LOVE IS NOT A BARGAIN

Sometimes a situation may be unavoidably unfair for one spouse at the moment and months or even years later the situation may be reversed. Even if it never changes love signs on for the whole trip whether it’s good or bad. Often I hear people say that a marriage is a “fifty-fifty” deal. With all of the score keeping, and arguments about what’s fair and not fair, this turns a loving relationship into a constant battle.

“Quid pro quo,” is Latin for “something for something.” It’s a kind of business relationship. You give me merchandise and I’ll give you money. Everyone loves a bargain and constantly try to get the best of the deal. All of business and most of life between people is based on this principle. However, love is not a “quid pro quo” search for a bargain.

I was blessed years ago to watch my aunt and uncle live out a different kind of relationship. My Aunt Alyeene was a wonderful sophisticated lady who had a laugh like liquid sunshine. Her personality reminded me of a sparkling brook singing and splashing its way down the mountain. She was the very soul of warmth, love and kindness.

My Uncle was totally different. He came up hard, struggling and working for everything he ever had. He was a salesman, and had little success and one morning they got up and divided a single egg for breakfast. They prayed, as usual, for God to change things for them. Shortly after that harsh experience he got a wonderful opportunity that made them very well off financially. He had a kind and generous heart, but growing up in an orphanage left him painfully insensitive to the struggles of other people.

They didn’t have any children. Aunt Alyeene and the Bankers wife went down to the poorest section of town where they lived. They rented an old building, cleaned and fixed it up, and had something very much like a joyous picnic with the poor kids. They washed them, gave them decent clothes, fed them, and mixed in with all of the fun had a little unstructured conversation about Jesus and the Christian Faith. Many of those kids heard their first prayer while being lovingly held on the lap of these two beautiful ladies.

They never talked about it, but I later learned that they had sent several of those kids through college. No, their name wasn’t on a plaque anywhere, and they were never given any kind of special recognition. They just quietly practiced the Christian faith knowing that Jesus knew what they were doing.

They would take Debbie our small daughter to the park, or to the store and buy her something special. Uncle Love teased my daughter Debbie by calling her “snigger fritz.” They both gave her plenty of very special love and affection. Often they would take us out to eat, but our favorite place was where they served delicious sweet watermelon by the slice. We sat outdoors at a wooden picnic table overlooking the river. We would all laugh, tell funny stories, and whatever troubles we had would simply disappear for a while.

My uncle didn’t have a first name, just the initials AB. His last name was Love. He was a hard working, very successful investment broker, and later added real estate sales to his office. Uncle Love was a devout Christian, honest and sincere and at times showed great kindness and love. He was often full of fun and laughter. At other times he could be very passionate about what he believed or thought, and sometimes I felt like he was a little too harsh, inconsiderate and stern.

My aunt explained that he really didn’t mean to be unkind. It was just hard to get away from the toughness he developed as a child in an orphanage trying to survive and protect his little brother. Sometimes Aunt Alyeene would tell him that He was wrong. She did it with such kindness and love that almost always he would agree with her. He would often try to explain his motives for something he had said or done and wind up with tears in his eyes saying, “I’m sorry.”

I loved them both but sometimes I felt that their relationship was unfair because my aunt had to give in so often. I marveled at her ability to do it with such grace and kindness. Growing up in South Carolina she had all of the charm and grace of a true southern lady.

She loved him and seemed genuinely happy trying to please him and refused to complain about the unfairness. She simply accepted it as one of those things that couldn’t be changed. So we also forgot about it and their home was a warm and pleasant place to visit. Later when we moved to Atlanta they would often come to see us. We would sit up until late at night having a snack with the left over supper. It was usually something entirely southern like buttermilk and warm cornbread, pinto beans or whatever was available. We forgot about time while we laughed, told stories, and again our troubles did their disappearing act.

Then one day a small stroke like a thief took away some of her memory and then more and more as time went on. They came to see us again and we knew that something was very different. We took her to the best specialist in Atlanta, but after exhaustive test they gave us the gloomy news that nothing could be done. The problem would just get worse as time went on. The doctors told us that she must have been having little “mini stokes” in her brain. This was before the discovery of Alzheimer’s disease.

