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Is Christian marriage legal or holy?

Posted in Uncategorized on June 21, 2016| 1 Comment »

On Saturday, I presided over the wedding of two young people in their mid to late twenties. I’m going to hide their names for the sake of their privacy, but I wanted to share with you some of the thoughts that I shared with them.

wedding ringWe opened with this prayer:

Almighty God, our Father in Heaven, we come before you today, celebrating the wishes of Him and Her to be joined together in holy matrimony. We ask not only for your blessing on them, Father, but we pray for your Spirit to seal their vows both to you and to each other. Purify their hearts, Father, and pour into them the selflessness that will allow the miracle of two becoming one to happen, the same selflessness that Jesus showed by emptying himself and becoming flesh, so that we might have life.  Do this miracle today, Father, in the hearts of Him and Her, so that they will praise you as the Creator of their marriage and all good things—as we all praise your name and the name of Jesus.  Through Him we pray, Amen

Here we are, the day you have been looking towards, planning for, and dreaming about for a long time.  You both have been raised in Christian homes and have a living, personal faith, so it should be no surprise to you when I say that followers of Jesus have a view of marriage that is a bit different from that of the culture that surrounds us.

Many around us see marriage as just “a piece of paper,” “a legal document” that creates a new legal relationship. Christians recognize the right of governments to regulate legal relationships like this–but in the words that the Church once used on occasions like this, Christians don’t just get married, they enter into holy matrimony.

And the differences between that “piece of paper” and holy matrimony are vast—and ones that, if you will pay attention to them, will shape and bless your relationship and your life together as you go forward from this beautiful beginning.

The biggest difference between marriage and holy matrimony is that with a license, a few legal words, and a couple of signatures two people can be married; whereas, for holy matrimony to occur God Himself must act.  Just as God literally created the first marriage, introducing Eve to Adam, Scripture says it is God who joins you two together in holy matrimony.  So when you celebrate your first, your fifth, and your fiftieth anniversary, instead of saying, “Look what we did,” perhaps you will remember what we have said today, and you will say, “Look what God did! Thank you, God!”

Another difference between marriage and holy matrimony is that marriage is legal, but matrimony is holy. In other words, the relationship that you are entering into is one that is set apart for God.  The Apostle Paul said, Don’t you realize that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourselves. (1Cor.6:19)

So when God joins you together, then together—with your bodies—you become a holy temple where God lives.  Fill your temple with love, with good deeds, with compassion. And put up big walls and barriers! Fight against anything that would defile or desecrate the temple of your marriage. Protect your marriage against evil and darkness in every form.

And never forget that this beautiful temple of your marriage is where God lives! He is there, not as an intruder to judge you nor as a guest to complicate your life; He lives in your marriage and brings with Him love and forgiveness and mercy and kindness and goodness and patience and endurance and compassion and everything Good into your marriage all the days of your lives together.

As you make your pledge and say your vows today, remember that you not only are asking God to do a miracle in making the two of you into one, but you are also inviting Him to live with you, to always be a part of your life together. Live every day of your marriage in His presence.  His promise is to work everything that comes to you in life—the good and the bad—for your Good and to be with you always.

Having recognized the holiness of what you are doing and having acknowledged what God will do, let’s proceed with our part in this mysterious miracle of God joining Him and Her together.

We then, of course, took their pledge and heard their vows to each other, after which they exchanged rings as symbols of their vows.  We then prayed that God would seal their love and join them together as one.  Finally, the Pronouncement:

He and She, because you have expressed your desire to enter into holy matrimony and because you have committed yourselves to be married before God, as a minister of the Gospel and in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I pronounce you husband and wife.  “Since they are no longer two but one, let no one separate what God has joined together.”

And we ended with a kiss—a holy one, I’m quite sure!

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Lambert Named New LST Director

Posted in Uncategorized on May 23, 2016| 1 Comment »

Scott LambertThe Board of Directors of the Let’s Start Talking Ministry is pleased to announce the appointment of Scott Lambert of El Segundo, California, to the position of Executive Director, beginning July 1.

Scott served for over twenty years as the campus minister at Pepperdine University, and for the last eleven years as the Network Director for the Kairos Church Planting organization.  Scott is well-known throughout Churches of Christ for his passion for evangelism and outreach, fundraising, public speaking, teaching, coaching, and mentoring of leaders.

Scott also has a long history with LST, recruiting and training many teams from Pepperdine University from 1990 to 2005; serving on the original LST Advisory Board from 1994-2000; and continuing to serve as a charter member of the Board of Directors since 2000. Scott and his family have participated personally in fourteen LST projects.  Scott’s wife, Kim, will be joining the LST staff as well.

