The Biker: A Modern Day Version of the Good Samaritan Parable

A commandment of Scripture, but sometimes difficult to interpret. How far does our obligation go? After all, who is our neighbor? Most of us who live in large cities don’t even know our neighbors! How can we love them? What do these words really mean, to love our neighbor? Listen to this tale, and decipher for yourself!

Early one evening, a successful young man took his new Nissan Maxima to the mall to buy his girlfriend a Christmas present. He had heard on the radio that his usual route was closed off, so he decided to chance it and go through the crazy-dangerous area of town to get there. He figured it was a better choice than having to go all the way around the city, thus adding two hours to his journey.

Well, the area he had to cut through was in the North End of the city, known for its gang warfare and biker bars, and he had chosen the completely wrong time to go through, too, as young punks started to gather for their nightly escapades, and certain young ladies went outside to claim their piece of the sidewalk for their nightly business of selling themselves.
At a red light, the young man stopped and found himself in the middle of a gang war. The gang member from one group took a shot at his enemy across the street, and the young man in the Maxima was the unfortunate barrier between them. The bullet barely grazed his shoulder, and he cried out in sharp pain, managing to pull over and stop the car.
He got out of the car, intending to go get help, but in his weakened state, he attracted the wrong kind of attention. A couple of kids looking for some quick drug money noticed his stupor and decided it would be easier to give him a couple of punches than try to break into a store. They also noticed his car keys and the car running close by and put the two and two together. Soon, he was out of a car, a cell phone and a wallet.

By the time they were gone, he was in rough shape and lay smashed and dirty on the sidewalk. He lay there for what seemed like hours but was only a few minutes. He was thrilled when he looked up and saw a pastor from his local church walk by. “Help, John!” he cried out feebly, but the leader crossed over to the other side of the sidewalk and did not even look his way.

The Minister

The minister did not usually walk this way, but he was on his way to a board meeting for all the churches in his district. Unfortunately, it was in one of the rougher areas of town, and John really wasn’t used to this environment. He wished he had been able to find parking closer, but he had been forced to walk several blocks to his destination.
He saw the man lying down from a few feet away and felt nervous. Who knows what that man had been imbibing in order to be that intoxicated? Often, these people were dangerous and unpredictable. Just for security’s sake, he crossed over to the other side of the street. He was already late for the meeting, and he didn’t want any complications. “I’m sure the police will deal with him,” he thought. “I need to get going.”
A faint wave of guilt washed over him, hoping this man would be okay, but he quickly told himself that he wasn’t responsible for saving the world. “They have people for that,” he thought. “It’s not my calling.”

The Church Lady

About a half hour later, a very frequent church-going lady walked by in a rush. She was carrying a Bible, and the injured young man thought for sure she would help him. He tried to call out to her, but she did not help. Instead, she put her nose in the air and quickly walked away in horror and disgust.

The woman had lived on that street for years and had seen everything decline in the last decade. What had once been a hard-working population had been overrun by hookers, pimps and drug addicts. Every day, she heard of more horrors on the nightly news, and it made her sick. She had once been proud to live here, but now she lived in fear.

When she heard the young man call out to her, she was sure he would be begging for money to buy some more booze. She was tired of being lambasted by these welfare-dependent bums. She looked at him in disgust, anger at the way the country was going, and hurried home to her little apartment, safe with bars on the windows and a good security system. She knew she shouldn’t have gone out so late in the afternoon.

The Biker

Just as he was almost passing into unconsciousness, the young man caught a glimpse of a man in a jean vest covered with decals and tight pants. He would have been afraid of this biker under different circumstances but he had no fear left, only vacuous curiosity. “I wonder what kind of bike he drives,” he pondered.

The man, who was dressed like a biker, parked his Harley-Davidson and decided to hoof it to the bar where he was going to relax for a few hours. He had had a hard week at the mill and was looking forward to forgetting his troubles with some good friends. Later, he would grab a cab and pick up his bike in the morning. No one on the street would dare to touch it.
Just as he neared his destination, he noticed a young man who looked like he’d been beaten up pretty badly. Feeling sorry for him, he went over and gently felt his wrist. Yes, he was still breathing. “Are you okay?” he whispered, not wanting to startle him. “Not really,” the young man replied. Let me call you an ambulance …. you look like you’re in pretty bad shape. He used his cell phone to call 911, waited with the young man until they arrived, and paid the ambulance driver the $500 fee. “Take my cell,” he told the young man, “use it to call your Mom and Dad and girlfriend about where you are. And here’s a couple hundred to tide you over until you get all your I.D. straightened out. Sorry for what happened to you, man. Those guys were jerks.”

The young man left in the ambulance and went to the hospital, used the cell phone to call his family and friends and afterward called the biker to give him back his cell phone. “How can I repay you,” he asked. “Don’t worry about it,” the biker told him. “There are still a few good guys left in this world.”

Who Is Your Neighbor?

Three people passed by our young man and saw three different things. One saw a dangerous drunk, another saw a lazy bum, and one saw a person who needed help. Who was the one that helped his neighbor?
It is said to love your neighbor as yourself. Who is your neighbor? Think about this tale, and discover for yourself.

This an adaptation of a parable told by Jesus, as recounted in Luke: 10:25-37.

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How sad! We often find ourselves in the same situation.  Either we are the one in need or the one looking the other way.  There are many people who sit in the church pew every week but who put blinders on when they walk out the doors.  We are called to be witnesses of Jesus in the world!!! Not in the Church!  It is the people in the world who need to see the love of God in and through us.  

I am not saying we need to hand out money to every person standing on the street corner.  This often does more harm than good.  What I am saying is that we need to be alert and looking for those individuals who are truly in pain and who need our help.  

It could be a man or woman going through a divorce and whose heart is breaking.  It can be an elderly person who is all alone in this world who is sick and needs a friend.  It may even be the person living in your own house who feels like an outsider.  

It is only when we lift our eyes off ourselves and see our world through God’s eyes that we can begin to love our neighbor as ourselves.  Only then will people see and experience the love of God in a tangible way.

Think about it!
Pastor Russ

The Oncologist vs. The Optometrist

During his annual physical, Jim somewhat apologetically told his doctor about a specific pain he’d felt the last few weeks. In his mind, the pain was merely part of the cost of aging. No big deal. Similar to how his increasingly creaky knees and aching back seem to increase with each birthday. The doctor, however, didn’t respond to Jim’s hastily tossed out information as Jim expected.

“Really?” the doctor shot back with a furrowed brow.

A little taken aback by the doctor’s reaction, Jim shrugged it off. “Yeah. It’s no big deal. I’m just getting older, right?” he laughed.

Grunting a response, the doctor typed something on his laptop and then snapped his head up. “I’ve ordered some additional blood work.” Seeing the look of concern invade Jim’s face, he quickly added, “but it’s probably nothing.”

A few days later, Jim’s phone rang. It was the doctor’s office.

After hanging up a few minutes later, Jim tried to focus on the doctor’s assurance of “it’s probably nothing” but the word “oncologist” drug his thoughts through fear.

After more bloodwork, tests, and an MRI, Jim finally sat across the desk from the oncologist, hoping for answers – good answers.

Silently shuffling through her notes for what felt like an eternity, the oncologist finally looked up and said, “Well, Jim, I have some bad news, some good news, and some less good but not necessarily bad news.”

“Let’s get the bad news out of the way,” Jim attempted to laugh. A lump had somehow developed in his throat, though, and Jim thought his words made him sound like he was drunk as he listened to himself speak.

“You have cancer. That’s the bad news. However, the good news is that this type of cancer is treatable. If you go through the treatment plan and follow the diet and lifestyle regiment I prescribe, you’re almost completely assured of beating this.”

Jim couldn’t help but release a sigh as he said, “Oh. Okay. That’s good. Right? But what’s the ‘some less good but not necessarily bad news you mentioned’?”

Looking Jim squarely in the eyes, the oncologist responded gravely, “I’m not going to lie; it’s going to be a hard road. The treatment is harsh and will make you feel terrible. You’ll likely be out of commission from almost everything for a couple of months, at least. The diet and lifestyle regiment are very rigid and not fun. I promise you, though, that if you trust me and stick to the plan, you’ll beat this cancer and get your life back.”

While driving home, after finally wrapping his brain somewhat around everything he’d just heard, Jim decided to phone his longtime friend Dave.

Knowing that Jim was visiting the oncologist that day, Dave was quick to answer the phone. “Hey, man. What’s the news? Good, right?”

After relaying everything he could remember the oncologist telling him, Jim moved to the real purpose of his call. “Dave, I have a favor to ask.”

“Sure,” Dave was quick to respond. “Anything. You know that. All you have to do is ask.”

“Thanks. I know you’re in my corner. But I want you to almost literally be in my corner. The next few months are going to be rough. From what I understand, the treatment plan is going to kick my butt, and the diet and lifestyle plans aren’t going to be easy. But the oncologist assured me that if I trust her and do what she says, I’ll beat this. However, I’m afraid that I’m going to want to give up. That I can’t do this. I want you to make me. Don’t let me quit, man.”

“Definitely,” Dave assured Jim. “I will 1980s-era P.E. teacher this thing. You’ll get to the top of this dang rope even if I have to throw things at you while screaming nonsensical insults. You may hate me in the moment, but on the other side you and I are going to laugh about it over beers.”

A few days later, while getting his eyes checked, Jim noticed the optometrist peering at him. “How many years have you been coming to me?” the optometrist blurted out. “Almost fifteen? A long time. This is the quietest you’ve ever been. Maybe it’s none of my business, but is everything okay?”

Relieved to be able to tell someone, Jim brought his optometrist up to speed. While Jim was telling him about the treatment plan and the diet and lifestyle regiment, the optometrist shifted uncomfortably on his stool. “Jim,” he said quietly. “I don’t want to overstep, but your oncologist is wrong. I’ve done some research on this type of cancer and it’s not that difficult to beat. There’s no reason to suffer that terrible treatment plan nor to adhere to such a strict diet and lifestyle regiment. If you have a few minutes, I’d love to tell you how to beat this cancer.”

On his way back to his car, Jim felt noticeably lighter. “That’s what they mean when they say a burden’s been lifted,” Jim happily thought.

Once again, Jim phoned Dave from the car.

“Guess what?” Jim blurted out before Dave even had the chance to say hi.

Speaking quickly in his excitement, Jim shared with Dave the good news that his optometrist had told him. “It looks like I don’t need you to be in my corner after all, man! My optometrist has told me what to do to beat this cancer and it’s so much easier than what that oncologist lady said. Great news, right?”

What do you think Dave’s response should be?

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How many times have we had someone tell us, “What you did isn’t that bad!  It’s not like you killed someone or anything.”  We all love to be told that things are ok.  We are really not a bad person.  We are doing better than most people do as we live our lives.  We love to be told everything is going to be ok.

We often take this attitude in our approach to our Christian life and our relationship with God.  We compare ourselves to others and tell ourselves that God is no doubt pleased with us and how we are living.  There is only one problem – We are comparing what is broken with what is broken.

If I want to fix my truck, I do not by a less broken part to replace a badly broken part.  I want a new part to replace the broken part!  Comparing ourselves to others is like comparing two broken parts.  One may be more broken, but both are broken!

The only way we are to approach God is to compare ourselves with Him.  He is pure, righteous, and holy!  Until we can honestly say we are exactly like God, we have no business in the comparison game and since we will never be pure or righteous or holy, we can never look to God and say, “Aren’t you proud of me!”

There is one standard for who we are to be, and we cannot look to an Optometrist to accomplish what only an Oncologist can do.  Only the Oncologist can address our cancer and only God can address our sin.  Thankfully, God has already done this when Jesus went to the cross for us.  His shed blood paid for our sin and only in Him are we declared holy and acceptable to God.

The bad news is that you are a sinner who deserves hell.  The not so bad news is that you are bound to a sinful nature and you will always struggle with sin in this life.  The great news is that Jesus paid for your sin and there is absolute healing in Him.  

The challenge is that if we do as He says and live as He has called us to live, we will overcome bondage to sin in this life and reflect Him more and more clearly until the day comes and we are fully healed.

The road is long and the struggle is real, but the day will come when we will celebrate no more sin!  There will be total and complete healing in Jesus!

Blessings To You This Week.
Pastor Russ

The Lowly Brown Caterpillar
A Parable about True Identity

Once upon a time, in a great big forest, at the bottom of a very tall tree, there crawled along in the soft, dirty, dark earth a caterpillar who was brown and fat and squishy. His name was Bumpadoo.

The odd thing about Bumpadoo was that he didn’t know he was a caterpillar. He thought he was a worm. That is why he crawled at the bottom of the very tall tree instead of climbing up into the tree and into the branches and out onto the stems into the bright sunlight to feast on the banquet of abundant green leaves.

Bumpadoo had not always lived in the dirt. A long time ago, he had followed his true nature into the tree and out onto the leaves, and as he dined there in the bright sunshine, he grew bigger and fatter and happier, as should happen from eating lots and lots of good green nourishment. But a wind came along, rustled through the tree branches and shook the leaves mightily. Bumpadoo thought he was going to fall. Bumpadoo thought he was going to die. And so he scurried off of the leaves and over the branches and down the bark of the tree to the safety of the quiet, still and dirty earth.

