MISSIONARY PILOT BEGINS

For the March 9, 1929, dedication of the airport and inauguration of the Mexico City-New York airmail route, famed aviator Charles Lindbergh flew the first airmail from Mexico City to Brownsville Texas, escorted by Mexican government officials and military planes. The flight was 5 hours and 38 minutes long. Amelia Earhart was there and a crowd of 20,000 people greeted Lindbergh. The day-long celebration featured wing walking and other aerial feats. In Brownsville, Pan American Airways launched the first "blind-flying school," now called instrument flying, as part of its airport operation on the border.

I had never flown in Mexico, or the desert when I left Brownsville Texas for the five hundred mile flight to Torreon Mexico. I had nothing but primary flight instruments. There were no airports along the way, no cities or towns; no Omni radio stations, and No GPS or navigation equipment. I only had the map in my head. It’s called “Dead Reckoning” because if you don’t reckon right you will wind up dead. I learned to look at everything on the instruments and the ground because a slight wind could cause me to drift off course. My instructors had taught me to watch for anything on the ground that could show wind direction.

The trip took four hours and 17 minutes. It was March 20, 1964. That was 35 years after Lindbergh’s Mexico City to Brownsville trip. We both had about the same equipment but Lindbergh could turn slightly east and follow the coastline to Brownsville. I could turn anyway I chose and see nothing but endless desert and hundred of miles of nothing. I had to find the airport at Torreon before the forty gallons of gas in the two fuel tanks would be empty. The fuel gauges were bumping on empty when I landed at Torreon and I put 39 and a half gallons in the fuel tanks.

After some lunch I knew that I would have a problem getting over the mountains that surrounded Torreon. The elevation at Torreon airport is 3,280 feet and that plus the noonday heat would make it difficult to climb over the mountains. It took about 30 minutes of circling over the airport before I could climb over the mountains and start the long stretch to Durango. After several hours I was safely on the ground in Durango Mexico. My great friend and fellow Missionary Pilot Jerry Whitt picked me up at the airport. I was really glad to be on the ground in Durango.

The next day we wasted no time and planned a trip to a small village up in the mountains. There was a dirt runway at 8700 feet elevation and we decided that we could get in there with just enough fuel to make the trip with two people in each of our planes. We also needed to leave before11 o'clock because heat plus altitude would reduce the climbing ability of our planes. It's called "density altitude". In these remote areas any time a plane flys over or lands, you have plenty of company. While Jerry went into the village with a Government Doctor another Missionary pilot named Johnny gave these fellows an inspirational lesson from the Bible. I almost cried as I made this photo of them listening and knelling in the rocky dirt.

Jerry and the Doctor came back and told us a mother in the village was dying with encephalitis. It would take 17 hours by winding mountain roads to get her to the hospital. It would only take 30 minutes to fly her to Durango. It would mean flying back with three people in each plane. It was already getting hot, and we knew the risk of density altitude. With the extra weight it would be very difficult to get airborne.

We quickly made the decision to do what we knew had to be done. Jerry took off first with the sick mother and the Doctor in his plane. I watched as he struggled to get in the air, and for a moment went below the trees. He called me on the radio and said: "Lets get out of here. I'm O.K". With Johnny and the woman's husband in my plane I prayed a quick prayer and I took off. I knew the clearing was pretty long and curving but heard the stall warming repeatedly go off if I tried to gain a little Altitude.

I nursed the plane around the clearing...with the stall warning still going off. As the trees came up in front of me I remember my old instructor telling me how he put a plane in the top of some trees. I prayed a silent prayer and pulled the plane up over the trees at the end of the clearing and saw the mountain drop away. I put the nose down, gained some flying speed and we flew back to Durango. We used the radio to have an ambulance waiting at the airport. I quickly got out of my plane and made this photograph of Jerry, the Doctor with a towel around his neck, and the woman's anxious husband behind him.

It was very difficult to evangelize in Mexico. When we first landed in Los Chocos a man came running up the hill and tried to get the people to stone us and burn our planes. The people didn't listen to him because they knew an Army Comandante and a Doctor was in the village treating a very sick woman. This flight gave us some much needed protection from the Commandante of the Army post up in the mountains. He said: "Please come back any time to preach and help us. I'll see to it personally that no one bothers you".

