Memorial Day

 

"Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday which occurs every year on the final Monday of May. Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War. By the 20th century Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who have died while in the military service." (Wikipedia)

Remembering those who were willing to give their life for you shouldn't take a special day. It shouldn't have to be declared by a government to make it something special. However it seems to be human nature to forget some of the most important events or people. We don't mean to, we have the best intentions, but somehow it just happens that we forget.

Jesus knew human nature and understood our weaknesses. That's why he instituted things in his church such as "Communion" or "The Lord's Supper". He knew that although we have the best intentions, we would eventually forget his sacrifice, unless we were constantly reminded.

In Mathew 26:26-28 we read, "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." (KJV)

The apostle Paul explains it in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 in this way, "For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me." In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant between God and his people, an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this to remember me as often as you drink it."

I encourage you to celebrate Memorial Day. Celebrate the day that remembers those of our military who were willing to die that you might live free. But more than that, I encourage you to meet with your church, partake of Communion and remember the one who died that you might live free eternally.

Mother's Day - The Gift

Gifts are sometimes not thought out before they are given. A report this past week said that Mother's Day gifts are much harder to find (or purchase) than Father's Day gifts. Harder, in the fact that they take more thought to find an appropriate gift. Another survey said that most people spend between $40 and $100 on Mother's Day gifts, whereas Father's Day gifts are typically between $15 and $25.

 

Understand I'm not complaining in any way shape or form, I'm just trying to make the point that it's sometimes hard to find the perfect gift. I'm reminded of a gift box we one time received while working as Missionaries in Kenya, East Africa. Some good friends wanted to do something special for us and fixed us up a special box. They wrote us about it and kept check with us to see if we had received it, but wouldn't say what it was. It took over 6 months for the box to arrive (you never know if you will actually receive a box from America or not, but we did.)

When the box arrived, I commented that it looked like an elephant has stepped on it. With great anticipation we opened the box and found a gallon can of Tapioca pudding (one of my favorites) and a bag of Mikesell's Potato Chips (crisps) from our home state in Ohio (one of my wife's favorites) and a couple of bags of chocolate.

Can you imagine a box, six months in transit with a gallon can of Tapioca and a plastic bag of potato chips and chocolate (which had set in the hot sun in a shipping container in the docks in Africa looked like when we opened it? Actually the can made it through pretty well with only some minor rust, the potato chips were now potato dust and crumbs and the chocolate was large lumps (rolled in potato chip dust).

Do you want to guess our reaction? We were thrilled to get a box from home. We enjoyed the stale potato chip crumbs and used some of them in cooking, we ate the chocolate anyway and opened the can and ate the Tapioca pudding. We rejoiced that these dear friends had remembered us in the far away foreign land and had sent their love in the form of a battered box.

All of this is to say, with gifts, it really is the thought that counts! Love is shared, not in things, not from spending money, but in remembering to let the one you love know that you love them!

Mother's, we children and husbands sometimes stumble on that point, but know that you are loved and appreciated for all you were and are in our lives!

Some of the foundation principals in relationships is found in 1 Corinthians 13:7, where we read: "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance". (NLT)

New Ideas!

New Ideas always are a problem, whether in our homes or in our churches. Understand I am someone who is very skeptical about change, but I embrace it when I am convinced it is (1) in keeping with the guidelines found in God's Word and (2) it will really benefit God's Church.

Not all ideas are good ideas, just because they are new, nor are they of necessity bad, just because they are new. I got a chuckle out of the following story about embracing change:

      The elderly priest, speaking to the younger priest, said, "It was a good idea to replace the first four pews with plush theater seats. It worked. The front of the church fills first."

      The young priest nodded, and the old one continued, "And you told me a little more beat to the music would bring young people back to church, so I supported you when you brought in that rock' n' roll gospel choir. We are packed to the balcony."

"Thank you, Father," answered the young priest, "I am pleased you are open to the new ideas of youth."

"However," said the elderly priest, "I'm afraid you've gone too far with the drive-through confessional."

"But, Father," protested the young priest, "my confessions have nearly doubled since I began that!"

"I know, son," replied the old man, "but that flashing neon sign, 'Toot 'n' Tell or Go to Hell,' is just not staying on the church roof."

