Ripe For The Harvest

Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. John 4:35

What do these three things have in common?
A marriage license, a defense attorney, and a lost person

After moving back home to Houston in the 70’s, my parents failed to connect with a home church. The result was three children who weren’t raised in church as they had been.

Mom did her best, making sure her kids all heard and accepted the Gospel. But I would later realize that faith without a spiritual foundation is like the man who builds his house on the sand—eventually, your house is going to go SPLAT!

Thanks to me and my two brothers, there was a constant stream of “un-churched” teenagers passing through our home. Mom saw the opportunity God gave her; a field ripe for the harvest in her very own home. The Holy Spirit wouldn’t allow her to ignore these lost teens. She lovingly listened to their problems; befriended them and shared her faith. As a result, many came to a saving belief in Jesus Christ.

Fortunately Mom and Dad returned to church, ministering to countless youth over the years. Nevertheless, I can’t ignore the work God did through Mom all those years ago. Through her persistent, consistent obedience to the Holy Spirit, many raunchy, dirty, street savvy, teens heard about Jesus for the first time.

So what do a marriage license, a defense attorney, and a lost person all have in common? Simple—they all need a good witness.

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8

We've Got Spirit, Yes We Do!

QUESTION:
What gives a fifteen year old kid the unabashed courage to witness to other teenagers?

These days, hearing stories of adults witnessing to their friends is rare. It’s even rarer still to hear about a group of kids that aren’t ashamed or afraid to share their faith with friends. We are blessed at First Baptist Porter to have a youth group full of kids who do just that.

Adoption of the F.A.I.T.H. witnessing program at FBC Porter has birthed a whole crop of young people ready, willing and capable of winning their friends to Christ.

“When we first started taking F.A.I.T.H., me, Johnathon, and Michael used the opinion poll on some kids at school. We questioned kids in the lunch room and even during class. It started out that we wanted to practice doing the F.A.I.T.H. outline, but then we realized it was a way we could actually witness to our friends. One kid even got saved.”
David 15

“I was riding the bus between campuses and I asked a girl if I could practice the F.A.I.T.H. outline on her. I asked her, the key question which is, in your personal opinion, what do you think it takes for a person to get to heaven? She said she didn’t believe in that and asked me to stop talking about it. A girl sitting in front of us begged me to keep talking. I went over the outline with her and she ended up praying for Jesus to come into her heart. It was easy.”
Casey 15

“The first time I witnessed to a kid at school I was nervous, but it wasn’t really hard. I used the opinion poll on my friend Tyler in Science class, and he ended up getting saved. I did it because I knew he wasn’t saved, and I didn’t want my friend to go to hell.”
Michael 15

So what is it that empowers these kids to witness?

ANSWER:
“You will receive power when the HOLY SPIRIT comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8

Don’t feel you have the power to witness? Don’t know where to begin? Don’t worry; according to the Bible it’s simple. “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38

David, Casey, and Michael have SPIRIT. How about you?

Graduation Exasperation!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6

On June 6, 2008 Victoria Votaw and Alyssa Bounds will walk across the stage of the M.O Campbell Education Building, shake a few hands and accept the symbolic key to their future. The high school diploma—the apex prize of every graduating senior. To hold it in your hand is to grasp freedom!

While Victoria and Alyssa are basking in the glow that is adulthood, their parents might be experiencing a completely different set of emotions—empty nest syndrome. This is a topic very near and dear to my heart. You see in June of 2009, my own son, Patrick O’Hare, will be a graduating senior.

A whole year away, and already I find myself filled with anxiety and depression over letting go of my fledgling firstborn. I’ve even gone so far as to think up ways to keep him close to home. On our way to a college prep meeting this week, I suggested that my son consider going to the local junior college his first year. I even devised a plan for him to take night courses at U of H. He could have the whole house to himself during the day. It would be like he didn’t even live with us. He didn’t buy any of my ideas. It seems he has his heart set on attending that university to our west that people make jokes about, but also produces top notch engineers.

