Two Babes in a Manger

TWO BABES IN A MANGER

Dear Champions,

 

I do not know the source of the excerpt, but it is touching.  

 

In 1994, two Americans answered an invitation from the Russian Department of Education to teach morals and ethics based on biblical principles to about 100 boys and girls who had been abandoned, abused, and left in the care of a government-run program were in the orphanage. They relate the following story in their own words:

 

It was nearing the holiday season, 1994, time for our orphans to hear, for the first time, the traditional story of Christmas. We told them about Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem.  Finding no room in the inn, the couple went to a stable, where the baby Jesus was born and placed in a manger.  Throughout the story, the children and orphanage staff sat in amazement as they listened. Some sat on the edges of their stools, trying to grasp every word. Completing the story, we gave the children three small pieces of cardboard to make a crude manger.  Each child was given a small paper square, cut from yellow napkins I had brought with me. Following instructions, the children tore the paper and carefully laid strips in the manger for straw.  Small squares of flannel, cut from a worn-out nightgown an American lady was throwing away as she left Russia, were used for the baby's blanket. A doll-like baby was cut from tan felt we had brought from the United States.

 

The orphans were busy assembling their manger as I walked among them to see if they needed any help. All went well until I got to one table where little Misha sat. He looked to be about 6 years old and had finished his project. As I looked at the little boy's manger, I was startled to see not one, but two babies in the manger. Quickly, I called for the translator to ask the lad why there were two babies in the manger. Crossing his arms in front of him and looking at this completed manger scene, the child began to repeat the story very seriously.  For such a young boy who had only heard the Christmas story once, he related the happenings accurately-until he came to the part where Mary put the baby Jesus in the manger. Then Misha started to ad-lib.

 

He made up his own ending to the story as he said, "And when Maria laid the baby in the manger, Jesus looked at me and asked me if I had a place to stay.  I told him I have no mamma and I have no papa, so I don't have any place to stay.  Then Jesus told me I could stay with him. But I told him I couldn't, because I didn't have a gift to give him like everybody else did. But I wanted to stay with Jesus so much, so I thought about what I had that maybe I could use for a gift. I thought maybe if I kept him warm, that would be a good gift."

 

So I asked Jesus, "If I keep you warm, will that be a good enough gift?"  And Jesus told me, "If you keep me warm, that will be the best gift anybody ever gave me." "So I got into the manger, and then Jesus looked at me and he told me I could stay with him---for always."

 

As little Misha finished his story, his eyes brimmed full of tears that splashed down his little cheeks. Putting his hand over his face, his head dropped to the table and his shoulders shook as he sobbed and sobbed.  The little orphan had found someone who would never abandon nor abuse him, someone who would stay with him-FOR ALWAYS.

 

"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5)

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Infinite Value of No Value

Infinite Value or No Value

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the Scripture is 1 Corinthians 15: 3-6 . . .Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time . . .

 

If the resurrection happened, then Christianity is of infinite value.  However, if the resurrection is not true, then Christianity is of no value at all.  It's either of infinite value, or it's of no value.

 

Other religions aren't vulnerable like Christianity.  They say that their founder wasn't God and that their founders were prophets.  They say that the way to get to God is to try to live a good life.

 

But Christianity says that Jesus was the son of God and that the resurrection proves it.  It says that nobody is good enough, and our founder is God.  Christianity says, "Our religion doesn't tell you how to find God by your efforts, but how Jesus came and did it all for you."  He died for your sins.  He was your substitute.  He brings you to God.  

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

The Jewelry Store Caper

The Jewelry Store Caper

 

Dear Champions,

 

This short excerpt is attributed to Soren Kierkegaard, and the scripture is in the excerpt.

 

One night, a group of thieves broke into a jewelry store. But rather than stealing anything, they simply switched all the price tags. The next day no one could tell what was valuable and what was cheap. The expensive jewels had suddenly become cheap, and the costume jewelry, which had been virtually worthless before, was suddenly of great value. Customers who thought they were purchasing valuable gems were getting fakes.  Those who couldn't afford the higher priced items were leaving the store with treasures.

 

In our world someone came in and switched all the price tags.   It's hard to tell what is of value and what is not.   Great value is given to the accumulation of material wealth and the power that goes with it.   The world puts a high price on popularity, prestige, beauty, and fame.   But Jesus taught that such things are virtually worthless in the only "jewelry store" that matters: the kingdom of God. 

 

Luke 16:14-15 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, 'You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God's sight. 

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

First Steps To Happiness…Humility

First Steps To Happiness…Humility

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Whit Criswell & the scripture is in the excerpt.

Psychology Today magazine did a survey and asked 52,000 people, "What would it take to make you happy?"  In order of most votes were:  friends and social life, good job, love, recognition, sex, good financial situation, owning a house, being attractive, health, religion, recreation, being a parent, marriage, and for their spouse to be happy.  The interesting thing is happiness is mostly sought through external situations rather than internal ones.  Then does happiness mean having the right circumstances?

The wisest and wealthiest man ever was Solomon, and he said he was going to deny himself nothing in order to find happiness.  He found three deadends:  accumulating things, experiencing all kinds of pleasure, and achieving success.  He concluded, "All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind" (Ecclesiastes 2:17).  The world's view of happiness is having the right circumstances, but God's idea of happiness is having the right attitude.

In Matthew 5, Jesus repeatedly said, "Blessed," which means, "Happy are you.  He said that happiness is not determined by what's happening around or outside of me, but rather what's happening inside of me! The first step to happiness is humility.   "Blessed are the Poor in Spirit."  Compared to a holy and righteous God, we are filthy rags.  

It means that I don't have it all together!"  Humble and happy go together.  I can be real, no more faking or pretending.  This reduces my stress.

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Grace

Grace

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Dave Busby, and the scripture is Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.

Do you know what most Christians' good news is?  They start with the fact that you are a sinner and need to receive the gift of salvation.  That part is true, then they add . . .

'Now you must do this and this and this if you want to continue to keep God happy with you!'

And so most Christians feel that God is disappointed with them.  They think that they're never doing well enough.  They are living under the list.  Maybe they started out living by grace, but now they have regressed to living under the rules.

The more we understand grace-that our acceptance and our value to God are not based on our performance, the more we can begin to REST—because of what Jesus has already accomplished. 

The more I understand grace, the more it has motivated me to fall deeper in love with Jesus.  Grace motivates me far more towards holiness than pressure to keep a list ever could.  Maybe it's just harder to sin against love and grace than to sin against the law.

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Jesus Holds Us

Jesus Holds Us

 

 Dear Champions,

 

The short excerpt is by Joe Novenson, and the scripture is in the excerpt.

 

Sunday, August 16, 1987, Northwest Airlines Flight 225 crashed outside of Detroit.  One hundred fifty-five people and all of the crew were dead.  The crash was incredible, absolutely decimating the plane.  There was one survivor; a four-year-old girl named Cecilia.  When the airplane investigators found her they thought that she was probably a resident.  Maybe the plane landed on her house, and maybe she was in a car nearby.  They checked the registrar, and her name was on the plane.  She was still in the seatbelt and alive but how? 

 

After she came to, and they could interview her, this is her story.  Her mother, as the plane was falling, disconnected her own seatbelt, got on to the seat with her daughter, jammed both her knees on either side of her four year old daughter legs, grabbed the back of the chair, and held on.  So when the plane crashed, behind her she had seat and in front of her she had mother.  All of the impact of the crash was assumed by chair and by Mom.  She lived because someone grabbed her and held her. 

 

Jesus grabs and holds on to us.  John 10:27-28 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

RUNNING AWAY OR RETURNING

 

Dear Champions,

 

The short excerpt is from Henry Nouwen, and the scripture is Matthew 11:28-30  "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

 

The voice of despair says, "I sin over and over again.  After endless promises to myself and others to do better next time, I find myself back again in the old dark places.  Forget about trying to change.  I have tried for years.  It didn't work and it will never work."

