183 Sermon Illustrations on Influence

Scripture calls us to live pure lives in the midst of an impure world, and the prophet Daniel is a good example. [Fill in blanks after questions.]

1. Standing Out in a Crowd.

2. The Power of One.

3. Dare to be a Daniel.

In the face of the ever-increasing secularization and moral decline of our society, as Christians, what should we do?

The Apostle Paul lived in a secular world, under a pagan government that was cruel and corrupt, yet he tells us to submit to the authorities. Peter taught the same. We can influence the godlessness around us, but must be careful how we respond to issues and controversies.

#3074

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A woman and her husband, professing Christians, asked Luis Palau why he was an evangelist. “I long to see people changed by Jesus Christ,” he replied. “That’s my source of satisfaction.” She responded, “In my whole life, I’ve never seen a person actually changed by Jesus Christ.”

Her comment touched his conscience. How changed was he by Christ? How different was he than his unchurched, unconverted neighbors? Palau has seen thousands of lives dramatically changed, even in his own family when his 29-year-old son converted.

There is little enthusiasm in evangelism in churches today, and too much emphasis on political action. But it’s the gospel and its essential partner, prayer, that will change America. Proclamation of the gospel was Paul’s primary course of action to confront and change a pagan society.

Christians should not expect an unconverted person to see eye to eye with them on biblical values and ethics. Some do, but without the Holy Spirit they lack the power to implement those values and ethics. Empowerment to live by biblical values comes only through conversion to Jesus Christ. Of course, conversion is only the beginning. Believers must live in obedience to their Lord in His revealed principles. These are the Christians whom Jesus Christ called the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

When anything but the gospel becomes the church’s top priority in its outreach to the world, we’re merely tending blemished fruit on the tree. Only the gospel deals with the roots. Only the gospel can change America.

How will you respond when God's answer to your prayers wasn't what you had in mind? After her husband got tired of their church (and spiritually depressed), Lynn Hallimore was devastated when he announced they would be looking for a new church. Joshua gave her insight: he made plans to conquer Jericho militarily, but God had his own ideas.

Lynn's husband went to another church, was revived, and she decided to go with him. By following her husband's leadership (and God's), she gained a spiritual victory.

How to teach teenagers to be discerning when it comes to rock music.

1. Avoid things that make Satan or evil look attractive.

2. Avoid things that promote sin.

3. Avoid things that blaspheme or debase God.

4. Choose things that nurture your relationship with the Lord.

We have to train our children, and then let them make their own decisions.

According to neuroscientists led by Dick Swaab of the Netherlands Institute for Brain Research, one tiny region in the brains of six male-to-female transsexuals is only 52 percent as large as in other men — and almost exactly the size of the region in female brains. Other research has also seemed to strengthen the biology-is-destiny camp, at least for sexual orientation. A 1991 study found differences in the brains of gay and straight men. In 1993 scientists reported evidence of a “gay gene.” In 1995 a region of the X chromosome, long enough to contain 200 genes, is linked to homosexuality.

But instead of clinching the case for predestination, the studies are prodding scientists to search for how experiences influence sexuality. Neurobiologist S. Marc Breedlove of the University of California, Berkley, suggests that transsexuals are not born with a brain that tells them they are really female, but social and other experiences — how friends and parents treat them — might make these men feel they are women. These experiences might then feed back on the brain. Three decades of research “have made it clear that experience can dramatically alter the structure and function of the brain.”

Even a “gay gene” might not mean that homosexuality is predestined. As Hamer admits, it is only “in some families but not in all” that gay brothers inherit the suspect stretch of the X chromosome; in many gays this DNA is absent. That suggests that the DNA is not necessary for homosexuality. In fact, it may not be sufficient, either. Of identical twins in which one brother is gay, the other twin is gay only about half the time- even though he has the identical DNA.

Clearly, experiences, relationships and happenstance — this hodgepodge called environment — play a role in shaping sexuality. Psychiatrist William Byne of New York’s Mount Sinai Medical Center spins a theory in which a gene that makes a boy avoid rough sports might hurt his relationship with a father who adheres to sex-role stereotypes, but not with a more enlightened father. The impaired relationship might induce brain changes that make the first boy gay but not the second.

(None of the studies on gay brains, gay genes or transsexual brains has been replicated by other labs.)

The definition of leadership in the Bible is far different from that in the world:

1. Leadership is not a role - it's a function.

2. Leadership is not a right - it's a responsibility.

3. Leadership is not wielding authority - it's empowering people.

4. Leadership is not winning popularity - it's influencing people.

5. Leadership is not a gender, race, or age issue - it's service.

There is a common myth about homosexuality: that it is a condition one does not choose and for which one is not responsible.

A homosexual becomes one by a series of choices. These choices may seem imperceptible to him because they are not at first conscious choices to overt homosexual activity. Most frequently they are those of social attraction, for reasons other than sexual, to a person of the same sex. As the friendship becomes more intimate, some sexual stimulation occurs and if there is not a prior commitment to the wrongness - or at least undesirability - of homosexual conduct, this develops into overt acts.

The pattern, if not abruptly broken off, develops more rapidly if the person or persons with whom the novice associates is already practicing homosexual activity. As the friendship deepens, the values and lifestyle of his friends are accepted. Then one day he "discovers" that he really has a preference for homosexuality. This is entirely because of the conditioning that has taken place and has no basis whatever in his genetic, anatomic, or physiologic make-up.

________

Dr. Lorne Brown works at the University Health Center in Lincoln, Nebraska

Columnist Bob Greene told a story that touched my heart. It's about a newspaperman in a small Midwestern town and the call he got from a school teacher. She wanted to tell him about something that had happened to a child on the playground. He was braced for bad news. Well, it wasn't. During a lunch break, most of the 8th graders were gathered in groups, talking and playing. This one boy - a student who suffered from severe physical disabilities and was new to the school - was off by himself as usual. He was painfully shy.

The teacher noticed another boy - one of the most popular guys in the school, a great athlete - leave a group of the "in crowd" boys and walk over to this lone student. Well, eavesdropping, the teacher heard the athlete ask the other boy if he'd like to play catch. This disabled boy said no one liked to play with him and that he was afraid he would mess up and the others would laugh at him. With his impaired vision and his thick glasses, he could barely even see the ball.

Well, the athlete assured him, "Hey, it's OK to mess up. We all do." So they began to play catch. When some of the other students saw that Mr. Athlete had included the other boy, they came over to join in and play. They made sure he could catch their passes; they made him part of the group all during the lunch break. The teacher said, "It was the kindest thing I've witnessed in 28 years as a school teacher." Then she told the reporter, "The athlete was your son." That reporter choked back tears at what had suddenly become the proudest moment of his life.

