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Print July 24, 2006 The St. Louis area has been ravaged with storms the last few days. Power lines down, trees—huge trees down, buildings caved in, and 500,000 people out of power. It’s amazing how in a matter of minutes so much damage can be done.
On a lighter note, my guys are away for three nights and four days for their manly pilgrimage. The reports I have received so far—they are having quite the time and although I (as always) miss them terribly, I am using this time to paint yet another room of our houseJ!
Re: “Pentecost Sunday Jubilation with Bishop T.D. Jakes” The idea of having T.D. Jakes coming into a UPC church is, to some, nearly heretical. I would not be one of those who would point fingers or stand in judgment, but I do have to offer a couple words in response to the article written by Bro. Jolly. First of all, it seems that we attribute the results that were seen that day to the man in the pulpit. It is this kind of preacher-worship that must be avoided. Bishop Jakes is a man, nothing more and nothing less, who was used by God in this instance. Let us be careful to not give Bishop Jakes the praise that should be given only to Jesus Christ. Second, why must we wait for a big name like Bishop Jakes to come to town to expect great things from God? The biblical precedent is set and we hear it preached often that God responds to expectancy among His people. Bro. Jolly, in his article, said that the church had undergone 50 days of prayer and fasting, leadership meetings, and altar-working seminars in order to prepare for the move of God. Does anybody else see what I see? This is faith! So, if faith says, “God is going to do something great, so let’s get ready,” what does our lack of preparation for “normal” services say? It says that we don’t really expect to encounter the Living God every Sunday. You get what you expect from God. When we don’t prepare, we don’t get results! It was the faith of the leaders passed on (through preparation) to the people and ministered to by the Word that brought about such great results on Pentecost Sunday. It was not the man in the pulpit. Personalities are great. Some are more able to communicate the truths of the Bible into everyday, digestible language and these men tend to see more results when they preach. However, we must get past preacher-worship and begin to put our faith where it really belongs: Jesus Christ, the Word of God. Kyle Houk, Maryland
Re: “And While We’re On the Subject…” Hi, I read your article and I wanted to make a comment or two. I have not read Harry Potter books nor do I know anything about Rowlings and her relation to the witchcraft. Your article may be an attempt to dismiss the concerns of the Apostolics and skeptics alike. All I want to ask is, if God is against witchcraft, why do we need to use witchcraft to achieve good? I believe Harry Potter does lots of good deeds and he does them with the aid of witchcraft, but if good can be achieved with witchcraft, why would God hate it? Or why would we Apostolics condone it. I am very young person so I am not talking from the perspective of Apostolic tradition. We need ask simple question to ourselves. Are we trying to somehow justify it is not too bad, to do things that we like to do? Vishwanatha Srinivasan, Connecticut
Re: “Louisiana District Camp Article” As a lifelong member of the UPCI, who’s attended camp meeting every single year since I was four years old, I really enjoyed reading the article about the Louisiana District Camp Meeting. The writer, however, brought up a subject that I’ve been thinking about for months. She mentioned Katrina and Rita, how those storms affected our churches and what’s happened since then—only she didn’t give details (since that wasn’t the thrust of her article). Since I’m a land-locked westerner from Colorado, and a long way from the devastation brought on by Katrina and Rita, I haven’t heard many details and would love for someone from that area of the country to tell the rest of us some of those stories. I’m sure there are stories of encouragement, hope, and lessons that we could apply to difficulties in our own lives. Anyone? I love ninetyandnine.com, by the way. Karen Hemmes, Colorado
I just discovered this web site, and I really hate that I was not aware of it sooner. I have really enjoyed the array of information included in the site, as well as seeing some familiar names from my days of Bible Quizzing and Youth on Missions trips! Keep up the good work, and I will be visiting often! Summer Masters Powell, Louisiana
Re: “The Next-Door Harvest” I, too, feel the same conviction to these seemingly unbearable truths. As I let the operation of God’s love have its free course, I find that liberty where the Spirit is, is mostly for God to love them as He would to do. It’s almost like we are blinded by our own desires for our own liberty, rather than allowing God to be God and for His own delights. After all, isn’t He the head of the body and we are to follow after the Spirit? Do you think it is disappointing to God sometime, when we think it’s our liberty to possess whatever we think we want or need rather than His liberty to walk this earth and do of His own good pleasure, as we follow after the Spirit? Anthony Madrid, Idaho
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