Encouragement for Life

By Nancy Cotterill, Claiming Peace

http://www.uniteindy.org/claiming-peace/

I remember a book I read called The Poisonwood Bible in which a family of fiercely evangelical missionaries go to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They took with them everything they believed they would need from home, but find nothing but sorrow and loss in the cruelty of the African wild. Nothing works, people die, crops fail, and wars erupt.

At the end of the book, the two surviving children land back on U.S. soil. They exit the terminal and are stopped, awestruck, at the wonder of the yellow striping at the edge of the street. After decades in the wildness and unpredictability of the mission field, this simple painted line slaps them in the face with a culture so organized and so tamed that IT PAINTS YELLOW LINES ON THE SIDES OF ITS ROADS.

I felt that way recently. I lost my phone.

As ridiculous as this comparison may be, for one brief moment I was shattered. The organization of my personal life-culture is pretty much on that phone. For me, it was going from the comfort of an organized environment to the wildness and unpredictability of loss. Loss of important names. The phone numbers that I used to keep in my head, now rest in the marrow of my SIM card…I cannot remember one of them, they were lost. I had lost my schedule. All the addresses. My map to get to places that are new to me. Lost.

Frankly, I am amazed at how bad I felt. After a few hours, the phone was located. But still, the fear reverberated somewhere in my chest. I claim peace. I really have it most of the time. But in this crazy world, most of us have filled every hour of every day to the limit with things that need doing. We are like the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland who keeps looking at his watch muttering, “I’m late, I’m late…

What were the trappings of a highly evolved culture to the missionary sisters in the form of striping on roadways is nothing for us in the 21st century. We believed the Microsoft and Apple “scripture” that said computers and blackberries and cell phones would lighten our workloads, instead, they have allowed us to work around the clock—falling asleep with a half-written email in process, our computers on our laps in bed.

Remember Parkinson’s Law: “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” Well, the “time for completion” has reached about 18 hours, seven days a week. Even our Bibles (every version imaginable) is on our phones. So turn now on your Bible App to Exodus 20:18. It says, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” Some of you might be able to look back…maybe when you were children when Sunday was a day of rest. You could be chastised by a neighbor if you so much as started your lawn mower on a Sunday. (This was mainly because you would be interrupting his day of rest.) But this is no joke. Sundays were to be quiet and restful—no phones needed.

The Poisonwood Bible, I will tell you, was written by Barbara Kingsolver. I give you this bit of information so you don’t have to Google it, and hopefully, that will give you a few more nanoseconds of peace in your particular day. Meanwhile, I am trying to take better care not to lose my phone. As for that peace, I want so much…maybe after church on Sundays, I won’t turn my phone’s ringer back on, or maybe I’ll just take some time to stare at the yellow lines on the side of the road. That might just do it.

Claiming peace,

Nancy

Nancy Cotterill is Vice President, Chief Communications Officer, and co-founder of UNITE INDY, an organization that mobilizes volunteers, expertise and other resources on behalf of urban churches, ministries and other charities that are struggling to meet the ever-growing needs of those they serve. Nancy is an award winning editorial writer, and spent 20 years as Editor and Editorial Director of several magazines and newspapers, and served as Publisher of Indianapolis Business Journal. For more about UNITE INDY, visit http://www.uniteindy.org/about

By Gary Stanton, Walking Where Jesus Walked – My Trip to the Holy Land

Traveling all the way to the Holy Land and experiencing scripture come alive was a great confirmation of what I believe as a Christian. Being able to actually visit the locations of some of the greatest successes and laments of biblical history reinforced my faith of 57 years in Jesus.

My wife, Cindy, and I embarked on our journey April 26 with a group of 31 other people from mostly Cincinnati. Our experienced host, Keith Thomas, from the Vineyard Church in Cincinnati, has led groups to Israel 6-7 times.  After the lengthy flight, we arrived in Israel to meet our local tour guide who narrated all the sites, explained the geography and infused the historical perspective.  Israel is diverse in various religions (Jewish, Messianic Jews, Arab Christian, Muslims), which is why it is important to have a local guide who is educated in the differences. Keith did a great job with more in-depth spiritual aspects by reading scripture and providing time for us to pray.

There were so many highlights of the trip. Seeing ruins that were over 2,000 years old and experiencing the history of Israel was something that I will remember forever. We took a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee where Jesus asked Peter “do you love me?” three times, saw where Jesus taught the Sermon on the Mount, visited Mt. Carmel where Elijah defeated the 400 Prophets of Baal, and also visited Caesarea Philippi where Peter proclaimed that Jesus is Christ. In addition, we were baptized in the Jordan River and were able to float in the Dead Sea. Being in the Garden of Gethsemane and also seeing olive trees over 1,000 years old growing on the Mount of Olives, were some of my favorite parts.

