Love note inspired by Easter

Most of us have heard the dubious expression "preaching to the choir." Especially among Christian sisters and brothers, it is not uncommon to see someone struggle with the question of whether or not to "share" an exciting faith experience or insight. Shame on us! When it comes to inspired passion to share about our life in Jesus Christ, we should eagerly embrace opportunities to speak and to listen.

I am blessed with a daughter who loves to talk about Jesus, and I look forward to those "exchanges," whether in person, on the telephone or via the Internet. This weekend, on "Easter Eve," I was blessed with a note via email. An excerpt follows:

"I see my desperate need for My Savior every moment of every day. I see myself as a sinner in need of THE Savior and that HE alone is my strength. He is my life. I will proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ until the day He calls me home. For to me, to live is Christ, but to die gain. I find no greater joy than being a bondservant of the KING.

"I pray that you will continue to grow in the truth and the power of God's word, that you will know the riches of His glory and the power of His Might. He is King of Kings, Lord of Lords and He will come again to judge the living and the dead. As we celebrate the Resurrection of the LIVING King, are you among the living or the dead? Those who believe will live even after the body dies. If you haven't surrendered your life to Jesus Christ, I pray you will bow and find freedom in the one who came to die in our place. I love this saying by a wise man of God: "Victory is not you overcoming sin, victory is JESUS overcoming YOU!" I don't know about you, but I praise God HE continues overcome my sinful flesh.

"I am constantly reminded that Christ Jesus is our righteousness. No amount of works will save me, for "...it is by grace you have been saved through FAITH, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not through works so that no man can boast (Ephesians 2:8)." Faith without works is dead. Christ produces in us the fruits of HIS Spirit. That is the power of Christ in us. I praise God for such truths! Have a wonderful Resurrection Day!"

Thank you, sweet sister in Christ, for sharing once again what is on your heart. May all believers resist the temptation to "stifle," choosing instead to share our faith and glorify His name.

Solid Rock Climbers for Christ honor a brother

http://www.srcfc.org/

About two dozen members of the national Solid Rock Climbers for Christ organization spent Easter weekend in Anacortes as they honored the late Dallas Kloke, an experienced climber killed in a climbing accident last year. One element of the memorial/trail work event was presentation of a piece written by Kloke in 2007. That text follows:

"Being a Christian is a risk. Being a rock climber or mountaineer is a risk. I want to compare and contrast these two; both are part of my life.

The goal of a climber is to reach the summit of a mountain or the top of a wall or route. Some will choose the more difficult and dangerous way to reach their goal. The climber depends upon his knowledge, experience, ability and equipment to reach his objective. Eventually, the climber is dependent upon a partner(s) to help achieve his objective. Eventually, the climber has to come down and return to civilization.

The Christian's goal is Heaven. In Heaven is God, the Creator of the universe. Heaven is a place for the person who has accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. You can't just do good works to get there. It really doesn't depend upon other people. It depends on your relationship with Christ. Heaven is for all eternity.

The climber usually has a book to guide him. There are guidebooks for almost every area and type of climbing. The guides are written by a person who has climbed there extensively and has lots of knowledge of the area. The guidebook provides the climber with lots of information including: how to get there, approaches to the peak or routes, difficulty of the climb, gear to take, dangers, and other important information. However, guidebooks will warn the climber that they shouldn't take everything in the guide as absolute fact or truth. Also, climbing conditions change and humans are prone to errors.

For the Christian, their guidebook is the Bible: God's inspired Word. The Word of God tells us how we shall live. It tells us how to walk in the LIGHT and not in the darkness. It tells us what is right and what is wrong. It tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves. The Bible has many examples of what sin is, as well as what love, faith, trust and hope is. The Word does not change with time.

The climber will face difficulty and danger. He must protect himself in this world of rock, snow and ice. The climber will depend opon himself as well as his partner(s), his knowledge and experience as well as the equipment he takes with him. The main piece of gear for safety through all of climbing history is the rope. The rope is the safety line that connects partners together. If the leader falls, his partner, the belayer will stop his fall. The climber also carries many other devices to protect him in case of a fall. In the end, the climber depends upon himself, partners and equipment for his safety.

How does the Christian face difficulties and protect him or her from the dangers of the world? The Christian is just the opposite of the climber: he or she must depend upon God and His Son, Jesus Christ. People, even partners as well as family and friends, will let you down. Equipment will fail. The material things of this world will not satisfy one, whether it be wealth, power, being famous or any physical pleasure. Since you are a fallible human, you will often fail. For the Christian, his safety line is prayer. 'Safety is not the absence of danger, but the presence of Christ.'

For some climbers, climbing is their life. It becomes their god. Nothing else seems to be as important. They continually need new routes, new mountains, more challenges, to keep them satisfied. However, climbing does not satisfy the emptiness they truly feel inside their hearts and souls. Whatever first ascents or new routes they established, or the number of climbs they have made, or the difficulty level they've attained, in the end it will not satisfy. As Ecclesiastes 2:11 states: '...all was vanity and a chase after the wind, with nothing gained under the sun.'

As a Christian, I realize I must keep climbing in the right perspective in relation to my faith, my family, my friends and other important aspects of my life. Climbing does have risk. One can be injured seriously or killed.

To walk the long, narrow road of a Christian is a risk. There is a risk of being ridiculed, ostracized and in some places of the world jailed or killed. However, the payoff for this risk is all eternity with God."

Keep eyes fixed on Jesus

In making room to close a desk drawer today I removed a journal. There is only one entry, which dates back to June 25, 2007. I think I may have shared all or part of this entry in a past blog, but it bears repeating. It reads:

"God tells us to rest in Him. He tells us not to fear. We are to surrender all to Him, including our fears about providing. That does not change when you take a job; marry; become a parent; assume a leadership role in the body. We are still -- always -- to seek His will and to enter into His plan with our eyes fixed on Jesus, after whom we are to model our lives, and our hopes for the future (eternity!).

"Our work, meant by the enemy to be a source of stress and separation from God, must be delivered over to Him so that it, like the rest of our earthly endeavors, can serve to glorify Him. Our "job" should be continued opportunity to worship "I AM."

Glory in the cross

Galatians 1:4-5 "Who gave Himself for our sins that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father, to whom be glory forever and ever."

I often tease among family and friends that those of us who call the Pacific Northwest our home are to be commended for selecting such a beautiful place to live. My father, who cruised the Pacific during World War II and traveled the U.S. extensively in his career, often noted it was always his plan to live out his life on Fidalgo Island. "It doesn't get any better than this," he would say as he sipped a cup of coffee on the deck of his home while scanning a horizon that featured majestic Mt. Baker.

I was reminded the other day, however, while reading an 1886 sermon by the Rev. Charles Spurgeon, that all must look one place only for the true glory of God.

"Has the Father given His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us?" asked Spurgeon. "Then there is glory enough in Jesus Christ upon the cross to last through eternity. Fix your eye upon the bleeding Savior; behold the glorious justice of God in laying guilt on Him, and punishing it on Him, and behold also the inconceivable love of God in thus putting His only begotten to death that we might live through Him. You need not range the world around to see the glory of God in nature, though that is a delightful employment, for there is enough glory in the cross of Christ to last throughout all eternity."

Four spiritual laws

http://4laws.com/laws/english/flash/ Click on the link to the left to view the "Four Spiritual Laws" message first prepared by Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Life in 1965. Bright wrote: "Just as there are physical laws that govern the physical universe, so there are spiritual laws that govern your relationship with God."