Graduates Differ. Do You?

As the school year comes to a close for many thoughts may move towards what we value as graduates.  I recently attended a Baccalaureate service for my nephew and the speaker exhorted the graduates to “seek first the kingdom of God.”  Is this what some graduates seek?  If not what do they “seek first”?  Here is a study that provides some empirical evidence as to what private school administrators think:

WASHINGTON -- The graduates of Protestant Christian schools have different traits than those who attend Catholic and non-religious private schools, U.S. researchers say.  Sociologist David Skunk of the University of Notre Dame and the public policy think tank Cardus says the two-year study surveyed a representative sample of U.S. religious school graduates ages 24-39 to determine the impact of Christian schools on adults.

More Catholic school administrators ranked the university as the top priority, while more Protestant school administrators ranked family as the top emphasis of the school, researchers say.

The research team also surveyed more than 150 Catholic and Protestant school administrators in Canada and the United States to assess the aspirations.

The study found Protestant Christian school graduates:

-- Divorced less and had more children than their Catholic and private school peers.

-- Participated in more relief and development service trips.

-- Have lower incomes, but were more thankful for what they have in life.

-- Attended less competitive colleges and attended fewer years of college.

-- Talked less about politics, participated less in political campaigns and donated less to political causes.

G. Haraksin

Lead Pastor

NewSong Church

Natural Disasters

Here is an article relating to the issue of natural evils.  Eliot Miller is the editor for the Christian Research Journal.  This article was penned back in 2005 yet it applies in 2011 in light of the quake in Japan --and other natural evils.  The content may benefit you personally and as you discuss such issues with others.  Read, learn, be equipped and benefit. G. Haraksin NewSong Church

Putting the Tsunami into Perspective

Elliot Miller

 The following article is adapted from the CHRISTIAN RESEARCH JOURNAL, volume 28, issue 1 (2005).

 

 We are all riveted to our televisions the past several days as we watch the devastation of the nation of Japan after it experienced a 9.0 earthquake off its Sendai coast last Friday. As more than 1,000 bodies wash ashore, and fears mount of a potential leak of nuclear material after a possible nuclear plant meltdown, it’s natural for people to ask why God allowed such a horrific tragedy. Natural disasters, wars, man-made tragedies (9/11, the Holocaust) continue as history unfolds but biblical answers to spiritual questions regarding them don’t change. Back in an early 2005 issue of the Christian Research Journal, editor-in-chief Elliot Miller wrote an article giving biblical perspective to the then Indonesian Tsunami of December 2004. We hope this article equips you with a cogent and biblical explanation of how we should view natural disasters.

 

           When I first heard news of the tsunami that struck the Indian Ocean region on December 26 it stopped me in my tracks. “This could be the biggest natural disaster of our time,” I thought. On that first day the estimated death toll was “only” around 14,000, but as I write six weeks later it is approaching 300,000.

           Who has not been profoundly affected by the video captures of the approaching wall of water, the apocalyptic pictures and reports of devastation and death, the seemingly capricious fates of those who were taken and those who were spared, the heart-wrenching losses suffered by natives of the region as well as visitors, and the unbelievable evil of those who have seized orphaned children to sell them into the sex slave trade? Who has not been moved by the heroism of those who did not think of their own safety in order to save (or try to save) the lives of others, and the compassionate efforts of people from around the world to help those who have been struck?

           Whenever a major disaster hits, whether natural or man made, the question is raised about God’s role in it. An Internet search for the words “tsunami” and “God” yields Web pages that contain every conceivable answer to this question. For some people the disaster is an occasion for embracing or returning to faith in God; for others it is an occasion for losing faith or feeling justified in their unbelief. Comments such as the following caught my attention:

           “Amid tidal waves or tsunami, earthquakes or floods, outbreaks of disease or other natural disasters, where is God?”

           “Thanks for the tsunami, God! Do you realize what God just did?”

           “Is the tsunami God’s judgment?”

           “Tsunami: God’s Anger Revealed.”

           “Tsunami = God’s wrath on non-Christians. “

           “God used what unsaved Chinese people call a ‘tsunami’ to wipe out over 100,000 unbelievers in one fell swoop.”

           “Did God send this tsunami because of the paganisms so prevalent in South Asia…as only a hint of the cataclysm that is yet to come—the holy judgment of God?”

           “Tsunami Disaster—A judgment from God to the Islamic nations!”

           “How can a merciful God allow such disaster and suffering?”

           “God killed more than 150,000 people with a tsunami....This terrible tragedy only proves one simple thing: There is no God, only religious rhetoric.”

