Sermon Illustrations on Providence — page 3

The fleas or God?

Corrie Ten Boom in The Hiding Place relates an incident which taught her this principle. She and her sister, Betsy, had just been transferred to the worst German prison camp they had seen yet, Ravensbruck. Upon entering the barracks, they found them extremely overcrowded and flea-infested. Their Scripture reading that morning in 1 Thessalonians had reminded them to rejoice always, pray constantly, and give thanks in all circumstances. Betsy told Corrie to stop and thank the Lord for every detail of their new living quarters. Corrie at first flatly refused to give thanks for the fleas, but Betsy persisted. She finally succumbed. During the months spent at that camp, they were surprised to find how openly they could hold Bible study and prayer meetings without guard interference. It was several months later when they learned that the guards would not enter the barracks because of the fleas.

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Corrie Ten Boom, The Hiding Place.

The Miracle of An Austrian Tablecloth

John 12:32

This is a true story and originated with Pastor Rob Reid.

The brand new pastor and his wife, newly assigned to their first ministry, to re-open a church in suburban Brooklyn, arrived in early October excited about their opportunities. When they saw their church, it was very run down and needed much work. They set a goal to have everything done in time to have their first service on Christmas Eve.

They worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls, painting, etc. and on December 18 were ahead of schedule and just about finished. On Dec. 19 a terrible tempest - a driving rainstorm hit the area and lasted for two days.

On the 21st, the pastor went over to the church. His heart sunk when he saw that the roof had leaked, causing a large area of plaster about 6 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall of the sanctuary just behind the pulpit, beginning about head high. The pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor, and not knowing what else to do but postpone the Christmas Eve service, headed home. On the way he noticed that a local business was having a flea market type sale for charity so he stopped in.

One of the items was a beautiful, handmade, ivory colored, crocheted tablecloth with exquisite work, fine colors and a Cross, embroidered, right in the center. It was just the right size to cover up the hole in the front wall. He bought it and headed back to the church.

By this time it had started to snow. An older woman running from the opposite direction was trying to catch the bus. She missed it.

The pastor invited her to wait in the warm church for the next bus 45 minutes later.

She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor while he got a ladder, hangers, etc., to put up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The pastor could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and it covered up the entire problem area.

Then he noticed the woman walking down the center aisle. Her face was white as a sheet. "Pastor," she asked, "where did you get that tablecloth?"

The pastor explained. The woman asked him to check the lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG were crocheted into it there. They were. These were the initials of the woman, and she had made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria.

The woman could hardly believe it as the pastor told how he had just gotten the tablecloth. The woman explained that before the war she and her husband were well-to-do people in Austria.

When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave. Her husband was going to follow her the next week. She was captured, sent to prison and never saw her husband or her home again.

The pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth; but she made the pastor keep it for the church. The pastor insisted on driving her home, that was the least he could do. She lived on the other side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn for the day for a housecleaning job.

What a wonderful service they had on Christmas Eve. The church was almost full. The music and the spirit were great. At the end of the service, the pastor and his wife greeted everyone at the door and many said that they would return. One older man, whom the pastor recognized from the neighborhood, continued to sit in one of the pews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he wasn't leaving.

The man asked him where he got the tablecloth on the front wall because it was identical to one that his wife had made years ago when they lived in Austria before the war and how could there be two tablecloths so much alike?

He told the pastor how the Nazis came, how he forced his wife to flee for her safety, and he was supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and put in a prison. He never saw his wife or his home again or all the 35 years in between.

The pastor asked him if he would allow him to take him for a little ride. They drove to Staten Island and to the same house where the pastor had taken the woman three days earlier. He helped the man climb the three flights of stairs to the woman's apartment, knocked on the door and he saw the greatest Christmas reunion he could ever imagine.

____________________________________________________________________________

Comment by TruthorFiction.com at http://truthorfiction.com/rumors/tablecloth.htm -

This appears to be based on an article written by a man named Howard C. Schade for Reader's Digest in 1954.

The original article does not mention the exact number of years that had gone by since the separation from the tablecloth had occurred.

The eRumor says the span of time was 34 years. If the original article is true, there could not have been a 34 year interval since the original events are said to have taken place under Nazi rule, which would have probably been in the 1940's. The date of the article, 1954, was much less than 34 years later.

Indian Aid and A Blessed Thanksgiving

Psalms 100:4

If it weren't for Indian deaths, the Pilgrims would have been hard-pressed to settle in Plymouth that cold winter of 1620. In a brief skirmish, the Pilgrim's muskets had slain no natives, nor had any arrows struck Englishmen. Disease had been the killer. The Pilgrims discovered corn fields cleared in the forests, now deserted. What had once been a bustling village of Patuxet Indians nearby, stood empty, ravaged by disease four years earlier, leaving but a single survivor.

SURVIVORS

The Pilgrims, themselves, lived on the edge of survival that first winter. They had begun well enough. After 66 days crossing the stormy Atlantic, 104 Pilgrims beheld the New World, including a baby boy, Oceanus, born at sea.

"Being thus arrived in a good harbor and brought safe to land," wrote Governor William Bradford, "they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of heaven, who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth, their proper element."

But within four months, scurvy, pneumonia, and a virulent strain of tuberculosis had cut down whole families of Pilgrims. As the sickness raged, only six or seven persons in the whole company were strong enough to tend the sick and comfort the dying.

Six died in December, then eight in January, seventeen in February. Of March, Bradford wrote, "This month thirteen of our number die ... scarce fifty remain, the living scarce able to bury the dead." Of eighteen married women, only three remained. Baby Oceanus died.

INDIAN AID

But in April, when it was time to put in gardens, the Indians whom they feared came to their aid. One day, unannounced, the tall, powerful warrior Samoset strode into their camp, armed with a bow and arrows, nearly naked except for a leather string around his waist "with a fringe about a span long, or a little more," the embarrassed Bradford recorded. To the Pilgrims' surprise, Samoset greeted them with the word, "Welcome!" He had learned some English from fishermen in his native Maine. Later, he introduced the Pilgrims to Massasoit, chief of the neighboring Wampanoag tribe, and to Squanto, last known survivor of the Patuxets.

Though the Wampanoag braves towered over the short Englishmen, and outnumbered their tiny militia 60 to 20, they reached a treaty of peace that stood for forty years until Massasoit's death.

Squanto, who had been kidnapped and lived for a while in England, spoke their language, too. He taught the Pilgrims where to trap eels and how to plant corn. The Pilgrims, who had pilfered Indian corn the previous December, may not have been deserving. But this unexpected help made the difference for them between survival and starvation. Settler Edward Winslow described it thus:

"We set the last spring some twenty acres of Indian corn, and sowed some six acres of barley and peas, and according to the manner of the Indians, we manured our ground with herrings or rather shads, which we have in great abundance, and take with great ease at our doors. Our corn did prove well, and God be praised, we had a good increase of Indian corn, and our barley indifferent good, but our peas not worth the gathering, for we feared they were too late sown, they came up very well, and blossomed, but the sun parched them in the blossom."

Nevertheless, the harvest was good and the Pilgrims' food ration increased substantially. By fall, eleven houses lined the street of Plymouth Colony, seven private homes and four common buildings. The dying had stopped, and trade had begun with the Indians.

A THANKSGIVING CELEBRATION

To celebrate, the Pilgrims invited Massasoit to a harvest festival, and a hunting party shot enough waterfowl to feed the company for a week. But when Massasoit arrived, he was joined by ninety ravenous braves. For their contribution the Indians went out and returned five deer. It was a three-day feast of venison, roast duck, roast goose, clams and other shellfish, succulent eels, white bread, corn bread, leeks and watercress, with wild plums and dried berries -- all enjoyed with wine newly made from grapes that grew wild in the forest.

It was a feast of thanksgiving, of thankfulness to God. Edward Winslow wrote to friends in December, "Although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty."

The goodness of God was often on their minds. Though the Pilgrims had suffered great loss and hardship, they also were aware of God's great blessing: the produce of the land, peace with the natives, the joy of life, and homes snug for winter.

"Enter into his gates with thanksgiving,

and into his courts with praise.

Be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting;

and his truth endures to all generations." (Psalm 100:4-5)

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Quotations are from Governor William Bradford's manuscript Of Plimoth Plantation (Boston, 1856), and Edward Winslow in Mourt's Relation: A Relation or Journal of the English Plantation settled at Plymouth in New England, by certain English adventurers both merchants and others (London, 1622). Wordings have been changed to modern spellings. I also relied heavily on George F. Willison, Saints and Strangers (New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1945), a scholarly and popular retelling of the history of Plymouth Colony.

Churches may reprint this article free of charge by informing the author via e-mail and including the following: "Copyright (c) 2000, by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission. pastor@joyfulheart.com"

*

Come, Ye Thankful People

1. Come, ye thankful people, come –

Raise the song of harvest-home:

All is safely gathered in

Ere the winter storms begin.

God, our Maker, doth provide

For our wants to be supplied:

Come to God's own temple, come –

Raise the song of harvest-home.

2. All the world is God's own field,

Fruit unto His praise to yield:

Wheat and tares together sown,

Unto joy or sorrow grown.

First the blade and then the ear,

Then the full corn shall appear:

Lord of harvest, grant that we

Wholesome grain and pure may be.

3. For the Lord our God shall come

And shall take His harvest home:

From the field shall in that day

All offences purge away –

Give His angels charge at last

In the fire the tares to cast,

But the fruitful ears to store

In His garner evermore.

4. Even so, Lord, quickly come

To Thy final harvest-home:

Gather Thou Thy people in,

Free from sorrow, free from sin;

There, forever purified,

In Thy presence to abide:

Come, with all Thine angels, come –

Raise the glorious harvest-home.

[Tune “St George’s Windsor”]

*

The Good Thing About Bad Storms

Acts 27:14

When my wife gets her hand on the TV's remote control, she usually chooses something educational. The other night she was watching a feature on what the host called "good things hurricanes do." Well now, having seen some of the bad things hurricanes do, I was intrigued to hear about this. The feature told about these Australian pine trees that had somehow taken root in a place in Florida that hosted attractive plants which, in turn, attracted many beautiful birds and small animals. Well, as those pines grew and got tall (by the way, that's an experience I've never had personally!), they literally created a canopy over those plants, and blocked out the sun. What had once been an area thriving with plant and animal life became a stretch of sterile underbrush - until the hurricane hit. The storm literally snapped those trees in two. And the sun is back. The area is now a beautiful park with pools, greenery, flowers, herons, and lots of interesting wildlife. But it took a hurricane.

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Good Thing About Bad Storms."

The storm blew in and removed what didn't belong there. I understand that. God has sent or allowed storms to come roaring into my life over the years, often with that same effect. It's true in nature, it's true in our lives - what devastates can also be God's tool to cleanse and improve!

There's a picture of that in Acts 27, beginning with verse 14, our word for today from the Word of God. The Apostle Paul is being transported to Rome for trial on a large cargo ship that is carrying 276 passengers. They suddenly get hit by a massive storm system that batters them and threatens to destroy them for two weeks.

Paul writes, "A wind of hurricane force ... swept down from the island. The ship was caught by the storm ... and we were driven along ... We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. On the third day, they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands."

Eventually, Paul is visited by an angelic messenger. Here's how Paul reported that visit to his fellow passengers: "Keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, 'Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar, and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.'"

Storms clarify the things that really matter and the things that really don't. In this case, they threw overboard cargo they thought they needed but they didn't really need. That may be what God is trying to get you to do as the storm batters you - set some new priorities ... get rid of some cargo you've accumulated - even some sin you've taken on - your stuff that needs to go. Just as God clarified for Paul what really mattered - his life mission and the people on the ship - it could be that God wants to use your personal hurricane to get you to focus on the things that really matter. The ship may not make it, but it's the people who matter anyway! Maybe people you've been neglecting because you've been all about the ship and the voyage. And your life mission is what matters - the things God has given you to do that also may have been marginalized recently and that too will survive the storm.

The hurricanes of God seem devastating sometimes - but He sends them to accomplish things that might not happen any other way ... the cleansing that your life needs. The new priorities your life needs. He's removing what's been blocked the sun - so something beautiful can grow there.

________________

*

Remarkable Marriage

I am not sure if this account is factual or not. It supposedly was a part of a 1996 Oprah show, but the oprah.com archives only go back to 1999. The oprah.com site requires a good deal of personal information before accepting a request for info, so I have been reluctant to write for confirmation. The story is a remarkable one for sure.

********

On a cold day in 1942, inside a Nazi concentration camp, a lone young boy looks beyond the barbed wire and sees a young girl pass by. She too, is moved by his presence. In an effort to give expression to her feelings, she throws a red apple over the fence - a sign of life, hope, and love. The young boy bends over, picks up the apple. A ray of light has pierced his darkness.

The following day, thinking he is crazy for even entertaining the notion of seeing this young girl again, he looks out beyond the fence, hoping. On the other side of the barbed wire, the young girl yearns to see again this tragic figure who moved her so. She comes prepared with apple in hand. Despite another day of wintry blizzards and chilling air, two hearts are warmed once again as the apple passes over the barbed wire. The scene is repeated for several days. The two young spirits on opposite sides of the fence look forward to seeing each other, if only for a moment and if only to exchange a few words. The interaction is always accompanied by an exchange of inexplicably heartening feelings.

At the last of these momentary meetings, the young boy greets his sweet friend with a frown and says, "Tomorrow, don't bring me an apple, I will not be here. They are sending me to another camp." The young boy walks away, too heartbroken to look back.

From that day forward, the calming image of the sweet girl would appear to him in moments of anguish. Her eyes, her words, her thoughtfulness, her red apple, all were a recurring vision that would break his nighttime sweats. His family died in the war. The life he had known had all but vanished, but this one memory remained alive and gave him hope.

In 1957 in the United States, two adults, both immigrants, are set up on a blind date. "And where were you during the war?" inquires the woman. "I was in a concentration camp in Germany," the man replies. "I remember I used to throw apples over the fence to a boy who was in a concentration camp," she recalls. With a feeling of shock, the man speaks. "And did that boy say to you one day, 'Don't bring an apple anymore because I am being sent to another camp'?" "Why, yes," she responds, "but how could you possibly know that?" "He looks into her eyes and says, "I was that young boy."

