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Inside
Saturday, December 17, 2011
The Rev. Mike Taylor Religion Columnist
Go from transition to position in new year N
ow when evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them. Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing. So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat, and they were afraid. But he said to them, it is I do not be afraid. Then they willingly received him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going. (John 6:16-21) I want us to see several things from this passage in Johns gospel as we enter 2012 and beyond. I believe after 10 to 15 years of preparing and transitioning the church of Jesus Christ is now ready to move into position for the next great move of God. There have been many great moves of God in past history often time coming during great social and economic upheaval. As we see in this story it was dark and Jesus had not yet come to the disciples. Would you agree with me these are dark times? It would seem that gross darkness covers the earth. Many of you are experiencing dark times in your life and you are wondering where God is in all of this. In the story we see that the journey was long and hard. A storm had come and they had been rowing for three or four miles. Some of you are in a storm right now. Our nation and the nations of the world are in an economic storm. The journey has been long and the storms have been intense. Many of you are in a battle. You are not where you were but you are not where you want to be. This is why it has been so important that we have worked hard over the last decade to put ourselves into position to receive all that God has for us in the next season of our lives. This is not about us. We want to be blessed in order that we may comfort and bless others who are less fortunate. In the story the disciples are tired and the storm is raging. When Jesus appears to them their rst reaction is to be afraid. Often times when God appears to be answering our prayers we may react with fear. We dont always recognize God in the solution. In fact most times when we pray for help things at rst may appear to get worse. Just hold on, God is up to something good. Even though they had fear the bible says they were willing to receive him into the boat. Are you willing to let God into your situation? God will not come to us unless we ask. Some of you have great fear but are unwilling to fully let go and let God work out your battles. When the disciples let Jesus in the boat immediately the boat was at the land where they were going. Turn your situation fully over to God and prepare to be immediately thrust into position for the next great move of God.
AP PHOTOS
A tour group looks at a statue of the Madonna and child at the Museum of Divine Statues in Lakewood, Ohio, Tuesday.
Art of faith
Man restores unused religious statues, creates museum
Two years ago when the Cleveland Catholic Diocese closed dozens of area churches, Lou McClung bought not only many of the unwanted statues but also the small St. Hedwig Catholic Church which would then house the museum. A make-up artist by trade, McClung taught himself how to restore the religious works. The Cleveland Catholic Diocese has also loaned his some pieces of religious art to display. On a recent tour of seniors, a visitor asked him if he had the talent to make then all look better too, and he jokingly responded, I can shave ten years off anyone!
A stained glass window glows, restored and then donated to the Museum of Divine Statues, is seen beyond a statue reclaimed from St. Propcop Church of Cleveland at the museum in Lakewood, Ohio.
The Rev. Mike Taylor is pastor and president of RAPHAH Ministries Christian Center, an evangelistic outreach in Taylorsville. He can be reached at raphahministries @hotmail.com.
With his dog Gracie in his arms, Lou McClung talks to a group of seniors from St. Brendan Catholic Church of North Olmstead, Ohio during their tour of his non-prot Museum of Divine Statues in Lakewood, Ohio, Tuesday
Religion Briefs
Church can fire unmarried teacher
Southern California church can re an unmarried preschool teacher living with her boyfriend and their child, an appeals court has ruled. Sara Henry led a wrongful termination lawsuit after she was red in May 2009 for living arrangements contrary to the religious beliefs of Tustins Red Hill Lutheran Church and its school. The 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana last week upheld a lower court ruling in favor of church. The appeals court said that Henry was red because she lived with her boyfriend in a sexual relationship while unmarried, a violation of church belief.
SANTA ANA, Calif. A
The court noted she wasnt terminated because she had a baby out of wedlock. Red Hill Lutheran said on its website that it is a member of conservative-leaning Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ, which was formed by several congregations that left the more liberal Evangelical Lutheran Church in America over theological differences.
Province: Rockers affront to Muslim
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia Police in Indonesias
most conservative province raided a punk-rock concert and detained 65 fans, buzzing off their spiky mohawks and stripping away body piercings because of the perceived threat to Islamic values. Dog-collar necklaces and
chains also were taken from the youths before they were thrown in pools of water for spiritual cleansing, local police chief Iskandar Hasan said Wednesday. The crackdown marked the latest effort by authorities to promote strict moral values in Aceh, the only province in this secular but predominantly Muslim nation of 240 million to have imposed Islamic laws. Here, adultery is punishable by stoning to death. Gays have been thrown in jail or lashed in public with rattan canes. Women are forced to wear headscarves and told not to wear tight pants. Though pierced and tattooed teens have complained for months about harassment, the roundup at a concert last Saturday attended by more than 100
LOCAL HOLIDAY SERVICES
The Carroll County Times welcomes local and surrounding area places of worship to submit their holiday service information by emailing it to Shiela Johnson at shiela.johnson@carrollcountytimes.com, mailing it to 201 Railroad Ave., Westminster, MD 21157, or fax to 410-857-8749. Please note that due to the volume of places of worship, we will not be printing the list of services, however, it will be published to our website at www.carrollcountytimes.com/ features/religion.
people was by far the big- the displays are an ungest and most dramatic constitutional endorsebust yet. ment of Christianity by the government of this small Group sues over town about 50 miles east of Memphis. tower crosses According to court reWHITEVILLE, Tenn. cords, the group rst wrote A national nonprot for to Mayor James Bellar last atheists and agnostics is December on behalf of a suing the town of White- Whiteville resident who ville over its placement of objected to a cross that had been placed atop the local crosses on city property. A federal lawsuit led on water tower several years Friday by the Wisconsin- previously. When the mayor did not based Freedom From Religion Foundation claims respond, a second letter was sent in March and a third in May. In September the group wrote again, this time threatening to sue unless the cross was removed within 30 days. Instead, the town removed one arm of the cross as a sort of protest. It also placed two crosses in front of city hall. A third cross appeared on the public sidewalk in front of Bellars business.
Associated Press
