| January 28, 2001 |
Vol. III, No. 39
|
The Susquehanna church of Christ continued to make progress during the year 2000. We have continued to produce our weekly bulletin, the Susquehanna Sentinel for handout, and to send it out by e-mail to those who wish to receive it. I edit the bulletin, and write many of the articles. Percy does the lay-out. He also did some writing this past year. Jan continues to make the copies. She and Percy do the folding. Our e-mail address list continues to include readers from several of these United States, as well as Germany, England, Sweden, Northern Ireland, and the Philippines.
We had two gospel meetings this past year. James Finney, who is currently working with the church in Washington, New Jersey, was with us in March. He turned 84 years old in July. Brother Finney helped to plant many of the congregations in the northeast in the states of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He has been preaching the gospel since the 1930’s.
Caleb Hart was with us for a gospel meeting in November. That meeting was designed especially to strengthen our family units. Caleb and his wife Stephanie helped us with some special classes for our young people, etc. Caleb is the son of members, Curt and Cindy Hart. He grew up here in Lancaster County, and now works with a congregation in Palentine, Illinois.
In January the local church increased my financial support in the amount of $450 per month, allowing me to release that amount in outside support. In March, we were able to pick up an additional $350 per month, and release that amount in outside support. That is a total increase of $800 per month by the local brethren, and that amount released to be used elsewhere where the need is greater.
In February, we gained two families -- both moving here from Stillwater,
Oklahoma. Clint and Ginger Andrews had been with us before.
Clint works for Armstrong Corporation, took his training here, then was
transferred to Stillwater. This year he was transferred back here
in February -- but we lost them again in July (back to Stillwater).
The other family, Jim and Michelle Lolley and their three children are
still with us. Their oldest, Nikki, is a Christian.
For the first several months of 2000, Tom Reed and Percy Wilson continued
to preach once each month in Arbutus, Maryland. That church, in recent
months, secured a young man to work with them regularly -- Keith Wilson,
Percy’s younger brother. In September, the Susquehanna church began
to have a singing service on the last Sunday evening each month, allowing
me to go and preach in Fairfield, Pennsylvania at that time.
Percy Wilson has made the commitment to go into full-time preaching. He traveled to Stillwater, Oklahoma, to consider the work there. He is currently waiting to hear from them.
My gospel meeting schedule was much heavier than usual this past year. I held gospel meetings in Wharton, New Jersey in May; in Jonestown, and Bryan, Texas in June; in Valparaiso, Indiana, in July; and in Greenwood, Arkansas, and in Georgetown, Texas, in November. I also spoke twice in a lectureship in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania in June, and three times in a lectureship in Exton, Pennsylvania, in October. In addition, while in the various areas, I preached once in Fairlawn, New Jersey and in Liberty Hill, Texas. I also flew to Texas in mid-December for the funeral of my friend and fellow gospel preacher, John Crow.
During my absence, Curt Hart, Jim Lolley, Tim Maness, Angelo Miozza, Dan Walston, and Percy Wilson all filled the pulpit at one time or another. Scott Long, Percy Wilson, and my son Darren Johnson, filled in for me in teaching adult classes.
During the year, I have designed most of the adult class materials. In September, we began producing our own materials for the children’s classes. I do much of the writing with a lot of help from Tim and Paula Maness, Angelo and Patricia Miozza, CindyHart, and others. All of the teachers of the young children’s classes have helped in the effort.
In August, our oldest grand-daughter, Rachel Johnson was baptized into Christ. Her dad, Garemy Johnson, did the baptizing. In October, Dan Walston baptized his friend Doug Zimmerman, with whom he had been studying for several months. Doug has not yet followed through in faithful commitment but Dan continues working with him in that effort. Several of us have had special studies, invited our friends, and otherwise worked toward further growth of the kingdom in this area. Let us not slack.
We have received various contacts through the year of people who have expressed interest in the cause of Christ in one way or another. We have tried to faithfully follow through with each of these contacts. There is still much to do. God is blessing us in many ways. Let us not neglect to share His blessings with others.
