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All Scripture is linked through the Blue Letter Bible.

If you were looking for the devil would you look for a horned someone dressed in red. Peter likened satan to the king of the beasts.

King of the Beasts. No animal is so majestic as a mature lion with his powerful body and magnificent mane. You might also agree there is no animal more beautiful. No wonder Peter called Satan a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8).

Search the bible from cover to cover and you’ll find no reference to satan as a horned, evil-looking someone in a red body stocking. Indeed, he was created as Lucifer, whose name means shining star of the morning (Isaiah 14:12). God said of him, “You seal up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty (Ezekiel 28:12).”

How did such a beautiful being become a roaring lion, seeking whom he could devour? Let God reveal the story.

“You are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! You are cut down to the ground, you which did weaken the nations! For you said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be (like) the most High (Isaiah 14:12-14).”

Lucifer attempted a coup to take over God’s position. What was once a glorious and beautiful universe became a vast wasteland in the resulting war, the greatest ever fought. The earth, with her neighbours, became a desolation, and thick clouds of dust prevented the sun’s light from reaching the earth.

Lucifer’s rebellion failed, of course, and God told him, “You shall be brought down to hell, to the uttermost parts of the pit (Isaiah 14:15).”

The leaders of failed coups do not generally take kindly to their punishment. After the one we know as Jesus Christ had re-created the earth (John 1:1-3), and put his greatest creation into the garden of Eden, Lucifer, now called Satan, planted seeds of doubt about God’s veracity in their minds. “You won’t surely die,” he told Eve (Genesis 3:4).

I cannot imagine this was Eve’s first encounter with the talking serpent. They likely had several chats together, until Satan knew he had her confidence. Remember, the bible says he was subtle (Genesis 3:1).

For the past six thousand years Satan has deceived the world about God, about eternal life, about the ultimate destination of the deceased. He’s struck dread into the hearts of many who fear their loved ones may have gone into eternal torment. I have no such fear, even for the Hitlers and the Eichmanns of the world, or for those who, unable to cope with life, took the extreme measure of ending it. It’s Satan, not man, who will be tormented eternally (2 Peter 2:4, 17).

But Peter warns us to be vigilante, because the devil, like a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). Lions do not attack the strong of the herd, but the stragglers on the fringe. In the Christian community the stragglers are those who have accepted Satan’s deceptions without question, rather than being like the Bereans who searched the scriptures daily, to see whether the things Paul taught were true (Acts 17:10-11).

But Satan is a cowardly lion, and will flee from anyone who submits himself to God and resists the devil (James 4:7). So Peter admonishes us to resist him, steadfast in the faith (1 Peter 5:9), knowing the holy spirit will guide us into all truth (John 16:13).

You may contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.

LET US PRAY

Is there a special position for prayer? Ol’ Cyrus Brown discovered a position most of us wouldn’t think of.

That wonderful insect, the praying mantis, is so called because it holds its forelegs as though in prayer.

(I found one about five inches long, one day, and put it in my lunch box. I forgot about it until my wife opened the box. Now it was my time to pray.)

This prayer business is kind of funny. For many people it’s a ritual of making a special sign before reciting the words, “Our father which art in heaven.”

For others it’s a matter of pressing their hands together and repeating, “God is great and God is good, and we thank him for our food. Amen.”

Other families join hands around the table, as though the unbroken circle has special meaning to God.

In churches some congregations stand for the prayers. Others sit, and others kneel. Many churches have carpeted kneeling pads for the comfort of the worshippers.

One man had his own posture for prayer. When the minister intoned, “Let us pray,” this fellow would kind of hunker down in the pew. His left hand rested on his left knee so his left arm formed an arc. His right elbow rested just above his right knee. His right leg bent back under the pew so his body was thrown forward and to the right. He then cupped his nose in his right hand between his thumb and forefinger. Us young sprouts had a hoot imitating him.

Is the position for prayer important?

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray he said nothing about kneeling, standing, or sitting.

In the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, Jesus said the Pharisee stood to pray; the tax collector also stood, but would not raise his eyes to heaven (Luke 18: 10-13). This tends to indicate he bowed his head.

When Jesus prayed before his arrest, he fell on his face before God (Matthew 26:39). Maybe that’s the position for prayer. It certainly is when you’re suffering the intense sorrow Jesus was.

But in another place the bible records simply that Jesus went out and prayed (Mark 1:35). No mention of his position, or how he held his hands.

We have no record of how Hannah prayed, but she certainly didn’t cup her nose in her hand. Eli was able to see her lips moving and thought she was drunk (I Samuel 1: 9-16).

