“Come Unto Me”

In the Tolkien trilogy Lord of the Rings frightful darkness was growing in Middle Earth. The evil quest for power imperiled all creatures. How are we doing today? The 20th Century was the bloodiest in history. One reason for that is, so many more people populated the earth than ever before. What does that tell us? The more people the more darkness. And is there perhaps something to learn here, like, man does not do well on his own and needs help?

Oh, being blessed with minds and reason, abundant diffuse resources, and reliable physical laws, material progress occurs, if spotty. How beneficial it might be if we understood that every new material progression results from a discovery of another of God’s decreed natural laws, and that such realization should send us to seeking God’s spiritual laws as well. But how many more of these physical laws are there to be discovered which are now beyond even our imagination? This, while in the realm of the spirit where God has already given us all the answers (II Pet. 1:3), we reject those in pursuit of “pleasure,” which takes us into callous destruction of life in abortion and systematic extermination of those not approved or judged problematic, or into sexual depravities and transmitted diseases, destructive addictions, inventions that publicly spew filth, and hatreds of all sorts. But why not do these, as our intellectuals give us explanations making life a mere accident, eliminating not only purpose in life, but morality. The appeal of that is it theoretically frees them from answering one day to a Higher Power. What a paradox, that light is available while man keeps cranking up the darkness.

On the other hand, what wonderful claims were made 2,000 years ago of a Man who lived then. He was more than just man. He was Deity come to earth, born and dwelling in human form (Jn. 1:1,14). And it is not contrary to reason that true Deity certainly would have that power. This was Jesus, of whom it was declared, “In him was life; and the life was the light of men” (Jn . 1:4). Oh, you mean Darwin, Nietzsche, Marx, Sagan, and Dawkins aren’t? Well, whose ideas do you think are ultimately responsible for the dark moral and social maladies noted above, and more?

Here is Jesus, born of a virgin, pure in life, profound in teaching, and raised from the dead, the last attesting the validity of the rest. And there were witnesses who wrote of, and died as martyrs because of their testimony, of this resurrection. They affirmed such while it could still be tested, as hundreds of witnesses still lived who could be questioned about that death, burial and resurrection (I Cor. 15:6). And no other explanation comes anywhere near explaining all the facts related to that empty tomb. Thus if Jesus, validated by his resurrection, said he is the light of the world (Jn. 8:12), he is. Rejecting that light results in our darkness.

This Jesus, this Light, says, “Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Mt. 11:28). He can lead us out of the maladies of men seeking power as Sauron sought the “ring” to consolidate his dark power over Middle Earth. He can deliver us from the guilt of any of those works of darkness we may have fallen into. He can in love make us clean and reconcile us to a Holy Righteous God.. He can lead us into an eternal life where the power seeking of man is ended and unwanted, where the pinnacle of existence is attained. Even present religion is stained with man’s quest for power as men impose their wills upon others. Jesus shows us the light - his way to pardon, and to life, and his way to serve. How wonderful the call, “Come unto me.” How blessed the response, “I will.”

Dale Smelser

www.nwchurchofchrist.net

Germantown, MD

How We Take Up Our Cross

This is to put in writing a thought that has been presented from the pulpit. It is presented here for more methodical contemplation. It has to do with Jesus' requirement to take up our cross (Matt. 16:24 ), and what that means. The thought has been made difficult because of a popular and general interpretation. A prevailing concept seems to be that Jesus was telling us we all have burdens and problems in life that we must endure. They are our crosses to bear. I believe there is something much more profound here.

In the first place Jesus requires that we actively "take up" something, not that we just endure or put up with something. In the next place it is accompanied by denying ourselves, and losing our lives. In every passage but one, that mentions taking up our cross, it says, "Whosoever would save his life shall lose it, and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it" (Matt. 16:24-25; 10:38-39; Mk. 8:343-35; Lk. 9:23-24). The one that does not say that, requires one to hate his own life (Lk. 14:26 -27). Denying one's self and forfeiting life accompanies and explains taking up one's cross.

The idea is this. Jesus said this before he had died upon the cross. But that does not mean a reference to the cross meant nothing to his listeners. The Romans had employed crucifixion when they wanted to send a powerful message to discourage rebellion. And one of the features of dying on a cross, was the humiliating requirement of having to carry that upon which you were going to die. In requiring that his listeners take up their cross, he was requiring them to voluntarily die. But in doing that, he promised they would actually gain their lives.

There are other passages to help us. Paul said he gloried in the cross of Christ through which "the world hath been crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (Gal. 6:14 ). Paul was alive and speaking, but he had been crucified. He had taken up his cross. In one of the Luke passages, Jesus said we must take up the cross daily. Similarly, Paul said, "I die daily" (I Cor. 15:31 ). If Paul laid down his life, and did so daily, according to Christ's promise he should have gained a life. He did. He said, "It is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me," thus the life he lived in the flesh he now lived in faith (Gal. 2:20 ).

