A Personal Tribute

It has been several days since I've posted. Everyday I think I should write something but rarely feel like sitting long enough to formulate my thoughts into words and then put them in some kind of cohesive order that will make sense to anybody that might stop by to read them.

Today is a little bit different.
Today, I feel like I need to force myself to write.
Today, I feel like I owe it to this man that I write about.

Last Sunday morning, my Uncle "Spud" passed away. He was 89 years old.

I just want to share a few thoughts about my uncle. I know that most of you don't know him, but you probably know somebody that has some of his characteristics.

As kids, we spent a lot of Sunday afternoons at their house. Even as a little kid, I could tell that my dad really looked up to his big sister. The guy that she married affirmed his thoughts that she was a pretty bright lady. I believe that Spud has been one of my dad's closest friends for far more than half a century. In spite of the fact that my uncle always threatened to take up a collection to send my mom back to the Philippines, I think that it was his constant joking with her (and everybody else) that made her feel welcome in her new home and with her new family.

Until my aunt died more than twenty years ago, I always thought that she was the real joker in the Rohman family. Since then, I'm not so sure. And God help us all because they raised their five kids to have the sense of humor that could only come from such a devilish combination!

Our Sunday afternoons where spent playing outside (what kids did back in the day) while the big guys played cards. The game of choice was usually pinochle, but I think that other games made their way onto the table from time to time.

I was never "John" to my uncle; I was Julius. "There's old Julius," he would say when I walked in. Julius Jackson Johnson Jones if you need to know the full name he had given me. After a while, I began to wonder if he knew that Julius wasn't really my name.

He took me to a ballgame at Wrigley when I spent a week there in the summertime. He also took me golfing with his buddies. That day, I provided the humor as it was my first time golfing.

These few words cannot come close to describing my uncle. The simple reality is that pages of words could not do it. I wish that you all could have known him; could have experienced him. I'm pretty sure that you would have walked away from such an experience with a smile on your face and a happy feeling on the inside.

I know that many of my evangelical friends hold fast to the belief that each person has to come to know Jesus as Savior in the the manner that they did--a moment in time when they asked Jesus to forgive their sins and received him as their Savior. In Paul's letter to the Church in Rome, he writes that if you can confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and you believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. He goes on to explain that it is with the heart that we believe and are justified, but it is with the mouth that we profess it and are saved.

I know that Spud believed that Jesus died for his sin and confessed Him as Lord. I know that he believed that God raised him from the dead. And I know that there will be many Catholics (much to the surprise of some of my Baptist friends) that will be in heaven, never having prayed "the sinners prayer" or walked an aisle during a revival meeting.

I know that for those of us that share this belief, there is a grand reunion awaiting! When this life--this human life--comes to an end, we will see Jesus face to face. We will stand with those that have gone before us and together we will honor Him as Lord and Savior. The hope that we have is not a "wish for" kind of hope. It is the hope of a person that looks forward to an expected future--a future with Jesus in heaven.

While I do write this to pay a small tribute to Bertram "Spud" Rohman, I also have to ask--Who is Jesus to you?
How will you enter into the life after death?
What is there at the end of this life?

If these are not things that you've thought about, I encourage you to do so. As always, if you have questions or need to discuss these matters you can contact me.

To my parents, my cousins and all of the family that shares my sorrow, I wish you peace and comfort...

...and hope.

Julius Jackson Johnson Jones <><

Read More

Moved by their generosity...

Maybe I'm just getting a little bit sentimental or soft as I age, but tonight I was fighting back tears as the generosity of the people of Hopedale overwhelmed me.

It was a simple event; a fund raiser for our kids' camp. Last year we held our first ever "pie auction" and had our most successful fund raiser ever. This year's event (dessert auction) was so much better! I was especially moved by our senior adults that greatly supported our kids and their families by spending hundreds of dollars on cakes and pies! I know that several families bought desserts that they will end up giving away. One woman offered me a piece of pie that they bought for $90 (I think) because it was made with sugar and they can't eat it! Another man out bid our pastor for a cake by topping a $90 bid and then gave the cake to him! These are just a couple of the stories from the evening.