There are many arguments about where the tomb of Jesus actually is, but it has been said to be at the Place of The Skull, which is a big rock that looks like a skull. Our tour guide would give us a scale between 1 and 4 of how accurate they believed the locations were, but just being in the vicinity of where Jesus walked, lived and died was so powerful to me.

When we visited Shiloh where the Ark of the Covenant laid before it was taken, we were able to worship there in song and spend some quiet time in prayer. This was an incredibly holy place where the last tabernacle stood. Only the High Priest was allowed to go into the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant was. While we were there, I was overcome by the presence of God. I could feel the holiness of God all around me. There are times in our lives that God allows us to feel His presence more than others, and that was a defining moment for me.

Since the Jewish people have not accepted Jesus as the Messiah, they gather at the Wailing Wall to read the Old Testament and pray for the Messiah to come. Men and women have separate areas where they were allowed to be on the Wall. People from all over the world have prayed there. I was able to pray for my family and friends. My feeling around the Wailing Wall was probably quite different than many others – I was deeply saddened for the Jewish people and prayed that they would come to accept Christ as Lord.

My advice to you if you are considering visiting the Holy Land is to be flexible and be open to whatever God wants you to experience. Don’t try to be in control, and allow God to lead! But most importantly, go. Go and walk where Jesus walked to experience His presence in a whole new way.

By Darrel Geis, More to This Life

In February of 2014, I stood at my younger brother Alex’s side as he sadly passed away at the age of 48 due to complications from years of alcohol abuse. He had been diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver that previous September, went through a detox program in October, and had been clean and sober since. By God’s grace, he had experienced a true conversion to Christ through involvement in Teen Challenge Cincinnati years ago. We were as hopeful for his physical recovery as we had been for his spiritual one…

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By Darrel Geis, The Greatest Birthday Gift Ever

It was late in the spring of 2006, and my parents had come from their home in Pennsylvania to Cincinnati to visit my wife and me on the eve of my birthday. They hinted of a special surprise for me, and the next day we piled into their SUV and headed to Lexington, Kentucky. Much to my surprise, the gift ended up being a new custom fitted set of golf clubs that everyone in the family (mine and Karen’s) had pitched in to purchase! But I soon found out that an even greater blessing was in store on that trip…

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By Darrel Geis, Live in the Moment

It was the 2nd Sunday of Advent in 2003, and I was sitting in the back row of the sanctuary at North Cincinnati Community Church, my home church. On my left was my girlfriend at the time, who had flown from her home on the East Coast to visit me for the weekend.

During the offeratory song, I remember leaning forward a little, my eyes fixed on the ground, poised to drop my envelope in the collection basket. Suddenly, I felt a tap on my shoulder, and I leaned back in my chair to look over at my girlfriend.

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By David Kithcart, St. Valentine, the Real Story

Flowers, candy, red hearts and romance. That’s what Valentine’s day is all about, right? Well, maybe not.

The origin of this holiday for the expression of love really isn’t romantic at all—at least not in the traditional sense. Father Frank O’Gara of Whitefriars Street Church in Dublin, Ireland, tells the real story of the man behind the holiday—St. Valentine.

“He was a Roman Priest at a time when there was an emperor called Claudias who persecuted the church at that particular time,” Father O’Gara explains. ” He also had an edict that prohibited the marriage of young people. This was based on the hypothesis that unmarried soldiers fought better than married soldiers because married soldiers might be afraid of what might happen to them or their wives or families if they died.”

“I think we must bear in mind that it was a very permissive society in which Valentine lived,” says Father O’Gara. “Polygamy would have been much more popular than just one woman and one man living together. And yet some of them seemed to be attracted to Christian faith. But obviously the church thought that marriage was very sacred between one man and one woman for their life and that it was to be encouraged. And so it immediately presented the problem to the Christian church of what to do about this.”

“The idea of encouraging them to marry within the Christian church was what Valentine was about. And he secretly married them because of the edict.”

Valentine was eventually caught, imprisoned and tortured for performing marriage ceremonies against command of Emperor Claudius the second. There are legends surrounding Valentine’s actions while in prison.

“One of the men who was to judge him in line with the Roman law at the time was a man called Asterius, whose daughter was blind. He was supposed to have prayed with and healed the young girl with such astonishing effect that Asterius himself became Christian as a result.”

In the year 269 AD, Valentine was sentenced to a three part execution of a beating, stoning, and finally decapitation all because of his stand for Christian marriage. The story goes that the last words he wrote were in a note to Asterius’ daughter. He inspired today’s romantic missives by signing it, “from your Valentine.”

