Choose Your Rut Now!

Many years ago, before modern highways had come into existence, folks traveled on dirt roads and in Model T cars. I'm told that as you entered one such road, there was a sign that read, "Choose your rut carefully; because you'll be in it for the next 10 miles."

That's good advice for the beginning of January. What you decide to do and to be now, will determine largely what you will be for the rest of the year, unless some radical change occurs.

Are you content with your patterns of caring? Would you be a better "you" if you attended church more often, prayed more, gave more, studied more? Have you forgiven those who may have wronged you? What would the world be like if everyone lived like you live? Would you be better off to criticize less and love more?...to walk less with fear, and more with faith?

In Proverbs 4:23, we read: "Keep your heart with all vigilance; for from it flows the springs of life."

It is not the world or the environment that determines this year for you. Naturally, they will have their influence. But what you resolve to be and do, in the inner springs of your heart, this is where it all begins!

Let us ask God for help as we establish the grooves of grace in which to walk during the good year ahead.

The Word Is Coming

Long ago, God spoke, and the heavens and earth, the oceans and dry land, the birds and beasts, and men and women and children came into being.

God spoke again...and prophets, priests, kings, and struggling shepherds found courage, and hope, and meaning for life. And the unseen Word became the transcribed Word through the faltering pen of holy men of old.

And then God spoke again, and a babe was born in a manger. And God's Word became flesh, and lived among us.

How could God have done it better? This is the WORD we can understand. We can feel, touch, hear, and see this WORD. Other words fool us. Other words bring misunderstanding. But this is the WORD that bring life and hope!

Christmas is the message of incarnation. The WORD of God, the truth of God, the reality of God took on flesh...a baby was born...incredible, but understandable!

At this season, let me have the WORD. Nothing else has meaning without that!

What If You Had Missed Christmas?

If you were on an ocean liner between the Orient and Vancouver, British Columbia and came to the International Date Line on the evening of Dec. 24th...when you awoke in the morning, it would be Dec. 26th. You would have missed Christmas!

And so, we ask, "What if there were no Christmas?" But the real issue is not whether we had missed Christmas, but what if there were no incarnation? What if Jesus had not come as "God with us"?

The incarnation is an amazing paradox...a puzzle. A paradox is something, or a statement, that seems absolutely contradictory, and yet is true. Here is something that is opposed to common sense, and yet, we accept it as fact.

It is the fact that God who is divine, also in Jesus, became human. The angel said to Joseph, "you shall call his name 'Emmanuel' which means 'God with us.'" Can God be God and still be "with us"? Can Jesus Christ be man, and still be the "Word become flesh"?

Jesus was a man, wasn't he? And yet he was God too, wasn't he? Was He a God‑man? Or was he a man who became God? What a puzzle it is...what a paradox.

His birth is so amazing that it is almost unacceptable. When he was born in Bethlehem, only two classes of people found Him: the shepherds and the wise men...the simple and the learned...those who knew that they knew nothing, and those who knew that they did not know everything!

In order to fathom the depths of the "Incarnation", we must come to realize that we do not know everything. Only then, is there proper humility in this amazing season.

The God‑man Jesus Christ was, and is so extra‑ordinary, that we must either accept him completely, or we must reject Him absolutely.

Two candles upon the altar, symbolize the incarnation. One represents the fact that Jesus was truly human. The other represents the fact that He was truly God. "God with us"...the paradox of the Incarnation.

I could jump a day, and miss Christmas as a holiday, if I had to. But I could never give up the message that is there. The message that God has come to walk with us along life's dusty trails, and that Jesus Christ, my friend, my elder brother, is also God, my Savior. I do not understand the mystery of this paradox. But I glory in the certainty of it. Jesus Christ has come...is always coming. He is "God with us!" Hallelujah!

What Did You Give At Christmas?

Christmas day itself has gone by, but we
are in what is known as "the 12 Days of
Christmas", so it's O.K. to keep talking
about the meaning of this special time.

Ralph Waldo Emerson one time said: "Rings and jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts. The only gift is a portion of thyself."

Do we tell the world something about ourselves by the kind of gifts we have given? The person who tries to impress others with expensive presents is a kind of "Gold‑finger" in disguise. On the other hand, a child who laboriously prints "I love you Grandma", may be giving something infinitely more valuable!

Have we been trying to collect bank rolls and additions to our personal estate at this season of the year, or are we a collector of "glows" and "after‑glows"? What really is this season all about?

God gave Himself at Christmas‑time. The greatest...most precious, most redeemable treasure mankind has ever received...His only Son. That marvelous gift has offered the world more beauty, more hope, and more salvation, than all the gold in Fort Knox, or all of the treasures of Solomon's Mines.

Try giving yourself away during this season: a special compliment...an extra act of kindness...some creative thought, or personalized gift...some small token of love. The star of Bethlehem is a composite of these personalized fragments, these chunks of glows and after‑glows that give light and hope to a dark and troubled world.

If you have been mainly concerned about "presents", then you are betraying our Lord, with crass commercialism. But, if you have been thinking about real "gifts", then why not try giving "yourself" away? The world can use a lot of this kind of diamond‑studded packages from all of us.

Send A Better World

There are 140 nations in the world who watch the United States and listen for our weather reports and harvest predictions with almost more interest than we do. Because, whether they survive through another year, depends upon what happens in the richest food belt in the world!

Two‑thirds of the world's family is hungry all the time. Lack of food and malnutrition causes children to grow up mentally retarded! This is the bleak story coming out of our troubled world. And we, on this planet earth are doing very little about it...spending over $400 billion for militarism each year, and not over $5 billion to overcome mankind's most threatening problem.

Gift buying can create problems...or it can be a moment of promise! A tie for Uncle George or new dishes for the newly‑weds tell them at special times that we remember them and love them. Why not send something everybody can use? Send them a better world! Rather than a frying pan or fancy bed sheets, send them life for a starving child in Asia, education for a promising youth in India, a better community for a family in an urban slum. Send them a better world!

