Finishing

"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." 2 Timothy 4:7

God call us to be finishers. No matter what the difficulties we face in life, He expects us to persevere. We get an idea of what he had to endure in 2 Corinthians 11:23 -29. Do you know who John Stephen Akhwari is and what he accomplished. His accomplishment is a lesson in finishing what we start.

It was 1968, the place was Mexico City and theevent was the Olympic Marathon. Only a few spectators remained in the Olympic Stadium. All the day’s events were over. Suddenly their attention is drawn to the sounds of police sirens. The marathon gate to the stadium is thrown open, and, unbelievably, a lone runner stumbles into the stadium for his last lap. Out of the cold darkness he came. John Stephen Akhwari Tanzania at the far end of the stadium, pain hobbling his every step, his leg bloody and bandaged. Earlier in the race he found himself trapped in the middle of some other runners several miles into the race. Unable to see well, he falls and hurts his leg horribly. Mamo Wolde of Ethiopia had been declared the winner of the marathon over an hour earlier but Akhwari hobbled painfully on his bandaged leg, grimacing with every step, knowing he cannot win the race, the lone runner pressed on. Finally to the roar of appreciation from the small crowd he crosses the finish line and collapses.

Afterward, a reporter asked the runner why he had not retired from the race, since he had no chance of winning. He seemed confused by the question. Finally, he answered: "My country did not send me to Mexico City to start the race. They sent me to finish."

God has called us to not only start the Christian life but to finish no matter what difficulties we face. Will you be a finisher?

Encouraging Words

I thought I would share with you some of the quotes I found on encouragement. We all need encouragement from time to time. I do hope these will bew herlpful to you.

"Accident? Accident? There is no accident to a Christian; this is an incident [reference to being thrown through a windshield]...I have been through every translation in the English Bible and cannot find anywhere that a Christian can experience an accident." [Dr. R. B. Bingham]

"Out of a 1000 things that can come into a Christian's life, it is not 999 of them that work together for good, but 999 plus one!" [George Muller]

"A thankful disposition will always find some cause for cheer, and a gloomy one will find a cloud in the brightest sky and a fly in the sweetest ointment. Let us cultivate a spirit of cheerfulness, and we shall find so much in God and in our lives to encourage us that we shall have no room for doubt or fear. " [A. B. Simpson]

"It is said that in some countries trees will grow, but will bear no fruit because there is no winter there." [John Bunyan]

"I compare the troubles which we have to undergo in the course of the year to a great bundle of sticks, far too large for us to lift. But God does not require us to carry the whole at once. He mercifully unties the bundle, and give us first one stick, which we are to carry today, and then another, which we are to carry tomorrow, and so on. This we might easily manage, if we would only take the burden appointed for each day; but we choose to increase our troubles by carrying yesterday's stick over again today, and adding tomorrow's burden to the load, before we are required to bear it." [John Newton]

“There is no character without suffering…there is no such thing as a saint who has not suffered.” [Paul E. Billheimer]

Free Christmas Gifts You Can Give

"My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth." [1 John 3:18]

It is just one week before Christmas and many of us are still scrambling to find one or two last minute gifts. Here is a thoughtful article I received in this mornings mail. It offers some ideas on showing others love.

"Eight gifts that don't cost a cent:

The gift of listening ... but you must really listen. No interrupting. no daydreaming, no planning your response. Just listening.

The gift of affection... Be generous with appropriate hugs, kisses, pats on the back and handholds. Let these small actions demonstrate the love you have for family and mends.

The gift of laughter ... Clip cartoons. Share articles and funny stories. Your gift will say, "I love to laugh with you."

The gift of a written note ... It can be a simple "Thanks for the help" note or a full sonnet. A brief, handwritten note may be remembered for a lifetime, and may even change a life.

The gift of a compliment ... A simple and sincere, "You look great in red," "You did a super job" or "That was a wonderful meal" can make someone' s day.

The gift of a favor ... Every day, go out of your way to do something kind.

The gift of solitude ... There are times when we want nothing better than to be left alone. Be sensitive to those times and give the gift of solitude to others.

The gift of a cheerful disposition... The easiest way to feel good is to extend a kind word to someone. Really it's not that hard to say, Hello or Thank You." [Author unknown]

Come to think about it maybe we better save this gifts until after Christmas and give them all year long.