Dr. Mark and Sherrylee Woodward, founders of the Let’s Start Talking Ministry and co-executive directors for over 35 years, are continuing with the ministry in supportive roles and as members of the Board of Directors.   Woodward says, “Scott and Kim Lambert bring a passion for Christ and for sharing the Gospel throughout the world that has long been the driving force in their lives.  They will bring all of this to the leadership of a ministry they have loved and been a part of for most of their lives already.”

The transition of both the Woodwards and the Lamberts will be celebrated at the LST September Celebration Dinner, September 24. All LST alums, supporters, and friends are invited.

The Let’s Start Talking Ministry began in 1981 as a short-term summer mission opportunity for college students who offered English practice using Bible texts to start conversations about Jesus.  The ministry expanded to offer the same opportunity to both adult church members as well as high school students (YoungFriends).  Today, LST trains and sends hundreds of workers each year and has sent mission volunteers into 65 countries.

LST also sponsors the FriendSpeak Ministry which has trained hundreds of churches in the United States with a strategy for reaching non-English speaking neighbors in their communities or international students at local universities.

For more information about Let’s Start Talking, visit www.moreaboutLST.org

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One Million International Students in U.S. Universities

Posted in Uncategorized on May 6, 2016| 1 Comment »

educationThree hundred current world leaders, including several heads of state, studied at American universities.  Over 300,000 Chinese students, many pursuing Masters and Doctors degrees are in the dorms and apartments in your neighborhood.  Sixty thousand Saudi students are living among us for up to five years.  The world is here!

We Christians can choose to be afraid and to suspect all of them of being potential terrorists—or we can choose to believe that God has brought the nations to our universities for His purposes.  Let me help you with that choice.

In his speech to the Athenians, the Apostle Paul said about God:

 God began by making one person, and from him came all the different people who live everywhere in the world. God decided exactly when and where they must live. God wanted them to look for him and perhaps search all around for him and find him, though he is not far from any of us. . . . (Acts 17:26-27 NCV)

Paul says they are here because God wants them here. He wants to give them a chance to look for him and perhaps find him!

And why are you here? Why are you living on this date in the place where you live, surrounded by people from all over the world?  Could it be that this same verse describes you as well?  Could God have put you here in order to be the one who helps one of these international students to find Him!

Let me tell you the story of Wendy:  She was born into a family of atheists in China. Her mother even joined the Communist Party, so she grew up with no exposure whatever to faith in God.  When it became possible for her to go to the US to study, she applied to the first university listed alphabetically—Abilene Christian University—and was accepted.

At ACU, many people talked to her about Jesus, even took her to church, so many people in fact, that she felt like it was taking away from her studies, so she decided to leave ACU and go to another school.  She enrolled at UT Dallas and that was that for her and God.

Except that one day one of her friends told her that there was a local church offering the FriendSpeak program, which was the opportunity to improve her English through one-to-one conversations.  She was eager to improve her English, so she signed up, even though it was being conducted at a church building.

For weeks and weeks, she consistently practiced her English with an American FriendSpeak worker, reading texts from the Book of Luke. One day, however, the story they read about a great banquet where so many people made weak excuses about why they could not attend the great feast. Suddenly—unexpectedly—Wendy thought, Is that me?  Is this story about me and am I making excuses for not believing in God or Jesus?

That day, she began a process of re-looking at all those stories in Luke that had been only conversation texts before, but now they started speaking to her personally.  Two months later, she became a Christian. Since then, she also led her mother to faith. In addition, she has helped with FriendSpeak ministries in two congregations where many other Chinese people have become followers of Jesus.

What if Wendy had been at the university near you?  Would she have found God?

Greg SwinneyA good friend of mine Greg Swinney works with an organization called Crossroards International Student Ministries. He travels the country, encouraging campus ministries to raise their eyes from just providing protection for Christians to being the first contact with international students who don’t know Jesus, of being the first to tell the Story, of being their first friends, showing them the love of God.

Today we were teaching a class together at the Pepperdine Bible Lectures and he told the story of an elderly man who spends his days working as a greeter at Wal-Mart.  To the world, he is simple and almost unnoticeable, but he and his wife have made it their ministry to make friends with international students at their local university.  They have a map in their home with pins in it. Those pins represent all the countries where all the students are from whom they have made friends for God by simply inviting them to their humble home.  Forty pins in forty countries touched by this remarkable Christian couple.

