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TONY EVANS ON GETTING UN-STUCK
Tony Evans, a popular black preacher from down in Texas, spoke of being on an elevator in a high-rise building. He said he’d never been particularly comfortable on such elevators. There was something about riding up and down in a little box several hundred feet off the ground that has never sat well with him. He worried that something would go wrong.
One day it did. The car he was riding in got stuck in between floors way up in the higher floors. He noted that some of the people in the car became frantic. They began to beat on the door hoping to get someone’s attention. Others began to yell in the hopes that their voices would get someone on the surrounding floors to come to the aid. But nobody heard their noise or their cries.
Then Evans quietly made his way to the front of the car, opened a little door in the wall and pulled out a telephone. Immediately he was connected with someone on the outside. He didn’t need to beat on the wall to get their attention. He didn’t need to speak loudly in the phone to receive their help. He could have whispered and they would have heard him.
Evans said that - in this world, we’re going to get "stuck" in places we aren’t comfortable with. Some people begin to beat against the walls, others cry out in dismay. But the person who trusts in the power of confident prayer knows there’s someone on the other end who hears their call and comes to their aid.
Hebrews 10:19ff tells us that we now can have "boldness" (KJV) to enter into very presence of God because of the blood of Jesus. We can think this way only because Jesus has opened the way for us to approach God’s throne and earnestly ask whatever we desire according to His Will.
Bruce Howell
“Dr. Garl Restored My Sight!”
There was this soft-spoken man who was a commuter on the Long Island Railroad—on the five o’clock local. Every evening, after the train had left the subway, he would begin a journey through the car from front to back. At each seat he would stop and say, “Excuse me. But if any of your friends are blind, tell them to consult Dr. Garl. He restored my sight.”
Why don’t we have that same courage and conviction and boldness?
Wade Hughes, Sr
ONE LITTLE BOY GREW A NEW APPROACH TO THE GAME.
We have this little boy at church, Seth Keown, Seth is 6 years old and plays PeeWee football.
Our son is the coach of the Packers. Our grandson Matthew plays on the same team with Seth.
There are only two teams in this league, the Packers and the Titans.
The Packers have yellow jerseys and the Titans have blue.
The Titans are a much bigger team in size than the Packers, and thus won every game.
We drove to Brownsville for this week’s game, every week prior the Titans stomped the Packers.
Seth’s team, the Packers had lost every game.
This Saturday Seth got out of their car with a different attitude.
Seth had on his number 44 yellow uniform. As Seth walked away from his Mother,
I watched him. Seth had his shoulders spread eagle and his eyes sparkled.
Seth walked right up to the star of the Titans, the biggest blue Titan player,
Seth came up to the bigger boy’s number on his jersey, Seth look right at the big blue star, and
Seth made a declaration to the biggest player.
SETH SAID: WE ARE GOING TO WIN TODAY!
Seth turned and walked away.
Seth came to this game with a different approach than the other games.
Well, I thought this was really cute, this little boy went to Goliath and stated a new attitude,
but I feared another lost. I knew there was no way the Packers could beat the Titans.
BUT THEY DID! The Packers won. Seth was right.
At the end of the game, it was Packers 14, Titans 6.
Seth’s new approach was infective, contagious to the other players.
I heard my son, the Coach, say, Boy’s I prayed for you this week --- the prayer was not just to win,
but for a new approach to the game.
Last Saturday, in Brownsville, Kentucky was the TOY BOWL. The Titans coach had never lost
a TOY BOWL. Seth and the Packers took the field, they were behind, loosing most of the game.
With two minutes to go, the Packers scored a touchdown and took the lead, and won the TOY BOWL.
As a bystander, I remembered back to the day, that Seth climbed out of the car, saying,
the Packers are going to win today. At first, Seth was just saying this to himself.
But later with a boldness, Seth walked up and told the Star Titan, WE ARE GOING TO WIN TODAY.
