Life is like a Cup of Coffee

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor.

Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups – porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite – telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: “If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups have been taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones.

While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.

Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee.
In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink.

What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups, and then you began eyeing each other’s cups to see who had the best one.

Now consider this said the professor “Life is like a cup of coffee”,
and life is the coffee, the jobs, money and position in society are the cups.
They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of life we live.

Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee.

Savour the coffee, not the cups.
The happiest people don’t have the best of everything.
They just make the best of everything.

Live simply, Love generously, Speak kindly, Care deeply.

Life is like a Cup of Coffee : Author unknown.
Watch the short video clip below (http://youtu.be/ogweL4E24ok) and return for my reflection of this powerful analogy:



Indeed, life is like a cup of coffee (or milo, horlicks, tea, hot chocolate,  whatever you like) rather than the old saying that goes: "life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you could get".


And God showed me a few life lessons from this simple but yet powerful analogy:

1. The professor, is likened to God, full of wisdom and available. And for some of us, it was like only yesterday that God was so personally teaching us until we "dropped out" of His classroom. The trouble is, some of us forget about God and His wisdom that has the power to change and turn our lives around. But do we take the effort to commune and fellowship with Him; letting Him minister?

"For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding... So you may walk in the way of goodness, And keep to the paths of righteousness. For the upright will dwell in the land, And the blameless will remain in it;" Proverbs 2:6, 20-21 NKJV

2. Indeed life is like coffee (or milo or tea or horlicks or hot chocolate) and God, as the professor provided the coffee, provides life, an abundant supply.

"I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." Jesus in John 10:10b NKJV.

3. The students would have heard the professor say "Help yourselves to the coffee" rather than "help yourselves to the cups". In the same way, God wants us to savour the life He has provided but its a choice.  But many a times we get thrown lies to throw us off our feet; making us focus on the cup rather than the coffee. To which the professor would say "Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee". In the same way, one would here God being echoed here, seemingly making a point to focus on the coffee, not the cup. The price has been paid at Calvary for us by Jesus and nothing external will add or deduct from the life through Jesus Christ.

"Oh, taste and see that the Lord  is good"  Psalms 34:8a NKJV

"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy." Jesus, John 10:10a NKJV.

"When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it." John 8:44 NKJV

4. And here, rightly pointed out by the professor is where the strife of life happens as everyone compares cups, gets jealous and conflictual. They totally forgot the coffee in them; the coffee that does not change in quality just because of the cup. Jobs, money, unhealthy relationships and positions are but things that surround Life but are not Life itself.

5. Remember that the coffee is from the one who gives.

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?  Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Matthew 6:25-26, 30-34 NKJV

6. Be a fragrant coffee that others will also want it.

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16 NKJV

"Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing." 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 NKJV

Are you having coffee?

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Escape Or Press In?

Escape Or Press In?
================
"Pain is the common denominator of all humanity" ~ Wednesdays Were Pretty Normal.

The Common Denominator: Pain
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Faced with a 2 yrs old child diagnosed with leukemia n frequent visit to A&E, Michael Kelley realised that regardless of race, social circles, nationality etc, everyone in the waiting room of the hospital has the same thing, pain, including emotional pain of seeing love ones in pain. And they all seek comfort from pain.

Escape or Press In?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's the same with life and pain comes as result of Adamic fall away from God. But we all try to seek comfort eg with morphine which dulls the pain. In pain, we either (i) seek escape through drugs, work, pornography, relationships and even church, (ii) start questioning God but not continuing on to the end of trail for fear of what we find there or (iii) engage pain and God and pressing in. God is the beginning and the end of all things, including our laments. If we press in, we will encounter God in our pain.

The Lesson of Job
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just like Job in the bible, he was the center of a cosmic wager. Tough as it was for him, even when encountered with his friends' conclusion his pain was a result of his sin (he was a righteous man), he pressed in instead of escape. Through pages of engaging God, his questions of "whys" only encountered God's answers of "who" Job wasn't and who God is and what He is capable of.

The Question for You & Me
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sometimes in our pain, we may choose to (i) escape, (ii) engage God but yet not wanting to walk the full journey to encounter Him at the end or (iii) fully engage the pain and God. For me, I'm at number (ii) now but thank God for the revelation. We will sometimes never know the "whys" of our pains but God wants us to know the "who He is" i our pains. So, escape or press in?

You Have a Role in Prospering

"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then YOU will make your way prosperous, and then YOU will have good success" (Jos 1:8, emphasis mine).

This morning, as I did my quiet time, I felt the Lord impressed this on my heart. Father God has given us His son for the forgiveness of sin and for us to be reconciled with Him and also given the law that we may walk righteously. But who makes your way prosperous and successful? YOU! "For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success". God given His guide for our lives but WE need respond to it and put it to practice in our lives.

"... being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart" (Eph 4:18). A life that is close to God and His ways will be an abundant and prosperous life. And we need fully understand the word "prosperous" here, more than in the normal understanding of just wealth, Webster dictionary says it signifies healthy growing and favour. What a life!

Indeed, such a life requires us to have our lives, decisions and actions consciously and deliberately made to align to God's Laws. "that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness" (Eph 4:22-24).

About Thanksgiving

God got me thinking about thanksgiving this morning as I found these videos (see below the last 4 videos of this blog post). I know at first glance, it might look silly when viewing this video but then God brought me a revelation that when you can be like them to give thanks to God for their life, however small or big, you have come to realise the essence of life that is given by God. 

The Lord With Me

Just as God brought a friend to call me earlier on and I shared with her on what happened in the last one year, it triggered the following reflection:

The last one year had been a tough one for me: stressed with wedding prep, getting a house, renovating, wife's grandfather passing on, father got diagnosed with cancer, trying to cope emotionally, physically and financially with my father's condition and treatment, father's pneumonia just as doctor said he completed his chemotherapy well only to suddenly pass on from it, work stress, wife having to undergo surgery for fibroid, ministry struggles, me going into depression and also struggling with illnesses such as slipped disc acting up, asthma, toothache etc.

You might ask, where is my God and how come all these happened to me. My answer: My God has always been here with me. Trials are inevitable in life and I could have gone through this down period without God. But He was there, through the times I struggled, angered, cried, lamented, lost hope. I cannot imagine going through it without God.

But as I reach the tailend of this season, I know He IS real and He IS with me; He has shown me through many miraculous circumstances and through His words and teachings. Don't weather though life alone. God is concerned about how we grow as a person created by Him with holiness and His purposes and plans in mind. He does not work like a genie who works with our whimps and fancies or who needs placating with sacrifices. This is the Creator and Father God. So my gratitude and thanksgiving is to God.

This reminds me of the "Footprints in the Sand" Poem but here's one done by a Korean animator. Meaningful:

Footprints in the Sand

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.

Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.

In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.

Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,

other times there were one set of footprints.

This bothered me because I noticed

that during the low periods of my life,

when I was suffering from

anguish, sorrow or defeat,

I could see only one set of footprints.

