Homesick

Have you ever been homesick? It is a common malady. It happens to almost everyone at one time or another. It is that feeling you get when you've been away from home for a few days. Sometimes it starts the minute you leave home. It has different symptoms. Most of the time it is just a feeling of emptiness, a longing to see someone. But it can have real physical complications as well. Everything from headaches, to stomach cramps, to phantom aches and pains has been attributed to homesickness.

I once accompanied a young man to the emergency room to interpret for him. When we arrived, to my relief, the doctor spoke Spanish fairly well. He had done a couple of years in a clinic in Mexico. After checking the young man over thoroughly he began to ask questions about his family, friends, etc. Finally, he diagnosed the man with a serious, although not medically related disease. You guessed it - homesickness. The doctor went on to explain to both of us that home sickness can cause us to feel all sorts of pains that aren't really happening to us.

As I pondered homesickness this morning, I couldn't help but think of my church family. Apart from my flesh and blood family, I miss my church family the most when I am away. There have been times when I am away working or at home sick that I couldn't be in church. I could hardly wait until service was over to ask someone how church was. I wanted to know who was there, what was preached, if there were any visitors, who got baptized, etc. Why? Because this is my spiritual family and I was homesick.

I know there are people who make every excuse not to be in church. All I can say is that they are missing out. I love the feeling of being at home that I get in church. I have known the people in my church for many years. They have been there for us through sickness, death, loneliness, you name it. We have all seen each other at our highest and lowest points and we still love each other. Why? Because we are family and that is what families do.

I have friends and spiritual family all over the world. Perhaps you do as well. Some I will see again many times. Some I may never see again because of distance. The short time we spent together, however, forged a feeling of spiritual connectedness that does not go away. The good thing is that there will be a family reunion of all my brothers and sisters in the Lord one day. On that day, when the trumpet of the Lord sounds, we will all gather around our fathers throne, throw the crowns he has given us at his feet, and the the party will begin. Some people we will see that day we will have know for a lifetime. Some we will not have seen for may years. For some, it will be a first time meeting. But the good news is, it will never end. The reunion will go on for eternity. Just thinking about it makes me homesick for that day.

Don't you want to go? You can. Your reservation is already made. You just need to secure your place by obeying God's plan of salvation found in Acts chapter 2. The invitation is open. Don't miss out on the party of eternity. Everyone will be there, will you? 

Forsake the Way of Wickedness

I love Isaiah chapter 55. It is quite possibly one of my favorite chapters in the entire Bible. It starts off with these immortal words:

Ho, every one that  thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. 

The prophet goes on to ask, Why would you spend your hard earned money for that which does not satisfy? The meaning is clear. There is a source of hunger that no bread, milk, or wine can satisfy. It can only be satisfied with the Spirit of God. It is the empty spot in man that only God can fill. A God-shaped void, if you will, exists in the heart of every human being alive. We will never be completely satisfied or at peace until that spot is filled with God's spirit.

This is, of course, the heart of the gospel message. Jesus referred to this verse in John 7:37 when he said, "If anyone is thirsty let him come to me and drink." The gospel message is simply this: if you will come to Jesus he will wash away your sins, change your course in life, and quench your spiritual hunger and thirst. However there is a part of this message that we often overlook.

Verse number 7 says, "Let the wicked forsake his way." That is right, the wicked. In the culture in which we live it is no longer acceptable to call anyone or anything wicked. It is considered as passing judgment to call anything wicked. Yet what many fail to realize is that the Bible calls a great many things wicked. We love the next verse in Isaiah chapter 53. In verse 8 we are told that God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts and his ways are higher than our ways. We like to take this verse as  meaning that God has something better in store for us than we can imagine for ourselves. While this may be somewhat true, it is not the intended meaning of this verse. The meaning of this verse is clear from verse 7: Let the wicked forsake his way.

The clarion call of the gospel has always been for the wicked to forsake his sin and turn to God. There was a time when almost any denomination in Christianity preached basically the same message. REPENT! Repentance was a clear call to turn from unrighteousness and beg God for his mercy. It was to ask God to cover us with the blood of Jesus and withhold his judgment from us. That is what true repentance is. That message has been replaced by and large with a message that says believe and confess.

While confession of and  belief in Jesus Christ is necessary for salvation, we must not let belief and confession replace the message of repentance. God's message of salvation has always been and still is , "Let the wicked forsake his way." It was this message that spared Nineveh when Jonah preached and it is this message that will spare America or any other country today from God's judgment.

Anyone that knows the word of God can look around and tell that America is on a collision course with the judgment of God. We call that which is unrighteous, righteous. We persecute those who boldly proclaim the truth. The only standard of truth we have in America today is "Thou shalt not judge." Can I tell you that there is a judgment coming. It is not a judgment of any man but the judgment of God himself. Yes, God is a merciful God. The end of verse 7 tells us to return to the Lord and he will "abundantly pardon." But the only way for the pardon to come is for the wicked to forsake his way.

We as Christians must intercede for our country. Instead of being angry at politicians and other we must realize that the problems this country has is the fault of the whole. For all of us have sinned and deserve God's judgment. Let us seek after him today as the people of Nineveh did at the preaching of Jonah. Let us beg him to spare our families, our cities, and our nation. He is a merciful God and it may be that he will hear our cries and spare us. But the only way that will happen is if

                                                           THE WICKED WILL FORSAKE HIS WAY! 

Conversation

Recorded Conversations

One of my communication assignments for this week was to observe conversations for two days and compare them with the things my class had learned about principles of conversation. The main principles of conversation, according to our text, are turn-taking, dialogue, immediacy (closeness) and flexibility. What I learned in looking for these things was pretty enlightening. First, I saw that there were two types of conversations going on around me. The first one was to convey information about work. These were pretty impersonal. The second conversations were obviously a need for comradeship. I saw dozens of times when we (almost everyone in the building) made up reasons to go to another person’s office and share something that was not purely work related. Below are some things I noted.

Work Conversations

• Sharing information about work or just gossiping.
• A lot of complaining accompanied any talk about work or management.
• There was a definite lack of communication at times. People assuming others knew something they hadn’t been told.
• The conversation was much more playful when a department manager wasn’t around.

• The more informal the conversation, the less the rules of etiquette were observed.
• There was more interrupting, over - talking, etc. in playful, argumentative conversations than in serious conversations.
• One could tell how long two people had known each other and the closeness of their relationship by their conversations.

In conclusion I would say that it is obvious that communication is a part of our need for companionship. Most of the conversation I saw happening was more about being together than just sharing information. It is obvious that we humans need each other. We were not meant to be alone.

Thoughtfully,

Sullivan Jones