One million international students in our neighborhoods! Just start with one of them. Let’s all start with just one and see what God does.  I’m quite sure He will do more than we can imagine!

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In Memoriam: Max L. Johnson 11/26/1925 – 5/21/2015

Posted in Uncategorized on May 22, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Max 60

Sherrylee’s dad died yesterday.  This is the official obituary. Amazing how hard it is to describe someone’s life.  Thank you to all our friends who have sent their condolences. We appreciate every prayer and every kind word. 

Funeral services for Max L. Johnson will be at 1pm, Tuesday, May 26, at Collegeside Church of Christ in Cookeville, TN. Graveside service will follow at 4:00pm at Crestview Cemetery, Gallatin, TN.

The family will receive friends from 6-8pm Monday, May 25 at Hooper, Huddleston & Horner Funeral Home.  Friends may also visit with the family Tuesday from 12-1pm before the service at Collegeside.

Mr. Johnson passed away at Thursday afternoon, May 21, surrounded by family and loved ones, covered with psalms and prayers.   He was 89 years old.

“Mr. Max” preached as a minister of the Gospel for forty-seven years, serving Churches of Christ in North Carolina, Oklahoma, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee.  He helped begin AGAPE of Georgia, Greater Atlanta Christian School, and served on the Board of Mt. Dora Christian Home and Bible School in Florida.

He was known as a humble and studious Bible teacher with a great sense of humor, an enthusiastic sports fan, and a husband and father who loved, led, and served his family.

After moving to Cookeville, he served at Collegeside Church of Christ as an elder and as one of the ministers.

He is survived by his wife of 17 years, Opal Brizendine Wakefield Johnson, 11 children, 33 grandchildren, and 55 great grandchildren.

He is preceded in death by his wife of 50 years, Joyce Blackman Johnson of Jacksonville, Florida, and his oldest child, Linda Johnson Samanie of Arlington, Texas.  Also preceding him were his parents Henry Frank and Essie Johnson of Hendersonville, Tennessee, his brother Garnet Johnson of Hendersonville, and his sister Nell Katherine Johnson Warren of Nashville, Tennessee.

Phillip Johnson, Max’s son, will preside at the Tuesday service celebrating his life in Christ.  Grandsons in attendance will serve as pallbearers.

Memorial gifts may be made to the Let’s Start Talking Ministry, P.O. Box 162476, Fort Worth, Texas  76161-2476.

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A Valuable Lesson I Learned in Honduras!

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on May 18, 2015| Leave a Comment »

imitastionBecause of internet issues, this post is coming out two days after returning from Honduras! Sorry. mw

I’m in Tegucigalpa, Honduras today, teaching in the Baxter Seminar at the Baxter Institute. Baxter Institute was founded in the mid-sixties and has served Latin America faithfully as an institution of higher learning since then. In addition to the college-level theological education offered to their students, a medical clinic has been opened on the 19-acre campus in the heart of this capital city in order to show the love of Christ in the community.

I’m here at the invitation of Stephen Teel, the fifth president of Baxter and a former missionary to Argentina. Let’s Start Talking worked with Teel in the mid-90s in one of our first works in Buenos Aires. His invitation to teach at this Seminar—which, by the way, is attended by over 200 Latin church leaders from not only Honduras, but also El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mexico, and only a handful of us Gringos from North America—was very intentional.

Steve and I were talking this morning, and I was telling him about the great interest in LST that I saw in the class I was teaching. He was delighted and told me that he wanted me to emphasize how the LST strategy of helping people improve their English was especially valuable in Latin America because it tended to appeal to people who perhaps were a little better educated, a little more professionally ambitious, a little better connected to the world—in general, a group of people that have been more difficult to penetrate with the Gospel.

I recognized this need from previous conversations with missionaries in Brazil, in Ecuador, in Chile, and other Latin American countries, where many of our churches are quite poor and lack strong national leadership—mostly because of lack of education and resources for developing leaders among a social strata that is never called upon to lead.

Then, however, Steve surprised me a little by saying that too many of the churches that he is familiar with know no other way to evangelize than to knock doors, and hold gospel meetings, to which they find great resistance (naturally!), so they have tended toward medical clinics—to which they find much more receptivity (naturally!) because they are giving their neighbors something they really need.

Furthermore, Teel said that the churches here have not seen other types of evangelism like LST, so they can hardly imagine it.

I’ve heard that before in many other countries as well. People learn by imitating what they see, not by reading brotherhood newspapers or attending lectureships. When they see it in action, they can decide if it is worth imitating—or not.

