Why Jesus

Mark 16:1-4. Thankful for all we heard about this yesterday. Glad that the story of Jesus didn’t end in chapter 15. God didn’t save Jesus from the cross but redeemed him from the grave. It is the power that worked in Jesus in the grave that will also work for us. Through death the spirit separates from the body. The grave is not the final resting place for Jesus’ spirit. They saw an open and empty grave. Before coming here a man came to visit me in our field. This religious man was curious about who we follow. Why Christ? Why not Buddha? Why not Mohammad, or Confucius? All of these great people are still in their graves, but Jesus rose from the dead. We’re glad we are not following a dead Christ. The women, who followed Jesus, couldn’t help him or defend him from his enemies but their presence was enough to encourage Jesus to go on. They are true mothers in Israel. They wanted to be close to their Savior. They were not ashamed to be associated with them. Jesus was not ashamed to be associated with them. They couldn’t do anything about how they treated him, but they could stand by him through all his experiences. Joseph and Nicodemus also stood by Jesus. These women have prepared the spices to anoint his body. They have only one concern – who will roll the stone from the sepulcher? This gives confirmation to our own heart – that if we do the possible God will do the impossible. God saw their desire. God made a way. They just prepared the spices. They couldn’t fight the soldiers guarding the crypt, but they can come in faith. If we supply the will, God will open the way. Just do the possible and God does the impossible. Some didn’t believe He has risen. Unbelief will keep us from doing what we can do and it limits God what He can do. Unbelief clouds our vision. v14; He himself showed to the eleven and Jesus corrected them of their unbelief. God loves us so He corrects. He has to cleanse them from the sin of unbelief and hardness of heart. They have to share the gospel story and be witnesses to Him and that’s why Jesus had to correct them. Otherwise, unbelief will hinder them. Thankful that God loves us enough to correct us. Appreciate the women coming with a desire to anoint the body of Jesus. Now, we can’t anoint the physical body but every Sunday we can anoint the spiritual body. Faithfulness is like a spice. Faithfulness inspires faithfulness in others. Faithfulness is better than abilities. Encouragement is another spice. Encouragement inspires courage in others. The sweet smell of these spices goes to God. If we leave a Sunday meeting inspired we can be assured that the Spirit had helped us to be true and faithful.

B. Hofer - S. Leyte Convention, March 29, 2015; 9:00A.M.

The Easter Story

From the garden of Gethsemane

Where Jesus knelt to pray

To the betrayal done by Judas

On that grim and fatal day.

 

From the mighty hands of Pilate

Who wished to let Him be

To the noble priests and leaders

Who refused to set Him free.

 

From the crown of thorns upon His head

And lash marks from a strap

To the weight of such a heavy cross

Placed there upon His back.

 

From the thief who hung beside Him

Crying, “Lord, remember me”

To the gentle words of Jesus

“Today, you’ll be with me.”

 

From the darkness of the noon time

As He died upon the cross

To the earth that shook and trembled

In response to such a loss.

 

From the cheering cries of soldiers

As they took His body down

To the caring hands of Joseph

A follower new in town.

 

From the tomb where He was laid to rest

In linen cloth of white

To the guards who had to stand close by

Throughout both day and night. 

 

From the stone that blocked the entrance

As it gently rolled away

To the miracle that happened

On that third and final day.

 From the baffled look of soldiers

As they peered into the room

To the startled face of Mary

When she found an empty tomb.

 

From the strange events that happened

As the guards all turned and fled

To the words that came from angels

“He has risen from the dead.”

 

From the frightened eyes of Mary

As she swiftly left that place

To the light that flowed from Jesus

When she saw Him face to face.

 

From the doubt of His disciples

When she spoke of resurrection

To the fear upon their faces

As He walked in their direction.

 

From the written word of scripture

He fulfilled in prophecy

To the eleven who had gathered

On a hill in Galilee.

 

From the words that had been spoken

Before He went away

To His ascension into heaven

Where He lives this very day.

