VOICES
A N N UA L NFO MEETING I
Connect: Encouragement from God’s eternal promises /// PREVIEWED ON COVER
Todd Fisher Oklahoma Baptists’ Executive Director-Treasurer @eToddFisher
One of the books of the Bible I return to again and again to read in its entirety is the Book of Genesis. This book is so foundational to the metanarrative of Scripture and to the Christian faith in what it teaches us about the greatness of God, the fallenness of humanity and the redemption God provides in Christ. Early on in Genesis, we are introduced to an important concept—the biblical covenant. In essence, a covenant is a promise given by God on His terms, not ours, that He keeps for all eternity. We may read about the covenants and promises of God in the Old Testament and wonder if they have any impact on our lives today. Indeed they do! Even as early as Genesis, the text points to Christ as the means through which He will fulfill the promise of redemption. Speaking to the serpent in the Garden of Eden, God says, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring;
He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15). In Gal. 4:4, Paul refers to this offspring of the woman to be none other than Jesus who would defeat Satan and the curse of sin, and who would redeem and adopt His followers as children. Similarly, Paul reminded the Corinthians, “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him (Christ). That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory” (2 Cor. 1:20). All of the Bible points to Jesus, and all of God’s promises are ultimately fulfilled in Him. So, as followers of Christ, this means the covenants and promises of God are important, relevant and serve as a great hope-giving encouragement in our lives. To illustrate what God’s promises should mean to followers of Jesus, James Boice once told in a sermon about a family tradition of his predecessor, Donald Barnhouse. The Barnhouse family had what they called a promise box. It was a small box containing many tiny rolls of paper on which promises from the Bible had been written. The Barnhouses used to take a written promise out of the box whenever they needed a special word of comfort. Barnhouse was preaching in France and led a woman to Christ. He told her about the promise box. She made a promise box for her family, writing out all these same promises in French.
The time came when World War II swept over the European continent, and France was particularly affected. The people struggled to live. Food ran short, and the time came when this woman had no food for her family except a bunch of potato peels from a local restaurant. Her children were emaciated. They were crying for food. She was desperate. In this tragic moment she remembered the promise box and turned to it, praying, “Lord, O Lord, I have such great need. Is there a promise here that is really for me? Show me, O Lord, what promise I can have in this time of famine, nakedness, hopelessness and violence.” She was crying by this time, and as she reached for the promise box, blinded by tears, she accidentally knocked it over and all the promises came showering down upon her, into her lap, and tumbling to the floor. Not a promise was left in the box. She knew in a moment of great joy that the promises of God were beyond counting, that they were all for her, and that they were indeed “Yes” and “Amen” in Christ Jesus. Take a moment and reflect on the powerful and wonderful promises of God. His promises should comfort us, give us peace and motivate us to live our lives for Christ. Why not try something like the promise box in your life or with your family? Recounting God’s promises at all times is an effective way to place our focus on God and His provision.
Sword & trowel: Facing (virtual) reality Brian Hobbs Editor of the Baptist Messenger @BrianGHobbs
According to news reports, Meta (formerly known as Facebook, Inc.) recently shipped 10 million Virtual Reality (VR) headsets. Once considered the stuff of sci-fi movies, the individual VR sets are now an everyday feature of the tech society in which we live. Like all technological advances, VR comes with great opportunities and great challenges, not to mention pressing moral questions. Education institutions, entertainment media, video gaming and others industries were quick to seize upon the potential of VR content delivery. A wellknown mega church in the region also jumped on board and now offers virtual reality worship services. What should Christians be considering amid this trend? What are the most pressing problems and issues?
The first issue to address relates to pornography and inappropriate online content. In the Christmas shopping season, a news article discussed how the most popular VR device bought as a Christmas gift for kids offered inadequate parental controls to guard against pornography. If the rise of Internet pornography has taught us anything, it’s that there are millions of pornographers who will work night and day to deliver evil content to people’s eyes. Christians must better guard their own hearts and homes against this. Next, there are relationships to consider. Unlike other entertainment media, the VR headset is entirely individualized. That means the person wearing a VR set is completely ignoring the people directly around them, even if they happen to be playing a game against others online. We recognize that God said, “It is not good for man to be alone” (Gen. 2:18) and that we are created to be in relationship with God and one another. Christians should guard against VR time that takes away from real-time relationships like family, friends, church community and neighbors.
Finally, there is the danger of discontentment. An article recently published by the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention addressed this. “‘The more time you spend in VR, the grayer the real world gets.’ Technology becomes problematic when it promises to make users bored with the real world God has created. Many people already use entertainment as a retreat from the struggles of the real world. VR can greatly increase the allure of virtual retreat and further increase our discontentment with our lives.” There are undoubtedly other drawbacks and benefits to VR that could be discussed here. Yet now is the time to have these conversations with young people and others. If and when you make the leap to VR (which I recommend you do hesitantly or perhaps waiting altogether), count the cost and guard against the temptations it will inevitably bring. We are, after all, told to “make the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:16). In the end, we will all be better off as a society if Christians step up to face this emerging reality—virtual reality—in a wise, biblical and careful manner.
Voices | February 24, 2022 | The Baptist Messenger | www.baptistmessenger.com
3