Next time Aunt Mabel has a birthday, why not send her a card saying you are sending her a better world by your gift of $10 to take care of a child for one month in India. Or, when you begin to make out your Christmas list, why not simplify it by sending cards to three different persons, saying you have sent $10 apiece in their names to buy farm machinery on the island of Sumatra to help raise food for the hungry.

Wouldn't your friends appreciate the gift of a better world? We like to send flowers now and then...why not "say it with flour?" "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me", (Matt. 25:40) said Jesus.

There Were Three Wise Women

If you have heard of the Three Wise‑Men, then you will also want to know about the Three Wise‑Women of the Bible.

The 1st Wise Woman was Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, who greeted Mary her cousin with the words, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!" (Lk. 1:42) Elizabeth was excited about the future. She gave us the message of ANTICIPATION.

The 2nd Wise Woman was Mary, the mother of our Lord, who upon hearing the words of the angel to her that she was to become the mother of the Christ, said, "Behold, I am the handmaiden of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." (Lk. 1:38) The message of Mary to the world is OBEDIENCE.

The 3rd Wise Woman was Anna, the prophetess, who at the age of 84 was privileged to see the baby Jesus when he was only a few days old..."And she gave thanks to God, and spoke of him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem." (Lk. 2:38) The message of Anna was WITNESS. She witnessed to others of the great things she had seen.

Are these not the three great words we should take with us out of the Christmas season...ANTICIPATION for what God is going to do in His world; OBEDIENCE in performing that which He is expecting us to do; and WITNESS of the miracle that has taken place in changed lives for all who have received Him.

These are the gifts we may bring, as we join the Wise Men and Women of all centuries who come to Him. Someone has said, "The fact that they came, is proof of their wisdom." Let us come, and let us worship, as we anticipate a new year, as we commit our obedience to walk in the Lord's footsteps, and as we bear witness of the great things He has done for us.

Christmas Could Be Dangerous!

It would be quite hard to believe that anything as gentle and peaceful as a babe in a manger, could be dangerous. We sing the gentle songs of Christmas: "how silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given". and "silent night, holy night. All is calm, all is bright."

But these carols could be mis‑leading! Herod wasn't singing any carols about "peace on earth, good will to men." He was storming! He was crafty, and he vowed to get rid of this possible intruder to the Kingdom.

But most of the time, we don't get excited about the danger of the coming of Jesus. We don't see it as any particular threat to our way of life! Maybe we should, but we don't!

A traveler coming back from the Holy Land carried with him a beautiful olive wood carving of the manger scene. It was beautiful, carved with care and perfection. But when the traveler arrived at customs, they insisted on X‑raying all of his possessions, including the nativity scene. When he asked why, the officer said, "we have to make sure there is nothing explosive in them."

The traveler was able to keep his Christmas scene, because there was nothing explosive in it! And yet, Christ is an explosive factor in today's world! His presence at the peace tables, could turn mankind around completely. His love and forgiveness could bring about a slowing of the arms race, and perhaps a stopping of it all together! The revolutionary spirit of Jesus could make us stop hoarding our money and give it away. We might even begin to love our enemies.

Watch out! Getting too much of the spirit of the real Christmas could be dangerous! It could change your whole way of living. Maybe that would be an improvement. Think about it. You could be a new you!

It's Highly Irregular

When singing from the hymn book, there are notations at the top of the page that sometimes give directions or comments about the singing. For example, "Onward Christian Soldiers" has the notation, "in unison". And as Christ's soldiers, we need that unity specified by the hymn. How sad that we are not! Or again, the hymn "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" has the notation, "with Alleluias"...very appropriate. And the hymn "Joy To The World" has the instruction, "with repeat". "Joy to the world, the Lord has come"...that's right, repeat it, repeat it, repeat it again and again.

But here is another:

"There's a song in the air, there's a star in the sky.
There's a mother's deep prayer, and a baby's low cry.
And the star rains its fire while the beautiful sing,
For the manger of Bethlehem cradles a King."

The notation at the top of the page says: "highly irregular". Well I should say so. The whole thing is "highly irregular"...a baby born in a barn. What could be more irregular than that? Shockingly so!

In Christianity, we have a most irregular religion. We worship a most irregular God. His ways are past finding out. Anything can happen. And the worst enemies of religion are those who try to regularize it, and make God into a sort of clock‑works.

My faith says that Jesus was a man...born as a baby, with flesh and blood, like us in all points, except without sin. But it also tells me that Jesus of Nazareth, was the Christ. He was the Word become flesh...very God of very God.

Because he was God, I can trust Him. Because he was a man, I can be like Him. Highly irregular to be sure. But then so is the love of God, and forgiveness, and mercy, and Christ's strange prayer upon the cross.

That's right. I am committed to a highly irregular faith. And my sin, is that I tend to allow it to regularize me out of an expectant faith. I have learned to do the regular things. I have argued like everyone else. I have shown mercy, but no more than others. I have hid within the crowds, and failed to take a stand for the least and the lost and the poor and the dispossessed of our world.

I think I may go looking for a Barn someplace. For we may expect God this Christmas to be found in the unexpected. I know, it's highly irregular...but that's where I need to be.

We're Being Invaded!

It came as a rumor the other day...we were being invaded, and I wondered what it meant. How could we be invaded? Should we alert the military? Should someone get on the hot‑line to the President?

Yes, the President should know...and a "hot‑line" to the whole world would be a great idea. But here was something unique, new, startlingly different. This was more like an invasion of the sun, or of the snow flakes, or of gravity itself. Armies cannot stop it. Radar cannot detect it. Love is coming down at Christmas, and God is invading His world!

It is hard to describe. It is sort of like standing out in the fields on a snowy day. You feel you are in the presence of magic. Something invades the world at Christmas, and before our very eyes, hard hearts become soft, and bleak souls become warm, and sinful people do strangely wonderful and holy things.

What is this strange magic that changes black to white and makes Scrooge‑like characters mellow and soften under the pressure of its power?

And the answer is "Love". For it was "love that came down at Christmas. Through the years, we have believed that only force can change the world, and we have mortgaged our children to have the strongest forces in the world. But about 2,000 years ago, God tried a new technique. He loved the world. Oh, of course, this wasn't new, for God had always loved His world, but it was something new about God that mankind had never really considered before.

