Blog Archives

EASY DUZ IT

9/26/2011

Dr. Brian Harbour tells the following story.  A little boy went to a grocery story one day and asked the clerk for a box of Duz detergent. The clerk asked, "Son, what do you need the detergent for?"

The boy responded, "I want to wash my dog." The clerk said, "This Duz detergent is pretty strong for washing a little dog; so you better be careful; it might kill him."

About a week later, the boy came back to the store. The clerk recognized him; so he said, "Say, how's your little dog?" The boy replied, "I'm afread he's dead."

The clerk replied, "Oh, I'm sorry; but I did try to warn you that the Duz was pretty strong to wash your dog with." The little boy shook his head and explained, "I don't think it was the Duz that did it. I think it was the rinse cycle that got him."

Sometimes, if we're not careful, things can "get us." Hopefully, when this happens, it is not fatal. Something "got" Adam and Eve in Genesis chapter 3. The Bible calls that something "sin". Sin got not only Adam and Eve, but every person who has ever lived as well.

Satan would like for that to have been fatal. But God chose otherwise. Even though Adam and Eve, and you and me, and every person who has ever lived has been "got" by sin, God did not give up on us.

He found a way to redeem us. He did this thorough his Son, Jesus Christ.  This is why John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." Praise the Lord, what sin did in the Garden of Eden, Christ undid on Mount Calvary.

Or, to put it another way: "What sin 'Duz', the blood of Jesus 'unduz'."

CLEANING THE SLATE

9/22/2011

Perhaps you have had a similar experience. Most computers users have. It happens to all of us eventually; and it recently happened to me. Even though I know I have anti-spyware, anti-virus, and anti-adware programs all on my computer, sometimes I just get too busy and do not take the time to download the updates and/or run the scans as regularly as I should.

Recently, I began to notice that my computer was running a little too slow. I also realized that it had been doing this for some time. That is also when it hit me. I checked my malware programs and realized my updates were woefully behind, as were my scans.

A little while later, my machine had been updated and my scans had been run. As one might have expected, numerous invasive items were found on my machine. Once discovered, and then deleted, I rebooted my machine without their presence or effect. As a result, my machine now runs much more efficiently.

I was reminded through all of this that my spiritual life works much the same. I was given a clean slate the day I received Jesus Christ as my savior. My sins were wiped away. However, that did not make me impervious to temptation. Even Christians still make mistakes. Even Christians still fall short. Even Christians still commit sin. Christians, as the bumper sticker says, are not perfect, just forgiven.

But praise God. When I do slip up, when I do fall prey to temptation and commit sin, I am not bound to live captive to this. God offers me the opportunity daily to confess my shortcomings, daily to receive forgiveness, and daily to be renewed.

When I am sensitive to this, I find that my love for Christ and my walk with Christ and my witness for Christ are all much more meaningful and effective. King David of old understood this. After he had fallen prey to temptation and committed the double sins of adultery and then murder, he was broken and cried out to God what has become one of the Bible’s most beloved passages (Psalm 51).

1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. 5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. 6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. 7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. 10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.

My strong suspicion is that once God answered that prayer, David found a new joy that surpassed even the magnitude of his sorrow. And what God did for David, He can and will do for us.

So, my friend, if there is something, anything, no matter how big or how small, weighing you down in your spiritual life, then remember what all God can do. He can diagnose it. He can quarantine it. And most importantly, He can delete it.

Calling on Him for cleansing can change the way your heart runs. And it can change your effectiveness as a witness for Him. If you need to do this, then please do. You will be amazed at how efficient and smooth your spiritual life becomes.

OH BE CAREFUL LITTLE MOUTH WHAT YOU SAY

9/20/2011

My blog today involves two recent articles in the news. The first comes from FoxNews.com and was published on Aug 25, 2011:

Facebook Has Officially Hit 1 Trillion Page Views

Facebook has officially hit 1 trillion page views, according to figures released for web traffic in June, Time magazine’s TechLand column reports.

According to Time, those 870 million visitors are around 120 million greater than Facebook's reported total number of registered users. The discrepancy may be due to non-Facebook members visiting the site from other social media links or through search engine traffic.

After Facebook, the next most popular site is YouTube, which has only one-tenth of the page views, but matches 90% of Facebook's unique visitors for the same time period.