For month’s uncle Love took care of her at home. Incident after incident warned him that she couldn’t stay by herself while he worked. One day the highway patrol called him and said they had picked her up, walking down the middle of a four-lane highway. She had a shopping bag, a few clothes in it, and said she was going from Decatur Alabama, to her home in South Carolina.

Uncle Love knew it was no longer possible to take care of her and he tearfully placed her in a nursing home. For over five years she was unable to give or contribute anything but sorrow and disappointment to him.

No, it wasn’t fair that he slept on the floor of her room until they could get him a small folding cot. He was well into his 80’s but he refused to leave her alone even for a day. No, it wasn’t fair that he felt he had to get someone to come stay with her while he made a quick trip to the barber and took care of some business.

There was nothing fair about the days that rolled into months and years as he sat by her bedside and fed her. Every day he read the bible and other literature to a silent, sad and unresponsive woman. She didn’t look pretty anymore with her hair cut off and her total unconcern for her appearance. But, it didn’t seem to matter as he loved her by cheerfully holding her hand, laughed and kissed her.

It wasn’t fairness that kept him by her bedside every day for over five years. It was love. When she died he seemed strangely comforted by the fact that he had never forsaken her or stopped loving her. Just one month after we buried her we had the sad experience of coming back to attend his funeral.

Remembering them is like panning for gold. I don’t think much about what was fair or unfair. I wash those memories around and around and in the pan and I can see mixed in with the rough brown sand bright flashes of sunshine on the pure gold of unselfish love.

A bargain of mutual self-interest would have never survived the trials of their life together. But their love for each other was strong enough to suffer long “with kindness”. They both had it and life gave each of them a special time to use it.

(Ist Cor 13:4) “Love suffers long and is kind.”

I'VE NEVER BEEN AFRAID

Looking at this old picture taken in 1961 I remember some very rough traveling. I flew out of Manila in the Phillipines about sundown. My destination was Jakarta Indonesia. This long boring flight was made bareable by being invited into the cockpit to ride with the flight crew. We dodged thunder storms, and finally about midnight arrived in Jakarta.

The missionary I was going to visit didn't get my cable, and I found that all the hotel rooms were taken in the city by politicians. So, I found a small empty room with no ceiling, put my foot against the door, with my hand on my luggage and went to sleep.

I woke up about five o'clock in the morning, finally found someone who spoke English, and decided to take a bus ride 180 kilometers to Bandung. The English speaking man in the airport told a taxi driver to take me to the bus stop and we drove for several miles in the pitch dark through the back streets of Jakarta. I couldn't speak a word of their language as he found the bus stop and told the bus driver where I wanted to go. I got on the bus and rode up and down moutains at a snails pace until about 3:30 that afternoon I got off of the bus in Bandung and made this picture.

I hired a horse drawn cart and showed the driver the address of the Missionary. After a hour of wondering about - back and forth across town I was tired, out of sorts, and frustrated. I was talking too loud to the poor driver who was obviously lost and a man came out of a house and asked me in perfect English if I need some help.

To my great relief he told the driver exactly where I need to go. I got out of the cart in front of my Missionary friends house...went inside and let his 18 year old son go out and haggle with the driver about his fee.

Thinking back over this and many other dangerous events in my life I know I was often in constant danger. Yet I was never afraid. Why not?

There’s no ice water in my veins and I have a healthy respect for danger­ous situations. In traveling all over the world I’ve hung on for dear life to a log chain thrown around the middle of an elephant as its driver plunged us through a rainy jungle in Burma. Flying small air­planes across Mexico and Central America was hairy at times. But the nameless and faceless dread; the numbing anxiety and the fear of danger lurking every­where has not been a problem for me.

I know it has something to do with my early experiences with prayer. As a young boy I was full of mischief and a lot of people were giv­ing odds that I wouldn’t make it to my next birthday. My love of excitement and the willingness to try new things had already caused me a fair amount of trouble. My parents were con­stantly warning me about possible dangers.

My mother had her hands full with three boys and a girl. We had all of the usual trauma of cuts, dislocated arms, severe abrasions from bicycle wrecks and even a near drowning. But my mother had a firm, unshakable be­lief in prayer and several times I was a first hand participant in those prayers.

