Diversity in the Churches of Christ in St. Louis

This morning I attended a conference at the West Central Church of Christ for those interested in the subject of bridging the gap concerning diversity in the churches of Christ in St. Louis. The speaker was Dr. Jerry Taylor, who is an associate professor at Abilene Christian University ("ACU"). Dr. Taylor, who prefers "Jerry", was also the keynote speaker at the Christian Family Services, Inc. dinner on Friday night. Jerry did a remarkable job of cutting to the heart of the issue that we are all one in Christ Jesus. His deeply thought provoking words were a challenge to all of us to open up doors of communication to discover ways we can serve together the needs of those who are less fortunate. This was my first time to visit the West Central Church and I hope will not be the last.

I had this picture taken of me and Jerry (he is the good looking one on the right) to send to my son-in-law, Klint Pleasant. Klint used to coach the men's basketball team at ACU. Jerry and he were compatriots when Klint was at ACU. It is humbling to know the older that I get that I am now simply known as "Klint's father-in-law" in many circle's.

Yom Kippur

"Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God."

- Leviticus 23:27-28

Yom Kippur, also known as the Day of Atonement, is perhaps the most important holiday of the Jewish year. Yom Kippur is observed on the 10th of Tishri. This year Yom Kippur will begin at sunset on October 1 and end at nightfall on October 2. Yom Kippur is considered the holiest and most solemn day of the year. It is a day of repentance and reconciliation. Yom Kippur is a Sabbath day. Therefore most Jews refrain from working and will attend synagogue services. It is also traditionally a day of fasting. It was on this day - the only day - that the High Priest was able to enter the Holy of Holies, and then only after elaborate ceremonial washings, offerings, and associated rituals. This was also the day that two goats were selected, one for an offering and one as the "scapegoat." As many aspects of the feasts were prophetic, the scapegoat is also Messianic. The ceremonial acts that were to be carried out by the High Priest on Yom Kippur are described in Leviticus 16 (see also Exodus 30:10; Leviticus 23:27-31, 25:9; Numbers 29:7-11).

Since the loss of the Temple in 70 A.D., the God-centered observances of the Torah have tragically been replaced with a man-centered, good works system of appeasement through prayer, charity, and penitence. Yom Kippur traditionally ends with one long note of the Shofar, a musical instrument usually made from a ram's horn. The significance of the ram's horn is traditionally rooted in Genesis 22. Here God commands Abraham "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." Abraham is called upon by God to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, as a test of his faith. After God halts the sacrifice at the last minute, Abraham spies a ram trapped by his horns in a nearby thicket and offers the animal instead as a sacrifice. It is interesting to note that the first instance in which the word "love" appears in scripture is when God commands Abraham to sacrifice "thine only son Issac, whom thou lovest." Compare the commandment God gave to Abraham with John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Woven throughout the Old Testament feasts is the foreshadowing of God's plan for the redemption of mankind. Those of us who have placed our trust in Jesus Christ are able to enter behind the veil and stand in the Holy of Holies. We have forgiveness because of the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross.

I am painfully aware of how many Christians never take the time to study the scriptures to develop an appreciation for God has done through his chosen people. Everything in the Old Testament points to the culmination of the return of the Messiah.

Many of my Jewish friends believe that the return of the Messiah is near. They point to the reestablishment of the nation state of Israel after World War II. And, many orthodox Jews are ready to rebuild the temple now. They believe that if they can just re-establish animal sacrifice that this will allow all the commands of the Torah to be completed which will usher in the return of the Messiah. I think that they may be right!

We would do well to re-examine our lives and confess of unrepentant sin through fasting and prayer. Yom Kippur can teach many of us a deeper relationship with a living God who cares about our conduct.

John 14:8-11

Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied." 9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me; or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves.

Jesus's claim to be God is the reason he was condemned to death. For Caiphas, the High Priest, "King of the Jews" was bad enough; but, Jesus claimed to be Jehovah God incarnate. Sometimes folks want to differentiate between the God of the Old Testament and Jesus of the New Testament. But, the gospel message is that they are one in the same. How can that be one might ask? The early church struggled for the next three centuries trying to define the triune God of faith. How does "Hear O Israel the Lord thy God is one" comport with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? In matters of faith one=three. And three=one. That can't be in our world of time and space. But, in God's universe, which is not bounded by time and space, it evidently is absolute truth.

It is the same kind of reconciliation a believer must make about how the God of the Old Testament comports with the teaching of Jesus in the the New Testament. It takes the eye of faith to put these two testaments together. How does a just God deal with sin? We know that sin separates us from God. Those who refuse to accept his mercy and judgment are indeed under a death sentence. But, the God who created us was willing to come down out of heaven and to empty himself of his divine nature and live among us as one who is fully human. He rescued us by his redemptive actions in dying for each of us upon a cross in our name, place and stead. All we have to do is to believe in him and accept his revelation by being born into his kingdom. The greatest proof of all is Acts 2:38 which promises every believer the "gift of the Holy Spirit".