Frankly, we are very slow to understand this kind of power. We touch it gingerly. We tend to drop it like a hot potato. It is like a power from another world. And we are not sure whether we can trust love to do the job.

We are spending trillions to experiment with every other kind of idea, and our science‑fiction stories are fantastic in their imaginations. But it is high time, that we as Christians really experiment with this thing called "Love", before something else comes in to destroy the world God has come to redeem.

Christmas Is Like Baseball?

Yes, Christmas is a little bit like baseball. When it comes our turn to be at the plate, almost all of us make it to 1st base. Christmas on first base is what is known as a "holly, jolly Christmas". It is the best thing that happens to our homes all year. We each seem to get a fresh transfusion of good will. Nobody should complain about the good spirits. Perhaps we could do away with some of the so‑called "joy" at Christmas: "joy" which gets people hurt, "joy" that is wrapped up in bottles, "joy" that is office parties where people let go of decency and good behavior. But let us remember that Christmas' birth was Christianity's moment of joy. The angels sang, "Joy to the world."

But we have more bases to run! "What do you mean", you say, "I couldn't run one more step." But 2nd base is out there some place. It stands for the White Christmas, the benevolent Christmas. It stands for thankfulness. The Shopping center is not the heart of Christmas, no matter how loud the carols blare from the stores. Someone has said, "Far from the Christmas rush is the Christmas hush." It is Someone's birthday. It is a time to give, a time for worship, for praise.

But something is missing, when that Someone is missing. 3rd base means meeting a living person. Christmas is more than a performance, it calls for an encounter! "Unto you is born this day...a Savior!" the angels sang. Christianity's big moment, you see is when Christmas becomes personal...and you "talk with Him, and you walk with Him."

Christmas is coming near, and yet Home Plate is still ahead. Like the Rich Young Ruler of Scriptures, there are those who meet the honored Guest, who get to 3rd base fairly easily, but who turn sorrowfully away and the game is for nothing. "Don't die on third" is our plea. Jesus once said, "Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and not do the things which I say?" Today, Jesus would add, "How can you come to my birthday party, and not come to me?"

Christianity's greatest moment comes when a man or a woman decides to go all the way with Christmas...beyond the tinsel, past the ceremonies, and all the way to where‑ever Christ may lead. What good is the count‑down at NASA if the rocket doesn't take off? The preparation for Christmas is all so much wasted energy, if it doesn't result in the "lift off", that dramatic moment of contact, the encounter, the fire of the Spirit, when Jesus Christ is really born into your heart and mine?

It is time for a Christmas "Home Run". You can do it. There are those on the side‑lines cheering you on. A great host of witnesses rise in the stands, on tip‑toe, holding their breath, but counting on you to make it all the way Home.

Give The Gift Of A Word

There is an old legend that says that the animals were given the gift of speech at midnight on Christmas Eve, so that they might praise the Lord.

The Old Testament talks about the valleys standing so thick with corn, that "they shout and sing" (Ps. 65:13). One of the great old hymns says: "all nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres."

When Jesus went into Jerusalem, along with a crowd of people shouting "Hosannah", the authorities were incensed and said to him, "Make the people stop". And Jesus replied that if they were to cease their praise, the very stones of the street would cry out. (Luke 19:40)

Everything around us...the snowflake with its intricate beauty, the storms, with their majestic power, the delicate awesomeness of a starry night...all things great and small seem to proclaim the greatness of God.

Why is it, that we who have the gift of speech, use it so sparingly to tell of the Lord's goodness to us?

Along with your other gifts this Christmas, why not use the gift of speech to give a good word? It costs so little, and means so much. And if we give it to one another, why not to God as well? Tell Him you love Him.

His Kingly Presence

Some years ago, in Time magazine, there was an article by a Mr. Von Hoerner stating that the only hope for our world was to listen intently for radioed advice from older civilizations out in space in order to avoid self‑annihilation.

A Christian clergyman, in the next issue, commented that actually this longed‑for‑advice had arrived. In fact, it came a little over 1900 years ago...loud and clear. Illiterate shepherds on Judean hills understood. A physician named Luke decoded the message, and no doubt that somewhere in Von Hoerner's library he would find a dust‑covered copy of this message from outer space. The clergyman said that the advice and directions for preventing human self‑destruction were there in black and white. More than that, a purpose for being and a hope which sees beyond the years, was all there too.

In the very enjoyable and classic musical production called "South Pacific" we find Mary Martin singing the song: "I'm stuck like a dope, with a thing called hope. I can't get it out of my mind."

And so the Old testament is a record of man's search for the Kingdom of God, and the everlasting hope that someday, there would come a Messiah who would put everything in perspective. It would be someone who would take this evil old world, and make it into a good one...someone who would stop the wars, and halt the injustice and reign as a king of peace.

Again and again, the Old Testament affirmed, "Behold, the days are coming!" But somehow, the King never came. They kept hoping, and kept looking, but the Messiah they looked for never came.

The story is told about a young lady who went to the dentist and after the dentist had worked on her for awhile, she said apprehensively: "Doctor, I think you've pulled the wrong tooth!" "Be patient," replied the doctor, "I'll get to it!"

Somehow the Hebrew people felt that kind of pain. They had been slaves in Egypt; they had wandered in the wilderness; they had begun to get power through the kingship of David, and then suddenly, they were over‑powered and taken into captivity. "Oh Lord, will it never end?" And all they seemed to hear was, "Be patient, I'll get around to it!"

Unfortunately, when the Messiah did come, they failed to recognize Him. But so do we! Too often, we live as though there was no King of love to surround us...no Kingly Presence to over‑ shadow us. But today, it is our distinct pleasure and responsibility to tell you that the King of Kings is in our midst. Not only is He coming, but He is already in our world today, and every day. The big question really is, "Will you recognize His Kingly Presence in your life and activities?" Will you go a‑walking and a‑serving Him from now on?

Starting A New Humanity

Someone has given us an interesting illustration: What if a musician in an orchestra would strike a sour note? It was not the fault of the conductor. He was competent. The music was not at fault, for it was correct. But a discord was introduced and there was no way to correct the situation.

