Ponderings

of the Pastor

Recently, Christianity has come under at-tack by the political class. I for one am not surprised, and nor should you be. For we live in a politically-correct age where words, labels, and positions are measured upon a supposed level of tolerance or ac-ceptance of the group being spoken of. And what is deemed tolerant is subject to the changes of whoever holds the societal microphone at a given time. When I was in college, the buzz words were “diversity”, “acceptance”, and “multiculturalism”. To achieve or attain these words was considered the highest of virtue. Thus, the danger on campus was being labeled as one who rejected those words/ideals.

How does this affect Christianity? Well, many colleges make sure to include the most remote philosophies or religions in order to not offend or to be multicultural. So let’s say that 85% or the campus claims to have a Christian background, and after a few choices are selected, we find that Hinduism or Shintoism is held by 0.001%. Well, a truly diverse, multicultural

VOLUME 6 ISSUE 2 FEBRUARY 2015

campus would make sure to have the Shinto club right alongside the Christian or Jewish club. I have no problem with this. We live in a country that doesn’t pick and choose a person’s faith for them.

The problem then becomes labeling of a values sort. A country or campus says, “All religions must be represented so as not to be offensive or intolerant or unac-cepting.” But what happens if you take this level of pluralism and extend it to val-ues? On a college campus, the Christian freshman runs into the ever-pervasive idea of religious pluralism. On one hand, the pluralist wishes the student to acknowledge that all religions do contain truth of some sort and have some intrinsic value. And as was recently proclaimed by a major political figure, all religions also have people practicing them who do bad things. Therefore, it is unwise to judge the acts of one faith because you can equally judge your own.

You see, if all religions are at one point considered valid and equal, then it be-comes difficult to make values claims. Thus, to the pluralist, the atrocities of a faith committed today are no different than the supposed atrocities of a faith commit-ted over 1000 years ago. So don’t you dare condemn one faith without first using that moral whip upon your own.

302 E. Euclid Ave Prospect Heights, IL 60070 (847) 398-2030

www. prospectchristianchurch.com

2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his

promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

But the Christian faith is also exclusive. Only Jesus is the Son of God. Only Jesus is the Savior of mankind. Only Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Jesus made exclusive claims about Himself and about the Kingdom. And those claims continue to rankle the plu-ralist and the relativist even today. Jesus was mighty tolerant of people and their situations. He showed tremendous compassion and love to the suffering. But when it came to God and divine truth, Jesus did not practice tolerance, acceptance, or diversity and consider all dif-ferences as good and valid.

So what is the Christian to do when our faith is lumped into the box with all the others? What do we do when our faith is proclaimed valid for us but just not for others? Are we just one of the many proverbial spokes leading to the center of the wheel? If you believe that, I challenge you to re-read the Gospels. Jesus didn’t believe that.

Be loving to people, even when they disagree with you or even mistreat you. But communi-cate the truth of Jesus Christ. Love God and love your neighbor. Represent Christ. It is better to deemed intolerant by a shifting soci-ety than pronounced unfaithful by Almighty God.--JMB

But are religions truly equal? In basic terms, yes. All who hold the title “religion” are equal holders of the word “religion.” But are all equally valid? Can they all be considered correct? The pluralist would like to thinks so, but what happens when two or more religions hold conflicting truth claims? So philosophically, the religious pluralist is left to embrace moral relativism. This means that truth is not absolute, but relative to a people or group or society or time frame. What worked for Moses could work for Jesus could work for Mohammed, could work for Joseph Smith, and could work for you. But it doesn’t have to. For there is no true absolute truth, except the statement that there is no absolute truth.

So in order not to offend or be deemed in-tolerant, society has to uphold all beliefs and belief-systems as equal. Whether a faith is large or small, national or regional, they are all equally valid and deserve an equal voice at the table. Unless, of course, your voice has been heard for far too long and has drowned out the voices of other, more disenfranchised faiths. You see this mentality with people who study history books that are not written by “dead white males”. Well, if you apply that category to religion, then Christianity is the one faith that is silenced at the table more than any other. I guess it is harder to offend Chris-tians or tolerance is able to be upheld if you quiet down those deemed to be intol-erant.

And why are we found to be so in the eyes of the world? Because of a verse like John 14:6.

Jn 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the

truth and the life. No one comes to the Father ex-cept through me.

The Christian faith is inclusive in the sense that all are sinners and all need sal-vation. All can repent and be saved.

The Good News Prospector is the monthly newsletter of Prospect Christian Church. We are located at 302 E. Eu-

clid Avenue in Prospect Heights, IL. Our Worship cele-bration begins at 10am every Sunday with Bible Study at

8:45 am. If you would like to be removed from our mailing

list, please send an e-mail to Pastor Joel Bradshaw at bradshawjoel@hotmail.com

PRAY FOR OUR MISSIONS

Local Ministries:

Heralds of the Cross, Motorcycle Min.

