Archive for the ‘Religious Ruminations’ Category:
Church of Christ.
My first permanent assignment after finishing OTS and Aircraft Maintenance Officer Course (AMOC), was at Eglin Air Force Base in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. We arrived there in the late summer of 1980 and attended the Fort Walton Beach Church of Christ. I taught a Sunday morning Bible study class for retirees and helped Russ King with the youth group during the almost three years we lived in Florida. After about a year I heard that the Destin Church of Christ was without a preacher. It seems their preacher left on very short notice and they were looking for a new one. I talked with the elders of the Destin church about filling-in until they found a full-time preacher. I would have loved to have applied for the job but couldn’t because of my military responsibilities. They said they’d like to hear me teach and preach once or twice before making a decision to let me fill-in until they found a preacher. After one or two weeks of “trying out” they asked me to continue to teach Sunday morning adult Bible class and to preach on Sunday mornings and evenings. I told them I wouldn’t be able to come out on Wednesday nights but they said the men of the congregation would take turns with those lessons. After a month or so it seemed to me as if they had stopped looking for a full-time preacher. They even listed me as their preacher in an ad they put in the local newspaper. After about six months I told them they really needed to find a full time preacher as the twice-a-Sunday drives to Destin and the lesson preparation were just too much for me. They soon found a full-time preacher. Many of the members of the Destin church were either active military or retired military. This was a very good time of Bible teaching and preaching experience.
After a couple of years at Eglin AFB I began thinking about my next assignment. The good thing about being an officer is that you have more control over your assignments than enlisted members. I knew I was “hot” for an overseas assignment so I wanted to give my input before the military just decided where it wanted to send me. I wanted to go on an accompanied assignment (one where my entire family could go as opposed to a remote assignment where the family isn’t allowed to go) in a country where I could get close to Bible history. We didn’t have any bases in Israel so that country was out. We could go as a family to Italy, Turkey, or Greece. I decided I’d like to “walk in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul” in Greece and inquired into the possibility of being assigned there. I was told there were no positions for an Aircraft Maintenance Officer anywhere in Greece. There was, however, a slot coming open for a Munitions Maintenance Officer at Hellenikon Air Base in Athens in the summer of 1983. As Munitions maintenance and Aircraft maintenance were sister fields, I was able to take a “crossover” course at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver to take the Munitions Maintenance Officer position. Prior to moving to Athens I got the address of a member of the American military Church of Christ that met in a rented storefront just outside the main gate of Hellenikon Air Base. I wrote asking about the church and he replied very quickly. He asked if I had any teaching or preaching experience. I wrote back about my degree from LCC and the experience I’d gained at the Fort Walton Beach Church and at the Destin Church. He again wrote back quickly asking if I’d assume some of the preaching and teaching responsibilities when I got there as most of the men had little or no experience. I replied enthusiastically that I’d love to do that and we headed to Greece.
The American Military Church of Christ at Hellenikon was a vibrant young group. There were more than 70 in attendance every Sunday in the early 1980s. Most of the families were young military families. There were only one or two couples who were older and who worked as civilians for the military or the US government in Athens. The good thing about the congregation was their youth, energy, and enthusiasm. The not-so-good thing was the inexperience of most of the young Christian men who attended there. Before I arrived they had a policy of rotating the preaching and teaching duties among the men. Every Christian man in the congregation took his turn. A few of the men could do a pretty good job of teaching and preaching. Some of the men wrote out their lessons/sermons and simply read them. One guy just read sermon outlines out of a sermon outline book when it was his turn. He didn’t add anything to the outlines—he simple read the outline! Clearly, everyone isn’t cut out to be a preacher/teacher. I started teaching Sunday morning Bible class and preaching the first Sunday we were in Greece.