In the earth, he met other creatures who crawled where he liked to crawl. They identified themselves as worms, and since Bumpadoo liked the quietness and stillness of the dirty earth, he began to think that he, too, was a worm. Over time, he forgot how yummy the abundant green leaves had been. He forgot how beautiful the forest could look when viewed from very high up in the very tall tree. And he forgot that there was more to life than crawling around in the dirty earth like the worms.

One dreary rainy day, in the quiet muddy earth, Bumpadoo suddenly heard something bounce with a little plop. He poked his head out of the ground to see what had happened and came face to face with a big worm that looked just like him — brown and fat and squishy.

“Who are you?” asked Bumpadoo.

“Oh my! Where am I?” exclaimed the stranger. “I was munching on my dinner,” she said, “hanging on as best I could to the slippery wet leaf, and a wind came along and it shook me and I fell, and here I am, but where am I?”

“You are with me!” said Bumpadoo.

“But I do not know your name. Would you please tell me what it is? I am a worm called Bumpadoo.”

“Oh my apologies, I briefly forgot my manners,” said the stranger. “It’s nice to meet you. My name is Faddawolladee. I’m a caterpillar, and I must climb back up into that tree to the place where I live.” She looked up, up, up the side of her very tall tree.

Bumpadoo laughed. “A caterpillar, you say? But you look like me. You must be a worm, just like me.”

Faddawolladee turned her gaze to Bumpadoo. She eyed him carefully. “Yes we do look very much alike. That means you are not a worm. That means you are a caterpillar.”

Bumpadoo shook the head of his fat and squishy brown body and said, “You and I cannot possibly be caterpillars. Caterpillars are glorious creatures that live in the trees instead of the earth, and they build cocoons in the leaves and become gorgeous butterflies. You are just a worm like me. Come, follow me, and I will show you where to find some dirt that is really delightful to wiggle through.”

Faddawolladee replied, “Oh no, my friend! I am in-deed a caterpillar. In fact, I was about to start building my cocoon when along came this rain storm and its wind, and I failed to hang on tight enough, so I fell.”

Her attitude astounded Bumpadoo. “How arrogant for you to claim to be a caterpillar!” he said. “You are telling me that you’re better than I am, and yet we are alike.”

Faddawolladee sighed. “You are not a worm, my friend. You are a caterpillar like me. You should be feasting on the banquet of abundant green leaves that are high up in the very tall tree. I’m going to start the long climb up there now. Why don’t you join me?”

“How can you say I am not a worm?” insisted Bumpadoo. “Can’t you see that I live and crawl and eat in the soft, dirty earth? And you certainly are no better than I. You have no right to claim that you are a caterpillar or by that claim to imply that someday you will be-come a gorgeous butterfly!”

Faddawolladee stared silently at Bumpadoo for a minute. Then she turned around and started to head for the tree.

“It’s a very long climb back up to the leaves,” she said, “but it’s a climb I must take. I can’t force you to come with me. I can’t make you believe that I am indeed a caterpillar and that you are too. I can tell you that up in the tree, a very long journey from here, there is an abundance of delicious green leaves in the bright sunshine, but I can’t make you understand how delightful they are to feast upon. It’s worth all the hardship of getting up there. I invite you to come along — but the choice is yours.”

Bumpadoo looked high, high, high up into the roof of the forest. “Aren’t you afraid of falling again when the wind returns?” he asked. “A worm who thinks he can live there and eat there and not fall off is living in an illusion.”

Faddawolladee attached her front feet to the base of the tree. “The fall is not what we should fear,” she said. “Staying in the dirt after the fall — now that is what should make us tremble with motivation to do what we have to do to become the butterflies we were created to be.”

And with one last look at Bumpadoo, she said, “You cannot see the real me, nor can you know the real you, unless you give this tree a good try.”

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How many of us have been like Bumpadoo?  We have failed to rise to the potential God has given us.  Or, maybe I should say that God has called us too!

In Christ we have been delivered from bondage to sin and offered the opportunity to become a pure reflection of who God is as we live in this world.  

We have not been called out of sin to continue to wallow in the mud!  We have been called to something glorious.  Like the caterpillar who becomes a butterfly, we have been made for so much more than a sin filled life.

Consider the following passages we are given in Scripture:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11

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

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.” – 1 Peter 2:9

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” – Ephesians 2:10

Ultimately, what God has in store for us is beyond our imagination.  We cannot fully grasp all that God has planned for us.  Hold onto these two passages in your heart because these are your divine destiny.

“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” 1 John 3:2

“The one who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat with My Father on His throne.” Revelation 3:21

In Christ,
Pastor Russ

Sharing the Water of Life

The land was dry and arid. It rarely rained. Because of this the desert had no vegetation and there was no shelter from the burning heat of the sun. But in the midst of the desert was an oasis, a well was fed by a spring that bubbled up from the ground. A small community had settled at the oasis and some weary travelers found refreshment and rest there. But there were other travelers who did not know about the oasis and perished in the midst of the desert.

The villagers who lived at the oasis were troubled by this. Each day they would send out search parties looking for travelers and pointing them towards the oasis where they would find water and shelter. They put up signs pointing people towards the oasis and warning travelers about the dangers of travelling in the desert.

Then one day a wise woman suggested that instead of going out to the desert to find travelers they could take water in big containers out into the desert. They loaded up the camels and took the water with them. By this means they were able to help more travelers.

Then the wise woman had an even better idea. She suggested that they should dig deep holes in the desert and fill them with water from the well. That way travelers would find water even when the villagers were not in that area.

One day a traveler found his way to the oasis. Grateful for the cool, refreshing water, he started talking with the villagers and commended them for their hard work to save the lives of travelers. But, he wondered, what if they dug irrigation channels from the oasis out into the desert? Could the desert itself be transformed?

Jesus talked about the gift of living water that only He can offer.  If we are Christians we have received that gift, but how will we share it with others?

Do we just try to tell people about Jesus?

Do we just try to get people to church?

Do we want to help people to know Jesus for themselves?

How will we share the water of life? One thing is for sure; it is too good to keep to ourselves!

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If we use the imagery of a desert and an oasis, it is easy to understand what Jesus can do for a person.  

The people of our world or simply our community are dying of thirst.  How many people walk into our local funeral homes to make final arrangements for their loved ones, but who have no assurance in that moment for their loved one or for themselves?

How many are living aimless lives simply existing.  Like the parched traveler in the desert who is simply taking one more step, headed in a direction to he knows not what.  So many people are simply existing but who have no real life in them.

How many families are struggling in the midst of friction and chaos because they do not really know how to love or what it means to truly love others.  

Our schools are a mess!  Crimes are taking place every day.  Businesses open and close!  Hopes and dreams are shattered while all the time alcohol and drug use are on the rise.  These are the world’s “go to” for escape!  People wandering aimlessly in the desert and dying of thirst.  

We have so much to offer to our world.  We have the Wellspring of Life not only with us but in us! Jesus said, “whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never be thirsty; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.” John 4:14

What is already in you, what you have as your very own can overflow and water the desert!  Share what you have with those who are dying of thirst!  We Well will never run dry!

Be Blessed!
Pastor Russ

Shall we be Friends (Part 2)

Bill sat in his hotel room feeling lousy. He hadn’t talked to Pete for 3 years and life just wasn’t the same anymore.

At first, he hadn’t noticed the difference because work had been so busy that it had demanded all of his attention. He traveled around the world negotiating and closing deals, but lately, even the thrill of winning a contract had gone. Bill was plodding through life, and he knew that there was something missing.

As he thought about what was wrong, Bill realized that he missed the purpose, fulfillment, strength and guidance that he had found in his friendship with Pete. He still remembered Pete’s final words to him: “Call me anytime you like, I’m always available to talk to you.”

When Bill had got a new phone, he hadn’t given Pete the number. It had been so long since they had talked and he felt too embarrassed to call, he wasn’t even sure what he would say, and he knew he had really let his friend down.

As Bill sat there feeling depressed, he found a card with a website address on it which had been left by the ‘Dingoes’ organization. (Bill thought that this was quite a strange name, and he decided that one day he would have to rearrange the letters to come up with something better).

The address was http://www.PetesWord.net and as he opened it on his phone and began to read he was astonished by what he found. All of the things that Pete had said to him were written down plus there was some new information there as well. As he read, long into the night he was reminded about Pete’s love for every human being. Eventually he couldn’t help himself, he picked up the phone and called Pete.

He blurted out “Hi, Pete, it’s Bill here” and then came the reply he had been hoping for, “I’ve missed you Bill”.

They talked for hours and Bill was completely overwhelmed by Pete’s love and acceptance for him and that night marked a new start in his life. Accessing, reading and obeying Pete’s Word became a regular and important part of his life, as did talking with Pete several times a day. Bill had felt lost and alone but now he was found and he was so grateful!

“All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness” (2 Tim 3.16).

Do we believe that reading the Bible can be life changing? If we do, then how much time will we make to read it and to talk with Jesus about what we find within it?

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I will admit, sometimes it feels like prayer is a one way street.  We do all the talking and God is on the other end of the line!  How long will you talk on the phone when the person on the other end says nothing?

It can feel that way, but truly it is not.  Prayer is our talking to God.  While the Spirit of God does speak to our hearts, most of the talking done from God to us is in and through His Word.

Too many of us find ourselves too busy or distracted to read the Bible.  Sometimes we think it is just old and boring.  But truthfully, since the Spirit of God inspired it and since the Spirit is at work in it, the Bible is the living and active Word of God.

The same power Word which called creation into being is present in our hands when we open the Bible to read.  It is as we read it that the Spirit is working in us to deepen our relationship with God.  This thrills our Father who desires nothing more than to reveal Himself to us in greater ways.

In this day and age, almost everyone has a cell phone.  Try listening to the Bible as it is read to you off a Bible app.  Many are available and if you need a good one, just ask.  It is a great way to allow God to share His heart with you.

Have a blessed week.  See you on Sunday!
Pastor Russ

Shall We Be Friends?

Bill had always found it difficult to make friends, especially at school. He didn’t feel very clever and he wasn’t even good at sports, he felt like a nobody, and it seemed like everyone treated him that way.

Life had been incredibly lonely for Bill but all that had changed when Pete joined the school and soon, they became the very best of friends.

Pete’s father had sent him to Bill’s home town to attend the school. Despite their separation, Bill soon noticed the special bond that Pete and his father had and the way that they often talked on the phone several times a day.

Shortly after he had arrived, a video recording from Pete’s dad saying how proud and pleased that he was with his son was played in an assembly. It provoked quite a reaction from the other students, after all pupils were only ever honored in an assembly if they had achieved or had done something special. In contrast, this message from the father spoke of love and being pleased with his son simply because is shows how a father felt about his son and he wanted everyone to know it.

Bill was intrigued by the special relationship that Pete had with his father! Pete seemed to draw acceptance, security, strength, guidance, and a purpose from his father and Bill noticed that all of these elements were also found by him in his friendship with Pete.

Pete and Bill were inseparable, they learned together, they laughed together, they shared hopes and dreams together, and they even talked about the things that were worrying them.

When they left school, Bill went to work in an office while Pete continued to spend his time befriending people – he didn’t get paid for it, but his father always seemed to ensure that he had enough to live on. They continued to meet up and speak each day, and Bill was grateful for the fulfillment in life that he had found through their friendship.

Several months later, Pete told Bill that he was going home to his father and that one day Bill could come and live with them, but that it wasn’t time yet.

When Pete left, they stayed in touch by phone (in much the same way as Pete and his father had done). It seemed strange at first but while they talked regularly, Bill felt that Pete was still with him and so their friendship continued.

A few weeks later, work was so busy that Bill forgot to phone Pete. His mobile phone had rung several times and although he could see it was Pete, he really didn’t have time to answer and in the end he switched it off, as it was distracting him. Bill phoned the next day and apologized to Pete who said that it was okay and that he was always available anytime that his friend wanted to call him.

Sadly, that was just the start! Bill got complacent about contacting Pete and he was so busy that he often didn’t switch on his phone for days. Bill rarely phones Pete now, which is sad because Pete is always ready and waiting to talk with him.

Is there anyone that we should call?

We may say that we follow Jesus, but how much do we talk with him?

Do we need to deepen our relationship with him by speaking with him more than we currently do?

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So sad but True!

How many of us, if we are honest, limit our prayers to mealtimes or times of crisis in our lives?  How many times do we drift off to sleep having forgotten to even pray at bedtime?  Now please don’t misunderstand me.  God yearns for us to pray to Him in times of crisis.  When we are facing challenges in our lives, He wants us to know He is there for us.  Paul even says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your requests to God.”  Philippians 4:6-7

But God wants more than to simply be our source of security when life is hard.  He yearns for a deep, intimate relationship with each one of us.  

Sometimes at the end of a hoe-hum type of day you may not even know what to pray.  Listen to the words of Paul again, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” Romans 8:26-27

There are issues, concerns, and even fears present in your heart which are not even the central focus of your mind, but your spirit is aware of them.  Because of this, God’s Spirit in you is aware of them.  Sometimes we need to just stop and be!  It is ok to say to God, “Father, I don’t even know what I should pray for, but I am thankful you are here with me and that I live each day blessed by You.  