There is a brief silence, and then he continues, "I was separated from you then, and I don't ever want to be without you again. Will you marry me?" They embrace one another as she says, "Yes."

On Valentine's Day 1996, on national telecast of the Oprah Winfrey show, this same man affirmed his enduring love to his wife of forty years. " You fed me in the concentration camp," he said, "you fed me throughout all these years; now, I remain hungry if only for your love."

-Author Unknown

Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven

1. Praise, my soul, the King of heaven,

To His feet thy tribute bring;

Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,

Evermore His praises sing:

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Praise the Everlasting King!

2. Praise Him for His grace and favour

To our fathers in distress;

Praise Him, still the same forever,

Slow to chide and swift to bless:

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Glorious in His faithfulness!

3. Fatherlike He tends and spares us,

Well our feeble frame He knows;

In His hands He gently bears us,

Rescues us from all our foes:

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Widely yet His mercy flows!

4. Angels in the height, adore Him,

Ye behold Him face to face;

Sun and moon, bow down before Him,

Dwellers all in time and space:

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Praise with us the God of grace!

[Tune “Praise My Soul,” “Regent Square” or “Andrews”]

&

Praise To the Lord, the Almighty

1. Praise to the Lord,

the Almighty, the King of creation!

O my soul, praise Him,

for He is thy health and salvation!

All ye who hear,

Now to His temple draw near;

Join me in glad adoration!

2. Praise to the Lord,

who o’er all things so wondrously reigneth,

Shelters thee under His wings,

yea, so gently sustaineth!

Hast thou not seen

How thy desires e’er have been

Granted in what He ordaineth?

3. Praise to the Lord,

who with marvelous wisdom hath made thee,

Decked thee with health,

and with loving hand guided and stayed thee!

How oft in grief

Hath not he brought thee relief,

Spreading His wings for to shade thee!

4. Praise to the Lord,

who doth propser thy work and defend thee;

Surely His goodness and mercy

here daily attend thee.

Ponder anew

What the Almighty can do

If with His love He befriend thee.

5. Praise to the Lord!

O let all that is in me adore him!

All that hath life and breath,

come now with praises before him!

Let the Amen

Sound from His people again:

Gladly for aye we adore Him!

[Tune “Lobe Den Herren”]

God's Checks Never Bounce

Philippians 4:10

God's Checks Never Bounce

Read: Philippians 4:10-20

My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. --Philippians 4:19

The saying "You can never outgive God" may be doubted by overanxious or tightfisted people. But Paul's letter to the Philippian believers fully supports this saying. Having just received their generous gifts to meet his needs in prison, he assured them that because of their generosity God wouldn't allow them to suffer undue need. He told them, "My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:19). God's people have relied on the truth of those words ever since.

To help us place our trust more confidently in this promise of God, someone has put Philippians 4:19 in terms we can all understand:

"My God [the bank] shall supply [the check] all your need [the amount] according to His riches in glory [the capital] by Christ Jesus [the signature]."

As with any valid check that we have received, we need only endorse God's check through our "signature of faith" and it will be paid in full. As long as we're willing to be content with much or little, as Paul was (v.12), we can dare to be generous people. Only then will we discover for ourselves that we can never outgive our rich and generous God. --JEY

God's riches fill up our supply,

Whatever we may need,

So we can then be generous

And not controlled by greed. --Sper

God gives freely to us so that we can give freely to others.

Spared To Be A Rescuer

2 Corinthians 5

I was on the plane, returning from ministry in Belfast, Northern Ireland, when I heard the fascinating story. Danielle, the woman next to me, has deep roots in Northern Ireland. We got to talking about the Titanic, which was built in Belfast. That's when she told me about her great-grandfather. He was a professional seaman - and he had been assigned to sail on the Titanic. But at the last minute, his orders were changed - to sail instead on the Carpathia, the ship that was first on the scene of the Titanic's sinking - actually the ship that rescued the survivors from the icy waters of the Atlantic.

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about "Spared To Be A Rescuer."

That's what this seaman felt had happened to him. He could have died with two-thirds of the Titanic's passengers. But he was spared, he felt, so he could be a rescuer of people who otherwise might have died. So were you. You and I have been saved by Jesus - and then put in a position where we can rescue other people who may die if we don't get to them.

That's the message of our word for today from the Word of God in 2 Corinthians 5, beginning with verse 18. "God ... reconciled us to Himself through Christ" - praise God, we were saved from our deadly condition of being cut off from God. But then the Bible goes on to say, "He gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ (now here's some great news), not counting men's sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation" (in other words, the message that can bring a person together with God).

Here's your assignment from heaven that is literally God's call to spiritual greatness - "We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God." So, someone cared enough to give us the life-saving message from Jesus ... now it's our turn to deliver that life-or-death information to someone else. Someone you may very well see day after day ... someone who is in that little part of the world to which you are Jesus Christ's primary ambassador!

God is counting on you to establish a caring relationship with the spiritually dying people in your world ... to pray for, to look for natural opportunities to bring up your relationship with Jesus. You may feel inadequate ... unqualified - but you're the rescuer God decided to put in their lives. And what God calls you to do, He qualifies you to do. It isn't up to you to persuade them to say yes to Jesus ... it is up to you to present what Jesus did for them when He died for them on the cross. Without that information, the lost people you know have no chance of Heaven.

So don't be content just to settle in on the rescue ship with others who have already been saved. The orders of our Captain in Jude 23 are to "snatch others from the fire and save them." And, as D. L. Moody said, "There is no greater honor than to be the instrument in God's hands to lead a person out of the kingdom of Satan and into the glorious light of Heaven."

You have been saved from certain spiritual death ... now don't just be content to enjoy a cruise on the rescue ship of Jesus. You've been spared to be a rescuer.

________________

*

A Fasting Father Takes A Meal

Siamese Bettas are called "fighting fish" because the males will fight each other to the death. Usually, if only one of the species is kept in a fish tank, it gets along well with the other fish. Yet in reproduction, it is the male that makes the nest. Using its saliva and air, the male builds a nest of tiny bubbles, each smaller than a BB-shot. When the nest is about the diameter of a coffee cup, the male mates with the female and the eggs fall. The male gathers the eggs and places each one in an air bubble.

After mating and during the gestation period, the male remains under the bubble nest, not eating. He carefully catches each developing egg when a bubble breaks and places it in a new bubble. He continues this effort around the clock under a forced fast for about two weeks. When the young hatch out, they usually are too small to be seen by the naked eye, but the male fighting fish cares for them until they begin to leave the nest and adhere to the sides of the breeding tank looking like little shards of broken glass.

Suddenly the time of parenting is over. It is as though an alarm goes off inside the fish, as it turns from minister to marauder. If the breeder is not alert, he may lose all the young to the hungry father, who then eats up the very ones he so diligently cared for.

How fortunate is man that God has designed parents so that though the young may become independent and venture in life on their own, unlike these fish, ours are not short-term parents, but lifetime parents, even as God is our eternal parent.

The Robin's Nest Spared

Matthew 10:29

”Not one sparrow … can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t worry! You are more valuable to him than many sparrows.” — Jesus (Matthew 10:29-31, TLB)

I read recently about some city workers in Hamilton, Canada, who were trimming trees along a certain street. In one tree they found a nest with several baby robins in it. They decided not to trim this tree until the nest was empty.

When it was abandoned, the workers returned. In the nest they found a piece of paper, along with dried twigs, the robins had used to build the nest for their babies. On the paper were printed the words, “We trust in the Lord our God!”

– Dick Innes

Miracles Do Happen!

Having worked as both an ambulanceman and policeman in the busy and often violent East End of London the last thing I wanted or thought about was Christianity. Although it was my involvement with suffering that was a major factor preventing me from sharing my wife's Christian Faith, it was to be suffering which would subsequently bring me to search and find the reality and blessing of having a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

On 19th April 1984 my wife was involved in a very serious car accident and was placed on a life support machine. After about a week of failing to respond the doctor asked my permission to turn of the machine. During this week I had witnessed and been impressed by the way my wife's family had shown great strength and resilience coping with the trauma which now faced us. Although I didn't understand it, I guessed it came from their faith in God.

On the day that I was to give an answer to the doctor I was standing on an outside balcony at the hospital having a smoke (now healed of this addiction) waiting for the doctor to attend and switch off the machine. As I looked around me I could see signs of new life in the spring flowers and I began to think about the wonders of creation, including some of the amazing facts I had learnt about the human body whilst training for the London Ambulance Service. I started to consider if perhaps there was a God who had designed such things as delicate & beautiful flowers and the amazing human body, or could it really just be a freak of nature?

In desperation I cried out "God if your up there, come down and show me. My Christian wife is laying there dead, if you save her I'll even look into this Christianity thing" Isn't it strange that too often we don't realise what something is worth until we are about to lose it! Only a week before the accident we were seeking a divorce and I was so angry with her I felt like killing her myself! Now I'm pleading with an unknown God to save her! Notice I only said to God I would look into Christianity. You see I had the totally wrong idea what being a Christian was really all about. I thought that if I became a Christian I would have to become boring & self righteous, like sadly some are!

That I would have to stop enjoying life, no more parties, etc. How wrong I was, I later found out being a Christian adds a new more fulfilling dimension to your life far from boring!

Less than an hour of me making this deal with God, the doctor arrived and as he turned of the machine my wife began to breath again. God not only heard my prayer but he acted! Although she was now breathing she was to remain unconscious for nearly a month. More about her injuries and healing miracle later as I want to tell you about my part of the deal!

As I had now started to consider the possibility of a God who actually does listen and acts, I decided I had better keep my side of the deal. So as my mother-in-law who was staying with me wanted to go to church on Sunday, I took her to my local church. At the time of the accident my wife had strayed away a bit from God and didn't attend church very often, and if she did, went not locally but to a church where we lived previously. I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised as I entered, things had changed since my childhood when my non Christian parents packed me off to Sunday School (they probably did so to get some peace). The place was packed with ordinary people of all ages and mode of dress, some even wearing jeans! There was a mixture of traditional hymns and modern worship and the people actually looked as if they were enjoying themselves! After the service coffee & cookies were served and people were very nice and friendly towards us. I thought to myself "If this all that is involved spending an hour here on a Sunday, I can cope with this." However as I went along for a few weeks I started to realise there was a lot more to being a Christian than just going to church! The vicar was preaching that "Going to church, saying prayers, singing hymns and even believing in God doesn't necessarily make you a Christian." He pointed out the devil believes in God and the only right a person has to call themselves a Christian is if they have a personal relationship involving love & trust with Jesus Christ. Now by this time Maggie, my wife, was more or less out of danger and her chances of survival were fairly good. Did I a macho policeman, or so I thought, really need to get involved with this Christianity thing with all this personal commitment I was learning about? As for having a love relationship with another man who I couldn't even see or touch, no way! I very nearly welched on my part of the deal with God. But He then started to reveal himself in a strange way to me, through some things I used to call coincidences about the accident. I now know they were 'God Incidents' not coincidences. Although we don't believe God caused the accident he was there in all the suffering and trauma and turned this evil & reckless act into something that could bring glory and honour to himself as well as bringing me into his kingdom.

I want to briefly share the details of some of these 'God Incidents' with you, although space doesn't permit me to give full details here, a copy of my tape on the accident is available giving much more detail on these and my testimony.

As you consider these 'coincidences' I point out that this accident happened not in a small rural village but in a highly populated area of London, this I believe make them even more remarkable!

* After the accident happened the very next car to come around the bend was being driven by an off-duty ambulanceman who managed to sustain life until the arrival of a medical team. His wife who was with him worked with a previous neighbour of mine who gave him my new phone number. He needed to contact me as his wife had recurring nightmares about my wife's horrendous injuries. These ended once they had visited my wife in hospital and saw for themselves the miracle that was taking place.

* The cousin of this Ambulanceman was the road sweeper called to clear up the debris at the scene of the accident and he had his camera with him and later supplied photos taken at the scene. Some of these are featured on this web site.

* Within minutes of the accident happening two young off duty policeman arrived on the scene and rendered assistance. One of whom knew Maggie as I was his parent constable, although he didn't recognise her at first because of her facial injuries. Unknown to me at the time he was a Christian and prayed for Maggie.

* My mother-in-law's dentist was the daughter of the consultant who was flown in from Scotland to advise on my wife's treatment. My mother-in-law lives over 70 miles from the scene of the accident and hospital.

* The fireman who cut Maggie from her car was the brother of an ex-colleague of mine from my time with the London Ambulance Service.

* A nurse caring for Maggie was my cousin's future sister-in -law.

* The doctor in charge of the Intensive Care Unit was a personal friend of a friend of mine.

* Two years later whilst involved in a police situation, I met the doctor who was called to the scene. He was amazed at my wife's recovery. It transpired that he was the only Christian doctor from a team of 12 who could have been called out. On the night in question he was at a church service when his bleeper summoned him to the accident. Even God can use modern technology! He too can testify to this miracle.

I was told my wife would need years of plastic surgery & skin grafts. She didn't need any! I was told she would never use her right arm again. She did, the elbow re-grew!

*

The Death of A Son

Job 1

BP EDITORS' NOTE: On Sept. 30, 2001, God had completed Dyson Rusher's task here on earth, after a life of four years and eight months. His parents, Brett and Stephanie Rusher of Ordway, Colo., however, and his 7-year-old sister, Callie, have found numerous ministry opportunities because of Dyson's death. Their own faith has been renewed and deepened to a level they never imagined. And they've seen lives changed because of the work God is doing related to Dyson's death. These are Brett's words. It's his story ... as a father and as a believer.

________________________________

ORDWAY, Colorado (BP) -- Dyson was known to everyone as "Biff." He was a wreck waiting to happen. He pretty much led a charmed life. That kid didn't have a care in the world. He was almost always happy, and almost always up to something. Like most little kids, he had a gift from God. He touched the heart of almost everyone. A lot of people never knew his name, but everybody remembered him.