I was very excited about being a part of this young group. I knew I had much to offer and I knew I could also gain valuable experience. There were no men old enough to be elders in this group so we operated on the “men’s meeting” system of congregational leadership—a system in place in Ephesus where Paul left Timothy to help “mature” the church, and Crete where Paul sent Titus for the same purpose. There is no doubt young churches and young Christians need to mature and sometimes need help in the maturing process. One early experience with the group in Greece points this out very clearly. The men met one Saturday every month at the NCO (Non-Commissioned Officer) Club for breakfast and to talk about the work of the church. We had been there just a few weeks when the men invited me to the monthly men’s breakfast. During the meeting I brought up an idea to change something in the meeting times. I don’t remember exactly what my suggestion was but it was something I thought would make our assembly times better for most people. I was shocked by the response of the men. When I suggested changing meeting times the other guys just sat and looked at each other. After a couple of seconds one of the guys said something like, “We need to ask our wives before we change anything like that.” I told them that we were the men of the church—in lieu of having elders—and we had the biblical authority to make decisions concerning the operation of the congregation. Again, the men told me they could make no such decision without first clearing it with their wives. I stressed our authority to make decisions for the church but I saw I wasn’t getting through to them. The downside to this story is that a couple of the more forceful wives in the congregation (I’m trying to be polite here) had it in for me the rest of the time we were in Greece. I often felt they tried to undermine me as they clearly undermined their own husbands. A couple of months before I moved from Greece to Germany (after we’d been in Greece for about a year) some of the men came to our apartment one evening with the local American missionary (who worked with a Greek-speaking congregation). They told me they thought I had too much “power” in the congregation and they wanted me to step aside and not preach or teach any more. This was like a punch in the gut to me and I believe to this day that the weak Christian men and some too-forceful wives were behind it.
Church of Christ.
I have had considerable experience with overseas congregations of the Church of Christ. I spent over twenty years in the U.S. Air Force and I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly (Sorry Clint) of Church of Christ military congregations. This is my story.
I was not a baptized member of the Churches of Christ when I first entered the military in October 1969. I was stationed at Craig Air Force Base in Selma, Alabama, (my first permanent assignment) for almost two years when I married Deborah (June 17, 1972). Deborah had been raised in a strict (dogmatic) segment of the Church of Christ. I grew up attending the Evangelical United Brethren Church which joined with the Methodist Church in 1969 to form the United Methodist Church. Although I attended regularly as a child, I was not what you would call a devout Christian when I met Deborah in April 1972.
We were engaged on the third weekend of knowing each other. Her father was in the Air Force in North Dakota and she was living alone in Atlanta at the time. I had not met her parents before we got engaged. He mother was very faithful in attending church services. Her father, although baptized, was an alcoholic and provided no spiritual leadership in the family. On the day we got engaged Deborah said, “I’m not sure how my mother will take our marriage.” I probed for further information and she said, “Well, ours will be a mixed marriage—I’m a Christian and you’re a Methodist.” This floored me and challenged me. I was determined to learn as much as I could about the Christianity and the various Christian denominations. So, when I went to Thailand six months after we got married (Korat Royal Thai Air Base) I spent much of my free time in the base library (Korat Air Base had a wonderful library) reading about religion. I read about the various Christian denominations, Catholicism, Buddhism, Islam, Mormonism, and etc.
After we got married I attended a local Church of Christ with Deborah in Selma. This was my introduction to how things were done and what people believed in the Churches of Christ. When I got to Thailand I looked for a congregation of the Church of Christ on base. I found that a group of men met on Sunday afternoons in the Base Chapel. There were only about 5-10 young men who met but they seemed serious about their faith. I attended a couple of times but no one from the group asked about my religious background. On the second or third visit they were talking about a schedule of preaching. The men took turns bringing lessons. They asked me if I’d like to be on the schedule. I told them I understood that they expected people to be baptized as adults in order to be considered members of the Church of Christ and that I’d only been baptized as an infant in the United Brethren Church so I declined their offer. I’m sure they would have changed their minds about allowing me to bring a lesson after my “confession.” I didn’t attend much after that. I just continued to study on my own.
I continued to attend worship services with Deborah when I returned from Thailand. I was baptized by Gray Bortz, the Youth Minister of the Greenlawn Church of Christ in Lubbock, Texas, on October 27, 1977. I was convinced that although I’d seen and heard some things in the Churches of Christ that I believed were more denominational dogma than biblical doctrine, this group was closer to the teaching of the New Testament than any other Christian group I’d studied. Besides, I put my faith in God through Christ and not in the particular or peculiar beliefs of the Churches of Christ. I immediately let my family and friends know that I wanted to dedicate my life to working for Christ. To that end, I began making plans to leave the military after just nine years to enroll in the Bible Department of Lubbock Christian College (LCC). I got out of the Air Force in August 1978. As I already had several years of college credit from night classes in the military I only had to take classes for 18 months to finish my BA degree. I graduated in early December 1979.
