Will it make a Difference? Nairobi Here I come!

Will it make a Difference? Nairobi Here I come!

1 Cor. 15:58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Does a simple smile really impact someone who is feeling down? Does it really make a difference when you encourage someone who is depressed?

While in the air en route to Kenya, some of the mission team members began to wonder if spending big bucks for plane tickets to go and build a kitchen and a cistern for a desperate orphanage was really the right way to spend their money. Wouldn't it have been better spent by hiring local contractors to do the building? Would flying all this way really make a difference?

But once they met the local people of Nairobi, all of these doubts were erased. They were greeted with cheers and hugs. They were considered heroes of the faith!

The local people of Nairobi were astonished at how hard every member of the mission team worked. Most of what they know about North Americans comes from movies, and these don't always depict a very nice picture!

Most of the locals believed that North Americans are spoiled brats with lots of stress who work very little for lots of money. Though some of this may be quite true, the mission team revealed to them not only that they were not afraid of work, but also that they cared enough for the people in Kenya to take time off their busy schedule and fly half-way around the world to be with them. As a result, the team established many life-long friendships.

The people in the streets of Nairobi were also delighted to talk with members of the team. They seemed eager to share what they were going through, and they demanded to have their picture taken.

To all these people, that expensive trip to Kenya sure made a difference!

There was one person that the team met who was touched more than anyone by their visit. He was from the slums of Nairobi, and he had always dreamed of leaving the slums to earn an education. He had worked hard and had made it to his final year of university, but then the money ran out. It seemed that there was no way he could finish school. He was desperate, and he confided in the Lord. While in prayer, he received a phone call announcing that he had been chosen by our local church for a special scholarship, one that would permit him to finish his final year of university.

When this young man realized that the mission team had been sent from this same church, he became so emotional that he had to leave the room for several minutes. "It can't be!" He repeated over and over again. "You are really here! You really do care! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

This young man is now working on his Masters degree, and he is currently working as an associate pastor for a large church in the Nairobi slums. His personal goal in life? To bring hope into the lives of those in the slums.

We may not always realize it, but the tiniest action on our part can have huge repercussions in the lives of the people around us. We WILL impact those we interact with, either for the good, or for evil. We can either be a blessing or a curse. It's our choice!

"Should I fly to Iraq or would it be better that I just send them money?"

That my friend is for you to decide.

Rob Chaffart

WHEN YOU THOUGHT I WASN'T LOOKING

WHEN YOU THOUGHT I WASN'T LOOKING

[A message every adult should read, because children are watching and doing as you do, not as you say.]

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator, and I immediately wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you feed a stray cat, and I learned that it was good to be kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you make my favourite cake for me and I learned that the little things can be the special things in life.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I heard you say a prayer, and I knew there is a God I could always talk to and I learned to trust in God.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you make a meal and take it to a friend who was sick, and I learned that we all have to help take care of each other.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you give of your time and money to help people who had nothing and I learned that those who have something should give to those who don't.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you take care of our house and everyone in it and I learned we have to take care of what we are given.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw how you handled your responsibilities, even when you didn't feel good and I learned that I would have to be responsible when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw tears come from your eyes and I learned that sometimes things hurt, but it's all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw that you cared and I wanted to be everything that I could be.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I learned most of life's lessons that I need to know to be a good and productive person when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I looked at you and wanted to say, 'Thanks for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn't looking.'

I AM SENDING THIS TO ALL OF THE PEOPLE I KNOW WHO DO SO MUCH FOR OTHERS AND THINK NO ONE EVER SEES.

LITTLE EYES SEE A LOT!

Each of us (parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, teacher or friend) influences the life of a child. How will you touch the life of someone today?

Just by sending this to someone else, you will probably make them at least think about their influence on others.

'Be of good cheer. Do not think of today's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles.'

A former child,
Helen Keller

[Shared by Bro. Dinesh Pandian]

The Seeds

The Seeds

A successful Christian business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business.

Instead of choosing one of his directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together.

He said, "It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you. "The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued. I am going to give each one of you a SEED today - one very special SEED. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO."

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story.

She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed. Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure. Six months went by -- still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues, however. He just kept watering and fertilizing the soil - He so wanted the seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection. Jim told his wife that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick at his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful -- in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him!

When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives. Jim just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown," said The CEO. "Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!" All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the financial director to bring him to the front. Jim was terrified. He thought, "The CEO knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!"

When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed - Jim told him the story.

The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives,

"Behold your next Chief Executive!

His name is Jim!"

Jim couldn't believe it. Jim couldn't even grow his seed. How could he be the new CEO the others said?

Then the CEO said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today.

But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead - it was not possible for them to grow. All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers.

When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive!"

If you plant honesty, you will reap trust.

If you plant goodness, you will reap friends.

If you plant humility, you will reap greatness.

If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment.

If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective.

If you plant hard work, you will reap success.

