My thankfulness for and commitment to Christian education is greater now than ever before. As parents fill out reenrollment papers this month, I would like to share eleven reasons I am excited to have my own children enrolled in CBCS:

1. The sound Biblical instruction and training our children receive, as opposed to the secularism that is prevalent in our society and schools today

2. The safe, protected environment

3. The faculty and staff who genuinely love our children and want what is best for them

4. The overall “spirit” of our student body (It is far different than the average school.)

5. Opportunities abound: academic, social, musical, athletic, speech, ministry, etc.

6. Godly role models (faculty, staff, and coaches) that complement parental examples at home

7. A staff that attempts to co-labor with parents to instill character in the lives of our students, which unfortunately is not taking place in many schools today

8. Extra-curricular programs, which are compatible rather than conflicting with church and family schedules

9. Social development that is guided by Biblical principles (Difficulties will arise anytime you have people together; but we attempt to train students to handle conflict according to God’s instruction. This will benefit them throughout their lives.)

10. A quality education (We often receive comments from our graduates stating how well-prepared they were for college. This fact is also exhibited by our students’ performances on achievement tests and college entrance exams.)

11. The overall spiritual progress seen in many of our students from their younger years to the time they graduate, as the truths of living a Christ-centered life become a reality

We parents, the pilots of our homes, must make some decisions about our activities and schedules that reflect Deuteronomy 6:6-7. It will not automatically happen. Our children will not naturally fill their lives with Him. This responsibility is placed squarely on our shoulders. Here are some practical suggestions to help parents obey this important command.

Nervous Breakdown #1

It is going to start raining before I get this boat built and the human race will all be destroyed, and it will be my fault. 21st century translation: The timetable of the events in my life is just not working out for the best. God’s answer: Isaiah 40:31 “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” We are to simply trust the Lord’s timing in life situations, and not worry that His schedule will not be right.

Nervous Breakdown #2

I don’t believe that I saw the grasshoppers get on the ark and it’s my fault that we lost an entire species of grasshoppers for eternity. 21st century translation: It’s all up to me. God’s answer: Matthew 11:29, 30 “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me…and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” It is not my yoke; it is God’s yoke. I simply obey and leave the results to Him.

Nervous Breakdown #3

Now that all the animals have left the ark, how can I be sure that each animal stays alive long enough to reproduce? There is only a pair of each of the animals, and the odds that one will die before reproducing is quite high. 21st century translation: See nervous breakdown #2.

We are so often tempted to worry and try to carry burdens that God never intended us to carry. May we be learning to wait on Him, pull His easy yoke, and carry His light burden.

Highlights of the month:

• October 4 - Brent Sivnksty, Staff Evangelist; Eric Graham, South Africa
• October 11 - International Food Fellowship
• October 18 - Jeremy Markle, Puerto Rico; Lee Peterson, Zambia
• October 25 - Bob Patton, Suriname

I later shared this with our school staff in morning devotions. Little did I know that very morning my wife would be calling a short time later to inform me that the pipe in our basement I “repaired” the night before was spewing out water while she was doing a load of laundry. That evening, upon examination, I realized that not only was the drain pipe fitting not sealed, but our sump pump was also not working. What began as a small repair quickly escalated into a few evenings of work. As I contemplated the situation, the Holy Spirit brought to mind David’s resolve that I had shared earlier that day with our staff. His heart was fixed.

There will be many times in life when we may not like our circumstances or do not feel like praising the Lord; times when we will be tempted with discouragement, frustration, and pity. However, the command to praise the Lord remains the same. Our praise is independent of our circumstances because our praise is not based on us or on our circumstances. Our praise is based upon our God and Who He is. In Psalm 108, David rejoices in God’s mercy, truth, power, and deliverance. In many other Psalms we are instructed to praise the Lord for His wonderful name and for His many wonderful works.

There is little that is of more beauty than a believer of Jesus Christ who lives his life with his heart fixed on thankfulness and praise unto his Savior. A thankful, praising life is contagious. As you lift up Jesus Christ, your rejoicing will impact your family, friends, and coworkers. Let’s “fix” our hearts to praise the Lord today.

