CRCF\u201d\u201d7-19-09<\/p>\n
What does America need from the Church?<\/p>\n
Introduction\u201d\u201dAdolphus was \u201ca young black man with a wild, angry look in his eye\u201d who began to attend LaSalle Street Church in Chicago.\u00a0 \u201cHe had spend some time in Vietnam, and most likely his troubles started there.\u00a0 He could never hold a job for long.\u00a0 His fits of rage and craziness sometimes landed him in an asylum.\u00a0 If Adolphus took his medication on Sunday, he was manageable.\u00a0 Otherwise, well, church could be even more exciting than usual.\u00a0 He might start at the back and high hurdle his way over the pews down to the altar.\u00a0 He might raise his hands in the air during a hymn and make obscene gestures.\u00a0 Or he might wear headphones and tune in rap music instead of the sermon.\u00a0 As part of worship, LaSalle had a time called \u201d\u02dcPrayers of the People\u201d\u2122.\u00a0 We would all stand, and spontaneously various people would call out a prayer\u201d\u201dfor peace in the world, for the healing of the sick, for justice in the community around us.\u00a0 \u201d\u02dcLord, hear our prayer\u201d\u2122, we would respond in unison after each spoken request.\u00a0 Adolphus soon figured out that Prayers of the People provided an ideal platform for him to air his concerns.\u00a0 \u201cLord, thank you for the big recording contract I signed last week, and for all the good things happening to my band!\u201d, prayed Adolphus.\u00a0 Those of us who knew Adolphus realized he was fantasizing, but others joined in with a heartfelt \u201cLord, hear our prayer.\u201d\u00a0 Regular attenders came to expect the unexpected from Adolphus\u201d\u2122 prayer.\u00a0 Visitors had no idea what to think:\u00a0 their eyes would snap open and their necks would crane to get a look at the source of these unusual prayers . . . Adolphus had already been kicked out of three other churches . . . A group of people in the church, including a doctor and a psychiatrist, took on Adolphus as a special project.\u00a0 Every time he had an outburst, they pulled him aside and talked it through, using the word \u201d\u02dcinappropriate\u201d\u2122 a lot.\u00a0 \u201d\u02dcAdolphus, your anger may be justified.\u00a0 But there are appropriate and inappropriate ways to express it.\u00a0 Praying for the pastor\u201d\u2122s house to burn down is inappropriate.\u201d\u2122\u00a0 We learned that Adolphus sometimes walked the five miles to church on Sunday because he could not afford the bus fare.\u00a0 Members of the congregation began to offer him rides.\u00a0 Some invited him over for meals.\u00a0 Most Christmases, he spent with our assistant pastor\u201d\u2122s family . . . Against all odds, Adolphus\u201d\u2122s story has a happy ending.\u00a0 He calmed down.\u00a0 He started calling people in the church when he felt the craziness coming on.\u00a0 He even got married.\u00a0 And on the third try Adolphus was finally accepted for church membership .\u00a0 Grace comes to people who do not deserve it, and for me Adolphus came to represent grace.\u00a0 In his entire life, no one had ever invested that kind of energy and concern in him.\u00a0 He had no family, he had no job, he had no stability.\u00a0 Church became for him the one stable place.\u00a0 It accepted him despite all he had done to earn rejection.\u00a0 The church did not give up on Adolphus.\u00a0 It gave him a second chance, and a third, and a fourth.\u201d
\n(Yancey, Church:\u00a0 Why Bother?, 34-36)<\/p>\n