 

From the bible on the mantel

Tis the words you need to heed

To find wisdom in its pages

And a light to sow a seed.

 

From the death and resurrection

Of the one we hold so dear

To the coming of His spirit

Now that Easter time is here.

 

From the colored eggs and candy

And an orchid trimmed in blue

To the truth found there in scripture

Christ Jesus died for you.

       

      ~ © Marilyn Ferguson ~
    Echoes of the Heart

Being An Example

I Timothy 4:12, “Let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” In the margin it says “be a teaching example.” We teach by our example, which is far more reaching than our words. People may forget our words, but they will not forget our example. We want to be an example of the believers. We are people who have their heart set, not in Mormon, not in Jehovah’s Witness, but in the believing of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

I want to follow Jesus. He is my great example. In His pure life I see what God the Father has chosen for me to be. Jesus has the control, the ownership of our life. We have been bought with a price. Human nature is prone to look to others for example rather than being an example, and none can do it without an indwelling power. Paul could write to the Christians and say, “By the grace of God I am what I am.” As we sang in that hymn, “And every virtue we possess, and every conquest won, And every thought of holiness are His alone.” 

Paul wrote of those who were professing Godliness but denying the power thereof. Jesus’ power was not having control, not having ownership. It is His power that enables us to be different. Jesus said, “I do always those things that please my Father.” He taught with authority because His life backed it up. 

Once I was waiting at a bus stop and a man offered me a cigarette. I thanked him and said, “I don’t smoke.” I could tell by his breath that he just didn’t drink lemonade. He said, “I don’t want my young boy to smoke and drink when he grows up.” He had had the example of his father before him. A parent’s example is a child’s copy book. 

One day I was in a shop, waiting to be served, and a lady with a young girl was at the counter. This lady had ordered a lot, and the man was writing all the items in a docket book. This little girl leaned over the counter and said to her mother, “Mummy, he’s not writing on the line.” She had learned at school to write on the line. Parents, if you want your children to write on the line, you do it first. 

One day our beloved Queen came to visit a popular tourist place, Queenstown. She was invited to come to afternoon tea. Everyone was in a circle, and the Queen came in and was introduced to a number of people. She went to sign the visitors’ book. It is the privilege of royalty to sign in the middle of the page, and a little boy saw her begin to write in the middle and he blurted out, “You don’t write there, you’ll spoil the page.” The Queen thought quickly that this little boy had been taught to start at the top of the page so she graciously signed at the top of the page. Children are watching. Most people are watching our lives and we are an example in word. 

In my first meeting in W.A. on Sunday morning, there were twenty-four people in the meeting and the meeting was over in an hour and the people left time for me to have a word. It was a lovely, live meeting to be in. It is not good to be long in word or in prayer, but it is good to be an example. Sometimes people say that they do not have anything for the meeting that day then go on to speak for ten minutes. This is not being an example. “Let no corrupt communication come out of your mouth.” This is not edifying to others. 

One time a man went along to a priest to confess and afterwards, for penance, the priest said, “Go and bring me a bag of feathers.” The man thought this was easy, so he came back and gave the feathers to the priest. The priest opened the bag and let all the feathers go. It was a very windy day and they went everywhere. “Now,” the priest said, “you gather all the feathers again.” The man said, “This is impossible,” and the priest said, “The words you have passed on, it is impossible to bring them back again.” We can pass on words and they will go on and on. Let us be an example in word. 

A soft answer will turn away wrath. It tells us of the virtuous woman, “She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.” During the year, a mother in our field told us about a phone call she received from the principal of her son’s college. The teacher of the class had been trying to get her boy to go on a camp, for a week away. The boy had no interest in going away for a week with worldly company so he declined. The teacher thought it would not be the parents’ wish for him to decline, so he went to the principal who said, “I’ll ring the mother.” 

He had a lot to say about the benefits of going on a camp and he finished by saying, “We don’t want him to miss out on anything that will be able to help him.” The mother just said quietly, “Have you seen his school report?”  He said, “No.” This boy had the top report in the school, he had top marks. The mother told the principal to send for his report and to look at it, and after he had seen it to phone her again and tell her what the boy was missing out on. She did not get into any arguments. She opened her mouth with wisdom, and she never got that phone call. 