My plan was to get my BA degree from LCC and to get a position with a congregation of the Church of Christ as a preacher. Reality began to set in during the summer before I graduated. I had already begun to look into possible preaching positions and found that churches weren’t very keen on hiring a relatively “new Christian” with four children (Deborah was pregnant with our fourth at the time) and no experience. Although I was carrying a straight “A” average at LCC, I couldn’t find a church willing to take a risk on me. Dr. Charles Stephenson, head of the Bible Department at LCC, helped me get an offer from the Northside Church of Christ (where he was the preacher) to be the assistant minister. They were only able to offer me a small, three bedroom house and about $700 a month in salary. That wasn’t nearly enough to support my family. I decided the best course of action for my family would be for me to go back into the military as an enlisted airman. In July 1979 I went to an Air Force recruiter and asked about going back into the enlisted force. The recruiter asked questions about my background and education and told me that I could probably go back through Officers Training School (OTS) and become a Second Lieutenant. He scheduled me to take the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT) in Amarillo, Texas, at the end of the first week of August. Our fourth child, Jessica, was born in Lubbock on August 8, the day I was taking the AFOQT in Amarillo. I scored well on the test and was accepted into OTS the first week of January 1980. I decided that if I couldn’t be a preacher as a civilian I’d take every opportunity to preach and teach while I finished my military career. That way I could support my family, gain experience, and help churches wherever I happened to be stationed.
Knowing God by the things He made
(Spiritual explanation)
“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made…”
Romans 1:20a
This verse from Romans is set in the context of ungodly and unrighteous men having no excuse not to know God. This famous section of Scripture is often used to point out the sins of others, especially unnatural sexual acts, but among other sins it also includes the sin of disobeying parents (Rom. 1: 24-31). When we remember Romans 3:23, “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of god…” we should realize that Romans 1:18-32 applies to all of us!
In the Greek the word “attributes” in verse 20 is added to help us understand what Paul is talking about. The Greek word “aoratos” is translated as “invisible attributes” or “invisible qualities” or “invisible things” in different translations. The point is that the invisible nature of God is clearly seen and understood by everything He made. God told Moses that no one could see His face and live (Exod. 33:19-23). We will never be able to see the face of God in this physical life. However, Romans 1:20 assures us that we can see and understand the invisible nature of God by looking at all of His wonderful creation. So if we want to see the nature/attributes/qualities/things of God, we only have to look around us.
This is really good news for us because by seeing the nature of God we can begin to know Him and when we know Him and choose to be one with Him we have the promise of eternal life with Him.
Knowing God by the things He made
(Physical explanation)
A man explains to his family how we can know God by the things He made.
Husband: I’m constantly amazed by how much our God loves us.
Wife: What do you mean?
Husband: Jesus said that eternal life is knowing God and the Son He sent (John 17:3). God shows us how much He loves us by giving us all of His wonderful creation in order to know Him.
Wife: But how can we know God by just looking at the things He made?
Husband: First of all, because we can see the creation around us we can believe there is a Creator. And, because everything we see in creation has a design behind it we can believe there is a Designer.
Wife: OK, I’ve heard those cute sayings before but what did you mean when you said we can KNOW God by looking at the things He made?
Husband: Many of the religious leaders and teachers of the world would like us to believe that we have to go to them to learn about the existence of God and His will for us. They will point to the Bible and insist that we can only know God from what was written in the Bible and then only when they explain it to us. I don’t buy that line because that’s clearly not what Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome. At the beginning of his letter to the Roman church Paul told them that no one could make the excuse that he didn’t know God because everything that can be known about God is clearly visible in His creation (Romans 1:18-20).
Wife: So when we see flowers and trees and birds and animals we can know about God? How does seeing these things help us know God and get closer to having eternal life with Him?
Husband: Yes, everything in creation helps us know about God. Looking at plants and animals helps us to know there is a Creator who can create wonderful things. Also, when we see the life cycle of plants and animals we see the physical representation of spiritual things. Just as there is birth and life and death and continuing generations among the living things, so there is in the spiritual realm.