\u201cAll across our world, millions of troubled people are trying to find a way to get through another night, another birthday, another season of life\u201d\u201dand assuming the church of Jesus Christ could care less.\u00a0 They think we\u201d\u2122re mad at them.\u00a0 They think we despise them.\u00a0 They think we think they\u201d\u2122re no good, and we have a big black Book to prove it.\u00a0 What they don\u201d\u2122t know is that the Book actually says, \u201cLet your gentleness be evident to all.\u00a0 The Lord is near\u201d (Phil. 4:5).\u00a0 (Sinners in the Hands of an Angry Church, 73-75).<\/p>\n
Without question, beyond any debate\u201d\u201dour nation is in crisis in a variety of ways today.\u00a0 Perhaps the first thing to come to even OUR minds here this morning\u201d\u201dAmerica is in an economic crisis, which is hitting home for many of us right now.\u00a0 Truly, the economic crisis is the only new crisis we face today.\u00a0 After all, we\u201d\u2122ve been in a governmental crisis for, I believe, decades\u201d\u201dwith corrupt politics having devoured all parties, so that no matter who controlled the White House and Congress, we\u201d\u2122ve not truly been able to tell much difference on the streets, nor have we been able to claim that our party (whichever one it is) is completely upstanding and effective.\u00a0 I believe, based on reading unbiased history that even since the founding of the nation, with the rare exceptions of times of national revival, we\u201d\u2122ve been in a moral crisis.<\/p>\n
What Does America Need from the Church?<\/p>\n
The answers to that question could be as many as the number of church people you wanted to ask.\u00a0 But I believe God\u201d\u2122s Word lays it out fairly clearly for us.<\/p>\n
We saw last week that . . .
\nAmerica needs for every local church to know . . .
\nOur IDENTITY (Part 1)
\nFrom God\u201d\u2122s perspective, who are we, His church, to be?
\nWe are to be humble servants to our world, showing them Jesus\u201d\u2122 love.<\/p>\n
Yancey:\u00a0 \u201cThe Body of Christ becomes an overarching new identity that breaks down barriers of race and nationality and gender and makes possible a community that exists nowhere else in the world . . . We are charged to live out a kind of alternative society before the eyes of the watching world.\u201d (Church:\u00a0 Why Bother?, 38).<\/p>\n
Archbishop William Temple:\u00a0 \u201cThe church is the only cooperative society in the world that exists for the benefit of its non-members\u201d (ibid., 31).<\/p>\n
America needs for every local church to live in true . . .
\nCOMMUNITY (Part 2)<\/p>\n
We must show the world true community
\nthat only Jesus can build.<\/p>\n
Ronnie McBrayer:\u00a0 \u201ckoinonia: Communion by participation, together. Translated as community, fellowship, partnership, communion \u201d\u201c koinonia is a way of life, produced by God, that stands is stark contrast to a world that is only out for itself. The Christian life \u201d\u201c and any form of church that is worth holding on to \u201d\u201c is communal. It focuses on others.\u00a0 But to take hold of this, we must let go of what we have held on to: The corporate-commercial model for doing church. A major reason for the decline of Christianity in our country is due to the fact that we have adopted, sanctified, and blessed as our own, the corporate model for doing business. Churches have an addiction, an incessant drive to build spiritual Wal-Marts and shopping malls, rather than organic, Spirit-led koinonia.\u00a0 \u201d<\/p>\n
What will it look like?\u00a0 What can our world expect to find in this true community, this Spirit-led koinonia?<\/p>\n
Right up front, there will never be a perfect church\u201d\u201done that does it all right!
\nEugene Peterson:\u00a0 \u201cThe church is composed of equal parts mystery and mess.\u201d (ibid., 45)<\/p>\n
But . . .
