Pastor's Corner

January, 2004

2003 is behind us, and a new page of history is going to unfold before our eyes. I couldn’t help but wonder what is going to happen in the world? As I was writing this, the US government raised the national threat level to “orange,” indicating a high risk of terrorist attack. In fact, we are seeing more and more “suicide bombings” all over the world—Middle East, Russia , Europe , and Asia . As serious as this problem presents, the world is divided on what to do. What kind of a world will 2004 and beyond brings us? Do you ever wonder where we are heading in history? I do.

Major issues in this country also continue to confront us. There are still opposite opinion on whether or not we should be at war with Iraq . Is economy on the rise? Are we re-defining family? Can homosexuals be legally married? Will abortion be made available with the “Day After Pill” without a prescription? Sex and violence are the center of movies and TV screens. Without either one or both, the “show” will not sell. Deception and half-truths are norms in the corporate and political world. I believe the scandals we’ve been hearing are only a tip of an iceberg. It makes you wonder whether you can survive if you don’t play along with them. Where did all our “moral values” go? Truthfully, as I look ahead to the future, I see a clear picture, but this picture isn’t a promising one. It is bleak. My bleak outlook is not intentional, but sometimes, we do need to face the facts head-on.

Abraham Lincoln once said these words, “we have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have been preserved these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, and no nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us! It behooves us, then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our sin and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.” Can you imagine he said that in 1863? What a prophecy! Or maybe not; maybe it is a fact. When people push God away, they are pushing God’s protection and provision away as well. We have come to be so independent from God that we have made ourselves gods without knowing it. This didn’t happen overnight. It is not an eruption. It is a corrosion.

Before I sign off, I encourage Christians to stand firm in your belief of God and reliance in Him. Don’t go with the “flow,” because it will lead you to destruction. If you are still seeking for meaning and purpose of life, remember that this world doesn’t provide an eternal purpose. I hope 2004 is a year of awakening for you, your family, and the country.

Pastor Larry