God Story #7

Sometimes people, including myself in the past, fall away from God. They do so for a variety of reasons. Perhaps they feel they don't need God, perhaps they are bitter from a bad church experience, or perhaps they are caught up in their career or another area in their life. This next God story is more of the divine intervention variety once again and, if you pay close attention to the ending of the story, will illustrate the lengths that God can and will go to at times to bring you back into a relationship with Him.

Mrs. Kathy Shields
Innkeeper

“I have always believed in God but had reached a point in my life where I didn’t feel I needed to go to church anymore, didn’t need God’s guidance to be a good wife and mother.”


“One day, my son asked, “Mom, can Mark come over to play after school today?” Without hesitation, I responded: “You know Alex, having someone come over to play really is a big responsibility.” I could not believe my own ears. Why would I say such a thing? I loved to have my son’s friends over to play. Again, my son asked, “Mom, can Mark come over to play? This time I said: “Yes my darling of course you can have Mark come over to play this afternoon.” And then he asked: “Mom, can you bring Mark home today after we play? I, without hesitation, responded. “You know Alex, bringing children home after school is a tremendous responsibility.” I was temporarily aghast at my response. Frustrated by my own words, I came to my senses and said, “Yes my darling of course I will.”

Mark and Alex had a wonderful afternoon playing together but when it was time for Mark to go home, I hesitated and questioned whether I might leave my children alone while I took Mark home. It was an absurd thought and one I had never entertained before, leaving my children alone. And so I packed them all into the car.

As I turned on to the main road, a voice – the same voice that had been talking to me all day, yelled at me, “Slow down now!” I immediately took my foot off the accelerator and looked up. Two cars were drag racing and were headed straight for us. If I turned left, the four of us would die instantly. So instead I swerved right and, I don’t know how, but we landed between a telephone pole and a road sign and narrowly escaped a collision with the racing cars.

For many months after the near-accident I was baffled. Over and over again, I went to the scene and re-enacted what happened from the point I saw the cars coming. How did I know I was in danger? How did my car get to the side of the road without a collision? And then there was the most baffling question: How did I see the cars coming in enough time to save us? It actually wasn’t possible because the cars had been coming around a double curve. If I hadn’t had an advance warning, we would have collided, head-on, with both of them.

I feel God saved me that day. It was his way of saying I need you back and I want you to have faith that I will be with you always.”

Freezing birds outside of the Barn

This very interesting story, origins unknown, appears in The Art of Personal Evangelism by Will McRaney Jr.

This is about a modern man, one of us. He was not a Scrooge. He was a kind, decent, mostly good man. He was generous to his family, upright in his dealings; but unfortunately he did not believe in all of that Jesus incarnation stuff that churches proclaim at Christmas time. It just didn't make sense, and he was too honest to pretend otherwise.He just could not swallow the Jesus story and God coming to Earth as a man. "I am truly sorry to distress you," he told his wife, "but I am not going with you to church with you this Christmas eve." He said he would feel like a hypocrite, so he stayed, and they went. Shortly after the family drove away, snow began to fall. He went to the window to watch the flurries getting heavier and heavier as time went on. After going back to his fireside chair to read the newspaper he heard a thudding sound, then another, then another still. When he went to the front door to investigate, he found a flock of birds miserably in the snow. They had been caught in the snow and in a desperate search for shelter had tried to fly through his large living room window. He had compassion for them and he couldn't just let the birds lie there and freeze to death.

He remembered the barn where his children always stabled their pony that could provide a warm shelter if he could just direct the birds into it. He quickly put on his coat and galoshes and tramped through the snow to where the birds were. He opened the doors to his barn wide and turned on a light, but the birds did not come in. Heading back to the house, he decided to fetch some bread crumbs figuring that the yellow trail would entice them in. Unfortunately, that still didn't work either. He tried catching them. He tried shooing them into the barn by waving his arms. He tried everything he could think of, but instead of going into the barn they just scattered in every direction. Then, he realized something: They were scared of him. "To them," he reasoned, "I am a strange and terrifying creature. If only I could think of some way to let them know they can trust me, that I'm not trying to hurt them, I'm trying to help them." How? Any move he made tended to frighten them, confuse them. They just would not follow. They would not be led or shooed because they feaed him. If I could mingle with them, he thought, and speak their language and tell them not to be afraid and show them the way to the safe, warm barn. But I'd have to be one of them so they could see and hear and understand. If only I could be a bird myself. Just then, the church bells began to ring. The sound reached his ears above the sounds of the wind. He stood there listening to the bells playing "Adeste Fidelis," pealing the glad tidings of Christmas. And he sank to his knees in the snow. At last, he understood God's heart towards mankind, and he fell on his knees in the snow. He had come to know the One who became one of us just to save us.

