Loved by God

Special Blog from Bryan Brock:

This morning I was reading the New York Times obituary of the great Dean Smith, long-time basketball coach of the University of North Carolina. You have to respect coach Smith and his accomplishments – even if you are a Duke fan. 879 wins with only 254 losses is truly amazing.

While his accomplishments in college basketball are to be lauded and remembered, what stood out to me in his obituary was his strong commitment to Christ. Even the New York Times could not help but recognize it. Coach Smith was a believer in and follower of Jesus and you did not even have to read between the lines to pick up on that fact.

There was one quote in the article which resonated with me. At one point in his life Coach Smith wrote: “What do you call the worst human beings you know? Human beings loved by the Creator!”

I have to admit that when I think of the worst people I know “Loved by God” is not usually the first thing that comes to mind! In fact, I can come up with all kinds of names and labels before I am reminded, if at all, that these people I am hating on are created and loved by the same God who created and loves me.

As humans we like to create categories of “us” and “them”. For some reason it makes us feel better to know that we are one of “us” and that we are certainly not like “them”. We do this in politics, in social status, in race, and even in religion. However, Coach Smith reminds us that all this dividing and sorting is ultimately OUR doing – not God’s. Instead, in God’s eyes, we are all loved and all created by him.

How different would our world be if we all saw each other as Children of God before we noticed how we are different? How would compassion and justice grow if we started with the premise that “the other” is loved by God just as we are loved by God? My prayer is that God would remind us of his love for ALL His children – even when we are in the midst of forgetting.

I’m looking forward to being with you next week!

If you are interested, here is the link to the NY Times article on Coach Smith.

 

Loving Him: A Poem

Loving Him
By Bethany A. Bell

My mama says people used to
Be in love with God
They were in the act of loving Him
They basked in the Glory of
God’s grace and forgiveness
When they prayed, they were praying
When they worshipped, they were worshipping
When they sang, they were singing
For Him

My mama says now we only
Worship and pray and sing
You love God, but are not in love with Him
You love
What you can get
A home
A heart
A feeling of security, stability, in an
ever changing world
You love what you get out of God
You don’t truly love
Him

Bethany is a sophomore at North Atlanta High School and an active member of Wieuca’s Student Ministry.

Leave a Mark – Mark Tidwell’s story

Mark Tidwell

You can react to life’s pain and challenge in different ways. We all have. Sometimes we feel picked on. Sometimes we feel angry. Sometimes we’re just resigned to what’s happening. Sometimes we take a deep breath and ask for help to get through what’s in front of us.

Wieuca was privileged to hear Mark Tidwell’s story on Sunday. You won’t find self-pity in his testimony. He and his wife, Lee, certainly had their moments … still do. Their world has been rocked again and again. Stage 4 cancer will stun anyone.

Jesus talked about building a house on sand or solid rock (Matthew 7:24-27). The Tidwells have built their lives on a solid rock. See his story at this link:

You can find out more about his remarkable efforts to look beyond his difficulties through the eyes of a deep and growing faith at http://www.leaveamarknow.com. You can also view Mark’s message at Wieuca on April 21 at http://www.wieuca.org/messages. His life demonstrates the power of one!  Pray for the Tidwells and their ministry.