REAL LIFE

Marvin, Dan and Chuck. Every time I turned around these friends of mine were talking to some stranger about Jesus. My friends didn't know each other. At times, each one made my life uncomfortable. Sometimes, I was embarrassed as I was conducting business in a restaurant, and one of them was at a booth or table with an arm wrapped around a total stranger, praying the sinner's prayer in a crowded dining room.

Today, I thank God for the legacy of these men. Each was a "soul winner" and they engaged in "personal witnessing" as a natural, normal part of life - like breathing. In real life, most Christians do not engage in assertive personal witnessing. We have a hard time accepting the mantle of "soul winner." Often, we are ashamed of our obvious failure to proclaim our friendship with Jesus Christ to others and our seeming indifference to the plight of eternally lost men and women.

Something is missing, isn't there? Recently, I drove down a main street in my town with a friend. We noticed people at bus stops, lounging on corners, some in wheelchairs, some walking. We began talking about how few Christians are out walking  the main streets of cities like ours for the express purpose of soul winning and personal witnessing. And, then we talked about all of the churches in the area that will be packed on the coming Sunday with tens of thousands of people "worshiping" God, but no one is out on the streets talking to people about Jesus, about eternity, about death, about hell and a lake of fire.

I've talked about this paradox to a lot of veteran Christians. People who taught Sunday School, sang in the choir, been a deacon or elder, been on boards and sessions and committees and on and on it goes. We seem to be "Church" people who never go outside our churches for the express purpose of soul winning and personal witnessing.

Folks, I think we have a problem! Jesus said, "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Matt. 28:18-20. And again, "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all to myself." John 12:32. And he said, "you shall be witnesses to me in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." Acts 1:8. 

Today, it appears that we have withdrawn into our castles (our churches and homes). We have filled our moats with water, and we let the drawbridge down only on Sunday. We advertise for people to come to us, and we label it "reaching out."

My dear, friend - we will never be effective soul winners and personal witnesses for Jesus Christ if we stay isolated in our safe, secure castles and we don't get out where real people live and hurt.

Here are a few examples of people impacting people for you to ponder:

“One summer I worked in the kitchen of a bar and restaurant. I was hurting inside, trying to find a reason for my little 2 ½ year old daughter’s recent death after being hit by a car. I often cried while the dishwasher ran so no one would hear me. During the day I sold drugs, during the night I used drugs, worked in the bar, and drank after work so I could sleep.” SHELLY JENKINS says that a neighbor prayed for her, then some Christians began to visit her and witness to her. One day, she prayed a sinners prayer just to get rid of them. The lady came back later but Shelley pretended not to be at home. When she left the house that night to go to work, Shelley found a little brown New Testament lying by the door, put it in her purse and began the long walk to the bar. It was an emotionally rough night at work that night. She pulled out the New Testament and began to read it - she was raised in a Jewish home and had never read the Bible. All summer she continued to read that book. She started attending a church in the neighborhood. Now 5 years later Shelley is happy so report that “I am a child of the King.”

WARREN MARTIN, was handling an insurance problem for Fred Ramirez in Simi Valley, CA.. He says, “We later talked about spiritual issues. When Fred showed interest, I set aside all insurance paperwork, and showed him the plan of salvation from my Personal Worker Testament. He was wondrously saved, and later attended a Bible class I taught. When his home suffered a 70% casualty loss, my company handled the claim. I gave Fred's wife 2 New Testaments for their teenage children, who later became Christians also. Fred's daughter married and lives in Southern California. His son also married, and attended a church in Simi Valley with his wife.

LYN RICKERT’S father was an alcoholic. He was humiliated by what the bottle was doing to his life, but no resolution he made was strong enough to break the bondage that held him. One day he met a stranger who offered him a little New Testament. Lyn’s father had an 8^th grade education, but did not know how to read so he started sounding out the words and he began reading that testament. One day, out in the country where he lived, he dropped to his knees besides some sagebrush and prayed to God. At that moment a miraculous transformation occurred; he said, “It felt like demons were leaving my body. I was free and clean, and the desire for alcohol completely left me. 

 

GUNFIRE

The first shot sounded like a firecracker. However, when five more explosions came within the next two seconds, I knew we were in the middle of gunfire.

The only problem was that I did not know where the shooter was. Fifteen feet away a group of teenagers scattered and began running in different directions. Where were we? In Beirut, Belfast, the Gaza Strip; I've known people who have come from these war-torn areas and experienced the terror of gunfire. No, we were engaged in our 5th school distribution. We had 26 schools to cover during the spring, and this was number five. We had canceled this school the previous week because of an all-day rainstorm.

During the past month we had made several uneventful Sidewalk School distributions at local junior and senior high schools. We had four brand new men involved in these distributions. There were the usual minor adjustments that come with school distributions, but nothing serious. I finished lunch at the Tastee Freeze across the street from the school as I awaited the arrival of our team. A new man arrived, and we transferred two cases of Hospital Testaments to his car for a later distribution.

Then I pulled my Dodge van onto the street, opened the side door, and began to unload scriptures for the school distribution. I was disappointed that only four men had arrived for this large and friendly school. Suddenly, six shots rang out from an automatic revolver. The shooter was standing at the corner of the Tastee Freeze firing at a group of students 30 feet away and directly across the street.

Two girls ran and jumped into my van landing on the boxes of scriptures. Several boys ran into the park. One unlucky young man was hit by the gunfire and jumped into a nearby car. The police arrived within minutes. The shooting victim was transported to a local hospital. His injuries were not life threatening.

We only gave 200 New Testaments away that day, February 26, 1996, at the High School. The main gates near the shooting were locked and the students diverted to another exit. However, two days later we returned and placed another 700 scriptures for a total placement of 900 scriptures.

We just cannot be casual about the opportunities we have to work for Christ each and every day. Every child should have the opportunity to have his or her own New Testament.

It may be the difference between life and death.

Speaking of which, here are some good news stories:

OTIS TOWNSEND received a New Testament when he was 10 years old. His family did not attend church, but Otis started reading his testament every chance he had. He was invited to a Vacation Bible School and started attending Sunday School and came home one day to tell his mother he was “saved.” His mother and brother went to check out the church and they too were “saved.” Soon Otis’ 4 brothers and his father were “saved.” Otis died when he was 12 years old from stomach cancer, but many thousands of people have been introduced to Jesus  because of his testimony.

SHANNON PARKER had run away from home and dropped out of school. She used alcohol and drugs. In January 1995 Gideons went to Verdugo Hills High School and gave almost 2,000 testaments to the students. One girl gave her testament to Shannon and made her promise to read it. In June 1995 we received a letter from Shannon stating that she was back home and attending school and that she had been sober for 4 months 3 ½ days. She thanked us for restoring her faith in Jesus. In September 1998 a local newspaper reported a fatal automobile accident. Shannon Parker and her six month old baby had perished. I’m glad Shannon received a testament, aren’t you.

