So close to after the holidays Deb, don't say food lol.

Brad



At 01/05/2004 on Monday, you wrote:
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>Brad, Wow!  That was a lot of food for thought, but it's food that we all
>need to digest.  You really have been led by God to get His Word across to
>people.  Thank you.
>
>Love in Christ,
>
>Deb
>
>At 07:38 AM 1/5/04, you wrote:
> >With the ringing in of the new year came also my regenerated hope for new
> >beginnings based not off of the fad driven knee-jerk response to a new year
> >accompanied by a false desire to make New Year's Resolutions, fueled by
> >pressures of society or family and friends who are doing similar, but that
> >of simply reviewing some facets of my life, making a conscious decision to
> >change some old habits and increase various aspects of my daily life. Many
> >times, often times, people make New Year's resolutions because they are
> >just that "re-solutions" to the same problems they had a year earlier.
> >You've heard them all I'm sure, I know I have before and from my own mouth
> >at that. Things like... loose weight, begin working out, quit smoking,
> >spend more time with family, or if a Christian, more time with God perhaps.
> >And I suppose I need to recognize that even my desire to review some daily
> >habits is due to the convenient mark of a new year falling upon me, but
> >hopefully the commitments I make near this time of year, do not come to be
> >New Year's re-commitments next year at this time with excuses of
> >circumstances that caused a change in plans, but rather have looked back to
> >see I stood the test of endurance with God's help to overcome those
> >circumstances and complete what I feel he is telling me to do. Still yet we
> >ought never lose hope of erasing the slate and starting over, we have a God
> >of allowing us many beginnings in our trek to keep focused on him, but as
> >he also said let our yeses be yeses and our noes be noes. With that mind
> >set, we ought have a more serious motivation of those things we feel we
> >need to change. Also ringing in the New Year this morning, after coming out
> >on top of a battle with some sort of infection/illness, was the ringing of
> >my alarm clock. Bright and early it beeped only once at 4:30 AM, and only
> >once because I was already awake with excitement of not only feeling
> >somewhat human again, but also to begin making the most of the days ahead.
> >Still yet in some planning stages, I knew however that my days would start
> >with an early rise, something to drink, time with the Lord in either
> >reading of his word or taped sermon, and prayer.
> >
> >Having hit the snooze button, and then turned off the alarm clock, I
> >started up the coffee pot with the half and half, decaf and regular coffee
> >to continue my trek to decaffeinate myself, I then carefully and quietly
> >grabbed up my tape player and a tape to listen while I let the warm drink
> >soothe a recovering throat. The tape I listened to was not the preacher I
> >had hoped but I had decided to listen anyway. As he began to preach he had
> >a very pointed, very short message with four points regarding having faith
> >to endure through things we may find ourselves plowing through. One, keep
> >your eyes on Jesus. Two, remember who God is. Three, remember who you are
> >in Christ. And four, trust in God 100% to take you through. He then
> >proceeded to give a testimony of his adopted daughter. This man and his
> >wife are missionaries to Thailand. They happened across a young lady whose
> >mother was a prostitute and  the daughter, or mother for that matter, had
> >no idea who the father was. This man and his wife had taken her in and
> >helped bring her up for just over a year now. She attended school in
> >Thailand and of course Thailand is a predominantly Buddhist country.
> >Fortunately  the leader of that country had past two articles in their
> >government. One that gives freedom of religion, and the other to have
> >freedom to express that religion. It happened then that this young lady,
> >Ann, was to attend a drug prevention class in her school based from
> >Buddhist precepts. She did not want to attend so this man and his wife
> >wrote a note to the teacher stating they  wished them to honor Ann's
> >request to not attend. The teacher tried to tell Ann to attend anyway,
> >because her parents would never know the difference. Well Ann, walked out
> >the room and placed a call to this man and wife, who she now calls mom and
> >dad. They go to meet the principle of the school and after an hour and a
> >half of Ann preaching at the principle, he finally said  "OK! OK!  you do
> >not have to attend". She then became the target of verbal abuse stating she
> >was a trader to her country and heritage, trader to her race, and this by
> >teachers not, just students. She came home that day and they prayed about
> >what to do with a nasty situation now on their hands. They decided to let
> >God take control. She went to school the next day and no one abused her
> >verbally. In fact there were some kids that never before wanted to be her
> >friend, now wanted to be her friend. And three weeks later the principle
> >and many of the teachers, the ones that assaulted her verbally, were
> >removed from the school for corruption.
> >
> >I sat back and pondered about how a 17-year-old girl, in a foreign
> >country,  with a foreign religion to that land, was strong enough to take
> >on her school and make such a difference. I thought how great that sounds
> >after it is all said and done. How powerful it is and like our pastor from
> >our former church mentioned afterwards, it is so much different hearing
> >such testimonies from those who lived it, as it tells so quickly but lasts
> >so long. And with my repeated rendition of it, I'm sure it does it an
> >injustice, but for the purposes of my point of ponder hopefully it will
> >suffice. It sure sounded great, the power and passion in this man's voice
> >of the details of how this all came to pass in a country where Christianity
> >is a minority and persecution is on the rise all over the world. How he
> >encouraged his newly found daughter to count herself honored to be in good
> >company as Peter, John, James and of course the rest of Christ's followers
> >as well Jesus Christ himself, to be persecuted for upholding the truth.
> >
> >When I hear these stories I look at my own life as a point of reflection
> >and see how a 17 year old young lady has proved more courage, lived out a
> >testimony, and made a difference in those around her more than I had in a
> >long time living in a Christian based country with persecution being
> >primarily that of "Oh don't preach religion to me" or "Oh save your
> >preaching for the next guy". It also occurred to me that in the midst of
> >this family's encounter, had they recognized that that day's event is
> >tomorrow's testimony in the making? If they hadn't, they will from here
> >out, based on the four points that accompanied this testimony. If they went
> >in that situation with the four points he made, that of  focusing on Jesus,
> >knowing who God is, knowing who they were in God, and trusting god, then
> >they had to be conscious of what they were living was a testimony in the
> >making.
> >
> >This realization helps give a new sense of expectation in my life. An
> >expectation to recognize that what we are living now, this minute, is part
> >of some sort of testimony in the future to how God has worked in our life,
> >and if it is not, than am I really living life with God as center? Have I
> >gotten side tracked to where I do not recognize or have expectations of his
> >hand in my life? Testimonies do not have to be a dramatically wowing of
> >awesome proportions but it may well be walking away from a conversation
> >knowing God gave you the words to say to help that person better know God,
> >or a step closer to knowing him for the first time. It could be standing in
> >the midst of financial difficulties and seeing provision coming in, or it
> >could be standing in front of hundreds or thousands of people citing how
> >God spared your life miraculously while doing his work and having many of
> >those want that loving God in their life and accept him at that time.  And
> >when we  cannot seem to find a testimony complete or  having reached a
> >solution, we certainly can stand  with expectation knowing that what we are
> >living now is tomorrows testimony, and that hope will cause us to look
> >harder for God in a situation, to listen closer for his voice.
> >
> >I know this man's points were focus on Christ, know who God is, know who I
> >am in God, and trust in God, but what I remember hearing most in-between
> >his words, in the pauses of his testimony, is the summation "today's events
> >are tomorrows testimonies".
> >
> >Brad
>
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