Remember, you are never alone and more than this, God is always with you so talk to Him.  Talk to Him when you are doing housework, or driving down the street (just don’t close your eyes).  When you mow the yard or change a diaper.  There is never a bad time to talk to God.  

Also remember, it is not about posture or language.  It is always about relationship!

Be blessed this week.
Pastor Russ

Are we Listening? A Modern Parable

The Church was on a mission, and they were excited following the launch of several new projects. One Saturday morning they decided to go into their community to tell people about what they were offering. Peter couldn’t wait to share the great news about his church and so he made sure that he was first out of the door. As he walked along, he noticed a young woman trying to carry some bags full of toys.

“Hello” he said. “I’m Peter from your local Christian church and we’re out and about today to tell everyone about the projects we are running to bless the community.” ‘I’m jus…’ said the woman but Peter cut in ‘you need to come to our new toddler group, it has the latest in toys and play equipment, and we’ve even turned our baptistery into a giant ball pool. “What did you say? … You couldn’t come to that …. Okay, you probably have older children and so you need to bring them to our summertime activities. We are offering a holiday club with free lunches so you can be free from your little horrors for a few hours each day.” Peter then thrust some leaflets into the woman’s hand and sped feeling very pleased with himself at having shared the Gospel.

Mary wasn’t as keen as Peter, but she knew that it was important to talk about her faith with people outside of the church. Mary was the last out the door and as she walked along, she met a lady clinging to some bags full of toys and some church leaflets as she cried. Mary was supposed to be talking about church projects but instead she decided to try, “Are you okay?”

Later that day, Peter was walking back to the church to get more leaflets when he noticed Mary coming out of the coffee shop with the young woman. Peter heard Mary say, “nice to meet you Karen” before seeing Karen hug Mary tightly as she said, “thanks for listening, it was just what I needed.”

As Peter and Mary walked back to the church together Mary told him that Karen was on her way home from the contact center where she had gone to meet her children who had been removed by social services. Tragically several buses hadn’t arrived (apparently the drivers were on strike) and so Karen had missed her appointment and she was on her way home carrying the toys that she had carefully selected for her children so that they could have something familiar with them in their foster home

Karen accepted that she had made bad choices in the past, but she was also trying so hard to turn her life around, but she felt like it all just kept going wrong. All that changed though as Karen got to know Mary and she even began to help at the church lunch club. The food hygiene certificate was her first ever qualification and she cried when Mary gave it to her. Her experience at the lunch club even gave her the confidence to apply for a catering course in the local college. Whenever she sees Peter, she tells him that she is hoping and praying for a day when she can bring her children to the church holiday club.

We may not have all the resources that we would like but we are all able to listen.

Things To Consider:

People are more important than programs. How do we keep this important emphasis central in our outreach programs and strategies?

Do our church programs help or hinder us from building relationships with people? Do we see ourselves just as service providers or as people who will offer time, care and friendship? Would we be more missional if we gave up all of our outreach activities and spent the time befriending people instead?

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While we at Spirit and Truth do not have very many outreach programs, the message in this modern-day parable is strikingly true!  People are more important than programs.  When Jesus tells the parable about Judgment Day, His focus is on how we treated people!  How we loved them in tangible ways.  

“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 And when did we see You as a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of Mine, you did it for Me.’  Matthew 25:31-40

Have you ever stopped to think about the way Jesus interacted with people?  Many of you have heard me say this before!  Jesus met people where they were at!  He accepted them for who they were, loved them, and blessed them.  He forgave them and then sent them on their way, knowing that God loves them.

Never once did Jesus tell people to go to Synagogue, or follow the rules, or go do this or that to get their life straighten out.  Jesus simply loved them into the Kingdom of God and then trusted His Spirit to continue to work in their lives.  

God does change lives!  But He does it though love and not by following the rules.  

May God bless us to be a true reflection of His heart as we interact with people and share who we are as the Children of God with the people of this world.

Have a blessed week!
Pastor Russ

Story – Ugly the Tomcat

Everyone in the apartment complex I lived in knew who Ugly was. Ugly was the resident tomcat. Ugly loved three things in this world: fighting, eating garbage, and, shall we say, love.

The combination of these things combined with a life spent outside had their effect on Ugly. To start with, he had only one eye, and where the other should have been, there was a hole. He was also missing his ear on the same side. His left foot appeared to have been badly broken at one time and had healed at an unnatural angle, making him look like he was always turning the corner.

Ugly would have been a dark gray tabby, striped type, except for the sores covering his head, neck, and even his shoulders. Every time someone saw Ugly there was the same reaction. "That's one UGLY cat!!!"

All the children were warned not to touch him, the adults threw rocks at him, hosed him down, squirted him when he tried to come into their homes, or shut his paws in the door when he would not leave. Ugly always had the same reaction.

If you turned the hose on him, he would stand there, getting soaked until you gave up and quit. If you threw things at him, he would curl his lanky body around your feet in forgiveness.

Whenever he spied children, he would come running, meowing frantically and bump his head against their hands, begging for their love. If you ever picked him up he would immediately begin suckling on your shirt, earrings, whatever he could find.

One day Ugly shared his love with the neighbor's dogs. They did not respond kindly, and Ugly was badly mauled. I tried to rush to his aid. By the time I got to where he was laying, it was apparent Ugly's sad life was almost at an end.

As I picked him up and tried to carry him home, I could hear him wheezing and gasping, and could feel him struggling. It must be hurting him terribly, I thought. Then I felt a familiar tugging, sucking sensation on my ear. Ugly, in so much pain, suffering and obviously dying, was trying to suckle my ear. I pulled him closer to me, and he bumped the palm of my hand with his head, then he turned his one golden eye towards me, and I could hear the distinct sound of purring.

Even in the greatest pain, that ugly battled scarred cat was asking only for a little affection, perhaps some compassion. At that moment I thought Ugly was the most beautiful, loving creature I had ever seen. Never once did he try to bite or scratch me, try to get away from me, or struggle in any way. Ugly just looked up at me completely trusting in me to relieve his pain.

Ugly died in my arms before I could get inside, but I sat and held him for a long time afterwards, thinking about how one scarred, deformed little stray could so alter my opinion about what it means to have true pureness of spirit, to love so totally and truly.

Ugly taught me more about giving and compassion than a thousand books, lectures, or talk show specials ever could, and for that I will always be thankful. He had been scarred on the outside, but I was scarred on the inside, and it was time for me to move on and learn to love truly and deeply -- to give my total to those I cared for.

Many people want to be richer, more successful, well liked, and beautiful -- except for me. I will always try to be Ugly.

+++
What an amazing truth in one little story!  So many people are bruised, battered, and scared by life but it is what is on the inside that counts the most.

Could it be that it is as we draw closer to Jesus that He begins to heal the inside and transform us so that what people see is but a mere shadow of who we truly are!

What greater testimony to the power of the Gospel than for a life to be changed and for others to see the love of Christ shining through us.

We my all want something different on the outside, but the truth is that it is what is on the inside that counts the most.  May we all be truly changed from the inside out.  We may be Ugly, but let the true Ugly be seen in all that we do!

Blessings in Christ,
Pastor Russ

Story - Taxi Driver
 
Twenty years ago, I drove a cab for a living. It was a cowboy’s life, a life for someone who wanted no boss. What I didn’t realize was that it was also a ministry.

Because I drove the night shift, my cab became a moving confessional. Passengers climbed in, sat behind me in total anonymity, and told me about their lives. I encountered people whose lives amazed me, made me laugh and made me weep.

But none touched me more than a woman I picked up late one August night.

I was responding to a call from a small brick fourplex in a quiet part of town. I assumed I was being sent to pick up some partiers, or someone who had just had a fight with a lover, or a worker heading to an early shift at some factory in the industrial part of town.

When I arrived at 2:30 a.m., the building was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window. Under these circumstances, many drivers would just honk once or twice, wait a minute, then drive away. But I had seen too many impoverished people who depended on taxis as their only means of transportation. Unless a situation smelled of danger, I always went to the door. This passenger might be someone who needs my assistance, I reasoned to myself. So, I walked to the door and knocked.

“Just a minute”, answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor. After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 80s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie.

By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets. There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

“Would you carry my bag out to the car?” she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman. She took my arm, and we walked slowly toward the curb. She kept thanking me for my kindness.

“It’s nothing”, I told her. “I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated.”

“Oh, you’re such a good boy,” she said.

When we got in the cab, she gave me the address, then asked, “Could you drive through downtown?”

“It’s not the shortest way,” I answered quickly. “Oh, I don’t mind,” she said. “I’m in no hurry. I’m on my way to a hospice.”

I looked in the rearview mirror. Her eyes were glistening. “I don’t have any family left,” she continued. “The doctor says I don’t have very long.”

I quietly reached over and shut off the meter. “What route would you like me to take?” I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl. Sometimes she’d ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, “I’m tired. Let’s go now.”

We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico. Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her.

I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.

“How much do I owe you?” she asked, reaching into her purse.

“Nothing,” I said.

“You have to make a living,” she answered.

“There are other passengers,” I responded.

Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly. “You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,” she said. “Thank you.”

I squeezed her hand, then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life. I didn’t pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly, lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away? On a quick review, I don’t think that I have done anything more important in my life. We’re conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware--beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

People may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel.

+++

This is a valuable lesson for all of us to learn.  When Jesus walked among the people of this earth, things were not so different than today.  Many people were simply in too much of a hurry to pay attention to the people around them.  Of course, there were those who treated others as if they were beneath them.  But not Jesus!  He took the time to make each and every person feel special. There was not a single person who was discounted or ignored by Jesus.  

What would the world be like if we truly took the time to invest ourselves into the lives of those around us?  The checker at the grocery store, or the man cutting our yard.  Each one is a person created by God, special and unique.  Each one faces the struggle of life just as we do, but many have no one to whom they can turn when life becomes hard and challenging.  

We can be the someone who makes them feel like they are not invisible or forgotten about.  This is especially true of the elderly in our midst, who like the woman in the story have lost everyone and are facing the final days of their lives all alone.

Take a moment to smile at the person walking down the isle in the store.  Say “hello” when you see a stranger.  Open the door for the young mother with children in tow!  You will never know the opportunities God may be opening up for you to bless someone who is alone and hurting.  I can also assure you of this, you will be the one who receives the greatest blessings.

God bless your day!
Pastor Russ

Story - The Folded Napkin

I try not to be biased, but I had my doubts about hiring Stevie. His placement counselor assured me that he would be a good, reliable busboy. But I had never had a mentally handicapped employee and wasn't sure I wanted one. I wasn't sure how my customers would react to Stevie. He was short, a little dumpy with the smooth facial features and thick-tongued speech of Downs Syndrome.

I wasn't worried about most of my trucker customers because truckers don't generally care who buses tables as long as the meatloaf platter is good and the pies are homemade. The four-wheel drivers were the ones who concerned me; the mouthy college kids traveling to school; the yuppie snobs who secretly polish their silverware with their napkins for fear of catching some dreaded "truck stop germ"; the pairs of white shirted business men on expense accounts who think every truck stop waitress wants to be flirted with. I knew those people would be uncomfortable around Stevie, so I closely watched him for the first few weeks.

I shouldn't have worried. After the first week, Stevie had my staff wrapped around his stubby little finger, and within a month my truck regulars had adopted him as their official truck stop mascot.

After that, I really didn't care what the rest of the customers thought of him. He was like a 21-year-old in blue jeans and Nikes, eager to laugh and eager to please, but fierce in his attention to his duties. Every salt and pepper shaker was exactly in its place. Not a bread crumb or coffee spill was visible when Stevie got done with the table.

Our only problem was persuading him to wait to clean a table until after the customers were finished. He would hover in the background, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, scanning the dining room until a table was empty. Then he would scurry to the empty table and carefully bus dishes and glasses onto cart and meticulously wipe the table up with a practiced flourish of his rag. If he thought a customer was watching, his brow would pucker with added concentration.
He took pride in doing his job exactly right, and you had to love how hard he tried to please each and every person he met.

Over time, we learned that he lived with his mother, a widow who was disabled after repeated surgeries for cancer. They lived on their Social Security benefits in public housing two miles from the truck stop. Their social worker, who stopped to check on him every so often, admitted they had fallen between the cracks. Money was tight, and what I paid him was probably the difference between them being able to live together and Stevie being sent to a group home. That's why the restaurant was a gloomy place that morning last August, the first morning in three years that Stevie missed work.

He was at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester getting a new valve or something put in his heart. His social worker said that people with Downs Syndrome often had heart problems at an early age so this wasn't unexpected, and there was a good chance he would come through the surgery in good shape and be back at work in a few months.
A ripple of excitement ran through the staff later that morning when word came that he was out of surgery, in recovery, and doing fine.
Frannie, headwaitress, let out a war hoop and did a little dance in the aisle when she heard the good news. Belle Ringer, one of our regular trucker customers, stared at the sight of the 50-year-old grandmother of four doing a victory shimmy beside his table. Frannie blushed, smoothed her apron and shot Belle Ringer a withering look.

He grinned. "OK, Frannie, what was that all about?" he asked. "We just got word that Stevie is out of surgery and going to be okay."

