Here We Stand!

Special Days, ,

HERE WE STAND, 506 YEARS LATER!

A wall poster read: “Do you seriously think God can’t use you?”

Then it listed a whole lot of people from the Bible who no one would ever think could be used for the furtherance of God’s Kingdom.

• Noah was a drunk.
• Abraham was too old.
• Jacob was a liar.
• Samson was a womanizer.
• Rahab was a prostitute.
• Elijah was suicidal.
• Lazarus was dead.

God also used a crazy man in the 16th century who was rude, crude…and a Jew hater. He was also a worry wart, always thinking God was going to strike him dead for his sin.

His name was Martin Luther and the reason you are a Baptist, Methodist, Episcopalian, Lutheran, Pentecostal or even a non-denominational believer is because of what he did on Oct. 31, 1517, commonly called the Protestant Reformation.

It’s been 506 years since the day faith in God was RE-formed. We celebrate our independence from hierarchical religion and cherish the truth that we can come to God on our own, by faith, through his Son Jesus Christ.

Though this truth has always been with us, it was hidden for centuries. What Martin Luther did changed the direction of Christianity forever—all because God used this one man.
Every Christian should celebrate October 31, the third greatest Holy Day of the year after Christmas and Easter: Reformation Day.

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June is now FIDELITY MONTH!

Special Days,

I think we can all agree that America is no longer one nation under God, indivisible.

Not since the 60’s has there been such a cultural divide with everyone insisting that they are right with no compromise and no middle ground.

Jesus called us to “Love our neighbors as ourselves,” which is the second greatest Commandment, but that seems impossible, an old-fashioned idea. “That’s a nice idea, Jesus, but really?”

Wait a minute. Jesus was saying this to the crowds who gathered around him, so, these concepts are not passé. Neither was this: “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also” (Luke 6:27-29).

We have become an irreligious, irreverent society, soon to become irrelevant. According to a Wall Street Journal article from March, patriotism, religion, and community involvement are disappearing faster than the Eastern Lowland Gorilla.

• They found that just 38% of Americans believe patriotism is “very important” to them, down from 70% who said the same thing in 1998.
• How important is religion? 39% of Americans said it was important, while in 1998, 62% believed that.
• 69% believed raising kids was “very important” in 1998. Today: 30%.
• Only 27% believed community involvement was important, when in 1998, 62% believed it was.
• How about tolerance? 58% believe that is important. But just four years ago, 80% did.

Concerned yet? That’s why it is encouraging to know that Dr. Robert George “by the authority vested in me by absolutely no one…have declared June to be “Fidelity Month”—a month dedicated to the importance of fidelity to God, spouses and families, and our country and communities.” (FidelityMonth.com)

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The Manger and the Cross

Special Days,

I saw a wonderful depiction of baby Jesus by the German artist Beate Heinen years ago, and it is the best depiction of the Christmas story I’ve ever seen. The painting is called “The Manger and the Cross.”

The newborn Christ-child is in a feeding trough that looks like a coffin. Outside is a path that starts with budding trees and green grass, but at the end, the trees are barren, the ground brown and dead. At the foot of three crosses, the land is gray and colorless, a place of death. It’s Golgotha, and this is the path Jesus trod, this was the purpose of his life.

The cradle must include the cross because the cross sheds light upon the cradle. It started in Bethlehem and ended in Calvary. Christmas is really the beginning of Easter. Compare and contrast these two holy days:

When the Christ child was born at Christmas, the wisemen asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?” Now His royal title, “King of the Jews,” is affixed to the cross for all to see. In the manger, Christ was weak, frail and dependent—like any baby. On the cross, he’s weak and frail, yet resigned to do his Father’s will—as our Savior. At His birth, something strange happened in the heavens: A star in the night sky. When he was crucified, there was darkness at noon.

Among the first to come to Him at His birth were the Gentile Magi, drawn by the light of the star. The first to respond to the cross was the Gentile centurion, awakened by the shaking of the earth. From the cradle, Jesus was taken away to Egypt, but then returns. In the crucifixion, Jesus dies, seemingly taken from this earth, but is brought back to life, through the resurrection.

At his birth, Joseph and Mary were present. At his death Joseph and Mary were also present, though different people. After his birth, Jesus was laid in a stone-cold trough. After the crucifixion, Jesus was laid in a stone-cold tomb. At Jesus’ birth, Mary wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger. After Jesus’ death, Joseph wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a tomb.

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Lead Pearl Harbor Bomber Becomes Christian After Reading Tract

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“THE DATE WHICH WILL LIVE IN INFAMY” is today, December 7, which is the 81st anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor where over 2,300 people died and 1,100 were injured. It was a Sunday morning when the sneak attack by Japanese bombers was perpetrated on Pearl Harbor in Oahu, Hawaii. This terrorist action propelled the U.S. into World War 2.

This is the incredible story of Mitsuo Fuchida, lead pilot of the December 7, 1941, raid on Pearl Harbor. Fuchida was the one who shouted the war cry, “Tora, Tora, Tora!” 

Mitsuo Fuchida fought the United States throughout WWII and was intimately involved in the planning and leadership of the Japanese war effort as flight commander and later as a senior operations officer.

After the war, Fuchida was a defeated warrior in occupied Japan, farming to meet the needs of his family. He was also the only one to return to Japan after the bombing.

In 1950, Fuchida miraculously came to know Jesus Christ as Savior through a tract handed to him while exiting a train in Tokyo. The tract was entitled, “I Was a Prisoner of Japan,” written by Jacob DeShazer who was one of the famous Doolittle Raiders. DeShazer trusted Christ as his Savior while held captive by Japan for 40 months. DeShazer went to Japan in 1948 as a missionary and preached to the nation who held him captive.

Fuchida faithfully served Jesus Christ as an evangelist until his death in 1976. “From Pearl Harbor to Golgotha” is Fuchida’s testimony of salvation. Here it is in his own words:

I must admit I was more excited than usual as I awoke that morning at 3:00 a.m., Hawaii time, four days past my thirty-ninth birthday. Our six aircraft carriers were positioned 230 miles north of Oahu Island. As general commander of the air squadron, I made last-minute checks on the intelligence information reports in the operations room before going to warm up my single-engine, three-seater “97-type” plane used for level bombing and torpedo flying.

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