Category Archives: Bible

April 23, 2024 · 4:47 pm

Who Is Laura Fasig?

An Encouraging Story For Teachers

For quite awhile I’ve been telling an encouraging story about Laura Fasig. When telling this story recently, I realized that it is so encouraging to some that I should write and publish the story.

One Important Aspect

To be accurate, this story should be entitled “Who Is Laura Fasig … To Me?” The story I’m telling here only addresses one facet of “Who Is Laura Fasig?” No doubt, Laura Fasig’s life was richly multi-faceted. So, I hope and pray that those who knew her far better than I did (especially her family) won’t be offended by my focusing on this one aspect of her life.

Important To Me

Before going on, it’s important for me to tell a little bit about how the most important part of my life led me to become acquainted with Laura Fasig. That is my becoming a Christian.

When people ask me about how I became a Christian, I tell them that the process began the first Sunday after I was brought home from being born at Terre Haute’s Saint Anthony’s Hospital, when my Mother and my Grandma Ray took me to the Second Avenue EUB Church.

Of course, I don’t actually remember that but I confirmed it with my Mom in the latter stages of her life. Actually, when I asked her about it she said, “Yes; me, your Grandma Ray and your Dad.” Since my Dad had left my Mom to marry another woman when I was three years old, I found additional comfort in knowing that he was there too. I’d forgotten that my Mom and Dad had first become acquainted in the Youth Group at Second Avenue.

The picture on the right captures a moment from my Mom and Dad being together in Southern California on R&R during WWII.

Becoming A Christian

Although my going to church started pretty immediately after my birth, of course, that didn’t make me a Christian. I always thought a good way to illustrate that truth was with the metaphor, “Just because you spend a lot of time in a garage, that doesn’t make you a Buick.” John 3:1-21 tells the story of a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, coming at night to inquire of Jesus, who answered him by saying, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” There are, basically, two steps required to be born again … (1) Repenting from a life of sin and (2) Believing in Jesus as your Savior. I did that at Second Avenue EUB when I was twelve years old.

Nicodemus comes at night to inquire of Jesus

The role that Laura Fasig played in my becoming a Christian was that she was my Kindergarten Sunday School Teacher. Although the other kids in Mrs. Fasig’s class were kids from our neighborhood, I only really remember one of them … Jackie Schofield. We actually went to a High School Prom together, we were in school together through college and we’re still connected via Facebook. I, also, remember that our Sunday School Class met in the basement of Second Avenue EUB while “the grownups” Sunday School Service was going on in the sanctuary upstairs. After Sunday School, we would join our families to be together for the main church service. When I think of Mrs. Fasig’s Kindergarten Sunday School Class, one lesson stands out in my mind. It was the story of Zacchaeus, as told in Luke 19:1-10. Mrs. Fasig used a felt story board to teach us that story. I’d never seen anything like it and it fascinated me, Since I clearly recall this teaching seventy years later, obviously, it had a lasting impact,

Zacheus Felt Bible Story Board

Long-term Importance

The kids shown to the left are my Sister, Nancy, my Brother, Dick and the Kindergarten-age me in the early 1950s.

To Kinders, all adults are old. They don’t necessarily recognize different stages of adulthood. In my five-year-old mind, there was little difference in the age of Mrs. Fasig and the age of my Mother. As an adult, I learned that Mrs. Fasig was actually closer to the age of my Grandma Ray. In fact, I learned that when my Mother was a child, on a regular basis, Mrs. Fasig was known to go throughout the neighborhood to gather up kids, taking them to her home to teach them lessons from the Bible. It was knowing this that led me to consider the impact that Laura Fasig had on the lives of others.

Since I hadn’t been in touch with Mrs. Fasig for a very long time, I decided to do some research to find out what had become of her. Of course, today, you can learn a lot about almost anyone via Google. Sadly, I was unable to find any good photo of Laura Fasig but I did find her obituary. That revealed that she had lived to be 99 years old. She had been married to Arnold Fasig and they left behind a Son and Daughter-in-law, a Granddaughter and two Great-granddaughters. And, it confirmed what I said earlier about her life being richly multi-faceted. She was a member of Terre Haute Memorial United Methodist Church, Terre Haute Elks Ladies Golf League 18 Hole Group and she was a charter member of Terre Haute’s Badoura Temple 23 Daughters of the Nile. Her burial is in Terre Haute’s Roselawn Memorial Park; where my Mother, Father and Grandma Ray are buried.

My focus in considering the impact that Laura Fasig had on the lives of others was the number of years the Lord blessed her with. She lived to be 99. In thinking about what my Mother had told me about Mrs. Fasig gathering up neighborhood kids to teach them lessons from the Bible, I realized that took place about 100 years ago. Although my Mother’s family didn’t move into that neighborhood until she was nine-years-old, she would have been Kindergarten-age in 1924. Assuming that Mrs. Fasig continued touching the lives of neighborhood kids until she went home to be with the Lord in 1994, that means she did that for 70 years. One can only imagine the number of lives she impacted during that time.

