By God's Grace

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." John 3: 16-21 NIV

Dear Brothers,

I am writing today, a brother in Christ’s love, and it is for His glory that I hope I am able to freely and effectively communicate some very important matters regarding God’s Word.

"Then he said to them all: 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God." Luke 9: 23-27 NIV

Words not to be taken lightly; they are the words as you know, God-breathed words, of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. They belong to the roadmap of salvation for all of us, not just some of us; they belong to The Holy Bible. Jesus told us that He is the way the truth and the life, and that no one will come to the Father but through Him. So His Words are the intravenous to LIFE; not an enhancement of our lives, but the supply channel to LIFE itself.

Can any of us afford to risk the implications of what a soft interpretation of God’s word could mean to our eternal destinies? His words are very clear and quite simple to understand, aren’t they? Western Culture, Post-Modernism, Universalism, whatever... there will be no excuses when we stand before Him; just the truth. We were either willing to repent, believe and serve until death for Him... or not. By grace, we followed His commands for our lives, or by stubbornness and flesh we didn’t. Matthew 12: 30

Hell is a reality and so are false converts. We should all pray that our salvation is authentic; that when we examine ourselves we find the Holy Spirit resides in us and leads us to the proper discovery of God’s truth in His word. But then we need to live as though our dedication to Christ doesn’t depend on our salvation, don’t we? After all if a man is a witness to a truth, should he only testify if he earns a reward? In the same way, since we cannot earn our salvation, shouldn’t we be bound by the truth to testify to Christ’s existence, if we truly believe, regardless of whether or not we’ll receive a reward for our testimonies?

“ In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” 2 Timothy 4: 1-5 NIV

In Luke 13: 22-30, Jesus told those that followed Him to make every effort to enter through the narrow door, and He warned of punishment for His believers as many of us will claim to have known Him, but He will deny knowing those of us that were evildoers. Again, His, God-breathed words, not mine. We have a responsibility to go and tell all of mankind the truth regarding their fate if they live this life without His saving grace.
Matthew 28: 16-20

We must warn people of what they are being saved from or they won’t care about their salvation, will they? And that responsibility to the truth begins with the flock doesn’t it? If any man considered what Hell would actually mean to his eternity and, most importantly, how offensive his sin is to God, would he risk his eternity to Hell as he loves what God hates? Maybe some of us have diligently sought God’s word, but for those of us that have not, and are confused and mislead by heretics, what will be their fate? Can we risk that we may be amongst the lost, and worse, that we are helping to aid in the confusion? Galatians 5: 9

What is our primary responsibility as Christians? Isn’t it to disciple new believers, with urgency? How many of us are literally willing to take action in our everyday lives? Simply “living our faith” as an example to others, while we go on seeking the things of this world and disregard eternity, isn’t how Jesus and His disciples did it, is it? No, the Holy Bible tells us that Christ and His disciples preached the gospel with urgency! We too should share the gospel with every man like today might be his last.

It was our sin, but Jesus’ obedience to His Father to have the courage to speak the truth about our sinful nature to the Pharisees and the Scribes of His age, that sent Him to the cross. We must never reduce our Holy, Righteous God, to a god without wrath and justice! He is a God of justice! Praise Him for that we can trust in Him! We cannot afford to assume that the lost will be alright if we don’t share the whole gospel with them. Where did Jesus say that’s how we should follow Him; to avoid confronting the truth of sin and Hell but by “loving” people; then He would bring them out from death? John Lennon said, “All You Need is Love”, not Jesus! Jesus spoke these very difficult and convicting words, in love:

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'

"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

"Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Luke 14: 25-35 NIV

Believers and non-believers alike must be taught these truths. Then it’s up to each individual to hear the voice of their conscience as it convicts their heart. Then after hearing our conscience it’s not enough to know we’re wrong, we need to lay it at the foot of the cross, repent and believe in Jesus Christ. But before any of that process can take place, the truth of the word must be spoken!

In Luke 14: 25-35, who was Jesus talking to? The Bible says crowds that were following Him. In order to be a true follower of Jesus, He commands more than lip service from us; doesn’t His Word say so? Jesus commands that we lose our hopes, dreams, and lusts in this world, and allow Him to lead us into eternity. As Christians, if we continue to live with this world as the main focus of our lives, then how are we living in faithful service to Christ in eternity?

Should we make sure we have all of our bases covered first? Education... Check, Career... Check, Wife... Check, Kids... Check, House... Check, Bigger House... Check, Investments... Check, God... Check, Volunteer at Church... Check, Tithe... Check. Isn’t that living by works and not by faith?