All-in-all, 43 desserts brought over $2000 to help pay the way for our adult volunteers and reduce the cost for kids and their friends to go to camp.

I wonder if these generous people realize the eternal implications of their giving. Every year, there are kids and adults that have their lives changed by events at camp. Over the past decade+, I've had the opportunity to serve as camp pastor at a number of camps. I've also attended many camps for a one night event.
Yes, I know that I am from Hopedale and little bit biased. Even so, I believe that Hopedale does children's camp better than anybody else.

Do we have better programs? Not necessarily.
Better worship time? Maybe; Maybe not.
Do our kids have more fun? Probably, but that doesn't make our camp better.
Do we love our kids more than other camps? We do love our kids; and God loves our kids, but He loves your kids, too. And I know that all of the camps love their kids.

So what is the difference?

I believe that our people--the people working at camp, the parents that send their kids to camp, the church that prays for camp, and the generous people that support our camp--all have a faithful expectation of the Holy Spirit of God moving at our camp.

We all know that it is not by our efforts that life changing decisions are made. Though we prepare for camp and for each day's events, it is only by Divine intervention that our lives and the lives of our young charges can be changed.

Why do have great camps with great results?
Because we fully expect God to show up and glorify His name through His Son Jesus.

To everybody that brought a dessert; to everybody that bought a dessert; and to all of the people that helped during the evening -- THANK YOU!

Thanks from me, from the camp staff and from all of the kids and parents! You are the best.
May God bless you greatly for your service.

John <><

Read More

A Little Empathy, Please

I hesitate to write this post. I really don't want it to be taken the wrong way.
It is not meant to be a condemnation of others. I just want to share some of the hard lessons that I've had to learn myself in order to save somebody else some of the trouble. It's been said that experience is the best teacher, but we should try to learn from the mistakes of others because we really don't have enough time to make them all ourselves. I've made plenty of them; trust me.

I recently mentioned how some of our posts can drive away the very people that we should be trying to reach. Unfortunately, I keep seeing the same types of posts and they often come from pastors, preachers or other pretty solid Christians. I'm not without a sense of humor and I enjoy a joke as much as the next guy, but there isn't anything funny about people that are living without God.

In the recent past, I've seen the story of an atheist bringing a case to court for a holiday that atheists can celebrate. The judge rules that they already have a holiday and refers to the Bible saying that a fool says in his heart that there is no God. He rules that April Fool's Day is their holiday.
I've seen the same thing posted as a sign.

There was a time in the not too distant past that I would quip that God doesn't believe in atheists. The problem with that is that God does believe in atheists--and He loves them, sent His Son to die for them and has tasked us to tell them the Good News of salvation in Jesus.

The online Dictionary.com defines empathy as "the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another."

It could be that you don't have any atheist friends. It could be that it's supposed to be humor for your Christian friends. For some reason I keep thinking of how the Republican party keeps saying that they want to reach out to minorities but politicians keep making insulting ethnic comments. One the one hand we (Christians) say that we are concerned about the eternal lives of unbelievers, but on the other hand we say things that will pretty much insure that we'll never be able to reach them.

If you're an atheist, you're a fool.
If you're gay, you're an abomination.
If you've had an abortion, you're a murderer.

Put a little hate and judgment (or laughter and a condescending tone) in your voice as you say those last sentences and tell me if you would listen to yourself if you were the person on the receiving end. Let's try to keep focused on the end game...reaching the lost with the Good News of salvation in Jesus. Let's try not to make it more difficult for ourselves or for others to talk to non-believers about God's love.

I figure that my own words and attitudes of the past have done enough damage to the reputation of Jesus and His kingdom. While I can't go back and un-say my harsh words, perhaps I can save somebody else the regrets that come with the realization that you may bear some of the responsibility of giving Jesus and Christianity a bad name.

