| Welcome to the First Baptist Church of Norwich 239 West Main Street Norwich, Connecticut Phone: 860-889-0369 |
Cal's Pastoral Epistles
"The Best Way To Glorify God"
September 8, 2010
I have a saying that I picked up several years ago. It is one of those
truisms in life. It goes like this. "Be careful what you hate because that is
what you will become if you don't watch out."
My heart sank when I heard that Rev. Terry Jones was going to stage a
"Burn a Quran day" in front of his Gainesville, Florida church on September
11th. According to news reports, he has been telling everyone that he has
had enough. He believes that Islam is a religion of the devil. He feels he has
to draw a line in the sand and take a stand for God.
When I read about Rev. Jones and saw reports of some of the things he
was saying, I immediately thought of the Islamic terrorists who took things
into their own hands and decided that they needed to fly airplanes into the
World Trade Center to tell the world that they had had enough. Sadly, Rev.
Jones has become one of the extremists whom he is denouncing with his
actions.
I am by no means a pacifist. I believe that sometimes you need to stand up
for what you believe in and denounce evil when you see. Yet because I am
a student of the Gospels and a follower of Jesus, I am also compelled to
love my enemy and to treat them as I would want to be treated. I would
never want to see my Bible desecrated and so I could never do that to
someone else's holy book.
The funny thing about Mr. Jone's actions are that Jesus, who he claims to
follow, never demanded that his way be followed. He never stood up and
denounced the Roman empire or the pagan religions. He and his followers
simply pointed to the truth of their faith and let their lives be the example for
all to see.
Jesus even went so far as to tell his followers that when they were
attacked, they were to turn the other cheek. In other words, they were to
let it roll off them and to remember that the truth will set them free. That's
what he did on the way to the cross.
As Christians we are called to live our faith and be a light to the nations.
Our call is to reflect the awesome nature of our creator God, the one who
so loved the world that He sent his son into the world to redeem it. We are
called to be a beacon that draws people to Him so that they may know his
righteousness and grace.
We don't need to burn someone's holy books to prove that God is great.
The books are not a threat to our faith. The real threat to our faith, and any
faith, are people like Rev. Jones who would corrupt the faith for their own
personal gain. Just as the terrorists have scarred the reputation of Islam, so
people like this mar the true image of Christianity.
I have a suggestion for those who want to commemorate the tragic loss of
September 11th this year. Go out and tell someone you love them and that
you are grateful they are in your life. Go out and perform some random act
of kindness, the kind of graceful act that God does every day. Then God
will get the glory and you and everyone you know will be blessed.
God bless. See you in church. Cal
September 8, 2010
I have a saying that I picked up several years ago. It is one of those
truisms in life. It goes like this. "Be careful what you hate because that is
what you will become if you don't watch out."
My heart sank when I heard that Rev. Terry Jones was going to stage a
"Burn a Quran day" in front of his Gainesville, Florida church on September
11th. According to news reports, he has been telling everyone that he has
had enough. He believes that Islam is a religion of the devil. He feels he has
to draw a line in the sand and take a stand for God.
When I read about Rev. Jones and saw reports of some of the things he
was saying, I immediately thought of the Islamic terrorists who took things
into their own hands and decided that they needed to fly airplanes into the
World Trade Center to tell the world that they had had enough. Sadly, Rev.
Jones has become one of the extremists whom he is denouncing with his
actions.
I am by no means a pacifist. I believe that sometimes you need to stand up
for what you believe in and denounce evil when you see. Yet because I am
a student of the Gospels and a follower of Jesus, I am also compelled to
love my enemy and to treat them as I would want to be treated. I would
never want to see my Bible desecrated and so I could never do that to
someone else's holy book.
The funny thing about Mr. Jone's actions are that Jesus, who he claims to
follow, never demanded that his way be followed. He never stood up and
denounced the Roman empire or the pagan religions. He and his followers
simply pointed to the truth of their faith and let their lives be the example for
all to see.
Jesus even went so far as to tell his followers that when they were
attacked, they were to turn the other cheek. In other words, they were to
let it roll off them and to remember that the truth will set them free. That's
what he did on the way to the cross.
As Christians we are called to live our faith and be a light to the nations.
Our call is to reflect the awesome nature of our creator God, the one who
so loved the world that He sent his son into the world to redeem it. We are
called to be a beacon that draws people to Him so that they may know his
righteousness and grace.
We don't need to burn someone's holy books to prove that God is great.
The books are not a threat to our faith. The real threat to our faith, and any
faith, are people like Rev. Jones who would corrupt the faith for their own
personal gain. Just as the terrorists have scarred the reputation of Islam, so
people like this mar the true image of Christianity.
I have a suggestion for those who want to commemorate the tragic loss of
September 11th this year. Go out and tell someone you love them and that
you are grateful they are in your life. Go out and perform some random act
of kindness, the kind of graceful act that God does every day. Then God
will get the glory and you and everyone you know will be blessed.
God bless. See you in church. Cal
Pastor Cal Lord writes these weekly epistles to
help us see God in every day things.
help us see God in every day things.
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |