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Getting What We Don’t Deserve

It was the first night of camp, and a group of tough kids from the city had hardly unpacked when the leaders received word about a theft. A work crew kid was missing a wallet, $35, and a watch. The next morning, Kirk, the intern from the city, found the empty wallet in his cabin. He immediately called his guys together and hit them with the hard facts.

“Man, you guys did exactly what society expected you to do. You just proved them right. And it’s a shame. Now you’ve got 20 minutes to produce that money and the watch, or we’re all going home.” Kirk walked out and shut the door. He could hear the guys shouting at one another and scrambling around inside the cabin. In a moment, the door opened again, and the toughest kid in the crowd presented Kirk with the $35 and the watch. The money was already spent, but the kids had emptied their pockets and pooled their cash.

When the staff person came to pick up the stolen goods, someone asked, “Who did it?” Kirk replied, “We all did it. We’re all guilty. We’re in this together.” The kids were shocked by Kirk’s display of solidarity. Then he shut the cabin door and started to preach.

“Let’s talk about grace,” he said to the silent cabin. “Grace is getting something you don’t deserve. God is going to correct you, but he’s going to forgive you. Jesus is going to break you, but he’s going to remake you. We all deserve to go home, but we’re going to get to stay.” It was only the first morning of camp, but God already had the undivided attention of 17 tough guys from the city.

A few nights later, Kirk invited the work crew kid who had been robbed to come to his cabin and to share his own experience of God’s grace with the guys. After the young man left that night, Kirk said, “Now I’m going to say a prayer, and if any of you want to pray with me and give your lives to God, then just do it.” By the end of the prayer, 17 baritone voices had cried out to Jesus Christ.

Denny Rydberg, president of Young Life, from October 1999 ministry letter(Conversion, Grace, Mercy)Ephesians 2:8-10

Why Wait

In Nouwen Then, author Luci Shaw writes:

I’m an impatient, restless person. Slowing down and waiting seem like a waste of time. Yet waiting seems to be an inevitable part of the human condition.

Henri Nouwen said, “Waiting is a period of learning. The longer we wait, the more we hear about him for whom we are waiting.”

Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of Romans 8:22-25 resonates with Nouwen: “Waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting” (The Message).

During a time of waiting, God is vibrantly at work within us.

—Luci Shaw in Nouwen Then, edited by Christopher de Vinck (Zondervan, 1999) (Hope, Patience, Perseverance)Psalm 27:14, Psalm 126, Hebrews 10:36

Present though Absent

My husband, Edward, is devoted to hawks and especially to the golden eagles that are returning to our part of Georgia. Driving down the highway with him can be a test of nerves as he cranes over the steering wheel to peer at the wing feathers of a particularly large bird. Is it an eagle or just a turkey vulture? He has to know, even if it means weaving down the road for a while, or running off it from time to time.

My view is a bit different: “Keep your eyes on the road!” I yell at him. “Who cares what it is? I’ll buy you a bird book; I’ll even buy you a bird—just watch where you’re going.”

A couple of summers ago, we spent two months apart, and I thought I’d get a break from hawks. Instead I began to see them everywhere—looping through the air, spiraling in rising thermals, hunkered down in the tops of trees. Seeing them, really seeing them for the first time in my life, I understood that I was not seeing them with my own eyes but with Edward’s eyes. He was not there, so I was seeing them for him. He was absent—or was he? He was present in me.

—Barbara Brown Taylor, The Best Spiritual Writing (Harper, 1999), edited by Phillip Zaleski (Empathy, Intimacy, Knowing God)Psalm 16, Psalm 139:7, 1 John 3:19

Power of Temptation

The tuna were running for the first time in 47 years, only 30 miles off Cape Cod. And they were biting! Last fall all you needed to catch one was a sharp hook and some bait. And the rewards for doing so were substantial. Rumor had it that Japanese buyers would pay $50,000 for a nice bluefin!

That’s why many would-be fishermen ignored Coast Guard warnings and headed out to sea in small boats. But what these new fishermen didn’t realize was the problem is not catching a tuna—the problem comes after they’re caught.

On September 23, the Christi Anne, a 19-foot boat, capsized while doing battle with a tuna. That same day the 27-foot boat Basic Instinct suffered the same fate, while Official Business, a 28-footer, was swamped after it hooked onto a 600-pound tuna. The tuna pulled it under water.

These fishermen underestimated the power of the fish they were trying to catch. That is what temptation does to us. It takes us by surprise. It looks manageable on the surface. Only after we hook into it do we discover its strength.

—Kent Edwards, South Hamilton, Mass., references Boston Globe (10/2/99) (Addictions, Pride, Sin, Temptation)James 1:13-15, 2 Peter 3:8-15 (Lec.)

Marriage: Great Way to Die

In Holy Land: A Suburban Memoir, author D. J. Waldie observes that the biggest drawback to living alone is having nobody to forgive. It is not that you don’t get certain things—companionship, sex, somebody to share the chores—it is that you can’t give to them. You are deprived of a great opportunity: to learn to love your neighbor as yourself.

This was a radical notion in Christ’s time; it is radical now. It will always be radical because it is the hardest way, the most illogical way, the ‘unfairest’ way—and the only way that can grant us the peace that passes all understanding.

In a way I can see only dimly, marriage is causing me to be freer with my time, my money, my affections. It is changing my heart, one molecule at a time, from stone to flesh. Day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, it is giving me the opportunity to die to myself. And that, as Saint Francis said, is the only way to waken to eternal life.

—Heather King in Context (2/15/99) references D. J. Waldie, Holy Land:A Suburban Memoir (Norton, 1996) (Self-denial, Selfishness, Sacrifice)Acts 20:35, Romans 12:1, Galatians 2:20

Facing Challenges with the Father

When I was first learning how to sail my dad’s sailboat out on Lake Michigan, he would often say to me, “Go ahead and take the boat out, but take a friend with you.”

A 42-foot sailboat on a body of water the size of Lake Michigan is a big responsibility. But always up for a challenge, I’d find a junior high friend to accompany me, and we’d sail past the breakwater, hoist the sails, and head out to open water. But as soon as I’d see any cloud formation coming our way or the wind seemed to be piping up, I’d head back towards shore, take the sails down, and regain my normal breathing pattern only when we were safely tied up in the slip. Most of the time, it was fun having a friend along, but in a storm I knew this kid wouldn’t be much help.

Other times, however, my dad would come home from work and we’d go out together. When I was sailing with my dad, I’d actually look for cloud formations and hope for heavy air. I loved the feel of the strong winds and huge waves!

My dad had sailed across the Atlantic Ocean. He had endured five days of sailing through a hurricane. He was a veteran, and I was confident that he would be able to handle anything Lake Michigan could throw at us. Everything changed when my dad was on board.

—Bill Hybels in The God You’re Looking For (Thomas Nelson, 1997) (God, Trust)Romans 8:15-17, 1 Corinthians 1:3-9, 1 John 3:1

Hunger for God

The cost of food in the kingdom is hunger for the bread of heaven, instead of the white bread of the world. Do you want it? Are you hungry? Or are you satisfied with yourself and your television and your computer and your job and your family?

—John Piper, from sermon “The Present Power of a Future Possession,” preached at Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota (4/27/97) (Passion, Seeking God)Psalm 63:1-8

Vision for Life

Tree-skiing may sound like a death wish, but some skiers love the risk of skiing virgin powder lying in a stand of aspen or spruce. The key, of course, is not hitting the trees! In Outside magazine, writer and skier Tim Etchells lays out the challenge:

“Even more so than in deep snow or moguls, what you focus your eyes on becomes critical in the woods. Look at the spaces between the trees—the exits where you hope to be traveling. ‘Don’t stare at what you don’t want to hit,’ says [extreme-skiing world champion Kim] Reichelm matter-of-factly.”

—Tim Etchells, “The Trees: Lovely, Dark, and Deep,” Outside (Nov. 1999) (Fear, Focus, Worry)Matthew 6:22-23, Matthew 6:25-34

Barney Can’t Compete

In the Minneapolis Star-Tribune (1/17/98) Judy Zmerold writes:

Three-year-old Katie was taken to her pediatrician during a recent bout with the flu. As the doctor examined her ears, he asked, “Will I find Big Bird in here?”

Apprehensively, Katie replied, “No.”

Then, before examining her throat, he asked, “Will I find the Cookie Monster in here?”

Again, “No.”

Finally, listening to her heart, he asked, “Will I find Barney in here?”

With innocent conviction, she looked him directly in the eye and said, “No, Jesus is in my heart. Barney is on my underwear.”

—Alden E. Lynch, Shoreview, Minnesota (Regeneration, Temple, Body, Conversion)Matthew 18:1-4, Galatians 2:20

Bitterness kills

Bitterness is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.

—Ron McManus (Anger, Forgiveness)Ephesians 4:31, Hebrews 12:15, James 3:14

The Miraculous Human Body

The average human heart pumps over 1,000 gallons a day, over 55 million gallons in a lifetime. This is enough to fill 13 super tankers. It never sleeps, beating 2.5 billion times in a lifetime.

The lungs contain 1,000 miles of capillaries. The process of exchanging oxygen for carbon dioxide is so complicated that Dr. John Medina, genetic engineer, University of Washington, says, “It is more difficult to exchange O2 for CO2 than for a man shot out of a cannon to carve the Lord’s Prayer on the head of a pin as he passes by.”

DNA contains about 2,000 genes per chromosome—1.8 meters of DNA are folded into each cell nucleus. A nucleus is 6 microns long. This is like putting 30 miles of fishing line into a cherry pit. And it isn’t simply stuffed in. It is folded in. If folded one way, the cell becomes a skin cell. If another way, a liver cell, and so forth. To write out the information in one cell would take 300 volumes, each volume 500 pages thick. The human body contains enough DNA that if it were stretched out, it would circle the sun 260 times.

The body uses energy efficiently. If an average adult rides a bike for 1 hour at 10 mph, it uses the amount of energy contained in 3 ounces of carbohydrate. If a car were this efficient with gasoline, it would get 900 miles to the gallon.

—Dr. John Medina, genetic engineer, University of Washington, in 1995 lecture at Multnomah Bible College, Portland, Oregon (Creation, Human Body, God’s Omniscience)Psalm 139, Romans 1:20, 1 Corinthians 6:13-20

Sin Management

We are managing our sin rather than repenting of our sin.

—Crawford Loritts, Jr., from message at Institute for Biblical Preaching (3/10/99) (Repentance, Sin)Isaiah 64:1-9, Luke 5:32, Acts 20:21

Christians at 2 Billion

The number of Christian people in the world will pass the 2 billion mark in the year 2000, say Virginia-based religious statisticians David Barrett and Todd Johnson.

Christians already number 1.99 billion, meaning that one-third of the world’s 6 billion people are Christians, Barrett and Johnson said. In their research, the designation “Christian” is applied to Roman Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, Anglicans, charismatics, and Pentecostals.

Islam is the second-largest world religion, with 1.19 million adherents, followed by Hindus, 774 million; non-religious, 768 million; Buddhists, 359 million; tribal religions, 252 million; atheists, 151 million; new religions, 101 million; Sikhs, 22.7 million; and Jews, 14.2 million.

—Texas Baptist Standard (9/8/99) (Evangelism, Great Commission, Humanity)Matthew 13:31-33, Revelation 7:9

Parting with Tradition

Bayer Corporation has stopped putting the cotton wads in their Genuine Bayer bottles. The company realized the aspirin would hold up fine without the maddening white clumps, which it had included since about 1914.

“We concluded there really wasn’t any reason to keep the cotton except tradition,” said Chris Allen, Bayer’s vice president of technical operations. “Besides, it’s hard to get out.”

Sometimes tradition can create more hardship than help.

—Ed Rowell, Franklin, Tennessee from The Tennessean (9/12/99) (Change, Habits)Mark 7:1-13

Kindness Multiplied

The owner of a drive-through coffee business in southwest Portland, Oregon, was surprised one morning to have one of her customers not only pay for her own mocha but also for the mocha of the person in the car behind her. It put a smile on the owner’s face to tell the next customer her drink had already been paid for.

The second customer was so pleased that someone else had purchased her coffee that she bought coffee for the next customer. This string of kindnesses—one stranger paying for the mocha of the next customer—continued for two hours and 27 customers.

That’s how it is with God’s love—it starts with his unexpected love for us, and then it is passed on to others, who in turn pass it on.