That false note was now traveling at the speed of sound into space at over a thousand feet per second. As long as time would endure, that sour note would carry on.

Is there no way to correct it, and restore harmony? Would there be some way to stop it on its way...but still it would be a false one. Only one answer can be given. Someone from eternity could take that false note, and make it the first note of a new melody. And that, the author says, is precisely what Jesus Christ has done. The false note was struck at the fall of Adam and Eve. This sour note has gone down all through human history, and has infected the world.

But in the annunciation, God asked a woman to give Him a human nature, so that He could start a new humanity. And Jesus was born. As the first Adam brought death, so the second Adam (Jesus Christ) is the beginning of that new melody; of life. And the great new music of Christ’s Kingdom has begun.

Sometimes, we inject the false note. Sometimes we send the music of discord into our homes and families. Sometimes we are the very instrument of the evil one to disrupt and spoil life’s symphonies.

But the Savior of the universe, takes the dissonances of our lives, the bad “vibes” of our sinfulness upon his own shoulder, and blends his marvelous vibrations into the great symphony of life.

I shudder to think of the many sour notes I have sent out into my world. But I thank God that there is One who can reach out and stop that terrible vibration, and transform it into an anthem of love. Very simply, that is what salvation is all about.

Am I Queer?

Sometimes Christians appear to be a strange breed. They live by a set of standards unorthodox in the eyes of the world. Who ever heard of “turning the other cheek”, or of “going the second mile”? Isn’t it stupid to be “meek and mild”? And yet, that’s what Jesus was, and we are to be like him.

The world looks askance upon the idea that we ought to “love our enemies”! It’s hard for many of them to even love their neighbors!

There’s a fascinating little story many of us read to our children, about the Ugly Duckling. You could almost cry at the plight of the little duckling that came out of the egg last, and looked so different from the others. Even the mother rejected this little oddling with his funny “honking.” He was cackled at, and pecked at, and shunned, and driven out of town, and he wandered lonely and sad.

In the movie version of Hans Christian Anderson, who does not remember the little hate song,:

“Quack, quack, get out of town.
Quack, quack, get out,
Quack, quack, get out of here!
And he went with a quack, and a waddle and a quack,
And a very unhappy tear!”

But since all children’s fairy tales have to have a happy ending, what a surprise to all when it was found that he was not a duckling at all, but a swan...and a very fine swan indeed!

We would not want to make a travesty of anything as sacred as the life of our Lord, but listen to the words of the Biblical writer: “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” He was so different, such a queer specimen as set against the backdrop of his times, not at all like the others.

Again the writer continues: “He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:3)

What a reception the Son of God received. As a child, he was driven out of Palestine by a decree of King Herod. His own country-men said, “He is mad, he has a demon.” And they taunted him, so that finally he had to leave. He was castigated by the Scribes and Pharisees for disobeying the trivial laws of ceremonial cleansing. He was accused of being a “wine-bibber and a friend of sinners.” They accused him of being a blasphemer, and a worker of Beelzebub. Finally, they dragged him before a fixed jury and accused him of being a traitor. They spit upon him, they whipped him, they plaited a crown of thorns for his head, and jeered him as they made him drag a heavy cross up the hill to where finally, they crucified him.

But here was no “ugly duckling.” Resurrection morning proved that. And the disciples were privileged to behold Him, in all His glory. Christ does not come into our world in popular form. Nor is the Christian way of life considered very practical in today’s world. It is an “ugly duckling” philosophy. But “I swan,” it’s the one I plan to follow. How about you?

Are You Small Enough?

The story of Christmas is humility...humility in the presence of Majesty, and Divinity. The naturalist William Beabe used to visit Teddy Roosevelt at Sangamore Hill, and the two of them would spend many hours in conversation.

After an evening of talk, they would go out onto the lawn, where they took turns at an amusing little astronomical rite. They searched until they found, the faint, heavenly spot of light‑mist beyond the lower left‑hand corner of the Great Square of Pegasus, and then one or the other of them would recite:

"That is the Spiral Galaxy in Andromada
It is as large as our Milky Way.
It is one of a hundred million galaxies.
It is 750,000 light‑years away.
It consists of one hundred billion suns,
each larger than our own sun."

And then, after an interval, Colonel Roosevelt would grin at his friend, and say: "Now I think we are small enough: let's go to bed." (The book of Naturalists, P. 234 Alfred A. Knopt, New York, 1944)

In Bethlehem, at the Church of the Holy Nativity which is presumed to house the location of the birth of the Christ, there is a very low entrance door. At one time, it was a high, exalted entrance. But pagan, enemy forces used to ride into the church on horseback to disperse the worshipers gathered there. And so, the door was blocked in the upper areas, with stones, cemented into a low arch. No one can enter now, without first dismounting from whatever high‑horse he may be mounted upon, and must now enter on foot.

The Christ who is exalted, can be worshiped only by those who are willing to humble themselves.

A store during the Christmas season had advertised a novelty Christ‑child doll. It was an unbreakable, washable, 9 inch model of the Christ‑child, packaged in straw and a crib. The price was $8.00. A deluxe model with beautiful cathedral background cost $12.00.

A comparison shopper during the last few days before Christmas excitedly reported that the Jones' store had marked Jesus Christ down 50%.

Don't mark Him down! Don't ever cheapen the baby Jesus. Exalt Him! Lift Him up! For truly, the finest treasure ever presented was given, on Christmas night, so many years ago. And we must come humbly, to behold His glory, and to accept His Gift, given to us.

Feel The Tug

There are so many times that I wish I could be sure! If only I could be sure that right would prevail; that goodness really was worth the effort; that tomorrow would be better than today.

Sometimes I envy the certainty of the scientists and the mathematicians, and those independent church groups who "have all the answers". Wouldn't it be nice to be absolutely sure about everything?

Sometimes God seems so far away. Why couldn't He give me some absolute assurances that He is still in control? I'd like some miracles, please God.