If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation.

If you plant faith in Christ, you will reap a harvest.

So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later.

[Shared by Bro. Dinesh Pandian]

A Belief That Saves

A Belief That Saves

The Bible says that not all who do great things for God will enter Heaven, but "only he who does the will of My Father" (Matthew 7:21). The Father's will is "that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life" (John 6:40). We are given the gift of eternal life because of our belief in Jesus, not because of ANYTHING we do; "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6).

Salvation can never be earned, it is a gift to those who believe. However, we must understand what it means to believe and what changes will occur when we believe. "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that - and shudder" (James 2:19). A saving belief is much more than just acknowledging God's existence or even the existence of His Son - even the demons believe this!

Belief in Jesus in never simply an intellectual understanding. Belief implies a humble surrender. We will never "look to the Son" unless we first recognize our eternally lost condition due to sin; and we will never truly "believe in Him" for salvation until we accept our complete inability to save ourselves. A drowning man will never reach up for help until he first understands and accepts his need to be rescued.

To be rescued, we must believe so completely that we abandon all other "rescuers" and cling to the only One who can truly save; "any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:33). Giving up everything cannot save us, but true belief gives up all other sources of hope. It also reveals the trivial nature of our worldly attachments and creates an understanding that everything belongs to Him. We see our life as lived for Him and desire to do ALL for His glory.

James 2:14, 17
"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? ... In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."

Belief must produce a change in our life or we know it is not a true belief - it is nothing more than dead intellectual understanding! At the moment we truly believe, we are "marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit" (Ephesians 1:13), and we become "a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Belief creates change through the work of the Holy Spirit!!

If we lack the evidence of a changed life, we must not focus on creating the change. This type of change becomes self-righteous "filthy rags." Rather, we must return to the cross and place ALL our trust in Jesus, believing He has paid the penalty for our sin and has granted us passage through the narrow gate to eternal life. As we completely turn over control to our Heavenly Father, fruit and good deeds will abound. Our life will be forever changed, but only when we begin with a belief that saves.

Steve Troxel

The Music That's Always There

The Music That's Always There

We were in our seats waiting for the curtain to open on this great, family-oriented stage show. I knew it must be show time, the lights went down, and unobtrusively the live band quietly filed into the orchestra pit. Most people were focused on the stage, but I was fascinated by something I saw going on with the band. One woman in the band had the arm of a fellow band member in her arm. She was obviously leading him to his position at the keyboard. I realized with amazement that the keyboardist was blind. He put on his big headphones and, as the curtain opened, he started playing with all his heart. It was awesome.

I tell you, it was really inspiring. That musician cannot see, but he can still hear the music! He can still play the music! I hope you can, too, no matter what limitations you're facing right now.

Look at the model Paul and Silas gave us in our word for today from the Word of God in Acts 16, beginning with verse 25. The preceding verses tell us that these two missionaries have been attacked by a crowd, and they were incited by false accusers. The Bible uses these words to describe what Paul and Silas had to go through: they were "stripped," "beaten," "severely flogged," and "thrown into prison." Then the Bible says they were put "in the inner cell" and their feet were "fastened in the stocks."

That's enough to beat the song out of anybody. But according to our word for today, "about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and other prisoners were listening to them." The Bible goes on to report that when an earthquake shook that prison, the jailer himself came running to Paul and Silas for help. He and his whole family came to Christ that night!

There's something very compelling about someone who refuses to be taken down by the worst of circumstances, who can still hear God's "music," who can still play God's "music" no matter what. Now, that "music" is a positive attitude; that quality of "un-sinkability" the Bible calls joy. The "music" is conversation that keeps finding things to thank and praise God for instead of things to complain about.

Maybe you're in a season right now when you've been sidelined. You feel set aside, held back or restricted. You're in a situation or maybe you have a condition that's making you very aware that you are really limited. Not all prisons have physical walls. It's easy to get frustrated, self-pitying, negative or bitter. But you can choose, as Paul did, to continue instead to enjoy your Lord; to still make His music for others. In fact, people will listen to what you have to say about Jesus because of what you're going through.

Centuries ago, the poet Richard Lovelace wisely observed, "Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage." He went on to say, "If I have freedom in my love, and in my soul am free, angels alone, that soar above, enjoy such liberty." Your soul can be free, no matter how imprisoned the rest of you may be.

Paul later said, "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; struck down, but not destroyed" (2 Corinthians 4:8). Yes, he had a lot to handle, but that didn't stop him from hearing God's music - from playing God's music. No matter how blinding, how deafening, how paralyzing your situation, the music of God is always there for those who choose to hear it.