If we totally surrender to the King, will we know what our tomorrow on this earth will look like? Won’t we appear to be oddballs to the lost of this world? Won’t we be willing to look stupid in this world and suffer for Him if we are truly chained to His glory? Shouldn’t His word be taught without compromise or omission of truth? It is meant to offend! Unless our consciences have been seared, our flesh ought to be offended by the Holy Word of God, because we are all sinners. The Word applies to every single one of us, regardless of where we find ourselves in our own personal circumstance.

Like children, our flesh needs constant correction or soon sin can and will take over. And one of the best ways to keep our spirit healthy is with good, perfect, food; His Word. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8: 3 when answering the Devil’s temptation as the word tells us; “Jesus answered, ‘It is written; Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4: 4 NIV

The gospel is full of urgency! Do we believe the lost have an infinite amount of time seeking sinfulness, never repenting, without God bringing judgement down upon them? If so, no one is in danger of going to Hell, is he? Do we believe in repentance? Do we believe in Hell?

"Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, 'This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." Luke 24: 45-49 NIV

Are we dedicated to sound doctrine and God’s Truth in North American Christianity today? If God is misunderstood the way William P. Young portrayed Him in The Shack, how can people be in fear and awe of Him? Do we properly fear God? Do we humbly revere Him? Do we need more humility before our Holy and perfect God? Is the word front and centre, above all else? Relevance; or the Word? Is God’s Word the only food in our diet that we depend upon for our health? Or are we just dining on the parts of His word that taste good while we discard the hard to chew portions, only to cram a bunch of poisonous supplements into our bellies in its place?

God doesn’t need us to make Him relevant. God doesn’t need anything, including us or our help; our lives are a gift to be used to glorify His Name. We breathe because He says so. We think, because He made a way. His Word is infallible and it is to be held above all else! There is no way to compromise the truth without choosing to live in sin. It is His word and His Hand, not our stories or opinions, that make people believe. His word is the seed; the sower is simply a tool to plant that seed. All men should fear sharing His word that we might not seek to glorify Him, but instead ourselves.

Jesus promised us that we would suffer for His name sake, if we believe.

"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn " 'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her motherinlaw— a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.'

"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

"He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward." Matthew 10: 34-42 NIV

Those are tough words. If we address those teachings as the truth that they so clearly are, then how much different will our lives inevitably look when we apply them to our everyday activities? Those words won’t rise up too many spiritual weaklings, will they? But they have to be spoken in order that we absorb them and face the conviction of our need to press deeper for The Lord.

One could intellectualize to try to justify teachings that lean away from those words of truth that belong to our Saviour, but then one would be embracing another doctrine other than God’s word, wouldn’t one? God’s word is for His elect and He is is the author of that list, and therefore we must take His word as it is presented to us within the pages of The Holy Bible. Then we can share the truth without manipulation of that truth, as we trust in Him to bring salvation to the lost.

We need to take courage in the word and preach what we believe. Who would turn their back on a blind man if he was unknowingly running toward a cliff? Who would sit idle and watch a naive child carelessly step onto a busy highway? We are disciples in Christ and we need to be encouraging and actively raising the brethren up to go save the lost, right here... right now. There is no time. We don’t know how many appointments we’ve missed as a result of our disobedience to God’s call.

It’s His testimony in this life that we’ve been given. I pray that we will never lose sight of the fact that our lives are a gift and that our Father is worthy of all praise! Therefore, it should be our honour to be able to be bold and speak His name to even one lost soul. Imagine, by grace we are permitted to tell people about the Creator of all things, and He entrusts us with His word to share as the method by which He reveals Himself to this hateful and lost people; people like you and me. That’s an awesome privilege and a huge responsibility that all the Saints need to understand.

Go today, and give God the glory that He will receive whether you choose to obey or not! And if you choose not to obey, the question is; why?

In Christ’s Name,

Tim Rector

Looking at his disciples, he said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

"Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets. "But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.”
Luke 6: 20-26 NIV

Tiger's Trap

Considering the magnitude of Tiger Woods’ return at the 2010 Masters, in Augusta, Georgia, I think it would be remiss for us to overlook the reason Tiger’s return was so “newsworthy” to the masses. And, ironically, it’s that premise that has inspired this commentary today.

To discover the answer to the question of why it is that Tiger Woods’ collapse and return to golf is one of the top news stories of 2010, I think we have to begin asking some rudimentary questions first, like; who is Tiger Woods; what has he done that deserves such intense media focus; and why do we care enough to follow this story wherever Tiger takes it?

