Archive for the ‘Truth’ Category

Jumbled thoughts of a Christian Teenager 2

Friday, March 27th, 2009

School Corridor I’m finding it more and more difficult to not be ‘deep’ about everything lately. I think I’m just realising how the consequences of our actions, no matter how small, are huge. I was chatting to some classmates in a lecture recently and the subject of ‘religion’ came up. I mentally rolled my eyes, if that makes sense, as the very mention of the word irritates me. The word religion has come to mean some section of your life that you devote to a god or cult or something similar. What I believe is so much more than that.

I know the one and only God. How awesome is that? But how do you tell somebody everything they understand is wrong? I know only God can save somebody but what do you do in that situation, and God’s giving you nothing? You don’t want to move on because this is exactly what life is about. You either live it with God or without him, that’s it. That decision will build that person’s life starting immediately.

Some people just don’t get it. Once you’ve done what God has told you your hands are clean of responsibility for that person’s life, that’s what the Bible says. But these are my friends; I don’t want to see them go to hell. If I could, I would literally hit them with a Bible if I knew it would help them wake up and see the truth! Unfortunately for me God doesn’t work like that.

Globe Tonight I went to home cell, that’s basically a meeting of people from the church who get together in their homes to talk about God. One of the guys had just gotten back from a trip to Mozambique and he was telling us some amazing stories he had heard. As I listened I felt so disconnected, like I was living such a different life. I wanted to jump into the next car and go wherever and tell people about God. Yet, in my own lectures there are people who are so dead inside. They have the world but no soul.

Now I’m not discrediting anything churches are doing in other countries, God is running the attack plan here, not us, so wherever he tells you to go, GO! It does make you think though. What am I ignoring that’s happening right in front of me? If these guys can talk about the rubbish they get up to why don’t I tell them what I got up too?

These are totally different worlds, poverty where God is substituted for witchcraft and ‘traditional’ nonsense, and then wealth were money, drugs and other idols are controlling people. We are called to be a light to the world, from our backyard to the middle of nowhere. It’s a hectic command. And as scared as I may be, with God on my side I want to get out there and see his miracles, not hear about them.

Tags: amazing, bible, Christian, churches, classmates, command, country, deep, disconnected, drugs, friends, God, gods, hectic, hell, home, idols, jumbled, lecture, Marc Williams, mozambique, poverty, rubbish, soul, Stories, teenager, thoughts, traditional, wealth, witchcraft, world
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Experimentation

Saturday, March 14th, 2009

Experimentation. Over the last month I have began to loath that word from the very core of my being. A Google definition search pulled up the following:

experiment: the testing of an idea; “it was an experiment in living”; “not all experimentation is done in laboratories”

An experiment in living? That needs some clarification. What does that mean? When we grow up we are taught the difference between right and wrong, most people essentially think they’re good people and boy do they not have a clue.

“Come on bro, you never drink? We have to get you drunk sometime.”

Please excuse the verbal attacks that will follow. Are you mentally handy capped, retarded, stupid, dropped as a baby, or just blind?

“Ah, you’ll never know what it’s like until you try.”

Buddy, you’ll never know how great it feels to have a truck roll over your head until you try either, that doesn’t mean I’m going to do it. Forget all the normal logical and spiritual reasons for just staying away from alcohol to be safe, why would I ever want to put myself in such a venerable state? I can’t even trust you to look after your own life, let alone mine.

You see, what people just don’t seem to be picking up is that every decision you make today, and every stupid thing you do will affect your entire life in some way. It will shape you as a person, put you into almost unbreakable habits and lead you down paths that would cause your seven year old self to run away screaming if they saw you.

It’s not the kids of today, or the people of today. It’s been happening for centuries. We make the same stupid mistakes our parents made, and one day you’ll sit and tell your kids not to do what you did. When they do it, you’ll probably sit back and say – ah let them experiment.

Hello! That’s not how this deal works bud. It’s not just an experiment; it’s a decision to engage in whatever activity against your better judgement just for… That’s just it, I don’t know why? Why do people take drugs? Why do people smoke? Why do people drink excessively? Why, why, why? I just don’t understand the logic, reasoning, stupidity, whatever you want to call it that’s involved.

Don’t blame it on divorce, television, poverty or anything like that – those aren’t the reasons. I guess it’s just a lack of God in their life. No light means dark.

Today I got told that one of my younger former friends was now experimenting in smoking stuff. The way he’s been going I’m not surprised but it still made me so sad. I can’t even imagine what God must feel. He’s wasting his life on something he knows isn’t right.

I’m a person who really enjoys spending time with young people, but as they get older most change in ways that just make you so sad. They forget God, they ‘experiment,’ they loose who they are in a world that encourages compromise and rejects truth. Maybe that’s why I love young people; they are uncorrupted, open, honest and free. But unless they choose to stay that way, and most don’t, they become the so called good people of today. People that are so caught up in the nothingness of their lives that they don’t even know right from wrong anymore.

I’m not trying to judge other people, because I’m just as susceptible to doing wrong in different ways. In fact if I don’t check myself I easily fall in to the trap of thinking I’m a good person when that’s not what it’s about. God first, life second. That’s how it should always be. If you don’t believe me, try it, you just might find this is the last experiment you’ll ever need.

God means life, love, eternity, happiness, completeness. He makes you want to be a better person all the time. I am a very judgemental person by nature; I look at people and often accurately sum them up at face value. What I’ve learnt to do is see what I don’t like and instead of judging them look at myself and say, do I do that? Am I like that? If I am then it needs to be sorted out, if not then thank God for that and move on.

People often say they just can’t stop sinning in a particular way. My first question is do you really want to stop? The difficulty is not in stopping the action; it’s in the reasoning behind the action. How badly do you not want to do it? That’s what you should be correcting, that’s the root of the problem. If you don’t want to change for the better than nobody can force you, but it’s a shame that your life would have been wasted when there is so much more to find.

Tags: action, Christian, dark, divorce, drink, experimentation, free, friend, God, hate, honest, Kids, life, light, love, parents, people, person, poverty, reason, sad, sin, smoke, smoking, stuff, stupidity, television, truck, young
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The talent parable

Friday, February 27th, 2009

Gold Matthew wrote about it. Luke told a similar story. A king goes on a journey for some time, and leaves three of his servants with some gold coins – called talents.

The first servant is given five coins. He invests them, and earns five more. The second servant is given two coins, and also doubles the investment. The third servant, who is given one coin, decides to bury it for safekeeping. A few months later the king returns, and calls his servants. The first servant comes to him and says “Here are your five coins, plus another five I have earned for you”. “Well done!” says the king, “You have been faithful in small matters, and you will be entrusted with much more”. The second servant comes to him and says “Here are your two coins, plus another five I have earned for you”. “Well done!” says the king, “You have been faithful in small matters, and you will be entrusted with much more”. So the third servant comes before the king and says “Here is the coin you have given me, I buried it in fear of losing it, and have now returned it safely”. The king replies to him – “You have not proved trustworthy, and have no place in my kingdom!” and his coin is taken from him, and given to the servant who had five.

So, what are we supposed to make of this parable? The answer becomes clear, with a strange pun on words. As I said above, the gold coins were known as talents, and the parable is in fact referring to our individual abilities (or talents) which the Lord has given us. The message is a simple one – use what you have for the sake of the Lord! There are a few points to be made here:

Firstly, some people are not as talented as others. This, however, does not mean that they have a lesser role to play in Gods plan. What is important is that they provide in accordance with what they have been given. Note that the king was equally pleased with the servant who had gained five coins and the servant who had only gained two, and they were both rewarded equally. If you have many resources, use them for the Lord’s sake. If you have very little, God can still use you to do amazing things.

Secondly, the servant who has kept his talent to himself is cast out of the kingdom. The quantity he had was unimportant – what was important was his mindset. He chose not to use what he had been entrusted with and it was taken from him. Had he tried to use it for the king’s benefit and gained little, he would have remained in the kingdom, and in possession of the talent. Had he invested the talent and lost it, he would’ve had no talent, but be allowed to remain in the kingdom. Either way, he would have ended up with more than what he got in the end. The lesson, at least TRY, in the largest or smallest way possible, to use your single talent for God.

Thirdly, it may be time to ask yourself a few questions. What are your talents? You have at least one! A pair of hands can do great things. A weak voice can reach thousands! All you have has been loaned to you by Him. What will be your response when the King summons you?

Tags: abilities, bible, jesus, king, kingdom, Luke, Mathew, story, talents
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The Daffodil Principle

Friday, February 27th, 2009

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, “Mother, you must come to see the daffodils before they are over.”

I wanted to go, but it was a two hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead “I will come next Tuesday”, I promised a little reluctantly on her third call. Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and reluctantly I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn’s house I was welcomed by the joyful sounds of happy children. I delightedly hugged and greeted my grandchildren.

“Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in these clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see badly enough to drive another inch!” My daughter smiled calmly and said, “We drive in this all the time, Mother. ”Well, you won’t get me back on the road until it clears, and then I’m heading for home!” I assured her.

“But first we’re going to see the daffodils. It’s just a few blocks,” Carolyn said. ”I’ll drive. I’m used to this.”
“Carolyn,” I said sternly, “Please turn around.”
“It’s all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience.”

After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign with an arrow that read, “Daffodil Garden.” We got out of the car, each took a child’s hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, as we turned a corner, I looked up and gasped, before me lay the most glorious sight.

It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it over the mountain peak and its surrounding slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, creamy white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, and saffron and butter yellow. Each different coloured variety was planted in large groups so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers.

“Who did this?” I asked Carolyn. ”Just one woman,” Carolyn answered. “She lives on the property. That’s her home.”
Carolyn pointed to a well kept A-frame house, small and modestly sitting in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house.

On the patio, we saw a poster. “Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking”, was the headline. The first answer was a simple one. “50,000 bulbs,” it read. The second answer was, “One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and one brain.
“The third answer was, “Began in 1958.”

For me, that moment was a life changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun, one bulb at a time, to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop. Planting one bulb at a time, year after year, this unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. One day at a time, she had created something of extraordinary magnificence, beauty, and inspiration. The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration.

That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time–often just one baby step at time–and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world.

“It makes me sad in a way,” I admitted to Carolyn. “What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty five or forty years ago and had worked away at it ‘one bulb at a time’ through all those years? Just think what I might have been able to achieve!”

My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. “Start tomorrow,” she said.

She was right. It’s so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, “How can I put this to use today?”

Use the Daffodil Principle.

Tags: answers, asking, Carolyn, church, Daffodil, Daffodil Principle, daughter, drive, fog, house, inspiring, lady, mist, mother, mountain peak, questions, thousands
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What God Can Do With “57 Cents”

Friday, February 27th, 2009

Cents A sobbing little girl stood near a small church from which she had been turned away because it was “too crowded.”

“I can’t go to Sunday School,” she sobbed to the pastor as he walked by.
Seeing her shabby, unkempt appearance, the pastor guessed the reason and, taking her by the hand, took her inside and found a place for her in the Sunday school class. The child was so happy that they found room for her, and she went to bed that night thinking of the children who have no place to worship Jesus.

Some two years later, this child lay dead in one of the poor tenement buildings. Her parents called for the kind hearted pastor who had befriended their daughter to handle the final arrangements.

As her poor little body was being moved, a worn and crumpled red purse was found which seemed to have been rummaged from some trash dump.
Inside was found 57 cents and a note, scribbled in childish handwriting, which read: “This is to help build the little church bigger so more children can go to Sunday School.”

For two years she had saved for this offering of love. When the pastor tearfully read that note, he knew instantly what he would do. Carrying this note and the cracked, red pocketbook to the pulpit, he told the story of her unselfish love and devotion.

He challenged his deacons to get busy and raise enough money for the larger building.

A newspaper learned of the story and published it. It was read by a wealthy realtor who offered them a parcel of land worth many thousands.
When told that the church could not pay so much, he offered to sell it to the little church for 57 cents.

Church members made large donations. Checks came from far and wide.
Within five years the little girl’s gift had increased to $250,000.00–a huge sum for that time (near the turn of the century). Her unselfish love had paid large dividends.

When you are in the city of Philadelphia, look up Temple Baptist Church, with a seating capacity of 3,300. And be sure to visit Temple University, where thousands of students are educated.

Have a look, too, at the Good Samaritan Hospital and at a Sunday School building which houses hundreds of beautiful children, built so that no child in the area will ever need to be left outside during Sunday School time.

In one of the rooms of this building may be seen the picture of the sweet face of the little girl whose 57 cents, so sacrificially saved, made such remarkable history. Alongside of it is a portrait of her kind pastor, Dr. Russel H. Conwell, author of the book, “Acres of Diamonds”

This is a true story, which goes to show WHAT GOD CAN DO WITH 57 CENTS.

Tags: 57, Acres of Diamonds, baptist, bible, building, capacity, cents, Christian, church, deacons, faith, girl, God, little, pastor, school, sunday, temple, tenement, university
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