When was the last time you witnessed to someone? If you have enough time to criticize someone who’s working so hard for God, someone who is SO much more than the average Christians, I would think you’d have more than enough time to use your knowledge and wisdom to share God’s salvation with your neighbors, co-works and family members who are not believers. Although, if you’re this critical of Ravi, I’m sure you’re just as critical of them and they probably don’t want to hear what you’ve said… I know I’m being harsh, but not anymore than your “red flag.”

Didn’t the Pharisees criticize Jesus for eating with the sinners too? How is this any different?

Alicia

Then there is the viewpoint of not being citizens of this world but of the Kingdom to come. This one that understands that faith and history are inextricably bound. That “chonological snobbery” is not to be believed or practiced. That to follow Christ is to understand that you follow one who is full of paradox and that paradox is the only way to fully grasp the truth. That truth does not change, we do.

Then there is the ground over which living in the world though not part of that world is the viewpoint one must travel. How do we always take the right step? Especially in a country that is tearing itself apart further by trying to mend itself to its own way of thinking. When Malcolm Muggeridge said that “there is no new news only old news happening to new people”, he gave us a context as Christians to explain what C. S. Lewis meant when he used the term “Chronological snobbery”.

These thoughts came to me as I reflected on the film Amistad. How do you do right to a foreign people with different religion whom your country of proported Christian belief has wronged? How do you make that up to them without compromising your faith and the truth? We have had examples. And they are right there in the Bible and Malcolm Muggeridge was right. But we are not doing that as a whole, as a country. That is not to say that individual Christians are not carrying out our Father’s will more closely, they are. But on the whole, the US and those living in the US, many of whom claim to be “Christian”, have gotten themselves into a pickle by relying more on themselves to gain peace than on the God for whom our early forefathers claimed to serve. As a result, whether this contingint realizes it or not, they have taken their eyes off the prize: the real Kingdom, and are trying to build their version of the “kingdom of God on earth” just as the Jewish zealots hoped Jesus’ coming would do for them in their day. Of that contingint, there are more flavors in the soup that I will not cover here due to lack of space and consideration. But within this cacaphonic climate, our preachers and pastors, who know the accurate truth and are trying, I believe, to tell it with sincerity are faced with horrendous choices everyday. The discipline they are enduring publically, in the midst of overwhelmng pressures to speak where the need is greatest and their own struggles with common sin must be beyond words. What is in their minds is only between them and God for a time. But the honest man or woman of God will eventually come forward as did both Peter and Paul and say what was in their heart, not to expiate themselves, but lead the flock carefully out of love which God has placed in their care. There is not a leader in the Bible that did not make a misstep. Not one. And it takes a lot of them, without repentence, for God to remove the annointing of a proven leader. I liken it to the submission a wife is under with her husband. Who of us could take on that role more successfully than those God has already obviously put his spirit of teaching upon? As the scriptures remind us, these are under a heavier judgement, so it recommends: “not many of you should be teachers.” (James 3:1) This is not an enviable position to be in but it is a calling. We are living in some of the most difficult of all Christian time periods, the period where every move is crucial. The tea cup is sitting on the edge of the table. Scrutiny will be unbearable. Who but the truly arrogant or the truly called will be in the public eye as teachers under that kind of scrutiny? In one week the mainstream news has covered one man very publicallly, the Internet has covered the other. What does God have to say about both? What do faith and history tell us of what has happend to such men in the past? There is part of our direction. The other part is in prayer and the leading of the Holy Sprit. Of misstep or outright sin, I do not have what is in the man’s heart. I only have his complex actions which tell me there was some confusion and misunderstanding somewhere. And that is the problem we are all being faced with in this pluralistic, relativistic society: learning to operate within the paradox of truth that Jesus taught us. When to advance, when to keep quiet, when to speak boldly, when to do this or that and do it all under scrutiny, under test, under speed of the pace of our lives and do it perfectly in harmony with the Holy Spirit at all times. Have any of us done that this week? I know I haven’t. But I know I have done the best I could, even if sloppily, from God’s perfect standard. I say “sloppily” because its the best word I can find at the moment to describe how far off the mark I feel I must be from God’s holiness. I am grateful for His love in covering over my sloppy lopsided cake baking efforts at living the Christian life. On my best day that must be what it really looks like.

