Any Time Is
Not Some Time!

Hebrews 2:1 -
“Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.”

Ephesians 5:8 - “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord; walk as children of light.”

Titus 3:3 - “For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.”

     He’s been heavy for years and has always hit me as being somewhat round. I have to admit that his bluish color made me think about circulatory failure. I know his diet was bad, partly because of his lack of self-control. But he is still around and they are starting him on a new diet, at least this is what the CNN website had to say on April 8. It is not the kind of diet you might think. You see, C.M. was on an “anytime” diet, and maybe that’s what got him into trouble. They are going to put C.M. on a “sometimes” diet. Will he be able to make the change? Well, he is singing a new tune with the coming “Sesame Street” season. No longer will C.M. intone, "C is for cookie, that's good enough for me." No! Politically correct cookie monsters must now eat healthy and sing healthy. Poor blue Cookie Monster will sing, "A Cookie Is a Sometimes Food," because he has now learned there are "anytime" foods and "sometimes" foods.

     “Any time” is not very specific. That’s the problem. If a cookie monster doesn’t have a specific time, he is eating cookies any time—not good for plump C.M. and his diet! Look at Hebrews 2:1. We need to hold on to God’s Word all the time, because if we let the Bible go to “anytime” status, we fall. You see, a “sometimes” diet of Scripture ends us up in spiritual darkness where we just can’t see the Lord clearly. That’s why Ephesians 5:8 suggests that it is better to stay in the light all the time, i.e., stay in God’s Word all the time, because then we don’t stumble as easily. A “sometimes” spiritual life brings all kinds of problems according to Titus 3:3. How are you in your life with malice and envy and hateful behavior or just plain hate? If those things are there, you are “spiritually blue” and need to get off your “anytime” diet or your “sometime” diet and return to daily time with God’s Word and regular time with God’s fellowship, the church, where that Word is shared.

     Maybe Mom told you that when you were little. Whether she did or not, give her a hug this Mother’s Day, and thank her for letting you see Cookie Monster in less trying days.

    The Da Vinci Code has been on the New York Times Bestseller List since its release in April 2003. In less than 2 years it has become a bestseller in 150 countries and one of the most widely read books of our time.

    Author Dan Brown has done what many authors only dream of doing. He has written a book “everyone” is talking about. All over the world people are discussing his upscale murder mystery that teases readers with provocative theories about history, religion, and the arts.

    This novel, however, is more than a page-turning murder mystery. The Da Vinci Code is a conspiracy theory that leaves many readers wondering whether everything they have believed about Christ and the Bible is wrong.

    A reviewer from Booksense says, “This is one of those rare books that comes along and makes you question everything you thought you knew about religion, art, and what you were taught in school. It’s fast-paced, enthralling, and simply impossible to put down.”

    The Da Vinci Code begins with a lengthy list of acknowledgments and then a “fact page” designed to leave the impression that the novel is based on careful research of little-known facts.

    One of the book’s main characters is Robert Langdon, a fictional Harvard professor of religious symbology. Claiming years of research, the professor maintains that for 1,700 years, the church has been covering up the real truth about Jesus. His views are later echoed by a fictional British royal historian referred to as Sir Leigh Teabing who says things like, “almost everything our fathers taught us about Christ is false” (The Da Vinci Code, p.235).

    The title of the book comes from the claim that Leonardo Da Vinci, along with other notables like Sir Isaac Newton and Victor Hugo, was a member of a secret society entrusted with the truth about Jesus. The secret of this group (The Priory of Sion) is that Jesus had a daughter by Mary Magdalene. Mary, according to the Priory, was the true Holy Grail who bore the royal bloodline of Jesus on earth. This, according to the professor, is a fact the church will kill to suppress.