It is a blessing for us that God did not give us directions on everything we do. Yes, he did allow us some leeway on how we do some things. I'm not saying that we change the doctrine of the church or God's plan of Salvation, or our worship as outlined in God's Word. But we shouldn't be afraid to embrace new ways of doing the old things.

I know that some of us don't like change, yet there are some who like new things and change. There is nothing wrong with that. God made us different. If you don't like change I'm sorry, but the world in which we live is constantly changing.

We continue to try and improve our facilities; we are trying to complement our worship and bible study periods with a new sound system and coming soon a new projector system. A new way of presenting the message, but we are not changing the message. I can remember preachers hanging white sheets behind the pulpit with a bible message printed on it, we don't do that anymore. We found a better way. In years past we often knocked doors and passed out flyers about our church. Now we mail bible study material and information about our church into 2,000 homes around our building. We have a website with sermons you can listen to in your own home. We have email contacts, etc. in other words, we have changed, but the message hasn't and I like that! I kind of even like the idea of the flashing neon sign on top of the building…. Well, maybe even I'm not quite ready for that much change.

Tragedy

By Now you have heard or read thousands of word and seen countless replays and commentaries on the bombings in Boston this week. Yet with all of those words, the one word we have read and heard most often is the word "Tragedy". I'm sure that each of us as Americans has the greatest sympathy and pain in our hearts for those involved in this tragic event, I know our house has sorrowed for them and prayed for them.

The word "tragedy" simply means "a disastrous event"; how disastrous depends upon which side of the tragedy you are on!

These bombings were a tragedy in several ways. First, to those who were killed and injured. Almost nothing can affect our lives more than the death of one we love or our own injury or the injury of one we love. It has the ability to take away dreams for the future if we allow it. It sometimes hardens our hearts and fills them with a sense of hate or despair. For those of us who did not have someone we knew personally killed or injured in the bombings it can instill anger and outrage against the ones who did these terrible things.

Secondly, it is a tragedy that someone thought so little of the lives of innocent people to plan and carry out such a horrific attack. It is the sign of a mind that is sick and twisted with sin. Satan has been extremely successful it causing hate in the heart of the ones who planted those bombs and I'm afraid he is successful in getting hate to rise in the hearts of many of God's people. I readily admit that I have no sympathy for the ones who brought about this terrible attack. I desire justice to be rendered upon them to the full extent of our laws!

That of course is the human side of me speaking. I demand justice for others, those who steal, rob, car jack, sell drugs, murder, injure others or any number of other things which break our laws or the laws of God. At the same time I tend to avoid thinking of all of the times that I break God's Law. I depend upon His Grace rather than justice.

The other side of me, the side that tries to be more like God, remembers a murderer by the name of Paul that God chose to use. This man turned his life around and became one of the greatest teachers and evangelist in Christian history. He wrote of God's purpose and his life in 1 Timothy 1:15 where he said: "This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners and I am the worst of them all".

At times I really don't know which side of me is the strongest. Maybe it's like the old parable that says, "the side that wins is the side you feed". How about you, which side are  you feeding?

Russ Lawson, Messages From The Heart

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Doubt

Do you ever have doubts about your life or perhaps about your faith? I think we all do at one point or another in our lives. Not that we doubt God or his ability, but many times we doubt ourselves and whether or not we are really pleasing to God.

In David Heller's book, Dear God: Children's Letters to God. He has recorded many insights from children, such as:

"Dear God, What do you do with families that don't have much faith? There's a family on the next block like that. I don't want to get them in trouble, so I can't say who. See you in church. Alexis (age 10)

Dear God, I have doubts about you sometimes. Sometimes I really believe. Like when I was four and I hurt my arm and you healed it up fast. But my question is, if you could do this why don't you stop all the bad in the world? Like war. Like diseases. Like famine; Like drugs; and there are problems in other people's neighborhoods, too. I'll try to believe more. Ian (age 10)"

Doesn't that sound like us? Sometimes we really believe, but we have our doubts sometimes, don't we?

One of the problems is that we look at those around us and think, "I wish I could be like them". "I wish I could have their faith". But what we don't realize if that they are thinking the same thing about us. We don't have the ability to see into their hearts and minds and know how often others (just like us) doubt themselves.

