Monday, December 14, 2009
Celebrating the "gift"
"If you knew the gift of God" John 4:10. I have been dwelling on this statement for the last several weeks and it has made my Christmas. One of the reasons that this is so good is knowing that Jesus was speaking to a Samaritan woman. Jews did not speak with Samaritans and men did not speak to women in public (even their wives). Today, we see so many people who are living their lives in isolation and fear. Jesus met this lady where she was and loved her with truth. I want to know this "gift" more and more. As you celebrate Christmas this year, remember the "gift". If you have not received this "gift" or would like to know more than contact us at Roane Church or simply come this Sunday at 10am at the Michael Dunn Center.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Praying for Missions
Michael Durham knows what it means to connect out to a world that God loves. Michael is moving to Guaimaca, Honduras this December 22 to work with Orphanage Emmanuel. It was great to pray for him Sunday as a church and to continue to pray for him as he goes. Michael said that he has never felt "so free". This 60 year old man was faced with a decision in what to do with his retirement years. He said "I feel God has more for me to do than to join all the other retirees at Hardees or on the golf course". This type of talk sounds so crazy in our culture today. We feel so many times that we deserve to "get" something when we turn 60 but Michael desires to "give" something - His life. Michael said "There are a lot of things that I can not do in this world, but one thing I can do is love children and be a dad to teenagers". I am challenged by this man to fix my eyes, especially at Christmas, on things that matter. "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son". What am I giving this Christmas. Will I be willing to give God my life?
You can get updates on Michael Durham on facebook or email mdurham60@yahoo.com
You can get updates on Michael Durham on facebook or email mdurham60@yahoo.com
Chirstmas Songs Roane Church Style!!!
It was great Sunday! There is just something about Christmas and singing. People were excited and the band was absolutely great. I have never sang "Joy to the World" the way we did Sunday and I still feel that people in Roane County are looking for something different in a church. I smiled Sunday morning wondering what it would be like to go Christmas caroling with our band. Could you imagine setting up the speakers, guitars, drums, and jamming in a park or in a neighborhood! lol! Great job guys - I am already looking forward to next week when we can sing some more.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
For all of us who are just like Nicodemus
I found this story and thought about the Journey of Faith. I am so thankful for God's patience.
"After six years given to the impartial investigation of Christianity as to its truth or falsity, I have come to the deliberate conclusion that Jesus Christ is the Messiah of the Jews, the Savior of the world, and my personal Savior."
These were the words of Lew Wallace, Governor of New Mexico, over a century ago. He had started out to write a book against Jesus Christ and in the process was converted to Christianity. He told a friend how it happened.
I had always been an agnostic and denied Christianity. Robert C. Ingersoll, a famous agnostic, was one of my most intimate friends. He once suggested, "See here, Wallace, you are a learned man and a thinker. Why don't you gather material and write a book to prove the falsity concerning Jesus Christ, that no such man has ever lived, much less the author of the teachings found in the New Testament. Such a book would make you famous. It would be a masterpiece, and a way of putting an end to the foolishness about the so-called Christ."
The thought made a deep impression on me, and we discussed the possibility of such a book. I went to Indianapolis, my home, and told my wife what I intended. She was a member of the Methodist Church and naturally did not like my plan. But I decided to do it and began to collect material in libraries here and in the old world. I gathered everything over that period in which Jesus Christ, according to legend, should have lived.
Several years were spent in this work. I had written nearly four chapters when it became clear to me that Jesus Christ was just as real a personality as Socrates, Plato, or Caesar. The conviction became a certainty. I knew that Jesus Christ had lived because of the facts connected with the period in which he lived.
I was in an uncomfortable position. I had begun to write a book to prove that Jesus Christ had never lived on earth. Now I was face to face with the fact that he was just as historic a personage as Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, Virgil, Dante, and a host of other men who had lived in olden days. I asked myself candidly, "If he was a real person (and there was no doubt), was he not then also the Son of God and the Savior of the world?" Gradually the consciousness grew that, since Jesus Christ was a real person, he probably was the one he claimed to be.
I fell on my knees to pray for the first time in my life, and I asked God to reveal himself to me, forgive my sins, and help me to become a follower of Christ. Towards morning the light broke into my soul. I went into my bedroom, woke my wife, and told her that I had received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.
"O Lew," she said, "I have prayed for this ever since you told me of your purpose to write this book, that you would find him while you wrote it!"
Lew Wallace did write a very famous book. It was a masterpiece and the crowning glory of his life's work. He changed the book he was originally writing and used all his research to write another book.
Now every time I watch the epic film made from that book and see Charlton Heston racing those four magnificent white horses in that amazing chariot race, I wonder how many who have seen Ben Hur, with its moving references to Jesus, know it was written by a man who wanted to disprove that Jesus ever existed, and instead became convinced that he was the greatest man who ever lived!
"After six years given to the impartial investigation of Christianity as to its truth or falsity, I have come to the deliberate conclusion that Jesus Christ is the Messiah of the Jews, the Savior of the world, and my personal Savior."
These were the words of Lew Wallace, Governor of New Mexico, over a century ago. He had started out to write a book against Jesus Christ and in the process was converted to Christianity. He told a friend how it happened.
I had always been an agnostic and denied Christianity. Robert C. Ingersoll, a famous agnostic, was one of my most intimate friends. He once suggested, "See here, Wallace, you are a learned man and a thinker. Why don't you gather material and write a book to prove the falsity concerning Jesus Christ, that no such man has ever lived, much less the author of the teachings found in the New Testament. Such a book would make you famous. It would be a masterpiece, and a way of putting an end to the foolishness about the so-called Christ."
The thought made a deep impression on me, and we discussed the possibility of such a book. I went to Indianapolis, my home, and told my wife what I intended. She was a member of the Methodist Church and naturally did not like my plan. But I decided to do it and began to collect material in libraries here and in the old world. I gathered everything over that period in which Jesus Christ, according to legend, should have lived.
Several years were spent in this work. I had written nearly four chapters when it became clear to me that Jesus Christ was just as real a personality as Socrates, Plato, or Caesar. The conviction became a certainty. I knew that Jesus Christ had lived because of the facts connected with the period in which he lived.
I was in an uncomfortable position. I had begun to write a book to prove that Jesus Christ had never lived on earth. Now I was face to face with the fact that he was just as historic a personage as Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, Virgil, Dante, and a host of other men who had lived in olden days. I asked myself candidly, "If he was a real person (and there was no doubt), was he not then also the Son of God and the Savior of the world?" Gradually the consciousness grew that, since Jesus Christ was a real person, he probably was the one he claimed to be.
I fell on my knees to pray for the first time in my life, and I asked God to reveal himself to me, forgive my sins, and help me to become a follower of Christ. Towards morning the light broke into my soul. I went into my bedroom, woke my wife, and told her that I had received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.
"O Lew," she said, "I have prayed for this ever since you told me of your purpose to write this book, that you would find him while you wrote it!"
Lew Wallace did write a very famous book. It was a masterpiece and the crowning glory of his life's work. He changed the book he was originally writing and used all his research to write another book.
Now every time I watch the epic film made from that book and see Charlton Heston racing those four magnificent white horses in that amazing chariot race, I wonder how many who have seen Ben Hur, with its moving references to Jesus, know it was written by a man who wanted to disprove that Jesus ever existed, and instead became convinced that he was the greatest man who ever lived!
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