and lend an ear to the voices that speak about prestige, success, pleasure, power, and influence. Help me to become deaf to these voices and more attentive to your voice, which calls me to choose the narrow road to life.

I know that Lent is going to be a very hard time for me. The choice for your way has to be made every moment of my life. I have to choose thoughts that are your thoughts, words that are your words, and actions that are your actions. There are not times or places without choices. And I know how deeply I resist choosing you.

Please, Lord, be with me at every moment and in every place. Give me the strength and the courage to live this season faithfully, so that, when Easter comes, I will be able to taste with joy the new life that you have prepared for me.

Amen.

Henri Nouwen

CLERGY FLAMEOUT IS NOT NECESSARY AND MAY BE PREVENTIVE

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Clergy flameout is not necessary and may be preventable

By Bill Ellis
Special to ASSIST News Service
SCOTT DEPOT, WV (ANS) -- Twenty-four hours after a snowstorm in Teays Valley, WV, I walked out to the highway to pick up the Saturday morning Charleston Gazette-Mail newspaper, the largest in the state.

Back at the kitchen table and a cup of hot chocolate, I opened the paper to a well-written story by Ron Orozco of McClatchy Newspapers, "Churches confront issue of 'clergy burnout'."

Orozco's thought-provoking story centered around Fresno, CA, one of my favorite areas in the United States.

There are negatives, but many positives as well. I do not know of anything burning out that was not at one time on fire and burning brightly. I will consider those of the clergy family.

Clergypersons are the spiritual leaders, ministers, preachers, teachers and shepherds. Paul wrote to the faithful in Ephesus, "And He gave some apostles . . . and some pastors and teachers" (Ephesians 4:11). The Bible also refers to them as "Ambassadors for Christ" (2 Cor. 5:20).

To "burn out" means, we can safely assume, that something or a person was once on fire.

A man or woman senses their "call to the ministry" with the deep conviction that this "is what God wants me to do." After some years of preparation, whether it be little or as it is more often in our day, involving a bachelor's degree and then a graduate degree of 45-90 semester hours of graduate study -- the day of ordination may arrive.

How does this person of such tremendous possibilities "flameout" or "burnout" after years in the ministry? If I were the speaker for a pastor's conference or seminar for professional and business leaders, as I have been many times, here are a few things I would emphasize to prevent "burnout".

1. They may have heard too many sermons on the piety of "wearing out and not rusting out" in God's work. Sounds good, but may be a little on the stupid side of ministry.

2. Married clergy members who become distracted by those of the opposite sex are headed for disaster.

3. Successful clergy persons, like many narcissistic athletes and politicians, read too many of their own headlines.

4. They want to do things Jesus did not do. They want to be present before they are even called. Always being on the job 24-7 does not convey much more than an abundance of ignorance.

5. Churches and pastors should see to it that the pastor eats, sleeps, exercises, reads, studies, relaxes as is becoming to healthy and spiritual people. How about a "weigh-in" each month for the pastor? Deduct five dollars from the weekly check for every pound he is overweight?

6. Churches should be aware that it is much less expensive to keep a pastor healthy and functioning positively and successfully than it is to go through a church and leadership wreck. "Humpty Dumpty" falls are often beyond repair. All the superintendents and bishops cannot put it back together again.

7. Churches should make certain that pastors are on complete vacation with their families at least six weeks of each year. If a pastor's parents are living, send him home to Mom and Dad twice each year no matter how far away they live. A week with parents helps the "greatest preacher" among us get his feet back on the ground. He is still a little boy trying to grow up in their house. Putting your feet three times a day under Mom's table will do more than visiting the counselor's office or the psychiatrist's couch.

Samuel Butler defined a clergyman as "A human Sunday." A clergyman is also a human Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Pastors are human and they need lots of help from other humans so all can succeed and be faithful to the very end.