PS We have a free gift for you. Just visit http://hopetriumphant.com/free_literature.htm

Family Traditions

I came across a book with the above title written by Verna Birkey and Jeanette Turnquist, and it struck a very happy chord in my heart; a chord that rings with many pleasant memories of our family activities together. Even now, when possible, our children arrange to be home for Christmas. Not for Christmas itself, but to take part in a family tradition, a shrimp and steak fondue Christmas Eve.

What was once a very special event for Mabel and me has become a family tradition. It was not something that was planned but came along by accident as the result of a request by our children to participate in something that they saw as quite unusual. As a result, each one has their own special memories of Christmas Eve and the family all together. Now, as they come home, we sit and talk about the various family traditions they are establishing, each different in their own way, hoping that their children will be able to look back at their family activities with the same fond memories they each have.

How does one begin a family tradition? Some things are planned like vacation camping; other things happen and we are wise enough to seize the moment. For us, Christmas Eve was a moment that we were able to seize. The key is listening to your children and learning to recognize what they see as "good times" to be repeated.

Quoting from the introduction of Building Happy Memories & Family Traditions: "A memory is a legacy, something special handed down from one generation to another. It can be much more than a material object. In fact, the best memories are often stored only in the mind, not in the cedar chest or the far corner of the attic. Family togetherness is a memory..."

I don't know if I am able to tell you step by step how to build family traditions, but I hope this personal illustration will help you understand a little of what I am trying to convey.

Do you have a special family tradition you would like to share with us. We would love to hear from you. Use the litle envelope below to write to us.

Random Thoughts on Obedience

“And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.” 1 Samuel 15:22

This was Samuel’s response to Saul’s claim of obedience. Now Saul had partially obeyed the Lord but not completely. As a result the kingdom was taken away from his family and given to David. Why? Because partial obedience is total disobedience!!! God expects total obedience and nothing less from us.

Another issue regarding our obedience involves what it is that makes obedience true obedience. Obedience is more than an act it is also an attitude. Wrong attitudes toward obeying God are nothing more than the spirit of rebellion. This turns obedience into a duty to be performed rather than an expression of love. Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” [John 14:15] The consequence is joylessness. It is the harmony between action and attitude that produces joy. When this is true, we can sing:

As I journey on my way

Joy that fills my heart with praises

Every hour and every day

Chorus:

There is joy, joy

Joy in serving Jesus

Joy that throbs within my heart

Every moment, every hour

As I draw upon His power

There is joy, joy

Joy that never shall depart

Joy; that triumphs over pain

Fills my heart with heaven’s music

Till I join the glad refrain

Repeat Chorus:

There is joy in serving Jesus

As I walk alone with God

‘Tis the joy of Christ my Savior
Repeat Chorus:

There is joy in serving Jesus

Joy amid the darkest night

For I’ve learned the wondrous secret

And I’m walking in the light

Repeat Chorus:
[Oswald J. Smith]

Are you missing the joy that comes from serving Jesus? It may not be what you are doing that needs to be changed, you may need an attitude adjustment!

Christmas Memories

Looking back over the years, I have many memories of special Christmas gifts and events.

One very special memory came during my senior year in high school. I was preparing to enter Bible College the next fall to study for the ministry. All I wanted for Christmas was a loose leaf Bible that I could use for preaching. On Christmas morning there were two piles of gifts under the tree, one for my brother and one for me. As I opened my gifts one by one there wasn’t a loose leaf Bible among them. One last gift to go but I didn’t need to open it to know what was inside. The size and weight of the box gave it away. There it was my very own loose leaf Bible.

Many years have come and gone and that Bible is well worn as it has faithfully served me these past 50 years. It is full of notes and all marked up from the years of ministry. Now it sits on the shelf with its pages coming loose from wear. It has been replaced by another loose leaf Bible.

Over the years I have received many special gifts that I treasure but none more than that loose leaf Bible. Some years later, my son was thinking of entering the ministry. I thought it appropriate that one Christmas gift he should receive from me was his very own loose leaf Bible. Whether he treasures as much as I do mine, I do not know. I do know the special feeling of receiving and then passing on the gift to another. Maybe someday he will give one of his sons a loose leaf Bible.