There’s a wonderful poem by Sam Walker Foss titled “The Prayer of Cyrus Brown.” The deacon, the pastor, the elder, and the doctor all gave their ideas of how a person should pray. But ol’ Cyrus made the best point. The poem relates:

“Las’ year I fell in Hodgkin’s well/head first,” said Cyrus Brown,/”With both my heels a-stickin’ up,/and my head a-pointin’ down./An’ I made a prayer right then an’ there – /Best prayer I ever said,/The prayin’est prayer I ever prayed,/A-standin’ on my head.”

You may contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.

LIFE IN THE EXCITING LANE

Life has seldom been boring for the author. In this edition of Life Lines he describes a few things that have made his life a journey of excitement.

A cartoon shows Ziggy doing his exercises. He says, “If God had meant for us to touch our toes he wouldn’t have put them so far away.”

There was a time I could touch my toes, but now I’m built too much like Ziggy to even try.

Through the years, though, I’ve done more than add inches to my waistline. I’ve had an exciting and rewarding life.

I was born February 7, 1938, to Sydney and Jean Turvey of Port Colborne. I was my parents’ only child. When I was four, however, Mom and Dad took Agnes Wagner and her two-year-old son Sonny as boarders He was like a brother to me.

School days were a delight. Most of my friends went to Steele Street school: a few attended McKay. But when we were climbing the old chestnut tree in our back yard, school distinction was never considered.

Mom spent hours drilling me in the times tables, in history, in English. I hated it then, but my career in journalism was based on her help and encouragement.

Dad drove truck during the day, then operated his photofinishing business at night. He worked long and hard to give Mom and me a good life, yet still found time to help me discover the wonders of nature. Together we marvelled at the rainbow in a fish’s scale, were awed by the agility of a hummingbird, and explored fossilized dinosaur tracks in a dry river bed.

I left school, lured by the promise of fortune. The fortune never came in the guise of money, but I spent four years with the fledgling Port Colborne News, interrupted by a year getting C-HOW radio on the air. My ability to write was a fortune unequalled by money.

Eventually I became a bridal photographer for two of Niagara Peninsula’s finest studios, and married my high school sweetheart

Jeannette was ill, so we packed as much love and good times as we could into our short life together. Two days after our third anniversary, Jeannette slipped into a deep sleep from which she will not awaken until the return of Jesus Christ.

Through the experimental treatment given Jeannette, the medical society gained knowledge that aided in the development of the renal dialysis process.

After Jeannette’s death I joined Woolco in Brantford, then transferred to their first Windsor store. The day after my arrival a new girl of my dreams entered my life. With four sons, two granddaughters, and two grandsons, Betty and I still love each other.

My Baptist parents took me to Sunday school and church every week, giving me a firm foundation for life. Eventually Betty and I joined a sabbath-keeping congregation. We’ve had an amazing voyage of spiritual discovery ever since.

On Betty’s suggestion, I returned to my hometown to take care of Mom and Dad. I returned to my old job at the Port Colborne News, but with its demise I was forced into retirement. Despite that, life is still exciting and rewarding, and I intend to keep it that way as long as my heavenly father allows me one more heartbeat, one more breath.

You may contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.

LIFE-TIME WARRANTY

Your new purchase comes with a lifetime warranty, but if you disregard the terms the warranty is void. Our heavenly father has given us an eternal lifetime warranty, but you can invalidate it.

Most things we buy come with some sort of warranty. It may be thirty feet or thirty seconds in the case of a used car. Most are one year warranties. Some may be longer, especially if you buy the extended-warranty plan.

Many years ago a photographic equipment store took used equipment as trade ins. One of our salespeople, whose scruples were sometimes less than desirable, talked with a crippled up old gent who appeared to have a very short time left in this life. The old man wanted a camera to take pictures of his first great-grandchild.

Our salesperson showed him a couple expensive and complicated cameras, then let the customer talk him down to something less expensive and easier to use. Time for the kill. John picked up one of the trade-ins we hadn’t been able to sell, gave the old fellow a price he couldn’t turn down, and sealed the sale by saying, “And this camera comes with a life-time warranty.”

Sometimes we have to wonder whether a life-time warranty means the product is warranted for as long as the original owner lives -- such as in the case of the old man’s camera -- or whether it is warranted for the life time of the product. It seems we generally outlive the things we buy.

But compare with what’s written on the box with what’s on the paper inside. The box says, “Three year warranty;” the paper says, “Three year limited warranty.” The limitations are generally that the product is warranted against all defects in manufacturing for one year, and against certain defects for the other two years. Of course, all warranties are void if the customer attempts to repair the product himself, or if he drops it off his balcony into the fish pond below. One fellow said he had an insurance policy -- a kind of warranty -- that said if he lost his left leg in a downhill skiing accident in July, the company would help him find his leg!