To me, the way that Laura Fasig impacted lives was more important than the number of lives she touched. I would argue that there is no teaching more important than Biblical instruction, leading to eternal salvation. But how do you measure something like that? I think that my vivid memory of her use of that Zacheus Felt Bible Story Board is a good indicator. That lesson was taught by Mrs. Fasig over 70 years ago and I’m still talking about it. Obviously, that is an indicator of how Mrs, Fasig’s teaching made a positive difference in my life. But, the impact of that teaching didn’t stop with me. You can rest assured that I’ve passed along the Biblical instruction I was given to many others; including our Daughters, our Grandchildren and our Great-grandchildren.

Treasure In Heaven

My regret, in telling this story, is that I never had the opportunity to tell Laura Fasig what a positive impact she had on my life and to thank her for it. I’m confident that she got something far better when she arrived in Heaven. That is hearing our Lord tell her, “Well done good and faithful servant.” If you’re a Teacher striving to make a positive difference in young lives, I hope you’ll keep this in mind. It’s likely that many of your Students won’t recognize the gift you’re giving them in a timely manner. Please don’t let that discourage you. Bear in mind that, like what Laura Fasig did, what you’re doing is making a lifetime difference for your students, as well as in the lives of others whose lives they touch.

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January 1, 2021 · 7:48 am

RESOLUTION 2021

HOW CLEAR IS YOUR CRYSTAL BALL?

It’s not uncommon to hear people designate 2020 as the worst year in their life. I tend to feel that way myself. Realistically, when I look back over my 73 years, I recognize that there were other miserable times I wouldn’t want to revisit … times of family strife and loss, career disappointments, financial duress, etc. However, with that said, I am happy to see 2020 come to an end.

Of course, our so readily welcoming 2020’s departure presumes that 2021 will be a better year. But how certain is that? To gain a better perspective on that, I think it could be helpful to consider how 2020 was looking to us at this time a year ago and to assess how clear our crystal ball was.

2020 – LOOKING FORWARD

Team Oaxaca

At this time a year ago, we were pretty optimistic about what the year ahead held for us. Here are some of the highlights of our expectations:

  • Ruth had just received her Sentri/Global Entry Pass and since we had applied together in May of 2019, I expected I’d be getting mine soon. If you don’t know, this pass is very important to people like us who cross the U.S. border frequently. Without out it crossing can take hours … I think our worst has been 5 1/4 hours. With it, crossing usually takes less than 15 minutes.
  • We had made an offer on a condo in the resort community where we had been leasing a villa and we expected that, once the purchase of the condo was complete and our remodeling had progressed sufficiently, we would get into a regular routine of hosting friends and family in our new home
  • Likewise, we expected that we would regularly be visiting friends and family in the U.S., including a few special trips, e.g.:
    • A July getaway for Ruth’s birthday
    • A late September/early October getaway for Gary’s birthday/our anniversary
    • A Thanksgiving getaway
    • A Christmas/New Year’s getaway
  • We were excited about our plans to join in a nine day missions trip to Calvary Chapel Oaxaca.
  • And we were even more excited about our plans to join in Calvary Chapel Rosarito‘s semi-annual trip to Israel in November,
  • We planned to enroll in a two-week Spanish emersion course in Ensenada.
  • During MLB’s initial Spring Training, I secured four tickets for a mid-July Angels/Dodgers Freeway Series game at Anaheim Stadium. I planned to go with a CCR Intern, our Pastor and his Dad.
  • We expected that activities we enjoyed so much through our church (Calvary Chapel Rosarito – CCR) would continue and even expand. These included:
    • Helping with various church service needs as Missionaries on Staff.
    • Joining in Weekly Staff Meeting and Prayer.
    • Helping with a Mercy Ministry in Tijuana.
    • Leading CCR’s Seniors Group, Legends.
    • Joining in a biweekly Life Group.
    • Joining in a weekly Men’s Bible Study.
    • Leading a weekly Women’s Bible study.
    • Serving in the Connections Ministry during Midweek and Weekend Church Services.
    • Serving in the Prayer Corners during Midweek and Weekend Church Services.
    • Enjoying the Worship, Bible Study and Fellowship associated with Midweek and Weekend Church Services.

