|
Logos Ministries Incorporated
|
|
Volume 5, Number 2 -- December 1997 IT'S THE PRINCIPLE OF THE THING! (This is the seventh in a series of meditations on principles one can find in the Scriptures; principles that affect the way we live and serve God.)GROWING NEARER TO GOD God allows intense difficulty in order to accomplish a merciful purpose. For the redeemed, distress and trouble are the foundation upon which spiritual growth is built. These difficulties form the atmosphere in which spiritual growth thrives. For the unbeliever, on the other hand, there is no other source of help when trouble looms. Being rescued from minor difficulty is not very impressive. It does not necessarily motivate people to turn to God. Put the same individuals in a foxhole, with bullets flying everywhere and chances are good these people will start thinking about God. By the same token, being rescued from Egypt, the world's strongest power, when Pharaoh has just instituted severely oppressive measures to beat Israel into submission, really got their attention and they cried out to God. This is what David described when he wrote,
It was not until God allowed their trouble to become really intense that Israel recognized the impossibility of their situation and turned to God for help. In judges, chapter seven, God spoke with Gideon about the coming battle with the Midianites. God said,
Gideon, with only 300 men, faced a dire situation in confrontation with thousands of Midianites. Before this all began, Gideon had trouble believing that God could use him at all. As God said, if Israel had gone into battle with 32,000 men, they would have concluded that it was their doing and not God's deliverance. In Egypt, Israel was already in an impossible situation. God allowed it to get even worse by Pharaoh's action to maintain the quota of bricks Israel must produce, but removed the supply of straw required to make the bricks. At this juncture, which was more than impossible, the people turned to God and He delivered them. Repeatedly in the book of Judges, Israel sinned and God allowed severe abuse by enemies they should have driven out long before. At this point, Israel cried to the Lord and He delivered them. The book of Esther is another case in point. Israel, though captives in Babylon, had grown comfortable with their captors and in many instances had participated in the ways and worship of the Babylonians. God allowed an evil politician to manipulate the king to allow them to kill all the Jews. Suddenly, the Jews fervently prayed to God for help. It quickly became evident that unless Esther risked her life to intercede for her people, they would all die. The people who knew of these activities fervently prayed and God used the courage of Esther and Mordecai to defeat the evil plans of Haman. Look at the story of Joseph and his brothers. They were very jealous of their younger brother who was destined to become the leader of his father's family. All the brothers would then become his servants. They were angry enough to agree to let him starve to death in a cistern. They even sold him as a slave. That was really a death sentence. The average lifespan of a slave was approximately two years. Joseph was faithful to God despite many disappointing circumstances. Interestingly, with each disappointment and abuse, Joseph was given greater responsibility and honor in Pharaoh's court. God allowed a severe famine to come to Israel so that Jacob's family was forced to go to Egypt to buy food to survive. To make matters worse, when the brothers went to Egypt to buy food, being accused of being spies frightened them. To make matters much worse, Joseph took them into his house, ate with them and announced that he was Joseph whom they had sold as a slave. One can well imagine the extremity of their horror at this disclosure. It was at this point that Joseph reminded them that God had used this tragedy to put him into a position to preserve both the people of Egypt and Israel as well. At the end of World War II, the church in China was large, but commitment was weak and spiritual growth almost non-existent. God allowed the Communists to take over this huge nation. For several decades the church has undergone almost unbearable persecution. The "rice Christians" immediately abandoned the church and it became a small struggling minority. In the ensuing painful decades, the church has struggled, suffered and grown strong. It is now much larger than ever before. There is a depth of commitment and growth never experienced before. God allowed the church to undergo excruciating persecution to purify the church, draw it to Himself and make it a strong force it could never have become otherwise. A Ukrainian pastor spoke of these things with me. He reminisced that the persecution had been painful and severe. For many, this persecution had been fatal. His thoughts then turned to the current condition of the church. He said words to this effect. It is hard to believe that believers who had been so strong and faithful are