    What many readers fail to keep in mind is that The Da Vinci Code is fiction. Worse yet, the story rests not on careful research, but on a documented fraud passed off as truth. The idea that Leonardo was a member of The Priory of Sion is based on a document proven by a French court of law to be a forgery and a hoax (The Truth Behind The Da Vinci Code by Richard Abanes, Harvest House Publishers, pp.48-57).

    The Da Vinci Code’s “alternative view of history” also falsely states that Jesus was not regarded as a God until the fourth century when the Roman emperor Constantine decided it was in his own political interests to unite the empire by giving Jesus “an impenetrable cloak of divinity” (The Da Vinci Code, p.233).

    To make the claim plausible, fictional historian Teabing says, “The most profound moment in Christian history” occurred when “Constantine commissioned and financed a new Bible, which omitted those gospels that spoke of Christ’s human traits and embellished those gospels that made Him godlike. The earlier gospels were outlawed, gathered up, and burned” (The Da Vinci Code, p.234).

    The Da Vinci Code claims that some of the documents Constantine tried to destroy managed to survive in scrolls in 1945 at Nag Hammadi, Egypt. These scrolls allegedly “highlight glaring historical discrepancies and fabrications, clearly confirming that the modern Bible was compiled and edited by men who possessed a political agenda, to promote the divinity of the man Jesus Christ and use His influence to solidify their own power base” (The Da Vinci Code, p.234).

    The ancient texts found at Nag Hammadi, however, were not “lost books of the Bible,” as Teabing claims. They were the writings of a mystery religion known as Gnosticism. Gnostics viewed spirit as good and matter as evil. They denied the physical body and crucifixion of Jesus and emphasized a secret knowledge received only by those initiated into the religion. The early church rejected their teachings long before Constantine.

    But even if The Da Vinci Code doesn’t stand up under scrutiny, is it possible that the Bible has been altered through thousands of years of countless copies and versions? This is the kind of question that is best answered by those who have applied the principles of science to manuscript evidence. Scholars spend lifetimes examining all available manuscripts and fragments of manuscripts. They note and map any variations of spelling or wording that show up in families of manuscripts that have been copied from a common source. In addition they analyze the writings of second and third century church fathers who left extensive quotes of the Scriptures they were reading and studying.

    On the basis of such research, scholars assure us that our Bible is a highly reliable representation of the original manuscripts. In The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable, F. F. Bruce writes, “To sum up, we may quote the verdict of the late Sir Frederic Kenyon, a scholar whose authority to make pronouncements on ancient MSS was second to none: ‘The interval then between the data of original composition and the earliest extant evidence become so small to be in fact negligible, and the last foundation for any doubt that the Scripture have come down to us substantially as they were written has now been removed. Both the authenticity and the general integrity of the books of the New Testament may be regarded as finally established’ ” (The Bible and Archaeology, New York and London: Harper, 1940).

    Backed by such evidence, the Bible also remains the all-time bestselling and most widely read book in the world. Challengers come and go. What remain are the words of those who were willing to die for their claim that they personally witnessed the miraculous life, death, and resurrection of the Son of God. One of those witnesses wrote, “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty” (2 Peter 1:16).

     The meeting was called to order by President Pete Midgarden. Pastor opened with a devotion and prayer. Council members present included Pastor Dave, Pete Midgarden, Darlene Tasso, Ernie Burnett, and Charlie Canning. Vera Avera, and Linda Gibbs and Loreli Walker were absent.

     Secretary’s Report. Pete read the minutes from the March meeting. They were approved as read.

     Treasurer's Report. Darlene presented the treasurer's report for March. The motion was made and approved to accept the treasurer's report as submitted.

     Committee Reports.

    Maintenance. Charlie reported that Denk’s looked at the leak in the men’s room at the stack pipe & breaker box. Leak in kitchen is due to gutter overflow. Denk’s will replace panels on the front of the building.

    Pete reported that a roofer specializing in torch-down roofing will be here Thursday to look at the bell tower.