Warranties, more often than not, are hardly worth the paper they’re printed on. But there’s one warranty that doesn’t require us to buy anything, is truly a life-time warranty, and is available to anyone. It’s generally printed on fine paper bound in a leather, or leather-look-alike, book. It’s not offered by an unscrupulous salesperson, but by someone on whom we can totally rely.

This warranty guarantees we can outlive this bag o’ bones called our body, and live in a glorified body that can never get sick, never get tired, and never die. Not only that, we can live in absolute peace in a glorious universe, that will pale into insignificance the most wonderful things we have today. No worries about what to eat, or what to put on: there will be abundance of the best of food and clothing for everyone.

But there’s a catch. Like warranties today, this one is limited. There’s a big “If” right in the middle.

It begins by introducing a father who loved the world so much that he gave his only son who would die for the remission of our sins. It guarantees life forever. But that big “If” in the middle says, “...who ever believes in him....”

God wants everyone to have everlasting life (2 Peter 3:9) but, unless we believe -- truly believe -- in Jesus Christ, and believe what he has said, we will perish in the lake of fire instead (Revelation 20:15).

Here’s your eternal lifetime warranty. It’s found in your bible, John 3:16: God loves every man, woman, and child on earth, including the Hindus and Muslims and Buddhists, coloured and white, alcoholics and gamblers, homosexuals and prostitutes and, oh yes, Christians too, so he willingly gave us his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him, no matter how much of a low life they have been, and even (insert your name), need not die the second death in the lake of fire for the sins we have all committed, but that we may have everlasting life in the glorious kingdom of God (John 3:16).

You may contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.

A LITTLE GRAIN OF SAND

A little bit of love. A little grain of sand. A lady in Colombia is doing her part to make this a more peaceful world.

Recently a dear friend in Colombia told me she teaches little children to read and write when they’re falling behind in school. She wrote, “Es un pequeño granito de arena para la paz del mundo.” (It’s a little grain of sand for the peace of the world.)

Pick up one grain of sand from the beach. Rather insignificant isn’t it? A light breeze will blow it away. Your tiny grain of sand is only one of billions of just like it. But put them together and they make up a seaside playground.

When you consider there are seven billion people on the earth, it seems like you and I are rather insignificant. But to those who know us, for good or ill, we certainly are not insignificant. If you’re like me you embarrassed Mom with your shenanigans. Dad sees you as the one who will, someday, take over the family business. If you’re married your spouse sees you in a special way. And the kids see you as totally out of tune with the times. In all this you are anything except insignificant.

It’s doubtful that you know my friend in Colombia so, to you, she may seem insignificant as a grain of sand. She’s just one person amid seven billion in the world. But to a few children in her care Lourdes is more important than all the other grains of sand on the beach; possibly more important than all the other people in the world.

Her email continued, “While you reach two thousand readers with Life Lines, I only reach a half mad, very dumb...little boy whose head is hard as a stone....that boy can hardly do anything for himself, much less for humanity. But still, even knowing that, maybe I can get him to read and write badly. I put that little grain of sand to help my world.”

Such is the love of one lady for less privileged children high in the Andes Mountains of South America. The little boy she’s teaching may be hard headed, half mad, and very dumb, but he’s not insignificant.

A group of men thought the children of a mid-east village were insignificant. When their mothers brought their little ones to Jesus his disciples rebuked them. You can imagine them saying, “Shoo. Shoo. Go away. Take your kids back home. The master is tired and hasn’t got time for them (Matthew 19:13; Mark 10:13; Luke 18: 16).”

Ah, but the master didn’t think of the children as insignificant. If you had been there you might have heard Jesus tell his disciples, “You’re right fellows. I am tired, but these children have their needs too. Little Ezra has a fever; Elizabeth needs assurance there’s no monsters under her bed; Samuel’s daddy died last week, and he needs someone to share his tears and fears.”

He may have been tired, but the children were important enough for him to see them as potential citizens of the God kingdom. Indeed, he used the innocence and wonderment of little children as an example of what we need to be if we’re to inherit one of those mansions Jesus spoke of in John 14:2.

There are seven billion people on the earth today. If each one contributed a little grain of sand for the peace of the world, we wouldn’t have to worry about broken families, or poverty, or war.

What grain of sand are you contributing toward la paz del mundo?

You may contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.

LIVING DEAD

Most people, today, live a life of quiet desperation, and when it’s time to die they discover they had not lived.

A little girl said she hopes we come back after we die, “…because I don’t want to be dead for the rest of my life.”

They’re everywhere, aren’t they? The living dead. Not the zombies of fiction novels, but real human beings who are next thing to brain dead.