I like Paul's words to young Timothy when he says: "I know whom I have believed, and I am sure that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him against that day." (II Timothy l:l2)

And yet there are few absolutes in our world. Faith is a risky business. There are a host of things for which we can reach no scientific conclusion. Are these therefore irrational? No, I think not. Probably the most important truths in the world cannot be reached by the scientific method. I can look up "courage" in the dictionary, but the definition is nothing compared to knowing or experiencing an act of real bravery. Love is something I can read about in books of poetry, or see in T.V. dramas, but it cannot compare with actually being in love. I can try to explain a kiss in scientific terms by saying, "a kiss is the anatomical juxtaposition of the obicularis muscles in the state of contraction.", but who would ever accept that in lieu of the real thing?

A young boy was out flying his kite one day, and the wind had carried it so high, that it was now almost out of sight. When a friend asked him how he knew the kite was still there, he said, "By the tug on the string."

In our world, there are persons who have been changed, beautifully, radically, marvelously...not because of a set of acts, but because of a "tug on their heart‑strings".

God sent Jesus into our world to help us to know for sure that He loves us, and to feel the "tug". Thanks God, for helping me feel "sure".

Evil--Is It Good Or Bad?

The apostle Paul, after going through ship‑wreck, persecution, and years of hardship in starting the Christian Church in many areas of Asia Minor, wrote these words: "I want you to know, brethren, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel..." (Phil. 1:l2)

Paul was writing from prison. Was he happy to be there? No, he didn't say that. What he said was simply that because of his afflictions, some good things had come out of them, and then he named them: the praetorian guard knew that his imprisonment was for Christ; the brethren had been made a bit more confident in the Lord, because of his imprisonment, and they were more bold to speak the word of the Lord.

Can we ever say that evil is good? No, but it is possible to say that "out of evil, good can come". Because God made our world, He made it good, but in order to give us the freedom to choose, He had to make a world in which we could learn from our sins and mistakes.

For every good, therefore, there seems to be a flip‑side that is bad, and the choice is ours. It would seem, therefore, that whenever we are faced with trouble and adversity, that we are only a prayer away from a God who truly cares, and is ready to give us power for our day.

I don't understand life, with all its heartaches. I don't know why sometimes the good people seem to suffer more than the evil ones do. I don't understand why God can't just stop all the evil, the hard work, the problems, the bad corn and soy bean prices. I don't know why God couldn't just make life easy for me. It seems to me that, if He would, then I could be a top‑notch Christian. If only I could make a million, and if the going wasn't so rough, then I'd have no trouble having faith.

But life isn't that way. God gave me the power of choice, so that I could profit from my mistakes. Without work, I would become a jelly‑fish. Struggle brings pain, but without struggle, there would be no growth. It is my achievement that brings joy, but there is always a price.

I'm glad that God made a world that is seething with struggle, and one that constantly confronts me with decisions. Without that, we might as well be stones on the hill‑side. I don't like evil, but out of evil, good can come, and I am determined to find it.

Don't Worry About The Smell

Do you remember that little poem that goes:

We have the nicest garbage man
He empties all the garbage cans
He's just as nice as he can be
He often stops and talks to me
My mother doesn't like his smell.
But then, she doesn't know him very well!

Isn't it sad that so often we make our judgments about people from foolish and artificial reasons like this? How quickly we place people in categories: they are blonds, or they are Jews, or they are black, or they are midgets, or they are Catholics, or they are Chinese.

Suddenly our world begins to fill up with walls...walls of differences, and we find ourselves treating people differently because they are behind this or that wall.

And yet every last one of them feels the cold, or gets a fever, or is allergic to pollen. There isn't a person behind those walls who doesn't get hungry, or get sick, or get lonely and depressed at times. Every single soul, regardless of color or creed, or cultural orientation, feels pain when stuck by a pin, or is injured in an accident.

Robert Frost caught the significance of this as he wandered through the fields surrounded with stone walls, and wrote:

"Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the frozen ground swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast."

And as he wonders why walls seem so important in his world, he hears the old cliche,
"Good fences make good neighbors." and he goes on to say:

"Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
“Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it
Where there are cows? But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out
And to whom I was like to give offense.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down."

There are so many times when I am not sure I really want to "love my neighbors" (let alone my enemies). Sometimes they "smell" so bad! But Jesus didn't seem to give me any choice. Here and there, we find beautiful examples of people who have broken the terrible pattern of vengeance, by not only forgiving someone for wrong doing, but going the second mile of reconciliation.

John Morley once commented on just such an example when he wrote: "There was no worldly wisdom in it, we all know. But then what are people Christians for?"

They Decided Not To Be

There are a lot of things in our world that could make us all very discouraged. A lot of our forefathers could have given up on this business of making a land of freedom. They could have been quitters...but "they decided not to be".

As you read the New Testament, and see the persecution of early Christians, and the hardships of the apostle Paul and read how he was beaten, imprisoned, stoned and left for dead, it would have been easy to get discouraged. But those early founders of the Faith decided not to be. And I'm glad.

There are two ways to be defeated. Sometimes, we lose at a game or in business, or from superior salesmanship by someone else. That's one way.

But the other way is when we are caught in self defeat...when we throw in the sponge, and declare that the odds are against us. Most of the time, people are not defeated by things, but by themselves. We give in. We quit.

We know about Helen Keller, blind, deaf and dumb, from birth. Glen Cunningham, one of the fastest milers on record at 4.4 seconds was crippled in his boyhood in a schoolhouse fire. Doctors said he would never walk again. John Bunyan wrote "Pilgrim's Progress" while in prison, on untwisted papers that were stoppers in the bottles of milk brought to him. "Don Quixote" was written from prison, as was Sir Walter Raleigh's "History of the World". Beethoven was claimed at last by deafness, but he continued to write some of his greatest musical works. Alec Templeton, blind from early in life, became a great pianist. Napoleon was only 5 feet 2 1/4 inches tall. He graduated 43rd in his class. Michaelangelo, who was lame and had a broken nose, lay flat on his back for 20 months painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
All of them had plenty of reasons to say: "Stop the world, I want to get off"...but they decided not to.

As people get older, they feel they are getting useless, and yet Verdi wrote an opera at eighty, and at that same age, Goethe finished writing "Faust". Oliver Wendell Holmes was still writing brilliant opinions at 90 and Louis Pasteur was past sixty when he began his studies that led to a cure for rabies.