BEING A MISSIONARY PILOT

Flying out of Durango Mexico we found a small dirt airstrip near a tiny village. We landed and was immediately surrounded with a crowd of people. They were eager to hear the gospel. On the right of the picture in a white shirt was Jerry Whitt a wonderful missionary pilot. His plane is parked behind mine.

I need to tell you how I became a Missionary Pilot.

I went to church with my mother for years and it was just old, boring stuff to me. By the time I was 11 years old I had my own dreams and it didn't include anything connected with the church. It was 1943 and all I wanted to do was to become an Army Air Corp Pilot. Unfortunately I was too young to do that. I loved airplanes and built dozens of models, some that flew and some static replica's of the real thing.

One evening in the bed by myself I had a strange, very strong presence (sorry I can't explain it any better...) come over me and I knew it was the Spirit of God. It would be impossible to describe the struggle that I had for the next three weeks. To my dismay I knew that God was speaking to me. No, not in an audible voice, but something like "thought transference". God had access to my mind I knew what he wanted from me.

He was calling me to give my life and heart to him and make a lifetime commitment to be a Minister of the gospel. Alone, without telling anyone what was happening, I wept, pleaded, struggled and kept saying NO! During the day and especially at night that "presence" would create so much anxiety in me that I wept. I grew up pretty much by myself and being very self-reliant during this time I never told anyone what was going on.

My Father was a good man who worked himself almost to death to feed, clothe and take care of 10 people in our family during the worst of the depression. I respected him but we were not "pals" or close to each other. He didn't have time to do anything but work, worry and take care of his large family. He didn't like the church my mother attended, and so he would stay home on Sunday and cook a wonderful meal for the family. He was a smart, intelligence and gifted man.

After struggling for weeks I heard a message from this powerful presence that was with me all the time. The message was: "If I didn't do something my Father would be lost". I had been to church enough to know what that meant. God knew how to break my heart.

I never told anyone why I surrendered my life to the Lord. Especially not my parents or family. It was something between God and me. I promised to give up all my desires, plans, and ambitions and spend my life as a Minister. I didn't know how I could do that, but I knew God would have to make it happen. My dream of being a pilot was part of what I had to surrender to God.

It's odd that I never told anyone, certainly not my Father what had happened to me. I had a solid covenant with God and that's all I needed. I would give him my life, and he would save my Dad. When I graduated from High School at 16 years old, my Dad asked me what I was going to do. He wanted me to go to college and become an Engineer. When I told him I was going to be a Minister he became very angry.

I wasn't angry. I just felt sad because I couldn't do what he wanted me to do and I couldn't tell him why. A few months later I left home without knowing where I was going. I had nothing but a few clothes, my Bible, and $2.37 cents in my pocket. I would somehow become a Minister.

I'll skip lots of the story and fast forward to 1962. My wife Maggie and I were leaving a wonderful church we pastored in Indiana and many loving people who have remained our friends for over 45 years. I moved to Atlanta with very little money and started another church. I had learned like the Apostle Paul, to work at a variety of jobs to put food on the table. One day after long hours of hard work I was driving down the South Expressway to Griffin when God was suddenly talking to me again.

God told me to turn in to the South Expressway Airport - which was just ahead of me, and buy an Airplane. He was going to send me to the Mission field as a Missionary Pilot. I didn't have enough money in my pocket to buy a meal much less an airplane. I had learned not to question or argue with God so I found myself talking to John Galloway, the operator of the airport. I picked out an airplane...a Cessna Skyhawk 7504x and told John I wanted to buy it. He said: Fine! How do you want to pay for it?

I told him I didn't know, I didn't have any money. John was an old retired Air Force Captain and he laughed and said: "Well, Preacher, come back when you've got the money." I said: "Don't sell that Airplane because I'll be back for it in a few day."

