A very sad thing happened to a very close friend of mine today

Today, if you haven't seen much of the news as I have and poking around on the Internet you might have come across the sad news. A much beloved and respected friend has left us and it's not because of sickness or that He had found something better to do, it was more of that He wasn't wanted anymore. Have any of you known a friend, relative, coworker who for some reason people just stopped liking? That to invite them to lunch would somehow alienate you from the click or if you gave them a ride home in your car people would tease you all the next day because you did a kind gesture to that person?

This friend is someone that I have personally known since 1994 and at times was hard to call them my friend but when the truth needed to be known I could not and will not tell a lie. I know I have had disagreements and at times argued but I never asked my friend to leave and I would never drive by and leave Him standing on the side of the road without stopping and giving Him a ride. But today, my friend, someone I've known for nearly two decades was told they must leave, that their presence was not only no longer desired but actually had become offensive. Have you ever experienced the pain of being told to your face that you are not wanted? If so, the pain never goes away from that and the memory stays fresh always. You know what it is that I refer to, that kind of pain that can cut deep and leaves a scar that never fades with time. My friend was told recently they were never to be referred to again and the funny thing is, my friend is what makes our group! Who is the friend you wonder, if invited, would they like to come to your church this Sunday? The answer to that question is simple, my friend would love to come to your church or any church where people would not be ashamed to say His name out loud. My friend loves to be around people and loves to laugh with them and share their family stories, my friend is someone whom you can go to the movies with or even share your deepest secrets with and have no fear He would talk about you behind your back because He knows how that feels and would never think to inflict that level of pain on anyone. My friend.........is Jesus, the Christ and today it was announced in many newspapers country-wide that Campus Crusade for Christ founded by Bill Bright nearly sixty years ago has decided to remove the name of Christ from its title. The reason they state is because in many countries the name, "Christ", is at times offensive to people and has a tendency to turn people away from hearing the gospel, according to Campus Crusade for Christ, now called "Cru."

Read about it here:
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-07-19/features/os-campus-crusade-name-change-20110719_1_campus-crusade-steve-douglass-ministry

When I first heard and read about this I was intensely angry that a ministry founded on Christ and His love for all the world would now turn around and remove the name of Christ for which is their whole purpose of being and would rather go the way of the politically correct and preach about Jesus but not talk about Him or mention His name. My question; how will they spread the good news of the gospel and not say for what or whom the gospel is about? If Christ Jesus cannot be mentioned in the title of the ministry then who is it that bled and died for expiation of our sins? My anger is now righteous indignation, they done ticked off the wrong foot soldier of Christ.

1 John chapter 4 - New American Standard Version - Verses 7 - 14

God Is Love

 ⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is ^[a]born of God and knows God. ⁸ The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹ By this the love of God was manifested ^[b]in us, that God has sent His ^[c]only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. ¹³ By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. ¹⁴ We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

If you find these words unfamiliar at all I encourage you to use Google for something worth while and look up First John and read through the book, it's only five or so pages and about five chapters. Tiny book but this Apostle of "Christ" (oh, oops, did not mean to offend) has truth to be told not only about Christ Jesus but also about His true followers and truth about those who do not follow. It has been two years or so since the passing of Bill Bright and just like Wal-Mart, when the ole' man is dead and buried and enough dust has settled the place goes corporate. Sam Walton believed in his image of his company because he believed in people, his philosophy was to operate the company from the bottom up. The workers on the floor are the ambassadors of Wal-Mart to the customers, the mid-level managers served the floor workers to enable them to better serve the customer and so on up the ladder of structure. When the ole' man was dead and gone after two years the kids took over and the place is now nothing like what Same built, it is nothing more than an outlet for the country of China and instead of building up America selling American made products and helping employ Americans, they go for the cheap buck, the cheap product and gross market share.

In the same way, Campus Crusade for Christ has left the template for success constructed by Bill Bright through the empowerment and blessing of the Holy Spirit of God and is now going for market share of the soul. Anyone, anyone who looks upon the Cross of Christ can either be spellbound by the suffering servant who hangs there for all eternity as a wordless sign that all is well, all is forgiven, all are welcome in my Father's house...or they will be repulsed by His nakedness and will turn their backs on Him with disgust. Happy to speak of the benefits of belonging but never to utter what price was paid for enrollment.

Please listen to Glenn Beck on his web page as he speaks about this issue;http://www.glennbeck.com/2011/07/21/campus-crusade-for-christ-drops-chris-from-the-title/

Go to the page through the link and click on the video, it will start after the commercial but for Christian and non-Christian alike a single issue stands out. "Cru", who are they and what do they want with anyone?
A ministry without a purpose is like a clanging symbol or chiming gong, making lots of noise for no reason at all.

Lou.

Woe to me if I should prove myself

but a halfhearted soldier

in the service of

my thorn-crowned Captain.

Saint Fidelis of Sigmarigen