DILEMMA OF AMERICAN ATHEIST SOCIETY
For some reason, Christians feel intimidated by atheism. They assume that the atheist and the intellectual are on the same level. The assumption is groundless:
A recent article published by the American Atheist Society was written by a zealous but discouraged atheist (a graduate of the U. of Texas, and president of "American Atheists") who related 5 basic coronary problems plaguing contemporary atheists of the U.S..
1. The 1st dilemma he cites is a "lack of unity." He begins with a word on how unified Christians seem, in their stand against abortion and in the fact that they do not openly criticize one another. He says history has shown atheistic attitudes towards each other have been nothing but outride hostility... The atheists hate the agnostics, who hate the humanists, who cannot stand the rationalists, who keep their distance from the realists, who will not speak to the Unitarians, and on and on it goes - they cannot even agree on the simple concept that "there is no god."
2. The second symptom is one of "lack of zeal." He says "atheists will simply not get involved with the promotion of their chosen life-style. I cannot think of a group harder to motivate... atheists seem to feel that their position with regard to religion is a deeply personal thing that does not need to be shared with others."
I suppose it is hard to be enthusiastic about the nonexistence of God, when the word "enthusiasm" actually comes from the 2 Greek words "en" and "theos," meaning "in God." If I denied the existence of the sun, I would find it rather difficult to be zealous in my convictions in the light of its brilliance.
3. The 3rd dilemma is "a lack of faith." The writer admits, "I have met many atheists who cannot surpass the ’what if I am wrong?’ stage." The cause of their problem is obviously a lack of unbelief.
4. The 4th ailment is one of "lack of boldness." The president of the society remarks about an incident where a newspaper reporter wanted to do an article on the subject of atheistic life-styles; and how he found nothing but the "fear of man" in tho...
The Six Shooter was a popular western, broadcast on NBC radio from 1953-54. Jimmy Stewart starred as Britt Ponsett, a Texas plainsman. On one broadcast, Britt called a bully’s bluff even though his gun was several feet away on a dresser. In typical Stewart style, Ponsett told the tough guy he could draw his gun anytime he wanted. The surprised crook said, “But you ain’t got your six-shooter.” Ponsett stepped toward the thug and said, “Things might no work out the way you think they will.” The Six Shooter’s bold confidence made the rascal turn and run.
How bold it would be for us to tell those who think they can go to heaven without Christ, “Things might not work out the way you think they will.” Only in this situation may the rascal not turn and run; instead may he come under conviction, drops to his knees, and obey the gospel.
Clearly there is a present need for more boldness among the Body of Christ. Jesus didn’t die in order for us to become doormats for every godless person we encounter. Many of our brothers and sisters have become so fearful of the world and its demons that they have been fruitless in the battle for souls.
Streaming After Dreaming! (08.01.05--Boldness Too!--Deuteronomy 33:27)
Do you consider yourself a cautious person? I don’t know about you but mom and dad always taught me to “look before you leap.” A cautious approach to things can keep you out of a lot of trouble in this life. Did you also know that it can also keep you out of a lot of good as well?
Throwing caution to the wind is not a good idea no matter how you are presently living your life. No one needs to live out their days, Houdini-like, dangling upside down with just seconds to spare before what was once dangerous has suddenly become perilous. God created you and I with caution in mind. A careful approach to what we say, what we do, and how we do it is completely in line with what the Bible teaches. Nevertheless, the Bible also teaches that “doing” is s natural extension of being. Being over-cautious, unable to do anything because we fear the consequences of action over inaction, is hardly God-like. A disciple is a disciple not only based upon what he knows but what he does. If Bible class or Sunday school doesn’t translate into a Monday application, there is no learning, only listening. A Christian must commit to action every day of his or her life. When we don’t, not only are we denying others our help, we are denying ourselves a unique opportunity to watch God in action. That’s something no Christian should want to miss.
“The moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meeting and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.” (Commonly attributed to Goethe.)
