Monday, November 26, 2007

Homeward Bound

Where’s your home?

When I meet someone new I like to ask them where they’re from. Sometimes they’ll tell me where they live right now. So my next question is, “Where were you born and raised?” or “Where are you from originally? Where’s ‘home’?”

“Home is where the heart is.” Home is where you head for Thanksgiving and Christmas, if you can. It’s family, friends and a place where you sense you belong. Home is a place where you can rest. It’s where you feel safe and secure.

Often it’s right where you are. For others it’s a place far away in another state or another country. But wherever it is, it’s an anchor for your life. It helps define who you are.

Sometimes home is where you yearn to be. In the old Simon & Garfunkel standard “Homeward Bound” the lyrics speak of a seemingly endless concert tour. Then the pair admits, “And every stranger’s face I see / reminds me that I long to be / homeward bound.”

For the God-follower, the Bible says that home will one day be with God in Heaven.

Now hold on just a minute. Doesn’t the believer have a home here on earth?

Absolutely. But his or her desire is to, one day, be with the Lord forever. That’s why, after a Christian’s funeral, you’ll sometimes hear it said, “He (or she) is home with the Lord.”

The Bible says of the Old Testament patriarch, Abraham, “By faith…he was looking forward to the city whose architect and builder is God.” His quest didn’t keep him from setting up homes in the different places he lived in the Middle East. But as a God-seeker he knew he wouldn’t really be home until he was in the presence of God.

According to the Bible we will all be somewhere forever. Where will your home be?

When you get to the end of your life what do you expect to find on the other side? How do you hope to get there? Are you sure—sure enough to bet your life?

For the Christ follower, the Bible promises a heavenly home. It’s a place much better than sitting on a cloud and playing a harp. It’s better than you can even imagine.

First, Jesus said he was going away to prepare a place for those whose faith and trust are in him for salvation. Then he said he would come back to take them to be with him.

To that the Apostle Paul added, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” Heaven is too wonderful for words.

Some people think that Christians are crazy to pin their hopes on an ancient book. And with all the religions in the world there’s nothing wrong with a healthy skepticism. But when you examine the evidence, the Bible alone stands the test of time. No other book comes close.

Yes, some of its authors had visions. Many were eyewitnesses of events they recorded. Others thoroughly interviewed eyewitnesses and examined evidence. On top of that, hundreds of prophecies the Bible recorded have come true. It has more than 40 authors but they all agree that to make it to your eternal home takes faith in God--faith in the promised Messiah, Jesus Christ.

You owe it to yourself to check it out. Don’t just take my word for it. Start with the New Testament book called the Gospel of John and take Jesus’ challenge. He said, “If anyone chooses to do God’s will he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.” He added, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul! --And it will get you home.

Monday, November 19, 2007

From Thankless to Thankful

Tradition and the calendar tell us it’s the week to be thankful.

But if you listen to the average American, they’re more thankless than thankful. Complaints, gripes and grumbling seem to be the order of the day.

Times are tough. Gasoline prices are sky-high. It’s hard to sell a house or get a mortgage. The cost of everything is going up. Children are ungrateful and won’t listen to their elders. The Hollywood writer’s strike is delaying the season for your favorite programs.

Plus there’s a seemingly endless war going on. Many families will spend the holiday worrying about their loved ones who are in harm’s way. What if you wake up on Thanksgiving Day feeling like there’s more to be worried about than for which to be thankful?

Life can look pretty grim at times. But it doesn’t mean that God has forgotten us.

The Pilgrims knew that. So did Abraham Lincoln.

We’re not the first Americans to feel less thankful during trying times. Consider the story of the first Thanksgiving in America.

The winter of 1620 was devastating. The harvest was almost non-existent. The cold was numbing. Parents saw their children die in their sleep. There wasn’t much to celebrate.

But then came the bountiful harvest of 1621. The Pilgrims gathered to thank God for blessing them. Things could have been better but they also could have been much worse.

Fast-forward 242 years after that first Thanksgiving feast. Listen to the words of a man who faced a different, but no less devastating trial.

Abraham Lincoln was the president of half a country involved in a bloody battle with the other half. Yet in the middle of a Civil War, he declared that there was much that the no longer United States could be thankful for.

On Oct. 3, 1863--just two weeks after more than 34,000 Americans were killed or wounded in the battle of Chickamauga--Lincoln issued a proclamation establishing a national day of Thanksgiving.

“The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies," he wrote. "To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added…”

Lincoln went on to observe that America was at peace with foreign nations. Farming and industry continued, as did international trade. He said, “No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.”

“It has seemed to me fit and proper,” he continued, “that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States . . . to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.”

If Lincoln and the Pilgrims were able to thank God in the midst of the trials they faced, shouldn’t we be able to do the same? Surely our difficulties are no worse than theirs.

The Bible tells us to “Be Thankful.” It reminds us to “Sing…with gratitude in your hearts to God…. And whatever you do…do it…giving thanks to God.”

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Road To Nowhere

Would you take a road if it went nowhere? How about a bridge?

