A Crutch?

A Crutch? 

           One excuse for ignoring Jesus centers around an opinion that, "He's a crutch."  Over the years I have heard other men say such things as: “You need a crutch. If Jesus is good for you, then go ahead.” Or “Jesus is a crutch. I’m okay the way I am.”  I would shrug off the comment, sometimes saying something resembling His awesomeness as a “crutch” if that is what He would be referred to.  It bothered me a little, until finally during all these years of pondering it in the back of my mind, I've realized how stupidly asinine such a thought really is.  Jesus is not a crutch.  He’s not even an awesome crutch.  He is NOTHING of the kind. He frees. He does not hinder.  He enhances.  He heals.  He makes whole.  Everything a crutch is not, Jesus is.

Crutches take care of the weak and feeble.  It’s a poor second to actually walking or getting around on your own.  The broken or injured get crutches to help them in their brokenness, but they are still broken.  To parallel Jesus as a crutch demonstrates an ignorance of just who He is and why He was called upon this earth.  Jesus is the best solution for life, and not a poor, or even a  best, second.

So, the most ideal crutches remain poor substitutes.  They help the person just get by until something better comes along, like a healing. Jesus skips the "just-get-by" stuff. He heals.  "... And he healed every kind of disease and illness."  (Matthew 4:23 NLT).  Does this sound like a crutch to you? Of course not.

Crutches come from man-made structures that require manpower to function.   It's all from man. Jesus on the other hand came from heaven and His power comes from God.  It's all God-centered and God-created. 

One thing stands as a common bond between a crutch and Jesus.  Nobody wants a crutch, and unfortunately, many don't seem to want Jesus either.  Sad testimonies come regularly.  However, further review would show many diametrically opposed aspects.  For instance, scriptures say "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." (Hebrews 11:6).  Crutches can be observed with the earthly senses of sight and feel.  Jesus is in the supernatural, the realm of faith.  

Yet again, another similarity comes to mind.  Crutches at one time were made solely of wood so people could stand up.  Jesus was laid on wood.  A cross.  He was nailed to it, and the cross was used for Him to stand up.  This happened so that others, like you and me, could stand free, healed, complete, and whole. Call on Jesus.  Not for a handicap help, but for a whole soul.

 by Pastor Rob Stevenson, rob@acts2church.org

Acts 2 Church, Virginia Beach, VA

Acts 2 Church, Virginia Beach, VA
A church of change, a place of worship. No one acts the same all the time, and that is the way it should be. However, change needs direction in the right form, and the appropriate avenue. For instance, LOVE requires constant attention, and in this way we change through it.

--Pastor Rob Stevenson

Jump Up and Down for Jesus

The NEW year. 2010. It started out just watching TV. "The Price is Right" was on and my mother-in-law was watching it. People were going crazy to get up there and bid, to see Drew, to play a game, to win BIG. Everyone in the place was acting like fools, so no one thought the other was being abnormal. This state of "Price is Right" hysteria permeated all other audience thoughts. I watched one overweight, short, black lady win a bid. Then, like she had no weight at all, she leaped up those stairs, ran to Drew, and threw her arms around him. Then, she began to jump up and down, crying out "Drew, oh, Drew, I love you!" Everyone was laughing and screaming and clapping and waving hands. Drew was laughing and trying to cut to commercial. Total pandemonium broke out, which repeated each time a new contestant came up, with slight variations of course. Some interesting points:

1. If the behavior is the same, that is the norm. Whether it is a game show audience, or a church congregation, some kind of "normal" gets established. To go outside that normal zone is going to label you as a little (or a lot) wacky.


2. To an "outsider", certain behavior looks weird, abnormal, or wacky. To people inside, it is normal. The perspective is where you stand when you see it.


3. A common purpose, goal, or person exists in which the interest dominates and the behavior manifests. Generally, the more exciting the purpose, goal, or person, the "crazier" the behavior.

In the church I go to, we like to get excited. We have an excitable purpose, goal, AND person. We will wave our hands, shout, sing loud, and sometimes dance or run. To the outside it is probably crazy-looking behavior. It's normal for us because we are there. We know what Jesus did, is doing, and will do. He has given us a reason to live, and we can see a life forever. That is exciting!

So, can you get excited about a football game or a game show? Can you jump up and down playing a board game or doing charades? Can you celebrate with your hands, and your feet, and your voice to Jesus? In all the demonstrations of joy and hysteria, I would pick this last one as having everlasting merit.

Hurricane Hugo 20 Year Anniversary: Following Orders

I followed orders. Twenty years ago, in September 1989, Hurricane Hugo was coming across the Caribbean. It crashed into the Virgin Islands, leaving plenty of desolation, and proceeded to the Atlantic coast of the United States. I was a Navy Lieutenant Commander, an entomologist, a scientist, with orders to go to St. Croix, in the Virgin Islands, one of the hardest hit islands. Being in preventive medicine, my team's mission was to target and initiate control measures against the disease carriers, like mosquitoes, filth flies, and rats. I wrestled with leaving my family in the path of a hurricane and doing my duty. I think this was one of the first times I had encountered this. Usually, the military man is going into harm's way, but I wasn't. The C-130 cargo plane I boarded in Norfolk VA would fly around the storm, and land me on a fairly demolished, but landable runway strip at the Henry E Rohlsen Airport, St. Croix, behind the hurricane. What of my family? I had to leave. One of the commitments of the military. Fortunately, Hurricane Hugo landed south of Virginia Beach, and went into South and North Carolina. At least that was fortunate for my peace of mind, not so much for the Carolinians.

We followed orders. We pinpointed the problem areas for mosquito, filth fly, and rodent control. We sprayed, we larvicided, we educated, and we did it in a no-power, campsite scenerio. We worked closely with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The Navy ships were there too. I got my first hot meal from their generosity. So, we worked hard and we covered the whole island. Some of our men even went to neighboring St. Thomas island to check out the problems there. I watched the green leaves and foliage come back. When I got there, the whole countryside was devoid of leaves. Long, bare branches reached up to the sky, like boney skeleton fingers trying to touch the clouds. The leaves had been stripped off entirely. All looked brown and dead. It lived though. Greenery started returning and the trees regained their regal appearances. After several weeks we were fatigued, dirty, and out of supplies. We started making preparations to head back to the United States. Flights were sporadic, being all military. No commercial flights had been approved to come in yet.

They followed orders. My crew was composed of two men from my preventive medicine unit, and two from Jacksonville, FL. One of my men was yancy to get home, and started making plans to get aboard the first plane. In talking to the controllers it was going to be too crowded for all of us and our equipment. In addition, they weren't sure of its itinerary. My petty officer knew it was heading for the states, and that was good enough for him. I thought about it. His daughter had strep when he had left, and our communication to the states was very tenuous. I finally told him we needed to wait. I didn't want to break up the team, and I wanted a firmer idea of where in the states we would be going. The petty officer was not happy. He argued. He cajoled. He reasoned. It didn't help his case. I held my position. Unhappy, he followed orders just the same.
Before too long another plane came in. It got us to Miami, and from there we got a commercial flight to our destinations. The plane the petty officer wanted to take ended up going to Ohio. He would have lost an extra day or two had he boarded it.

Following orders. We are in submission to someone. A boss, director, supervisor, or chief is over us. We need to learn to take orders and to follow them. Sometimes it is humbling, but it is also a good character-building exercise.