November 6, 2002
Charlie Coulson, The Christian Drummer Boy
The following story is a true account, taken from an old, out-of-print book called, "Touching Incidents And Remarkable Answers To Prayer." It was compliled by S.B. Shaw and published in 1894.
I was a surgeon in the United States Army during the Civil War. After the battle of Gettysburg, there were hundreds of wounded soldiers in my hospital. Many were wounded so severely that a leg or an arm, or sometimes both, needed to be amputated.
One of these was a boy who had only been in the service for three months. Since he was too young to be a soldier, he had enlisted as a drummer. When my assistants came to give him chloroform before the amputation, he turned his head and refused it. When they told him that it was the doctor's orders, he said, "Send the doctor to me."
I came to his bedside and said, "Young man, why do you refuse the chloroform? When I found you on the battlefield, you were so far gone that I almost didn't bother to pick you up. But when you opened those large blue eyes, it occured to me that you had a mother somewhere who might be thinking of you at that very moment. I didn't want you to die on the field, so I had you brought here. But you've lost so much blood that you're just too weak to live through an operation without chloroform. You'd better let me give you some."
He laid his hand on mine, looked me in the face and said, "Doctor, one Sunday afternoon, when I was nine and a half years old, I gave my heart to Christ. I learned to trust Him then, and I've been trusting Him ever since. I know I can trust Him now. He is my strength. He will support me while you amputate my arm and leg."
I asked him if he would at least let me give him a little brandy. Again, he looked at me and said, "Doctor, when I was about five years old, my mother knelt by my side with her arms around me, and said, 'Charlie, I am praying to Jesus that you will never take even one drink of alcohol. Your father died a drunkard, and I've asked God to use you to warn people against the dangers of drinking, and to encourage them to love and serve the Lord.' I am now 17 years old, and I have never had anything stronger than tea or coffee. There is a very good chance that I am about to die and to go into the presence of my God. Would you send me there with brandy on my breath?"
I will never forget the look that boy gave me. At that time I hated Jesus, but I respected the boy's loyalty to his Savior. And when I saw how he loved and trusted Him to the very end, something deeply touched my heart. I did for that boy what I had never done for any other solder -- I asked him if he wanted to see his chaplain.
Chaplain R. knew the boy well from having seen him frequently at the tent prayer meetings. Taking his hand, he said, "Charlie, I'm really sorry to see you like this." "Oh, I'm all right, sir," Charlie answered. "The doctor offered me chloroform, but I told him I didn't want any. Then he wanted to give me some brandy, which I didn't want either. So now, if my Savior calls me, I can go to Him in my right mind."
"You might not die, Charlie," said the chaplain, "but if the Lord does call you home, is there anything I can do for you after you're gone?" "Chaplain, please reach under my pillow and take my little Bible. My mother's address is inside. Please send it to her, and write a letter for me. Tell her that since I left home, I have never let a single day pass -- no matter if we were on the march, on the battlefield, or in the hospital -- without reading a portion of God's Word, and daily praying that He would bless her."
"Is there anything else I can do for you, my lad?" asked the chaplain. "Yes -- please write a letter to the Sunday School teacher of the Sands Street Church in Brooklyn, New York. Tell him that I've never forgotten his encouragement, good advice, and many prayers for me. They have helped and comforted me through all the dangers of battle. And now, in my dying hour, I thank the Lord for my dear old teacher, and ask Him to bless and strengthen him. That is all."
Then turning to me, he said, "I'm ready, doctor. I promise I won't even groan while you take off my arm and leg, if you don't offer me chloroform." I promised, but I didn't have the courage to take the knife in my hand without first going into the next room and taking a little brandy myself.
While cutting through the flesh, Charlie Coulson never groaned. But when I took the saw to separate the bone, the lad took the corner of his pillow in his mouth, and all I could hear him whisper was, "O Jesus, blessed Jesus! Stand by me now." He kept his promise. He never groaned.
I couldn't sleep that night. Whichever way I tossed and turned, I saw those soft blue eyes, and when I closed my own eyes, the words, "Blessed Jesus, stand by me now," kept ringing in my ears. A little after midnight, I finally left my bed and visited the hospital -- a thing I had never done before unless there was an emergency. I had such a strange and strong desire to see that boy. When I got there, an orderly told me that 16 of the badly wounded soldiers had died. "Was Charlie Coulson one of them?" I asked. "No, sir," he answered, "he's sleeping as sweetly as a babe."
When I came to his bed, one of the nurses said that at about nine o'clock, two members of the Y.M.C.A. came through the hospital to read and sing a hymn. Chaplain R. was with them, and he knelt by Charlie's bed and offered up a fervent and soul-stirring prayer. Then, while still on their knees, they sang one of the sweetest of all hymns, "Jesus, Lover Of My Soul." Charlie sang along with them, too. I couldn't understand how that boy, who was in such horrible pain, could sing.