Like the time I went skating with my cousin Rex. We lived in a very small southern town and every day was a challenge for nine-year-old boys to find some­thing to do. Some of our solutions to that problem sounded pretty dangerous to my parents. They didn’t approve of climbing the tree beside the house and jumping on to the roof or going to the river to swim.

My mother had told us not to leave the house that day but the in­sects were playing their mad July song, the sun was hot and we needed something to do. When she took a nap, like convicts breaking out of prison, we care­fully slipped out of the yard to skate down the long streets be­tween our house and the school. We knew she wouldn’t allow us to do that but we promised each other to look out for cars. Anyway, we planned to be back be­fore she missed us.

There wasn’t a breeze anywhere as we grabbed our skates and ran down the street. When we were sure we were far enough away so mother couldn’t hear us we strapped on our skates. The streets were lined with huge oak trees that made a cool green canopy over the road during the long hot summer days. We felt pure pleasure as we skated along in the cool shade.

Going down those long winding streets was tremendously excit­ing because one hill in particular was so steep you built up quite a bit of speed on the way to the bottom. We laughed and teased one another as we skated our way to the steep hill. Then we took a deep breath and started down.

Just as we reached the bottom of the hill my cousin was on one side of the street and I was on the other. Our skates were making so much noise we didn’t hear the car coming up behind us. The woman who was driving said later she didn’t see us until she rounded the curve and then it was too late to stop.

She was standing on the brakes and trying to steer between us when suddenly I decided to turn around. She watched in horror as I turned in front of the right fender of her car - felt the bump as she hit me and saw me go down under the front of the car. Then she felt the wheel lift up as it went over me.

When the car stopped all I could hear was her screaming. She was sure she had killed me. Even today after 66 years the events are indelibly imprinted in my mind. It was like a slow motion movie. I felt the impact of the car, felt myself going down, and felt the car wheel roll over my legs. It was a strange sensation be­cause I felt no pain. Then I re­member vividly my skates getting caught in the undercarriage of the car just behind the right front wheel. I remember thinking about the possibility of the rear wheel running over me but instead I was dragged along until the car stopped.

I un­tangled my skates when the car stopped and crawled out. Then someone carried me to the doctor’s office just a few blocks away. It would be dramatic if I could talk about how scared I was but that wouldn’t be true. I knew I was going to be fine. In a short time the doctor dismissed me. He said I had some bruises but no seri­ous injuries. In less than an hour I was walking around the back yard at home.

A little later the woman who had hit me had regained her compo­sure and came to talk to my mother. I was asked to come inside so she could be sure I was all right. In express­ing her concern and amazed relief that I was all right she said: “You son is one lucky little boy.”

“No honey,” my mother said, “It wasn’t luck. I woke up shortly after they left and felt a sudden urge to pray for them. At the precise time of the ac­cident I was urgently pray­ing for God to pro­tect them both.” My mother laughed with happiness. “It was the angel of the Lord that saved him.”

“Yes,” the woman said, “I can certainly agree with that.”

The only physical problems I suf­fered were in the back of my ankles. The tendons in my heels were ex­tremely sensitive for years after that experience. Just a bump against the legs of a chair was enough to remind me of my sin of disobedience and also of God’s ten­der care and mercy. I had no problems walking or running and eventually I recovered completely from those minor prob­lems.

Because my mother has such a firm belief that God was always available to protect and help us, I’ve been spared a lifetime of needless anxiety. Truthfully, in a dangerous situation I was usually so busy trying to work it out, that it just never occurred to me that I might not make it. I also had a firm, rock solid knowledge that God had called me, and my life was in his hands.

Many of my own prayers have been answered in a spectacular way and that has also shaped my thinking. I must confess that often my prayers are not answered and I learned to accept the fact that God knew something I didn’t and there was no reason to worry about it. I’ve lived my whole life with a calm assur­ance that every­thing would come out all right in the end.

Just recently some­one asked me why I’ve been so adventurous and un­afraid. I had never really thought about it before but then it suddenly seemed very clear to me. It’s an unshakable knowledge given to me by my mother’s prayers that God is al­ways available when we need him. And no matter what happens, nothing can separate me from his goodness and love.

