Author Archives: John Collins

Find Us Faithful Lyrics

Clark Williamson, director of music ministries, has asked me to share the following:

For the special music this Sunday, I’ve invited Nick Wright to return and play a flute solo. The selection is called “Find Us Faithful,” an arrangement by Stan Pethel. The words and music are by Jon Mohr. The lyrics are so inspirational, I’d be remiss if I didn’t share them with you.

We’re pilgrims on the journey of a narrow road.
And those who’ve gone before us line the way.
Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary.
Their lives a stirring testament to God’s sustaining grace.

Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.
Let us run the race not only for the prize.
But as those who’ve gone before us.
Let us leave to those behind us.

The heritage of faithfulness, passed on through godly lives.

(Chorus)
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful.
May the fire of our devotion light their way.
May the footprints that we leave, lead them to believe.
And the lives we live inspire them to obey.
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful.

After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone.
And our children sift through all we’ve left behind.
May the clues that they discover, and the memories they uncover.
Become the light that leads them, to the road we each must find. (Chorus)

(CCLI license #811889)

Vacation Bible School 2017

This year our joint VBS (Vacation Bible School) with Trinity Lutheran Church will be held at their place (302 North Cedar) from Monday, July 17 through Thursday, July 20. This will be an evening VBS from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. with supper being served from 6:00 to 6:30. VBS is open to kids three years old and up through fifth grade. Both registration forms and a list of items you can donate should be available in the Narthex beginning this Sunday.

The Line Dividing Good and Evil

You may have heard the recent story about the inmates in Georgia who saved the life of the correctional officer who was guarding them. [1] It reminded me of this quote from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn:

“If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.” — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn [2]

Even as Christians we often want to sort people into good and evil, sheep and goats, but we are all a mixture of the two. (For example, even Judas felt remorse.) The only question is are we using God’s grace to become better. We need to be generous, compassionate, and merciful in our assessments of other people just as God is to us.

[1] Catherine Park and Deborah Tuff, “Georgia Inmates save Correctional Officer Who Passed out during Work Detail,” USA Today, accessed June 23, 2017, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/06/20/georgia-inmates-save-correctional-officer-who-passed-out-during-work-detail/411522001/.

[2] Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, “A Quote from The Gulag Archipelago,” Goodreads, accessed June 23, 2017, https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/13750-if-only-it-were-all-so-simple-if-only-there. I am too cheap to buy a copy of The Gulag Archipelago just to track this quote all the way down. I’ve heard it attributed to Solzhenitsyn, so I’m taking Goodreads at their word.

2017-2018 Scholarship Recipients

All told, Abilene First UMC will award $12,250 in scholarships for the 2017-2018 academic year. Congratulations to our 2017-2018 Scholarship Recipients!

Abilene First United Methodist Church Scholarships: Matthew Barlow, Dustin Engle, Kinsey Ford, Mary Graefe, Anna Holmes Gabe Johnson, Keil Kelly, Ben Luty, Jordan Luty, Brianne Murray, Mallory Schardein, Marissa Schardein, Rae Schwarting, Allie Walters, Halle Warren, and Hanna Warren

Clara Shirk Memorial Scholarship: Maya Robinson ($2,000 – New) and Jacoby Robinson ($2,000 – Renewed)

Abilene UMW Kansas Wesleyan Scholarship: Malorie Unruh ($1,000)

We Have Insulated Ourselves From Miracles

The Bible is full of miracles, the New Testament church experienced them on a regular basis. There are several (complementary) explanations for why that is no longer the case, but I think this explanation is the best for our time and place:

[One of my Bible teachers] told me that we have insulated ourselves from miracles. We no longer live with such reckless faith that we need them. — Shane Claiborne [1]

I pray that God might grant us a more reckless faith.

[1] Shane Claiborne, The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2015), 47.

In What We Do and Who We Are

In his book of Lenten devotionals, N. T. Wright offers the following prayer:

Sovereign Lord, help us to meet the scorn of unbelievers with the evidence, in what we do and who we are, that you are indeed alive. — N. T. Wright [1]

Perhaps it’s a product of my occupation, but I haven’t met all that many scornful unbelievers. Instead, I’m more likely to encounter what we might call “discouraged, doubt plagued, believers.” Either way, Christians and churches who demonstrate their faith by “what we do and who we are” are the best argument for the risen Christ.

[1] N. T. Wright, Lent for Everyone: Mathew, Year A: A Daily Devotional (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2013), 147.