The time to begin is always now. How true that is. Every day of our lives is an opportunity to begin something, to put into action the dreams that we have dreamed and watch the stream of events unfold before us as God takes our beginning and brings it to His end. Too many Christians are always on the defensive, ready to extinguish the arrows of the devil but never ready to take the Sword of the Spirit and boldly advance against the foe. They’re afraid, perhaps cautious to a fault.
Is there a dream in your life that needs doing? Do it today. God will always be there to catch you if you fail. Remember, the Bible tells us that “God is our refuge and our strength.” It does not tell us that He is our hotel and our excuse.
"It requires a great deal of boldness and a great deal of caution to make a great fortune; and when you have got it, it requires ten times as much wit to keep it."
“Step Into The Image of Christ!” Hebrews 5:1-9 Key verse(s): 8-9:“Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him . . .”
Why do we love the Constitution so! A document that is nearly 220 years old and written in the flowery English of our forefathers, a musty old thing that some say has little relevance to the way we live our lives today; why is it that it occupies a central display in our national archives and governs yet after all these years? As a charter, some say, it is certainly without equal. Many have compared it to the Magna Carta presented by the English barons to King John in 1215. Others have held it up as the hallmark of all governing charters. Certainly we can all be proud of our Constitution. In reality, nearly every other democratic nation in the world has made it their epitome as they craft their own charters of state. But, what is it about this charter that holds us so tightly after all these years? It must be more than the “bigger-than-life” characters that wrote it and signed it. Ultimately, it must be the relevance of what it grants not what it so eloquently states that so binds us since the lives we lead today bear little resemblance to those led by its authors.
A charter is something that engraves for all time. It is meant to be held in high esteem and altered only with utmost diligence. For a charter grants privileges and reserves rights which are endemic to life itself not just living. In a sense, it reflects the character of those who wrote it on-in-perpetuity. Though gone for hundreds of years, when we open the pages of our Constitution, we see reflected not just words but images; character images of those who bore this document. When I read our Constitution I can see and feel Jefferson, Franklin, Madison and the all the others who shaped it word by word and then embraced it for all ages. As you cannot look at Michelangelo’s Pieta and not see the sculptor or Rembrandt’s The Black Watch and not see the artist, it is impossible to divorce the Sons of Liberty from pages of our Constitution.
A charter is a likeness of those who drew it up; a reflection of their thought. When we read a charter and live under it as we do the Constitution, we are not simply edified. Rather, we enter into it and become like Jefferson and Madison. Their words become our words because once a charter is so drawn up, ownership of it belongs to those to whom it is granted. It is not Jefferson’s Constitution. It is Mark Brunner’s Constitution and so on. Since it is my charter and your charter, and we receive from it rights and privileges reserved only for those who live under it, we in turn strive to protect it, defend it, and cherish it. To love it become natural. In that love we follow naturally into obedience. For it is natural to obey something which provides us with essential security and well-being. The more and more we crave that security and well-being, the more and more we strive to conform to the image of the charter that provides it. In a sense we are holding the document up to the light of understanding and trying to step into it and sound its depths. In our love of freedom and liberty we long to make the Constitution, the charter of our freedom-loving forefathers, the portal by which we enter into and conform to their understanding of what freedom is.
Jesus Christ came down from heaven over two thousands years ago and presented us with the greatest charter of all time, the charter of freedom from sin and death through His sacrifice once for all on the cross of Calvary. His Word is our charter to freedom that is irresistible to a sinner. It draws us into Christ Jesus himself and because of what it promises, remains r...
"The older I grow in years, the more my wonder and my joy increases when I see the power of these words of Jesus I have called you friends to move the human heart. The one word friend breaks down each barrier of reserve, and we have boldness in His presence. Our hearts go out in love to meet His love."
God is the source of love; Christ is the proof of love; Service is the expression of love; Boldness is the outcome of love.