     Pastor's Report 050405

     Website Report. We had 398 different website visitors in March making 672 visits averaging close to three minutes a visit. 1833 pages were visited . Web search engines indexed us 22,450 times. We averaged 21.68 visits per day. 22 visitors came in through the AFLC website. Volume is much higher than in January and February. "Tenebre" was searched for 6 times. Five searches looked for us by name, "Zion Lutheran Church."
Action Requested: None

     Concert Choir. The AFLC concert choir performed March 30 at St. Paul's in Mobile. Five of us from Zion represented our congregation for supper at 6:30 and the concert at 8:00. The concert was delayed half an hour because of an overturned tanker with hazardous cargo on the freeway.
Action Requested: None

     Flooding in Silverhill. There were several problems related to the flooding that occurred last Friday.

     Spring Missions Program Rescheduled. We had to cancel Pastor Gerdeen's Mission Weekend but were able to reschedule for July 23 and 24. There was a question if he could arrive for the April 2 and 3 date on time or have to wait in Memphis for a "later" plane and whether we could even get to Pensacola to pick him up, given the flooding problems from the major rains we had. We were able to reschedule the air transportation but must add $123 to the cost of the fare for rescheduling. As an aside, Highway 90 to Pensacola was closed because of flooding and Vera's friend Jim noted that Pensacola evacuated some of its apartment houses because of the flooding there--I guess our fears were justified. Silverhill had flooding on 104, and 55 was closed south of town as well. You will recall that we were working with a Thrivent grant on this program with monies to be split on expenses related to Pastor Jim and India and Uganda needs.

     Bell Tower Damage. Pete noted further leaking problems with this last rain.
Action Requested: Does the Council need to take any further action?

     Fellowship Building Kitchen Damage. Rain came through the kitchen wall close to the window and drained on to the counter top, then down into one of the drawers. Charlie was able to have the problem assessed by Denk Construction.
Action Requested: Does the Council need to take any further action?

     Pastor's Vacation. Just a reminder. May 1 to May 14. We will leave for Matt's graduation in Minnesota after our morning service May 1 and return May 14. Action Requested: Ernie has suggested that Mack may be available to preach on that Sunday, but I have not spoken to him since Mack and Linda are out of town this weekend. Council suggestions?

     Uganda Bibles. Darlene to update. Quite a problem getting money to Uganda! Darlene sent the funds to the AFLC. Pastor David has advised us that he will be in this country in late May and has asked if he could visit us. I've advised him of distances in this country and the time needed to get to us from Minnesota. We'll see what comes out of this. How interested are we in having him visit us if there are costs involved?
Action Requested: None at this time.

     Follow-Up on Lenten Midweek Services. We concluded our soup and sandwich suppers followed by Vespers for 2005. Attendance was close to last year's towards the end of Lent, but the first several weeks were not well attended.
Action Requested: Suggestions for next year?

     Evangelism Grant for 2005. You will recall that at Pete Midgarden's suggestion, I contacted teacher Jo Hellmich (at Silverhill School about design of a music after school program designed to complement the school's music program which consists of a half semester program each school year. Our goal would be to present supplemental music programming the semester when no music is present in the school. We would incorporate a devotional component to the program. Unfortunately, Jo was unable to get back to me for us to incorporate her and her colleagues thinking into our grant proposal. To meet our deadline we went ahead and did a guesstimate and submitted a grant proposal. Linda submitted the proposal on behalf of the congregation via fax after accepting the role of grant coordinator.
Action Requested: None unless the grant is funded.

     Robertsdale Fourth of July. We have gotten the second invitation from the churches of Robertsdale to be involved with the Robertsdale July 4 activities.
Action Requested: Do we want to participate?

     Save a Life Walk-A-Thon. Cindi will chair Zion's support for the life walk-a-thon. She has attended the first coordinator meeting over at Silverhill Covenant Church.
Action Requested: None.