Ron Hutchcraft

Be Ye Holy

Be Ye Holy

"But as he which called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy." 1 Peter 1:15-16

It's amazing how the world's standards change over a period of time. Our moral standards erode with the attitudes and pressure forced upon us by man, who has no regard for what is right or wrong, but is governed by pride, greed, power, position, influence, and money. Today we are constantly being challenged by the liberal influences to radically change our values in morals, family, priorities, pleasure, and most every phase of life, as we know it. Many commonly accepted national, community, and family standards are changing or being disregarded. It seems the question is no longer, "Is it right?" but "Is it legal?" or "Can I do it without getting caught or placing myself in jeopardy?" All of these breaks down to one question: What is our point of reference? In other words, what is the basis for determining right or wrong?

Do we as individuals determine what is right or wrong? We hear people say, "What may be right or wrong for you may not be true for me." Does right or wrong depend upon people or circumstances, our background or our culture? Basically, what is challenging us in these issues comes from man's rejection of God and His Word, and results from bending the "standards" to conform to a liberal, excessive, immoral lifestyle. The basis of this thinking is, "There are no moral absolutes. There are no right or wrong standards that should govern our lives." We see this on every hand today, which is basically why we are seeing such a horrible breakdown in every moral issue in individuals, families, and our nation.

Look at the warning given in Isaiah 5:20: "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter." Let me ask you, do you see any of this happening today? Yes, everywhere! So, what is the challenge to every Christian who holds the Scriptures sacred and seeks to make God's Word the standard by which they live? It is to establish in our lives the stable, unwavering foundation upon which all truth stands. His truth should govern and rule our lives, regardless of people or circumstances. HIS TRUTH NEVER CHANGES. IT IS THE SAME, YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER! Our faith either stands or falls from the foundation upon which we have placed it.

Moral behavior is not relative, situational, or confined to a period of time in human history. People may reject God's moral standards, but that does not change them! The world today refuses to accept the fact that GOD is the ONE who has a binding authority on their lives! People think it is ridiculous that God's Word contains absolute standards for human behavior. But the day is coming when those who reject and refuse the truth will suffer inevitable consequences. Why is man so obstinate and self-possessed? Satan has blinded his eyes to the truth. He is determined not to yield the control of his life unto God. Paul says of these people, "Thinking themselves to be wise, they have become fools." "There is a way that seems right unto man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." Joshua said, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

Ed Powell

[Shared by Bro. Dinesh Pandian]

I Have Sinned Against the Lord

I Have Sinned Against the Lord

"And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, the LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shall not die." 2 Samuel 12:13

One of the astounding demonstrations of the "truth of the Bible" is its unhesitating revelation and denunciation of sin in the lives of God's chosen servants. It conceals nothing. On the contrary, it pulls aside the veil and exposes sin in all its shame and guilt. It condones nothing. Instead, it utters the terrible wrath of God against the guilty one. The Bible is God's standard of truth and does not vary.

Throughout God's Word, the light of truth flashes upon the lives of many of God's servants and reveals the faults, the follies, the sins, and the inexcusable evil that befell them. You might say, "Why did God reveal the sinful failures of these men through whom He did such mighty things?" I think God wants to indelibly inscribe upon our hearts that the sinful nature that dwells in all of us is capable of bringing us down, just as it did these mighty men. His admonition to us is, "Take heed, lest ye also fall."

Look at the progressive steps in David's fearful fall. First, He exercised "fleshly ease" and slothfulness. Instead of leading his men into battle, he remained in Jerusalem. Second, he was drawn away by his lusts and was enticed by the sight of a beautiful woman, Bathsheba. Third, "When lust had conceived, it brought forth sin"...it was premeditated adultery. Fourth, "Sin, when it is finished, brought forth death"...the murder of Bathsheba's husband, Uriah. Yielding to our sinful nature, being enticed by our lust, and opening our lives to Satan's insidious invasion, is always a disastrous path!

God had a way to reach the heart of David. He unfolded a parable through the prophet Nathan. After hearing the parable, David was greatly angered against the rich man in the parable, who took such selfish advantage of the poor man. And Nathan said to David, "Thou art the man."

Notice the immediate conviction brought upon David. Known as the "Sweet Singer of Israel," who had enjoyed long and close communion with God, he still had the sinful flesh within. Because he failed to overcome his lust, he flung away the joys of divine fellowship, ruined his soul's prosperity, and brought down upon himself a storm of calamities that forever reminded him of his fearful fall. What an awful price sin demands!

How easy it is for us to criticize and condemn those who fall prey to the enemy of our souls, not realizing that the "same awful woes of the inner man" lurk to bring us down, just as they do in those whom we condemn. We are quick to point our finger at David for his sin, as awful as it was. But how many of us find ourselves broken before God, repenting with contrition of heart as David?

Nathan said immediately after David's confession, "The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shall not die." David's confession and repentance were genuine and sincere, and his forgiveness was immediate, but the scars of his fall left their marks upon him for the rest of his life! Many of us bear the scars of sin from our past, but how blessed it is now to bear the fruit of the Spirit that has been made possible by His redeeming grace through Jesus Christ our Lord! Fallen but forgiven by His matchless grace and loving heart!

Ed Powell