You know them: when they’re not glued to “The Young And The Hopeless” they’re absorbing the trash in “The Sinday Scum.” Their conversation is pure gossip, and their bedtime reading is the Read-One-And-You’ve-Read-‘Em-All romance novels. Romance? I’ve been around the block once or twice, and there’s no more romance in them than in what is flushed down the toilet.

What has become of recent generations? People calling themselves adults spend their time and money on expensive toys, claiming the video wars teach their children hand-eye coordination. Balderdash! Let them to wash the dishes and put out the garbage. They’ll soon learn hand-eye coordination, and build some muscle at the same time. Hide their calculators and teach them to do arithmetic the old fashioned way. That’ll exercise their brains. And teach them to speak and write decent English. What would they like do if they couldn’t say “like” at least three times, like in every like sentence?

People quote baseball stats as easily as they say their own names. They know all the pop stars, and who their current bed partners are. They eat stuff that shouldn’t even be fed to pigs, then wonder why they toss and turn all night, and can’t stay awake in the daytime. Their escape from the pressures of life is to add more pressure in the form of pills or white dust or smoking weed. They get schnockered at the local watering hole, then die in a horrific crash when a tree jumps in front of them.

Henry David Thoreau wrote in Walden, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.…”

How wonderful if every human being spent one hour each day living deliberately. Turn off the electronics, take a walk away from the world, and savor the true wonders of life.

Another David lived life deliberately, and wrote these memorable lines, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their song is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoices as a strong man to run a race (Psalm 19:1-5).”

Read those lines again, shutting out the busyness of the world. Listen to the harmony of the sparrows in the trees. Absorb the scent of a dew-covered rose in the early morning. Watch a tiny ant climb a blade of grass, and hum along with a bumble bee as it buzzes from blossom to blossom gathering pollen. At night, read David’s psalm while the moon rises against a velvet sky, and be a child again: sing, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”

Frances Mossiker wrote in Pocahontas, “The attitude of the Indian toward silence and solitude is distinctive. The stillness within us is not something to be dreaded, but rather to be sought as a reservoir of spiritual strength.”

Don’t be among the living dead. Live deliberately. Drink deeply of the reservoir of spiritual strength, and receive the living water of God’s holy spirit (John 7:38-39).

You may contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.

LIVING WATER

(Inspired by Sulochana Vinayagamoorthy)

When the sun is scorching hot, and the tongue is bone dry, all the wealth in the world won’t refresh you like a glass of cold water.

They were twins. Esau, the older brother, possessed all the privileges of birthright: a double portion of the family inheritance, authority in the family and, some authorities believe, priesthood for the family.

Esau returned from hunting, so hungry he thought he would die. Seeing his brother, Jacob, had prepared food for himself, Esau asked for some. Jacob, an opportunist, said, “OK. Sell me your birthright.”

To satisfy his hunger, Esau agreed. “After all,” he thought, “what good is the birthright if I die (Genesis 25:24-34)?”

Thousands of years later a Canadian tourist was in France during the massive 2003 heat wave. She wrote, “At no other time had plain cold water tasted so good on my tongue as in those days when we walked under the scorching sun, breathing in hot humid air.

“With my throat parched, if I had been given a choice between a bottle of Parfum D'Or, a pearl necklace, or a chilled bottle of sparkling water, I would have wisely lunged for the last. What good is the perfume or the shining necklace if I do not get the water to quench my thirst? Though the perfume and the pearls have their glamour and lure, they lack the power to quench my thirst.”

The world is suffering from lack of food and water – not the physical food that Esau desired, nor the bottled water of the tourist’s need, but food and drink that truly satisfies. The food is the word of God; the water is God’s holy spirit (John 4:10; 7:38-39).

There’s an old song, “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend.” Unfortunately life, for too many, is diamonds and pearls and perfume.

These things are not wrong. A string of pearls, a diamond necklace, are as much a part of a woman’s attire as a beautiful dress. It’s the inordinate desire for such things that is wrong (1 Timothy 6:10). Sulochana asks, “What good is money, success, or power for someone at the brink of death?” Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend in this life, but they’ll let her down at the end of her days.

For many of the world’s people diamonds mean nothing. A missionary told me he gave some money to an old man. “Pray for me, missionary,” said the old man. “There is no food left to buy.” You can’t eat pearls and diamonds and money. The human body needs the nourishment provided by meat and potatoes and fruit and veggies.

Yet there’s a need for nourishment that goes beyond physical food. It’s the spiritual nourishment provided from understanding and living by God’s word, the message of the holy bible. It’s the assurance of eternal life available only through the living water of God’s holy spirit.