That is what Christ did for us, my friends. Just like if this man would have been allowed to become a bird, Jesus bore the sorrows, suffering, and griefs of the human condition as he walked on this earth. But God understood our need and took action. He did it for you and for me. He became one of us on this earth!

Rules for Home, but also Rules for Life

This interesting sign has hung on my mother's refrigerator for almost a year now and most of the time we just open it up without even looking at it. However, most of these little sayings on here are not just rules for home but rules for life as well. These are the qualities that I want to embody not just as a future pastor but also as a person period. Unfortunately, like everyone else I blow it every day. But we have many good role models in the Bible, including Christ Jesus himself.

The Atheist and the Chief from Fiji

K.P. Yohannan, in his book Revolution in World Missions, relates an interesting story about the Island of Fiji when it was just opened up for trade with the local tribespeople some time ago. A merchant who was a hardened atheist and skeptic came through one day and was talking to one of the local tribal chiefs and was in his hut. Noticing that the chief had a bible and some other religious materials around his house he commented that "it's a shame that these missionaries are over here preaching all of this nonsense. I feel bad for you." The chief looked at him and pointed to a large rock outside. "Do you see that rock?" he said. "We used to use that rock to smash people's heads in to get at their brains." Gesturing to the stove, he said, "We used to use that stove to bake the bodies of people and then feast on them...so, if it weren't for the 'nonsense' of these missionaries as you call it, I can assure you that right about now your head would be smashed in and you would be baking in that stove for our feast." Such is the wonder of God that even a hardened Fijan tribal chief can go from being a murderer and cannibal to a man of peace!

Quote of the Week #9

If you could summarize your life goal in one sentence, what would it be? -K.P Yohannan

During the last couple of months that I have been maintaining this blog, I have literally looked at thousands of other blogs. There literally are blog started by people for everything under the sun, from blogs about sports teams to blogs about popular culture to countless blogs about people's families. Each blog that I come across appears to have a specific purpose in mind: some are to entertain, some, to show off the art work that people do, and still some are simply showing off what people are proud of---their families. Just like blogs have a specific purpose, your life should have a specific purpose. The originator of the above quote, K.P. Yohannan, has had a very interesting life. Beginning with very humble beginnings in a remote village in India, he has literally went all over the world preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to people. He has been very successful at it in part because he summed up in one sentence what he wanted his life mission to be: to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, your life mission may not be that noble, and that's okay. But I have some followers who are doing very interesting things that could be summed up in their life missions. Ivan, who is one of my followers, likes to help people through giving them advice on the stock market. It doesn't matter what it is, as long as it helps people, provides a community service, or is useful in some fashion!

God Story #6

Although I don't normally post about the Catholic believers in our Christian religion, St. Isaac Jogues was truly an individual who was dedicated to serving and helping others for the cause of Christianity. Trained as a Jesuit Priest in the early 1600's, St. Isaac was sent to New France in 1636 in what is now Michigan and Minnesota in the United States to minister to the Native Americans there. Unfortunately, Jogues faced many setbacks, trials, and tribulations in his brief ministry to these Indians. In 1642, while on his way by canoe to the country of the Hurons, Jogues was captured by a war party of Mohawk Iroquois, in the company of Guillaume Couture, René Goupil, and several Huron Christians. They were taken back to the Mohawk village where they were gruesomely tortured. It was during this torture that several of Jogues' fingers were cut off by this captors. Jogues survived this torment and went on to live as a slave among the Mohawks for some time, and what is even more admirable about him is that he even attempted to teach his captors the basics of Christianity. Eventually, with the help of some Dutch merchants passing through, he was able to make it to Manhattan and then back to France in 1644. As a "living martyr," Jogues was given a special permission by Pope Urban VIII to say Holy Mass with his mutilated hands, as the Eucharist could not be touched with any fingers but the thumb and forefinger. Yet the missionary of this great man was not dimmed by the unfortunate treatment he received from the Mohawks. Within a few months, he was on his way back to Canada in 1645 to resume ministering to them. After arriving there, a tentative peace was reached, and his ministry continued even he was finally martyred a year later in late 1646. Would to God that there would be more dedicated men and women that even after having their fingers cut off would still have a heart for helping foreign people in a foreign land! There is a statue in Auriesville, NY showing this man teaching two young children, shown here:

Rare Book (joke)

I came across this joke and I thought it was priceless! So I'll share with you all on here!



