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What’s Your Choice?

March 21, 2013 in Daily Faith with 0 Comments

English: Atlas statue at Rockefeller Center in New York City. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In New York City on 5^th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan there are two statues across the street from each other. On one side of the street is Rockefeller Center. Out front of the building known today as 30 Rock, is the famous statue of Atlas holding up the world. With every muscle of his perfectly formed body taught with strain, he holds the world on his shoulders. You can see the burden of all the world’s weight coming down upon him in his furrowed brow.

Across the street is Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. Behind the high alter is a shrine of the boy Jesus. There is a statue of Jesus, perhaps eight or nine, holding the world with no effort in the palm of his hand.

Comparing the two statues: how stressed Atlas looks with the world’s weight and how peaceful is the face of our Lord.

What a powerful illustration of the choice we all have to make. We can try to carry the world with all its burdens, worries and cares on our shoulders or we can give them to Jesus and let Him carry them in His hands.

On our shoulders the burdens of the world can be overwhelming. In His hands, they seem small. On our shoulders we strain and fall. In His hands, He holds them effortlessly.

We all have burdens in this world. We have struggles and problems. But we all have a choice in what we do with them. We can keep them on our shoulders and let them weigh us down and stress us out. Or we can put them in the hands of Jesus and experience His peace.

^“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, ⁷ casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”

1 Peter 5:6–7 (NKJV)

Weave the Tatters

March 20, 2013 in Daily Faith with 0 Comments

A devout Amish woman once said, “I seem to create so much of my life the way I fashion my rugs; from leftover remnants and tatters of whole days. How seldom we have days that are in one piece, unmarred by intrusions and interruptions. We find ourselves having to take a sliver of time to read a story to our child, a scrap of a moment there to make a call, another ragged piece of an hour to mow the lawn or hem a dress, a discarded handful of minutes to write a note.

“Yet when we take them all and dye them in the bright colors of our love, sew them together with the strong cord of devotion and plait them faithfully through the weeks, what delightful things have been fashioned.”

I found these words very convicting. How often I try to find the “perfect” time to do things or say that I have no time. How many times have I become overly frustrated when my plans didn’t work out. I keep waiting for a whole big piece of cloth out of which I can cut my day, but it never seems to come.

Yet, I also found these words comforting. I no longer need to feel guilty or frustrated because I don’t have the big piece of time. I need to take the advice of the Amish woman and weave the tatters and then see what God will fashion.

“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”

Ephesians 5:15–16, (NIV)

Becoming Possible!

March 19, 2013 in Daily Faith with 0 Comments

The teacher asked the students in her class what each wanted to become when they grew up. One answered, “President.” Another said, “a fireman.” While one responded, “a teacher.” One by one they answered until it became Billy’s time.
The teacher asked, “Billy, what do you want to be when you grow up?”
“Possible,” Billy responded.
“Possible?” asked the teacher.
“Yes,” Billy said, “my mom is always telling me I’m impossible. When I grow up I want to become POSSIBLE.”
Isn’t this our own dream? Everywhere we turn the world is telling us that we are impossible. The world tells us that our dreams are impossible. We are told what we can’t do or what we can’t be.
The good news of the Gospel is that God says we are POSSIBLE. He tells us that through His love and His power all things are possible for us. We can be all that He intended us to be, which is far more than we ever dreamed. All we need to do is to turn our lives over to Him and commit our lives to Him and He will make us POSSIBLE.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” — 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

Get the Whole Message!

April 6, 2012 in Daily Faith with 0 Comments

Historians tell us how the news of the battle of Waterloo came to England. There were no cables and telegrams in those days, so they used a system of signal flags called semaphore. Messages were sent one letter at a time.

A sailing ship would be sent to England from the battle and they would semaphore news to a signalman on top of Winchester Cathedral in London. He signaled to another man on a hill outside the city. The message was relayed across England from hill to hill.