The feelings I’m experiencing as a parent preparing to let go of a child are anything but new. Parents have stressed over letting go since the dawn of time. Only this time it’s my child and I’m the one who has to let go. The question is how will I face this major life adjustment? The answer lies in my ability to stop fretting and turn it over to the One who’s really in control anyway. We are able to handle any challenge life throws our way, as long as we know that God is with us. In the meantime, I’ll put these Houston Baptist University brochures in Patrick’s room. Surely they have an engineering program…don’t they?

Resolve To Reconcile

A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense. Proverbs 19:11

Seventy Four days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 forcing 110,000 Japanese-American and Japanese nationals into “War Relocation Camps.” Among the Japanese-Americans interned was the man who, on September 11, 2001, grounded all civilian aircraft traffic for the first time in U.S. history. That man, then a little boy, was United States Secretary of Transportation from 2001 to 2006, Norman Y. Mineta

Heart Mountain Internment Camp in Wyoming was more of an adventure than an incarceration to young Mineta. The story is much different for the adults who were forced from homes and universities into the barbed-wire surrounded facilities. That was the heartbreaking reality for Mineta’s immigrant father, a strong supporter of America and the American way of life.

Like Mineta’s father, none of the Japanese-Americans had been charged with a crime against the United States government. Two-thirds were born in America and more than 70 percent were U.S. citizens.

Fast forward about 50 years and see Mineta as a driving force behind the signing of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 by President Ronald Reagan. The Act is a formal apology to the wrongfully imprisoned people and provided for reparations to 80,000 survivors. Mineta has said he never felt bitterness concerning the internment, but his experience did shape his feelings about government and lead to his political career.

The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 combined with the reparation payments, showed America’s willingness to change and its desire for resolution of the problem. These steps paved the way for reconciliation with the Japanese-American people interned during WWII.

Who do you need to reconcile with? Have you done something that has caused the loss of a friendship with a close friend, a family member—a Christian brother or sister? Maybe you are the one who was wronged. You wait and you wait for that person to make the situation right, but it doesn’t seem to happen. Seek God’s help and resolve to reconcile. Ask Him to guide you in the steps to reconciliation. When we sincerely ask for God’s assistance in resolving our conflicts, we honor Him, and reveal our faith in Him.

(Sources: http://www.scholastic.com/, http://www.wikipedia.org/)

(Photo of Heart Mtn: http://www.memoriesmyparentsneverhad.blogspot.com/)

Repress And Regret Or Forgive And Be Free

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3:12-14

Humans have a tendency to deal with unpleasant memories by repressing the memory or bottling it up inside. Regrettably that way of thinking has a propensity of coming back and biting us in the rear end. Rather than choosing to follow human nature, Eva Mozes Kor made the decision to forgive, and that choice has set her free.

Mozes Kor and identical twin sister Miriam Mozes survived the Auschwitz death camp, under the control of Dr. Josef Mengele, the “Auschwitz Angel of Death.” Mengele ordered that all twins be brought to him for use in his barbaric medical experiments. Eva willed herself to live, despite being injected with a lethal dose of bacteria. She knew that her death would result in Miriam’s murder so simultaneous autopsies could be performed.

In January of 1945 the Soviet Red Army liberated the survivors of Auschwitz. Eva and Miriam were among the few twins remaining. Having lost their entire family to the gas chamber, the Romanian born twins immigrated to Israel. Eva would later leave her sister behind to start a family of her own in the United States.

It was revealed that Miriam too had received an injection from Mengele. Her kidneys never grew. In a second attempt to save her sister, Eva donated one of her own kidneys. Nevertheless, the disease overcame Miriam and she died in 1993 in Israel.

Eva’s healing began with a trip to Germany where she met with Dr. Hans Münch who worked alongside Mengele. Unlike his colleagues, Münch wasn’t found guilty of any war crimes as it was determined he didn’t perform any experiments on his patients.

Dr. Münch admitted being present during the gassings; a fact that lead to a lifetime of depression and nightmares. Eva expected to find a monster, but instead found a likeable human being. As a result of the visit, Eva decided to write Dr. Münch a letter in which she forgave him.

In January 1995, Eva invited Dr. Münch to join her at the 50th anniversary celebration of the liberation of Auschwitz. He gladly joined her. Kor read a confession of guilt from Münch to the gathered press. She then said, “In my own name, I forgive all Nazis.”