I’ve often wondered why so many mission sites seem to be stuck in the 1950s! Their theology, their worship, and their activities seem all to have been inherited from the missionaries who first taught them and who first modeled for them the way to do things. That seems to be the obvious reason for a kind of spiritual stagnation that knows no political boundaries.

I have often wondered why these wonderful—usually small—mission churches have not continued to grow and to mature—all of which would, of course, imply changing—YIKES!

My single working theory for many years has been that the early missionaries taught them a formulaic Christianity. One pattern, one way of worshipping, one acceptable way of living, dressing, acting—all of which, of course, was the pattern and formula that the missionaries themselves believed to be true and appropriate at the time of their greatest influence on that church.

Now, however, I think I’m going to add another reason to my working hypothesis, that is, that these small mission churches have not had enough contact with either more mature Christians, or with Christians who have had different or “newer” experiences in faith. And, I’m afraid that when they did, they were so fearful of breaking the pattern that they were given that they labeled false and heretical ideas and actions that were simply different.

Let me give you an example of what I’m talking about. As I was sitting in the devotional this morning with 200+ people singing their hearts out in Spanish (of which I could only pick out a few words), I thought to myself. If these were African Christians, somebody would be up moving with the music (otherwise known as “dancing.”) If these were almost any large gathering of North American Christians, someone, if not many, would be raising at least one hand in praise. If we were in Asia, the singing would be too loud. And they did not sing a single song that I recognized as translated from English—something pretty rare all over the world among Churches of Christ.

The danger is not the diverse expressions and words of these global Christians; the danger is the breach of fellowship when anything but the familiar is witnessed or experienced. Instead of fearing that person who sings a different song, who introduces a “better” understanding of familiar scriptures, who wants to do something different, we who travel between such churches, we who support these works, we who do short-term works in these churches need to encourage growth and maturing, to encourage learning, nurture good changes.

The best way to do this may not be to hold a weeklong seminar on “Changes That You Desperately Need” as if we are the Perfect Ones and they are the Ignorant Ones, rather to go in a spirit of humility and gently act out our faith—act out our worship—act out our new ways of evangelizing—act out our new ways of serving—and let them follow Paul in leaving the bad and holding on to what is good.

Thank you, brothers and sisters in Honduras, for teaching me this. I am going to do things differently in the future because of what you have taught me.

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Is Romans 13 for American Christians?

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on April 14, 2015| 1 Comment »

Romans-13Probably because of the flurry of recent candidacy announcements along with the terrifying thought of two years of presidential campaigning, but I’ve been involved in two or three challenging conversations/discussions in the last few days specifically on the role of Christians in the political process.

Last Sunday night, for instance, our small group met for a study of Romans 13, where Paul makes the following extremely challenging statements:

  • “Those who are in positions of power (authority) have been placed there (established) by God.” (v.1)
  • “So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished.” (v.2)
  • “The authorities are God’s servants, sent for your good.” (v.4)
  • “Give respect and honor to those who are in authority.” (v.7)

As if that were not clear enough, he wrote similar things to Titus in Chapter 3:

 Remind the believers to submit to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good. They must not slander anyone and must avoid quarreling. Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility to everyone.

Among whole rooms full of mature Christians, we did not have very much agreement on how to apply this Scripture.  Our questions began with the Bonhoeffer dilemma of whether as a Christian he had either godly permission to conspire to assassinate the maniacal head of Nazi Germany—or perhaps even the obligation—then we proceeded to the “right” to break the law and sit in the front of the bus in Montgomery, Alabama!

Some argued for differences if Christians live in a democratic society where resistance to authority is allowed within measure. But that exception only underlines questions about Christians in Communistic countries, monarchies, hegemonies, or even failed states with tribal warlords who exercise authority?

And do these Scriptures only apply on a national level? What about the state level, city level, employer level, family level?

Isn’t the real question, what is St. Paul really talking about?  I don’t have all the answers to these very difficult questions, but I do have some observations about a few things that seem pretty clear to me.

First, authority (government) is not a bad word! You may not like some particular form of government, but God has always organized His people, and they have always been required to submit to that authority—for their own good.  The earliest authorities were Moses and Aaron and those who rebelled against them were swallowed up by the earth itself (Numbers 16). After Joshua, God raised up judges (Judges 2:16) as the local officer of God among Israel.

Perhaps the worst moment in Jewish history is described at the end of the book of Judges, when the Holy Spirit records, In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes (Judges 21:25). (If this sounds good to you, you need to re-read the Old Testament.)

