Would You Give Your Life for Your Beliefs?

Would you give your life for your beliefs?

A little over a year after becoming a Christian in Ngudungudu, Chad in December 1995, Jeje Nehamiah Baki left the town to meet up with his nomadic family in the wilderness. His wife had already returned to her parents and their nomadic lifestyle, and Baki, a former Muslim and nomadic Fulani of the Bororo dialect in Chad, was looking forward to reuniting with her and their two children. But he said his father-in-law, having learned of his conversion, seized his wife and would allow her to go back with him only if Baki renounced his Christian faith. He refused and left, returning a few years later to try again to persuade his father-in-law. The effort resulted in his father-in-law killing Baki’s first-born son, Compass Direct News reports. “Having lost my first child, and with threats to my life, I had to leave without my wife, but [returning later] only succeeded in taking away our second son.”

Source

Would you? Would you give your life for your beliefs?

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Unrecognized Treasure

Recently at an Easton, Md. Goodwill store, someone dropped off the painting depicted here. It was jumbled in with wooden spoons, cast off clothing, tattered books and dented pots and pans. But a sharp worker recognized the painting as being valuable, called attention, and it recently sold at Sotheby’s for $40,600.

The painting was the creation of Edouard Leon Cortes, a French Impressionist. His work is beautiful and this link shows more of his paintings.

Some unidentified person drove or walked to that thrift store, probably opened the trunk of their car and set off items they no longer needed or wanted. It is likely they did not recognize the value of the painting, nor did they understand that a masterpiece was in their possession. They failed to comprehend they were setting aside a treasure.

When I read this story, I immediately thought of the treasure we have in our lives when we possess the gift of the Holy Ghost, when we understand who Jesus is, and when we give Him the control of our being. It’s an amazing thing, and startling to consider.

Paul spoke about it in this way: “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” II Corinthians 4:7

Amazing, for God hath said, “Let us make man in our image,” and so we are flesh and blood as was Jesus Christ, and within our earthy, mortal, decaying bodies dwells the almighty God. It is truly a wonder.

It is astonishing that we have a desire to do right, that we have faith to believe in the supernatural and that we understand in a small way–as through a glass darkly–the treasure with which we are conferred.

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Another Face of Righteousness

“Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

…Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” Matthews 25: 34-40 (portions)

Lately I have been reminded of Clarence Jordan and his unusually wide range of abilities and interests. A highly educated man with a Ph.D. in Greek, he also had an agricultural degree. Using his exceptional intelligence and his finely honed education, he made the decision to spend much of his life serving the poor.

Koinonia was the name of the farm he founded in Americus, Georgia, a farm that through the ’50s and ’60s served as a community for poor whites and poor blacks. It was a tragic time in this deep south region, for he was met with fierce resistance. It is embarrassing, but honest, to note that much of the fight came from churches in the area. Segregation was firmly entrenched in that southern culture and would not be easily torn away.

For fourteen years, the citizens of Americus, Georgia tried to stop Clarence. They boycotted his efforts in every imaginable way, resorting even to the slashing of workers’ tires. It was anything but godly. It was mean and ugly. With no hesitation and with little restraint the townspeople kept up a steady barrage of fierce resistance.

The dreaded Ku Klux Klan came in l954, armed with guns and with torches. They blasted the home of Clarence with bullets, and set fire to every other building on Koinonia Farm. In fear for their lives, all the resident families fled, except one black family which resolutely refused to leave.

During that dreadful night of attack as Clarence defended his work, he was stunned to recognize some of the voices as belonging to people associated with churches in town. It is reported that among the Klansmen that night was the local newspaper reporter.

The long night was over; the place lay in ruins, burned structures yet smoldering over the scorched land when the reporter came to view the remains. He found Clarence in the field. In his hand was a hoe; nearby were seeds.

“Sorry about your loss,” he said. “I’m here to do a story on the closing of your farm.”

Silent, ignoring the hypocritical man, Clarence kept hoeing. He kept planting.

The reporter prodded, quizzed and cajoled. Without a word, never acknowledging the intrusion of the reporter, Clarence continued to work.

