<img class=”alignleft size-medium wp-image-104″ style=”margin-right: 10px;margin-bottom: 5px” src=”http://www.ntm.org/wp/adam_demark/files/2009/01/463_50847.jpg” alt=”Mike and Jenny Sullivan
NTBI Jackson” width=”90″ />
This has been a tumultuous year. Hatred, violence, and terrorism took its toll. Wikipedia lists 27 current world conflicts in which 1000+ lives were lost in each struggle during the past year. The History Guy lists 40+ present conflicts. Other major news included the financial collapse of Wall Street, the housing crisis, and the economic bailouts of banks, mortgage, insurance, and auto companies. (At what total price and to what success is unknown.) We are a nation infatuated with the idea that big brother can bail us out of all our difficulties and that his resources are unlimited. The moral, political, and judicial arenas have an appearance of continual decline. A subtle philosophy promoted by Madison Avenue, which even Christians buy into, is that life revolves around us and should be stress, pain, and problem free. We believe the world and God owe us a comfortable existence. This warped view spills over into how we view and respond to trials. When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. A fallen world will never have solutions to the real needs of men, nor can it alter the consequences of being fallen. Life is beyond perfection until Christ returns. As we reflect on the problems of the world, we are often filled with pessimism and defeat rather than hope and joy. Though the New Testament never alludes to a rosy life on earth for the church, it never excuses a negative life. As long as our focus is on circumstances we will bounce up and down like a yoyo, manipulated by forces outside our control. The Bible commands us to give thanks in all things, to rejoice always, to be looking to the Author and perfecter of our faith (1 Thess. 5:18, Phil 4:4, Heb. 12:2).
As we begin another year that on the surface appears bleak, I thought I would share thoughts from the life of Enoch who lived at the time of Noah in a world filled with moral decay and darkness. There are three major passages on Enoch in addition to two genealogical listings in Chronicles and Luke (Genesis 5:18-24, Hebrews 11:5,6, Jude 1:14,15). Enoch is listed in the faith role call of Hebrews 11. Here are five thoughts gleaned from these passages.
1. He walked with God. (Genesis 5:22)
It is a simple statement of profound depth. It is the single most declarative statement of the riches of faith, the recognition that we can walk with God in the midst of this world. God does not exempt believers from the sorrows of the world but He promises to walk with us through them.
2. He looked for God. (Jude 1:14,15)
He looked for the Lord’s return and saw the rewards of eternity as sufficient motivation for the day. His focus was not on the circumstances that surrounded him but on the Lord with whom he fellowshipped. This is not to say we shouldn’t have earthly goals or to care about the physical needs of others. It does mean we find our sufficiency in Christ and not empty promises of men. He did not believe it was the world’s responsibility to solve his problems.
3. He believed God. (Hebrews 11:5,6)
He walked by faith in the midst of an ungodly world. His life is summarized in his relationship with God and his confidence in God’s word. The Lord and His promises
were the focus and purpose of his existence. By the definition of faith (Heb. 11:6), he called upon the one He believed in. How often do we call upon the Lord in faith,
believing that He is there and hears our petitions? How often do we make decisions based solely on the fact that God’s word says this is the right path to take?
4. He spoke for God. (Jude 1:14-15)
He is the first recorded prophet of God and spoke boldly. Because details are scant, it’s hard to be dogmatic, but he no doubt felt the pressures and isolationism of being shunned by the culture around him. He, by nature of being human, had fears, but his confidence in God and His word gave him courage to speak to the world before him.
5. He hoped in God. (Heb. 11:5, Jude 1:14-15)
He trusted that the future was in the hands of God and that he would receive all that God promised. Hope was a foundation upon which he could withstand the darkness of the present, and the trials of being rejected by the people around him. Hope separates Christianity from the world. We move through trials we face because of our hope in God. The promises of God encourage us that all things work together for good and the trials we face have meaning and purpose in fashioning us like His glorious Son (2 Cor. 4:14-16; 12:9, 10; Phil 2:13-16).
In a nutshell, Enoch took God at His word, walking by faith in a right relationship with the Lord. He was not unaffected by the circumstances around him, but he was not moved by them. His focus was on the greatness of God. Faith is living in the light of the future, rather than the darkness of the present. Faith is resting on the promises of God rather than the vanity of the world. Solomon said it well, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity” (Ecc. 1:2). When our attachments to people and things are greater than our attachment to God, life will become disappointing and lead to despair. God gives family, friends, careers, and things to enjoy, but not to become idols placed above our worship of Him. God must have preeminence as we live for the glory of God.
John Newton, author of the great hymn, Amazing Grace, lived to be eighty-two years old and continued to preach and have an active ministry until beset by fading health in the last two or three years of his life. Even then, Newton never ceased to be amazed by God’s grace and told his friends, "My memory is nearly gone; but I remember two things: That I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior." Many of you faced difficult challenges this past year and continue to do so as you enter the New Year. My prayer for you and for me is that we will find as never before the sufficiency and joy of a Christ centered life despite whatever obstacles we face. Life can be overwhelming and fearful but 1 John 4:18 tells us that perfect love casts out all fear. Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians (3:16-19) is for us to be rooted and grounded in that love. As we enter 2009, let’s be looking up to the throne of grace, where Christ who is our life is seated at the right hand of the Father. (Heb. 4:14-16; Col. 3:1-4)
1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ongoing_conflicts
2 www.historyguy.com
3 http://www.reformedreader.org/rbb/newton/neindex.ht
Adam and Jena Demark serving at New Tribes Missionary Training Center 
Right now at the Missionary Training Center, the third semester class is engaged in our course called “Culture and Language Acquisition Practicum.” However, we all call this class “Dobu.” One thing that a tribal missionary must do before he can ever hope to teach the Bible is to learn the culture and the language of the people. In order to learn a language, the students take courses such as Phonetics and Grammar so they can learn how to make different sounds that they are unfamiliar with and also arrange words in grammatical ways they may not be used to. For culture, they have practiced techniques and also researched kinds of cultures so they can think outside of their American culture and hopefully correctly access the tribal culture.
Thank you for your part that allows these students to learn these important language and culture principles. We are truly thankful for your heart to help our missionary candidates get the training they need. Through your partnership in our ministry here, you are helping to train students so that more remote people groups can hear the Gospel.
