SOME PEOPLE HAVE AMAZING BUTS

I know of several people with amazing buts. There’s Jo’, Mo’, Sam, Esther, Jerry, and others. Each of these people were gifted by God with an amazing but that changed there life and the course of human history. Sometimes these gifts came with a …then, or …God, or …the LORD. When it comes to the size of things, a but is a relatively small thing (in Greek it can be just two letters: de) but it can have huge implications and enormously great blessings for multitudes. I hope to show you how this was the case with each of the people I have chosen as samples, and then show you how God can be your God of buts.

JOSEPH’S BUT

But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
Genesis 39:21

Joseph loved God. He sought to always live in obedience to the LORD, yet he was betrayed by his brothers who sold him into slavery (Gen. 39:1). While serving as a slave in Egypt he was falsely accused of attempted rape by his master’s jilted wife. This accusation led to him being imprisoned for years. But the LORD had a plan for Joseph that eventually led to him being dramatically released from prison, exonerated of his alleged crime, and made the Prime Minister of Egypt (Gen. 41:14, 39-41). This but led to the rescue of his family from potential starvation and then the formation of the nation of Israel.

 

MOSES’ BUT

But the LORD said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have given him into your hand, and all his people, and his land. And you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.”
Numbers 21:34

Moses was washed up. He was a criminal on the run from Egyptian authorities who had sentenced him to death for the crime of murder. He fled Egypt into the wilderness. His prospects looked bleak. It was there that he encountered the God of buts. God commanded him to return to Egypt and rescue the descendants of Joseph’s father, Jacob (whose name had been changed to Israel). Moses told God all the reasons why this was a ridiculous command for him to obey, then this happen…

But the LORD said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand—
Exodus 4:4

God demonstrated to Moses that He would perform miracles through Moses’ obedience. Moses then did obey. God did perform miracles. And Israel was delivered from Egypt to return to the homeland in Palestine; but first, they had to overcome some deadly foes – including an army led by a giant king, Og (Deut. 3:11). Israel had every right to be afraid. This is when the LORD gave Moses another amazing but (Num. 21:34). The result of their obedience was – “So they defeated him and his sons and all his people, until he had no survivor left. And they possessed his land” (Num. 21:35). What an amazing but!

 

SAMUEL’S BUT

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”
First Samuel 16:7

Samuel had reluctantly anointed Israel’s first king, Saul. King Saul had just disobeyed the LORD and jeopardised God’s plan of redemption. Israel was now in peril from neighbouring enemies. The prophet Samuel realised that if King Saul remained in power much longer, it would lead to Israel’s doom. God then sent Samuel to anoint a new king (1Sam. 16:1. Samuel was sent to the home of Jesse and his eight sons. As Jesse brought out seven of his sons, the oldest of them even looked like a king (1Sam. 16:6)! Yet the LORD did not send Samuel to anoint him or the next six of his younger brothers (1Sam. 16:8-10). Since the LORD had specifically sent Samuel to anoint the next king of Israel from among the sons of Jesse, yet the LORD had said that none of them were to anointed! Thus, the puzzled prophet asked Jesse, “Is this all your sons? (1Sam. 16:11) This is when Samuel had an amazing but experience (1Sam. 16:7) The result would be that the jeopardy would be averted and the divine plan of salvation would be preserved. Eventually it would lead to the birth of Immanuel who would be identified as the son of David (Matt. 1:1). Samuel’s but from the LORD truly was a turning point in the Israel’s history and ultimately even human history. It really was a remarkable and amazing but!