Sneering now, and lifting his voice, the reporter threw his final taunt: “Fourteen years, isn’t it, now? You’ve put fourteen years into building this farm, this place named Koinonia.” Extending his hand, he disdainfully indicated the fuming, smoldering land.

Finally Clarence stopped. Standing tall at his hoe, he turned toward the reporter. It is said he had blue eyes of such intensity they seemed to penetrate those on whose his gaze was fixed.

The volume of his words barely exceeded that of a whisper, but the force of his message was that of a machine gun volley. “About as successful as the cross.” He paused, then said again, “About as successful as the cross.”

“You don’t understand this at all, Sir,” he continued. We’re here to be faithful. We’re here to serve God by serving others. Whether successful or not, we will continue to be faithful.

“We’re staying. Good day.”

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My other blog is here.

This Marvelous Business of Doing Good

Only today I came across a reference to Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice in which he has Portia say,

If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches, and poor men’s cottages princes’ palaces. It is a good divine that follows his own instructions; I can easier teach twenty what were good to be done, than to be one of the twenty to follow mine own teaching. The brain may devise laws for the blood, but a hot temper leaps o’er a cold decree.

Oh yes, what truth. Previously, well before William Shakespeare thought to lift a quill, Paul had written of such to the Romans. Chapter 7 verse 15

“That which I do I allow not; for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.”

Been there? Done that? Have the souvenir? Of course we do; we all do for we Christians are rather similar. The secret, though, is that we won’t burrow around on that level. We refuse to camp on that piece of ground: Pitching a tent on such a stretch and ringing in the stakes is just not in our new nature.

For Paul didn’t end his exhortation there, but went on to say in verse 22

“…I delight in the law of God after the inward man:”

Yes! that’s it. It’s the righteousness we revel in, it’s a quickness in our spirit that chaffs at sin as we regard our ugly missteps. We are bent now toward the holy and we arch toward the sublime. The more righteous we become, the richer develops the godly inward man.

None of nourishing and embellishing the inward man and speaking of those desires is to smack a crown of self-righteousness onto our fallible heads. Not at all, but neither should we hesitate to proclaim that we’re after the golden ring of piety and goodness. We’re chasing after sainthood and godliness. Don’t laugh at yourself. Don’t be embarrassed to confess that’s what you after; Heaven is where you’re heading.

Of course we’re all sinners–sinners saved by grace. Perhaps too long that has been an excusing chant, and perhaps we have spouted it too much, so that such image threatens to become our own.

“What shall we say then?” Paul demands. “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid (He may have shouted and pounded the pulpit and paced about…)How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 6:1-2

It’s a marvelous business. We’re up to it, we’re ready for it; we’re called, we’re anointed, we’re destined for this business–this business of doing good.
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Vincent van Gogh, Gifts, and Miles

“A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.” Proverbs 18:16

There is little that so affects a man and his sphere as that of persistence, especially persistence to an ideal or a talent, when success appears elusive and when discouragement and despondency are bounteous. We’re all called to be faithful, to endure, to use the gifts that God has given us.

Chances are we will be disappointed, for few people experience success as quickly and as abundantly as is desired. Very likely we will fail to have the outcome we had planned. Few of us will be recognized around the world, or even in our city; maybe not even on our block.

Setbacks claw our backs. Defeat, flops and duds might just strike a scrawl over our plan sheet…and on our report form. Ours is to persist; to keep striving, to keep hammering and praying and visiting and witnessing and preaching and studying and singing and smiling and crying. That’s our job, and we’re getting it done. We’re having success, and although it is possible we will never observe it, we are making our mark.

Vincent Van Gogh was a brilliantly talented man, a painter who between November 1818 and July 1890 produced more than 900 paintings. During his short life of 37 years, he only sold one small piece. Now, his works are virtually priceless. I’ve listed here the selling price of four of them. Recall, he left more than 900 paintings…worth billions, but he never knew how successful he was.

Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers 39.5 million
Irises 53.9 million
Portrait of Doctor Gachet 82.5 million
Self-Portrait (Without Beard) 71.5 million

Got your gifts out and working? Sharpened up your talents lately? Are you persevering, kicking aside discouragement, hopelessness and fatigue?