“What Valentine means to me as a priest,” explains Father O’Gara, “is that there comes a time where you have to lay your life upon the line for what you believe. And with the power of the Holy Spirit we can do that —even to the point of death.”

Valentine’s martyrdom has not gone unnoticed by the general public. In fact, Whitefriars Street Church is one of three churches that claim to house the remains of Valentine. Today, many people make the pilgrimage to the church to honor the courage and memory of this Christian saint.

“Valentine has come to be known as the patron saint of lovers. Before you enter into a Christian marriage you want some sense of God in your life—some great need of God in your life. And we know, particularly in the modern world, many people are meeting God through his Son, Jesus Christ.”

“If Valentine were here today, he would say to married couples that there comes a time where you’re going to have to suffer. It’s not going to be easy to maintain your commitment and your vows in marriage. Don’t be surprised if the ‘gushing’ love that you have for someone changes to something less “gushing” but maybe much more mature. And the question is, is that young person ready for that?”

“So on the day of the marriage they have to take that into context,” Father O’Gara says. “Love—human love and sexuality is wonderful, and blessed by God—but also the shadow of the cross. That’s what Valentine means to me.”

David Kithcart is the Christian Broadcasting Network’s 700 Club Features Director. For more information about the Christian Broadcasting Network, please visit www.cbn.com.

By Hugh Whelchel, Why “Character Goals” Should Be Your First Resolutions

How many of your goals are built around what you want to accomplish as opposed to who you want to become?

The plans of the diligent surely lead to advantage (Prov. 21:5).

In the mid-sixties there was a successful television series called Run for Your Life. Actor Ben Gazzara plays a lawyer who is told by his doctor in the first episode that he will die in nine to eighteen months. Gazzara’s character decides to do all of the things he has never had time to accomplish.

The program becomes a series of plays in which this lawyer meets a wide variety of people, from bums riding the rails to orphans. He becomes a man who seems to be looking for something while the clock is running out:

I would suggest Gazzara’s character is really looking for purpose and significance—to find what is really important in life. In each encounter, he tries to find answers by looking more at who people are rather than what they have accomplished.

Developing Goals Consistent with Your Primary Purpose

As we begin 2018 and consider our goals and New Year’s resolutions, how many of them are built around what we want to accomplish as opposed to who we want to become? To which approach is our significance tied?

In his book The Call, Os Guinness writes of an amazing truth:

The truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do and everything we have is invested with a special devotion and dynamism lived out as a response to his summons and service.

Guinness differentiates between our primary and secondary callings. Our primary calling is to become a disciple of Christ.

Growing in Christ-likeness does not involve a list of “to-dos” we can check off. Our primary calling is about a significant process of transformation that is happening to all Christians as the Holy Spirit shapes their characters to the likeness of Christ. Theologians call this process sanctification.

Guinness suggests that in everything we do we should think, speak, live, and act entirely for Christ. Our primary calling “to be” should lead without fail to what we do. These two are inseparable.

The thing to remember is that who we are drives what we do, not the other way around.

It is through these secondary callings “to do” that we fully integrate God’s primary call into all areas of life. For followers of Christ, these secondary callings should lead us to find our unique life purpose, in order to use our particular gifts and abilities to their utmost for God’s glory in four distinct areas:

• Our families
• Our churches
• Our communities
• Our vocations

What Will You Become This Year?

As we think through our goals for the year ahead, we should not leave out “character goals.” These goals are vital to our growth as a spouse, parent, child, friend, boss, or employee. Try asking yourself these questions:

1. What would I like to become?
2. What one thing would I like God to change in me?
3. What character quality—if developed—would make me a better parent, sibling, friend, etc.?

However we answer these questions, we need to see the importance of what we are doing from an eternal perspective.

The Apostle Paul tells his disciple, Timothy:

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing (2 Tim. 4:7-8).

Paul had this larger perspective, that of seeing everything he accomplished flowing out of his relationship with Christ.

We need to reject our culture’s insistence that the ends justify the means, and that at the end of the day the only thing that matters is what you have accomplished. This is truly the road to ruin.

While we may not have the same health prognosis as Ben Gazzara, we are each “running for our lives” as we seek to live out our purpose in a precious, limited amount of time on earth. So, in this new year let us, as Hebrews 12:1-2 exhorts,

…throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.

 

This article is copied with permission from the Institute for Faith, Work & Economics ( www.tifwe.org ). The original article appeared here . IFWE is a Christian research organization committed to advancing biblical and economic principles that help individuals find fulfillment in their work and contribute to a free and flourishing society. Visithttps://tifwe.org/subscribe to subscribe to the free IFWE Daily Blog.