"Then Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the law. Then he said to them, “Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved.” All the people went away to eat, to drink, to send portions and to celebrate a great festival, because they understood the words which had been made known to them. "(Nehemiah 8:9-12)
The Israelites had been in captivity for 70 years in the land of Babylon and now they were allowed to return home to the land of promise to begin rebuilding the temple and also to re-establish their customs and laws (ways of relating to God). As their law was read by the scribe (Ezra), the people began to weep and grieve remembering what "should have been had they never left the Kingdom of God----their promised land. Nehemiah, their leader (governor) told them not to weep...for the Joy of the Lord is your strength. It is significant that they were beginning to rebuild their kingdom after being in exile (in a foreign land) for a significant period of time. They were re-entering the "Kingdom of God". They were rebuilding the place where God would dwell (the Temple).
I remember a song I learned as a kid that was based on the scripture above:
"The Jo-o-o-o-y of the Lo-o-o-rd is my strength....
The Jo-o-o-o-o-y of the Lo-o-o-rd is my strength.....
The Jo-o-o-o-o-y of the Lo-o-o-rd is my strength....
The Joy of the Lord is my strength."
I saw something yesterday that I've seen many times but saw again for the "first" time. A young man about 16-18 y/o was baptized during the Sunday Morning Worship Service at church. Several others were baptized as well. What struck me about the young man was his expression when the Pastor was asking him questions about his faith: Had he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior? Did he understand what he was doing by being baptized? etc.... As he was replying to these questions, a look of seriousness, a look of anticipation, a look of urgency, and then....a look of pure joy came upon his face. As the Pastor lowered him into the Baptismal Pool and he came up out from under the water, his hand lifted high in exultation. So many emotions, so many lessons to learn in that moment. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean for this to be a discussion of whether or not Baptism (the act of being submerged in water-sprinkling-etc...) "saves" a person. I've had more than my fair share of those discussions throughout my life. It is not acts or methods that are important but really something else entirely.
An example might be in order here. I cannot sit for the Bar Exam in most if not all the United States. The reason for this is because I have not "completed" a course of study that leads to an acceptable law degree that is a pre-requisite for taking the bar exam. Even if I make a perfect score on the Bar exam, without the pre-requisites, I still cannot be a lawyer. Let us not forget that faith in Jesus Christ as the only way to the Father both present and future is a crucial pre-requisite of knowing him and therefore having a relationship with God that puts us in his kingdom both now and in the future. It is that transaction of faith (whenever it takes place) that sets a person apart and that results in the look of pure joy that I saw on that young man's face.
While many of us may have been asking the question about what baptism really means, this young man was exercising his simple faith and belief that Jesus is the way to God. The look on his face attested to the fact that there was no doubt about where his focus was. He was being obedient to his Lord. Misinformation, had it been given, was not an issue. A relationship was born that resulted in trust and obedience.
I remember when I was a Pastor back in the early 1990s. There was a minister who was "bringing down the fire" and causing revivals to break out wherever he spoke. He was a regular speaker at some of the Bible Conferences that I attended. The power of God would bring conviction when he told his testimony about living under a bridge as a youth and as he shared the mighty miracles and works that God performed in his life. Later, it was revealed that his entire testimony was a fabrication. A natural question that resulted from this situation was to ask if the "results" of his testimony were also "false" because his testimony was a fabrication? NO. Those who responded to his testimony were not responding to Him, they were asked to respond to God who fabricates NOTHING. His Word is TRUTH. If any of us come to him in faith, he receives us no matter what ANY confusion on man's part may be.
There is one thing that I want each of you to consider that I believe to be the truth. Most, if not all of us, are probably wrong about many "significant" things that we believe about God. Most of us are probably wrong about many significant things that we believe about the Bible. But....that makes God no less faithful in his response to our simple faith that HE (Jesus) is the Way, the Truth, and the Life....and that no one comes to God but by Him.
I saw on that young man's face the simple realization of pure JOY that comes from knowing that Jesus paid it ALL and that by faith in Him, his standing with God was now complete. I, for one, will never hear that song, "The Joy of the Lord is My Strength" without remembering the times in my life when it has "come home to me" this simple truth. It really is a finished work. Jesus is Victor and therefore, So Am I. The Joy that comes from that revelation is truly our strength!