 

ESTHER’S BUT

But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king’s ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be revoked.”
Esther 8:8

The Book of Esther takes place after the Jews had been allowed to return from the exile in Medo-Persia where Esther and, her much older cousin, Mordecai, had remained. King Saul’s earlier failure to despatch the Amalekite king, Agag, resulted in one of his descendants, Haman, wanting to destroy all Jews (Est. 3:1, 10). God had already decreed that the Amalekites should be judged for their earlier attempt at destroy the Israelites (Exo. 17:14). King Saul was told to do it. He failed to obey. King David didn’t do it. Each successive king of Israel couldn’t do it. And now, because of their failure, their entire race was now on the brink of genocide. But a teenage Jewish girl by the name of Esther, recently married to a Persian King, sought the permission of her royal husband to counter the Edict of Hamon the Agagite (Esther 8:3). The LORD then used her husband to deliver His but to Esther and the result was that Hamon’s forces of Gog and Magog were defeated by the Jews around the Empire how had been empowered to take pre-emptive action to defend themselves (Est. 8:8-17; 9:1-16). It truly was and amazing but.

 

JEREMIAH’S BUT  

But the LORD said to me,“Do not say,
‘I am only a youth’;
for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,
and whatever I command you, you shall speak.
Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
declares the LORD.”
Jeremiah 1:7-8

Most of the priests had become unfaithful. The so-called ‘prophets’ (on the king’s payroll) had become corrupt. The king had become apostate. It was an increasingly dark time as Judah’s leaders abandoned the LORD and became idolaters. They were now at risk of being invaded by the blood-thirsty Babylonians. With so much going wrong and God’s plan of redemption in jeopardy, as usual, as essayist F.W. Boreham wrote, it was now time for God to respond by sending into the world a baby. That baby was Jeremiah, the son of a priest. At a young age Jeremiah began to hear from God. Even though Jeremiah was only a youth, there was no time to waste. The word of the LORD needed to be heard! God then summoned the teenage Jeremiah to speak to kings of nations, starting with the king of Judah! Despite Jeremiah questioning the LORD’S choice of someone “too young”, God assured him that his birth was ordained, his mission was consecrated, and his life would be divinely protected (Jer. 1:5). At just the right time, despite Jeremiah’s doubts that he was ready, the LORD spoke to Jeremiah –

But you, dress yourself for work; arise, and say to them everything that I command you.
Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them.
Jeremiah 1:17

Thank God that the LORD gave Jeremiah these amazing buts! His obedience to the LORD ultimately led to God’s plan of redemption being restored and enabling the eventual birth of the Saviour.     

 

YOUR AMAZING BUT

But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8

When you turned to Christ as your LORD, it was a major turning point in your life. You were once in darkness (Eph. 5:8), spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1, 5), spiritually blind (Eph. 1:18), without hope (Eph. 2:12) — 

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.
Romans 6:22

This should give you confidence that the God who redeemed you, saved you, open your eyes, delivered you out of devilish darkness, and rescued you from hopelessness, can in your moments of uncertainty, anxiety, fear, or even failure, intervene with a – “But then God…” And those are the moments you see an amazing but. 

Your Pastor,

Andrew

Let me know what you think below in the comment section and feel free to share this someone who might benefit from this Pastor’s Desk.

DAMES, DEMONS AND DOGS

JESUS AND THAT WOMAN!

Just after Jesus had offended the religious elite in Jerusalem, He secretly went to the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon. While in the region we today call Lebanon, Jesus had one of the most unusual and offensive conversations of His ministry. Anyone listening in on the initial part of Christ’s conversation with this heathen Gentile may well have been stunned at His offensive language!

Imagine you were facing a dire situation and you were desperately wanting to meet with God. Imagine you go to those who He has appointed to represent Him and they do all they can to prevent you from meeting Him. Then imagine that even though God turned up in your neighbourhood, He refused to meet with you. To make matters worse, imagine you are the woman who has had to climb through a window and then God in the flesh won’t even look at you! Just when you think it can’t get any worse, Immanuel tells you to get lost and calls you a “dog”!

But, as hard as this is to imagine, this ‘heathen’ woman did persist in her attempts to get Christ’s attention and gain from Him her petition, despite these unimaginable obstacles to meeting with Him. 