 So I said to the Lord,

"You promised me Lord,

that if I followed you,

you would walk with me always.

But I have noticed that during

the most trying periods of my life

there have only been one

set of footprints in the sand.

Why, when I needed you most,

you have not been there for me?"

The Lord replied,

"The times when you have

seen only one set of footprints,

is when I carried you."

 Copyright © 1984 Mary Stevenson, from original 1936 text, All rights reserved

Giving Thanks

Between Gratitude and Thanks

Thanking God for Difficult People

Thanking God for Tough Times

Here's what the word of God got to say about thanksgiving, emphasis mine.

Ephesians 5:20 (NKJV)

giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ

Colossians 2:6-7 (NKJV)

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

Colossians 4:2 (NKJV)

Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving

Philippians 4:6 (NKJV)

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God

Ultimately, God says in Hebrews 13:5 (NKJV) "Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

The Orchestration of Salvation

This video brought me back to something that the Lord taught me on 22 Sep 2006 and also through "Becoming Fishers of Men" course and also from 1 Corinthians 3:6 (NLT) which says "I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow."

As I typed this, I am reminded once again that "witnessing is simply taking the initiative to share Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, then leaving the results to God". We have our part to play to lead up to one's salvation.

I remember this lesson dearly on 22 September 2006. To cut a long story short, here's the fast track of the story:

• The day before, I felt a prompting to ask a friend out to talk to him about his involvement with a cult
• God provided the opportunity to meet this friend
• I was worried and struggled the whole day asking myself if this is indeed God's will or my will
• I was on my way to meet my friend when a colleague "happened" to also come by and mentioned that we can travel together
• I then shared with her my predicament and from her handbag, she whipped out a book "Knowing God's Will", which she mentioned that somehow the librarian at her church did not allow her to return it and so would like to lend it to me now.
• I arrived early for my friend's appointment and read a portion of the book which read:

'If this thing about leadings of the Spirit is genuine, we should see some real results from it; results that are more than would naturally happen'. But then another thought came to me, 'On the other hand, God should be able to lead us to do something where we would not see results at all. Maybe he just wants us to have a small part in what he is working out, and we cannot see the result of what we did.' ... (on his leading to speak to a freshman about Christ) it would have been a major miracle for that grad student to turn to Christ as a result of one conversation... Maybe, the Lord wanted me to just lay one brick in something he is building, and I will never get to see what the result will look like.

• Anyway, the meeting was disastrous and my friend was not convinced
• I left feeling as a failure
• The next morning, I returned to office with only one email from a colleague, something that is rare
• It was from the day's Daily Bread reading which could not be more apt. 
• The 22 Sep 2006 Daily Bread read:

Mixing-Bowl Musings

Countless times I’ve heard myself say, “I’m going to bake a cake.” Then one day I realized that I’ve never baked a cake in my life—only my oven can do that. I simply mix the right ingredients and allow the oven to do its part. Through that division of labor, I have the joy of seeing others taste and enjoy delicious cake.

God used my mixing-bowl musings to clarify a dilemma I once had after starting a neighborhood Bible study. It was one thing to bring my neighbors together to study the Bible, but seeing them believe and follow Christ was another. I felt powerless. Suddenly I saw the obvious. Like baking cakes, making Christians was impossible for me, but not for God. I had blended the right ingredients—an open home, friendship, love. Now I had to trust the Holy Spirit, through His Word, to do His work. When I cooperated with that division of labor, I had the joy of seeing others taste of God’s goodness.

In Luke 18:18-27, Jesus so vividly described some hindrances to saving faith that His listeners began to wonder if anyone could be saved. Do you feel that way about someone? Be encouraged by the Lord’s strong reminder that there are some things that only God can do. Saving people is one of them.

The Lord’s the only one who can
Transform a person’s heart;
But when we share God’s saving truth,
We play a crucial part.  —Sper

 We sow the seed, but God brings the harvest.

God prepared the lesson for me and "cushioned" the lesson both before and after the meet up with my friend. Well, as at now, I have not heard from my friend but one thing is for sure, I have faith that God will work things out eventually. I am one who just sowed the seed.

So conclusion, work with the Lord in witnessing to people around you. You will be astonished.

Let It Shine

Matthew 5:14-16 (NLT)
“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

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Saved to Save

As I was preparing for cell last week, I was somehow prompted in the morning and thought of The Salvation Army. For a long time, I have thought that the two "S" donned by Salvation Army officers on their uniforms used to mean "Saved to Serve". But as I read about the meaning of it, I felt the Lord teaching me that our main business should not be "Saved to Serve" more than we should be "Saved to Save". And just, as I was leaving for cell, I visited the Our Daily Bread website and, lo and behold, the article for the day is "Seek and Save". It was clear that God was making a point here and I would just like to share the article which I shared with cell last Friday here. You are saved to save.

Saved and Saving

Image adapted from Source

D L Moody: “One day I saw a steel engraving that I liked very much. I thought it was the finest thing I ever had seen, at the time, and I bought it. It was a picture of a woman coming out of the water, and clinging with both arms to the cross. There she came out of the drowning waves with both arms around the cross perfectly safe. Afterwards, I saw another picture that spoiled this one for me entirely, it was so much more lovely. It was a picture of a person coming out of the dark waters, with one arm clinging to the cross and with the other she was lifting some one else out of the waves. That is what I like. Keep a firm hold upon the cross, but always try to rescue another from the drowning.”

Source: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19830/19830-h/19830-h.htm

About The Salvation Army's S S Badges

by Major Sanjivani Dushing

“… Saving' is a very close and a personal related word for one's life. (The human). A Person takes a good education, search for a good job, work hard & earn a big salary or income to have a better life living standard but at the same time a person tries to save something for his future. Some parents start to save money or open a saving account in the bank for their children from the time of their birth. Saving is an important and hard process but essential for the human's life.

The Bible also tells about saving but not about the worldly saving. God himself sent his only son to save the sinners from their sins. God is counting us as His treasure of Heaven. He does not want any single soul to be destroyed or to be perished but he wishes that every single soul should be with him forever, safe in Heaven.

The Salvation Army is in process of saving souls since 145 years around the world. The Founders William & Catherine Booth had taken this responsibility to cooperate with God in saving souls.

The SS (as shown above) on Salvation Army uniforms used to mean” Saved to save.” It was a statement of early Salvationists' faith that they were saved so that they could lead others to Salvation. People also refer it as “Saved to Serve” but When William Booth started The Salvation Army it was a Christian mission. In fact, that is what he called it. The aim of the mission was to” go for souls and go for worst.” There was nothing greater than saving souls. The Salvation Army saved the drunkards from their drink, the criminals from the prisons and girls from the streets by proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

If I show my love & compassion by giving him food to eat, clothes to wear, and a place to rest in but if I don't put a thought of God's word in his heart, my mission remains incomplete.
 

... Dear readers, Let us go forward day by day, with Love & Compassion for dying men to save.”