     One Hundred Year History. We took a big step forward in editing the final version of our church history today. Hopefully, we will complete our editing tomorrow. We need to make corrections, format the footnotes properly, and incorporate pictures. Given the amount of materials, we could easily be looking at 100 to 150 pages.
Action Requested: If we were to print this up, how many copies would we be looking at?

     New Mission Family. We need to re-allocate mission funds as soon as we end our current commitment. EEMN is giving camporships to some Russian youth for language camp--$35/child. Until we get another missionary family, do we want to support a language camp youngster?
Action Requested: Advise.

     Hosannah--Bible Listening Program. I asked Henrie to evaluate a Bible listening program for possible use at Zion. She is familiar with the needs of non-readers. The program is being marketed as a listening discipline for churches.
Action Requested: None.

     Parking Lot. Ernie has expressed interest in doing a fund thermometer for the new parking lot paving fund.
Action Requested: None.

     Israel Trip. Cindi, Mike, Matt, and I will be making a trip to Israel in a year from now. I've placed a promo on the bulletin board in the church for any interested in joining us on a Barnhart "Vine and Branches" Tour.
Action Requested: None.

     Old Business.

     We need a contact/chairperson if we want to be involved in the Robertsdale Fourth of July activities. Info will be posted on the bulletin board regarding the Central Baldwin Chamber of Commerce breakfast on May 5th, in conjunction with the National Day of Prayer. Ernie reported that he will find and order a Christian flag.

     New Mission Family. We’ll end Silverstein support starting in May. A motion was made and carried to send $45 to EEMN for Russian youth language camp for May. Other missions discussed were Indian, Uganda, and Wycliffe.

     New Business.

     Annual Conference. No one has volunteered to go. Pastor will go if we want him to. We might put the funds to better use in conjunction with the Centennial.

     Constitution. There was discussion on concern with council member non-attendance. Pete will contact the member.

     Sunday School. Henrie will help with grade school age kids. Volunteers are needed to help. Linda will head a young adult class. Pastor Dave will look for more materials.

     Attendance. March Men’s 710 was well-attended (26). The average is 15. Cindi’s Motivational Gifts Workshop was also well-attended.

     Respectfully submitted by

     Darlene Tasso, Acting Secretary

     At a special Congregational Meeting, Zion members voted to start a special fund to pave the church parking lot.

     As of April 30, 2005, nearly $3,000 is in the fund. The total amount needed for the parking lot is $10,000.

    George Barna in a recent "State of the Church Message" wrote, "Bringing about genuine and lasting religious transformation requires leadership that is more aggressive than simply constructing bigger buildings, replacing the overhead projector with a big screen projector system, and introducing a few new programs... Leaders must spearhead a thoroughly conceived and highly targeted plan that runs a significant level of risk... Merely tinkering with the existing system is a recipe for irrelevance and abandonment."

    Mr. Barna was alluding to the fact that people invest themselves in your congregation (i.e., time, money, human resources). What are their returns?

    ...I have noted several things of late in healthy churches of all sizes:

1. There is unity, but not uniformity.
   
   
2. They know their strengths and weaknesses and don't attempt to be something they are not.
   
   
3. They are not clones of any other church or program, but have discovered what God wants them to be.
   
   
4. The pastor is committed to longevity (5-7 years minimum) and has a shepherd's heart.
   
   
5. They are fiscally responsible ? unimpressed with material images.
   
   
6. They have a vision beyond their property line.
   
   
7. They deal with contention in a pre-determined manner — they have a plan.
   
   
8. Worship is spirited, yet pleasant and well-presented.
   
   
9. Attendees are not simply "pew fillers" — they are cared for and engaged in ministry.
   
   
10. They are relevant to the culture and focused on biblical teaching and holy living.
    
    

    The list I have shared is in no way exhaustive.... I am sometimes burdened by the lack of depth I find in the church world. I'm just being honest because I feel time is short. What say ye?

     Have a blessed weekend.

    ~HBLondon, Jr.