Hey Friends…
Sometimes I worry about coming across like a “snake oil salesman”—you know, the guy who promises you the world, but what he’s really selling has absolutely nothing to it. Now… don’t mistake me here: I know that’s not what I do. I know I am promising you something that has the reality of God’s very existence behind it. But I worry that some might feel like that’s what I’m selling. I’ll tell you more in Deeper Thoughts below… But first…. · Men: Breakfast and challenge TOMORROW morning—Saturday April 6, 8:30 – 10:00 a.m. Join us for great food, fellowship, and exploring the challenge of following Jesus as bold men of God. All are welcome… click here to give us a quick RSVP so we can plan for food! · Do you want ACTUAL freedom, joy, and abundant life in Christ? Spend the day stepping into actual and specific freedom, wholeness, healing, and strength through our Freedom in Christ day-retreat at Mt. Hope, Saturday, April 27 from 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Chris Campbell will lead us through scriptural discovery, guided prayer and reflection, and a practical pathway to reframe our thinking, habits, and experiences in Jesus. Click here for more information and to RSVP! · Church-wide Spring Spruce Up Workday: Saturday, April 13, 9:00 -12:30. We will have lots of opportunities to match your skill levels, abilities, and interests—indoor and outdoor, heavy-lift and light duty…whatever you will enjoy the most! · Volunteer Info Meeting for serving our Kids and Teens: Sunday, April 14, for a no-commitment information and vision-casting meeting. Lunch included!! Click here to let our family ministry team know you’ll be coming! · And for fun: Mt. Hope will be featured on WAVA (FM 105.1) TODAY, Friday, April 5 at 4:00 p.m. for the one-hour “drive home” with Brian Bales, who interviewed me about our church and all that God is doing. Tune in or catch it from their website at www.wava.com. OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who are ready to blindly buy whatever I’m selling. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… There was indeed potential medical benefit to snake oil. For centuries, the Chinese used oils from regional water snakes that were high in Omega-3s to treat arthritis and joint pain. When Chinese workers flooded into the U.S. to help build our railway network in the mid-1800’s, they brought this remedy with them to ease their aches and pains from hard manual labor. The practice quickly caught the attention of American charlatans who could sell just about anything with any promise before federal agencies began regulating marketing claims in the early 1900s. And the charlatans did just that with “oils” supposedly drawn from American rattlesnakes—which had zero actual medical benefit. “Medicines” such as Clark Stanley’s Snake Oil Liniment promised to cure everything from joint pain, toothaches, and sore throats to lameness and frostbite. It was “good for everything a liniment should be good for,” the advertisement read, which is rather suspiciously broad. It didn’t work. There was nothing to it. Thus, our modern vernacular “snake oil salesman” refers to someone selling you something entirely useless. (Oh, and Clark Stanley? In 1916, he was prosecuted by the federal government for fraudulently peddling useless mineral oil as a healing snake oil. He pleaded “no contest.” He was fined $20.00.) Now, I know you didn’t come here nor read this far to learn anything about snakes. Mr. Wikipedia and our buddy Sam can tell you whatever you want to know about reptiles. You’re here with me (if you haven’t bailed out quite yet) because you want something from God, and you know I’m going to offer you a cure to the ails and challenges of your human heart. But does any of it actually work? Is there anything to it? For me, I’ve done the research. I’ve taken the medicine myself. I’ve met with thousands of patients who have been cured by its supernatural ingredients. I will yammer on and on about it on Sundays, and in newsletters, and in online videos. I write books. I teach classes. I will sell this to anyone who gives me just a moment of their attention. But does it work? I believe many people who faithfully attend church or listen to online sermons secretly wonder if all these bold claims of a “transformed life” are real or just some 1800’s-era worthless ooze from a common rattlesnake. We smile and nod at the preacher, especially if he is entertaining enough and can hold our attention with some compelling testimony. But then we go home. The Bible he promised would change our life sits precariously on our nightstand. We thumb through it from time to time, but for many of us, we are lost. We don’t understand what we read, or we just can’t see its relevance to the stressful meeting we have at work tomorrow morning; or the argument we just had with our spouse; or the suffocating loneliness we feel trapped in; or the searing anger we feel when we watch the news; or the hopelessness we feel for our future. Preacher told me the Word of God would change my life. So, I took the medicine. But my soul still aches. What gives? This Sunday, I’m going to make the sales pitch once again. “Uncharted Territory: Taking Life Where You’ve Never Been.” It sounds suspiciously broad like a Clark Stanley liniment advertisement. It gets worse: This week will be “Part 12—This Changes Everything.” Really Chris? Everything? Yep. Everything. Romans 3 tells us we are made completely right with God--accessed singularly by our faith in Jesus. Romans 6 tells us we can live a brand new, resurrected life--no longer trapped in the endless cycle of sin, defeat, and brokenness. Romans 8 tells us we are more than conquerors in Jesus--that every circumstance in our life can be squarely in the hands of God and working for our good. Sounds too good to be true? Every circumstance? Is this some useless snake oil, or is it real? May I make one more important parallel between these promises and medicine? You know that most medicines don’t actually cure the root problem, right? They provide comfort and resources to manage our way through the pain caused by a root disease. We don’t dismiss the value of the medicine because it hasn’t cured us. We understand the medicine’s role. Medicine is usually not the cure itself; most often it is the bridge to the cure. And we know how to take it. Friends, this Sunday morning, our 20-week study of the Book of Romans will turn the corner from all the medical theory of how God heals our souls (Romans 1 – 8) to the practical instruction of how we are to take His medicine (Romans 12 – 16). But make no mistake: The instructions do not cure us. God alone is the “Great Physician.” God alone transforms the human heart. How you and I access that cure has everything to do with how we take His medicine. Will you join us to explore this a little further? The instructions are going to become amazingly clear. I’ll do my best to help you understand them. Do some advance reading if you will. This week, compare the promises of Romans 8 with the instructions of Romans 12. See if it begins to reveal anything to you… and then let’s meet! Sunday morning 10:00 a.m. in-person (best!!) or online-livestream (if you need). Much love to all… Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend
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