Because of what that popular student did that lunchtime, the school year became a little more bearable for a boy who had been treated as an outcast until that point. Most of the time, he's been treated with the decency and friendship that he deserves.

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Changing the Climate."

That's what one student did on that playground that day. He changed the climate by his example. It's what God is calling you to do where you are. In 1 Timothy 4:12, our word for today from the Word of God, Paul says, "Set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity." Like a thermostat in a building, you can literally help change the temperature where you are - by setting the temperature where it should be. That's what one school athlete did, and it changed the climate of how people treated each other. God is calling us to show folks how they should be talking, the kinds of life-choices they should be making, how they should be treating each other, how they should be trusting God for big things, how they should be living pure and uncompromised and with integrity. Not to preach to them about it - to demonstrate it so they know what it looks like!

It's easy to complain about how things are in your family, or how they are at work or at church or at school. But complaining won't change a thing. Neither will condemning or criticizing or preaching. What is needed where you are is someone who will be what they wish others would be - to lead by contagious example. To step out from a climate that is negative or nasty or stressed or prideful or selfish - and to challenge it, not by their words, but by their actions. Decide how you wish everyone would be in your situation, and then start being it yourself!

Over time, one person can have amazing power to change the atmosphere and to improve the climate. In the places God has put you, why don't you be the one who quietly leads everyone else to something better? Don't wait for someone else to change. You have the power to start changing the climate in your personal world.

________________

Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. 'Practical Answers to Real Life Issues'

92 million boys have been in Scouting. 50% of the 104th Congress, 130 out

of 214 astronauts (33 are Eagle) and 36% of West Point cadets were involved in

Scouting. By end of 1994, 1,358,402 young men were awarded Eagle rank, which

is achieved by 2% of scouts.

#4088

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”The gospel means risk,” says Wally Mertz. “If we’re not willing to put ourselves in a position of personal risk, then we’re not laying down our lives and taking up our crosses daily. Unless we’re willing to do that, we’re not serious about the gospel.”

For Wally, risk-taking means stepping out in faith — even when it might endanger his family. Five years ago, Wally took that kind of risk when he invited two prisoners into his home. They were part of a work release program and non-violent offenders. Both were touched by the Mertzes’ ministry and still keep in contact.

#4095

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THE FIRST ONE IN THE POT.

Just like the Shipibo students in Lima, Amazon tribes are doing a balancing act between centuries-old customs and encroaching Westernization. Certain anthropologists, scholars, and opponents of Christianity sometimes blast the missionaries as “changing” the culture of the native groups. To be sure, some missionaries have made cultural gaffes. But native groups in the Amazon will make contact with Western culture eventually. And certainly it is better for them to meet Christ-bearing missionaries before they encounter the often-greedy oil and lumber companies, drug traffickers, or land-grabbers.

Jungle missions rarely involve personal glory. The work is filled with mundane tasks accomplished under difficult conditions and far from the public eye. Yet the jungle is filled with spiritual heroes. A Shipibo told me his uncle died from a poisonous snakebite while going to preach at an unreached village. The five U.S. missionaries killed by Ecuadorian Waorani (Aucas) in the 1950s made more headlines, but this Shipibo evangelist was just as much a martyr.

After all is said and written, even the most hardened critic would have trouble discounting the impact of Christianity in the Peruvian Amazon. Christianity has changed hearts and attitudes. Since embracing faith in Christ, “The Ashaninka men are more tender with their wives and children,” says Paul Friesen. “Also, there is a consciousness of sin, not perfection. The Word of God has convicted them.”

The gospel has also opened new horizons on the world and education. Inevitably, schools and literacy have followed the missionaries and the gospel. Evangelicals in the jungle (and Latin America in general) have learned leadership skills through their church responsibilities and often end up becoming community leaders as well.

All this happened among people who were previously “fearful, aggressive, illiterate, and animistic and whose only contacts with outsiders were marked by violence,” an SIL official wrote, describing one jungle group, the Matses, transformed by Christianity.

Now that is what jungle missions are really like: God blessing human efforts and transforming lives. Native believers have problems like Christians anywhere else, but they, more than most, can appreciate the difference between “before” and “after” Christ.

An anthropologist recently visited the Bora people and started criticizing the Christian missionaries, SIL’s Wes Thiesen told me. “Christianity is for the white man,” the anthropologist said. “You people should go back to your old religion and your old ways.”

An indignant Bora church leader, remembering the old days, eyed the anthropologist. “Yes, and if we did, you’d be the first one in the pot.”

________

John Maust is the director of training at Media Associates International in Bloomingdale, Illinois. He previously served as editor for the Latin America Evangelist.

Copyright (c) 1995 Christianity Today, Inc./CHRISTIANITY TODAY Magazine ctcurrmrw5TB0265919

Part 2 (see #1280): the pagan background of many Halloween customs.

TRICK OR TREAT

The modern custom of going from door to door begging candy, nuts, apples, and money while masked and dressed in grotesque costumes goes back to the pagan new year feast. The spirits that were thought to throng about the houses of the living were greeted with banquet-laden tables. At the end of the feast, masked and costumed villagers, representing the souls of the dead, paraded to the outskirts of town leading the spirits away. This was done to avoid any calamities the dead might bring upon them should they not be provided for. Were the living to fail in their provisions they believed that they might find their lives disrupted by having their livestock die, their milk turn sour, their food spoil, or by some other mischief the spirits of the dead might devise.

This appeasement of the spirits was celebrated in various ways according to locale and custom, with minor differences. One way was to set out bowls of fruit and other treats so they could partake of them and, once satisfied, they would leave in peace. Your child, going door-to-door, is reenacting that ancient superstition.

JACK-0-LANTERNS

The jack-o-lantern (also known as will-o-the-wisp, fox fire, fairie fire, friar's lantern, and corpse lantern, among other things) was believed to be a wandering soul which could not find refuge because of a particularly evil deed committed in its lifetime. Some believed it to be a malignant imp. The Finns believed that it was the soul of a child buried in the forest.

According to ancient folklore, a will-o-the-wisp wanders about swamp areas, enticing victims to follow. Should a person succumb to curiosity and follow its light, he may become hopelessly lost or led to his death in a bog or pool. There are tales of these mischievous spirits chasing terrified victims through mud and brambles until confused, and then leaving them stranded with the sound of mocking laughter ringing in their ears. Today's leering pumpkin face is symbolic of that mocking spirit.

A corpse candle is said to be a small flame moving through the air in the dark and is believed by the superstitious to be an omen of the observer's imminent death, or the death of a loved one. These strange fires, thought by the more rational to originate from the atmospheric ignition of swamp gases, were also known as "Ignus Fastuus," or "Foolish Fire," because only a fool would follow them.