2020 – LOOKING BACK

Car Church Greeter – Gary Wiram

As they say, hindsight is 20/20. With 2020 now in the rearview mirror, we now know how it turned out. And we understand what circumstances led to the reality of the year and its significant difference from our expectations going in. Here is an overview of those differences for us:

  • Although Ruth got her Sentri/Global Pass at the very beginning of the year, my application remained Pending Review until May. Of course, by the time it was Conditionally Approved, the interview required to complete the process were significantly delayed. I, finally, had my interview on December 23rd and I should be getting my pass within the next couple of weeks.
  • We did complete the purchase of our condo but 2020-related delays meant that we didn’t take possession until July. And, we did manage for remodeling to progress sufficiently but getting into a regular routine of hosting friends and family in our new home remains in the future.
  • Visiting friends and family in the U.S. was pretty limited but we did get in a couple of special trips.
    • In July, we got away for eight days in Indio to celebrate Ruth’s birthday, sharing an AirBnB with Daughter Jill, her guy Chris and Grandsons Jake and Riley.
    • In late October we got away for a week to celebrate our anniversary with a visit to the Grand Canyon and surrounding area.
  • We chose to cancel our travel plans for Thanksgiving and we limited our Christmas getaway to a three day stay with friends in Huntington Beach.
  • We were able to join in the nine day missions trip to Calvary Chapel Oaxaca. It was the second week in February, prior to 2020’s craziness really kicking in.
  • Both the Israel trip and our enrollment in the Spanish emersion course in Ensenada were canceled.
  • Most significantly, activities we enjoyed so much through CCR were radically different. The ones we were able to maintain included:
    • Joining in Weekly Staff Meeting and Prayer.
    • Though we tried to restart CCR’s Seniors Group (Legends) when some things started to reopen, we put it on hold until some time in early 2021.
    • The weekly Men’s Bible Study was successful in restarting when some things started to reopen.
    • The weekly Women’s Bible Study converted to meeting online.
    • Worship, Bible Study and Fellowship associated with Midweek and Weekend Church Services was done online only at first. Then, that was supplemented with Car Church. Presently, we’re having in-person services but health-safety measures limit Fellowship along with ancillary programs and activities.

THE UNFORSEEN

Today’s Good News Devotional – Ruth Wiram

So far, somewhat presumptuously, we haven’t addressed the elephant in the room – i.e. What in the world caused the reality of 2020 to turn out so very different from what we expected?! The obvious answer is COVID-19 but that is really an oversimplification. No doubt that was the overriding issue but, at least for U.S. citizens, COVID-19 became intertwined with cultural matters, particularly politics and religion, to further impact society.

But, as my old high school football coach taught us, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” And that resulted in some unplanned positive results. This included:

  • We were able to share our condo with a key contributor to the remodeling. He is a deportee and he was able to have his family come down from the U.S. to stay with him in the condo.
  • And, we have been able to make our home available to friends from Huntington Beach to use as their base as they lead a major construction project for the Calvary Chapel Church Plant in Otay Mesa.
  • Although the Mercy Ministry in Tijuana was on hold, we found that we were able to help those who are closer to us who couldn’t get out for groceries, etc.
  • As part of our effort to keep Legends connected, we formed Messenger and email groups who receive a Legends Daily Blessing … Daily Scripture with a related Worship song.
  • Helping with new service roles necessitated by Online Church and Car Church.
  • Contributing to a new program of five-minute daily YouTube devotionals called Today’s Good News.
  • Reconnecting with numerous friends and family via social media.

2021’s GAME PLAN

So, having considered how 2020 was looking to us at this time a year ago and having assessed the clarity of that crystal ball, how should that impact our expectations for 2021? Now that vaccines for COVID-19 are being distributed, I’d like to believe that it won’t be long until things return to “normal”. But, I recognize that may not be realistic. In fact, I’ve recognized that, for those born during and after this year, they may never know a time when people freely join in crowds attending various events. With that in mind, I’ve determined my resolution for 2021 to be optimistic in my hope for things to return to “normal” while anticipating the likelihood of a “new normal”.

So, what does that mean? To begin with, for me, that means striving to be more intentional about plans for the things that are most important to me. If you look at the Gary Wiram – Editor page on this blog, you’ll clearly see that my life’s priorities are: Faith, Family and Community. Here’s how I see this year’s intentionality applying in each of those categories:

  • FAITH – Considering 2020’s expectations for this category, the primary goals were:
    • Supporting CCR in ministering to its flock and sharing the Gospel with the community.
    • Supporting CCR’s Church Plants.
    • Continuing to build ourselves up in the faith.

Intentionality with the goals of our faith seem pretty straightforward here. That is, look for opportunities to safely do these things hands-on but expect that we may may need to continue to do them virtually and in some cases, to find new ways to do them virtually.

  • FAMILY and FRIENDS– Our primary goals here have been to share our time, our love and our blessings with our loved ones.

Intentionality with these goals seems straightforward too, with one key difference. While looking for opportunities to safely do these things hands-on and expecting that we may need to do them virtually, bear in mind how COVID-19 became intertwined with cultural matters and be proactive in not allowing that to happen.

  • COMMUNITY – Our key goals here have been to become more and more a part of the community and in doing so, positively impact the community.