Again, I am going to imagine what I would be doing in such a setting as the National Day of Prayer. I received an email and due to being sick did not have the energy to go onto the Internet and get involved at their web site on top of the other spiritual things needing my attention and the work I needed to do. I made a choice. I, though, would have thought that I could have prayed as I always do, but been overwhelmed by the growing tidal wave of daring chests shoved forward in my face of those whom this country has opened its arms to but who now are trying to dictate how I openly express my own faith, a faith upon which this country has documented proof it was founded. These are difficult sands of time upon which to stand. Judgment is rampant. Discernment is getting more difficult. And avoiding contraversy, being peacable with all men, may have passed since it is getting to a time when it may not depend on us anymore to do that. That is always a difficult moment to discern. Now is the time to reach out and make sure we make it as a brotherhood into the “ark”. What am I trying to say? I am trying to convey a mental picture of us all on trial and no one stands with any position or title, just as brothers and sisters whom we love and serve our Lord with shoulder to shoulder in the spiritual war as soldiers of Christ. Soldiers with honor cover each other in the battlefield, they go back for the wounded, even the fallen. They do what it takes for the troops to come back together and they follow their leader into enemy territory. Their commander doesn’t always make the “right” decisions 100% of the time. But they still obey. This is a lesson in submission all must learn. So what can be done?

Let us encourage one another, indeed, I would suggest that we write, if our hearts and the Holy Spirit agrees to impel us to, letters of encouragment to our leaders, rather than to condemn them (which I am not suggesting that we are doing here in this open discussion). I am saying that I am trying to mentally place myself under the same scrutiny and what I would hope would be there for me if I was.

This hasn’t said as best as I wanted to say it, but its the best I can do for now. I hope someone can say it better than I can.

God bless you all,
Melly

This from slice on the 1 May

We have just confirmed with Ravi’s office that Ravi Zacharias did not pray at all at the live webcasted 2008 National Day of Prayer Capitol Hill event. (As you can see posted below, he was scheduled to pray according to the Task Force’s official schedule for today.) Amazing. His response to the controversy over his prayer was to not pray at all. If he had prayed in Jesus name, he would have contradicted his official written prayer from the National Day of Prayer Task Force. If he had prayed without Jesus name, the public furor would have only grown worse, and it would have been on the record. As the Honorary Chairman of the 2008 National Day of Prayer, Ravi Zacharias was prayerless at the Capitol Hill event. The NDP is hoping that the uses of Jesus name by other participants will damp down the controversy. Shirley Dobson’s introduction of a Jewish Rabbi at the beginning of the event set the confusing spiritual tone. This is what Rabbi Bruce Lustig said to the assembled group and to those watching live:

“As we stand in this historic place, ready to begin our 57th National Day of prayer, we turn to the Psalms and know that the Psalmist knew the power of prayer, the indispensable ability of humanity to humbly give thanks to God. When the Psalmist wrote the very words of 28:7, (reads in Hebrew), the eternal is my strength and my shield, my heart trusts in God and I am helped. No matter our creed, our color, our income or our status in life, whether Christian, Muslim, Jew, Sikh, Buddhist or Jain, before the Eternal, we are all equal in God’s eyes, we are equal in prayer, for through prayer, God can and will be our strength, and our shield, and our help.”Sorry, Rabbi, not according to God’s Word. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father, but by me.”

This is an interesting choice on the part of Dr. Zacharias. His office seemed to be somewhat at a loss for words when pressed as to why he didn’t read his official prayer. The spokesperson mumbled something vaguely about scheduling difficulties. The truth is, Ravi spoke for several minutes, but did not not pray. In the end, it is better that he did not pray at all rather than pray a Christ-less official prayer as he did at the White House earlier that day.

Then Ravi decided not to pray in the name of Jesus at this event…

This from slice on the 2 May…

Ravi Zacharias Prayed at the White House—Without Jesus’ Name

I am learning today that Moody Radio carried the White House prayer event from the National Day of Prayer yesterday morning. We are told that Ravi prayed at that event and did not pray in Jesus’ name. He stuck to his official script. We were only able to see the webcast live from the Capitol Hill event where Ravi did not pray. We do not get Moody radio in this area. Well, folks, that’s the bottom line. The official prayer of the 2008 National Day of Prayer remained Jesus-free all the way to the White House.

http://pjmiller.wordpress.com/2008/04/30/the-ecumenical-national-day-of-prayer/

http://www.christianworldviewnetwork.com/article.php/3417/By_Ingrid_Schlueter

God bless you,
Melly