For 30 years, Doreen Burley of Rawstenstall, England polished her strange and lovely ornament. She let her grandchildren play with it, always returning it to its prominent place on the mantel. In March of 1988 she learned something about her ornament: It was a live bomb! 

The ornament seemed so harmless, but imagine the possible horrible consequences if it finally did what it was created to do. 

Donald Marquis wrote a poem based on an imaginary conversation between a rat and a moth. The rat asked a hard question: “Why do moths fly into candles and other bright lights and risk getting themselves fried to death?”

The answer is very instructive: “We get bored with routine and crave beauty and excitement. Fire is beautiful. We know that if we get too close it will kill us.  And what does that matter?  It is better to be happy for a moment and be burned up with beauty, than to live a long time and be bored all the while.”

Surely this must be the same kind of irrational logic used by those who deliberately hurt themselves physically or emotionally just for a few minutes of excitement and pleasure. 

Everybody does dumb things in life once in a while – dumb things that can be called sin. We give in to temptation. Hurtful words are said. Harmful deeds are done. 

Some even justify the behavior, thinking, “Why not, as long as I don’t hurt anyone but myself?”  

Why not? Because when we give in to sin, it breaks God’s heart. Our sins hurt God. Our sins hurt ourselves.

No one is perfect. No one is without sin. The sin in our lives keeps us from a deep, loving relationship with God. It keeps us from recognizing the deep meaning of the resurrection, that Jesus Christ willingly died for us on the cross.

We have entered the season of Lent, a season of reflection, repentance, and reconciliation. Reflection means taking a serious look at your life and discerning what you have done or are doing to displease God.

Repentance means admitting the wrongs we have done, asking forgiveness, and turning away from such behavior.

Reconciliation means reconnecting with God, and working to strengthen our relationships with him.

These are challenging things to do, but so worth it!

The Rev. Mark Broadhead is pastor at Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church and First Presbyterian Church of Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Reflection, repentance, reconciliation are Lent challenges

In his book "What’s So Amazing About Grace," Philip Yancy wrote this:

“Jesus forgave the thief hanging on a cross, knowing full well the thief had converted out of plain fear. That thief would never study the Bible, never attend synagogue or church, and never make amends to those he had wronged. He simply said, ‘Jesus remember me,’ and Jesus promised, ‘Today you will be with me in paradise.’ It was another shocking reminder that grace does not depend on what we have done for God, but rather what God has done for us.” 

It is important to remember that grace is one of the most important aspects of theology that separates Christianity from almost all other religious traditions. 

A number of years ago there was a conference on comparative world religions. Wise and scholarly persons were in a spirited debate about what is unique about Christianity. 

Someone suggested it was the concept of the incarnation, the idea that God took human form in Jesus. But someone quickly said, “Well, actually, other faiths believe that God appears in human form.” 

Another suggested it was the resurrection – the belief that death is not the final word. Someone slowly shook his head. Other religions have accounts of people returning from the dead.

As the debate wore on, noted educator and author C.S. Lewis walked into the room. He sat down and took in the conversation. At a break in the din, he asked, “What’s all this rumpus about?” 

Everyone turned in his direction. Trying to explain themselves they said, “We’re debating what’s unique about Christianity.”

“Oh, that’s easy,” Lewis said. “It’s grace.” 

The room fell silent. Lewis told them that Christianity alone claims God’s love comes free of charge, no strings attached. No other religion makes that claim.

After a moment someone commented that Lewis had a point. Buddhists, for example, follow an eight-fold path to enlightenment. Hindus believe in karma, that your actions continually affect the way the world will treat you. Someone else observed the Jewish code of the law implies God has requirements for people to be acceptable to him.

At the end of the discussion everyone concluded Lewis had a point. Only Christianity dares to proclaim God’s love is unconditional. It is an unconditional love called grace.

Christians boldly proclaim that grace really has precious little to do with us, our inner resolve, or our lack of inner resolve. Rather, grace is all about God – and God freely giving to us the gifts of forgiveness, mercy, and love.

Isn’t that amazing?

The Rev. Mark Broadhead is pastor at Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church and First Presbyterian Church of Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Grace sets Christianity apart from other religions

Many years ago a pastoral counselor asked me what I thought W.M.Y.H.S. stood for. Because it ends with H.S., my first inclination was to think it was initials for a high school.