Secondly, God’s intent is that authority is used for the good of His people. Neither Jesus nor Paul nor any of the early Christians lived under governments that were benevolent to Christians. Quite the contrary, both Jesus and Paul lost their lives to “authorities” as did many Christians.  And the Old Testament is full of examples of God punishing nations (kings, generals, nations) for their unrighteousness—for abusing people rather than doing them good.

Thirdly, the larger context of both the passages in Romans and Titus is that Christians should act with love towards all and for the good of others. Look at all of the admonitions leading into the command to submit to governing authorities:

  • Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse! (12:14)
  • Live in harmony with one another. (12:16)
  • Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. (12:17)
  • If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. (12:18)
  • Do not take revenge. (12:19)
  • If your enemy is hungry, feed him. (12:20)

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities.  Does it help you to read these sentences together instead of pausing because they are divided by a big chapter heading?

Paul runs the whole idea together in the Titus passage as well:  Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.

I don’t have all the answers to the biggest questions these passages raise, but I do think that I know what Jesus would say to American Christians heading into another season of presidential campaigning:

“Don’t slander anyone!  Be peaceable and considerate.  Be gentle toward everyone. Bless, and do not curse.”

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Preparing Your Children For Easter Without Rabbits!

Posted in Uncategorized on March 30, 2015| 1 Comment »

For our children, Easter has become more about baby chickens, bunny rabbits, and egg hunts and hardly anything about Jesus! Part of the reason is that the story is sad, brutal, and gory. We have sanitized the lives of our children to the point that the real Easter story just doesn’t work.  We need a Disney version for our young children.

On the other hand, my 8-year-old, 7-year-old, and 5-year-old grandsons have all seen Star Wars, and some of them have seen at least the first episode of Lord of the Rings. They have all seen the Narnia movies—and they have all been to funerals.  I think they can handle the basics of the passion story.

I’d like to just suggest to you today a schedule of possible readings and activities to do with your young children. You are the best judge about what age is appropriate to participate, but I think you can start younger than you probably imagine.

Each day will have four primary activities:

1.            Create a timeline and put it on the child’s wall or in a place where you do activities. These can be a sheet of paper for each day, or, if you can easily find it, a roll of paper that you can write/draw on.

2..           Read the story from the Bible, if appropriate. You can try the Children’s Bible version or some other easy-to-read version. You also can substitute a storybook version if the children are very young, but use the real Bible if at all possible.

3.            Have your child draw a picture to go with the story that they heard. Talk to them about their picture, letting them explain it to you.  Listen, don’t talk too much.

4.            Do the suggested craft or activity with your child/children and be sure to connect it to the story for the day.

I’ve arranged this so that you can start on Monday, even though the triumphal entry was on Sunday. This will give us an activity to do on Wednesday which was a day of retreat for Jesus.  I hope this adjustment doesn’t bother you. We will keep the timeline we make accurate.

Day Story/Scripture Activity
Sun Entry into Jerusalem  /Matthew 21:1-11 Child should sense joy—doing things that make God happy. Cut branches/tall grasses/have one parent be the donkey and let the child ride while the other parent or other children wave the branches.
Mon Cleansing of the temple/Matt. 21:12-17 Help child understand that Jesus was mad about people disobeying God, but he was not trying to hurt the people! Set up tv trays with coins or other objects “for sale” and let the child go through and knock them over.
Tues Widows Two Mites  /Luke 21:1-4 Your child can learn early to give “all” because you gave them to him/her. Give your child two pennies. You or other children then should drop 10+ pennies into a jar. Your child drops 2 and then you ask who gave more!
Wed (This happened Tues. night, which is Wed on Jewish time. Judas Betrays Jesus for 30 pieces of silver/ Matt. 26:1-5 & 26:14-16 Not only are you telling the story but you are teaching your child that money takes its moral value from how it is used, not how much one has. Bring out the two pennies from yesterday and then bring out 30 dimes or 30 quarters and put them in a sack or bag of some kind. Then ask the child which money was used for good and which for bad.
Thurs Last Supper /Luke 22:7-38  You can talk about how much Jesus loved his disciples. Eating together should be happy, but the one empty chair should be ominous, not mysterious.  Jesus knows what Judas is going to do. Find a recipe on internet and bake unleavened bread together.  If you want, get grape juice and have a little meal together—but leave one chair empty. One of Jesus’ friends with 30 pieces of silver got up and left—what is he going to do?
Friday Crucifixion / Matt. 27:33-50 What you are wanting to convey here is the sadness, not the grimness of Jesus’death. This is tricky and depends on your child/children. I suggest you find a small room which you darken as much as possible, then  light six long-life candles. Take the child in each hr and put out one candle. When the last candle goes out, explain that Jesus died—and it was dark!
Saturday Jesus was buried on Friday, but was in the tomb all day Saturday. The Tomb   John 19:30-42 Just make the point that Jesus was dead and in the grave just like all the dead people in the visited cemetery. Nobody really expected what was going to happen. It would be great to go to a graveyard and just walk for a while, reading what is on the tombstones. No need to make it heavier than the child will.
Sunday Resurrection/  John 20:1-18 Your goal is to create excitement that Jesus is not dead. He is alive! If possible, use the previous room that went dark. Just as the child wakes up on Easter morning, take him/her into the room, bright with sunlight and, if possible, lots of lit candles!