"I was wondering where he was. I had a new joke to tell him. What was the surgery about?" Frannie quickly told Belle Ringer and the other two drivers sitting at his booth about Stevie's surgery, then sighed: "Yeah, I'm glad he is going to be OK" she said. "But I don't know how he and his Mom are going to handle all the bills. From what I hear, they're barely getting by as it is."

Belle Ringer nodded thoughtfully, and Frannie hurried off to wait on the rest of her tables. Since I hadn't had time to round up a busboy to replace Stevie and really didn't want to replace him, the girls were busing their own tables that day until we decided what to do.
After the morning rush, Frannie walked into my office. She had a couple of paper napkins in her hand and a funny look on her face.

"What's up?" I asked.

"I didn't get that table where Belle Ringer and his friends were sitting cleared off after they left, and Pony Pete and Tony Tipper were sitting there when I got back to clean it off," she said. "This was folded and tucked under a coffee cup." She handed the napkin to me, and three $20 bills fell onto my desk when I opened it. On the outside, in big, bold letters, was printed "Something For Stevie."

"Pony Pete asked me what that was all about," she said, "so I told him about Stevie and his Mom and everything, and Pete looked at Tony and Tony looked at Pete, and they ended up giving me this." She handed me another paper napkin that had "Something For Stevie" scrawled on its outside. Two $50 bills were tucked within its folds.

Frannie looked at me with wet, shiny eyes, shook her head and said simply: "truckers."
That was three months ago. Today is Thanksgiving, the first day Stevie is supposed to be back to work. His placement counselor said he's been counting the days until the doctor said he could work, and it didn't matter at all that it was a holiday. He called 10 times in the past week, making sure we knew he was coming, fearful that we had forgotten him or that his job was in jeopardy. I arranged to have his mother bring him to work, met them in the parking lot and invited them both to celebrate his day back.

Stevie was thinner and paler, but couldn't stop grinning as he pushed through the doors and headed for the back room where his apron and busing cart were waiting.
"Hold up there, Stevie, not so fast," I said. I took him and his mother by their arms. "Work can wait for a minute. To celebrate you coming back, breakfast for you and your mother is on me!" I led them toward a large corner booth at the rear of the room. I could feel and hear the rest of the staff following behind as we marched through the dining room. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw booth after booth of grinning truckers empty and join the procession. We stopped in front of the big table. Its surface was covered with coffee cups, saucers and dinner plates, all sitting slightly crooked on dozens of folded paper napkins.
"First thing you have to do, Stevie, is clean up this mess," I said. I tried to sound stern. Stevie looked at me, and then at his mother, then pulled out one of the napkins. It had "Something for Stevie" printed on the outside. As he picked it up, two $10 bills fell onto the table. Stevie stared at the money, then at all the napkins peeking from beneath the tableware, each with his name printed or scrawled on it. I turned to his mother.

"There's more than $10,000 in cash and checks on that table, all from truckers and trucking companies that heard about your problems. "Happy Thanksgiving."

Well, it got real noisy about that time, with everybody hollering and shouting, and there were a few tears, as well. But you know what's funny? While everybody else was busy shaking hands and hugging each other, Stevie, with a big, big smile on his face, was busy clearing all the cups and dishes from the table.
Best worker I ever hired.

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What more can we say than to thank God for the generosity of other when someone is in need. This story reminds us of all we have to be thankful for!  Those with disabled children bear a unique burden in their lives. To know there are those who care and are willing to help in times of need us a special blessing.

What is amazing is that God is always in the midst of it!  He is working to enable all of us to see beyond ourselves and share His love with others.  The greatest thing we can do is love others as He has loved us.  He gave all that we might be blessed forever!  It is our privilege to bless others and allow His love to shine through us!

Blessings this week,
Pastor Russ

Story: God's Under the Bed

My brother Kevin thinks God lives under his bed. At least that's what I heard him say one night. He was praying out loud in his dark bedroom, and I stopped outside his closed door to listen. "Are you there, God?" he said. "Where are you? Oh, I see. Under the bed." I giggled softly and tiptoed off to my own room.

Kevin's unique perspectives are often a source of amusement. But that night something else lingered long after the humor. I realized for the first time the very different world Kevin lives in. He was born 30 years ago, mentally disabled as a result of difficulties during labor. Apart from his size (he's 6'2"), there are few ways in which he is an adult. He reasons and communicates with the capabilities of a 7 year old, and he always will. He will probably always believe that God lives under his bed, that Santa Claus is the one who fills the space under our tree every Christmas, and that airplanes stay up in the sky because angels carry them.

I remember wondering if Kevin realizes he is different. Is he ever dissatisfied with his monotonous life? Up before dawn each day, off to work at a workshop for the disabled, home to walk our cocker spaniel, returning to eat his favorite macaroni-and-cheese for dinner, and later to bed. The only variation in the entire scheme are laundry days, when he hovers excitedly over the washing machine like a mother with her newborn child.

He does not seem dissatisfied. He lopes out to the bus every morning at 7:05 eager for a day of simple work. He wrings his hands excitedly while the water boils on the stove before dinner, and he stays up late twice a week to gather our dirty laundry for his next day's laundry chores. And Saturdays -- oh, the bliss of Saturdays! That's the day my dad takes Kevin to the airport to have a soft drink, watch the planes land, and speculate loudly on the destination of each passenger inside. "That one's goin' to Chi-car-go!" Kevin shouts as he claps his hands. His anticipation is so great he can hardly sleep on Friday nights.

I don't think Kevin knows anything exists outside his world of daily rituals and weekend field trips. He doesn't know what it means to be discontented. His life is simple. He will never know the entanglements of wealth or power, and he does not care what brand of clothing he wears or what kind of food he eats. He recognizes no differences in people, treating each person as an equal and a friend. His needs have always been met, and he never worries that one day they may not be.

His hands are diligent. Kevin is never so happy as when he is working. When he unloads the dishwasher or vacuums the carpet, his heart is completely in it. He does not shrink from a job when it is begun, and he does not leave a job until it is finished. But when his tasks are done, Kevin knows how to relax. He is not obsessed with his work or the work of others.

His heart is pure. He still believes everyone tells the truth, promises must be kept, and when you are wrong, you apologize instead of arguing. Free from pride and unconcerned with appearances, Kevin is not afraid to cry when he is hurt, angry or sorry. He is always transparent, always sincere.

And he trusts God. Not confined by intellectual reasoning, when he comes to Christ, he comes as a child. Kevin seems to know God -- to really be friends with Him in a way that is difficult for an "educated" person to grasp. God seems like his closest companion.

In my moments of doubt and frustrations with my Christianity, I envy the security Kevin has in his simple faith. It is then that I am most willing to admit that he has some divine knowledge that rises above my mortal questions. It is then I realize that perhaps he is not the one with the handicap -- I am. My obligations, my fears, my pride, my circumstances -- they all become disabilities when I do not submit them to Christ.

Who knows if Kevin comprehends things I can never learn? After all, he has spent his whole life in that kind of innocence, praying after dark and soaking up the goodness and love of the Lord. And one day, when the mysteries of heaven are opened, and we are all amazed at how close God really is to our hearts, I'll realize that God heard the simple prayers of a boy who believed that God lived under his bed.

Kevin won't be surprised at all.

“Allow the children to come to Me; do not forbid them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Mark 10:14

Enough Said!
Pastor Russ

Story: True Joy

Anna looked longingly at the dolls in the store window. They were just like the doll that her friend had. Oh, if only she could have one of those dolls! Anna could picture how much fun she would have playing with her doll. She would dress it and care for it as tenderly as a mother cares for her child.

That night at dinner, Anna was uncharacteristically silent. Although her father tried several times to get her attention, Anna's mind was completely preoccupied with the dolls she had seen.

Normally Anna and her father would spend time together after dinner. Those evenings with her father were usually the highlight of Anna's day. But this evening, nothing seemed like any fun. Although she tried to talk with her father, Anna's mind kept wandering to the dolls.

"Father, can I have one of the dolls in Tonim's shop window?" she finally got the courage to ask.

Her father lovingly drew her toward him as he replied, "My darling daughter, a doll isn't really what you need right now. I want you to trust me to bring you what you really need."

Anna sighed. She certainly felt like she needed a doll! But she knew that she could trust her father. "Okay, Daddy," she whispered, "I'll trust you." Trusting her father, Anna skipped off to bed, lighthearted once again.

The next day, however, she went over to play with her friend, and, of course, her friend wouldn't stop playing with and talking about the doll she had. Anna could hardly stand it. She seemed to have forgotten all about her father's promise to provide what she truly needed. It seemed at the time that nothing but a doll could ever make her happy.

Instead of singing through her afternoon tasks, Anna mechanically moved through the day. Her life felt so miserable and empty. Every once in a while she would remember her father's promise, and a smile would flit quickly across her face. But what if her father forgot about his promise to provide what she needed? Or what if, when her father went to buy her a doll, they were all gone? That thought tormented her. Had she been a little wiser or older, she might have realized that the doll she thought would bring her happiness was really causing her to be unhappy.

Time passed by in this manner. Anna and her father hardly saw each other any more. It wasn't that Anna was purposefully avoiding him, but she just didn't seem to have room for any other thoughts besides the one thought that had consumed all her energy-getting one of those dolls. Many times she thought of how she might purchase a doll herself, but her genuine love for her father and her good upbringing prevented her from going against her father's wishes.

Finally, Anna could not stand her misery any longer. She simply had to talk with her father again. "Daddy, I really want a doll," she confessed.

"I know."

"You do?" Anna looked up in surprise. She thought for sure that her father had forgotten all about the doll. After all, he had so many other more important matters to handle.

"Of course I do. I've never forgotten my promise to bring you what you need, not even for a moment. And I've known all about your struggle, too. I've been waiting for you to talk with me."

Anna hung her head. Oh, why had she believed that her father didn't care!

Anna's father drew her lovingly onto his lap. "Anna, I want you to understand that the doll you long for, while it is such a nice, lovely thing, can't bring you happiness. Can't you see how it's already taken away your happiness? You will find true joy, not in a doll, but in delighting in the tasks before you each day. And I promise you that I will never, ever forget about you. Will you trust me to give you what you need each day?"

Anna nodded as she squeezed her father tightly. She would trust him. She went to bed that night with a lighter heart than she had for a long time.

The next morning, however, she awoke thinking about one of the dolls at the store. She had to work hard all day to check her thoughts and remind herself to trust her father and simply delight in what she'd been given. Gradually, Anna began to forget about her desire for a doll. She began to enjoy her daily tasks again. Her old smile returned. Best of all, she and her father were spending precious time together again.

As Anna grew to know her father better, she realized that, whether he ever gave her a doll or not, she could trust him. She discovered that true joy comes, not from getting what she wanted, but from complete surrender and delight in her father's wishes.

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Our lives are often like this!  We think we know what we need and we certainly know what we want!  All the time our Father is at work to provide what we truly need.  Far too often we become impatient and attempt to obtain what our hearts desire with little or no regard to what the Father wants for us.

Jesus taught us, “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the sky, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather crops into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more important than they? 27 And which of you by worrying can add a single day to his life’s span? 28 And why are you worried about clothing? Notice how the lilies of the field grow; they do not labor nor do they spin thread for cloth, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31 Do not worry then, saying, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear for clothing?’ 32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you.  Matthew 6:25-33

Our heavenly Father knows all we need and He even knows the desires of our hearts.  It may just be He is protecting us by not giving to us what we desire.  He my very well be calling us to seek first the kingdom of God!  When we do this, we are assured of receiving all we truly need and desire.

Blessings this week,
Pastor Russ

Today’s newsletter article is actually a letter to the editor of the Odessa American which was written in the 1970’s.  This letter was written in response to a man who was shamed in church as a young boy for expressing his doubts.  

I trust you will find some truth in what was shared and some wisdom for our day and for this New Year!

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This letter is in response to a letter that David Newman wrote on November the 8th in the Odessa American titled, “When Doubts Rage.”

And so it is that so many would be Christians have walked away from the church from the likes of the Sunday school teacher Newman described in his letter.

Lives forever changed or sent off in some spasmodic direction because some people took it upon themselves to be “holier than thou” and above reproach.

I'm sorry for the pain Newman must have felt as a youngster, seeking answers and to have been thrust into the presence of such a person.

For someone like that to even claim he knows God only reinforces the scriptures God gives us about false prophets and teachers.

Robert Browning wrote, “I show you doubt to prove that faith exists.”

Stanislaw Leszczynski wrote, “To believe with certainty must begin with doubt.”

Irresolution is to waver or hesitate and perhaps a hesitation and quest for answers has been the one thing that has and will make faith stronger.

The fact that Newman is still seeking to understand says that we are all human and God loves us and our humanness. He sees us and loves us just like we are in our sin at this moment in time - doubts and all.

Jesus never rebuked His disciple Thomas for doubting. Instead, Jesus offered Thomas the evidence of truth, which were the holes in his hands and the wound in his side.

Thomas became the first disciple to put into words the truth that Jesus is both Lord and God. He utters the greatest confession of faith recorded anywhere in the Bible and Jesus tells him, “Because you have seen me you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” John 20:27-29.

Until his death, Thomas was an outspoken advocate for the Lord. A man who so adamantly proclaimed his disbelief carried God’s message to the ends of the earth. Another example is the father of the child and Matthew who said with tears, “I believe help my disbelief.”