Everyone knew that Wellington and his army were facing Napoleon in a great battle. They waited eagerly for the message. At last, the ship came into view and the signalman started the message. The first word was “Wellington.” The second word, “defeated,” was slowly spelled out. ” Just as the second word was finished being sent, a dense fog rolled in and the ship could no longer be seen. “Wellington defeated.” was the message that was sent across England. A despairing sense of doom came over all over England.

About three hours later the fog lifted and the ship could be seen. The message was sent again. “Wellington defeated” were the first words that came, but this time the message continued, “the enemy.” All of England rejoiced. Their sorrow turned to joy.

As we look at the cross, we see defeat. The torture and the agony of death that Jesus suffered seem tragic. The message of that Friday sounds like, “Jesus defeated.” The Easter comes and the fog of despair is blown away and we get the whole message, “Jesus defeated the enemy.”

So often, as we face the problems and frustrations of life, there is a fog that rolls over us. We cannot see the whole message and we think we are defeated. We often become discouraged and filled with despair. Let us remember that the difficulties of this life are but the pain and sorrow of Friday but the message of Easter is that Jesus has defeated the enemy and that the victory has been won.

Invite Me In!

April 5, 2012 in Church Life, Videos with 0 Comments

The Power of Temptation

May 31, 2011 in Daily Faith with 1 Comment

J. R. R. Tolkien, the author of The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, made clear in his private writings he intended to proclaim a Christian message through his fictional writings.

The message is difficult to miss even in the film version. As I watched the second film, The Two Towers, I was amazed at how strong this message comes across. There is more than just a struggle between good and evil. It is the choices between life and death.

One scene that reoccurs with different characters is when they are confronted with the ring. The ring is evil, but more so. It is death and destruction. It is power, power to destroy, and yet, it holds a power to lure even the most innocent. Each character even longs for it. They desire it and reach for it. Some call the ring, “Precious.” Even Froddo, the most innocent of heart, finds himself changed by the power of the ring. To give in to the ring brings destruction. Not that it brings instant death, but that it decays and twists what was meant to be. The pure becomes wicked. The beautiful becomes hideous.

Isn’t that the power of temptation for us. It causes what is evil to become precious to us. It plants a desire for what will destroy us. Every day I see the devastating effect of temptation upon our world. In the newspaper, in the faces that I see and even in the mirror.

How do we overcome it? Not from our own willpower. It must come from the power of God working in us and that comes from His Word. In Psalm 119:11 (NLT), it states, “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” Even Jesus, when faced with temptation, used Scripture to deal with it.

What evil is luring you today? What is it, other than God, that you call “Precious?” Start putting God’s Word in your life and let It do Its work.

STAYING POWER

April 29, 2011 in Daily Faith with 1 Comment

Hank Aaron

Jim Greengrass

As baseball season has started, I want to share one of my favorite baseball stories.

On opening day of the 1954 baseball season, the Milwaukee Braves visited the Cincinnati Reds. Two rookies began their major league careers with that game. The Reds won 9-8 as Jim Greengrass hit four doubles in his first big-league game. A sensational debut for a young player with a made-for-baseball name!

The rookie starting in left field for the Milwaukee Braves went 0 for 5. Not much of a start for a young player named Henry Aaron.

What an interesting contrast. Jim Greengrass, who began with a great burst of glory, soon faded into obscurity. Henry Aaron, whose beginning left much to be desired, went on to become one of the greats of the game.

This contrast points out a very important truth. It is not how you begin that makes the difference, but where you end up. Thomas Edison was once asked the secret of his success and he replied, “I start where other men give up.” It is “staying power” that makes the difference.

The same is true of the Christian life. It matters little how your life in Christ began, whether at a revival service or on a retreat or in your bathtub. The difference is not in how dramatic a beginning you had, but in how faithful you are. What kind of staying power do you have? Are you holding on? Are you walking with Him each day?

Anyone can make a great start, but only the faithful have an impact in life.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. ” (Hebrews 12:1–3, NIV)

The War Is Finally Over!

