Tag Archives: salvation

The Healing

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[I’ll be away from the Internet for a few days, so I’ll share with you some of the articles I’ve written for Heartlight magazine. These articles also ran on theHopeForLife.org website, which is a ministry of Herald of Truth.]

It was Sunday, March 9, 2008. Steve Ridgell and I had traveled with Herald of Truth Ministries to the island of Cuba. We were speaking at a church service in the town of Matanzas. I used the text that I had chosen beforehand, Mark 2:1-12. The first part of the text seemed very appropriate. Verse 2 says, “So many gathered that there was no room left.” We were speaking to a group of well over 400 people when there were only seats for about 300. However, I was a bit uncomfortable with other parts of the text. As I read about Jesus healing this paralyzed man, I was acutely aware of the people in wheelchairs at the back of the audience. I couldn’t help but wonder how they felt. Like other times when I’ve spoken on this passage, I talked about how Jesus put more emphasis on forgiving the man’s sins than He did on healing his handicap. I explained that our physical needs can’t begin to compare with our spiritual needs. As I preached, I couldn’t help but wonder how my words were being received by these people whose physical needs were obviously great.

After the sermon, one of the local members invited any who needed to respond to the message to do so. Nine people came forward to be baptized into Christ. One especially caught my eye. She was one of the people in wheelchairs being wheeled forward by one of her friends, much like the paralyzed man in the story had been helped by his friends. This woman was connected to an IV bag. She was in the wheelchair because she only had one leg. It was obvious that she had major physical needs.

She was the first to be baptized. I stood in the water, and someone handed her to me. She professed her faith in Jesus, then I immersed her. When she came out of the water, no one looked at her leg. Instead, all eyes were drawn to her face. Seldom had any of us seen such joy, such pure and unrestrained joy. She was still unable to walk. She was still a sick woman. But her sins had been forgiven. My sermon about the importance of the forgiveness of sins versus physical healing was probably soon forgotten. But her sermon will long be remembered, even though it was preached without words. She knew. She understood. Her physical infirmities remained, but she had been healed in the way that mattered.

Cries in the Dark

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[While we’re traveling in Argentina, I thought I’d post some of the things that I’ve written for the HopeForLife.org blog; they’ve also been posted to Heartlight. Comments are moderated until I get back; sorry about that folks. Some people don’t know how to play nice.]

The cries were faint, barely audible in the early morning air. There was no air conditioning in our cabin at the youth camp, so we had all the windows open. One of my friends heard the sound about the same time that I did. We bounded out of bed, threw on some clothes and went running toward the sound.

One of the adults that was there that week caught us as we headed out. “Whoa!” he said. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Someone’s crying for help.”

“Yes, I know,” he replied. “The river has flooded. There isn’t anything we can do for them right now.”

Those cries still haunt me when I think back on that moment. Thankfully, I can tell you that all of the people that were still alive at that time were rescued by our camp staff. Eight people had already lost their lives, though. As the counselor told us, there was nothing we could do for them.

I hear similar cries almost every day, cries for help, cries for rescue. The man who moved to another country with his wife, only to find himself all alone when she died suddenly. The woman who wants to stop the improper relationship she has with her boss. The mother whose children have scorned her love and abandoned their home. The man who says, “I’ve been so bad; can God ever take me back?” They cry out for deliverance. Their voices echo in the night.

In a very real sense, there’s nothing I can do for them, either. At least not me personally. But I know a God who does come to the rescue, who offers hope to the hopeless. He can do something. Because of him, I can write back to these people and say, “There is a way out.”

If you haven’t watched the videos at HopeForLife.org, I want to encourage you to do so. The videos tell of people who were rescued. Look around on the site, reading the articles there. The next time you hear someone crying out for spiritual rescue, send them there. Not to find the people who are on the site. Not to place their hope in us. Send them there to find rescue. From the God who cared enough to send his Son to die, that others could live a life of hope.

There is something I can do for those that cry out in the dark. I can point them to the God who rescues.

www.hopeforlife.org

Copyright Herald of Truth ministries

Life’s Undo Button

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[While we’re traveling in Argentina, I thought I’d post some of the things that I’ve written for the HopeForLife.org blog; they’ve also been posted to Heartlight. Comments are moderated until I get back; sorry about that folks. Some people don’t know how to play nice.]

There was a time in my life when I thought Liquid Paper was the high point of technological advances. What could be better than a product that could cover up your mistakes? It was the student’s best friend (well, at least those of us who couldn’t afford to pay someone to type our papers for us). You would type a line and make a mistake. Dab on some whiteout and … VOILA! The mistake was gone. After a few seconds of blowing on the paper, you could type over the error (hopefully with the right letter this time). Of course, the messy splotch on the page told everyone you’d made a mistake.
Then I was introduced to the computer (back in the day when disks were floppy and “hard drive” referred to driving through the Arizona desert with a 55-mph speed limit). And I discovered the UNDO command. Type … mess up … hit UNDO … your mistake was gone. And no one could tell that you had made it. Later came programs with multiple UNDOs and even unlimited UNDOs. It became easier and easier to fix things that were done wrong. Now I hate it when I discover something can’t be undone. It’s frustrating to do something on the computer, change my mind about it, and then find that I can’t go back. What’s done is done. I sit and think harsh thoughts about computer programmers, rather than face the fact that I’m the one that made the mistake.
Don’t you wish life had an UNDO button? Something that would let you turn back the clock and make it as if you’d never made a mistake? I’ve found that it does, in a way. The Bible tells me that God is willing to take my mistakes and move them away from me “as far as the east is from the west.” Through Jesus, I can be continually forgiven for the mistakes I make. When I am in a relationship with God, when I have fully identified myself with God’s son Jesus, I can have full confidence that he will UNDO all of my mistakes. I may still have to face consequences for my actions, but all guilt will be taken away. And that’s a good feeling.
Think about letting God give you a fresh start. If you’re not a Christian, I hope you’ll take the time to learn more about joining God’s family. It’s a decision you’ll never want to UNDO.

www.hopeforlife.org

Copyright Herald of Truth ministries