You're A Loser!

I remember being called that a few times while sharing the gospel.  Most of the time it was while I was open-air-preaching downtown at the Des Moines Farmers Market.  I can still hear the disdain in the young man's voice and the laughter of his friends around him.  There was even those moments when I actually believed what they were yelling and said to myself, "What am I doing?  Is this even making any difference?"   The other day I saw this quote by Martin Luther and it really struck me. 

 "The righteous man always resembles more a loser than a victor, for the Lord lets him be tested and assailed to his utmost limits as gold is tested in a furnace."  

Martin Luther. 

I think about some of the conversations I have with friends in the mission field and how they feel like losers. Many of them gave up good paying jobs.  Some move thousands of miles away to live in third-world countries to minister to people who are eating dirt on the bottom of the totem pole.  Or those who have jobs in ministry, serving local ministries to teach other welfare cases like themselves about Christ.  Others who don't have hobbies or play sports but thrive on studying and teaching God's word and serving others who can't give back, and those who do give back, give them grief, steal from them, and stab them in the back. Or those who instead of baiting a hook and fishing for actual fish, fish for men with gospel tracts out on the street and look like fools in the eyes of the world.  Talking with these men and how disheartening it must be to give all you can and then at the end of the day, month, year look back and see what looks like a "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree" with not one piece of fruit on it.    

But giving up is not an option.  For to them and to me the bible is full of those who by quick glance are perceived as losers, but are actually winners. Men like John the Baptist, who lived in a tent eating bugs and whose only comfort was itchy clothes of camel skin coat (Matthew 3:4), but to God there was no greater prophet than him (Luke 7:28). Or Moses, who was abandoned by his mother (Exodus 2:1-4) and stuttered (Exodus 4:10), only to answer the call of God lead His people out of the bondage of Egypt (Exodus 3:1-10) (Exodus 14:30-31).  Or Paul [Saul], who had everything going for him as a Pharisee in training (Philippians 3:4-6) only to give it all up for Christ who is way better (Philippians 3:7-11).  Or Jesus, who was born among dirty animals in less than a barn(Luke 2:6-7).  Yet, He was God in the flesh and savior of the world. 

No one wants to be called a loser.  No one strives to become one.  It's not the end game for any of us.  It's not part of our plan.  The plan though is that if you are a Christian, a child of God, God will use all things together for good to those who love Him  and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).  He uses the weak, the dumb, and not so talented (1 Corinthians 1:26-31).  God puts the last first, and the first last (Matthew 20:16).

This gives me great comfort knowing that no matter what I do, or who I am, it will not be in vain.  Not only that, but why do those go to great lengths to help others?  Because of their love for God, and their love for man.  It's the heart of our Lord Jesus Christ.  

Book Review: FINALLY FREE - Fighting For Purity With The Power of Grace by Heath Lambert

In the realm of battling pornography addiction, there is not alot of help in this area.  We have in recent years
just begun to touch the tip of the iceberg of what causes this addiction, and what it does to the human body physically and psychologically.  Websites have surfaced like Covenant Eyes Accountability Software to help in this battle.  Internet blocking has only started in the past few years to help with this, and even web servers are starting to block porn at the ISP level.

But pornography has increased in a dramatic rate, and has overtaken and saturated the culture. Porn has gone from pictures, to movies, to VCR cassettes, to DVD's, and now has saturated the web and is available free on phones and other portable devices to access from anywhere at any time.  It has become a multi-billion dollar industry that is only getting bigger and its destruction is felt world-wide.

I recently bought a book on my Kindle called Finally Free - Fighting For Purity With The Power of Grace by Heath Lambert because of my own battles with porn and wanting to win this war over my soul.  I have purchased other books in years past like Every Man's Battle by Arteburn & Stoeker as well as the book/DVD combination Freedom Begins Here by Pat Springle forwarded by Gary Smalley.  I have even viewed websites and YouTube videos on the topic, but they only left me angry, bitter against myself, hopeless, and have even fueled my lust even more with the images and graphic detail I don't need.  

But Finally Free was different than any other book I have read or even known about in the topic of porn.  What's the difference?  All other books, videos, web content focused on the action rather than the cause, whereas Finally Free focused on the cause in why we look at porn, and tools to help prevent lustful thoughts from overtaking us.  They are guilt motivated or needs based rather than gospel oriented and practical to our lives and gives us a new pattern of living.  All other websites and books seemed to make it worse by fueling my lust in graphic, sexual detail.This book even has useful, practical strategies that we need in our daily life.  Not just feeling bad about it in the aftermath, but preparing our hearts way before we even think about looking at porn.  It's not enduring the moment when you look at porn, but taking the steps to rebuilding and fortifying the walls of our heart so that we don't have to even endure the enemy face to face.

