As someone who is guilty, at times, of not being completely focused on what others are saying, I can relate to the frustration of a flight attendant caused by people like me. Annoyed by passenger inattentiveness during her what-to-do-in-an-emergency talk, she changed the wording. This is what she actually said: “When the mask drops down in front of you, place it over your navel and continue to breathe normally.” Not a single passenger noticed.
Still, that’s not as bad as this story from the days of FDR. President: “Franklin D. Roosevelt got tired of smiling that big smile and saying the usual things at all those White House receptions. So, one evening he decided to find out whether anybody was paying attention to what he was saying. As each person came up to him with extended hand, he flashed that big smile and said; ‘I murdered my grandmother this morning.’ People would automatically respond with comments such as ‘How lovely!’ or ‘Just continue with your great work!’ Nobody listened to what he was saying, except one foreign diplomat. When the president said, ‘I murdered my grandmother this morning,’ the diplomat responded softly, ‘I’m sure she had it coming to her.’”
One might think that everyone would be listening closely to what the President of the United States would be saying. He’s mighty important! But there’s certainly no comparison to the importance that we should be placing on the very words of God Almighty. In speaking of the Lord’s message of salvation, the writer of Hebrews 2:1 tells us, “We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.” Without question, this command ultimately applies to all of God’s Word.
But there are many in danger of not listening closely to it, especially over time. Even scriptural truth we have held to in the past may be up for debate with some as they allow their opinions to be influenced by the world around them. Or with others, they may “drift away” in their relationship with the Lord because they choose to ignore the principles they once followed as it’s not convenient with the life they’re wanting to live or they somehow think, “That doesn’t apply to me.” For yet others, they’re lack of attentiveness to God’s Word corresponds directly to a lack of time spent with God’s people, the Church.
Regardless of what may have caused this communication breakdown, we need to truly open our ears, set aside what we prematurely think scripture is saying and then really let God’s message soak into our minds and hearts. Paying close attention is a must. What’s at stake is even more important than FDR’s dead grandma.
In His Service,
Jim
Category Archives: Connections
To Suffer and Die With Him!
He (Jesus) said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1: 7 – 8
On April 27, 1999, sixteen-year-old Cassie Bernall was reading her Bible in the library at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. It had been two years since she had given her life completely to Jesus Christ. Her fellow students knew well how Christ had changed her life, but on this day the whole world would know. Young Cassie was asked at gunpoint by a confused and angry classmate, “Do you believe in God?” She answered, “Yes, I believe.” And then she was murdered. At baptism we received the Holy Spirit, who empowers us to be witnesses. Our earthly life may not end like Cassie’s, but as witnesses of Jesus Christ we should make sure that everything we say and do today cries out, “Yes, I believe.” Today, we would like to share with you a poem Cassie wrote before she was martyred.
“Now I have given up on everything else
I have found it to be the only way
To really know Christ and to experience
The mighty power that brought
Him back to life again,
and to find out what it means
to suffer and to die with Him.
So, whatever it takes
I will be one who lives in the fresh
Newness of life of those who are
Alive from the dead.”
Behold the Lamb!
The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” John 1: 35 – 36
John the Baptist stood at the turn of the ages. So it is not surprising that he would say something that forces us to look both backward, into the remote past, and forward to the climax of history. In calling Jesus the “Lamb of God” he did both these things. For that title, more than any other, evokes the primordial memory of Abraham’s obedience, of the sacrifices of Moses and of the coming renewal of the whole world. Abraham, commanded to offer his “only son” Isaac in sacrifice, obeyed God with the confidence that “God himself” would provide the true Sacrifice. Isaac was spared by God but Abraham’s faith was rewarded when God himself did what he had asked of Abraham: he offered his only Son. Likewise, Moses was commanded to offer a spotless lamb in sacrifice for Passover. Christ, our true Passover, offered himself as both priest and victim. And now at each Sunday service, the Church celebrates, as we worship the Lamb of God in union with all the citizens of heaven in the book of Revelation who sing forever, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain!” Today take some time to behold the Lamb of God, present with us in holy communion, which is our participation in the Marriage Feast of the Lamb.