Source: http://web.salvationarmy.org/ind%5Cwww_ind.nsf/vw-issue/164A063C5C9F1F076525776C00355CB3?opendocument&id=5FFB38DEF45186A76525776C003507B1

Seek And Save

August 10, 2012 — by Marvin Williams

Read: Luke 19:1-10

The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. —Luke 19:10

Image Source

Lachlan Macquarie, governor of New South Wales from 1810–1821, had a way of making everyone feel included in the new colony. When the “exclusives” (free settlers, civil servants, and military officers) shunned the society of the “emancipists” (transported convicts given conditional or absolute pardon), Governor Macquarie insisted that they be treated as social equals.

Jesus showed interest in Zacchaeus, a shunned tax collector in Jericho, and included him in the recipients of His salvation plan (Luke 19:1-10). A marginalized and hated man because of his profession, Zacchaeus was desperate to see Jesus and climbed a tree to get a glimpse of Him. When Jesus passed by, He saw Zacchaeus’ desire and told him to come down because he had a divine appointment at his house. Some complained that Jesus was spending time with a sinner. His loving attention changed Zacchaeus’ life. He repented and offered restitution for those he had defrauded. Salvation had come to his house.

Jesus’ mission was simple: Diligently search for lost people, whatever their social standing, and offer them God’s salvation plan. As followers of Christ, we too have that as our mission.

Lord, help us show compassion
To a world that’s lost in sin,
So when we share the gospel,
Hungry souls for Christ we’ll win. —Sper
 

Christ’s mission is our mission.

Source: http://odb.org/2012/08/10/seek-and-save/

We have two hands, one to hold on to God and another to save another. What are you doing with your hands today?

Image Source

The Threefold Secret to Contentment

Posted on August 13, 2012
By David Webb

Have you ever seen a horse poking its head through a narrow opening in a fence and stretching its neck just to eat from a patch of grass growing on the other side? I find it rather comical when that same horse is already standing in a field of lush green grass yet seems to think the grass beyond the fence is some kind of rare delicacy. That horse is going through an awful lot of effort to obtain its prize when a perfectly wonderful meal is right under its feet the whole time!

You and I are a lot more like that horse than we care to admit. There’s an old saying that goes “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.” What this means is that we tend to look at our neighbors and envy them, thinking they are happier than we are because they don’t experience the same kinds of problems we’re dealing with. Of course, this perception is almost always false because every family has its own set of problems. But when we let ourselves get caught up in thinking about our own difficult circumstances—our struggles, our shortcomings, our failures—it’s easy to look at other people and think, If only I had their money (or his looks or her patience), I wouldn’t be in this mess.

If anyone ever had reason to complain to God about his circumstances, it was the apostle Paul. He was a second-generation Pharisee and a respected and highly educated man, yet he found himself languishing in a dungeon in Rome because of his faith in Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, he was perfectly at peace. He wrote to his friends:

I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:11–13)

Contentment is a deep, abiding peace and satisfaction that comes from knowing and loving God more every day. Are you content in your life? If not, what do you think will make you happy? A bigger family car? A nicer wardrobe? The latest iPhone? A Hawaiian vacation?

Now, most homeschooling families subsist on a single income. And we all know that having money cannot guarantee happiness. Yet for some reason many of us seem to think that our lives would be better if only we had more money, as if we are the exceptions to the rule. And so we muddle along, saying the right things but secretly believing as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. When told that money is the world’s curse, he replies, “May the Lord smite me with it—and may I never recover!”

The apostle Paul had once owned many nice things when his name was still Saul. He had been raised the son of a Pharisee and well-to-do tentmaker. Educated in Jerusalem by the finest teachers, Saul also enjoyed the privileges of Roman citizenship. Yet for his all riches and education and status, he could not find peace. And so, against the advice and urging of his mentor (Acts 5:34–39), Saul zealously hunted down and persecuted the followers of Christ (Acts 8:1–3). But then Jesus Christ met Saul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1–19), changed his name, and set him on a new path.

Once he had lost everything, Paul no longer looked for things to make him happy:

I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ. (Philippians 3:8)

Paul had learned that the constant pursuit of possessions and accomplishments could lead only to disillusionment and despair. Joyously, he had instead discovered the threefold secret to lasting contentment.

Trust in Jesus Christ
Paul found contentment in the same place we find salvation: in Christ. Jesus is the only answer to sin, and He is the only answer to our need for peace (John 14:27). Paul’s relationship with God did not depend on what he did or did not have. His peace was based not on his circumstances but on knowing and trusting Jesus:

My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20, NLT)

[The Lord] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9–10)


Keep in mind that contentment doesn’t happen overnight. As you build your relationship with God through prayer, Bible study, and worship, you will learn to trust God more and rely on yourself less. When you trust in Christ, He will give you the strength to be content in any situation you encounter. Remember and pray the words of the psalmist: “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:25–26).

Be Thankful in All Circumstances
The book of Philippians is a letter from Paul thanking the church at Philippi for a “care package” they sent him in prison. In it, Paul instructs us:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6–7)

When you think of what God the Son has done for us—stepping down from His throne to live among us and teach us, then allowing Himself to be killed in the most humiliating way possible to pay the penalty for our sins—how can our heartfelt response be anything but gratitude? We must be thankful to God each day for who He is, for everything He created, and for His infinite goodness toward us (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

Love and Comfort to Others
When we go through life discontented—grumbling, whining, doubting God, and thinking only about ourselves—we tend to hold tightly to the very things God wants us to give to others, including our time, our talents, and our treasure. But in the economy of God’s kingdom, we must give away that which we hope to gain:

Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything. The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed. (Proverbs 11:24–25, NLT)

For example, God gives us comfort so that we can pass it on to others who need it:

[God] comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. (2 Corinthians 1:3–4)

Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). Indeed, giving defined the ultimate expression of love: “For God so loved the world that he gave . . .” (John 3:16). When you look beyond your own problems to focus on meeting the needs of those around you, you will go a long way toward taming the sin of envy, the beast “crouching at your door” (Genesis 4:7). A true servant is just happy to serve, and envy has no place in his or her life.

... bless yourself and your family with this thought: The grass is not, in fact, always greener on the other side of the fence; grass is greenest where it is watered. When you cross over fences to serve your neighbors with love and humility and share with them living water (John 7:38), you make the grass greener wherever you go.

David Webb is the coauthor of the What We Believe series, the award-winning biblical worldview curriculum published by Apologia in partnership with Summit Ministries. The third and newest volume in this series is Who Is My Neighbor? (And Why Does He Need Me?): A Biblical Worldview of Servanthood. David and his wife, Peggy, have homeschooled their six children since 1990.

Extracted from http://blog.apologia.com/blog/2012/08/13/the-threefold-secret-to-contentment/

Corrie ten Boom

Corrie ten Boom has long been honored by evangelical Christians as an exemplar of Christian faith in action. Arrested by the Nazis along with the rest of her family for hiding Jews in their Haarlem home during the Holocaust, she was imprisoned and eventually sent to the Ravensbruck concentration camp along with her beloved sister, Betsie, who perished there just days before Corrie's own release on December 31, 1944. Inspired by Betsie's example of selfless love and forgiveness amid extreme cruelty and persecution, Corrie established a post-war home for other camp survivors trying to recover from the horrors they had escaped. She went on to travel widely as a missionary, preaching God's forgiveness and the need for reconciliation. Corrie's devout moral principles were tested when, by chance, she came face to face with one of her former tormentors in 1947. The following description of that experience is excerpted from her 1971 autobiography, The Hiding Place, written with the help of John and Elizabeth Sherrill.

