Made For Something Beyond This World

Made For Something Beyond This World

Dear Champions,
 
The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the Scripture is Isaiah 55:2  Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?  Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.
 
In every single one of us there is a raging, unquenchable and all consuming thirst that leads us to decide that nothing is good enough and will ever satisfy us.  We all have an infinite capacity for boredom and irritability with anything, even the best things.  The more successful you are the faster you come to realize that you have a bottomless pit inside of you.  There is a black hole and an infinite vacuum in you and me, and it does not matter what you put in there.  At first it is great, she is great, or he is great.  Then, after awhile you find fault, and you want to pull away. 
 
I have a large folder filled with quotes from successful people famous people who after they got to the top, said," I do not know what happened, but I wanted to kill myself."  The tennis great, Boris Becker, looking back on his life said that when he was at the height of his power, achievement and fame, he wanted to kill himself. When he got everything that he ever wanted, he still felt empty.  He said, "I had won Wimbledon twice, and once I was the youngest player to ever do so.  I was rich, and I had all the material possessions that I needed.  I guess it is like the old song about movies and pop stars who want to commit suicide.  They have everything, and yet they are so unhappy.  It is true.  I had nothing on the inside." 
 
Like I said, it goes faster if you are successful, but we are all on our way.  Unless there is a cure or some kind of intervention, we are all on our way to being unhappy with anything and with everything.  Nothing will ever be good enough. If there is nothing in this world that ever satisfies me, then it must mean that I am made for something beyond this world.
 
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Grace and Truth

Grace and Truth

Dear Champions,

The first two paragraphs are by Tim Keller, and the last paragraph is by Steve Chesney.  The scripture is John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

 

God says, "I am forgiving, but I never let sin go unpunished.  I am absolutely loving and just.  I am full of grace and truth."   I forgive everybody, and I refuse to let anything go unpunished."  

 

When you hear Him say that, you say, "That's impossible."  Yet God says, "Unless you understand how I can be both, you will never see My glory.  That is the essence of My glory."  It's only in understanding what Jesus has done does that glory come.

 

Do you want to see how much God hates your sin.  Look at the cross.  It's where His anger boils up and overflows.  But in the same breath, do you want to see how much God loves you.  Look back at the cross.  That's where God says, "I love you so much I will come, and I'll take your place.  I will send my precious son to absorb the full blow and penalty that you deserve.  I'll take it on my own head."  Is God a God of justice?  You bet!  Look at the cross!  It's where His justice and His love come crashing together, but the crash is not on your head.  It's on Jesus!  The cross is where God says, "I love you this much!"

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining 

In Honor of Katie Beth Carter

In Honor of Katie Beth Carter

Dear Champions,

 

The short excerpt is from Jim Dobson's book, When Life Doesn't Make Sense.  It has been inspired by the death for our dear friend, 18 year old Katie Beth Carter.  She was killed in a car wreck while heading back to college last Monday.  The scripture is Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

 

Pastor Jim Conway's daughter, Becki, had her leg amputated because of cancer.  Here is part of his story.

 

I remember a guy I saw in a restaurant a few days after Becki underwent surgery.  He was sitting at a table, and as I walked by, he reached out and grabbed my coat.  He said, "Jim, I think God has allowed this to happen because it has brought about a revival in our church."  I said, "So what is God going to do to bring another revival when this one passes, chop off Becki's other leg?  Then her arm and her other arm?  There isn't enough of Becki to keep any church spiritually alive, if that is what it takes."

 

When you start reaching for puny answers like that, it dehumanizes those who suffer and insults our magnificent God who loves and cares for the oppressed.  I couldn't explain why Becki had to lose her leg, but I knew the answers being given were not right.

 

Probably the most important thing I learned in this entire process is this:  I became deeply aware that there were only two choices that I could make.  One was to continue in my anger at God and follow the path of despair I was on.  The other choice was to let God be God, and somehow say, "I don't know how all this fits together.  I don't understand the reasons for it.  I'm not even going to ask for the explanation.  I've chosen to accept the fact that You are God and I'm the servant, instead of the other way around."  And there I left it.

 

It was in that choice that I came to cope with my situation.  I frankly admit that after all these years, I still struggle with some things.  I will get sick to my stomach when I see my daughter hopping on one leg.  But I have come to recognize that God has a higher purpose, and I just don't understand that purpose.  I am prepared to wait until eternity to receive answers to my questions, if necessary.  Like Job, I am now able to say, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him" (Job 13:15 KJV).  It's either despair, or it's the acceptance of His sovereignty.  Those are the alternatives.

 

Champions, if you remember, please pray for Katie's Beth's family.  Have a great week!-David Vining

 

P.S.  You can read more and see a picture of  Katie Beth at this gofundme.com site.  https://www.gofundme.com/2nh4ej56