Calvin Synod Herald, 1985 (85. évfolyam, 1-5. szám)

1985-02-01 / 1. szám

CALVIN SYNOD HERALD-8 —

REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA

A person who has schizophrenia can contact several diseases by believing that he has a certain sickness. The mind believes that a disease is in the body and the body will produce the symptoms. But if you use your faith and your willpower even if you have a disease you can believe that it will go away and your faith can make you well. God has given us the ability to cope with our sicknesses. But it does not mean that now you can break all his laws because your faith can heal you. You need to eat properly, you need to sleep and rest. If these laws are not obeyed sickness may come in.

There is also another sickness, the sickness of the soul. That has to be healed as well as the physical body. Your soul must be nourished also. During this Lenten season give the proper spiritual nourishments to your soul and you will discover a new life. Build up your spiritual strength by praying and reading the Bible and you will have the inner strength to fight the outer battles. I urge every one of you to use the faith which God has given to us and let us use our willpower to reach all those goals which God has destined us to reach. Not our will but God’s will be done. Paul Kántor

Scripture reading: Mark 5:1—8. Text: “To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that utterance may be given me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystry of the gospel, for wich lam an ambassador in chains; that 1 may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak. " Ephesians 6:18—20.

Introduction: Both, our scripture reading and text of meditation, mention chain. Let this artifact become the center of our attention today. But you may ask; what spiritual value is represented by a chain? Please be patient and come with me. First of all, Jesus used not only living beings for His parables but also lifeless objects like the coin in Luke 15:8—10; or the net in Matthew 13:47—50; or the salt in Matthew 5:13.

Let us check our “chain reaction”

— There is a sharp contrast between the story of that lunatic man who was bound with chains and apostle Paul’s imprisonment with his feet tied together. That insane man broke the chains, Mark 5:4, but apostle Paul had to tolerate his humiliating confinement. In the first case the mentally ill person’s mind was affected and made himself physically free scaring the people, but apostle Paul was free to preach to gospel even when in chains. If the chain is the symbol of restriction and limitation let us ask ourselves which part of our being is tied up? Are our hands and feet immobile? Is our heart oppressed? Are our feelings strangled? Are our good intentions and good will restrained? Do other people bind us with chains

BRIEF MEDITATION

or do we manage to entangle ourselves in a net of problems? “The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.” Johnson.

— The uniformity of the links of a chain is good to keep in mind. Would you buy a chain and would it be useful for anything if the links were of various sizes and shapes. On one hand we like to be different, preferably better and more than others (why did big cars become status symbols?) and on the other do not we find excuses to let others do the job? How many times did you hear and/or tell this proverb; every chain is as strong as its weakest link! What is a broken chain good for? And has it ever happened that you were that link that broke?

— You can pull a chain but cannot push it.

Have you seen how the motor of a car is lifted out with a chain hoist? The various chains have innumerable purposes but they are alike in one respect; they are pulled! You can do a lot, achieve something great, have wonderful results, even beat the odds if you are willing to be the first one to pull, continue, and persevere. Not much will be done just by pushing others and your luck too far.

— Any chain that is supposed to hold something must be fastened firmly to a solid base with one end. Is not it true again that if a link holds the following one at the very same time it is held by the previous one? And where is the first link attached to? If nobody or nothing holds the very first link what is the last one good

for? An expression has been quoted frequently nowadays: “Just hang in there.” But on what? 1 am not so much afraid of the great depth under me but rather of that untied chain on which I am supposed to “just to hang in there”. What is your life fastened to? What are your convictions anchored in? What is your faith rooted in? (and how deep?) Who is the foundation of your salvation? “For no other foundation can any one lay that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 3:11.

— Nobody knows who invented the chain but it is almost sure that the very first links were made to hold things together. After so many years or rather centuries as the chain was perfected it was figured out that the smaller chains can be used for decoration and jewelry. Did you see grandpa’s gold pocket watch with the nice long gold chain? And does not this teach us that nobody can become precious unless he or she is useful first?

Conclusion: Usually two opposing suggestions are offered to correct our situation; on one hand more freedom and benefits should be given but on the other more restriction and work should be expected. Probably both are right to some extent, however, what we do not know for sure is; who should enjoy more freedom and benefits and who should be subjected to more restriction and work? Let the different roles of the ideal chain come to our help; if the spiritual chain will tie us to God, keep us together, restrain us from doing wrong, and drive us in the right direction we will have less to complain about and more to be thankful f°r- Rev. Alexander Jalso

ONE GREAT HOUR OF SHARING

One Great Hour of Sharing is coming! The suggested date for this United Church of Christ all-church offering is March 17.

The 1985 One Great Hour of Sharing poster, now displayed in many UCC churches, features the words. “That All May Have Life.” and a picture of the planet Earth.

Through One Great Hour of Sharing, we can help to fulfill Jesus’ intention when he said. “I have come in order that you might have life — life in all its fullness.”

In the United States and overseas, our gifts to One Great Hour of Sharing give more life to more of the world’s people in many forms: education, agricultural development, medical aid, and disaster relief. In Pakistan, for example, we help to support medical services for the more than 135,000 Afghan refugees living in camps along the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan. This past year, funds from One Great Hour of Sharing were made available to members of the community and to the Barneveld Congregational Church (UCC) in Barneveld, Wisconsin, to meet emergency needs following a damaging tornado in June.

We in the UCC have shared the fullness of our lives with many others in the world through One Great Hour of Sharing in years past. We can continue to help work toward the goal “That All May Have Life” by giving generously to One Great Hour of Sharing this year.

TOILET PAPER FROM BIBLES

(Cont. from page 1)

From the words and letters appearing on the toilet papers it could be established that the Bibles used for their manufacture were from the 1957 Edition of the International Bible Society, printed in Holland. On one roll of toilet paper, for example, there were 16 Biblical fragments of which the exact original location of eight words and numbers could be established.

See the following;

1. TER (PETER) The First Letter of Peter, 2. El (LEVELEI) Letters, 3. Sere (Seregeknek Ura) Lord of Hosts from Psalm 84:3,4. magato (magatokat) yourselves, from I Corinthians 13:5, 5. 14. Én (Én leszek) I will from II Samuel 7:14, 6. Itáli (Itáliából) to Italy from Acts 27:1, 7. Izrael (Izrael) Israel, 8. Sinai 9. raelt (Izraelt), 10. 6.16 Cross reference of Matthew 14:1,11 eró't power from Acts 1:8,12. poko (pokol) hell, 13. Ur (Uram) My Lord from Matthew 25:27, 14. rész Chapter as small print reference, 15. Ézsau Esau, 16. v. 1st (v. Isten) God.