What
a deal in the March newsletter: four topics for the price of one! I hate
to overload you (I especially hate to do so to those who actually read
my article before they place it at the the bottom of the bird cage!),
but there are four issues that I would like us to consider in the life
of our church. Let’s dive in!
1.
The Muslims May Be Coming!
For
the two or three people in Oostburg who have not heard this, a group of
Muslims have purchased the old Tom’s property at Sauk Trail Road and
County KK and use it for religious, educational, and residential
purposes. If you would like to get more information about Islam, www.persecution.com
is the Voice of the Martyrs’ (VOM) website. Even better than that, VOM
is holding a regional conference in Green Bay on Saturday, April 17, www.vommeetings.com.
I
would not say that I am an expert on Islam, but I have read the Quran
cover to cover in English. I do not at all believe that we worship the
same God. Instead of the angel Gabriel, I am afraid that Mohamed was
deceived by the demonic. Allah, their name for god, is described as the
Abaser, the Humiliater. The Quran allows for deception in dealing with
unbelievers. There is no sense of God wanting an intimate relationship
with us humans, such as the Lord and Abraham walking and talking, much
less God suffering in our place, taking our penalty, as Jesus did for us
on the cross; nor is there a requirement to speak the truth to
nonbelievers as well as fellow believers.
Politically,
I have a number of questions. Where is the money coming from for this
group? Will they be transparent about past as well as future
contributors? Are non-Muslims seen as second-class citizens? Does this
group of Muslims denounce violence against Jews, Christians, and other
non-Muslims? If so, how much of a paper trail in English and Arabic has
the group already written about such matters as 9-11 or the treatment of
Jews and Christians in Muslim-majority countries? How much is presently
written about these issues on their website? Even more importantly, what
kind of accountability will be in place? Will there be a non-Muslim
county or village official (that fluently reads and speaks Arabic) who
will certify annually that this group is not teaching
fundamentalist/terrorist ideologies? If so, who will be paying for this
service? Will they seek to have legal exemptions for or special
treatment because of their Muslim faith?
While
I am deeply concerned the true intentions of this group of Muslims, I
also want to say that I agree with Brother Andrew, who said that the
acrostic for Islam is I
Sincerely
Love
All
Muslims.
I look forward to speaking the truth in love with them.
2.
Care Groups
Care
groups have been around our church for a number of years, growing out of
the work groups. We discussed them at the annual session meeting with
the deacons. Let me share a few ideas about the care
your
care group elder or deacon is, there is an alphabetical list on the
bulletin board in the narthex.) If you have a pastoral concern you are
welcome to contact your care group elder and/or deacon. As well, members
of the care group can care for one another.
Let’s
say you contact your care group elder (or any other elder, for that
matter) about a concern you have about our church. First off, please
remember that individual elders do not make decisions about the life of
our church – only the session (and about a very few matters, the
congregation) has that authority. Let’s say that you are able to
convince a particular elder that the church should do something
differently; then that individual elder can take that issue directly
to the session, because he
believes a change should take place.
However,
let’s say that you were not able to convince that elder about your
cause, but you remain in favor of it. The elder is not under obligation
to communicate the matter to the session; I would go a step farther and
say that a healthy elder should not get caught in the role of a
go-between. So then it is not
his
issue, but it still is your
issue. The elder can be a helper for you to get your issue in front of
the session. You could write an email to the elder, who could then pass
it on to the session. Your elder could assist you in getting on the
agenda of the next session meeting so that you can speak and try to
convince the other elders about your concern (and with the Holy
Spirit’s help you might even convince your care group elder, too!). Or
you could do a combination of both.
3.
Sunday Evening
As
an interim, I seek to show the church a number of different options, so
they can better ascertain which style they prefer. For my first thirty
months I preached for the Sunday Evening Hour when I was in town. I
intend to do a variety of things on Sunday evenings for the rest of my
time here. Here is what I am planning:
· 2nd
and 4th
Sundays: Pre-small group time: I will sing a couple of songs on my
guitar (that we can sing along
to), then teach on a passage or topic from the Bible, then we
will break up into small groups (lounge,
cry room, etc.) and discuss some questions I will pass out
· 3rd
Sundays: Worship (followed by Koinonia)
· 1st
Sundays: Hymnsing or video
· 5th
Sundays: either a prayer meeting for our church or we could have 9 care
group meetings at different locations
4.
The Congregational Meeting
I
would like to comment on our annual meeting in January. I appreciate all
who attended, and especially those who shared. Marie made a motion the
we contribute $50,000 of the Meerdink Fund to Pine Haven; this motion
was tabled until the next meeting (which has not yet been called by the
session). That meeting will not be in March (when Marie is out of town),
but may happen in April or May. The session has discussed the issue and
a substitute motion may come out of that discussion. There will be
plenty of time for debate at that next meeting. I am glad that we are
talking about the Meerdink Fund and what would best bring God glory.
There
were a number of comments, though, that tempt me to think that we still
have a fair amount of anxiety in our church system. There always seems
to be a temptation to view church as a spectator sport. What can we do
about that? What if each one of us were passionately involved in a
ministry and/or mission, would we have much time or energy left over to
evaluate and worry about others? As well, what if we began to be
persecuted for our faith in Christ? (The church in China actively prays
that the American church would be persecuted, so that we might be
purified.) Or we could better stand by persecuted brothers and sisters
in the faith? I have been to several VOM conferences and have never
heard any of their speakers struggle with anxiety. You could hear some
of them, too at the VOM regional conference on Saturday, April 17 in
Green Bay. I am psyched up to go! Would you want to come with me?
Shalom,
Pastor Walter