Thank you for your generous donations

I love helping people. I earned a Master's degree in Psychology and a Doctorate in Theology. I've been an ordained Christian Minister for over 60 years. I've read thousands of books and at one time was an editor for the Haggai Institute.

As the Founder and Director of Christian Ministries I've often recommended books I knew would be helpful to people in counseling. I'm looking for a way to supplement our miniscule social security check.

If you want to help support this website and help us continue our diverse and wide ranging ministry, you can use the link in the sidebar to make all your purchases from Amazon.com. The small sellers fee I receive will be greatly appreciated.

Here are a few of my favorite books:



I like this book because according to the Wall Street Journal, "this book has once and for all demolished Darwin's Theory of Evolution".




Compassion and Self Hate is one of my all time favorite books. Dr. Rubin's book is excellent because it clearly shows the way to a healthy normal life. He reveals his own personal struggles and how he overcame them.

C. S. Lewis wrote many excellent books but my favorite is God in the dock. Especially the chapter called, Have we no right to happiness? That chapter alone makes the book worthwhile.



I hope these three books will get you started. If you have a reader on your Christmas list and would like to know what type of book to get for under the tree, send me an e-mail.

For me, reading is the only hobby I truly enjoy.

CHRISTMAS LOVE AND COMPASSION

The Christmas story in the Bible is all about love, compassion, selfishness and hatred. Long ago I came to realize that "compassion" is the key to heaven. The 25th Chapter of Matthew records the words of Jesus in which he made it absolutely clear that "compassion or indifference" will take us to heaven or hell. Jesus also gave us the same message in Luke 16:20-31.

Here's a story I've had for years. It touches me every time I read it. I'll let you decide if it touches your heart and moves you to acts of kindness.

As she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children an untruth. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same. However, that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard.

Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he did not play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath. In addition, Teddy could be unpleasant. It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X’s and then putting a big “F” at the top of his papers.

At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child’s past records and she put Teddy’s off until last. However, when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise.

Teddy’s first grade teacher wrote, “Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners. He is a joy to be around.”

His second grade teacher wrote, “Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle.”

His third grade teacher wrote, “His mother’s death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best, but his father doesn’t show much interest, and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren’t taken”

Teddy’s fourth grade teacher wrote, “Teddy is with drawn and doesn’t show much interest in school. He doesn’t have many friends and he sometimes sleeps in class.”

By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy’s. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got from a grocery bag. Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one-quarter full of perfume.

But she stifled the children’s laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist.

Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to say, “Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mom used to.”

After the children left, she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she quit teaching reading, writing and arithmetic. Instead, she began to teach children. Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy.

As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class and, despite her lie that she would love all the children the same, Teddy became one of her “teacher’s pets.”

A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her that she was the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his life.

Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he’d stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best and favorite teacher he had ever had in his whole life.

Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor’s degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little longer The letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, MD.

The story does not end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he had met this girl and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit at the wedding in the place that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom.

Of course, Mrs. Thompson did. And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. Moreover, she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together.

They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson’s ear, “Thank you Mrs. Thompson for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference."

Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said, “Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn’t know how to teach until I met you.”

This warm and tender story is a work of fiction. The original story, which first appeared in significantly different form in the magazine Home Life in 1976, was written by Elizabeth Silance Ballard (now Elizabeth Ungar) and called "Three Letters from Teddy." The main character's name was Teddy Stallard, not Teddy Stoddard.

The powerful truth is that the only Stoddard connected with Iowa Methodist Hospital in Des Moines was John D. Staddard, an engineer, and real estate developer who amassed a fortune. No member of his family had ever had cancer. He often said that the reason he worked so hard to make money was to have more to give away.

In 1990, his keen interest in medical care and compassion for others compelled him to support Iowa Methodist Medical Center’s new cancer center with a $4 million gift. In recognition of his generosity, the center was named the John Stoddard Cancer Center.

He gained a sense of satisfaction that came from supporting a facility specifically designed to offer feelings of life, health and hope. John was always a fervent ambassador for the center, spreading his enthusiasm for the new and emerging technology, expert cancer researchers and care givers, and personalized family-centered care.