\nGod\u201d\u2122s design for true community among His people includes the following 4 elements:<\/p>\n
1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You and I need a community of Honest Acceptance.<\/p>\n
Romans 15:7\u201d\u201d\u201cSo accept each other just as Christ has accepted you; then God will be glorified.\u201d (NLT)<\/p>\n
The Message:\u00a0 \u201cSo reach out and welcome one another to God\u201d\u2122s glory.\u00a0 Jesus did it; now you do it!\u201d<\/p>\n
Ephesians 4:1-3\u201d\u201d\u201c Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.\u00a0 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other\u201d\u2122s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.<\/p>\n
We all want to be accepted and welcomed just as we are by a community of people.<\/p>\n
Toby Keith song, \u201cI Love This Bar\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got winners, we got losers
\nChain smokers and boozers
\nAnd we got yuppies, we got bikers
\nWe got thirsty hitchhikers
\nAnd the girls next door dress up like movie stars
\nHmm, hmm, hmm I love this bar
\nWe got cowboys, we got truckers
\nBroken-hearted fools and suckers
\nAnd we got hustlers, we got fighters
\nEarly birds and all-nighters
\nAnd the veterans talk about their battle scars
\nHmm, hmm, hmm I love this bar
\n[Chorus:]
\nI love this bar
\nIt’s my kind of place
\nJust walkin’ through the front door
\nPuts a big smile on my face
\nIt ain’t too far, come as you are
\nHmm, hmm, hmm I love this bar
\nI’ve seen short skirts, we got high-techs
\nBlue-collar boys and rednecks
\nAnd we got lovers, lots of lookers
\nAnd I’ve even seen dancing girls and hookers\u201d<\/p>\n
The reason bars stay in business is not primarily the fact that some people are alcoholics and like to get drunk.\u00a0 Rather, the honest acceptance of the local bar often meets the heartfelt need of folks.\u00a0 At a bar, people let their hair down.\u00a0 Folks take off the mask and sit around and talk to other people about who they really are.\u00a0 They share secrets, hurts, struggles\u201d\u201dalbeit sometimes due to the influence of alcohol.\u00a0 Satan will always counterfeit what God created.\u00a0 That\u201d\u2122s what he does in bars!<\/p>\n
Churches need to be more like BARS!\u00a0 But, we\u201d\u2122re the Body of Christ, and\u00a0 the Body of Christ can do it better!
\nHave you ever had a member of your physical body reject another part and act as if it was superior to that other part?\u00a0 Because of Jesus\u201d\u2122 gracious acceptance of us, we ought to delight in honestly accepting others just as they are!!<\/p>\n
With the influence of the Holy Spirit at work, Jesus wants us to provide a community where people can come and get real with each other and with God.<\/p>\n
If local churches would be intentional about providing a community of honest acceptance, then many would come and be satisfied by Jesus\u201d\u2122 love\/grace.<\/p>\n
But in the meantime, so many settle for the honest acceptance they get at the local bar, which cannot begin to compare with the kind of love\/acceptance that Christ-followers CAN give\u201d\u201dif we only will!<\/p>\n
Oh, to hear folks in Ellijay say of us, \u201cI love this church, it\u201d\u2122s my kind of place\u201d, as they describe the myriad of people who have come to know Jesus through the honest acceptance of His followers\u201d\u201dme and you!<\/p>\n
Our attitude toward others every Sunday morning (and every day, for that matter) ought to be:\u00a0 \u201cNo matter what, I\u201d\u2122m glad you\u201d\u2122re here and Jesus loves you.\u201d
\nWe must work to make sure our world knows that they are welcome just as they are and that they\u201d\u2122ll be honestly accepted when they\u201d\u2122re around us\u201d\u201dall because of the love of Jesus!<\/p>\n
And, by the way, I think our church is really growing in this area\u201d\u201dand I\u201d\u2122ve got the testimony of folks that have come in and felt honest accepted to prove it!\u00a0 So, keep up the good work!<\/p>\n
2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You and I need a community of Helpful Dependence.<\/p>\n
Romans 12:10-11, 13\u201d\u201d\u201cLove each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.\u00a0 Never be lazy in your work, but serve the Lord enthusiastically . . . When God\u201d\u2122s children are in need, be the one to help them out.\u00a0 And get into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner or, if they need lodging, for the night.\u201d (NLT)<\/p>\n
