Singing too Loud

A story as told by an elderly gentleman who was having difficulty sleeping....
"I lived in Germany during the Nazi holocaust. I considered mys elf a Christian. I attended church since I was a small boy. We had heard the stories of what was happening to the Jews, but like most people today in this country, we tried to distance ourselves from the reality of what was really taking place. What could anyone do to stop it?

A railroad track ran behind our small church, and each Sunday morning we would hear the whistle from a distance and then the clacking of the wheels moving over the track. We became disturbed when on Sunday we noticed cries coming from the train as it passed by. We grimly realized that the train was carrying Jews. They were like cattle in those cars!

Week after week that train whistle would blow. We would dread to hear the sound of those old wheels because we knew that the Jews would begin to cry out to us as they passed our church. It was so terribly disturbing! We could do nothing to help these poor miserable people, yet their screams tormented us. We knew exactly at what time that whistle would blow, and we decided the only way to keep from being so disturbed by the cries was to start singing our hymns. By the time the train came rumbling past the church yard, we were singing at the top of our voices. If some of the screams reached our ears, we'd just sing a little Louder until we could hear them no more. Years have passed and no one talks about it much anymore, but I still hear that train whistle in my sleep. I can still hear them crying out for help. God forgive all of us who called ourselves Christians, yet did nothing to intervene.

Wow. What a story! What a memory!

There are several levels of application here so I will try to mention only one. You see, I do not think church people are any different today than then. As long as no one bothers us, we just sing a little louder and let the needs of the world go by. The challenges of our city and state are great, yet we will not act until it affects us personally. We cannot solve all the problems, but we can take one step at time to make a difference. The difference begins in me. Then goes to you. So I encourage you today to turn down the volume and open your eyes. And then, take the step God wants you to.
Jim

The Immorality of the new American Dream

I must admit that I liked the old American Dream. You remember it don't you? You know the old dream was based on the Judeo-Christian work ethic. We were taught and believed that if you were educated and worked hard, then success would be your reward. There was no public challenge to a belief in God---in other words, it was fine to be a believer! Your reward would be a good life, white picket fence around your house, great dog, all that stuff.
But something changed.
Our leaders found out several years ago that all the money setting in the bank for social security and other things, could be spent and paid back with the current contributions by the taxpayers. We began an idea spending today using tomorrow's money.
Make it personal: My grandchildren, including the one to be born in February of 2010, will pay for my benefits I enjoy today. A child not yet born is liable for my debt. That is just wrong. That is immoral.
It is immoral because it is all based on greed. It was greed that drove many of our leaders to provide services to get votes for the next election. It was greed that people felt they were entitled to things they feel they deserve for just being born.
I want to believe that the sun is not setting on America and the old American dream. But a nation that puts God in the back seat and has an attitude of "play now" pay later will reap what it has sown.
Now where did I put my credit card....
Jim

No struggle, no progress

There was a powerful speech made in 1857 which reflected the attitude of many across the country as the shadow of the civil war was starting to take center stage in American history. Let me highlight a few quotes from the speaker:
"The general sentiment of mankind is that a man who will not fight for himself, when he has the means of doing so, is not worth being fought for by others, and this sentiment is just. For a man who does not value freedom for himself will never value it for others, or put himself to an inconvenience to gain it for others....The whole history of the progress of human liberty shows that all concessions yet made to her august claims have been born of earnest struggle...It must do this or it does nothing. If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing up the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning. The want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters."
It was a most incredible speech and I could go on about various points the speaker was making. But before I tell you the speaker, let's look at a potential application different than the one he had in mind in 1857.
We all know what we must do to move forward, whether it is your life, church or job. Solutions are not hidden. The will to act is. Many of us would rather sit by and hope things change instead of acting in the direction we fill led.
We say we want our church to grow, but in reality, we only want it to grow if it does not affect us in anyway. Everyone is free to be different as long as it is the same.
Someone in the past made the difficult decisions and difficult actions necessary for us to be blessed today. We need to make some choices for others today. I want to be planting trees for those in the future to enjoy.
The speaker was Frederick Douglass. He was speaking of freedom for all people. I am speaking of how God wants to work in your life and mine. We must be a willing tool in His hand. He accepts nothing less.
Jim