BONFIRES

Most everyone is familiar with the Hallowe'en bonfire. This had its origins in the Celtic fire festivals.

In North Wales every family built a bonfire into which each member would throw a stone he had marked with his own identification. The family would recite prayers to their gods while gathered around the fire. Should a stone be missing when they returned to the site the next morning, it was believed that the owner of that particular stone would die within the coming year. A similar belief existed in the Scottish Highlands, and diverse forms of fortune telling would accompany the festivities. The Celtic new year provided a suitable time for predicting the future due to the closeness of the spirits. Even today, during this time of year modern "mystics" fill the newspapers with their predictions for the next year.

It is believed that the bonfires were first meant to provide light and heat to compensate for the feeble sun during the darkening and chilling winter to come. On this particular night all the people would extinguish their fires at home and congregate at a great community bonfire consecrated through sacred rites during the fire festival. In order to receive fire for the next year it was necessary to engage in pagan rituals, many of which included human and animal sacrifices to the gods of nature.

DUCKING FOR APPLES

There were many divination practices associated with Samhain, many of which dealt with marriage, health, and the weather. Ducking for apples was a marriage divination based on the belief that the first to bite into an apple would be the first to marry in the coming year. This is similar to the wedding tradition of the throwing of the bride's bouquet for women and her garter for men.

Apple peeling was another type of divination to determine how long one's life would be. The longer the unbroken peel, the longer the life of the one peeling it.

BLACK CATS & OTHER TALISMANS

Witches of many persuasions own living talismans -- animals indwelt by evil spirits, through which they derive their power. Common talismans are dogs, owls, snakes, and swine, but among the most common are cats. The witches invoke the familiar spirits to enter the bodies of their talismans for the exercising of power.

The black cat in particular has come to symbolize these familiar spirits because black represents evil, death, and darkness -- commodities with which evil spirits are obsessed.

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Media Spotlight, A BIBLICAL ANALYSIS OF RELIGIOUS & SECULAR MEDIA Copyright @ 1989 Media Spotlight P.O. Box 290, Redmond, WA 98073-0290

This guy goes up to a bar located at the top of the Empire State Building in New York. It looks like a nice place and he takes a seat at the bar next to another guy. "This is a nice place, I've never been here", the first guy says.

"Oh really?", the other replies, "it's also a very special bar." "Why is that?" the first guy asks. "Well, you see that painting on the far wall? That's an Van Gogh original, and this stool I'm sitting on was on the Titanic."

"Gee, that's amazing!" the first guy says.

"Not only that, but you see that window over there, fourth from the right? Well, the wind does strange things outside that window. If you jump out you'll fall about 50 feet before the wind catches you and you're pushed back up."

"No way, that's impossible," the first guy replies.

"Not at all, take a look," the other man replies and walks over to the window, followed closely by the first man. He opens the window, climbs over the sill and falls out. He drops 10... 30... 50 feet, comes to a stop, and whoosh! He comes right back up and sails back through the window. "See, it's fun. You should try it," he says.

"Try it, I don't even believe I saw it!" the first man shouts.

"It's easy. Watch, I'll do it again." And with that, he falls out the window again. He drops 10... 30... 50 feet, comes to a stop, and whoosh! He comes right back up and sails back through the window. "Give it a try, it's a blast", he says.

"Well, what the heck, I'll give it a try", the first man says and proceeds to jump out the window. He falls 10... 30... 50... 70... 100 feet, 150 feet, and splat! He falls to his death on the sidewalk below.

After watching the first man hit the ground, the other guy casually closes the window and heads back to the bar and orders another drink. The bartender arrives with the drink and says, "You know, you're a real jerk when you're drunk, Superman!"

There are some things we're asked to do that sound like they're dangerous, and they are! Some things that sound unbelievable should remain un-believed, because they're not true! Don't believe people that tell you won't get caught, or using illegal drugs is okay, or having sex is okay as long as you use protection.... Those things just aren't true!

#4248

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One day in 11th grade, I went into a classroom to wait for a friend of mine. When I went into the room, the teacher, Mr. Washington, suddenly appeared and asked me to go to the board to write something, to work something out. I told him that I couldn't do it. And he said, "Why not?"

I said, "Because I'm not one of your students."

He said, "It doesn't matter. Go to the board anyhow."

I said, "I can't do that."

He said, "Why not?"

And I paused because I was somewhat embarrassed. I said, "Because I'm Educable Mentally Retarded."

He came from behind his desk and he looked at me and he said, "Don't ever say that again. Someone's opinion of you does not have to become your reality."

It was a very liberating moment for me. On one hand, I was humiliated because the other students laughed at me. They knew that I was in Special Education. But on the other hand, I was liberated because he began to bring to my attention that I did not have to live within the context of what another person's view of me was.

And so Mr. Washington became my mentor. Prior to this experience, I had failed twice in school. I was identified as Educable Mentally Retarded in the fifth grade, was put back from the fifth grade into the fourth grade, and failed again, when I was in the eighth grade. So this person made a dramatic difference in my life.

I always say that he operates in the consciousness of Goethe, who said, "Look at a man the way that he is, he only becomes worse. But look at him as if he were what he could be, and then he becomes what he should be." Like Calvin Lloyd, Mr. Washington believed that "Nobody rises to low expectations." This man always gave students the feeling that he had high expectations for them and we strove, all of the students strove, to live up to what those expectations were.

One day, when I was still a junior, I heard him giving a speech to some graduating seniors. He said to them, "You have greatness within you. You have something special. If just one of you can get a glimpse of a larger vision of yourself, of who you really are, of what it is you bring to the planet, of your specialness, then in a historical context, the world will never be the same again. You can make your parents proud. You can make your school proud. You can make your community proud. You can touch millions of people's lives." He was talking to the seniors, but it seemed like that speech was for me.

I remember when they gave him a standing ovation. Afterwards, I caught up to him in the parking lot and I said, "Mr. Washington, do you remember me? I was in the auditorium when you were talking to the seniors."

He said, "What were you doing there? You are a junior."

I said, "I know. But that speech you were giving, I heard your voice coming through the auditorium doors. That speech was for me, Sir. You said they had greatness within them. I was in that auditorium. Is there greatness within me, Sir?"

He said, "Yes, Mr. Brown."

"But what about the fact that I failed English and math and history, and I'm going to have to go to summer school. What about that, Sir? I'm slower than most kids. I'm not as smart as my brother or my sister who's going to the University of Miami."

"It doesn't matter. It just means that you have to work harder. Your grades don't determine who you are or what you can produce in your life."

"I want to buy my mother a home."

"It's possible, Mr. Brown. You can do that." And he turned to walk away again.