The data compiled by the Google-owned Double Click Adplanner show that throughout the month of June Facebook received more than 1 trillion page views and was visited by more than 870 million unique users -- an average of 1,149.42 page views per user.

The second article comes form the Associated Press four days later (August 29, 2011):

Sheriff: Facebook Boast Leads to Arrest

A suspected reckless motorcycle rider has discovered the law's long arm now reaches into cyberspace. The Yakima County Sheriff's office says they tracked the 19-year-old man down via Facebook.

Deputy Chris Gray says early Monday in a release that the incident began when a man on a motorcycle outran pursuing deputies late last week near Moxee, just east of Yakima.

Authorities later noticed a Facebook posting by a man boasting about eluding officers, as well as a photo on the page of a motorcycle similar to the one they sought.

Gray says that when the suspect was rousted at 4 a.m. Saturday by deputies with both a search warrant and a printout of the page, he acknowledged he was the rider. The man, whose name was not released, has been charged with reckless driving and other infractions.

What do these things teach us? Hopefully, a valuable lesson or two.

To begin with, we have all become social networking fanatics. We visit these sorts of web pages ten times as much as any other sites. The debate is still out over whether or not this is good, bad, or indifferent in regard to healthy human interaction.

Secondly, we can and often do get careless in what we say on these pages. I am quite sure the young man would love to retract his post wherein he bragged about outrunning the law.

As a pastor, I too have seen the damage people often do by posting pictures, statements, and/or opinions on social networking sites. More then once, a person or persons have come to see me hurt by what someone else has said or done via a social networking site.

As Christians, we must remember that we are called do wholesome, uplifting conversation, in all contexts. Despite our apparent misconception, simply captioning our conversation in a digital context does not in any way lessen our responsibility to build others up rather than to tear them down.

We would do well to remember what Jesus had to say in Matthew 12:36-37: "But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."

No doubt Paul had this in mind when he later wrote to the Colossians (4:6): “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt…” and also to the Philippians (1:27): “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ…” Amen.

THE RELUCTANT CONVERT

9/19/2011

For those of you who asked for a copy of the humorous story I told this past Sunday morning about the little boy trying to baptize his cat, here it is.

Johnny's Mother looked out the window and noticed him "playing church" with their cat and dog.

He had the cat and dog sitting quietly; and he was leading music. She smiled and went about her work.

A while later, she looked again. Once more, he had the cat and dog sitting quietly, and now he was taking up the offering. Again, she smiled and returned to her work.

A little while later, she looked out yet again. This time, with the cat and dog again sitting patiently, Johnny was preaching away. She once more smiled and went about her work.

Shortly thereafter, she heard loud meowing and hissing, and she ran back to the open window. As she did, she saw Johnny baptizing the cat in a tub of water.

She called out, "Johnny, stop that! That cat is afraid of water!"

Johnny looked up at her and said, "Well, he should have thought about that before he joined my church!"

MORE TITANIC TIDBITS

9/15/2011

The sinking of the RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912 underscores a basic truth found in the book of Proverbs (16:18): “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” It had been envy over his rival Cunard Line’s ships, RMS Lusitania and RMS Mauretania, that had originally prompted Bruce Ismay of White Star Line to propose the building of three enormous new ships: RMS Olympic, RMS Britannic, and RMS Titanic.

As the latter materialized, hubris set in over this largest yet of all ships ever built. Later on, it was this same pride that reportedly drove her owner, Bruce Ismay, to assert that even “God Himself could not sink this ship.” Of course, halfway through her maiden voyage on April 15, 1912, Mr. Ismay realized otherwise.

He should have known better. As if the general warning from God’s word was not enough, the warning of another published work of the day was even more explicit in its caution. In 1898, just fourteen years earlier, Morgan Robertson had written a novel titled Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan. The story eerily features an ocean liner named “Titan”, which sinks in the North Atlantic after striking an iceberg.

The Titan and its sinking have long been noted to be very similar to the real-life passenger ship RMS Titanic, which sank fourteen years later. Consider the similarities between the Titanic and the Titan:

1. To begin with, both ships were considered “Unsinkable”. The Titanic was the world's largest luxury liner (882 feet, displacing 53,000 long tons), and was once described as being practically "unsinkable". The Titan was the largest craft afloat and the greatest of the works of men (800 feet, displacing 75,000 tons), and was considered "unsinkable".

