I’m Forgiven

 

 

Somewhere in time, on April 21^st, 2012, Charles (Chuck) Colson died.  In the early 1970’s there was a political scandal in America.  The scandal was called Watergate and Chuck Colson was one of the key players.  I will admit that while I was alive when this was happening, I was a child, so I heard about it, but I didn’t totally understand it all.  I do know that Chuck Colson had to testify and there were several months of trials and I’m sure it was very stressful.  During this time, he became a Christian.

Many people in the press went after him more for making a profession of faith during this time than they did for the events he was accused of.  Many thought it was a ploy to get him out of some hot water.  Both they were wrong, it was the real deal.  Chuck Colson had found Christ.

I have found that God doesn’t cause bad things to happen to us, but he does use them.  The choices that Mr. Colson made and the friendships he kept were responsible for the trouble he was in, but God used this to open his eyes to his need for a Savior. 

In 1974, Chuck Colson entered a guilty plea in the Watergate investigation to the charge of obstruction of justice.  That same year he entered Maxwell Federal Prison in Alabama.  He was sentenced to one to three years for his crimes. 

Prison was an eye opening experience.  He became a Christian before going to prison and God was able to give him a compassion for his fellow inmates.  He gave him a burden to reach them and bring them hope.  It helped that he had been where they were, he understood and he cared. 

1 John 1:8-9 “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

This compassion caused him to create Prison Fellowship.  He visited hundreds of prisons every year encouraging the prisoners and giving them the good news that with God all sins are forgiven.  It was possible to start over with a clean slate. 

All of us have an experience, something we have gone through. Something God can use to show other people the way to him.  Sometimes it’s better not to be ashamed of your scars, it’s better to tell the story of why the wounds don’t hurt anymore and the one who brought healing and salvation.

 

Sanctus Real - Forgiven [Official Music Video] from sanctus-real on GodTube.

Viva Cristo Rey

 

 

Somewhere in time, in the year 1926, Mexico had a civil war.  I recently heard about this and I was shocked.  I have read so many history books and never heard of a Mexican Civil war that was centered on the issues of religious freedom.  The war was called “The Cristero War”.  When Mexico gained its independence from Spain and created their constitution, they had written in laws restricting Christian practices.  The laws weren’t enforced right away, so they went largely unnoticed.  The President of Mexico, Plutarco Elias Calles, felt the power of the Catholic Church was a threat so he chose to enforce the laws.

People did what you would expect when they saw their freedoms being taken away, they tried a peaceful solution.  They signed petitions and sent them to the government.  Surely if the government understood the thoughts of the people, they would repeal the repressive laws.  Unfortunately, their attempts failed. They tried a few more things, but every effort they made was met with a deaf ear and no changes. 

While this was happening, churches were closing.   Foreign born ministers were deported.  Priests caught in public in their clerical clothing, where arrested.   Then things went from bad to worse and Priests were killed in the churches where they served and loved and cared for the people. Finally the people felt they had no choice, they had to resist to the point of civil war.

Their war cry was – Viva Crist Rey – which means, long live Christ the King. 

I heard about this when I heard about a movie being made called, “For Greater Glory.”  I watched the movie and it’s a very compelling story. It is an adult movie because it depicts a war, but it's still a story worth watching.  I was amazed at the courage and strength shown by the Christians in Mexico. They had the courage to stand up for their faith, for their church and for their God. 

I believe that now is the time for Christians to be courageous.  To stand up for what we believe in.  We can’t let our freedoms be chipped away, or before we know it we will have no freedoms at all. I know that I live in America and I'm fortunate to be in one of the freest countries in the world, but even here, freedom is being challenged.

In New Orleans, they have a law that restricts street preachers from preaching after dark. This chips away at freedom.  It seems to go against our basic constitutional rights of the freedom of speech and religion.

1 Corinthians 16:13 - 14 “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love.”

I know it says - be men of courage – I believe that means men and women of courage.  Sometime we ladies have to be strong as well.  

I know it feels that it’s hard to stand against opposition and still show love.  In the matter of the Cristero War, how can an armed conflict show love?  Defending the defenseless and being a voice for those that can’t speak is love.  I can’t speak for everyone in every country, but here in America we are not to a point of armed conflict, but we still need to make sure our voice is heard. Defending our right to worship as we please and to speak up for the unborn and to cherish our young and old.  Not because we hate, but because we love.     

 

FOR GREATER GLORY - Standing Up For Your Faith from gracehillmedia on GodTube.