This may be the category where intentionality may be the most difficult. But, while it may not be as straightforward, it will be important to continue to look for alternative ways to accomplish what “normally” could be accomplished hands-on. The one thing that is a bit more straightforward, however, is working to remove a roadblock to our becoming more and more a part of the community … removing our language barrier would be huge. So, while our plans for enrolling in a Spanish emersion course in Ensenada may not return as a realistic opportunity, we need to embrace other ways to become conversant in Spanish.

2021 – THE CLEAR VIEW

Proverbs 16:9 tells us “A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.” And, Isaiah 46:9(b)-10 tells us, “I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure.”

During 2020, I realized, perhaps more so than any other time in my life, the importance of daily looking to God for His guidance. I’m determined to hold even more firmly to that wisdom, going into 2021. I recommend that to you all.

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April 24, 2020 · 10:50 am

Forgiveness – a Devotional

Calvary Chapel Rosarito – English Devotional by Gary Wiram

During the COVID-19 quarantine, Calvary Chapel Rosarito has been providing live streaming topical devotionals every weekday. The video shown above is the devotional from Thursday, April 23rd, 2020, on the topic of Forgiveness. The following, is the full text of that devotional.

WELCOME

Good morning and welcome! I’m very blessed to be with you for this morning’s devotional. If you don’t know me, I’m Gary Wiram and I’m not a Pastor here at Calvary Chapel Rosarito. But, you may be familiar with me and my Wife, Ruth, from seeing us around church. Ruth leads the Monday evening Bible study for English- speaking ladies, called Sister Sojourners. You may have seen me as part of the Connections Ministry in between services on Sundays. And you may be familiar with both of us as the Leaders of the Seniors Ministry known as Legends.

INTRODUCTION

Many of our recent devotionals have focused on topics aimed at helping to get us through this challenging time of COVID-19. This morning I want to offer exhortation to take advantage of this time by dealing with a topic most of us find challenging even during normal times. That topic is Forgiveness.

The aspects of this topic that I want to address this morning are:

  1. God’s forgiveness for us.
  2. Our forgiveness of others.
  3. Forgiveness for the unforgivable.

As we begin, let’s pray for the Lord’s blessing on this time.

Father, thank You for this opportunity to look to You to see how You can make beauty in our lives from the ashes of this current crisis. Give us ears to hear what You want to say on this topic today. And, give us hearts to be obedient to Your direction. We ask this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

It seems that it’s a Calvary Chapel Rosarito requirement to include a joke in every teaching so I want to start with this:

Pastor Carlos recently got a pet parrot. Unfortunately, it had a bad attitude and used fowl language … Fowl language, get it?! A Parrot, a Bird, Fowl! … Anyway, Carlos tried everything to change the bird’s attitude and clean up its talk but nothing worked. Finally, in a moment of desperation, he put the parrot in his freezer. For a few moments he heard the bird squawking, kicking and screaming and then, suddenly, all is quiet. He opened the freezer door. The parrot stepped out and said, “I’m sorry that I offended you with my language and actions. I ask for your forgiveness.” Pastor Carlos was astounded at the bird’s change in attitude and was about to ask what changed him when the parrot continued, “By the way, may I ask – what did the chicken do?”

GOD’S FORGIVENESS FOR US

Seriously, I want us to begin by taking a look at God’s forgiveness for us. Of course, understanding God is completely beyond us. And, certainly, God’s forgiveness is too big and too complex for us to fully grasp. But, looking to His Word can help us to get a sense of it.

John 3:16 is probably the most well known of all Scripture, even with unbelievers. It tells us, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Although it’s beyond me to understand why God so loved the world, at least I understand that His love for the world is why He provided for our redemption.

And, Ephesians 1:7 Tells us, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,”

I suspect we’ve all been taught the difference of Grace from Justice and Mercy. Justice is getting what we deserve. We deserve spending eternity in Hell. Mercy is not getting what we deserve. I guess that would be not going to Hell but maybe just ceasing to exist when we die. Grace is getting what we don’t deserve … eternal life in Heaven with God.

Forgiveness is a key element of God’s Grace. It is a gift, as the Scripture says, “according to the riches of his grace,”. This gift is solely from God’s love for us. There was no other pathway to Salvation without it. There’s nothing we could do to earn it and we certainly don’t deserve it. It’s a gift.

And, it is a gift that cost God a great price, a price that is also beyond our understanding … “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses,”.

Those three little words, “through his blood”, don’t seem like enough to fully define the price that God paid for our salvation. A more detailed description would be to say God the Son chose to leave His glory in Heaven, to come to earth, to take on flesh and blood and to live fully as a man only so He could sacrifice that flesh and shed that blood in order that we might have eternal life.  

He gave himself for us. As Romans 8:32 tells us, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”

We need to remember that God’s forgiveness is conditional though.

1 John 1:9 tells us, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

“If we confess our sins” … Repentance of our sins is required by God’s conditional promise. That won’t be a part of our eternal lives because there is no sin in Heaven. But, while living in this sinful world, we need to repent and to do so continually.

