From the Tip of a Finger

"From the Tip of a Finger."

By: Pastor Jack Schneider

 “By Him all things were created...He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”  [Col. 1:16,17, NIV]

You are incredible!

No, this is not some “Pump ‘em up, Pastor!” speech, designed to cure the blues, increase self-esteem and increase Sunday offerings.  Nothing of the sort.  Now, granted, all those things might well happen when you and I consider just how incredible we are by God’s creating hand, but that’s not the agenda.  Honest. 

How incredible are you?  How’s this for starters…  God made you, by His intelligent -- no, His brilliant design in such a way that medical researchers have now learned we can safely and simply transform pinches of human skin into actual, functional, life-saving human blood.  Sure, the everyday production is still on the horizon, but we know we can do it.

So what’s the big deal about that?  Stay with me now; it’s worth it.

First, it means we’ll be able to personalize patient blood production for the first time ever.  The worry of cross-matching and rejection risks will be minimalized; safety will go up. 

Second, it means cancer patients will be able to have “clean” transplant cells without the same genetic problems as their tumor.  This is huge, because this modern medical miracle is “a seminal contribution” to the rapidly evolving field of stem-cell research, said the director of the Canadian Stem Cell Network [and Regenerative Medicine Program].  “That one can play with the fate of a cell and force it sideways into something that it doesn’t at all resemble, and then being able to use it, is tremendously exciting.”

Brothers and sisters, that paragraph is why I said above “it’s worth it.”  The day is coming when no one, even an unbeliever, can credibly claim in the name of science that the destruction of a child is necessary for the harvest of stem cells -- not when we can get what we need from the tip of a finger.

To use Paul’s words to the Colossians further, “My purpose is that [you] may be encouraged in heart and united in love… I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.”

You are incredible, and so is your God, Who made you in His image.

- Pastor Jack

Kids Are Still Kids

"Kids Are Still Kids." 

By: Pastor Jack Schneider

“All this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus: live with joy; pray constantly; give thanks regardless.  Respect Spirit-driven admonishment; test everything and keep what’s good, avoiding all evils.”  [1 Thess.5:16-22, PJV]

Having raised three marvelous kids who also happened to be typical adolescents and teens, I couldn’t help but chuckle upon reading these verses.  The picture that comes to mind for me is that of mom and dad preparing to head out the door, carefully giving last-minute instructions on what to do and what NOT to do, knowing full well anything not covered in the most specific detail would undoubtedly become a topic later under these words: “Well, you didn’t say we couldn’t….”  Yep, been there; done that.

So now, here’s Paul, who never married nor children, but if ever there was a time when he acted and sounded like a parent giving this type of last minute instructions, this is it!  Only difference is, these aren’t teens -- they’re adults, albeit sinful adults just like you and me who also struggle daily with our flesh and the world around us.  And no, he wasn’t selling this congregation short on their faith; he simply knew what it was like to wait in faith for Jesus to come back and take us to heaven [see vv.23-24].

Nothing has changed.  Kids are still kids.  People are still people, both sinners and forgiven saints.  Temptation is still as powerful as ever.  Pride and anger are just as deadly as they’ve always been, both outside the church and among the Body of Christ.  And what’s absolutely awesome is that someone who’s never been a parent -- someone like Paul -- can give great counsel to the rest of us because he understands what it’s like to live in submission and obedience to the Word by the power of the Holy Spirit.  He knows that’s where we find life -- Eternal Life -- in Jesus Christ alone.

Same letter, same chapter, but zip back over to verses 5 & 6 with me: “You are all sons of the light and sons of the day.  We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.”  There you go.  Hey, kids, just remember who you are.  My instructions will be short and sweet, without a lot of details.  We’re not going to get bogged down in the law like the Pharisees; look what it got them.  Let’s live by love, let’s live by light; let’s live in the day, not the night.  I don’t have to say, “You can’t do this, you can’t do that…,” because Jesus instead spent His time saying “Let Me show you what you CAN do.”

“By this will all people know you are My disciples: whether you love one another.” [Jn.13:35]

Just do it, and I’ll see you later.

- Pastor Jack