Oh I do try...but with a little, "meekness and fear". (1Peter 3:15b)
The verse reference below the crosses is John 14:6, btw. Wiley
Posted on 04/22/2007 4:42:02 AM PDT by Kaslin
Let’s test your knowledge of world religions. Below is the entire message delivered by one of the four religious leaders at last week’s convocation at Virginia Tech, in the aftermath of the horrible mass murders that left 32 dead and 21 injured.
The test is simple: determine the religion being represented.
We gather this afternoon for many purposes. To weep for lost friends and family, to mourn our lost innocence, to walk forward in the wake of unspeakable tragedy, to embrace hope in the shadow of despair, to join our voices in a longing for peace, and healing, and understanding which is much greater than any single faith community. To embrace that which unifies, and to reject the seductive temptation to hate. We gather to share our hurts and our hopes, our petitions and our prayers.
We gather also to drink deeply of the religious streams which have refreshed parched peoples for many generations. We gather together, weeping. Yes, we weep with an agony too deep for words and sighs that are inexpressible. But also we gather affirming the sovereignty of life over death.
At a time such as this, the darkness of evil seems powerful indeed. It casts a pall over our simple joys, joys as simple as playing Frisbee on the drill field. We struggle to imagine a future beyond this agony. If we ever harbored any illusions that our campus is an idyllic refuge from the violence of the rest of the world, they are gone forever. And yet, we come to this place to testify that the light of love cannot be defeated.
Amid all our pain, we confess that the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. We cannot do everything, but we can do something. We cannot banish all darkness, but we can by joining together, push it back. We can not undue yesterday’s tragic events, but we can sit in patient silence with those who mourn as they seek for a way forward.
As we share light, one with another, we reclaim our campus, let us deny death’s power to rob us of all that we have loved about Virginia Tech, this our community. Let us cast our lot with hope in defiance of despair. I invite you to observe a moment of silence.
Difficult, isn’t it?
The message was delivered by Reverend William H. King, Director of Lutheran Campus Ministries at Virginia Tech, and a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The video of the message is available online.
Each of the four speakers were there to represent their religion, to bring the message of comfort and hope rooted in their faith tradition. The Muslim speaker read passages from the Koran in Arabic and appealed to Allah, the Jewish speaker read from Ecclesiastes 3 while an assistant repeated the passages in Hebrew, the Buddhist quoted the Dalai Lama, while the Christian did not even quote from the Bible, nor mention the name of Jesus – the namesake of his religion.
What Mr. King said should be studied in every seminary in America. It is precisely what not to do when given the opportunity to bring the message of the Gospel of Jesus to those grieving the loss of loved ones and struggling to make sense of the evil visited upon them.
The nearest thing to Christianity anyone heard at the Convocation was the playing of Amazing Grace and the unison recitation of The Lord’s Prayer. There was far more Bible coming from the pews than being preached from the pulpit.
No wonder Christianity is so easily and regularly attacked on college campuses. With advocates like this, who needs opposition? We’ve got guys in our uniform playing for the other team.
Mr. King could have spoken the truth. He could have explained why Christians are confident in divine justice, why we believe that good will ultimately triumph over evil, why we know that there is life after death for those that trust Christ. He could have explained that Jesus paid the penalty for all our sins on the Cross that Friday long ago, and rose bodily from the dead on Sunday to prove His sovereignty over evil, sin and death.
In short, he could have preached the Gospel. After all, the murders were only a week removed from Easter.
But, Mr. King decided to do something apparently more important in his mind. He decided to be politically correct and not offend the members of his interfaith community by offering hollow words of humanistic philosophy lacking any real substance, and by appealing to various “religious streams” and by validating the search “for a way forward,” he insulted those of us who actually believe Christianity is true and other religions false.
In so doing, he denied his faith.
He offered those mourning no hope for the present nor any hope for the future.
He left the hearers dead in their sins.
