The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
September 10, 2006
In
This Issue:
"Jesus,
Take the Wheel"
by
Steve Klein
The
Right Preaching
by
Johnny Ramsey
"Jesus, Take the Wheel"
Carrie Underwood, a recent contestant on the American Idol television show, has a hit country song entitled Jesus Take the Wheel. The song spent six weeks at the top of the country music charts. The lyrics tell about a young mother driving on an icy road and losing control of her car. "She didn't have time to cry, she was so scared. She threw her hands up in the air" and said,
Jesus take the wheel
Take it from my hands
Cause I can't do this all on my own
I'm letting go
So give me one more chance
To save me from this road I'm on
Jesus take the wheel
She let go of the wheel and wound up safe.
The Bible teaches that songs that are "spiritual" in nature should be sung and not played (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). Of course, Jesus Take the Wheel has instrumental accompaniment. Whether or not it's a "spiritual song" may be open to question. That said, the words are thought provoking.
I knew a man, a fellow preacher in fact, who lost control of his car while driving on the interstate in Alabama a number of years ago. According to what he told me later, he pretty much did the same thing as the young mother in the song. He said that when he saw that a crash was unavoidable, he let go of the wheel, laid down in the seat and said "Lord, it's in your hands."
It occurs to me that this is probably not a very good procedure for operating a motor vehicle on a regular basis. The Lord may providentially provide us with protection and safety while we're traveling, but surely He expects us to do our part in driving the car - starting with keeping our hands on the steering wheel!
However, as a metaphor for allowing the Lord to take control of our lives, it's pretty good. Solomon said, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6). In Galatians 2:20, the apostle Paul declared, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." We need to let the Lord have control of our lives. Allow Him to guide our thoughts and decisions with His word. Happily accept both the blessings and trials that He allows us to experience, realizing that God is good, always. Yes, we need to let Jesus take the wheel. Or, as one fellow put it, "If God is your co-pilot, swap seats!"
--Steve Klein
Great Bible preaching has always been the great bulwark of the church of the Lord. Faithful Christians rely on and demand strong presentation of God's truth. Piety is based upon solid Scripture and the backbone to proclaim it. Paul made it clear: "Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel of Christ" (I Cor. 9:6). Jeremiah was compelled to keep the fire of evangelism alive and active (Jer. 20:9). A failure to enunciate God's word to others is a crime against mankind (II Cor. 4:3). When our "delight is in the law of the Lord" (Psa. 1:2), nothing will deter us from the clarity of the message of redemption.
In Byron's epic poem about the prisoner of Chillon, we read of a man chained in a dungeon for years in abject darkness. Finally, after years of such dreadful confinement, he was released. When he walked out into the light, it blinded him and caused him to retreat to the comfort of the darkness that had been his home. We need to reverse that situation and be so joyous in the glorious light that Jesus bestows, that darkness would never have further appeal to us: "If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).
Following is a list of the kind of preaching we desperately need today:
Power - Romans 1:16
Passion - Acts 17:16
Purpose - Acts 26:18
Pungency - Acts 14:1-3
Persuasion - II Corinthians 5:11
Perseverance - Galatians 6:9
Preparation - II Samuel 24:24
Provoking Response - Hebrews 10:24
A fitting passage to magnify all of these points is the following: "As therefore ye received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and builded up in him, and established in your faith, even as ye were taught, abounding in thanksgiving" (Col. 2:6-7). Gospel preachers turned the world upside down in the first century (Acts 17:6). We can do the same thing today, if we really want to!
We cannot give God the scraps of our lives, as did the people of Malachi's day (Mal. 1:6-8). That which costs us nothing will never get the job done. Sometimes older preachers rest on past laurels and become ineffective. This should never happen. The courage to persevere reminds us that, while we accept the promise of the Lord that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5-6), we dare not turn back and fail to do our part in the divine relationship. Johnson Oatman put this in the proper perspective in a great old hymn:
This solemn question answer;
Is worldly gain your goal?
Can fleeting riches be compared
To an immortal soul?
Preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ is not a professional duty, but a passionate privilege. May we never, ever forget it! "Tough times never last, tough people do." Real gospel preachers do not know what "quit" means.
-- Johnny
Ramsey