The Sunday school teacher who Newman refers to as one of many who would offer a very poor example of who Christ is. At a time when Newman needed love, reinforcement, support, compassion and guidance, he was condemned and reprimanded for his stupidity and insolence and left to his own devices as to where to go or how to understand.

All it would have taken would have been loving hug and assurance that, of course, it's OK and normal to doubt the things we cannot see or understand and the assurance that in time things would be made clear.

The kid needs reassurance that he did not count for something, and the huge magnitude of the universe was shot down without a second glance. And we wonder why horrible things are done in the name of religion.

Thank God, it isn't about religion!

I know personally, the further I go in my walk with Christ the less I know or understand. However, doubt strengthens my faith, my perseverance and my commitment to know more about what Jesus told Thomas when he said, blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

To love God like he loves me motivates me to examine and reexamine my doubts, my fears, my failures and my sins and thank him each day that he hasn't given up on me and won't ever.  I count for something and it is who I am becoming in Christ that makes it worthwhile.

It is the same for Newman. God makes that promise to anyone who would seek him out.

Some of us are perfect - just ask them - including Newman's teacher.

Unfortunately, I’m not one period I get frustrated, angry, sad, and I do doubt when I see sickness and disease and war and all those things that would destroy us.

However, there is one great mystery to life and God revealed that mystery to all of us. The one great truth is, God in us! Once we accept Him as our Savior.

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As we enter this new year may you be blessed with the knowledge that God accepts you, doubts and all. He loves you and nothing can change His mind or His heart.  May all those you love be wrapped in the arms of Jesus and may we enter this new year knowing God is going to use us all in mighty ways.
Be Blessed,
Pastor Russ

Christmas Story - The Man and the Birds

Now the man to whom I’m going to introduce you was not a scrooge. He was a kind, decent, mostly good man, generous to his family and upright in his dealings with other men. But he just didn’t believe all that incarnation stuff which the churches proclaim at Christmas time. It just didn’t make sense, and he was too honest to pretend otherwise. He just couldn’t swallow the Jesus story, about God coming to earth as a man.

“I’m truly sorry to distress you,” he told his wife, “but I’m not going with you to church this Christmas Eve.” He said he’d feel like a hypocrite and that he’d much rather just stay at home, but that he would wait up for them. And so he stayed, and they went to the midnight service.

Shortly after the family drove away in the car, snow began to fall. He went to the window to watch the flurries getting heavier and heavier and then went back to his fireside chair and began to read his newspaper. Minutes later, he was startled by a thudding sound. Then another, and then another. Sort of a thump or a thud. At first he thought someone must be throwing snowballs against his living room window.

But when he went to the front door to investigate, he found a flock of birds huddled miserably in the snow. They’d been caught in the storm and, in a desperate search for shelter, had tried to fly through his large landscape window. Well, he couldn’t let the poor creatures lie there and freeze, so he remembered the barn where his children stabled their pony. That would provide a warm shelter, if he could direct the birds to it.

Quickly he put on a coat and galoshes and tramped through the deepening snow to the barn. He opened the doors wide and turned on a light, but the birds did not come in. He figured food would entice them in. So he hurried back to the house, fetched bread crumbs and sprinkled them on the snow, making a trail to the yellow-lighted, wide-open doorway of the stable. But to his dismay, the birds ignored the bread crumbs and continued to flap around helplessly in the snow.

He tried catching them. He tried shooing them into the barn by walking around them waving his arms. Instead, they scattered in every direction, except into the warm, lighted barn. And then, he realized, that they were afraid of him. To them, he reasoned, I am a strange and terrifying creature. If only I could think of someway to let them know that they can trust me – that I am not trying to hurt them, but to help them. But how, because any move he made tended to frighten and confuse them. They just would not follow. They would not be led or shooed because they feared him.

“If only I could be a bird,” he thought to himself, “and mingle with them and speak their language. Then I could tell them not to be afraid. Then I could show them the way to the safe, warm . . .  . . .  . . . to the safe, warm barn. But I would have to be one of them so they could see, and hear and understand.”

At that moment, the church bells began to ring. The sound reached his ears above the sounds of the wind. And he stood there listening to the bells – listening to the bells pealing the glad tidings of Christmas. And he sank to his knees in the snow.;

- WRITTEN BY PAUL HARVEY –

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Paul Harvey was a master at telling a story!  The fact that this is a story which is original with him speaks of his own faith!

There are many people who struggle with the truths of the Christmas story.  That God, if there is a God, would come to earth as a human being is more than some people can accept as being true.  But what is the truth?

The truth is that most people who are not Christians live in fear even the idea of a God existing.  The thought of a God each and every person would one day be accountable too moves them to deny even the idea of God!

But what is the truth?  The truth is that inside each human heart is the innate understanding there is something more to our lives than this material world!  We all know God exists!  The question is what are we going to do about it?  Are we going to continue to deny His existence or accept the truth that He is there, and we will all one day stand before Him?

The fact that God exists is undeniable.  The truth is also that He is absolutely holy and wholly beyond our ability to know or connect with.  This is what Christmas is all about!  When we could not go to God, He chose to come into this world in a way we could truly relate too!

He did not come in glory with all the pomp and circumstance we could have expected from the King of glory.  He chose to come in a way which was absolutely less than intimidating.  What could be less intimidating than a newborn baby?

When God chose to come into this world He chose to come in a way which would not scare us but draw us to Him.  He chose to become one of us!  Just like us in every way.  He came in a way we could understand so that He could lead us to the warmth and safety if His Father’s grace.

Like the birds who needed a guide who would not scare them away, but lead them to life, Jesus was born to show is the way to reach eternity and the warmth and safety of God’s love.  Christmas is a time to pause and give thanks for the gift of life.  We have been rescued from the cold and darkness of sin and shown the way to true life.  

May you be blessed as you celebrate the birth of your Savior!  He came as the Father’s Christmas gift to you!

Merry Christmas,
Pastor Russ

Story - Nothing Can Separate

From her bedroom window, Rebecca eyed the children playing in the snow enviously. How she longed to play with them!

“Now, Rebecca,” she remembered her father telling her that morning. “You can’t play in the snow today.”

“Why not, Father?” Rebecca had asked. Every day, the neighborhood children gathered at a park just behind Rebecca’s house.

“Just trust me, Rebecca. It’s not what’s best for you today,” her father had replied.

At the time, Rebecca had responded by kissing her father on his cheek and assuring him that she would stay inside and read. But now she was having second thoughts.

It is beautiful outside, she thought to herself. It was true: the sun was shining brilliantly. Why wouldn’t her father let her go play? Why should she have to miss out on all the fun?

When a snowball exploded just outside her window, Rebecca decided she couldn’t stand it any longer. She simply had to go join the others!

Leaving her book on the table, Rebecca slipped outside. She tried to tell herself she was having a good time, but all the while her heart felt uncomfortable. She kept looking this way and that, fearful that her father would see her.

After a few hours, Rebecca finally said her goodbyes and headed back towards the house. She wanted to be safely lodged in her room before her father came home.

Intent on getting to her room as quickly as possible, Rebecca didn’t see the mitten someone had left on the stairs until her foot slipped on it. Next thing she knew, she had fallen several stairs. To her horror, she noticed that she had hit her father’s favorite picture when she fell! A huge gash ran along the front of the picture.

Normally, Rebecca would have hurried immediately to her father after such a fall so he could doctor her up and make her feel better. But not this time. How could she face her father right now? She had disobeyed him and ruined his favorite picture! Biting her lips to keep from crying out, Rebecca grabbed the ruined picture and hobbled to her room.

For the remainder of the day, she lay in agony. Her body ached from the bruises she received on her fall. But her heart—ah, that ached worse of all! She felt certain that her father would no longer love her. She had messed up in the past, but surely this time she had gone too far! He would probably never want to speak to her again. How could he still love her?

She sobbed uncontrollably on her pillow. She had always been close to her father. They had played and studied together. They had laughed and cried together. But not now. No, she felt certain that all those wonderful times were over.

Who knows how long she would have lain thus had not her nanny come in to check on her. Rebecca’s nanny had a way about her of finding out exactly what was wrong and offering solid, wise counsel. Tonight was no exception.

“Rebecca, dear,” she said firmly, but gently. “You’ve been very wrong. But you must not continue in your wrongness by sitting here. You must go to your father with the broken picture in your hand and tell him everything.”

“Oh, but I can’t! I’m not worthy of His love!” Rebecca sobbed.

Her nanny sighed patiently. “You were no more worthy of it yesterday than today, child. Your father loves you because you’re his daughter, not because of anything you do or don’t do. Hasn’t he told you every day since you were a little girl, ‘I love you’? Do you doubt his word? Do you really think his love is dependent on you?”

Doubt his word—that was an angle Rebecca had never thought of before. Maybe she should go see her father…yes, she must go see him, for if she didn’t, she’d never be able to rest.

So, still shaking and trembling with fear, Rebecca limped down the hall to the living room. She paused at the doorway. Her father was sitting in his favorite chair, just like he did every night. He looked up when she entered, and a smile radiating with love illuminated his face.

“Ah, you’ve come at last! I’ve been waiting. Come, sit here on my lap.” As he spoke, he opened his arms widely.

Rebecca couldn’t stand it. “Oh, you don’t understand, Father! You can’t love me anymore. I’ve been terribly wicked and . . .” Rebecca held up the picture frame for her father to see.

“I know, Rebecca—more than you think. I watched you go outside. I watched you fall and hit the picture frame. I saw it all.”

“You did?” Rebecca was flabbergasted. “But-but weren’t you at work?”

Her father shook his head. “I took the day off to spend some special time with you. That’s why I told you not to go outside to play. Ever since I saw you fall, I’ve been longing for you to come to me so I could bandage your wounds and help you. Won’t you come now?”

Rebecca could hardly believe her ears. Her father had planned to spend the afternoon with her…and she had missed it. Oh, what foolishness! Yet her father knew it all…and loved her anyway. Could it be? “But, Father, how can you love me now?”

Rebecca’s father smiled a smile she would never forget. “Rebecca, dear, I loved you before you were born. You’re my daughter. And I will always love you. Although sometimes your actions will result in consequences you could have avoided, nothing can ever separate you from my love. Now won’t you come and let me help you with those bruises?”

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” Romans 8:35-37

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Ahh, what a story of truth!  We each know our Father’s perfect will for our lives, but how often do we make a choice to stray from His will and then find ourselves in trouble and suffering.  The suffering we experience is not always physical, but it is always spiritual and emotional.  

We grieve in our hearts the sin we have committed and like little Rebecca, we feel so unworthy to go to our Father.  We fall into the trap of believing we have become so bad He could never love us or want us again.

We sometimes forget that God is God and He knows all things before they happen.  His love for us and His grace toward us extends even to the sins we will commit tomorrow.  Even though we have not committed the sin yet, the Father knows of it, grieved it for us, and made the choice to pay for that sin on the cross! The price paid in the blood of Jesus.

We can never sin so terribly that the Father will turn away from us.  We can never become so damaged He does not want us.  Never will the day come He says to us, “Depart from Me!”  We live in absolute grace, forgiveness, and acceptance.  

This is not a license which frees us to go and sin.  This is the heart of God who loves us even when we are sinful. Knowing such great love should move us to think more clearly about the choices we make when it comes to weighing sin in the balance.  Rarely do we find ourselves in sin by accident.  Almost always it is a deliberate choice on our part, and we forge ahead knowingly.  

God created us as emotional beings because He is an emotional being.  He feels joy and sadness.  He gets angry and He celebrates.  God is an emotional being but all that He is can be understood in one word, LOVE!  Love moves Him to grieve when we sin because He understands the consequences we will have to endure because of our choice.  But love can never say, I don’t love you anymore!

This is the wonderful truth that too many of us have forgotten over the years.  God’s heart of love for us will not falter or change.  He loves us because we are His children and not because we do good or bad.  Our actions do not determine His feelings toward us.  Our actions are a reflection of where we are at any given moment in our relationship with Him.  

Are you tired of running away from God because of the guilt which fills you heart?  How about running to your Heavenly Father because He is waiting for you.  Waiting to take you in His arms and it is there you will find all your guilt melting away into peace and joy.

Blessings to you,
Pastor Russ

Story - "God Sent His Angel to Help Me"

This is my true life story. It starts with my being down on my luck in Los Angeles and ending up homeless for 3 1/2 years sleeping in alleyways, the subways, homeless shelters, in abandoned buildings, and just on the sidewalks of Los Angeles.

One frigid night I was trying to sleep in between some office buildings in the city of Toluca Lake, but because I had not eaten in three days, I could not get to sleep. I was suffering so much, and I was so hungry that I said to myself that if I didn't get any food today, I was going to get it over with by killing myself.

An Angel to Help
So I got up around 6 am and hid my sleeping bag in the bushes, and it also was a very foggy day. I remember thinking to myself that if I could just get $3.45, it would allow me to go over to the red building breakfast place on Riverside Blvd. and breakfast to eat, but where and how could I get the money. $3.45 at that time in my life was like trying to get $1,000.

I started walking down the alley in the thick fog, and out of nowhere and an older man with a cane came walking toward me, stopped, and said hello. I speak back to him, and then he turns towards the direction he just came from and tells me that there is some money by the tree in the direction that he just came from by the red bricks on the left side of the alley. He then tells me that he can't get the money because he can't bend down due to his bad back.