2. The neglect of sufficient lifeboats played a major role in both tragedies. The Titanic carried only 16 lifeboats, plus four folding lifeboats - less than half the number required for her passenger capacity of 3000. The Titan carried "as few as the law allowed", 24 lifeboats - again less than half needed for her 3000 person capacity.

3. Both ships struck an iceberg. Moving far too fast at 22½ knots, the Titanic struck an iceberg on the starboard side at night in the North Atlantic 400 miles away from Newfoundland. It was also on an April night, in the North Atlantic 400 miles from Newfoundland (Terranova), the Titan hit an iceberg while traveling at 25 knots, also on the starboard side.

4. Both “Unsinkable” ships nonetheless sank. The "unsinkable" Titanic sank, and more than half of her 2200 passengers died. The "indestructible" Titan also sank, more than half of her 2500 passengers drowning. Moreover, both went down bow first, the Titan actually capsizing before she sank.

Wow!!! One would be hard pressed to see how an educated and cultured man like Ismay could have been unfamiliar with this best-selling book, especially as he was in the shipping business himself; and also given that it was he who chose the name of the Titanic. Surely, then, he should have been sensitive to the presence of icebergs in the North Atlantic that fateful night when he pressured Captain Smith to run full steam ahead!

Ismay should have known better, and so should we. Yet, ironically, we cannot seem to learn this lesson. As if the wreck of the Titan was not warning enough for the Titanic in its day, now comes the news that the wreck of the Titanic itself was not sufficient warning for us today.

On June 07, 2011, a man named Mark Wilkinson from Birmingham, England, took his new ly acquired cabin cruiser, which he had bought second-hand for £1,000, restored, and then christened “Titanic II”, to West Bay, Dorset, United Kingdom for her maiden voyage. Though untested, he sailed the Titanic II full speed out into the wide Atlantic. In short order, just like her famous namesake had done 99 years before, she sprung a leak and promptly began to sink.

Her hapless owner was left clinging to his prized vessel as she slipped beneath the waves. Fortunately, he was later rescued. When interviewed, his only remark was, "It's all a bit embarrassing… I'm fed up with people asking me if I hit an iceberg." Ironically, Mark Wilkinson’s story is pretty much the same as Bruce Ismay’s story.

Neither man really knew that much about the building of boats or ships. However, each wanted the recognition that came with the prominence of his respective vessel. Perhaps in this way, both of their stories are also our stories.

Why? Because the fundamental lesson illustrated by the sinking of the Titan, the Titanic, and now the Titanic II should serve us all well. That is the lesson of the danger of pride. And yet, we seem destined not to learn from those who have gone before us. The philosopher George Santayana once said: “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” It seems he was quite astute in his observation of human nature. How many more vessels must we sink before we learn that pride is a costly thing.

Note: A debate continues over the varacity of Bruce Ismay’s infamous remark.
A good discussion can be found at: http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/discus/messages/5921/27883.html?1053408940.

The story of the sinking of the Titanic II in 2011 can be found at: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3621672/Titanic
-II-sinks-on-maiden-voyage.html.

MICKEY MANTLE'S FINAL INNING

9/12/2011

Fall is a busy time for sports fans and outdoorsmen. Football kicks off, as does the hunting season. Basketball is just over the horizon. Other sports, such as tennis, golf, and stock car racing, are just beginning to wind down. As is fishing. Baseball, though, both winds down and heats up, as pennant races tighten and then lead to a climax. Obviously, baseball fans become particularly enamored with the score card as September gives way to October.

My mother is a big-time Atlanta Braves fan. When she first awoke last week after her heart procedure, a little groggy, one of the first questions she had was whether the Braves had won or lost. Fortunately, they had just taken a double header from the New york Mets in their new "Citi" field in New York.

Our ensuing conversation led into a discussion of the history of baseball, of classic ballparks, and of great baseball players of the past. As it did, I was reminded of a tract I was given here while back on the one such great player: Mickey Mantle. It is an older tract, written by Ed Cheek and printed by the American Tract Society back in 1998. It is titled: Mickey Mantle: His Final Inning. It is very thought provoking. I thought I would post it here.