MEAGAN wrote from Early, Texas, “Thank you for the Bibles. They are great. I’m almost finished reading mine. I loved the Christmas story. Thanks again.” 

SANDRA LUCIA met Jesus when she was in the 5^th grade in Porto do Rosa, Brazil after reading a Gideon New Testament she received at school. She gave the testament to another friend and he also received Jesus as his Savior.

WHAT IS IN YOUR HAND?

The Bible is full of examples of people who were "ordinary" men and women who accomplished "extraordinary" deeds.

We recently lost three "ordinary" men - but men who accomplished "extraordinary" deeds for the glory of God that will live far beyond their lives.

Most of us are just ordinary men and women, who can accomplish extraordinary things by allowing God to use us.

There is a saying that, "God does not want your ability, just your availability." God will use whatever talents you have to do what needs to be done.

God provides the tools. For Moses, it was just an ordinary rod. For Samson, it was the jaw bone of an ass. For David, it was a slingshot and stones from a riverbed. For the impoverished widow, it was common pots that could hold some oil. For Peter, it was just a fish that swallowed some tax money. Jesus used spit and dirt to make a paste to create vision.

Common things that God used for extraordinary purposes.

But, we must be available.

"I'm too busy," is a statement often heard. But, too busy doing what? Too busy doing God's work? Or too busy doing "busy" work? Too busy interacting with "the saints" that we can't interact with the lost?

Yes, we need some more "ordinary" men and women who see a job that needs to be done, and who without much fanfare or trumpet blowing just go and get the job done. It is amazing what will happen when no one worries about who will get the credit.

How about it ladies and gentlemen! Are you busy using your "extraordinary" talents to accomplish meaningless tasks that will eventually bear the label of "wood, hay and stubble?"

Or, do you want to be available for God to do something really extraordinary with your life, that ultimately weighs in as gold and silver when your days are ended?

REAL PRAYER

There is prayer, and then there is real PRAYER!

Many of my prayers are wimpy, soggy, and spineless. A lot of bed time, meal time, "God bless all of the people in the world" type of prayer. They may sound good, but not necessarily bring a dead man back to life or cause the sun to stand still. Then again, I've heard of Real Prayer. What about Jonah in the belly of the fish? What about Elijah before Ahab's priests of Baal on Mount Carmel? What about blind Saul waiting in Damascus for Ananias? What about Jeremiah sinking in a muddy cistern up to his armpits? What about Peter on the storm tossed Sea of Galilee as he begins to sink?

Yes, there is prayer, and then there is REAL PRAYER! It seems to me that the belly of a fish has got to be one of the all-time horrible places to find yourself praying. It is dark and wet. It must smell to high heaven. Breathing must be almost impossible. The gastric acids, the occasional influx of sea water, the other bits and pieces of oceanic detritus sloshing by your head. I'll tell you, I think Jonah's prayer life went into super high gear about five minutes after he was placed in what I would call "God's pressure cooker." And, Elijah, Saul, Jeremiah and Peter (as well as all saints) periodically find themselves in their own "belly of the fish" circumstances of life. That kind of PRAYER is concentrated desperation focused on the Almighty God and it shakes kingdoms. Look at each of the men mentioned (Jonah, Elijah, Paul, Jeremiah, and Peter); they were chosen by God to accomplish great deeds.

A key ingredient in each of their "belly of the fish" experiences was their subsequent total and complete submission to God. Interestingly, as you follow their lives you will note that they did not retire to a life of ease thereafter. No, they were delivered from serious and immediate danger to do battle for God, and they endured great trial and tribulation after God's deliverance took place. Jonah to Nineveh, Elijah to Ahab, Paul to prison, Jeremiah to captivity, and Peter to martyrdom.

Their PRAYER for deliverance was actually a prayer of submission to the will of God and a prayer of dedication to the service of God, no matter what the outcome! Lets be honest. No one likes to find himself in trouble dark enough to be called a "belly of the fish" experience. But, those experiences "get our attention," and God is suddenly a lot more relevant than he was two days before the event. For instance, your view of God changes when the doctor tells you that your tests are positive for a malignant cancerous tumor. Your vacation to Tarshish will become unimportant as you wrestle with your responsibilities to the people of Nineveh.

Submission to the Will of God is the only logical answer to the prayer of people caught in such circumstances.

Doing the Will of God is the only acceptable response.

GOING FISHING

A friend once asked me to go fishing with him. He always impressed me as being a pretty good fisherman. His fishing tackle always looked new and top notch. He always had great stories about good fishing spots where he could catch the "big" ones. But, he never brought any fish home. He just talked about fishing.

There is a great story found in John 21. Peter says, "I go a fishing." And, six other disciples say, "We also go with you." These guys were commercial fisherman out for a catch - they were not fooling around. They had fished this territory before. They cast their nets from the ship all night long and by morning had not caught a fish, not even a minnow for their labor! Then Jesus appears on the shore and tells them to cast their net on the "right" side of the ship - as opposed to the "left" side (or maybe the "wrong" side). And - they immediately catch 153 large fish.

There are probably many lessons to be gleaned from this passage - but, as "fishers of men" we must not rely on our own skills and smarts to catch fish. We must hear what Jesus has to say to us, and then we must do what he tells us to do. The point is that the Lord Jesus knows where the fish are. The trick is to be directed by Him. The story found in John, chapter 21 describes how to find God's fish (and His direction): Look, Listen and Obey!

Let me ask you a few questions (no peeking in the Bible). First, name six of the twelve scouts sent out by Moses. Second, name 3 of Goliath's gigantic brothers. Third, name Jacob's children by the servant of Leah and the servant of Rachel. Now, name the Brooklyn Dodger pitcher who surrendered the game winning World Series home run to the Giants Bobby Thompson in 1951.

So, what's the point! Only that you remember the winners, not the second place or tenth place or last place finishers. You remember Joshua and Caleb because they were the men of faith. You remember David the King, but not Goliath's deceased kinfolk. And Ralph Branca, Al Downing, Johnny Pesky, and Billy Buckner are often remembered for important games they lost, rather than for their great careers.

I would like to make a pitch for you to be a winner! A home run hitter instead of a losing pitcher. I know the secret - and I am willing to share it with you! The problem is, you know the secret too. It is found in John, chapter 21 and I call it the "Look, Listen and Obey" principle. I am reminded of the story of the old immigrant whose family booked him passage on a ship crossing the Atlantic to New York City at the turn of the century. He packed his suitcase with cheese and bread to sustain him during the long journey. About two thirds of the way across the Atlantic Ocean, a ship's steward found him looking into the dining room area and asked him why he did not go in and eat with the other passengers. It was only then that the old man discovered that his ticket price included all meals served aboard ship.

