Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday. April 3, 1996 - THREE
"Confident Faith
or Trembling in Fear"
tm B m trtfo A il
"The Good News"
"The Mark of a Remarkable God"
By The Reverend Stan Hoobing, Hope-Valby Lutheran Parish
Wake up. It's Easter. It is the day of the resurrection. Gone
forever is the past. Say goodbye to guilt, fear, doubt, despair,
depression. Say hello to the Risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
New life has begun.
The daily news is bad...Thomas Hamilton, a disgruntled youth
worker, massacres 16 five and six year olds, their teacher and
then takes his own life.. .Agent Orange is linked to birth defects
in babies of Vietnam veterans...a high school in New York bans
Magic Johnson's book on AIDS. But the Good News is seldom
heard: "D o not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for
Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He has been rais
ed ." (Matthew 28:5-6)
Get it straight. God is in charge of the world. He has raised
His only Son from the grave. There is new life now...abundant
life.
Yesterday might have been old and boring, but now it is Easter.
It is the moment of Resurrection. Jesus has conquered death.
Hallelujah! Life is exciting, just you hear and see.
Every day is Easter and we celebrate that news with friends
old and new who loudly proclaim the words of Cyril A. Arl
ington, "Good Christian friends, rejoice and sing! Now is the
triumph of our King! To all the world glad news we bring:
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!"
By Pastor Andrew Johnson, First Christian Church
The celebration of Easter and all of its significance has arriv
ed. We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, an event
we read about in the Gospels. I was contemplating the signi
ficance of this remarkable event in which the remarkable man-
God-rose from the grave. Then a thought occurred to me, "Why
not?" Why is it so remarkable that the Creator God of this
universe, who is before all things and in Him all things hold
together (Col. 1:17), raised from the dead? There is nothing
remarkable about God doing what only God can do and rising
from the dead, unless...
Unless you consider why Jesus did what He did. Be honest
with yourself. We all think we are good. Okay. Not so bad. Even
with that perspective, we know that our world has big problems.
Whether you are coming from the right or the left, liberal or con
servative, Christian, atheist, Buddhist, etc.... You pick the group
and ask them how the world is; if they are honest, they will ad
mit that things are not so good. We are not so good. We humans
have some problems. If we are honest, we have some major
problems.
What does this have to do with a remarkable God? God did
a very easy thing for God to do, raise himself from the dead.
It is not that remarkable until you understand that He did it to
give us, very unremarkable humans with our major problems
and all our character flaws, a chance. A chance to live in a perfect
place with God even after we destroyed His first perfect crea
tion with our sin. Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates His
own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died
for u s." God died for you and for me. He, being good, perfect,
righteous, just, holy, pure, died for us of the world who are bad,
guilty, unjust, unholy, dirty. The mark that makes God re
markable is that He cares for those who are so unremarkable
Insignificant. Imperfect.
This year, we come again to the celebration of the cross and
the celebration of the resurrection. Two remarkable events that
make the merely unremarkable remarkable for the remarkable
God. My friends, may you find in Him that which you can find
nowhere else.
"Peace Be With You"
By The Reverend Lea Mathieu, lone United Church of Christ
When we think of God's gifts at the Easter season, we often
think of eternal life and salvation from sin. But the risen Christ's
first words to his followers point us to another Easter gift: "peace
be with you." (John 20:19)
The Hebrew concept of peace, or "shalom," is much more than
the absence of conflict. It is fullness of life-harmony, wholeness,
health in body and soul. Jesus said, "I came that you might have
life, and have it abundantly." God's peace in our souls and in
our relationships is the hallmark of the abundant, fulfilled life.
In our world, such peace is greatly lacking. There is broken
ness between nations, within societies, in families and in our
selves. The peace of God that Jesus proclaimed at Easter over
comes all the hatred and fears that keep us from realizing God's
will. "In the world you will have tribulation," Jesus said, "but
be of good cheer: I have overcome the world.”
Shalom comes from believing that God does indeed overcome
the world and that the world's darkness does not and cannot
overcome God's light. True peace arises from having faith, trust,
hope and love through all our celebrations and challenges, just
as Jesus did through His ministry, death and resurrection.
This Easter and always, may "peace be with you."