On the surface we all know that Tiger Woods is a golfer, but more than that he’s the most prolific winner golf has seen in decades. He is on track to, and most predict he will, if not annihilate, at the very least break the all-time career major victories record of 18, held by Jack Nicklaus. At 34 years of age Tiger already holds 14 Majors in his grasp, 71 PGA Tour victories, plus 3 US Amateur titles. Compare those numbers to Jack’s numbers at the same age, of; 12 Majors, 52 PGA Tour wins, and 2 US Amateur titles, and it seems hard to fathom at the end of Tiger’s career that he’ll be remembered as anything less than the best golfer that has ever lived.

Beyond his unprecedented achievements on the course, Tiger has also claimed the status of being the first professional athlete, billionaire; with career earnings that top $82, 000, 000, he has also amassed an amazing total of somewhere near $920, 000, 000 in commercial endorsements, in less than 14 years of professional golf! So my question is: are these accomplishments the reason that people all around the globe are familiar with Tiger Woods, and more recently thriving on the epic story of his fall? Is it Tiger Woods’ “brand” that has had people devouring the stories of his sexual exploits and now the story of his return, or is it his achievement in sport? Perhaps it’s something else?

If the top ten executives of Coke, for example, were found to be engaged in the same activities as Tiger Woods has been, beyond a passing curiosity, would any of us care? I don’t think so. So I think it’s safe to say that we can rule out Tiger’s brand as being the catalyst for our interest in this particular story. But maybe Tiger’s worldly accomplishments are what have left us so disappointed with his off course escapades? To be fair to the truth, then, we should ask ourselves how we would respond if the news reported that Richard Dawkins, for example, as the world’s most prominent atheist, bestselling author, and leading scientist in the field of evolution, had been caught carrying out sexually devious behaviour that was unbecoming of what society deems to be morally correct; would any of us care?

Aside from the obvious free pass that the public would more than likely grant a man like Richard Dawkins in this hypothetical scenario, (since as the leader and crusader for atheism worldwide, Richard Dawkins himself, believes humans to be equivalent to animals in our need for morality) would any of us care if Dawkins’ with his worldly accomplishments, power, and influence, acted in the exact same way as Tiger Woods has confessed to behaving? I am almost certain that the answer would be a resounding... NO! So why then, why do we care so much about Tiger’s fall from, and now return to his sport?

The word conscience literally means with knowledge; con-science, or with-knowledge. Despite our personal opinions regarding religion and God, unless ours has been seared, all of us have a conscience that we can hear. That conscience was given to us by God. It is by our conscience that we can all agree on basic morals; right vs. wrong. Aside from the very few of us, like Richard Dawkins, the vast majority of us know what Tiger Woods did was outlandishly wrong; unfortunately, most of us will arrive at that opinion on a fairly high pedestal, a pedestal known as self-righteousness.

So here’s the truth. Humans, without a Saviour, are all slaves to our sin. At the end of the day, if we are truthful, none of us can say we are capable of living without doing any wrong. So truthfully then, none of us are any better than each other, are we. But because of our sinful nature, we are always trying to find examples of others that are obviously “worse” than we are in their moral depravity; so we assign levels of “goodness” in an attempt to elevate ourselves above our fellow man. And so most of us believe that we are pretty high up on that scale, but in that classification of our own “goodness”, we also find people that we feel extremely inferior to, as they seem to be much better than we are in their day to day “goodness”, as we so assign.

For most of us, Tiger was one of those people; that society collectively elevated to the status of a god. That elevation of Tiger to god appeal, I believe, was in many ways a direct result of his athletic achievements, his monetary worth, and his fairytale life. But without fashioning Tiger into a god, what makes Tiger Woods – Tiger Woods, would never have been enough to fuel our hunger the way we’ve lusted after the sensational appeal of his baffling break down. We needed to believe that Tiger was a better human being than each one of us, a god, in order for us to be so extremely offended and intrigued by this entire ordeal that we would follow so intently, and then: contracts could be broken, private lives could be invaded, people could be shamed, and many more millions of dollars could be made. I don’t feel sorry for Tiger, but the truth is, Tiger was a god to many, and now, to many he is a man, lower in “goodness” than the self-righteous ones that put him on that pedestal in the first place.

Check yourself in the mirror tonight, and ask yourself; how many people do I believe I’m better than? Here’s a question: how many people believe they’re better than you?

Jesus Christ said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me". There is no other way to goodness, since none of us possess it in the first place.

There is only One who is truly good. Think about it.

