Tag: hope

Advent – Candle of Hope

 Advent Candles & wreaths are meant to draw our thoughts to the coming of the Christ child. Traditionally, they are four candles, representing Hope, Faith, Joy, and Peace. Sometimes a fifth candle is added, the Christ Candle, placed in the center, to commemorate the coming of our Lord Jesus.

      In these COVID19, racially tense, Capital Riots, school shooting and economic inflationary times, not to mention our political oppositionalism, these five candles can draw us apart from the immediate concerns of this world and give us some Godly perspective on everything going on.

      The first candle, the Hope candle is also known as the Prophets candle. Those who prophesied the Coming Christ who would draw all men to His salvation and new life. In these present days there doesn’t seem to be that much hope floating around. Too many people I see are in some level of depression, deep within their own agony with little hope of ever recovering. Others despair over the plagues covering our globe or attacking their own

families. And still others struggle with borderline poverty, broken relationships, sickness, and family deaths. Could it get any worse?!?

      Well, yes…, especially for those who follow Christ. Genuine Christians have always been marginalized and singled out for social and governmental discrimination. Why? Our principles for living go against the powers that be in almost all societies. We can accommodate, blend, acquiesce, concede our place in history to deconstructionism, or live under ideological intimidation; but we can never back off from our commitment and resolution to love and honor Jesus Christ.

      To do so would disavow our faith, bring shame on His works, and deny that we have any hope in these convoluted days.

      So, how do we have hope in these troubling days? Psalm 42 comes to mind first…—

5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation6 and my God.

My soul is cast down within me; therefore, I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your waves have gone over me.
8 By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me,    a prayer to the God of my life. 9 I say to God, my rock:
 “Why have you forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”

11 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. [ESV]

        Hope is as close as our bended knees.

      MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Loving God, loving people…, & bringing the two together

Gary

Dr. Gary Davis, President

NEXT— Faith in Uncertain Times

After There’s Nothing Left: The Reality of Depression

 Sadly, for too many of us, depression is a way of life. Earlier in our marriage there was a time when my wife and I had lost a baby in her only pregnancy. On top of that I had just been fired from a job I loved; all within the same month. To say we were in the grips of depression would be a definitive understatement.

      To deal with such deep loss I turned to a long-time friend for counsel. After numerous talks he opened the DSM-3 (now 5) that listed the Criteria for Clinical Depression.

  1. Depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day.
  2. Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day.
  3. Significant weight loss when not dieting or weight gain, or decrease or increase in appetite nearly every day.
  4. A slowing down of thought and a reduction of physical movement (observable by others, not merely subjective feelings of restlessness or being slowed down).
  5. Fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day.
  6. Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt nearly every day.
  7. Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day.
  8. Recurrent thoughts of death, recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or a specific plan for committing suicide.

[ https://www.psycom.net/depression-definition-dsm-5-diagnostic-criteria/ ]

      To be diagnosed as suffering from genuine depression an individual had to exhibit 3 of these symptoms for at least two weeks. At one point in my life I had five. To some degree I have suffered with this depression ever since.

      Over the years I have learned to cope through worship, prayer, confession, counseling, and a couple good friends. There is no replacement for any of these.

      In a quite literal sense, I’ve recovered my soul. I’ve become more of a person because I’ve faced myself, admitted who I truly was, and became a new me. But I could not have done it without the spirit of Christ rescuing me from myself. I believe I am becoming more of the person Christ has created me to be.

      Medication is great. Don’t thumb your nose at it. Still, if you want to recover your soul as you work through your depression, no matter how severe or mild, you will need to reconnect with yourself, and your God, at a deeper level. There are no easy paths to recovery or normalcy; a therapist can help a great deal— but the burden of the resolutions will rest on you…, and God.

Honor God, honor people, make a difference,
Gary

Dr. Gary Davis, President

NEXT— final thoughts— 30.