The Lord gave Dyson to us for four years and eight months. When he went to be with his Father in heaven, it was one of the most heartbreaking things we ever went through. More importantly, it was one of the most beautiful times in our lives.

I was working as a sales representative for a local feed store, but part of my job was to come in and watch the counter occasionally. Since Stephanie worked too, I sometimes took Callie and Dyson in with me. There were toys and things for them to play with, so they enjoyed being there. It was on such a day that our lives changed forever.

The kids were playing outside most of that day. I was talking with my boss and a customer when my boss' wife came in carrying Dyson. A heavy pipe rack that guarded the gas meter to the store had fallen on him. We could see right away that he wasn't conscious and he wasn't breathing. My boss immediately began CPR and I called 911. The ambulance was there within five minutes and Dyson was transported to the ER.

As soon as we were in the hospital, I began to pray. I knew that God would take care of Dyson, but I was scared of how he would do it.

The time in the ER was very uncertain for us. They lost Dyson's pulse, then got it back. And during all of this, Stephanie was in Breckenridge on a business trip. I finally got in touch with her. Thankfully, a close friend and co-worker, Joyce Bond, was with her on that trip. Joyce is also a Christian, and I praise God she was there. My boss had called our pastor and friend, Tab Ramsey, and he arrived to be with me.

The doctors decided that Dyson should be flown to the Children's Hospital in Denver. It would be about an hour before the plane arrived. Tab and I sat with Biff, praying that God would not let my faith weaken. I decided to cling to God and he began to reassure me that he was my only option. He let me know that he would bring us through no matter what.

By the time we arrived at the Children's Hospital, Stephanie and Joyce had arrived from Breckenridge. After treating him in the ER, Biff was taken to the intensive care unit. We decided we wouldn't accept the thought of Dyson leaving us until the Lord told us differently. We decided to pray for a miracle and put all our faith in God that he would give us one.

For the next five days, we ran the gamut of emotions. This is what I meant by the most heartbreaking yet beautiful time in our lives.

By now, Steph's parents, her brother, her sisters and their families were there. All of my family was there, and several close friends. There must've been about 30 people. God put a wonderful support staff in place for us. He strengthened all of us through each other as we prayed, laughed and cried together. Anyone who was in the hospital couldn't have denied the presence of God. And that's just one of miracles we saw that week.

We watched God change people right before our eyes. My mom turned into a whole new person. She's always been vocal, but she became vocal about God. And she didn't care who heard her. Steph's dad became softer than his normal, rigid self. Yet he had rock-like strength. My step-dad, who I wasn't even sure believed in God, joined us in prayer. I could go on and on.

In those five days, we watched God work right in front of us. We watched as he brought permanent changes to friends and loved ones. It's great to see even today how they continue to grow in Christ.

I've heard it said that it's when we're in the darkness that we can learn the most. I believe that to be true. When God is carrying us through darkness, he can teach us the most. In that hospital, we learned one of life's most important lessons. We learned what it means to submit everything in your life totally and completely to God. When you do, he can change you. And not just for the moment, but permanently.

At the beginning of those five days, Stephanie and I prayed to God for Dyson to get up and walk out of there. We wanted a happy ending and we knew God could provide it. It was a fight to maintain that faith. The enemy hammered us with doubts and fears. We began to fight anger with God. And after three days of no improvement, the doctors told us that, medically, there was no chance of recovery. They added, though, that we shouldn't give up hope because they had seen greater miracles.

They also said we needed to make a decision on when to pull the life support. The longer the respirator was on, the greater the chance of infection. We knew if we pulled the life support, that would be the moment of truth. Dyson would either breathe on his own and live, or he would die. We told the doctor we'd pray about it and when we felt at peace with a decision we'd let her know.

After that meeting, I got very angry at God. I went in Dyson's room and pleaded with God to take me instead. But in my heart, I knew he wasn't going to do that. I completely lost my temper with God and let him have every bit of anger I had in me. I begged him not to take my son from me. I asked him why he wouldn't answer my prayers. He finally brought me to the point where I realized that the answers were right there in the Bible; I just wasn't looking for them.

So I got my Bible out and desperately searched for answers. I was trying to figure out what I needed to do to save my son. Up to this point, I thought if enough people prayed hard enough and long enough, we could save Dyson's life. Then God pointed me to the 23rd Psalm. Then he showed me Psalm 27:14 which says to wait on the Lord. There were other Scriptures, too. I took Psalm 27:14 to heart and decided to do what it says, and wait for the Lord. I would wait for him to work on his own terms and in his own time. The answers began to come almost immediately.

That night, my mom came to stay with Dyson so Stephanie and I could get some much-needed sleep. She brought a book with her about physical healing. The author's belief was that we should always pray for physical healing because that's always God's will. But all of the Scriptures she referenced in the book were about spiritual healing. I so badly wanted to believe this author. There were cases of physical healing in the Scriptures, but God's ultimate purpose was always spiritual healing. I was confused and frustrated. I went back to my wife and mom to read part of the book to them and figure this out. Steph's immediate response was, "If God doesn't want us to suffer or feel physical pain, what about Job?"

There it was, the answer we had so desperately been searching for.

It took us almost two days to read the Book of Job and study it until we understood what God was saying. Job yelled and screamed at God but he never gave up on God. Nor did God ever give up on Job.

We realized that what God was saying to us was, "Look, I'm taking Dyson to heaven. He's fulfilled his purpose here. If you'll trust in me, that I know what's best for you, I'll carry you through the darkness. I understand that you're going to be angry with me. I understand that you'll yell and scream at me and ask why. But I want you to know that I'll carry you. I love you. You, like Dyson, are my children."

As we look back on that night in the hospital, when God was comforting us through the Book of Job, we've learned of several people who were also seeking God in the same Scriptures on that same night. Steph's cousin, her brother, a good friend of mine ... all were led to the same place in the Bible at the same time.

We prayed and asked God to make the decision about life support. He did, and when he had given us a peace with it, we had them pull the life support. Biff was gone almost immediately. We realized that he was never our child, but God's child. We're all God's children.

As for Steph, Callie and me, we know we're still here for a purpose. We've been given an awesome ministry through Dyson's life. We want to use it to glorify God. We praise God that Dyson is in heaven. Oh, we have our selfish moments when we think we'd like to have him back, but we know that in the scope of eternity, it'll be a very short time before we're in the kingdom with our Father and with Dyson.

*

A Perfect Mistake

Ezra 8:23

Grandpa Nybakken loved life -- especially when he could play a trick on somebody. At those times, his large Norwegian frame shook with laughter while he feigned innocent surprise, exclaiming, "Oh, forevermore!" But on a cold Saturday in downtown Chicago, Grandpa felt that God played a trick on him, and Grandpa wasn't laughing.

Mother's father worked as a carpenter. On this particular day, he was building some crates for the clothes his church was sending to an orphanage in China. On his way home, he reached into his shirt pocket to find his glasses, but they were gone. He remembered putting them there that morning, so he drove back to the church. His search proved fruitless.

When he mentally replayed his earlier actions, he realized what happened. The glasses had slipped out of his pocket unnoticed and fallen into one of the crates, which he had nailed shut. His brand new glasses were heading for China!

The Great Depression was at its height, and Grandpa had six children. He had spent twenty dollars for those glasses that very morning.

"It's not fair," he told God as he drove home in frustration. "I've been very faithful in giving of my time and money to your work, and now this."

Several months later, the director of the orphanage was on furlough in the United States. He wanted to visit all the churches that supported him in China, so he came to speak one Sunday night at my grandfather's small church in Chicago. Grandpa and his family sat in their customary seats among the sparse congregation.

The missionary began by thanking the people for their faithfulness in supporting the orphanage.

"But most of all," he said, "I must thank you for the glasses you sent last year. You see, the Communists had just swept through the orphanage, destroying everything, including my glasses. I was desperate.

"Even if I had the money, there was simply no way of replacing those glasses. Along with not being able to see well, I experienced headaches every day, so my coworkers and I were much in prayer about this. Then your crates arrived. When my staff removed the covers, they found a pair of glasses lying on top."

The missionary paused long enough to let his words sink in. Then, still gripped with the wonder of it all, he continued: "Folks, when I tried on the glasses, it was as though they had been custom-made just for me! I want to thank you for being a part of that."

The people listened, happy for the miraculous glasses. But the missionary surely must have confused their church with another, they thought. There were no glasses on their list of items to be sent overseas.

But sitting quietly in the back, with tears streaming down his face, an ordinary carpenter realized the Master Carpenter had used him in an extraordinary way.

________

An Angel Protected Him From Dangerous Rye

One day in 1850, a Christian farmer started for the mill at Rockland, Rhode Island, with a bag of rye to be ground into flour for the family bread. On the way the old family horse unaccountably balked on a bridge over a stream, and began to turn and back up. He kept on till the rear wheels of the wagon went over the log guard along the edge of the planks. The farmer jumped out, the horse stood still, and the farmer held the front wheels caught on the log guard, so that the wagon did not go over, but the contents were thrown into the water. Neighbors helped to right the wagon and the rye was fished out.

There was a mystery about the accident. The horse had showed no signs of fear and had never acted this way before. The farmer was puzzled. He had earnestly prayed, only that morning, that the angel of the Lord would protect them that day and here was this unexplained accident.

The farmer returned home and went to work to dry the grain and prepare it for grinding. When he spread out the rye on a cloth in the sun to dry, he noticed, scattered through it all, fragments of a fine glittering substance, which on examination, proved to be glass.

Thousands upon thousands of fine fragments mingled with those two bushels of rye — enough to cause the death of all the family if the grain had been ground and baked and eaten. He was amazed at this discovery and with grateful heart he knelt with his family and thanked God for His wonderful providence which had so strangely saved their lives.

They found on investigation that the rye had been kept for a time in an open barrel and that above it workmen had been smoothing ax handles, using pieces of glass to scrape and polish the wood. In this way particles of glass had been ground off and had fallen down into the rye. This was unnoticed when the grain was emptied into the sack to be taken to the mill.

A Spider's Web

A young soldier found himself in a terrible battle during the Scottish Reformation. (I cannot remember the soldier’s name or the exact date of the battle. I think it took place sometime between 1200 and 1400 AD.) The enemy was soundly defeating this young man’s army. He and his comrades found themselves hastily retreating from the battle field in defeat, running away in fear of their very lives. The enemy gave chase. This young man ran hard and fast, full of fear and desperation, soon found himself cut off from his comrades in arms.

He eventually came upon a rocky ledge containing a cave. Knowing the enemy was close behind, and that he was exhausted from the chase, chose to hide there. After he crawled in, he feel to his face in the darkness, desperately crying to God to save him and protect him from his enemies. He also made a bargain with God, one which I (and perhaps you too?) have made before. He promised that if God saved him, he would serve Him for the remainder of his days.

When he looked up from his despairing plea for help, he saw a spider beginning to weave its web at the entrance to the cave. As he watched the delicate threads being slowly drawn across the mouth of the cave, the young soldier pondered its irony. He thought, “I asked God for protection and deliverance, and he sent me a spider instead. How can a spider save “me?”

His heart was hardened, knowing the enemy would soon discover his hiding place and kill him.

And soon he did hear the sound of his enemies, who were now scouring the area looking for those in hiding. One soldier with a gun slowly walked up to the cave’s entrance. As the young man crouched in the darkness, hoping to surprise the enemy in a last-minute desperate attempt to save his own life, he felt his heart pounding wildly out of control.

As the enemy cautiously moved forward to enter the cave, he came upon the spider’s web, which by now was completely strung across the opening. He backed away and called out to a comrade, “There can’t be anyone in here. They would have had to break this spider’s web to enter the cave. Let’s move on.”

Years later, this young man, who made good his promise by becoming a preacher and evangelist, wrote about that ordeal. What he observed has stood by me in times of trouble, especially during those times when everything seemed impossible. He wrote:

“Where God is, a spider’s web is as a stone wall. Where God is not, a stone wall is as a spider’s web.”

All Things Working Together

Romans 8:28

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to [His] purpose.” (Romans 8:28 NKJV)

All Things Working Together

• know — (1) Word of God (Isa 27:7-9, 54:15-17, Ps 94:12-15) (2) covenant of grace (P2 Sam 23:5) (3) our filial relation to God (Ps 103:13, Heb 12:5-11)(4) history of His people — David, Joseph, Job, etc

• all things — nature, providence, grace. Things that seem evil as well as things manifestly good

• work together — in agreement, co-operation, for one end.

Look upon no evil — poverty, affliction, etc. — as working by itself (illustration: opposite seasons work together to perfect the year’s harvest: opposite gases make a wholesome atmosphere)

• good — spiritual, eternal

• to…God — to others even the blessing is often turned into a curse

• called…purpose — Gal 5:13, Col 3:15, 1 Tim 6:2, Rev 3:20, 19:9, Heb 9:15, 1 Cor 9:8, Rom 11:29 — according to His eternal purpose in Christ

The reward of loving — H. W. Beecher

I. To whom were these words spoken? — To those who love God, and who, loving Him,

1. Do not regard all their good as secular;

2. Require no more than His love. What more can the world give?

II. The nature of a true love to God. It kindles the conception of things far higher than mere temporalities

The purpose, calling, and love of God –Caleb Morris

I. His purpose. It is –

1. Essentially one;

2. Good;

3. Progressive.

II. His calling. He decreed –

1. That you should have an intelligent, responsible, and undying nature;

2. The offer of salvation to fallen man;

3. That the refusal of His offer should be punished;

4. That those who trust in His mercy shall be saved.

III. His love. It is revealed by –

1. His dispensations towards man;

2. The work of Christ

Providence — E. D. Cornish

We have in the text:-

I. A fact:

1. Things work;

2. All things work;

3. All things work together.

II. A principle — “Love to God.”

III. A result — “Good.”

The Christian Cosmos — Rev. H. Batchelor

I. The universal law — work:

1. The inanimate creation is not exempt from this law;

2. In the lowest levels of animated existence there are the tokens of work;

3. Work pervades the human and animal economy;

4. Angels and demons work;

5. The Godhead works.

II. The universal method — together:

1. The inferior objects of nature;

2. Men;

3. Men with nature;

4. Men and angels;

5. Men with God;

6. All things, principles, and beings, “work together,” and God moves amidst and works through them all.

III. The universal destination — “for good to them that love God” –

1. Why to them that love God?

2. How all for good? Application:-

(1) Our great concern is manifestly to love God;

(2) The love of God in the heart is the secret of all spiritual rest and peace;

(3) All things work together for ill to them that love not God.