           

Jesus came to open my ears to another voice that says, "I am your God, I have molded you with my own hands, and I love what I have made.  I love you with a love that has no limits, because I love you as I am loved.  Do not run away from me.  Come back to me--not once, not twice, but always again.  You are my child.  How can you ever doubt that I will embrace you again, hold you against my breast, kiss you and let my hands run through your hair?  Come, come, let me wipe your tears, and let my mouth come close to your ear and say to you, 'I love you, I love you, I love you.' "

 

This the voice that Jesus wants us to hear.  It is the voice that calls us always to return to the one who has created us in love and wants to re-create us in mercy.  It is not easy to let the voice of God's mercy speak to us because it is a voice asking for an always open relationship, one in which sins are acknowledged, forgiveness received, and love renewed.  It does not offer us a solution, but a friendship.  It does not take away our problems, but promises not to avoid them.  It does not tell us where it will end, but assures us that we will never be alone.  A true relationship is hard work because loving is hard work, with many tears and many smiles.  But it is God's work and worth every part of it.

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

 

Laying Down Your Life

                                                                                                  Laying Down Your Life

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is from an unknown source.

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare & serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister.

I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes I'll do it if it will save her." As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheek. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded.

He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away".

Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her.      

 John 15:13  Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Know the Cleaning Lady's Name!

Everyone is Important

Dear Champions,

I do not know who the short excerpt is from.  The scripture is Romans 12: 3, 16  … do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. … Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.

During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions until I read the last one:

 "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?"

 Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name?  I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade.

 "Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say "hello."

I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

 

Substitutionary Love

Substitutionary Love

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the Scripture is 1 Peter 3:18  For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.

 
Let's just say that you are one of the cool kids, and you are in middle or high school.  Here is a girl that nobody likes, and she's dorky.  She is isolated and alienated, so you try to love and reach out to her.  The next thing that you know the other cool girls are coming to you and saying, "What are you doing with her?"  What is happening is that some of that dorky-ness is rubbing off on you, and you aren't so cool anymore if you hang out with her.  There is no way for you to diminish her isolation and alienation without you entering into it and some of it falling down onto you. 

 

The only way that you love a broken person or messed up person and really love them to change them is that you have to do it substitutionarily. Jesus took our penalty upon himself and got what we deserved, and our sins and guilt and brokenness fell upon Him.  He took it himself so that we could be forgiven.  He loved us substitutionarily.

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining 

Friendship Facilitates An Encounter With God

Friendship Facilitates An Encounter With God

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the Scripture is 1 John 4:7-8 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

 

If you love people in deep friendship regardless of what they believe, what you believe is going to look pretty credible.  If you love people only if they believe what you believe or only if it looks like they're on the way to believing what you believe, why should they believe what you believe?  How do you treat people who differ from you?   The most transforming thing that facilitates an encounter with God is unconditional love in a powerful friendship.  

 

We gravitate toward environments and relationships where we feel accepted, and we are repelled by environments where we fell rejected.   

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

God Shaped Hole

God Shaped Hole

 

Dear Champions,

 

The short excerpt is from Tim Keller, and the scripture is Romans 1:25  They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator – who is for ever praised. 

 

Cynthia Hymal used to write for the Village Voice, and she lived in New York City for many years and got to know a lot of people when they were struggling artists, actors and actresses.  Afterwards some of these people would hit it big and become celebrities, so she knew a lot of people before and after.  Here's what she says about celebrities.  "I pity celebrities, I really do.  Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis and Barbara Striestand were once perfectly pleasant human beings.  But now their wrath is awful.  I think when God wants to play a really rotten little joke on you, He grants you your deepest wish and giggles merrily when you want to kill yourself.  You see, Sly, Bruce and Barbara wanted fame.  They worked, they pushed, and the morning after each of them became famous, they wanted to take an overdose.  That giant thing that they were striving for, that famed thing that was going to make everything okay and their lives bearable, that was going to provide them with personal fulfillment and happiness had happened, and they were still them.  The disillusionment turned them howling and insufferable."

