Lured by Infinity

In my small, rural hometown of Manila, Arkansas, there is small monument on a corner of what we called “Main St” (actually it’s Baltimore St., but it’s the main road through town) and Highway 18.  As a youth growing up there, I recall hearing a simple story about Herman Davis – a quiet war hero that almost went unnoticed by locals until near his death when he opened a tackle box full of medals.

Donna Jackson, mother of a high school classmate of mine, wrote an article last year giving a nice summary of Herman Davis’ life.  Here’s a link to this short article (well worth a quick read).

Today, as Americans, we remember that millions of others have given their lives for the ideals of this country.  Herman Davis didn’t die in action, but he did die shortly after returning home from WWI from complications of being gassed.  Sacrifices, as such, only make sense from the ultimate sacrifice of the incarnate Son of God laying down his life for his sheep (John 10).  Further, John and Jesus teach us that we show our love for one another by laying down our lives for the other (John 15, I John 3).  Without Jesus’ life and teaching, self-sacrifice is futile.

May we hear, with thankfulness, the stories of the men and women who laid down their lives in service to our country.  May that cause us to remember, with thankfulness, the ultimate laying down a life for another – God for us.  May this cause us to live selfless lives in loving one another.

My friend, Dr. Tony Chute, recently presented three talks at my previous congregation’s annual church history conference.  I like the titles to his talks:

“When Evangelicals were Fundamentally Sound”

“When Modernism was the Best Show in Town”

“When Fundamentalists were not Fun to be Around”

Who are the evangelicals? Are they a right-wing fundamentalist voting block that follows the lead of Pat Robertson and the late Jerry Falwell? Are they people who continue to stand for family values just so they can give Hollywood a hard time? Or are they merely middle class citizens who simply want to live purpose driven lives so they can experience their best lives now?

It is hard to know the answers to these questions when the word “evangelical” is so loosely defined. Indeed, it has been said that an evangelical is anyone who admires Billy Graham!

The design of this conference is to explore the history of evangelicalism with the purpose of understanding how they have maintained their identity between the twin errors of fundamentalism (which shunned engagement with the world for the sake of sound doctrine) and liberalism (which set aside sound doctrine for engagement with the world). Each session will be aimed at  conveying the history of the movement with practical application for Christians today.