Through the years I have heard the hymn

Through the years I have heard the hymn "Master, the tempest is raging!" sung many a time; and I am reminded again of the hymn as I read the papers and watch TV news of the on-going loss of life in so many walks of life. Like Jeremiah (8:18): "..I would comfort myself ..my heart is faint in me." And I thank God for the Master's own voice which stills the tempest that rages within me. Yet, I have concern in my heart over events of the past years and the direction in which our nation and world seems to be moving. So, I ask that you struggle with me for a while - like Jacob in Gilead, let us wrestle with God for a moment......

"MASTER, WE ARE PERISHING"

You may or may not believe "that all religions are equal." For sure, it’s a favorite, even sacred, tenet in any kind of setting where neutrality is required. Yes, I remember that "neutrality," the sacred cow of "secularism," is based on exclusion. Politics and education, for example, are supposed to be religiously neutral. Therefore religious principles must be excluded at all costs - it is like putting up of another "East Berlin" wall, right? Do you see where we are headed here? Suddenly the "inclusion" of all religions must be modified to exclude those who don't accommodate all paths to salvation. In Other Words all points of view must be altered to tolerate only those views that agree with the tolerance of all points of view. So the only way to claim you've achieved total harmony is to silence those who disagree.

I read just recently how that a young man was found to be wearing, without permission, the Luftwaffe cap his dad brought home from WW 2. Dad got mad, and made him put it away. And he said, "I'm sorry I ever took that hat." "Why, dad? Why are you sorry?" "Be-cause every time I see it, son, I see the face of the dead soldier who wore it."

It has been said of many a young teen-ager who went away to war: "He went away a boy, {girl today, also} confused and lost, and came back a man." And there is truth in those words. But, this {then} teen-ager came back scarred, but today I am most grateful that I was a part of the [some say conflict] war then - a war that changed our society, in my opinion. Yet, without the loss of almost 300,000 soldiers - who did not die in vain - where would our nation be today?

Jeremiah looked out upon a war-torn land, upon battlefields littered with corpses, a land vanquished by foreign enemies, and a people exiled from their homes, and his "... eyes became a fountain of tears..." (9:1). Jeremiah's question in (8:22) is asked as by a faithful man, a servant of God. Where are you, God? Is there no hope? Is there no peace?

YES! YES! A thousand times, YES! Yes, there is hope - there is healing. Yes, there is a way through our present troubles ... that we should never be discouraged ... that we should never give up hope ... that God has a way out of our troubles .. and that way has a name, and the name is Jesus Christ.The disciples of Jesus once ask Him, "Master, carest thou not that we perish?" And Jesus stood up, and rebuked the storm. And the storm ceased, and there was peace.

In my ladder years, I don't recall a time of trouble such as my generation has never known.

We are in the midst of our own storm; and we cry out "Master, we are perishing!" But have we? Are we seeking God's guidance and God's help? Have we given God a chance to still the storm? Does God have a better way to peace than through the battlefields?

We stand today, staring evil in its face. How shall we do battle with evil? Shall we arm ourselves with missiles and tanks? Or shall we arm ourselves with faith? No army can root out the evil that is a part of the world and always has been. Only one thing can defeat this evil. Only one thing can save all of God’s children everywhere, only one thing can bring peace, and that one thing is the God who gave the life of his son on a cross for you and for me and for all the world. No matter what else we may do in the days and weeks and months ahead, as we sail through this storm, let us be sure that we trust in the God who loves us and calls us to love one another. So that when the storm has ended and the calm has at last come and God asks us, “Where is your faith?” we may confidently answer, “It is in you, O God, O Balm of Gilead. It is in you.”

><))):> In "HIS" Service
Bro. Roy