And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet He could not be hidden. But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.Mark 7:24-30

Can we imagine the desperation that this Syrophoenician woman was feeling? Perhaps she was a single mother? Perhaps she was scorned by her community because he daughter was, well, “odd”? Somehow she found out that Jesus was in her neighbourhood. Despite the attempts to keep it a secret, this desperate woman found out where to meet with Jesus. I wonder if this is like many people’s experience today? We live in a very desperate world with more broken, hurting, damaged people than we realise. Like this woman, many of these people are hurting for those they love. They have often looked for help and found none. Some have heard that Jesus can help. They have heard the stories of others who have met with Jesus and found healing, help, and hope. No doubt this Syrophoenician woman had heard the stories of how Jesus had cast out demons from the children of other desperate parents.

And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.” And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.” And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly.
Matthew 17:14-18

 Yet this Gentile woman had overcome some great offences in order to have her needs met. It seems that Jesus tests people’s desperation and sincerity to meet with Him by seeing how they deal with offences. 

“And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
Matthew 11:6

¶ When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you?”
John 6:61 

To get closer to Jesus requires pressing on despite offences. Too many churches miss God’s best for them because someone responds poorly to an offence. In this moment, Jesus was in a Gentile territory where this woman lived. Ironically, many churches are located in the midst of a neighbourhood, community, or city where there is tremendous pain, yet, just like this moment, they keep Jesus away from these desperately hurting people. Just like this moment, too many churches seem to keep Jesus to themselves – as if they too want to keep Him a secret. But the problem for any church that wants to truly love, follow and serve Christ and yet wants to keep Jesus away from those who need Him most is that Jesus just cannot be hidden! He will always attract those who are humble enough to know they need Him. 

Last Sunday we farewelled Rhys and Jodi to the Mission Field of North-West Western Australia. They reminded us that six years ago their lives were falling apart. Alcoholism, relationship tensions, and other problems were taking a heavy toll on them both. Rhys shared just how dark his world has become. He cried out to God for help and said that he received an overwhelming urge compelling him to go to church. Without an invitation or even a connection of any kind, they turned up one Sunday morning in church. Jodi said it was the hardest thing she had ever done. On that first Sunday in church, Jodi said, “I thought I was going to die! I couldn’t get out fast enough! But for some reason we stayed.” Jodi had some offences to overcome, just like this Syrophoenician woman. Rhys and Jodi kept coming to church and as they did Christ touched them, and healed them. 

As a church, we don’t want to be like Christ’s Tyre hosts who tried to keep Him to themselves. We don’t people to have to endure the obstacles that this woman had to overcome simply to meet with Christ. I hope our door-greeters know just how important they are to removing some of the first obstacles that a seeker encounters. This poor Syrophoenician woman would have initially encountered Christ’s disciples who had some very ingrained attitudes about women let alone Gentile (“Heathen”) women at that! How are we going to respond to a Muslim man walking through the doors of our church on a Sunday with his four wives in tow? How are we going to respond to the two men who walk through our doors for the first time holding hands?

It seems to me that when Christ spoke roughly with this Gentile woman, in front of His disciples, He was parroting the standard way women – Gentile women in particular – were spoken to by Jewish men. But this exchange led to Christ yet again showing His disciples how he not only felt about women, but how He also felt about people – irregardless of their nationality. Can we as a church reveal Christ’s heart to our community? He still loves women. He still loves people who feel despised. He still loves and heals hurting people. And He still calls His disciples today, the church, to not only let all people come to Him, but to go out and show them His love and grace and invite them in.       

Amen.  

Ps. Andrew Corbett

CHRISTIANITY IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK!

CHRISTIANITY IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK

We are all religious. Some people are religious about their belief in, and worship of, God. Others are equally religious about their non-God beliefs such as the environment, politics, atheism, or their sporting team. This is why we all have religious opinions. But unlike other personal preferences, our religious ideas can not only be wrong, but also the difference between life and death – both now and beyond the grave – for eternity!