"Mr. Washington?"

"What do you want now?"

"Uh, I'm the one, Sir. You remember me, remember my name. One day you're gonna hear it. I'm gonna make you proud. I'm the one, Sir."

School was a real struggle for me. I was passed from one grade to another because I was not a bad kid. I was a nice kid; I was a fun kid. I made people laugh. I was polite. I was respectful. So teachers would pass me on, which was not helpful to me. But Mr. Washington made demands on me. He made me accountable. But he enabled me to believe that I could handle it, that I could do it.

He became my instructor my senior year, even though I was Special Education. Normally, Special Ed students don't take Speech and Drama, but they made special provisions for me to be with him. The principal realized the kind of bonding that had taken place and the impact that he'd made on me because I had begun to do well academically. For the first time in my life I made the honor roll. I wanted to travel on a trip with the drama department and you had to be on the honor roll in order to make the trip out of town. That was a miracle for me!

Mr. Washington restructured my own picture of who I am. He gave me a larger vision of myself, beyond my mental conditioning and my circumstances.

Years later, I produced five specials that appeared on public television. I had some friends call him when my program, "You Deserve," was on the educational television channel in Miami. I was sitting by the phone waiting when he called me in Detroit. He said, "May I speak to Mr. Brown, please?"

"Who's calling?"

"You know who's calling."

"Oh, Mr. Washington, it's you."

"You were the one, weren't you?"

"Yes, Sir, I was."

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By Les Brown from A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul, Copyright 1996 by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen

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Another version from Brett Blair's newsletter, 1/16/05:

In A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul, there is a story about a student who was unlike most students. One day in the 11th grade he went into a classroom to wait for a friend. The teacher appeared and asked him to go to the blackboard. He replied, “I’m not one of your students.” The teacher said, “Doesn’t matter. Go to the board anyhow.” The student told him he couldn’t do that and when the teacher asked, “Why not?” the student told him he was mentally retarded. The teacher came over to the student and said, “Don’t ever say that again. Someone’s opinion of you does not have to be become your reality.”

It became a liberating moment for the student, a time of great learning. The teacher, Mr. Washington, became the student’s mentor. Later that school year Mr. Washington addressed the graduating seniors. And in his speech he said, “You have greatness within you ... You can touch millions of people’s lives.” After the speech the student went up to Mr. Washington and asked him if he had greatness within him. The teacher replied, “Yes, Mr. Brown, you do.” The student thanked him and told him that one day he would make the teacher proud.

In his senior year it happened that Brown was placed in Mr. Washington’s speech and drama class. Although Brown was a special education student, the principal realized that this would be a good match up. Mr. Washington gave Brown a larger vision of himself. While other teachers passed Brown from class to class, Mr. Washington made more demands of him. He made him accountable. He enabled him to believe in himself. Years later the famous, Les Brown, produced five specials on public television. Mr. Washington saw the program and called Les Brown to tell him how proud he was of his achievement.

When others believe in us we gain confidence in ourselves and are able to do great things. Naturally, we still have to apply ourselves. Les Brown had to work hard to finish high school. But, he was now motivated to learn. Our children need to hear from us that we believe in them. Our students, who could be our friends, relatives, or co-workers will be motivated to aspire to greater things when we believe in them.

________

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio

#4374

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As long as I live, I won't forget when I met Alvin C. Hass for the first time in 1991. The other inmate in the prison class didn't use the name "Alvin Hass" when he introduced us - not even close! He introduced Alvin as "Bonehead." Immediately, I felt uncomfortable with Alvin's nickname. The tall, soft-spoken inmate wouldn't look at me as he shook my hand. Needless to say, "Bonehead" was bald-headed. The hair that he had on the sides went way down past his shoulders. I felt as though I were staring at him and tried not to look. But there was a large (and very intimidating) tattoo on top of his bald head. (Yes! A tattoo on his head!) The tattoo was of Harley-Davidson wings and covered the entire top of his head.

As a teacher, I try to maintain excellent composure during stressful times, and I made it through that first day of class. At the end of the period, "Bonehead" slipped me a note while he was filing out of the classroom. I thought, "Oh no! He's telling me that I'm going to be 'taken out' by his other "Harley" buddies if I don't give him a good grade or something like that." A little later, I had a chance to read the note. It said, "Teach (he always called me "Teach"), breakfast is an important meal and if you're not in by then you're in big trouble! - Bonehead, the Mountain Hippie."

Bonehead completed a series of six classes with me over many months. He was an excellent student who seldom spoke. However, he handed me a note nearly every day with some type of saying, tidbit, anecdote or other wise advice for life. I looked forward to receiving them and became a little disappointed if by chance he didn't give me one. I still have them all today.

Bonehead and I clicked. Somehow, I knew that each time I opened my mouth to teach, he understood me. He silently soaked up everything I said. We were connected.

At the conclusion of the course, each student received a certificate. Bonehead had completed the course doing excellent work the entire way through and I was excited to give him his certificate.

We were alone when I presented his certificate of completion. I shook his hand and briefly told him what a pleasure it was to have had him in my classes and that I appreciated his hard work, excellent attendance and superior attitude. His response stayed with me and continues to make a deep impression on my life. In that soft voice of his, Bonehead said, "Thank you, Larry, You're the first teacher in my life that ever told me I did anything right."

As I walked away, I was awash with emotion. I could hardly hold back the tears thinking that in all of Bonehead's growing-up years, no one ever told him he had done anything right.

Now, I'm from the "old school." I was raised in a conservative setting and I believe criminals must pay for their wrongdoings and be held accountable. Yet I've asked myself several times, "Could it be, by chance, just by chance, that Bonehead's never hearing 'You did that right' or 'Good job' might have had anything at all to do with why he ended up in prison?"

That moment's experience implanted into my heart the desire to make sure I acknowledge, in a positive way, every student that does something "right."

Thanks, Bonehead, for telling me that I, too, did something right.

________

By Larry Terherst, from A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul, Copyright 1996 by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen

Yahoo news blogger Eric Pfeiffer reports: “Matthew Roberts, 44, says he believes [Charles] Manson fathered him during a sexual orgy. Roberts was born in Chicago in 1968 and adopted as an infant. He also bears a striking resemblance to the notorious former cult leader. Manson was convicted in 1969 for the murder of seven people, including actress Sharon Tate and her unborn child.

“After Roberts tracked down his birth mother in 1998, the woman told Roberts she believes Manson is his biological father.

“‘It’s more than just possible, but probable,’ Roberts told CNN. Roberts said he’s tried to get a DNA test from Manson to put the question to rest but that the obtained sample was contaminated.