Five days after I performed the operation, Charlie sent for me, and it was from him that I heard my first Gospel sermon. "Doctor," he said, "my time has come. I don't expect to see another sunrise. I want to thank you with all my heart for your kindness to me. I know you are Jewish, and that you don't believe in Jesus, but I want you to stay with me, and see me die trusting my Savior to the last moment of my life." I tried to stay, but I just couldn't. I didn't have the courage to stand by and see a Christian boy die rejoicing in the love of that Jesus who I hated. So I hurriedly left the room.
About 20 minutes later an orderly came and found me sitting in my office with my hands covering my face. He told me that Charlie wanted to see me. "I've just seen him," I answered, "and I can't see him again." "But, Doctor, he says he must see you once more before he dies." So I made up my mind to go and see Charlie, say an endearing word, and let him die. However, I was determined that nothing he could say would influence me in the least bit, so far as his Jesus was concerned."
When I entered the hospital I saw he was sinking fast, so I sat down by his bed. Asking me to take his hand, he said, "Doctor, I love you because you are a Jew. The best friend I have found in this world was a Jew." I asked him who that was, and he answered, "Jesus Christ, and I want to introduce you to Him before I die. Will you promise me, Doctor, that what I am about to say to you, you will never forget?" I promised, and he said, "five days ago, while you amputated my arm and leg, I prayed to the Lord Jesus Christ and asked Him to make His love known to you."
Those words went deep into my heart. I couldn't understand how, when I was causing him the most intense pain, he could forget all about himself and think of nothing but his Savior and my uncoverted soul. All I could say to him was, "well, my dear boy, you will soon be all right." With these words I left him, and 12 minutes later he fell asleep, "safe in the arms of Jesus."
Hundreds of soldiers died in my hospital during the war, but I only followed one to the grave, and that was Charlie Coulson. I rode three miles to see him buried. I had him dressed in a new uniform, and placed in an officer's coffin, with a United States flag over it.
That boy's dying words made a deep impression upon me. I was rich at that time so far as money was concerned, but I would have given every penny I possessed if I could have felt towards Christ as Charile did. But that feeling cannot be bought with money. Alas, I soon forgot all about my Christian solider's little sermon, but I could not forget the boy himself. Looking back, I now know that I was under deep conviction of sin at that time. But for nearly ten years, I fought against Christ with all the hatred I had, until finally the dear boy's prayer was answered, and I surrendered my life to the love of Jesus.
About a year-and-a-half after my conversion, I went to a prayer meeting one evening in Brooklyn. It was one of those meetings where Christians testify about the loving kindness of God. After several had spoken, an elderly lady stood up and said, "Dear friends, this may be the last time I have a chance to publicly share how good the Lord has been to me. My doctor told me yesterday that my right lung is nearly gone, and my left lung is failing fast, so at the best I only have a short time to be with you. But what is left of me belongs to Jesus. It's a great joy to know that I shall soon meet my son with Jesus in heaven.
"Charlie was not only a soldier for his country, but also a soldier for Christ. He was wounded at the battle of Gettysburg, and was cared for by a Jewish doctor, who amputated his arm and leg. He died five days after the operation. The chaplain of the regiment wrote me a letter, and sent me my boy's Bible. I was told that in his dying hour, my Charile sent for that Jewish doctor, and said to him, 'Doctor, before I die I wish to tell you that five days ago, while you amputated my arm and leg, I prayed to the Lord Jeus Christ for you.'"
As I heard this lady speak, I just couldn't sit still! I left my seat, ran across the room, and taking her hand said, "God bless you, my dear sister. Your boy's prayer has been heard and answered! I am the Jewish doctor that Charlie prayed for, and his Savior is now my Savior! The love of Jesus has won my soul!"
November 13, 2002
It Will Be The Same
It will be the same when the Son of Man comes. Two men will be in the field. One will be taken and the other will be left. - Matthew 25:41
The two boys looked at the Captain with astonishment.
You're leaving the island?" they said in one voice, which they often did because they were twins and were always thinking the same thing.
"You can't leave the island!" Argo proclaimed. "Without you here we would be so ... so ..."
Alone!" Arion completed Argo's sentence, as he often did.
"Arion is right!" Argo affirmed.
The Captain looked at the boys with kind eyes. "Just remember what I've taught you. And remember, I'll be back."
The boys couldn't imagine life on Terrene without the Captain. Argo and Arion were barely two years old the night their ship was wrecked and their parents were lost in the storm. The Captain and the boys drifted to this tiny island, made it their home, and named it Terrene. That was fourteen years ago. And now the Captain was leaving, and they felt afraid.
"There's so much more to life than Terrene. And when I return, we'll leave together-for Bluestone."
More to life than Terrene? As far as Argo and Arion knew, everything in the world was just like Terrene-small and gray. Not a happy gray like the hue of shadowed snow. Not a strong gray like the shade of thunderclouds. But a dim, dismal gray-like the worn skin of an elephant or the cold ashes of a dead fire.
But if gray is all you've seen, gray is all you expect. "You've got to see with your heart-not your eyes," the Captain would challenge.
The Captain had spent many evenings sitting with the boys, explaining the grayness and the meaning of color. According to the Captain, long ago a volcano had erupted, burying forever the colors of the isle in a mountain of soot.