           Evil and human suffering do pose a problem for faith in God. There is no reason, however, to see the occurrence of a tsunami or any other disaster that takes its toll on human life as a direct act of God. The earthquake that displaced ocean water and produced the tsunami resulted from the very structure and normal operation of God’s creation, in which geologic plates grind against each other and eventually shift to release tension. We know from observation and experience that disturbances in nature often occur, sometimes with tragic results for human beings and other forms of life.

           If anyone is going to believe in God in the first place, it has to be against the backdrop of this knowledge of our perilous universe; in other words, one’s reasons for believing in God must withstand the reality of evil and human suffering. The occurrence of any particular disaster, then, should have no effect on one’s belief in God.

           If one knows that God is, and what He is truly like, no event should cast doubt on that knowledge. Natural revelation affirms that God exists; biblical revelation confirms what God is like. The account of the fall of man in Genesis 3 reveals that God is not responsible for human suffering, and the Bible’s record of His acts of mercy—especially in the cross of Christ—assure us that He is a God of love. We know that this is so despite the existence of tsunamis and earthquakes or terrorists and holocausts. Scripture also assures us that a time will come when suffering, sorrow, and death will be no more (Rev. 21:4).

           I am not denying that God sometimes does use natural disasters to execute His judgment. The problem, however, is one of presumption: the canon of Scripture is closed and no one today speaks with the authority of the biblical prophets; no one can say with certainty that the tsunami or any other disaster is an example of God’s judgment. In God’s sovereign purpose, there can be many reasons for allowing humans to suffer, and it is not always as a punishment for their sins (consider the example of Job). If we proclaim that the tsunami is a judgment of God against pagans or Muslims, we might find ourselves having something in common with the Jews Jesus rebuked: “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish” (Luke 13:2–3 NIV).

 —Elliot Miller

Garage Sale God

I had a garage sale last week. It had been 3 years, and it was time. I respect garage sales-and I really like garage sale people. Some of the buyers see the obvious: the choco-brown plush jacket, bought and never worn; the vacuum seal Food Saver in virgin condition. And then there are those who see the good in what is less-than new: a large TV with a broken VCR-but who still has videos on their shelves (besides me)? A very-dated-but-not-yet-antique Singer sewing machine, a well-used toilet snake and a smaller one for sinks (not quite sure how it really works), and 4 partial quarts of paint from 2003. Then there was the creative woman who spied a box of jars: some for canning, some just washed out salsa bottles, with other odds and ends thrown in. She wanted them all. People on an overcast weekend, looking for the treasure in another person's "junk"--the cast offs, the no-longer wanted, the "what is it?", the broken and seemingly beyond repair things.
Garage Sale People display the image of their Creator, because God sees beyond the obvious, beyond the external. He looks at what we call junk, sees Divine Design, and reclaims it for divine purposes, whenever we let him. God has an eye--and a heart--for the broken, the cast off, the seemingly useless, the old and tired, the one passed among many owners.
Every analogy about God breaks down at points, so don't push too hard. But this one is strong at it's center point of redemption. God is a Rummage Sale Redeemer! Have you experienced that yet? If you have, you know that "you are not your own; you were bought at a price"--the highest ever paid--on a darkly overcast weekend, long ago.
I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Psalm 40: 1-3a

Diann Elyse Enderby
NewSong Church
Director of Care & Missional Development

A Child's Question

"How did God become so powerful?" was the question I received this past weekend from one of our children in the congregation.  She wrote with intensity on  one of our communication cards.  Here is my response (before you read my response, think what would yours be?)

Caroline,
Thank you for the great question you wrote on your communication card this last week.  I always encourage both kids and adults to ask the best questions they can about God, His creation, and His relationship to us.  Your question is a good one.

You ask, “How did God become so powerful to be able to make the world what it is today?”  You could probably write a whole book on this question but here are some thoughts for you—feel free to respond back to me with further questions.

In short, God never “became” anything but, rather, has always existed from everlasting to everlasting.  God is eternal, that is without beginning or end.  So God has always existed with all powers, abilities and knowledge within him.  In the Old Testament book of Jeremiah, he states that “The Lord is the only true God.  He is the living God and the everlasting King.”  (Jeremiah 10:10)  In addition, Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made.”

When God created the world he placed within the world (or universe) powers that would allow the world to grow and create all the wonderful galaxies, stars, and the planet we live on.  Some people call our planet the “special or privileged planet”.  Why? Because God set up the universe just right to have life.  The universe is very large but that is the exact size we need for it to be in order to have life exist on a planet like ours.  God wasted no space and created a hospitable place for us to live and work out His plan of salvation.