The next day I was working as a graphic artist to keep us fed, and I prayed silently. "O.K. God, where are you going to get the $9,250.00 to buy that airplane?" I got an immediate reply. After a rebuke for my impertinent prayer God said: "Call a man in Marion Indiana and tell him to buy the plane for you." I had never in my life ever done anything like that. That night I called a former member and wonderful friend and told him timidly...."Harold, God spoke to me and told me to buy an airplane and be a missionary pilot. Will you pray with me about it."

"Nope..." he said. I won't do that". Now I was shocked! He said: "God spoke to me a month ago to buy an airplane for a missionary and I've just been waiting for you to call so I would know which plane to buy. I'll send you a check in the morning". A few days later I bought the plane and John Gallaway who ran the airport was shocked when I told him the story. So was everyone else. Including me.

God didn't tell me I couldn't learn to fly. I had worked at the Airport in Lanett Alabama and Fred Robinson gave me flying lessons before I finished high school. Fred was the best instructor I could have ever had. He sent Charles Lindberg to South Georgia many years before to buy an old "jenny" and to learn to fly. He fixed Amelia Airheart's Lockheed Vega at Candler Field in Atlanta. Fred helped design the B-29 during the Second World War, and taught the pilots how to fly them. He was a tough and hard instructor in the air, but he turned into a warm and kind friend on the ground.

When I bought the plane I started working with the best instructor pilots I could find. I needed to know a lot about terrain flying, dead reckoning navigation and high density altitude. Night flying, instrument flying, careful preparation for each flight were just a few of the things I knew I needed to stay alive. Often when flying I could hear in my mind the voices of my first instructor Fred Robinson, and many other wonderful Instructor pilots telling me what to do.

I was filled with joy and amazement as I flew all over the States, preaching and raising money for the Mission trips. I couldn't believe it. I had my own airplane. God called on me to give up being a Military Pilot and then gave me the opportunity to fly and preach the gospel in Mexico, Guatamala and Honduras.

Albert Einstien when he was living in America and had learned to speak english said: "God is strict - but he ain't mean". That certainly fits my case. With God's help I had many amazing and wonderful experiences as a Missionary Pilot.

I'll give you more of the story in the next blog.

HOW WAS JESUS SUPPORTED?

Jesus worked in Joseph's carpenter shop from the time he was twelve years old until he began his ministry at the age of thirty. You can read the story of the early life of Jesus in Luke Chapter two.

At twelve years old after being missing for three days they found him asking questions and talking about the Law of God with the experts. (Luke 2:46-47 KJV) "And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. {47} And all that heard him were astonished at his understand and answers."

After a mild scolding by Mary Luke tells us -- (Luke 2:51 NIV) "Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart."

All kinds of questions run through my mind. Did Jesus see and hear the "haggling" over price in the carpenter's shop? Did he witness the struggle for Joseph to make enough money to support them? It was the custom for a son to learn a trade and eventually support his family. Usually this was to take over the business when the Father was too old to carry on.

Was Jesus a master carpenter? When Jesus started his Ministry they still called him just a carpenter. (Mark 6:23 NIV) "When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. "Where did this man get these thing?" they asked. "What's this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! {3} Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him."

There's no record that he ever asked for money, or took an offering, or became wealthy. He didn't have to beg. The record does show that Godly people looked after him and supplied his needs. What an amazing thing to have cared for and supplied the needs of the Son of God!

So how did he live for the next three and a half years? We have a clue when Jesus sent out his disciples to preach the gospel. In Matthew 12 his disciples were hungry and went into a corn field, plucked some of the corn and ate it. Of course, the Pharisee's had a cow about the desciples of Jesus doing something unlawful on the Sabboth day, but Jesus told them that according to their own law it was legal for them to do so. (They had many rules or excuses for breaking the law of Moses)

Is the answer because Jesus could work miracles? Jesus took a little boy's lunch of five barley loaves, and two small fishes and fed a multitude. (You will only find the fact that it was a little boy's lunch in John 6:9) Matthew, Mark and Luke are called the snoptic gospels. A blended view. The gospel of John stands alone and gives us many facts not found in the snoptic gospels.

We have to go back to the snoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke to find out that Jesus took five loaves and two small fishes and fed five thousand men, and all the women and children present. Then they gathered up twelve baskets full of leftovers. From Jesus our Lord we have learned the joy of working and giving.