God’s providence in relation to His people — Henry Thorne

It is –

I. Universal in its extent. Many things contribute to the good of “them that love God:”

1. Angels;

2. Fallen angels and devils;

3. Human beings, both good and bad;

4. The animal creation;

5. The elements of nature;

6. Calamity, disease, and suffering.

II. Harmonious in its operations. See this in –

1. The history of redemption;

2. Individual experience.

III. Benevolent in its design — for good:

1. Visible;

2. Invisible, good

Divine providnce — Dr Andrew Reed

Concerning Divine providence we observe –

I. Its universality;

II. Its mighty efficacy in action;

III. Harmony;

IV. The benevolence of its design;

V. That it has reference to a particular class of persons who are beneficially interested in it;

VI. Its source — the purpose of God;

VII. The confidence which it is calculated to inspire;

VIII. That it is mediatorial.

Good out of evil — When the Rev. Bernard Gilpin was on his way to London, to be tried before the Popish party, he broke his leg by a fall, which put a stop for some time to his journey. The person in whose custody he was, took occasion from this circumstance to retort upon him an observation he used frequently to make, “That nothing happens to us but what is intended for our good.” He answered meekly, “He made no question but it was.” And, indeed, so it proved; for before he was able to travel, Queen Mary died. Being thus providentially rescued, he returned to Houghton through crowds of people, expressing the utmost joy, and blessing God for his deliverance.

“This unfeigned love of God, raised from belief of His loving kindness towards us, is as the first conception or plantation of true happiness; to which, once truly planted, whatsoever in this life can befall us serves as nutriment.” — Dean Jackson

“Health, beauty, vigour, riches, and all the other things called goods, operate equally as evils to the vicious and unjust, as they do as benefits to the just.” — Plato

“Divine Providence tempers His blessings to secure their better effect. He keeps our joys and our fears on an even balance, that we may neither presume e nor despairr. By such compositions God is pleased to make both our crosses more tolerable, and our enjoyments more wholesome and safe.” — Wogan

“The chariot of God’s providence runneth not upon broken wheels.” — Rutherford

My Child - [poem]

Sometimes I ask the question,

“My Lord, is this your will?”

It’s then I hear you answer me,

“My Precious Child… be still.”

Sometimes I feel frustrated,

cause I think I know what’s best.

It’s then I hear you say to me,

“My Busy Child… just rest”

Sometimes I feel so lonely

and I think I’d like a mate.

Your still small voice gets oh so clear

and says, “My Child… please wait.”

“I know the plans I have for you,

the wonderous things you’ll see;

If you can just be patient, Child,

and put your trust in me.

I’ve plans to draw you closer.

I’ve plans to help you grow.

There’s much I do you cannot see

and much you do not know.

But know this, Child … I LOVE YOU.

You are Precious unto Me.

Before I formed you in the womb,

I planned your destiny.

I’ve something very special

I hope for you to learn.

The gifts I wish to give to you

are gifts you cannot earn.

They come without a price tag,

but not without a cost;

at Calvary, I gave My Son,

so You would not be lost.

Rest Child, and do not grow weary

of doing what is good.

I promise I’ll come back for you

just like I said I would.

Your name is written on my palm,

I never could forget;

Therefore, do not be discouraged when

my answer is… “Not Yet”

The Coincidences In Lives of Jefferson and Adams

History records amazing coincidences in the lives of two of America’s founders - Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. You are aware that Jefferson labored for two weeks writing the Declaration of Independence. He showed his drafts to Adams and Benjamin Franklin, who edited it, honed Jefferson’s ideas and refined the document. When it was finally finished, he brought it before the Continental Congress for approval. And America remembers her birth date, of course, as July 4, 1776.

Jefferson and Adams spent the next 50 years debating ideas about how this new nation should govern itself and what it should eventually become. Their administrations argued philosophies and legislation. Sometimes the two men were contentious, but later in life they seemed to develop more of an appreciation for each other. Though they lived far apart, they faithfully corresponded.

Surprisingly (and coincidentally), they both died the same day! Adams is said to have uttered, just before he died, “Thomas Jefferson survives.” He couldn’t have known that Jefferson himself died only a few hours earlier.

Do you know what that day was? July 4 - Independence Day. Do you know what year? It was 1826, exactly 50 years from the signing of the Declaration of Independence. And the coincidences don’t end there.

Couriers were dispatched with the news of the great men’s deaths. From Braintree, Massachusetts the messenger with news about Adams traveled south. Jefferson’s messenger came north from Monticello, Virginia. Do you know where they met? In Philadelphia ... under the shadow of the great hall where both men’s lives were so dramatically shaped, and where they labored to give birth to a nation.

Coincidence? Perhaps. But historians of the day often attributed these coincidences to providence - as a good omen for a new nation.

*

[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #23967]

God Will Supply All Need

“Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things [sent] from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Php 4:18-19 NKJV)

God Will Supply All Need

• I…abound — Heb 13:16 — I have all I need and more

• Epaphroditus — see 2:25

• odour[aroma]…God — Eph 5:2, Heb 11:6, Gal 5:6

• supply…need — 2 Cor 9:8 — fulfil every need of yours

• according — in accordance with

• to…glory — by placing you ultimately in glory

• by…Jesus — Eph 1:7, Ps 84:11 — through your union with Christ (Lightfoot). The idea is, that heaven will be the ample filling up of the needs that Christians suffer here.

Present blessings — J. H. Newman, B.D.

We ought to bless and praise God that we have:

I. The gift of life — not merely for the fact that we live, but also for those blessings which are included in the notion of our living.

II. The gift of sleep — rest from sorrow and trouble.

III. The blessings of Christian brotherhood.

IV. The blessing of present peace in the Church, and of freedom of speech and action.

V. The privileges of daily worship and weekly communion. Let us enjoy these privileges while we may.

The care of Providence — A pious woman, in the days of persecution, used to say she should never want, because her God would supply her every need. She was taken before an unjust judge for attending the worship of God. The judge, on seeing her, tauntingly said, “I have often wished to have you in my power, and now I shall send you to prison, and then how will you be fed?” She replied, “If it be my heavenly Father’s pleasure, I shall be fed from your table.” And that was literally the case; for the judge’s wife, being present at the examination, was greatly pleased with the good woman’s firmness, and took care to send her victuals from her table, so that she was comfortably supplied all the time she was in prison.

“How can any one be grateful for a favour that has been extorted rather than granted? Do not even expect the thanks of that man to be sincere who has been wearied by delay and teased by expectation.” — Seneca

Vague Faith In Middle Earth

Faced with the end of his world, even the cheery hobbit Pippin lost hope.

“I didn't think it would end this way,” he tells Gandalf, as they watch the forces of evil advance in Peter Jackson's epic “The Return of the King.”

“End? No, the journey doesn't end here,” replies the wizard, who already has had one near-death experience and been reborn. “There's another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back and it will change to silver glass and then you see it.”

Confused, Pippin asks: “See what?”

With a wry smile, Gandalf replies: “White shores and beyond them, a far green country under a swift sunrise.”

This speech is based on some of J.R.R. Tolkien's most beautiful language at the end of “The Lord of the Rings” and poetically expresses his belief in a life to come.

Yet there are other ways to interpret this scene and the whole 500,000-word trilogy, noted the actor inside those wizard's robes. As an openly gay atheist, Sir Ian McKellen said he had no problem putting his own spin on Tolkien's visions. The key, he said, is that this is a work of cultural myth, not Christian allegory.

“The interesting thing about Hobbiton to me is that it doesn't have a church,” said McKellen, during a blitz of interviews hours before the premiere of “The Return of the King” in Los Angeles. “It's appealing to me that people like these stories and yet there isn't an archbishop and there isn't a pope telling you what to believe. ...

“Despite being a Catholic, I don't think he was trying to write a Catholic parable, so I don't think we were meant to draw conclusions about faith from it. But I am sure that other people disagree.”

Yes, they certainly do and the global success of these movies -- $3 billion at the box office is a safe guess -- only raises the stakes in such debates.

Many Christians quickly quote Tolkien's claim that his trilogy was a “fundamentally religious and Catholic work.” Others criticize its lack of clear, evangelistic Christian content and distrust his love of magic and myths. Meanwhile, some readers prefer to embrace its elves, wizards and back-to-nature themes.

Almost everyone involved in the movies believes The Lord of the Rings contains “spiritual” or even “sacred” themes. But they struggle to define these words.

Facing a circle of reporters from religious publications, members of Jackson's team emphasized that they strove to avoid personal agendas that might betray Tolkien. Yet they also stressed they did not believe Tolkien had a dogmatic agenda.

The central “tenet that is underlying the story is his Catholicism, which is at the heart ... of the book,” said Fran Walsh, a producer, screenwriter and mother of two children with Jackson. “In the end, if there is anything to be taken from the film it's that it's about faith.” The story is also about death and the knowledge that its heroes “will endure in some form” after their passage to another land, she said.

So this is a story about “faith,” “hope,” “courage,” “decency,” “sacrifice,” and even eternal life. It's about the triumph of “simple goodness.” But it is not, as screenwriter Philippa Boyens put it, about moral absolutes that proclaim, “This is good and this is evil! And this is what you must do!”

Yet the final outcome -- the destruction of the one ring of power -- depends on key characters making agonizing choices between good and evil.

The tormented Gollum chooses poorly and reaps what he has sown.

The noble Frodo chooses poorly as well, yet is saved by his earlier acts of compassion toward Gollum.

“It was Frodo's destiny to accept this ring,” said Elijah Wood, who plays Frodo. “But it's Frodo's mercy that actually destroys the ring. The ring is not destroyed by any person's will. I mean, it is the will of Frodo that gets it to where it needs to go. But it is indeed his mercy for Gollum that allows Gollum to meet them at the Crack of Doom and to stop Frodo.”

The whole thing, Wood said, is “a bit of a puzzle piece.”

The movie's director was asked if the word “providence” might apply to this mystery.

“Yes,” Jackson said.

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Crashing To An Upgrade

Job 42:10

There is no way we could have taken our “On Eagles' Wings” team of young Native Americans across Alaska without the help of our wonderful missionary partner Grant. He made the arrangements for us in village after village and helped fly us across the area, and took on much of the follow-up. Now, Grant is a pilot. You almost have to be when the villages you serve are often hundreds of miles from the nearest road. You can imagine how hard it hit us when we heard that another pilot had crashed and totaled the plane that Grant's ministry depends on. Miraculously, no one was seriously injured, but Grant was without a plane and without any funds to replace it.

Well, we joined Grant and his really dedicated family in fervent prayer for God's provision. And God really provided! The plane Grant lost was a four-seater - not big enough to even transport his whole family in one trip. The plane God replaced it with? A better aircraft, a bigger aircraft - a six-place plane that now enables him to take his whole family - or, in our case, many young Native missionaries - in one load.

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Crashing to an Upgrade.”

It is one of God's strange and wonderful ways. He allows something to be taken away so He can ultimately replace it with something so much better! The time you really need to focus on that is the time in between, when you're without what you've lost and not yet experiencing God's upgrade. Our missionary pilot friend didn't get his better plane the day after his first plane crashed. There were months of faith-stretching, heavy duty praying, and soul-searching. But in His always perfect time, God did what our friend believed He would do - replace the loss with something better.

That's what Job experienced after losing everything - his fortune, his children, his health. In our word for today from the Word of God in Job 42:10, the Bible says, “The Lord made him prosperous again, and gave him twice as much as he had before.” Then we read the number of sheep, camels, oxen, and donkeys Job had, and point-by-point, he receives exactly twice as many as he started with! The Bible continues, “The Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first ... He also had seven sons and three daughters ... nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job's daughters.”

Over and over in our lives, Karen and I have experienced God's love and wisdom in this same way. He takes away to give more. When we were looking for the land He wanted us to have for building our Ministry Headquarters, we found some that a man was willing to sell to us. We proceeded with our plans, only to discover shortly before closing on the land that the seller had changed his mind and was taking it off the market. We were hit hard, we prayed hard, we tried to proceed as if “the battle is the Lord's.” After a season of uncertainty, the man with adjacent land changed his mind and decided to sell his land to us - except it was exactly twice as much land as the original site for the same price! Oh, and better land!

So right now, if you've suffered a loss that's hard to understand, count on the goodness of your God - even though you can't imagine how He could replace what you've lost, or what you've surrendered to Him, with something better. I don't know what it's going to look like, but I know we have a Savior who loves us, who knows what we need, and who desires our best. Can you trust Him to be the God of the greater good?

Remember, one reason God allows crashes is to upgrade you to something better!

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Making Monuments

Joshua 4:5

Less than a hundred years ago, the South's economy still depended almost entirely upon one crop: cotton. Southern farmers began to realize the precariousness of a one-crop economy as rumors reached them of a boll-weevil epidemic spreading from Mexico into Texas and heading their way. Sure enough, the boll weevil had reached south Alabama by 1915, destroying that year's cotton crop and causing a regional depression.

One farmer from Enterprise, Alabama, proposed a solution. He convinced the farmers of Coffee County to diversify their crops, specifically encouraging them to plant peanuts. At the same time, George Washington Carver was researching and popularizing new uses for the peanut, so the crop sold well. The diversification was good for the soil, which had been depleted by years of cotton crops. In hindsight, residents of Coffee County were able to recognize that the boll-weevil epidemic had been one of the best things to ever happen to their economy.

A local businessman decided to commemorate this epidemic in way that many have considered odd. He placed a monument to the boll weevil right in the middle of downtown Enterprise. Locals proudly claim that the Enterprise boll weevil monument is the only known monument dedicated to a pest. The oddity of the shrine has brought tourists out of their way to see it first hand.