Even if you don’t use these exact activities, perhaps they will spark some ideas. I’d love to hear your ideas for sharing the Easter story with young children.  Let’s pool our ideas and reclaim Easter for Jesus!

This is a repost from 2011, but it has been one of the most popular and many new readers will be seeing it for the first time. 

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In Memoriam: Mom

Posted in Other, Uncategorized, tagged , , on February 3, 2015| 6 Comments »

sc00858ca6_face2Two weeks ago today, my mother Daisy Belle (Lyles) Woodward died peacefully in her home.  One week ago today, we buried her in a small country cemetery where her parents, grandparents, and great grandparents are buried—as well as my dad and many of her brothers and sisters.  I just wanted to share with you today the eulogy that I delivered at her funeral.

Today is a day that we always knew would come; today was a day we never thought would come; ultimately, we bow our heads and say, “Today is the day the Lord has made. Rejoice and be glad in it.”

There is much to be happy about today.

  • We the family are happy that you have honored our mother by coming to this service today. Thank you for your kind words, the beautiful memorials, the food you have brought, and for all your expressions of love.
  • We are happy because Mom was taken just as she had always prayed. She died quickly and peacefully in her own bed, not from disease, but from the call of God to her reward.
  • We are happy today because we believe God is faithful, so when He tells us the those who die in the Lord are happy, then we are happy because there is no doubt that Mom was in the Lord
    • Born in 1923, Mom was raised on a farm near Justin. Her’s was a Christian family. In fact, just a few years ago, while we were out with her on a Sunday drive, we drove past the old White’s Chapel cemetery and she told us that she and her father had ridden a wagon from Justin to White’s Chapel—sometime before she was 13 and I’m guessing, shortly after she was baptized at 12—to go to a Brush Arbor meeting on that site. If she grew up like that, it’s no wonder that she made sure we were at church every time the doors were open!sc00721ccf-001
    • Shortly after they married, my dad was immersed. Dad became a Sunday school teacher, a deacon, an elder at Midtown all during their marriage—and I’m pretty confident that Mom’s gentle and quiet spirit had something to do with his spiritual growth.IMAG0129_face0
    • We her children are thankful for what we have learned from her—both as children and as adults.
      • She loved us enough to discipline us: a fly swatter or ping pong paddle was always nearby. Once, I threw a dirt clod and hit Gary in the head and she put me in the closet to pray!!
      • She loved us enough to teach us to work. Mary K reminded me of how Mom would rise early on some summer mornings, wake us up, so we could all go out and pull weeds before it got too hot.
      • She taught us to share—Gary, Mary K, and I all shared a room (Betty, the baby was in Mom and Dad’s room) until I was almost 12. Then we moved out by Fort Worth Christian and had a three bedroom house—finally! But then Kenny was born, then Grandma Lyles came to live with us, then Grandma Woodward, and then a family at church had to move away in their son’s senior year at FWC, so Mom offered to let him stay with us!   We learned to share pretty much everything!
      • Mom taught us about perseverance in adversity. She was raised on a fairly poor farm during the Depression. Her father was killed in a wagon accident when she was 14, one that sent her mother into a depression. Her older brothers went to war, so she went to college (I believe the only one in her family to graduate from college). Mom and Dad had a happy marriage, but after about 20 years and five children, Dad got sick and Mom had to really support the family.  Then Dad died in 1989, so she has been a widow for 25 years—but she continued teaching school, substituting until she was in her 80s (once for the football coach as she loved to tell), and working at Foley’s until then as well. sc00373bf8-002She watched first her 7 brothers, then her two sisters precede her in death—along with all of their spouses, until she was the last of her family.  Mom was strong!
      • We learned to be curious from Mom! I grew up thinking that Mom was the Mom and Dad was the intellectual one in the family! I wasn’t wrong about Dad, but when Mom started at FWC, she was the Home Economics teacher, and they asked her to design the first home economics lab—which she did—without asking Dad…Wow! Then they asked her to teach high school chemistry—because she had had Chemistry in college 20 years earlier—before they had even invented atoms!! Then they asked her to teach Chemistry at the college level!  And she loved it!  Then, one day, they asked her to teach Microbiology the following year, so that summer she took Microbiology at TCU, so she could teach it the following year. I remember clearly her getting up at 4 in the morning and studying the lesson so she could teach it to her students.  /////    She loved taking the Grandkids out to the backyard to look for snakes or frogs or worms.  In fact, even after Dad was gone, we’d come to visit her from Oklahoma and Sherry and I would get up, hoping for the smell of bacon, but rather finding her and our children all out in the backyard doing “experiments” or something.  It wasn’t unusual to find a centipede or something in a bottle of formaldehyde in her pantry—sometime the refrigerator!!  Even in these last couple of years, she learned to use an IPad that Gary gave her. She also kept large medical books near so she could read up on whatever medicine the doctor had just prescribed for her.IMG_0444-001