I'm Still Learning to Forgive
It was in a church in Munich that I saw him, a balding heavy-set man in a gray overcoat, a brown felt hat clutched between his hands. People were filing out of the basement room where I had just spoken. It was 1947 and I had come from Holland to defeated Germany with the message that God forgives. ...

And that's when I saw him, working his way forward against the others. One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown hat; the next, a blue uniform and a visored cap with its skull and crossbones. It came back with a rush: the huge room with its harsh overhead lights, the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the center of the floor, the shame of walking naked past this man. I could see my sister's frail form ahead of me, ribs sharp beneath the parchment skin. Betsie, how thin you were!

Betsie and I had been arrested for concealing Jews in our home during the Nazi occupation of Holland; this man had been a guard at Ravensbruck concentration camp where we were sent. ...

"You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk," he was saying. "I was a guard in there." No, he did not remember me.

"I had to do it — I knew that. The message that God forgives has a prior condition: that we forgive those who have injured us."
"But since that time," he went on, "I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. Fraulein, ..." his hand came out, ... "will you forgive me?"

And I stood there — I whose sins had every day to be forgiven — and could not. Betsie had died in that place — could he erase her slow terrible death simply for the asking?

It could not have been many seconds that he stood there, hand held out, but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do.

For I had to do it — I knew that. The message that God forgives has a prior condition: that we forgive those who have injured us. "If you do not forgive men their trespasses," Jesus says, "neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses." ...

And still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion — I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. "Jesus, help me!" I prayed silently. "I can lift my hand, I can do that much. You supply the feeling."

And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes.

"I forgive you, brother!" I cried. "With all my heart!"
For a long moment we grasped each other's hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never known God's love so intensely as I did then.

Extracted from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/questionofgod/voices/boom.html

Reprinted with permission from Guideposts. Copyright © 1972 by Guideposts, Carmel, New York 10512. All rights reserved. (www.guideposts.com)

Baskets of Apples

A group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago. They had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night's dinner. In their rush, with tickets and briefcases, one of these salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display of baskets of apples. Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the plane in time for their nearly missed boarding.

All but one. He paused, took a deep breath, got in touch with his feelings, and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned.

He told his buddies to go on without him, waved goodbye, told one of them to call his wife when they arrived at their home destination and explain his taking a later flight. Then he returned to the terminal where the apples were all over the terminal floor. He was glad he did.

The 16 year old girl was totally blind! She was softly crying, tears running down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping for her spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her, no one stopping, and no one to care for her plight.

The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them into the baskets, and helped set the display up once more. As he did this, he noticed that many of them had become battered and bruised; these he set aside in another basket.

When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl,

"Here, please take this $20 for the damage we did. Are you okay?"

She nodded through her tears.

He continued on with, "I hope we didn't spoil your day too badly."

As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out to him, "Mister..."

He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes.

She continued, "Are you Jesus?"

He stopped in mid-stride, and he wondered. Then slowly he made his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and bouncing about in his soul: "Are you Jesus?"

Do people mistake you for Jesus?

That's our destiny, is it not? To be so much like Jesus that people cannot tell the difference as we live and interact with a world that is blind to His love, life and grace.

If we claim to know Him, we should live, walk and act as He would. Knowing Him is more than simply quoting Scripture and going to church.

It's actually living the Word as life unfolds day to day. You are the apple of His eye even though we, too, have been bruised by a fall.

He stopped what He was doing and picked you and me up on a hill called Calvary and paid in full for our damaged fruit.

Let us live like we are worth the price He paid.

http://www.doesgodexist.org/NovDec06/AreYouJesus.html

As someone has said it before, you could well be the only "bible" someone comes in contact with. As Paul calls it, we are to be ministers of reconciliation and ambassadors in this world:

"Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God." (2 Corinthians 5:18-20 NKJV)

Good Gifts

I admit it. Sometime when I read the Bible, I skim over the parts that seem almost like “throwaways”. You know. The genealogies, greetings and the sort. They can seem like the obligatory copyright and table-of-contents before you get to the start of a story.

This was happening the other night as I started to read the book of Ephesians. The first couple verses read like, “Paul…blah, blah, blah…Ephesus…blah, blah, blah…grace and peace…blah, blah, blah.”

But after reading a bit further, my eyes flitted back to “grace and peace”. I read verse two over several times…

“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

It was as if Paul was just handing out gifts to the readers of his letter — reaching in to a spiritual bag of presents, looking for what would be most needed and appreciated. I can almost hear Paul saying, “Here’s some grace for you. And some peace for you. These are from Dad. He thought you’d like them.”

Before Christ came, it was primarily angels and prophets who spoke such blessings. But after Jesus gave his Spirit to us, we are the ones who are charged with declaring grace and peace to the world around us.

Some of the most profound gifts I’ve ever received have been blessings from Christ, spoken by another. And these were not just words — they were animated by the Spirit of God himself to become life to me. They were just what I needed. “You are forgiven.” “You’re going to make it.” “I love you.”

Maybe the greatest gifts we’ll pass out to others won’t be those wrapped with bows. They’ll be the ones spoken from the heart, prompted by God, to meet a need of the soul.

Is there someone in your life — a neighbor, a child, a parent, a co-worker, an enemy — who desperately needs to hear Christ’s heart for them? Will you speak it, write it, text it, sing it?

“The right word at the right time is like a custom-made piece of jewelry.” Proverbs 25:11 (MSG)

Spread hope!

Extracted from http://unsolicitedhope.com/2011/12/25/gifts/

Mess to Mission

Have 10 minutes to spare?

Think you messed up?

From Mess to Meaning

"From Prisoner to Professor". This short and sweet testimony shows how God loves each and everyone of us and no matter how much we mess up, He is always reaching out to us. Thank God He reaches out to us that we can have a gentler "learning curve"; by learning from others' lives. But regardless, God will still catch up with you and me.

And His Word has power and He is always in control. "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11). God can turn a messy and ugly situation around just as He did for 袁幼軒.

From Meaning to Mission

And subsequently, His plans even extend to working and using you to even bring hope to others.

Faith & Fullness

And if you are praying for someone, keep praying, just as the mother not only persevered in prayer but even had the faith to give thanks.

And this reminds me of a verse I saw this afternoon, just moments before seeing this. I just sense God reminding us that receiving Christ is just the first step; having redeemed us from our debts. We have to make a conscious and constant effort to choose holiness, being built up by God and overflow with thankfulness. That, according to Colossians 2:6-7 is the spiritual fullness in Christ.

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." (Colossians 2:6-7).

Cell Phones & Bibles

Makes you stop and think where our priorities are?

I wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our
cell phones?

What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?

What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?

What if we flipped through it several times a day?

What if we used it to receive messages from God just as we use it to receive messages?

What if we used it to send messages from God to others who might need it just as we communicate and send messages through it?

What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?

What if we gave it to people as gifts?

What if we used it as we traveled?

What if we used it everyday and especially in case of an emergency?

What if we store our memories in it just as we store our photos and life in our cell phones?

What if we used it to store and play songs? Will it be songs of melancholy or songs of hope and joy?

What if we bring and go to it for our to-dos as we would with the calendar and to-do lists of the phone?

What if we learn from it just as we would with some apps on our smartphones, which connects us to encyclopedias and dictionaries?

What if we used it to check where we are in our lives and find our way just as we use the GPS on our phones?

What if we used it to check for what God has to offer as we check for shopping, credit card and eating offers?

What if we used it to refresh and renew our minds as we use it for games?

What if we do the saving of our contacts in and through it?

What if we did our transaction through it just as we do our transactions eg Internet banking through it?

This is something to make you go, hmmm, where is my Bible?

Oh, and one more thing. Unlike our cellphones, we don’t ever have to worry about our bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill!

(Adapted from: http://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-16761.0.html)

Shipwrecked

A "true" story that Billy Graham spoke about. It is about trusting God even when we can't see what's ahead for us.

There was a man who became shipwrecked on a deserted island years ago. He managed to build himself a hut to live in and with it stored the possessions he was able to salvage from his boat after it was wrecked.

He would watch every day for some sign of a ship or airplane passing by. He prayed to God for help. Some days he would get discouraged and wonder if he would ever get off that island, but still ... he prayed.

One day he was on the other end of the island and noticed some smoke coming from the direction of his hut. He ran as fast as he could back to the hut and then he realized that his fears had come true. His hut and all his belongings were destroyed by a fire. All that was left was the smoke and rubble of it all.

He asked God why did this have to happen. He did not understand. Soon he would find out. Later that day a ship appeared on the horizon and soon landed on the island and rescued him. They told him that they were plotting a distinct course and noticed smoke off in the distance and thought the smoke was a signal for help.

It was a sign for much needed help and it was a sign from God that He was still in control and He would not forsake His beloved child even if there was a doubt or not.

Out of the ashes of this life we can build another day! We can have beauty for ashes.

Donuts for the Class

There was a certain Professor of Religion named Dr. Christianson, a studious man who taught at a small college in the Western United States. Dr. Christianson taught the required survey course in Christianity at this particular institution. Every student was required to take this course his or her freshman year regardless of his or her major. Although Dr. Christianson tried hard to communicate the essence of the gospel in his class, he found that most of his students looked upon the course as nothing but required drudgery. Despite his best efforts, most students refused to take Christianity seriously.

This year, Dr. Christianson had a special student named Steve. Steve was only a freshman, but was studying with the intent of going onto seminary for the ministry. Steve was popular, he was well liked, and he was an imposing physical specimen. He was now the starting center on the school football team, and was the best student in the professor's class.

One day, Dr. Christianson asked Steve to stay after class so he could talk with him.
"How many push-ups can you do "
Steve said, "I do about 200 every night."
"200 That's pretty good, Steve," Dr. Christianson said. "Do you think you could do 300 "

Steve replied, "I don't know... I've never done 300 at a time."
"Do you think you could " again asked Dr. Christianson.
"Well, I can try," said Steve.
"Can you do 300 in sets of 10 I have a class project in mind and I need you to do about 300 push-ups in sets of ten for this to work. Can you do it I need you to tell me you can do it," said the professor.

Steve said, "Well... I think I can...yeah, I can do it."
Dr. Christianson said, "Good! I need you to do this on Friday. Let me explain what I have in mind."

Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front of the room. When class started, the professor pulled out a big box of donuts. No these weren't the normal kinds of donuts, they were the extra fancy BIG kind, with cream centers and frosting swirls. Everyone was pretty excited it was Friday, the last class of the day, and they were going to get an early start on the weekend with a party in Dr. Christianson' s class.

Dr. Christianson went to the first girl in the first row and asked, "Cynthia, do you want to have one of these donuts "

Cynthia said, "Yes."

Dr. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Cynthia can have a donut "

"Sure." Steve jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten. Then Steve again sat in his desk. Dr. Christianson put a donut on Cynthia's desk.

Dr. Christianson then went to Joe, the next person, and asked, "Joe, do you want a donut "
Joe said, "Yes."
Dr. Christianson asked, "Steve would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have a donut " Steve did ten push-ups, Joe got a donut. And so it went, down the first aisle, Steve did ten pushups for every person before they got their donut. And down the second aisle, till Dr. Christianson came to Scott.

Scott was on the basketball team, and in as good condition as Steve. He was very popular and never lacking for female companionship. When the professor asked, "Scott do you want a donut " Scott's reply was, "Well, can I do my own pushups "
Dr. Christianson said, "No, Steve has to do them."
Then Scott said, "Well, I don't want one then."

Dr. Christianson shrugged and then turned to Steve and asked,
"Steve, would you do ten pushups so Scott can have a donut he doesn't want "
With perfect obedience Steve started to do ten pushups.

Scott said, "HEY! I said I didn't want one!"
Dr. Christianson said, "Look, this is my classroom, my class, my desks, and these are my donuts. Just leave it on the desk if you don't want it." And he put a donut on Scott's desk.

Now by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little. He just stayed on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be getting up and down. You could start to see a little perspiration coming out around his brow. Dr. Christianson started down the third row. Now the students were beginning to get a little angry.

Dr. Christianson asked Jenny, "Jenny, do you want a donut "
Sternly, Jenny said, "No."
Then Dr. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten more Push-ups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn't want " Steve did ten....Jenny got a donut.

By now, a growing sense of uneasiness filled the room. The students were beginning to say "No" and there were all these uneaten donuts on the desks.

Steve also had to really put forth a lot of extra effort to get these pushups done for each donut. There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor beneath his face, his arms and brow were beginning to get red because of the physical effort involved.

Dr. Christianson asked Robert, who was the most vocal unbeliever in the class, to watch Steve do each push up to make sure he did the full ten pushups in a set because he couldn't bear to watch all of Steve's work for all of those uneaten donuts. He sent Robert over to where Steve was so Robert could count the set and watch Steve closely. Dr. Christianson started down the fourth row.

During his class, however, some students from other classes had wandered in and sat down on the steps along the radiators that ran down the sides of the room. When the professor realized this, he did a quick count and saw that now there were 34 students in the room. He started to worry if Steve would be able to make it. Dr. Christianson went on to the next person and the next and the next. Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time. He was taking a lot more time to complete each set.

Steve asked Dr. Christianson, "Do I have to make my nose touch on each one "

Dr. Christianson thought for a moment, "Well, they're your pushups. You are in charge now. You can do them any way that you want." And Dr. Christianson went on.