Putting all this together, in requiring that we take up our cross, Jesus requires that we take up that which will put us to death. We will deny self and live for something greater. We will put to death the exercise of passions which otherwise would kill us spiritually, and become new people ( Col 3:5-10), new creatures in Christ (II Cor. 5:17 ). We take up our cross and die on it. "He that hath died is justified from sin...Even so reckon yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus" (Rom 6:7, 11). And thus we remain, taking up that cross daily. Jesus said, "Take up your cross daily." Paul said, "I die daily." The cross is not simply some problem we bear, it is a whole way of life and commitment to another, Christ, instead of the selfish indulgences of this life. We die upon the cross we take up, and are given a new life by Christ. Jesus required us to put the old self to death. Thus in baptism, being forgiven at that moment, the old person dies, we bury it and arise to walk in newness of life ( Rom. 6:3-5). -- Dale Smelser

Pastors Who Don’t Believe

In my senior year in high school and first in college I believed. But I felt the need to examine and be sure of my faith. One thing that prompted that was wondering if all the talk of priests and preachers I heard was really so, and did they believe it to be so? Did they really believe what they were saying.
To my surprise I found that many did not. They did not believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, that he physically arose from the dead, that he ascended into heaven. I found many did not believe his miracles. Now, since the miracles of Christ were recorded as evidence that we might "believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God" (Jn. 20:31), I understood that those clergy men did not believe that Jesus was the foretold Messiah, or that he was in origin in a unique way, the actual Son of God.
My next thought was to wonder why they used such terms as resurrection, hope, redemption, and eternal life. Their explanation was that these were connotation words that people responded to and were thus useful in conveying a concept of the spiritual into life in this material universe. For a young un-jaded mind it was not difficult to conclude that they believed all these words really conveyed a lie, but that they could use that lie to their own ends. That is a harsh judgment they would not eagerly accept. Yet, to this day, I believe that is a correct assessment.
Here is why. If Jesus Christ is not the son of God as the scriptures claim in prophecy, fulfillment and specific declaration, then the scriptures are misleading and a lie themselves. And if that is so, try this question. What do you know for sure about God? Now, for all the assertions of people making judgments about God, saying, "Well I just don’t believe God would or would not do such and such." Oh, really? Upon what basis? We can’t just make it up about God. Anything we conclude about God on our own has no basis. As Dostoyevsky declared through one of The Brothers Karamazov, if there is no God, there is no right or wrong, any behavior is acceptable. Of course, there are those who believe exactly that today. And if that is so, and Jesus Christ is not the son of God, and the scriptures are not his word, we have absolutely no hope or assurance of anything beyond this life. And one day when earth either freezes in eternal uninhabitable ice, or is obliterated by fiery collision, what will existence and life have meant? Human life will be no more than a match struck in the darkness of eternity, and then extinguished forever. It meant and means nothing at all.
And clergymen and women who do not believe, cannot give us an ounce of hope. All they can give us are lying words. And the answer to the question, "What do we know about God," is a resounding nothing. Well, what do those clergypeople have to offer us? Nothing more than their ivory tower existence in their religious organizations and the opportunity for us to give them our money. That’s it. Nothing more.
On the other hand, assessing the prophecies of the scriptures, seeing them all come together centuries later in Jesus Christ, seeing his teaching and works, finding no reasonable explanation for the empty tomb from which his disciples declared he was raised and whereof they were witnesses, and concluding he is the Son of God, and that the scriptures are the word of God, we can hope, we can believe in redemption and eternal life. We can believe there is truth to live by. Thank God.
For more information or discussion, contact me: dalsmelser@aol.com
Of visit our web site: www.nwchurchofChrist.net