John said, "Once you see the center, once you see the remarkable work that’s being done, that’s what really motivates you to give. There’s such an attitude of hope." Through his ongoing gifts to the center, as well as significant provisions made in his estate plan, John Stoddard’s spirit of hope will continue to benefit cancer patients and their families for generations to come.

John Stoddard died in 1998 after a brief struggle with cancer.

Tomorrow? Just “do it”. Random acts of kindness, I think they call it! “Believe in Angels, miracles, mercy and then return the favor.”

CHRISTIANITY / RELIGION

Many years ago I preached my way around the world and visited this great image of Buddha in Kamakura Japan. It was the beginning of a trip that allowed me to see many of the worlds religions up close and personal. To talk about this subject we need a common definition of both religion and Christianity.

Religion involves having a belief in a divinely created world, faith in a creed - a formal statement of religious belief, obedience to a moral code set down in sacred scriptures and participation in community religious life.

I soon discovered that a large number of Japanese didn't have a religion that fit my definition. Shinto has no system of doctrine, no creed, and no formulated religious ideas. It is fundamentally concerned with expressing wonder, respect, and awe for everything that exists. This concern involves treating everything as if it were a person. In other words, having an independent life of its own. This must never be taken for granted. In a walk up a mountain trail I saw this Shinto shrine.

I was curious about the white paper strips tied to the branches of this tree. I discovered that they were prayers placed there by people who believe that the wind would blow them away and somehow....their prayers might be answered.

Shinto as practiced in Japan is not a religion. The Japanese word shin is spirit only in the most vague meaning. In the view of Shinto, every rock, tree, animal, and stream has its own shin or kami. (God or Goddess) The kami [divine] + kaze [wind] came from the legendary name of a typhoon that in 1281 saved Japan by destroying the invasion of the Mongol navy. Kamikaze “divine wind” was bad for Japan’s enemies. So, during the Second World War it became the name of young Japanese suicide pilots who crashed their bomb loaded planes into U.S. Navy ships.

Before I made this trip I studied every major religion in the world, and many of the thousands of variations of the Christian faith in America. I wanted to know the truth and was willing to accept it wherever I found it. On this trip I saw Buddhist priest spinning prayer wheels that were keep spinning night and day for years. I also saw many people apparently praying in the world's largest and most famous Buddhist temple in the world - the Shwee DaGong in Rangoon Burma.

The great question was: "Who were they praying to?" No, it couldn't be Siddhartha Gautama, the first Buddha who reached Nirvana after 533 reincarnations. Nirvana means "to cease to exist...to escape the endless cycle of "Birth, pain, suffering, sorrow and death." The concept is like blowing out a candle. "Poof" it's gone. Having reached Nirvana Siddhartha Gautama couldn't hear or answer their prayers.

Just outside one of the four entrance ways to the top of the worship area I noticed this small pond and a vendor selling popcorn balls. People would buy one and throw it into the pond near the small pagoda where they were eaten by "catfish." Perhaps they believed that everything may be a god or sacred?

Years ago when I would show these pictures people would talk about how weird, strange and foolish these people were. Yet here in America we've got a huge number of churches where all kinds of foolish, unscriptural and false concepts are preached and believed by people who know very little about true Christianity.

My mother took me to one of those kind of churches when I was a little boy. When I was eleven years old I was totally uninterested in the church. I loved airplanes and wanted to be a pilot. God had other plans for me and for three long weeks I struggled with an encounter with the Lord. No one knew about my struggle....I cried, prayed, and tried to avoid him, but finally I couldn't bear the overwhelming presence and made a covenant with God on a Wednesday night at home in the bed by myself. I would give up my ambitions and be a minister of the Gospel. I found peace, plenty of hard times, and rest for my soul.

I've had some spectacular and totally unexpected encounters with God all through my life. I have first hand knowledge that God is the Divine creator and can do anything that pleases him. I feel sad that I can't tell anyone how to have that experience. I see many good people who want to experience God's presence but have to walk by faith. I can only tell them that we are all part of the body of Christ.