John <><

Read More

Not of This World...

There are passages of scripture that refer to believers (followers of Jesus) as not being of this world. In His prayer (found in John 17), Jesus says that we are not of this world. He prays to the Father to guard us from evil rather than taking us out of this world.

In Romans 12, Paul exhorts us not to be transformed by the world.

I think of these things today because I know how easily we are drawn to the lusts and desires of this world that we live in. I know that we must be diligent in our efforts to keep Jesus first in our lives and to live for Him. Sometimes the things of this world have a way of becoming idols in the life of a believer.
Here are a couple of things that I struggle with:

Baseball. I know, I know. Baseball is not a god. But it can certainly be an idol that is worshiped. I think of the time that I will set aside to watch, listen to and read about baseball in the coming months. When compared to the time I set aside to devote my actions of reading, talking about and listening to the teachings of Jesus, one has to wonder if I have a greater allegiance to the Cardinals or to my Lord.

Food. I'm definitely one of those people that lives to eat rather than eats to live. I love eating good tasting food above food that is good for me. Does it make food an idol? I don't know. Am I a worshiper of good food? Too close to call.

The reality of the situation might be that I am my own idol. That meeting my desires is what is important to me. Satisfying my lusts and desires is what I'm most concerned with.

I don't think that I'm saying that Christians can't be sports fans or a little epicurean in nature. I just know that I struggle with these things and I really want to keep things in perspective.

Just a small part of my daily struggle. Not really a first world problem, more like a not of this world problem.

John <><

Read More

Thinking Ahead...

It's Good Friday.
It turned out to be another beautiful day in the Ozarks. Spring decided to make a brief appearance as the temps made into the 60s and the sun managed to break through the overcast clouds that had been forecast for the day.

I know that there are many Christians that are honoring the day by remembering the suffering and death that Our Savior endured in our place. And I know that Sunday will be a day of celebration. But in thinking ahead, I'm wondering what Monday will hold. Will it be back to life as usual? Will the majesty of the resurrection be gone until next year? How many opportunities to tell the marvelous story of God's love will we waste in the days that follow?

Will be like the followers of Jesus in that first week after the resurrection--hiding and afraid to let others know the truth that has been revealed to us? In the modern day Christian world, we don't have to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Jesus' followers were told (by Jesus) to wait for the Spirit to come. In seven weeks, we will remember that day--Pentecost Sunday. In the weeks that followed Pentecost, the small band of 120 followers of Jesus grew to thousands of followers. I'm just wondering what could happen in our community if we prayerfully prepared for Pentecost Sunday (May 19) and expected the Holy Spirit to pour himself into our lives and our churches and our communities with a great movement of God.

I wonder if we would prepare ourselves to boldly proclaim the truth of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts, words and lives with the love to lead others to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. Can you imagine pastors preaching in the public squares of our lands and thousands of people coming to know Jesus? Can you imagine individuals, filled with the Holy Spirit telling friends and neighbors about what Jesus has done and believers being added to the church daily?

I'm wondering if the believers at Hopedale would be willing to pray with me for fifty days that the Holy Spirit would once again empower His people to greatly influence the world around us for the sake of the Cross.
I'm wondering if other followers of Jesus that read these words would join with me.
Would the Holy Spirit empower us once again?
Would we see people being added to the kingdom daily?

I know that we don't have to wait.
I know that the Holy Spirit lives in the lives of believers today.
But I also know that we have largely ignored the power of the Spirit in our lives and in our churches.

We need a fresh touch from God!

This will be my prayer plan for the seven weeks following Easter. Would anybody care to join me?

God loves you.
Jesus died for you.
And he died for your neighbors, too. Will you be the one to share the Good News with them?

John <><

Read More

Out of the mouths of babes...

There are times when somebody's innocent question or comment has a way of clarifying our thoughts and positions.

