We Pause

[Sparkey]

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In my heart of heart, I feel that I am unsuited as an assigned Moderator for "The Snakepit" a.k.a. "The Wilderness," a.k.a. "Ye Old Apologetics and Theology. Mostly that is because of my admitted ignorance. My personal experience comes from being raised in a Catholic family until I was old enough to make my own decisions (or maybe just a little before that time) when I found myself actually trying to listen to what God had said and not what others said He said.

A Limited History
Some might label me a Protestant because of my affinity for those flavors of Christianity, but in recent decades, before I joined any membership or became affiliated with any assembly I made a point of asking if the Lord's Body was one or many, and asked how each group felt about denominations. I never heard anybody answer with a response of, "Well, I know what the Bible says, but it's been my experience that..."

So, non-denominational it is then, well, at least for me. After I turned 40 years old, my sister invited me to attend her church and she asked the local priest if he would let me bring up the "elements" for their communion. He agreed and I accepted the honor. I didn't eat with them - we have very basic differences and although I do still believe that there is One Church and One Body, I excluded myself from partaking from them out of my respect for their closely held belief in transubstantiation. But does that mean that I could not worship God in spirit and truth along side of and with my brothers and sisters in that assembly? No. In fact, even though we had and have very real differences in our beliefs, it seemed to me then as it seems to me today that God is a God of hearts.

Qualifications:
So then, am I qualified as a Moderator here? Maybe. Maybe not. Some argue that the very thing that convinces me that I am unqualified also convinces them that I'm one of the best persons for the job because that makes it easier for me to arbitrate and facilitate difference between our members who sometimes hold very different beliefs. In any case it is not an easy task and I do appreciate and actively ask for your prayerful support.

Once, I was asked to serve as a "camp counselor" for Vacation Bible school. There, the counselors (we were nothing more than baby-sitters who prayed) got together and spoke. We were told, "No rest to the counselor! Do not say, 'Buck up, little camper,' but rather give all diligence to the care and feeding of these little ones that have been entrusted to us. We were told, in that context, "Don't sleep, now is not the time for rest. There will be lots of time for that after we are dead."

I agree; context does matter. I did understand the message and the heart they wanted for the counselors at VBC. The children in my care and the care of a "Junior Counselor" returned with one having been called into the ministry, another gaining a salvation experience at an altar call, and with every single one, without exception, well cared for, well fed and sent home with memories designed to last a lifetime. Seeds were planted in some, water was applied to others and I witnessed beyond my own little group of happy campers, those who were in the care of others and the many other heart miracles that happened during those times of fellowship.

How They Did It:
How did those kids join together so well? They ate, drank and played together. They sang together and worshipped together. We hiked, laughed and cried together. There were campfire stories and planned activities where we could all bond and where the loving eye of our Father in heaven was set on His little ones and where He was known to have smile lines in the face that shined upon us. It was a Psalm 133 time. That little psalm has only three lines. We see there where the Lord commands the blessing. Open our ears and hearts, Lord.

Prayer, prayer, prayer. "It is by My Spirit," saith the Lord.

 

[Sparkey]

Thanks, in advance, for the trust, and for the consideration given here.

Imagine, if you will, what it felt like to be a Disciple of The Christ. You’re a fisherman or a man who loves God, who knows the law and also loves to learn more and more of who God is. You’re called and this call is confirmed by the Holy Spirit and that resounds in you. You know that you have been selected and chosen to sit at the feet of a man who is capable of instruction.

As you begin your journey, many marvels are seen. You can’t help but wonder about that tree that was cursed in the beginning. What was it, a day later that it withered? “I cannot imagine what this may portend.”

But as you continue your walk the privilege of seeing the heart of God through the actions of this man called Jesus continually provokes and prompts, sometimes even goads you, toward a better understanding of who God is. There are many mysteries, true, but there are also many assurances (just look at the miracles!) made during the course of the journey and you resolve to be patient, knowing that God, in due time, reveals all things according to what is best.

Now comes the difficult part. There’s this one guy who is called, just like you. And you watch with a certain skepticism and puzzle after the perhaps obvious mistake that was made in his calling. That guy doesn’t quite fit in with the others.

Dear Member, before I say on, let me assure you again that I am not, NOT casting this light on any person here. Not you, and not ‘That Other Guy’. But having said that, let us return to the time when the Disciples were walking with the Lord and the thoughts that may have occurred to them as they considered the man known as Judas Iscariot. He was a Disciple, called of God, blessed to walk with Jesus just like every other member of the twelve. They walked together. The twelve+1 all sat at the same table. They faced the same struggles and were given opportunity to receive the same lesson(s).

There was something about him though. Something suspicious maybe. "What could Jesus be thinking?" That man must have stirred up similar feelings in at least one of the other followers of the Lord. Was it John, the Beloved, who spoke about it in private to our Lord? Did he say, “I've been thinking about it, and I'm wondering if perhaps I shouldn't be a Disciple anymore?” No, I don’t really think he said that.

But is it possible? Probably not. And if so, it was not recorded. John did give a hint about things unsaid when he told us by the inspiration of the Holy Breath of God, “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. [Jhn 21:25 ESV]

I do understand what has been seen here at ChristianForums.net (in part) and the frustration that must be felt. It’s more than understandable. I don’t know how the Disciples felt about Judas being included in their team but know that many of the things that must have occurred (in their private thoughts and conversations) have been omitted. We just don’t hear that much about it.

Unstrap your seat belt now. I'm not trying to scold anybody. That’s all I had, except that I also wanted to say that in the years that I've been here there are very few that I trust more than the combined efforts of the Staff who have been chosen to serve and who volunteer here. The excellence of their collective judgment has been witnessed by me and if there were anyone that I would recommend as a ‘person’ who could be trusted to moderate me (or others) it would be this group that would come first to my lips. Of course, we are talking about forum moderation here, not eternal judgment; there is only one qualified for that, as you know.

Every one of us is found where we are, along the path, walking hand-in-hand with Jesus, by the workings of His Holy Spirit and desirous of becoming more and more like Him. He leads. We follow. God is Holy and we are to become like Him. Oftentimes we are challenged deeply for our God is truly a God of the heart who knows how to deal effectively with each of us. James speaks of the trial of our faith as a source of joy. Another tells us to not think about it as a strange thing when a fiery trial comes upon us.

Our challenge comes when we stretch to become more like our Father in Heaven. We read about what was written through Paul to an assembly about Love in the Love chapter of 1Cor 13. We read what was written by James about putting faith into action and the need to control the tongue. We read about what Jesus said while delivering the Sermon on the Mount, the “blessed be’s” or Beatitudes, if you will, in Matthew, chapters 5 through 7. We reach to understand the parable of the Tares in Matthew 13.

We also laugh and play and pray together even as the Holy Spirit continues His job and we are jointly fitted together into the larger group called the Body of Christ (Eph 2:21; 1Cor 3:16; Col 2:19; Psalm 93:5; 1Cor 3:17). Where do we find ourselves today? Where will we find ourselves tomorrow? I suppose that even today there are many things that Jesus does amongst us and that were they, the things that are done, to be written? The whole world could not contain those books either.

15 ... but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.