Hope Amid Change
The Millennium
Monday, November 1, 1999
 1 of 1
Up Close & Personal with Steve Brown
Q. How can we find hope during major changes in our world?
A. Let me answer with a true story. In March of 1984, David Watson died. Thousands of Christians who had been blessed by his preaching and writing were devastated. Watson—only in his forties—had been pastor of a church in York and later an evangelist.
One of the things David Watson was known for was the way he would sometimes ask congregations before whom he preached to stand and shout, "Our God reigns!"
The week after Watson died, John Collins, an Anglican priest, was serving Holy Communion in his church. Collins, an older man, had introduced David Watson to Christ. I don't know, but I suspect that as Collins went through the ancient liturgy he must have had questions mixed with hurt over Watson's death. With much sadness he spoke of his friend David, and how he would miss him, but expected to see him again at the great Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
And then Collins did something strange for an Anglican priest. He asked the congregation (some two thousand people) to stand and to shout three times, "Our God reigns!" Those who were there said it was one of the most moving experiences of their lives: this great throng of people, shouting in unison, "Our God reigns! Our God reigns! Our God reigns!" The crowd then broke out in spontaneous applause that lasted so long that John Collins had to finally stop it. When he did, people all over the church were weeping. God's Spirit had come, and God's people understood, perhaps not cognitively but with their hearts, what life is all about.
How do you express what life is all about?
Our God reigns! If you understand that, and you belong to Him, you can face almost anything.
Steve Brown is heard daily on radio and television. He doubles as a seminary professor.
Credits: Adapted from--Saturday: When Your Rope Breaks (Baker, 1988)
1999 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity. For reprint information call 630-260-6200 or e-mail mail@menofintegrity.net.
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