But Which Religion Is The Right One?

Despite the claims of some people that all religions are basically the same, a closer examination of each religion’s claims reveal just how different they are! The central teaching of each religion is the identity, nature, and character of God. Hinduism teaches that God is an impersonal force that can be worshiped as a multiplicity of idols. Islam teaches that God is a solitary being who is not bound to moral restrictions (“Allah is arbitrary”), which means that God can cheat, lie, and murder without moral impunity. Judaism teaches that God is the uncreated, eternal, and holy (the source of moral purity) Creator. Christianity teaches that God is the eternal Father, Son and Holy Spirit with the Son becoming a human being – God in the flesh. Islam teaches that this particular teaching of Christianity is the sin of shirk (Arabic: شرك‎‎ širk) – the unforgivable sin. As you can see from this brief survey of the world’s major religions, the most fundamental claim of any religion is the identity, nature, attributes and character of God – yet each of these religions contradict each other’s teachings about God! 

Like any truth claim, the claims of any religion can be tested. 

1. Does it comport with reality?
2. Is it consistent?
3. Is it ‘falsifiable’? (That is, if the claim is false, is it possible to show that it is false?)
4. Can its experiential claims be put to the test?

The case for the teachings of Christ (‘Christianity’) being the exclusively true religion can be shown to pass each of these truth-tests, and as I explain what is involved in becoming a Christian, it is the last of these four truth-tests that I will invite you to try. 

Becoming a Christian…

A Christian is someone who follows the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth as revealed in the Bible. Becoming a Christian involves a spiritual conversion – not just intellectual agreement. The Bible calls this “regeneration” (Titus 3:5) which Jesus described as being “born again” (John 3:3). This spiritual transformation is transacted by prayer to God asking Him to forgive us of our sin and save us from its eternal penalty because of the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ that first Easter.

Thus, when a person cries to God for help, there has come an awareness that there is something wrong – not just with the world, but with our own hearts. 

There comes a growing realisation that no matter how hard we try to ‘fix’ ourselves, we are unable to change our sinful, selfish, self-justifying behaviour. We eventually see that we need a Saviour. 

Christianity is the only religious view that has a “Saviour” – a Rescuer. We need to be rescued from the plight and peril of our sin. Sin is what separates mankind from God. It is an act of pride that says to God that we know best and He doesn’t. Sin is thus highly self-deceptive. It deceives into thinking we are better than we actually are. It maliciously tricks us into thinking that God is less than He actually is. It wounds our heart and calls it ‘pleasure’. It stains our souls and calls it ‘happiness’. It poisons our minds and calls it ‘progressive’. We need healing from sin. We need cleansing from sin. We need an antidote to sin – and only God can provide this healing, cleansing, antidote.

In His mercy, He plants a cry in our hearts to God for this healing-cleansing-antidote called: salvation. God then causes us to ‘see’ that if we cling to our sin and identify with it, that our sin deserves eternal justice for what it has done to humanity. But He also reveals that the God of Justice is also the God of Grace – who not only must punishsin but who has also sent His own Son as our substitute to take our penalty for identifying with sin. When a person realises this, God enables them to repent – to turn away from their identifying with sin, and turn to Him.  Repentance is a gift from God (2Tim. 2:25) which brings about a change in a person’s heart, mind and actions. The repentant person is now enabled to trust the One who acted as their substitute and bore the penalty for their sin: Jesus Christ.

The Bible promises that all those who simply call upon (the Name of) the Lord shall be saved from the penalty and doom of their sin (Romans 10:9-13).

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”  For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”Romans 10:9-13

You don’t have to clean up your act first. You don’t have to become religious. You don’t have to improve yourself – before you call out to God for this salvation.

This is entirely a spiritual experience which has implications for our everyday lives. After becoming a Christian we think differently, act differently and feel differently towards others. This result is called “conversion”. Any unconverted person cannot reasonably be expected to claim that they are a Christian!

