<x-tad-bigger>Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
Tony Blair shows a kind of missionary zeal for helping Africa. Good.
But decades of history raise the question: do massive injections of
money help? The answer seems to be no UNLESS the problems of
corruption can be corrected. For example, a belief that sex with a
virgin will cure AIDS, and similar fantasies in economics. We who
revel in our fantastic wealth and fun are not more righteous before
God; we have our plagues of pornography and fun-violence.
In my youth I was sent as a pastor-missionary to Uganda. It was the
pre-Idi Amin era. Even then Uganda enjoyed world fame for promiscuity.
I felt a serious responsibility before God for the pastoral care of
our church. Hammering away at legalism didn’t help; fear proved to be
an ineffective motivation. As I prayed, I was led to study with the
Baganda about what happened on the cross; what does it mean to be
living in the cosmic Day of Atonement (yes, they could understand!);
when the Bible says “God is
</x-tad-bigger><italic><x-tad-bigger>agape</x-tad-bigger></italic><x-tad-bigger>”
(1 John 4:8), what does
</x-tad-bigger><italic><x-tad-bigger>agape</x-tad-bigger></italic><x-tad-bigger> mean?
How is it different than our human love? What kind of a death did
Jesus die--the first, or the second? How did He “empty Himself” for
us? How does His
</x-tad-bigger><italic><x-tad-bigger>agape</x-tad-bigger></italic><x-tad-bigger>-love
“constrain” a believer to say “No!” to the clamors of self and
sensuality? Can we cooperate with Jesus in these last days of world
history? Can we come close to Him?
I was impressed to read to them Isaiah 22:12-14 as “present truth,”
for levity was common response to the preaching of the cross, even
among some pastors. Of course, I never dreamed of the coming of Idi
Amin, nor did they. It turned out to be something like the Fall of
Jerusalem (70 A.D.) in miniature. But Christ did not forsake them in
the reign of horror that ensued. The Lord was near to them. “His
compassions fail not” (Lam. and Jer. 3:22).
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
</x-tad-bigger>------------------------------------------------------------------------
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