Post 19-Happy New Year

 

John wrote on Wed, Dec 14, 2016 at 8:25 PM

 Happy New Year Dana

            Since you are a Southerner, have you ever had Black-eyed peas on New Year's Day?

            The first ship I was on in the Coast Guard was homeported in Galveston, TX. I had only been on the ship about seven weeks and was still getting used to the food. (I was also getting used to Texas. It was the first time I'd ever seen a woman driving a pickup truck. And not just that, but in the back window a rifle was hanging. I came from a city in the north.) Since we were in port on New Year's Day, the cook was able to take his time and prepare a holiday meal. At my home we usually had some kind of roast, mashed potatoes, a vegetable, and maybe a pie. So that's what I was expecting. The first thing the mess cooks put on the tables, were bowls of spoiled beans. I couldn't believe it, that the cook had the nerve to do that. When I said something, all the other sailors on the mess deck started laughing at me. Those were bowls of Black-eyed peas, and not spoiled beans.

       Isaiah 43:18-19 NASB  “Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it?
       I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.”

            Before I sat down to that meal, I had never had Black-eyed peas, let alone greens and ham. When the cook was preparing the meal, I didn't know I was in for something new.  When it was served, I thought the food was spoiled, bad. What I didn't know was it was something new for me. What is God doing, preparing now, for me, for you, for Carol and me, for my church, and for our country? Something new, but what?
     
         By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.  Heb 11:8 NASB
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Dana’s reply on Mon, Dec 19, 2016 at 9:58 AM

 Happy New Year, John

     Yes, black-eyed peas, cabbage, corned beef, and all the trappings, have been a tradition for many years that I’ve experienced being a card-carrying son of the South, and during my stint as an expatriate to the north lands. It’s supposed to have some kind of significance, health and wealth, I think, and a gassy stomach, I know for sure.

     So as to the New Year, let’s hope it will be a happy one at any rate.   We have many challenges to face on many fronts—as a church, as a nation, as a world, not to mention the ongoing personal challenges we all face day in and day out.

     So what do we do?  Resolutions?  Hardly, there are as many kept and fulfilled New Year’s Resolutions as there are people who got an eye shot out by a rubber band gun we all played with as kids.

     Surely I’m dating myself with that last illustration.  Kids do not play with rubber band guns any more.  That’s because there are no Apple iRubber Band Guns on the market.  We used to take a stick, drive a tack in the business end, and on the firing end, affix a wooden, spring-opening and closing clothespin.  We’d hook a rubber band or a couple tied together over the tack, and stretch it back to the open clothespin, which would hold it in place until said clothespin was depressed, thus releasing the deadly blinder of countless scores of children world-wide, the rubber band. Had our Mother’s dire warnings Kids these days wouldn’t know how to use one because they couldn’t figure out how to charge it with a USB cable.

     Perhaps my New Year’s Resolution should be to not act like such an old fogey.  There I go again; does anyone these days even know what a “fogey” is?  There is a tendency among us, who are quickly on our way to becoming archaeological relics, to cling to the “good old days,” and gripe and moan about all the new-fangled gadgets and gear that young folks come up with and wrap their lives around. 

     Take my generation’s music. Now that was real music; the stuff kids listen to today is just noise!  In the back of my mind, I vaguely remember my own parents saying something to that effect when I brought home my first Jimi Hendrix album.  Album?  Does anybody call then albums anymore?

     But let’s face it, our ship, if it hasn’t sailed off already, is certainly sounding the “All Aboard.” So what’s to do?  Keep groaning and moaning about how this younger generation is going to the dogs, and generally become a royal pain in the neck that no one wants to be around. Or….

     …why don’t we resolve to try to realize that like it or not, the younger folk are taking over, and if we can try to be a help to them as they take on some of the grim challenges facing the church and world? If what Proverbs 16:31 tells us, that, “Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life….” is true, then it might behoove those of us who have lived so long, to pray for the wisdom to be able to try and relate to the younger generation, and the grace to be nice about it.  No one likes a grumpy old man.  If all we have to contribute is bellyaching and criticism about how back in our day things were better, we’re going to miss the opportunity to try and be a positive influence on our juniors.

     Back at VFCC, I remember the head of AG Missions (can’t crank back the name at present) once said in a sermon, that “Power is nothing; influence is everything.”  That is something I’ve tried to make one of my life mottoes. 

     As this younger generation is struggling to find its way, maybe some of us old codgers might do the world some good if we made the attempt to not disparage the toys and antics of youth and find some common ground where we can be a positive influence.  If we could impart some of the wisdom we’ve hopefully gained over the decades to those who have the vim, vigor, and desire to make a difference in the world, might that not make a good team?

     As several of our posts have noted the church is facing a huge relevancy crisis. Why don’t we get out of the way, and help the younger generation find Jesus, and express their love, devotion and service to Him in a way that is relevant to them, whether or not it fits the way we’ve always done it? We should be caring about whether or not there is a church in the future, and not the methodology by which it is expressed.  Let’s face it, in all that “noise” the young folk call music, you probably won’t find one instance of the song “Old Time Religion” being included in all the playlists.

     Would it be better to see a church full of young people strictly adhering to our rigid and dull modes of “church,” or enthusiastically praising God in their own style?  It’s not that our modes are all that bad, it’s just that to which we are accustomed.  But our church services and programs, dear to us as they may be, were not inscribed on tablets of stone by the finger of God.  If our mission on earth is to convert all the young people on earth to being carbon copies of old codgers, then the church is doomed, as we haven’t always done that good a job with it. 

     Thankfully the church is not doomed, as Revelation assures us that there will be a church in the future, and buffeted and battered though it may be, it will not ultimately be conquered, and will take its place one day with her Groom, the Lord Christ.  (see Rev 21:9b)   What a legacy we could leave behind if we purposed to work toward helping the next generation develop a church that fits their lifestyles and at the same time, once again, turns the world upside down!

      But we are not going to accomplish that by reminiscing about the glory days that are passing away with each fleeting hour, and ramming such notions down the throats of the youth of today.  God, grant us please, the grace and the intestinal fortitude and the sense of humor to put our antiquated ideas of how the church is supposed to proceed, back on the shelf with our other dust covered trophies destined to be relegated one day to yard sales and county landfills, and help the young ones who follow to build their own church—one that is dynamic in its belief and faith and enthusiasm to get out there and take the Gospel to every creature on the planet.  And while we’re asking, Lord, help us to allow those same young ones the freedom to get it wrong occasionally, like we did (ouch!) and be there, not to say, “I told you so…back in my day…,” but to help them up and dust them off, and get them back in the good fight once again.

     Revival most often follows on the heels of sincere repentance.  Maybe our New Year’s Resolution could be to repent of our old fogey-ism, and start off by endeavoring to be friends to the youth, because one will more quickly listen to the kind voice of a friend, as opposed to some grouchy old coot who lives only in the fading memories of the past. We who came through the 60’s and 70’s were the cool generation.  Let’s resolve to show the young folks among us that we can still be cool, and when they are playing their “noise” in church, with their hands in the air and their heads full of good theology, perhaps we can tap our feet to the rhythm and hopefully not break a hip in the process.

Happy New Year!

Dana