Slovik

I realize that I have been in the Ukraine for almost 3 weeks and this is the first blog that I’ve written! Sorry.

Here is what I am planning to write in my next few blogs. There will be a story and then I am going to ask a question about the Christian faith that has come up in conversation over the last several months. I would LOVE some feedback on these questions.

Story: We have been traveling over the last 3 weeks to several different villages in the Ukraine. In one particular village, which in English the village name was translated to “Red Flag,� we met a guy named Slovik. Slovik spoke little to no English, but through hand motions and later through a translator we had the privilege of hearing his testimony.

He lived your typical party life…drugs, alcohol, women, etc…until about a year and a half ago. Through a series of events he became a believer and within the first year of being a Christian he began looking for a way to serve the Lord in missions. God gave him the opportunity to serve in “Red Flag� 3 months before we got there. It completely blew me away how Slovik was so eager to tell people about Jesus. So many times we see people who are afraid to tell about their faith because they think they don’t know enough or are scared of what others will think. Slovik asked us question after question about our knowledge of the Bible. He soaked it all up and wanted more! I was very encouraged by Slovik to continue doing what I’m doing, but to renew that excitement for people to hear about the hope we have in Christ.

One day we were going door-to-door sharing the gospel with people and seeing what they thought about a church being planted in the village. After several hours and tons of conversations with house owners, we were exhausted. We asked Slovik if we should call the guy who was going to pick us up. Instead of getting upset at our grumpiness he said, “We only have four more houses on this road…what if the owner of that last house really needs to hear about Jesus today?� As you can probably already guess, we continued our door-to-door with a little better attitude.

During one of those house visits with Slovik, a lady really had a bone to pick with God about punishment. This struck up a later conversation within our team.

Question: Does God still punish people today, after Christ’s death on the cross, in the way He did in the Old Testament? (i.e Sodom and Gomorrah, David’s son dying because of his adultery, murder, etc.)

Here are a couple of verses that we found that could possibly support both sides of this discussion.

“Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows[a] that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.� Isaiah 53:4-6

“My son, do not take the Lord’s discipline lightly, or faint when you are reproved by Him; for the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and punishes every son whom He receives. Endure it as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there whom a father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline—which all receive—then you are illegitimate children and not sons.â€� Hebrews 12:5b-8