Well, the secret of "winning" is found in John 21. In summary, it is "hear what the Master has to say to you, and then go do what He tells you to do." Look, listen and obey! Life is far too short for us to stand outside the dining room of God's bountiful provision, when the price has been paid, the ticket is in our hand, and the Captain invites us in to sit at his table. Most of the time we are like the old hungry immigrant standing on the outside, looking in at the bounty spread on the tables.

When I was a young boy, the theaters were packed for a short time with 3-D movies. But, after my conversion to Jesus Christ in 1959 - I found a better set of 3-D glasses to look through.

Here are my "3-D's"

Desperate to hear him

Determined to follow him

Delighted to belong to him

Let me encourage you to stop and smell the roses today. Instead of telling God what you intend to do - and then asking him to bless your activities - why not ask him to tell you what he wants you to do today. Maybe he just wants you to sit down, sit still, and think about him for a while. If it is a choice between casting your nets all night long on the wrong side of the boat, and of hearing the voice of Jesus tell us what we should be doing with our lives - let's listen to the Lord's call, and do what he tells us to do. Let's "Look, Listen, and Obey!"

HANGING BY A THREAD

Soon, Christmas season will be here. And that means children and adults around the world will be turning to the first Chapters of Matthew and Luke and will stumble all over the names of who begat who. And the audience might wonder, "Why do they bother listing everyone, it is as bad as reading a telephone book out loud?"

Genealogies, what a bore, or are they?

The books of Genesis, Numbers, I Chronicles, Ezra, Matthew and Luke all contain lists of families. Most of us don't spend much time in those chapters (although I suspect the list of names in the Lamb's Book Of Life described by John in the Book of Revelation will capture our attention).

The ancestry of Jesus of Nazareth as set forth in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke has interested me for a long time. "Hanging by a thread" is a phrase that I use to describe the tenuous descent from generation to generation until the "fullness of time" occurs in a Bethlehem stable. The phrase gets its genesis from the story of Rahab who hung a scarlet cord from the town wall of Jericho to gain safety for her family.

I want to trace what, from a human perspective, seems to be a fragile thin line of hope and salvation that God preserved and protected through the millennia, from Adams sin to the death of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ of God. And, as you track the miraculous deliverance of God's chosen lineage throughout history, you give evidence again to the grand redemptive program of God.

What proves the existence of God? Philosophers, theologians and scientists have concocted many arguments over the centuries to "prove" the existence of God. Most of the arguments remind me of a salesman talking to a farmer who has never seen the Pacific Ocean. The way to convince him of the ocean's existence, is to take the farmer to the ocean and let him jump in.

Well, one of the best proofs for the existence of God is to track the promises made to Abraham regarding the nation, and the rulers of that nation, that would come forth from his loins, and to see what has happened to the people called Israel throughout the centuries. Hundreds and hundreds of fulfilled promises and prophecies make the nation Israel as clear a trumpet of God's existence as any esoteric philosophic argument.

Within the history of Abraham's descendants is an equally compelling testimony of God's preservation and protection of the blood-line from which the Lord Jesus Christ will come. And that is the tale I want to describe now.

Matthew's list found in chapter 1 is as follows: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Perez (from Tamar), Hezron, Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, Boaz, Obed (from Ruth), Jesse, David, Solomon (from Bathsheba), Rehoboam, Abijah, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah, Jeconiah, Shealtiel, Zerubbabel, Abiud, Eliakim, Azor, Zadok, Akim, Eliud, Eleazar, Matthan, Jacob, Joseph, Jesus.

Luke's list found in chapter 3 (inverted starting with Abraham) is as follows: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Perez (from Tamar), Hezron, Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, Boaz, Obed (from Ruth), Jesse, David, Nathan, Mattatha, Menna, Melea, Eliakim, Jonam, Joseph, Judah, Simeon, Levi, Matthat, Jorim, Eliezer, Joshua, Er, Elmadam, Cosam, Addi, Melki, Neri, Shealtiel, Zerubbabel, Rhesa, Joanan, Joda, Josech, Semein, Mattathias, Maath, Naggai, Esli, Nahum, Amos, Mattathias, Joseph, Jannai, Melki, Levi, Matthat, Heli, Joseph, Jesus.

Both lists are almost identical from Abraham to David, but diverge thereafter. Many evangelical commentators assume that Matthew follows the kingly line (perhaps, Joseph's lineage) while Luke follows a priestly line (perhaps, Mary's lineage). I want to focus on the people in Matthew's list because their lives and times are detailed throughout most of the books of the Old Testament.

From Abraham to Jesus encompasses about 1700 years of time. During this period of time there were countless wars, famines, invasions, relocations and disasters that impacted this steadily growing people that were prophesied to become as numerous as the stars of the heavens.

Consider a few of the following historical events that impacted these people, events that cut across the lives of the ancestors of Jesus of Nazareth: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah were nomadic herdsmen who were often threatened by famine and relocation in land ruled by other regional powers, most notably Egypt. Perez was born of Judah's incestuous relationship with Tamar, his daughter-in-law. Hezron, Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon, and Salmon lived during the invasion of Canaan by Joshua and the Judges of Israel. The Philistines, Midianites, and all of the other "ites" were a constant threat to the life and home of Abraham's seed.

Boaz fathered Obed from Ruth of Moab. It was only Naomi's travels to the land of Moab to avoid a famine in Israel that caused Ruth to come to Bethlehem to live. Jesse, the father of King David, brought forth all of his other sons to "audition" for Samuel.

David the King was earmarked for death by Goliath his enemy, by Saul his King, by Absalom his son, and by others. As king, he murdered Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba, after he impregnated her. Their second son, Solomon, became king and acquired hundreds of wives and concubines, many as part of peace treaties and alliances. He started the country on a path of idolatry that would bear terrible consequences during the following 400 years.

From Rehoboam the country was torn into two parts, Israel and Judah. Then begins a list of Kings such as Abijah, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah, Jeconiah, Shealtiel, and Zerubbabel.

Hezekiah was stricken with a sickness unto death, but he prayed and was granted 15 additional years of life - during which time he sired Manasseh, arguably the most wicked king ever to reign in Judah. Josiah, his son, was killed in battle against the Egyptians led by Pharaoh Neco who removed Josiah's son (Jehoahaz) as king and replaced him with another son, Eliakim, whose name was changed by Pharoah Neco to Jehoiakim.

Finally, in 586 B.C., after many forays into Israel and Judah, the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, took some 10,000 of the leading populace of Judah and deported them to Babylon where they were to remain as captives for 70 years.

At the end of the 70 years (about 450 B.C.), Nehemiah led over 40,000 people back into Judah to restore Jerusalem and the temple, among whom were 468 male descendants of the tribe of Judah - the kingly line from which Messiah was to come. Interestingly, the descendants of the priestly tribe of Levi are listed at Nehemiah 12, and it is from these ancestors that Luke may have traced Mary's lineage (remember that Zacharias and Elizabeth, parents of John the Baptist and related to Mary, were descended from Aaron).

