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NOT WHY, BUT WHAT
Technically speaking, David Ring was born dead. Quick acting medical personnel were able to get him breathing, but oxygen deprivation left him with cerebral palsy. He suffered from a speech impediment, hands that don’t cooperate, and a limp. As if that wasn’t enough adversity for one person, both his parents died by the time he was fourteen years old, and his hemophiliac brothers subsequently dies of AIDS.
David’s remaining family members feared that David would never have a normal life, because they assumed he would never marry, have children, drive a car, earn a living or take care of himself.
As a young teenager, David came surrender his life to God and came to see his disability as a gift. Once he began to see his circumstances as being chosen for him by God, he began moving forward.
Today he is married, had four beautiful children, drives a car, and speaks to more than 250 audiences a year. At his speaking engagements he sells T-shirts bearing the slogan “Don’t Whine…SHINE!”
David ring has taken responsibility for his life—the bad, the difficult and the wonderful. And he continues to celebrate the difference he is able to make in the lives of others.
When people wrestle with difficult life experiences, the why question often gets in the way. One of David Rings Axioms is “Don’t ask God why. Ask What. What do you want me to do with this?”
SOURCE: Stephen Arterburn and David Stoop, Seven Keys to Spiritual Renewal (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1989), pp. 85-86.
ILL. Max Lucado, in his book, "Applause from Heaven," tells about flying home after having been gone for more than a week of speaking engagements.
He says, "I know that my wife & our two daughters will be waiting at the airport for me. And as I walk down the long corridor & round the bend & into the terminal, I’ll see my wife & she’ll have a big smile on her face, & my two little girls will be there. Then my youngest daughter will begin to applaud because Daddy’s been gone & now Daddy’s come home."
Then Lucado adds, "One of these days we’re going to walk down the long corridor through the pearly gates onto the streets of gold. We might see Paul over here & Peter over there & maybe Moses & Elijah."
"But finally," he says, "we’re going to round the bend into the throne room of God, & there on the throne will be God the Father. And by His right side Jesus the Christ." "Then," he said, "we’ll hear the applause of heaven & begin to enjoy God, & God will begin to enjoy us for all eternity."
“Dearest Jimmy, No words could ever express the great unhappiness I’ve felt since breaking our engagement. Please say you’ll take me back. No one could ever take your place in my heart, so please forgive me. I love, I love you, I love you!
Yours forever, Janet.
P.S. Congratulations on winning the 100 million state lottery.”
WHO WILL PROVIDE?
A young woman brought her fiancé home to meet her parents for thanksgiving dinner. After dinner, her mother told her father to find out about the young man. The father invited the fiancé to his study for a talk.
"So what are your plans?" the father asked the young man. "I am a biblical scholar," he replied.
"A Biblical scholar. Hmmm," the father said. "Admirable, but what will you do to provide a nice house for my daughter to live in?"
"I will study," the young man replied, "and God will provide for us."
"And how will you buy her a beautiful engagement ring, such as she deserves?" asked the father.
"I will concentrate on my studies," the young man replied, "God will provide for us."
"And children?" asked the father. "How will you support children?"
"Don’t worry, sir, God will provide,"...
In his autobiography, Just As I Am, Graham doesn’t hide his faults or gloss over his mistakes. For instance, there was the time Ruth, his wife, pleaded with him to cancel his speaking engagement in Mobile, Alabama and stay home with her because she was having labor pains. Graham told her she wasn’t in labor and left to go to work.
That evening, their daughter "Gigi" was born.
Was Billy Graham right in ignoring the pleas of his wife to be with her during the delivery of their daughter? Is this what Jesus meant in Luke 14:26? Does our text justify neglecting one’s family?
Dr. Graham calls the 1949 Los Angeles Crusade the Watershed of his ministry. It was the one that made him a household name and propelled him to the super-evangelist status. But the eight weeks of meetings took a personal toll on his family. Toward the end of the meeting, the Montgomery’s, Ruth’s sister and brother-in-law came up for the meeting. Billy greeted them and admired a child they were holding. "Whose baby is this?" Billy asked, only to find out it was his own daughter Anne.
A chauffeur had driven the chemistry professor to dozens of speaking engagements. He’d heard the same canned speech scores of times. He said on the way to another engagement, "Professor, I believe I could give your speech myself; I’ve heard it so often." The professor said, "I’ll bet you $50 you can’t." "You’re on," said the chauffeur.
He stopped the car and the two exchanged attire. They came to the banquet. the chauffeur dressed in a tuxedo, sat at the head of the table and was introduced. he stood up and gave the speech verbatim. There was a standing ovation when he was finished.
The emcee got up and said, "You know, we are so fortunate to have such a fine resource with us tonight, and since we have a little extra time, let’s have some questions and answers. The first question was asked and the chauffeur stood there dumbfounded, clearing his throat in nervousness. Finally he said, "That’s just about the dumbest question I ever heard. In fact it is so dumb I bet even my chauffeur could answer that question."
“All Bets Are Off!” Matthew 28: 1-7 Key verse(s): 5&6 “The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.’”
“When the game begins, all bets are off!” Did you ever hear that phrase and wonder what it really means? We often use it to mark a friendship that gets put on hold until after some game of friendly competition has ended. The phrase really originates with the notion that the betting window is always closed when the race is taking place. It is too late to speculate on the outcome of something when that something is already being determined. I suppose its use as a friendly reminder that competition implies an out-of-character aggressiveness and self-focus comes from the notion that before and after the event the rules of friendship are the norm. During the event, the rules of engagement hold sway.