 

What Cynthia Hymal is saying is right-not about God playing a rotten, dirty trick on you.  Certainly she is right in saying that the worst thing that God can do to you is to give you the desires of your heart (Romans 1:24-32 addresses this).  Very few of us get the ultimate success, but the few who do are absolutely appalled.  There is an awful lot of dysfunction and unhappiness amongst the very elite, and there are all sorts of studies that prove it.  The few of us who do make it to the very top suddenly see something that it is appalling.  There is something so wrong with the human soul, there is a vacuum so big that you can put in 3 million dollars, 10 million dollars, you can become the biggest star and celebrity in the world, and you still aren't going to be happy.  It still won't fulfill you!  It won't be enough!  When you realize that, you begin to say, "What in the world will ever satisfy me?"  The Bible says that the hole is God shaped and only He can fill it.   

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Nothing Satisfies

Nothing Satisfies

Dear Champions,

 

The short excerpt is from Tim Keller, and the scripture is Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

 

C.S. Lewis said the following: "Most people if they really learned how to look into their own hearts would know that they do want and they want acutely something that this world can never give them.  There are all sorts of things in this world that offer to give it to you, but they never keep their promise.  The longings that first arise in us when we first fall in love or first think of some foreign country or first pick up some subject that excites us.  These are longings which no marriage, no travel, no learning will ever satisfy.  I'm not speaking about what would ordinarily be called unsuccessful marriages or trips and so on, I'm speaking of the very best possible ones.  There is always something that we have grasped at in that first moment of longing that just fades away into reality.  The spouse may be a good spouse, the scenery has been excellent, it has turned out to be a good job, but it, the thing that we thought was going to be in the center of it, always evades us."

 

When you finally see that nothing in this world will ever satisfy you (and you will eventually see this), there are only four ways to possibly respond.  You're going to have to choose one of them, and it will totally shape the rest of your life.  You'll either blame the things that you have and say that I've got to get better ones (better woman, better man, better job), or you will blame yourself and hate yourself, or you will blame life and harden yourself so that you will never hope for anything at all, or you can blame your theory of reality.  You can say, "If there is nothing in this world that ever satisfies me, then it must mean that I am made for something beyond this world."  One response makes you a fool, one makes you a self-hater, one makes you an utterly hard cynic, and one makes you a Christian.

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Love

Love

Dear Champions,

 

The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the scripture is John 15:13  Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

 

There's a novel in which a young man, who is a Hindu at the moment, is talking to a priest named Father Martin.  This book is the Life of PI, and there is a passage I want to read to you:  

           

"Father Martin told me a story.  The first thing I felt was disbelief.  What?  Humanity sins?  But it's God's Son who takes the blame and pays the price?  That a God should put up with adversity I could understand.  Adversity, yes.  Treachery, yes.  But humiliation, death?

 

I couldn't imagine Lord Krishna consenting to be stripped naked, whipped, mocked, dragged through the streets and, to top it off, crucified and at the hands of a mere human to boot.  I'd never heard of a God dying.  Matter fell away, but divinity should not be blighted by death.  It's wrong!  Was it a fake?  Was He just shamming?  Was His death real?  

 

Father Martin assured me that it was.  But once a dead God; always a dead God, I assumed.  Even resurrected, the Son must have the taste of death forever in His mouth.  There must be a certain stench even at the right hand of God the Father.  The horror must be real.  Why would God wish that upon Himself?  Why not leave death to mortals?  Why make dirty what is beautiful?  Why spoil what is perfect? 

 

Love -- that was Father Martin's answer."

 

Champions, have a great summer!-David Vining

Brokenness

Brokenness

 

Dear Champions,

 

The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the Scripture verse is Luke 22:42-44 'Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.'  An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.  And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

 

God is attracted to brokenness.  Jesus did not bring salvation to the world through strength but through being weak and giving up power and losing everything but trusting God in it.  Out of that came fruit.

 

The Bible says that you were built to center your heart on God.  Your soul wasn't built for you to put anything else in the center of your life, even a good thing like marriage, children or success.  On the cross Jesus Christ lost His Father and was forsaken.  He was cut off from God, and He experienced Hell.  He took our punishment for us and was treated as we deserve to be treated.

 

The gospel is radical grace!  God treated Jesus as we deserve.  When we embrace Him, God treats us as Jesus deserves.  He rejoices in you, He approves of you, and He honors you!