We sometimes think that because God punishes people that he does not love them? God loved the Egyptians as much as the Israelites. But, he chose Israel for a special role to bring forth the Messiah. When one reads the Torah, you don't get very far before discovering God's concern for the "alien" within their land. And, even God's prophets, like Jonah, thought that God was too merciful to the inhabitants of Nineveh. Jonah quotes from Exodus 34 explaining to God in Jonah 4: 2 :

"That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that thou art a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and repentest of evil."

Poor Amos thought that God had done for the Cushites, Philistines and Arameans what he had done for Israel. (Amos 9:7) And where do those "Wisemen" come from who were foretold of the birth of the Messiah? They were not Jews. When God revealed himself to Moses on the mountain we see in Exodus 34:6-7 how much his declaration of his name resonates with the personality of Jesus as Messiah:

" The LORD passed before him, and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin...."

It is the God of the Old Testament who sent his son so that he could forgive "wickedness, rebellion and sin". We have all be invited to the banquet. If we seek Him, he will reward those who look for Him. Our role is not to condemn; but, to invite. We are all sinners standing in the need of God's grace. Jesus is softly and tenderly calling each of us by name.

Life is Short

"Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and get gain"; whereas you do not know about tomorrow. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. "

James 4: 13-15

We all make plans. We each live our lives as if we are immortal. We assume that tomorrow will be there as it was yesterday. And yet, when we bump up against the death of a loved one, that event feels so "surprising". Like, this is not the way that it should be. There is no question that we were made for immortality. The gospel story is that something got in the way and ruined that for us. The secret to learning how to live is to recognize the greater reality that life is like a "mist" or a "vapor". We have no permanence in this world. The end is coming. However, the little things we do each day do make a big difference in where and how we will spend eternity. If our lives are focused on physical gain, we will miss the boat. Learning to live life with significance means focusing upon the things that are eternal. Faith, hope and love are the keys to living life at a higher level. Do something today that makes a difference before your life vanishes. You will be glad that you did!

Welcome David Bearden

David Bearden will be joining us as a new minister at the McKnight Road Church of Christ on October 1, 2006. David has written the following and approved of our posting it here:


As I posted my last articles for the Sunny Hills Church of Christ, I thought of how long I have been doing this. The writing of a weekly “what’s happening” article, where its wide ranging topics cause it to live up to its name of “DB’s Dabblings,” has a history before the twelve years of appearing in the Sunny Hills church bulletin. My first “DB’s Dabblings” started in 1977 in the bulletin of the Church of Christ in Harrisburg, Arkansas where I preached while attending Harding Graduate School of Religion in Memphis. The other consistent weekly article I write started while preaching for the Springdale congregation in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1981 and took the name, “Sage Page,” for its being based in the wisdom literature of the Bible. Over the years the “Sage Page” articles have taken on additional functions beyond their written format in church bulletins by becoming newspaper articles, radio spots, web pages, and for the last ten years as “Telephone Proverbs” for the Orange County Register “Info Line.” I look forward to continuing to share weekly bits of information, encouragement and my excitement for our work together through “DB’s Dabblings.” I am also eager to find forums for the “Sage Page” to demonstrate the practical application of God’s Word for daily living. I guess this qualifies as my first “DB’s Dabblings” for the McKnight Rd. church. Since it is my “inaugural” article with you, let me pull a quote from John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech January 20, 1961, “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country.” As we begin our work together may we each ask what we can do for the Lord’s Church at McKnight Rd. to help it be a church that will cause non-members throughout St. Louis to ask us what the Lord can do for them (1 Pet. 3:15).

David Bearden

Public Reading of Scripture

"Until I arrive, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhorting, to teaching."
-- I Timothy 4:13

Overall, we have not done a very good job (in my opinion) to include the public reading of Scripture in church assemblies. I guess to some extent we have come to believe that Bible classes and the sermon have served this purpose. In the past we sometimes have a person (usually a teenage male) read the text for the sermon prior to the sermon itself. It might have been more an opportunity to train young men to lead in worship which is a noble cause in and of itself. But I not sure that the public dissection or explanation of portions of Scripture is as powerful and helpful as spending a significant time in public reading of Scripture without explanation.

I wonder why the public reading of Scripture does not have a more prominent part of our weekly corporate worship? I heard of a minister who was on sabbatical last year and spent the time studying at Oxford. He and his family attended a Church of England each Sunday while there. When asked "What was most striking thing about weekly worship?", his reply without even stopping to think about it was "the amount of Scripture that was read during the service." He reported that sometimes upwards to 20 minutes would be devoted to the reading of Scripture. There was even a reading tutor who would in advance instruct and help those who would be reading publically. It was obvious that reading Scripture was considered central to their assembly and that they placed value on doing it well.

It seems that our emphasis when it comes to the reading of Scripture is personal reading. Maybe the encouragement the church needs most is not to be more immersed in private reading, but in how to make Bible reading more a part of the communal life in the church.

How do you think we can incorporate more public reading of Scripture into our services? Perhaps we need more time to listen to the word of God rather than rushing through our services to insure that we get to the sermon?

After all, Acts 2:42 is, in essence, communal and not individually oriented, especially when one reads it in the context of the entire paragraph.

41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And fear came upon every soul; and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common; 45 and they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they partook of food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.