“Along with his similar physical appearance, Roberts says he shares other character traits with Manson, including practicing a vegetarian diet. He’s also an aspiring musician, as was Manson, who recorded several songs before and after being incarcerated. And in perhaps a direct reference to Manson’s personality, he told CNN’s Miguel Marquez, ‘I know what goes on in my head.’ ... Roberts said he suffers from disturbing night terrors. ‘Sometimes I wake up covered in spiders. ... Just hellish stuff. Movie-nightmare stuff. Some of it I won’t even tell you, I won’t even describe.’

“Nonetheless, Roberts tells CNN that if Manson is his father, he’d like to meet him before it’s too late. “‘If he is my father, then it would be nice to have laid eyes on him and been person to person with him once in my lifetime.’”

On one level, it’s hard to understand why Roberts would feel such a strong desire to know and identify with such a notorious, murderous madman like Charles Manson. On another level, it’s natural that he should long to know who he is and where he came from. These questions, once answered, would help him to better understand why he is the way he is.

Have you ever wondered why you are the way you are? Why you do the things you wished you wouldn’t do?

At your core, right down to the cellular DNA level, you are the inheritor of a sin nature, passed down to you through the generations from your father, Adam. But here’s the good news: Once you know and understand who you are and where you came from, you are free to receive a new identity, a new nature — one which identifies you as a child of the living God, conformed to His image!

Roberts is not condemned to live forever in the “hellish” shadow of his heredity, and neither are you!

“But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).

“For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters (Romans 8:29, NLT).

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[Previous illustration at this number was deleted for being obsolete]

In 1921, Lewis Lawes became the warden at Sing Sing Prison. No prison was tougher than Sing Sing during that time. But when Warden Lawes retired some 20 years later, that prison had become a humanitarian institution. Those who studied the system said credit for the change belonged to Lawes. But when he was asked about the transformation, here's what he said, "I owe it all to my wonderful wife, Catherine, who is buried outside the prison walls."

Catherine Lawes was a young mother with three small children when her husband became the warden. Everybody warned her from the beginning that she should never set foot inside the prison walls, but that didn't stop Catherine! When the first prison basketball game was held, she went... walking into the gym with her three beautiful kids and she sat in the stands with the inmates.

Her attitude was: "My husband and I are going to take care of these men and I believe they will take care of me! I don't have to worry!"

She insisted on getting acquainted with them and their records. She discovered one convicted murderer was blind so she paid him a visit. Holding his hand in hers she said, "Do you read Braille?" "What's Braille?" he asked. Then she taught him how to read. Years later he would weep in love for her.

Later, Catherine found a deaf-mute in prison. She went to school to learn how to use sign language. Many said that Catherine Lawes was the body of Jesus that came alive again in Sing Sing from 1921 to 1937.

Then, she was killed in a car accident. The next morning Lewis Lawes didn't come to work, so the acting warden took his place. It seemed almost instantly that the prison knew something was wrong.

The following day, her body was resting in a casket in her home, three-quarters of a mile from the prison. As the acting warden took his early morning walk, he was shocked to see a large crowd of the toughest, hardest-looking criminals gathered like a herd of animals at the main gate. He came closer and noted tears of grief and sadness. He knew how much they loved Catherine. He turned and faced the men, "All right, men you can go. Just be sure and check in tonight!" Then he opened the gate and a parade of criminals walked, without a guard, the three-quarters of a mile to stand in line to pay their final respects to Catherine Lawes. And every one of them checked back in. Every one!

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Tim Kimmel, from A 4th Course of Chicken Soup for the Soul, Copyright 1997, by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Hanoch McCarty & Meladee McCarty.

Teenagers held a praise service during a traffic jam. Thirty-nine members of a youth group and eight chaperones from Northside United Methodist Church in Jackson, Tenn., were returning wet and tired from a rafting trip when their chartered bus became stuck in a traffic jam on Interstate 24 because of an accident a mile ahead. The teens invited other motorists to use the bathroom in their bus, played with children in nearby cars, and obtained permission from the driver of a flatbed truck nearby to use his trailer for a praise service, United Methodist News Service said.

All 47 climbed onto the flatbed, pulling out several guitars and a harmonica. People gathered around to listen as they sang lively songs they had learned weeks before at Jubilee Weekend in Lake Junaluska, N.C. Before long, 25 more teens arrived and climbed aboard the truck, including those from a Church of Christ in Nashville, the news service said.

The bus was filled with lines of people waiting for the bathroom, and the flatbed was surrounded by an audience. People with food began to pass it out to those who didn't have any. Some motorists on the other side of the interstate, where the traffic was moving, pulled over to take photographs.

The praise service lasted two hours, ending when the students got word that the wreck was about to be cleared and they should return to the bus. "What a witness it was," one participant said.

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Source: C U R R E N T N E W S S U M M A R Y

by the Editors at ReligionToday.com

Aug. 10, 1999

Ten years ago I wrote a book called "Against the Night," drawing a parallel between our own day and the sack of Rome by barbarians in ancient times -- and warning that the modern barbarians are already at the gates.

Little did I know that, a decade later, I would write another book -- this time about how the ancient Vikings and Vandals were eventually subdued by the Christian church ... and how we too can overcome barbarism in our day.

But to do so, we must understand how the medieval church was so successful. When Rome was sacked in AD 410, Christians were shocked. By that time, the empire had been largely Christianized, and believers frantically asked why God had not protected them. Where was divine providence?

These questions prompted Augustine to pen his great book, The City of God, warning Christians that they should not confuse the earthly city with the heavenly one. Nor should they view enemies of Rome as necessarily enemies of God. In fact, what believers really ought to do, Augustine said, is get on the ball and convert the barbarians!

And that's exactly what the Church did. After Rome fell, successive waves of barbarians overran the Roman Empire, pillaging and destroying. Cities were reduced to rubble and Roman civilization was destroyed, to be replaced by small kingdoms ruled by illiterate, barbaric warrior-kings.

In this time of cultural dissolution, it was the Church that preserved not only the religion but also the art, literature, and philosophy of Western culture.

Take, for example, St. Patrick, missionary to the Irish. St. Patrick courageously faced down pagan druids, who still practiced human sacrifice. He faced down fierce Irish warriors, who hung their enemies' skulls from their belts as trophies. Into this bloodthirsty culture St. Patrick brought the Christian message of love and forgiveness -- with remarkable results. Within his lifetime, the warriors cast aside their swords of battle, and a culture of war and illiteracy became a culture of peace and learning.

What's more, this vibrant Christian culture then sent out a flood of missionaries all across the European continent. The monks carried on their tradition of copying the Bible, along with the other classics of Western literature. Everywhere they went, the Irish monks carried their Bibles and books around their waists -- just as the Irish pagans had once tied their enemies' skulls to their waists.