When I was a child, a man named Brother Snow used to testify in church, saying, “Pray for me that I’ll go the last smile of the way.” This humble man wasn’t trying to be funny; he was just a little mixed up, really wanting to say, “Pray for me that I’ll go the last mile of the way.”

He never knew it was to be, but the works of Vincent van Gogh have caused him to stand before great men. And the promise is yours, and mine, too, if we persevere, if we keep trudging, continue walking, seeing to our gifts…for one day soon, that bumpy rocky trail will be the last mile…and we will stand…before Him.
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Born Again Macie

Romans Chapter 1 verse 31 describes a group of people whom, I believe, inhabit the world today, for they are:

“Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful.”

Surely persons who advocate aborting children fall into this category: no understanding, breaking of bonds and covenants, lacking natural affection, can’t be pleased, and the final–without mercy. Take a look at this baby girl and hear her story.

Little Macie McCartney was welcomed into the world not once — but twice.

Four months into Keri McCartney’s pregnancy, doctors reportedly noticed a tumor growing on the baby’s tailbone.

Doctors discovered that the tumor was stealing blood from the fetus and weakening her heart. So, at 25 weeks, surgeons at Texas Children’s Fetal Center cut into McCartney’s abdomen in an effort to remove the life-threatening mass, according to a CBS News report.

“Prenatal surgery is still done in very few select areas in the United States,” Dr. Manny Alvarez, FOXNews.com’s managing health editor, said Monday. “And there are a limited number of medical conditions where prenatal surgery is indicated and this is one of them.”

Fox News

At a period of gestation when she could have been legally aborted, caring parents called on doctors to do something for their baby. Wonderful, talented physicians operated on this tiny girl, then tucked her back inside her mommy so that little Macie could get on with her growing.

Abortion is a terrible thing, and flies in the face of the Almighty God who alone creates life. Today I read this report from Planned Parenthood itself:

Why are children aborted? The Alan Guttmacher Institute (the research arm of Planned Parenthood) states:

1 percent are victims of incest or rape

1 percent had fetal abnormalities

4 percent had a doctor who said their health would worsen if they continued the pregnancy

50 percent said they didn’t want to be a single parent or they had problems in current relationships

66 percent stated they could not afford a child

75 percent said the child would interfere with their lives

But here we have little Macie who four weeks ago was born normal and healthy, due to God’s grace and mercy, loving conscientious parents, and caring, skilled physicians.

More pictures of Macie here.

It’s a time to rejoice.
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A Ponder of Purpose

“Great minds have purposes, little minds have wishes.”
Irving Washington

Not a few times have I said, “I wish I could speak Spanish.” Having lived in California most of my adult life, I recognize that such skill has real advantage in this area of the world. But wishing into my mind the full grasp of that beautiful language has done little (more truthfully–nothing) to propel me down the Spanish Language Conquering Road. I concur with Irving Washington that “little minds have wishes.”

To redeem myself, though, I make the gargantuan leap to append myself to the first part of Washington’s post, for although I lay no claim to having a great mind, in one area, I qualify: I have purpose. I understand why I’m here on this earth, and I know what is my assignment.

My purpose and your purpose are the same. Oh, they will call for differences in working out the life details, but our base purpose is the same: we’re here to know Jesus and to tell others of His saving love.

“In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ.” Ephesians 1:11-12

Listen in as God speaks to Jacob–and to us, His people.

” Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee:…”

Let us ponder these things today. As we walk through our world, may we understand our purpose, our calling, our reason for being here. Jesus is the reason…for every season.
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Jesus Is For Losers

I don’t know who Stephen Jones is, but he is reputed in a great post on Half Write to have originated this title. In a comment there Gary reminded me of this scripture.

“He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” Matthew 10:39

Perused strictly from a carnal understanding, this portion of scripture makes no sense at all, but when spiritually understood, it is a Christian’s promise of the most glorious assurance. It is a spectacular announcement that goes to the heart of Hope and entangles itself with the eternal, extending into that not comprehended by mere mortal thinking.

It’s one of God’s gleaming principles: lose your life and you will find it! So, yes, Jesus is for losers. We give up the “pleasures of sin,” and gain instead splendor and glory–not only in Heaven, but in a life lived on this earth in a godly, righteous, fulfilling manner.