As a result, Terrene was a gray island in the middle of a big gray ocean. Waves with gray tips slapped against beaches with gray sand. Trees with gray trunks sheltered gray-winged birds. Gray animals with gray eyes would peer from behind the gray bushes.
Only the boys and the Captain were not gray.
A thick forest grew in the center of the island, and in the center of the forest there rose a mountain. The Captain told the boys to stay away from both.
He told them, "The volcano erupted once. It will erupt again."
"And stay out of the forest," he would say, "for the forest will take your color." They believed the Captain because the Captain had seen a thousand islands.
"There are islands," the Captain told them, "so vast you cannot walk around them even in two days!"
This amazed Argo and Arion, for they could run all the way around Terrene in one day.
"And there are islands where the sky is so clear and the water so sweet that the birds sing and the creatures leave the forest and come to the sand."
Amazing! Birds didn't sing on Terrene. And the creatures never left the forest. "But there is one island that is most special."
"Bluestone!" the boys would state in unison. They knew the name well, for it was the Captain's home.
"Ahh, Bluestone," the Captain would smile. "There the birds always sing. Blue waters tumble over the shiny brown rocks, and the grass is ever green, and the sun sets on the horizon like an orange ball."
Argo and Arion would squeeze their eyes tight and try to picture the colors and hear the sounds. But they had never heard birds sing, and they'd only seen gray.
The Captain knew it was hard, so he would help them. "Look at each other, he would venture. "See your blue eyes? That is the color of water at Bluestone. And see your blond hair? On my island, there are birds and sunsets with such splendor. And your teeth, see how white? They are the color of Bluestone's sands. It's like nothing you've ever seen here in Terrene."
Then the Captain would grow very solemn. "Argo, Arion, you were not made for Terrene. You were not made to live in the gray."
Then his voice would grow soft with sorrow. "Terrene was like Bluestone once-alive with sights and sounds-long ago, before the volcano."
But his voice would be sad only for a moment. "Bluestone is not gray." His eyes would dance as he spoke. "And Bluestone is your true home."
"I am going away for just a short time," he said. "I'm going to Bluestone to prepare your place. But I will come back and take you there with me."
"But what do we do while you are gone?" they asked.
"Remind each other this is not your home. And help each other to be ready to leave when I return."
Though the boys believed the Captain, their hearts were sad as he climbed in his fishing boat and set sail for Bluestone. "I will return!" he shouted to them. "Be ready!"
So began the days when Argo and Arion were alone together on the island. At first they were just alike and did exactly the same things. They would rise early in the morning, look at each other's faces, and think of Bluestone.
"Your eyes are like the waters we will see," one would say.
"And your hair is yellow like the birds we will hear," the other would answer. "We were not made for Terrene," they would affirm. "We were made for another place."
Then they would spend their day together, dreaming of the Captain and remembering his words.
When the evening came they would go to the eastern beach from which he had sailed and recount his farewell. "I will return and take you with me," one would quote. "Be ready to leave when I return," the other would remind. And then they would rest for the night.
They spent many days searching the horizon for their Captain. Looking for his return was their greatest joy ... at first.
But after many days Argo and Arion began to grow tired. "It's hard for me to remember his voice," Argo confessed. Arion added, "The colors are getting blurry."
One afternoon Arion had gone to sleep on the gray sand while Argo took his turn at the watch. When Arion awoke, Argo had left the beach. He didn't return until the evening sun was setting and Arion was already on the eastern coast.
"Where did you go?" Arion asked.
"I grew tired of the ocean and went into the forest."
"But the Captain said to stay out of the forest. We need to stay together, Argo--to watch."
Argo didn't respond. And that evening when the two boys retold the words of the Captain, Argo seemed uninterested.
When Arion awoke the next morning, Argo was gone again. Arion tried to see the colors and hear the music without the help of his brother, but it was hard. He felt alone, speaking into the sky with no one to listen, but he spoke anyway.
Several days passed before Arion saw his brother again. And when he did, Arion was shocked. He looked into Argo's eyes, longing to see the blue which would remind him of Bluestone, but the color was gone. Faded and pale was the hair which had been bright blond like the sun of the Captain's country.
"Argo, you've changed!"
"No, I haven't," Argo argued.
"What's happened?"
"I've made some new friends in the forest. The animals. They aren't evil. They've shown me things I've never seen before. We swim in the river and run in the meadow and crawl in the cave beneath the great mountain."
"Argo, have you forgotten the Captain's words? He said to stay away from the mountain. It could explode."
Argo laughed a deep, husky laugh like the sounds which came from the forest late at night.
"The creatures have told me the truth, Arion. The volcano never exploded and it never will. That's just a fantasy. Come, I'll show you." Arion looked at his brother for a long time. He looked at the eyes that used to sparkle and touched the hair that used to gleam. "You've changed, Argo. You are like the island."
"A little change doesn't hurt. Besides, what I'm doing in there is fun. Come with me."
"No, Argo, we must wait here. Maybe if you stay here, your color will return."