Psalm 141:3 “Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.” I have a member and I can’t control it. It is an unruly member and I need the help of God to control this member. A father in our field this year has a twelve year old son. At his school there was a big boy who was a bully, and he would pick on this boy David, who did not want to go to school because of this bullying. This man was the foreman of a bus company, and one morning he said to the driver of the bus, “I’ll take your bus out to try it out.” The big bully boy got on with a lot to say, and when the bus stopped at the school, he was the last one out. 

The father asked him if he knew his boy David. He said he did. The father said that there were some boys at the school who were knocking David about and he would like a big strong boy to look after him. He said, “Would you look after him?” He threw out his chest and said he would and from that time on he shadowed David and looked after him. This man opened his mouth with wisdom. 

Those who are an example in word are the best feeders in the meeting. They are living what they speak. To be an example in conversation means our daily manner of life. “May my daily walk and words and actions, Prove to all that Jesus lives in me.” It means our living in the home life; it means our modesty, our standard of dress. One of our young friends was leaving school and there were forty-nine girls who applied for a job in an office. They had to come before three bosses and our sister was chosen. It was not because of her qualifications, but because she had a standard, and they picked a winner. They were not disappointed. 

We do not lose in keeping a standard. We remember whose we are and whom we serve. The standard of modesty is in the ministry. Keep as near to the standard of the sister workers and as far away from the falling standards of the world as you can. God loves modesty, and we all have a responsibility in this respect. 

We depend on everyone to be consistent, to be the same on Monday morning in your dress as you were on Sunday. One daughter of our friends went to work with two other girls who belonged to a religious group. These other girls kept a nice standard, a better standard than the girl who was professing. She was missing out on her opportunity and privilege to show a Godly standard. 

Be an example in charity. We cannot be an example if we do not have the love of God in our hearts. Love moved Jesus to lay down His life as a Lamb without spot. Colossians 3:14, “And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.” There are things that we must put off first, before we can put on. The love of God binds us together. Sometimes people come to convention and they would like to have the fellowship that we have, but they cannot have the fellowship that we have because they do not have the salvation that we have. 

God has given us the spirit of God, not the spirit of fear, but of power. It is not just a form of Godliness but a power to love one another. There is a wall here on these grounds made of stones cemented together, and if you tried to put your finger between the stones, you cannot do it because there is mortar there holding the stones together, the bond of perfectness. If I have the love of God in my heart it is the bond of perfectness. 

Proverbs 17:9, “He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.” This means not spreading it around, seeking to have more of His love. Be an example in spirit. It is very important to have the right spirit to go with the right words. Proverbs 11:13, “A talebearer revealeth secrets, but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.” A faithful spirit will keep things hidden from other people. Paul wrote to Philemon about a servant who had run away, and he ended the letter with these words, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.” It is good when we can come together with the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Daniel was an example in spirit. He had an excellent spirit. He did not let himself get upset when he was accused wrongfully and was put into the lions’ den. He did not blurt out that they had told a lie. Those men went to the king and told a lie. They said that all the presidents and princes had consulted together but that was all except Daniel. 

We need to be an example in purity. We need to look continually to the life of our Master to feed on what is pure.  We can be taken up with trash and literature and we will never be pure. We need pure motives, pure thoughts. The line of a hymn says, “Obedience to the mind of Christ brings mental purity.” “Bid my carnal mind depart.” The grace and power of Heaven can enable me to be a better example. 

Jeroboam set a wrong example and all the kings of Israel were affected after him. Jehu said, “Come and see my zeal for the house of the LORD.” But this was a zeal to destroy. It was not a zeal to follow the Lord, like the standard David had set. We need to strive to be an example.   ~ ~

 

L. HILL - 1985 - Being an example - Convention - Williams, W. Australia

Little Things In Life

Little Things

Too often we don't realize
what we have until it's  gone.
Too often we wait too late to say
"I'm sorry - I was wrong."