Love

 

 

Somewhere in time, this week, I had a conversation with my mother.  She reminded me that when I was eleven years old she made me memorize the 13^th chapter of 1^st Corinthians.  I did and my prize for memorizing the chapter was a pair of red, white and blue boots.  Not just any boots, they were knee high and they laced all the way up the front.  I wanted them because I thought they were cool.  Even at a young age, I was still concerned with fashion and I had my own sense of style.  My mother was positive those were the ugliest boots around.  Maybe they were, but I liked them.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NIV) “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

I think my mother had ulterior motives.  I used to fight with my older brother.  Maybe you can relate, I had the prefect older brother, but he used to tease me.  My mother would be in the other room and he would tease and what she heard was the blow up. She would hear the sound of me yelling at my brother or hitting him with the nearest object.  I think she thought I needed to learn a little bit more about love.  The funny part is that I loved my brother and I still do, but I would agree I didn’t show love all the time. Love is hard to show perfectly.   

Love is patient – that is one I struggle with all the time.  Can I truly love when I am never truly patient?  Love is kind – I love to tease as much as the next person, but is all my teasing kind? Love is not proud – another hard one.  I’m proud of my family, proud of my faith and proud of my country. Where is love in that?  Love is not rude – I try not to be, but when someone is rude to me, my first reaction is to be rude back.  Love is not self-seeking – giving without expecting anything in return.  Love is not easily angered and keeps no records of wrong – I am slow to anger, but slow to forgive, so I am only half right.  I could go on, but you get the idea.  As humans, we only demonstrate some of what real love is and we only demonstrate it some of the time.

God has perfect love.  He showed perfect love when he bore our sins on the cross.  Our only hope of loving perfectly is to allow God to love through us.  That’s my prayer.  Since I know that I am hopelessly flawed, I want to remove myself from the equation and allow God to love through me.   

 

Brandon Heath - Your Love Acoustic Performance: The Leaving Eden Sessions from brandon-heath on GodTube.

So Young

 

 

Somewhere in time, this week, I have been watching snippets from the political conventions taking place in this country. I heard how each party is trying to entice the young voters and woo them to their side.  I don’t think we give young people enough credit.  We think we can turn their heads with loud music and famous speakers, but I think they are capable of much more than that.  One commentator said the young people are our future.  He was right, they are our future and they can make things better if they try. 

God doesn’t care if someone is young or old.  He cares about what we think, feel and do.  I am reminded of Timothy.  Timothy was a young man who traveled with Paul.  He was such a man of good character when Paul heard the church in Ephesus was being led astray by false doctrine, he sent Timothy to give them leadership and draw them back to God.

You have to imagine this was a challenge for Timothy.  More than likely there were one or two older people who thought they knew more. Thought they shouldn’t have to listen to a younger person or respond to his admonishments of their wrong doing. God was using Timothy, because Timothy was ready to be used.

Paul wrote to Timothy to encourage him and give him practical advice.

1 Timothy 4:12 (NIV) “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and purity.”

It’s hard for young people now, they get such mixed messages.  The church says to live purely, but the world mocks it.  There are few examples of Godly speech for them to emulate.  Love is totally misunderstood.  The world says if you love someone than you allow them to do whatever they want.  That’s not love.  Love reaches out to grab you from the edge of the abyss.  To correct when you are wrong and encourage when you are right.  Love never fails.

Let’s do our best to encourage and model the character of Jesus.  Let’s also encourage our young people to do the same.  You may be surprised at how many of them will rise to the challenge. 

Prayin For You By Lacrea from evangelismideas on GodTube.

Count your many Blessings

 

 

Somewhere in time, this week, I have had a song running though my head.  This is a normal occurrence for me.  During my few idol moments, I’ll notice a song flittering through my memory.  I’m of the age when the new contemporary worship songs didn’t begin to make an appearance until I was in High School.  Most of my growing up was done singing traditional hymns.  It amazes me how well I remember them after all these years.  This week the song was, Count Your Blessings.

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

 

This hymn was first published in 1897. It was published in a songbook called, Songs for Young People. After several years and yes I mean several years, people were still singing it in church.  

Johnson Oatman who wrote the lyrics was a Methodist minister, but that was not all he did.  He ran a Mercantile and a large insurance company, in addition to writing several hymns. He obviously kept himself very busy.  The person that wrote the music was Edwin Othello Excell. His life was devoted to music. He ran a large publishing house that published; you guessed it, song books. 

Sometimes when I watch the news I get a little sad and sometime a little mad. It depends on what they are talking about. Hurricanes, floods and disasters are sad and I pray for people. The political rhetoric is maddening.  Either way, I have a verse that I remind myself of to keep my thoughts from running crazy.

Philippians 4:8 (NIV) “Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.”

If we are counting our blessings, we are definitely thinking along the lines of Philippians 4:8. When racking my brain for noble, right, pure, lovely etc., I sometimes will remember the songs of my youth. 

If you have a favorite song from childhood, try and remember the words to see if you don’t feel a little happier also.  If you don’t, I have attached another old hymn below.

Gaither Vocal Band - At the Cross [Live] from emimusic on GodTube.