Wife: Is it just with physical things that we can know God? How about things such as family, relationships, church groups, and the like, can these things help us know God and have eternal life?
Husband: Indeed! In fact Paul is very specific about how physical marriage helps us understand the relationship between Christ and the church in Ephesians 5, starting in verse 21.
And this is eternal life…
(Spiritual explanation)
“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” John 17:3 NKJV
Have you ever considered the definition of eternal life? On the same night He was arrested, at the beginning of His great prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus gave the definition. He said that eternal life is to know God and Jesus.
There are two realms of existence: the physical and the spiritual. We and everything in this world are of the physical realm. God, His kingdom, the angels, and His Son are in the spirit realm. There has always been a tension between these two realms. While we live in the physical realm God wants us to pursue knowledge of Him in order to live forever with Him in the spirit realm.
God loves us so much that He doesn’t leave us to have to guess about Him. In Romans 1:19, 20, the Apostle Paul explains it this way, “…what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse…” In other words, God gives us everything in this physical world so we can know Him and spend eternity with Him in the spirit world.
The question we need to ask is, “What does it mean to know God and Jesus in order to have eternal life?” Is it enough to have knowledge about God and Jesus in order to have eternal life or is there another kind of knowledge?
Knowledge can be of two kinds. There is physical knowledge that helps us know about the world around us. We know steel is hard and cold and we know little puppies are soft and warm. We can feel, smell, taste, touch and listen to gain knowledge of most things in the physical world. Some physical things are more difficult to know about and require research and experimentation. Scientists continue to experiment and explore in order to know more about this physical realm. There is spiritual knowledge of God that leads to eternal life. Things in the spirit realm are also difficult to know about. There is much confusing information coming from the religious world today. Fortunately, we don’t have to rely on the teachings of any contemporary man or religious system to know about God or to know God. God has given us life and everything in this physical realm so we can see and know Him, if only we have the will and the eyes to do so.
And this is eternal life…
(Physical explanation)
A man explains to his family how we can have eternal life by knowing God and Jesus.
Child: Dad, what is eternal life?
Dad: Most people understand eternal life to be living together with God forever.
Child: But I know everyone dies when he gets old or when he gets sick or when he has a bad accident. How is it possible for anyone to live forever?
Dad: We believe there are two kinds of living. Right now we live in the physical kind of living. When we die, the way you talked about, we believe it is possible to live forever in a place that isn’t physical but spiritual.
Child: Do you mean in a place with ghosts and goblins?
Dad: Well, not exactly. The Bible tells us a little about this place. We know we will be aware of where we are and of others around us. We know God and Jesus will be there. We know everyone who put his or her faith in God and Jesus while in this physical life will also be there in the spirit life with God and Jesus forever. There will be no hate and no war and no pain with God. Everyone who lives with God and Jesus in eternity will be forever happy and will want to thank Them for everything They did to make eternal life possible.
Child: You mean no more homework, no more bullies, and no more bad things happening like we see on the TV news every day?
Dad: Yup, that’s what I mean.
Wife: Honey, eternal life is certainly something we want our whole family to have. How can we help our children live their lives in this physical life so they can be with us for eternity with God?
Husband: Well, the Bible tells us that eternal life, or rather the way to have eternal life, is to know God and the Son He sent. Because God is Love, He made it as easy as possible for us, His physical creation and His children, to know Him so we can live with Him forever. He made this physical world and everything and everyone in it so as we live our lives day-to-day we can see Him and His love in all His creation. It might help you to understand what I mean if you remember this: God gives us everything in this physical realm to help us understand and know everything in the spiritual realm—and especially to know Him.
Wife: So if we see God, or the handiwork of God, in everything and everyone He made then we’ll know about Him and that will give us eternal life?
Husband: That is only part of what it means to know God to have eternal life. The knowing of God that leads to eternal life is really more than just a knowledge of Him and what He’s done, it’s a knowing of Him that is spiritually intimate—a knowing that makes us one with Him. When we have spiritual oneness with God we will have eternal life with Him. This physical creation helps us know about God so we will want to pursue the deep, intimate spiritual knowing of Him that will give us the eternal life we all want.
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