The opening line of Charles Dickens' famous novel The Tale of Two Citiesuses the oft quoted line, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...", to capture a sense of the times and seasons in London and Paris during the French Revolution. It was a time of great upheaval and violent change. In many ways, it was similar to our own times. In some ways and places, times have never been better, while in other ways and places, times have never been worse.
Personally, and in the life of our church these statements are also true. Larry Brice, a
great champion of the faith, our Associate Pastor and my best friend, is battling for his life against colon cancer. Concurrently, our church family moves forward to build a new facility to glorify God and serve the people of the Columbia Basin. God is blessing our lives in unprecedented ways, while we grapple with some of the greatest
challenges our family and church have ever faced.
challenges our family and church have ever faced.
These times are designed by God to produce hardy saints of us all. The truth is, our predecessors, that "great cloud of witnesses" spoken of by the writer of Hebrews, faced their own "Best and Worst of Times." The history of the church is the redemption story of glory, power, healing, salvation, miracles, restoration AND martyrdom, suffering, loss, rejection, disappointment, and failure. Always, the two
seemingly contradictory tracks were running parallel to one another. Even the glorious book of Acts, that theme section of the Scriptures for Charismatics, reads like a roller coaster ride of paradoxes and life and death drama.
Redemption is the story of God in the midst of sin, death, suffering, sickness etc... Some day, everything will be swallowed up in the life, beauty, and presence of redemption Himself. Until that great day arrives, this train must run on both tracks, and we must ride it!