Perhaps you recognise your need for Christ? I invite you to put this experiential truth claim of Christianity to the test. Even though you may feel like you’re a million miles from God, you’re not – you’re just one step – and this first step is taken in prayer…

“Father God, I thank You that You have shown me my true condition before You and what sin has done to my heart, mind and soul. I thank You that have taken the penalty of my sin and graciously placed it on Jesus who was my willing Substitute. I thank You that Jesus has died in my place to heal and cleanse me from, and provide the antidote to, my sin. I ask you to forgive me, heal me, cleanse me, and set me free from my sins. Help me now to live for you and fill me with Your Spirit, Amen.”

Will you give your life to Christ and start your journey as a Christian? If Jesus Christ of Nazareth was correct, the grave is not the end, and from the moment we leave this life we either spend eternity enjoying eternal life with God in Heaven or separated from Him and His goodness enduring the penalty of our rebellion for eternity.

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.Matthew 10:28

Andrew Corbett

A CONFESSION

Our society is in trouble. It used to be that drugs were a problem in communities materially less fortunate than most. Now illicit drugs are a growing problem in materially affluent communities. People are turning to drugs and illicit sex to fill the void, numb the pain of unfulfilment, and dull their despair. The root cause of this void, pain and despair is a gross lie - that life has no meaning. But the Life-Giver has designed that our lives are meaningful when we work, worship, wonder and love. Each endeavour contributes to what defines us as human beings. Anyone who does not work is depriving themselves of the very thing that can give them dignity, satisfaction, and fulfilment. But the same is true of the dignity, satisfaction and fulfilment that comes from the worship of the One True Life-Giving God, the wonder of who God is and what God has done, but especially from loving and being loved. There is one place (that is much more than a 'place') where each of these aspects come beautifully together.

¶ I love you more than I can say.
Because I'm madly in love with you,
They blame me for everything they dislike about you.
Psalm 69:9 THE MESSAGE

Before every Sunday morning worship service, the worship and pulpit teams meet in my office for team-talk and prayer. For a couple of years I had a separate white-board sign that said-

"We work so others can worship.
Our work is our worship."

Jesus, the perfect man, the happiest man, was the greatest example of work (Jn. 4:34), worship (Mtt. 26:30), wonder (Acts 14:3), and love (Jn. 13:1). His death on the Cross was the means by which He could establish the 'place' (which is really the people) where the best work, worship, wonder and love could be done. It is impossible to overstate how hard Christ has worked to establish and extend His Church, inspire worship, create wonder and foster love. Christ's churches come in different sizes, different kinds of people, different venues, with different meeting times, music styles, and leadership structures.

¶ Husbands, love your wives,
as Christ loved the church and
gave himself up for her
Ephesians 5:25

The New Covenant House-of-the-Lord, the Church, is one of the greatest sources of blessings that God offers to the world. While not technically correct, Bill Hybles often quoted statement - "The local church is the hope of the world" (the local church declares that Christ is the hope of the world) has a powerful sentiment behind it. I have seen, felt and heard of Christ's supreme passion for His church time and time again. The Word of God promises that those who are planted in the House of the Lord will "flourish" (be abundantly blessed). I was very recently reminded of this powerful truth when two of our church family who had been looking for work in the field of their professional training volunteered at our church. Within a week or so of volunteering they both had secured employment. They are both now flourishing just as Psalm 92 promised.

They are planted in the house of the LORD;
they flourish in the courts of our God.
Psalm 92:13

It is in the community of believers that Christ has established to foster work, worship, wonder and love, that Christ calls us to learn these fundamentally human aspects. From this growing broad community of the church, men lead their own families as 'micro-churches' and foster in their children what work, worship, wonder and love should look like. Fathers especially carry this ministry of the church to their sons by showing them what work looks like and that work necessarily involves doing things you don't want to do. (We need a generation of young men who understand and exhibit the qualities of self-discipline and self-motivation undergirded by a willingness to accept responsibility.) The family home becomes the seed-bed for fostering worship (adoration of God, attention to Scripture, audible praying). Parents promote, rather than hinder, a deep wonder of the natural world which God has created for us to enjoy which is why school work has far to do with worship than it does with textbooks and exams.