A Gift of Love
“For God so love the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John: 3: 16
It defies logic. It is a divine insanity. A holy incredibility. Only a God beyond systems and common sense could create a plan as absurd as this. Yet, it is the very impossibility of it all that makes it possible. The wildness of the story is its strongest witness. For only a God could create a plan this mad. Only a creator beyond the fence of logic could offer such a gift of love.
God will do what it takes — whatever it takes — to bring his children home.
There are some who position themselves between you and God. There are some who suggest that the only way to get to God is through them. . . Jesus’ message for complicated religion is to remove these middlemen. . . We are all brothers and sisters and have equal access to the Father.
God is patient with our mistakes. He is longsuffering with our stumbles. He doesn’t get angry at our questions. He doesn’t turn away when we struggle. But when we repeatedly reject his message, when we are insensitive to his pleadings, when he changes history itself to get our attention and we still don’t listen, he honors our request.
The purpose of God’s patience? Our repentance.
( From Max Lucado’s: And The Angels Were Silent )
Ten Things God Will Not Ask
After Your Last Day On Earth:
- God won’t ask what kind of car you drove. He’ll ask how many people you drove who didn’t have transportation.
- God won’t ask the square footage of your house. He’ll ask how many people you welcomed into your home.
- God won’t ask about the clothes you had in your closet. He’ll ask how many you helped to clothe.
- God won’t ask what your highest salary was. He’ll ask if you compromised your character to obtain it and who you helped with it.
- God won’t ask what your job title was. He’ll ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability.
- God won’t ask how many friends you had. He’ll ask how many people to whom you were a friend.
- God won’t ask in what neighborhood you lived. He’ll ask how you treated your neighbors.
- God won’t ask about the color of your skin. He’ll ask about the content of your character and your prejudices.
- God won’t ask how many people talked to you about salvation. He’ll ask how people you talked to about salvation.
- God won’t ask why it took you so long to seek salvation. He’ll lovingly take you to your mansion in heaven, and not to the gates of Hell.
God won’t ask what you will do after reading this. He already knows you. Question is, do you know God?
How Cold Is It?
“It was so cold where we were,” said the Arctic explorer, “that the candle froze and we couldn’t blow it out.” “That’s nothing,” said his rival. “Where we were, the words came out of our mouths in pieces of ice and we had to fry them to hear what we were talking about.”
That is COLD! Even colder than it’s been in our area for the last couple weeks. But, strangely enough, there is an actual upside to extreme cold. It’s been written: “The South Pole could be called the healthiest place on earth. The air is as fresh and clean as it must have been everywhere before man began pouring industrial wastes into the atmosphere. Furthermore, it’s one of few locations where man is not bombarded by germs. Not only is it too cold for them to be active, but there’s nothing for them to live on. And since winds start at the South Pole and move northward, they tend to keep away any contaminants from that region. Now you’d think people would be eager to live in such a pollution-free, germ-free environment but they’re not. With temperatures that drop to 100 degrees below zero, it’s just too cold!”
It sounds like, if one was only concerned about keeping away from the microbes and contaminates of our planet, then one might very well want to pack up and head to Antarctica. But the cost of remaining completely isolated from that dirt and disease is a frozen environment. I think, in a sense, that’s the danger we can encounter if we try to remove ourselves from the evil of this world. Certainly, we don’t want to delve into the sinfulness that’s all around us or in any way just accept it. But neither should we detach ourselves from all the sinful people around us. That can lead to some frigid believers.
Christ Himself, in speaking about the end times, warned us, saying, “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 24:12,13) I think part of what Jesus was saying is that as we look at the wickedness surrounding us, it’s easy to become aloof, uncaring and cold-hearted. That lack of passion can affect the way we relate to others- and to God. To keep our love on fire we need to “stand firm” and keep going deeper in our relationship with the Lord so that, in turn, we are able to love the people He created.