He was one of the most compelling athletic heroes in American history. Long after he'd hung up his fabled pin striped uniform, grown men would stammer and stutter in his presence and faithful fans would pay outlandish prices for his memorabilia. His achievements were many, but they cannot explain his enduring popularity. His legion of admirers felt a deep emotional attachment to this man who moved with such fluid grace and raw power. They loved Mickey Mantle.

His statistics are staggering-536 home runs, 1,509 RBIs, .298 career batting average, seven world championships, and three MVP awards—and they are all the more impressive when we consider how the Hall of Famer courageously battled chronic, painful injuries during his 18 years with the New York Yankees. In addition, he won the Triple Crown in 1956—a .353 batting average, 52 HRs, and 130 RBIs. In 1961, he hammered 54 homers, just six shy of Babe Ruth's record.

But these numbers pale when compared to what happened in the harsh summer of '95 when his heart took over in that desperate final inning. Faced with an aggressive cancer, he displayed incredible courage, humility, even humor as he battled for his life. And when he chose to drag his frail body in front of a mass of microphones and address the public, there was not a trace of self-pity in his words—only heartfelt pleas to avoid the mistakes he had made. "Don't be like me," he humbly declared, "I'm no role model!" But despite his flaws, Mantle remained a hero to his multitude of fans, and due to his honesty gained many new ones.

At age 19 he left the lead mines of Oklahoma for the bright lights of New York City. Unfortunately, those lights cast an eerie shadow over his life. After Mickey's first season, his father, Mutt Mantle, died of Hodgkin’s disease at 40. His grandfather and two of his uncles also succumbed to the same disease before their 40th birthdays. As a result, a growing fear of dying young haunted the budding superstar. He would talk long into the night with his close teammates, confiding to them this nagging fear.

Convinced an early funeral was his inevitable fate, though often joking about it, he played hard and partied even harder. For him there was no tomorrow. Tragically, this attitude led to a 40-year bout with alcohol that caused his body to grow old before its time and clouded his mind. Many criticized his self-destructive lifestyle, saying it sabotaged the greatest combination of power and speed the game had ever seen. In the autumn of his life, Mantle came to agree with those critics, admitting that his drug of choice, alcohol, kept him from reaching his full potential—as a player and as a person . He had learned the hard lesson that a man reaps what he sows.

Finally in 1994, at the urging of his family and friends, Mickey sought help for his addiction. After checking himself into the Betty Ford Center, he was able to win his long battle with the bottle. But he knew something was still missing in his life. He just wasn't sure what it was.

In June of '95, doctors discovered that cancer had destroyed Mantle's liver. He was fortunate to receive a transplant, and for a while it seemed as if the greatest switch hitter of all time would live to fight another day. Then doctors found that cancer remained in his body, and he began chemotherapy. Mickey knew he was facing death. During the All-Star break in Dallas, he picked up the phone and called his old friend and teammate, former Yankee second baseman Bobby Richardson—a committed Christian. Mickey asked him to pray for him over the telephone.

A few weeks later when doctors had discovered that the cancer had aggressively spread, Mickey's family asked Bobby if he would come visit him. His death was imminent. To honor Mickey's long-standing request—one he had made at the funeral of Roger Maris nine years earlier—Bobby was asked to speak at the funeral.

After entering the hospital room, Richardson went over to Mantle's bed and took his hand. Locking his eyes on him, Bobby said, "Mickey, I love you, and I want you to spend eternity in heaven with me." Mantle smiled and said, "Bobby, I've been wanting to tell you that I have trusted Jesus Christ as my Savior." Faced with the crushing weight of his sin against a holy God and its dire consequence—eternal separation from God—Mickey had asked for and received the forgiveness he so desperately needed.

For Richardson, news of his conversion felt like cool rain after a summer drought, and brought tears to his eyes. For years, he had talked to Mickey about the Lord Jesus, but to no avail. Now, in the final inning of his life, the Mick had won his greatest victory—more glorious than any of his tape-measure home runs.

When asked later how he knew he would spend eternity with God in heaven, Mickey, after some reflection, quoted John 3:16 from the Bible: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

At Mickey's funeral, Bobby Richardson told 2,000 mourners and a national TV audience that there are only two groups of people: those who say "yes" to Christ and those who say "no." He added that, since none of us knows when he will face his own final inning, saying "maybe" is really saying "no." The Bible confirms this when it says, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him" (John 3:36).

So, what about you, my friend?   Remember, the Bible says, "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23), and "it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). But the good news is that "God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). In addition, "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold...but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Peter 1:18,19).