Grace empowers obedience.  Grace is not only God's unmerited favor, but it's also God's power to us and is used in every tool that this book uncovers.  Grace is the thread in which sews the individual parts of a coat of overcoming porn.  Those individual tools are:

• Gratitude - Greed and selfishness feeds porn.  It's what drives sin in the hearts of man.  Porn is only consumed by thankless people.  To battle porn we need to grow in the attitude of gratitude and thankfulness.  If your married, grown in the thankfulness of your spouse.  What are the ministries and responsibilities that God has given you?  Be thankful for them and the jobs that the Lord has asked you to do. What has the Lord done for you?  Meditate on these and be thankful.  Thankfulness and gratitude results in gladness and joy.  
• Relationship with Jesus - Abide in Jesus.  Yearn to be like Him, not just pray to Him to end your porn addiction.  Praying to God to end your addiction is like the crowds praying for bread in John 6.  Instead, Heath tells us to pray to Jesus to be more like Him, to draw close to Him, and to spend time with Him, and the rest will follow. 
• Sorrow - 2 Corinthians 7:8-11 says there are two types of sorrow...one that leads to obedience, and one that doesn't have any lasting change.  Not all sorrow is created equal.  Worldly sorrow is only concerned about keeping the objects of selfish desire, while Godly sorrow is pained over a break in the relationship with God.  It's heartbroken about hurting or offending a just and holy God and grieving the Holy Spirit.  
• Confession - Not only confessing your sin to God, but to others.  But even more importantly who we are to confess to, and how.  You are not to confess to just anyone, and this book gives a great plan on how to do that because you could make matters worse and hurt more people with your sin.  
• Humility - Only arrogant men and women look at porn...period.  Men look at porn out of an arrogant desire to see women in a way that God does not allow.  Considering salvation (what God has done in your life and saving you from your sin), sin (the depth of your sin that God has forgiven), and service (how you use your time).
• Accountability - Getting an accountability partner and how to appropriately choose an accountability partner is extremely important.  Heath does an amazing job in doing that and helping us choose a person that will help us rather than keeping us in a place of sin and hurting the person we chose to be our accountability partner.  Not only this, but he gives help to the accountability partner to show him/her, what their roles are and what is their job description as an accountability partner is.  
• Radical Measures - How to take radical measures and get serious about dealing with our sin as a whole and not just in porn.  Repenting immediately, remembering scripture, and reaching out for help are very important in this battle.  Heath also goes into great detail about taking radical measures in the use of our time, and cutting off access to pornography which could radically change our lives and can be extremely important in helping us become porn free.  
• Your Spouse (if you have one) - Not as a police officer in the "Porn Police", but as an encourager.  Never ever use your spouse as an accountability partner.  You need someone as the same sex.  You cannot be a wife and be a private investigator in your husband's porn issue.  

If you haven't caught on though, this book is written to Christians.  Why?  Because only by faith in Jesus Christ and the power that comes through the relationship with Him can you have victory in this area.  Grace and mercy are given to those who are children of God and the only way to be a child of God is to be repent of your sins and trust in Christ Jesus the spotless lamb and sacrifice for your soul.  If you would like to know more about how to be right with God, please CONTACT ME.  It's not a hidden that porn is a problem not only in the world, but also the church.  We struggle with issues like this too.  But it's a struggle.  Sheep get dirty and once in a while we need a bath.  This book helps with that.  

Heath Lambert is not only very knowledgeable in this area, but just helps realize the power in us through the Holy Spirit to life a life of purity in the eyes of the Lord.  This book can be given to teens as well as adults. I believe this book could be given to sons and daughters as well as teens in your Youth Groups at church.  Its written clearly, respectfully, and clean with no cause for embarrassment.  If you have a problem with pornography, and want out, have tried many other ways to be free from porn, and just want to live in the grace God offers, I highly recommend this book.  

Here is an interview with Heath Lambert by Covenant Eyes TV about his book Finally Free.  

Finally!!!

