Drew in Contemplation

      Since the Protestant Reformation, Christians have struggled to find a balance between faith and works. The Roman Church leading up to the Reformation in the 16th Century placed huge amounts of emphasis on works and taught that works contributed toward personal salvation. Protestants, as the name implies, protested such ideas and sought to place the focus, not on human deeds, but on Christ's sacrificial, complete and saving work. However, a type of counter argument arose among this new Christian movement and it goes something like this: why should I do anything if Christ has done all things for me? Why should I continue to do good things if it doesn't affect my salvation at all? To come against this type of thinking, protestant theologians worked to defend the importance of one's good works, but with a protestant twist. My personal favorite example of this comes from an old German catechism dated around 1563 called  The Heidelberg Catechism .      The catechi

“[…] The most important thing you can do if you want to be helpful to poor people is to start dealing with your own stuff.”-Bryant Meyers, author of Walking with the Poor: Principles and Practices of Transformational Development Something that's been on my mind for the last 6 years has been the complexity of short-term mission trips. As many of you know, my wife and I worked for a short-term mission organization here in the US called "Center for Student Missions" (CSM) from 2012-2014. CSM specializes in inner-city mission trips for youth groups and helps to supply volunteers to organizations that rely mostly on volunteer efforts.   Additionally, both of us were part of short-term groups to different countries in Africa and we interfaced many times with short-term teams while living in Zambia from 2014-2018. However, as much as we loved our experience working with short-term mission groups, they always left us wondering about their effectiveness and if short-term missi

43  “ You have heard that it was said, ‘ You shall love your neighbor   and hate your enemy.’   44  But I say to you,  love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,   45  so that you may be  sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on  the  evil and  the  good, and sends rain on  the  righteous and  the  unrighteous.   46  For  if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?   47  If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing  than others ? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48  Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:43-48, NASB) The text above comes from a very popular part of Matthew's gospel, most commonly known as The Sermon on the Mount. It follows closely after what we learned about this past Sunday at Thomasville First UMC- Jesus' temptations in the desert.  The Sermon on the Mount is the largest grouping of Jesus' teachin

16  And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain  eternal life?”   17  And He said to him,  “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is  only  One who is good; but  if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”   18  Then  he *said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said,  “ You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness ;   19  Honor your father and mother ; and  You shall love your neighbor as yourself .”   20  The young man *said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?”   21  Jesus said to him,  “If you wish to be complete, go  and   sell your possessions and give to  the  poor, and you will have  treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” (Matt 19:16-21, NASB) Within the text above is one of the questions so many of us have. On one hand, we take part in a lot of Christian activities, like going to church, reading our Bibles, spending