Seeing Me Safely Home

 

A group of travelers were on an airplane as it went through a violent storm. The plane was rocking and shaking, raising, and dropping, and the passengers were becoming increasingly disturbed. Among them was a preacher. This “man of God” who was expected to be a rock of stability and example of calm was becoming restlessly afraid himself. What words of strength could he offer to his fellow travelers in the midst of this danger and frightful situation? None, for he was too scared himself. The preacher noticed a young boy across the aisle sitting calmly in his seat, seemingly unbothered by the terrible storm. He asked, “Young man, are you not scared in this storm?” The boy answered, “Oh, I’m not afraid at all.” The preacher pondered his statement and decided to ask, “Well, why is it that your not afraid?” The boy looked at the preacher and said, “My father is the pilot of this plane and he promised to get me safely home. So, I’m not worried, because I know he will take care of me.” Do you trust that your Heavenly Father is caring for you?

A man and his son walked across a long narrow bridge. It spanned a broad river and the boy said, “Daddy, I’m afraid. Do you see all that water down there?” The father took note of his son’s concern and said, “Give me your hand, son.” The moment the boy felt his father’s hand, he was no longer afraid. In the evening on their trek home, they had to cross the bridge again only this time it was pitch dark. “Now I’m more afraid than this morning!” the boy cried out. The father took the boy in his arms, and while carrying him across the bridge the boy fell asleep, exhausted from the long day of adventure, to awaken the next day in his own bed. Is this what it’s like for the believing, faithful Christian, when death overtakes them? One falls asleep and wakes up at Home. Something to think about.

[Psalm 19] Perhaps at some time in your life you stopped to admire a sunset – all the wonderful colors glossing into a farewell for the day; Venus begins shining brightly in the evening sky, almost calling to the other lesser lights. Or perhaps there was a time when you stood at the edge of a lake as morning was just beginning to break – there was a faint mist rising from the ground and water that gave everything a slightly ethereal look; the sound of birds beginning to sing and the odd animal moving through the underbrush or splash­ing in the water. In either of these scenar­ios a believer is awe-struck at the beauty given by God, and more so the fact that some people just cannot see the hand of God moving in this world. Perhaps there was a time in your life when you knew there was going to be a difficult road ahead, something you knew had to be done but you didn’t want to do it; but then, your mind went back to Jesus in the Garden and you read one of the accounts in the Gospels … your eyes lingering on the words, “Not my will, by Thy will be done.” Maybe there was a time when you stood by an open grave and someone in a dark suit began to read a passage that was all too familiar at a time like this; your eyes be­ginning to burn with tears as the words mingle with the smell of flowers and fresh earth, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want …” The natural world screams in its beauty and complexity, “God made me! I am a witness to the greatness of the Lord!” The Scriptures witness to the awesome fact that God loves us enough to leave a mes­sage that would guide and enlighten all His children. (2 Timothy 1:12; 1 Peter 5:6-7; Hebrews 13:5-6; Psalm 46:1-2) You and I may confront many storms in life. Sometimes the violent crashes fall all around us, and we’ll be tempted to be afraid. But we must remember, as Christians, that during our pilgrimage through this world, our Father is in charge. He is taking care of us. He is watching over us, and He will see us safely home! All Aboard!

Don't Ruin It For Others

 

Have you ever considered the repercussions caused by the actions of your life upon others in the world? I’ve been sitting on a few short anecdotes I’d like to knit together in an attempt to illustrate my thought of personal impacts that could shift the lives of others.

Did you know that Abraham Lincoln went into the general store business with another fellow and it failed? Lincoln ended up $1,100 in debt. He could have pleaded divided responsibility and found a legal loophole of escape but that wasn’t Lincoln’s way. Instead, he went to his creditors and promised to pay them every dollar with interest if they would just give him some time. Then for the next 14 years Lincoln scraped, saved, and paid back debts that were not all his. Even when he was a member of congress, he sent part of his salary home to pay off the last remnants of that old general store debt. “Honest Abe” went the extra mile. You know when you’re dishonest you’ll always get caught, but when you insist on being honest even though you’ve got to go the extra mile to do it, you will have a clear conscious and perhaps become President someday.