Paul Tournier:\u00a0 \u201cThere are two things that we cannot do alone:\u00a0 one is to be married and the other is to be a Christian.\u201d (Yancey, Why Bother with Church?, 37)<\/p>\n
Philippians 2:3-4\u201d\u201d\u201c\u201dDon\u201d\u2122t be selfish; don\u201d\u2122t live to make a good impression on others.\u00a0 Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself.\u00a0 Don\u201d\u2122t think only about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and what they are doing.\u201d (NLT)<\/p>\n
Yancey:\u00a0 \u201cI came away from the \u201d\u02dcmidnight church\u201d\u2122 impressed, yet also troubled that AA meets needs in a way that the local church does not\u201d\u201dor at least did not, for my friend.\u00a0 I asked him to name the one quality missing in the local church that AA had somehow provided.\u00a0 He stared at his cup of coffee for a long time, watching it go cold.\u00a0 I expected to hear a word like love or acceptance or, knowing him, perhaps anti-institutionalism.\u00a0 Instead, he said softly this one word: dependency.\u00a0 \u201d\u02dcNone of us can make it on our own\u201d\u201disn\u201d\u2122t that why Jesus came?\u201d\u2122\u00a0 he explained.\u00a0 \u201d\u02dcYet most church people give off a self-satisfied air of piety or superiority.\u00a0 I don\u201d\u2122t sense them consciously leaning on God or on each other.\u00a0 Their lives appear to be in order.\u00a0 An alcoholic who goes to church feels inferior and incomplete.\u201d\u2122\u00a0 He sat in silence for a while, until a smile began to crease his face.\u00a0 \u201d\u02dcIt\u201d\u2122s a funny thing,\u201d\u2122 he said at last.\u00a0 \u201d\u02dcWhat I hate most about myself, my alcoholism, was the one thing God used to bring me back to him.\u00a0 Because of it, I know I can\u201d\u2122t survive without God.\u00a0 I have to depend on him to make it through each and every day.\u00a0 Maybe that\u201d\u2122s the redeeming value of alcoholism.\u00a0 Maybe God is calling us alcoholics to teach the saints what it means to be dependent on him and on his community on earth.\u201d (Church:\u00a0 Why Bother? , 51)<\/p>\n
Churches need to be more like AA!\u00a0 By the way, it\u201d\u2122s no accident that the founders of AA were Christians\u201d\u201dmore about them in a minute.\u00a0 But again, the Body of Christ can do it better!
\nWe are all in the same boat\u201d\u201dsinners who can\u201d\u2122t make it without Jesus!\u00a0 And as we live our lives together, we need each other to remind each other of that and be there for one another, for Jesus\u201d\u2122 sake!<\/p>\n
Galatians 6:1-3\u201d\u201d\u201cDear friends, if a Christian is overcome by sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path.\u00a0 And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.\u00a0 Share each other\u201d\u2122s troubles and problems, and in this way obey the law of Christ.\u00a0 If you think you are too important to help someone in need, you are only fooling yourself.\u00a0 You are really a nobody.\u201d (NLT)<\/p>\n
Yancey:\u00a0 \u201cAccording to historian Ernest Kurtz, Alcoholics Anonymous came out of a discovery Bill Wilson made in his first meeting with Doctor Bob Smith.\u00a0 On his own, Bill had stayed sober for six months until he made a trip out of town, where a business deal fell through.\u00a0 Depressed, wandering a hotel lobby, he heard familiar sounds of laughter and of ice tinkling in glasses.\u00a0 He headed toward the bar, thinking, \u201d\u02dcI need a drink.\u201d\u2122\u00a0 Suddenly a brand new thought came to him, stopping him in his tracks:\u00a0 \u201d\u02dcNo, I don\u201d\u2122t need a drink\u201d\u201dI need another alcoholic!\u201d\u2122\u00a0 Walking instead toward the lobby telephones, he began a sequence of calls that put him in touch with Dr. Smith, who would become AA\u201d\u2122s cofounder.\u00a0 Church is a place where I can say, unashamedly, \u201d\u02dcI don\u201d\u2122t need to sin.\u00a0 I need another sinner.\u201d\u2122\u00a0 Perhaps together we can keep each other accountable, on the path.\u201d (ibid., 52)<\/p>\n
1 Corinthians 12:12-26\u201d\u201d\u201c The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.
\nYes, the body has many different parts, not just one part.\u00a0 If the foot says, \u201cI am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,\u201d that does not make it any less a part of the body.\u00a0 And if the ear says, \u201cI am not part of the body because I am not an eye,\u201d would that make it any less a part of the body?\u00a0 If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?