The early Christians learned from Paul to say: "For me to live is Christ" They could have been badly defeated, but "they decided not to be."

I suppose most of us could have our feelings hurt dozens of times every week. But, what's the point? Most of the time when someone hurts me, it's their problem, not mine. They got out of bed on the wrong side...their spouse gave them a rough time...they've got "gas" or a tummy ache.

There is an old sign on a print shop that read: "Life is a grindstone, and whether it grinds a man down or polishes him up depends on the stuff he's made of."
I could probably be unhappy, un-Christian, unpleasant, and a few more "un" things. But I've decided not to be.

Education At The Intersection

The word "confrontation" means, "to bump into something". And life is a kind of continual confrontation. It is forever a meeting...an intersecting of my life with yours, or with an experience, or with some crisis. Sometimes these meetings are painful, sometimes joyful, sometimes fearful, and sometimes tragic. But always they are educational. We can learn from them.

In our school classrooms, the mind comes to grips, with an idea, with a teacher, with history, or with a fact of science. In the laboratory of life, we encounter new sensations, new smells, new facts. Even an argument is an education, and making mistakes is a learning process.

If we looked back over our life time, we would find many points of intersection that were significant. We had a head on collision with a new idea, or a new experience, or a new problem. Sometimes these experiences seemed like the end of the world, and yet they may also have been the prelude to something better.

Paul looked back over his life, and he said "I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content...I know how to be abased, I know how to abound; in any and all circumstances, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and want." And then he capped it all off, by adding, "I can do anything, through him who strengthens me" (Phil. 4:11 13)

The Christian faith has always declared, what we have been slow to accept, that our faith is a kind of head on collision. The apostle, while thinking he was running the other way, ran head on into Christ. And this encounter changed the entire direction of his life. He learned that you can come to grips with anything if you are going the right way and if you have the right company. He encountered fears, and they made him a stronger man. He encountered new problems and he discovered that his Christ was sufficient for all of them. He encountered beatings, imprisonment, even the threat of death, and he discovered that he had been well schooled at the intersection of faith.

Paul ended his class session to Christian followers, by writing on the black board for all of his pupils to see: "My God will supply every need of yours, according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 4:19)

Sometimes we go "bumping" through life with little reason or thought, and we complain about how tough it has been for us. But when we take the "bumps" while hanging onto the Savior, and when we have head on collisions with hard times, but share them with a living Lord, the "agony" has a way of changing to an "ecstacy", and life that might have gone on down to defeat, goes striding on to victory.

The Gospel Got Loose!

In Paul's writings, he said that "Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation" (II Cor. 5:18). At that very moment, something was set loose into the world that could not be confined. The Gospel got out! And it was given to us. And like the "hot potato" that it is, sometimes we don't know what to do with it.

The "ministry of reconciliation" suggests to us that under the skin, we are brothers. We are one, and Christ gave us the vision of our need, and commanded us to make it become reality.

Are there divisions? Are we doing anything to heal them? Are there people hurting? Are we carrying God's valentine of love? Are there some who are lonely, feeling left out? Are some of us being small...drawing circles that are too limited? Are we accusing others of being the problem, when we may be at fault ourselves? Is the "balm of Gilead" at work in our midst? Is the "healing" of Christ's spirit being sought? Can others tell we are Christians by our love? Are we being reconcilers in this troubled old world?

A family was getting ready for a trip, and the station wagon was packed and ready to go. They were late, and mother called out: "Johnny, wash your hands. Get your brother. Perhaps we can still make it in time!"

Here is the 3 fold call of our ministry: l "Wash your hands"...pray for forgiveness and cleansing. 2 "Get your brother". We must be reaching out to all those around us. 3 "Perhaps there is still time". The hour is late, but not too late to speak forth the message of the Gospel.

This is the task Christ has called us to perform. He died on a cross to make it so. That is how much it meant to Him. Does it mean anything to you...all ye that pass by?

"Lift Off" Can Happen

I've watched the birds, and I've thought, "How nice to soar above the world...to fly!" John Magee, the poet has written:

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter silvered wings;...
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew.
And while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high un-trespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

What really is my place in this old world. I'm not an angel, but I'd sure like to fly. I'm not an angel, but the Bible tells me that I was made just a little bit lower than the angels. And yet, my destiny seems to be to "plow" the earth, to "cultivate" it, to bring a rich harvest from it. And my Lord calls me to be a binder of wounds. My task is to be a servant. I belong on this earth. I've been given a task here. I can't live in a pretend world of "Cloud 9".

But there are times when my hands get so dirty, and my knees get so weary, and my head so dizzy. And there are times when the grime of it, and the slime of it, and the weariness of it, makes me feel like I am shackled to this earth...a prisoner in clay.

But then comes the beautiful revelation, that as a human being, I have two sides to my being. I am not a stick person, with a flat life on a flat board. There is another dimension. I was meant to "look up". There is height, there is breadth, and length and depth. Sometimes, we can "mount up with wings as eagles, and we can walk, and not faint." We can fly. We can fly, with God, and we can soar above the sinfulness of this world. We can live on a higher plane.

Much of my life is keeping my nose to the grindstone. And that is where it must be a good share of the time. Nobody promised me a rose garden. But one of these days, I'm goin' to fly! And day after day, I practice the process...of loving, and giving, and forgiving, and caring...of lifting my eyes to Him who can deliver me from this bondage of death.

Many people attempt to escape this world with drugs. They get freaked out, and Hell is just around the corner. But our Lord was a macho man, strong, brave, commanding thousands of people. He was tough, but oh, so gentle. And he taught his disciples to fly.

Christianity's "Fly in" is sponsored by Jesus Christ, and He is inviting each of us to take the "ground course". "Lift off" is available. Come fly with the Lord Jesus. His is the only air line that gives an eternal guarantee.

Run Out Of Town

In the book of Acts, we find the exciting story of the origins of the early Church. Stephen was stoned to death by an angry mob, and Saul, consenting to his death, then began great persecution against the church in Jerusalem. All who named the name of Christ were scattered.