In spite of its unconventional nature, the boll weevil monument is a source of inspiration to me. It represents people who were able to recognize that a disaster in their midst turned into an unanticipated blessing. They did not give themselves the credit for ingenuity because they might never have considered crop rotation if they had not been forced. They graciously blessed that which had cursed them and learned to consider the boll weevil as a friend in disguise.

When disaster strikes in our lives, it is natural to feel persecuted. We are tempted to give up, convinced that there is no way to surmount the obstacles we face. Or, we might be tempted to react in defiance in an attempt to prove our toughness to the world. But there is a third option; we can respond in humility, waiting to see how God might use our tribulations for our good, to bring us closer to him. When at last we can see the good coming out of evil, we should respond in thankfulness. Each example of God's grace turning hardship into holiness should give us further confidence to trust him when the next blow comes.

But there is another lesson I learn from the Enterprise monument. It is the lesson of passing down the redemptive lessons we learn to future generations. My great-grandfather was a farmer not far from Enterprise when the boll-weevil epidemic hit, but I never would have heard the story if it hadn't been for the unusual statue in the center of town. Although we would expect to pass down our important life lessons, flying time and failing memories make this rare without memorials of some kind to prompt our remembrance.

As Joshua led the people of Israel into the Promised Land, they encountered what looked like an insurmountable barrier in the form of the River Jordan at flood stage. God parted the river and allowed the people to pass through on dry ground. God knew his people's tendency to forget even miracles, so he had Joshua instruct twelve men to set up stones of remembrance, saying, “Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD . When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever” (Joshua 4:5-7).

There are many different ways of setting up memorials to God's faithfulness, and they don't have to be set in stone. Let us be on the alert for the redemptive hand of God in all our trials and find ways to commemorate his blessing. Your children and your children's children will reap the rewards.

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[Original illustration here was a duplicate in HolwickID 25837-26027]

Spurgeon's Devotional

Isaiah 41:14

”I will help thee, saith the Lord.” Isaiah 41:14.

This morning let us hear the Lord Jesus speak to each one of us: “I will help thee.” “It is but a small thing for Me, your God, to help you. Consider what I have done already. What! not help you? Why, I bought you with My blood. What! not help you? I have died for you; and if I have done the greater, will I not do the less? Help you! It is the least thing I will ever do for you; I have done more, and will do more. Before the world began I chose you. I made the covenant for you. I laid aside My glory and became a man for you; I gave up My life for you; and if I did all this, I will surely help you now. In helping you, I am giving you what I have bought for you already. If you had need of a thousand times as much help, I would give it to you; you require little compared with what I am ready to give. It is much for you to need, but it is nothing for me to bestow. ‘Help you ?’ Fear not!

If there were an ant at the door of you granary asking for help, it would not ruin you to give him a handful of your wheat; and you are nothing but a tiny insect at the door of My all sufficiency. “I will help you up.” O my soul, is not this enough? Do you need more strength than the omnipotence of the United Trinity? Do you want more wisdom than exists in the Father, more love than displays itself in the Son, or more power than is manifest in the influences of the Spirit? Bring Me your empty pitcher! Surely this well will fill it. Hasten, gather up your wants, and bring them here — your emptiness, your woes, your needs. Behold, this river of God is full for your supply; what can you desire beside? Go forth, my soul, in this your might. The Eternal God is your Helper! “Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed, For I am thy God, I will still give thee aid!”

From His Perspective

I heard the story of an elderly minister who liked to visit people in hospitals. He often would take along a little, embroidered bookmark that he carried in his Bible. On the back of the bookmark were a group of tangled threads with no apparent pattern. He would hand this bookmark, with the back facing up, to those who were hurting or upset and say, “Look at that and tell me what it says.”

As they looked at all the tangled threads, they would say, “I have no idea what it says. It doesn’t seem to say anything.”

Then he said, “Now, turn it over.” As they would flip that bookmark over, they saw the words, “God is love.” The minister would say, “Many times as we look at what God is doing, we just see tangled threads with no rhyme or reason. But from God’s perspective, He is dealing with us in love, and He knows what He is doing.”

The next time you think it is all over for you, just remember how things turned out for Joseph. Just remember how things turned out for Daniel. No doubt things looked pretty dim when he was in the den of lions. It looked hopeless as well for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego when they were thrown into the fiery furnace. Things looked pretty grim for Peter when he was in prison. And things looked bleak for Martha and Mary when their brother died.

You see, things can look bad at one moment, but then God will step in and turn events around. Then suddenly you’ll look back and say, “Now I understand what God was doing.”

A Survivor's Tale

Amos 5:4

I was born in northern California to a wealthy family. My father was the son of a Methodist minister, and my mother came from a godly Presbyterian family. But when they married they left God completely out of their lives. My four brothers and I were raised without knowing God. We did not pray or go to Sunday school, church, or any religious service. I didn’t see a Bible until I was 19 years old.

As a young man I joined the military and took courses in engineering at Boeing Aircraft in Arizona. At the nearby Army Air Corps base I met a young Baptist who urged me to read the story of Charles Fuller, speaker of the radio program Old Fashioned Revival Hour. The book gave me my first inkling about Christianity, but it had no lasting impact.

Then my new friend invited me to prayer meeting. After he left I put on my uniform and started across the parade ground to the post chapel. As I walked I distinctly heard a Voice say: “I want you to be a minister.” The sensation stunned and shocked me. When I got to the chapel I saw my friend and four other guys sitting on the front row discussing the book of Matthew. I listened about 10 minutes then jumped up and ran back to the barracks.

During World War II I was a flight engineer, flying B-17 bombers from England to Germany. On June 21, 1944, our plane was damaged during a bombing run over Berlin, taking eight direct hits. With two direct hits in the nose and one in the fuselage, three engines failed. Flak came at us in 200-foot increments. Our tail gunner reported its progress: “Six hundred feet, 400, 200,” then it hit us.

One shell went through our left wing and exploded above us, leaving a hole about eight inches in diameter that released about 500 gallons of 100-octane fuel into the wing. By every law of physics it should have exploded, but it didn’t.

We kept the plane in the air another 90 minutes on one engine. The previous day Nazi Air Chief Hermann Goering, in a move to save munitions, had ordered fighter planes not to attack seriously damaged bombers, believing they would eventually be destroyed by crashing. Consequently, even though any number of enemy planes could have destroyed us, they all turned away.

The pilot flying our P-38 escort radioed: “I don’t know how you fellows are staying in the air. You look like a kitchen sieve to me.”

About two hours from Berlin we flew into more flak, lost control of the plane, went into a power dive, and bailed out. I went into a very tight spin and headed for the ground headfirst at a 45-degree angle. When my parachute opened, my shoulders took the blow, fracturing some vertebra in my neck.

Farmers in the countryside began shooting at our crew and me as we floated toward the ground. I drifted into a walnut tree that cushioned my fall. When I got on the ground, three civilians surrounded me and began beating me with clubs. They had received tremendous devastation and suffered much from our bombers, and they vented their anger on me as one of those responsible for it.

We were the first GIs they had captured. After the local burgomaster was summoned, my buddy, Pratt, and I were forced to stand about 25 feet from 10 men selected to be a firing squad.

The burgomaster gave the command: “Ready, aim . . .”

I was petrified. I knew I was going to die, but at only 20 years old I desperately wanted to live. I didn’t know what happened to the dead and could only think of boiling cauldrons in a place called “hell” meant to torture the unsaved.

Then the last command: “Fire!”

There were 10 clicks, but not a single gun fired. The burgomaster ordered the farmers to reload. They pulled the chambers back, and 10 bullets fell on the ground.

Again the burgomaster called, “Ready, aim, fire!”

Another 10 clicks, but no report.

After this happened once more, six soldiers appeared and ordered the firing squad to drop their guns.

A fellow crewmember and I were transported to a stalag prisoner of war camp in Frankfurt. Half of my 7’x5’ cell was filled by my bunk. The walls were painted gray. It had no windows, no ventilation, no toilet. A single, bare light bulb hanging from the ceiling burned 24 hours a day. We could leave the cell only once every 12 hours.

For breakfast we received about two ounces of peppermint tea and a little wafer of bread. For lunch we got another taste of tea, bread, and about four ounces of sour barley.

In the mornings we were awakened at 4:00 and taken to the interrogation center, a cemetery in a forest a few miles away. One time we were given a shovel and told to dig a pit 2’ wide by 6’ deep. We tried to dig as slowly as possible, but by noon we were waist-deep in the hole, and by evening up to our shoulders.

When we were pulled out of the hole we were ordered to stand with our heels at the end of the hole, facing the firing squad.

The interrogating officer said: “Tell me what I want to know or that is your grave.”

From somewhere I gained an unknown strength that allowed me a certain measure of peace. We were eventually taken back to camp. I spent the rest of the war in a stalag in West Poland.

When the Russian army came within 11 miles of our prison, we were evacuated. Ten thousand of us were moved in columns of 1,800 every other day. I could stand, but I walked with great difficulty since my injuries after bailing out of the plane had never healed properly.

We walked 550 miles in 91 days. We called it the Great Black Death March. We marched in snow, ice, and sleet. As I stumbled along — cold and hungry — I cried out: “God, if You exist, if You’ll save me, I’ll seek You and serve You.” For three days I rode in the “death wagon,” too sick to stand. Of the 1,850 men in my section, only 250 of us lived to be liberated.

On returning to the United States I remembered my vow to God and began searching for Him. I drove from San Francisco to Los Angeles looking for some evidence of a personal God who cared about me. A friend later told me God wasn’t to be found on the road, but in churches. I had never been to church, neither was I interested in going. In the Army a chaplain told us that sinners go to hell to suffer eternal torment, while saints rode on clouds in heaven. Both concepts disgusted me.

But I began visiting churches. After going to several, I convinced myself there was no God, and I reasoned I had fulfilled my obligation made to Him when He preserved my life during the death march.

At the time I was working at the U.S. Navy shipyard in Vallejo, California. My fire watch, a small man, was filled with hatred for the world and everything in it. One day, while working with our welding equipment, he nudged me and said, “Let’s have some fun. See that fellow coming toward us.” I looked and saw one of the tallest men I had ever seen. “Hey, brother,” my companion said to him, “you’d better get ready to meet your Lord.”

The huge man walked up to us and in a voice like a foghorn bellowed, “I’m ready. You’re the ones who’d better get ready.”

The little fellow behind me whispered: “Don’t listen to him, don’t read anything he gives you, or you’ll be as crazy as he is.”

As I looked up into his huge face, I saw peace and felt a power that seemed to radiate from him. “You go to church?” I asked.

“Yes,” he replied. “Do you go to church?”

“I don’t,” I replied, explaining that I knew nothing about religion.

He took a Bible from his pocket, opened it, and said, “This is what God says.” Never once did he tell me what he thought, or what his church taught. It was always, “This is what God says.”

That was the beginning of a new life for me, a changed life that brought me greater miracles than those I experienced during my service during the war in the Army Air Corps. I became a Christian when I was 22 years old, but God had been pursuing me — and protecting me — all those years; I just didn’t know Him.

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After a career as pastor and missionary, James H. Harris passed to his rest in March of 2007.

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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #21571]

MacArthur Made His Way Back With God's Help

Why do some escape harm in battle while others do not? Gen. Douglas MacArthur had an answer – he believed God was the reason for his survival in combat. He once told another officer of this battle experience during World War I:

Chief, God led me by the hand – led me by the hand. There were so many times I shouldn’t have escaped. The Forty-second was stopped. We’d tried to take a hill in our front but the Boche [Germans] had it so heavily fortified and armed, we were held up each time. The losses would be too costly. I felt we must get more information on the details of their position. I organized a night reconnaissance patrol. I accompanied it because I felt my presence would help morale and I could personally direct the movements so as to obtain specifically what we needed.

We had not gone far in the darkness over no-man’s land when the enemy opened up with everything he had. Automatically, we hit the dirt and dropped into shell holes. I lay there till things got quiet and the darkness was blackest. Then I called in muffled voice, “Each one of you get up when I give the signal, take the hand of the man on his right. I will lead off to get back to our lines!” I waited till the time was ripe and gave the command. No one stirred, and there wasn’t a sound. I called again. No action or reply. I crawled along from shell hole to shell hole. I took hold of each man and shook him, thinking it not unlikely his extreme fatigue had caused him to sleep.

Chief, they were all stone dead. I was the only one left there alone. I made my way back with God’s help.

[MacArthur did not attend church services, though his wife did. He did take part in his family’s daily devotions from the Episcopalian Book of Common Prayer.]

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“Nineteen Stars: A Study in Military Character and Leadership,” Edgar F. Puryear, Jr. (Presidio Press: California, 1971), pp. 309-10. MacArthur’s quote comes from Colonel William A. Ganoe, MacArthur Close-up (New York: Vantage Press, 1962) pp. 143-44.

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Yahweh With You -- He Will Provide

Judges 6

Jimmy had a lump in his throat and anxious thoughts were filling his mind. What should we do? He’s gonna die! Lying at his feet was an ill fellow-hiker. Their youth group had gone deep into the Smoky Mountains — far from any medical assistance.

A storm was moving in, the young man’s fever had reached 105 degrees, and there was seemingly no way to transport him down the mountain. The whole group prayed for God to help them. A makeshift stretcher was soon cobbled together with long sticks for poles and belts for lashings.

As they began to descend the steep mountain with the stretcher, several people took turns carrying their friend–one of the heaviest group members.

Then it happened. “Jimmy!” one of the adult leaders called out. “Your turn to help haul. Take that side.”

Jimmy’s eyes grew wide. He was one of the smaller guys on the trip, and the thought of dropping his friend terrified him. Reluctantly he grabbed the stretcher and the group moved on.

Jimmy slipped but never fell. He never gave up his hold and his prayers were answered. His friend was picked up by paramedics at the bottom of the mountain. In a few days he was released from the hospital — weak, but healing.

