The Contemporary God Issue

In Memory of the late G.K. Chesterton

No matter what you say, you cannot evade the God issue.
It is much more than crying in church and using up tissue.
Even the modern secularists and professing atheists are not exempt.
It is true! The God issue is not only for those who worship in church,
But for those, as well, who focus on God in contempt.
Both sides have leaders who are emotionally and intellectually involved,
As persons who have a calling; as ones who have been sent.
Both seem to be addicted with the God as an issue to be solved.
Some tend to camouflage their interest in God by faulting believers.
Yet, if there's no God, why are we concerned about God's non-achievers.
If you had no interest in their case, why are you giving them space?
A teacher from our past used to say,
Whether we like it or not we will talk about God today.
For some the subject is cheery; for others it is weary.
But the God issue is involved and can't be easily solved,
Whether we talk about pigs or the binomial theory,
We are still talking about the active Creator of all.
Now if Christianity be a fragment of metaphysical nonsense,
Invented by a few misled people with a false sense of call.
Then, of course, defending it will simply mean talking "spin,"
Metaphysical nonsense over and over again.
But if Christianity should happen to be true,
Then defending the Faith will mean talking,
About anything or everything, exciting and new.
Some issues can be irrelevant to the proposition that Christianity is false,
But nothing can be irrelevant to the proposition that Christianity is true.
Therefore, talking about God is not living with irrelevant views of the past.
The worship of idols, not being grounded in reality, does not last.
But contemporary persons of faith look at life from a whole different view.
In talking about and with God, they are climaxing the past into something new.
Because the prophet says, "The revealed God from the past is still with us,
Because the Word of all creation and redemption comes to us,
Not totally from experiences from the past, but also from out of the future too".

Faith Story - Chang Pharm

It was March 15, 1981. It was the anniversary of the Chang Pharm family's coming from Vietnam to make their home in the United States. The celebration was taking place with their extended family in America, Trinity Church. One year before, on March 23rd, Chang and his wife and children and relatives arrived in Knoxville, a total family of twelve.

It all started two years before when Azalea Grissom called her pastor. The pastor went over to her home to find that she was watching a news documentary of the "Boat People" from Vietnam. Hundreds were fleeing Vietnam in small boats. Some, who were rescued, somehow were making it to refugee camps, and were now waiting for someone through a refugee service to bring them to a new home. Many of them were being placed with Christian families in the United States. Mrs. Grissom asked her pastor, "Would you work with me to bring a family to our community?"

Within six weeks some strong leaders organized to sponsor a family. Carolyn Fuller, a new member of the church, found her voice, calling for the church's help. The social concerns committee, led by Gail Vanderver and Beverly Reed, worked with the family life committee to create a Trinity Refuge Committee. When the members of the Pharm family arrived, a fully furnished four bedroom home was ready for them. The children were placed in public schools. Some men of the Church made sure all the adults of the Pharm family had income producing jobs. Within three months, the members of the Pharm family were enrolled in a Confirmation Class for Church Membership, led by the pastor and an interpreter.

One year after their arrival, twelve members of the Pharm family were baptized and became full members of Trinity United Methodist Church. Chang, the leader of the family stood at the altar of the Church and said, "We appreciate all you have done for the Pharm family. When we arrived here we had no home. We had left all we had when we fled the Communists. But when we arrived you had a beautiful home for us. We had no income, but within a week after we arrived you had jobs for us. We had no place to train our children, but you put our children in school and provided transportation for them. We had no family here to support us in a strange land, but you became our family. We have been so pleased how you loved us from the very beginning. We did not understand your faith, but you prepared a class every Wednesday night to teach us from the Word of God, and today we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and been baptized and joined this family. Thank you for teaching us the Word of God. Thank you for the special freedom you have in America to teach the Word of God. Please pray for other members of our family who have lost their freedom in Vietnam."

A leading member said, "Pastor Curt, you know that I have not always agreed with you in your bringing in so many new people. It has made many of us who have a long history in this church very uncomfortable. But what we are experiencing today, I truly affirm. I am so proud today to be a member of this Church whose people have truly discovered what being a disciple of Jesus Christ is all about."

POEM - "The Advent Gift"

Both darkness and conflict are always present,
but they never over-shadow the great Advent,
Displayed for us when God sent His Word;
when a new born Baby's cry was heard.
God provided for His special One an emcee,
by sending a chosen voice from the Hebrew Klan.
The voice came through a witness named John the Baptist,
Who was the Child's special agent man.
A second John introduced the Christ Child as the eternal Word,
Who reveals our value through His amazing insight.
Through Him we learn we can live victoriously and joyfully,
even when we can not see the future in our blackest night.
Through Him we overcome our strife and terrible loneliness,
being healed of our fears, coming from our paralyzing fright.
From the two Johns we learn to trust in Jesus, God's only Son.
Whom we discover as the eternal everlasting Light.
From Jesus' life we hear God's assuring Word.
As He reveals to us the Creator as seen and heard.
Also through His life of compassion and care,
there is a mighty Presence of which we become aware.
In the Birth, the Cross, the Empty Tomb and Pentecost
God comes into our lives with prime time accent.
Then we begin to understand the Great Advent,
happening when angels sang at the first Christmas event.

New Book Featured in Newspaper

My new book "Into All The World" was featured in the Chattanooga Times Free Press on Saturday, November 15, 2008. The on-line article also includes an audio clip of my interview with the journalist. To read the article and/or listen to the interview, click on this link.