    • Mom was so curious about God—not in a theological way, but in a very practical way. At the end of her questions, one of her favorite phrases was, “Life is a Mystery!”  Some curious people like Mom choose to turn their back on God because they can’t know everything.  Mom taught us to just believe—especially when you don’t know all the answers.  Mom was not one of those of the older generation who was afraid to die because she might not have done enough!  She may have raised that question occasionally—as all of us do who want to please God more than anything else and fall short!   No, Mom was a doer—even when she couldn’t find the answers to her mysteries.
    • One of our earliest pictures of her as a mother is teaching the toddlers at Sunday school at the old Riverside congregation. She always taught SS at Eastridge. I don’t know how many flannel graph characters I have cut out for her. She did backyard VBS at our tiny house.  She stopped teaching so much at church when she started teaching school, but I suspect all her classes were implicitly Bible classes.  In these last years, she loved going to Mission Printing to prepare literature for mission churches—even bringing it home with her when she couldn’t go.  She was a FriendSpeak worker and had a couple of young women that she helped with their English, but using the Let’s Start Talking material based on the book of Luke to share her faith with them.  She loved going to church—was there two weeks ago—and she and her sweet caretaker Lydell even used her IPad to stream services and sermons when she didn’t feel like going.  They read the Bible and prayed together every day.  Even fact, because they had missed it that morning that Mom lost consciousness, Lydell went in at 2:30am and had her devotional together with her—her last one, just a couple of hours before she died.  Mom loved God. And she wanted her family and friends to love God too.
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    • Have you heard the old joke about God writing a letter to all the good people on earth? Do you know what it said?  What, you didn’t get one!  Mom used to write letters too. I’m quite sure all of us children have had one, some of the grandchildren, and maybe some of you here in the audience as well.  If Mom was worried about you spiritually, then you might very well get a letter from her.  She was not going to confront you and have a long talk. But if she was worried about you, you could be certain she was praying for you and that you might get a letter. In these letters, she would tell you she loved you, that she was praying for you, but that you better get your life right with God!  These letters were not always well-received, but I know they were always well-intentioned, written from  the heart of a woman who loved her family and loved God—and she wanted all of us to share eternity with her!
  • It’s a happy day because Mom loved being with her church family. She tried to never miss any service; she loved the potlucks; she loved Game Night!; she came to Visitation Night;  within the last couple of months, she attended the shower for a young mother from College Hill. Getting old was not an excuse to retire from church. You don’t retire from being family. It was hard for Mom to get to family events this last year or two, but she did not miss anything!!  Christmas dinner this year was quite an ordeal for her, but she told me when I took her home how wonderful it was—how much she enjoyed watching the children—no amount of chaos, no amount of infirmity could steal her joy of being with family.

And this church loved her so well. Until she was about 83, she was still driving and picking up the “old people” for church! But when she needed your help, so many of you were there to help her too. The Wasners were her lifeline to her church family for these last few years! We can’t thank you enough for what you did.

Finally,
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Mom was not perfect! It is not our place to confess her sins, but she would be the first to tell you that she was saved by the tender mercy of Jesus.

“Blessed are the dead in die in the Lord! For they rest from their labor and their works will follow them.  (Rev. 14:13)

Mom is happy. She’s together with Dad; with her 11 brothers and sisters whom she loved dearly, and she’s with the whole church who is singing and praising the glory of God and the mercy of Jesus.  She’s also looking for something she can do to be of service.  Somebody will have to remind her that she can rest!