Suppose for my wife’s birthday I would like to honor her, so I make plans for a special evening together. I plan to take her to downtown South Bend where we spend a few hours enjoying the College Football Hall of Fame, followed by reservations at a fine restaurant where I had spinach salads and fine fish dinners pre-ordered; we would finish the evening by taking in a South Bend Silverhawks baseball game.

Would my wife truly be honored? One could argue that she should be after all the thought and effort I put into planning the evening.

But the fact is after nineteen years of marriage, I know I would not be honoring my wife by our date. The College Football Hall of Fame would not interest her in the least (as seems to be the case with many others in our town as well). Without a good book to read, sitting through nine innings of a Silverhawks game would be nigh to torture for her. As for the meal, fish is not her favorite entrée, and she is highly allergic to spinach. Would I really be honoring my wife with such an evening? Obviously not!

Sadly, much of what is done in Christianity today fails to bring glory and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ. God tells us that He is light and in Him is no darkness at all (I John 1), that friendship with the world is enmity with God (James 4), that we are not to love the world (I John 2); and He also tells us not to fashion ourselves after the world but to be holy as He is holy (I Peter 1). How can something bring glory to our Lord Jesus when it goes directly against the very nature and character of God? The answer is simple: It cannot. Yet much of Christianity today is based on music and non-separated lifestyles that are patterned directly after the ways of this unsaved world.

One may argue, “But I am sincere.” But where in God’s Word are we told sincerity makes us right with God? We can be sincere and yet be sincerely wrong. Only when my actions are in line with the nature and character of God, will I truly bring glory to Him. May the Lord give us discernment as we fight the wiles of the Devil in this present day.  

Like the disciples, so often in our service for Him, we are tempted to compromise the simple principle of obedience in one of several ways:

• Being guided by our friends, instead of what God says. Undoubtedly, there were skilled fishermen on the shore that day watching Peter to see if he was going to obey this man, Jesus. 
• Being guided by our experiences, instead of what God says. The Lord asked Peter to do something contrary to his expertise in fishing - launch out into the deep in the middle of the day.  The Lord was asking a great deal of that knowledgeable and experienced fisherman - He was asking him to trust His Word.
• Being guided by our circumstances, instead of what God says. The Lord asked the disciples to do what the circumstances of the preceding night of fruitless fishing would indicate would be useless.  But they needed to learn that obedience to Christ does not hinge upon favorable circumstances.
• Being guided by our fears, instead of what God says. Perhaps Peter's words in verse 5 were an attempt to protect Jesus from embarrassment in front of the crowd - or to protect himself from the embarrassment of a repeated failure.

The results of obedience to the Word of God are recorded in verses 6-7. As soon as Peter obeyed, two things happened.  First of all, obedience to Christ brought a greater than expected success - so great was the catch of fish that their nets began to tear.  Secondly, obeying His Word brought an expansion of their ministry - Peter was obliged to call on others to help with the catch. When the Lord's work is done according to His Word, the prospering that He chooses for our ministry will follow. 

An old German parable illustrates the point of our text. "Once upon a time in the development of life, the birds had no wings. They crawled around in the grass like squirrels and mice and other earth-bound creatures. Then one day the Lord threw wings at their feet and commanded them to pick them up and carry them. Well, at first it seemed very hard. The little birds did not want them, the heavy, unwieldy things, but they loved the Lord and, in obedience, picked up those heavy things and carried them on their backs. And lo! The wings fastened themselves there! Finally, the little birds caught the idea of it. What they once thought had been hampering weight had gained for them the heights and freedom of the skies!"

If we will simply learn to obey His Word by faith, we will have discovered the foundation for future, long-term success in ministry.

We focus on how the Lord used the life of a famous missionary of the past, and a particular character trait that was displayed in his life. This school year, we are looking at faith in the life of George Muller, missionary to England. As has always been the case with Community's Wednesday night children's program, scripture verse memorization plays a vital role; and this year, following our theme of faith, our verse memorization centers on faith.