A collector of rare books ran into an acquaintance who told him he had just thrown away an old Bible that he found in a dusty, old box. He happened to mention that Guten-somebody-or-other had printed it.

"Not Gutenberg?" Gasped the collector.

"Yes, that was it!""You idiot! You've thrown away one of the first books ever printed. A copy recently sold at an auction for half a million dollars!"

"Oh, I don't think this book would have been worth anything close to that much," replied the man. "It was scribbled all over in the margins by some guy named Martin Luther."

A selective mute child at the Orlando Magic game...

Sometimes miracles can happen in the most unusual places. An NBA basketball game in April is not the first place a person would think of for something really important and significant to happen, but in this case it did. By all accounts Ryan Rodriguez is now your average 4 year-old child, chattering away and playing, but that wasn't always the case. You see, young Ryan was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder called Selective Mutism, and for the great majority of his first four years of life he would only say maybe one or two words at a time, even while all of the other preschoolers would chat away. Thankfully, that all changed one day while he and his father Izzy were watching an Orlando Magic game. "He sat there and kept going, 'Me, me, play, play," Izzy Rodriguez told "Good Morning America. "So I turn around and I do crazy things." Those crazy things were spending the 641.00 for two tickets to the next Orlando Magic game. Although it was either that or pay the mortgage, he knew that his son was more important and they usually "don't yell at you until after 30 days anyway." So this man, who with his meager auto mechanic salary has supported expensive speech therapy for his son, decided to go the next Orlando Magic game. When they got there and began getting settled in, something remarkable happened. "When we get there, he says, 'Me, play basketball, here?'" Rodriguez said. "So I look down and dropped to my knees and said 'What did you say?' He said, 'Me play basketball here?' I said, Yeah." After that little exchange between father and son that many take for so granted, the floodgates were opened and the little boy who before would only say one word at a time and NEVER say anything to his peers was talking almost non-stop through the whole game. "I'm thinking, OK, I'm dreaming. Or something happened, or maybe this is what he needed. [He] talked to me all the way home," Rodriguez said. "I talked to Karen on the cell phone crying all the way home." After the game, Izzy sent an email to the Orlando Magic staff telling them about his son. They were so impressed that they decided to buy him and his family tickets for the rest of the season and the one after that. Thanks be to God, The Orlando Magic, and this wonderful parent for helping this young boy come out of his shell and start communicating!

Interview with an Ex-Satanist

This is a pretty interesting youtube video...this man was a former satanist who is now discussing what it was like for him to live in that worldview. He is now a born-again Christian.

I'm 29 today...

Happy birthday to me!

Gospel Music - The Rising Of The Son

This is some excellent Gospel music!

Atheism Cartoon

We Could Learn a Lot From......

Ted Britain
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Ted Britain is not a world-renowned speaker or pastor, but he is a pastor with a very important message to share: that of the power of forgiveness. He is the head of Ted Britain ministries, and he has written several books that everyone, Christian or non-Christian, should read. In one of his books, entitled "Healing the Wounds of Life" He discusses the importance of forgiveness on our health, spiritual walk, and other areas of our lives. He often uses the example of Jesus in his teachings as well. When Christ was asked how often one should forgive another, He said "not just 7times, but seventy times seven." Now He didn't mean that we should just stop at 490 times, he meant we must continually forgive others, just like we must "love our enemies, and bless those that persecute you." This is the message of hope that Pastor Ted gives to those churches that he visits. For more information on this exceptional Christian leader and his ministry, you can visit http://www.tedbritainministries.com/Ted_Britain_Ministries.html

Quote of the Week #8

He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.

---Martin Luther King

This next QotW touches on something that is very hard for a lot of people to be able to do. However, the act of forgiveness, in many aspects, is one of the most important things that you can do for not only other people but for yourself. Forgiveness is not only important, but it is also much healthier than unforgiveness, and it is scientifically proven fact that holding unforgiveness and bitterness in your heart is not healthy for you and can possibly lead to any number of ailments. It is also dangerous. Unforgiveness can lead to bitterness; bitterness to contempt; and contempt to hate; and hate can lead someone to take another's life. So, even though it is hard for someone to do, and it is even hard for myself to do at times, we must forgive others for us to be completely whole individuals.