Vanished
I was so excited that I started walking pass him about five or six steps, and then remembered that I didn't say thank you, but when I turned back to say thanks, he was gone. I tried my best to find him by going up and down the alley, but he had just vanished. He was walking more slowly than an old Turtle with that cane, so how could he disappear like that.

So I went to the location that he told me about and found the tree in someone's front yard. I walked over to the tree and looked, and looked and nothing was there at all, so I gave up and walked across the street, but a little voice in my head told me to go back to the tree and try again.

So I turned around and went back to the tree and got on both knees. On the ground spread all around the tree were those red woodchucks that people put down, but as I looked again for the money, I saw nothing. That was it, and I had made up my mind, today was the day that I was going to kill myself.

That Small Voice
Weak, tired, cold, and still sleepy, I got up and made my way across the street again. But again that small voice spoke to me and said, go back and try one more time, so I turned in the middle of the street and went back for one last try.

As I made my way back to the tree, I had a quick vision of myself jumping off an office building somewhere or of jumping off the freeway overpass in Burbank.

When I got to the tree again, I got down on both knees and looked but saw nothing. But just then that small voice said to me, why don't you take your hands and move some of the red woodchucks out of the way, and so I did, and to my great surprise, there were some coins.

After quickly grabbing up the coins and heading across the street to count it, and to my happiness, the total amount was $3.45, just enough for my first meal in three days and saving my life!

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Angels Unaware!
Do not neglect hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:2 (NASB2020)

How many of us have found ourselves down and out with nowhere to go and no one to turn to?  Most of us can sympathize with the young man of our story.  We have all felt the aloneness of a cold night.  The long hours of a hot day.  The emptiness of our own stomachs. Most of us have at some point in our lives been down and out!

Then, someone comes along who offers a word of comfort or hope and we knew not all was lost.  There was still something to live for and our lives could change for the better.

How many times have we encountered complete strangers who had an impact upon our lives and then they were gone, never to be seen again!  Could that have been an angel sent from God?  The answer to this is yes!  

We know the angels are always around us!  Scriptures tell us that as God’s children we are always under attack by the enemy.  Satan wants to destroy us and God is always protecting us.  

Nowhere are we told we have a specific “guardian angel” but rather there are angels all around.  Sometimes we may only need one! Then at other times we may need a legion.  God provides exactly what we need at any given moment in our lives.  

What we can say with confidence is that we are never alone.  God is present and He has sent His angels to protect us.  This does not mean we will be spared all the hardships in this broken world.  Accidents will still happen.  Sickness will come and tragedies will impact our lives.  What we do know is that Satan cannot have his way with us.  The spiritual battle raging around us is in God’s hands and we can rest assured we are protected.  

So, when you find yourself struggling and feeling overwhelmed and attacked, take comfort in the truth given to us by God.  We are never alone!  All the forces of heaven stand ready to defend us from all the devil would seek to do to us.  We are free to focus on life here and now.  Free to live our lives for God without being taken captive by the enemy.  

Just remember your part.  Read the Word!  Pray!  Worship!  Serve!  These are the means by which we live our spiritual lives in this world and for which the angels of God stand ready to protect us!
Amen!

Blessings on your week,
Pastor Russ

Story - God, Jesus and Me

Sally jumped up as soon as she saw the Surgeon come out of the operating room. She said: "How is my little boy? Is he going to be O.K.? When can I see him?"

The Surgeon said, "I'm sorry, we did all we could." Sally said, "Why do little children get cancer? Doesn't GOD care any more? GOD, where were you when my son needed you?"

The Surgeon said, "One of the nurses will be out in a few minutes to let you spend time with your son's remains before it's transported to the university." Sally asked that the nurse stay with her while she said good-bye to her son.

Sally ran her fingers through his thick red curly hair. The nurse said, "Would you like a lock of his hair?" Sally nodded yes. The nurse cut a lock of his hair and put it in a plastic bag and handed it to Sally. Sally said, "It was Jimmy's idea to give his body to the university for study. He said it might help somebody else," and that is what he wanted.

I said no at first, but Jimmy said, "Mom I won't be using it after I die. Maybe it will help some other little boy to be able to spend one more day with his mother." Sally said, "My Jimmy had a heart of gold, always thinking of someone else and always wanting to help others if he could."

Sally walked out of the Children's Hospital for the last time now after spending most of the last 6 months there. She sat the bag with Jimmy's things in it on the seat beside her in the car. The drive home was hard, and it was even harder to go into an empty house. She took the bag to Jimmy's room and started placing the model cars and things back in his room exactly where he always kept them. She laid down across his bed and cried herself to sleep holding his pillow.

Sally woke up about midnight, and laying beside her on the bed was a letter folded up. She opened the letter and it said:

Dear Mom,

I know you’re going to miss me, but don't think that I will ever forget you or stop loving you because I'm not around to say I LOVE YOU. I'll think of you every day mom, and I'll love you even more each day. Some day we will see each other again.

If you want to adopt a little boy so you won't be so lonely, he can have my room and my old stuff to play with. If you decide to get a girl instead, she probably wouldn't like the same things as us boys do, so you will have to buy her dolls and stuff girls like.

Don't be sad when you think about me. This is really a great place. Grandma and Grandpa met me as soon as I got here and showed me around some, but it will take a long time to see everything here. The angels are so friendly, and I love to watch them fly.

Jesus doesn't look like any of the pictures I saw of Him, but I knew it was Him as soon as I saw Him. He took me to see GOD! And guess what mom? I got to sit on GOD'S knee and talk to Him like I was somebody important. I told GOD that I wanted to write you a letter and tell you good-bye and everything, but I knew that wasn't allowed.

God handed me some paper and His own personal pen to write you this letter with. I think Gabriel is the name of the angel that is going to drop this letter off to you.

God said for me to give you the answer to one of the questions you asked Him about -- where was He when I needed him? God said, "The same place He was when Jesus was on the cross. He was right there, as He always is with all His children."

Oh, by the way Mom, nobody else can see what is written on this paper but you. To everyone else, it looks like a blank piece of paper.

I have to give God His pen back now. He has some more names to write in the Book Of Life. Tonight I get to sit at the table with Jesus for Supper. I'm sure the food will be great.

I almost forgot to let you know -- Now I don't hurt anymore and the cancer is all gone. I'm glad because I couldn't stand that pain anymore. And God couldn't stand to see me suffer the pain either, so He sent The Angel of Mercy to get me. The Angel said I was Special Delivery!

Signed with love from:
God, Jesus and Me

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Wouldn’t it be great if we could actually receive a letter from the one who we have loved and lost?  What would it be like to wake up and have a note from our loved one letting us know they are ok, safe in the arms of Jesus?

What a heartache we experience when we lose someone we love.  What pain we live with and so long!  But we have the promise given to us from Jesus that He will come and take His children home when our journey in this life is completed.  

We all want that special assurance when facing death, be it the passing of someone we love our when we contemplate our own departure from this world.  Thanks be to God, He has given us all the assurance we need.  We have His Word which clearly speaks of Eternal Life and the promises He has made to us. More than this, we have faith!  Faith which knows what nothing in this world can overcome the promises God has made to us.

The little boy of the story gives assuring words, but every word written to his mother was already recorded in Scripture.  We will see Jesus, and He will not look like any picture we have ever seen.  We will see the angels and our long-lost relatives.  And the greatest of all, we will sit on God the Father’s knee and talk to Him like we are someone important, because we are!  We are, each one of us important to the heart of God!  He has chosen to pay the price so each one of us can live with Him forever in heaven.

Our comfort is knowing God has keep all these promises for all those we have love and lost.  We also know He will keep these promises for each one of us.  This truth will not take away the pain we feel at times of loss.  We will still carry this pain in our hearts, but we have God’s promise and our faith which clings to the promise until it is fulfilled.

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as indeed the rest of mankind do, who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead, so also God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus. 15 For we say this to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore, comfort one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

In Christ,
Pastor Russ

Story - A Trucker’s Last Letter

Steamboat Mountain was a man killer, and truckers who hauled the Alaska Highway treated it with great respect. Particularly in the winter, the road used to curve and twist over the mountain, and sheer cliffs dropped away sharply from the icy road. Countless trucks and truckers have been lost there over the years, and many dreams were dashed upon its rocky slopes.

Many years ago, on one trip up the highway, I came upon an RCMP cruiser and several wreckers winching the remains of a semi up the cliff. I parked my rig and went over to the quiet group of truckers who were watching the wreckage slowly come into sight.

One of the Mounties walked over to us and spoke quietly. “I’m sorry,” he said. “The driver was dead when we found him. He must have gone over the side two days ago when we had a bad snowstorm. There weren’t many tracks. It was just a fluke that we noticed the sun shining off some chrome.”

He shook his head slowly and reached into his parka pocket. “Here, maybe you guys should read this. I guess he lived for a couple of hours until the cold got to him.”

My Darling Wife,
This is a letter that no man ever wants to write, but I’m lucky enough to have some time to say what I’ve forgotten to say so many times. I love you, Sweetheart.
You used to kid me that I loved the truck more than you because I spent more time with her. I do love this piece of iron -- she’s been good to me. She’s seen me through tough times and tough places, and I could always count on her in a long haul and she was speedy in the stretches. She never let me down.
But you want to know something? I love you for the same reasons. You’ve seen me through the tough times and places, too.
Remember the first truck? That run down “ol’ corn binder” that kept us broke all the time but always made just enough money to keep us eating? You went out and got a job so that we could pay the rent and bills. Every cent I made went into the truck while your money kept us in food with a roof over our heads.
I remember that I complained about the truck, but I don’t remember you ever complaining when you came home tired from work and I asked you for money to go on the road again. If you did complain, I guess I didn’t hear you. I was too wrapped up with my problems to think of yours.
I think now of all the things you gave up for me. The clothes, the holidays, the parties, the friends. You never complained and somehow, I never remembered to thank you for being you.
When I sat having coffee with the boys, I always talked about the truck, my rig, my payments. I guess I forgot you were my partner even if you weren’t in the cab with me. It was your sacrifices and determination as much as mine that finally got the new truck. I was so proud of that truck I was bursting. I was proud of you, too, but I never told you that. I took it for granted you knew, but if I had spent as much time talking with you as I did polishing chrome, perhaps I would have.
I always knew your prayers rode with me. But this time they weren’t enough. I’m hurt and it’s bad. I’ve made my last mile, and I want to say the things that should have been said so many times before. The things that were forgotten because I was too concerned about the truck and the job. I’m thinking about the missed anniversaries and birthdays. The school plays and hockey games that you went to alone because I was on the road.
I’m thinking of the peace of mind I had knowing that you were at home with the kids, waiting for me. The family dinners where you spent all your time telling your folks why I couldn’t make it -- I was busy changing oil, I was busy looking for parts; I was sleeping because I was leaving early the next morning. There was always a reason, but somehow they don’t seem very important right now.
When we were married, you didn’t know how to change a light bulb. Within a couple of years, you were fixing the furnace in a blizzard while I was waiting for a load in Florida. You became a pretty good mechanic, helping me with repairs, and I was mighty proud of you that time you jumped into the truck and backed it up over the rose bushes.
I was proud of you when I pulled into the yard and saw you sleeping in the car waiting for me. Whether it was two in the morning or two in the afternoon, you always looked like a movie star to me. You’re beautiful, you know. I guess I haven’t told you that lately, but you are.
I made lots of mistakes in my life, but if I only ever made one good decision, it was then I asked you to marry me. You never could understand what it was that kept me trucking. I couldn’t either, but it was my way of life and you stuck with me. Good times, bad times, you were always there.  I love you sweetheart, and I love our kids.
My body hurts but my heart hurts even more. You won’t be there when I end this trip. For the first time since we’ve been together, I’m really alone and it scares me. I need you so badly, and I know it’s too late.
It’s funny I guess, but what I have now is the truck. This damned truck that ruled our lives for so long. This twisted hunk of steel that I lived in and with for so many years. But it can’t return my love. Only you can do that.
You’re a thousand miles away but I feel you here with me. I can see your face and feel your love and I’m scared to make the final run alone. Tell the kids that I love them very much and don’t let them drive any truck for a living.
I guess that’s about it honey. My God, but I love you so very much. Take care of yourself and always remember that I loved you more than anything in life.

I just forgot to tell you.
I Love You,
Bill

+++

What a sad, sad story!  To have waited so long to say the things which should have been said every day!  How many of us live our lives in the hectic rat race and have failed to take the time to truly live?  How many times have we felt truly blessed in our hearts but failed to acknowledge the blessings with our lips?  How many of us have unspoken words which fill our hearts, but the time is long past for their speaking?

Each one of us has been blessed beyond measure!  It is true, there are many things we wish we could change from long ago, but those days are past.  We find ourselves here today with the opportunity to make real changes to our lives.  We can begin today being, acting, and speaking differently than we did yesterday!  

The letter Bill left for his wife speaks of a man who was blessed but who waited too long to say, “thank you” and “I love you” to the one person who was a special blessing in his life.