Back in 2003 when I got saved we had a visit from Gideon's International to our church where these men shared their testamonies, and stories about how the organization has changed their lives and the lives of countless others through the pocket Testaments and bibles given.  I was very moved by what they said and realized at that moment I wanted to join the organization.  But I quickly realized after not one but two times filling out applications and then being denied that my hopes were dashed and would never be a member.  This past winter a friend of mine who runs Forest Avenue Outreach became a member and begged me to come to some meetings and check it out.  I was reluctant being my past failures and didn't want to get my hopes up.  But after a few times trying to make meetings I finally went.  About a week later I filled out another application and to my shock they accepted, and I became a member this past July.   This past Wednesday I had my first Bible Distribution at the University of Northern Iowa.  It was a great time praying, and serving the Lord.  Out of 200 Testaments I gave out 47 and had a good conversation with a Muslim girl.  Total that day we handed out 3159 Testaments.  One man gave out 500 by himself!  I know that God will use this to draw more people to Himself and that it will be a fruitful harvest.  I am excited to see how God will use this and that I will use this time wisely for His glory. 

Repent, Lest Anything Worse Happen To You.

Ever since I was a kid I and went to a Chuck E. Cheese I had a fascination with video games.  I loved video games.  I remember going to the arcades down the Jersey Shore and I would spend hours inserting quarters and trying to get high score.  Games like, Choplifter, Spy Hunter, and Star Wars Tie Fighter were some of my favorites (I guess I just dated myself right there).

Several years ago my wife wanted to bless me and bought me an X-Box, a headset, and the game Modern Warfare 3.  It was a great game, a first person shooter that was right up my alley and the graphics were intense.  I was starting to get really good at it and was talking and playing with people online. I was hooked and before I knew it I was playing about between 2 and 4 hours a day.  As my playing increased, my bible reading, prayer, and fellowship with God decreased.  The Lord convicted me, and within several months I got rid of the game.  It was a blessing because I was drawing close to God, praying, reading the bible and totally seeking Him.

Several years later I thought I had self control enough to play again.  This time I purchased, Battlefield 3.  It came out around the time of Modern Warfare 3, but this one you could drive tanks and fly helicopters and such.  Not to mention blow up buildings.  The graphics were even better than the other, and I started meeting new people online.  I told myself I would keep my playing to a minimum, and only one or two days a week.  At first it went well, but then I was in my old routine.  I played so much within a few months I made it to rank of 2nd Colonel.  Now what do I do?  The conviction started and I was ignoring the signs.

The night of June 10th I had a dream that was quite unusual for me.  I had dreampt that I was surrounded by white light and I was in the presence of God.  He told me that I was to get rid of the game and that he had become jealous and wanted my attention.  I had abandoned my post and forgotten about him.  If I wouldn't stop playing that he would chasten me and keep me from playing.  So that morning I shrugged it off and went to work.

The next day right after work I walked in the house, hit the on button on the X-Box and started playing.  Lisa had gotten home and needed to cook.  I went to help her cut some sweet potatoes while she went to the Chiropractor.  So I'm looking at these things, and trying to remember the instructions she gave me.  I was confused and cut them my own way.  With blade in hand I made a decision that to this day I have no idea why I did it.  The blade slipped, and went across my left middle and index fingers.  Blood poured out of them immediately, and I knew I was in trouble.  Panic set in, called Lisa, and off to the Urgent Care we went.  I spent the next 10 days with 6 stitches, and then another week with sutchers because it wouldn't heal correctly.

You would have thought that I would have learned my lesson right?  Wrong.  I was justifying my game playing, and within days I was back playing my favorite game.  So July 4th rolls around and the same dream happened that night.  The Lord was very displeased with me, and told me to repent lest anything worse happen to me.  Did I listen?  Hardly.  I was convinced it was just a dream and my imaginations were getting the best of me.  I just needed to put the game down for a while.

The next day I went into work.  As a Field Service Technician I use my hands constantly.  At 2 pm my shift was almost over and all I wanted to do was play that game.  A machine went down and I had t crawl under, open a panel which weighs about 50 lbs and remove the item.  All went well until I had to put the panel back on. It went on a little difficult, but screwed it in and started to scoot myself out from under the machine.  All of a sudden the door came off the hinges, and all 50 lbs of weight landed on my ring finger of my right hand.  I let out a yell, grit my teeth, and instantly teared up.  I ran out to the ice machine to stop the swelling and I was to late.  I had a grape on the end of my finger and I knew it had to be broken.  The pain was so bad it was almost as bad as when I got frostbite in both my legs in 1999.  The next day after another Urgent Care visit, it was indeed broken.