Oscar Wilde said, “Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.” I’m sure you know what he was talking about. Those folks of whom your best memory involves a door swinging shut as they walk out of it. Yet they may not be the most damaging of folks. It’s those that leave, yet somehow still remain. People whose caustic words sting even after the sound has died away. There’s the person whose bad performance makes everyone question if the job is valid in the first place. A false teacher whose lies still confuse even after they’ve moved down the road. They leave a stain behind that someone else has to clean up. You can’t do much about those people, but you can make sure you’re not one of them. Instead of going out with a thud, leave on a high note. Make a mark, not a stain. Leave a good taste in their mouth, not an unpleasant one. When you fellowship and share try to make others better, not bitter.

A story is told of a young sailor who called his parents from San Diego upon his return from Vietnam. He said he was bringing his buddy home with him. “Mom”, he began, “My buddy is pretty broken up. He was severely wounded, has only one leg, one arm, and one eye.” After a long pause, his mother said, “Of course, son, he can stay with us – a little while.” Her voice carried the note that she would not like to be burdened for long with such a handicapped person. Three days later the parents received word that their son had jumped to his death from a hotel window. When they received his body for burial, they discovered their son had only one leg… one arm… and one eye.

[1 Peter 3:8-16] There’s a lot of bad news out there. The stock market is in trouble, thousands of jobs are on the line, and threats of terrorism are shadowed in the background. And we each have our own personal pain and problems to contend with – financial, physical, medical, and relationship problems touch us all from time to time. Bad news always comes from the world and always will as long as the earth exists.

The good news is, God’s “Good News” lasts forever! And we should rejoice in it always (Philippians 4:4). The good news takes care of life’s biggest problem: sin and its terrible results. The Bible says that love should be our highest aim in life, which will help keep us from sinning. Love is the basic need of human nature. God’s love gives us hope, and the promise of eternal joy. When we share God’s love with others, we honestly share His grace with a clear conscience, improving the lives of others as well as our own. So be encouraged. God’s “Good News” is victorious over all bad news. Love and live as Christ.

Caring Less Without Dad

 

The two-ton elephant in the room today is the socialized technological WWIII we are all engaged in, whether one wants to admit it or not. The top three deplorable practices of this war are propaganda, euthanasia, and abortion - all aimed at population control. I guess it’s true – “Those who do not learn history (or choose to ignore it) are doomed to repeat it.”

Alexander the Great, Rome, Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, China’s Mao Tse Tung, Cambodia’s Pol Pot, Castro, Che Guevara, Nicolae Ceausescu...all have innocent blood on their hands and are rightly denounced. We correctly condemn their butchery. Yet, in the United States, since 1973, over 70 million innocent lives have been killed by abortion!!!!!

The abortion issue seems to center upon whether the fetus is a living person or just a part of the mother. If it is a person, aborting the fetus is murder. If it is just a part of the mother, aborting the fetus is just a procedure. There is a broad gap between the two ideas.

Questions? * Does a body part resemble an entire human being and have a tiny little face? * Does a body part have a heart and a brain? * Does a body part cry out when it is cut out? * Does a body part live after it is removed? * Does a body part have a soul - a spirit? * Does a body part get a name before it is removed? * Does a body part kick its "mother" in the womb and look like a human in an ultrasound? * Does a body part cry for help with a mother wanting to hold and nurture it? * Does a body part, being removed, cause guilt and shame? * Does a body part have millions fighting for its right to live? Who can honestly answer these questions and say that a fetus (child) removed from the mother's womb through abortion is just a body part? That is a lie, and everyone knows it. The baby in the womb is as much a child as an eagle is an eagle while still in the egg. Yet we make laws to protect eagle eggs and make other laws to allow the murder of our children.

 [Proverbs 6:16-19] Our elected officials who make the laws and those who support them ought to be ashamed. The doctors and nurses who carry out the abortion procedures should be ashamed. Any mother who aborts her child should be ashamed. We are a confused and evil nation. We need to repent of this national disgrace and fight for the lives of those tiny, unborn human beings.