At times we wonder what would have happened if the Gospel had stayed in Jerusalem with the original disciples, and under the old Judaistic patterns? Might it have died an early death? Would it have been smothered in its infancy?

But the Gospel got out! It left its place of birth. Indeed it was driven out...run out of town! And this act of hardship saved the Church. The attacks upon the early Christians were a blessing in disguise...as so often hardship is.

Many of us could tell accounts of the hard things in life, which, though they shook us, also strengthened us, and made us stronger. We recall how Joseph in the Old Testament, spoke to his brothers who had sent him into seeming slavery, and said, "You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good." (Genesis 50:20) And again, we think about the verse: "We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him," (Romans 8:28)

This is not to say that Christians look for trouble, but when it comes, it can be a stepping stone instead of a stumbling block. You take problems and twist them into opportunities. Trouble throws you a 'curve', so you look at it squarely, and end up getting a home run!

The early Christians had no idea what they had started. But God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform." (Wm. Cowper). Christianity had broken out of its swaddling clothes, and it was on its way out into the whole world.

There is a small lake in Minnesota, called Lake Itasca. A visitor noticed a small overflow at one end, and said to a fisherman nearby, "The lake is leaking". The man replied: "Man, that's no leak...that's the beginning of the Mississippi River!" The Mississippi River may start as a leak in a tiny lake, but it ends with a mighty body of water, flowing to the Gulf. And so, Christianity began with a handful of unpromising people, and situations, but God's forces are still rolling along.

The Good News got out, under duress, and thank God it did, because you and I are the beneficiaries of it. Is it possible today to look at the hard things that come into your life, and say, "I wonder what exciting things the Lord has in store for me? I think I'll try to find out."

Take The Witness Stand

St. Luke in the book of Acts, records that after the resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples and said, "You shall be my witnesses." (Acts 1:8)

A lot of people have problems with that, and as they sing some of the great hymns of the Church, you can almost hear them adding: "I love to hear the story"...if it doesn't last more than twenty minutes. Or again, "Take my life and let it be"...yes, let it be, Lord, let it be. "Have thine own way, Lord" with Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Smith. Or how about, "If Jesus goes with me...", it may be embarrassing for both of us?

Some of us may not be able to speak easily about our faith. We are the quiet ones. There are some people who have something to say, and then there are those who have to say something! But if our lives have been touched by the Lord, then really we have to "say" something! We must share the good news. We must let the rest of the world know that we too have been touched by the Master.

The way we do the "saying" however can vary a great deal. The Scriptures tell how "the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy." (Ps. 65:13) And in the hymn "This is my Father's world" we hear the words, "the birds their carols raise, the morning light, the lily white, declare their Maker's praise."

There is a witness in the daisy that lifts its head in praise to its Maker. And so, like that lovely flower by the roadside, we too can bear witness in faithful living day by day.

We wish it could be more natural for all of us to share what God has done for us. In the 66th Psalm, the writer says: Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for me." (vs. 16) But even when our voices fail us, and words don't seem to fill the bill, the witness of a life of love, of a life of caring, is still measured by our Savior, as acceptable "coin" in Heaven's book‑keeping accounts.

Where In The World Is The Church?

If you were to ask most any person on the street, "Where is the Church?" the answer would probably be, "It is two blocks ahead, on the left", or some such reply. Yes, the Church does exist in church buildings. We might call a Sunday morning worship session, "The gathered Church".

But if that is where the Church is on Sunday mornings, then where does it go during the rest of the week? On Monday, where is the Church? How about on Thursday?

And of course, we begin to realize that the real Church is people. The Church is in the Shopping Center. It is at School, it is in the Board room, in the offices of government. Wherever Christians are being faithful to their Lord, they are the "Dispersed Church"...the Church in the world.

And since Christ is the head of the Church, then Christ must be felt in the Schools, in the Board rooms, in the offices of government, in the controversies of home and nation, if the Church is to be truly in the world.

St. Paul, in his letter to the church at Ephesus, expresses great amazement at how God has made the Church, and for what purpose as he says: "grace was given,...to give the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all men see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known." (Eph. 3:8‑10)

And then he goes on to pray: "that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power to comprehend...and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge." (Eph. 3:17‑19)

This love Paul talks about is appealing, but as one person has said, "it's practice is appalling." And yet, this is exactly where the Church exists...wherever Christian people are appealingly trying to put that kind of love to the test.

Reconciliation or Wreck-onciliation?

There is a tremendous need today for people to learn to live together in peace and harmony. In the New Testament, Christians are called upon to be "reconcilers". There is a very deadly sin within most of us that refuses to accept people who are "different". The difference may be that of nationalistic background, racial and ethnic differences, gender differences, differences of religion, and even differences of physical size or color of hair.

We call this "prejudice". We are prejudiced against certain people and this is a form of "wreck‑onciliation". We have preconceptions, predispositions, suspicions, smoldering dislike for certain folk in our world.

In the world of automobiles, high octane gas takes the "knock" out of the engine. And so the Christian is to be the "high octane" to people who are "knocking one another"! How can we run our lives with antagonism and angry disputes among us, when our Lord called us to be "reconcilers" and peace makers.

Once a year, we celebrate the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, who has been considered one of the great reconcilers. In Vachel Lindsay's classic poem, "Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight" he says:

"It breaks his heart that kings must murder still
That all his hours of travail, here for men
Seem yet in vain. And who will bring white peace
That he may sleep upon his hill again?"

And even more than the vision of Abraham Lincoln, is that picture of a cross silhouetted against the hillside, and the realization that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself. Reconciliation is a hard thing to achieve. It involves humbling ourselves, it involves penitence that seeks forgiveness. It means going the second mile. It means taking it on the chin, bearing the cross, absorbing evil rather than bouncing it back. It involves understanding of why people do the things they do, and it can all be summed up in one command, "Thou shalt love..."

We are to love, because we were first loved. God has been an aggressive lover. He is the aggressive lover who can break up my temper, my sinfulness. Christ's whole life was an offensive of divine love. And the cross was God's love, at the very flash‑point of its power. It was timed to take the "ping" out of our angry souls, and give us the grace of reconciliation.