becoming soft in their commitment, tentative in their willingness to sacrifice and serve. Persecution was not a joy, but the church was better, stronger then. God allows pain and hardship to enter our lives. We need to keep in mind that it is not because He relishes our pain. Indeed, our pain moves Him to action on our behalf. God allows this pain to draw us to Himself in a way we would otherwise never experience. The truth of the matter is that none of us is anxious to experience pain. We do not ask God to increase our patience because we know patience comes through serious struggle and opposition. We can draw closer to God, but it will be through struggle. The question is, are we more concerned with our comfort than with our nearness to God? Sincerely, Bill Cooper LOGOS GOES ON LINE At a meeting of the Board of Directors of Logos Ministries, on November 15, 1997, it was decided that we would initiate a web site on the internet. This has now been accomplished. You can log on to the site at: http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/billcooperlogos/ We are very happy to have this tool. It should make it much easier for our friends to keep in touch and if they wish, place an order. PREPARATIONS FOR MOSCOW On January 9, Bill Cooper will leave for Moscow. He will be teaching an introductory course in Theology for the students at the S. I. M. seminary there. He will teach the same class both morning and afternoon for two weeks. BILL WILL RETURN TO DONETSK When he finishes teaching in Moscow, Bill will take an overnight train to Donetsk Ukraine. This will be his seventh trip to Donetsk. He will teach an inductive Bible study of the book of Mark to the first year seminary students at what is now called Donetsk Christian University. Please pray for Bill as he travels to these two teaching assignments. Moscow will be a new teaching experience for him. He is most anxious to do his very best with God's help to share with these students. NEW WRITING ASSIGNMENT As many of you know, Bill went to North Indiana a little over a year ago to conduct a spiritual growth conference. In preparation for that conference, he wrote the book "Imitators of God". He has been invited to return, next May, to conduct another conference on the same subject. He is writing the material for it now. This book will be entitled "Participating In The Divine Nature." Several of you agreed to join with us to pray for the ministers and congregations of the North Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church prior to the last Spiritual Growth conference. Again, several of you have agreed with us to pray for the ministers and congregations of the North Indiana Conference in preparation for this spiritual growth conference. We are asking God to bring a special blessing upon the Conference leaders and the people of the churches. INVITED TO FORT WAYNE Arrangements have been made for Bill to go to First Wayne Street United Methodist Church, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to participate in their Lay Academy, March 20 - 22, 1998. On this occasion, Bill will speak Friday evening and all day Saturday on the topic LOGIC AND DIVINE WISDOM. This topic grows out of the statement in Isaiah 55:8 - "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways," declares the Lord." He will also be their guest speaker on Sunday morning. IMITATORS REVISITED The First United Methodist Church of Fort Collins, Colorado has invited Bill to be their Lenten speaker on six Tuesday evening in Lent in 1998. On these evenings, Bill will present the material from the book Imitators of God dealing with spiritual growth. A BIT ABOUT LOGOS MINISTRIESLogos Ministries was founded in 1989 by Dr. O. William Cooper as he retired from active ministry. The Board of Directors comes from three states including Tennessee, Michigan, and Colorado. It is a non-profit ministry formed under the 501(c) regulations of the IRS. As such all gifts are tax-deductible if you file long-form. The Board of Directors would like to share with you some facts about the use of your gifts and the profits from the purchase of Dr. Cooper’s books. He accepts no royalties from the sale of the books choosing instead to have all available funds used for the work of Logos Ministries. Funds have been used to provide free books to a Colorado prison, to SIM for use in Africa, and for use in other places in small quantities. Dr. Cooper teaches in a seminary in the Ukraine. There he recognized a need for a dental office. Your gifts helped us to provide the necessary equipment to provide a dental office. Had we waited an additional year, government regulations in the Ukraine would have made that impossible. We have been able to help with Dr. Cooper’s air fare a few times as he went to the Ukraine, but usually he pays his own way. We as a Board of Directors want to thank each of you for your support by prayer, by purchasing books, and by gifts. Please hold Dr. Cooper up in special prayer as he goes to both Russia and the Ukraine to teach. |
|
|