And it is in the family home where children are trained in the art of love.

We have now almost returned to some Ancient Roman values of marriage, family and sexuality where women are viewed as objects, children as accessories, and sex as a recreational sport. Today the "Pornography Industry" is the largest 'industry' in the world! Conservative estimates place it at several hundred billion dollars in annual turnover, but it is almost certainly closer to a trillion dollars a year! Economist Doug French reports that at least 28,000 internet users view online porn every second! Is it any wonder then that young men view women as objects of their gratification rather than as people who need a man to commit exclusively to them for life and truly love them for better or for worse?!

"The foremost danger to marriage in our time is the wholesale degradation of women in the popular culture," Shmuley Boteach, The Jerusalem Post

It is from the family home that children learn to love. They witness their Mum and Dad hugging. They hear their Dad talking respectfully to his wife and their Mother. They experience the stern rebuke of their father when they have been impolite to their Mother or sibling - because a loving father is a father who disciplines his children (Heb. 12:9). They feel the loving comfort of their mother when only a mother's caress will soothe. And ultimately they learn that true love comes from God and is gladly expressed toward Him by meeting together with other God-lovers in the House of the Lord each week. The result is that children get the idea that love is not merely a feeling but a willing commitment to another for their highest good which produces these feelings.

¶ O LORD, I love the habitation of your house
and the place where your glory dwells.
Psalm 26:8

I'm concerned. I'm deeply concerned. We have a generation that does not work, wonder, worship or love, as it should. Instead, it works to avoid work, senselessly amuses itself 24/7 (rather than engaging in the holy art of scientific wonder), worships the created rather than the Creator, and gladly buys the delusion that love is something you make rather than something you give. These things are utterly destructive to the human soul - in fact, destructive to the core of what it means to be "human". Is it any wonder then, that the world's second largest global industry is now alcohol and illicit drugs. And in what must be an ironic metaphor of our day, the affect of heroine is best felt the first time it is used and creates a craving for more and with each subsequent hit of heroine or cocaine the 'high' is nowhere near the same. In fact, in a recent Ross Kemp documentary, where he interviewed crack addicts in Chicago, he was repeatedly told by them that they had never re-achieved the initial high they felt when first trying the drug that would soon master their lives. These addicts all said they were addicted to these drugs after just three days of use and that each hit to satisfy their craving was merely to help them feel "normal" (not to get 'high'). And this is the illusion of what the world offers when it cons people into thinking that right work, wonder, worship and love will not satisfy the human soul.

People, whose souls are being destroyed by these lies, need to see and hear an alternative. It is possible for God to set someone free from the destructive lifestyles of crime, drugs, idleness, and promiscuity. God does this regularly. The Giver-of-Life has sent His Son to pay the price of our guilt and shame and to set us all free and give our lves hope and meaning. This hope is now proclaimed through the local church. Are you in bondage to despair, idleness, drugs or sexual addictions? Jesus Christ can save and deliver you. You are one prayer away from beginning your journey to freedom. This is the kind of prayer that confesses failure and mistakes. It is the kind of prayer that confesses our need for forgiveness by and reconciliation with God. It is the kind of prayer that asks God for help to live the way we should. Will you pray this kind of heart-prayer?

 It is in the House of God that we learn the true value of working, how to wonder, the inspiration to worship as we should, and how to love others. It is from the local church that draw the principles for raising our families. This is why society needs strong, vibrant, local churches to help foster strong, healthy marriages which produce strong, happy, fulfilling families. This is why, as Bill Hybels puts it, the local church is the hope of the world. In this sense, I believe it. And, I must confess, I love my church for being it.

Ps. Andrew