//
The Hope of Easter '
//■
■
By Father Gerry Condon, St. Patrick-St. William Catholic Parish
During the season of Lent, Christianity around the world has
focused on the suffering and death of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
It is good to contemplate His suffering. We come to know Him
better. We come to know a little of the infinite love He has for
each of us. When we see Him with arms outstretched on the
cross, we know we are welcome, we know we are loved. When
we think of the sharp thorns that pierced His sacred head, we
know that He loved us. When we visualize the whips, with pieces
of metal and bone attached, tearing apart His sacred body, we
know we are loved. When we listen to the hammer-blows driv
ing the nails into His sacred hands and feet, we know that we
are loved. When we look at the lance jabbed into His sacred side,
we know that we are loved.
When we listen to His words, "Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they d o ," we know that He will also forgive us.
When we hear Him say, " I thirst," we know that His thirst is
for souls-yours, mine and everyone else. When we listen to His
words, "Into your hands I commend my spirit," we know that
death is not the end of all, but the way to eternity.
Death was the way that He chose to the resurrection. Conse
quently the resurrection is a source of hope to a world that knows
Him not. Would there be violence if everyone believed His
teachings? Would there be hatred? Greed? Deception? Lust? En
vy? Our modern world seems to turn away from His principles.
Hence, Easter is a challenge to our world. If we really want peace,
if we want true happiness, then turn to Him, live by His prin
ciples. There really is no other way. In fact, He said, " I am the
w ay..." So Easter is a challenge to our modem world, a challenge
to rise out of deception, a challenge to reach for true joy, true
happiness, true peace.
"A Transformation"
By The Reverend Al Miller, All Saints’ Episcopal Church
I remember a calm spring day. The air was cold, clear and clean.
The leaves had not yet emerged from their new sheaths. There
was still snow on the ground. All seemed dead. No new life was
yet emerging in the woods. I was walking amongst an older grove
of fir trees lining the ruts of an old road. They stood there as
sentinels standing guard over a long ago used pathway now aban
doned for pavement and expediency.
This tract of land had once been farmed. When the farming
could no longer sustain the family who lived here, a second-
growth forest emerged. Some 40 years ago, the wood lot had
1 been cut and cleared for the value of the wood and was prompt
ly sold because it would take another 60 years to make a new
profit for its owner. When the new landlords moved in, it was
for a different sort of farming.
I was standing here amongst these trees while on retreat at
a Benedictine monastery. The farming was now the tending of
souls and these trees now carried different meaning, a sense of
sacred space in which to restore the soul. As I stood there
amongst those trees, I realized that the last four days worth of
soul-searching, reading, worship and confession had caused a
transformation in me. God had washed me from the inside to
the outside. Just as the crocus would soon begin that transfor
mation from winter to spring, so had Jesus effected in me a tran-
formation just as real and just as powerful. Old things and old
places could indeed take on new meaning.
Easter is a time for us to realize that God desires this transfor
mation in us. New hope is brought through old timbers. Death
will not be the last word; life will be. Seek out God's transform
ing message for your heart this Easter.
By The Reverend Duane Jones, Church of the Nazarene
It makes one shudder when we think about the evil and
devastation caused by war. It sends a chill down our spine. Over
the centuries of recorded history, million of soldiers and civilians
have died due to the ravages of war. Military conflicts have literal
ly shaped the course of history. Wars have not changed history.
War is history in the making.
Wars are expensive when you consider the maiming and kill
ing of people. During the short history of the United States of
America, the loss of life has been great. Counting the Civil War,
Collier's Encyclopedia reports that nearly one million U.S. sol
diers have died serving our nation. When the death tolls of our
allies are added, we then have an astonishing 15.5 million soldiers
who died for the salvation of our freedom. World War II alone
cost us and our allies more than 775.4 billion dollars
($775,488,000,000) Not one penny that was spent to wage a war
ever brought back to life even one of those souls that perished.
Millions of people have given their lives for the benefit of one.
However, some 2,000 years ago, one man gave His life for the
benefit of billions of people. In doing this for you, He did in fact
change the course of history. The monetary cost was only thirty
pieces of silver, probably worth about $20 today.
This man died for your spiritual freedom. You spiritual freedom
from sorrow, pain, grief and suffering. He provided salvation
to you from a life filled with evil, fear, hatred, anger and malice.
A life free of sin and the effects from sin. He provided for you
a life of eternal salvation with Christ.