After pondering several permutations, I had to give up.

He smiled and gave me the answer:What Makes Your Heart Sing?

At the time I had been struggling with some matters regarding the pressures of being a pastor – things they never warned us about in seminary. That simple set of initials brought matters back into proper perspective.

I will admit that I have allowed the negativity that is sweeping the globe get to me.

Over the past couple of years I have observed horrific partisanship going on in our government, the manner in which people treat one another with malice and contempt, have seen and read about the struggles of people in various parts of our nation and world who are simply trying to survive. They are ignored by megalomaniacs in positions that could help, but don’t.

Have you allowed yourself to get swept up in the wave of negativity that is sweeping our globe?

If so, I suggest asking yourself the same question I asked myself after hearing it for the first time 30 years ago. W.M.Y.H.S? What makes your heart sing?

What is it, as a person of faith, that helps you look beyond the negativity in our nation and world?

What is it that helps you understand and accept that in spite of all that is going on, you are still a person of faith and can live it to its fullest?

What is it that sets your heart to dancing, gladdening your heart, lifting your spirits, filling you with joy?

Paul said to the Romans, and says to you, too: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)

Paul wrote to the church in Galatia: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23)

I invite you to remember what makes your heart sing. Focus on those things. Focus on the presence of the Lord in your life. It will not make matters in the world disappear, but it will allow you to reclaim the joy of the Lord, and pray for his solutions.

The Rev. Mark Broadhead is pastor at Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church and First Presbyterian Church of Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: What makes your heart sing? Do that

WEEK IN RELIGION 

The Virginia Senate passed a bill earlier this week that would allow church goers to bring guns into places of worship. The bill reverses a law from the colonial era that forbids people from bringing any dangerous weapon into a church service without "good and sufficient reason." The bill passed the Senate, but was split down party lines as 21 Republicans voted for the bill and 19 democrats voted no. Republican Senator Richard H. Black said the bill will help people defend themselves in the event of a mass shooting in a house of worship. "These folks are uniquely vulnerable because they’re line up in a church pew; exiting the pew is very difficult. It makes them the ultimate target … Either you cower in place or you fight back," Black said. The bill will now to to the Virginia House of Representatives.

– More Content Now 

STUDY SAYS 

Less than half of Americans see America as moral example 

According to a recent Public Religion Research Institute survey, less than half of Americans view the U.S. as a good moral example for the rest of the world. The study found 40 percent of the public believes the U.S. sets a good moral example for the rest of the world, while 58 percent believe the U.S. does not. 

– More Content Now

GOOD BOOK? 

"The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism" by Jemar Tisby 

"The Color of Compromise" takes readers on a historical journey: from America’s early colonial days through slavery and the Civil War, covering the tragedy of Jim Crow laws and the victories of the Civil Rights era, to today’s Black Lives Matter movement. Author Jemar Tisby reveals the obvious – and the far more subtle – ways the American church has compromised what the Bible teaches about human dignity and equality.

– Zondervan 

THE WORD 

Nicene Creed: The profession of the Christian faith shared by the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Catholic churches and most Protestant churches. 

– ReligionStylebook.com 

RELIGION AROUND THE WORLD

According to the CIA World Factbook, the religious makeup of Cyprus is: 

• Orthodox Christian: 89.1 percent 
• Roman Catholic: 2.9 percent 
• Protestant/Anglican: 2 percent 
• Muslim: 1.8 percent 
• Buddhist: 1 percent 
• Other: 1.4 percent 
• Unknown: 1.1 percent 
• None: 0.6 percent 

– More Content Now

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Virginia Senate passes bill to allow guns in church

The young German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed on April 9, 1945 in the Flossenbürg concentration camp, just weeks before the United States Infantry liberated the camp. The Nazis hanged Bonhoeffer, yet one might say his fate was sealed by a decision he made in the U.S. in 1939.

He had previously spent a year in New York at Union Seminary, and had received an invitation to return, which he accepted. But after two months, he realized he had made a mistake. “I have come to the conclusion,” he wrote, “that I made a mistake in coming to America. I must live through this difficult period in our national history with the people of Germany. I will have no right to participate in the reconstruction of Christian life in Germany after the war if I do not share the trials of this time with my people.” He returned to Germany and was eventually imprisoned and executed.