Argo laughed the dark laugh again. "Stay here and look for something that will never happen? And miss the fun of the forest? You're a fool, Arion. If the Captain was returning, he'd be back by now. Come on, let me introduce you to my friends."
"No, Argo. Stay with me and let me help you be ready for the Captain's return."
The two brothers stood and looked at each other-Arion with sorrow and Argo with disbelief.
"You really think he's coming, don't you? After all this time? If you'd seen what I'd seen in the forest, you wouldn't stay here on the beach."
Arion spoke firmly. "I've seen enough, Argo. The forest has taken your beauty. Stay with me. Change-before it's too late."
But Argo just smiled and walked toward the trees and became a part of the grayness.
Only a few days later a speck of gold appeared on the morning horizon-the color Argo's hair used to be, only a thousand times greater. It sparkled and beamed like a fire in the night. The light cut through the gray with splendor. It was a grand schooner with billowed sails of purest white.
The Captain had returned! Arion could see him on the bow of the ship. "I am back!"
"I am ready!" Arion shouted as loudly as he could. The Captain waved.
When Arion boarded the ship, he raced into the Captain's arms. The weariness of the watch was forgotten. What Arion had been able to see only with his heart, he now saw with his eyes.
He thought of his brother and looked up at the Captain. "Argo chose Terrene." Sadness came over the Captain's face. He walked to the rail and looked at the gray forest.
"Shall we go get him?" asked Arion.
"No, my child, he has made his choice."
And with that the ship set sail for Bluestone. Only when they reached the horizon did they feel the vibrations of the volcano.
Max Lucado from "Tell Me the Story"
November 20, 2002
An Excerpt About How We View "Our" Money & Possessions
The man of pseudo faith will fight for his verbal creed but refuse flatly to allow himself to get into a predicament where his future must depend upon that creed being true. He always provides himself with secondary ways of escape so he will have a way out if the roof caves in. What we need very badly these days is a company of Christians who are prepared to trust God as completely now as they know they must do at the last day. A. W. Tozer
These thoughts trespass on enemy territory. It invades the turf of a powerful adversary, attempting to cross a war zone laced with mines. It seeks to recover strategic territory that rightly belongs to the true King.
Satan is the Lord of Materialism. "Mammon" is but an alias of the Prince of Darkness, who has vested interests in whether or not we understand and obey Christ's commands concerning our money and possessions. The Enemy will not give ground without a fight. Because of the spiritual warfare that surrounds this great subject of money and possessions, if this is to be read with eternal benefit, it must be read with prayer. Our use of money and possessions is a decisive statement of our eternal values. What we do with our money loudly affirms which kingdom we belong to. Whenever we give of our resources to further God's kingdom, we cast a ballot for Christ and against Satan, for heaven and against hell. Whenever we use them selfishly and indifferently we do the opposite.
The key to a right use of money and possessions is a right perspective-an eternal perspective. What I do today has tremendous bearing on eternity. Indeed, it is the stuff of which eternity is made. The everyday choices I make regarding money and possessions are of eternal consequence.
The game becomes more serious only as the stakes are raised-or when we begin to realize how high they actually are. Large segments of modern evangelicalism have succumbed to the heresy that this present life may be lived selfishly and disobediently without serious effects on the eternal state. Never have so many Christians believed the lie that our money and possessions are ours to do with as we please. Never have so many thought that as long as we affirm with our lips a certain doctrinal statement, we may live our lives in indifference to human need and divine command, and all will turn out well in the end.
There is something in these thoughts to offend everyone. Some of it offends me, and I wrote it. Please understand that it is not my intention to insult or irritate anyone. Any offenses are simply the by-product of trying to be faithful to the principles of Scripture-which have an annoying tendency to take issue with the way we prefer to think and live.
I have undoubtedly erred in some of my conclusions. I ask the reader to examine carefully the hundreds of Scripture passages cited to discern where those errors may be. We can shine a flashlight on a sundial at night and make it tell any time we want. Only the sun tells the true time. The flashlight is the changing and fleeting opinions of men, the sun the eternal Word of God.
God's Word is grain; man's is straw. His Word is the fire that consumes and the hammer that breaks (Jeremiah 23:28-29). These thoughts should be judged not in the light of prevailing opinion, but in the light of God's Word. A. W. Tozer used to say, "Listen to no man who has not listened to God." To the degree that my words do not match up to the Scriptures, they are utterly worthless. To the degree that they stand up under the scrutiny of God's Word, they should be taken seriously.
In a time of uncertainty and misplaced values in ancient Israel, we are told there were two hundred "men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do" (1 Chronicles 12:32). These men are said to have had "all their relatives under their command." My prayer is that this would be used of God to develop and assist such people. In the midst of material confusion, self-centeredness, and eroded values, may God raise up an army of those who understand the times and know what the people of God should do with their money and possessions. Like the men of Issachar, may we lead our families and our churches in adopting these values and living lives that will count for eternity.
THE CHALLENGE OF MONEY AND POSSESSIONS
MONEY: WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT TO GOD?
