Entertaining Angels

Indolent and unworthy the beggar may be—but that is not your concern: It is better to feed ten impostors than to run the risk of turning away one honest petition. Hugh Nibley

Go to most any car dealership in the country, talk to the seasoned salespeople, and you’ll find some very interesting stories. One story that seems to be a common one, is the story of the person who comes into the dealership in an old vehicle, dressed in worn or dirty clothes who wants to look at a very expensive vehicle. Usually the story concerns a salesperson who did not want to “waste time” talking to them, only to find out that the person was very wealthy and could buy anything they choose.

The sad part about this story is that in most cases, it is not an urban legend. Most of these stories are actually true. The reason they are true, is that we as humans tend to pre-judge people, based on how they look, dress, drive and sometimes how they speak.

Last week, Karine Gombeau was visiting New York City with her family. The Parisian family had eaten all they could of what she called an “enormous” pizza and were taking the leftover slices with them, when she spotted a homeless man digging through a garbage can.

The man was dressed in grimy clothes, had a beer in a brown bag and was eating a burger that he had found in the trash. She approached him and gave him the leftover pizza. She said, “I’m sorry, but the pizza is cold.” The man replied, “Thank you so much. God bless you.”

As she walked away, people began to gather around her. She was approached by a film crew that had been shooting from across the street. Then, they showed her a still shot of her with actor Richard Gere. She had no idea that she had walked onto a movie set where Gere was in character for a new movie titled, Time Out of Mind.

Jesus comes to us in many forms. He may not show up at your home wearing a white robe and long beard, but trust me, He shows up. God provides us with opportunities to minister to others each day. It may be in a kind word or a pat on the back. It may be in a good deed done or a wrong forgiven. Each opportunity that a Christian has to do good, is an opportunity to not only minister to others, but serve Christ in the process.

In Matthew 25, Jesus tells the parable of the king separating the sheep from the goats. He tells the sheep on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

They were confused and asked when they did such. He told them “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

Never miss an opportunity to be Jesus to those who need Him. You may be the only connection they will ever have to the Savior. Share His love with someone today!

Let brotherly love continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. (Hebrews 13:1-2)

To Err is Human

I suppose that’s one of the ironies of life doing the wrong thing at the right moment. Charlie Chaplin

We all make mistakes. When we make small mistakes it’s easy to get past them. If we spill our drink on the dinner table, it may be aggravating, but we simply get something to clean it up with and move on. The big mistakes we make usually are obvious to others and may require a lot more than a paper towel to clean up.

A couple, in Fort Worth, Texas, bought a house from the husband’s aunt, earlier this year. The land the house sat on had been in their family for decades and the house was near the shore of Lake Worth. Once they moved into their new retreat, the couple put their old house in Fort Worth on the market.

Since the property had not sold yet, they stopped by this past Saturday to mow the grass. When they got there, the grass did need mowing, but there was no house! All that was left of their house was a slab for the foundation. Needless to say, the couple was shocked.

When they investigated, they found out that the building next door had been condemned by city of Fort Worth. The city had hired a demolition company to tear down the useless building, which is still standing. The demolition company billed the city $6,000 and tore down the wrong structure.

Obviously, this was not a small mistake. It has affected the demolition company, the city of Fort Worth and a couple, who simply wanted to sell their house. It may take some time to sort out who to

What's left of the house!

blame and who has to pay for the damages. The demolition company might have gotten the wrong address from the city or they may have made the mistake themselves. One thing we do know is that all involved will be pointing the finger at the others and accusing them of being wrong.

Most of the time, when Jesus dealt with people who were in the wrong, He gave them information and let them draw their own conclusions. This was His way of making them think for themselves or shielding them from the embarrassment of being called out in public for their errant thinking. There was only one recorded instance of Jesus plainly telling someone they were wrong.

Matthew and Mark both record the account of the Saducees questioning Jesus. The Saducees were a Jewish sect that did not believe in life after death. They tried to trick Jesus by asking a question about whose wife a woman would be in Heaven, since she had been married many times on earth. The question was nonsense for them, because they didn’t even believe in the resurrection and Jesus called them on it. Jesus replied, “Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?” He then went on to answer the question.

However, it is what Jesus said next that was so profound. Mark 12: 26-27 reads, But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?  He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken.