Empathy is the ability to feel for others. It’s what makes us care about each other as people and forms the roots of compassion and love. In a world that struggles with bullying, anger, and coldness, you could imagine why people want to know how to build it. Richard Koestner, a psychologist at McGill University was attempting to do just that. He looked and found a study that had been conducted at Yale University back in the 1950s. It involved 75 men and women who had been part of a study when they were children. When Koestner and his colleagues examined all the factors in the children's lives that might have affected how empathetic they became as adults, one factor dwarfed all others—how much time their fathers spent with them. They were expecting other factors, such as how affectionate parents were with their children, would have been a key factor. In reality, it made no difference. Just spending time with Dad did. Fathers play a vital role in the lives of their children. Many of the issues our world faces today are directly related to the lack fathers have in the lives of their children. Fathers are to be examples of discipline (Hebrews 12:9-11) and spiritual instruction (Ephesians 6:4) to their offspring. Fathers can’t do it if they aren’t around. If we what to have quality children, it starts with quality time - with them. You can’t have quality time without quantity time. If you want children to care, you need to show them how much you care. When children care, unwanted pregnancies will cease, and abortion will be un-needed.

Seeing A Need and Giving a Hand

 

The following excerpts are actual answers given on tests and in Sunday School quizzes by children of the 5^th and 6^th grades in Ohio. They were collected by two teachers over a period of three years. * Ancient Egypt was old. It was inhabited by gypsies and mummies who all wrote in hydraulics. They lived in the Sahara Dessert. The climate of the Sahara is such that all the inhabitants have to live elsewhere. * Moses led the Hebrew slaves to the Red Sea where they made unleavened bread, which is bread made without any ingredients. Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the ten commandos. He died before he ever reached Canada, but the commandos made it. * Solomon had three hundred wives and seven hundred porcupines. He was an actual hysterical figure as well as being in the Bible. It sounds like he was sort of busy too. * The Greeks are a highly sculptured people, and without them we wouldn’t have history. The Greeks also had myths. A myth is a young female moth. * Socrates was a famous old Greek teacher who went around giving people advice. They killed him. He later died from an overdose of wedlock which is apparently poisonous. After his death his career suffered a dramatic decline. * Julius Caesar extinguished himself on the battlefields of Gaul. The Ides of March murdered him because hey thought he was going to be made king. Dying, he gasped out, “Same to you, Brutus.” Joan of Arc was burned at the steak and was canonized by Bernard Shaw for reasons I really don’t understand. The English and French still have problems. * It was an age of great inventions and discoveries. Gutenberg invented removable type and the Bible. Another important invention was the circulation of blood. * Sir Frances Drake circumcised the world with a 100-foot clipper which was very dangerous to all his men. * Johann Bach wrote a great many musical compositions and had a large number of children. In between he practiced on an old spinster which he kept up in his attic. Bach died from 1750 until the present. Bach was the most famous composer in the world and so was Handel. Handel was half German, half Italian, and half English. He was very large. * Beethoven wrote music even though he was deaf. He was so deaf that he wrote loud music and became the father of rock and roll. He took long walks in the forest even when everyone was calling for him. Beethoven expired in 1827 and later died for this.

[Galatians 6:2] When I was a young boy, I remember the death of a funeral director in our city. To a young mind this seemed strange, almost impossible. He was the one who was supposed to be there when other people died. He wasn’t supposed to die himself. And now his family needed the services of an undertaker. “What will they do? How do they know what to do? Can it be done?” were questions that ran through my mind. Have you ever wondered who cuts your barber’s or hair stylist’s hair? To whom does your doctor go when illness strikes? Who puts the filings in your dentist’s teeth (in case they fail to follow the instructions given to you)? When a tow truck breaks down can the driver call for a tow? Yes, those who usually serve, at times, need to be served. This is just as true in the church as it is in the world. Remember that Paul admonished us to, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” What about the person you usually rely on for support? Do you try to observe moments when you can serve him or her? There are times they need you – don’t you know. All of us, including elders, deacons, preachers, and their families, plus everyone in your life need someone to talk with, cry with, laugh with – somebody who has no particular agenda than simply to care for and be concerned for others. Are your eyes open to the needs of others or just fixed on your own needs?