He who has God and everything has no more than he who has God alone. - C. S. Lewis
Jesus Christ said more about money than about any other single thing because, when it comes to a man's real nature, money is of first importance. Money is an exact index to a man's true character. All through Scripture there is an intimate correlation between the development of a man's character and how he handles his money. - Richard Halverson
Were I the Bible's editor, I would cut out much of what it says about money and possessions. Anyone can see it devotes a disproportionate amount of space to a subject of secondary importance. When it comes to money and possessions, the Bible is sometimes redundant, often extreme, and occasionally shocking. It turns many readers away, and, worse yet, tries to interfere with our lives and leaves us feeling guilty. Or, to avoid guilt feelings, it forces us to invent fancy interpretations so we can get around its plain meanings.
For serious Christians some hard questions are in order here. How could the Bible's Author and Editor justify devoting twice as many verses to money than to faith and prayer combined? And how could Jesus say more about money than both heaven and hell? Didn't he know what was really important?
The sheer enormity of Scripture's teaching on this subject screams for our attention. And the haunting and immensely important question is, why? Why does God give us all this instruction on money and possessions? What is the point? With so much-to-be said, so much he could tell us that we really need and want to know, why did the Savior of the world spend a full 15 percent of his recorded words on this one subject? Why did he say more about how we are to view and handle money and possessions than about any other single thing? Why?
MONEY AND CONVERSION
The enigma deepens when we look at how closely Jesus linked money to salvation itself. When Zaccheus said he would give half his money to the poor and pay back four times over those he had cheated, Jesus did not merely say, "Good idea." He said, "Today salvation has come to this house" (Luke 19:9). This is amazing. Jesus judged the reality of this man's salvation based on his willingness, no, his cheerful eagerness to part with his money for the glory of God and the good of others.
Then there is the flip side of Zaccheus-the rich young ruler (Matthew 19:16-30; Luke 18:18-30). This earnest, decent, hardworking, young urban professional, asked Jesus what good thing he could do to get eternal life. Jesus recited God's commandments, which the man said he had kept. Then the Lord delivered his bottom line: "Go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
Were Jesus our student in a modern evangelism training seminar, we would raise our eyebrows, take him aside, and correct both his methodology and his theology. We would certainly ' handle the situation differently! First, we would probably commend the rich young ruler for his interest in spiritual things. Then we-might tell him, "Just believe, that's all; ask God into your life-you .don't really have to do anything."
When he said, "OK, I believe" (which he no doubt would have, since it had cost nothing), we would walk away duly impressed with our catch.
Think how blessed we would feel, knowing that God's kingdom was greatly enhanced by the conversion of this well-known influential, wealthy man! Soon there would be articles and books all about him, and he would be on TV and radio talk shows. He would be put on boards, speak at rallies, and receive invitations to share his testimony in churches and conferences all over the country, quite possibly making him into a very rich young ruler.
But bereft of our knowledge of how to close a conversion, Jesus struck a low blow that cost him a valuable convert: "Sell your possessions, give to the poor and follow me." That this was the wrong thing to say we might surmise by the results: "When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth."
After losing this potential follower, a man so sincere that he was grieved to turn away from Christ, Jesus explained to the disciples how hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Harder in fact than for a camel to go through a needle's eye (which, contrary to some modern interpretations, was no easier then than it is now). This statement left the disciples "greatly astonished" (Matthew 19:23-25). They simply did not understand the barrier wealth presents to genuine spiritual birth and growth. Neither, apparently, do we.
Notice that Jesus didn't tell the young man, "Give 10 percent to the poor." Neither did he say, "Set up a trust fund, keep the principal intact, and give the interest to the poor." The young man would have gladly done either of those. Jesus stopped him dead in his tracks by telling him to give up everything and follow him.
Jesus did not and does not call all his disciples to liquidate their possessions, give away all their money, and pull up stakes to become traveling missionaries. But Jesus knew that money was the rich young man's god. He also knew that no man can enthrone the true God unless in the process he chooses to dethrone his other gods. If Christ is not Lord over a person's money and possessions, then he is simply not that person's Lord. Just as Jesus gauged Zaccheus's true spiritual condition by his willingness to part with his money, so he gauged the rich young ruler's true spiritual condition by his unwillingness to part with his money. The principle is timeless-there is a powerful relationship between a person's true spiritual condition and his attitude and actions concerning money and possessions.
Zaccheus and the rich young ruler are not isolated cases. When his audience asked John the Baptist what they should do bear the fruit of repentance, first he told them to share their clothes and food with the poor. Then he told the tax collectors not to collect, and pocket extra money. And finally he told the soldiers not to extort money and to be content with their wages (Luke 3:7-14). In all three cases, the conclusive proof of a spiritual change was an altered perspective on the handling of money and possessions.
The reality of the spiritual conversions of the Ephesian occultists was demonstrated by their willingness to burn their magic books, worth the vast sum of 50,000 days' wages (Acts 19:18-20). And the extent of the first Christians' transformation was most clearly evidenced in their willingness to surrender their money and possessions to meet each others' needs (Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-35).