\nBut our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had only one part!\u00a0 Yes, there are many parts, but only one body.\u00a0 The eye can never say to the hand, \u201cI don\u201d\u2122t need you.\u201d The head can\u201d\u2122t say to the feet, \u201cI don\u201d\u2122t need you.\u201d
\nIn fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary.\u00a0 And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity.\u00a0 This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.\u201d (NLT)
\nWe are part of one another, in Christ, and we NEED each other!
\nYancey:\u00a0 \u201cA family of God emerges, one in which unity does not mean uniformity and diversity does not mean division\u201d (ibid., 30).
\nSt. John of the Cross:\u00a0 \u201cThe virtuous soul that is alone . . . is like the burning coal that is alone.\u00a0 It will grow colder rather than hotter\u201d (Yancey, ibid., 23).
\nWe need each other\u201d\u2122s help in this journey of following Christ!\u00a0 The Holy Spirit uses YOU to help others and OTHERS to help you!
\nYancey:\u00a0 \u201cI like to think of the church as one of those Emergi-Centers:\u00a0 open long hours, convenient to find, willing too serve the needs of people who drop in with unexpected emergencies\u201d (ibid., 55).<\/p>\n
I want our community to view us as a spiritual Emergi-Center!<\/p>\n
We must continue to get to know each other so that we have real relationships where this kind of helpful dependence can be lived out!\u00a0 Again, I say \u201ccontinue\u201d because I think this group does a good job depending on each other and helping each other out.<\/p>\n
3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You and I need a community of Forgiving Love.<\/p>\n
John 13:35\u201d\u201d\u201cYour love for one another will prove to the world that you are My disciples.\u201d (NLT)<\/p>\n
Yancey:\u00a0 \u201c . . . it grieves me to see local churches that run more like a business institution than a family . . . failure does not cancel out membership . . . A healthy family builds up the weakest members while not tearing down the strong . . . Family is the one human institution we have no choice over . . . Church calls for another step:\u00a0 to voluntarily choose to band together with a strange menagerie because of a common bond in Jesus Christ.\u201d (ibid., 63-65)<\/p>\n
Forgiving love really is unique to the those of us who know Jesus\u201d\u201dbecause it is HIS forgiveness of us that gives reality to our forgiveness of others.<\/p>\n
Ephesians 4:31-32\u201d\u201d\u201cGet rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ronnie McBrayer:\u00a0 \u201cBut the one thing that church did, and every dynamic church generation since has done, was live life together as the family of God. They knew each other, loved each other, took care of each other; and the best witness they had was their very existence.\u201d<\/p>\n
1 John 3:16\u201d\u201d\u201cWe know what real love is because Christ gave up his life for us.\u00a0 And so we also ought to give up our lives for our Christian friends. (NLT)<\/p>\n
We must be a community full of forgiving love!\u00a0 We are never more like Jesus than when we forgive someone who\u201d\u2122s wronged us!\u00a0 And the gospel is never made more attractive to those who need it most when they watch us forgiving someone who\u201d\u2122s wronged us!<\/p>\n
Remember Adolphus?<\/p>\n
Wouldn\u201d\u2122t it be awesome if folks in Ellijay knew us because of how gracious we are to anyone we come in contact with, anyone who comes to one of our meetings?<\/p>\n
Once again, be encouraged\u201d\u201dI see our church growing in forgiving love!\u00a0 By the grace of God, ya\u201d\u2122ll don\u201d\u2122t let the little things be \u201cburs under your saddle\u201d.\u00a0 Rather, you extend grace to each other and focus on your oneness in Jesus more than our human differences!<\/p>\n
4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You and I need a community that is Christ-Centered.<\/p>\n
A Community that . . .<\/p>\n