The Fireman in the Coffee Shop

It had been a long, difficult year for Paul; in fact it had been the most difficult year he could remember in his 20 years of service with the Kitchener Fire Department. It seemed like every call in the last 12 months ended the same way, with another dead child. Whether it was a car accident, a house fire, or some other tragic event, Paul had never had to deal with the death of more children at any time in his career.

He had reached a breaking point of sorts, and something was going to have give. With his 20 years of wisdom and experience, Paul knew he had to take action, so he decided to approach his Chief and request a leave of absence. Without hesitation his Chief granted Paul’s request and told him to take 2 weeks off after finishing out the rest of that work week. For the first time in a long time, Paul felt a real sense of relief as his mind was immediately taken to discovering where he would go and what would he do with his much anticipated, 2 weeks of rest.

Every available minute, for the remainder of that week, Paul spent scanning the internet, desperately trying to find a destination that would take him away from all his troubles. Just when he thought he might change his plans and not go away at all, there it was; in his diligence he found what he was looking for! In the South Pacific there was an island named Pindadwa, inhabited by natives. The island of Pindadwa, the article stated, was completely isolated from Western Culture and had almost no tourist trade whatsoever. In fact, any visitors to the island would have to venture 10 hours, North East, on a fishing boat from New Zealand, if they wanted to go; just the right amount of adventure and seclusion that Paul was seeking.

The following Monday, Paul boarded a flight that left Pearson International Airport in Toronto and, after 3 stops, 16 hours later he arrived at Christchurch International Airport, in New Zealand. Paul then had about a 20 minute taxi ride to the harbour where he would find the small fishing boat that would eventually take him on his 10 hour trip, through calm seas, to Pindadwa. The weather was absolutely beautiful and the water was stunningly blue and crystal clear; Paul was relaxed. Even though he had very little knowledge of Pindadwa’s culture, he knew that the Pindadwans accepted American Currency, which he had a pocket full of, and he knew from his research that there were some island accommodations that he would be able to find once he physically arrived in Pindadwa.

Paul did learn something new about Pindadwan culture, however, from the Captain of the fishing boat during their 10 hour trip. The Captain explained to Paul that he should be careful about visiting any homes where the Pindadwans live. He went on to describe how in Pindadwan society they don’t know, or believe, that people actually physically die; in fact when someone is dying, the Captain exclaimed, in Pindadwa the natives pay little to no attention to that individual until the person is actually dead. “It is at that time they believe the person to have fallen asleep, and then they bring their corpse home where it slowly rots and decomposes in their midst”, the Captain grimly dissuaded. He went on, “they believe that after 10, 000 years all the sleeping remnants of people will awake”, Paul was told. Although it definitely put a new spin on his “vacation”, Paul wasn’t all that discouraged by the news. Sure it was creepy, “but what will that matter to me”, he thought. “I just won’t go into any native homes”, and with that Paul, once again, found the calming relaxation he had known before his conversation with the Captain took place.

With all the chatting Paul found himself engaged in, before he knew it they had arrived at the dock in Pindadwa. “What a strangely, beautiful place”, Paul quietly pondered as the Captain worked at getting the boat securely docked. Immediately, Paul (with a large bag slung over his shoulder) and the Captain shook hands and he made his way off the dock where he was eagerly greeted by a local cab driver who was proficient enough in English that he could direct Paul to the best accommodations available on the island. Twenty minutes later Paul was checked into a nice little “hotel”. He had a one room hut where he found everything he needed, including the most comfortable hammock he’d ever laid down on. For the rest of the day, the theme song from Gilligan’s Island played over and over in Paul’s head, as a joyous smile had snuck in and made a permanent home on his otherwise weary face.

The next morning Paul was able to find a native that pointed him to the nearest Pindadwan’s version of a Coffee Shop. It was no Tim Horton’s, Paul joked to himself, but it was 85 degrees, the sun was shining, the waves were lazily lapping on the nearby shore, there was a covered table that sat on a beautiful section of beach, the coffee was pretty good, and most of all... no one was asking anything of him! “Just what the doctor ordered”, Paul muttered as he unashamedly indulged himself. “If anyone deserves this, I sure do”, he went on in an effort to reassure himself and quiet that still, small voice, in the back of his mind. And besides, who could argue? After the year he had been through, Paul was certainly in need of his rest.