Monday, July 25, 2016
Saturday, July 16, 2016
Musings of a Prodigal Son - "The Spitting Image of Jesus"
(Jesus said) As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. 6When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, 7And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. (John 9-5-7)
There is a lot of misunderstanding of the Church (Christ in he world) today. Many of the religious and the intellectuals of the world today are offended at the things taking place in many churches. Christians (believers in Christ) are fighting among themselves as they have done since the time that Christ ascended into heaven following his resurrection. Various Christians are afraid of the practices of various other Christians and often call them heretics.
I've noticed something however. When people are desperate and need a touch from God, they aren't really bothered by the "form" or method God uses to touch them. They don't care if you are Baptist, Catholic, Methodist, Episcopal, Church or Christ, or Church of You Name It....they just want to be touched by Jesus. We spend so much time arguing and disagreeing about methodologies that we often never reach the substance of having the Holy Spirit of God touch us. Jesus said that he didn't come to heal the "well" but rather the "sick". He didn't come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. Two points here: 1)Not every one who is sick wants to get well. 2)And not everyone who is sick knows that they are sick.
Jesus even asked two beggars at one point in the Bible IF they would like to be made well. That seems like a given. Of course they would want to get well, wouldn't they? Think about it, if they got well, they would have to learn a whole new way of life. They could not rely on begging anymore but would have to learn a trade. Sympathy would not readily be available to them anymore. Their lives would change. Sometimes living what we would consider a "miserable" life is the life some choose because they are afraid of change. The known is safer than the unknown. Change means taking a risk to learn to live differently.
The second point is just as important. Not everyone who is sick knows that they are sick. Enter the Pharisees. I spent a great deal of my life thinking like a Pharisee. They were the "sickest" (their spiritual needs were great), but they did not even know they were sick (had needs). Even in the scriptures that I based this blog on above, you'll find that they were so busy evaluating the method of "healing" (the guy could really see!!!) that they missed the blessing and the miracle! Their methods and rules were more important than the grace of God.
I titled this blog entry, the "spitting" image of Jesus because he did something remarkable. Can you imagine if someone comes up for prayer in the morning at church and the Pastor comes down to pray with the individual, spits on the floor and takes that spit and rubs it on their eyes. Some people in the service would probably have a stroke!!! How dare he do something so gross!!! I've noticed something. People who really have a need do not care about methods, they simply want a touch from the Lord!!! I've also noticed something else in the Bible. Jesus often "healed" people in different ways. Some he spoke a word and they were healed. Some he told them to present themselves before the elders (church leaders), others he told to do different things. Some he didn't do anything at all but just told them to go their own way because they got what they asked for. Don't miss what God has for you because you are looking for him to speak or touch you in a particular way. Maybe some of us need our sensibilities shaken so that God can give us substance. Don't worry about the method just focus on the person of Jesus and ask for God's touch. The next time you are tempted to make fun or express your opinion about the way someone is approaching God, remember that Jesus spit on the ground and put it in a man's eyes. Let us think about that the next time we are tempted to criticize or evaluate how God works and what he will and will not do. The next time God wants us to do something radical, let us remember that we are to be the "spitting" image of Christ. That means being obedient to God no matter what.