a)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Declares \u201cJesus is Savior and Lord\u201d<\/p>\n
Matthew 16:13-18\u201d\u201d\u201cWhen Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, \u201cWho do people say that the Son of Man is?\u201d\u201cWell,\u201d they replied, \u201csome say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.\u201d Then he asked them, \u201cBut who do you say I am?\u201d Simon Peter answered, \u201cYou are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.\u201d Jesus replied, \u201cYou are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being.\u00a0 Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means \u201d\u02dcrock\u201d\u2122),\u00a0 and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.\u201d (NLT)
\nThe truth of who Jesus is, is the unshakeable foundation for His church.\u00a0 Jesus builds His church!\u00a0 But He uses US as we get the Gospel out to those around us!<\/p>\n
Yancey:\u00a0 \u201cGod has chosen . . . to dwell in ordinary, even ornery, people like you and me . . .\u00a0 God now reveals himself . . . through the mongrel collection that comprises my local church and every other such gathering in God\u201d\u2122s name.\u201d (ibid., 68)<\/p>\n
Yancey:\u00a0 \u201cThe Christian basis for community, the reconciling love of God, transcends all differences of nationality, race, class, age, and gender.\u00a0 Our commonality comes first; the issues that divide us come later\u201d (ibid., 30).<\/p>\n
b)\u00a0 Imitates Jesus in sacrificial love\/service\/holiness<\/p>\n
This is really what we talked about last week\u201d\u201d\u201cwashing feet\u201d in our world like Jesus did, making sacrifices in order to show love for others\u201d\u201dall because of our love\/devotion to the Father who wants us to bring glory to Him!<\/p>\n
1 John 2:6\u201d\u201d\u201cThose who say they live in God should live their lives as Christ did.\u201d<\/p>\n
We must live in community in imitation of Jesus\u201d\u201dtoward one another and toward those in our community!<\/p>\n
c)\u00a0 Celebrates God\u201d\u2122s grace in Jesus through the
\nLord\u201d\u2122s Supper regularly<\/p>\n
1 Corinthians 11:26\u201d\u201d\u201cFor every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord\u201d\u2122s death until he comes again.\u201d (NLT)<\/p>\n
The Lord\u201d\u2122s Supper is a tangible reminder, a physical exercise with great spiritual nourishment in Christ, that we all need regularly!<\/p>\n
Above all, we MUST be known as a Christ-centered community.\u00a0 It\u201d\u2122s all about HIM!\u00a0 Now, all that we\u201d\u2122ve talked about this morning (REVIEW)\u201d\u201deach of these things is part of Who Jesus is.\u00a0 So, if we become this sort of community, then our world WILL see Him\u201d\u201dand then HE\u201d\u2122LL draw folks to Himself!<\/p>\n
Conclusion\u201d\u201d
\nRonnie McBrayer:\u00a0 \u201cThere comes a time in the life of a caterpillar when it wraps itself in a cocoon. It is a time of death. The caterpillar dies, in order to be transformed into a butterfly. Kestin Brewin says this: \u201cWe don\u201d\u2122t need more caterpillars. We need butterflies.\u201d
\n\u201cWe need churches, Jesus tribes, communities of faith that will reject business as usual, letting it all go and letting it die, that something breathtakingly beautiful can emerge. And little is more beautiful that a community of Christ-followers who have rejected the power, programming, and devices that lead to fatter caterpillars for the communion found in the words of Jesus: \u201cThey will know you are my disciples by the love you have one for another.\u201d\u00a0 It\u201d\u2122s all about community.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CRCF\u201d\u201d7-19-09 What does America need from the Church? Introduction\u201d\u201dAdolphus was \u201ca young black man with a wild, angry look in his eye\u201d who began to attend LaSalle Street Church in Chicago.\u00a0 \u201cHe had spend some time in Vietnam, and most … Continue reading