We her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, her nephews and nieces, her neighbors and church family—we are the good works that follow after her!  She is with God, but her legacy are the lives that we live as a result of her work in us.

God gave her 91 years and she used all of them until she had nothing left!  We will honor her if we do the same with however many years God gives us—that’s what she would want—and if you don’t, she may still figure out a way to send you a letter!

We love you, Mom!  We will see you soon. We know it is well with your soul!Wood28-001

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Do Christians Believe in Freedom of Speech?

Posted in Christian Culture, Other, Uncategorized, tagged , , on January 15, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Martin_Luther_King_Jr_St_Paul_Campus_U_MNI can’t remember ever believing that I had absolute freedom to say whatever I wanted to say. 

Terrorists in France attack and kill cartoonists for publishing words and pictures that Muslims find offensive—sometimes even blasphemous.  The world media is appalled at the attack on what many consider a basic human right, that is, freedom of speech.

Most Christians in the United States would stand on the side of freedom of speech, but we are sometimes among the first to want to censor those who oppose what we believe to be true.

Moving out of the world arena and into just a congregational context for a minute, think about how “freedom of speech” is sometimes controlled and/or completely censored among Christians.

I personally know of one congregation where the leadership does not want non-Christian visitors to attend services because they might say something that was not true!  The argument is that if they say something that is not true, then that might lead other people to follow them into untruth.

I know of another congregation where the preacher was instructed never to talk about hell because one of the leaders of the congregation doesn’t believe in hell and nobody wants to offend him.

Some forms of censorship at church are more subtle.  How many of our congregations, for instance, would tolerate the preacher saying anything positive about Obamacare from the pulpit?  Or what about anything negative about the U.S. military establishment? Or something complimentary of Pope Francis?

And it is not just the preacher whose freedom of speech bumps into arbitrary boundaries. I just heard about two congregations who weren’t speaking at all to each other because one of the churches refused to speak out publicly, condemning the use of musical instruments in the assembly.  They were not actually using instruments, but they wouldn’t/didn’t judge others who did. They would not say the right words, so other Christians won’t speak to them!

No one really believes in absolute freedom of speech.  All believe in laws against libel, that is, purposefully publishing damaging remarks about someone which you know are not true.  We Americans don’t believe anyone has the right to threaten the life of the president.

Once we were driving to California when Sherrylee saw a minivan that was splashed with painted slogans all over in 1960s hippie fashion.  The largest words painted on the side which we passed said, “Kill Obama!”  Or so we thought.

She called 911 and reported this to the local police who promised to investigate.  Shortly, thereafter, she got a call on her cell phone from the Secret Service wanting more details, and asking her if it were possible that the painted van said “Kill Osama,” not “Kill Obama,” since they had found and investigated people in an anti-Osama minivan matching her description!  Oops!

God talks a lot about speech—but I don’t think He ever mentions free speech.

Today, at LST we read Ephesians 4, where the Holy Spirit through St. Paul speaks about speech.  These are good words for all of us to hold on to:

          15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. . . .

        Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. . . .

         29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. . . . . 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Something seems to be more important than freedom of speech and that is the truthfulness and the intent of the words, as well as the heart from which the words come.

       “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Corinthians 13:1)

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Christmas Greetings from Mark

Posted in Uncategorized on December 23, 2014| 1 Comment »

I attended a funeral today of a man of faith, so it was good–no, better than that, it was inspiring.   He was not a perfect person, but he was a man who is known for the good that he did.  He finished well.

I hope and pray that 2014 finishes well for you! The year has been dramatic: Ebola, Syria, ISIS, typhoons, landing on asteroids, on Mars, Ukraine, Cuba, Malaysia Airlines, World Cup, Ferguson–and while all of these big things affect us, it is more usually the birth, the death, the new job, the new location, the new school, the new boss–these changes seem just as dramatic to most of us!

Recently, I heard a famous psychologist say that the only truly stable people in this world are the ones who have accepted that change is a constant.

I hope and pray that the changes in your life in 2014 have brought you closer to God and to those you love, and that you go into the new year with hope–not hope that nothing will change, but that the inevitable changes bring peace on earth and good will for all people.

As is my practice, I’m publishing the top five posts of 2014 from my blogging.  I did not post as much in 2014, but my hope is to return to more thoughtful writing in 2015–Lord willing.

Merry Christmas to you, and a blessed New Year!

Mark

 

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