Thursday, July 14, 2016
Musings of a Prodigal Son - Beating the Sinners and the Saints
There was a time in my life that I was accused of "beating the saints" As I have looked back over the years, I would have to say that there is truth in that statement. It is necessary to point out that truth that is proclaimed without Love is often abuse. The Lord says, "Vengence is mine." He did not say, "vengence is yours." To tell someone the truth without love is often abusive. You might say, "I know...I know....we should love everyone and part of loving others is telling them the truth." This is not entirely true. To love people is to tell them the truth IN LOVE. Sometimes telling someone the "truth" without loves pushes them further from "the truth." If you tell me something that is extremely difficult for me to hear, I am going to resist unless I know that it is difficult for you to tell me because it hurts you and you feel my pain. A TRUTH shared by a person who is hurting because they love enough that it HURTS them to cause the person pain who needs to hear the truth generates conviction and change. True love is always sacrificial. When Jesus told us to love our neighbors as ourselves, he was telling us to put others in the place that we would normally reserve for ourselves. He was telling us to put ourselves in the perspective of the other person as much as is possible. Imagine hearing what you are about to tell them. Would it hurt you to be in their place. Feel their pain. If you can't, don't tell them. Let someone who can feel their pain tell them.. The lie we have come to believe is that truth is always good and we are to proclaim it NO MATTER WHAT. This lie has led to many running the opposite direction --further away from God. The greatest commandment from God is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and to love your neighbor as yourself. I believe that revival will come to many of our lives when we pray that we will sincerely love others MORE than ourselves.
Following after truth (accepting the truth and being changed by it) does not come naturally to us. If it is not pleasant to embrace truth, some other factor must come into play in order for people to embrace truth. Otherwise, we push people away before truth has an impact on them. What motivates people to change? Simply love. 1 Corinthians 13 talks about the necessity/greatness of love. You can have all other "good" things but without love, we are NOTHING. Truth doesn't change people, love does. We often "beat" people with truth. We beat our children with truth, we beat our friends with truth, we often beat people we don't even know with "the truth." And then we wonder why they don't respond. Jonah was a prime example of declaring truth without love. We focus on his "whale" and forget what comes after. He finally went to Ninevah and declared that they were sinners (he idenified their sins) and announced the judgement of God is coming. After he did this, he was feeling really good about himself and was dependent on God to assure his "reputation" remained intact by bringing the judgement that God has instructed Jonah to proclaim. When the king and people repented, God averted his wrath and God did not bring judgement on Ninevah. Jonah was upset about this and the book of Jonah concludes with him pouting in the desert. Does he sound like a "God's Representative (present day Christian) that you'd want to spend time with? NO....you'd want him to stay out in the desert away from you.
Truth is often our weapon of choice. It's blade is sharper than any other weapon. There is no defense against it. When it is weilded without love, it cuts us asunder and leaves us to bleed to death without any healing balm. As a result, it becomes natural for people to stay off the "battlefield." That is why churches are often near empty. People are afraid to come in and "get cut up."
The loss of ground that has happened in our country and world over the past 50 years (although it has been there in one or the other much longer) is the fact that truth has not prevailed. The reason that truth has lost a footing in this world is because truth requires the soil of love for it to take root.
A group of people I work with asked me last week what I thought about homosexuality. I told them what I think does not matter. I can almost feel the spiritual hairs standing up on the back of some of those who are reading this. You are ready to say "Amen" and for the gavel to fall when I tell them what God says. What I told them may surprise you. I told them that asking me what I think about homosexuality is really a veiled way of asking me to judge those who are practicing a homosexual lifestyle. I know what God says to me about my own life, and he told me to "get the board out of my own eye before I even can look at someone else." I discovered something.....there is always, no matter how many boards I remove......there is always another board in my eye. I never reach a position where I can pick up and "throw the stone." Some of you may think I am avoiding the topic. So be it. I am not avoiding the topic, many of my friends practice homosexuality. I love them dearly. Many of them are Christians who know Christ. I am merely suggesting that I have my own life to tend to in regard to my relationship with God. Some reading this may say, "We must renounce sin." I would agree. I need to continue to renounce all MY sins. When you have renounced all of your sins and gained complete victory over them and reach a place where love is your motivation for telling others the truth, THEN you'll be able to renounce the sins of others. Just make sure you understand their pain before you do. Make sure you LOVE them before you do. If not, you've just added another "plank to your own eye" that must be removed again. The point I am making is for all of us who know Christ to live for God and point others to establishing a relationship with HIM and leave the conviction of various sins, whatever they may be....to the conviction that comes from God. Everyone has their own hierarchy of sin. I've noticed that people's hierarchy usually does not include the sins that THEY are committing.