One of the things that preachers have said (repeatedly) over the years that has bothered me is the description of the Father and Son relationship being severed as Jesus takes on the sin of a wicked world and dies on the cross. Jesus cries out in anguish (and in fulfillment of the Scriptures), "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!" (Psalm 22:1, Matt 27:46, Mark 15:34)

In explaining this picture, I have often heard this description (or something similar):  The Father, unable to look on the sin that Jesus has become, literally turns His back on the Son.

I'll admit that part of what bugs me about this statement has nothing to do with theology and simply has to do with the misuse of the word literally. Since God doesn't really have the physical properties that we often assign to Him, the proper word to use here is figuratively, not literally. Sorry...pet peeve.

While the above description may serve to explain what is taking place, it doesn't take into consideration that both Father and Son know what is going to happen in the end. God (Father, Son and Spirit) knows that the substitutionary atonement of Jesus' death on the cross is necessary for our salvation and that the resurrection will soon follow. Jesus knew it and mentioned it on several occasions. He told his disciples that it had to happen. The Father knew it. God is omniscient. The Plan was never to forsake Jesus and leave him to suffer our eternal fate of condemnation. He would live again--for all eternity.

At the end of Sunday morning's service, I went back to a man that was visiting. Earlier, he had told me that he grew up in the Catholic church but hadn't been to a church in more than thirty years. I went back to thank him for coming and to let him know that if he had any questions, he should feel free to ask them. He responded by saying, "I do have a question."

His question forced me to to realize that I also had a problem with the above scenario. Why did God turn his back on Jesus? Why did Jesus think the Father had forsaken him? They knew what was going to happen, right?

One of the things that we tend to forget about Jesus is that aside from being divine, he was also fully human. While the Divine Son of God knew that he must face crucifixion, the man Jesus cried out for another way. The man Jesus understood that the will of the Father would be satisfied, but the dread of the physical suffering that he was about to endure was great.

Even though we talk about the pain that he endured, we tend to think of Jesus as God and not as a man. We tend to give him the strength of God and not the frailty of man. The scenes from the movie The Passion are brutal images of the scourging and the crucifixion. The suffering that he endured is unimaginable for us. The pain of the cross was so extreme that a we use a whole new word to describe it--excruciating.

Make no mistake about it; Jesus--the man--suffered greatly on the cross. Would he cry out as he faced the end? Would you? Would anybody? When we think of the brutality of the cross, we would also do well to remember that the pain, agony and death of the cross was ours to face--not His. The Bible tells us that He became sin for us. He took on our sin and gave us His righteousness. He died our death.

Yes, the plan from before time began was that He would be raised from the dead; that He would live.
Yes, Jesus knew it.
Yes, the Father knew it.
But in our sin, in our guilt, in our death; Jesus was alone.

Perhaps you have never considered that you are a sinner and eternally separated from God; that you can never be good enough or work hard enough to earn your salvation. Your guilt can only be satisfied in you dying the death that Jesus died--alone and eternally separated from God; or by accepting that He died for you. Accepting that He exchanged your sin for His righteousness. Jesus says that if we will repent--stop living for ourselves--and turn to Him, we will have eternal life.

If you need some information; if you have some questions of your own, please feel free to ask. You can comment with your question and ask to keep it private if you want. My e-mail and contact info can be found in the "about me" section to the right.

Remember, my reading friend:
God loves you.
Jesus died for you!

John <><

Read More

Note to readers

Sorry to say that I have re-installed the word verification feature on the comment section of this blog. I removed it a while ago because I know that it can be a bit of a pain and I figured that I've been moderating comments since I first started blogging several years ago.

However, I've been getting quite a bit of spam comments. It's odd that they all seem to target a few select posts, some of them from years ago. Never-the-less, it is several per day and more than enough to convince me to put the filter back on.

Please comment just the same and I apologize for the inconvenience of doing so.

John<><

Read More