Photo of Bethany Lutheran Church Near Bergen, Minnesota from Bob Hanson. This is the Church my Grandpa and Grandma, Floyd and Lean Caraway attended. I attended Church with them there a few times. Such a lovely Church. I miss Grandma and Grandpa greatly. They helped raise me up to be a preacher, it took me years, but I am here! Grandma spoke over me in 1974 that I would be a preacher! Glory!
Pastor Don Kimbro
A TIME TO BE BORN AND A TIME TO DIE
A young woman is murdered while out walking with her dad on a pier in San Francisco. Four unarmed Marines and a Navy sailor are gunned down by a Muslim Jihadist in Tennessee. A well-known and respected homebuilder is run over and killed by a drunk driver while on a bicycle in a gated community in our city.
What do these deaths have in common? They all happened unexpectedly and without warning and most of the victims were young. The average age of all eight was 34. So much for the belief that you get to grow old before you get to die.
My friends, I know you’ve heard this before but it deserves to be said again, “Please don’t put off until tomorrow what you should do today.” You may not have tomorrow. Above all get right with God today.
Life is brief as David reminds us in Psalm 103:15-16: “Our days on earth are like grass; like wildflowers, we bloom and die. The wind blows, and we are gone-as though we had never been here.” So make every day count. Love your spouse and your family. Love your friends and your neighbors-but above all these:
“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.” (Matthew 22:37-38).
It’s easy for American Christians to forget how Jesus said his followers would actually live, what their new lifestyle would actually look like. They would, he said, leave behind security, money, convenience, even family for him. They would abandon everything for the gospel. They would take up their crosses daily . . . (Luke 9:23).
“And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
– Luke 18:7-8
Twenty-one years ago, I was sitting at the plaintiff’s table in Federal Court with two very capable attorneys from the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ). Legal counsel representing the City of Albuquerque sat stiffly on the other side of the room awaiting the judge’s entry. I had sued the City for the right to show the JESUS film about the life of Christ and to give out free Bibles at one of our taxpayer supported Senior Centers. I had been refused that opportunity by the city, citing separation of church and state. In my view, however, I believed that justice dictated that Christian groups be given the same rights as any other group to present their worldview in the public arena.
The Judge entered the room with the well known, “All rise,” announcement from the bailiff. I was nervous. Would we win? Would justice prevail? Well, not on that day. The District Judge ruled for my adversaries and a black cloud of disappointment permeated our side of the room. We had lost. The gloating city attorneys patted each other on the back as I silently left the courtroom.
“God, where are you in all of this? Isn’t our cause a just one? Haven’t we been praying? What do we do now? Are you going to let an inimical judge prevent senior citizens from hearing about the saving grace of Your Son?” As I drove home, one thought kept continually entering my mind – “Just keep praying.” I felt like God was saying to me, “It’s not over yet.” And it wasn’t!
Two weeks after the judge’s ruling that day, we filed an appeal and in May of 1996, almost two full years after my original complaint, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the judge’s decision by a unanimous vote. A ruling was handed down that every tax supported Senior Center in Albuquerque and in all seven states covered by the Appeals Court’s jurisdiction, must open their doors to the gospel message of Jesus Christ without hindrance from that day forward. An emergency appeal by the city to the U. S. Supreme Court (Justice Stephen Breyer) was also denied. That single case now serves as a precedent for all 50 states and thousands have heard the Gospel as a result!
My friends, do you have just causes that you have laid before the throne of Christ? Are you still praying for them? Do you still believe that He will bring justice in a way that will bring glory and honor to Him? God’s hallowed halls of justice are lined with the faithful prayers of His people. Are you one of them? Will Jesus find this kind of faith in you and me when He comes?
Remember that we are told to “Pray without ceasing” (2 Thessalonians 5:17); “To ask, seek and knock” (Matthew 7:7-11); “Devote yourselves to prayer” (Colossians 4:2); and“With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:18), because our God is always listening and working in behalf of His people (John 5:17).
When Christ died on the cross for us, he said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). The Greek word translated “it is finished” was commonly written across certificates of debt when they were canceled. It meant “paid in full.” Christ died so that the certificate of debt, consisting of all our sins, could once and for all be marked “paid in full.” – Randy Alcorn, Heaven