I've heard many people over time criticize Joel Osteen. I remember I used to listen to his father every Sunday night after I got home from preaching at the church I served. I remember when Joel was out "living in the world" and his father would ask the congregation to pray for him. I remember when he started preaching at the Lakewood Church. I've listened to many of his messages since then. He is often criticized for "not preaching against sin." The love of God which woos a person into a relationshp with Christ also provides the ground for truth to grow. Let us be careful about criticizing those who "prepare the ground." Without preparation, truth cannot take root. Truth, when it does take root, brings personal conviction of sin. When conviction is personal, the remembered pain of making a change in life often helps others do the same.
If I am ever a pastor again, I will certainly do it differently. I've beat up many people over the years with the truth. It was often my weapon and not a bridge to God in Christ. Truth is dangerous in the wrong hands. If it is not tempered with the Love of God, it destroys more people than anything else.
I'll close this blog with this truth:
Remember, IF there is any difference between you and anyone else, that difference is Jesus. There is no one reading this who has not committed some act of sin today. There are things each of us should have done that we did not do and there are also things that we have thought or done that we should not have done TODAY. The only difference in any of us is Jesus. If you know Him, there is never a reason to renounce anything or anyone else. Our focus should be to live for Him and encourage others to do the same.
"If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto myself." -Jesus (John 12:32)
Following after truth (accepting the truth and being changed by it) does not come naturally to us. If it is not pleasant to embrace truth, some other factor must come into play in order for people to embrace truth. Otherwise, we push people away before truth has an impact on them. What motivates people to change? Simply love. 1 Corinthians 13 talks about the necessity/greatness of love. You can have all other "good" things but without love, we are NOTHING. Truth doesn't change people, love does. We often "beat" people with truth. We beat our children with truth, we beat our friends with truth, we often beat people we don't even know with "the truth." And then we wonder why they don't respond. Jonah was a prime example of declaring truth without love. We focus on his "whale" and forget what comes after. He finally went to Ninevah and declared that they were sinners (he idenified their sins) and announced the judgement of God is coming. After he did this, he was feeling really good about himself and was dependent on God to assure his "reputation" remained intact by bringing the judgement that God has instructed Jonah to proclaim. When the king and people repented, God averted his wrath and God did not bring judgement on Ninevah. Jonah was upset about this and the book of Jonah concludes with him pouting in the desert. Does he sound like a "God's Representative (present day Christian) that you'd want to spend time with? NO....you'd want him to stay out in the desert away from you.
Truth is often our weapon of choice. It's blade is sharper than any other weapon. There is no defense against it. When it is weilded without love, it cuts us asunder and leaves us to bleed to death without any healing balm. As a result, it becomes natural for people to stay off the "battlefield." That is why churches are often near empty. People are afraid to come in and "get cut up."
The loss of ground that has happened in our country and world over the past 50 years (although it has been there in one or the other much longer) is the fact that truth has not prevailed. The reason that truth has lost a footing in this world is because truth requires the soil of love for it to take root.
A group of people I work with asked me last week what I thought about homosexuality. I told them what I think does not matter. I can almost feel the spiritual hairs standing up on the back of some of those who are reading this. You are ready to say "Amen" and for the gavel to fall when I tell them what God says. What I told them may surprise you. I told them that asking me what I think about homosexuality is really a veiled way of asking me to judge those who are practicing a homosexual lifestyle. I know what God says to me about my own life, and he told me to "get the board out of my own eye before I even can look at someone else." I discovered something.....there is always, no matter how many boards I remove......there is always another board in my eye. I never reach a position where I can pick up and "throw the stone." Some of you may think I am avoiding the topic. So be it. I am not avoiding the topic, many of my friends practice homosexuality. I love them dearly. Many of them are Christians who know Christ. I am merely suggesting that I have my own life to tend to in regard to my relationship with God. Some reading this may say, "We must renounce sin." I would agree. I need to continue to renounce all MY sins. When you have renounced all of your sins and gained complete victory over them and reach a place where love is your motivation for telling others the truth, THEN you'll be able to renounce the sins of others. Just make sure you understand their pain before you do. Make sure you LOVE them before you do. If not, you've just added another "plank to your own eye" that must be removed again. The point I am making is for all of us who know Christ to live for God and point others to establishing a relationship with HIM and leave the conviction of various sins, whatever they may be....to the conviction that comes from God. Everyone has their own hierarchy of sin. I've noticed that people's hierarchy usually does not include the sins that THEY are committing.