After the return of the exiled Jews from Babylon, the country was ruled through administrators appointed by their Babylonian, Persian, Greek and Roman conquerors. There were to be no more "Kings of Israel" after the Babylonian captivity until the birth of the babe in Bethlehem.

The little known descendants of Abraham who lived from the Babylonian captivity to the time of Julius Caesar, i.e., Abiud, Eliakim, Azor, Zadok, Akim, Eliud, Eleazar, Matthan, Jacob, and Joseph, lived through the years of the Babylonian captivity, the return of Nehemiah and Ezra to Judah, the invasion of Alexander the Great, the Maccabean revolts, and the Roman occupation of Palestine. They were unknown compared to King David and King Solomon, but each carried the birthright to be King, and it was from this lineage that the future King of Israel of Isaiah 9:6, and the Messiah of Isaiah 52:12-53:6 was to come.

Well, that is an awful lot of detail to plow through, but, after all, it was 1700 years of living. The thought that keeps coming back to me is this: That before Abraham was, the "I am" set in motion a redemptive plan that would span the centuries and culminate in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, born King of the Jews. This redemptive plan included the passing on of the blessing, birthright, and inheritance of the royal and priestly lineage through human agencies. Look carefully at the men (and some women) named above. Note how close some came to being killed (David). Think how easily some might have been lost in the Babylonian captivity, or chosen not to have returned.

What if Abraham's ploy to have Sarah taken into the Pharaoh's harem had worked? What if Joseph had died in prison, or not been sold as a slave? What if Ruth had stayed in Moab with Orpah?

You see, the miracle of the genealogy of Matthew and Luke is the mathematically astounding probability that God's promise to Abraham (Genesis 12) could be fulfilled in the birth of Jesus of Nazareth given the vagaries of human life during the 1700 years that intervened between them. All sorts of human failings including death, illness, and war could have intervened to break the chain of ancestry. And who can doubt that the machinations of Satan were not at work during those 1700 years in various attempts to defeat the plan? One little virus or bacteria could have been fatal to Boaz or David or Mary. Through it all, God preserved his promise to Abraham.

The God who created the universe, the God who makes something from nothing, and then maintains that creation, is all knowing, all powerful, and all present (omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent for our theological friends). The eternal beauty of God's intervention in our lives is this: that the God who created galaxies from nothing and sent them spinning in prescribed and fixed orbits; the God who created the intricacies and beauty of our world and the countless life-forms that dwell herein; the God who could not be known by his creation, chose to involve himself in the affairs of men. Even to the extent of identifying himself with Abraham's progeny for 1700 years, ensuring that "when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law . . ." (Galatians 4:4).

We will always stumble at trying to understand what God is up to. We want Jesus to ride into Jerusalem as a conquering king on a white horse with military pomp, but he comes on a donkey with only poor people waving palms. We want Jesus to subdue nations, but he chooses to die on a cross. We want God to do what we want him to do, but he always does what he chooses to do. God's plan is for the eternal ages. He knows no 24-hour day or 365-day year. His comings and goings are not based upon a Gregorian calendar or a Chinese New year, not even the 70 or 80 year annual solar cycle of Neptune or Pluto around our sun counts. Nothing and no one, absolutely nothing and absolutely no one, dictates to God what His calendar of events will be. God's plan and program transcend our lifecycles as we know them.

So, pay attention to those genealogical masterpieces. They are not there to bore you, but to show God's hand in the history of our world, and to demonstrate His redemptive plan to man.

A SPECIAL CHRISTMAS

There is more to Christmas than lights and shopping. Christmas is about people, including people we don't think about very often, hidden in the corners of the world we call home.

It was Friday morning and we were there for the Christmas program. Then, on Sunday afternoon, we went back for the church service. We gave 93 large print hospital testaments to the patients and 127 small white Medical Testaments to the staff and volunteers.

The nature and purpose of this state hospital facility is to care for severely developmentally disabled adults that our society prefers remains out of sight. None of the patients or "clients" of the facility are able to function outside the fences; most will never leave the grounds but will spend their lives there. Most of them will never read, write, or speak intelligibly. Many will never leave their beds. All will challenge you to try to understand the purpose of God in allowing such people to exist. And you will wonder and ponder and cry a bit.

Some 25 years ago we first wrestled with the issue of why we should bother placing scriptures in the hands of these people. I remember sitting around the table as we finally concluded that we would give them our small college testaments and try to arrange to give the nursing staff testaments as well.

Today, one of the ladies extended her arms and wanted to hug me. Her nose was running all over her face, and my flesh began to crawl a bit. So I did the only thing possible in the circumstances, I gave her a great big hug and said "God bless you" as I once again learned that God's blessings come in all kinds of packages. It is not the fancy wrapping paper that determines the value of the gift inside.

After doing this for so many years, I never drive into those gates without asking myself what in the world God is doing in allowing these people (multiplied by millions upon millions more around the world) to live their lives under such circumstances. I don't have a lot of answers, but I do have some Bibles and Testaments. And, when I see them bringing their testaments to church services, and see the volunteer staff reading to them from our scriptures, I'm glad I'm able to do what we can do to make their lives a bit brighter. A friend of mine is the Protestant Chaplain at the facility and often baptizes people who want to be baptized. He doesn't put theological hurdles in their way and ask them if they fully understand chapter 6 of the Book of Romans. Whether their I.Q. is 65 or 45 or 25, whether they can walk or crawl, or can't get out of bed, if they tell him they love Jesus and want to be baptized, he won't keep them from the pool. He had to make the same decision that we did. And we both decided that we would let God be the final answer as to how you look inside peoples hearts.

All I can tell you is that some of those folks know Jesus and belong to him, and I don't know how to tell the difference sometimes. Of all the plaques and certificates I have hanging on walls or stuffed in boxes, there are several that my family finds a bit strange. One is a drinking glass with 3 small flags and plastic flowers sitting on my computer case. It came from a medicated patient locked in a facility who came running up to me as we were leaving a distribution. It was her gift of thanks for the scriptures we brought. Another is a Cap and a Medallion tied to a bright red, white and blue ribbon that both have the name of this facility emblazoned across them. To most of the world, these are places to avoid and people to ignore -but somehow I feel that Jesus would be quite at home with these people if he visited us.

Of course, the truth is that He is and He does. Some of the people wear football helmets to prevent injury when they fall, others are hydro-cephalic and no helmet would fit. Some have twisted limbs, maybe no limbs if you looked closely. Others moan, groan and yell. But, then one stands behind a microphone and sings "Jesus Loves Me." Another "testifies" about the goodness of God (boy, that one gets to you). Another one thanks Jesus for saving them. And, when they leave, these people who are the rejects of society and hidden away where no one will see them, they ask for a copy of the New Testament. I slip it into their hands which are often bent and twisted, and pray that God's Holy Spirit will become their Comforter in this life.