A minister ashamed of the Gospel should not have been on that podium. The Frank Pastore Show is heard in Los Angeles weekday afternoons on 99.5 KKLA and on the web at kkla.com, and is the winner of the 2006 National Religious Broadcasters Talk Show of the Year. Frank is a former major league pitcher with graduate degrees in both philosophy of religion and political philosophy.
He did quote the 5th verse of the first chapter of Saint John’s Gospel, “the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” The light refers to Christ. So, there was at least some Christianity in the sermon.
I would have said he was wrong in his belief and would have tried to lead him to Christ through the Bible.
IMO, a memorial service of this sort is not the place for proselytizing - by anyone...
IMHO, EVERYWHERE is the place to talk about the Gospel of Christ. Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Matthew 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
...and to have done so would have been found highly offensive by many listeners.
Yea, look what happened to Jesus when He offended the religious leaders of His day.
At the very least he quoted the Koran. Would you have found an ECLA minister quoting the Bible to be “proselytizing”? In these PC times I’m guessing the answer would be “yes”.
Yes, as all who deny Him will find out, If you deny me before men, I will deny you before God. Jesus, Mt 10:33
They shouldn’t have allowed a Muslim to speak anyway, that’s BS.
Please remember that when you next . . .
visit the public library,
go to a theater,
or eat at a nice restaurant.
And don't just speak in hushed tones to those nearby. Be obnoxious! Speak quite LOUDLY to all who are present and forget all about propriety, courtesy, and good manners. Go for it!! Afterall, Christians should not be ashamed of the Gospel, should the?.
Go Get em, Wiley!
LOL!
My wife mentioned the very same thing to me after we heard the respective invocations. We also noticed that they put the Buddhist lady b/w the Muslim and the Jewish speakers — perhaps also not to “offend”...
I believe that Richard Nixon right now is with Pat again, because I believe that in heaven we will know each other. The Bible says, "For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain." There's a gaining about death. For the believer, the brutal fact of death has been conquered by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. For the person who has turned from sin and has received Christ as Lord and Saviour, death is not the end. For the believer, there's hope beyond the grave. There's a future life.
Yesterday, as his body was escorted to the plane for its final journey here, the band played and the familiar strains of a hymn he especially loved -- maybe the hymn that he loved the most were played: Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind but now I see. Through many dangers, toils and snares, I've already come. 'Tis grace that brought me safe thus far, for grace will take me home.
That hymn was written 200 years ago by an Englishman named John Newton. He was a cruel man, a captain of a slave ship. But one night in a fierce storm, he turned to God and committed his life to Christ. Newton not only became a preacher of the gospel, but he influenced William Wilberforce and others in Parliament to bring an end to the slave trade. John Newton came to know the miracle of God's amazing grace, and it changed his life. And it changed our lives as well.
Wasn’t he representing Cho?
Oh I do try...but with a little, "meekness and fear". (1Peter 3:15b)
The verse reference below the crosses is John 14:6, btw. Wiley
Are the other drivers supposed to know John 14:6, have a Bible handy, or just remember the reference until they get home and rush to look it up?
Btw, the decal looks great as does the truck.
I usually get one of three reactions...(1)They'll ask me what that verse is (Opening an excellent opportunity to witness), (2)They'll already know the verse and we begin a conversation about Christ (Which is very edifying to me), (3)No response at all.
Either way, I don't shove it down any body's throat but it does open the doors.
btw, on the last point of your question ...or just remember the reference until they get home and rush to look it up?
If that happens, didn't the purpose of the decal just work??? hmmmm?
Thanks again
Wiley
Being able to listen to Rush, Bible studies, audiobooks, or great music is a reason I've always envied truckers. But not having the ability to even park my small car ass-in (or whatever you call it) or knowing the first thing about engines, etc kind of puts me out. Still, I'd love to be out there on the open road, driving a truck, crossing the country and going to places I've never been -- just as long as I don't have to navigate city streets. .
I do have a long commute. Besides the Word, I enjoy audiobooks (far better than radio). Michael Connelley murder mysteries help.
Checkmate. You won.
Wiley
BTW, if you see my truck, wave...with all fingers!...lol
Bump
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