Higher Up Ministries

Foreign Missionaries:

Sandy and Barbara Sandell, Thailand

Leonard and Erleta Toka, Italy

Focus in 2015

.

Sermons Updated Weekly on Our Website!

www.prospectchristianchurch.com

“A Biblical truth that really touched my heart recently was this: God uses what

we have. He did so with Moses, when He asked what Moses was holding in his

hands (staff). He provided for the widow in Elisha’s day who only had big prob-

lems but only a little oil. And Jesus fed a multitude when only a meager lunch

was present. God uses what we have. And though we are a church small in

number, we can be mighty in prayer and loving to others. Below is direction

that will guide 2015.”—Pastor Joel

Our purpose at PCC: to glorify God.

Our mission at PCC: to help others find and follow Jesus.

So what steps can we take?

On the individual/family level:

Be examples of faith to others.

Be prayerful encouragers of others.

Form intentional Kingdom relationships.

On the church level:

Pray for our neighbors/communities/world/society.

Plan events/opportunities to show Christ’s love.

Partner with others to minister.

Ruth said, ‘Wither thou goest, I will go. Where thou lodgest, I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people and thy God my God.’” Ruth 1:16

So on they went, Naomi and her widowed daughter-in-law, Ruth, and settled in Bethlehem of Judah. It was there that Naomi arranged for Ruth to meet Boaz, a well-to-do bachelor who had heard of Ruth’s loyalty to her mother-in-law. Further more, Boaz was attracted to Ruth and finally managed to take her as his wife. A son was born to them named Obed and Obed fathered Jesse and Jesse fathered David, the future king of Israel. And out of the line of David came Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. It’s clear the significance of Naomi and Ruth and Boaz and certainly the significance of David is huge. And no one in history has more significance than Jesus Christ.

However in retrospect, in the providence of God how can one underestimate the importance of Elimelech, the late husband of Naomi? It was he who decided to move his family to Moab where his son found Ruth and married her. Had Elimelech not decided to move to Moab, Ruth would never have come to Bethlehem to meet and marry Boaz. Con-sequently, the line of Boaz, Obed, Jesse, David and eventually Jesus Christ would never have come to pass. However, that line did come to pass – all af-ter the death of Elimelech who died in a pagan land. The significance of Elimelech was profound even though its manifestation did not show until long after he passed away.

How significant our lives are we cannot know. The best we can do is hold to His Word faithfully. Be-cause God takes care of His own. “He will tend His flock like a shepherd; He will gather lambs in His arms…” Isaiah 40:11.

From the Apostle Paul: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all cre-ation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39.

Don’t worry about it. Just model Christ to whom you belong and that is very significant!

—Terry J.

WHO IS SIGNIFICANT?

A friend from my youth passed on just a few weeks ago. As I have been

thinking about him and the times we’ve had together, it has given me pause. I am reminded by Scripture that our days are num-bered. “…in Your book were written every one of the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was not one of them.” Psalm 139:16

Further, there is a very fragile component in our lives. Consider these citings from the book of Isaiah chapter 40: “All flesh is grass…the grass withers, the flower fades. (vv6-7). Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket (v 15). All nations are as nothing before Him (v17). …Its inhabitants are like grasshoppers (v22). He brings princes to nothing (v23). …He blows on them and they wither” (v 24).

If a lifetime can be compared to a round of golf (18 holes), then I imagine myself on the 16th green headed for the 17th tee. (But who can know?) So I have been contemplating my life and its significance. Have I been or am I significant? How have any of us contributed or are contrib-uting in the time that has been allotted us? I know that I can spend too much time in this type of consideration and could wind up sitting on a curb somewhere drinking wine out of a plain brown paper bag.

Better to look to the Word of God, the Bible, and so I do. And I turned to the Book of Ruth and the story there in. It was about 1,000 BC when Israel was ruled by the Judges that there was a famine in the land. Elimelech took Naomi (his wife) and their two sons to live in Moab where there was food. And it was there in the pagan land of Moab that the two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, took Mo-abite wives. Shortly after, their father, Elimelech, died. After about ten more years both Mahlon and Chilion died. So that the woman, Naomi, was left without her husband and her two sons. Only she and her two daughters-in-law remained, Or-pah and Ruth.

Now Naomi had heard that there was food in her hometown of Bethlehem of Judah so she decided to leave Moab and return home. “We will return with you to you people,” said Orpah and Ruth. “No, stay,” implored Naomi, “with your people in Moab. I have no more sons for you. You’re still young and can start fresh here.” Reluctantly Or-pah decided to stay, but Ruth determined other-wise.