Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
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Vol. 16 – No. 1314 March 29, 2014
Thought for the week: "The holiest moment of the church service is the moment when God's people go out of the church door into the world to be the Church. We don't go to church; we are the church. " – Ernest Southeon
A minister told his congregation, "Next week I plan to preach about the sin of lying. To help you understand my sermon, I want you all to read Mark 17."
The following Sunday, as he prepared to deliver his sermon, the minister asked for a show of hands. He wanted to know how many had read Mark 17. Quite a few hands went up.
The minister smiled and said, "Mark has only 16 chapters. I will now proceed with my sermon on the sin of lying."
John Calvin said gratitude was at the center of the Christian life, and G. K. Chesterton called it "the mother of all virtues." It was gratitude for living in a free country that caused me to put on the uniform of a United States Marine officer during the Korean War. We do our duty to our country out of gratitude for those who went before us to defend the liberties we hold so precious.
I love the scene at the end of the movie, Saving Private Ryan. Ryan, who is now seventy years old, returns to Normandy, and he is looking at the grave marker of Captain Miller, the man who died to save him during World War II. Ryan is on his knees. The grave marker is a stark, white cross. He addresses Miller, now long dead: "I've tried every day to live up to what you did for me ... I hope I've lived a life worthy of your sacrifice."1
Ed. Note: I trust that we who call ourselves Christians are, with God's help, living a life worthy of Jesus Christ's sacrifice for us.
1. BreakPoint with Charles Colson. Commentary #020911 – 09/11/2002 www.pfm.org/
In 1910 DeWitt Wallace developed a new idea for a magazine. It would consist of a collection of condensed articles. He put together a proposed sample and sent it to publishers throughout the country. Nobody seemed interested. DeWitt was terribly discouraged.
About the same time he met Lila Bell Acheson, the daughter of a Presbyterian minister. Before long the two fell in love. Lila believed in DeWitt's dream. She wouldn't let him give up and encouraged him to keep trying his wonderful idea for a magazine. Boosted by her faith in him, DeWitt started mailing circular letters to potential subscribers.
In October, 1921 Lila married DeWitt. On returning from their honeymoon, they found a bundle of letters from interested subscribers. Together they worked on Volume 1, Number 1, which appeared in February, 1922. DeWitt Wallace included Lila Bell Acheson as his co-founder, co-editor, and co-owner. Over the years their little magazine grew. Now printed in at least eighteen languages, Reader's Digest is the best selling magazine in the entire world.
DeWitt and Lila were more than husband and wife, they were true friends. They encouraged, supported, and believed in each other. They worked side by side to make their dream come true, and in the process they respected each other. DeWitt once said, "I think Lila made the Digest possible." I can imagine that Lila would probably say the same about DeWitt.
Yes, love believes all things. It sticks up for seemingly impossible dreams, cheering as those dreams struggle forward and applauding when they finally come true.
Dr. Paul Brand tells of one of his patients, a Mr. Barwick, who had a serious and painful circulation problem in his leg. The doctors recommended amputation, but Mr. Barwick refused. Finally, the pain became too intense and Mr. Barwick agreed to the operation.
In the lead up to the operation, Mr. Barwick grew to hate his leg so much that he asked the doctor to preserve it for him in a large pickling jar. He planned to place it on his mantelpiece and then sit in his armchair and taunt it saying, "Ha! You can't hurt me anymore!" The doctor followed Mr. Barwick's instructions, but sadly, it was the leg that got the last laugh. Barwick developed a severe case of phantom limb pain. He hated the leg with such intensity that the pain of the wound lodged permanently in his brain.
Thought: Phantom limb pain provides a wonderful insight into the phenomenon of false guilt. Christians can be obsessed by the memory of some sin committed years ago. It never leaves them, crippling their ministry, their devotional life, their relationships with others. They live in fear that someone will discover their past. They work overtime to prove to God that they're truly repentant.1
1. KneMail http://www.oakhillcoc.org. Dr. Paul Brand & Philip Yancey, Leadership Magazine, Summer, 1984.
"Then Jesus said [to his disciples], 'Let's get away from the crowds for a while and rest.' There were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn't even have time to eat."1
I read recently about a lecturer who, when teaching on stress management, raised a glass of water and asked the audience, "How heavy is this glass of water?" Numerous guesses were suggested.
"What it weighs doesn't matter," the lecturer replied. "What matters is how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's no problem. If I hold it for an hour, my arm will ache terribly. And if I hold it for a day, I'll be in real trouble. The longer I hold it the 'heavier' it becomes."
That's true in life. If we keep working without a break, eventually we will break. And if we keep carrying a burden that is too heavy to bear without doing something about it, sooner or later the burden will break us. Stress needs to be managed. It's a killer.
Like Jesus and his disciples, there are times when we need to come apart and rest a while before we come apart. Learn to take breaks. Rest a while. Then you will be able to renew your strength and carry on.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank you for the example set by Jesus in that we, too, need to take breaks to be refreshed. Help me to not only hear your advice but accept and put it into practice. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
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