Jesus said the gospel of God’s kingdom will be preached through the entire world as a witness (Matthew 24:14). A few years ago we thought radio would be the medium through which the witness would come. Then it was television. Now it’s the internet. But, for many people, radios bring in a few government-controlled stations, and you can bet the rent they’re not broadcasting God’s word. Similarly television. And the majority doesn’t have the luxury of computers and internet access.

Jesus said, “He that believes on me…out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water (John 7:38).” He did not say, “…out of his mouth…” but out of his innermost being.

Famous preachers can thunder all they want on their television programs, or to packed stadiums, but it’s the day-by-day serene life of spirit-led Christians that truly preaches the message of good news through the nations.

Does God’s living water flow from your innermost being? Can your friends drink of it and be filled? You may be the only source of spiritual refreshment they have.

You may contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.

LIVING WITH CHRIST

What if you woke up monday morning in a God-less country? Living with Christ would be far more challenging than it is here at home.

A friend in Colombia asked me to write what it’s like to live with Christ. I responded, "That could be difficult because you live in a war-torn country, and I live in peace. I cannot imagine what living with Christ might be like in Colombia."

We Christians in Canada, the United States, and Great Britain, are soft. We get up on Sabbath morning – Saturn's day or sun-day isn't significant here – flip a switch and know the lights will come on. We shower with water temperature-adjusted perfectly to our liking, dress in our finest, drive to church where we sit in air-conditioned comfort on ergonomically correct, and sometimes padded pews. We sing a few hymns but don't generally pay much attention to the words, bow our heads dutifully when the minister prays, and listen to a twenty-minute sermon. As we leave, we shake the pastor's hand, and tell him what a wonderful sermon it was. If he asked what inspired us most about the sermon, we'd likely be at a loss for words.

We return home and enter our house to be greeted by the aroma of roast beef that's been simmering in the oven while we were away.

On Monday we go to work with our fellow labourers of various religious and political views. We discuss the weather, Friday night's game, and what we did on the weekend. But we don't talk much about politics or religion: we've been trained those subjects are taboo. Except for one or two whose way of life show others they’re different, we're pretty safe. If someone asks about our beliefs – which they’re not likely to do –we can talk freely with them. Man, we've got it easy!

But suppose we wake up Monday morning in Colombia. El Colombiano, the daily paper, tells of a local priest murdered as he left church on sun-day. A drive-by shooting with no apparent motive, and no suspects. The priest had, however, been an advocate for peace in his guerilla-terrorized country. An isolated incident? No, his murder was the twelfth in three months.

Perhaps we wake up in Laos. During a worship service Laotian authorities arrest our leaders, and torch our building.

Our early morning wake-up in Sudan comes from the sole survivor of a midnight raid on a neighbouring village. A Christian pastor, his family, and sixty unarmed villagers were massacred by gunfire. Young children and several women were captured for enslavement. Homes were set on fire, and many people, including the pastor of the Presbyterian church and his wife, were burned to death.

Christians in these and many other countries are not soft. Their love for the truth drives them to worship clandestinely, or to distribute bible literature at risk of imprisonment in filthy cells, or brutalization in camps for re-education through labour.

In some countries the people are allowed to belong to the government-sanctioned religion but, if they dare convert to Christianity they're as good as dead. At best their permit to work may be confiscated, or they may be deported to another God-less country.

So what motivates these people to live with Christ in their hearts? They see the contrast between the unholy alliance of governments, police, and drug lords, and the peace their faith in God brings them, even in the face of persecution and death. They know there's a better life ahead in the kingdom of God. Their non-Christian persecutors simply see temporal rewards: money, prestige, and power in this life only.

Regarding the persecuted followers of God in centuries gone by Paul wrote, “...they desire a better country, that is an heavenly, wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God...(Hebrews 11:16).”

Might we Christians be so soft that God is ashamed to be called our God? He understands the plight of the persecuted Christians who live in hell, and is pleased to be called their God.

You may contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.

THE DEGENERATION OF CHURCH MEMBERSHIP

You’ve likely heard it said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result.” Maybe that’s why churches find it hard to maintain their membership.

Churches everywhere bewail the loss of membership, but few take any real measures to turn the trend around.

Taking measures requires making changes, and most people fear change because it means stepping outside their comfort zone into the unknown.

Recently a church in Ourtown struck a committee to review the problem of their waning membership. Finally, after a few in-camera meetings, the committee told the congregation they would learn, on Sunday, what changes needed to be made.

After the worship service, the members met in groups of four to six. Each group was given some instructions, and were to come to a conclusion about their particular subject for change.

Didn’t work, so the congregation was told to go home and think the matter over. There’s a problem with that: Two percent of people think and act as a way of life; eight percent will think and act when under pressure; and ninety percent would rather die than think. This is especially so when the idea of thinking is coupled with the fear of change.

So what’s the solution? Basketball and dances and parties to draw the young people? It’s been tried in many churches with little success. Church parties just don’t measure up to what young people attend today.

Good old fashioned hell, fire and brimstone preaching? Not likely. People live in the here and now, and really don’t concern themselves with such mundane things as going to heaven or hell.

Upbeat hymns with live bands? In the churches I’ve visited the worship of God seems overpowered by glorification of the band’s ear-splitting amplification systems.

Every one win one? This was a promising idea a few years ago, but it seems like people got tired of winning others, so the campaign fell by the wayside.

The church could join with other congregations, but that won’t likely work either. Most churches espoused ecumenism many years ago to bring the churches together, but it was put on back burner because people began to realize its aim is to make everyone Roman catholic. Besides, what died-in-the-wool Baptist would want to become like the Pentecostals, raising their hands in the air and shouting Halleujah during the worship and prayers?

Is the real problem waning membership, or is it that most church members are in a box, and they can’t think outside it? Someone has said, “If you want a better minister, pray for the one you’ve got.” Maybe that idea can be paraphrased to pray for the congregation you have.

Now here’s a unique idea: turn the matter over to God. Really turn it over. No problem is too big for him to tackle. But beware, he may lead you down a path less taken, like searching the old testament scriptures for his decisions. He may also tell you to stop twisting his word to suit your doctrine, and to change your doctrine to match his word.

Turning the matter over to God will take some real soul searching. It may require interactive bible studies based, not on what you’ve always believed but, on using the old testament as the key to unlock the truth of the new. It may mean giving up your empty traditions, and replacing them with God’s life-filled plan for all mankind. It may mean questioning where your deceased loved ones are residing, and whether the drunken reprobate from down the street is really dancing the hot-foot to the delight of a red guy with horns and a long tail.

Turning the matter over to God may even mean selling the beautiful building that’s costing you more to maintain than the membership can afford. It may even mean meeting in someone’s home like the early Christians did.

Turning the matter over to God may not mean an increase in membership – in fact, some of your congregation may bolt at the thought of making such drastic changes. But those who remain will never want to look back to the old ways.

Without those changes, you’ll just keep on doing what you’ve always done, and keep on getting what you’ve always got. And that’s just what you have now.

You may contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.

MOTHERHOOD THEN AND NOW

Motherhood is the world’s oldest profession. It has always been fraught with fears, yet filled with pride. Today is special to mothers everywhere.

Mothers had it easy when I was a kid. They could send their children to the neighbour’s house to play, and know they had nothing to fear. In fact, every mother in the neighbourhood was every kid’s mother, and treated us just as our own mothers would.

Mothers taught us to never talk with strangers, but for some reason never explained what a stranger was. To us, strangers were friends we hadn’t met yet. Strangers weren’t bogeymen who would stuff us in the trunk and drive us miles from home, only to molest and murder us.

Mothers in the mid-twentieth century taught us to look left and right before we crossed the street. I really don’t know why. There were so few cars on the streets we took a greater risk of stepping in a pile of road apples left by the milk man’s horse, than ever getting run down by a Chevy or a Ford.

In Ourtown a siren signaled curfew at nine every evening. Only the most foolhardy teenager would dare be on the streets when it sounded. Yes, mothers didn’t need to worry where their children were after dark: they were at home, safe from I don’t know what. It was just after the war, so maybe our mothers feared some evil Germans – Krauts, we called ‘em – or some enemy Japs would kidnap us. Through the years those Krauts and Japs became honourable Canadian citizens, and their children became our best friends.

Our mothers always knew when we didn’t show up for school: the principal phoned to ask where we were. Of course he knew we were likely skinny dipping in the nearby stone quarry, but it was important for our mothers to know we had skipped classes. Our punishment was never severe, but we remembered to be in school for the next few days.

Mothers didn’t need to worry about television or computers taking us away from our homework. Computers? What were they? Television? Only a few families in Ourtown had one – black and white with round screens, and the pictures were rather fuzzy at best.

Yes, mothers had it easy back then. Oh, I know, they didn’t have epidurals and such to ease the pain of childbirth, but as the bible says, “When a woman is about to give birth she is in great pain. But after it is all over, she forgets the pain and is happy, because she has brought a child into the world (John 16:21 Contemporary English Version).”

Today’s mother worries if her child is a bit late coming home from school. Every man – even the kindly old gentleman who lives down the block – might be a paedophile, just waiting for little Annie to walk alone instead of with her friends.

Mothers fear becoming grandmothers too soon, and are torn between berating the school system for handing out condoms, or trying to teach their daughters about abstinence. It’s difficult to reason with the argument that everybody’s doing it, even though Mom knows that’s not true.