Did you catch that? God told Moses that He is the God of three men who had died many years before. So if God is not a God of the dead, then they must be alive. Then Jesus lowers the boom that He doesn’t do with anyone else in scripture. He basically says, “You’re wrong!”

As we all know, we all make mistakes. The key is to not make the same ones over and over. When you know it’s wrong, don’t continue to do it. I’m sure that the demolition crew in Texas will double check the address before they ever tear down another building. Shouldn’t we learn from our mistakes even more, if the Creator of the Universe tells us, in no uncertain terms, that we’re wrong?

The Saducees didn’t listen to Jesus and continued in their errant beliefs. They heard the Word straight from the mouth of Jesus, but still could not admit that they were wrong. They learned nothing. Within 40 years of this encounter with Jesus, the entire sect became extinct.

God has given us His Word in the Bible. In it, He gives us the way to live a wonderful life. Yes, we will still make mistakes, but if we follow Him, He will forgive us and put us back on the right path. Don’t make the greatest mistake a person can ever make, by not asking Christ to come into your life. Give everything to the Him, mistakes and all.

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Capital One, Alec Baldwin, and the problem with This country

It is disturbing that GLAAD is using threats and boycotts against Captial One because they interpreted Alec Baldwin's tweets as "homophobic." 

An even worse commentary on the state of our society is the fact that nobody seems to care that he also physically threatened another person and used the worst profanity possible to do so. 

Isn't this the same nation that was appalled when Rhett Butler uttered that famous four-letter word in 1939? Isn't this the same nation that has many laws against threatening others? 

Yet, it's the homosexual community that is getting all the press. It seems they have taken lessons from Al Sharpton in using the media to both intimidate and threaten those who do not play according to their rules. 

The Lady and the Tiger

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, “I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.” 

(Eleanor Roosevelt)

What are you afraid of? Some of the most common fears are the fear of heights, closed in places, certain animals and death. However, the most common phobia, and the one that tops the list each year, is the fear of speaking in public. Year after year, in surveys, the fear of public speaking ranks higher than the fear of death! 

What do you do when you’re afraid? Most of us try to avoid any circumstance where we come into contact with our fears, but what do you do when you are faced with something unexpectedly that scares you? Do you freeze up? Maybe your first response is to run. For some people, an unexpected scare puts them into fight mode. 

When we are faced with something that rattles us, our brain usually takes a second to evaluate the danger. Many times we are able to function rationally, see that the fear does not put us in imminent danger and walk away. However, what if the thing that we face is much bigger and stronger than we are? 

A lady in Salina, Kansas had an experience last week that most of us would prefer not to have in our lifetime. She was with her family, enjoying the circus that was in town that day. She needed to use the bathroom, so she left her seat and went down the hall. As she was walking toward the bathroom, a lady and her daughter passed her and informed her that a tiger had gotten loose. 

She didn’t think much about it until she opened the door to the restroom, which automatically closed behind her. When she looked up, she found herself face to face with a huge tiger. She said, "It was the closest I have ever been to a tiger not in a cage. You don't expect to go in a bathroom door, have it shut behind you and see a tiger walking toward you."

She said that her experience as a social worker helped her keep calm. She stated, "I'm always on alert, and it was easy to walk out; that's how I am trained. Looking back, it was a scary ordeal. At the time, I was thinking I just needed to get out."

What would you have done? Would there be anything in your past experience that would have helped you stay calm and alive in that circumstance? The woman slowly backed away, calmly opened the door and walked out. Could you have done the same? 

The Bible has a lot to say about fear. Sometimes, we fear the unknown. Other times we fear the situations right in front of us. Whatever the things are that cause you to fear, God knows and sees everything. If we put our trust in Him, knowing that He loves us more than anything in the world, then we can face those things that shake us out of our comfortable existence. 

Paul reminds us in 2 Timothy 1:7, that fear is not of God. It is something that the enemy has used since the beginning to bind us and keep us from experiencing the fullness of life, that God intended for us to have. Think about how many times the scripture reminds us not to be afraid. God knew, as the Bible was being written, that this would be one of the toughest things for us to overcome, so He made sure that we would have many promises in His Word to help us resist fear. 

Most of us will never walk into a bathroom and find a tiger. However, there are many things that we face each day that make us fall short of the blessings God has for us, because of fear. The woman used her experience to escape the encounter with the tiger. We can use our foundation in God’s Word to ward off the enemy and “fear not!” 

This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:9)