by Randal Matheny

I arrived in the U.S. last Thursday morning. That evening I accompanied my father on a funeral visitation. After some three years of battling cancer, a young Christian husband and father succumbed to the disease.

Rarely do I go to a funeral without thinking of the somber preacher's advice,

"It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart" (Ecclesiastes 7:2, NIV).

I am not a morbid person. I like good jokes as much as anyone. But laughter, it seems, lacks the reflective quality of sorrow. In the presence of death, I ponder my own mortality. I consider my ways. I resolve to redeem the time.

Though words often fail at funerals, grieving family members are encouraged by the presence of friends. And each of us is given opportunity to take to heart the destiny of us all.

So go to the house of mourning.

Under a new rule announced by the Bush administration, "unborn children" now qualify for government health benefits. In promoting prenatal care, federal policy now defines childhood as beginning at conception.

Thousands of poor families will benefit from this change, and the abortion debate has shifted ground. The issue is no longer merely a woman’s right to choose birth or abortion. Federal policy now explicitly considers the rights of unborn children. In recognizing an unborn child’s right to healthcare, the government has taken an important first step in restoring the unborn child’s more basic right to life.

God’s Gift

"We hold these truths to be self-evident,” our Declaration of Independence asserts, “that all men are created equal.” Not born equal, not aspire to be equal, and not declared equal by the courts or the legislature – all men are created equal.

If God gives us our human rights, we cannot claim life is just “our choice.” If God does not give us our rights, we cannot claim there is any basis for those rights beyond mere political expediency. The abortion debate cannot be considered outside of the broader issue of God’s role as author of human life and dignity.

A Loss of Humanity

The magnitude of this national horror is overwhelming. The most frequent surgical procedures in the United States, abortions nationally kill 1.3 million children a year.

Beyond this tragic loss of life, our very humanity is being destroyed as we ignore God’s role as Creator. “As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.” (Ecclesiastes 11:5, ESV)

Hopefully, we will learn to cherish the gift of life and will learn to reverence the God who gave it.

by Randal Matheny

(Note: I got carried away on my Uplift mailing list and wrote more than usual. Seemed appropriate for Forthright, too!)

Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura accepted an award from Kids Voting Minnesota, a youth education group, and stated, "Did you know that in the United States, only 50 percent of adults vote? That's pathetic."

The governor himself is a regular non-voter. One week earlier, he failed to vote in his own party's Sept. 10 primary.

Do as I say, but not as I do?

But it's not only politicians, so we should be careful not to criticize them so heavily. Perhaps they merely reflect the population at large.

If it weren't such a problem, Jesus would not warned his followers about those who teach right but live wrong.

He said, "Therefore, do everything they tell you. Obey them. But don't act as they do, because they say one thing and do another" (Matthew 23.3, SEB).

So say right and do right. That's the path to true contentment and happiness.

Jesus, again. "The people who hear the message of God and keep it are the ones who are truly happy!" (Luke 11.28).

2 Corinthians 6:11-7:4 by Alvaro Cesar Pestana*

If God's servant is unconcerned with the rebellious human reaction to God, how will he have some positive influence in the world? Will this servant lose contact with the people he intends to help? Actually, the disciple will be greatly influential in his efforts in God's work in two ways: loving and prophesying (preaching).

The servant's influence is not based in any supposed "authority conferred upon me," neither in claiming a "superior position." The idea that a servant is a leader of the people or special representative of God has origin in pagan concepts, not in any clear teaching of Jesus.

The Christian ministry influences by love. See Paul's case in 2 Corinthians 6:11-13 and 7:2-4. He makes his appeal based on the love he has for them. It may appear to be a weak appeal for fighting against the rebellious, but Christ has already shown it is the only effective one. The best means of influencing is to serve, and to serve by death. This is what Jesus did, and this is what we will do.

The Christian minister is also a prophet and, occasionally, a furious prophet. This is why he does not hold back from the truth, whomever it may hurt. Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 are some of the hardest found in the New Testament. It is the voice of a John the Baptist who cries out for repentance. The servant will influence others by acting as God's prophet, or spokesman, courageously announcing his plan to the people.

This mixture of lover-spokesman is uncommon, but necessary. It is not possible for God's servants to show love to others if they do not act as spokesmen. On the other hand, acting as spokesman does not exclude love. May Jonah be the only hater-prophet we know!

The literary structure of 2 Corinthians 6:11-7:4 confirms this mixture of love and prophecy. The text begins speaking of love and affection (6:11-13), suddenly speaks in tones of the furious prophet (6:14-7:1), and finally returns to the affectionate voice full of love (7:2-4).

The servant influences by loving radically and preaching radically. He is ready to die for others and, at the same time, proclaims the danger of death for those disobedient to God.

*Translated from Alvaro's book, Dores do Crescimento: Um Estudo Devocional de 2 Coríntios 2.14-7.4 (Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil: Revista Edificação, 1997), pp. 23-24. Used by permission.

by Randal Matheny

The deal these days is drama, dance and praise teams. Action. Movement. Excitement. This direction would seem to crowd out the simple reading of Scripture in public worship.

In the positive interest of gaining the hearing of the non-churched and keeping the attention of the faithful, fluff has won over content, style over substance.

But the commandment remains.

"Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching" (1 Timothy 4:13, NIV).

The powerful word which created the world still works to transform lives when Scripture is read and humbly obeyed.

While so many groups titillate the emotions, the Lord appeals to the understanding.

So read the Word in your gatherings. Plainly, simply. No embelishment needed.

Be prepared. Speak clearly, loudly enough for all to hear, without shouting.

Use a good version, avoid paraphrases. Don't rush, nor drag it out.

Be respectful, reverent, presentable, nothing on your person to call attention away from the holy task of reading.

Jesus honored the Jewish synagogues with his presence and participated in the public reading of Scripture (Luke 4:16). The practice of the synagogue (Acts 13:15) became the practice of the church (Colossians 4:16, Revelation 1:3). Not for cultural or social reasons, but spiritual.

So important was the practice of reading Scripture in the church's assembly that, in later times when a hierarchy developed, it became an official position.

We don't need the position, but we do need the power of the reading.

Of public readers Commodian said, "You are flowers in the congregation; you are Christ's lanterns."*

What church cannot use more beauty and fragrance, more light from God?

*Instruct. 2.26[67], cited in E. Ferguson, Encyclopedia of Early Christianity (New York: Garland, 1990), p. 777.