Riverside Church of Christ

625 Harper Road

Kerrville, Texas   78028

Taking the Bullet

A man who had a scruffy mongrel for a pet was asked about the pedigree of his dog. “He’s a police dog,” he replied proudly. “A police dog? He doesn’t look like a police dog to me,” his friend retorted. “Of course not,” came the response, “He’s in the secret service.” In Christianity are you in the secret service? Does anyone outside of the church circle know that you’re a Christian–a member of the Lord’s church? Periodically, I hear of people who work together at the same firm for many years, but who never know their fellow-worker was also a member of the church. Going to the funeral of a mutual friend eventually exposed the truth about their religious status. Both of them kept their “secret” so well, neither one knew that the other was in Christ’s service? Hmm. It mystifies me that people can hide their relationship with Christ so completely.

A few weeks ago, an article appeared in Parade (January 4, 2009) extolling the training and work of the U.S. Secret Service, especially those serving on the Presidential Protective Detail (PPD). The most impressive thing about them is their willingness to “take the bullet for the President.” A compelling aspect about them is their work ethic. It is stated, “Failure is not an option for these men and women who risk their lives” and “cops are trained to retreat when gunfire starts, but the Secret Service [agent] has to stand tall and go into the gunfire.” In a real life situation, it was agent Tim McCarthy who took a bullet in 1981 when John Hinckley Jr. took pot shots at President Ronald Reagan. Agents also guard the President’s limo 24/7 so that no foul play can be perpetrated. What an admirable bunch they are!

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Christians were that committed to their “president” (the Lord) as these agents are to theirs. Nicodemus was obviously an admirer of Jesus but he came to Him under the cover of darkness, John 3:1-2. Later Nicodemus said a word in his defense, John 7:50, and he was immediately chided by his peers. Later, he teams up with Joseph of Arimithea who is actually called a “secret” disciple of Jesus. He feared the wrath of Jewish antipathy toward him if he had made an open commitment, John 19:38-42. Wouldn’t it have been great if they had displayed the same type of courage of modern day Secret Service agents?

Then there was Peter. Try as he might, he could not hide his relationship with Jesus at crucifixion time, Matthew 26:69. That’s the way it should be. Our demeanor should tell the world, without a word–1 Peter 3:1, that we belong to Jesus. Peter made a promise that he would never deny the Lord, but his commitment was shallow and his promise hollow, Matthew 26:33, 69-75. Peter tried to lose himself in the crowd or in the dim light. He did not want to be detected. He apparently wanted to be a “secret” disciple, Matthew 26:58. He found out there is no such thing. The Lord says, “whoever denies me before men, I will deny before my Father who is in Heaven,” Matthew 10:32-33.

Jesus took more than a bullet for us. He did not dodge His responsibility by “ducking and diving.” He literally laid down His life for us. Let us never be ashamed to “own our Lord”–Paul wasn’t, Romans 1:16. Take your stand for Jesus even if it means “taking a bullet” for Him. Cowardly evasion will never win a world that is in denial about Jesus. Secret discipleship is what we should be ashamed of. Let it not be named among us as becometh saints. Let us have “hearts courageous!”

Love you all,

Al–”the Horne of Africa”

 BREAKING GROUND, BREAKING BREAD

It was with great anticipation and eagerness that we awaited September 6, 2008. That was the day when the fledgling congregation, our own Riverside Church of Christ, took one giant leap in its forward momentum. That was a day that will remain forever green in the memories of those who witnessed the monumental event. It was the day of the long-awaited “ground breaking” ceremony of the structure that will house our congregation! We give God the glory. What a mighty God we serve!

God has blessed this church with fantastic numerical growth in little over two years. Those who led the movement to plant the church on the west side of our town were overjoyed when just 25 people assembled in rented quarters in the early days. Even with many of our locals out of town for this Labor Day weekend, we exceeded our wildest expectation with an attendance of 185. Wow! That is 22 more people than we presently have on our roll. Folks, we are on our way to 200 now, right? Based on percentages and by the grace of God, we have to be one of the fastest growing congregations in the United States! Praise the Lord for his magnificent goodness to us. God has used so many magnanimous and generous brethren to “make it happen.” From the gracious gift of the land to the lowly widow’s mite, our brothers and sisters have united their resources and their expertise in the spirit of Christian co-operation under God’s mighty hand. We are “united, excited and ignited.” We are spreading the flame. All I can say is, “Burn, baby, burn!” As former president Reagan once said, “You ain’t seen nuttin’ yet!” Then, as we Horne’s like to say, “Here we come, ready or not!” Only lethargy can now hold us back, so we intend to put that diabolical commodity in the trash can. “Let us rise up and build,” Nehemiah 2:18. Let’s roll!