First, the church is seen as the body of Christ; and a cluster of images exists in this context as emphasis falls on the head (Eph. 4:15-16), the members (1 Cor. 6:12-20), the body (1 Cor. 12:12-27), or the bride (Eph. 5:22-31). The church is also seen as God's new creation (2 Cor. 5:17), the new persons (Eph. 2:14-15), fighters against Satan (Eph. 6:10-20), or bearers of light (Eph. 5:7-9). Thirdly, the church is quite often described as a fellowship of faith with its members described as the saints (1 Cor. 1:2), the faithful (Col. 1:2), the witnesses (John 15:26-27), or the household of God (1 Pet. 4:17).

The preeminent characteristic of the church in the New Testament is devotion to Jesus Christ as Lord. He established the church under His authority (Matt. 16:13-20) and created the foundation for its existence in His redeeming death and demonstration of God's power in His resurrection. Christ's position as the Lord evoked, sustained, and governed the major characteristics of the life of the church in the way members were admitted, treated one another, witnessed to His power, worshiped, and lived in hope of His return.

The only way to understand this is to diligently study the Bible and especially the New Testament. I've been doing that for over 60 years, and find that I'm still growing in the Knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord. It bothers me that Pastors, Church board members, denominations and all the people who love power and authority proudly boast that "this is my church, my denomination, my ministry".

The night I surrendered my life to the Lord I got up and found an old Bible. I opened it and read: "(John 17:20-23 NIV) "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, {21} that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. {22} I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: {23} I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."

I wonder how that great prayer of Jesus can ever be answered?

IS THIS PROMISE MINE?

It is very doubtful that this young fellow will catch any fish no matter how much faith he has. Every Christian believes in faith---but knows that God decides which prayers to answer and those that must be ignored.

Years ago I was sitting at a table in a restaurant in Marion Indiana and noticed a place mat of advertising. Right in the center was a preacher I knew very well and he was holding a child. Under the picture of this highly successful charismatic minister was a message about prayer and fasting.

The message said: “Join us in prayer and fasting for two meals every Friday and send us the cost of those meals to feed the hungry”. Then it had his name. There was his large ministry logo and information on how to send the donation. There was also this quote from Isaiah 58:10-11:

“If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your desire with good things, and make your bones strong; and you will be like a spring of water, whose waters fail not”.

Something was troubling me about this appeal for money so I decided to read the whole chapter. This plea for money to feed the children was tied to an implied promise. There were no conditions, nothing to correct in their life - just give some money and be blessed. After all this is a quote from the Bible so it must be true.

Plucking these two verses out of the Bible makes it sound wonderful. There are dozens of different translations of the Bible and it’s easy to find the one that fits what we want it to say. In this case it’s carefully plucking these two verses out of the Revised Standard Version.

A lot of preaching today is picking and choosing the "good stuff." Anything that would make people feel bad (Old fashion Termonology would be "under conviction") is simply avoided. From Washington to top corporations greed, lying, cheating, and immorality is tolerated. Only the little people go to prison. Top level crooks are "pardoned" or told they have to go to bed in their lavish digs without any desert.

Even in the RSV the first verse of Isaiah 58 is a condemnation of their wicked behavior. “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins”. (Nope that verse won’t raise any money.) Isaiah 58:4 won’t do it either. “[4] Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high".

Unfortunately morality and Christian ethics have all but disappeared from the preaching and theology in American churches. The church has been too busy raising money, pursuing success (large crowds) and building churches that often cost millions of dollars. To be successful we must make people feel good. People give some money when they feel good. They don’t give if they feel bad.

If we read the whole chapter of Isaiah 58 we find some strong conditions and requirements both before this quote and after it. I’m not against feeding the hungry and helping the poor. I’ve done that for years. The Bible commands us to do both. What I question is the “motive for doing it.” We should obey God because it’s the right thing to do and not because we receive some benefit from it. Why did the Minister lift these two verses out of (Isaiah 58: verse 10 & 11) ?

I’m all for feeding hungry children, and Maggie and myself have raised thousands of dollars and given every cent of it to do just that. Years ago we took Doctors and Nurses and $40,000.00 worth of medicine to Iquitos Peru and used it all to treat poor people. We raised $1500.00 to drill the first deep well that gave pure clean drinking water to thousands of poverty stricken people including children.