What very special Christmas gift or event have you treasured over the years? Link on to envelope below and share it with us.

Follow Me

Follow me! Is it really so hard to understand?

"I've rented a couple of vans and we need to pick them up today," Tim explained to Troy and Bob. The topic of discussion on the way to pick up the vans focused on the quickest route back. All three men were sure they knew the "best" route for the return trip.

After getting the vans, Tim's instructions to the other men were simple, "follow me!" When Tim and Bob arrived back home, Troy was nowhere to be found. What had gone wrong? The instructions were not complicated and the route home was familiar to Troy.

Finally, Troy arrived. "Where have you been?", Tim asked. "I thought I'd take the fastest route home," Troy replied. "Troy," Tim responded, "which word didn't you understand, follow or me?"

What an interesting question. Understanding the word "me" couldn't have been the problem. It's a word everyone understands. It must have been the word "follow" that caused Troy the problem. Webster defines follow: "to come or go after, to take as a model; act in accordance with; imitate, to accept the authority of; to support or advocate the ideas and opinions." He goes on to define follower as "person who follows another's beliefs or teachings; disciple."

Obviously, Troy's problem wasn't understanding the words "follow me." The truth of the matter is that the problem started when Troy decide he had a better idea! Many Christians are like Troy when it comes to following Jesus. They have a better idea!

The word "follow" is a familiar word to us. We often sing it. "Follow! Follow! I would follow Jesus! Any where, everywhere, I would follow on!" or "Jesus calls me, I must follow, Follow Him today...Follow, I will follow Thee, my Lord, Follow every passing day; My tomorrows are all known to Thee, Thou wilt lead me all the way."

We memorize verses like, "...Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." (Matthew 4:19) "And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me." (Luke 9:23)

Isn't it exciting when we read in the Bible how the Lord Jesus called Matthew? He simply said, "Follow me." Matthew's response was as exciting. "... he arose, and followed him." (Matthew 9:9)

The questions is, "What affect do these two words have on your life?" Are you following the Lord as Matthew did or do you have a better idea?

Mabel R. Flatt (Reprinted from Keystone Baptist)

Missionary or Mission Field

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Acts 1:8

Missions in its simplest form:

MISSIONS: One person telling another person the Gospel.

MISSIONARY: The one person who does the telling of the gospel.

MISSION FIELD: The another person who is told the gospel.

THOT: One is either a missionary or the mission field.

GOSPEL:

Good News
Good News from God
Good News from God for man
Good News from God for the Missionary to tell the Mission Field.

GOSPEL: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

THOT: Gospel has life transforming power for those who believe.

QUESTIONS:

Have you ever believed in Jesus Christ as your Personal Savior?

Yes – then you are a missionary
No – then you are the mission field

Has your spouse, child, boss, fiend, neighbor or parent ever received Jesus Christ as their personal Savior? NO – then they are a mission field that needs a missionary tot ell them the gospel. You are that missionary! Will you carry out you responsibility as a missionary?

Knowledge

Knowledge and wisdom are not the same. In general knowledge has to do with knowing facts and wisdom is the ability to put those facts to use. Solomon said that "the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction" and "the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding." [Proverbs 1:7; 9:10] The word he used for wisdom in the Hebrew means "knowledge, perception, skill, discernment, understanding, wisdom.' All true wisdom comes as the result of fearing God. To fear God means to respect, show reverence for God. When we respect God, we allow ourselves to be willing learners of the knowledge and wisdom that comes from Him. On the other hand, when a person does not respect God, he refuses to expose himself to the knowledge that comes from God.

What kind of man rejects the knowledge that comes from an omniscient God and accepts the knowledge of man? The reason the person who rejects the knowledge that comes from God is a fool is that to accept any other source of knowledge is to accept uncertainty. Man at best can only guess at the past and his guess is determined by his predetermined prejudices not honest scientific inquiry. Here is an an example of such predetermined prejudices. Dr. George Wald, professor emeritus of biology at Harvard University and Nobel prize winner in 1971 when speaking of creation said, "I will not accept that philosophically, because I do not want to believe in God. Therefore, I choose to believe in that which I know is scientifically impossible, spontaneous generation arising to evolution."¹ His interpretation of the past based is not science. Webster defines science as "the observation, identification, description, experimental investigation and theoretical explanation of natural phenomena; knowledge that [is] gained through experience." God is recorded as asking Job "where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding." [Job 38:4] The answer is that neither Job or any man was present. Therefore any knowledge man has about the origins of the universe either come from God or is nothing more than theory. It is not true science because it falls outside the definition of being observable or experimental investigation.

