InDependence Day
On behalf of the Elder team, we hope that you had a great Independence Day! Can you imagine what it would have required of you to join the United States Army back in the late 1700’s, and risk everything in order to “possibly” become free from the rule of an overseas king? If you were father, husband, and dad, and had a farm, how were things to go if you did not come back? If you were his wife, how would you view your husband’s decision to serve?
Having read up on a number of wars, and being a veteran, what really interests me is that there are (and always have been) veterans who have lifestyles that we might not approve of, who may not have served for all the best reasons, BUT who ended up doing more than their share to keep our country intact. My feeling is that should we ever run into an active-duty member or veteran (and they don’t appear how we might like), I think the goal is to see them as Jesus saw the woman at the well— someone that God wants in His Kingdom— and to thank them for their service. They matter. We all do.
Pastor Jed and I have been teamed up to do Pastor / Elder visits. How wonderful it has been. One of the things we have heard from folks is the idea that should Hope get more involved with you, or less (we tend to be at “less” currently). Having been a minister’s son, I can tell you first hand that I like “less.” This is not to say that we will stay this way, this is my having seen what churches who are more involved sometimes do. Example: [Phone call] “Hello, you were not in church today, is there a reason for your absence?”
I am also aware of church-goers who would try to manipulate such churches by not attending and then having a complaint session ready when the church representative would call.
Does hearing about this make you ill, as it does me? I am very thankful that Hope does not try to guilt us into being here. We are all volunteers, and “Yes! you have independence at Hope!” . . . or do you?
Well . . . God does not want our independence from Him. He wants our Dependence on Him and on His Word. He wants us to acknowledge His Son and His sacrifice for our sins. He would like us to choose to come to one of His houses of worship and really worship Him. He would like us to praise Him for His blessings, even those that the world would term “bad.” He would like us to serve Him and to grow the Kingdom of Heaven. He would like us to know that we need not be great in money, status, or anything else, to do the work. He knows that we are wonderfully made (and in His own image) and well equipped. We just need a little faith in the form of our Dependence on Him to see us through this thing we call life.
Tad Nelson, Elder