People who know of Bonhoeffer’s criticism of German politics might be unaware of his criticism of American theology – or the lack thereof. While at Union Seminary in 1930-31, he complained: “There is no theology here.” During his abbreviated visit in 1939, he wrote in his diary that the worship service at a prestigious New York church was “Simply unbearable … the whole thing a discreet, opulent, self-satisfied celebration of religion … Do the people really not know that one can do as well or better without ‘religion’ – if only it weren’t for God himself and his word?”

Bonhoeffer was distressed to find that God was optional in American churches. On his first visit, religionists in America were optimistic, buoyant even, in their hope of bringing the justice of the kingdom of God – even if they were not expecting God to come along with it. But when he returned in 1939, things had changed. He found a religion that was still without God, but was also, to a significant degree, without hope. A darker theological mood in Europe, the Great Depression in America, and Reinhold Niebuhr’s pessimistic Moral Man and Immoral Society had taken the wind out of its sails.

In 1939, Bonhoeffer prophetically wrote about the American church: “For me there is no doubt that someday a storm will blow forcefully into this religious ‘hand-out,’ if God himself is still in the plan at all.” A storm has certainly blown across American religion and its landscape has been altered.

Religion has been in decline – some might say free-fall – for decades. Many people who still believe in God have completely rejected organized religion. A recent study out of Georgetown University found that formerly churched young adults “perceive organized religion as having corrupted Jesus’s fundamental teachings” and “believe they can live more moral lives without the baggage of religion.”

Perhaps Bonhoeffer would see this as a positive development. After all, toward the end of his life, he wrote, “We are approaching a completely religionless age.” He raised “the question of whether religion is a condition for salvation.” He seemed to posit the need for a “religionless Christianity.”

But for Bonhoeffer, a religionless Christianity was not a church-less Christianity, as it is for many moderns. The religion he hoped to jettison was the “anthropocentric … liberal, mystical, pietistic, ethical theology” that finds its origin in human aspiration and its goal in human fulfillment.

If Bonhoeffer were still alive, his keen eye would detect the same condition present in today’s churchless, individualistic spirituality that he found in the churchy Protestantism of 1930. It doesn’t really matter whether God is employed to enhance the life of an unfulfilled individual or to restructure the life of an unjust society: God is not an employee and humans are certainly not his employer.

These cases of mistaken identity stem from an underlying disorder: The absence of – or perhaps the unwillingness to hear – the word of God. On his first trip to New York, Bonhoeffer reported with dismay that he had not heard the gospel preached in a white American church. He would certainly not hear it preached in today’s therapeutic, individualistic spirituality either. But he would say once again that the gospel of Jesus Christ is what people, whether religious or religionless, needed then and still need today.

Shayne Looper is the pastor of Lockwood Community Church in Branch County, Michigan. Read more at shaynelooper.com.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Is a religionless Christianity needed?

Note: Rev. Kilgore was contacted for comments on his retirement, but was working on funeral services for a family member as well as a move. He was therefore unable to comment on this article.

CRESTVIEW — First Baptist Church of Crestview will hold a reception for the Rev. Alan Kilgore, who retired Dec. 23.

The ceremony is 1-3 p.m. Jan. 26 at the church's chapel, part of its complex at 171 Hickory Ave. W.

When Kilgore became FBC's pastor in 2006, the chapel was too small to accommodate its growing congregation of over 500 people.

"People were actually leaving because they couldn't find a seat in the sanctuary," Gayle Faircloth, Sunday School teacher and choir member, said.

At that point, Kilgore began taking the steps necessary to expand the church grounds and better serve their needs.

Faircloth, the church's Sunday School teacher, and her husband Albert served on the search committee when they were looking for a new pastor.

"We wanted a pastor who was mission minded, concerned about the people of our community — someone who could relate and encourage them in their walk with Christ," she said.

One of First Baptist's associate pastors, Randall Jenkins, said Kilgore has shown him and the church's other three associate pastors how to minister without favoritism, recognition of status or economic standing.

"He's been the pastor, preaching the full counsel of God's word and staying true to the scripture," Jenkins said. He provided an example of being a servant to others in their walk with Christ. He said they have been able to see FBC grow in spiritual depth as a result. First Baptist has become less about the church building and more about the service the church body provides throughout the community.