Yes, that man is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He was crucified
and died that day long ago. Yet, as prophesied, he defeated the
grave. He was victorious in the war waged against Him by His
adversary. Then on the third day following His execution. He
rose from the dead. That act is the foundation of our Christian
faith. Just as God raised Jesus from death, so shall He also save
you.
Later, the Apostle John wrote these words of encouragement
for us: "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and
only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have
eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to con
demn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever
believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe
stands condemned already because he has not believed in the
name of God's one and only So n ." (John 3:16-18)
Do not be deceived by simply "believing" that Jesus is the Son
of God and by believing that you are saved and home free. Scrip
ture tells us that you must be a "Bom Again" believer and follow
Him. This is why in the book of James, it is written: "You believe
that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that-and
shudder." (James 2:19) Hum...do you feel a draft?
Missionaries to speak at Life Center
The Reverend Bill Johnston,
Assemblies of God missionary
to Swaziland, will be the guest
speaker at Christian Life
Center, 535 W. Morgan St.,
Heppner, on Thursday, April
4 at 6:30 p.m., according to
Reverend Tim Van Cleave,
pastor.
Bill and his wife, Sharon,
have had a broad ministry in
Africa over the past 20 years.
Focusing on both evangelism
and discipleship, the Johnstons
have assisted in the foundation
of numerous new churches
through tent crusades, taught
in several Assemblies of God
Bible schools and promoted the
use of corrrespondence Bible
courses. After working in
Ghana for one term, they spent
two terms in Liberia before be
ing reassigned to Swaziland.
Besides overseeing the
growth of the church they
started in Swaziland, Bill
teaches at the Swaziland Col
lege of Theology, directs the
distribution and use of ICI
University correspondence
courses and puts together a
weekly 30 minute radio
program.
Sharon teaches full-time at
the Bible college. Her students
come from several nations in
Southern Africa. While in
Liberia, she had overseen that
country's ICI University pro
gram involving 7,000 students.
The Johnstons look forward
to their return to Swaziland.
"W e believe God has placed us
in the Kingdom of Swaziland
for a specific purpose," Bill
says. "It is exciting to see it un
fold."
The Kingdom of Swaziland is
about the size of New Jersey
and is located in southern
Africa near the Indian Ocean.
About 90 percent of the popula
tion of nearly one million
belong to the Swazi, a Bantu
people. English and SiSwati, a
Zulu dialect, are both official
languages.
G
e n u i n e
C
h e v r o l e t
Remember when your word was your Bond. -
You sealed a deal with a handshake - That's still
the way we do business today.
COMFORTABLE • TRUSTFULL • HONEST • CARING
T h e L a r g e s t V o lu m e C h e v y T r u c k D e a le r in E a s te r n O r e g o n
SHERRELL CHEVROLET
Hermiston, Oregon 1-800-567-6487
New Car Sales
Used Car Center
567-6488
567-3919
Marriage Licenses
The Morrow County Clerk's
office at the courthouse in
Heppner reports issuing the
following marriage licenses
during the past month:
March 8: Antonio Sandoval
Arellano, 27, Boardman; and
Almadia Pinedo Estrada, 25,
Boardman.
March 26: Ralph Carl Green,
36, Juneau, Alaska; and
Katherine Ann Monjay, 36,
Boardman.
April 2: William I. Kelly, 50,
Lassen, California; and
Janet S. Eakin, 50, Hermis
ton.
Meeting changed
"Then she grabbed me like this
and said: ’C'mon, Dear, w ere going
to Bank of Eastern Oregon’."
The Heppner City's Charter
Committee meeting scheduled
for Tuesday, April X, at 7 p.m.,
has been changed to Thursday,
April 4, at 7 p.m.
“And that’s how we started our Direct Deposit program. Now our paycheck*
is deposited directly into our Bank of Eastern Oregon account. It’s faster, safer,
and way more convenient. But, I would have never started our Direct Deposit
program without her “gentle” persuasion. In fact I never would have though of it.
Stor-4-U
Mini Storage
4 2 6 Linden W ay
H eppner
NOW RENTING
567-7317
»
4
So now when she grabs me like that, I always follow her!
Bank of Eastern Oregon
“Around the corner, not around the state."
Arlington
454-2636
Condon
384-3501
Heppner
676-9125
lone
422-7466
'C a l us for details on which employers and prívale and government pension plans participate in our program. Mem ber FDtC