Lasting peace could not come to Europe, however, until the barbarians themselves were evangelized. One of the most exciting chapters in the history of the Christian church is the conversion and transformation of the barbarians from bloodthirsty warriors into peace-loving farmers, living by the work of their hands instead of by theft and plunder.

This is how Christians are meant to function in society -- not defeatist nor despairing but always ready to rebuild and restore. Like the Roman Christians in Augustine's day, we too live in a society that was once largely Christianized, but is now succumbing to barbarism.

And we too should be rolling up our sleeves and working to convert the barbarians and rebuild the culture.

_________________________________

Copyright (c) 1999 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

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Does anyone believe that if Americans elected the right person as president that we would really be on our way to addressing the nation's fundamental problems?

Does anyone believe that if Americans filled Congress with the best available candidates AND elected a righteous president that the country would be out of danger from further decay?

The sad truth is that America's most pressing problems are well beyond the scope and ability of our political class to solve.

Why is that? Well, let's take a look at what some of those problems are:

* the breakdown of the institutions of marriage and family;

* the inability for many to distinguish between right and wrong;

* the consolidation of power in Washington and in the executive branch;

* the breakdown in the rule of law;

* the usurpation of power by unaccountable supra-national agencies;

* infringements on personal freedoms

* increasing vulnerability to weapons of mass destruction;

What do these and other problems our nation is facing have in common?

While government has contributed to their creation and fueled these crises, they all have spiritual and cultural dimensions, too. They have something else in common, as well. They were not created overnight and they will not be fixed overnight. The problems we're facing in America today -- and, in fact, the problems faced by others around the world -- did not occur by accident or by chance. They are actually the result of real planning, real plotting, real scheming.

Back in the early 1900s, an Italian Communist by the name of Antonio Gramsci came up with an idea for achieving the goals of socialism without firing a shot. He suggested that fellow travelers should embark on a long march through the cultural institutions -- subverting, changing their missions, taking them over. He believed that if socialist ideas permeated the most influential non-political aspects of society -- education, the philanthropies, the entertainment industry, the press -- that political power would literally fall into the laps of those who chose such a path.

Gramsci, whose work has been translated into dozens of languages, wrote that the most important task in this long-term plan for winning the hearts and minds of the people was to attack the notion that there is a sovereign God who endows His creatures with certain inalienable rights and who establishes absolute rules about right and wrong.

Can anyone doubt that the current state of the world is very much the legacy of Gramsci and others who shared his ideas? Can anyone doubt that the culture is the Ho Chi Minh trail to political power?

But, to be honest, the world's problems cannot be totally laid at the feet of Gramsci and his socialist disciples. There's much more at work here -- darker forces, invisible forces, sinister forces, diabolical forces. What we're seeing in America today, is real-world evidence of the spiritual warfare described in the Bible -- the unseen powers and principalities referred to by Paul in Ephesians 6:12. The world is a battleground in a universal struggle between the forces of good and the forces of evil.

For those of us who understand Paul, believe what he wrote and believe in the God whom He served, there is reason for great optimism. We know how all this is going to work out. We've read the end of the book.

Jesus is going to come back and straighten out this mess. For those who know Him and don't live to see that day, they will live with Him for eternity in paradise. You can't get a much better ending than that.

I can certainly understand why those who don't believe are so gloomy as they look out at the deterioration of the world around them. But why are those of us who do believe so pessimistic?

We, too, are gloomy because we want to do something now. We want to right injustice. We want to protect our kids from harm. We know we have a responsibility to do something, and it's frustrating as we watch the world fall apart around us.

I do believe conditions are going to worsen before they get better. Not all Christians agree. I think America is headed for much tougher times -- perhaps as a judgment for so much sin and immorality amid such blessings.

How do we fight back in the spiritual realm? As the Bible tells us, we put on the "whole armor of God" (Ephesians 6:11, 6:13). We do that by immersing ourselves in His word. We pray unceasingly. We ask God's blessing and mercy on us.

In other words, we wage spiritual warfare by practicing combat faith. Combat is not a 9-to-5 job. It's not a hobby. It's a way of life, a mindset, an attitude. To do it effectively, you have to be tough and serious about it. It requires training and discipline.

But the good news is that we have already won the war. The outcome is assured. All we must do is endure, accept our responsibilities, do our duty, be good soldiers.

Just as spiritual war requires spiritual combat, cultural war requires cultural combat.

It's our duty then, those of us who believe in God and the freedom and responsibility He represents, to begin a process of what I call "reverse Gramsciism." It's time to begin another long march through the cultural institutions.

It's not a time for timidity or compromise. It's not a time for defensiveness and conciliation. It's time to take the offensive in this struggle.

What do I mean by that? I have a revelation for some of you who read this column. I'm not a "conservative." I'm not a conservative because I see precious little left in this world worth conserving. Conservatives will never make good cultural warriors because they are always on the defensive -- trying to conserve or preserve something.

But when an apple turns rotten, there's no sense in trying to preserve it. You just throw it out.

Was Jesus a conservative? No, he was not. He was radical. He was revolutionary. He came to Earth to overthrow the world order -- and He did. For those of us who follow Him, that remains our mission today. And we better realize it.

Was George Washington a conservative? No. He was a revolutionary who practiced combat faith.

Today, those who stand for freedom, justice, the rule of law and the principles of the Bible are not part of "the establishment." We're the rebels. By the world's standards, we're the renegades. We need to be proud of that and stop trying to preserve a rotten apple.

What is the rotten apple? You can see it in the government schools that dumb down American kids. You can see it in the universities that pervert the concepts of knowledge and wisdom. You can see it in the federalization and militarization of law enforcement. You can see it in the proliferation of non-constitutional government. You can see it in the real "trickle-down economics" of confiscatory taxes. You can see it in the unaccountable authorities which give us global treaties. You can see it in the relentless attacks on marriage and the family. You can see it in euthanasia, population control and the phony "right" to abortion on demand. You can see it in the surrender of our national security.

It's all got to go. But how? Politics as usual will never get us there.

The cultural institutions have paved the road to this destruction of true freedom. We must make a U-turn on that road and take those institutions back. Electing the best politicians will never be enough. To turn this country around, freedom-loving revolutionaries must reclaim Hollywood, the foundations, the schools, academia and, of course, the press.

The reason we must take back the press and all the other cultural institutions that have betrayed the American Dream is because they play such a big role in educating -- or miseducating -- the public.

The Founding Fathers knew that even the best designed government wouldn't work if the people were not righteous, moral and God-fearing -- if they didn't love liberty and cherish it.

To practice self-government again, we must have a people capable of self-government. Today, our population has been dumbed-down by government schools, television, movies and the sad state of the press establishment that we are getting the kind of government we deserve. We're moving toward tyranny.