Today, the Lord’s Day–Revelation 1:10, we gather together in keeping with our risen Savior’s will to “break bread,” Acts 2:42. With the glow of thanksgiving about our God-granted progress still warming our hearts, we remember our Jesus, whose very name means “salvation,” Matthew 1:21. Without him, all this fervent activity would be futile and fruitless. It would be a meaningless “striving after the wind,” Ecclesiastes 1:14. Jesus gives meaning to our existence. He gives purpose to our efforts. He gives significance to our human relationships. He gives momentum to our energy. He gives direction to our lives. He “upholds us by the word of his power,” Hebrews 1:3. As the spiritual song acknowledges, “Without Him, I [we] can do nothing… Without him I [we] surely would fail.”

“Breaking ground” on Saturday, “breaking bread” on Sunday–what an exciting life we lead! The broken soil will eventually give rise to a place where broken hearts will be healed. God will put a “roof over our heads” to protect us from the elements but not from the Devil. Our devotion to Christ will defeat the diabolical one. Let the structure we anticipate not be an end within itself. That would defeat its purpose and contribute to our ultimate downfall. It is a means to an end, my beloved brethren. It is merely a beginning in the fight for the right, Ephesians 6:10-17. It will be the major place where “we provoke one another to love and good works,” Hebrews 10:24. It will be the place where we will “break bread” for years to come! We thank God who brought us to the place where yesterday we “broke ground.”  Let us sing “Hallelujah” in our hearts and praise the Lord with our lips.

Love you all,

Al—“the Horne of Africa.”

“IT’S HALF-TIME”

In South Africa, it’s rugby. In America, it’s football. In Brazil, it’s
soccer. So, what do all these sports have in common? Why, “half-time” of
course. Those games are played with vigor and intensity so midway through
the game, the players have to take a break. This is a time of refreshing
drinks and words of encouragement or condemnation from their coaches. The
spectators, enthusiastic or depressed, take time out at that point to go to
the concession stand or to the rest room. In the rest room they don’t rest
and at the concession stand, they do not concede, but we won’t go there.  So
what does that have to do with Christianity? Hmm, quite a lot actually.

First of all, when the Old Testament revelation ended, it was a kind of
“half-time.” A young co-coed was once sitting between a rabbi and a priest
at a religious conference. Trying to be impressive, she exclaimed, “Sitting
as I am between a rabbi and a priest, I feel like I am sitting between the
Old and the New Testaments!”  Bursting her bubble, the priest said, “Miss,
that is usually a blank page!!” But there was much more than a blank page
between the two Testaments. Antiochus Epiphanes IV had desecrated God’s
temple with pig dung and entrails, smearing it on the sacred vessels. This
event so infuriated the Jews that it became a turning point in the history
of the struggle between the Seleucids (Antiochus’ people) and the Maccabees
(the militant Jews of the day). The Maccabean rebels resorted to guerilla
warfare taking to the hill country of Judea. Though this was a period of no
divine revelation, God was nevertheless preparing the land for the coming of
his Messiah. The Jews wore their enemies out and came out the victors. In
167 B.C., the Jews cleansed the Temple and re-dedicated it. This is the
origin of the feast of Dedication or “feast of lights” (Hanukkah), which was
in the winter,   perhaps December, in the Northern Hemisphere. Notice where
Jesus was in John 10:22. There are some historical chronicles–1 Maccabees
4:59 and 2 Maccabees 10:5ff–that detail those events. They are not
canonical nor Biblical books–the Biblical scholar, Jerome, called the books
of this period “The Apocrypha.”  Though Jerome knew that they were not
inspired books but simply historical accounts of that period, the Catholic
Pope of his day insisted on including them in the Catholic version of the
Bible. So there is much more than a blank page during that “half-time.”

Secondly, and this is much more relevant to me and you, there comes a
“half-time” in our lives, too. How old are you? Prepare for a shock now! If
you are 35, or at the outside 40, you are at the halfway mark. It’s
“half-time” for you. You are now “middle-aged.” (Did I just hear a
blood-curdling scream?) I know–you don’t agree. But consider the facts of
the case. Though the longevity of the patriarchs ran into hundreds of years,
Genesis 5, God  eventually reduced the number to 120 because of man’s
rebellion, Genesis 6:3. Well, the rebellion didn’t stop, so the years were
further reduced to 70 or by reason of strength 80, see Psalm 90:10-11. I
guess God had enough of man’s insubordination.

So all you middle-agers out there, what are you going to do about it? From
now on, time will accelerate for you. The last half goes a lot faster than
the first half. Just ask any septuagenarian (70-year-old). When you were
six, you couldn’t wait to be 21. In fact, you told everyone you were six and
a half or almost seven, remember? Now, we lovable oldies try to hide the
effects of age under a bushel of make-up. (I know that I am going to be
crucified at half-time for this article!)  And, of course, clothes cover a
multitude of sins!

