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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!

Washed Away

April 5, 2011 in Daily Faith with 0 Comments

Paper is such a common item today. Writing paper is inexpensive. Notepads are given away by businesses. We rarely concern ourselves with throwing away or recycling paper.

This was not always the case. In Biblical times, paper as we know it didn’t exist. Parchment was the most common used material used for writing documents. However, it was expensive. It was made from animal skins, but it was not tanned as is leather.

Because of its expense, it was often used multiple times. This was made possible because the inks of that day did not contain acid as inks today. Therefore, all one needed to do in order to reuse a parchment was to wash off the ink and let the parchment dry.

This was often done when a debt was paid. The debt was simply washed away. The record was cancelled.

What a picture of what God does with us. In Isaiah 43:25, Isaiah writes the words of God, “I—yes, I alone—am the one who blots out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.” (NLT)

And centuries later, Peter, after being filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke these words, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, ” (Acts 3:19, NIV84)

The message is simple. Jesus took the record of our sins and wiped it clean. When we trust in Him, we are forgiven. Our sins are washed away.

The Cross Not the Scales

April 1, 2011 in Daily Faith with 0 Comments

Because of recent events, there has been much interest in the religion of Islam. Sales of the Islamic scripture known as the Qur’an have been record setting. Many people have wondered about the differences between Islam and Christianity. We both believe in the one God of the universe. We both claim Abraham as our spiritual ancestor. So, what is the difference?

John Stott, in his book, Authentic Christianity, states this one critical difference. “The repeated promises in the Qur’an of the forgiveness of a compassionate and merciful Allah are all made to the meritorious, whose merits have been weighed in Allah’s scales, whereas the gospel is good news of mercy to the undeserving. The symbol of the religion of Jesus is the cross, not the scales.”

The Cross is the one critical difference between Christianity and all other religions. All other religions admit that the human race has a problem with sin, but none have a solution that is so complete and final as the Cross. With all other religions, one must wait until death to see if you made it. One has to wait until that final breath to see if the scales will tip in their favor. The guilt and shame are never wiped out. There is no certainty of hope in life.

But the Christian’s forgiveness was settled once and for all on that Cross. No more guilt. No more shame. Just joy, peace and everlasting life. The Cross is the difference. It is the difference between Christianity and all other religions. It is the difference between sin and forgiveness. It is the difference between life and death. It is the cross and not the scales that make the difference in not only in our future but in our lives today.

“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” (Ephesians 2:8–9, NLT)

Hope In the Cross

March 31, 2011 in Daily Faith with 0 Comments

The Russian author and Pulitzer Prize winner, Alexander Solzhenitsyn spent several years in a Soviet prison camp doing hard labor. He was sent there because of comments he made about Stalin and the conduct of the war.
He tells of a time in the camp. After months and months of working twelve hours a day and being depleted physically and worn out, he said the doctors started predicting his death at any time. One day he was shoveling sand, and he became so weary that he said he decided he would just put his shovel in the ground and lean against it and take a few seconds of rest. He knew that doing so would surely result in a beating and, that a beating would probably kill him. He was so tired that he didn’t care. He propped his body against the shovel and gave up.
Immediately another prisoner came to his side. The man took the shovel and in the sand scratched the form of the cross. The man immediately covered up the cross because the guards were coming and would beat them if they saw it.
But Solzhenitsyn said that in those five seconds of looking in the sand and seeing the cross filled him with hope. He took the shovel and went back to work, not because of fear from the guards or beating, but from strength of hope, a hope given to him by the cross.

Christ never meant his form of death to become merely decoration. It was meant to be, as it was to Solzhenitsyn, a source of hope. It is a source of hope because the instrument of the greatest tragedy became the symbol of the greatest victory. The place where God was the weakest is where He showed His greatest power. And because of His strength, we find strength.
All of us will face times of hopelessness and discouragement. The difference for us in those times will be where we look. If we look within ourselves or to those around us, we will lose heart and give up. But if we look to the cross, like Solzhenitsyn, we will find the hope even in the midst of the most hopeless times.

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ” (1 Corinthians 1:18, NIV84)

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