Don't delay! Life is short and eternity hastens. There is no second chance. If you have never turned from your sins and trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, do it now! Why not pray right now, saying something like this: "Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner—full of pride and selfishness—and I need Your forgiveness. I believe that You died in my place to pay the penalty for my sins and that You rose from the dead. I now trust in You alone as my Savior and receive Your gift of eternal life."

Friend, I urge you to consider that "now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2).

Well said and worth saying!

MATTERS OF THE HEART

9/10/2011

At the tender age of nine, I found my vacation interrupted when my family and I had to return from the north Georgia mountains because my Grandfather Jackson had suffered a heart attack. Four years later, he had his second one; and this time, he died as a result. I then discovered that, unbeknown to me, my Grandmother Jackson had already had a heart attack several years earlier.

That was when I first began to understand and appreciate the full significance of heart disease. This was all further underscored fifteen years later, when my father had his first heart attack (at age 51), followed by seven by-passes. Sadly, my father had a second, fatal heart attack in 2000, at age 61.

On the other side of my family, my Grandmother Burdette had a massive heart attack in her seventies, and was forced to live the last twenty years of her life with major heart damage. Now, at age 72, my mother has had a heart attack. She is better now. She has had multiple stents inserted into her coronary arteries; and though she does have some heart damage, she is expected to be able to resume a reasonably normal life.

Like all heart disease patients, she will have to make some changes in her lifestyle as she goes forward into the future. However, this is a minor thing in light of the new lease on life that she has now been given.

I praise God for the enormous advancements in both diagnosis and treatment of heart disease that have come about over the last few decades. I am thankful everyday for cholesterol and blood pressure lowering medications, and well as for blood thinning medications. I am also thankful for the development of such techniques as heart catheterizations, angioplasty, coronary stents, and open-heart bypass procedures.

We are so blessed to have all these things available to us. To begin with, we are blessed to live in this country, where such things are accessible. Many alive in the world today do not have access to such life-saving things. We are also blessed to live currently. Many, like my Grandfather Jackson, lived and died right here in America when these procedures were not yet available.

I have thanked God many times for all of this in light of what my mother has now gone through. I am also aware that, with such a family history, these things may all one day have a bearing in my own life. And I am again thankful to God that they will be there if and when I need them.

Of course, I am reminded in all of this that all we can ever hope to do as men and women is treat a physical problem. If there is any healing in sickness, it is ultimately because God, the Creator, brings that about. Moreover, all physical life is limited. No matter how good we get at treating heart disease, we know that ultimately we are only forestalling the inevitable.

“It is appointed unto man once to die,” the Bible says in the book of Hebrews. And in the venerable words of the King James, the 90th Psalm says, “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” Ultimately, our present bodies are not meant to last forever.

But, praise the Lord, He is able to make all things new. There will come a day when He will provide my grandparents, my parents, myself, and indeed all who have ever believed with a brand new body. One that will finally be perfect. One that will last for all eternity, where, there in His Holy Mountain, “neither moth nor rust doth corrupt”; and where there will be “no more sickness, and no more sorrow”; and where God Himself “will wipe away all tears from our eyes”!

Of course, to see that glorious day, we need to look beyond our current physical shortcomings to our spiritual defects. The real problem that plagues us has less to do with our physical hearts and more to do with our spiritual ones. The real human predicament is that we live with a broken spiritual heart. This is because of Genesis chapter 3, and the introduction of sin.

Just as cholesterol sets up within us and destroys our physical hearts, so sin takes root and destroys our spiritual life. But, when Jesus gave His life on Calvary, He imputed His righteousness to us. In effect, we received a new heart: one donated by the Son of God. And because of this, we can have a new life, and we can have it to the full.

I trust you have realized this great truth. If not, I trust you will. For God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and new life in Jesus Christ. I also trust that the knowledge of such will alter the way you now choose to live.

Knowing that we have been spared, that our life has been restored should motivate all of us to change the way we approach that life. Henceforth, may we, as believers, live in a manner worthy of our redemption: one designed to bring glory to our Redeemer. As Paul says, “I no longer live; but Jesus Christ now lives in me.” Amen. Even so, may it be.