Here’s the rub–”what thou doest, do quickly!” Do you intend to bring
someone to Christ? Do it now! Do you intend to right a wrong? Do it now! Do
you intend to thank someone for shaping your spiritual life? Do it now! Do
you intend to tell some dear one that you love them? Do it now! Do you
intend to have a closer walk with God? Do it now! Do you intend to be more
faithful in your worship? Do it now! Do you intend to help some struggling
soul with a problem? Do it now! Do we get the picture?  “The road to hell is
paved with good intentions,” it is said. Time is filled with swift
transition. Do you intend to become a Christian? Do it now! There’s danger
and death in delay!

Love you all,

Al–”the Horne of Africa.”

SIGNED, SEALED AND DELIVERED

“Oh, ye who would communicate–have ye considered the humble postage stamp?” That is the way King James would have written it back in 1611, had there been post offices back then. Even though email seriously threatens “snail mail,” people still make regular trips to the Post Office to buy stamps. Some older folks resist entry into the modern world of communication technology by avoiding personal computers like the plague. They think that cookies and spam are on the menu at an Internet Cafe. But, let’s get back to stamps–the humble, traveling, facilitating stamp!

What lessons can be learned from postage stamps? How are we like stamps? First of all, they are usually colorful while we are fearfully and wonderfully made, Psalms 139:14. They have an identity, while we have been made in the image of God, Genesis 1:27. They have their price, though that price is infinitesimal compared to the price paid for each one of us, Acts 20:28. Though stamps come in groups, they don’t mind “standing alone” when duty requires it. When necessary, however, they are also team players and cooperate with others to get the job done. We mostly act together as a corporate body, the church, but like a single stamp, sometimes we have to stand alone in the fight for the right, 2 Timothy 4:16-18. Different stamps perform different tasks and likewise, we are individually endowed for varied tasks, Romans 12:4-6.

Some stamps speed letters on their way while others deliver parcels to faraway places. They do their work unashamedly and they stick to the task to the end. We, too, can’t afford to be ashamed of our work because it is the power of God unto salvation, Romans 1:16. In fact, stamps “go into all the world” willingly. They are always readily available, doing their job without prejudice or partiality. We also are commissioned to go into all the world and take the message of salvation, Mark 16:15-16, without prejudice or partiality, cf. 1 Timothy 5:21. Then, too, stamps are good ambassadors for their country while we are ambassadors for a heavenly country, 2 Corinthians 5:20. When stamps have completed their task, the “good, untarnished ones” might find their way into a philatelist’s stamp album. Imitating the humble stamp once more, we must remain faithful to the end, Revelation 2:10, never shrinking back from the task before us, Hebrews 10:35-39. So let’s be like a stamp–let’s stick to the job until we have reached our destination. God will then have a place for us in His album. It is called the “Book of Life,” Revelation 20:15. Meanwhile, we can sing the familiar old hymn Oh, to Be Like Thee which concludes with the words, “Stamp thine own image deep on my heart.”

Finally, let me stamp this on your heart: Jesus signed for us with the Cross of Calvary. Children of God have been sealed with the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 1:13. In addition, God has delivered us from the dominion of darkness, Colossians 1:12. So, we have been signed, sealed and delivered! Now, as was the case of the Corinthians, let us remember that we are a letter, an epistle, known and read by everybody,” 2 Corinthians 3:2. Let the contents point to Jesus. Let the message name his name. Let the delivery be assured! Evangelize, evangelize, evangelize! Invite! Invite! Invite! The mail must get through!!

Love you all,

Al –”The Horne of Africa”

Riverside Church of Christ moves into new building at 625 Harper Road!

God has truly blessed us!
Come be with us as we worship God in the name of His Son Jesus Christ
and filled with the Holy Spirit.

OFFICIAL GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY FOR NEW BUILDING
Saturday, September 6, 2008

 Groundbreaking Ceremonies Held September 6, 2008

Riverside Church of Christ opened its new building Sunday, September 13, 2009.  The building complex will have offices, classrooms, an auditorium, a fellowship room, and a garden.

Currently the church has over 200 members.  Through a generous gift of more than six acres of land from Bob and Mary Woodward the congregation has been able to move forward in constructing a new building that will seat 400 members.

 A library, workroom and twelve classrooms are located central to the building.  The fellowship hall with full kitchen facilities is located on the north side of the building.  To enhance the property many of the beautiful trees have been left standing.  In the parking lot will stand a garden complete with a walking track.  Numerous activities are planned for this area which will be landscaped for its natural beauty.