What a day !!! (He never did that again.)

Why not? Miracles are rare occurances. I don't know of anyone who can produce a miracle. Only God can do that.

With such great power why did he borrow the "ass and colt" to ride into Jerusalem? (Matthew 21:2-3) We all know that if we promise people "easy and plentiful miracles" they will come by the thousands. We also know that often they leave disappointed.

Why didn't Jesus do that? People come to God not when they are full, but when they are empty. We get serious about finding God when we are in desperate need. Do I believe in Miracles? Yes! I've experienced many powerful and humanly impossible and inexplicable things in my life. When they happen I am totally amazed.

When Jesus sent his disciples out to preach the gospel he gave them these instructions. (Mat 10:9-16 NIV) "Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; {10} take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep. {11} "Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. {12} As you enter the home, give it your greeting. {13} If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. {14} If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. {15} I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. {16} I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves."

My wife and I have lived by this principal for almost 60 years. We have often had only what we needed to preach and teach the gospel. We now live on our combined Social Security of $890.00 a month. How do we do that and still print full color booklets, make CD's and give them to needy people that we meet each day? Many Godly people have helped us and met our needs, and only eternity will reveal how we have all been blessed by being laborers together.

Paul wrote to the Phillipians: (Phil 4:12-13 NIV) "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. {13} I can do everything through him who gives me strength."

As Ordained Ministers for over 60 years we still keep Christian Ministries going. God provides the opportunity and we pray for and encourage those we meet each day. What a joy it is to remember those who helped us and made it possible for us to "give CD's and booklets" to troubled people. We remember each morning as we pray together all the special friends who provide for our needs. What a joy and blessing it is to the people in need of his love.

GOOD AND EVIL

(Mat 27:41-42 NIV) "In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. {42} "He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him."

A man who had lost his son in Iraq said: "Where was God when my son was dying?" His pastor gently asked: "Where was God when his own son was dying?" We need to understand that God can do anything, but not without consequences.

Millions believe that if we pray with faith, God must answer our prayers. They quote 41 verses from the gosple like: (Mat 17:20 NIV) "He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

The word Faith is mentioned 245 Times in the New Testament in similar verses like this one. Wonderful! Now we can pray and God will work miracles for us as we do anything we please.

The "gospel of Faith" is used by thousands of Preachers to generate millions for their support. They promise "miracles and blessing" if the suffering saints will send them very large offerings. All of the gimics, silly cheap tricks they use to keep their banks accounts overflowing and their corporate jets flying will one day be judged by God.

Desperate people who know very little about Jesus and his ministry are willing to gamble anything in the hopes of being healed, blessed or lifted out of poverty. It's a "very sad religious lottery" as they send in money they can't afford to loose.

HERE'S A TEST! Take anything you want from God and pray this prayer. "Lord, this is what I want and I don't care what you think about it. I want what I want even if it is contrary to your will."

If you feel a little uncomfortable with that it may be because you read the prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Luke 22:44 describes his agony by saying "And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

Jesus is praying about his coming crucifixion. "(Mat 26:39 NIV) "Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."

Jesus used the phrase 41 times... "He that sent me..." Often Jesus talked about the "Father who sent me". Nothing was more important to Jesus than to do the will of his heavenly Father. Here's just one of them.

(John 5:30 NIV) "By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me." (John 6:38 NIV) "For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me."

Our Heavenly father can see the consequences of everything we ask of him. He can see the future and know exactly what will bless us or bring pain and sorrow into our lives. Prayer is not weak. The real prayer of faith is powerful. So God decides which prayers to answer and which to delay or reject.

It's interesting that as the agony of the Cross was about to end Jesus quoted this passage from the Psalms. (Mat 27:46 NIV) "About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"--which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

No, it wasn't the 23rd Psalms. Most people quote that when they are in trouble. It was (Psa 22:1 NIV) "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" If we read this entire Psalm we see that it describes exactly what Jesus was enduring on the cross for us.

For many years I've prayed like this: "Father, this is what I want. But you can see the future and I can't. So I want your will to be done in my life". God listens to our prayers and we need to keep praying.

There much more to this subject. I'm going to continue it on my Bible Study Blog. I'm going to explain the Bible concept of good and evil. (Go up to the link on the left side of this page and click on (Ken's Bible Study)

Keep praying with a sincere heart. God does answer prayer.

A BALONEY SANDWICH

After the resurrection of Jesus, Peter talked the other disciples into going fishing with him. You can read about it in John 21:3. Well, they didn’t catch anything but early the next morning they saw someone on the beach with bread and fish on the fire.

Incredibly it was Jesus, our resurrected Lord, who had fixed breakfast for them. Jesus told them how to make a record breaking catch. When they all got to the shore he told them in John 21:10 to bring some of their fish they had just caught and put it with his.

Bob Benson, was the son of John Benson who created the largest Music Publishing house in the world in Nashville. He was our friend and his son Bob was in the ministry. In a wonderful book called “See you at the house” Bob tells a story that is perfect for this Bible story. He recalled an old fashion Sunday school picnic.

He said as a young boy, he came home at the last minute and rushed into the kitchen to get his stuff ready. All he could find in the refrigerator was one dried up piece of baloney and just enough mustard in the bottom of the jar so he got it all over his knuckles trying to get to it. He pasted that brick together and tore out for the picnic.

When it came time to eat he sat at a table and spread out his sandwich. The lady next to him was a wonderful cook and she had fried chicken, baked beans, potato salad and homemade rolls, sliced tomatoes, pickles and celery. Then in the middle of that she had two big chocolate cakes with icing so thick you could have build a house with it.

She leaned over to him and said: “You know Bob, we just love baloney sandwiches. Why don't we just put it all together?” He made a feeble protest and said he couldn’t—all the time eyeing the fried chicken and chocolate cake.

After a little urging he gave in and sat there eating like a king when he came like a pauper. Bob said it finally dawned on him that God was saying that same thing to him. “Let’s take what you’ve got and what I have and put it together.” Bob said, that’s a bargain of a lifetime.

You know, there are lots of people who are running through life clutching their dumb bag with that stale baloney sandwich. They are half-starved and yet hanging on for dear life to “their” baloney sandwich. They are saying: “God’s not going to get my sandwich! No sir...this is mine.”

Well, when you can’t stand your tasteless and tough baloney sandwich any longer just remember - it doesn’t have to be that way. God doesn’t need your sandwich, but you need his feast. It’s such a great blessing and joy to share with God and all the folks around us. Remember, you’ve been invited to something better.

John Benson built the biggest religious music company in the world in Nashville Tennessee. (Benson Publishing Company) He was a multimillionaire and at the top of the music business.

He invited us to come to his house one morning when someone had stolen Maggie’s song. He fixed that problem and was very kind to us. His son, Bob Benson, felt called to the ministry. He wrote this story in a book he published called “See you at the House.” He died in his early thirties.

FEELING INADEQUATE?

I love the old comic strip depicting Lucy, Charlie Brown and Linus lying in a field, looking up at the bright white clouds in an azure blue sky. Lucy asks Linus, “what do you see?”

Linus replies, “That cloud looks like a profile of Beethoven. Those clouds look like an outline of the blue Azores. And those clouds remind me of Saul of Tarsus holding the cloak of Stephen as he was being stoned.”

Then Lucy turns to Charlie Brown and asks, “And Charlie Brown, what do you see?”
And Charlie Brown says, “I was going to say I saw a ducky and a doggy . . . but I've changed my mind."

THE FEAR OF FAILURE HAUNTS US ALL.

Most Christian church members know the story of Moses pretty well. Pharaoh’s daughter rescued baby Moses from the river. She happened to be a banker and went down to the river and drew out a little prophet. (Yes, I know it’s bad…)

You can start with Exodus 2:10 and read the whole story about Moses. He was the most important person in the long history of Israel. In the New Testament Jesus took Peter, James and John up to a mountaintop where he was transfigured before them. Two people came down from heaven to talk with Jesus about his coming suffering and crucifixion. Moses and Elijah. From excuses to astonishing competence – that was the life of Moses. Moses is quoted Eighty times in the New Testament.