So, out of work on workers comp I have alot to think about as I sit alone at home with an ice pack and throbbing pain.  But I know what I don't have to think about...not playing the game.  That's right.  I was afraid if I didn't get rid of it, I was going to lose a digit, or my job, or maybe both.  So in the trash it went, and I had tremendous peace in the process.

So what is the moral of the story?  Do what God tells you to do quickly, thoroughly, and cheerfully.  Spend quality time with Him.  Put away the idols in our lives and be fully devoted to the Lord.  Now do I believe that I was talking to God in a dream?  I don't know.  But I have two messed up hands and alot of time to spend with Him.  I reflect on different ways the Lord got the attention of people in His word through a physical chastening.  Jacob (Genesis 32:22-32), Saul (Acts 9:1-9), the Israelites in the wilderness, along with others.  But you know...it's been great.  I have great peace, I'm getting things done, and studying for my Precept Inductive Bible Study classes I will be teaching in September.

Donald Sterling, An Example of Postmodern Tollerance

On April 25, 2014, TMZ Sports released a recording of a conversation between Sterling and a female friend, V. Stiviano from September 2013. The recording included a man confirmed to be Sterling was irritated over a photo Stiviano had posted on Instagram, in which she posed with Basketball Hall of Fame player Magic Johnson. Sterling told Stiviano: "It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you're associating with black people", and, "You can sleep with [black people]. You can bring them in, you can do whatever you want", but "the little I ask you is ... not to bring them to my games." [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Sterling]

This recording sparked a wildfire of controversy and condemnation towards the L.A. Clippers owner. Retributions for his words were far and wide, and everyone had their opinion as to what should be done with him.  Some of the punnishment he faced has been strong: 

• Banned from the NBA for life.
• Fined $2.5 million, the maximum fine allowed by the NBA constitution.
• NBA Commissioner Adam Silver stripped Sterling of virtually all of his authority over the Clippers. 
• He was banned him from entering any Clippers facility, and banned from attending any NBA games.  
• Silver also stated that he would move to force Sterling to sell the team, based on a willful violation of the rules, which would require the consent of three-quarters, or 22, of the other 29 NBA team owners.
• Sterling's wife, Rochelle, who has co-owned the team with him since 1981 , and she has served as one of the team's two alternate governors, is also threatened to have her removed as well. 

Now, let me make this clear.  I don't condone, nor agree with Donald Sterling's views, or his words.  They were hurtful and wrong, but his opinion nonetheless.  But let's look at this from a different angle and a Christian's point of view. 

Remove A Man's Way of Life Because of His Opinion?

Think about this.  As a Christian, what if I was fired for something someone didn't agree with me on my stance towards homosexuality?  What if I was a business owner who was told by the local government to sell my business because I had an opinion different than someone else? 

Ban Him From Interacting With Others Because of His Opinion?

Banning Sterling from any NBA event for life is quite harsh for someone's opinion.  That's quite harsh.  Lets face it, not only did they force him to sell his business, but now take his hobby away.  The guy loved basketball, and enjoyed watching it. 

I wonder at what point or how far things will go.  At what point are my rights as a Christian protected just because someone doesn't like me, what I said, or what I did that would offend them?  These are scary times to be living.  Just some thoughts.

Way of the Master Basic Training Course - Calvary Chapel Des Moines!!!

I am very proud, and blessed to be teaching the Way of the Master Basic Training Course at my home church of Calvary Chapel Des Moines.  Back in 2004 Tony Didlo of Saving Faith Outreach taught various Way of the Master DVD Lessons and had an audience of 5 people.  I am pleased to announce that we now gave away all 50 study guides!!!  Last night we started Lesson 1, Cultivating A Compassion For The Lost.  It was a great evening, watching the video, breaking into smaller groups and talking through questions.  We even wrote letters to God sharing their hopes, desires, fears, and what they want from the class.  I was so blessed to receive 40 envelopes at the end of the evening. These will be returned to the students at the end of the 8 weeks for them to review and see what prayers God had answered.  Pray that all, if not, many get their prayers answered and we have a bold, strong army coming from my fellowship to win souls for Christ.

Are We Lovers...or Prostitutes?

"Lover or Prostitute?” The Question that Changed My Life

By David Ryser

A number of years ago, I had the privilege of teaching at a school of ministry. My students were hungry for God, and I was constantly searching for ways to challenge them to fall more in love with Jesus and to become voices for revival in the Church. I came across a... quote attributed most often to Rev. Sam Pascoe. It is a short version of the history of Christianity, and it goes like this: Christianity started in Palestine as a fellowship; it moved to Greece and became a philosophy; it moved to Italy and became an institution; it moved to Europe and became a culture; it came to America and became an enterprise.