In Judges 6, we read the story of a man named Gideon, who shook in his shoes when an angel of the Lord came calling. Like Jimmy, however, he was up to the task. Gideon’s courage was strengthened by the words, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior” (Judges 6:12). Though he was young and slight, God called him to be His leader.

“The Lord is with you” is what Yahweh — a name for God — means. When He first revealed this truth to Moses at Mount Sinai (Exodus 3:12-14), it gave the Israelites renewed hope. Gideon also found courage in its full meaning, and so can we.

Regardless of what God is calling you to do, don’t fear. He is still Yahweh and He is with you. — Tom Felten

DESTINATION POINTS

• How does knowing the meaning for Yahweh affect my courage in Jesus?

• What things am I fearful about today?

• Why does fear often come in the midst of God’s calling?

The First Pilgrims

Psalms 84:5

At Thanksgiving I suspect many of us are filing through recipe boxes and cookbooks to find treasures that have become traditions in our homes. For my family, they are my grandmother's handwritten ingredients for cornbread dressing (though I've long memorized the list), and my mother's marked-up recipe card for pecan pie from a Williamsburg tavern.

Thanksgiving often evokes sweet remembrances of times shared with family and friends, yet sometimes remembering is bittersweet. Indeed, this will be the first year that I won't be pulling out these recipe cards; instead, we will be in a hotel awaiting a week of test results for a family member who has been struggling with illness. Perhaps some of you are facing a similar situation, whether celebrating in a different way this year or walking through a certain valley. But whatever the holiday holds, might our hearts draw strength from and remember God's faithfulness to us over the years, and particularly to those who first celebrated Thanksgiving.

I imagine many of us know the names “William Bradford” and “Squanto”. But you may be unfamiliar — as I was — with their personal stories, which have sobered yet encouraged me this past week. (1) William Bradford, you may recall, was the first governor of Plymouth Plantation and was deeply committed to Christ. (You can read his own journal reflections in Of Plymouth Plantation.) He boarded the Mayflower in 1620 with his wife, Dorothy, and sailed to America to seek a refuge with other likeminded believers to worship freely. Yet William knew what it was to be a pilgrim without a home at an early age. His father died when he was one; his grandfather when he was six, and his mother when he was seven. Under religious persecution, at 18 he fled his homeland of England to live in Holland. A few years later he married Dorothy and had a son.

When it was time to sail to America, many agonized over the perilous journey before them and their families' fate. William and Dorothy chose to leave their only child, John (who was just four or five), behind for fear of losing him. After they finally arrived in America, with the Mayflower anchored off of Cape Cod and many of the Pilgrim men out exploring a place to settle, Dorothy fell overboard and drowned. (William remarried two years later, had three children, and his son John made it safely to Plymouth to rejoin him.)

Of course, years before William Bradford and the Pilgrims settled in America, tribes of Indians lived in this land. But in 1608 English traders kidnapped many of them, including a 12-year-old boy named Squanto, sailed to Spain, and then sold them into slavery. A monk took pity on Squanto and brought him to his home, where he was taught the Bible and English. When the monk learned that English ships were sailing to America, he sent Squanto to live with a family in England so that he could one day sail home. Ten years after being kidnapped, Squanto finally arrived home. But it was no more. His entire village had been wiped out by an epidemic carried by white men.

Squanto lived nearby with a neighboring tribe until one day he learned that a group of English families had settled in the village that was once his own home. Yet it had been a difficult first winter and spring for the Pilgrims there, and many died. Thus one can only imagine William Bradford's amazement and gratitude when he heard “Good morning. My name is Squanto” from a kind Indian stranger. Squanto soon taught the starving Pilgrims how to fish and plant corn. In his journal, William Bradford would later call Squanto “a special instrument sent of God for their good beyond their expectation.”

Children's author Eric Metaxas draws a biblical analogy from Squanto's life and imagines Bradford's conversation with Squanto: “'It is like the story of Joseph from our sacred Scriptures.... Like you, Joseph was also taken from his home and sold as a slave. But God had a plan for him. Through Joseph, God was able to save many people from starving. What man intended for evil, God intended for good.’ Then Bradford smiled at Squanto. 'Perhaps God has sent you to be our Joseph,' he said.” (2)

And you know the rest of the story: Months later William Bradford and Squanto, and the Pilgrims and many Indians would celebrate the first Thanksgiving together.

This Thanksgiving, as we remember their hardship and perhaps bear our own, might we also draw strength from their hopeful perseverance, gratitude to God, and joyful celebration. For the psalmist reminds us that we are also pilgrims in this land, and how “blessed are those whose strength is in [God], who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca (literally, “weeping”), they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion” (Psalm 84:5-7).

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1. I am indebted to a wise friend who introduced me to William Bradford's story in Barbara Rainey's Thanksgiving: A Time to Remember (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2003). Further details on Bradford's life may be found online at The Pilgrim Hall Museum's website http://www.pilgrimhall.org. Eric Metaxas (associate editor with Chuck Colson's Breakpoint) tells Squanto's story in his children's book Squanto And The Miracle Of Thanksgiving (Nashville: Tommy Nelson Books, 1999).

2. Metaxas, 29.

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His Invisible Hand

God's providence is everywhere and, most of the time, hardly seen. The great Scriptwriter of the play sees far and wide into the future and with perfect access to the past. Just as the author of a book views what is coming long before the characters encounter it, so God sees the nuances of human choices and how they play into his story of his kingdom.

We rarely see prevented calamities because we rarely see their potential rise. These are the scientifically undetectable hands of God at work. He prevents the storm from raging the seaman so that the seaman may safely return to his family. He prevents the scorching draught so that the farmer may have crops at harvest. Even our little experiences play into the providence of God. Perhaps He prevented our catching the green light to protect us from the reckless driver at the next signal. Perhaps he prevented our choosing the fastest line at the grocers to delay our hurriedness. That three-minute delay may allow us to meet an old friend or encourage a disheartened neighbor.

We do not see these providences simply because our perspective sits on the wrong side of the page. We are in the story, as players in a play, and remember only parts of the pages before, and can hardly see the pages beyond. We do not know the Scriptwriter's work, except the portion He chooses to reveal. His thoughts are higher than ours, among other reasons, simply because they are above the page.

Several days before Halloween each year, my wife and I capture our part-Siamese cat because he had the unfortunate breeding of being birthed completely black. His name is Congo. Because of the season, we keep Congo indoors to prevent possible misfortunes that often accompany the superstitions of the holiday.

Congo has no idea why the cat-door has been locked. He perches on the couch and looks longingly at the wide world beyond the window. You can almost hear the silent protesting over the appalling fact that he has been forced to use the uncivilized litter-box. He meows after his white and gray brother because his sibling does not share the confinement. Yet as soon as Halloween concludes, Congo darts zealously into the wild world lost to him for four days.

I can imagine, if Congo had an inner monologue, what it would sound like. “These humans are mysterious. They pen me up indoors for more days that I can count. I did not go to the vet. I did not take any special medicines. I saw no dangerous coyotes outside the window, though I did see my brother scamper past a couple of times in search of mice. Those days were a waste of time for my masters as I could not catch the vermin for them. And, for obvious reasons, they were a waste of time for me.”

Little did Congo know the potential dangers that awaited him. He did not know the time of the year. He hardly knew the warnings produced by animal shelters for pet owners to protect their felines. All he knew were dull days of prevented fun and activity in the neighborhood.

This metaphor is a gift to me to remember that God is always behind the scenes preventing, allowing, and acting in the world for the good of his kingdom. No wonder Paul admonishes, “Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain” (Phil 2:14-16).

Our grumbling is often, from God's perspective, a resistance to trust his flawless character and His infinite wisdom. Our complaining against even the most trivial of inconveniences in life sounds as silly as the questioning of my cat or as peculiar as a player protesting the author of a play. Yet when we trust that our obedience falls into line with God's work in the world, it brings goodness both to our lives and the lives of our neighbors. And we can celebrate his invisible hand that lavishly moves on our behalf, even sometimes without the evidence.

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Coincidental? Certainly Not

Luke 12:6

If a sparrow cannot fall from the sky without God’s knowing it, how much more does He attend to the operations of taxis and their riders. And God is not just an observer; He coordinates the circumstances so that there simply are no coincidences.

Let me give four fresh examples connected to my weekly run to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary to teach a night course.

First, a Nigerian seminary student who drove me to the Louisville airport supplied the missing piece for a puzzle I’d been trying to assemble. One of our church members just got a job in New York City, and he was asking about evangelical churches there. I’d asked a few people for suggestions, and someone mentioned a Baptist church up on 57th Street, not that far from where the man would be working. I thought I was told “Trinity,” but I just couldn’t track it down. I used several Internet search engines to no avail. And then my SBTS driver came to the rescue.

It’s a long way from Nigeria to that Manhattan church in question, but he had made it there just the same. Serving as a computer specialist for a brokerage firm across from the World Trade Center, he had gone to this church regularly. Turns out, the name was Calvary, not Trinity. It also turns out this student was on the scene on 9/11, and he had quite a story to tell about that.

Back to the church. My driver asked me if I had heard of Stephen Olford -– a famous expository preacher -- and, of course, I had. Well, he was once pastor at Calvary, which stands right across from Carnegie Hall, just south of Central Park. Then my Nigerian friend added that the new pastor, David Epstein, was a fine fellow as well. It was sounding good.

Then the boss of the website I served called a few of us to New York for a huddle, and I found myself in Midtown Manhattan the day after getting back from Louisville. On a break, my wife, Sharon, and I ran by Calvary Baptist and got some material. Two days later, I was back at my church, Evanston (Illinois) Baptist Church, where I passed it along to the fellow about to leave us for NYC. One of our deacons, the registrar at Kendall College, recognized the church and volunteered that its pastor had been an excellent teacher at his alma mater, Capital Bible Seminary in Washington, D.C. Check and mate.

Now, I can’t say this is the right church for this recent grad from Kellogg School at Northwestern University, but I am convinced that God engineered my making this suggestion. Of course, I’ll check out the SBC options in the area, but I think we’ve made a good start, thanks to God’s linking me up with a Nigerian who came to Southern Seminary via New York’s financial district.

Second example. In a previous column I wrote for the Illinois Baptist newsjournal, I talked about President Bush’s reference to the Koran in his second inaugural speech. The day I wrote it, I spent about half an hour in the Koran, making sure I had my citations squared away. Years ago, I spent a fair amount of time working through the Koran, and I’ve glanced at it from time to time since then, but those occasions are rare. Rare, but not incidental.

That same day, I flew to Louisville, and caught a cab from the airport. (The good folks on campus usually meet me with a student driver, but I had thrown them a curve with a late flight change.) As we made our way up I-65, I asked him where he was from. It was Mauritania, a Muslim country in West Africa. The conversation then moved to his brand of Islam (Sunni), to my brand of Christianity (Baptist), and to our differing views of Jesus (merely a prophet vs. the Son of God). Then he asked me a question that brought God’s providence to my mind immediately –- “Have you ever read the Koran?” My answer: “Yes, I was reading it this morning, specifically Surahs 3 and 4.” (Thank you, Lord!) After recounting what I had read, I asked if he had ever read the Bible, and he said he hadn’t. I pointed him to the Gospel of John, and he knew the burden to read it rested on his shoulders. After all, I had been reading his book. I didn’t mention that I hardly ever read his book. He didn’t ask me that. Now one might say, “It just so happened you had read the Koran that day,” but there was no “just so happened” about it.

Third example. Another cab from the Louisville airport a week later. Again, I “wasn’t supposed” to be in a cab, but once again I had confused the student scheduler with a late plane change. My “wasn’t supposed to” soon showed itself to be a “was supposed to” as our taxi conversation developed. As we compared backgrounds, I learned that the driver’s mother had been secretary to the first president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri. Well, having been the third president of Midwestern Seminary, I had a “small world” moment. With 6.6 billion people on earth, and a planetary circumference of 25,000 miles, this world is overwhelmingly big to finite folks such as you and me. But for God, it is a very small world, and he has no trouble at all putting people together in uncanny ways.

Now, I don’t know the purpose of our meeting. Perhaps it was to help remind the driver of his roots. Perhaps it was to encourage me to write this column. Whatever it was, our meeting was no accident.

I’m often reminded that I’m living in a theme park, where the theme is God’s utter sovereignty. In that connection, let me note that walking through New York’s LaGuardia Airport one Friday evening, I spied a copy of Technology Review at a newsstand. There on the cover was a long-bearded Cambridge University scientist who believed he could lengthen human life spans to over a thousand years. The headline was “Live Forever?” I couldn’t resist it. I was working on a sermon from Genesis 5, where Seth’s progeny, including Methuselah, were listed. When I opened the magazine, the table of contents labeled this fellow “Methuselah’s Prophet.” I bought the magazine and used it in a sermon illustration two days later. I’m telling you, I was supposed to spot that magazine. That’s the way God works.

A Complete Failure Encounters the Hand of God

It seems that this man felt like a complete failure with no reason to go on living. He decided that he wanted to commit suicide, but he really wanted to make sure it worked. He assembled various items. These included a rope, a pistol, and a cup of poison. He went down to climb a tree which grew over the river. It was wintertime.

He tied the rope over a limb of the tree and put his neck into it. He drank the cup of poison, and took the pistol in hand so that he could shoot himself when he jumped. That way, he would die from the poison, from being shot, from hanging, and when he landed in the river, he would drown. What's to lose?

Well, when he jumped, the jolt made his arm jerk, so that although he pulled the trigger, the bullet didn't go into his head, but hit the rope and broke it in two. This caused him to fall into the icy river, and the sudden cold caused him to throw up the poison he had taken. The pistol went to parts unknown.

With the sudden change of plans, this would-be suicide took stock of his circumstances. He had no rope, no pistol, no poison, and he felt very cold. It seemed that the best thing to do would be to swim to shore and find some way to get warm! Maybe he didn't want to commit suicide after all! He was even a failure at that!

________

Written 1/4/05 by La Verne Northrop from a story heard fifty-some years ago

[see also #28979]

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Providence Cuts Both Ways

From a popular chain-email:

As you might know, the head of a company survived 9/11 because his son started kindergarten.