April 26, 2011 in Daily Faith with 0 Comments

Hiroo Onada, 1944

On March 10, 1974, Lt. Hiroo Onada was the last World War II Japanese soldier to surrender.

Onada had been left on the island Lubang in the Philippines on December 25, 1944, with the command to “carry on the mission even if Japan surrenders.” Three other Japanese soldiers were left on the island as Japan evacuated Lubang. One soldier surrendered in 1950. Another was killed in a skirmish with local police in 1954. Another was killed in 1972. Onada continued his war alone.

All efforts to convince him to surrender or to capture him failed. He ignored messages from loudspeakers announcing Japan’s surrender and that Japan was now an ally of the United States. Leaflets were dropped over the jungle begging him to surrender so he could return to Japan. He refused to believe or surrender.

Over the years he lived off the land and raided the fields and gardens of local citizens. He was responsible for killing at least 30 nationals during his 29 year personal war. Almost a half million dollars was spent trying to locate and convince him to surrender. 13,000 men were used to try to locate him.

Finally, on March 10, 1974, almost 30 years after World War II ended, Onada surrendered his rusty sword after receiving a personal command from his former superior officer, who read the terms of the cease-fire order. Onada handed his sword to President Marcos, who pardoned him. The war was over.

Hiroo Onada, 1974

Onada was 22-years-old when left on the island. He returned a prematurely aged man of 52. Onada stated, “Nothing pleasant happened in the 29 years in the jungle.”

Like Onada, many people are still fighting a lonely war against their sin. Struggling with sin and shame. Living a meager life from the scraps of religious duty and obligations. Hoping that will help them get by. Inflicting pain and hardship on others because of their own misery. Like Onada, nothing pleasant ever happens.

The message of Easter is that the war is over. The battle has been won. No longer do we need to hide. We can come out of the jungles of our own making. We can give up our rusty swords of defensiveness and unforgiveness. We can return to the our home and enjoy the blessings of pardon and freedom.

The message of Easter is that we are finally free. Christ has conquered sin and death. Let us rejoice.

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. ” (Romans 8:1–2, NIV)

That’s My King! video

April 24, 2011 in Daily Faith, Videos with 0 Comments

Will You Shout?

April 20, 2011 in Daily Faith with 0 Comments

W. E. Sangster

Margaret Sangster Phippen wrote that in the mid 1950s her father, British Methodist minister W. E. Sangster, began to notice some uneasiness in his throat and a dragging in his leg. When he went to the doctor, he found that he had an incurable disease that caused progressive muscular atrophy. His muscles would gradually waste away, his voice would fail, his throat would soon become unable to swallow.

Sangster threw himself into his work in British home missions, figuring he could still write and he would have even more time for prayer. “Let me stay in the struggle Lord,” he pleaded. “I don’t mind if I can no longer be a general, but give me just a regiment to lead.” He wrote articles and books, and helped organize prayer cells throughout England. “I’m only in the kindergarten of suffering,” he told people who pitied him.

Gradually Sangster’s legs became useless. His voice went completely. But he could still hold a pen, shakily. On Easter morning, just a few weeks before he died, he wrote a letter to his daughter. In it, he said, “It is terrible to wake up on Easter morning and have no voice to shout, ‘He is risen!’–but it would be still more terrible to have a voice and not want to shout.”

Nest Sunday is Easter. This day is the cornerstone of our faith. Because of Easter, disciples through the centuries gladly faced trials and struggles, persecution and hardship. They boldly proclaimed the good news of the resurrection because they knew that Easter changed everything. Without a risen Christ, everything about Jesus would be pointless. Without Easter, we would have no message to proclaim, no hope for our future, and no salvation from our sins.

But because of Easter we have all that and more. The Resurrection made Easter different from every other day, because it made every other day different as well. We now have hope. We now have joy. We now have life! No longer do we live in sin and despair. No longer do we live in shame and sorrow. We now have courage to face all this world throws at us.

Why wouldn’t we shout?

HE IS RISEN!

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