Two months after the September 11 terrorist attacks on
the WorldTradeCenter and the pentagon,
former President, Bill Clinton gave a speech at GeorgetownUniversity in which he
suggested that america's own "arrogant
self-righteousness" was partly to blame for making the nation a target of
terrorism. He went on to say he believed
the whole mess could have been avoided if everyone on both sides had simply
realized there is no such thing as absolute or universal truth, and therefore
no ideology is worth fighting over.
Thomas Friedman wrote
in the New York Times, "It is urgent that the different religions reinterpret
their traditions to embrace modernity and pluralism and to create space for
secularism and alternative faiths."
Is our culture asking
us to give up Jesus for a greater religious cause?
At a national leadership prayer breakfast, the
speaker for the morning was from the Holy Trinity Church which is right next to ground zero. He said, "After 9-11, theology is back. God is back, but in this new environment we
must all be willing to give up those traditions that divide us so we can be
one." He went on to say that God speaks
to other faiths and other religious groups.
How far do we take this though? Can God speak to people from other faiths? I would say yes. God meets people in different areas and speaks to them in different ways but this does not negate the fact that His Word is Truth and that the Truth is absolute. He met Saul who did not believe in Christ as the way to God and was on his was to kill Christians but in was in that meeting that Saul was introduced to Christ and became Paul, a new creation.
God can meet people in different ways from different backgrounds and beliefs but it is always to draw them to the Truth and lead them to the Way of true Life. It is Jesus who says, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life," John 14:6. He goes on to say that "No one comes to the Father but by ME."
It may not look the same in every situation and in every case but it is always through faith in Jesus.
In Acts 3 Peter and John were used by God to
heal a man who had been lame his entire life and as the crowd begins to gather,
Peter begins to preach.
He pointed out that:
·Jesus is the
author of life (v 15)
·He was raised
from the dead (v 15)
·He fulfilled a
1500 yr. Old prophecy (v 22)
·He is coming
again (v 21)
·And all the
families of the earth are blessed through Him.
(v 25)
When we come to Acts 4, we find that the Jewish officials
arrested them for preaching Jesus and they were called to stand before the
religious leaders of Judaism (vs. 5-12).
They were being
pressured to give up Jesus but instead they proclaimed the absolute supremacy
of Jesus Christ.
So would I day that Jesus is the only way? Yes. Is this an exclusive statement? Definitely NOT! In fact, quite the opposite. It is very inclusive because "whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life."
God has shaken our lives up in the last year. Eight months ago I was on staff
at a church in Abilene, TX as the student minister. We ended
up leaving in the end of July because God was calling us to something
different; to change. The only problem was we didn't know what that change
was. We have always had a heart for students (youth and college age). That
heart has always shared a place with a heart for missions and others. My
wife and I have both been privileged to be able to speak at various things
such as camps, retreats, and seminars. I will be honest in saying that I
have a passion for speaking/ preaching. I love breaking open God's Word and
sharing with others. How would all of this fit together for ministry? With
all of these factors we felt like God was moving us into a new ministry of
Christian communication. We traveled with the Lift team this summer and
instantly fell in love with the college students on the traveling team.
There was instant relationship there. Then the possibility of a college
chaplain came up. We had several conversations with the president and things
began to progress. We loved those students and would have loved working
with them and ministering to and with them. We love speaking and ministering
and would have loved to be able to go to different churches and youth groups
in that capacity. We prayed often about it and really felt that God was
bringing it all together. Unfortunately, due to certain things such as a
drop in enrollment and a change in leadership, it fell through at the last
minute. We have since been in Houston, TX in transition praying, preparing,
seeking, pursuing, etc. We have sincerely told God we are willing to go
wherever and do whatever as long as He is in it and He leads us.
During this time God has continued to change our hearts. We have a deeper
meaning of what it means to love God, love people. We have a deeper
compassion for others. We have seen the "least of these" and have fallen in
love with them. We have been moved to live more simply, want less, and give
more (not only monetarily but with our lives as well). We have been
introduced to the homeless in Houston through a street church
on Montrose. We have been introduce to Haiti, the poorest country in the
western hemisphere and our hearts burn for them. We have made contacts there
and my wife will be making a trip there in May. We have been introduced to
others whom God is moving; kindred hearts and kindred spirits. We are not
the same and we are thankful.
Complacency is no longer an option. We want to be more and do more for the
cause of Christ. We don't want to just play church or play Christian. We no
longer are satisfied with just "doing" church. We want to make a difference.
I hope this is all making sense.
We have been praying, seeking, and asking God to move in our hearts towards
what He wants us to do. We have been asking Him how all of our passions and
desires could fit together to make a difference.
This is when God began to work in our hearts to work with a mission agency
and/or organization that provides much needed help to those who need it;
both physically and spiritually. Such as clean water in Africa, water and
baby formula to Haiti, etc.
This is our heart's cry. It is a passion of ours. We want to see it happen.
We will do what we need to in order to see it happen. As a result God joined us together with AIM as we will be working with them to mobilize students around the world in order to make a difference.
For those of you who have been a part of our journey and/or we have met along the way we say thank you.
I think it is good to share each others journeys. We all can glean so much from each other. So…What does your journey look like?