To liquidate and disperse cheerfully the assets one had spent a lifetime accumulating was no more natural then than now. And that is the whole point. Conversion and the filling of the Holy Spirit were supernatural experiences that produced supernatural responses. While there was still the private ownership of property, the joyful giving and sharing of this property became the new "norm" of supernatural living.
If a first-century Christian were to visit us today and gauge our spiritual condition by our attitudes and actions regarding money and possessions, to what conclusions would he come?
A POOR WOMAN AND A RICH MAN
Just for a few moments, play the role of financial counselor. Today you have two appointments, first with an elderly woman and then a middle-aged man.
The woman's husband died six years ago. She has this to say: "I'm down to my last two dollars. I have no more money, the cupboards are bare, and this two dollars is all I have to live on. Yet I feel like I should put the whole two dollars in the church offering. What do you think?"
What do you think? What would you tell her? (Don't read on till you think about it.) Perhaps you would say something like this: "That's very generous of you, dear, but remember that God gave you common sense and wants you to take care of yourself. He knows you have to eat. And he knows your heart, that you want to give. I'm sure God would have you keep that two dollars and buy some food for tomorrow. He wants your needs to be met, and you can't expect him just to send down food from heaven if you give up the little money he's already provided, now can you? After all, God wants us to do the sensible and responsible thing."
Your next appointment is with a successful, hard-working, middle-aged farmer whose crop production has been excellent the last several years. He tells you, "I'm planning on tearing down my old barns to build bigger ones so I can store up crops and goods and have plenty saved up for the future. Then I can take it easy, retire early, maybe do some traveling and have a good time. What do you think?"
What's your answer? Maybe something like this:
"Sounds good to me! You've worked hard; the Lord's blessed you with good crops. It's your business, your crops, and your money. If you can save up enough to take care of yourself the rest of your life, by all means go for it. I wish I were in a position to do the same!"
Doesn't our advice to this poor widow and this rich than seem reasonable enough? Would you say anything differently? What would, God say? In this case we need not speculate-Scripture tells us exactly what he says.
In Mark 12 we meet a poor widow. She put in the temple offering box two tiny copper coins, worth a fraction of a penny. This was the only money she had. Jesus called his disciples together to teach them a lesson from the woman. Did he question the wisdom of her actions? Did he say she should have been more sensible than to surrender her only remaining resources? No, he gave her an unqualified commendation for her choice: "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth.; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything-all she had to live on."
Jesus regarded the woman as wise. He set her up as a model for his disciples to follow. He enshrined her example in the Word of God that all believers in future generations might emulate her faith, commitment, and sacrificial generosity.
In Luke 12 we meet a rich man. We are not told that he gained his wealth dishonestly, that he exploited others, or that he was irreligious. More than likely, he attended synagogue weekly, visited the temple three times a year, tithed, and prayed, as most Jews did. He has every appearance of a man who worked diligently to build his business. Now, like any good businessman, he wanted to expand that business by building bigger barns. His purpose was to accumulate enough wealth to retire early, enjoy himself, and have a good time. Sounds like the American dream, doesn't it?
So what did God have to say to this man? "You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?"
Jesus added, "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God" (Luke 12:21).
By our standards, both outside and inside the church, the widow's actions seem unwise, the rich man's wise. But God, who knows the hearts of both and sees through the eyes of eternity, elevates the poor woman as eternally wise and the rich man as eternally foolish.
If this surprising evaluation does nothing else, it should certainly capture our attention, for it shows that our standards of wisdom about money are not only radically different from God's but diametrically opposed to them.
If we take these passages seriously, realizing they were written, for us today, we must ask ourselves some probing questions. Who is more frequently featured in Christian magazines and talk shows-poor widows or rich fools? Who receives the most respect and attention in Christian organizations? Who is most highly esteemed in churches? Who serves on our boards and determines our direction? Does the church have a scarcity of poor widows and a surplus of rich fools? If so, does this explain the moral arid spiritual erosion so evident in the Christian community?
In the account of the poor widow, Mark wrote, "Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury" (Mark 12:41). Notice we are not told, "Jesus happened to see . . ." No, it seems he deliberately watched to observe what people were giving.
Picture the scene. How close was Jesus to the offering box? Close enough to see that some people put in large amounts. Close enough even to see two tiny coins in a shriveled old hand and to identify them as copper (Mark 12:41-42).
Jesus was interested enough in who was giving what to make an immediate object lesson to the disciples about the true nature of trusting God as demonstrated in sacrificial financial giving (Mark 12:43-44).
If we stop to think about it, this passage makes all of us who suppose that what we do with our money is our business and only our business feel terribly uncomfortable. On the contrary, it is painfully apparent that it is God's business-that God makes it his business. He does not apologize for watching with intense interest what we do with the money he has entrusted to us. If we use our imaginations, we might even peer into the invisible realm to see him gathering some of his subjects together this very moment. Perhaps you can hear him using your handling of finances as an object lesson.
The question is, what kind of lesson?
