A Blast from the Past or a Prophetic Word?

Coffee break by Pastor Ross Lieuallen: First Baptist Church, Billings, Montana

             In a publication I read recently, the following words caught my attention….I won’t reprint the entire article, just a few snippets.  

The world of our time is at a crisis of history. Great social, economic, and political changes are taking place, the issue of which no one can foresee. Can the churches expect to escape the effects of these movements? Our generation is confused. Many landmarks are gone; Christianity is meeting the most formidable enemies it has met since the early church faced the Roman Empire with its military power and emperor worship! The Christian church must again become aggressive and create new heroes --- we can do nothing less than pray for and give our lives for the Kingdom of God to come in this troubled world. There is needed a new and powerful awareness of God in our churches before faith can overcome cynicism, and morals cease to be relative, and approximate the teachings of Jesus.

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            Well, these desperate words and longings are indeed calling believers to a higher level of hope in a troubled world. The words were written in 1938! They seem timely, don’t they? Yes, and with a few words added like pandemic, political divisiveness, or vaccine mandates, it could’ve been written last week! The article is from a report of the committee on World Forces and Movements of the Northern Baptist Convention. How did they survive the tumultuous years of 1938 as our country was on the brink of another war? They did it by faith and hope in Jesus as Lord, and that He answers our prayers for our good.

            It’s amazing, isn’t it, to read something from way back, and how they were desperate as they looked at their culture, longing for more of God in the land. They thrived, I believe, because they looked to Jesus and kept their focus. So did the early church, and they did quite well in their faith, spreading the gospel and living abundantly under far worse circumstances. Their faith alone gives me hope.

 In our tumultuous world, where is our faith and focus? How have we been praying? Are we encouraged by others who did just fine in history, and survived far worse circumstances than we will ever face? In your tumultuous inner world, who or what has been your focus? Are you truly a person of hope, or a person of dread and doom?  

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Whatever you face, or is in the future, Jesus said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in Me.”  Words said to disciples at their lowest ebb; their world as they saw it was ending…. they just didn’t see the resurrection yet!  He is Lord, He is our Shepherd, He alone holds the world in His hands.

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Do NOT Waste A Good Trial