LETTING YOUR LIGHT SHINE

9/5/2011

This past weekend, of course, was the annual Labor Day holiday. Accordingly, on Sunday morning, I delivered a message titled “Take This Job and Love It!” in which we looked at the importance of seeing one’s job as a way to be a blessing to God and to others. As a part of that, we also talked about our responsibility both to show and to share Christ.

Given that one’s job, especially in this day of increasing secularization, will invariably be the best opportunity one has to witness for Christ, it is essential that we, as Christians, first practice what we intend to preach. If not, we lose all hope of being taken seriously when we do.

The importance of this last point was underscored for me by one of my sons, both of whom were home for the weekend from college. It set in raining here on Sunday evening, and that prompted a discussion about the need for the two of them to be careful while driving back to school in the rain on Monday afternoon.

Sheepishly, one of them then told me he had recently been pulled over by a police officer near the campus. It had been raining that day. So, when the officer approached him, he asked if my son knew why he had pulled him over. My son replied that he did not. The officer then informed him that it was a state law to have one’s headlights on while driving in the rain.

As perhaps only a brash young man would do, my son spoke up and said, “Sir, I admit that I did not have my lights on as I should have; and I do not mean to be disrespectful. But, sir, I am looking in my rear view mirror right now at your patrol car; and you do not have your lights on either.”

The policeman looked back at his car, then at my son, and then just shook his head and smiled. After this he said simply, “Okay, you’ve got me on this one. Go on about your way. But turn on your lights; and I’ll go do the same.”

Now, my son was clearly wrong to be driving without his lights on. He had violated the law. But in this case, at least, the officer was no better than he was; and the officer, above all persons, ought to be living in compliance with the law. He ought to have been a shining example of practicing what he was preaching. Because he was not, he undercut his own authority. He negated his testimony.

And there we have it. If we, as Christians, do not let our own light shine, how then can we effectively challenge others as they make their way through this dark world? We invalidate our authority and our testimony. In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus says:

14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

What about you today? Are your lights on? Are they shining in the darkness? If not, should they be? Turn on your lights, Christian. It will be better for everyone when you do.

HIS LAST CONVERT

9/1/2011

In my last post, I shared some thoughts inspired by the tragedy of the R.M.S. Titanic. Today, I thought I would share one other worthy Titanic illustration. It is a very moving story. It is also convicting for those of us who bear the responsibility to be a witness for Christ and who wrestle with our own faithfulness to that task. I hope you find it motivational. It is the story of "John Harper’s Last Convert".

In 1912, 39 year old, Rev. John Harper, a Scottish preacher, was making a transatlantic trip to preach at the famed Moody Church in Chicago. As fate would have it, the vessel he chose to cross the Atlantic on was the R.M.S. Titanic. Most everyone, of course, knows the story about that great disaster at sea. But how many know the story of Rev. John Harper? Harper, like many others, ended up in the ice cold water. As people desperately tried to survive in the chilled waters, Harper swam to them.

The minister repeatedly asked people in the water if they knew Jesus.  Eventually, Harper approached a passenger clinging to a jagged piece of wood; and as he did, he pleaded for the man to trust Christ. By this time, the minister had completely exhausted himself.  As he succumbed to the cold conditions, and went under the water to his death, Harper used his dying breath to plead with others. His last words were, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."

A few years later, at a meeting in Canada of the survivors of the Titanic disaster, the last man who encountered John Harper told the group that he had been saved twice that fateful night. First, of course, he had been rescued from the freezing Atlantic Ocean. But more importantly, because of Harper’s unceasing efforts, he had trusted Christ as his personal Savior as well. He said “Alone in the night with two miles of water under me, I believed and was gloriously saved.  I am John Harpers’ last convert.”

I have often read this story and been convicted by it. I am compelled to ask myself some questions. For instance: How faithful am I to be a witness for Christ? Do I really see people all about me in peril? Do I care that they are in danger of meeting eternity unprepared? Will I be a witness? How many will I win? Will I be faithful to witness to the very end of my days? And, for that matter, just who will be my last convert?

Note: A quick Google search will show that this story is abundantly available in numerous variations all over the internet. It has even been written out as a paperback book (http://www.christianbook.com/the-last-convert-of-john-harper/art-ayris/9780979903571/pd/903571).  Despite the multiple variations on the story (as it has been told and retold), its original veracity does not appear to be questioned. Therefore, unlike the one about "Jack and Rose", this story is actually true.