Cochrane Alliance Church

It has been many weeks since I have communicated with all of you.  Some of those weeks were spent in Europe where we, amongst other activities, attended the Passion Play in Oberammergau, Germany, toured what is left of the Buchenwald Concentration Camp outside of Weimar, Germany where Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed for his stand against the Nazis, and paid a visit to what remains of the Berlin Wall in Berlin.  We are still processing what we saw and read and heard at these encounters as well as at other locations throughout Germany and Switzerland.

While away I was working my way through 1 and 2 Chronicles.  I was struck by 1 Chron. 16:33 which says, "Then the trees of the forest will sing, they will sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth."  What stood out to me was that the words 'joy' and 'judge' are used in the same verse.  After hearing about the unbelievable brutality that hatred and a thirst for power and control led to in Nazi Germany, and reading about what the ideologues of the German Democratic Republic did to their own citizens at the Wall in Berlin, and also seeing the depiction of the torture and death of Jesus at the hands of the Roman 'elite', I came to appreciate in a whole new way why the concepts of 'joy' and 'judgment' can stand side by side.

As we continue to read through the Bible this summer we need to also remember that one of the key characteristics of a life which has been changed by the living Christ is that of forgiveness.  Jesus forgave the men who brutalized him because he knew that ". . the whole world is under the control of the evil one" (1John 5:19) and that his battle was not primarily against men but against the evil one who deceives and destroys the minds and hearts of mankind.  Men and women were deceived and destroyed by the harsh and faithless Jewish system during Jesus' day.  They were deceived and destroyed successively by the Nazis and the Soviets in Germany, and today we are being deceived and destroyed by a materialistic and self-centered society which denies the existence and authority of our Creator.  Let's especially take the words of Jesus in the book of Luke to heart when he warns us that "What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight" (Luke 16:15).

We have spent quite some time reading about David and all his mighty men.  Hundreds of books have been written and thousands of sermons have been delivered about this incredible and paradoxical individual in history.  Those of us reading the OT have now come to expect the unexpected.  These men who are held up as the patriarchs and the saints of old, have been shown to us as not only having incredible faith and trust in God but also as having the most glaring human failings.  David is no exception.  What struck me this time when reviewing his life was how he seemed to listen more to human advisors later in his life than he did to God.  This has been a lesson to me because, as part of the over-60 crowd, I need to be reminded that I can't start just living by human experience and the advice of other people, but I must still get my instructions from the Holy Spirit. 

Summer is here and perhaps we will all have some lazy days to catch up on our reading.  I have had some difficulty keeping up myself, but am back on track again.  Please send that email if there are questions or comments that you would like to add to this site. 

No, it isn’t Christmas even though the snow has been more abundant lately than during some Christmas seasons.  The term “in the fullness of time” is often cited when recounting the Christmas story and comes from the Gal 4:4 reference in the KJV of the Bible which says:  “But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.”  I would like to focus on what the “fullness of time” in 2010 means to us.

It seems to me that in the past several years we as a people of God have become very focussed on the here and now, and on my issues and felt needs, and on my need to worship and pray and experience God in the unique ways in which I am wired.   While this may to some extent be all well and good, it has in many ways distracted us from God’s grand story which has unfolded over the millennia and continues to unfold daily and will continue to unfold for all eternity.

Paul begins his first letter to the Corinthians by reminding them that “. . . in [Christ Jesus] you have been enriched in every way” (I Cor 1:5) and “He will keep you strong to the end” (I Cor 1:8).   By these truths he greatly encourages those believers in Corinth with what Christ’s role in the church is.

But then Paul goes on through the rest of the book to talk about many aspects of the role of believers and especially how they were to relate to each other as members of the Church of Jesus Christ.  As I already mentioned a week or two ago, the love which we have received from Christ works in us to build each other up.  Paul pointed out in I Cor 3:10 that he laid a foundation for the church in Corinth as an expert builder and then they were to build on that foundation by seeking the spiritual gifts that would strengthen their fellow believers and the church as a whole (I Cor 14).

I find myself particularly vulnerable to the enemy’s attacks when I am trying to survive alone.  Sometimes health, schedule, season of the year, or any one of a number of other circumstances isolates me from my fellow Christians and I realize that the “building up” is missing.  And I feel I am especially prone to isolating myself when I am facing a “biggie.”

I don’t know if anyone else out there knows what I am talking about, but tomorrow we get a chance to come together and “strengthen each other “  and to remind each other how Christ has enriched us in every way.

Even if you didn’t respond, please show up in room 123 right after the service.  It will be good to put faces to names and to hear all that you would like to share with the rest of us.

1 Cor. 8:1 says “. . . Knowledge puffs up but love builds up.  The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.  But the man who loves God is known by God.” 

It is tempting as we work away at reading through the Bible to be impressed with what we are learning, especially those of us who are going through the Old Testament.  But Paul reminds us what the message of Scripture is really all about, and that is the great and unfathomable love of God.  And by the gift of the Holy Spirit, we can bless others  by building them up in love. 

On Sunday, April 25, right after the morning service, we will again have a chance to gather and build each other up in love.  Please let me know if you will be attending so that we can prepare adequately.  We will meet in Room 123 for 45min – 1 hr. at the most as we enjoy some coffee, juice and snacks while we share our most recent thoughts and observations with respect to 2010 BTB.

Many of us have commented on being perplexed by the way God dealt with His chosen people in the Old Testament, especially the way in which He so quickly and completely punished those who disobeyed Him on the journey from Egypt to Canaan.  His punishment often felt too harsh and unfair.

But how many times already have we seen those incidents cited in the New Testament as being examples of how necessary it is for us to take seriously what God teaches us about Himself, about His character and the requirements of His holiness.   Paul says in I Cor. 10:6, “Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.”   And again, in I Cor. 10:11, he says, “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us . . .”  Back in Romans 15:4 we read, “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”