It was then, that the most unfortunate and unexpected thing happened, something no one could have predicted; just as Paul was getting up out of his lounge chair he heard the unmistakable sound of a person gasping for breath. Instantaneously, his tired eyes shot to the direction of the terrifying sounds of life hanging in the balance, and to his dismay he saw what looked to be a little girl of about 10 years of age who was choking, but to his further horror... no one was paying any attention! In a second Paul recalled what he had been told about Pindadwan culture and how they don’t believe that people ever die. The little girl’s face had the unmistakably frozen look of sheer terror, a look which, if nothing else, proved that within her innocent, 10 year old mind she had realized the truth about life and death. It was very clear to Paul, as she was trying feverishly to dislodge the obstruction in her throat without any assistance, that she would soon face that truth if someone didn’t respond to her need.

Without further deliberation, Paul leapt to her side, spun her around, and immediately began performing the Heimlich Manoeuvre. After several moments of continuous efforts, Paul deemed the obstruction too deep in the oesophagus, or too large in size, to be removed by using traditional Heimlich techniques. He knew with the age of the child he was dealing with, and the force he was exerting trying to help her, that he could actually harm her enough to kill her if he continued. So at once he drew upon some experimental training he had recently received, where in rare cases when oral obstructions could not be safely expelled using standard Heimlich, the rescuer should fill their own mouth with water, and then, placing their mouth over the victim’s mouth, discharge the water with maximum force. In theory, Paul had been taught, it could result in saving someone by forcing an obstruction down their oesophagus enough that they could resume normal breathing on their own.

Not taking notice of all the native Pindadwans who were outraged by Paul’s actions in trying to save the little girl’s life, he forged on and grabbed a bottle of water from a passerby. At that moment, time was irrelevant to Paul; the time this episode would demand from his rest; the time it would take to explain himself to the natives of the island afterward; the time he felt he needed for himself; and so Paul acted, as he filled his mouth with as much life giving water as was humanly possible, to the point of overflowing, and with one large push he expelled the entire mouthful into the little girl’s limp face. A few seconds passed, but nothing, there was no response. Her eyes rolled back in her head, the little girl lay limp in Paul’s gentle arms. A few more seconds passed, faithfully, Paul took another mouthful and gave everything he had. Still the young child lay motionless.

Paul had hoped his efforts hadn’t gone in vain; but still he knew he had done what was right, when just then, the ailing child began to cough, and then cough again! Moments later she began to regain her consciousness, and with exhaustion, Paul fell to ground... his hands on his face, with his head down between his knees. Paul began to reflect on what had happened, and soon he became very grateful that in his need for rest he had travelled to Pindadwa. Paul was banished from the island on that day, told never to return, but because of the boldness of his heart and the faithfulness of his actions in helping that little girl, he was able to bring life to another! And with great peace, Paul realized the purpose of his life, and of all of those that share his calling.

Firefighters are never off duty; even when they’re on vacation, they’re always on call. In the same way, as Paul honoured his duty and responsibility to others in need, we as Christians should see ourselves. Every believer has heard:

“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28: 18-20

But how many of us are living as though we’ve done enough in Jesus? Somehow, the church today, has been tricked into thinking that by believing in Jesus, going to church, and then simply being upbeat, people persons, when we’re out in public, that as we “live our faith” in a way that is so special, so different from other upbeat people around us, that we’ll be able to save others. Huh? In principle, Paul could have done the very same thing in the previous story; he could have rationalized that the islanders at the Coffee Shop should have been able to recognize the Kitchener Fire Department logo on his t-shirt, and therefore if they really needed help, they could have just asked him. But he didn’t do that. No, he knew that the little girl in the Coffee Shop was in very real danger of dying. He also knew that, in their ignorance, the Pindadwans would not recognize the danger of the situation. So despite his personal feelings, Paul acted in obedience to his call. He found himself a Fireman in a Coffee Shop, in a situation where no one knew how much that little girl needed the water that would eventually come from his mouth; that water gave life!

God might give you 1 chance or 10 chances, in a day, where a stranger engages you in some way. Do as Jesus did; use those opportunities to proclaim His testimony as the WAY to life! Be bold and unashamed, as you act on those chances to save lives! Use common conversations that God gives you with others and then swing them over to Jesus! Ask a perfect stranger what they think is going to happen when they die! Then be prepared to tell them the truth, no matter the cost. Remember, like the Pindadwans, the lost do not understand the danger of the life they are living; it’s up to us to act! We are His hands and feet. Please go... to God’s word, pray, and then take action, today! Remember, we’ll never be good enough, and we’ll always miss opportunities. But don’t let Satan deceive you into thinking it’s ever too late to be obedient if you’ve sinned, because when God grants you His amazing grace, and continues to give you opportunities as He calls, just respond and answer the call. Bring glory to His name!

Tim Rector