A few moments later, Jason, a recent transfer student, came to the room and was about to come in when all the students yelled in one voice, "NO! Don't come in! Stay out!" Jason didn't know what was going on.

Steve picked up his head and said, "No, let him come."

Professor Christianson said, "You realize that if Jason comes in you will have to do ten pushups for him "

Steve said, "Yes, let him come in. Give him a donut"
Dr. Christianson said, "Okay, Steve, I'll let you get Jason's out of the way right now. Jason, do you want a donut "

Jason, new to the room hardly knew what was going on. "Yes," he said, "give me a donut."

"Steve, will you do ten push-ups so that Jason can have a donut "
Steve did ten pushups very slowly and with great effort. Jason, bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down.

Dr. Christianson finished the fourth row, then started on those visitors seated by the heaters. Steve's arms were now shaking with each push-up in a struggle to lift himself against the force of gravity. Sweat was profusely dropping off of his face and, by this time, there was no sound except his heavy breathing, there was not a dry eye in the room.

The very last two students in the room were two young women, both cheerleaders, and very popular. Dr. Christianson went to Linda, the second to last, and asked, "Linda, do you want a doughnut "

Linda said, very sadly, "No, thank you."

Professor Christianson quietly asked, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Linda can have a donut she doesn't want " Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow pushups for Linda.

Then Dr. Christianson turned to the last girl, Susan. "Susan, do you want a donut "

Susan, with tears flowing down her face, began to cry. "Dr. Christianson, why can't I help him "

Dr. Christianson, with tears of his own, said, "No, Steve has to do it alone, I have given him this task and he is in charge of seeing that everyone has an opportunity for a donut whether they want it or not. When I decided to have a party this last day of class, I looked at my grade book. Steve, here is the only student with a perfect grade. Everyone else has failed a test, skipped class, or offered me inferior work. Steve told me that in football practice, when a player messes up he must do push-ups. I told Steve that none of you could come to my party unless he paid the price by doing your push ups. He and I made a deal for your sakes. Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Susan can have a donut " As Steve very slowly finished his last pushup, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 pushups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.

Dr. Christianson turned to the room and said. "And so it was, that our Savior, Jesus Christ, on the cross, plead to the Father, 'into thy hands I commend my spirit.' With the understanding that He had done everything that was required of Him, he yielded up His life. And like some of those in this room, many of us leave the gift on the desk, uneaten." Two students helped Steve up off the floor and to a seat, physically exhausted, but wearing a thin smile. "Well done, good and faithful servant," said the professor, adding "Not all sermons are preached in words."

Turning to his class the professor said, "My wish is that you might understand and fully comprehend all the riches of grace and mercy that have been given to you through the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He spared not only His Begotten Son, but gave Him up for us all for the whole Church, now and forever. Whether or not we choose to accept His gift to us, the price has been paid. Wouldn't you be foolish and ungrateful to leave it laying on the desk" ~ Author Unknown

http://www.thylacineslair.com/MindRetreat/Donuts.htm

Does Christianity Work?

by Josh McDowell

I longed to be happy. I wanted to be one of the happiest people in the entire world. I also desired meaning in life. I was looking for answers to the questions:

"Who am I?"
"Why in the world am I here?"
"Where am I going?"
More than that, I also longed to be free. I wanted to be one of the freest people in the whole world. Freedom to me was not simply doing what you want to do--anyone can do that. Freedom, for me, meant having the power to do what you know you ought to do. (Most people know what they ought to do . . . but don't have the power to do it.)

So I started looking for answers. It seemed almost everyone was into some sort of religion, so I did the obvious thing and went to church. I must have hit the wrong church, though, because it only made me feel worse. I went to church morning, noon and night, but it didn't help. I'm very practical, and when something doesn't work, I chuck it. So, I gave up religion.

I began to wonder if prestige was the answer. Being a leader, accepting some cause, giving yourself to it, and being popular might do it, I thought. At the university I attended, the student leaders held the purse strings and threw their weight around. So I ran for freshman class president and got elected. It was great having everyone know me, making the decisions, and spending the university's money to get speakers I wanted. It was great, but it wore off like everything else I had tried. I would wake up Monday morning (usually with a headache because of the night before) and my attitude was, "Well, here goes another five days." I endured Monday through Friday. Happiness revolved around three nights a week--Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Then the vicious cycle began all over again.

I suspect that few people in the universities and colleges of this country were more sincere about trying to find meaning, truth, and purpose in life than I was.


During that time I noticed a small group of people--eight students and two faculty members. There was something different about their lives. They seemed to know why they believed what they believed. They also seemed to know where they were going.

The people I began to notice didn't just talk about love--they got involved. They seemed to be riding above the circumstances of university life. While everyone else seemed under the pile, they appeared to have a content, peaceful state about them that wasn't driven by circumstances. They appeared to possess an inner, constant source of joy. They were disgustingly happy. They had something I didn't have.

Like the average student, when somebody had something I didn't have, I wanted it. So, I decided to make friends with these intriguing people. Two weeks after that decision we were all sitting around a table in the student union--six students and two faculty members. The conversation started to get around to God.

They were bothering me, so finally I looked over at one of the students, a good-looking woman (I used to think all Christians were ugly); and I leaned back in my chair (I didn't want the others to think I was interested) and I said, "Tell me, what changed your lives? Why are your lives so different from the others on campus?"

That young woman must have had a lot of conviction. She looked me straight in the eye and said two words I never thought I'd hear as part of a solution in a university: "Jesus Christ."

I said, "Oh, for God's sake, don't give me that garbage. I'm fed up with religion. I'm fed up with the church. I'm fed up with the Bible. Don't give me that garbage about religion."

She shot back, "Hey, I didn't say religion, I said Jesus Christ." She pointed out something I'd never known before: Christianity is not a religion. Religion is when human beings try to work their way to God through good works; Christianity is God coming to men and women through Jesus Christ to offer a relationship with himself.

There are probably more people in universities with misconceptions about Christianity than anywhere else in the world. Some time ago I met a teaching assistant who remarked in a graduate seminar that "anyone who walks into a church becomes a Christian." I replied, "Does walking into a garage make you a car?" I was told that a Christian is somebody who genuinely believes in Christ.

As I considered Christianity, my new friends challenged me intellectually to examine Jesus' life. I found out that Buddha, Mohammed and Confucius never claimed to be God, but Jesus did. My friends asked me to look over the evidence for Jesus' deity. They were convinced that Jesus was God in human form who died on the cross for the sins of mankind, that he was buried, that he arose three days later, and that he could change a person's life today.

I thought this was a farce. In fact, I thought most Christians were walking idiots. I'd met some. I used to wait for a Christian to speak up in the classroom so I could tear him or her up one side and down the other, and beat the professor to the punch. I imagined that if a Christian had a brain cell it would die of loneliness. I didn't know any better.

But these people challenged me over and over. Finally, I accepted their challenge. I did it out of pride to refute them, thinking there were no facts. I assumed there wasn't any evidence a person could evaluate.