Sometimes it seems we hurt the ones
we hold dearest to our hearts.
And we allow foolish things
to tear our lives apart.

Far too many times we let
unimportant things into our minds.
And then it's usually too late
to see what made us blind.

So be sure that you let people know
how much they mean to you.
Take that time to say the words
before your time is through.

Be sure that you appreciate
everything you've got.
And be thankful for the
Little things in life...that mean a lot. 

Author Unknown

Source: mamarocks.com

Come And Do As The Lord Asks

Luke 7:6 - "And when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof . . For I also am a man set under authority . . I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it."  Jesus could have said to the centurion, "My servants are just as good," but Jesus didn't talk like that to people. Jesus was impressed by this man, not just because he had authority but because of the faith and confidence he had.  Jesus knew that this authority didn't come by birth or was purchased somewhere or found by chance.  "Coming, doing, going. " Isn't that what our life is about?  We come into this world, then we go sooner or later, and in between is the doing part. Sometimes we disengage ourselves, we get into neutral and don't do anything, but if we do that we are just wasting time.

This chapter starts off with a call that every one of us receives. If Jesus was here in person, He would be glad to look at every person in this shed and say, "Everyone has responded to my invitation to come." It is different when we come into this life.  No one asks us if we are ready for it or where we want to be, but coming into the family of God, we have input.  We have to decide whether we will come.  We read the word, "Come" many times in Isaiah, and also in Hebrews 4 it speaks of the wonderful opportunity we have to come boldly to the throne of grace.  In the same book, it speaks about coming into the holiest of all, because we received a call from God, "Come."  At first, this invitation may not seem suitable to us.  But when God calls, He gives us an open door and if we come when He calls, not when it pleases us, then we have wonderful liberty. 

I thought about Esther.  At that time, if you went too close to the king without being invited, it was the end of your life.  You would be trespassing.  So it is if you go past a palace or a house, no matter how big or small, if you are not invited in but you go in there, you make yourself a trespasser and have no liberty.  But if you walked past a palace and the king said, "Come in; I will show you around," it doesn't matter where you come from, it is a liberty you would not get any other way.  An invitation to come in opens up so much which would be closed otherwise.  If we respond, then we can get to know the King of kings, and He can get to know us.

The time comes when He says, "What if you go and tell people about this wonderful place? I want you to try and get other people interested so I can invite them, and not only to invite them but to see them respond."  When He tells you to go, you have authority and can say, "The King sent me; I am not on my own." And another thing, you have your testimony and can say, "I have been there, I have seen part of it; I like it and want to be nowhere else except in His presence."  I don't know most of you but I presume that all of you came gladly to this convention.  It is only for a limited time and maybe you are a bit like Peter, thinking, "It is good to be here. Can't we stretch it out a bit more?"  It is a good feeling but Jesus didn't take the bait and say, "Yes, why not?"

I appreciate Peter's life very much, especially the way he started to walk with Jesus and how he learned.  Then you have the two letters he wrote at the end of his life and you see what wonderful changes took place in his life. But at this time he was listening to his emotions, a little bit selfish and forgetting about the other people down the mountain.  It seems that Peter and the other two didn't do so well at that wonderful place.  Luke 9:32 - "But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep."  So, when Peter said, "Let us make three tabernacles," he didn't know what he was saying, and we are not always sure of what we are saying.