Not only do we desire the children to learn about missionaries and missions, we also want them to see their own roll as missionaries here at home. And we pray the Lord uses this to lead some of our children to become full time missionaries themselves.

Details...

• Meets every Wednesday night during the school year September 3 through May 13 (Except Sept 17, Nov 26, Dec 10, Dec 23 & 31, Apr 8.)
• 6:45 - 8:15 PM
• 3 year olds through 6th grade
• Locations:
  • 3 year olds - Room 107
  • 4 & 5 year olds - Room 212, Fellowship Hall
  • 1st - 6th grades - Opening Assembly in the Gym
• Purchases necessary to fully participate:
  • Training booklet, $1.
  • Expeditions Book, $5,
  • Expeditions Shirt, $9.

Please call the church office, 291-1884, with any questions or ask any Expeditions worker on Wednesday nights.

The ministry of our Lord in His coming was "to seek and to save that which was lost", and He has given each believer a commission to be doing the same. The application of this vision at Community during the month of June involves two exciting ministries - Farm Fest and Vacation Bible School.

This past Saturday, June 14, Farm Fest was held for the fifth consecutive year at the Jessup Farm in Goshen, Indiana; Community and two sister churches in the area spearhead this dynamic youth outreach.  God blessed with a beautiful day, 430 teens present, and over 200 church volunteers laboring for the cause of the Gospel.  We witnessed powerful preaching by Steve Pettit and enjoyed great fun "down on the farm."  From the three Gospel services 22 professions of faith were recorded and over 70 dedication/surrender decisions registered.  We thank God for His presence and are actively involved in the follow up of making disciples.

Vacation Bible School begins on June 23 with the theme of Dino Detectives.  Dr. Bones and his faithful assistant will be leading the expedition as we hope to see hundreds of young people from our region come to this annual youth highlight.  Not only do we have an exciting program for those four years old through the sixth grade, but Pastor Mike Thomas leads an exciting Junior High Activity Week.

In all of this we are seeking to please our Savior, Who is taking out a people for His Name's sake.  May God give us His power as we seek to get the lost off the sinking ship and into the lifeboat of His grace!

As is true of most words, the idea of "separation" takes on a differing meaning depending on the person who is using the term.  Even among those who are committed to the practice of Biblical separation, there are differing views of how it should be played out.  Our Lord gives wonderful guidance to us in His intercessory prayer in John 17, directing us to understand that Biblical separation is not isolation, but insulation.

What do I mean by "not isolation, but insulation"? Some who seek to genuinely honor the Lord believe that the proper application of separation involves removing themselves from any contact with the world.  Some time ago a man told me that he was leaving our church because he did not want his children to be tainted by contact with the bus kids who came to our church.  Though a motive of purity is a necessary and honorable one, that purity is not to be exercised in a vacuum, but in the midst of ministry to a lost world.

In John 17 our Lord used several phrases that point out that we are not to isolate ourselves from the world, but rather to insulate ourselves in distinctive Christianity.  Notice the relationship of the believer with the world in His prayer, "[11]...these are in the world... [12] they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. [15] I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil... (18) As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world."   

Perhaps an illustration will help us understand that our Lord is teaching insulation, not isolation.  Electricity is a wonderfully protective energy source that has been designed by God for our good.  When a generator produces electricity, the current is sent from the generator to the object of the power's application through an insulated wire.  If the wire loses its insulation, the power is shorted out and lost, rendering the object of the energy without benefit.  If the insulation is maintained, the application of the power is dynamic. 

Jesus Christ has given us spiritual power for ministry, but that power flows through us effectively and efficiently only as we are insulated from the world and its draining influence.  The object of Christ's power is ministry to a lost and dying world, that men might be saved and discipled.  

Isolation means shutting ourselves off from the world.  Insulation means having the power of Christ flow through us to the world.  The first is a clear violation of John 17.  The latter is Christ's model for ministry.  Let's commit ourselves afresh to purity and holy living, to Biblical separation and distinctiveness from the world, in order that the power of Christ may rest upon us and that we might be conduits of His salvation to those to whom we aggressively reach out with the Gospel.