Yet when God called him to lead he gave more excuses than a dog has fleas. Talk about the lack of self-confidence…. Moses was pathetic. He started with not being young enough (he was 80 years old) and worked down from there.

God said: “Moses, your physical capabilities and your handicaps are my doing. Your limitations are my problem I’ll take care of them. Don’t plead inadequacy as an excuse for disobedience.”

This has been proven over and over again in history. People, in spite of handicaps and in spite of adversity, have accomplished far more than humanly speaking we thought they could.

Take Beethoven, for example. He was totally deaf during the last 8 years of his life but it was during that tragic period that he wrote his Ninth Symphony, often acclaimed as his greatest musical work. Yet, he never heard it.

A horribly deformed dwarf-like cripple named Charles Steinbeck became one of the outstanding electrical geniuses of all time. He held patents on over 100 inventions, and he did this during his tenure as a consulting engineer with the General Electric Company. This pitiful little man did most of his work half standing and half leaning on a stool. An indomitable will guided him to accomplishments seldom matched by others in perfect health.

Or consider John Milton, one of England’s greatest poets. He wrote his magnificent epic, Paradise Lost, after some 10 or 12 years of total blindness. Through a spirit of determination seldom equaled in the annals of literature, he was able to turn tragedy into triumph. His well-known sonnet on his blindness illustrates his feeling of responsibility toward God who made him, and endowed him with such magnificent genius:

We couldn’t and shouldn’t try to do things we were not called to do. However, if we know that God is calling us to do more than we ever dreamed possible then we must allow him to make it happen.

How human it is to make excuses. Excuses are evidence of unbelief. For if we truly believed God has called us to greater things then we need to step forward and salute our Command-in-Chief, and say, Yes Sir! What’s next?

WHAT'S IN YOUR HAND MOSES? (Exo 4:2-7 NIV)

“Then the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. {3} The LORD said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. {4} Then the LORD said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand.

{5} “This,” said the LORD, “is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.” {6} Then the LORD said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was leprous, like snow. {7} “Now put it back into your cloak,” he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.”

Are you a housewife and a mother? You’ve got pots and pans and children created in the image of God. If you are a nurse you’ve got a thermometer, or a syringe, or a Bedpan. If you are a secretary, you’ve got a pencil, a steno pad, and a computer keyboard. Are you a physician? You’ve got a stethoscope, or an X-ray, or a Scalpel.
Are you a teacher? You’ve got a textbook, and some chalk, and a wall full of charts, and a head full of knowledge, and a room full of children waiting to blossom like flowers. Are you a businessman? You’ve got management skills, and financial acumen, and commercial opportunity.

However if God calls you to be more than you ever dreamed you could be then you must obey. God is not looking for experts. God is not looking for supermen and super-women. God is not looking for uncommonly strong and resourceful people. God is looking for people who will take what they have in their hands and put it at his disposal.

How about using what you have to do more than you ever dreamed you could do?

RECEIVING THE GIFT

The giving of gifts whether we like it or not are an integral part of the Christmas Holidays. I think children know more about this than adults. We need to think back and try to remember Christmas when we were young enough to enjoy it.

It's curious that in almost 60 years of being a minister I can't remember anyone but children coming to me and saying "I want to give a special Christmas gift to Jesus." For all too many people Jesus is not on their gift list.

Yet his gift to us was the greatest gift the world could have possibly received. For most people the day after Christmas is a crowded mess - taking back all the unwanted things we received. The mad scramble by retailers to sell us everything imaginable has now been replaced with trying to take back the unwanted stuff.

The first bible verse most children learn describes God's greatest gift to us. It's (John 3:16 NIV) "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

John explains this magnificent gift in John 1:9: "The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will but born of God. The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

We desperately needed this great gift of God's son. When Christ came to earth as God's greatest gift it was a sad unhappy world much like today. There was grinding poverty for most people and only the patricians, kings and nobility had money for luxuries. No one had the answer for the horrible problems that plagued mankind".

Men were ruled by force; there were no inherent rights of man; the bill of rights had not been created yet and men lived or died by the up or down position of an emperor's thumb. There were no court of appeals or justice.