The well was housed in a small building with an electrical pump, a storage tank in the top and provided clean, pure drinking water 24 hours a day. Eventually we had ten of these wells scattered all over town. We never used a dime of this money for our own needs. We believed it was a sacred trust to use it all for the poor especially the beautiful little children who were suffering.

I’m still troubled about a naked promise to bless anyone who gives to the poor. Abstract promises need to be applied to specific cases. Suppose a carnal-minded selfish church member who lies, is cheating everybody, and has just caused his church to disintegrate with bickering and fighting. He has disgraced the very name of God he utters so piously. He reads the ad and sends a little money to feed the hungry. Will he be blessed in this fantastic way? NOPE!

Would Jonah have been gloriously blessed on his way to Tarsus if he had stopped and given some money to feed the hungry? NO! Would Ananius and Shaphira have been spared their untimely death in Acts 5 if they had just given some money to feed the hungry before they lied to the Holy Spirit and Peter pronounced their doom? NOPE !

We know that sometimes obedience to God leads to suffering and death. Acts 5 is a great example of this painful truth. The apostles were jailed, flogged, threatened and persecuted for preaching the truth about Jesus. Doing the right things would eventually lead them to a painful death. Thank God their motive was simply to be obedient to Jesus Christ with or without rewards.

Those who only live right for the earthly and temporal benefits and blessings will have a terrible time when trouble comes. The true reward of virtue and integrity is…virtue and integrity. When we stand before God that’s all that will matter. It’s great to do the right thing just because you know it’s the right thing to do.

TRUTH - IS IT IMPORTANT?

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Every sensible person would have to say yes! We can all be seriously hurt by dishonesty and false information. Pilate had a problem with the “truth” before he allowed the Jews to Crucify Jesus.

(John 18:37 NIV) “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” {38} “What is truth?” Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him.”

The evening news would only last about five minutes if they left out all the stories about honest people being swindled, cheated, and robbed by crooks and corrupt corporations. Leave out the scandals, the daily report on murder, sex, perversion and corruption in our government and we could just skip the whole thing.

Would you believe Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad if he said there was no poverty or hunger in Africa? If he said he took this photo to prove it would you believe him?

(Photoshop can create any kind of picture.)

Normal people have someone talking to them every waking moment of their lives. This talk can be very upsetting, painful, creates depression, worry, anxiety and sleepless nights. Most of this talk is wickedly and painfully false. It can even cause bad dreams. Some of it is inspiring, and makes us feel great.

Where is this witches brew of pain and joy coming from? It comes from our marvelous and amazing brain. Just try to sit for five minutes and have no thoughts at all. Unless you are seriously ill and in a coma it can't be done.

With practice we can learn to reject and correct the false and disturbing thoughts that can make us miserable. These can be generated by the prefrontal lobes of the brain. The left side creates happy and cheerful emotions and the right side does the opposite.

The Bible makes it clear that "as a man thinketh - so is he." There's an interesting passage in (Phil 4:6-7 NIV) "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. {7} And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. {9} Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."

Sometimes we need to silence that voice in our head that is giving us all kinds of false ideas and bad advise. If we recorded everything we say in a day and then heard someone repeat it back to us - we would discover that we have been saying a lot of false things. The false things we say can make us miserable.

As a Christian Counselor for many years I've heard things like: "I can't control my temper." That's false. Everyone can do that in certain circumstances. Example: A man who slaps his wife and children around is pulled over by a Police Officer. He's really steamed about being stopped.

The officer walks to the door of his car and the man is meek, submissive and controls his temper remarkably well. The police officer is 6'4 inches tall, 275 pounds, not an ounce of fat, has a gun, billy club on his belt, handcuffs and could easily ruin our angry friend's life. So much for being unable to control his temper.

It interesting how well that voice in our heads can come up with all kinds of deception. Someone has a decent car but starts saying: "I NEED A NEW CAR." The truth is they "want" a new car but it's a clever false argument to say "I need a new (you fill in the blanks).

How many of these false statements in your head can you think of? Get rid of them. Here's a true or false test: "Is it ever God's will for you to set aside the needs of other to take care of yourself?" The correct answer is yes!

(Mark 6:30-32 NIV "The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. {31} Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." {32} So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place."

Godly motives say, "You are important and so am I. Jesus loves us -- and he loves us equally."