Cross Points 2.5.21
Scripture to Live By
I was very sorry to hear about the death of Sam Stone, former editor of the Christian Standard Magazine, a primary periodical of the Restoration Movement since the CS was founded in 1866. It has been a voice of our movement since the time of Alexander Campbell, a chief spokesman during his time, with Campbell dying just before the magazine started. Another founding father was Barton W. Stone, a part of the major Cane Ridge Revival that took place in Kentucky as the 2nd Great Awakening took hold in the America. Sam Stone had a family connection to Barton W. Stone, I’ve learned.
I’ll always remember the time when Sam Stone came to speak for a Lectureship at Central Christian College of the Bible back in the 1980’s. He was editor of CS then and I’d had a small article published by them. After he spoke, I went up to him, told him my name, and thanked him for the talk he’d just given. He said something like: “Rick, I have not seen anything from you lately, I hope you’re still writing. Don’t give it up, I hope to see some submissions from you.” I couldn’t believe he knew my name (we’d never met) from the one lone article of mine they’d published two years before. I felt very encouraged!
With Sam’s passing, the magazine published one of his short articles again, entitled: Four Special Verses. I think you and I can gain from his four verses. Here they are with my abbreviated thoughts.
James 4:15: “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” No one knows what tomorrow holds. For Christians, we need to acknowledge that the future will be complicated by sin, by the craziness of this world. Some, maybe much, will touch us. God must allow it in this world of free-will and consequences, but he is still in control! Trust him and give evidence, acknowledging this verse.
Psalm 37:4: “Delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Another way of saying, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all this shall be added” (Matt. 6:33). Sam says when he was in Bible College he asked, “Who should I marry?” A friend gave him Psalm 37:4 and said: you are asking the wrong question. Seek to follow God and praise him. When your heart desires what God’s does, then God will give you your heart’s desire. He soon met his future wife.
Ephesians 4:15: “Speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” Sam said he often encounters people doing one of these, but not both. Some have love without truth, thinking they should just love everyone, and doctrine doesn’t matter. Others have truth without love, thinking they must communicate God’s truth while showing no love in the process (hell fire and brimstone). Paul calls us to maintain a balance, speaking truth in love.
Romans 8:28: “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who have been called according to his purpose.” Sam says the NIV best translates this verse. It’s a tough concept during hard times, but we must remember sin and Satan cause the hard times, not God. He takes them, and if we are willing, if we are following his calling, he works even the bad for our good. One day we will experience Eden again, but meanwhile, God works things to our benefit in some way if we allow him.
I’ll always remember the time when Sam Stone came to speak for a Lectureship at Central Christian College of the Bible back in the 1980’s. He was editor of CS then and I’d had a small article published by them. After he spoke, I went up to him, told him my name, and thanked him for the talk he’d just given. He said something like: “Rick, I have not seen anything from you lately, I hope you’re still writing. Don’t give it up, I hope to see some submissions from you.” I couldn’t believe he knew my name (we’d never met) from the one lone article of mine they’d published two years before. I felt very encouraged!
With Sam’s passing, the magazine published one of his short articles again, entitled: Four Special Verses. I think you and I can gain from his four verses. Here they are with my abbreviated thoughts.
James 4:15: “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” No one knows what tomorrow holds. For Christians, we need to acknowledge that the future will be complicated by sin, by the craziness of this world. Some, maybe much, will touch us. God must allow it in this world of free-will and consequences, but he is still in control! Trust him and give evidence, acknowledging this verse.
Psalm 37:4: “Delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Another way of saying, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all this shall be added” (Matt. 6:33). Sam says when he was in Bible College he asked, “Who should I marry?” A friend gave him Psalm 37:4 and said: you are asking the wrong question. Seek to follow God and praise him. When your heart desires what God’s does, then God will give you your heart’s desire. He soon met his future wife.
Ephesians 4:15: “Speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” Sam said he often encounters people doing one of these, but not both. Some have love without truth, thinking they should just love everyone, and doctrine doesn’t matter. Others have truth without love, thinking they must communicate God’s truth while showing no love in the process (hell fire and brimstone). Paul calls us to maintain a balance, speaking truth in love.
Romans 8:28: “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who have been called according to his purpose.” Sam says the NIV best translates this verse. It’s a tough concept during hard times, but we must remember sin and Satan cause the hard times, not God. He takes them, and if we are willing, if we are following his calling, he works even the bad for our good. One day we will experience Eden again, but meanwhile, God works things to our benefit in some way if we allow him.
Cross Point: God sees more than we do (the Lord willing), he wants to assist us (more clearly seen as we delight in him), he wants us to balance truth and love (speaking it while loving who we speak to), and in the craziness of life with sin and Satan, he will work on our behalf (working good from bad as we love and pursue him).
Posted in Cross Points