Seventeen82

  For the past couple of months I’ve written a few short articles for our congregation concerning what it means to be an Associate Reformed Presbyterian. There is no question we as a denomination have struggled for an identity over the last hundred twenty years as the world and the ARP changed, ebbed and flowed, got weaker and stronger, and had a bit of a wilderness experience. Having largely come out of the struggle in good shape (considering where we could be now) it is a good time for us ARPs to think about who we are and what we want to be. Nothing I say in the following will be shocking to those who know me. But in an age where other denominations are selling themselves out to the zeitgeist of the culture we are uniquely positioned to not just go back to our roots, but to prune back the vine a little so that those roots can strengthen the overall tree with a fresh dose of grace as we learn from those who have faced similar battles and found their footing in the good news of Jesu

  In February 1979 two men from West Virginia made there way to South Carolina  where they engaged in multiple crimes including robbery, assault and battery, kidnapping, rape, and ultimately the murder of four people. Seeking to evade capture, they barricaded themselves in a motel in Myrtle Beach. During the standoff with law enforcement, one of the men, an ex-convict, committed suicide to avoid going back to prison. The second man eventually surrendered to police, was tried, convicted of murder, and sentenced to death.   Twelve years later , on April 26, 1991,  justice was  served, and his  sentence was at last carried out in Columbia, SC.    Perhaps some of you  are  familiar with this story.   It made national news headlines.  The man’s name was Ronald “Rusty”  Woomer . There is, however, more to this story. The late Charles Colson  in his book  The Body  (1992)  describes what transpired in the intervening years as Rusty  was incarcerated on death row. Local Christian journalist an

    About a decade ago I  began  read ing  John Jefferson  Davis’  book  Worship and the Reality of God .  In the first chapter,  the author tells of  a couple of worship services he attended while on a research sabbatical in the Denver, Colorado, area, where he and his wife attended a variety of churches (for the record, the most noteworthy thing about the first church was that they offered earplugs for the music, and at the second  church  the unintended focus was images on TV screens instead of people). He writes that “in most of the evangelical churches with contemporary worship styles, the expository or topical preaching was often excellent, and the praise bands were generally performing at very professional levels  … . ” Nevertheless, three questions were raised in his mind  regarding   his experience : •  Where is God in all of this? •  What are we really doing here? •  Is there a vivid consciousness of the presence of the living, holy God among His people in these services?    

  It is November 30 th , 1941 and somehow you have been given  information  of the pending  surprise  attack on Pearl Harbor, Guam , Hong Kong, Malaya  and the Philippines.  My question is  how might that cause you to act differently ?  How might you p ray differently? What ,  if anything ,  would you do differently in your spiritual life?  If you are a pastor, how might you minister to your congregation differently?  Maybe it is silly to ponder such things and especially in the week after our churches may have swelled in attendance due to  Resurrection Sunday. Are  the  events of 80 years ago relevant today? On September 1, 1939, the nationalist, socialist, fascist regime of Adolf Hitler invaded Poland.  There had been disputes over ethnic Germans who were now in the  territory of Poland. Hitler made claims of repatriation in his  justification for offensive  operations.  On February 24, 2022, the nationalist, socialist, fascist regime of Putin invaded Ukraine.  There had been dispute