After many months of study, my mind came to the conclusion that Jesus Christ must have been who he claimed to be. That presented quite a problem. My mind told me all this was true but my will was pulling me in another direction.

I discovered that becoming a Christian was rather ego-shattering. Jesus Christ made a direct challenge to my will to trust him. Let me paraphrase him. "Look! I have been standing at the door and I am constantly knocking. If anyone hears me calling him and opens the door, I will come in" (Revelation 3:20). I didn't care if Christ did walk on water or turn water into wine, I didn't want any party-pooper around. I couldn't think of a faster way to ruin a good time. So here my mind was telling me Christianity was true and my will was running away.

Whenever I was around those enthusiastic Christians, the conflict would begin. If you've ever been around happy people when you're miserable, you understand how they can bug you. They would be so happy and I would be so miserable that I'd literally get up and run right out of the student union. It came to the point where I'd go to bed at ten at night, and I wouldn't get to sleep until four in the morning. I knew I had to get it off my mind before I went out of my mind! Finally my head and my heart connected on December 19, 1959, at 8:30 p.m. during my second year at the university--I became a Christian.

That night I prayed four things to establish a relationship with Jesus Christ which has since transformed my life. First, I said, "Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for me." Second, I said, "I confess those things in my life that aren't pleasing to you and ask you to forgive me and cleanse me." Third, I said, "Right now, in the best way I know how, I open the door of my heart and life and trust you as my Savior and Lord. Take control of my life. Change me from the inside out. Make me the type of person you created me to be." The last thing I prayed was, "Thank you for coming into my life by faith." It was a faith based not upon ignorance but upon the evidence of history and God's Word.

I'm sure you've heard various religious people talking about their personal bolt-of-lightning experience. Well, after I prayed, nothing happened. I mean nothing. And I still didn't sprout wings. In fact, after I made that decision, I felt worse. I literally felt I was going to vomit. Oh, no, I thought, what did you get sucked into now? I really felt I'd gone off the deep end (and I'm sure some people think I did!).


But in six months to a year-and-a-half, I found out that I hadn't gone off the deep end. My life was changed. I was once in a debate with the head of the history department at a Midwestern university, and I said my life had been changed. He interrupted me with "McDowell, are you trying to tell us that God really changed your life in the 20th century? What areas?" After 45 minutes he said, "OK, that's enough." Let me tell you a few of the things I told him and the audience that day.

One area God changed was my restlessness. I always had to be occupied. I'd walk across the campus and my mind was like a whirlwind with conflicts bouncing around the walls. I'd sit down and try to study, but I couldn't. A few months after I made that decision for Christ, a kind of mental peace developed. Don't misunderstand. I'm not talking about the absence of conflict. What I found in this relationship with Jesus wasn't absence of conflict but the ability to cope with it. I wouldn't trade that for anything in the world.

Another area that started to change was my bad temper. I used to blow my stack if somebody just looked at me cross-eyed. I still have the scars from almost killing a guy my first year at college. My temper was such a part of me that I didn't try to consciously change it. I arrived at the crisis of losing my temper only to find it was gone! Only once in 14 years have I exploded (and when I blew it that time, I made up for it for about six years!).

There's another area of which I'm not proud. But I mention it because a lot of people need to have the same change in their lives, and I found the source of change: a relationship with Jesus Christ. That area is hatred. I had a lot of hatred in my life. It wasn't something outwardly manifested, but there was a kind of inward grinding. I was ticked off with people, with things, with issues.

But I hated one man more than anyone else in the world: my father. I hated his guts. To me he was the town alcoholic. Everybody knew my dad was a drunk. My friends would make jokes about my father staggering around downtown. They didn't think it bothered me. I was like other people--laughing on the outside. But let me tell you, I was crying on the inside. There were times I'd go out in the barn and see my mother beaten so badly she couldn't get up, lying in the manure behind the cows. When we had friends over, I would take my father out, tie him up in the barn, and park the car around the silo. We would tell our friends he'd had to go somewhere. I don't think anyone could have hated anyone more than I hated my father.

After I made that decision for Christ, he entered my life and his love was so strong that he took the hatred and turned it upside down. I was able to look my father squarely in the eyes and say, "Dad, I love you." And I really meant it. After some of the things I'd done, that shook him up.

When I transferred to a private university I was in a serious car accident. With my neck in traction, I was taken home. I'll never forget my father coming into my room. He asked me, "Son, how can you love a father like me?" I said, "Dad, six months ago I despised you." Then I shared with my dad the conclusions I had come to about Christ: "Dad, I let Jesus Christ come into my life. I can't explain it completely, but as a result of that relationship I've found the capacity to love and accept not only you but other people just the way they are."

Forty-five minutes later one of the greatest thrills of my life occurred. Somebody in my own family, someone who knew me so well I couldn't pull the wool over his eyes, said to me, "Son, if God can do in my life what I've seen him do in yours, then I want to give him the opportunity." Right there my father prayed with me and trusted Christ for the forgiveness of his sins.

Usually the changes take place over several days, weeks, months, or even a year. The life of my father was changed right before my eyes. It was as if somebody reached down and turned on a light bulb. I've never seen such a rapid change before or since. My father touched whiskey only once after that. He got it as far as his lips and that was it. I've come to one conclusion. A relationship with Jesus Christ changes lives.

You can laugh at Christianity. You can mock and ridicule it. But it works. It changes lives. If you trust Christ, start watching your attitudes and actions because Jesus Christ is in the business of changing lives.

But Christianity is not something you can shove down somebody's throat. All I can do is tell you what I've learned. After that, it's your decision.

Perhaps the prayer I prayed will help you: "Lord Jesus, I need you. Thank you for dying on the cross for me. Forgive me and cleanse me. Right at this moment I trust you as Savior and Lord. Make me the type of person you created me to be. In Christ's name. Amen."

Josh McDowell is an internationally known speaker, author, and travelling representative for Campus Crusade for Christ. He has written more than fifty books, including the classics More Than A Carpenter and Evidence That Demands A Verdict.