NO PAIN – NO GAIN

When I was in junior high school in south central Los Angeles, there were always bigger and tougher kids who made my life miserable.

The back pages of my comic books provided a solution for my fears. Advertisements for the Charles Atlas body-building courses abounded. They showed a skinny fellow who was getting sand kicked in his face. He took the body-building course and pummeled the bully into submission. Such were the dreams of a young skinny teen-age boy. Well, body-building has come a long way! Today workout centers in every community are encouraging people to "pump iron, build biceps of steel, and get a six pack of washboard abs."

One simple phrase has come from the health fitness industry that has application to us today - "NO PAIN, NO GAIN." This phrase means that in order to make a physical gain (increase your chest size for instance) you are going to have to endure some pain. Growth requires pain - call it extreme discomfort if you prefer - but you will never grow physically, spiritually, or mentally without some disciplined discomfort. Getting God's Word to a lost world will involve some pain on our part. We will not impact our generation for Christ without stretching ourselves to the point where we hurt. Don't be content to be the same person you were last year. Don't let your life stay where it was last month. However many times you witnessed to a lost soul last year, tell more people this year. Don't settle for a passive experience as a Christian. You have unlimited opportunity to serve Christ and reach a lost world with the Gospel ministry.

Take advantage of your opportunity. Let me share a secret as to how you can become a more fruitful Christian!

• Pray for a specific ministry and people needs each day after your daily Bible reading.

• Participate in local, national, and international ministry activities. I don't mean "send somebody a check" participation. Actually attend events in your area that put you face to face with people with similar motivation. Don't just become a spectator to someone else's ministry objectives. Make this your lifestyle agenda, and I can guarantee you that your Christian experience and testimony will never be the same.

• Provide labor, funds, and love to tract and scripture distributions to kids, prisoners, and travelers. You will develop spiritual muscles that you never knew existed. You will become involved in changing the lives of other people, including your own.

And you will never worry about sand being kicked in your face again. You may not begin to look like "Arnold" - but you may start looking like a "Child of the King."

MEMORIAL DAY

I started writing these little thingies (I'm still trying to figure out what to call them), because I wanted my children, and my grandchildren, and now my great grandchildren, to know who I really and truly was when I died and left this earth. I wanted them to know "me" beyond the flesh and bones and blood. Beyond the foibles and mistakes and failures - Who was really living underneath this skin of mine. 

All of us begin to wear masks and hide who we are very early in life. Soon we become so good at hiding, few people know who we really are. I always thought the Lone Ranger, Batman, Superman, and many more masked warriors were cool – until I realized they were just “me and you” hiding behind masks so no one could penetrate to the real person hiding deep down inside. So, I began writing and writing and writing, until some would perhaps say, “stop with the writing already – we get it.” But, now it has gone beyond my immediate family. I want other people to know who I really am, and who my Big Brother really is.

When I was ten years old, my mother took me for swimming lessons to the old Huntington Park High School indoor swimming pool. There were 90 or 100 other kids taking lessons too. I was afraid of the water and never really learned to swim. Just got wet, and stayed afraid of the water for 5 years until I got some swim fins and jumped in the ocean, never to look back again. That is why I keep on writing – because Jesus has to be experienced. Because people need to take a good look at Him – and then plunge out into the ocean and learn to swim in and with Jesus. No need to waste 5 years being afraid of the water, jump in and swim – Jesus is your life preserver, and someday you may even walk on water if you want to. Here is how it started for me.

MEMORIAL DAY

Memorial  Day has a special meaning for me.  As a five  year  old boy  I remember standing on Central Avenue in south  Los  Angeles watching  a World War II parade celebrating the end  of  hostilities.  Trucks, tanks, and soldiers came down the street. It was a big event for a small boy.  Time passed and the small boy  grew up. As a teenager,  I became involved in activities that  brought me into contact with local police and the juvenile court  system.  These contacts resulted in my being placed on probation under the watchful eye of a probation officer.

For  the  1957  Memorial Day holiday weekend,  some  high  school seniors  planned  a Friday night beach party at a  secluded  area below  the Huntington Beach cliffs.  Forty feet above  the  beach were  oil wells that stretched along the highway toward the  City of Huntington Beach.  On the beach at the base of the cliffs were 30 or 40 high school teenagers engaged in drinking beer, wine and other  forms  of liquor. It was a normal, typical event  for  the kind of people I hung out with and called my friends.  

 

By  May  30, 1957, I had been arrested several times  for  alcohol related  offenses. My driver’s license was restricted; my  concern for  my family was non-existent; my life was spent at pool  halls or in my car or just bumming around. I attended school but did no school  work; my grades plummeted, and I was  suspended  when  I threw a “cherry bomb” into school hallways and restrooms. I lied, cheated and stole. My mouth was foul; my heart had become  stone, and  people  had  no meaning in my life except  to  be  used  and abused.  My  friends were cut from the same cloth.

It was with this background that I drove my 1950 souped-up  Oldsmobile Coupe to the Huntington Beach cliffs on Friday night, Memorial Day weekend of 1957.  The night was dark; a large bon fire was lit, and teen age kids began to arrive. There was drinking and  partying in  progress.   Then the police came.  I could not afford to be caught, it would have been a violation of my probation.  So,  I ran! With a friend I ducked between the oil well pumps,   dodging our way in almost pitch-black darkness,  avoiding the  probing flashlight beams of the police. And then,  seeing  a dark  spot where we might hide, we leaped to the safety  of  what looked  like a shallow hole.  Instead, in our drunken stupor,  we jumped off the edge of a 40 foot cliff into a black abyss.

I don’t remember hitting the ground. I was “out” for a minute  or two.  Three things stand out in my memory, as clear today as that instant  in  time  40 years ago.  First, I was  sober  when  I regained  consciousness. Second, my mind spoke the words,  “Jesus Save  Me,”  I knew that I was facing eternity, that I  was  lost without Christ, and that I needed the Jesus of my grandparents to save me. Third, I knew that my right ankle was seriously  broken.  As  I lay face down in the sand, I was a sober, scared and  helpless teenager in need of help for my soul as much as for my body.

Upon  impact,  my  ankle had hit a rock and  shattered.   Many  hours later, ambulance crews arrived and transported me to Hoag Memorial  Hospital.  At  4:00 a.m. a surgical team began  the  task  of reassembling  my  ankle,  I was wearing boots  which  fortunately kept everything together.  After 50 years, the surgeon’s screws are  still  in place and a winding 3 inch scar  serves  as  a permanent reminder of that memorable weekend.

Today, that scar reminds me of the goodness of God in sparing  my life  that night.  It reminds me that there are  consequences  to behavior.  It reminds me that the Sunday School lessons,  and  the prayers of parents or grandparents are embedded in the memory  of young foolish teenagers bent on their own destruction.  That scar reminds  me  that God loves mankind and that he seeks  and  saves those who are lost.

