Week Thirty-Four, 2019
Know the Future
By Florida Senator John Grant (Retired)
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives every fear is gone. I know He holds my life my future in His hands. —Bill Gaither
From ancient times, man has wanted to know the future. For a thousand years people consulted the Oracle at Delphi in ancient Greece in an attempt to know what the future held. It’s unthinkable to claim to know what people ten years or a thousand years from now will be doing. But I suspect they’ll still think and fear and hope and communicate with other people. And make predictions.
Futurology has always bounced around between common sense, nonsense and a healthy dose of wishful thinking. I have often thought of what it would be like to accurately predict the future. Imagine if I knew today what the stock market would do tomorrow. I could probably have enough to retire in a week.
Corporations have futurologists in their employment so long-term plans can accommodate long term needs. When I was in the Senate, we had to know how much revenue would be coming in so we would know how much to budget, so we quarterly Revenue Estimating Conferences.
There is constant speculation and anxiety in our culture about the future of American Christianity and the role of the church in the coming years. What will the faith look like ten, twenty, or fifty years from now? Why will some churches be forced to close their doors while others in the same zip codes thrive and grow? Nobody holds a crystal ball but all ministers and Christian leaders should think about these questions because the decisions we make now play a big role in shaping and molding the future. These decisions will also determine whether we are able to reach our children and grandchildren with the values of Christianity.
More important than knowing what will happen is doing things that will determine what will happen. Instead of fighting the world and focusing on what is wrong, Christians need to flood the world with examples of what is right.
The lifestyle of many Christians is not reflective of Biblical admonitions and that sends mixed signals to the world. Vast numbers of Christians have moved so far away from obedience to Scripture that they pick and choose doctrine to suit their own whims. This plague is so ubiquitous now in American Christianity that “cafeteria Christian” could describe a significant part of our community. Is your daily Bible engagement pretty much the length of time it takes to read a devotional while on the toilet?
Every other religious faith wants to escape the world, but Jesus wants us to renew the world. That must start with a renewal of ourselves. Public perception begins to change when other people see that you are serious.”
Too often Christians want to escape the world, but Jesus wants us to renew the world. In a culture like ours, we need to demonstrate first how faith in Christ makes a difference in how we live.
This must begin with a renewal of ourselves. Christianity is like a nail. The harder you strike it, the deeper it goes. How hard are you willing to hit the nail to help guide the church and society in the direction it should go in the future?
For Christians, the future is certain….. you can read about with certainty in the Bible.
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SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES
We make a life by what we give:
The stewardship of our nation begins with our stewardship of ourselves. What resources has God entrusted to you? What gifts, abilities, financial means, and cultural influence are yours? Would you submit them to God’s Spirit and use them for his glory?
Winston Churchill observed: “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
Will you give today? —Jim Denison
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Northview Church in Indiana asks itself regularly: What would happen if the church packed up and left the state? Would anybody notice? Would anybody care? It turns out, people who owed $4 million in medical debt would.
The church, which operates seven campuses and averages about ten thousand people on a typical Sunday, conducts what it calls the Dollar Club four times a year. Each person in attendance is asked to contribute a dollar, which the church pools and uses to meet needs. The church typically raises between $6,000 and $10,000; the money goes to support foster families, help with medical bills, and so on. In May, however, the church told members they had a special opportunity and asked them to donate $3 or $4.
A few weeks later, the church partnered with a charity called RIP Medical Debt, one of the organizations that buys such debt from hospitals, doctors, and even investors, usually for a penny per dollar. The church donated $30,000 to this charity. Since some medical debt in Indiana was cheaper than normal, the charity then leveraged Northview’s donation to alleviate $4 million in debt.
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Writer – Katherine Lee Bates, 1859 – 1929; Prolific American writer, college professor and scholar. She spent the summer of 1893 in Colorado teaching English. She recalled: “One day some of the other teachers and I decided to go on a trip to 14,000 ft. Pikes Peak. We hired a prairie wagon and near the top we transferred to mules. I was very tired. But when I saw the view, I felt great joy. All the wonder of America seemed displayed there, with the sea-like expanse.”
And Katherine completed the first draft of America the Beautiful on Pikes Peak.
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QUOTES YOU CAN USE
Coaches have a “play book” for the game of football. Christians have the Bible for the game of life.
For we are given power not to advance our own purposes, nor to make a great show in the world, nor a name. There is but one just use of power, and it is to serve people. —GEORGE H. W. BUSH, in the prayer he wrote for his inauguration
The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.
Remember that creating a successful marriage is like farming: you have to start over again every morning. —H. Jackson Brown
Tomorrow is promised to no one.
Revealing Your Feeling Is the Beginning of Healing. —Ken Whitten
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