Skip to main content

Hindsight Isn't 2020 by Pastor Kevin Feder

By
Well, what can we say about 2020? Online classes, distance learning, wearing masks, not going to restaurants, empty stadiums, and cancelled events are all things we have come to expect. This makes March 12 seem like it was more than ten months ago.

In between that time, we have seen racial tensions spill over into rioting in the streets, leaving us to wonder just how far the mayhem would go. We have experienced job insecurities that have led to layoffs and employees hoping to survive the cuts. Some roles have changed to the point where job descriptions are undesirable and unrecognizable. We have witnessed a historic and contentious presidential election, the most important perhaps in American history that featured many “irregularities” and procedures that violated election laws. Currently, our country is gearing themselves up for a Joe Biden and Kamala Harris presidency which, for many in the church, will mean an attack on several issues that are of grave concern: abortion, religious liberty, first and second amendments rights come to mind.

Consequently, it has been an exhausting year where division seems inevitable at every turn. To wear a mask or not to? Is the Coronavirus a pandemic or a plandemic? Is America systemically racist or is this just political hype? How should a Christian vote for one of two flawed candidates? Should Christians obey or resist certain orders? Should everyone be forced to get the new vaccine for the virus or not?

How can the church avoid division amidst the never ending controversy? My solution to this is to call for greater unity on what we do know from Scripture. Only Scripture is inspired by God and “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). We can’t say this about CNN or Fox News, which means we should hold to what we know about Jesus more tightly than what we know about anything else. It also means our unity in Christ should transcend our unity in our various views. If 2020 has taught us anything it is that this is easier said than done.

Ironically, we are looking back on 2020 and as the popular saying suggests, hindsight is 2020. Even though the year matches up, the truth of the saying doesn’t, more like hindsight isn’t 2020. This year in review leaves us just as puzzled as we ever were. And to avoid any empty “ism’s” for 2021, I think we best just gear ourselves up for something we can know for certain: Jesus is worthy of our worship, he is enough to satisfy our souls and he alone has the words of eternal life (John 6:68). I urge the church to look into our life in Christ and consider the exciting possibilities of living for Jesus in 2021.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Secret of all Failure is our Failure in Secret Prayer

By
“We may be assured of this—the secret of all failure is our failure in secret prayer” (12). So writes the anonymous author of the classic little book on prayer entitled, The Kneeling Christian (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids: 1971). He means that the reason we so often fall into sin or live in discouragement or fail to bear fruit is because we do not cling to God in Christ above all things. We do not diligently seek him or lean on him or plead with him or draw on his strength. We give ourselves to busyness over communion with God and in this way we seek to accomplish in our flesh what can only be accomplished in the power of the Spirit.  Giving first place to what our dear author calls “secret prayer” is indeed a key to the Spirit-filled life but let’s be clear: prayer is not magic, rather, it’s a relationship. It’s not as if we simply have to file requests with God, being careful to use just the right words so that we can get him to respond as we wish. God is not a vending m
Post a Comment
Read more

Deacons - How They Serve and Strengthen the Church (Part 1)

By
  One of the next important priorities for GCF is to establish deacons in the life of the church. On March 14, 2021 we were able to establish an elder team. Currently, we have a team of four elders overseeing the congregation of GCF.  However, there is more work to be done. I have come to see that establishing an elder team was the bare minimum that needed to happen for GCF to survive. I believe GCF now needs to turn our attention to raising up a team of qualified and willing deacons to serve the congregation so that it will not only survive but thrive.   I would like to begin a series of blogs on deacons to help us understand who they are and what they do in the life of the church.  In this blog let me provide three reasons why I think deacons should be near our top priority.  Number 1: It is Biblical. Paul instructs Timothy to install elders who will help him pastor the church. For whatever reason, it seems the churches in our circles treat the installment of elders as non-negotiable
Post a Comment
Read more

Does the Doctrine Divide? by Patience Griswold

By Anonymous
“Oh, I try not to talk about doctrine. It’s so divisive.” This is a sentiment that I’ve heard expressed, as well as implied, on many occasions, and one that raises the question, does doctrine divide? In answering this question, we must keep in mind a very important truth and that is that everyone holds to some sort of doctrine . “Doctrine” is defined as “a belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a church, political party, or other group.” Regardless of whether or not someone publicly holds to a statement of beliefs from a particular church, every Christian, by definition, holds to a particular set of beliefs. As Carl Trueman observes in his book The Creedal Imperative ,       [W]hile Christianity cannot be reduced to doctrine, to mere teaching, it cannot be meaningfully separated from it, either. Even the most basic claims, such as “Jesus is Lord,” carry clear doctrinal content that needs to be explicated in a world where, as we have noted before, every heretic has his text and n
Post a Comment
Read more