I've heard many people over time criticize Joel Osteen. I remember I used to listen to his father every Sunday night after I got home from preaching at the church I served. I remember when Joel was out "living in the world" and his father would ask the congregation to pray for him. I remember when he started preaching at the Lakewood Church. I've listened to many of his messages since then. He is often criticized for "not preaching against sin." The love of God which woos a person into a relationshp with Christ also provides the ground for truth to grow. Let us be careful about criticizing those who "prepare the ground." Without preparation, truth cannot take root. Truth, when it does take root, brings personal conviction of sin. When conviction is personal, the remembered pain of making a change in life often helps others do the same.
If I am ever a pastor again, I will certainly do it differently. I've beat up many people over the years with the truth. It was often my weapon and not a bridge to God in Christ. Truth is dangerous in the wrong hands. If it is not tempered with the Love of God, it destroys more people than anything else.
I'll close this blog with this truth:
Remember, IF there is any difference between you and anyone else, that difference is Jesus. There is no one reading this who has not committed some act of sin today. There are things each of us should have done that we did not do and there are also things that we have thought or done that we should not have done TODAY. The only difference in any of us is Jesus. If you know Him, there is never a reason to renounce anything or anyone else. Our focus should be to live for Him and encourage others to do the same.
"If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto myself." -Jesus (John 12:32)
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Musings of a Prodigal Son - Jesus paid it ALL
This has not been a good week for me. I have been somewhat down this week. I guess it is a combination of being reminded that life is short along with the realization that I have wasted so much of my life not investing in the things that remain. I also found out that my friend from Bible College, with whom I was very close and shared a lot of good times, passed away in April of this year. He was 59 y/o. He had given his life to Christ after spending much of his teenage years and 20s on cocaine and was in and out of prison. I met him after he gave his life to Christ. He had completed Fruitland Baptist Bible Institute and transferred to Florida Baptist Theological College (now Baptist College of Florida) in 1991. He, Jimmy Adamson, and I were very good friends during our time there. He went on outings with us on many weekends and also preached on numerous occassions at the church I pastored in Slocomb Alabama. He was a very intelligent guy with a sweet spirit and after Bible college returned to his home state (North Carolina) and began pastoring churches there. As time passed, he came into contact again with some of the "friends" from his old life and once again started using cocaine. He relapsed and subsequently lost most of his possessions and moved back to Florida. We lost touch during this time as I did not know where he was. At various times through the years, I have tried to find him using the internet. Particularly since the late 1990s with the advent of social media and many resources coming online, my search continued. It was with a heavy heart that I discovered the other night that he had passed away in April 2016. I don't know what the intervening years were like for him. I don't know what his struggles may or may not have been. I am thankful for the time that God allowed me to spend with this man in prayer and reflection in the early years of my Bible education.
I am reminded of the importance of salvation in Jesus Christ. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I spent enough time with my friend to be assured of his relationship with our Lord. I know many of you may be thinking that he "backslid" and he may have lost his salvation. I would reply that when we trust Jesus as our Savior, having repented of our sins, HE is our sacrifice and our Savior before God, not US. If we could do ANYTHING to remove ourselves from the grace of God then even one unconfessed sin could doom us after salvation! If that were the case, then we would all be in serious trouble. There would be very few, (if any) that would spend eternity with God. Thankfully, our standing with God (as my deceased friend) was and is not determined by "how good we do" (before or after salvation). Our salvation is determined by our recognition of the need of a Saviour who is outside and distinct from ourselves. Jesus is the way from beginning to end. If we could have warranted God's favor and acceptance (either before or after salvation), Jesus would not have had to be our sacrifice. We could have done it ourselves. Thanks be to God that even though it was and STILL IS impossible for us, Jesus Christ is always acceptable to God the Father. Our faith and trust in Him (Jesus), makes my standing possible with God from beginning to end.