MATERIALISM DISTRACTS US FROM OUR CENTRAL PURPOSE
When Jesus described the various kinds of people who respond to the gospel, he stated that some seed "fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants" (Matthew 13:7). He later explained to the disciples, "The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful" (Matthew 13:22). Notice once more the clear relationship between wealth and worry.
For the first nine years my wife and I lived in our present house, we had an ugly old orange carpet, and we were never concerned about what happened to it. Finally it wore through to the floor and we replaced It. The first day we got our new carpet, there was an accident that burnt a hole in it. Any day previous to that one we wouldn't have cared. But now our emotional energy was poured into regret and anxiety about the carpet.
It takes time to hover over our things, and that time must come from elsewhere-for instance, from time spent cultivating intimacy with God, from time spent in his Word and prayer, time spent visiting and helping the needy, and time spent developing relationships with people who need Christ. Every item I add to my possessions is one more thing to think about, talk about, clean, repair, display, rearrange, and replace when it goes bad.
I buy a television, but that is just the beginning. I hook up an antenna, I subscribe to a cable service, I buy a VCR, I rent movies, I get a recliner to watch my programs in, comfort. This all costs money, but it also takes immense amounts of time, energy, and attention.
Acquiring a possession may also push me into redefining my priorities and make me unavailable for God's work. For instance, if I buy a boat, the problem is not just the money. I must now justify my purchase by using the boat. Of course, the problem is not the boat, but me; yet the bottom line is the same. As Jesus said in the parable, worries and wealth can choke me, making me unfruitful.
Suppose I buy some rental property. First there is the big down payment, then monthly payments that may go on the rest of my life. There are bills to pay, taxes that always go up, repairs that have to be made. The financial drain is substantial, but the drain on my mental energy and my time may be even greater. There is the hassle of finding the right renters, the anxiety that they may mistreat the home, the concerns when their payments are late, the worry about possible vandalism and weather damage, the compulsion to drive by just to make sure everything is all right.
Then, every few years I have to go in, clean up the place, and start over looking for the right renters. And when I hear there is an expressway that may go through the area and reduce the property value, suddenly I am circulating petitions and attending meetings to persuade the city council to build it near someone else's property, not mine. Remember, all this is in addition to the ongoing concerns related to the home I actually live in! I'm certainly not suggesting it is wrong for a Christian to own rental property, But the practical question is a fair one-do I own this property, or does it own me?
What is true of rental property is true to lesser or greater degrees of everything we own. What I am pointing out is simply a law of life-the tyranny of things. And the central issue is not the things themselves, but the depletion of the resources of time, energy, enthusiasm, and money that could have been invested in the kingdom of God. The key question is not the general, "Should a Christian own this or that," but the specific, "Does God want me to own this or that in light of the drain on my resources it will create?"
I must ask myself if in this particular case the benefits for God's kingdom outweigh the liabilities ownership always brings. Will this commitment of my resources, which are God's resources, contribute to or detract from my devotion to and service for my Lord? The answer to these questions may be different for two different believers. But in every case the questions should be asked before the decisions are made.
Like the circus plate spinner who runs frantically from one plate to the next, quickly spinning each again lest it fall and crash, many of us center our lives around things and concerns and activities that demand our constant attention and thereby draw attention away from what God has called us to be and do.
Paul told Timothy, "No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs-he wants to please his commanding officer" (2 Timothy 2:4). Notice that Paul did not say civilian concerns are wrong, just that they are distracting. The believer lives to please his Commander. He recognizes that involvement in peripheral things is bound to tap resources that need to be wholly devoted to the overriding cause, the spiritual battle for the kingdom of God. If one is to be a true soldier, not just show up for an occasional weekend drill, he must avoid not only the entanglements of sin but, the entanglements in "legitimate things" that result in preoccupation with the peripheral. Everything we accumulate is one more thing that can potentially take our attention away from God.
n the parable of the great banquet, Jesus described the invitations that went out to three men (Luke 4:16-24). One said he had to go look at his newly bought field. Another just got married and didn't have the time. Still another just bought five yoke of oxen and was anxious to try them out. The master is angry at these excuses, and he orders his servants, "Go out quickly into the Streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame." Speaking of those originally invited, who were preoccupied with other concerns, Jesus said, "I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet."
The most striking thing about this parable is that there was nothing wrong with what any of the three men were involved with. They didn't stay away from the banquet because they were busy stealing or being immoral. They stayed away because they had more pressing concerns-one a new wife, the others, new possessions. But for "good" reasons or bad, the bottom line is the same-they were so preoccupied with their new treasures that they said no to the banquet-giver and missed the banquet.
For what good and legitimate and compelling reasons are you saying no to God? Are there possessions and pressing concerns which are causing YOU to miss the banquet?
Transcribed by Mike Peters
November 27, 2002
Amazing Facts
Presented again one year later by special request... :o)
Below are some amazing facts from science and from the Bible. While none of this may prove that the Bible is true or that it's God's Word, it sure makes you think!
The planet earth hangs 93 million miles from the blistering surface of the sun. A rotating sphere suspended in space.