OUR FORGIVENESS OF OTHERS

Next, I want to address our need to extend Forgiveness to others.

The Scripture we refer to as The Lord’s Prayer, says, “… forgive us our (sins), as we forgive those who (sin)against us.”.

Forgiving others isn’t natural for us but it is tied to our forgiveness from God. Thankfully, as we are forgiven, we are supernaturally given the capacity to forgive.

If, however, we fail to be gracious with that gift, we risk having our grace withdrawn. That is illustrated well in Matthew 18:21-35, the parable of the unmerciful servant. This is the story of a servant whose master forgave a debt he owed that was so great he couldn’t pay it. But then he was unwilling to forgive a small debt that was owed him by another servant. As a result, when the master who had forgiven him his debt learned about this, he turned the unmerciful servant over to the jailers to be tortured.

In addition to facing the challenge that forgiving others isn’t natural, it’s not uncommon for us to find ourselves dealing with having someone repeatedly commit the same sin against us. What in the world do you do about that?! Well, Jesus himself answers that question in a conversation he had with Peter. The account of that, in Matthew 18:21-22, says, “Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.” Peter thought he was being very generous in forgiving someone seven times. That seems pretty good to me too. But Jesus completely blows that out and we need to remember that his 70 times seven doesn’t really mean 490 times. It means there should be no limit to our forgiveness, as is the case with God and our forgiveness.

FORGIVENESS FOR THE UNFORGIVEABLE

And if that’s not hard enough, there are those times in life when we have sins committed against us that we view as being unforgivable. We know, from Mark 3:28-29, that for God the only unforgivable sin is grieving the Holy Spirit. So, when we think of forgiving the unforgivable, what we actually have in mind is something that seems unforgivable by us. And, without the supernatural help of God, we may be right.

“… this my Son was dead and is alive again.”

The story of the Prodigal Son may be one that, if we put ourselves in the place of the Prodigal Son’s Father, illustrates circumstances that would be unforgivable by us. And yet, the Father in this story did just that. As you know, this is the story of a young man who demanded his inheritance in advance. He took off with it to “a far country” and after it was gone, in order to survive, he went to work feeding pigs. A Jewish boy couldn’t sink much lower than that. In this story, we aren’t told how the Father felt about this Son when he first left. Maybe, at first, he thought the Son’s sin was unforgivable. We know from Luke 15:24 that he considered him dead. Regardless of that, after the Son had wasted his inheritance with his prodigal living, God brought a famine to drastically change his circumstances and his attitude. So, he returned home, just hoping that his Father might take him in as a servant. If the Father’s attitude needed changing too, apparently, that had happened. He saw his Son returning when he was “still a great way off”. It seems the Father was watching for and praying for his Son’s return. And when the Son returned, the Father celebrated by saying, “… this my Son was dead and is alive again.”

With sins of others that seem unforgivable to you, maybe you think, “The story of the Prodigal Son is a nice Bible Story but I’m dealing with issues of real life.” If that’s you, let me share with you a real life story. Much like the miraculous forgiveness that resulted from the famine that God brought about for the Prodigal Son, this is a miraculous story of forgiveness that was brought about as a result of this COVID-19 nightmare. 

This story involves two people who I’ve known since they were a very young married couple. They haven’t been a married couple for a long time and like me, they’re no longer young. But I’ve stayed in touch with them closely enough over the years that I can appreciate their miraculous story. Here are the highlights … or low-lights, depending on your point of view:

  • These two were both raised as Christians but they weren’t walking with the Lord when they met.
  • They married when they were very young and they had a baby almost immediately.
  • Their marriage only lasted a few years. They were just in their twenties when they divorced.
  • For most of the time since then, any relationship they had with each other was hateful. No doubt, they both could have told you numerous reasons to justify the bitterness between them.
  • However, they both maintained good relationships with their child, as well as their grandchildren.
  • Although they both recommitted their lives to the Lord, it has been obvious that they weren’t able to embrace forgiveness for each other.
  • But, they were aware of each other’s return to walking with the Lord and with that, they shared a concern for the salvation of their offspring. That concern was greatly heightened when the COVID-19 nightmare hit and it caused them to reach out to each other.
  • In doing this, they thought that if, for the first time ever, they jointly reached out to their younger generations about the importance of faith at a time like this, it might just be what was needed to get their attention.
  • So, they agreed to do that by sending a jointly composed message to their child and their now-grown grandchildren.
  • Since then, they have used Facebook Messenger to keep the seven people involved tied together and to share encouragement daily.

It’s too early to assess the results of this with  their younger generations but it’s clear that, through this, God miraculously accomplished what had eluded these two accomplishing on their own … their forgiveness of each other.

Since I’ve known these people for so long, I probably think that’s cooler than you do. But, for me, watching this happen has been incredible.

