Things to do close to PJ Hoffmaster State Park

The Survivor Tree

    Recently, Rachel, the girls, and I went camping at PJ Hoffmaster State Park on Lake Michigan. The lake was beautiful that Friday morning. We intended to return that evening to see the famous sunset on Lake Michigan but the rain changed our plans. That afternoon, we drove around west Michigan to see what we could experience.

    We settled on the Muskegon Museum of Art (You can guess who suggested that!), largely because they were hosting an exhibit from the 9/11 Memorial Museum. The exhibit was composed of photographs of the rebuilding of the World Trade Center as well as artifacts from the destruction. It was a moving experience - some eleven women who were killed in the attacks were pregnant. I wonder if those 11 unborn babies were counted as a part of the final tally of victims?

    At the exhibit, I was introduced to the “Survivor Tree.” This tree is a callery pear tree that was on site at the World Trade Center during the attacks and destruction. A month later, it was discovered at Ground Zero, damaged quite badly but surviving. The New York Department of Parks and Recreation transplanted the tree to nurse it back to health and nine years later, it was returned to the memorial on site.

    The Survivor Tree is testimony to the resilience of the human spirit and the fight within our breast to survive, recover, and rebuild.

    I would venture to guess that most people who left the WTC alive as well as family and friends of those who died have survived, recovered, and rebuilt because of their faith in the God of heaven.

    The Survivor Tree reminds me of the words of the weeping prophet, Jeremiah. “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit” (17:7-8).

    If we wish to be unmoved by the crises and tragedies in life, we need to drink deeply from the Word of God, to feed our spirit, and to strengthen our faith. Grasp the significance of the nature of God - His holiness, justice, eternality, immutability, grace, mercy, and love. Embrace the Lord Jesus Christ and His power over all - visible and invisible.

    If your feet are firmly planted in the Word of God and your hand is in the Master’s hands and your eyes are set on things above, you will be “neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. …for as long as you  practice these things, you will never stumble” (2 Peter 1:8-10).

--Paul Holland

The Starfish and the Spider book review

THE STARFISH AND THE SPIDER

A

 starfish has between four and 50 arms.  If you cut one off, the arm can regenerate.  Not only that, but in some species of starfish, like the blue linkia, if you cut off all five arms, you will get five new starfish!  That is possible because of the unique physiology of the starfish:  it is a completely decentralized organism. 

In their book, The Starfish and the Spider, authors Ori Brafmon and Rod Beckstrom contrast the starfish with the spider.   They point out that if you cut off the head of a spider, it dies, because unlike the starfish, the spider is a centralized organism. 

Brafmon and Beckstrom use these two creatures to describe two different types of human organizations. The spider represents the typical Western corporate model, with a CEO and a top-down, centralized hierarchy.  The starfish, on the other hand, represents an increasingly common social structure:  the decentralized organization.

One example of a “starfish” is the Internet.  The rise of the World Wide Web has brought a new appreciation for the power of decentralized social organizations.  In fact, ARPANET, the original computer network that eventually led to the development of the Internet, was created by the United States Defense Department so that in the event of a war (especially a nuclear war) the military would have a communication system that could not be destroyed.  Because the Internet does not have any centralized command location, it is indestructible.

I would argue that the original “World Wide Web” is the church.  Neither Jesus nor the apostles made any provision for a centralized structure:  there is no president or Pope in the New Testament, nor is there any headquarters or ecclesiastical bureaucracy.  Jesus is the only “head” and he has “all authority” in the church (Ephesians 1:22-23, Matthew 28:18). 

This decentralized structure is a great strength.  It protects all of the churches from the domination of any one individual.  It respects the headship of Jesus over the church, which is his body (Ephesians 5:23).  It helps to prevent the rise of man-made denominational structures and hierarchies. And, it ensures that the church cannot be easily corrupted or destroyed, because if one congregation is attacked or corrupted, others can easily spring up to carry on the Lord’s work. 

In keeping with the pattern of the New Testament, the churches of Christ are, and always have been, "starfish" organizations.  Each local church has its own leaders, chosen from that congregation, familiar with the challenges and opportunities of that community, accountable to the flock, responsive to the needs of the people.  There is no distant national or worldwide denominational structure controlling the churches or dictating doctrine. 

Our congregations are connected, but by two spiritual ties:  our common allegiance to Christ as our only “head,” and our heartfelt desire to “love the brotherhood” (1 Peter 2:17).  May it ever be so.

–Dan Williams

Frequent meditation on God’s word

“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee”—

                                                                                                       (Psalms 119:11)

The book of Psalms begins with a most beautiful thought, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the wicked, Nor standeth in the way of sinners, Nor sitteth in the seat of scoffers: But his delight is in the law of Jehovah; and in his law doth he meditate day and night” (Psalms 1:1-2 ASV). Without a single doubt, there is the greatest pleasure and satisfaction to be found in keeping to the best of our ability the commands of our Lord as revealed to us in his word. By allowing God’s word to fill our hearts, mold our thoughts and guide our lives we will be enabled to live victoriously in this life and ultimately gain the greatest victory imaginable, eternal life with the redeemed of all ages. I am convinced beyond a shade of a shadow of a doubt that the word of God hidden in our hearts will make us wiser than any foe we encounter in this life and that includes the devil himself (Psalms 119:98, Eph. 6:10-17).

We know that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). But we must not only hear that word, we must lock it into the innermost part of our being. If in our lives, God’s word is found only in a book we call the bible, and is not embedded in our hearts then we will find ourselves guilty over and over of neglecting the great salvation promised to us by God (Heb. 2:1-3, 4:1-2). It is a treasure that is hidden in our hearts and becomes a powerful shield against the fiery darts of Satan. Hidden in our hearts, the word of God influences every aspect of our lives and its precious promises become a balm for our weary souls as we are tempted and tried along life’s pathway.

So long as God’s word is hidden in our hearts it will act as a great beacon light that will guide us safely through these treacherous waters of life. When our heart allows the word of God to light our pathway, it will always lead us in a way that is right and cannot be wrong. Hidden in our hearts, it will keep us from falling or wandering off the strait and narrow way that leads to life everlasting. It is to be understood that all of this applies only to those who allow the word of God to be the rule of their lives (Psalms 119:105).

 Frequent meditation on God’s word is an absolute essential for each of us (2 Tim. 2:15, 1 Pet. 2:2, 2 Pet. 3:18).  I am fond of the Contemporary English Version of Psalms 1:1-2: “ God blesses those people who refuse evil advice and won’t follow sinners or join in sneering God. Instead, the Law of the LORD makes them happy, and they think about it day and night”. Without a doubt meditating upon the precepts of God and hiding them in our hearts will enable us to find comfort, happiness and peace in our daily lives.

Charles Hicks