The size, position and angle of the earth is a scientific phenomenon. A few degrees closer to the sun, we'd disintegrate; a few degrees further, we'd freeze. The axis of the earth is tilted at a perfect 23 degree angle. This allows for equal global distribution to the rays of the sun, making it possible for the food chain to exist.
The combination of nitrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere we breath just happens to be the exact mix that life needs to prosper---it doesn't happen on any other planet that way.
The moon controls the tides which clean the oceans; the tides drag impurities into the depths of the sea as natures' constant recycling chain. The stars rotate with such exact precision that the atomic clock (with an error factor of less than 3 seconds per millennium) is set by the way they move.
The ancient peoples taught that the world was in the very least flat, and quite possibly square. Isaiah 40:22 speaks of "the circle of the earth". The Hebrew word (khoog) can be translated as "circle", "circuit" or "sphere". Modern science agrees......
At a time when people thought the earth was held up by four elephants riding on the back of a giant tortoise swimming through the great sea of outer space, Job 26:7 claims that the Lord "hung the earth on nothing". The Hebrew word (b'lee-mah) means "nothing", or "nothing whatever". Modern science agrees.....
Psalm 135:7 & Jeremiah 10:13 speaks about the `hydrologic cycle': "He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; He sends lightning with the rain..." attests to water evaporating from lakes, rivers, streams, etc.; becoming clouds; and raining back down upon the earth. Science first recognized the hydrologic cycle in the 16th & 17th centuries.....
Job 38:16 speaks of the "springs of the sea" and 2 Samuel 22:16 tells us of "channels in the sea". Both are 20th century discoveries.....
Psalm 8:8 speaks of the "paths of the sea". Matthew Fontaine Maury (1806-1873) said, "If God said there are paths in the sea, I am going to find them..." Maury became the first to recognize the interaction of the earth's winds upon the currents of the sea. From this, he reasoned that there must be paths beneath the sea that would permit ships to make better time if they took advantage of these natural undersea "routes". Based on his belief and his studies, he plotted ship routes across the ocean that later became the basis of an international maritime agreement.
2 Peter 3:10 claims that the earth will be destroyed with fire. Critics 100 years ago laughed at the notion of the entire earth being on fire.......it was a joke to them. Modern technology has shown us otherwise......
2 Peter 3:12 says "That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat". The Greek word for destroy (lu-thay-sontai) means to untie, break up, destroy, dissolve or unloose. This prophecy of fission and fusion was not written by a 20th century nuclear physicist, but by a first century fisherman.....
The book of Genesis teaches that there was once one common language....many modern philologists teach that all modern languages have a common root.
The Bible teaches that there was one set of parents from which all mankind descends(Adam & Eve), and that all mankind can also be traced back to another single set of parents (Noah & Mrs. Noah). Science has confirmed that all living human beings "red & yellow, black & white" can be traced to a common parent through an element in our blood. Since this element is passed on through females, the scientist have named this "mother of all people" Eve.
In the mid-1700s Voltaire held a copy of the Bible in his hand and stated that within 100 years from his time, Christianity would be swept from existence and would pass into history. Merely 50 years after his death, the Geneva Bible Society used his house and press to print and distribute stacks of Bibles! They even made his house their headquarters! (God has an incredible sense of humor!)
Critics once claimed that the Bible was a mythological account with little or no historical evidence to back it up............then this science called "archaeology" came along:
The "table of nations" in Genesis 10 has been shown to be historically accurate and unprecedented for it's time period.
Nelson Glueck, the renowned Jewish archaeologist, wrote: "It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference." He continued his assertion of "the almost incredibly accurate historical memory of the Bible, and particularly so when it is fortified by archaeological fact."
Genesis derives the ancestry of Israel from Mesopotamia. Archaeology concurs...
Joshua 6:20 tells how Joshua's army simply marched around the city of Jericho, and the walls came a tumblin' down. Archaeology confirms that the walls of Jericho fell out and not in, as they would have if an attacking army had knocked them down from outside of the city.
Critics used to claim that the peoples of the Bible like the Hittites and the Amorites never existed; that they were fictional because there were no historic remnants. Archaeology has proven otherwise.....
Critics once thought that Luke's Gospel and his Book of Acts were the product of a 2nd Century writer, and historically inaccurate. Modern archaeology has proven otherwise, and now Luke's writings (as well as the Old Testament historical books) are used by archaeologists like a roadmap to find missing cities and civilizations.
The Bible (OT & NT) is unique from all the other religious books in the world. It doesn't purport to be a science book or a history lesson.......it's ultimate purpose is to tell the story of how mankind has become separated by God because of sin, and how God in His great love for us made a way to reconcile us to Himself. For thousands of years, science has been silent on the truth of God's Word. Now, as we approach another millennium, it looks like science is finally catching up.
Soli Deo Gloria!
(Credits for the above information go to Winkie Pratney, Josh McDowell, Robert Flood, Carmen, and above all to the Author of Life--- -God the Father, Son & Holy Spirit.)
Gary Zanow
The Grace Cyber Cafe
www.new-mercies.org
HAPPY THANKSGIVING, Everybody! :o)