Because my friend made the decision to repent of his sins, to confess with his mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believed in his heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, he was saved for eternity. I am thankful that my friend gets to spend eternity with HIM. It is one thing to KNOW Christ and another to be OBEDIENT to his leading. It is siginicant to me that we are referred to as the children of God. Relationship is not determined by behavior, it is determined by lineage. (Just because your children disobey you doesn't mean that they cease to be your children).
Success in Life and Preparation for what comes after is not contingent on what we DO, it is contingent on who we KNOW. Who we KNOW then determines what we DO. There are many people living today who are in turmoil because they KNOW Jesus but are not living for HIM. Knowing Him (Jesus) determines your destiny (eternity). Obedience determines your impact on others while you are here in this world). There is always turmoil in an earthly life that is not having an impact on others for the Kingdom of God, simply from the fact that a person is not living according to their designed purpose.
Christians may disagree on many points but one point is not debatable and crucial for us all. Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to God and is sufficient to carry us all through this life in preparation for the one to come. Sharing Christ and Him crucified is the most vital thing that we can do in this life.
What the Bible Says is Still True:
"I (Jesus) am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Noone comes to the Father (God) except by me." (John 14:6)
Thanks be to God for his gift of ETERNAL Life!
I am reminded of the importance of salvation in Jesus Christ. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I spent enough time with my friend to be assured of his relationship with our Lord. I know many of you may be thinking that he "backslid" and he may have lost his salvation. I would reply that when we trust Jesus as our Savior, having repented of our sins, HE is our sacrifice and our Savior before God, not US. If we could do ANYTHING to remove ourselves from the grace of God then even one unconfessed sin could doom us after salvation! If that were the case, then we would all be in serious trouble. There would be very few, (if any) that would spend eternity with God. Thankfully, our standing with God (as my deceased friend) was and is not determined by "how good we do" (before or after salvation). Our salvation is determined by our recognition of the need of a Saviour who is outside and distinct from ourselves. Jesus is the way from beginning to end. If we could have warranted God's favor and acceptance (either before or after salvation), Jesus would not have had to be our sacrifice. We could have done it ourselves. Thanks be to God that even though it was and STILL IS impossible for us, Jesus Christ is always acceptable to God the Father. Our faith and trust in Him (Jesus), makes my standing possible with God from beginning to end.
Because my friend made the decision to repent of his sins, to confess with his mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believed in his heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, he was saved for eternity. I am thankful that my friend gets to spend eternity with HIM. It is one thing to KNOW Christ and another to be OBEDIENT to his leading. It is siginicant to me that we are referred to as the children of God. Relationship is not determined by behavior, it is determined by lineage. (Just because your children disobey you doesn't mean that they cease to be your children).
Success in Life and Preparation for what comes after is not contingent on what we DO, it is contingent on who we KNOW. Who we KNOW then determines what we DO. There are many people living today who are in turmoil because they KNOW Jesus but are not living for HIM. Knowing Him (Jesus) determines your destiny (eternity). Obedience determines your impact on others while you are here in this world). There is always turmoil in an earthly life that is not having an impact on others for the Kingdom of God, simply from the fact that a person is not living according to their designed purpose.
Christians may disagree on many points but one point is not debatable and crucial for us all. Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to God and is sufficient to carry us all through this life in preparation for the one to come. Sharing Christ and Him crucified is the most vital thing that we can do in this life.
What the Bible Says is Still True:
"I (Jesus) am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Noone comes to the Father (God) except by me." (John 14:6)
Thanks be to God for his gift of ETERNAL Life!