Why Do the Elite Want to Censor Jesus

No, the word "censor" is not too strong. You can stand in public and proclaim or carry a sign advocating limitless causes. Freedom of Speech and all that. Let someone go public with anything Christian and a climate has been created so that the perception is that it violates the separation of church and state. Never mind that the first amendment says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
The original wording of the fist clause helps us understand the intention of the framers of the Constitution: "Congress shall make no law establishing articles of faith" (National Archives). That’s it. There was to be no state religion. But, the restrictions placed on religious expression, note, restrictions placed on religious expression, prohibit that which is guaranteed by the Constitution.
Yes, many of these restrictions and prohibitions violate the Constitution in prohibiting the free exercise of religion. But one says, the Supreme Court has limited that expression. Yes, but you can read the words of the Constitution and marvel at that. Certain judges have a stake in squelching the gospel, and it appears their ambitions prevailed more than their legal knowledge. Why would they do that? Why, indeed? For reasons similar to those who hounded Jesus, spied on him, and plotted his death. Some present judges, educators, and politically elite find Jesus dangerous to their agendas. In this they are like the treacherous high priests Annas and Caiaphas, like Herod, and even Pilate who initially and officially found no fault in Jesus, yet gave in to pressure and sentenced him to death.
"But hearing about Jesus is offensive to some." So? I am constantly offended with profane use of the name of God, and the crude vulgarities people have been given the right to spout. I tire of hearing shallow comedians mock truths I hold dear. Let expression and ideas compete. That is freedom. Right now there is an uneven playing field. There are no limits to where the religion of Jesus may be criticized. But there are prohibitions upon where they may be advocated. And free people advocating their faith, or praying in public, is not the same as Congress making a law to establish a religion.
But why do the elite fear Jesus so? It seems the elite always have. Jesus healed a man’s withered arm in a synagogue. The response of the leaders? "They were filled with madness and communed with one another what they might do with Jesus" (Lk. 6:11). Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead after being in the tomb for four days. Just as expressions of the power of Christ today, that had to be squelched: "The chief priests took counsel that they might put Lazarus also to death; because that by reason of him many...believed on Jesus" (Jn. 12:10-11). If the people follow Jesus they might lose their power over the people. Similarly, the "high priests" of our secularism must get information about Christ out of sight.
Why? It really boils down to this. They do not hate the Bible and its message because it teaches kindness, or love of neighbor. They hate it because they want no restrictions on their sexuality, whether abortion which is a cure for their immorality, or same sex unions. Kill Lazarus. Get Jesus out of the public square. The elite today find Jesus a road block to their ambitions, just as the elite in Palestine did 2,000 years ago. And politicians who voluntarily give in to pressure and eliminate Jesus from the public square, act out of the same motives as Pilate, their brother, their own ambitions.
Would you like to learn more about Christ? Would you like to take your stand with us and refuse to be silenced about this greatest love ever shown for man. Email us: dalsmelser@aol.com. Check our web site: www.nwchurchofchrist.net

"If God Would Show Me a Miracle, I Would Believe." Wanna Bet?

How many times have I heard someone with an, "It’s-God’s-fault" attitude, and superior tone say, "If God would perform a miracle for me I would believe in Him." Don’t be too sure such a person is being completely honest. Jesus worked many miracles while on earth as evidence that he indeed was from God. Yet many who actually saw those miracles refused to believe. It turned out that their own personal desires and interests were more determinative than what their eyes clearly saw. They would not believe anything that required them to do or give, what they did not wish.
Jesus entered a synagogue on the sabbath to teach and saw there a man with a withered hand. It was not just a sore hand, or with some unseen pain, it was visibly shrunken and shriveled. Jesus told the man to stretch forth the hand and he miraculously made it whole. The people clearly saw a miracle. And their response? "But they were filled with madness and communed with one another what they might do to Jesus" (Lk. 6:11). He violated their traditions and clergy-made laws about the Sabbath. They preferred their traditional ways to the changes required in following him.
On another occasion Jesus healed a man known to have been blind all his life. And what did the religious leaders do? They called the healed man and put him on trial, demanding that he renounce Jesus as a sinner. When he would not, they kicked the healed man out of the synagogue (Jn.9:34).
Then there was the miraculous feeding of the 5,000 with five loaves and two fish, after which there were 12 baskets full of left over food. Surely those present would follow him the rest of their lives. It would seem that way, but when Jesus denounced their materialism and selfishness, saying that food was more important to them than Jesus’ credentials of Messiahship, and when he insisted they must partake of him, they turned and walked away from him (Jn. 6:66).
Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Many witnesses were there from Jerusalem attesting that Lazarus had been dead and in a closed tomb for 4 days. And the response? Instead of believing, Jesus’ opponents tried to kill Lazarus and destroy the evidence. They were afraid that if the people followed Jesus, the Romans would remove them from power. They plotted about what they could do about Jesus, "for this man does many signs" (Jn. 11:47).
So what people were and what they were most interested in was more important to them than what the miracles indicated about Jesus. He said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Mt. 5:8). But for those who had pride in their own intellectual superiority, they didn’t see God (Mt. 11:25-26), miracles notwithstanding.
God could have had his word written to appeal to whomever he wanted. He could have had it written so that only nuclear physicists understood it. But he had it revealed in such a way that the pure in heart could see it. So that those seeking truth, really objectively seeking truth above all else, could see it. Those who have their own reputations and power to maintain, those who treasure their own religious traditions and preferences ahead of truth, and those who just want to sin, will never see the truth about Jesus — even if they saw a miracle.