Some of the students were only 18 or 19 years old--barely out of diapers--and I wanted them to understand and appreciate the import of the last line, so I clarified it by adding, “An enterprise. That’s a business.” After a few moments Martha, the youngest student in the class, raised her hand. I could not imagine what her question might be. I thought the little vignette was self-explanatory, and that I had performed it brilliantly. Nevertheless, I acknowledged Martha’s raised hand, “Yes, Martha.” She asked such a simple question, “A business? But isn’t it supposed to be a body?” I could not envision where this line of questioning was going, and the only response I could think of was, “Yes.” She continued, “But when a body becomes a business, isn’t that a prostitute?”
The room went dead silent. For several seconds no one moved or spoke. We were stunned, afraid to make a sound because the presence of God had flooded into the room, and we knew we were on holy ground. All I could think in those sacred moments was, “Wow, I wish I’d thought of that.” I didn’t dare express that thought aloud. God had taken over the class.
Martha’s question changed my life. For six months, I thought about her question at least once every day. “When a body becomes a business, isn’t that a prostitute?” There is only one answer to her question. The answer is “Yes.” The American Church, tragically, is heavily populated by people who do not love God. How can we love Him? We don’t even know Him; and I mean really know Him.

What do I mean when I say “really know Him?” Our understanding of knowing and knowledge stems from our western culture (which is based in ancient Greek philosophical thought). We believe we have knowledge (and, by extension, wisdom) when we have collected information. A collection of information is not the same thing as knowledge, especially in the culture of the Bible (which is an eastern, non-Greek, culture). In the eastern culture, all knowledge is experiential. In western/Greek culture, we argue from premise to conclusion without regard for experience--or so we think.

An example might be helpful here. Let us suppose a question based upon the following two premises: First, that wheat does not grow in a cold climate and second, that England has a cold climate. The question: Does wheat grow in England? The vast majority of people from the western/Greek culture would answer, “No. If wheat does not grow in a cold climate and if England has a cold climate, then it follows that wheat does not grow in England.” In the eastern culture, the answer to the same question, based on the same premises, most likely would be, “I don’t know. I’ve never been to England.” We laugh at this thinking, but when I posed the same question to my friends from England, their answer was, “Yes, of course wheat grows in England. We’re from there, and we know wheat grows there.” They overcame their cultural way of thinking because of their life experience. Experience trumps information when it comes to knowledge.

A similar problem exists with our concept of belief. We say we believe something (or someone) apart from personal experience. This definition of belief is not extended to our stockbroker, however. Again, allow me to explain. Suppose my stockbroker phones me and says, “I have a hot tip on a stock that is going to triple in price within the next week. I want your permission to transfer $10,000 from your cash account and buy this stock.” That’s a lot of money for me, so I ask, “Do you really believe this stock will triple in price, and so quickly?” He/she answers, I sure do.” I say, “That sounds great! How exciting! So how much of your own money have you invested in this stock?” He/she answers, “None.” Does my stockbroker believe? Truly believe? I don’t think so, and suddenly I don’t believe, either. How can we be so discerning in the things of this world, especially when they involve money, and so indiscriminate when it comes to spiritual things? The fact is, we do not know or believe apart from experience. The Bible was written to people who would not understand the concepts of knowledge, belief, and faith apart from experience. I suspect God thinks this way also.

So I stand by my statement that most American Christians do not know God--much less love Him. The root of this condition originates in how we came to God. Most of us came to Him because of what we were told He would do for us. We were promised that He would bless us in life and take us to heaven after death. We married Him for His money, and we don’t care if He lives or dies as long as we can get His stuff. We have made the Kingdom of God into a business, merchandising His anointing. This should not be. We are commanded to love God, and are called to be the Bride of Christ--that’s pretty intimate stuff. We are supposed to be His lovers. How can we love someone we don’t even know? And even if we do know someone, is that a guarantee that we truly love them? Are we lovers or prostitutes?

I was pondering Martha’s question again one day, and considered the question, “What’s the difference between a lover and a prostitute?” I realized that both do many of the same things, but a lover does what she does because she loves. A prostitute pretends to love, but only as long as you pay. Then I asked the question, “What would happen if God stopped paying me?”