Along the way we lose other things. Love it!

We lose drunkenness and carousing. We lose wretched morning after hangovers. We lose brawls in our homes and sleepless nights and hiding in the dark. We lose the fear of passing a police car on the street, of hearing the dreaded knock of authorities on our door, of the lack of peace when we slip into our beds at night. We lose the horrific thought of standing before God, unprepared. We lose drug-induced comas and vomiting into the midnight gutter. We lose homelessness, and friendlessness. We lose too the posibility of hearing the words, “Depart from me. I never knew you.”

We’re losers, alright, happy, joyful, Heaven-bound losers.

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Every Man a Liar

“For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar…” Romans 3:304

Those of you who have read my pieces any length of time know I admire intelligence and gifted people. I stand in awe of the innate abilities of people, and respect their many skills and contributions, both to society in general, and to the church in particular.

However, God’s Word has no peer, and no matter how talented or ambitious or intelligent a person, if his views contradict the Bible–or worse yet–if he should postulate the Bible as being silly or untrue, I will always consider that person mistaken. He may be evil as he voices his opinion, or he may simply be misguided and mistaken.

So, I found it interesting recently to learn of a letter written by Albert Einstein in which he called the Bible “pretty childish.” This brilliant, highly gifted intelligent man is just wrong. The Bible speaks to such opinion in the text with which I opened this post.

A letter being auctioned in London this week adds more fuel to the long-simmering debate about the Nobel prize-winning physicist’s religious views.

In the note, written the year before his death, Einstein dismissed the idea of God as the product of human weakness and the Bible as “pretty childish.”

The letter, handwritten in German, is being sold by Bloomsbury Auctions on Thursday and is expected to fetch between $12,000 and $16,000.

The entire story is here.

We must hold to the truth of God’s Word, and, with our lives defend its veracity and significance.

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My other blog is here.

A Light Bulb and Multiple Talents

Lamp post at Wendell Myer’s Home, originally uploaded by Shirley Buxton.

It cost mere pennies when it was created; it is neither animal or vegetable, so it must fit squarely in the mineral category. It has its own website, has been written up in dozens of newspapers, filmed by multiplied cameras, visited by scores of people, and listed in Guinness Book of World Records. It’s a light bulb. A light bulb that resides in the firehouse of Livermore, CA. and that is 107 years old, and that has been designated the longest burning bulb in the world.

You might say it is faithful. You might say it understands its purpose. You might say that light bulb is doing what it was designed to do. You might say it is a “five-talent guy.”

LIVERMORE, CA,USA– A 5-watt carbon filament bulb burning in the Fire Department, Livermore, south Alameda County, California, which has been burning since 1901, sets the world record for the Longest Burning Light Bulb.

The low-watt firehouse bulb has been burning continuously since 1901. Its carbon filament is protected by an airtight seal.

The Livermore lightbulb never gets turned off, which many suspect is the secret to its longevity.

The average bulb last for 750-1,000 hours. Livermore’s bulb has burned for nearly a million hours.

I love this story, read a lot about it on the link and tried to bring over a picture, but was not able to do so. Yes, there is a connection between this unusual light bulb and the parable Jesus told concerning the talents. See Matthew 25:14-30. Recall that in the story when the master went away, he called together his servants and handed out the talents. To one he gave five, to another two, and to the last, he gave one–all according to their unique abilities.

When the Master returned he called his workers to account for their talents. The highly talented servant, who had been given five talents, had doubled them.

“Well done,” said the Master.

The worker with two talents had doubled his also.

“Excellent,” said the Master.

But the man who had been given only one talent had no gain to offer. “I was afraid,” he said. “I hid the talent.”

“You are a wicked man,” retorted the Master.

Our talents may be many or few, impressive or humble, small or expansive. God chose those gifts, handed them around, and all He asks from us is that we are faithful, that we put to good use the abilities, gifts and skills with which we have been blessed.

Hey, if a light bulb can exhibit such quality, perhaps we, too, can be faithful. It is quite likely that we can take out those precious talents Jesus gave us, polish them brightly, and with fresh vigor put them to work.
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