You’ve probably heard it said that forgiven people should be forgiving people. As they say back in Indiana, where I grew up, sometimes that says easy and does hard. When I find myself struggling with this, I find it helpful to play the lyrics of an old hymn called Take Up Your Cross in my head. It goes like this:

“Have you really given everything For the One who gave His all for you? Count the cost, take up your cross and follow Him!”

My encouragement to you today, if you’re troubled with having someone in your life that you haven’t been able to forgive, is this: Stop letting your limitations keep you from getting this done. Turn to your Father in Heaven for His provision. Even if it takes a miracle, He will get it done and He will bless you in the process.

Thank you for sharing this time with me this morning. I pray that it was a blessing to you, as it has been for me. I, truly, look forward to the time when we will, again, be able to do this six feet apart but face-to-face.

And, for now, I’d like to close in the way that we close each of our Legends gatherings. It’s with what is known as the Aaronic blessing.

The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:
The Lord make His face to shine upon Thee,
And be gracious unto thee, And be gracious unto thee:
The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee,
And give thee peace.

God bless you.

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April 3, 2020 · 7:27 am

Beauty for Ashes (II)…

… in the Wake of COVID-19

… A Firm Foundation Renewed

The goal of this Beauty for Ashes series is to take a look beyond the COVID-19 crisis to consider how it can serve as a vehicle to make positive changes in our society. In the time immediately preceding this, the world’s current crisis, there were several social issues sorely in need of change. But, typically, time and other resources were too limited to address those needs. Now that many of our “normal” activities have been put on hold, we have more time available to make plans for making those changes.

The first article in this series focused on Families. In that writing, I pointed out that our families, resting on the firm foundation of our communities, was once the strength of our social fabric. With this edition of Beauty for Ashes, I am targeting the importance of restoring the stability of that firm foundation … the faith found in our houses of worship.

The Call to Return to Our Firm Foundation

Legendary Broadcaster Vin Scully offers hope amid COVID-19 crisis

Legendary baseball broadcaster Vin Scully provided a healthy perspective on this in a recent TV interview. With this, he offered an optimistic view, despite the coronavirus pandemic. “Now that I have some leisure time and we’re all locked in at home, I read an article and it was talking about what happened to Americans in World War II,” said Scully, a devout Roman Catholic. “It was such a terrible time. Three-quarters of Americans belonged to a house of worship. Today … half of Americans are involved in a house of worship, prior to this pandemic,” he added. “So there’s your answer … Although they might not be able to go to a house of worship, probably more Americans will be praying since World War II. More people will be coming back to the faith,” Scully went on. “And now that this terrible thing is upon us, people might very well get back to the center. And it’s a better world. We’ll see … “

The Universal Value of a Firm Foundation

Some may dismiss Scully’s views and optimism as melancholy, with distorted memories of how things were “back in the day.” What they fail to recognize is that everything good in the world has faith in God as its foundation. The bad in the world, that I and many others have viewed as increasing at an ever accelerating pace, does not share that foundation.

Our families, as pointed out by the first article in this series, are an obvious example of this. Traditionally, faith-based families have consisted of a man and woman, married for life, who were dedicated to caring for each other, their children, their preceding generations and subsequent generations. Moving away from that faith-based foundation has led to countless social ills for our families and individual family members. One of the most significant factors here is that the children of these fractured families no longer have appropriate role models for parenting.

The lack of faith-based upbringing, of course, permeates all of society and impacts it in a negative way. As an example, we have students showing up in our schools today with little understanding of what they’re there to accomplish. Added to that is the fact that many of these young people lack the development of appropriate behavior habits for a learning environment. Of course, these negative factors just get passed along into the workplace and to every other area of their lives, as our children reach adulthood.

Although many who lack faith in God may fail to recognize it, the root of all the world’s moral standards are faith-based. Specifically, they closely conform to the Ten Commandments of the Bible. The first four of the Ten Commandments pertain to man’s relationship with God. So, generally, non-believers have little problem ignoring those. However, the remainder of the Ten Commandments regard man’s relationship with his fellow-man. These are:

  • Honor your father and your mother.
  • You shall not murder.
  • You shall not commit adultery.
  • You shall not steal.
  • You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
  • You shall not covet.

Sadly, these once certain aspects of our society’s foundation have become more and more of a slippery slope.

The Call to Restore Our Firm Foundation

My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell speaks as President Donald Trump listens during a briefing about the coronavirus in the Rose Garden of the White House.

MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, at a White House coronavirus briefing, encouraged people to pray during the COVID-19 crisis. He pointed out that prayer was needed after religion has disappeared in public schools. He went on to say, “God has been taken out of our schools and lives, our nation has turned its back on God. I encourage you to use this time at home to get back in the Word. Read the Bible and spend time with your families.” Not surprisingly, a largely non-believing press corp has heaped ridicule on Lindell for expressing these views.