Closing Doors #5 A Sliver of Light

prayer_for_usaAs we follow Christianity across the ocean to the Americas you must, by now, see that I have been covering large swaths of history in a single ¾ page offering. This has been unfair. Excellent books have covered far less time periods in far more pages. So this will be the final entry in my cosmic fly-over of the church and its interface with the world around it.

     From 1850 to the present, colossal revolutions swept the Church. The rise of American denominationalism, the struggle over the slavery issue, the Civil War, two World Wars, terrible conflicts in Vietnam, Korea, the Middle East, and a seemingly endless cold war with Russia have overshadowed the Church’s stance in the public forum.

     Add to that the divisive nature of “Christian” personality cults, our flip-flops during the civil-rights movements, and Westboro Baptist Church’s antics, have all placed the Church at odds with the secular society around us. More recently, the conundrum over LGBTQ issues and the “cocooning” of many evangelical churches and ministries, the faith we love is pretty much a joke for the majority of the nation.

     On the plus side, the field meetings of Charles Finney, the urban popularity of Billy Sunday, and the incredible ministry of Billy Graham have done much to keep a positive spin on the true nature of the Christian faith. The ‘70s Jesus People ushered in a new face for a more youthful Christian expression. And where would we be without contemporary Christian music (Hillsong, Rend Collective); even the mainstream music industry has to take notice.

     So how do we keep these doors open so the waiting world can at least see a sliver of light of who we are?

     Well, at the least we need to unlock the doors from our side. Replacing Kingdom language (King, Lord) with less medieval constructs might be a good place to start. And fewer thee’s and thou’s mighteth help. Charles & John Wesley utilized popular well known tunes and put Christian lyrics to them. We’ve got a good jump on that; let’s keep going.

     90% – 95% of Church activities revolve around itself. Think we could change that?!? And what about revising that judgmental attitude toward others?!? Maybe a little more forgiving this time around?

     We could, believe it or not, get involved in local government, or run for public office! Maybe even start a soup kitchen, a homeless shelter, or a CEO’s Confidentiality Consortium. When I lived in the northeast, I was asked to join the Pioneer Valley Gentlemen’s Whiskey Association because I was a Christian. Go figure. Opening doors.

     God does not want any of us to spend the rest of our days cloistered inside our churches: well, unless you‘re the Pope; and even ee gets out!

     Our place is one of intermingling with the people of our society; both with those of influence and those who don’t have a place to sleep tonight. What has the Lord called you to? Get there. And bring the peace, forgiveness, and joy of our Lord with you.

 … a glimmer in the dust,

  Gary

Aftermath


Tragedy strikes all of us at one time or another. Whether it be death of a loved one or the devastation of home & livelihood its effects upon us are shattering. The experience, the loss, is overwhelming; it crushes our spirit and sucks out our very life’s-breath. Most of us have experienced such tragedies in our lives, leaving us empty and numb. Words of comfort and solace barely get through my blank detachment.

Then comes the aftermath— sorting through the remnants of a life, trying to rebuild, trying to make sense of the physical and personal destruction that has just consumed every fiber of your being. There are the BIG things— replacing a home, a business, a livelihood; taking care of children, parents, employees, those who are crushed and exhausted. For some, it means even rebuilding a country after a catastrophic national disaster or defeat. Yes, these things must be addressed, even though your energies are already spent.

In some way, though, it is the small things that are more difficult to deal with— the loss of photos, of a history that was filled with joy and frivolity; a loss of trinkets, personal gifts, torn shreds of clothing that once draped a loved one in grace & beauty. Memories all, now gone.

It is in the aftermath of destruction & loss that our metal is proven. It is the manner in which we face the aftermath that we reveal our courage or collapse into a mire of grief & despondency. There is not always hope after some of the volleys life sends our way. But there is always strength to be found in arms of the God who created us, sustains us, and now carries us…, if we will but let Him do so.

Never discount the succor and rejuvenation that flow from the Life-Source of all Being. The God of the Universe— Jesus Christ.

Have a nice week,

Gary