Another fellow was alive because it was his turn to bring donuts.

One woman was late because her alarm clock didn't go off in time.

One was late because of being stuck on the NJ Turnpike because of an auto accident.

One of them missed his bus.

One spilled food on her clothes and had to take time to change.

One's car wouldn't start.

One went back to answer the telephone.

One had a child that dawdled and didn't get ready as soon as he should have.

One couldn't get a taxi.

The one that struck me was the man who put on a new pair of shoes that morning, took the various means to get to work but before he got there, he developed a blister on his foot. He stopped at a drugstore to buy a Band-Aid. That is why he is alive today.

Now when I am

stuck in traffic,

miss an elevator,

turn back to answer a ringing telephone...

all the little things that annoy me.

I think to myself,

this is exactly where God wants me to be at this very moment.

Next time your morning seems to be going wrong, the children are slow getting dressed, you can't seem to find the car keys, you hit every traffic light, don't get mad or frustrated; God is at work watching over you.

May God continue to bless you with all those annoying little things and may you remember their possible purpose.

====================================

Holwick: this is popular theology but not very good theology. Yes, there were people who survived because of a nuisance in their routine. But there were probably others who had nuisances that caused them to be in those buildings at the wrong time. On 9/13 I went to lower Manhattan and pinned up a picture of a girl from Hawaii who was only in New York one day for a business meeting - in the World Trade Center. She has not been seen since. Was God not watching over her? Was she in a place God did not want her to be? What about those who could have gotten out of the Towers but stayed behind so they could help others, only to perish? In life-or-death situations, God's will and his place for you can be in either situation. Just ask the martyrs.

*

A Bigger Purpose Than You Ever Dreamed

Esther 4:14

Ashley Smith was just getting her life back together. As a 26-year-old single mom, she had had a pretty rough journey. A Christian upbringing but a youthful rebellion - brushes with the law, some drug issues, jobs found and lost - and finally marriage and a little girl. Four years ago, her husband died in her arms from stab wounds in a violent attack. On that night in March of 2005, she was just getting settled in the apartment she had moved into two days earlier. When she returned from her 2:00 A.M. run to the store, accused killer Brian Nichols forced his way into her apartment at gunpoint.

Nichols was the object of the largest manhunt in Georgia history after his deadly escape from a downtown courtroom where he left the judge and three others shot to death. Later, he shot another man. Initially, he bound and gagged Ashley. Eventually, he began to trust her enough to give her some freedom. And for seven hours, she began to talk to the killer in her living room. She talked about the battles of her life - about the little daughter she was supposed to pick up the next morning - and about her newly reborn faith. With his permission, she read to him from the book she was reading, “The Purpose-Driven Life.”

Ultimately, he allowed Ashley to leave - after she seemingly had persuaded him to consider ending the killing and to give up peacefully. After she called law enforcement - as he almost surely knew she would - they swarmed around that apartment only to see him come out and quietly surrender. Later, Ashley Smith recalled some extraordinary things that Brian Nichols had said to her. He told her he thought she was an angel sent from God - that he was lost and that God had led him right to her so she could tell him, from the well of her own hurt, how the people he had hurt were feeling. She told him he was a child of God and that she wanted him to do God's will. Then she said, “I guess he began to want to.” For days, the national media talked over and over again about those extraordinary seven hours and the incredible young woman who had helped end a bloodbath. She said it was not her at all. It was the God who was leading her now “purpose-driven life.”

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “A Bigger Purpose Than You Ever Dreamed.”

Ashley Smith, unlikely hero for God, was on assignment from God that night. So are you. With her life on the line, she didn't miss the divine opportunity in front of her to save a life and maybe even a soul. Make sure you don't miss yours.

Because every one of us is like Esther in Bible days, who was chosen queen of Persia so she would ultimately be in a unique position to save her people from the king's decree to destroy them. The challenge from the man who raised her is recorded in Esther 4:14, our word for today from the Word of God: “Who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”

Just like Esther, just like Ashley Smith, you have been divinely positioned to save the lives of people you live close to, work with, go to school with. God does these life-saving divine match-ups as He did that amazing night in Ashley Smith's apartment. He puts you with people who can be reached by someone like you, however unqualified you may feel you are. But God knows that your background, your battles, your interests, and your abilities uniquely qualify you to rescue a particular lost person that He brings into your life.

Life suddenly becomes amazingly exciting when you live it assuming those divine match-ups - and using those match-ups to tell about your Jesus. Rescuing people that God has assigned to you becomes the eternal purpose that drives your life. Wherever God puts you - whoever God puts you with - remember that purpose. And help the people He brings your way be in heaven with you someday!

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Is It All For the Good?

Romans 8:28

Sermon in Romans series, #10 Romans 8:28-30

IS IT ALL FOR THE GOOD?

=======================

I. A church called Wedgwood.

A. Where was God that Wednesday night?

B. God's purpose for our lives is a deep mystery.

C. Romans 8:28 is one of the most popular verses in the Bible.

II. What Romans 8:28 does NOT say:

A. All things work together for the good of all people.

B. All things that happen are good.

III. Five unshakeable truths Romans 8:28 does say:

A. God works in our lives.

B. God works for our good.

C. God works for our good in all things.

D. God works for good of those who love him.

E. God works for good of those who are called to his purpose.

IV. God's purpose is a process.

V. Since God sees the big picture, don't sweat the details.

A. God can turn any bad into good, if you love and trust him.

B. What can God do for you?

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The Ticket He Never Used

Ruth 1:6

In 1910, Abraham Bank, my great-grandfather, was impressed into the Russian army. At the time, he was twenty-one years old and had lived near Vilna in Latvia for his entire life. He was a qualified rabbi, shochet, and mohel.

The prospect of twenty-five years of mandatory military service was unthinkable to Abraham. So he decided to pack a few clothes and personal belongings and leave his hometown during the night. He promised his girlfriend, Rebecca, that he would write.

Abraham traveled via Finland to Stockholm, Sweden, where he worked for a while as a stevedore. He earned his passage to London where he continued to work. His goal was to earn enough money to follow in the footsteps of his brother, who had already emigrated to America.

Two years after leaving his home in Latvia, Abraham was finally able to buy a ticket on a ship leaving from Southampton that would take him from England to America.

Abraham ran into two difficulties. The first was the knowledge that he would not be able to get kosher food in the steerage class of the ship. The second was the trouble he would have in getting from London to Southampton over Passover, as the holiday ended on the night before the ship would be boarding.

Finally, Abraham decided not to use his ticket. He remained in London for a few months and then emigrated to South Africa, where eight years later Rebecca joined him. It was not until 1987 that Abraham's descendants - his grandson (my father) and his family - made the move to America that Abraham had come so close to making seventy-five years earlier.

I have good cause to be grateful to Zeida for deciding not to use that ticket all those years ago. In fact, it might well have been the best decision he ever made. The name of the ship that steamed into the Atlantic that day was the Titanic.

________

Source: Beliefnet Chicken Soup, http://ydib.net/n_soup/subscribe.shtml

Being In the Best Place

Genesis 28:15

And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. (Genesis 28:15 AV)

The best place is wherever He puts us, and any other would be undesirable, all the worse because ti would please our fancy, and would be of our own choice. Do not think about distant events. This uneasiness about the future is unwholesome for you … When God takes away that which He has given you, He know well how to replace it, either through other means or by Himself.

Be quiet soul:

Why should'st thou care and sadness borrow?

Why sit in nameless fear and sorrow

The live long day?

God will make out thy path tomorrow

In His best way.

Tomorrow's Burden Is Too Heavy!

Matthew 6:25

Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. — Matthew 6:25.

It has been well said that no man ever sank under the burden of the day. It is when to-morrow’s burden is added to the burden of to-day that the weight is more than a man can bear. Never load yourselves so, my friends. If you find yourselves so loaded, at least remember this: it is your own doing, not God’s. He begs you to leave the future to Him, and mind the present. — G. MacDonald.

One there lives whose guardian eye

Guides our earthly destiny;

One there lives, who, Lord of all,

Keeps His children lest they fall;

Pass we, then, in love and praise,

Trusting Him through all our days,

Free from doubt and faithless sorrow,-

God provideth for the morrow. — R. Heber.

Faith's Reasoning

Matthew 6:30

If God so clothe the grass of the field … shall he not much more clothe you, 0 ye of little faith? — Matthew 6:30.

Reason thus with yourself : “If I perish for want of what is good and needful for me, it must be because my Father knows not my wants, or has not wherewith to supply them, or regards not what becomes of me. Which of these shall I charge upon Him? Not the first: for My father knows what I have need of. Not the second: for the earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof; His name is God All-Sufficient. Not the last: for as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him: the Hord is exceeding pitiful and of tender mercy: He hears the young ravens when they cry:- and will He not hear me? — John Flavel.

I cannot understand

The why and wherefore of a thousand things,

The crosses, the annoyances, the daily stings.

I cannot understand,

But I can trust

For perfect trusting perfect comfort brings.

God's Wonder In Great and Small

Matthew 6:30

If God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, 0 ye of little faith? — Matthew 6:30.

God is great in great things, but very great in little things. A party stood on the Matterhorn admiring the sublimity of the scene, when a gentleman produced a pocket microscope, and having caught a fly placed it under the glass. He reminded us that the legs of the household fly in England were naked and then called attention to this little fly’s legs which were thickly covered with hair, thus showing that the same God who made the lofty Swiss mountains attended to the comfort of His tiniest creatures, even providing socks and mittens for the little fly whose homes these mountains

were. This God is our God.

Great God of wonders! all Thy ways

display Thine attributes divine;

But the bright glories of Thy grace

above Thine other wonders shine:

Who is a pardoning God like Thee?

Or who has grace so rich and free?

Partnership In All Things

Matthew 17:27

For Me and thee. — Matthew 17:27.

The Lord’s partnership with us is very finely expressed in this little text of four syllables. Peter is going through the most disagreeable of our financial problems, worrying about taxes, perhaps the least agreeable of all pecuniary obligations. But the Master takes the burden upon Himself in considerate and thoughtful partnership. We see here, not only our Lord’s provision but His prevision. He knew all the time where the money was coming from. The right individual lost that piece of gold at the right moment dropping it perhaps from a little boat into the sea, just as a fish was passing by, who caught by the shining gold, opened its mouth. While we are fretting and wondering our thoughtful Father and Master has all the circumstances connected with our deliverance arranged and must often smile at our perplexity and unbelief.

In some way or other the Lord will provide,

It may not be my way, it may not be thy way,

And yet in His own way, the Lord will provide.

Despond then no longer, the Lord will provide;

And this be the token–no word He has spoken

Was ever yet broken ; the Lord will provide.

God's Watch-care

Deuteronomy 2:7

The Lord thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness. — Deuteronomy 2:7.

The Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. — 1 Samuel 2:3.

God knows what weight you can carry, and what discipline you must need, and you will find at last that He makes no mistakes, and that even the buffeting of Satan is to be counted among your means of grace. — A, B. Simpson.

On to Canaan’s rest still wending,

E’en thy wants and woes shall bring

Suited grace from high descending;

Thou shalt taste of mercy’s spring.

Getting It Right From the Beginning (part 2 of 2)

Colossians 1:17

The doctrine of creation does not stand alone. The universe has not been set adrift in time without purpose or divine direction. The Christian affirmation of God requires an affirmation of His continuing sovereign Lordship over the created order. This affirmation sets the Christian worldview apart from alternative worldviews which recognize no continuing divine direction. Deism, a perspective accepted by many in the nineteenth century, affirmed God as the creator of the universe, but denied any continuing divine will expressed in the history or future of the creation. God, it was suggested, had created the world much as a clock, and had wound it up to move by its own direction. Contemporary challenges to the affirmation of divine providence suggest that though God created the world and set the original forces in order, God has either ceased to will, or is unable to make his will effective within the creation.

All of these are clearly in opposition to biblical theism. The God of the Bible is a God who acts within the history of His creation and who has ultimate control over the affairs of the nations, natural forces, and humanity.

Like creation, God's providence is a Trinitarian activity. The Lord who exercises providence is none other than the Lord and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that providence is energized by the presence of the Holy Spirit within the world. The root meaning of providence is “foresight,” though the biblical meaning is far more rich in significance. God does not exercise mere foresight into the affairs of the cosmos; he ultimately orders and directs world occurrences. The biblical doctrine of providence is demonstrated in the concrete experiences of Israel and her neighbors in the Old Testament and in the life of Jesus and the development of the church in the New Testament. As such, divine providence is a sign of God's steadfast covenant love with his people. The history of the Jews in the Old Testament exists as a powerful witness and sign of God's intervening covenant love -- a love ultimately revealed on the cross.

“In God,” Paul declares, “all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:17) Nothing in creation itself is self-sufficient. God is responsible for both the origin and the preservation of all creation. Without God's continuing preservation of creation the cosmos would cease to exist. No atom of the universe is self-sufficient -- all creation is utterly dependent upon God's gracious sustenance. As Ezra affirmed in the book of Nehemiah, “Thou are the Lord, thou alone, ... thou preservest all.” (Nehemiah 9:6)

To affirm providence as the divine preserving is to acknowledge that creation has limits. That these limits do not rule the creature is due to God's acting preservation. This is not a passive divine activity. God enters into world occurrence and ordains that it should exist. This is not to suggest that God creates the world anew each moment, as has been suggested by some theologians. God's creative activity as represented in new beings and new life demonstrates the continuation of his creative will, but the original creative act which set the cosmos in place is a unique once-for-all event. The Christian does not know the means of God's preservation of the world, but the knowledge of his preserving love provides comfort and refutes contemporary naturalism, which supposes that the world exists on its own.

This aspect of divine providence is often called divine government. The Christian affirms the Lordship of God over all the affairs of humanity, nations, and natural forces. The universe is not set adrift in purposeless trajectory. Human history is not a meaningless record of isolated events and movements. The future is not a matter of mere human responsibility or chance. The biblical worldview presupposes the governing Lordship of God in the cosmos, and biblical theism, that understanding of God's own nature demonstrated in the text of Scripture, requires an affirmation of God's sovereign rulership over all world occurrences -- past history and future hope.