We are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. If only we could learn to keep the engines of love running smoothly. Perhaps then, our Lord would recognize us as reconcilers, not "wreck‑oncilers".

Famous Last Words

There are so many things in our world that we cannot change. Evil lurks on every hand. How can our society go on, flaunting God's laws, hardly caring for the little people, the oppressed, the poor, the lonely and aging? Does it not seem that injustice is a stronger force than goodness? Where is the cause of righteousness? And where are those who will stand up and be counted for God's Kingdom?

The Christian is often overwhelmed by pessimism as he or she looks out over this troubled world. We are told that the last words of Henry Ibsen, a Norwegian dramatist who had been a great debater and critic of his society, was the one word, "Nevertheless".

When suddenly death struck, it was a rather appropriate thing to say, for it is what the Christian is always talking about. The world puts down goodness, and persecutes the righteous, and hangs Christ upon a cross. We see all of this. We look at life's confusions and the apparent victory of evil, but we say, "nevertheless". Judas could betray Jesus, Caiaphas could make a mockery of his trial, Pilate could say to the soldiers, "make the tomb as secure as you can"...NEVERTHELESS..."on the first day of the week...the women, found that the stone was rolled away!"

Sir James Simpson, the discoverer of chloroform, lost his little daughter at an early age; and it is most appropriate that upon her tombstone should be carved out these words: "nevertheless I live!"

"Nevertheless" is a very fine word. We are often fearful that we as Christians are working alone, and that there is little hope of changing this terrible world about us. "Nevertheless", we must believe that God has not left us to do it by ourselves. Elijah believed that he and only he was left to proclaim the greatness of God, and he was informed that there were still thousands in Israel who remained faithful.

A famous last word is that of John Wesley, who said to those gathered about his death bed, "The best of all is, God is with us." And Oliver Cromwell, upon his dying bed, took one look at the mournful crowd of faces about him, and said, "Will no one here thank God?"

Perhaps it is time for us to stop singing the "blues"...time to stop acting like "losers"...time to rise up and say "Nevertheless". That's right! God is here, and we are on the side of ultimate victory.

Divine Disturbance

I stopped one day at the "Grain Pit" of the Board of Trade Bldg. in Chicago. I saw persons frantically waving their hands, holding up different numbers of fingers, raucously shouting at the tops of their voices, and every so often, for no seeming reason at all, they would literally fall on one another as their excitement grew stronger and stronger. Here, it seemed were men possessed!

There was a day which we sometimes call the Birthday of the Christian Church, in which the disciples were so excited, and the reports of what happened that day so spectacular, that we can scarcely accept it. There was a divine disturbance, during which ordinary persons became extra‑ordinary and moved out to proclaim their faith.

Dr. Toyohiko Kagawa, a great Japanese Christian leader, once said, "It is a shame for a Christian to be ordinary. There is something within that will make him out‑of‑the‑ordinary and not 'run of the mill'." Sometimes, the non‑Christian person looks upon our proclamation of love, and of turning the other cheek, and they say, "Those Christians are mad!"

They said of Dr. Albert Schweitzer, "The man is mad" as he dedicated four Ph.D's to the natives of Africa. This was not madness, but the Spirit's disturbing of a man until his talents became tools in the hands of Almighty God.

There is a classic story about the Cape Cod farmer of New England who was shingling his house on a very foggy day, and he shingled right off into the fog. Many persons go "shingling off into the fog" in their understanding of the Holy Spirit. In their fanatic zeal, they do the very opposite of that which the Holy Spirit commands us. They find causes that separate them from their fellow‑Christians, whereas the Spirit on that special day of Pentecost came to transcend all barriers of nationality and language and to bind all together in love for Jesus Christ.

God is always trying to break through into life...yours and mine. The Spirit of God has been at work since the very time of creation itself, brooding over the face of the deep. And yet we confess how little we really know about the Holy Spirit.

Ask a sailor "What is the wind". Of all people, he should know. But he will answer, "I cannot say. All I know is that when I feel the wind blowing, I raise my sails, and it takes me to the far‑off harbor". Ask a Christian, "What is the Holy Spirit." Of all persons, he or she should know‑‑and yet the reply may come, "I cannot say. All I know is that when I feel the breath of God upon me, I open myself to it, and it lifts me up and carries me to the far‑off shore."

Dead End

There is a haunting fear of mankind, an almost universal uncertainty that asks the same question as Job, when he said, "If a man die, will he live again?" (Job 14:14)

In some ways, this fear runs deeper within us, than our love for money, or sex, or power. And Christians have something to share with this fear‑ridden world, for we have a significant break‑through. We know a man who conquered death, who went into the valley of the shadow...that terrible dead‑end of the centuries...and he walked right through!

There is a story called "Labyrinth" written by Gian‑Carlo Menotti. The action centers around a newly married couple who wander around in the endless corridors of an old hotel, looking for their room. Their search is futile. And even when they finally find the room, the door is locked, and they have lost the key. Menotti says that modern man has also lost the key to the labyrinth of life, and is searching for a way out. All too often, he simply resigns himself to a lifetime of restless wandering. In his story, however, Menotti decides that the solution is death. The groom is nailed up in a coffin, and wakes up in the after‑life holding the lost key. And so Menotti says: "Death is not the end of life, but its very happy solution!"

Surely we do not agree that death is the solution to life. It is not the way out of the problems we have, to simply end it all. But in death, there is an answer. And Jesus Christ, our risen Lord, holds the key that makes death not a dead end, but an open highway into something greater beyond. We think about the long winter with its ice‑covered trees. How dead they appear for those several months, but look at them in the Spring...budding forth more completely every day. The grass is barren in those frosty days of the year, but in its time of green‑ness, your mower struggles with it week after week!

There is not a farmer around who does not recognize that beneath the seemingly dead soil, are the seeds of that which will nurture the butterflies, and feed the birds, and fill his world with beauty and a good harvest. Why then are we so in sorrow about the thought of death? It is not a dead end. For those who have learned to live with Him who holds the key, it is a thoroughfare to a new type of existence on a higher plateau.