OUR CHANGING WORLD

 

One of the Churches of Christ in Austin has had a problem with “Street-walkers” in its community. The Austin American-Statesman called for more legal action, which prompted the police to make more arrests and the judges to impose tougher penalties. The minister sent a letter of appreciation to the newspaper: “We are glad that your efforts have brought some welcomed relief.” He went on to say that he was amazed by “the successful curbing of that element.” One of our readers in the area wonders how Jesus would have responded to such a “community problem.” This should help us to see why the church folk of Jesus’ day, the Pharisees, were embarrassed by his association with such an “element.” Element? Is that people or chemistry?

Kenneth Teegarden, general minister and president of the Disciples of Christ, wrote in a recent issue of The Disciple that he doubts that the Bible is the most widely read book in the world. If it were, he says, the message should be getting through better. He even doubts that the Bible is the most widely read book even in the church. And so he is pleased that most of the 475 Disciple churches in their Southwest Region will soon begin comprehensive biblical content courses, based in part upon materials created by Roger Carstensen’s Institute for Biblical Literacy. Having seen these workbooks I am persuaded that they would be ideal for Churches of Christ as well as Disciples. And biblical illiteracy is a very present danger for us all.

The World Convention of Churches of Christ will have its 11th assembly in Kingston, Jamaica, July 17-22. Thirty Christian Churches on the island country will host some 4,000 visitors. I have been nominated to serve on the Executive Committee of WCCC until it meets in Auckland, New Zealand in 1988.

I was with the Church of Christ in Chillicothe, Mo. for a weekend in May, where our son David is youth minister. Since Jim Mabery, the pulpit minister and an old friend, was touring Israel, I was in the pulpit. Speaking at “my son’s church” was a new experience for me since he is fresh out of Abilene and in his first job. I assured Ouida, who needs the assurance, that he is doing very well. One lady told me that when David fasted and prayed for three days for her sick little girl she was healed, thus avoiding surgery. Ouida doubts that he learned that at Abilene!

I will spend the first half of June in San Salvador working with the Union Church, an English-speaking community of believers in that troubled land. When I explained to Ouida that since I do not have many years left that I want to go to more of such places while I can, she responded that if I keep going to places like San Salvador that I might have even fewer years than I suppose. I am confident that all will be well. and I plan to file a report for you for our September issue.

I will join Jim Mabery of Chillicothe, Mo. as the teachers for the Macrorie Family Camp at Outlook, Sask., Canada, July 26-31. Our Canadian brethren come from far and wide for a great fellowship in the Lord. The setting is refreshingly primitive, with not so much as electricity or running water, and has been kept that way deliberately through the years. For more information write to David Hockley, Box 549, Outlook, Sask. SOL 2ND.

Arnold Hardin, editor of The Persuader, 2920 Prairie Creek, Dallas 75227, charges in a recent issue that Churches of Christ are not really interested in unity. Even though Jesus prayed for the unity of his disciples, he notes, unity hardly finds a place on our prayer lists. Moreover, he observes, any effort toward unity has come to be viewed as a form of liberalism. It has gone so far in some circles, he laments, that one is considered as an apostate if he even attends a unity meeting. He explains why Churches of Christ have lost a million members over the past 25 years: “We have been so busy tearing each other apart that we have lost a proper sense of what we are all about. Instead of taking Christ to a lost world we hid Him under our warfare over traditions. He will add you to his mailing list for the asking.

Gary Taliaferro in his church bulletin (Friendswood Church of Christ, Box 616, Friendswood, Tx. 77546) also writes about unity, outlining seven steps we can all take: (1) strive for a genuine love toward those with whom we differ; (2) pray for them and keep a mental list of their good traits; (3) try to picture yourself as others see you; (4) make the situation more Christ-centered; (5) be open and honest; (6) pray with and for those with whom you differ; (7) spend time with them.

This interest in unity is growing momentum. Rubel Shelly, before thousands at the Tulsa Workshop recently, raised the question, Do we really want unity? “Do we want it badly enough to pray for it?, he asked, and went on to say that if we really wanted it we would reach out more to those with whom we differ.

Those who would like to listen in on some highly resourceful courses, taught by that excellent teacher, Steve Eckstein of the Church of Christ Bible Chair, Eastern New Mexico University, are advised to write him at Box 2044, Portales, NM 88130. By cassette tape, for instance, you can sit in on the history of Judaism, American Christianity, and various biblical studies. Write for details.

As this issue goes to press we regret to inform you that on June 3 Ouida called me home from San Salvador because of the death of our three-year old granddaughter, Christi. That Sunday afternoon she drowned in a stock tank while visiting with her paternal grandparents. She was more than our granddaughter, for she had become our very own since we kept her most of the time since the death (also by drowning) of her father in her infancy. We are both devastated almost beyond repair, but the heavenly Father is sustaining us and we are aware of his suffering love. In our almost unbearable grief we must minister to the living, to Christi’s troubled mother, our daughter Phoebe; and to Christi’s nine-year old brother, Ashley, who witnessed his father’s death. Ouida finds solace in her conviction that Christi has been “delivered” from what would have been a tragic life, her problems being what they were. But Ashley insists that it must have been the devil that did it, for surely God would not have done such a thing. And the other grandparents are blaming themselves. So just now the lights have gone out and it is dark, but they will come back on, for the Light of the world shines on, eventually penetrating the darkest clouds.

Presbyterians United for Biblical Concerns, a renewal movement within the United Presbyterian Church, is especially vocal on social issues. On abortion it “affirms the sanctity of human life and the right of all human life and the right of all human beings to the protection of that life from conception to natural death.”

When President Reagan addressed the National Religious Broadcasters Convention he also spoke on abortion: “This nation cannot continue turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to the taking of some 4,000 unborn children’s lives every day. One every 21 seconds. We cannot pretend that America is preserving her first and highest ideal, the belief that each life is sacred, when we’ve permitted the deaths of 15,000,000 helpless innocents since the Roe versus Wade decision.”

One of the professors at Abilene Christian University gave a speech in chapel in praise of Martin Luther, a kind of gift to the reformer on his 400th birthday anniversary. It is safe to assume that many in the audience would have no problem in accepting Martin Luther as a brother in Christ, even if he was never baptized by immersion. The next thing we may hear from Abilene is that some of our folk will be giving tribute to Luther at a Lutheran Church — like the Pope John Paul did! Is our world changing too fast for you?