Another reason the man who rejects the knowledge that comes from an omniscient God is a fool because man can only speculate what the future might bring and more often that not his speculations are incorrect. On the other hand, there is not one event prophesied in Scripture that when it has come to pass have not just be close to or in the neighborhood of the prophetic statements but have been fulfilled exactly as prophesied. Many of these prophesies have been made as much as 1000 years before the event took place. Here is a small sample:

The probability that all the monkeys in Africa could run over to a single typewriter and, without error, retype all the books in the English language is 1 in 2 x 10 to 110 power.

Those odds are better than the probability of Jesus fulfilling all Messianic prophecies.

The probabilities are based on the following basic 8 events occurring in a population of people 10 to the 11th power are :

1. One person in the World been born in Bethlehem. 1:200,000
2. One person rode into Jerusalem, riding a foal of a donkey, claiming to be king of the Jews. 1:100
3. One person been paid thirty pieces of silver to turn someone in to the authorities. 1:1000
4. One person has been wounded in their hands. 1:1000
5. A person charged and been innocent and not defended himself. 1:1000
Jesus was crucified between two thieves, but was buried in the tomb of one of the richest men. 1:1000
6. Died from crucifixion 1:10,000
7. The money paid to betray Jesus would be returned to the priests and used to buy a potter's field 1:100,000.

In the face of such precise knowledge, I find it hard to accept the finite knowledge of man in light of the knowledge that comes from an omniscient God. Where can you find this knowledge that comes from God? It is written in the Bible. Before you make a judgment, read it for yourself don't rely on the word of others not even mine. Hosea the prophet in speaking of the problem of Israel could have been speaking to about America when he said, "Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land." [4:1]

Foolishness

“There is desirable treasure, and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man squanders it.” Proverbs 20:21 NKJV

Wise people are willing to endure short-term difficulty for long-term benefits. Foolish people seek immediate gratification at the expense of long-term benefits. The area of greatest disaster for people is how they handle their money. We need to learn the value of short-term sacrifice for long-term benefits. We live in the “I want it now” generation. Just look at the problems we face because of our charge it now pay for it later attitude. Why all the problems? We have not learned to look at the long-term consequences of our “I want it now” attitude. We fail to see the value of sacrifice and the benefits of delayed gratification. Solomon said it bluntly, “a foolish man squanders” his treasure.

What have gained by using credit to buy what we don’t have the money to purchase? You become a slave of the credit card industry. “The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.” [Proverbs 22:7] You pay outlandish interest rates running as high as 28%. This adds up to paying a minimum of three or four times the original cost of the item. How things have you bought on credit that are long gone or broken before you pay for them. You are robbing yourself of the freedom to prepare for your future.

It is time to exercise some discipline in money matters. Discipline produces a plan to save for both short-term specific items and long-term savings for our future needs. Discipline rejects the idea that immediate gratification is what is best and teaches us the value of sacrifice and delayed gratification.

One of the greatest examples of these concepts is Joseph. For seven years he systematically put away grain for the coming seven years of famine. If he did not exercise the most stringent discipline in the storing of grain what would have happened in Egypt to both the Egyptians and his own family? Joseph knew the seven years of famine were coming. Our hard times often come upon us unexpectedly making a financial plan that includes no debt and long-term saving an absolute necessity. There are two ingredients that must be an integral part of any plan. The first is being able to distinguish between real needs and wants. This allows us to implement the second concept. Setting aside immediate gratification for long-term benefits.

Where are you financially today because you failed to exercise discipline in your money matters? How many credit card companies own you? How large is your debt? What can’t you do today that you want to because of unwise spending in the past? It’s time to honor the Lord by changing the way you spend you money.

Final words of wisdom from God’s Word: “Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith” [Proverbs 15:16]. “A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked” [Psalm 37:16]. "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise." [Proverbs 12:15].