Ida Faye Powell, a congregation member, said Kilgore has had an excellent impact on the church. building the sanctuary, bringing in new people to our church, and he has a heart for everybody to know the Lord," she said.

She said one thing she will remember him for the most is his support before her husband, Howard, died in 2007.  Howard, who had pancreatic cancer.

Before he passed away, Alan came to our house and asked to talk to Howard.

'I want to be sure that I know where Howard is going when he dies," she said. "He went to talk to him (came back up front and) said, 'OK, I know where he's going.' That impressed upon me that he wanted to be sure about Howard's salvation before he passed away," she said.

Jenkins said a committee will be formed to locate a pastor for Kilgore's position.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: First Baptist Church to host reception for retiring pastor

You/me. Us/them. We/they. After I got done reading the newspapers this morning I found myself reflecting that many things in our society seem to be based on a contest. 

In our nation, the political agendas are “us against them.” In sporting events, it is “us against them” or “you against me.” In business ventures, it is “us against them.”

Some will say, “That’s the American way! That’s what capitalism is all about! See who can get the most customers. See who can outdo the others. See who can be the champion of the world!” 

Religions of the world are caught up in the same kinds of contests. Christianity vs. Islam vs. Hinduism vs. Judaism, et cetera. 

Within Christianity it is the same as well. Baptist vs. United Methodist vs. Presbyterian vs. Lutheran vs. Roman Catholic.  

There are way too many facets of life that divide us.

When I first read the following phrase I was confused because I read it incorrectly. See if you can get it the first time through: “United we stand, untied we fall.” 

Did you catch the difference between the two phrases? Check it. Make sure you did. 

When we are untied from one another, we fall apart. There is no unity. There is no support. There is no encouragement. As a matter of fact, some will take matters to the point of looking for a spot of weakness, then attempt to exploit it. It then becomes “winner takes all.” 

When we are united together, we will stand tall and firm. We can be healthy emotionally and spiritually. There is no need to be in competition with other people to determine who is better than another, because each person’s worth is known and understood.

1 Peter 3:8-9 states, “All of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing. It is for this that you were called – that you might inherit a blessing.” 

Can you live like that? Can you have sympathy for others? Can you allow yourself to accept the fact that another may have a differing position from yours without condemning that person? Can you have a tender heart? Can you allow yourself to be humble? Can you refrain from seeking revenge? 

Now, more than ever, we need to find common ground and become united in it.

The Rev. Mark Broadhead is pastor at Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church and First Presbyterian Church of Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Seek common ground instead of discord

One of my recommended Bible readings for tomorrow is from the prophet Isaiah. In Chapter 43, verse 1, the Lord says, “Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.”

This was written during a time when God’s people were held in captivity. They were not able to live life as they had hoped. In some ways it seemed as though God had abandoned them.

But God spoke through the prophet to remind them he had not abandoned them. He said, “Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you.”

I love God’s gentle words there. It can be very easy to be afraid when we do not know what the future holds. It can be frightening when our imaginations run wild listening to the news, or various opinions. But God says to us in the midst of our fears and uncertainties, “Do not be afraid.” That is an easy thing to hear, but what assurances are there that God is going to take care of us?

In the next phrase he says, “I have called you by name, you are mine.”

Something very few people know about Old Testament times is the meaning of calling someone or something by name – giving a name. The naming of something or someone implied “ownership,” and that the one giving the name is obligated to care for the one who is named.

When God said he had called his people by name, he was reminding them of his promise to take care of them. He was reminding them that they belonged to him, and he would fulfill his responsibilities for them.

Centuries later when Jesus was baptized by his cousin, John, in the Jordan River, God called Jesus by a wonderful name. He called him “The Beloved.”

Do you realize by extension, you are God’s beloved as well? God knows your name, has called you by your name. You belong to God and he will take care of you. God has said to you in the whispers of your heart, “I have called YOU by name. You are mine. Don’t be afraid. I am walking beside you all the way.”

I invite you to ponder this for a while. As you do, listen carefully so you can hear how God is whispering in your heart, encouraging you to remember and accept the claim that you belong to him.

The Rev. Mark Broadhead is pastor at Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church and First Presbyterian Church of Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: The meaning behind the scripture 'I have called you by name'