December 2013 New Horizons

Do You See the Angels?

by Allen Harris

If you are a genuine believer in Jesus Christ, not simply a religious person who is sympathetic to Christianity, then you live simultaneously in two worlds. You, of course, live in the world you can see and touch, like everyone else. But, unlike unbelievers, you are aware of a world you cannot see, a heavenly reality you know only by faith. You affirm this, but sometimes it is hard to distinguish what you cannot see from fantasy. This is true especially in hard times, when God seems to be absent and it feels as if this world is all there is. The Book of Revelation was written to Christians in hard times to reveal what we cannot see: the cosmic battle going on between God and Satan in this world. It portrays what sometimes seems so unlikely to us, that Jesus is Lord of all history, and that he will win in the end. It opens our eyes to the world we cannot see, to give us hope in the suffering of this world. This dual perspective is nowhere more evident than in the Christmas story. Let us examine ... Read more

Zion’s Progress: On the Road Together

by Stuart R. Jones

Norman Rockwell produced a painting that brings back childhood memories of the peculiar relationship that existed between my family and church. A mother in her Sunday best, with children in tow, sets out for church while Dad sits in pajamas reading the Sunday paper. Subtle facial expressions tell a story. A tinge of judgmentalism is seen on the faces of Mom and her two daughters. The youngest child, a boy, has the look of a slightly quizzical spectator. Dad is slouched down in his easy chair, almost hiding from the rest. I still remember wishing I could stay home like Dad and not have to get all dressed up. This was particularly true on those Sundays when I was pressured to be in the children’s choir and had to wear a sissy costume that made me look like a dwarf Episcopalian priest. My Pilgrimage I had ambivalent feelings about church in those days. We did not speak of “the” church. Church was an indefinite thing—a vague culture that was roughly equivalent to “religion.” I was not ... Read more

Summer Foreign Missions Teams

by Danny E. Olinger

Short-term missions coordinator David Nakhla’s goal for each OPC short-term missions team is to help the missionaries on the field in bringing the gospel to the nations. He also hopes to enrich the experience of the team volunteers, so that when they return from a trip, they will continue to pray for the mission. This past summer, with the assistance of OPC presbyteries and congregations, Mr. Nakhla helped to publicize and organize volunteers into short-term missions teams that traveled to Haiti, Japan, Quebec, and the Czech Republic to help OP missionaries reach unbelievers and encourage believers through vacation Bible schools, English language camps, and diaconal aid. The reports back indicate that Mr. Nakhla’s goals were met, by the grace of God, as both missionaries and volunteers testified to the Lord’s blessing. Haiti For the eighth time, the Youth Committee of the Presbytery of Southern California sent a team to Haiti. From June 24 to July 4, Pastor James Lim (Faith OPC, Long Beach, ... Read more