I believe God has opened the door to us -- given us a chance to do our duty -- with the advent of the New Media. We have the opportunity to create new institutions that can challenge CNN, AP, Fox, Viacom, Disney, Universal -- perhaps even the government schools and the factories of "higher education" that serve only the status quo.

The battlefield of ideas is being leveled.

But only when we create some serious competition within those powerful cultural institutions and begin taking them back with this potent new weapon of mass liberation, then and only then, will it really matter which of the major presidential candidates gets elected and which party controls Congress. Only then are we as nation likely to make the political choices that will make a difference. Only then will we be capable -- and worthy -- of self-government again.

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A daily radio broadcast adaptation of Joseph Farah's commentaries can be heard at http://www.ktkz.com/

In his book Living Life on Purpose, Greg Anderson shares the story of one man's journey to joy:

The man's his wife had left him and he was completely depressed. He had lost faith in himself, in other people, in God -- he found no joy in living.

One rainy morning this man went to a small neighborhood restaurant for breakfast. Although several people were at the diner, no one was speaking to anyone else. Our miserable friend hunched over the counter, stirring his coffee with a spoon.

In one of the small booths along the window was a young mother with a little girl. They had just been served their food when the little girl broke the sad silence by almost shouting, "Momma, why don't we say our prayers here?"

The waitress who had just served their breakfast turned around and said, "Sure, honey, we pray here. Will you say the prayer for us?"

And she turned and looked at the rest of the people in the restaurant and said, "Bow your heads." Surprisingly, one by one, the heads went down. The little girl then bowed her head, folded her hands, and said, "God is great, God is good, and we thank him for our food. Amen."

That prayer changed the entire atmosphere. People began to talk with one another. The waitress said, "We should do that every morning."

"All of a sudden," said our friend, "my whole frame of mind started to improve. From that little girl's example, I started to thank God for all that I did have and stop majoring in all that I didn't have. I started to choose happiness."

___________________________

Leadership, Vol. 17, no. 4.

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What do Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Albert Schweitzer, and G. K. Chesterton have in common?

All of them were prominent Christians of the last century. But these champions of our Heavenly Father had something else in common, as well: All had exceptionally close relationships with their earthly fathers.

In his new book, Faith of the Fatherless, psychologist Paul Vitz says he initially set out to examine the lives of prominent atheists of the last four centuries. He discovered that all had fathers who were weak, abusive, missing, or dead. But then he began to wonder: Was it possible that what appears to modern eyes to be defective fathering simply reflected the social conditions of the time?

To find the answer, Vitz compared the family conditions of prominent atheists to those of prominent theists from the same period. What he found is startling: Every theist he studied had a strong and tender bond with his father, or with a father substitute. And as adults, these men became known for taking on the intellectual forces of atheism.

For example, Blaise Pascal, the great French philosopher and mathematician, was home-schooled by his Catholic father. Their relationship was close and affectionate. As an adult, Vitz writes, Pascal wrote "a powerful and imaginative defense of Christianity."

John Henry Newman, the Catholic cardinal, also had a life-long, loving relationship with his father. Vitz notes that Newman developed a "clear and critical understanding of modernism," and wrote rational responses to it.

Alexis de Tocqueville, French aristocrat and author of Democracy in America, loved his father deeply. Tocqueville argued that religion is absolutely necessary in the public life of a nation -- a view that was, Vitz writes, "really quite unusual" at a time when atheistic views of culture "were becoming standard in Europe."

William Wilberforce is known as Britain's great Christian abolitionist, but few people know he was also a devoted dad. When his son Samuel was away at school, Wilberforce found time to write him more than 600 letters in which he poured out his love. Samuel later became a bishop who was "well-known as one of the major debaters in the conflict ... over Darwinian evolutionary theory," Vitz writes.

G.K. Chesterton, the Christian apologist, was deeply attached to his father, who was Chesterton's constant companion when he was a child.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian who was executed by Hitler, also came from a loving home. His father was a major presence in the lives of his children, whom he treated with respect and affection, Vitz writes.

The great missionary to Africa, Albert Schweitzer, called his father "my dearest friend." Karl Barth, the Swiss-German theologian, also enjoyed a close relationship with his father.

In light of Vitz's research, the importance of good fathering can hardly be overstated. His book helps us understand why scripture commands fathers to provide diligent spiritual leadership to their children -- and why, in Ephesians, fathers are specifically instructed to avoid provoking their children to anger.

Vitz's remarkable book, Faith of the Fatherless, will help you understand why some people become evangelists for atheism -- and why others become fervent followers of God.

___________________________

Copyright (c) 2000 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

"Oh, the worst of all tragedies is not to die young, but to live until I am seventy-five and yet not ever truly to have lived." -- Martin Luther King Jr.

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From 1929 to 1968 is only 39 short years.

Too short to gather the fruits of your labor

Too short to comfort your parents when your brother drowns

Too short to comfort your father when mother dies

Too short to see your children finish school

Too short to ever enjoy grandchildren

Too short to know retirement Thirty-nine years is just too short. From 1929 to 1968 is only 39 short years, yet it's

Too long to be crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination, it's

Too long to stand in the quicksand of racial injustices, it's

Too long to receive threatening phone calls, often at the rate of forty per day, it's

Too long to live under the sweltering heat of continuous pressure, it's

Too long, 39 years is just too long. From 1929 to 1968 is only 39 short years, yet it's

Long enough.

It's long enough to journey all the way to India to learn under a great teacher how to walk through angry crowds and keep cool.

It's long enough to be chased by police dogs and lashed by the rushing waters from the fireman's hoses because you are dramatizing the fact that justice has a way of eluding me and my brother.

It's long enough to spend many days in jail while protesting the plight of others.

It's long enough to have a bomb thrown into your home.

It's long enough to teach angry violent men to be still while you pray for the bombers.

It's long enough.

It's long enough to lead many men to Christianity.

It's long enough to know it's better to go to war for justice than to live in peace with injustices.

It's long enough to know that more appalling than bigotry and hatred are those who sit still and watch injustices each day in silence.

It's long enough to realize that injustices are undiscriminating and people of all races and creeds experience its cruel captivity sooner or later.

It's long enough.

It's long enough to know that when one uses civil disobedience for his civil rights, he does not break the laws of the Constitution of the United States of America - rather he seeks to uphold the principles all men are created equal; he seeks to break down local ordinances that have already broken the laws of the Constitution of the United States.

It's long enough.

It's long enough to accept invitations to speak to the nation's leaders.

It's long enough to address thousands of people on hundreds of different occasions.

It's long enough to lead 200,000 people to the nation's capital to dramatize that all of America's people are heirs to the property of rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

It's long enough to enter college at 15.