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

 

Gratitude

Gratitude

 

Dear Champions,

 

The short excerpt is by Andy Stanley, and the Scripture is Luke 18:17-18   Jesus asked, Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?  Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?

 

Two hidden sins are greed and ungratefulness.  No one thinks that they're greedy, and no one thinks that they are ungrateful.

 

Jesus healed 10 men with leprosy, and only one came back to say thank you.  If you could interview the nine men that did not come back, they would all say that they are grateful.  However, unexpressed gratitude communicates ingratitude and is actually a form of rejection.  If gratitude is not expressed, then it does not exist.  

 

We gravitate toward environments and relationships where we feel accepted, and we are repelled by environments where we fell rejected.  Unexpressed gratitude drives people's hearts out of the relationship.  Gratitude closes the loop in our relationships with God and with others.  To refuse to pay my debts of gratitude is to live with an inflated view of myself.  You have never met an arrogant person that is grateful, and you have never met a humble person that is not grateful.  A returner is someone that is willing to go back to thank those that allowed them to go forward.  We all owe someone a debt of gratitude.

 

"The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated." (From How to Win Friends and Influence People)

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

It's the Inside That Counts

It's the Inside That Counts

 

Dear Champions,

 

I do not know where I got the first part of this excerpt, but the last part is by Ezra Taft Benson.  The Scripture is Matthew 23:27-28 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! … On the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness."

 

A British company developed a product call "Spray On Mud" so city dwellers can give their expensive 4x4 vehicles the appearance of having been off-road for a day of hunting and fishing without ever leaving town.  The mud is even filtered to remove stones and debris that might scratch the paint. 

 

There is something within each of us that values how we look on the outside more than who we are on the inside.  Which is more important?  Who we really are, or who we pretend to be?

 

1 Samuel 16:7 says, . . . The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'

 

The inward reality of Christ is what counts, and it will over time produce the outward signs of faith.  Ezra Taft Benson says it best in the following paragraph:

 

"The Lord works from the inside out.  The world works from the outside in.  The world would take people out of the slums.  Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums.  The world would mold men by changing their environment.  Christ changes men, who then change their environment.  The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature."

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Sexual Purity

Sexual Purity

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Andy Stanley, and the scripture is Romans 13:8-10 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.  . . . "Love your neighbor as yourself."   Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.   

Being sexual pure has nothing to do with trying to get God to love you or to keep Him from punishing you.  It has everything to do with honoring other people.  When you exercise sexual self-control, you are honoring someone else.  Not only are you honoring them, you are also honoring every single one of their future relationships.  By not becoming a regret you are honoring their next relationship, and you are honoring them.  That's what Jesus wants you to do.  He says, "I want you to do for others what I have done for you.  Love the way that I have loved." 

At the end of the day you discover that sexual purity actually paves the way to intimacy.  There is a payoff, and there is freedom.  Eventually everybody understands whether they admit it or not that exclusivity is what leads to romance and not experience.  Where there is exclusivity and romance in a relationship, there is liberty.

Philippians 2:4 says, Look not only to your own interest but also the interest of others.

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

If I Live Right!

If I Live Right

 
Dear Champions,
 
The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the Scripture is Matthew 5:45   God causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
 
Over the years I have seen people getting completely destroyed by the troubles in their lives, and here is why.  There is a premise underneath our lives that is so deep that we do not even realize it is there.  The premise is this:  If I live right, my life should go right.   So if your life goes wrong, you either say something is wrong with me, or something is wrong with God for not keeping up with His part of the deal. You either hate yourself because you must be a failure, or you hate God because He is not treating you as you deserve.  This premise that if I live right that my life should go right is going to lead you into self-hatred or God-hatred, and your life will be poisoned.  Something has to destroy the premise.

Jesus lived the live we should have lived.  He lived a perfect life, yet His life on Earth did not end right.  He says, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"  That is the only time in His entire life when He does not call God, "Father."  On the cross, He was losing His Sonship and relationship with His Father because He was getting the punishment that we deserved.  Jesus loses the Sonship so that we can have it and so that we can become sons and daughters of God.
 