Curfew? What’s that? Eleven o’clock; midnight; three in the morning. Whether the kids believe it or not, moms become frantic as they wonder whether their teen has overdosed, or was a passenger in the car driven by a drunked up driver when it hit a tree.

But, whether it was then or now, mothers are the proudest people in the world when their son crosses the stage to receive a diploma saying another phase in his life is over, and a new one is about to begin.

Mothers get leaky eyes when their daughter walks down the aisle to become the bride of the handsomest young fellow in town. And mothers look forward to the day when the newlyweds will present her with a tiny new life who will someday call her Grandma.

This is a day to honour mothers everywhere. You can shower her with gifts, and take her out to dinner, but the way to make it her happiest Mother’s Day is by telling her, “Mom, I Love You.”

You may contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.

MOTHERS ARE GRAND

It’s Mother’s Day, and who would say mothers are anything but Grand?

When a little boy became separated from his mother in a huge department store, he began running up and down the aisles yelling, “Ethel. Ethel.”

Soon his mother rescued him, then asked, “Why did you call my name? You should have called Mommy.”

“But Mom,” he blurted through his tears, “there’s so many mommies here I wanted to be sure I got the right one.”

Regardless of her name – Ethel, Margaret, Gloria, Jean – we all have, or had mothers. And when we were lost in a store, we wanted to be certain we were returned to the right one.

Aside from being the medium through which we were formed and brought into the world, mothers are vital in our lives. Mothers can mend everything from their daughter’s broken teddy bear to her broken heart.

Mothers can stick a battle ribbon on her son’s skinned knee and kiss away the pain. But let her kiss him at the bus stop on the first day of school and he’ll wipe it away with a very audible, “Yeach!” After all, moms are girls, aren’t they?

Mothers become the happy talk of the town when they announce another one is on the way. (The test strip turned blue this morning, and the result has yet to be confirmed by the doctor. But moms-to-be can’t wait for the doctor before they tell the news.)

Little boys don’t generally get excited about a baby on the way unless the ultrasound confirms it’s a brother. But, to little girls, Mom’s growing tummy is a wonder, especially when they can talk to the baby and feel it move inside.

The kids grow into teenagers, and Mother despairs of her son becoming anything but a bum. And she fears for her daughter when a scruffy type roars up on his motorcycle to take her on a date. It doesn’t help that the current boy friend is known as Snake.

Mother’s tears flow freely when her all-too-young children kiss her goodbye, and assure her they’ll be OK at college. And she glows with pride when her once ne’er-do-well son graduates summa cum laude.

Her tears flow again when she realizes her gangly teenage daughter has grown into the beautiful young woman pledging the rest, and best, of her life to the handsome young man at the altar.

Time slides by, and Mother looks forward to welcoming another life into her family, when her new son and his bride announce the test strip turned blue. In a matter of months Mother will take on a new title, Grandmother. But we knew all along, our mothers are Grand, didn’t we?

You may contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.

MANKIND’S GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT

The United States is proud of it’s successes in the space program. But, unless our nations turn to God, we will become the laughing stock of the world.

If you’ve watched CNN lately -- and who hasn’t? -- you will have been barraged by the message that the space program is mankind’s greatest achievement.

From the days of Adam and Eve man has progressed, either in territory or in developing new things. Often the progression has been the result of necessity.

It was exile that caused our earliest parents to search beyond the comfort and safety of the home they had enjoyed (Genesis 3:24).

There seems to be no evidence of boats or ships prior to the great flood, so Noah’s ark might have been man’s greatest achievement until that time. But it was an achievement brought about by God (Genesis 6:14-16).

Adam and Eve disobeyed God, so were forced into the outside world. Man, in general, disobeyed God, so were destroyed in the flood, leaving Noah and seven others to start over repopulating the world.

But it wasn’t always disobedience which brought about achievements. Had it not been for Noah’s obedience to God, even when there wasn’t a cloud on the horizon, mankind would have been obliterated. But he obeyed, and built the largest ship the world had seen until Cunard built the Queen Mary in recent years.

Obedience by Abram, a naturalized citizen of Canaan, resulted in the establishment of the great nation of Israel. This achievement was not by Abram’s efforts, however, but by the decree of Abram’s God (Genesis 12:1-2).

History marched on, and Abram’s family, now known as Israel, became enslaved in Egypt. Then, after several generations, they escaped, but there was no way they could claim their own efforts achieved their escape. It was God who brought plagues of bloody water, frogs, hail, darkness, and eventually the death of every firstborn among the Egyptians (Exodus 7:20-12:30).

