Magyar Egyház, 2006 (85. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
2006-10-01 / 4. szám
1 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 9. oldal Paul Harvey says: I don't believe in Santa Claus, but I'm not going to sue somebody for singing a Ho-Ho-Ho song in December. 1 don't agree with Darwin, but I didn't go out and hire a lawyer when my high school teacher taught his theory of evolution. Life, liberty or your pursuit of happiness will not be endangered because someone says a 30-second prayer before a football game. So what's the big deal? It's not like somebody is up there reading the entire book of Acts. They're just talking to a God they believe in and asking him to grant safety to the players on the field and the fans going home from the game. "But it's a Christian prayer," some will argue. Yes, and this is the United States of America, a country founded on Christian principles. According to our very own phone book, Christian churches outnumber all others better than 200-to-l. So what would you expect-somebody chanting Hare Krishna? If I went to a football game in Jerusalem, I would expect to hear a Jewish prayer. If I went to a soccer game in Baghdad, I would expect to hear a Muslim prayer. If I went to a ping pong match in China, I would expect to hear someone pray to Buddha. And I wouldn't be offended. It wouldn't bother me one bit. "But what about the atheists?" is another argument. What about them? Nobody is asking them to be baptized. We're not going to pass the collection plate. Just humor us for 30 seconds. If that's asking too much, bring a Walkman or a pair of ear plugs. Go to the bathroom. Visit the concession stand. Call your lawyer! Unfortunately, one or two will make that call. One or two will tell thousands what they can and cannot do. I don't think a short prayer at a football game is going to shake the world's foundations. Christians are just sick and tired of turning the other cheek while our courts strip us of all our rights. Our parents and grandparents taught us to pray before eating; to pray before we go to sleep. Our Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. Now a handful of people and their lawyers are telling us to cease praying. God help us. And if that last sentence offends you, well.. just sue me. The silent majority has been silent too long. It's time we let that one or two who scream loud enough to be heard ... that the vast majority don't care what they want. It is time the majority rules! It's time we tell them, you don't have to pray; you don't have to say the pledge of allegiance; you don't have to believe in God or attend services that honor Him. That is your right, and we will honor your right. But by golly, you are no longer going to take our rights way. We are fighting back .... and we WILL WIN! God bless us one and all, even those who denounce Him. God bless America, despite all her faults. She is still the greatest nation of all. God bless our service men who are fighting to protect our right to pray and worship God. This year be the year the silent majority is heard and we put God back as the foundation of our families and institutions. Why go to Church? If you’re spiritually alive, you're going to love this! If you're spiritually dead, you won't want to read it. If you're spiritually curious, there is still hope! Why Go To Church? A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. "I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can’t remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all." This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher: "I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this. They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!" When you are DOWN to nothing.... God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible! Thank God for our physical AND our spiritual nourishment! "When Satan is knocking at your door, simply say, "Jesus, could you get that for me?" Church Suffering Cultural Drift? Does the church need to determine what it is before figuring out what it does? Christianity Today's Mark Galli cites two quotes from evangelical leaders that touch on the challenge of Christianity meeting the culture. Greg Laurie said, "The church has made such tremendous strides that now my only concern is that we're so cutting edge, we're so cool, and we're so hip. But are we still preaching the authentic gospel message?" Franklin Graham commented: "The most important challenge that will face evangelical relief in the next 50 years is to make sure we don't dilute our faith as we respond to hurting people around the world." Galli writes, "While evangelicals have been adept at adapting to culture, we have not always been able to retain a critical distance from it — being in the world, but not of it. The reasons are many." As examples, historian David Bebbington notes how the Wesleys' "optimism of grace" fit the Enlightenment, while the Keswick movement's "victorious life" philosophy owed much to 19thcentury romanticism. Theologian David Wells notes how different segments of the church are echoed in secular institutions: preaching (teaching), evangelism (sales), ritual (law/courts), counseling (casework), church administration (business). As a result, evangelicals have lost "their capacity to think theologically," Wells says. Galli adds that, "because we pay little attention to church history, we fail to gain critical distance from our own time and culture." Survey: Young Adults Want Genuine Church The Christian Post reports that more studies are taking a closer look at young adults and are finding the church is having a fading influence in their lives. According to a new LifeWay survey, the primary factor is the church's inability to minister to young people during their transition stage. The survey measured people age 18 to 34 and found that this particular group's greatest need is community. But once they end high school, churches send them away to their next life stage without accountability. "After graduation, they (the church) give you a pat on the back and say, 'when you start a family, we'll be here for you,"' said one respondent. The need for community was further confirmed when 71 percent of young adult churchgoers said they want to participate in small-group meetings to discuss life application of Scripture. Social action also proved to be another essential element to this generation with 66 percent of churchgoers and 47 percent of nonchurchgoers agreeing.