For some time the state of Alaska was in the news over a highly publicized “bridge to nowhere.” At a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars the state was going to build a bridge to a small island with a few residents.

The project was finally cancelled before it became a taxpayer boondoggle.

We chuckle and shake our heads at such an obvious waste of time and money. Why would anyone drive over a bridge to nowhere?

Yet every day millions of people take the on-ramp for a road to nowhere.

Now hold it right there for just a minute. Why would anyone get on such a road?

Exactly. And my question to you is, “Are you on a road to nowhere?” If life were a road trip, would the road you’re on take you to where you hope to end up?

Jesus compared life to two roads with two destinations. He said, “Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road the leads to life, and only a few find it.”

The majority of people in this world take the broad road without ever checking to see where it might lead them. The broad road is the easy road. It’s the road of self-indulgence. The road to destruction. The road to nowhere.

My advice? Look down the road you’re on to see where you’re headed.

When I’m on a trip I like to stop once in a while and check the map and the directions to be sure I’m still headed to my destination. I do that because distractions sometimes make me miss my exit and I end up on the wrong road.

Life is full of distractions that put you on the wrong road. Jesus mentioned things like, “the worries of life and the deceitfulness of wealth.” Other distractions mentioned in the Bible are “the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does.”

Jesus said that there is only one way to Heaven and the place he is preparing for those who love him. He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus made it clear in this and other passages of scripture that he alone is the path to God and eternal life.

But this road to which he calls us is the narrow road, “the road less traveled.” It is a path that leads first to the cross, the empty tomb and accepting the risen Christ as Lord and Savior. Then it leads to serving God and others. A life of selfless service.

The older I get, the more I think about what’s waiting for me at the end of the road. But I don’t worry about it because many years ago I took Jesus at his word. I put my faith and trust in him and answered his call to “Follow me.”

Ever since I have found that Jesus’ narrow road is the path to peace and purpose in life. It’s not an easy road, but there are many joys on the journey. Joys that come from seeing my life make a difference for eternity.

Many people meander through life with no thought to which road they are on. One of the saddest moments in life would be to get to the end of the road and find out you’ve been on the wrong road. The road to nowhere.

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!

Monday, November 5, 2007

Cold War

For two weeks I’ve been battling a rather nasty virus.

It began with a burning feeling in my chest. Then it tried to steal my voice.

My response was to declare all out war. I drank plenty of fluids, took the best cold medicine I could find and got plenty of sleep. But when the medicine wore off, I woke up coughing. The cold had won. I knew I was in for the long haul.

All my life I’ve been fighting another nasty condition called sin. Once I realized I had the condition, my response was similar to my battle with the cold: I tried to fight it. And the outcome was the same as with the cold. Sin won and I lost.

Now hold it right there for just a minute. What’s the big deal with sin? Isn’t that just a hang-up for religious people?

Most honest people recognize a dark side to their personality. Sometimes alcohol lets the beast out. Other times it rears its ugly head on its own. Most of the time we try to hide it and pretend its not there. But those we’ve hurt and those to whom we’re close know the real truth.

To deny our evil self is as foolish as spitting into the wind.

I fought it as long as I could. But as a child I discovered that, try as I might, I couldn’t be good all the time. I wanted to obey my parents and knew I should. But that knowledge had no power to help me overcome my rebel’s heart.

Not only did I disappoint my parents, I disappointed myself because I wanted to do right.

Why is it when we hear “Don’t” something inside of us says, “Do it!”?

This “dark side” to humanity is cross-cultural and affects both men and women. To discover the source of this “criminal” behavior governments have spent great amounts of time and money. But the only definitive answer is found in the pages of the Bible.

In Genesis Adam’s disobedient choice inflicts sin and its consequences on the human race. In Exodus God reveals a Law to show us our shortcomings and our need for mercy. Then in the New Testament God holds a mirror up to our soul to show us we “all have sinned.”

Most religions recognize the reality of sin. When I was in Japan I visited several famous religious shrines. At one the faithful believed that smoke from a fire would cleanse their sin. At another, the faithful washed their faces and hands and then rinsed their mouths with water to wash away sin. They hoped these rituals would cleanse them. At least temporarily.

But there is only one permanent remedy for sin that can remove its penalty and its grip on the human heart. Jesus Christ said that he could forgive sin. And it’s not just for Christians.

Jesus’ disciple Peter made it clear that God’s intention is for all people to receive forgiveness through Christ. He said, “All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name” (Acts 10:43).

Salvation from sin doesn’t belong to one ethnic group or a particular religion. The God who made the heavens and the earth offers it to people of every nation, language and tribe.

For almost 2,000 years people worldwide have discovered the truth in Peter’s message. They’ve been set free from all kinds of addictions and destructive behaviors. The reason is that the good news about Jesus’ life, death and resurrection is more than just words. It is more than just a fact to believed. It is “the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.”

The Gospel has worked for millions of others. It changed my life. It will work for you.

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!

Lake Side Church of the Brethren

http://www.lakesidecob.org/

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