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Letters to the editor
Mennonite Brethren Herald welcomes your letters on issues relevant to the Mennonite Brethren Church, especially in response to material published in the Herald. Please keep your letters courteous, brief and about one subject only. We will edit letters for length and clarity. We will not publish letters sent anonymously, although we may withhold names from publication at the request of the letter writer and at our discretion. Publication is also subject to space limitations. Because the Letters column is a free forum for discussion, it should be understood that letters represent the position of the letter writer, not necessarily the position of the Herald or the Mennonite Brethren Church. Send letters to:
Letters, MB Herald
3-169 Riverton Ave.
Winnipeg, Man. R2L 2E5
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or by e-mail to mbherald@mbconf.ca. (Please ensure that your postal address is included in your e-mail correspondence.) |
Scripture affirms God’s reign
George Whitney (“Do we mean what we sing?”, May 26) shows a lack of understanding of the sovereignty of God. The entire body of Scripture proclaims that “Our God reigns.” 1 Chronicles 29:11 states that the Lord is “exalted as head above all!” God is Lord over creation (Hebrews 1:3, Psalm 24:1). Witness God’s absolute control over the plagues upon Egypt (Exodus 9ff) or His control over the elements (Mark 4:39). The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah experienced the judgement of God through His control over the elements (Genesis 19ff). God is Lord over the children of men (Proverbs 16:9, Proverbs 19:21, Proverbs 21:1). He is Lord over all nations (Judges 1-3). He is Sovereign over Satan and his demons (Mark 1:34). Satan could touch Job “only after God gave him permission”! He is Lord in our salvation. (John 6:37). Our salvation is “according to God’s choice” (Acts 13:48; Romans 11:5; Ephesians 1:3-5,11; 2 Timothy 1:9; Romans 8:28-29). God truly reigns over and through everything. There is no greater doctrine to understand than the sovereignty of God. For the Christian, this gives complete peace. We can rest in Him no matter what is going on in or around our lives. All the chaos, earthquakes, tornados or wars are under His complete control so as to fulfill His sovereign plan.
Brian Anderson,
Mission, B.C.
Not ours to judge
I respond to the letter “Easy way out” (June 9). I find it ironic that this letter quotes from the Sermon on the Mount: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” The Sermon on the Mount is intended to set the standard of Heaven so high that it is impossible to think we can get in without God’s grace. It is designed to create humility and thankfulness. Also in the Sermon on the Mount is Matthew 5:27-30. It places lust on the same scale as adultery, which is what divorce can be compared to. Can we say that we are pure from this? Matthew 7:1-5 warns us against judging people; it clearly states that there are much greater struggles in our own life than those flaws pointed out in others’ lives. God is the only one who should judge, and only if you are perfect may you judge others.
It’s true that God doesn’t like divorce (Malachi 2:16). There are enough problems in our own lives, though, that require our attention rather than pointing out the public mishaps of Amy Grant.
Karl Kohut,
Winnipeg, Man.
Need to speak face to face
Regarding the letter from the unknown man chastising Amy Grant for taking “the easy way out” (June 9). I am disappointed when someone is willing to quote Scripture and critique people for their actions, yet does not have the courage to name himself. If we are to have dialogue in the church, we must speak face to face.
Jon Unger Brandt,
Winnipeg, Man.
God does reign
I assume George Whitney’s viewpoint “Do we mean what we sing?” (May 26) was written tongue-in-cheek. However, it is possible not everyone has made that assumption. I am one of those who “belts it out loudly and confidently” that God reigns, and I consider myself in good company. At the occasion of bringing the ark of God into the temple, King David assigned Asaph and his relatives to give thanks to the Lord. Part of the beautiful song he had written reads, “Let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad and let them say among the nations, `The Lord reigns’” (1 Chronicles 16:31). Isaiah writes, “How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who announces peace and brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation, and says to Zion, `Your God reigns’” (Isaiah 52:7). In addition, the Psalms repeat the phrase five times. Revelation 19:6 reads, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.”
Whitney succeeds in getting our attention when he asks, “Where does God reign?” We respond by asking: Where doesn’t He reign? He is sovereign over all. “The kings of earth prepare for battle; the rulers plot together against the Lord and against His anointed one. `Let us break their chains,’ they cry, `and free ourselves from this slavery!’ But the one who rules in heaven laughs. The Lord scoffs at them” (Psalm 2:2-3).
Phil Wiebe,
Burnaby, B.C.
Scripture and history affirm God’s reign
After reading George Whitney’s Viewpoint (May 26) twice, I still wasn’t sure whether he was “putting us on” to make us think. I will take his question, seriously and answer using several examples from Scripture.
Joseph might have asked similar questions when he was first sold by his brothers, then thrown into prison for a crime he didn’t commit. It wasn’t until a number of years later, after he had risen to a position of power in Egypt, that the hand of God on his life became apparent and he could reassure his brothers “so it was not you who sent me to Egypt, but God sent me ahead of you to preserve your lives” (Genesis 45:5; read chapters 37-50).
Many years later, after Israel had been taken captive by the Babylonians, ungodly King Nebuchadnezzar experienced “God’s reign” and he had to admit, “His dominion is an eternal dominion; His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand or say to Him: `What have you done?’” (Daniel 4:34-35).
We could easily say: What has God done lately? All He has done lately is tear down the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall without bloodshed and loss of life and open all of Eastern Europe to the gospel. As little as 15 years ago, this was considered highly improbable. Is God reigning today? He is in my world. Yes, there are hurricanes, earthquakes and floods in our world that take a terrible toll in human life, but does that mean God is not in control even in such circumstances? It’s just that we haven’t seen the final chapter.
One more point. There is really only one place where God wants to reign. That is in the life of each one of His followers. When He reigns there, then we can sing with great enthusiasm and in all seriousness, “Our God Reigns”.
George Janzen,
Burnaby, B.C.
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© 2000 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
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