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September 2000 Table of Contents
From The Editor
By Gary Morris
 There's a shout deep down inside of me that wants desperately to get out. It is a shout of a varying emotional origin; largely dependent it seems, on circumstances. Lately, these have been political. The preacher told us yesterday that we should try to live above our circumstances--agreed. But it is hard to hold my shout in sometimes, especially when I see injustice. Nevertheless, my shout somehow never manages to get verbalized. It just slips into some other placid, more civilized form of communication, which usually spares me the embarrassment of showcasing my total store of ignorance.
But it causes me to think, and that is a good thing. And I have been doing a lot of that lately, especially with regards to this magazine. The Communicator…just the name made me stop and think. "Communicate" means, "to proclaim," "announce," "inform" and "break the news."
As I was soap-boxing (criticizing the media) a few days ago, a dear sister in the Lord remarked, "well, Gary, you're in the media, too!" I was quick to let her know that I didn't consider our fine publication or myself as such. That shout wanted badly to come out then, but I figured there were a lot better places to let it out than in an adult Sunday school class!
But ever since then, I have been thinking about what she said. She's right, you know. We here at The Communicator just happen to be in the media publishing to and for the kingdom of God. Boy, am I glad! But as I said it made me think and re-evaluate just exactly what we are doing. We are hopefully communicating-publishing, making known, proclaiming-or at least helping to--the good news that Jesus Christ is God's Son; that He died for the sins of humanity; that He was crucified, buried and now lives; that those who believe in and confess Him as their personal Lord and Savior will live forever. In a nutshell, the Gospel is what it's all about. I believe the word 'gospel' comes from a term that was used when an army would win a war. They would send runners out ahead of the returning troops, proclaiming a message: "Good news! The battle is over…WE WON!" Consider this: GOSPEL = for GOD so loved the world that He gave His ONLY begotten SON, that whosoever believes in Him shall not PERISH, but have EVERLASTING LIFE. Now THERE'S something to shout about!
Proclaiming this in sermon and song is an awesome responsibility, especially when you have been called and are in charge of directing a group of people to do the same. And in this battle in which we know the ultimate outcome IS VICTORY, you also realize there is no assurance of victory in the day-to-day skirmishes, and this is the battleground the enemy really seems to concentrate on. He knows he can't have the final victory, but he tries distraction, enticement and every other kind of divisive tactic in attempts to divide and conquer, with plans to steal, kill and destroy.
So how does a good soldier stay fit? How can you ensure that you not only avoid succumbing to the enemy, but that you are following orders? What are pitfalls and snares for Ministers and how can you avoid them?
Brother Gerald Ray offers up a wonderful briefing for all you soldiers! Gerald has been a member of church staffs for almost 50 years, and now in "retirement" (which just means a little less than full-time at one church), he reflects on what the whole of ministry is about Honor. Read Gerald's challenging article "The Honor of Ministry," and may you be blessed, redirected and refocused! And let that shout out!
Shoutin' till Jesus Returns,
Gary
Gary.morris@jjonline.com
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