I hope you can say, as I can, that God has been good to me!  We are a blessed people and we should be a people who are bursting with thankfulness! This should extend first and foremost to God for all the abundant blessings we have received, not the least of which is Jesus and forgiveness in His name.

Then, we should look around us and truly express our thankfulness to the people God has put into our lives.  Our spouse, children, friends, church family, etc.  It is far past the time for each of us to open our mouths and let the “I Love Yous” pass through our lips.  

Don’t wait like Bill did!  Take the opportunity given and let the thankfulness flow freely and I promise you that your heart will be full and joy will fill your life!

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Colossians 3:15

Blessings in Christ,
Pastor Russ

Story - I Don’t Want to Change!

“But I don’t want to change,” Deborah repeated for what must have been the fifteenth time that afternoon. For years, Deborah had lived the life of a pauper. The open sky had been her shelter; the generosity of passerby’s her income. Now her father stood before her, offering her what he had offered her every day of her life—to give her a new life with him.

“But, Deborah, why would you insist on clinging to your pauper ways when I offer you a way of escape?”

Deborah could hear the pain in her father’s voice. Nevertheless, she stubbornly shook her head and replied, “I don’t want to change,” she repeated again. “I like the way things are.”

“But just last week, you complained about how you went to bed hungry. And don’t you remember how miserable life can be in the rain?”

Deborah paused as she contemplated these points. It was true. Life could get very miserable out on the streets. But give up the life she’d known? Oh, no, that she could never do! She would much rather go on complaining, even while ignoring the solution to her complaints.

“I can’t change, Father,” Deborah argued. “I’m too set in my ways. It’s just a hopeless case. I tried a few months back to give up this life, remember? And the very first day I was back on the streets! I just can’t help it!”

“Oh, but you could! I would help you! You could come live with me. I would give you other things to do besides aimlessly roaming the streets in this fashion. We could have so much fun together! Oh, do come!” Deborah’s father reached out his hand as if to invite her to join him in happiness."

Deborah shook her head. “I just can’t change,” she repeated.

“You can’t, or you won’t?” The question was made in a voice barely above a whisper. Deborah made no reply. She simply turned and walked down the street to continue her self-imposed miserable life.

Deborah’s father forced back the tears as he watched his daughter leave. He slowly turned and walked away. He would come back again tomorrow. Maybe then his daughter would be ready to accept his gift of love.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

+++

This is the heart of a loving Father!  It does not matter how many times we turn and walk away, He will not give up on us!  

How many times did it take for you to finally listen to the voice of your Father?  How many times were you miserable, but you continued to refuse to change your life?  

How many times does it take for an addict to hit rock bottom before he finally decides to change his ways and say no to the drugs.  It can be hard to pass up that drink but when the alcohol has caused so many problems there will come a point a person says, “It is simply not worth it.”

Have you ever thought of yourself as a “addict?”  What is sin but the most alluring drug?  All sin offers self-gratification and the promise of great reward.  If a person were to become physically ill every time he committed a sin, it would not take long for that person to stop that particular sin.  But even with all the heartache and pain our sin causes us, we still go back for more.  We are addicted to us because it is a deep seeded craving which originates deep inside our soul.  We want it and we will continue to do it even though we are offered a way out of the misery.

How many times did your Father come to you offering a way out and a different life?  How many times did you turn and walk away?  Yet even though you kept saying “no,” your Father never stopped coming to you with the offer.  Day after day, year after year He kept coming until the day finally came that you had suffered enough because of your sin that you stopped saying “no!”

This is what love does!  Love never stops trying, reaching out to the one who is loved.  God the Father has loved you from eternity and His only desire has always been to share His heart with you.  There was no sacrifice too great for Him to say, “this far and no more!”  His love moved Him to go the cross to rescue you from sin and claim you as His own.

Change the wording of John 3:16.  Take out the word “world” and replace it with your name.
“For God so loved ___________________, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

Never forget, Jesus died for you!  Individually and Personally!  You are a child of God because the Father would never give up reaching out to you.  And now . . . He rejoices that you said yes!

In Christ,
Pastor Russ

Story – Enjoy the Season!

“Come on, James, let’s go play in the snow!”

James looked up lethargically. His brother already had his snow bibs on and was energetically pulling boots over his feet.

“All right, I guess I’ll go. But I do wish it wasn’t so cold! I can’t wait for summer,” James grumbled.

For a brief moment, Eric felt tempted to complain about the cold too. But then the boys’ father walked into the room and offered to go sledding with them. One look at his father’s face wiped all thought of complaint from Eric’s mind. How could he complain when his father was with them? Besides, he also remembered how much he and his brother had longed for the cool weather last summer. He wasn’t going to complain about the cold! He was going to enjoy the season!

“It will be summer again soon enough,” he told James as they headed out the door. “Let’s enjoy winter while it’s here!”

Eric and James were keeping quite busy. Between finishing their schoolwork and all their other spring activities, they could hardly find any time for play or relaxation.

“Oh, man, I just wish things would slow down!” James moaned. “I do wish planting season would hurry up and end. I can’t wait to rest and relax in the summer.” James was just trying to survive the busy planting season.

Eric paused for a moment on his shovel to think about his brother’s words. “I’m sure Father wouldn’t give us more work to do than we could handle,” he reflected. “He loves us so perfectly. This hard work must be just what we need. I’m going to choose to enjoy it!”

“But we can’t possibly get it all done!” James countered.

Eric knew James was right. They had more things to do than they could ever hope to finish. James’s words brought the weight of all that needed done pressing down on Eric’s shoulders. Then Eric remembered—it was his father’s problem to figure out how everything would get done! Eric was only responsible for doing each task with a full heart. The smile returned to Eric’s face. He didn’t have to carry the burden; he just needed to be diligent with the tasks his father had given him.

Spring eventually ended and summertime came. Now, instead of having too much to do, the boys seemed to have the opposite problem. Besides keeping the crops watered and the grass mowed, there wasn’t much to do.

The inactivity, coupled with the summer heat, was taxing on the boys. Yet both chose drastically different responses. As he had in the past, James chose to complain. He longed for something—anything—exciting to happen. And he longed for a relief from the heat!

Eric, however, again chose to rejoice in the season. Although he, like James, felt the heat, he knew autumn would come soon enough, bringing cooler temperatures. And while he liked excitement just as much as his brother, Eric chose to use the quiet summer season to spend extra special time with his father. He spent hours sitting at his father’s workbench listening—and learning. The more he sat there, the more confident he became that his father would give him just what he needed in each season of life. He had only to trust and delight.

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1

+++

Do you ever find yourself complaining like these two brothers?  We are in the midst of one season and we long for the next.  Then, when the new season comes, we are eagerly looking for the next change on the horizon.  We can truly be a people who are never satisfied.

This is true when we face the cold of winter or the burning heat of the summer, but it also applies to many more aspect of life.

How many young couples have rushed to have a baby only to feel overwhelmed with the demands placed upon them.  Then we yearn for the day the kids graduate and move off on their own, only to find that the empty nest is not all it was cracked up to be.  We work hard for many years and look forward to retirement, only to end up board and dissatisfied.  We are truly a fickle people at times.

What Solomon is seeking to remind us of is that every season of life brings its own joys and challenges.  If we focus only on the challenges, we will miss the joys which are present right before us.

This can truly take an attitude adjustment.  We have to make the choice to look for the joy in every circumstance of life and then live in this joy to the fullest.  If we are only focused on the challenges, we will look back upon our lives with very few fond memories.  

With the joy of each season of life filling our hearts, we are free to share love and excitement with others.  This impacts our ability to share Jesus in a great way.  When we are negative in our own lives and thoughts, it is difficult grasp the opportunity to share the love of God in Christ.  However, when we are focused on the joys of life we find it is much easier to share what is most important to us with others.  

May we celebrate each season of life and make the most of every opportunity. Then the joy of the Lord will fill us and flow through us.

In Christ,
Pastor Russ

Story - Stay Focused

General Bradford was definitely an unusual general. He was known far and wide for both his infinite patience and love as well as for His justice and wrath. His soldiers loved him dearly—and for good cause. His orders were always good, and he personally found a way to care for each of the soldiers who volunteered for his little band.

Michael had recently joined the general’s band, and was now quite anxious to prove himself a good soldier. His first task was to learn to march.

“The key to marching is to stay focused and to listen for my commands constantly,” the general explained. “See that distant horizon? Fasten your eyes fifteen degrees above the horizon line. Don’t let them wander to the circumstances or people around you. Keep your eyes focused above the horizon, and your ears tuned to my voice. You’ll find that many, many things will try to distract you.”

Michael couldn’t imagine anything distracting him from the horizon or the general’s voice. He’d soon find out, however, just how easily he could get distracted.

The first time Michael actually had the opportunity to march, he lifted his knees up nearly to his chest each step in an effort to look like a good marcher. He desperately wanted to do a good job to please the general!

The general shook his head and gently admonished the young private, “Don’t let your desire to show off distract you. True marching isn’t about lifting those knees in show; it’s about putting one step in front of the other in sync with my commands.”

Michael hung his head. He had allowed the thought of what others would think to distract him from really doing his job.

Michael tried again, this time not worrying about how he looked. Yet he had such a hard time keeping his eyes above the horizon! His eyes seemed to constantly wander to the things or people around him. Then he’d catch sight of the general and remember his command to look above the horizon. Would he ever learn?

“George,” Michael called reprovingly, “your step is a little fast, and wipe the grin off your face. And Scott, loosen up your arms and let them swing a little more natural and—”

“I said flight halt!”

Only after walking several paces in front of the rest of the troop did Michael finally hear the command. He didn’t think he could ever forget the general’s reproof, “Cadet, fall back in line. Keep your own eyes and ears attentive and let me take care of the others.”

Michael stepped back in line. He was beginning to realize that keeping focused would be a moment-by-moment battle. It was SO easy to get distracted!

+++

What was true for the young soldier Michael is also true for each one of us!  We are told repeatedly this world offers nothing but distractions for the people of God.

How many times have we read through the Old Testament and gasp at how easily the Children of Israel were led astray.  They would turn to false gods or alliances with the pagan nations around them, all the while ignoring both the commands and promises of God.

They were witnesses to the most amazing miracles, but even with this first hand witness of God’s faithfulness to them, they would turn away in distraction.  

As God’s people in this world today, what are we told?  What are the words of wisdom shared in Scripture for us?  

Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. Colossians 3:1-4

The Apostle Paul urges us to keep focused on what is most important.  To now allow ourselves to be distracted by the things on the earth.  What are the things which so easily distract us and lead us to turn away from our faithful walk in Christ?  The list could be endless!  Sex.  Money.  Possessions.  Power.  Prestige.  Position.  

We look at the world around us and become consumed by what we see, all the while losing focus on what is most important.  Paul urges us to remain focused on what is above!  The things of God.  

Put it in perspective!  How many of us, as we have grown older, have shifted our focus from blowing and going to scrimping and saving for retirement?  We watch over our retirement account like a hawk, while never giving a second thought to where we are going to live beyond life in this world.  

Again, put it in perspective.  We will make it maybe 20 years in retirement.  Move live a much shorter time after they retire and yes, there are the exceptions who live much longer.  But you get the idea!  We are focused on a few decades in this world while losing sight of the fact that we are going to live “FOREVER” in the presence of God.

The words of General Bradford would be good for us to take to heart.  Keep looking above the horizon.  That is where we are going and we cannot let anything distract us.

The world and the devil will work every angle to distract us.  We must stay focused and in the day grind of life never allow anything to become more important than knowing God will be faithful to us and He will lead us home.

Here are your marching order!  Don’t march for show but for the long haul.  One foot in front of the other and now the victory is assured!

Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:12

Blessings on your week,
Pastor Russ

Story: God's Under the Bed

My brother Kevin thinks God lives under his bed. At least that's what I heard him say one night. He was praying out loud in his dark bedroom, and I stopped outside his closed door to listen. "Are you there, God?" he said. "Where are you? Oh, I see. Under the bed." I giggled softly and tiptoed off to my own room.

Kevin's unique perspectives are often a source of amusement. But that night something else lingered long after the humor. I realized for the first time the very different world Kevin lives in. He was born 30 years ago, mentally disabled as a result of difficulties during labor. Apart from his size (he's 6'2"), there are few ways in which he is an adult. He reasons and communicates with the capabilities of a 7 year old, and he always will. He will probably always believe that God lives under his bed, that Santa Claus is the one who fills the space under our tree every Christmas, and that airplanes stay up in the sky because angels carry them.

I remember wondering if Kevin realizes he is different. Is he ever dissatisfied with his monotonous life? Up before dawn each day, off to work at a workshop for the disabled, home to walk our cocker spaniel, returning to eat his favorite macaroni-and-cheese for dinner, and later to bed. The only variation in the entire scheme are laundry days, when he hovers excitedly over the washing machine like a mother with her newborn child.

He does not seem dissatisfied. He lopes out to the bus every morning at 7:05 eager for a day of simple work. He wrings his hands excitedly while the water boils on the stove before dinner, and he stays up late twice a week to gather our dirty laundry for his next day's laundry chores. And Saturdays -- oh, the bliss of Saturdays! That's the day my dad takes Kevin to the airport to have a soft drink, watch the planes land, and speculate loudly on the destination of each passenger inside. "That one's goin' to Chi-car-go!" Kevin shouts as he claps his hands. His anticipation is so great he can hardly sleep on Friday nights.