I did not become a Christian until 1959, two years after my ankle was broken. I went back into the excesses of my lifestyle, but  I could  never shake the memory of that Memorial Day event.  Oh,  I continued  to  reap the wages of sin for two more  years,  but  I always remembered that my head could have hit the rock instead of my  ankle.   That  I might have been sent to a  mortuary,  not  a hospital.  For two years, I knew that my life was “out of joint.”  That  I was caught up in living a lie that was not satisfying  my inner  soul.  There was no peace or happiness, only  waiting  for another Friday night to come along.

Then,  at age 19, God caught up with me. After a  Sunday  evening church  service in Bell Gardens, I pulled my car over  on  Colima Road  in  Whittier,  turned the engine off, put my  head  on  the steering wheel, and gave my life to Jesus Christ.  I later  wrote my probation officer a letter stating what had happened to me.  I never heard from him again.  I had stolen various things in  the past,  and  I took back what I could. For the many wrongs  I  had done that could never be made right, for the pain and suffering I caused many people, I could only ask God’s forgiveness and try to spend the rest of my life doing what was right in God’s eyes.   I later applied for admission to a Christian college. I was  unable to  graduate  from high school with my class and  had  to  attend summer  school  on crutches in order to get  enough  credits.  My grades did not look very good the last two years of school, so  I had  to  explain  the changes in my life to the  college.  I  was accepted and began the journey that would take me to six colleges and  universities over the next 13 years and a lifetime  of presenting the claims of Jesus Christ to lost men and women.

I have now lived over 50 years with that scar on my ankle. I have about 99% mobility,  just stiff enough to remind me that sin has  consequences, and just good enough for me to thank  God  for his  mercy and kindness.  I am thankful for the faithful men  and women whom God placed in my path during the first 19  years of my life who pointed the way to Jesus. Most of them never  knew what the ultimate outcome of their witness would be. 

But, God is faithful isn’t he?

If you have read this far, here is a PS for you - several blogs in the past, I suggested that everyone should write a two page “personal testimony” that you could share with others. To wit, “here is how I came to know Jesus as my personal Savior.” Now listen – here is the question you have to answer. Do you have a testimony that you can put on paper? About how you came to know Jesus as your personal Savior? Not about how good you are, not about how you go to church, not about how smart you are, or how kind you are, or how generous you are – but, about whether you know Jesus as your personal Savior. If you can't write that two page paper my friend, take a few minutes and settle that question right now.

YOUR FRONT DOOR

Recently, I purchased a case of 100 Pocket New Testaments. I filled out the Order Blank, slipped a check into the envelope, went to the post office and mailed the letter. Two weeks later I came home to find a case of Pocket New Testaments sitting on my door step. I moved that case inside the house and placed it by the front door - where it will stay until it is completely empty. No longer will people come to my front door to sell me a roof, offer me a rug cleaner, collect for the newspaper, or just pass the time of day without being offered a copy of God's Word.

Now, I have an ulterior motive in buying "this" particular case of Pocket New Testaments. I want YOU to buy a case too! You see, I want Christians everywhere using God's Word in witnessing for our Lord Jesus. Sometimes we are very effective in our rather anonymous witnessing to people that we have little eyeball to eyeball contact with, but we are embarrassingly silent when it comes to our own individual personal witness. Yet we have absolutely the best tool available for personal witnessing in the various Pocket New Testaments available to us today.

What does it take to effectively use a Pocket New Testament? Do you need a ten point outline? Do you have to prove that Noah was related to Methuselah? Let me share with you a valuable lesson I learned while in Argentina and Chile to distribute scriptures. I don't speak Spanish. They did not speak English. Many times my "personal witness" was reduced to pointing to the back page of the Pocket New Testament. At other times my personal witness was a loud "here" as someone jogged by and was handed a New Testament. I believe that I communicated effectively, for each accepted a Pocket New Testament.

Some of us have spent time in various studies of theology, science and archaeology. We feel competent in spending hours and hours dialoguing with people about the validity of Christianity as a religion. But, frankly, people do not want to stand around and listen to us discuss our opinions about "religious" topics. They want a personal connection with God!

People are hungry for the Word of God. They want a copy of scripture. You don't have to be a famous evangelist to stick out your hand with a Pocket New Testament clutched between your fingers and say to someone, "Here, this can help you."

My plea to you is that you order a box of Pocket New Testaments and set them inside your front door. Ask God to send you some weary travelers who need to hear from God. This is an investment in eternity that will pay dividends forever. You will never know what the results will be as you share God's Word with others. God will honor your decision by sending people to you that only you can reach. You can make this a very special year for 100 very special people.

Here is a friend's story about the importance of receiving such a gift:

“When I was six years old, Dad accepted a position as foreman at the Fox Greenhouse outside Tulsa, Oklahoma. We lived in a remodeled chicken house behind what seemed a two-story white mansion.

One day Mr. Fox's orthodox-Jewish mother knocked on our door and asked Mom, "What religion are you folks?" Like all persons who did not go to church my mother answered, "Methodist."

Every Sunday thereafter Mrs. Fox had the flower delivery truck deposit me at the Methodist church for Sunday School and pick me up afterwards. My class was taught by the wife of the mayor of Tulsa. She gave me a brown pulp New Testament.

I was stunned that anyone could be that generous and also believe that I could read. In modern terms, she raised my self-esteem about 10,000 feet. I read and treasured that volume until I was 12 years of age and that New Testament was left behind--over my protests--in a move to New Mexico. Sixty-five years later I still miss that book.”

WHERE DID CARL GO?

I said goodbye to my dying father a few days ago. He died yesterday. Several other friends died Saturday and Sunday, which makes this article worth republishing, as well as the Leon Burke story. So, what say you - what happens when you take your last breath?   brian



It was quite a week. The deaths of Saddam Hussein, Gerald R. Ford, James Brown. And now, a good friend of Carl's - Gary Hobson. Probably a lot more too, both famous and infamous, well known and hardly known. They all shared the common experience of being born some decades ago, and now they share in the common experience of death. What does really happen when we all enter that second common experience shared by all living things? Need to think about that because no one escapes, we all will partake. So, where did Carl and Gary go?

Lots of friends have been dying lately. One thing I have noticed is that whatever made them who they were appears to disappear about the same time they stop breathing. Even though I am looking at their body laying in a hospital bed or reposing in the funeral home's best casket. Whatever it was that made them who they were seems to have left the building. Gone like the early morning mist, melting fast before the sunrise.

I had a hard time going to sleep a few nights ago. Laying in bed,  I began to think about where this thing that is “me” dwells. I thought of my muscles, the bones of my skeleton, my gall bladder and other assorted organs. Did not seem like the “real” me was in any of those. It is hard for me to believe that  the real me is located in my foot or hand or hair or teeth. Enough people have come back from combat in war zones missing these various body parts to make me think that the essential “them” is not dwelling anywhere below the neck. In my late night meditations I settled on where I have always thought the real “me” lived. That is, inside my skull where my brain sits with all 70 years of  various electrical bombardments pulsating by the millions per second. A lifetime of colors and voices and foods. Touches from parents, to children. Stitches by doctors, drilling by dentists, lectures by teachers.