Some years ago, I remember a Bible study about the time Peter denied Jesus.  The more I listened to what was said, the sorrier I felt for Peter and was glad he wasn't there because he got one knock after another.  Afterwards, I made a suggestion that we should speak about ten good things in the life of Peter, not about the time Peter denied the Lord.  It wouldn't be very hard to find ten experiences where Peter made up for denying his Lord, for speaking before thinking and not knowing what he was saying.  "Master, it is good for us to be here."  Most likely, Peter didn't think all the way through and we sometimes make that mistake.  How would they build three tabernacles up there?  Maybe that is how we feel, but let us remember there is more to do than feeding our souls and getting reassured. God has another work; there are more people in this world than you and I, and who knows which one God wants to invite as soon as you get home?  Luke 8:27 - "There met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs."  This man was known as Legion and his past life was not a very nice one.  Some people tried to help him but nothing was strong enough to hold him.  He was possessed by all those devils.  Then the time came when Jesus came into his life and changed his life in a wonderful way.  It is not hard to enter into the feeling of that man afterwards, when he wanted to just stay with Jesus. Vs 38:  "Now the man out of whom the devils were departed besought him that he might be with him: but Jesus sent him away, saying, Return to thine own house, and shew how great things God hath done unto thee."  "Go, talk to your people and show them the wonderful change that has taken place in your life." 

This man, Legion, lived amongst the tombs, running around with no clothes.  Then the people found him sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind.  It is a nice combination.  Do you ever bump into people who try to tell you that what you wear is not important, that it is what is in the heart that is important?  This man could have said, "I have joy in my heart, I have a song of thankfulness on my lips, who bothers about clothing?"  Well, this little part of this verse should be sufficient to silence every thought along the line of whether the outside matters at all.  He was clothed and in his right mind, sitting at the feet of Jesus, feeling comfortable now and Jesus was feeling comfortable with the way Legion was clothed.  The way people dress shows the way they think.  There is some connection; do you dress to conceal or to reveal?  It is one or the other.

This man was clothed and in his right mind.  He wanted to be with Jesus, comfortable now amongst people and continuing with Jesus. Then Jesus said, "Go back to your people and show them by your life. If anyone is interested enough, they will ask you."  Like Peter said, just be ready to give an answer.  Don't go back and start preaching at them, but give an answer about the love and joy that has come into your life.  Show them first, then if somebody asks, you can tell them.  That is the right way.  Legion showed the whole city what Jesus had done for him and when Jesus came back there, the people gladly received Him.  It was a wonderful mission he was able to work just because he was willing to let Jesus come into his life, and to do what Jesus said, to go with a living testimony. 

We read of other people whom Jesus helped and He asked them to keep it quiet.  Now, how does that work?  To one person, He says, "Go and show what has been done."  To another He says, "Keep it quiet." Well, there might be things we don't understand but we can rest assured that whatever Jesus asks is always within the reach of possibility, not too hard and always the right thing.  It was just a test for each one and tests are different.  For some it is a battle to get up and say a few words.  For others, they have to be tested to see if they can keep quiet for some time.  It is individual.  So, every one of us have the same authority when we go out, but we might have a little different job to do whereby we can be a help to the Gospel story.

Most of you would say, "Coming here for four days doesn't make such a drastic change, like the life of Legion." You might look four days older, but who is going to notice that?  I hardly know any of you, or where you live or anything about your neighbors.  But when you left four days ago to come here, your neighbor may have watched you go or did you go and sign off, tell them you were going? Someone could have watched your life and said, "There they go again, like last year."  You came here and some of those who prepared here said, "Here they come again." Then in a few hours they will say, "There they go again," and your neighbors will say, "Here they come again."  Maybe there are some who might say, "They are back again, so in the next few weeks we can count on an invitation to a meeting." 

You know, if we do things year after year, people notice.  You might think, "I have invited them time after time, so now I have given up on them." But what about this wonderful change that took place in the life of Legion?  Do you have enough faith to believe that the same way God was working in your life long before you responded to the invitation, He can also bring about a wonderful change in the life of your neighbor?  Don't give up, just keep on.  Changes are necessary, but it is also wonderful to have certain things in life that don't change.  If it means you invite them, don't change it. God might work a change in that person and they might come this time.

John 9:1 - "And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth."  This was a blind man but that didn't stop him from getting in touch with Jesus, just as the legion of devils could not stop that man responding to the invitation of Jesus. Vs 6: "And he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, And said unto him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam."  The blind man was obedient and this was a miracle in his life.  He could see. I think that, after he realized he could see, he would be heading straight back to Jesus. But before he got there, he ran into some of his neighbors.  Vs 8: "Is not this he that sat and begged? Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he."  He was not afraid of his past and he was not afraid of his present, either.  We never can predict how people are going to respond or react, and we don't just pick the ones where the chances are fairly high and say that all the others are lost anyway. 

