Volume 2, Issue 6
JUNE 2011

The Pastor’s Heart 

 In our Wednesday morning Bible Study, we've been studying the religions of the world.  So far, we've studied Mormonism, Islam, Shinto, and Buddhism, and next week, we start our study of the Potawatomi Indians' beliefs. Some will ask, "Why are we studying every religion except for Christianity?  Are we trying to change from a church to a mosque, temple, or pagoda?"  There are at least two reasons for studying other religions: (1) to broaden our appreciation for the other cultures that make up our world and (2) to understand God better.

God is the God of all cultures; heaven will consist of people "from every tribe and language and people and nation" (Revelation 5:9).  And though God has spoken to us most clearly "by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things" (Hebrews 1:2), God has also revealed himself in some shape or form to all cultures.  This does not mean that all paths lead to God--Jesus is, after all, the only One who has died for our sins!  But as Paul preached to the pagan culture of Greece, "From one man [God] made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us" (Acts 17:26-27).

We have a lot to learn about God from other cultures.  We who are of European descent tend to think logically, whereas people from the Middle and Far East cultures think more in terms of relationships. Thus, there are some things that we fail to perceive about God that people from the Middle and Far East cultures easily understand.  For example, we who are of European descent call someone with whom we associate in a mutually pleasing way a "friend," which comes from the Old English word "freond," meaning, "to love."  Very logical, right? A "friend" is someone we "love."  But American Indians, who are a tribal culture like the cultures of the Middle East, think more relationally than we do.  Their word for friend is "one-who-carries-my-sorrows-on-his-back."  That does better job of describing the relationship between two friends than our logical word "friend" does, don't you think?

And what can other cultures teach us about God?  We who are of European descent refer to God by abstract names, like Lord, the Holy One, the Almighty, etc.  But American Indians refer to God more in terms of their relationship to Him; for example, Lakota Indians call God, "Tunkasila" which means "Grandfather."  Have you ever thought of God as your Grandfather?  As someone who is far older and wiser than you but doesn't look down on you for your lack of knowledge, and who loves you and treasures to spend time with you?  That is the blessing of studying the other religions of the world--they teach us things about God that we, as people who are conditioned by our European logical cultural heritage, fail to perceive.

Bible Trivia

"What city did the writer of Acts say was divided: part siding with the Apostles and part with the unbelieving Jews?  (Hint: the city still exists today, though under a different name; it is home to the Seljuk Tower, the 11th tallest building in Turkey)."

Contact Pastor Jon with your answer: jondenhouter@gmail.com
269-845-0416.  Please give the Scripture where you found the answer.

Congratulations to everyone who got last month's trivia question right: Eleanor Moore, Bill Beck, Roger Staley, Shirley Slaughter, and Jan Hall.  The question was, "What was the names of Moses' parents?" Find the answer for yourself in Exodus 6:20.

Property Committee

Some things we got done on Clean Up Saturday

Painted the fellowship Hall, power washed the church, got lawn mower, weed eater and blower ready for season. Fixed stool in the nursery and unplugged drain for the nursery bathroom. Put a peak hole in the door to the balcony. Clean the nursery and washed all the toys. No meeting set up for June or July yet. Also need to set up another Clean up Saturday