This world can be a cold, cold place. But, as believers, we need to be fueled with the tenderness and fervor that flows from our Savior so we can pass it on those needing God’s warmth.
In His Service, Jim
Prayers Make a Difference
We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will. John 9: 31
The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5: 16
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. 1 John 5: 14 – 15
Most of our prayer lives could use a tune-up.
Some prayer lives lack consistency. They’re either a desert or an oasis. Long, arid, dry spells interrupted by brief plunges into the waters of communion. . . .
Others of us need sincerity. Our prayers are a bit hollow, memorized, and rigid. More liturgy than life. And though they are daily, they are dull.
Still others lack, well, honesty. We honestly wonder if prayer makes a difference. Why on earth would God in heaven want to talk to me? If God knows all, who am I to tell him anything? If God controls all, who am I to do anything? . . . .
Our prayers may be awkward. Our attempts may be feeble. But since the power of prayer is in the one who hears it and not the one who says it, our prayers do make a difference
( From ‘He Still Moves Stones’ by Max Lucado )
Set Apart
You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? “But he gives us more grace.” James 4: 4 – 6
John the Baptist would never get hired today. No church would touch him. He was a public relations disaster. He “wore clothes made from camel’s hair, had a leather belt around his waist, and ate locusts and wild honey” (Mark 1:6). Who would want to look at a guy like that every Sunday?
His message was as rough as his dress: a no-nonsense, bare-fisted challenge to repent and be baptized because God was on his way.
John the Baptist set himself apart for one task, to be a voice of Christ. Everything about John centered on his purpose. His dress. His diet. His actions. His demands.
You don’t have to be like the world to have an impact on the world. You don’t have to be like the crowd to change the crowd. You don’t have to lower yourself down to their level to lift them up to your level. Holiness doesn’t seek to be odd. Holiness seeks to be like God.
In a 1987 commencement address at Duke University, Ted Koppel, the news anchor for ABC’s Nightline said, “We have reconstructed the Tower of Babel and it is a television antenna, a thousand voices producing a daily parody of democracy in which everyone’s opinion is afforded equal weight regardless of substance or merit. Indeed, it can even be argued that opinions of real weight tend to sink with barely a trace in television’s ocean of banalities.”
Real Change
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
James 1: 17
Real change is an inside job. You might alter things a day or two with money and systems, but the heart of the matter is, and always will be, the matter of the heart.
Allow me to get specific. Our problem is sin. Not finances. Not budgets. Not overcrowded prisons or drug dealers. Our problem is sin. We are separated from our Father. We are cut off from the source of life. A new president or policy won’t fix that. It can only be solved by God.
That’s why the Bible uses drastic terms like conversion, repentance, and lost and found. Society may renovate, but only God re-creates.
Here is a practical exercise to put this truth into practice. The next time alarms go off in your world, ask yourself three questions.
- Is there any unconfessed sin in my life? . . .
- Are there any unresolved conflicts in my world? . . .
- Are there any unsurrendered worries in my heart? . . .
Alarms serve a purpose. They signal a problem. Sometimes the problem is out there. More often it’s in here. So before you peek outside, take a good look inside.
( From When God Whispers Your Name by Max Lucado )
Loving
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1 Cor. 13: 4 – 7
As the husband looks in the jewelry case, he rationalizes, “Sure she would want the watch, but it’s too expensive. She’s a practical woman, she’ll understand. I’ll just get the bracelet today. I’ll buy the watch . . . someday.”
Someday. The enemy of risky love is a snake whose tongue has mastered the talk of deception. “Someday,” he hisses.
“Someday, I can take her on the cruise.”
“Someday, I will have time to call and chat.”
“Someday, the children will understand why I was so busy.”
But you know the truth, don’t you? You know even before I write it. You could say it better than I. Somedays never come. And the price of practicality is sometimes higher than extravagance. But the rewards of risky love are always greater than its cost. Go to the effort. Invest the time. Write the letter. Make the apology. Take the trip. Purchase the gift. Do it. The seized opportunity renders joy. The neglected brings regret.
( From And the Angels Were Silent by Max Lucado )