First, let me speak to those, whether believers or unbelievers, who doubt Lindell’s implied consequences of his saying “our nation has turned its back on God.” To that I say, consider what God has to say on this topic in Isaiah 59. With that said, my hope is that the conditions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic will make it clear that, if anyone is deserving of ridicule in this, it’s the non-believing press corp, not Mike Lindell. And, with that, it is my prayer that the world will respond to the wisdom of his advice.

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July 22, 2014 · 8:11 am

New Covenant Morality?

Bible Context

This article has been written, specifically, to address a most rare exception, a comment on a previous article that’s been Pending Approval for quite a while. The comment in question was made in response to an article entitled Lookin’ For Hate In All The Wrong Places. It said,

“remember… there is a brand new covenant, which basicly breaks down morality to: ‘he who knows the right thing to do, and does not do it, to HIM it is sin.’ are you foolishly going to argue that homosexuals in their heart of hearts feel that theyre sinning? if so, youre very disillusioned. and thus, by the very biblical passage ive quoted… they arent sinning in being homosexual.” Continue reading →

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April 27, 2014 · 6:18 am

You Will Not Surely Die?!

takei pastor post

Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.“ – Genesis 3:4

Genesis 3:4 records Satan’s promise to Eve, leading to the fall of man. Obviously, it was a devastatingly effective tactic. So much so that it’s been an ongoing key element in the destructive strategy of “that serpent of old”.

Although I frequently see “the great dragon” raising its ugly head with this weapon in hand, I usually just shake my head and try to ignore it, thinking something like, “Anyone with half a brain, especially fellow-Christians, won’t be deceived by this”. However, when I saw the image shown above being used in this way, as a Facebook post a couple of weeks ago, there were so many disturbing aspects of it that I just had to speak out this time.

The Facebook post mentioned was by George Takei, the gay activist whose claim to fame is having portrayed the role of Mr. Sulu on Star Trek. Although there are disquieting factors beyond those contained within the post itself, I’ll start there. Continue reading →

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March 20, 2014 · 5:20 pm

Going To Heaven Alone

iron

REBUKED BY FRIENDS

When I express strong views on a sensitive topic, I’m not surprised when I get pushback from those who see matters differently. But, when I’m rebuffed by those who I think are friends, accepting me and my beliefs, it’s sort of shocking. I had that happen recently and it led me to do some introspection that I’d like to share.

The specifics of this recent occurrence involved a meeting I attended with a small group of people who I’ve worked very closely with for several years. Without inappropriately sharing intimate details of that meeting, let me just say that there was mention of another person who we’ve known through our work, who seemed to be going through a difficult time and that they were attending a Bible study being conducted by someone else we’ve known through our work. Hearing that was a pleasant surprise to me so I responded by saying something like, “I just hope (that person) is truly paying attention at the Bible study.” With that, I sensed a reaction that I later described as a unanimous rolling of the eyes by the other participants.

UNDERSTANDING THE REBUKE

Since my comment came just from my truly caring about the person we had been discussing, that added to my bewilderment over being chided as I was. So, the following day, I approached one of the other attendees to discuss this. In addition to getting affirmation of my sensing that unanimous rolling of the eyes, I was reminded that there are some settings where discussion of topics like religion and politics is just not welcome. And, beyond that, I was told that I was just more spiritual than the other attendees.

In reflecting on that one-on-one follow-up conversation, I came to the conclusion that there wasn’t really anything in it that I didn’t already know. And, in reflecting on my follow-up self-conversation, I remained sure of my caring intent with the comment that led to my rebuke. To me, though, the disapproval I had received from my friends clearly indicated the need for me to examine how I share my Christian faith in order that it’s received as intended. So, I determined to do just that.

FOCUS ON A SIN

In the course of making this examination, I thought of a point that I’d heard Pastor Brian Brodersen, of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, make in a teaching from 1 Corinthians. As a side note, I ended up going through 11 of Pastor Brian’s teachings to find what I was looking for. At first, that seemed like a nuisance but it turned out that I was richly blessed through a fresh look at much more of God’s Word than I’d had in mind. Anyway, I did find what I was looking for in Pastor Brian’s lesson, entitled “Tending to Our Own Issues”, based on the following Scripture:

I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person. For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.” – 1 Corinthians 5:9-13

The point that I had been thinking of was made by Pastor Brian in addressing the part of this Scripture that says, “I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.” Pastor Brian’s comments here were: “ … notice, first of all, that the issues of sin go beyond sexual immorality … notice the other sins included there … we have a tendency to isolate a specific sin and focus in on that sin to the exclusion of other sins … that’s part of the problem we have right now, in the current cultural situation, in regard to homosexuality. I think that we, the church in general, have over emphasized this one sin. If you think about it, as we share the gospel with people, generally, we don’t begin by talking about specific sins. But, with homosexuality it seems we focus in on that particular thing. That’s the wrong way to understand it. I was thinking the other day about the idea that so many gay people have in their mind … I’ve heard them say this, ’You think I’m going to Hell because I’m gay.’ The reality is, they’re not going to Hell because they’re gay. They’re going to Hell because they’re lost. They’re going to Hell because they’re a sinner. They’re going to Hell for the same reason an adulterer is and the same reason a swindler is and for the same reason a slanderer is … because they haven’t turned to Christ to have their sins forgiven.” Continue reading →

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March 17, 2014 · 1:21 pm

Setting Up an Ebenezer

By: Henry Morris, Ph.D.