Many years ago I worked at a summer camp as a dishwasher. My best friend also worked with me. His name was Marc with a “c” and mine with a “k.” We worked Monday through Friday full-time during the summer washing dishes, bussing tables, and doing odd jobs around the camp. We were pretty much inseparable from June through August as we spent most of our summer vacation together. We became good friends, eating our lunches together, sharing stories, fishing on the weekends and chumming around in our off-time. Each work day we were allowed an hour for lunch and, since neither of us as yet owned a car, we were pretty much confined to the camp from morning till late afternoon. Marc and I often frequented the game room on the property during our lunch. It was a good place to eat lunch and also play table tennis. Marc was an expert player; although he was the best of friends, kind, considerate and giving when we were working or chumming around, he became a different person when on the other side of that table tennis net. “All bets were off when he picked up a paddle. Marc was transformed in a competitive and aggressive opponent whose goal was to defeat me, not befriend me. Marc was transformed every time he got behind that net. He literally became a different person, one that I could only recognize by appearance and not by character. In a sense, the Marc I knew was not there in the course of those few minutes it took us to play the game. As summer went on, I became accustomed to working with the two Marc’s. The one during the course of the day’s work and the other transformed Marc whenever we were locked in competition. Both looked the same; but neither reflected the other in character.
When the women came to visit he tomb of their friend and teacher, the crucified one, early on the morn of a new week, their expectation was that they would see the man that they had loved so dearly over the course of the last several years. They were expecting to view his body, the hands and arms that had reached out to them; the face that had smiled upon them, always forgiving, always encouraging. They expected to see Jesus of Nazareth, Rabboni, their special teacher and friend. Instead, they found a strange man sitting on the rolled stone. There was no body, no Jesus, no teacher and friend. He was not in the tomb where they expected him to be. In fact, the whole situation that morning did not fit their understanding of what should have been. Somehow, everything had been transformed, changed and made different. The angel’s words were stunning. “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” The Teacher risen? Suddenly the image of Jesus had been transformed. He who had been their teacher, flesh and blood, was no longer the same man. In fact, he was no mere man at all! He could not be if this were true for no mere man, not even a great prophet, could do this thing. Jesus, the teacher who was dead, is Jesus, the risen one! Suddenly, as the women raced to tell the disciples, they knew that now, “all bets were off!” Something had happened to change everything and somehow they knew it would never be the same again.
Jesus is alive and well and, indeed, all bets are off! What had been is no longer; what we knew is no more. He is perfectly transformed and now stands on the other side of life’s net of sorrows transformed, holding out the promise that as He has overcome death, we too shall do the same. He has become the “NOT HERE” Christ, the one who is not dead but alive. And, my friend, because we share in that resurrection, we share in that condition. Did you know, you are “NOT HERE” either. We are no longer of this world but merely in it. Heaven, where He reigns, is now our true home as well. Hallelujah! Christ is risen. He is risen indeed!
The Fiancee: A young woman brought her fiancee home to meet her parents. After dinner, her mother told her father to find out about the young man. The father invited the fiancee to his study for a talk.
"So what are your plans?" the father asked the young man.
"I am a biblical scholar," he replied.
"A Biblical scholar. Hmmm," the father said. "Admirable, but what will you do to provide a nice house for my daughter to live in?"
"I will study," the young man replied, "and God will provide for us."
"And how will you buy her a beautiful engagement ring, such as she deserves?" asked the father.
"I will concentrate on my studies," the young man replied, "God will provide for us."
"And children?" asked the father. "How will you support children?"
"Don’t worry, sir, God will provide," replied the fiancee.
The conversation proceeded like this, and each time the father questioned, the young idealist insisted that God would provide.
Later, the mother asked, "How did it go, Honey?"
The father answered, "He ...
Follow the Emergency Lighting to the Exit
Our family flew to Texas for a speaking engagement last week. My young son listened attentively to the flight attendant’s safety demonstration. After looking at the safety card, the questions starting flying . . .
"Where are the emergency lights?"
"Dad, what color are the lights?"
"What powers the lights if the plane crashes?"
"Can we see the lights if we are upside down?"
"Where do the lights lead to?"
God always shares His escape plans with us ahead of time through prophets with the spiritual gift of prophecy. In these dark days of Earth’s closing chapter, Jesus shows us the way out!
Just follow the emergency lighting to the exit!
Why does God reveal His plans to me ahead of time? In Amos 3:7 God gives me the answer! It’s to prepare me for what’s next!
Praise God for the spiritual gift of prophecy that reminds us that we are not alone - Christ is with us!
“These Hands”
A young man and a young woman became engaged and were looking forward to a near wedding day, when the young man was suddenly called into the service of his country. From the field of warfare letters regularly came and went, and love shined brightly in all of them. Then letters from the young man abruptly stopped. A few weeks passed and then there came a letter in a strange handwriting. In it the young woman read:
“There has been another battle. I have lost both my arms. I asked my comrade to write this for me, and to tell you that I release you from our engagement, for now I will not be able to work and support you.”
That letter was never answered. By the next train the young woman journeyed southward. She left the train and went directly to the hospital. Inquiring the location of the young man’s cot, she quietly approached and suddenly flung herself down by the side of his cot with the passionate words, “I will never give you up. These hands of mine will work for you. We will live our life of love together.” – S.E. DuBois, in Gospel Herald
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