In Mark 9:20-24 we see a perfect example of doubt and faith concerning a father and son possessed by and evil spirit, in need and their relationship to Jesus. We read, "So they brought the boy (to Jesus). But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth. "How long has this been happening?" Jesus asked the boy's father. He replied, "Since he was a little boy. The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can." "What do you mean, 'If I can'?" Jesus asked. "Anything is possible if a person believes."  The father instantly cried out, "I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!" (NLT)

Doesn't that sound exactly like us at times? I know it sounds like me! I do believe, but at times it doesn't seem like enough. I just don't know if I can make it through this life with the amount of faith I have or if I can really be pleasing to God.

In Mark, Jesus understood the problem of the father's faith and did what was necessary to help. Do you think he is any less understanding with us? No, he is caring and compassionate and wants everyone to be saved 2 Peter 3: 9.

Dear God, I believe, but help me in the times of my weakness to overcome my unbelief.

Jesus - Our Savior

This past week one of the news stories which stood out to me was the teacher who had students write the name of Jesus on a piece of paper, then told them to put it on the floor and stomp on it. Our world has lost the understanding of who Jesus is and what his purpose is. He is the Savior of all mankind.

What or who do you trust to save you? I for one have never understood the mentality of the folks who want to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel or some other way. It just makes no sense to me to put your life at risk for no good reason.

After reading about a number of those people who have gone over Niagara Falls I noticed one thing they all had in common. None of them expected to die! All of them had some idea of protecting themselves from the dangers of going over that powerful water fall.

One of these dare devils was Robert Overacted, a 39 year old man challenged the mighty Horseshoe Falls on October 1st 1995. He planed this stunt for months, he checked and rechecked all of he figures and plans. He planned on riding on a single jet ski until he reached the brink of the Falls. There he would deploy a rocket propelled parachute, which would help him land in the River below the Falls to allow for a rescue.

Overacker launched himself into the Niagara River upstream of the falls. At the brink of the falls, Overacker ignited the rocket which deployed the parachute as planned. Unfortunately, as the parachute deployed it did him no good at all, because Overacker, he had forgotten to attach the parachute to his body.

To me that was a perfect, howbeit sad, example of what will happen if we trust in men or man made things to save us rather than Jesus. One of the most powerful testimonies about Jesus is found in Matthew 1:21 where the angel says of the coming birth of the Savior, "And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

Many today live dangerous lives, going through life with nothing to protect them or save them from what really counts. Until they (and we) join ourselves to Jesus, we are just as near death as Robert Overacker. You may think you have it all together and are safe, but are you really?

This week our world celebrates Easter, which traditionally is a remembrance of the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus. It's not about Easter Bunnies or colored eggs, it's about remembering the one who can save us from our sins.

Russ Lawson

Leaving Sin Behind

Getting away from sin and temptation is probably one of the most difficult things we have to do as Christians. Through the years people have tried many ways. They have tried starting private communities where only believers are allowed. Some have joined monasteries, in hopes of escaping sin, but the results are always somewhat mixed, because Satan is not easily foiled. He fights for our souls and far too often makes himself look attractive to us.

We often handle sin like the children in a story reported in the news paper awhile back. It seems that a mother of eight in Darlington, Maryland had been visiting next door. When she came home and went into the living room, she saw her 5 youngest children huddled in the center of the floor, on her new carpet, very much involved with something wiggly and squirmy. As she got closer she saw, to her horror, that the children were gathered around a family of skunks. She screamed, "Run, children, run!"  Hearing their mother's frantic scream, each child grabbed a skunk and ran.

Sadly this story is often a reflection of our lives. We may have some very troubling things in our lives, yet, try as we may, we can't seem to run away from them, we just take them along with us.

I Peter 5:8-9a tells us, "Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith."

This passage tells us, rather than running off and carrying Satan or temptation with us we should stand firm against him! Another translation says to "resist" him. Being able to succeed in staying away from temptation is not accomplished by walling ourselves up in a monastery, but is taking the fight to Satan that keep us free. Matthew 16:18 tells us that when we fight with the knowledge of God in us, the gates of hell itself will not be able to stand against us.

So, you have a choice, grab you skunk and run or stand up and be counted as you join with your brothers and sisters in Christ in the army of God to overcome Satan.