I don't think Kevin knows anything exists outside his world of daily rituals and weekend field trips. He doesn't know what it means to be discontented. His life is simple. He will never know the entanglements of wealth or power, and he does not care what brand of clothing he wears or what kind of food he eats. He recognizes no differences in people, treating each person as an equal and a friend. His needs have always been met, and he never worries that one day they may not be.

His hands are diligent. Kevin is never so happy as when he is working. When he unloads the dishwasher or vacuums the carpet, his heart is completely in it. He does not shrink from a job when it is begun, and he does not leave a job until it is finished. But when his tasks are done, Kevin knows how to relax. He is not obsessed with his work or the work of others.

His heart is pure. He still believes everyone tells the truth, promises must be kept, and when you are wrong, you apologize instead of argue. Free from pride and unconcerned with appearances, Kevin is not afraid to cry when he is hurt, angry or sorry. He is always transparent, always sincere.

And he trusts God. Not confined by intellectual reasoning, when he comes to Christ, he comes as a child. Kevin seems to know God -- to really be friends with Him in a way that is difficult for an "educated" person to grasp. God seems like his closest companion.

In my moments of doubt and frustrations with my Christianity, I envy the security Kevin has in his simple faith. It is then that I am most willing to admit that he has some divine knowledge that rises above my mortal questions. It is then I realize that perhaps he is not the one with the handicap -- I am. My obligations, my fears, my pride, my circumstances -- they all become disabilities when I do not submit them to Christ.

Who knows if Kevin comprehends things I can never learn? After all, he has spent his whole life in that kind of innocence, praying after dark and soaking up the goodness and love of the Lord. And one day, when the mysteries of heaven are opened, and we are all amazed at how close God really is to our hearts, I'll realize that God heard the simple prayers of a boy who believed that God lived under his bed.

Kevin won't be surprised at all.

“Allow the children to come to Me; do not forbid them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Mark 10:14

Enough Said!
Pastor Russ

Story - Come as You Are
I shook my head in disbelief. This couldn't be the right place. After all, I couldn't possibly be welcome here. I had been given an invitation several times, by several different people, and I had finally decided to see what this place was all about. But, this just couldn't be the right place. Quickly, I glanced down at the invitation that I clutched in my hand. I scanned past the words, "Come as you are. No jacket required," and found the location. Yes, I was at the right place.

I peered through the window again and saw a room of people whose faces seemed to glow with joy. All were neatly dressed, adorned in fine garments and appeared strangely clean as they dined at this exquisite restaurant. Ashamed, I looked down at my own tattered and torn clothing, covered in stains. I was dirty, in fact, filthy. A foul smell seemed to consume me, and I couldn't shake the grime that clung to my body.

As I turned around to leave, the words from the invitation seemed to leap out at me..."Come as you are. No jacket required." I decided to give it a shot. Mustering up every bit of courage I could find, I opened the door to this restaurant and walked up to a man standing behind a podium. "Your name, sir?" he asked me with a smile. "Jimmy D. Brown," I mumbled without looking up. I thrust my hands deep into my pockets, hoping to conceal their stains.

He didn't seem to notice the filth that I was covered in, and he continued, "Very good, sir. A table is reserved in your name. Would you like to be seated?" I couldn't believe what I heard! A grin broke out on my face, and I said, "Yes, of course!"

He led me to a table, and sure enough, there was a place-card with my name written on it in a deep, dark red. As I browsed over a menu, I saw many delightful items listed. There were things like, "peace," "joy," "blessings," "confidence," "assurance," "hope," "love," "faith," and "mercy." I realized that this was no ordinary restaurant! I flipped the menu back to the front in order to see where I was at... "God's Grace," was the name of this place.

The man returned and said, "I recommend the 'Special of the Day'. With it you are entitled to heaping portions of everything on this menu." You've got to be kidding! I thought to myself. You mean, I can have ALL of this?! "What is the 'Special of the Day'?" I asked with excitement ringing in my voice. "Salvation," was his reply.

"I'll take it," I practically cried out. Then, as quickly as I made that statement, the joy left my body. A sick painful ache jerked through my stomach and tears filled my eyes. Between my sobs I said... "Mister, look at me. I'm dirty and nasty. I am unclean and unworthy of such things. I'd love to have all of this, but, but, I just can't afford it."

Undaunted, the man smiled again. "Sir, your check has already been taken care of by that Gentleman over there," he said as he pointed to the front of the room. "His name is Jesus." Turning, I saw a man whose very presence seemed to light the room. He was almost too much to look at. I found myself walking towards Him and in a shaking voice I whispered, "Sir, I'll wash the dishes or sweep the floors or take out the trash. I'll do anything I can do to repay You for all this."

He opened His arms and said with a smile, "Son, all of this is yours if you just come unto me. Ask me to clean you up and I will. Ask me to allow you to feast at my table and you will eat. Remember, the table is reserved in your name. All you must do is accept this gift that I offer you." Astonished, I fell at his feet and said, "Please, Jesus. Please clean up my life. Please change me and sit me at your table and give me this new life." Immediately, I heard the words, "It is finished."

I looked down and white robes adorned my body. Something strange and wonderful had happened. I felt new, like a weight had been lifted and I found myself seated at His table. "The 'Special of the Day' has been served," The Lord said to me. "Salvation is yours."

We sat and talked for a great while and I so enjoyed the time that I spent with Him. He told me, me of all people, that He would like for me to come back as often as I liked for another helping from God's Grace. He made it clear that He wanted me to spend as much time with Him as possible.

As it drew near time for me to go back outside into the "real world," He whispered to me softly, "And Lo, I am with you always." And then, He said something to me that I will never forget. He said... "My child, do you see these empty tables?" "Yes, Lord. I see them. What do they mean?" I replied.

"These are reserved tables . . . but the individuals whose names are on each place-card have not accepted their invitation yet. Would you be so kind as to hand out these invitations to those who have not joined us as yet?" Jesus asked. "Of course," I said with excitement as I picked up the invitations. "Go ye therefore into all nations." He said as I turned to leave.

I walked into God's Grace dirty and hungry. Stained in sin. My righteousness as filthy rags. And Jesus cleaned me up. I walked out a brand new man . . . robed in white, His righteousness. And so, I'll keep my promise to my Lord. I'll go. I'll spread the Word.

I'll share the Gospel... I'll hand out the invitations. And I'll start with you. Have you been to God's Grace? There's a table reserved in your name, and here's your invitation... "Come as you are. No jacket required."

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What a beautiful story!  The story of God’s Grace and Mercy given to us in Jesus.

What does it mean to be filthy, covered with stains and wearing rags?  It means that we are wholly and completely sinful and unworthy to approach God in any way.  On our own, we cannot step into His presence, and we have no right to expect anything from Him but rejection and condemnation.  

What is so beautiful about this story is that it is your story!  It is my story!  The story of every child of God.  We are all unworthy and deserving of judgment and hell but God in grace and mercy chose to accomplish our salvation and He now freely offers us the gift of Eternal Life.  All we have to do is accept the invitation He offers to us.

Everything inside of us and all that is of the world cry out to us that we can be good enough on our own. We don’t need God or His grace to be saved.  But when we stand in the presence of a holy God we see ourselves for who we truly are . . .filthy sinful human beings who have no right and are completely unworthy.  The amazing truth is this is the exact reason Jesus came into this world.  He came to save sinners, which is a classification fit for all of us.

We come empty handed and with nothing to offer, and Jesus gives us everything.  Thanks be to God for His great grace toward us and let us rejoice in the invitation we have received and then boldly invite others to join the feast!

In Christ,
Pastor Russ

Story – Random Acts of Kindness

This young man was driving home one evening, on a two-lane country road. Work in this small mid-western community was almost as slow as his beat-up Pontiac, but he never quit looking. Ever since the factory closed, he'd been unemployed, and with winter coming on, the chill had finally hit home.

It was a lonely road. Not very many people had a reason to be on it, unless they were leaving. Most of his friends had already left. They had families to feed and dreams to fulfill, but he stayed on. After all, this was where he buried his mother and father. He was born here and he knew the country. He could go down this road blind, and tell you what was on either side, and with his headlights not working, this came in handy.

It was starting to get dark and light snow flurries were coming down. He'd better get a move on. You know, he almost didn't see the old lady, stranded on the side of the road. But even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So, he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her.

Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help, for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn't look safe. He looked poor and hungry. He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was that chill which only fear can put in you. He said, "I'm here to help you Ma'am. Why don't you wait in the car where it's warm? By the way, my name is Bryan."

Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire. But he had to get dirty, and his hands hurt. As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was only just passing through.

She couldn't thank him enough for coming to her aid. Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk. She asked him how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She had already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped.

Bryan never thought twice about the money. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were plenty who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way. He told her if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance that they needed, and Bryan added "...and think of me." He waited until she started her car and drove off.

It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight.

A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to grab a bite to eat and take the chill off before she made the last leg of her trip home. It was a dingy looking restaurant. Outside there were two old gas pumps. The whole scene was unfamiliar to her. The cash register was like the telephone of an out of work actor--it didn't ring much.

Her waitress came over and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair. She had a sweet smile, one that even being on her feet for the whole day couldn't erase.

The lady noticed that the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her attitude. The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger.

Then she remembered Bryan. . .

After the lady finished her meal, and the waitress went to get change for a hundred-dollar bill, the lady slipped right out the door. She was gone by the time the waitress came back. She wondered where the lady could be, then she noticed something written on the napkin under which were 4 one hundred-dollar bills. There were tears in her eyes when she read what the lady wrote. It said: "You don't owe me anything, I have been there too. Somebody once helped me out the way I'm helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: Do not let this chain of love end with you."

Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve, but the waitress made it through another day. That night when she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written. How could the lady have known how much she and her husband needed it? With the baby due next month, it was going to be hard.

She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low, "Everything's gonna be all right - I love you, Bryan."

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Have you ever done a kind deed for another person?  Do you know the joy that fills your heart when such a deed is done, and you have been used by God to bless another person’s life?  

There is something awe inspiring about doing a kind deed for another person, especially a person in need.  Changing a flat tire for an elderly person on the side of the road.  Helping a young mom load heavy groceries into her car.  Even holding the door for someone with a smile on your face and a cheerful greeting can truly change a person’s day.

God knows these are the things which make like worth living and each act of kindness opens the way for an opportunity to share God’s love with another person in this world.
We also know that every act of kindness is witnessed by God Himself and He is proud of each one of us as His children.  The apostle Paul wrote: Let’s not become discouraged in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not become weary. Galatians 6:9

It is as we love others that we will experience love in return!  Each act of kindness changes the human heart.  It changes the person we blessed and it changes us!  We are, in that moment, used by God to be a blessing to someone else and the world is made a little better.

Share the love of God in acts of kindness to others!  You might just find acts of kindness coming back your way!

Blessings in Christ,
Pastor Russ  

Story - The Story of Kyle

One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd."

I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on. As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripped him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him. He looked up, and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes.

My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him, and as he crawled around looking for his glasses, I saw a tear in his eye. As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks. They really should get lives." He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!" There was a big smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.

I helped him pick up his books and asked him where he lived. As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before. He said he had gone to private school before now. I would have never hung out with a private school kid before, but we talked all the way home, and I carried his books.

He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play football on Saturday with me and my friends. He said yes.

We hung out all weekend, and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him. And my friends thought the same of him. Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again. I stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books every day!" He just laughed and handed me half the books.

Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends. When we were seniors, we began to think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I was going to Duke. I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem. He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship.

Kyle was valedictorian of our class. I teased him all the time about being a nerd. He had to prepare a speech for graduation. I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak.

On graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked great. He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school. He filled out and actually looked good in glasses. He had more dates than me and all the girls loved him! Boy, sometimes I was jealous. Today was one of those days. I could see that he was nervous about his speech, so I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!" He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled. "Thanks," he said.

As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began. "Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach -- but mostly your friends. I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story." I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend. He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his mom wouldn't have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home. He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile. "Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."

I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment. I saw his mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize its depth.
Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture, you can change a person's life.

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It is not something most people talk about, but many of us have been at the place Kyle found himself that fateful weekend in his life.  How many of us have contemplated suicide?  How many of us look back and reflect on how close we came but we are now thankful that something or someone intervened to change our minds.  How much we would have missed if we had followed through with our original plan!

Ultimately, God was the One who was present to stay our hand of destruction!  He was there, using even those who were bent on evil to accomplish His good!  Think about it!  If the bullies had not pushed Kyle down, scattering his glasses and books, would anyone have come to his aid?  He would have gone home, having cleaned out his locker and then he would have died!  Only God can take what is meant for evil and use it for good.

The truth is that God created us to live and to live life to its fullest!  Sin has brought heartache and despair into so many lives.  Again, we see it is only God who can address these issues in a life.  He sent His Son Jesus to open the way to a new life filled with joy and blessings.  

Knowing Jesus does not end the struggles we face in this life, but knowing Him does give us hope and the assurance of a future where all the pain we experience here in this world will be over and not even a memory!  

May we always be on the lookout for the Kyles in this world.  God may someday use us to make an eternal difference in a person’s life!

Blessings in Christ,
Pastor Russ