For the next several months, I allowed God to search me to uncover my motives for loving and serving Him. Was I really a true lover of God? What would happen if He stopped blessing me? What if He never did another thing for me? Would I still love Him? Please understand, I believe in the promises and blessings of God. The issue here is not whether God blesses His children; the issue is the condition of my heart. Why do I serve Him? Are His blessings in my life the gifts of a loving Father, or are they a wage that I have earned or a bribe/payment to love Him? Do I love God without any conditions? It took several months to work through these questions. Even now I wonder if my desire to love God is always matched by my attitude and behavior. I still catch myself being disappointed with God and angry that He has not met some perceived need in my life. I suspect this is something which is never fully resolved, but I want more than anything else to be a true lover of God.

So what is it going to be? Which are we, lover or prostitute? There are no prostitutes in heaven, or in the Kingdom of God for that matter, but there are plenty of former prostitutes in both places. Take it from a recovering prostitute when I say there is no substitute for unconditional, intimate relationship with God. And I mean there is no palatable substitute available to us (take another look at Matthew 7:21-23 sometime). We must choose.

Dr. David Ryser
Responses to this article are welcomed. You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com
 

Santa's Coming...Have You Been Good?

I’m a field service technician for a company that builds and maintains banking machines.  The week before Christmas has been really rough for me.  Actually things have been going completely wrong.  At one account we have had two machines go completely bonkers to the point that we have no idea how to fix them.  With the bad weather I couldn’t make it to one account and the customer was furious.  I’m struggling spiritually and find myself going backwards in my walk.  I was never much of an angry person, but have lately in recent weeks noticed me losing my cool taking it out on different people, mainly my wife.  It seems like it’s never ending and I haven’t been able to catch a break.    

So this morning my boss sends me to Cedar Rapids, IA at an account with a down machine.  As I’m traveling the early hours I looked up and noticed this electronic road sign above me which read: 

308 TRAFFIC DEATHS THIS YEAR

SANTA’S COMING

HAVE YOU BEEN A GOOD DRIVER?

 The day went just as awful the previous week.  I walked into the account and waited about 45 minutes for someone to escort me upstairs.  I finally get upstairs and find out it’s on a machine in which I had absolutely no formal training on.  Images were messed up on the bottom of the docs and checks and the banks are rejecting them.  No matter what I did I couldn't fix it.  The customer is getting angrier by the minute wondering why I can’t fix it.  What I find is that the camera had melted from the inside out, and was completely destroyed.  No replacements on-site, and Christmas break the next two days.  Great…another furious customer.    

 Just when I thought it could not get any worse my boss calls me.  He chews me out for a half hour about the first furious customer I couldn’t get to because of the weather.  I made some poor decisions lately and now for the first time ever (12 years) I am getting reprimanded for something I did.  “You’re one of my best guys…I just don’t understand how you could have done that?” he said.  I totally let him down and made a difficult problem much worse.  Now since no one will be on-site to check in my package at the Cedar Rapids site, I volunteered to have the parts delivered to my house the following day and have to wait on them to arrive.  Plans ruined. 

 On my way out I realized that I was 15 minutes past the time on the parking meter.  No sweat, I’m only a block away.  As I approach my car I looked up and saw a police officer writing a ticket. 

 

 So as I am driving back home from Cedar Rapids I passed by 4 tractor trailors and 6 cars in the ditch.  I saw the same road sign above.  This time it read:

 

313 TRAFFIC DEATHS THIS YEAR

SANTA’S COMING

HAVE YOU BEEN A GOOD DRIVER? 

I paused for a moment.  Then it hit me.  While I was having a bad day at work 5 people lost their lives.  

5 people who were not coming home.

5 people who are going to be missed by loved ones this Christmas.

5 daughters, sons, mothers, fathers, who are leaving behind grieving family or friends. 

5 people in heaven or hell for eternity. 

 

That's when the Lord put on my heart a roadsign for me:

 

150,000 DEATHS TODAY

JESUS IS COMING

HAVE YOU BEEN HIDING YOUR TALENT IN THE DIRT

OR YOUR LIGHT UNDER A BASKET?

 

Though my job is important, it's not as important as witnessing and sharing Christ with the lost of this world.  Lately it seems that the Lord is making my job less and less desireable so as to change my life for His glory.  In the end, my job won't mean much to me, but those whom I have touched with the gospel will mean everything.  I hope this blesses you and puts an idea to go share Jesus with the Lost of this world.