That gets a little complicated though doesn't it.  A brain may be the greatest computer ever, but sometimes it just doesn't work right. Mental disease occasionally sidetracks some people, accidental head injuries sometimes traumatize others, and some are just born with not much there. To some extent the essential person  who is really me, is the result of that brain absorbing and assimilating sights and sounds and touches and smells and tastes, and parking that information in my brain.

Childhood memories last forever, don't they.  Remember the first time you felt and tasted the ocean or smelled the pine trees in the mountains. I still can remember the taste of a Mint Bar from a Good Humor ice cream truck that drove down my boyhood street along with a Cream Puff delivered by a Helms Bakery truck driver who had a shrill whistle he blew to attract attention. No one ever forgets certain smells either, like the odor of a skunk. I remember a lot about my growing up experiences of the 1940's and 1950's – but yesterday I could not correctly remember the last 4 digits of our telephone number. And, even though all of the data from the past is packed in the various convolutions of my brain, there are still millions of bits of raw data coming in every day, maybe every hour, maybe every minute. So, that is who I am – the real me anyway. A combination of 70 years of life experiences that are stored inside my skull, and occasionally peep out so that my wife can say, “Wipe that silly grin off your face.”

Well, where did my friend Carl really go? What happened to the person I knew for over 30 years? The one who spoke and listened and thought.  I know he is not where he used to be, inside that worn out old  tent he lived in. And, where do "I" go when my body begins to shut down for the last time? Where will the real  you go when it happens to you?

We downsized several years ago. From a house with a lot of bedrooms for our six children, who have now all moved away, to one of those nice little two bedroom senior citizen places. We had some yard sales and gave away a lot of treasures that we never used. Although it is called “downsizing,” even that is only a brief stopping place on our way to the small box we will ultimately occupy. However, I don't think the real “me” will ever inhabit any 7 foot casket or urn on a shelf. My empty shell might, but the real me has left that house for good. I'll be gone and I won't be coming back. Here is how Paul the Apostle put it.

^{2CO 5:1-10} Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

JUPITER AND BLIND MEN

Jupiter is a really, really BIG planet! It is so big that some 1,300 "Earth's" could fit into it. That is really, really, really big.

I drove from El Paso to Houston one day. I left at 8:00 in the morning and got into Houston at 11:30 at night. I thought Texas was really, really big (and flat too). A few years later, I flew from Los Angeles to Miami and then on to Santiago, Chile and I thought our planet Earth was really, really big.

But Jupiter is huge! The State of Texas would be just a fly speck upon its surface. It might take you a month to fly around it's equatorial bulge. But, did you know that despite Jupiter's large size, it is far too small to become a star. By comparison, our own medium size Sun could contain 1,000,000 Earths, not the mere 1,300 Earths that we could put into Jupiter. If you really want to talk big, very big, the largest "big" in the universe and the largest (at the moment) accurately determined stellar mass of a star, known as V382 Cygni, is 27 times that of our own Sun. You will have to figure out how many Earth's would fit into V382 Cygni. I think it comes out to about 27,000,000. If you have a hard time figuring out a God who created an ant or an elephant, how do you handle a God who creates V382 Cygni. Maybe it is easier to say, "Well, it must have all just happened." I know what you are thinking. You are saying, "It is just too hard for me to believe some 'God' out there created all this stuff." But those seem to be our only two choices wouldn't you say; a God who created, or random chance acts that produced it all.

If there is a God who created our universe and wants to involve Himself in our lives – should we not pay attention to Him.

Bartimaeus was a blind man (Matt. 10:46). Now, the eye is a marvelous organ in the animal kingdom, absolutely unique in many species, providing sight to all kinds of creatures from bees to eagles to elephants to the octopus, and of course to mankind. The human eye provides one of the five senses that allow us to enjoy life to its fullest. From seeing the hues of the rainbow and flower beds, to watching the movements of people as we extend a hand or wink an eye. This son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadway to Jericho when he made such a racket that Jesus who was walking by turned aside and asked him what he wanted. The answer came back, "I want to see again." And Jesus said, "Your faith has made you whole." And immediately this blind beggar could see. I like the word "immediately" here. It did not take 3 months of applying a "miracle" cream, or 2 weeks of facial exercises. No, it was immediately. Now, you could say that Jesus created such an emotional moment Bartimaeus body just went into overload status, or Jesus hit him behind the head in just the right spot to move a damaged nerve, but that seems far fetched don't you think. Almost as far fetched as a man saying "Your faith has made you whole." and the man immediately being able to see.

If there is a God who came to Earth and creates sight in those who call upon His name – should we not pay attention to Him.

Lazarus was dead. His cold lifeless body lay in the tomb for four days. His sisters said, "Leave him be, by this time he smells." I suppose people could be sick and comatose for a day or two and then miraculously appear at the front door of their tomb. But Lazarus had been tightly wrapped in the cloth burial windings of death with spices. He had been ritually prepared for the typical Jewish burial. And, here comes this itinerant preacher, the supposed son of a carpenter, named Jesus, standing at the entrance to the tomb and saying, "Lazarus, come forth." Folks, I have been to a lot of funerals in my 62 years. I have never seen or heard anyone stand up and say something like that. And, I have never seen anyone laid out in their coffin move as much as an eyelash, no matter who was saying anything about them, good or bad. I think most of us know that dead is dead, that when you are finally four days gone, you are really finally gone, and you won't be back. Well, I don't know whether I would rather have been inside the tomb and watched Lazarus begin to rise and move toward the voice of the one who spoke the command, or outside the tomb watching everyone when Lazarus came out of the tomb. Either way, it would have made the goosebumps run wild on that day, and many days yet to come. I don't think I could ever have looked at Lazarus the same way again. I guess you could say he was in a coma or something for four days. Maybe you could say as in Romeo and Juliet someone slipped him a potion that put him out for four days. I suppose that is easier than saying Jesus showed up and told this dead body to rise again. It makes the 11th chapter of the Gospel of John one of my favorites.

If there is a God who makes the dead to live again – should we not pay attention to Him.

Nicodemus is a unique person in scripture. Like all of us, he was blind and he was dead, yet he knew it not. He represented all of us the night he came to see Jesus. He was Religious and Respectable, yet did not know how to really please God and to be accepted into His kingdom. To Nicodemus Jesus uttered the most profound words ever heard by human ear, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3). People have not liked those words from the time they were first spoken some 2000 years ago. The words basically imply that "what we are" is not enough. That what we "do" will never measure up. That it will take something else, delivered by Someone Else, to make up the difference.