Cross-Posted From: The Insitute for Creation Research

My purpose in cross-posting this article is to help some of our readers have a better understanding of the aim of HERE I RAISE MY EBENEZER, as described on our ABOUT PAGE.

“Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us.” (1 Samuel 7:12)

Many Christians have joined in the singing of a familiar verse in an old hymn without knowing its great meaning: “Here I raise mine Ebenezer; hither by thy help I’ve come.” When the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines, the old priest Eli and his sons, Hophni and Phinehas, all died the same day, as did Phinehas’ wife in childbirth. It was a tragic day for Israel.

But then the people returned to God, under Samuel, and 20 years later the Lord gave them a miraculous victory over the superior armies of the Philistines. In commemoration of this deliverance, Samuel set up a stone monument in the same place where the Philistines had captured the Ark 20 years before, calling the stone “Ebenezer,” a name which was always associated thereafter with the site (1 Samuel 4:1; 5:1).

Now “Ebenezer” means “Stone of Help,” and seeing it would always remind the people, whenever they might later come to fear the circumstances around them, that God had been their “help in ages past,” and thus could be trusted as their “hope for years to come.” Only God is truly able to help in times of great need, but He is able! “From whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1-2).

It is well to remember those times in our own lives when God has helped us in some special way. We forget so easily, and the sin of ingratitude is cited by God as one of the first harbingers of imminent apostasy (note especially Romans 1:21). A physical token can help us remember, but whatever it takes—remember! God will hear and answer our prayers for future help, too, but “with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Philippians 4:6). HMM

– READ ORIGINAL ARTICLE –

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March 2, 2014 · 6:12 am

The Blessing Of Boxing With God

Your_Arms_Too_Short_to_Box_with_GodAre you familiar with the saying, “Your arm’s too short to box with God”? I guess I first heard that phrase sometime in the 1970s or 1980s but I wasn’t sure of its origin. When I looked into it, I was a bit surprised to learn that it came from a sermon, entitled The Prodigal Son, by civil rights activist James Weldon Johnson. It was published in 1927 in his book of sermons, entitled God’s Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse. Regardless of where it came from, its core message always seemed apparent to me … It’s ridiculous to disagree with God; you should just accept His will and get on with life. As a result of a Bible teaching I got to take in recently, from Exodus 32 and Exodus 33, I now see that my thinking this way has been off-the-mark and that it’s been very limiting to me in truly getting to know God.

GOD AND MOSES

The Bible teaching I mentioned was from Pastor Dave Rolph, of Calvary Chapel Pacific Hills. His lesson on Exodus 32-33 is from a series he is doing on Bible stories. This one is called The Heart of Moses. The story starts when Moses is up on Mt.Sinai receiving the law from God while Aaron and the people are below worshipping a golden calf they’ve made. When that happens, God switches from giving the law to Moses, to telling him he has a problem. The rest of the story covers what happened from that point forward and it focuses on the related interaction between God and Moses. Continue reading →

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February 9, 2014 · 10:02 am

Why God? – The Right Place To End!

Empty Tomb

WHERE TO BEGIN

In my first “Why God?!” article (Why God? – The Right Place To Start!), I noted that this question typically, comes with crying out over hearing of some horrendously evil act in the world or a natural disaster or a friend’s life-threatening illness or a family member’s untimely death or some other form of suffering. I went on to offer encouragement that looking to The Creator is the right place to start in seeking answers to such questions and that He gives us the reassurance of His loving intentions.

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

– Jeremiah 29:11

THE PATH TO TAKE

With the second article in this series (Why God? – The Right   Way To Go), I admitted that my honest answer to “Why God?!” questions about evil and suffering in the world is, “I do not know.” However, I pointed out that all the related answers we really need can be found in God’s Word. And, I indicated that in looking for these answers it’s important to start with the understanding that “… from the beginning it was not so.”

Tragically, it was the choice man made with the ability God gave us to love and specifically, the free will He gave us to decide whether to love or not to love that led to evil and suffering coming into His creation. With that understood, I drew attention to the fact that, though it was beyond us to recover from what is commonly known as “the fall of man”, even in His condemnation of that first choice of man, He revealed that He had prepared a path to redemption. Detailing that path and where it leads is what I have in mind with this, the last in my series of “Why God?!” articles. Continue reading →

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