Thursday, July 7, 2016
Musings of a Prodigal Son - Life is Short
I am sitting here writing this feeling somewhat numb. Just got the news a few minutes ago that a friend of mine from high school was killed in an automobile accident. He was a few years older (3) than myself and I really looked up to him in school. He was the quarterback of our local small town high school football team. I was also coming along as a young quarterback at that time and I looked up to him as a result. I remember having knee reconstruction surgery when I was 13 y/o and he and another team member, also a friend, made me a stool to prop my knee on while I watched the games (since I was only days removed from surgery). He was a nice guy. We grew up playing "pickup games" of football in each other's yards and also on the school football field. He graduated and moved on to bigger and better things, eventually becoming a helicopter pilot transporting those critically injured from hospital to hospital or from crash site to hospital to get the medical care they needed. I even read from another friend on facebook that he had recently went on a mission trip to another country with his wife. He had several children. He had several brothers and sisters, one of which was one of my best friends in high school. I remember his robust laugh and his sense of humor. Subsequently, I have read many accounts on facebook of his impact on many lives that his life touched through the years. His earthly life is over. In a hundred years, no one will remember that he was a quarterback, a helicopter pilot, of any of the things that the world places "significance" on. Rather, something else will remain.
I am sure that many of you reading this will have similar stories of friends who left "unexpectedly" or too early from your perspective. We get so busy going through our everyday lives that we often do not take the time to think about how fragile life really is. We can be here one instance and gone the next. It is at times like these that we are reminded not to put off telling those that we love and care about the things we need to tell them. It is also a time of reflection on what is really important in life. Not the homes we live in, the cars we drive, the gadgets we accumulate, but rather the relationships we foster and the hereafter that we prepare for. What's important in this life comes down to basically two things: 1)Our impact and influence on others. 2)Making preparation for what comes after.
Having an impact on others is the primary purpose of what we call our earthly life. It is not dependent on the things we possess, the jobs we work, or the knowledge that we accumlate. Rather, it is contingent on time spent investing in the lives of others. This includes family, acquaintances,and strangers. Little things in this regard often have lasting consequences. For instance, a kind word spoken to a stranger may be the difference in that person giving up and taking their life or being inspired to carry on and in turn influencing others for the good.
Another important thing is preparing for what comes after. This is always a faith endeavor. It requires that we believe in something that we cannot physically see. For Christians, this means putting our faith and trust in Jesus Christ as the only way to God. Acceptance of the free gift of salvation with the realization that nothing we do merits God's favor but an acceptance of what Jesus did for each of us on the cross, asking God to forgive us of our sins, and turning to Him as the One true God. I know, it doesn't sound reasonable. How can it be that simple? Faith my friend. Believing what God says in the Bible as true.
A successful life, no matter how short or long we may think it is, comes down to these two simple truths: 1)investment in others 2)Faith in Jesus as the way of salvation.
I'm thankful that my friend seemed to realize this and he made these investments. After all, these are the only things that truly remain.
I am sure that many of you reading this will have similar stories of friends who left "unexpectedly" or too early from your perspective. We get so busy going through our everyday lives that we often do not take the time to think about how fragile life really is. We can be here one instance and gone the next. It is at times like these that we are reminded not to put off telling those that we love and care about the things we need to tell them. It is also a time of reflection on what is really important in life. Not the homes we live in, the cars we drive, the gadgets we accumulate, but rather the relationships we foster and the hereafter that we prepare for. What's important in this life comes down to basically two things: 1)Our impact and influence on others. 2)Making preparation for what comes after.
Having an impact on others is the primary purpose of what we call our earthly life. It is not dependent on the things we possess, the jobs we work, or the knowledge that we accumlate. Rather, it is contingent on time spent investing in the lives of others. This includes family, acquaintances,and strangers. Little things in this regard often have lasting consequences. For instance, a kind word spoken to a stranger may be the difference in that person giving up and taking their life or being inspired to carry on and in turn influencing others for the good.
Another important thing is preparing for what comes after. This is always a faith endeavor. It requires that we believe in something that we cannot physically see. For Christians, this means putting our faith and trust in Jesus Christ as the only way to God. Acceptance of the free gift of salvation with the realization that nothing we do merits God's favor but an acceptance of what Jesus did for each of us on the cross, asking God to forgive us of our sins, and turning to Him as the One true God. I know, it doesn't sound reasonable. How can it be that simple? Faith my friend. Believing what God says in the Bible as true.
A successful life, no matter how short or long we may think it is, comes down to these two simple truths: 1)investment in others 2)Faith in Jesus as the way of salvation.
I'm thankful that my friend seemed to realize this and he made these investments. After all, these are the only things that truly remain.
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