Sometimes we are surprised by the responses we get from people.  We had Gospel meetings three years ago in a restaurant.  We didn't need more than ten chairs, and we got a room in a hotel with a sliding door between us and the restaurant. On the first night, we said, "We will have to sing softly so we don't upset the other people."  We didn't want to sound too religious to the people on the other side of the door who were drinking at the bar. It would not mix well, so we sang softly. The next week I was there a little early and the boss said, "Are you going to sing nicely, like you did last week?"  They enjoyed it!  We think we know how people are going to react and we jump to conclusions too quickly sometimes. Creation is a wonderful testimony of the power and wisdom of God.  I got thinking about a plant God created before anything else, something that grows and has a flower and seed in itself.  It is what sheep and kangaroos and cows eat: grass. Not just Kikuyu; I came up with 5 or 6 different grasses I could identify and then I asked Mr. Google and he told me there are no less than 10,000 types of grass in the world.  Going for walks in the mornings at preps, I saw grass everywhere and a basic instinct awoke in me to take some back and show how beautiful grass could be. So, I took a bunch of grass flowers back to preps and the reactions were different again. One was, "Wonderful flower arrangement!"  Not long after, someone else came along and said, "Have you been collecting weeds again?"

So, don't give up because you don't get the reaction you wish for. Just keep on and don't lose the focus of what God has created, because that is going to lead you further and take your thoughts towards the things God has prepared for all eternity.  The grass, herbs, trees and people will all come and go and God has planned it that way, but His plan doesn't stop there. He has something planned that goes on for ever and ever.  Isn't it a wonderful privilege to be able to work together with Him, to have a little part in helping somebody that might be blind to the way of God and blind to their own needs? You can be an instrument to help that person if you are just willing to go at the time Jesus tells you and to do what He tells you to do. 

Sometimes it is hard to get us excited about things, but once we have made up our minds we think we can do twice as much as others.  Maybe it is well meaning and we want to show how much this means to us, so we do more than we are asked.  Matthew 21:2 - "Go into the village . . ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them, and straightway he will send them."  These disciples were told what to do and what to say, and they did no more and no less.  I thought of the danger of two people saying between themselves, "A donkey for Jesus is not good enough; after all He is the King of kings and Lord of Lords and we want to be identified with Him. He must have a horse at least, or a chariot. We will do more than He asks."  But Jesus would have to say, "That doesn't line up with my faith or with God's plans," because God had already spoken about this time years before, through the prophets.

Had they changed that a little bit, it is like the thought that it doesn't matter what we look like on the outside.  That is a danger we have to be careful of, not to try and improve on things.  If they had changed things, Jesus would have had to find somebody else to go and bring the colt.  If they had changed what God had spoken so long ago, it would have opened a door for anybody to say, "If God wasn't able to fulfill that part of His promise, what about the other parts?" Little changes . . but at the end you have nothing left of what God has planned. 

I had another experience that describes the need of sticking to what He tells you.  Don't try to do better or be more efficient, just stick to what He tells you. Twenty years ago I was at convention preparations and one of my nephews, about 15 years old, wanted to come and spend time with us.  I was in the north of Germany and he was in the south, so I talked to his Dad and we agreed that he would come on a certain train and I would get on at a certain station and we would travel the last part together.  The express train came in and I got on at the front and walked through the whole train but did not find anybody who looked like my nephew.  So, I went to my destination and rang my brother to tell him I couldn't find my nephew. He said, "I told him, if he gets off at the station you are waiting on, you can take another train that will cost a few bob less."  But he didn't tell my nephew to get off at the front of the train; he got off at the back of the train, so we didn't see each other.  There was much confusion because they tried to save a little bit, but it made it more expensive.

