Magyar Egyház, 2006 (85. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
2006-07-01 / 3. szám
4. oldal MAGYAR EGYHÁZ Divided Or United? Scripture reading: John 17:20-26. Text: "MAY THEY BE BROUGHT TO COMPLETE UNITY to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." John 17:23/b. This text is part of Jesus' high priestly prayer as our Lord approached His Father in behalf of his disciples. See John 17 the whole chapter. As we observe the World Communion Sunday on the first Sunday in October, again our unity, togetherness, and cooperation should be in the center. Life can also be defined as a constant struggle for being united and against being divided. May we see this complex issue through the words of our Lord as He had prayed for his disciples. LET US PERCEIVE THE GOOD INTENTION OF GETTING CLOSER TO EACH OTHER ON FOUR LEVELS. AMONG THE MEMBERS IN A CONGREGATION. Praise the Lord if we can say that in our congregation we are able to understand and agree with each other. We can cooperate and even forgive for the sake of our ministry. I am sure you also heard of congregations that split over some controversies from which, unfortunately, there are many. What are the basic roots? We may have different or even opposing experiences, opinions, education, interests, personalities, and life styles. (Be reasonable, do it my way!) One of the tasks of the leaders in the congregations is to maintain peace and unity. The annoying statement heard so often by the clergy is: "I quit." AMONG THE CONGREGATIONS IN THE COMMUNITY. Here we have reached the greatest achievement through the ecumenical movement. The word: "ecumenical" means "worldwide" or "the whole earth" which comes from the Greek word: "oikoumene." This word occurs several times in the New Testament. It is wonderful how congregations belonging to various denominations can work together in a city. Think bout the ministerial association when the clergy of different faiths serve as friends and fellow pastors. The problems might be; competition, namely, alluring church members from other congregations (AKA sheep stealing) as well as making self-appreciating statements such as: "we are the best Christians," "only in this church is the Bible interpreted correctly," "only in this church is Jesus Christ preached purely," "only in this church is charity practiced sincerely," and "only our church members will be saved." AMONG THE DENOMINATIONS IN A COUNTRY. It is a harder problem to solve, however, several denominations have merged, thus they are called "UNITED . . ." The trend is understanding each other better, accepting the ordination of the clergy of other denominations, theologians (scientists of faith and religion) have friendly discussion solving differences in religious teachings (dogmatics) and church organizations; how the church's structure is set up, for instance, should we have a bishop or not? Here the stumbling blocks are, tradition, centuries-old teachings, for instance should ladies become clergy or not? We are afraid of a "SUPER CHURCH" where the hierarchy would act like a government of a country. We are more comfortable in our small church that acts, lives, and serves as a big family. We cannot give up our confessions, the teaching of the fathers, the legacy of the previous generations, and the way we have served and worshiped God for centuries. AMONG RELIGIONS IN THE WORLD. This would require the greatest effort to bring religions of the world closer to each other. If you are a scholar in religious studies (the science of religion) then you know how many noble ideas are common in various religions, for instance, the golden rule: "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 7:12. This concept can be found in religions that do not have Christian roots. In this relationship we face serious difficulties, namely, the differences in language, history, culture and in many cases the religion and the respective country's politics are interwoven. Some religion are so different from the other one that there are not many things that they have in common, for instance God or Allah is the only Supreme Being? What is the accepted Holy Scriptures? Yet when it comes to the sanctity of life, loving each other, working for peace and charity we can find common grounds. Against all the odds and differences, we should listen to our Lord as he had prayed to his Father: "I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one." John 17:22. Rev.Alexander J'also, Pastor THE SNEEZE They walked in tandem, each of the ninety-two students filing into the already crowded auditorium. With rich maroon gowns flowing and the traditional caps, they looked almost as grown up as they felt. Dads swallowed hard behind broad smiles, and Moms freely brushed away tears. This class would not pray during the commencements - not by choice, but because of a recent court ruling prohibiting it. The principal and several students were careful to stay within the guidelines allowed by the ruling. They gave inspirational and challenging speeches, but no one mentioned divine guidance and no one asked for blessings on the graduates or their families. The speeches were nice, but they were routine....until the final speech received a standing ovation. A solitary student walked proudly to the microphone. He stood still and silent for just a moment, and then, it happened. All 92 students, every single one of them, suddenly SNEEZED!!!! The student on stage simply looked at the audience and said," GOD BLESS YOU, each and every one of you!" And he walked off stage... The audience exploded into applause. The graduating class found a unique way to invoke God's blessing on their future with or without the court's approval. In God We Trust, United We Stand. (This is a true story; happened at the University of Maryland.) Poll: Nearly One-Third of Americans Believe Bible Word-for-Word A new Gallup poll reveals a long-standing decline in Americans who believe the Bible to be literally true, says a story in the Christian Post. About three out of 10 Americans continue to profess belief in a literal Bible today - a 10 percent drop over the past three decades. More than 1,000 adults were asked to describe their view about the Bible with 28 percent responding that the Bible is the "actual Word of God and is to be taken literally." Poll results saw a 45 to 49 percent increase among those who said the Bible is the inspired Word of God but not everything in it should be taken literally. The survey also recorded a larger increase of Americans who said the Bible is an ancient book of fables, legends, history, and moral precepts. Religion Today Summaries