1996 Campus Crusade for Christ

http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/josh/josh2.html

The Professor Teaches About Evil and Christianity

The Professor Teaches About Evil and Christianity

"LET ME EXPLAIN THE problem science has with Jesus Christ." The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand. "You're a Christian, aren't you, son?"
"Yes, sir."
"So you believe in God?"
"Absolutely."
"Is God good?"
"Sure! God's good."
"Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?"
"Yes."
"Are you good or evil?"
"The Bible says I'm evil."
The professor grins knowingly. "Ahh! THE BIBLE!" He considers for a moment. "Here's one for you. Let's say there's a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help them? Would you try?"
"Yes sir, I would."
"So you're good...!"
"I wouldn't say that."
"Why not say that? You would help a sick and maimed person if you could...in fact most of us would if we could....God doesn't."
[No answer]
"He doesn't, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?"
[No answer]
The elderly man is sympathetic. "No, you can't, can you?" He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax. "In philosophy, you have to go easy with the new ones. Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?"
"Er... Yes."
"Is Satan good?"
"No."
"Where does Satan come from?"
The student falters. "From... God..."
"That's right. God made Satan, didn't he?" The elderly man runs his bony fingers through his thinning hair and turns to the smirking student audience. "I think we're going to have a lot of fun this semester, ladies and gentlemen." He turns back to the Christian. "Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?"
"Yes, sir."
"Evil's everywhere, isn't it? Did God make everything?"
"Yes."
"Who created evil?"
[No answer]
"Is there sickness in this world? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness. All the terrible things - do they exist in this world? "
The student squirms on his feet. "Yes."
"Who created them?"
[No answer]
The professor suddenly shouts at his student, "WHO CREATED THEM? TELL ME, PLEASE!" The professor closes in for the kill and climbs into the Christian's face. In a still small voice, he asked, "God created all evil, didn't He, son?"
[No answer]
The student tries to hold the steady, experienced gaze and fails. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace the front of the classroom like an aging panther. The class is mesmerized. "Tell me," he continues, "How is it that this God is good if He created all evil throughout all time?" The professor swishes his arms around to encompass the wickedness of the world. "All the hatred, the brutality, all the pain, all the torture, all the death and ugliness and all the suffering created by this good God is all over the world, isn't it, young man?"
[No answer]
"Don't you see it all over the place? Huh?" Pause. "Don't you?" The professor leans into the student's face again and
whispers, "Is God good?"
[No answer]
"Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?"
The student's voice betrays him and cracks. "Yes, professor. I do."
The old man shakes his head sadly. "Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?"
"No, sir. I've never seen Him."
"Then tell us if you've ever heard your Jesus?"
"No, sir. I have not."
"Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus... in fact, do you have any sensory perception of your God whatsoever?"
[No answer]
"Answer me, please."
"No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't."
"You're AFRAID... you haven't?"
"No, sir."
"Yet you still believe in him?"
"...yes..."
"That takes FAITH!" The professor smiles sagely at the underling. "According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son? Where is your God now?"
[The student doesn't answer]
"Sit down, please."
The first Christian sits...defeated.
Another Christian raises his hand. "Professor, may I address the class?"
The professor turns and smiles. "Ah, yet another Christian in the vanguard! Come, come, young man. Speak some proper wisdom to the gathering."
The Christian looks around the room. "Some interesting points you are making, sir. Now I've got a question for you. Is there such thing as heat?"
"Yes," the professor replies. "There's heat."
"Is there such a thing as cold?"
"Yes, son, there's cold too."
"No, sir, there isn't."
The professor's grin freezes. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The second Christian continues.
"You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything called 'cold'. We can hit 273 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold, otherwise we would be able to go colder than -273°C. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it."
Silence. A pin drops somewhere in the classroom.
"Is there such a thing as darkness, professor?"
"That's a dumb question, son. What is night if it isn't darkness? What are you getting at...?"
"So you say there is such a thing as darkness?"
"Yes..."
"You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something, it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light... but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word. In reality, Darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker and give me a jar of it. Can you... give me a jar of darker darkness, professor?"
Despite himself, the professor smiles at the young effrontery before him. This will indeed be a good semester. "Would you mind telling us what your point is, young man?"
"Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with and so your conclusion must be in error...."
The professor goes toxic. "Flawed...? How dare you...!"
"Sir, may I explain what I mean?"
The class is all ears.
"Explain... ohhhhh, explain..." The professor makes an admirable effort to regain control. Suddenly he is affability himself. He waves his hand to silence the class, for the student to continue.
"You are working on the premise of duality," the Christian explains. "That for example there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science cannot even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism but has never seen, much less fully understood them. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, merely the absence of it." The young man holds up a newspaper he takes from the desk of a neighbor who has been reading it. "Here is one of the most disgusting tabloids this country hosts, professor. Is there such a thing as immorality?"
"Of course there is, now look..."
"Wrong again, sir. You see, immorality is merely the absence of morality. Is there such thing as injustice? No. Injustice is the absence of justice. Is there such a thing as evil?" The Christian pauses. "Isn't evil the absence of good?"
The professor's face has turned an alarming color. He is so angry he is temporarily speechless.
The Christian continues, "If there is evil in the world, professor, and we all agree there is, then God, if He exists, must be accomplishing a work through the agency of evil.1 What is that work God is accomplishing? The Bible tells us it is to see if each one of us will, of our own free will, choose good over evil."2
The professor bridles. "As a philosophical scientist, I don't view this matter as having anything to do with any choice; as a realist, I absolutely do not recognize the concept of God or any other theological factor as being part of the world equation because God is not observable."
The Christian replies, "I would have thought that the absence of God's moral code in this world is probably one of the most observable phenomena going, Newspapers make billions of dollars reporting it every week! Tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?"
"If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do."
"Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?"
The professor makes a sucking sound with his teeth and gives his student a silent, stony stare.
"Professor. Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?"
"I'll overlook your impudence in the light of our philosophical discussion. Now, have you quite finished?" the professor hisses.
"So you don't accept God's moral code to do what is righteous?"
"I believe in what is - that's science!"
"Ahh! SCIENCE!" the student's face splits into a grin. "Sir, you rightly state that science is the study of observed phenomena. Science too is a premise which is flawed..."
"SCIENCE IS FLAWED..?" the professor splutters.
The class is in uproar. The Christian remains standing until the commotion has subsided. "To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, may I give you an example of what I mean?"
The professor wisely keeps silent.
The Christian looks around the room. "Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's mind?" The class breaks out into laughter. The Christian points towards his elderly, crumbling tutor. "Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's mind... felt the professor's mind, touched or smelt the professor's mind? No one appears to have done so." The Christian shakes his head sadly. "It appears no one here has had any sensory perception of the professor's mind whatsoever. Well, according to the rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science, I DECLARE that the professor has no mind."
The class is in chaos.
The Christian sits.

If you didn't get it, here is a brief synopsis. The atheist argument is that since God created everything, He is responsible for the creation of evil. However, "evil" is a word that we use to describe certain things that happen to us (most of which are caused by other people). In reality, it is not a physically created thing at all and, therefore, does not fall within the realm of something created by God. So, the argument is fundamentally flawed. As stated on this site, evil is allowed by God so that free will beings can choose between good (i.e., God) or evil (absence of God). Without evil, it is not possible to choose between good and evil, and the universe would have no ultimate purpose.

The class is in chaos. The Christian sits...because that is what a chair is for. An atheist has a reason, but no hope for his reason. A hypocrite has a hope, but no reason for his hope. A Christian has a reason for his hope and a hope for his reason; and, I might add: Life with Christ is an endless hope. Without Christ is a hopeless end.

References
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth." (Romans 9:17) The evil that Pharaoh perpetrated against the Jews was the means by which God demonstrated His power to His people.
But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you My power and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth. (Exodus 9:16)
Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. (Psalm 34:14)
For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:14)
Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. (Amos 5:14)
...those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. (John 5:29)
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. (Romans 12:9)
But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:14)
He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. (1 Peter 3:11)
Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. (3 John 1:11)

http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/professor.html
http://www.ecclesia.org/truth/professor.html