So, Caroline, God has always and forever been the greatest possible being you could ever imagine!  Though you and I have to have our bodies grow, learn how to talk and ride bikes, and scrape our knees, God has always been all-powerful, all-loving, and all-knowing.  You may be thinking or asking, “What about Jesus becoming human, doesn’t it say in Luke 2:52 that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and people?”  Yes he did but we will have to answer that one later…


In Christ,

George (Mr. Haraksin)

NewSong Church

Prayer and Acts of Kindness for Haiti

The Red Cross has just reported a little bit ago that they have run out resources in Haiti.  We continue to pray and offer actions of kindness towards the people in Haiti in the midst of the horrific earthquake.

What is 'Advent'? Because people keep askin' me...

The term "Advent" comes from Latin word ad-venio meaning "arrival."  For well over 1,000 years, the Christian Church worldwide has designated the four weeks prior to Christmas as a time to prepare for Christ's coming into the world.  We seek to prepare ourselves as a community, as individuals and, ultimately, as those who anxiously await Christ's Second Advent (arrival/coming).

It is no coincidence that Advent falls during the darkest time of the year:  Until December 23, our hemisphere of the earth continues to tilt further and further away from the sun, resulting in shorter days and longer periods of darkness.  During this time, we frequently find ourselves longing for more physical light and warmer temperatures amidst the longer and colder evenings.  Consider the days when electricity and heating beyond fireplaces were unavailable—the dark and long days certainly stoke the desire for spring, light, and life.

The early Christian church did not know the exact date of Jesus' birth, but they believed that Christ was indeed the Light of the World (John. 9:1-41).  It made sense to these early Christians to celebrate the birth of the Messiah during a time of the year when everyone was most aware of the lack of light in the world.  

During this Advent season, we acknowledge the "lack of light" in our lives, the sorrow, hurt, grief, and even despair.  We cry out for God's presence, His healing and transforming touch.  We seek to prepare our hearts to be receptive to Christ, our Savior, and we eagerly await the celebration of His birth at Christmas.

We invite you to join us during this 2009 Advent season in preparing room in our hearts, minds, homes and gatherings for our Savior, Christ the Lord.
George R. Haraksin II
NewSong Church
November 2009

iPods, Idols and the Technology of Worship

A friend of mine (Eric Herron, a former staff member at NewSong, now missionary worship artist—who still leads worship for us from time to time) writes, “Is technology appropriate for incorporating into worship? If so, how much and toward what end?” He continues, “Simply put, worship is the dialogue between God and humans, in which God initiates the conversation and humans respond in cyclical fashion. The goal, then, would be to facilitate this dialogue (to the extent to which we can).  Once we have agreed upon our goal or definition of worship, there are more questions to ask that are specifically relevant to evaluating the technology in question. For instance, we might ask: How will this technology help us ‘hear’ what God is saying to us?” I think this will remain a vital question for leaders and participants in a worship community.  We must keep aware of our ends and means in worship. Another way to state what Eric is saying is that we need to critically pay attention to both our functions and forms in and of worhip. Our function (to worship God, and enjoy Him forever) is logically prior to the form (reading a psalm, singing with a worship band). As Eric states, some in the contemporary church have thought that we can use whatever form we want as along as it accomplishes our function. Yet this is not the case, and great harm can come as a result in buying into such an idea. Just as the ends do not always (or ever) justify the means in ethics, a similar principle may apply in worship of our God. Some forms shape us in ways that are antithetical to our function/goal. Such consequences may be unintended but it surely happens and we must repent (that is, change our ways). For instance, a person can become accustomed to listening to his personally selected playlists of worship songs on his iPod or mp3 palyer. She may then arrive at a gathering (church) to worship with other Christians. She may discover a difficulty in submitting to the selection of songs the worship leader has chosen or the order and hymns the liturgy dictates for that particular day. Feelings of disconnectedness, discomfort, and dislike can arise in her soul and she can become dissatisfied and critical of the so-called “worship time.” This seems to be harmful albiet an unintended consequence. The iPod in the case becomes a modern day idol, standing for authority and supremacy of our individuality, preferences, and choices over others.  Surely there are disciplines that can counteract its affect, such as fasting, submission and confession. Perhaps we can generate a list of contemporary forms and describe the unintended ways that some of those forms can move us away from our goals. We may then suggest spiritual disciplines that can help place us in a posture where God can help change us, shape us, keep us on the road of walking and worshiping rightly with Him–while still using some the technologies we have learned to like and cannot seem to do without.  In our journey through the technological lanscape we must be mindful of our modern idols and how they come to us, because they can subtly be rationalized and justified as a means to us worshipping God.

George Haraksin II
Pastor of Christian Formation
NewSong Church October 2009