It's long enough to finish and earn several degrees.

It's long enough to earn hundreds of awards.

It's long enough to marry and father four children.

It's long enough to become a drum major for peace.

It's long enough to earn a Nobel Peace Prize.

It's long enough to give the $54,000 prize money to the cause of justice.

It's long enough to visit the mountain top. It's certainly long enough to have a dream.

When we note how much Martin Luther King packed into 39 short years, we know it's long enough for any man who loves his country and his fellow man so much that life itself has no value - unless all men can sit at the table of brotherhood as brothers. Thirty-nine years is long enough - for any man to knowingly flirt with death each day of his life - because to spare himself heartaches and sorrow meant two steps backward for his brother tomorrow.

Martin lived for several centuries, all rolled into 39 short years. His memory will live forever. How wonderful it would be if we could all live as well.

Martin, like all others, would have welcomed longevity - yet when he weighed the facts, he said, "It's not how long a man lives, but how well he uses the time allotted him."

And so we salute and honor the memory of a man who lived in the confusion of injustice for all his too short, too long, long enough 39 years- "For He's Free At Last."

______________________

By Willa Perrier from A 2nd Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul, Copyright 1995 by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen

As I write this article, I am in Pattaya, Thailand, for a conference of team leaders from 45 countries around the world. I am struck by the sheer scope of the ministry that is taking place through these modern-day pioneers. These people are leading teams in some of the most difficult ministry areas of the world. I could look at them through some starry-eyed view that they are superhumans. But I cannot because they are my friends. I know most of them well enough to know that they go through the journey of life the same way we do ... one step at a time. What I am most reminded of in my time here at this conference so far is the reality of Jesus Christ in my friends' lives, and that is making the difference!

The Gospel of John, chapter 15 has a lot to say about how and why many teams are making it in these difficult places. Equally important, the basic message of Jesus in this relationship chapter is very real for anyone ... that is, anyone who desires to have fullness of life and eternal impact as the norm of his or her life.

Jesus knew that He was about to leave this world. The disciples didn't yet understand but He knew the purpose for which He had come and His future purpose for His disciples. He knew that God has a loving plan of redemption for all the peoples of the earth and He seeks to accomplish His plan through ordinary people like us. But what was most important and on His heart to say during this very intimate time with His followers? What would you say to those around you if you knew you were going to die in a few short days?

I have begun to learn that what Jesus would say in this chapter answers two of the most important questions of life and ministry:

1. If I choose to follow His leading, how can I know that I will be all right?

2. How can I know that my life will make a difference?

In my interaction with literally hundreds of people over the last few years, I have heard these questions come up time and time again. The root of the first question varies.

Some struggle with issues of security. Their future is determined at this point by what kind of job they will get when they are out of college, and the future they envision is one of financial success. Following Jesus, they rightly figure, may lead them to places of discomfort and even personal sacrifice.

Another area in which security is a question is the assurance of God's care. I met Cheryl at a missions conference and we talked about her fear. "I've never had a 'call' in my life," she said. "Yet I do believe God is leading me overseas. I have heard some missionaries say: 'If you don't have a call, then don't go because you won't make it.'" She was understanding them to say that unless she had a sensational experience of 'call' in her life, then she would not make it after arriving on the field. Is that true? No. And I will explain in a moment.

Another root of this question deals with significance. What will my friends think if I choose to become a missionary? What about my boyfriend/girlfriend? And my parents?

Jesus' words in John 15 speak to both of these issues in one statement: "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you." Do you think that if Jesus loves you He will do something to cause you harm? Will He lead you step by step to serve in the Middle East and then abandon you there? Will He forget about you and not meet your needs? Will He lead you to a ministry you despise? The answer is a resounding "NO!" You may ask, "How can you be so confident?" One reason and one reason only: He loves us!

I asked Cheryl how she dealt with difficulties in her life now. She began to explain how she talks to her friends and they pray and seek God together. Often they have experienced His answering their prayers. When I asked her what would be different overseas, she got the point. Our security is truly found in God alone. Whether we are in Atlanta, Georgia or Astana, Kazakstan, it does not matter. Our geographical location does not determine His availability and care for us. Sensational call or not, He is there!

In the early days of our understanding of His global purpose, remembering that He loves us is critically important because the enemy floods our minds with doubts and fears. He whispers, "You will never make it." Or, "You wait until that mission agency finds out what kind of person you really are; they will never even consider you for mission service." "You have never accomplished anything for God here. What makes you think you will be useful over there?" "And where do you think you will get the money from?" "You think your girlfriend will go for this? Ha." "What about your dreams and ambitions to become a ...?" "You will disappoint your parents if you follow through with this harebrained scheme."

But do not forget, He loves you! He is the Good Shepherd. He guides, provides and protects. Remember His words in John 10:10: "The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come that they might have life and that to the fullest." He loves you!

The second question people bring up is one that can plague not only those who are seeking to become involved but also those who already are: How can I know that my life will make a difference? Or in John 15 terms, How can I know my life will "bear fruit"? The answer is found in the paradox of this chapter. If "fruit" is the driving force of our lives and the object of our affection, then none will be born. In contrast, if we have as the object of our affection Jesus Christ then "fruit" will come and it will be lasting! We often mistakenly strategize for fruit bearing without remembering this important principle.

What is the point? The love of Christ experienced in life brings the greatest measure of security, significance, and fruit-bearing ministry that one could ever desire.

But there is one catch!

Intimacy. The invitation of Jesus in the second part of John 15:9 is key: "Remain in my love." When there is a closeness in our relationship to Him, we find Him to be what He said He was ... a gentle Shepherd. He leads. He provides. He protects. He gives life to the fullest. He cares. And as he communicated in this chapter to His disciples, He loves. This gives us courage to obey. Acceptance of the love of God precedes obedience to the will of God!

But the personal benefits of remaining in Him are just the beginning. Remaining in His love, we discover that the overflow creates genuine impact into the lives of others. Jesus' invitation to His disciples was not "get out there and get the job done." Those involved in "ministry" or "missions" can subtly and easily get so caught up in the work that the intimacy is lost. Lost intimacy with Jesus makes life a drudgery and absolutely minimizes ministry impact.

Whether an experienced team leader among an unreached people group or someone who has just begun to capture an understanding of God's redemptive purpose, there is one thing that makes the difference: a daily acceptance of His invitation to intimacy.

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; now remain in my love" (John 15:9).

_________________

Donnie Scearce is the International Mobilization Coordinator for Pioneers, a church-planting ministry among the unreached. He lives in Orlando, FL with his wife Beth and two children, Joshua and Caleb. PIONEERS@compuserve.com

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