In 721 BC, because of continual disobedience to God, most of Israel was taken in captivity to Babylon, and later dispersed throughout Europe and Asia. It was God’s accomplishment, not man’s, that took the half-tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh to the islands in the sea, and later took Manasseh to a land far away, to become the progenitors of the United States of America. Yes, the United States and Great Britain are the major tribes of Israel today.

And, just like their predecessors, the Israelite nation of the United States has been increasingly disobedient to the God who made it so great. Indeed, they have forgotten their God, and he will bring shame upon them (Hosea 4:6-7).

Oh, the president paid lip service to God during the memorial services for the Columbia astronauts. And he may have made a few gestures toward God during the build-up toward war in Iraq. But has this man, who is in the Oval Office only by the grace of God (1 Corinthians 15:10), called on his nation to pray with him, and fast, so he could hear God’s decision about war? Dumb question. His decisions are being made by himself and, to some extent, by the United Nations and the Security Council.

Man’s greatest achievement is not the space program. Man’s greatest achievement will come only when the so-called Christian countries humble themselves in contrite prayer and fasting for the sins we have all committed against our God. And, as in the days when Jonah prophesied against Nineveh, it must be our leaders -- national and spiritual -- who first proclaim days of fasting and prayer (Jonah 3:6-8). Otherwise God will turn our greatest physical achievements and glory into shame.

Mr Bush is giving Saddam Hussein his last chance. What if God is giving us our last chance as well?

You may contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.

MIDAS TOUCH REVERSED

Suggested by Sam & Faye Stamper

A young man’s worldly wealth may have locked the door to living forever in a land of unimaginable opulence and peace and health and happiness.

Ol’ King Midas, the guy who loved gold, died and arrived at the gates to the kingdom of God.

St Peter had negotiated an agreement that anyone coming to paradise could bring their most treasured possession with them. Midas, of course, brought a bulging bag of gold. Upon his arrival at the pearly gates, he showed Pete what he’d brought.

Flabbergasted, Pete asked, “You brought paving material (Revelation 21:21)?”

Isaiah tells us we cannot imagine what wonders await God’s people in his glorious kingdom (Isaiah 64:4), but it must be truly magnificent when the streets will be paved with the finest of pure gold.

A young man asked Jesus what he needed to do to have eternal life in God’s wondrous kingdom. Jesus told him to keep the ten commandments, whereupon the fellow said he had done this all his life. But, realizing obedience to God’s law does not guarantee salvation, he asked what else he had to do.

Jesus’ response was not what he hoped for. He said, “If you want to be made perfect, go and sell your stuff, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven. And come and follow me.”

When the young man heard that he buried his face in his hands and wept, because he had many possessions (Matthew 19:16-22; Mark 10:17-22; Luke 18:18-23).

After each of these accounts Jesus told his disciples the wealthy will find it difficult to enter God’s kingdom (Matthew 19:23; Mark 10:23; Luke 18:24). His next statement in each instance was, “It’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Christians love to say there was a gate in Jerusalem called the eye of the needle. A camel going through this gate had to stoop and be divested of all its load.

There’s no truth to the story, but it does illustrate an important fact: we are way too encumbered with our possessions. If Jesus required us to sell them and give to the poor, would we be able to do it?

Peter, the petulant, said, “We’ve given up everything to follow you. What will we get?”

Jesus answered, “Anyone who has left their possessions, or families for my sake and the gospel’s, will receive much more in the present world, and eternal life in the kingdom of God (Matthew 19:27-29; Mark 10:28-30; Luke 18:28-30).”

There’s an interesting two-letter word in all this: “or”. Jesus didn’t say those who have left possessions and families, but possessions or families. The point is, whatever we sacrifice for the kingdom of God, will be repaid many times over.

In Matthew 6:19-20 Jesus said, “Don’t amass a lot of stuff for yourself on earth. They’ll only deteriorate, or thieves will steal them. Instead, lay up your treasures in heaven where these things won’t take place.”

So, does he mean we can’t have a warm home, a television, and a fridge full of food? Not at all. But these won’t save us in the end.

One woman took Jesus’ words to the extreme. She sold everything she had, bought sleeping bags and necessities of life for the homeless, and sheltered herself and her children in the remains of a decrepit old automobile. Wouldn’t she have done much more if she took some of the homeless into the warmth of her home, and taught them what they need to know to care for themselves? It’s a matter of give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

We all have things we don’t need. I’m not about to enumerate them because what is a necessity to you may be an extravagance to me. But if we sold them and gave the proceeds to the poor, we would show obedience to Jesus’ admonition to the rich young man who went away sorrowing because his many treasures were even more important to him, than eternal life.

You may contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.

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Last Revised November 19, 2006
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