—Glen Zander, Portland, Oregon (Compassion, Giving, Love)John 13:34-35, Romans 5:5,8, 1 John 4:19

Grief Won’t Leave

Grief always goes on longer than your friends expect it to and is stronger than they can appreciate.

—Garrison Keillor in Salon.com (Compassion, Death)Psalm 10:14

Need for Rest

Our most notorious industrial accidents in recent years—Exxon Valdez, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, the fatal navigational error of Korean Air Lines 007—all occurred in the middle of the night.

When the USS Vincennes shot down an Iranian A300 airbus killing all 290 people aboard, fatigue-stressed operators in the high tech Combat Information Center on the carrier misinterpreted radar data and repeatedly told their captain that the jet was descending as if to attack when in fact the airliner remained on a normal flight path.

In the Challenger space shuttle disaster, key NASA officials made the ill-fated decision to go ahead with the launch after working twenty hours straight and getting only two to three hours of sleep the night before. Their error in judgment cost the lives of seven astronauts and nearly killed the U.S. space program.

We ignore our need for rest and renewal at the peril of others and ourselves.

—Gary Yates, Roanoke, Virginia, references Martin Moore-Ede,The Twenty-Four Hour Society (Circadian Information, 1993) (Rest, Sabbath, Work)Exodus 20:8-11, Mark 6:31-32

Best Friends

Earl C. Willer tells the story of two men who grew up best friends:

Though Jim was just a little older than Phillip and often assumed the role of leader, they did everything together. They even went to high school and college together.

After college they joined the Marines. By a unique series of circumstances they were sent to Germany together where they fought side by side in one of history’s ugliest wars.

One sweltering day during a fierce battle, amid heavy gunfire, bombing, and close-quarters combat, they were given the command to retreat. As the men were running back, Jim noticed that Phillip had not returned with the others. Panic gripped his heart. Jim knew if Phillip was not back in another minute or two, then he wouldn’t make it.

Jim begged his commanding officer to let him go after his friend, but the officer forbade the request, saying it would be suicide.

Risking his own life, Jim disobeyed and went after Phillip. His heart pounding, he ran into the gunfire, calling out for Phillip. A short time later, his platoon saw him hobbling across the field carrying a limp body in his arms.

Jim’s commanding officer upbraided him, shouting that it was a foolish waste of time and an outrageous risk. “Your friend is dead,” he added, “and there was nothing you could do.”

“No sir, you’re wrong,” Jim replied. “I got there just in time. Before he died, his last words were ‘I knew you would come.'”

—John C. Maxwell and Dan Reiland, The Treasure of a Friend (J. Countryman Books, 1999) (Devotion, Faithfulness, Love, Loyalty)1 Samuel 20, Proverbs 17:17, Romans 12:10

Sign of the Christian

As a result of poor planning, Dennis, from Katy, Texas, needed some same-day dry cleaning before he left on a trip. He remembered one store with a huge sign, “One-Hour Dry Cleaners,” on the other side of town, so he drove out of his way to drop off a suit. After filling out the tag, he told the clerk, “I need this in an hour.”

She said, “I can’t get this back to you until Thursday.”

“I thought you did dry cleaning in an hour?”

“No,” she replied, “That’s just the name of the store.”

Those of us who carry the name Christian, but fail to act like the one whose name we bear, create confusion and disillusionment for those who have yet to believe.

“By this, all men will know you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).

—Ed Rowell, Franklin, Tennessee (Church, Community, Love)John 8:47, Galatians 5:22-26

Ask

In 1962 a 14-year-old by the name of Robert White wrote to President John F. Kennedy’s personal secretary requesting the President’s autograph. Within a few weeks Evelyn Lincoln honored the boy’s request by sending him a facsimile signature in the mail.

That began a relationship of correspondence that lasted 33 years. Impressed with White’s passion for presidential history, Mrs. Lincoln gave him thousands of documents and mementos. She saved whatever could be saved (including even the doodles JFK drew during meetings). Today, Robert White, now 51, boasts the largest private collection of Kennedy memorabilia, over 50,000 items.

Receiving begins with the courage to ask.

—Greg Asimakoupoulos, Naperville, Illinois, Spirit (Southwest Airlines Flight Magazine, November 1999) (Boldness, Prayer)Matthew 7:7-11, James 4:2

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