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Grumbling

Grumbling

Dear Champions,
 
The short excerpt is by Max Lucado, and the Scripture is Philippians 2:14-15  Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.
 
The president of the organization called Women of Faith told me about one particular weekend conference in which a shortage of space tested everyone's patience.  The floor had 150 fewer seats than needed, and the arena staff tried to solve the problem by using narrow chairs. As a result, every woman had a place to sit, but everyone was crowded. Complaints contaminated like feedlot fragrance. They asked Joni Eareckson Tada, a speaker for the evening, if she could calm the crowd. Joni was perfectly qualified to do so. A childhood diving accident has left her wheelchair-bound. The attendants rolled her onto the platform, and Joni addressed the unhappy crowd. I understand some of you don't like the chair in which you are sitting. Neither do I. But I have about a thousand handicapped friends who would gladly trade places with you in an instant.

The grumbling ceased.

Yours can too.
 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

hi Scripture https://goo.gl/8gLs58 viningjb

Substitutionary Sacrifice

Substitutionary Sacrifice

 

The short excerpt is by Tim Keller of New York City, and the Scripture is 1 John 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 
 
All real life changing love is substitutionary sacrifice.  If you ever try to love somebody that is emotionally wounded, it is going to cost you.  You can't love them and bring them up without you going down.  You can't do it without somehow their troubles and problems transfering to you.  
 

When an emotionally wounded person comes at you, you want to go the other way.  You know that you are going to have to listen to him or her, and it is just so draining to be their friend.  The only way that emotionally wounded people are going to fill up emotionally is if somebody loves them, and the only way to love them is to be emotionally drained.  They aren't going to fill up unless you empty out.  If you hold onto to your emotional comfort and just stay away from those people, then they will just sink.  It is them or you, and the only way to love them is through substitutionary sacrifice.  Some of their wounded-ness and drain is going to have to hit you, so that some of your fullness can go to them.  
 
In John 10 Jesus says, I am the good shepherd.  The hired hand when he sees the wolf coming; he abandons the sheep and runs away, but I lay down my life for the sheep.  Jesus emptied Himself out for us and became a sacrificial lamb.  Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.  Jesus lost everything so that He would not lose you. 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Jesus Does The Work-You Get The Credit

Jesus Does The Work-You Get The Credit

 

The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the Scripture is John 2:9-10 which is found in the excerpt.

 

The master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew.  In that culture it was the groom's family's responsibility to have enough wine for all of the guests, and it would have been humiliating to run out.  Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now." (John 2:9-10)  Jesus does the work, and the groom gets all of the credit.  That's what it means to be a Christian.  

 

Don't you dare say, "O Lord I would love to have a relationship with you.  I try very hard, and I check off all of the lists.  Will you now please reward me for all of my hard work?"  That's not how you become a Christian.  What you have to say is, "I have absolutely blown it.  I'm out of wine.  Give me credit for what Jesus has done."  

 

Jesus has gone to the cross. He has provided the wine and has shed His blood.  He lived the life that you should have lived and died the death that you should have died.  Ask God to Give you credit for what Jesus has done.  That is what it means to be a Christian. 

 

If you don't understand that, you are always going to be wondering if you have lived a good enough life.  Learn how to do a saving prayer.  Admit that you're out and that you need salvation.  Then take credit for what Jesus Christ has done.  Ask God to transfer what Jesus has done to your account.

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Having It All Together

Having It All Together

Dear Champions,

The scripture is Luke 11: 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!'

Do you ever think that God could not love you because of how bad that you are?  Have you ever thought that no one would like you if they knew the real you?   Do you see other people that have it all together?  No one has it all together.  We all have insecurities that we hide from others.   

In the scripture Jesus was talking to his disciples, and He calls them evil.  God knows the real you, and He loves you anyway!  Tim Keller said it best.  "The gospel message is that you are more sinful and evil and weak than you ever dared believe, but you are more valued and accepted and loved than you ever dared hope.  Come rest in me and say, 'Father, love me and accept me because of what Jesus did,' and you're in.  I am the way and the truth and the life!"

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining