My sister is taking a meal to the sick
My brother has gone a wayward one to see
They both were busy, no “convenient” time to pick
But what about me?
They invite their neighbors to come to church
Have over people with frequency and glee
For good deeds they seem to constantly search
But what about me?
He’s a leader of others, she’s winsome and sweet,
He’s teaching the class, she’s full of hospitality,
They’re meeting the visitors, their lunch they will treat,
But what about me?
My life’s not more complicated, my resources so few,
That some little something I just cannot do
God wants me to warm so much more than my pew,
Others are active, and I can be too.
I don’t have to do some dramatic, huge act,
But with little needs every life’s brimming and packed,
If I could be impressed with just one simple fact,
I can supply something where once it had lacked.
I’ll look at life differently today, as I can,
Will spring to my feet after bowing my knee,
When asked, “Who’ll help this child or woman or man?”
I’ll say, “What about me?”
I love the World War II generation and the enormous impact they have had on our nation! Perhaps no generation has had a greater challenge since them than the one presently coming to maturity. Last night, at Teens In The Word, we asked the teens to describe the religious philosophy of their peers as they interact with them at school, their jobs, and their extracurricular activities. It was heartening to see and hear our teens’ conviction, knowledge, and heart, but disheartening to discuss the fruit of a couple of generations of our culture’s social experiment to reprogram the thinking of people, especially this burgeoning generation.
Our teens attend schools in Douglas, Jefferson, and Denver Counties, go to large High Schools, charter schools, private schools, and homeschools. Despite these diversities, what they encounter is remarkably similar. It might surprise you that many of their peers believe in a Higher Power and would consider themselves spiritual. More than anywhere else, these peers attend community churches. Whatever the church growth gurus and experts claim, the teens that go to these churches tell our teens something very different. Their religious experience is heavily dependent upon entertainment, doing fun things with a party atmosphere, not motivated or influenced by much biblical teaching, segregated from adults, hard-rocking music, dancing, and overall a very tactile experience. What impact does it have on “faith”? If speaking in terms of growing closer to God and learning more about Him, not that much. The prevailing worldview of many of our teens’ friends is “what’s right for me may not be right for you,” that God and the devil, heaven and hell are mindsets more than realities (really just your conscience inside of you), and that essentially the only or worst sins, the “objective wrongs,” are offending others and judging others. When our teens seek to assert objective truth from scripture, they sometimes encounter scorn or rejection. While our teens know a varying degree of peers whose faith and beliefs are more concrete and committed, perhaps the most frequently observed comment last night was that many of their peers “believe in God but not the Bible or Christ.” They see the Bible as a book of myths or fairytales and not the revealer of truth or a standard of authority.
As we closed our class last night, I was left awestruck. Our teens are among my most cherished heroes. They are on the frontline of faith, battling in a world more opposed to truth than that of any generation now living which preceded them. We were struck with more than admiration, though. We felt determination, the need to redouble our efforts to establish and defend the trustworthiness and integrity of the Bible, the existence of God, and from that the authoritative nature of Scripture. Not only will this bolster the faith of our teens, but it will help them in dialoging with those among their peers possessing good and honest hearts (cf. Lk. 8:15).
Here are four things you can do right now for our teens. (1) Pray for them. (2) Live Christ without hypocrisy before them. (3) Actively encourage them. (4) Help equip them. Look for heroes where you will. I have found mine!
Our teens recently feeding the homeless (photo credit: Lexi Hoagland)
Neal Pollard
At the corner of Oak and Griffey
Lived an old man, Cyrus Diffy. (*)
A lifelong skeptic, centered on self
With Dawkins and Darwin on his shelf
He scoffed at those he thought “too much,”
Who leaned on religion as their crutch.
Whose faith was rested on their Bible
Were subject to his scorn and libel.
His own morality and ethics were iffy
He was his own rule, Cyrus Diffy
No one could tell him how to live
For others he had nothing to give
Scorn metastasized, and he grew bitter
Spewed his venom on Facebook, on Twitter
With chip on shoulder, he sought debate
Relished each moment “the faith” to hate
One morning in his chair in one quick jiffy
The last breath was breathed by Cyrus Diffy
He lifted up his eyes in a place most unpleasant
With him each skeptic and agnostic were present
Yet like him they no longer could fuel their doubt
Now in this painful place with no door to get out.
He’d tied his whole life to his naturalistic bent
But rejected the Savior the Father had sent.
Let’s sum up concisely, I’ll try to be pithy
Here’s what we can learn from old Cyrus Diffy
We all hitch our wagons to some conviction
Determine what’s truth and what is fiction
Design exists, it points to a designer.
We feel moral ought, know what’s coarse, what’s finer
We’re built to worship, we possess intellect.
When charting life’s course, every angle inspect.
View your worldview, consider its implications
Choose based on logic not potential complications
Christian, you might pass by a place like Oak and Griffey
Live Christ well before all folks like the late Cyrus Diffy.
(*) “Cyrus Diffy” is a random name I made up and is
not meant to refer to anyone real having that name.
Can God accept me as I am? I know me better than I know anyone else—my thoughts, feelings, motives, intentions, desires, temptations, and attitudes. I know I have sin in my life, and I have for many years. I know I struggle today and I will continue to struggle until He takes me home or He comes again. Can He accept me as I am?
No! Not without a heart of resolve or an attempt to please and serve Him. Not without obedience to the best of my ability. Not without submitting to His Word and His plan. Not if I am defiant and self-ruled. Not if I continue to serve sin in order to get more grace. Not if I am trying to write the rules or make it on the basis of my righteousness. Not if I feel I can somehow earn His acceptance or do enough good or avoid enough bad to force His hand and make Him accept me. Can He accept me as I am?
Yes! He made the plan. He set the promises and defined the conditions. His Son offered the sacrifice. He has the power and ability to cleanse my sins as I walk in the light. After I have lived the way He wants me to, to the best of my ability, He provides the grace that bridges the gap between my best and perfection. He refers me to Zaccheus, the woman at the well, the Prodigal Son, the woman who was a sinner, Peter, Saul of Tarsus, prostitutes, and sinners, the tax collector praying in the temple, the rabble, and the rest, and He says this is what is possible for you!
Can I accept that He can accept me? Perhaps that is the question that needs addressing first. His grace and my obedient faith is the roadway to divine acceptance. Heaven depends on my accepting that!
Two wonderful upcoming events should have us excited! Vacation Bible School is a prime opportunity for us to be evangelistic with our neighbors, friends, and co-workers. It showcases the many talented people we have in our education program for children and it is always pulled off in an impressive way. Our seminar/gospel meeting will be conducted by one of the most engaging, genuine preachers among us. Steve Higginbotham will do an outstanding job. There are several things we can do, but this Saturday’s door-knocking can accomplish so much to try and draw our nearest community neighbors to both these events. May I make a personal appeal to you to be at our building this Saturday at 1 P.M. To encourage you, consider three brief and true statements.
It Is Easy. We are not setting up Bible studies. We are simply inviting (or leaving fliers at the door if they are not home). A quick, pleasant “hello” and statement of what we are inviting them to attend is all you need to know. If you have access to small children, they always serve as an excellent buffer. But, no matter your age or degree of cuteness, you will find this the easiest evangelizing you will ever do.
It Is For You. Door-knocking is not just for the students, preachers, elders, or teens. Parents, deacons, men, women, middle-aged folks, young adults, professionals, unprofessionals, blue-collar, white-collar, tall, short, fat, skinny, and if there be any other category, your presence is vital to the success of this. So often, we assume others will do the work. Please do not make this assumption. If you are tempted to feel that way, know that others share that struggle. Encourage somebody else. Call or email them and tell them you are coming and ask them to come, too.
It Is Important. You may be helping somebody take their first step toward heaven. You might find somebody who has been searching for truth. You may knock the door of somebody who has been struggling and looking for answers. God may use you this Saturday to save a soul! How wonderful to be able to face our dear Savior some day having taken opportunities like this Saturday to expose people to the Lord’s church.
I feel pretty confident that you will not regret participating in this Saturday’s mass inviting. It will require a little time, gas, and energy, but it is also one of those things that just leaves you feeling like you have helped the Lord a little in His mission of reaching the lost. My highest hope is that I will see you this Saturday at 1 P.M. as we try to take greater Bear Valley for Christ!
One of the fond memories I have from my first local work was attending a gospel meeting in a tiny block building in York, Alabama, conducted by the late gospel preacher and teacher, W. Gaddys Roy. He was talking about authority that evening, and a member of a nearby non-institutional congregation took umbrage with some of brother Roy’s lesson. Particularly, the brother did not like the idea that eating in a church building was a matter of opinion. He thought it was a matter of faith, and his question for brother Roy was, “Where’s your authority to eat in the building?” Brother Roy said, “Where’s your authority for the building?” The brother pressed his point, but ignored brother Roy’s question.
Sometimes, we hear people asking “where is your authority?” for something when they have misunderstood that the Bible authorizes generically as well as specifically. In fact, a specific command will almost always authorize generically in some way. For example, we are commanded to sing in our worship. That leaves no room for “singing AND anything else” (like playing an instrument, beat-boxing, percussion, humming, etc.). Yet, we are authorized to do or use anything that expedites our obeying that command (like songbooks, overhead lighting, shape notes, singing in parts, a projector, a pitch pipe, etc.).
We may have strong feelings about something, but we must beware the tendency to elevate our opinions to the level of being a “faith matter.” If we make laws where God has not, we are as guilty of violating the will of God and challenging the authority of God as those who seek to generalize where God has specified. We may not like something or be uncomfortable with something, but we must be careful not to press our case too strongly. We must make sure we have Christ as the foundation of our objection. Otherwise, we have simply elevated our will to be on a par with or to exceed His.
The Preacher Pollard Blog 