The divine ruling has both individual and corporate dimensions. In encompasses the unfathomable forces of energy reaching throughout the vast expanse of the universe. Furthermore, it includes the experiences, actions, and destiny of individual human beings. Theologians have often identified a third aspect of divine providence, God's accompanying of the creature, that is, divine concurrence or cooperation. This is best understood within the context of the divine ruling, however. In affirming God's cooperation with the creature theologians have attempted to do justice to the role of the human will within human activity. The human is not a static creature, but possesses a will and limited means to accomplish that will. The biblical worldview does not deny this human role in world events and the actions of the individuals. Nevertheless, the Christian recognizes the ultimacy of the divine will and ruling. Insofar as the creature exercises its will, it does so in the context, acknowledged or not, of the ultimate divine will. The sovereign divine will is effective, but not despotic. Human freedom and divine sovereignty are both affirmed. As Paul affirms in Philippians 2:13, God is active in both the willing and working of his creatures.

Any affirmation of divine providence must acknowledge the enormous challenge to that biblical affirmation represented by the problem of evil and suffering in the world. In the minds of many individuals, the presence of tremendous human suffering and manifest evil calls into question the goodness or potency of God, or both. This problem is not a modern discovery. It is as old as the book of Job and as persistent as any theological issue.

Two forms of evil must be distinguished: natural evil and human evil. Natural evil includes earthquakes, floods, fires, and other causes of suffering not caused by direct human evil. This problem may be posed as the question: “Why are there scorpions, sharks and snakes in God's good creation?” Human evil is more easily defined. It is the product of human activity; humans inflicting evil and tremendous suffering upon others.

The Christian must not evade these issues. The secular mind may never be satisfied with the Christian response, but the believer must not ignore the challenge. Believers themselves are often troubled by this challenge to faith. Death, acute and chronic physical pain, profound mental anguish, and manifold other forms of suffering face both believers and unbelievers on a daily basis.

Various theological options have been suggested as a means of addressing this challenge. Some have suggested that God has ceased to be active in the everyday experience of the world. Others, including Christian Scientists and numerous New Age thinkers deny the presence of evil and explain it all as a metaphysical experience. Some contemporary worldviews posit God as a participant in the world process, struggling with the creation, with the eventual liberation from evil and suffering. Many of these are patently in contradiction with the biblical understanding of God. Nevertheless, the biblical concept of God does repeatedly affirm his identification with the plight of humanity and his determination to suffer with humanity.

Christians have the solace of some limited understanding of God's purposes in the world as revealed in Scripture -- purposes which make human suffering and the presence of some evil understandable. Nevertheless, the knowledge and understanding of the creature is partial and fragmentary. The meaning of all suffering and evil is outside the creature's limited reach. Even for the Christian, much suffering is beyond understanding. In this century two central symbols of this suffering are the Holocaust of Hitler against the Jews and the extermination of millions in the former Soviet Union -- as well as the potential holocaust of a catastrophic terrorist attack. The Christian community must resist the tendency to evade these questions of suffering or to be satisfied with commonly accepted responses which do justice to neither the issue nor the biblical witness.

What distinguishes the Christian biblical worldview is its affirmation that God is the sovereign Lord in whom all creatures, forces, and experiences find their purpose and meaning. Though the problems of evil and suffering constitute an awesome challenge to the believer, they do so only in the context of a profound faith in the purpose of the sovereign Lord who gave the world his ultimate sign of power and providential love on the cross.

The Christian believer knows the key to the ultimate meaning and significance of the created universe and human experience. Though our present knowledge is limited, even as we are limited creatures, believers know the source of the cosmos and rest in the confidence and hope which comes through a personal knowledge of the Creator. This knowledge is not discovered by the creature through observation of the universe, but is revealed in Scripture and, ultimately, in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through Christ we have knowledge of the fatherly Lordship of the Creator, upon whom the creation depends for its existence, and in whom the cosmos finds its purpose and confident hope. Therefore, the Christian worldview is necessarily distinct from all others in the midst of contemporary nihilism and the frantic search for meaning. Christians bear witness to the God in whom all creatures find their meaning and purpose. “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36)

*

A Coincidence In Prayer

Jim Moon had one of those seasons when you are uncertain where God is taking your life.

Jim serves God in an area of Colorado just a couple hours’ drive from Wyoming. Out of his quest for clarity, and craving uninterrupted time with God, he hit the open road one morning heading toward Wyoming. As he crossed the state line, off into the distance he spotted a field of windmills, the kind used to generate electricity. For no apparent reason, Jim felt impressed to get a bit closer to the windmills.

He exited the highway and was soon driving down an old logging road. He planned to walk among the mills while talking to God about his life and purpose.

Unable to find a path to get closer to the windmills, because of the fencing surrounding the site, Jim decided to sit in his car on the side of the road and pray. As he waited in silence before God, a pickup truck pulled up beside him. The man in the truck stuck his head out the window and inquired whether Jim was lost. He explained that he wasn’t lost, just a pastor spending time with God in prayer. They engaged in conversation, and Jim discovered that the man was president of the local ranchers’ association. He shared with Jim that he had been going through some difficult times with the association and was troubled by what he was up against. In fact, life in general wasn’t going that well for him.

As Jim listened, he was impressed to ask the man if he could pray with him. Right there on that logging road, in a seemingly chance meeting, Jim prayed into this rancher’s life. The prayer over, the rancher asked Jim about his church affiliation. Jim shared what denomination he belonged to. Surprised, the rancher shared that he knew an older woman in town of the same denomination who had had a major spiritual impact on his life some years earlier. The rancher had felt impressed for weeks to seek her out, and this meeting with Jim only solidified what he needed to do. A chance meeting? Not on your life. Jim Moon drove away from that “appointment” convinced that God had set it all up for His own purposes.

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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #5416]

God's Providence In A Three-Point Trailer Hitch

Luke 11:9

One fall afternoon on our rural farm in southeast Iowa, we were I enjoying perfect weather as we harvested our hay. Cotton ball clouds floated high in the clear blue sky, a gentle breeze slowly escorting them toward the horizon. The trees, just starting their fall picture show, stood here and there in the valleys and fence lines across rolling hills.

The past couple days had not been easy ones. When our 50 acres of hay were mowed, the mower had needed a few new parts. That cost us all our extra cash. When the field had been raked, the universal joint went out on the rake, finishing off any funds we might have kept in our bank account. I was more than a little apprehensive as we walked out to get the baler ready.

My husband, Jack, seemed to be frantically searching for something when I joined him at the tractor. “What’s the problem?” I asked.

“The three-point hitch to hook the baler to the tractor is missing,” he replied.

“Where did you put it?” I reluctantly asked.

“In the tractor toolbox; the lid must have flopped open while I was raking the hay,” he replied as he stared out into the field.

I forced myself to stay calm as I asked, “How big is this part? And how much would it cost to replace it?”

I didn’t like his reply. “It’s a metal piece about a half inch thick and five inches long by about two inches wide. It would cost a lot to replace,” he finally added.

Discouragement flooded my being as I thought about that small part being somewhere out there in that 50 acres of raked hay. Most likely it had been raked into one of the rows. Finding it would be like trying to find the proverbial needle in a haystack.

And there was no way we could borrow enough money to buy a new one. We were nearly destitute. How could we harvest the hay crop in order to receive money desperately needed to feed and clothe our family? So many farmers had gone under in the past few years. Farming was not fun for me. Some days it seemed to bring only disappointment and grief.

I felt anger inside me raging like a monster, demanding to be released, I was angry at Jack for putting the part in that old toolbox with the floppy lid, and I was angry at God. By now the kids had come to see what the problem was. After a brief explanation I told them to start walking and look for a metal part. “I’m going to the house to get the pickup so you kids can ride on the tailgate and look for that part,” I

told them.

I stormed off. If the ground shook, it was probably my fault. I muttered to myself all the way to the house. “God, this is Your fault. You just don’t care about farmers. You don’t care about us!” Then I sheepishly looked up into the sky thinking lightning would strike any moment. As I gazed up I said, “I’m sorry, God. I’m mad. You know how I feel; I can’t lie. I know I’m not supposed to be, but I’m mad at You.”

I kept stomping across the field, muttering all the way to the house, where the pickup was parked.

I slammed the door as I climbed in and started the engine. I backed up and stomped on the accelerator as I steered the pickup out into the field. It didn’t matter to me where in the field I went; I just headed out there somewhere near the middle and slammed on the brakes.

I opened the door and yelled at the kids to climb on. As I glanced down I saw a small metal part lying on the open ground between the hay rows. I would have stepped on it if I hadn’t seen it first. It was the three-point hitch! It was the needle in the haystack. Only God could have led me to that exact spot.

I can’t describe how I felt. My emotions did an about-face, and I just cried. God showed me such boundless love and care. I felt so humbled. I didn’t deserve this kindness after the way I had acted. I humbly walked back to the house sobbing under the weight of God’s love.

Many years later that day is still etched in my memory, one of the most significant memories of what God has done for me. That day God put His signature on my life. Now when discouragement comes my way, I remember how God showed me, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that He loves and cares about me.

________

Margaret Butler lives near Keokuk, Iowa.

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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #20868

He Careth For You

Luke 12:6

Not one of them is forgotten before God, but even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore. — Luke 12:6, 7.

It is one of the wonders of the divine mind that it can distinguish all the millions of earth, of all races and conditions, and not lose sight of the wants of the humblest. God never says to the myriads of His children, “Don’t talk all at once,” but rather He says to them, “Pray without ceasing”; and in response to the invitation a confused volume of prayer is ever going up to Heaven, which would be only a meaningless jargon in human ears. But to the mind of God each prayer is distinct, and full of significance, and brings an unfailing response.

“Among so many can He care?

Can special love be everywhere?

A myriad homes–a myriad ways–

and God’s eyes over every place?”

I asked: my soul bethought of this;

in just that very place of His

Where He hath put and keepeth you,–

God hath no other thing to do.

Life's Consistency

Luke 12:15

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. — Matthew 4:4.

A man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. — Luke 12:15.

Is that beast better, that hath two or three mountains to graze on, than a little bee, that feeds on dew or manna, and lives upon what falls every morning from the storehouse of heaven? — Jeremy Taylor.

Whate’er God does is well,

Whether He gives or takes!

And what we from His hand receive

Suffices us to live.

He takes and gives, while yet He loves us still.

Then love His will. — B. Schmolck.

It Matters To Him About You (poem)

Psalms 40:17

But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer. — Psalm 40:17.

Be not troubled with thoughts of the morrow

Of duties you surely must do

On the Lord cast Thy burden of sorrow

“It matters to Him about you”

Be not weary in fighting with Satan

But buckle His armor so true

He will make all your troubles to straighten

“It matters to Him about you”

Be not worried when trials are given

But trust Him to carry you through

He will make all the pathway to Heaven

“It matters to Him about you.”

Be patient until His appearing:

‘Tis dawn almost now, on your view:

The mists of this dark age are clearing -

He is planning in love about you.

Pharaoh's Deadly Edict

Exodus 1:22

Pharaoh’s Deadly Edict — by J. Sidlow Baxter

“Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river… “ — Exodus 1:22.

“Slay that babe!” In effect, that is what Satan always says about the habit of Prayer. If there is one spiritual child which that evil Pharaoh would like to strangle at birth, it is the heaven-born resolve of a Christian believer to make time for regular, earnest, daily prayer. The evil one knows that all greatly used servants of our Lord have been men and women of prayer. He knows that nothing so develops and empowers a Christian as habitual prayer; that nothing so takes away worldly desires and increases wisdom; and that nothing is so dangerous to his own dark kingdom. He knows that nothing brings such blessing to churches, and nothing so mightily equips overseas missionaries, as prayer. John Gilmour, noble missionary to Mongolia, once wrote home, “Unprayed for, I feel like a diver at the bottom of a river, with no air to breathe; or like a fireman on a blazing building, with an empty hose.” Many are the Christians of these days who say, “I have too many other things to do”, or “I am too old now to develop the habit”, or “It is not suitable to my present circumstances”, or “Would not other people think me odd if I spent so much time in prayer?” Behind all these, and all other such useful excuses is Satan, saying, “Slay that babe!” Alas, what casualties there are !

“Slay that babe!” Why, of course, that is what Satan says also about the hunger for holiness. Our New Testament, all the way through, calls us to holiness of heart and life; notonly to righteousness imputed, but to holiness imparted; not only to sanctification theoretically, but to sanctification experientially, through practical consecration to Christ and continual infilling by the Holy Spirit. But when Satan sees in us the newborn desire or determination to seek the blessing of holiness, he cries in fury, “Slay that babe!” The famous C. H. Spurgeon told his students for the ministry, “A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God.” He never said a truer thing, though it applies not only to ministers, but to all believers. Satan knows how true it is, and he uses deadliest discouragements. He tells us it is an impossible standard; the blessing is only imaginary; it will make us religious oddi-

ties; it will bring misunderstanding and loneliness. How often he succeeds!

“Slay that babe!” Satan always says that, when he sees the beginning of revival. Once the members of a church become spiritually aflame, hundreds may make exodus from his dark rule; so he tunes up the older grumblers, “This disturbs – things”; and the younger grumblers, “This sort of thing is not for today”; then he sets the confidential gossips, criticisers and talebearers busy. He aborts revival far oftener by whispers inside than by scoffers outside. Yet Satan is not always successful. Both at the beginning andthe ending of Scripture a man-child escapes (Exod. 2; Rev. 12). See with what mighty results!

“Slay that babe!” Yes, Satan seeks to slay the eager faith of the new convert; the high resolve of the soul-winner; the habit of prayer; the hunger for holiness; and the beginning of revival. But, as 2 Corinthians 2:11 says, “We are not ignorant of his devices.” If we “resist the devil”, in the name of the Lord, he must “flee” from us (Jas. 4:7). Through the power of Jesus, even babes shall be conquerors.

154 Sermon Illustrations on Providence