When the Spirit says, "Come," drop everything because it is going to be a blessing and it can also give certain liberties which we would never get in any other way. Then, when the Lord tells you to go don't be afraid, because He gives us His authority. Just do what He asks, no more and no less, and He will give you the blessing. ~ ~ ~

 H. ROTHMUND - 2015 - Come and do as the Lord asks - 2nd Maroota, Australia         

The Tunnel Experience

This is the first time in my life I have ever stood on a platform to speak with a hairdo like this. I do not represent some other faction--there are no factions in God's Kingdom. Wherever we find the people of God, they are the same. My head cover has come as a result of my illness. It is a poor substitute for what God has given us to cover our head.  When I see all your hairdos, my heart says, "Don't abuse your hair." I lost mine in three days and that could happen to anyone. A turban is a poor substitute for what God has given us for our glory. 

I have been recuperating in Washington with my brother and sister-in-law and I have been going on some walks. I have enjoyed some meditations and reflecting back on them. A tunnel isn't always a pleasant experience, but it helps us on our journey. I look at the mountains and the difficult terrain that we would have to tread if someone had not cut a tunnel. As dark and difficult as they may be, tunnels are a help toward the end of the journey. It was getting near Gilroy time and my mind went back a year to the tunnel of grief, sorrow and loss when our two young brothers were taken and then the tunnel of concern for our other young brother, lying in the hospital. The influence of that tunnel went around the world and our feelings were shared in every part. A unity came out of it that had never been and it has bound us together and helped us. 

I have begun to realize there are a lot of tunnels in the scriptures I wasn't aware of before. Joseph started in a tunnel at the age of seventeen when his father thought he was dead and his brothers didn't care. He went through some very difficult experiences but had something in his heart that sustained him through that tunnel. "The Lord was with him." The presence of God came to him from that tunnel experience - a deep under­standing and consciousness of the presence of God. 

Job had a tunnel experience - everything he had naturally was taken from him and he was devastated and felt "Why go on?" but he was in the tunnel. He said, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust Him." That experience made trust so real to him. Grateful is the man or woman who passes through a tunnel on their journey and finds it solidifies their trust in the God of heaven. 

Psalm 71:4-5. The Psalmist was going through an experience every child of God goes through, maybe even more than once. He said, "Thou art my hope." That experience deepened his hope in the God who was able to keep and deliver him and bring him to the end of the tunnel. 

The day these thoughts were so real to me was the day after the doctor gave me the report of my tests. I should have been walking in deep sorrow and despair but I have to admit there was an unspeakable joy in my heart as I was walking. That joy was in my heart when I called Eldon about my report and plans were made for me to come to Gilroy. 1 was looking forward to seeing all the workers on the staff and meeting workers who before I had only heard of, and seeing so many of the lambs and sheep of the fold. I was in a tunnel but I was walking with joy. How grateful we can be when the tunnel experience deepens our fellowship. All of us will be going through tunnel experiences and may it be we can profit by them, that we can know more of a unity because of it, more fellowship with God, a deeper trust, a hope that goes beyond this world, that we can have this comfort that comes from fellowship with God and His people. 

I am in a tunnel these days and the doctor has given me reason to believe that the faint glimmer of light I see at the end of the tunnel is the shore of eternity. I do not know when that light will come into full focus, but I know the darkness of the tunnel will be past and the best is yet ahead.

C. BROWN – 1988 - Gilroy, CA

The Story Of The Dogwood Tree

When Christ was on earth, the dogwood grew
To a towering size with a lovely hue.
Its branches were strong and interwoven
And for Christ's cross its timbers were chosen.

Being distressed at the use of the wood
Christ made a promise which still holds good:

"Not ever again shall the dogwood grow
To be large enough for a tree, and so
Slender and twisted it shall always be
With cross-shaped blossoms for all to see.

The petals shall have bloodstains marked brown
And in the blossom's center a thorny crown.
All who see it will think of Me,
Nailed to a cross from a dogwood tree.
Protected and cherished this tree shall be.
A reflection to all of My agony.