–CRJ
On the subject of marriage, Jesus said, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh, so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” Regarding divorce and remarriage, He said, “Whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery, and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery” (Matt. 19:5-6).
The Law of Moses, because of the hardness of the hearts of the Israelites in general, tolerated divorce if a man found “some uncleanness” in his wife, Deut. 24:1-4. As time went on, the Israelites began to apply that passage more and more loosely, so that by the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry, divorce was being allowed “for just any reason” (Matt. 19:1-9).
Being accustomed to the looseness with which divorce had been allowed in their society -- and now being confronted with Jesus’ insistence that divorce and remarriage could only be allowed in a case where the divorce was obtained on grounds of sexual immorality -- Jesus’ disciples “said to Him, ‘If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.’ But He said to them, ‘All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given. For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it” (Matt. 19:10-12).
Marriage has become viewed in our society about as loosely as it was in theirs. More than once, I have heard young people about to marry, express the sentiment, “If it doesn’t work, we’ll just get a divorce.” A marriage that has no more commitment than that is doomed before it begins. In the very best of marriages, there will be many problems to solve, many adjustments to make, much give and take. If a person isn’t committed to the idea of remaining with this spouse for a lifetime, he should do them both a favor and not marry that person.
In Matt. 19:12-13, Jesus recognizes that some individuals are born with little or no sexual urge, perhaps no ability to engage in normal sex. Some individuals have been mutilated by other individuals. Others become “eunuchs” for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. It is my conviction that in this latter case, Jesus does not mean they literally mutilate themselves, but that they become eunuchs figuratively, by bringing their sexual urges and inclinations under control for the sake of God’s kingdom -- either simply to avoid becoming entangled in the affairs of providing for and protecting a family (1 Cor. 7:32-33), or because they have been set free from a marriage and have no Scriptural right to marry again (Mark 10:11-12; Matt. 5:32)
–CRJ
In Matt. 17:1-9, Jesus took Peter, James, and John up on a mountain and there He was transfigured, that is, His physical features changed, even as they watched. There also appeared Old Testament personalities, Moses and Elijah. Elijah had gone into heave bodily about 850 years earlier. Moses had been dead for almost 1500 years.
As Jesus and His three companions came down from the mountain, He charged them not to tell what they had seen "until the Son of Man is risen from the dead." Their minds were confused. They had just seen and heard enough to convince them that Jesus was indeed the Christ whom the prophets had foretold. But what was this talk about rising from the dead? And, didn't the scribes say that Elijah would come first. Was the brief appearance of Elijah on the mountain the fulfillment of that prophecy?
Jesus explained, "'Indeed. Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.' Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist" (vs. 11-13).
The teaching of the scribes that Elijah would come before the coming of the Lord, was based on three Old Testament passages from the writings of the prophets, Isaiah and Malachi, especially Malachi 4:5-6. And the scribes were substantially correct. However, by looking for too literal a fulfillment, they missed God's intended fulfillment of the prophecies. Just before Jesus began His earthly ministry, He was preceded by John the Baptist. John's mission had been to cry in the wilderness, to call the nation to repent, to restore a right attitude of parents toward their children and of children toward their parents -- and in general, to make people ready for the Messiah, and His wonderful kingdom which was at hand.. Now, the apostles understood that Isa. 40:1-3, Mal. 3:1, and Mal. 4:5-6 were fulfilled by John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus. "They understood that He spoke to them of John."
Not only had John been killed as a result of his efforts, but, "Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands." And this, too, had been a matter of Old Testament prophecy. Several Old Testament passages foretold Christ's crucifixion: Isaiah, chapter 53, Psalm 22, several passages from Zechariah, etc. In Isaiah 53:3, the prophet had written, "He is despised and rejected by man, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him." Jesus' disciples, and the Jews in general, were well aware of Daniel's picture of the triumphant "Son of Man" in Dan. 7:13, but they had been painfully unaware of how He would suffer before He triumphed.
--CRJ