Update from the President

Most of us have been admonished as we've grown up to remember--don't forget! Remember to work hard, remember to be kind, remember to drive safely, remember to be considerate. The implication is not only that we recall something, but that we act accordingly. Since one of the functions of the Holy Spirit--given on the Day of Pentecost--was to bring to remembrance what Christ taught, I want to talk about the importance of remembering.

One of man's most obvious faults is his propensity to forget. We often forget what we learn. We forget lessons of the past and those recorded by others.

Our human mind is amazing in how it can perceive, reason and decide. Our consciousness and mind are life itself, given to us by our Creator God. The spirit in man is described as our natural cognition and intelligence. The apostle Paul speaks of this in 1 Corinthians 2:11: "For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?"

While wonderfully made, the human spirit on its own is flawed and incomplete. That's the way it was created. It was made to need and connect to another spirit--the Spirit of God--to be complete. Paul describes that in the same passage:

"Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians 2:11-15).

God gives us His Spirit to overcome our memory deficiency.

At baptism we are given the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). The Spirit of God then works with our human mind to convict us of the things of God, which gives insight as to who God is, who we are and what we must do. That was done in a great public way on Pentecost, a day that we will be observing in a little more than a week.

One of man's most obvious faults is his propensity to forget. We often forget what we learn. We forget lessons of the past and those recorded by others. Nations forget clear historical examples of actions that lead to war, destruction and death. "Oh when will they ever learn?" are lyrics of a lament about nations forgetting the consequences of ruinous actions and repeating them over and over with the same ruinous consequences.

God gives us His Spirit to overcome our memory deficiency. Jesus in His last words to His disciples says: "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you" (John 14:26-27).

The disciples were taught for more than three years by Christ. They had a lot of knowledge about all things that have been recorded to us in the Gospels. But they didn't fully get it. After Christ's death and resurrection, they scattered. Peter went back to fishing, thinking that the work of God was over for him (John 21:3).

How well do we remember what God has done for us? Do we reciprocate with thanksgiving and obedience?

Just prior to the Israelites entering the Promised Land, God told them:

"And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not" (Deuteronomy 8:2, emphasis added).

He says again a few verses later in Deuteronomy 8:18: "And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth."

In the Ten Commandments we are told, "Remember the Sabbath Day."

Look at the state of our nation and the other nations of the world. The problems we see are because we have simply forgotten God and His teachings that promise blessings and freedom.

When we come to repentance, which is part and parcel with the act of baptism, receiving the Holy Spirit and a transformed life, we come to heightened awareness of God's presence. We remember--we recall and act on--what He's taught us.

The Holy Spirit has various functions of exhibiting God's power and enlightenment, but one of the most profound is giving us remembrance of what we've been taught and must retain.