There was little concern about justice, people were chattel, bought and sold; hospitals were for the rich, and there were no old folks homes. To make matters totally repulsive - all too often church was a haven for oppressive, self-righteous, religious rogues.

A GIFT MUST BE RECEIVED FROM THE GIVER

In Matthew 2:11 the Magi brought gifts to Jesus. Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. Consider the three stages in this story - Vision, Submission, and Expensive Consecration.

To accept the gift you must accept the giver. Clearly we must make a commitment to heed the teaching of Jesus. Millions will tell us that decision changed their lives.

Obviously during the birth, earthly ministry and death of Jesus Christ there were many people who fell into three categories.

There were those who heard the evidence, saw it with their own eyes and believed. Their belief was in the form of a definite commitment to become his follower, and knowing the opposition by the religious leaders, they were accepting the risk of persecution and death. They accepted the hard commands of his teachings.

There were others who decided to stand aside, to take no position at all. They were the onlookers and the bystanders who were interested, thought his unorthodox teaching and preaching was interesting, even perhaps true, but decided to do nothing.

The innkeeper was one of these. His life was full and busy..and so he missed the gift because he didn't know God was knocking on his door. All he saw was a pregnant mother and a man with a donkey. "Oh, Lord," he probably thought. "Another problem. Go away, I don't have any room for you."

Then there were those who because of what he taught rejected him. It was in direct conflict with what they wanted to do, or were doing, so they decided to become his enemy. They were the active unbelievers who put him to death.

They cloaked their monstrous sin with the respectability of the letter of the law while all the time tearing the spirit of the law to bits. They didn't crucify him, the others did. They only sat by and watched him die. But they were glad in their heart that he was gone. He had made them feel uncomfortable and disturbed their pleasant life.

So they missed the greatest gift on earth and didn't receive it.

Years ago as the moving truck was ready to leave Marion Indiana and bring our furniture to Atlanta, a wonderful friend walked up and returned a book to me. He had been a friend for four years and has remained a great friend for over 45 years.

He said: "I'm returning the book you loaned to me and frankly I didn't get much out of it. However, you may get something out of page 58." When he left I put the book in a box and we drove to Atlanta.

A few weeks later I was sweating over money, wondering how in the world we would buy groceries, where I could find some work and I thought about Harold.

I remembered his parting words to me. Out of curiosity I looked for the books and finally found it. I turned to page 58 and found a check for $500.00. To say that I was overjoyed is to put it mildly. It was the answer to my prayers. I was blessed because I finally received the gift.

To accept the gift of God you must accept the giver, and you must make a commitment to heed the teaching of the Savior. Wouldn't it be a great time to do that when we celebrate his birth?

THE MESSAGE OF CHRISTMAS

A minister was struggling to prepare a Christmas sermon and was interrupted by a crisis at the church home for emotionally disturbed children. Most of the children had gone home for an overnight visit and the few left reacted poorly to the empty beds and changed routines.

Tommy was upstairs under a bed and refused to come out. First the minister tried talking to the cowboys on the bedspread. No response. Then fretting at the time this was costing, he dropped to his knees and lifted the bedspread. Tommy's big 8-year-old eyes looked sadly moist.

It would have been easy to pull him out from under the bed, but what Tommy needed was a reason that made sense to his lonely 8 year old heart. So the minister got down on the floor and wiggled in beside Tommy, talked for a few minutes and then laid his head on the floor in silence.

As he waited a small cold hand reached over and took his hand. After a bit the minister said: "Tommy, let's you and me go out where we can stand up..." And so they did, but slowly and in no hurry...because the preacher had his Christmas sermon.

God called us from far above...with stars, mountains, creation and his spirit. He drew closer through the prophets and lawgivers...but finally nothing would do but direct contact with us in our desperate need.

Jesus came to live among us to share our sorrow and lead us to a direct contact with God that would give us eternal life. That means that we will live forever in the Magnificent place Jesus went to prepare for us.

Now it's your turn. You must decide whether to accept the gift and the giver or reject both of them. Choose carefully. The clock is ticking and the offer is limited to this life only.