Kor’s decision hasn’t been met with throngs of Jews wanting to join in her rally cry of forgiveness. Quite to the contrary, Kor has been maligned, with some stating that her choice to forgive, absolves the murderers and torturers who ran the camps.

Even though Kor’s decision wasn’t popular or even common, she is sure she did the right thing. “I felt as though an incredibly heavy weight of suffering had been lifted. I never thought I could be so strong.” By forgiving those who wronged her, Kor has freed herself from her victim status. She always says, however, that to forgive does not mean to forget.

I’m not suggesting that Jewish people should forgive the Nazis for the atrocities inflicted on them. If it were my decision to make, I don’t know that I could be as strong as Eva Kor. What I’m saying is that when we decide to ignore confrontation, we inhibit God’s ability to bless us through our trials. To choose reconciliation and forgiveness is to act in accordance with God’s word and God’s will for our lives. What about you? Is there a broken relationship you’ve been ignoring? Take some advice from Eva Kor—face it, forgive, and be free.

(Roman Heflik, 2005-A Holocaust Survivor’s Path To Peace, www.spiegel.de/international/)

Faith In The Midst of Hopelessness

For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalm 100:5

I was twenty one years old when I was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease; a disease of the immune system that causes your body to attack itself, specifically the small intestine. Having suffered with the disease and the horrible misdiagnoses my entire life, it was a relief to finally receive the news. Then it hit me—I have an incurable disease.

At the time, (I’m dating myself) there were only a couple treatments for Crohn’s. The preferred medication being Sulfasalazine, and the less favored drug was corticosteroids. Steroids are less favored because of their numerous side effects and inability to control the disease. I would soon find out that I’m allergic to Sulfa drugs. My only alternative was steroid therapy.

There were times in my late twenties when the pain, exhaustion and constant trips to the bathroom were more than I could bear. The ups and downs caused by the steroids were like being on an emotional rollercoaster, not to mention the damage they can do to your body. And I had to continue working a full time job in order to have medical insurance coverage.

I’ll never forget one night in particular when my pain became so severe that my husband called my mother for help. I was already taking a massive daily dose of steroids, so we knew that a trip to the hospital meant surgery…and surgery is not a cure for Crohn’s, only a temporary solution.

Mama arrived and came to my bedside. She laid her hands on me and prayed. It was hard for me then to understand why she praised God during this difficult time. But the pain immediately left my body, and I praised God right along with her.

There’s a lesson to be learned from Mama. As Christians we should learn to practice our faith even when the circumstances seem hopeless. God’s faithfulness to His children never ceases. So there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be faithful to Him, no matter the situation.

The Junior College Bully

I first realized my passion for the written word during my second year at San Jacinto College. It must have been passion, either that or stupidity. I’ve since learned that taking American Literature twice because you liked it so much the year before at North Harris County College is borderline insane.
Being my second time to take Am Lit It stands to reason why I did so well in the subject. I particularly loved the short story, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. Research on the story revealed hidden symbolism that I found extremely intriguing. Deciding to share my brilliant findings with my professor and classmates at San Jac was not appreciated—especially by one fellow student.

This charming young woman, fresh out of high school decided I was a threat to her grade curve, and decided to bully me. I know…I’m embarrassed for me too. My books and papers were purposely knocked off my desk, I was tripped going to my seat—this girl hated me. I was eventually forced to drop the class. Ha, ha, Miss bully, I didn’t need the credit anyway!

I’m telling this embarrassing story because it came to mind while reading one of my favorite Bible stories from the book of Genesis this morning. Joseph, the favored son of Jacob was guilty of the same thing I did. He shot off his mouth in front of people who had the ability to make his life miserable. Telling about his dream where first his brothers, then his whole family bowed down before him, caused extreme resentment among the brothers. Thank God the junior college bully didn’t throw me in a well or sell me into slavery. (Although I think she would have if she could.)

As believers, we will all eventually face being hated or rejected because of our beliefs. The question is how we, as children of God, approach these situations. My advice, don’t “drop out” like I did in junior college. Look at these times as an opportunity to practice your faith. God is either using the situation to teach that person something, or, you never know, He might just be using it to strengthen your faith.