Boy, do good people, particularly religious people, have a hard time with this. So, Nicodemus is a good example for us. He was ultra religious, and he was a very good man – but that was not going to be enough to make him "right" with God. He had to also be "born again." The obvious question then is, "how do I become born again?" Well, you can read the rest of the 3rd Chapter of John in the New Testament to figure that one out. It is like I always told my kids, "the light bulb may be perfect in every way, but if there is no light switch thrown so the electricity can flow through the filament, that light bulb is never going to be "born again." It is a useless and (spiritually) dead light bulb. Corny, but true. God must throw the switch so His spiritual electricity and energy can flow in you and through you to cause you to be "born again." And, you will know when it happens to you.

If there is a God who wants to breathe life into all who are spiritually dead – you should make sure it happens to you.

Just think, the same energy that created the universe, made a blind man see, and brought a dead man out of his tomb, is the very same energy that God brings into our lives to transform a spiritually dead man or woman into a new creation in Christ Jesus. It's hard to explain being "born again" to people who have not had the experience. But, that is the beauty of the experience. It is like watching your first child being born. It is better felt, than telt as they say.

And it is the difference between life, and death, for each of us.

ABSOLUTES

Do absolutes still exist?

I've always been intrigued by the Biblical statement that the promises of God are "Yea and Amen."

God's attitude toward us is "I'm for you." He wants to be a positive force for good in our lives. Unconverted people spend an awful lot of time saying "No" to God. Like they are protecting some valuable treasure from Ghenghis Khan or something.

In reality, they are keeping some old smelly garbage in a back room of their minds and they don't have a clue as to the rotten odor permeating their lives. But, folks who have encountered God along the way and have become a part of His family are more than happy to have Him open the doors and windows and throw the smelly old garbage out.

In dealing with God there is only "Yes" or "No." There are no "maybe's," no "Yes, buts," no "wait a minute God." It is all "Yes" or "No." It is always, "Today is the day of salvation." It is always, "Now is the accepted time."

Why in the world does it take so long for us to just say Yes to God? As time passes I find that it gets easier and easier to say Yes and Yes and Yes. How can you fight with the guy who owns the universe? Can you imagine an ant looking up at you and mouthing the words, "You can't step on me?"

The other day I read again a scripture passage saying that God spoke the worlds into existence, and that they are sustained and upheld by his Word. Have you ever thought about God's "speaking" the worlds into existence? Do you think he used a whisper? Or, if he shouted a "creation command" into the blackness, how loud would God's voice be to create a sun, a star, a universe? Would you like to be on the receiving end when God spoke a universe into being?

Remember when Jesus was asked by the frightened disciples to take care of the storm-tossed boat on the Sea of Galilee; Jesus got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Same stuff as creation: God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit speak, and the creation trembles and obeys. And, puny weak mankind keeps on thumbing our collective noses at the creator of the universe while hiding our garbage pile and pretending that it is some great treasure.

Absolutes aren't what they used to be. At least we pretend that they aren't. When in college we used to play around with the idea that a rabbit who kept jumping only one half the distance toward a goal line would never reach the goal. Or, whether "2 + 2 = 4" was really true when using "higher" math. Or, whether you morally could lie to the German Gestapo in order to protect escapees from the Auschwitz death camp.

But God is not a man that he should lie. He is "Yes," and he expects a "Yes" from his creation. I have a hard time under standing how in the world we can tell God, either in person or by our actions, to mind his own business.

You see, we are his business.

IT FELL FROM THE SKY

How in the world can you trust a God who appears to be capricious, arbitrary, and judgmental?

A young girl was offered a New Testament from the Gideons at school one day. At first, she refused. But when all of her friends took one, she took one, also. Taking the Testament home, she knew her father would not approve of the holy book. When she arrived home, she placed it on the kitchen table where she knew he would see it. When her father came home and saw the Testament on the table, he told her that the book was forbidden in his house. He then took the Testament outside and threw it up on the roof of the house.

Years later the girl married and left her father’s house. Within a year, she was pregnant and no longer was with her husband. She hoped her father would let her stay in his house. When she arrived at the house, no one was home. She sat down on the front porch to wait. Then the wind became stronger and a little book fell into her lap. Now worn and tattered, it was her New Testament that her father had thrown up on the roof years earlier. She opened it and began to read. Within a short time, she found that she needed this Jesus the book talked about. She then gave her life to Christ.

Shortly after, her family returned and her father allowed her to move into the house. That very night, the girl told her father about the little Testament and how it had fallen into her lap. Her father looked at the book and decided that since it had fallen from heaven that it was a gift from God. He began to read it over a period of time and eventually he accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior. And the rest of the family living there eventually did the same.

MOVE OVER JOB

When Job's three friends arrived to comfort him, Job was sitting on the ground amidst the ashes and scraping his body sores with a broken piece of pottery.

His vast financial holdings, his family, and his health were all destroyed and ruined, sending him to sit upon the ash heap. His wife suggested that he curse God and die. His friends sought to find the sin in his life that caused his troubles. Job cursed the day of his birth, but also said, "Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?"

At different times in my life, I thought Job might be my blood relative. When my children began working through their teen-age years I knew we were somehow related. I don't think anyone really appreciates the life of Job until troubles arise and afflict the righteous.

People always have a hard time when bad things happen to good people, especially to you and to me. But, good people do get cancer, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and polio. Missionaries in God's service have buried their children and spouses on foreign soil. I saw a beautiful Christian slowly die with AIDS contracted from a blood transfusion. Suffering always claims innocent victims too: husbands and wives, children, friends and neighbors - these people suffer together with the afflicted one.

What wrong did a three year old child commit whose mother contracted breast cancer and died? In this area there is a lot of speech and dialogue - most of it is not very comforting. Like Job's friends, everyone has a theory as to why bad things happen to good people. But, this is an arena where the afflicted person walks alone, really alone, humanly speaking. Only God can walk beside the suffering Job's of this world. Only God can bring relief, comfort and affirmation when the sky is dark and the situation is hopeless. The problem is that we really don't know what to say or think when tragedy crosses the path of good people. After all, we expect God to treat us differently than the wicked, don't we?

But, as you survey the lives of the men and women of the Bible, you discover that heartache came to all of them; no one completely escapes affliction, adversity, and hard times. And then God adds insult to injury. He does a "Manasseh" on us (c.f. II Chronicles 33:19). He takes utterly wicked and evil people and saves them - murderers, rapists, drug addicts, people deserving every punishment known to man and God. He redeems and saves them - bringing them into the very kingdom of heaven and bestowing blessing upon their lives, while people whom we perceive as "good" continue to suffer affliction.

Jesus said, "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be." Jesus died on a cross for you, you will never give that much! Eternity is not 70 years long, nor is it played out on this terrestrial globe. No, eternity is spent with the one who formed you, the one who died for you, the one who will return for you.

So, be of good cheer. You haven't gotten to the last page of the book yet!