The Birdcage

  There once was a man named George Thomas, pastor in a small New England town.  One Easter Sunday morning, he came to the Church carrying a rusty, bent, old bird cage, and set it by the pulpit.  Eyebrows were raised and, as if in response, Pastor Thomas began to speak…I was walking through town yesterday when I saw a young boy coming toward me swinging this bird cage.  On the bottom of the cage were three little wild birds, shivering with cold and fright .  I stopped the lad and asked, “What you got there, son?”  “Just some old birds,” came the reply.  “What are you gonna do with them?”  I asked.  “Take ’em home and have fun with ’em,” he answered. “I’m gonna tease ’em and pull out their feathers to make ’em fight.  I’m gonna have a real good time.”  “But, you’ll get tired of those birds sooner or later. What will you do?”  “Oh, I got some cats.” said the little boy.  “They like birds. I”ll take ’em to them.”
The pastor was silent for a moment.  “How much do you want for those  birds, son?”  “Huh? Why, you don’t want them birds, mister. They’re just plain old field birds.  They don’t sing. They ain’t pretty.”  “How much?” the pastor asked again. The boy sized up the pastor as if he were crazy and said, “$10?”  The pastor reached in his pocket and took out a ten dollar bill.  He placed it in the boy’s hand. In a flash, the boy was gone.  The pastor picked up the cage and gently carried it to the end of the alley where there was a tree and a grassy spot.  Setting the cage down, he opened the door, and by softly tapping the bars persuaded the birds out, setting them free.  Well, that explained the empty bird cage on the pulpit, and then the pastor began to tell this story.  

  One day Satan and Jesus were having a conversation. Satan had just come from the Garden of Eden, and he was gloating and boasting.  “Yes sir, I just caught the world full of people down there. Set me a trap, used bait, knew they couldn’t resist. Got ’em all.”  “What are you going to do with them?” Jesus asked.  Satan replied, “Oh, I’m gonna have fun. I’m gonna teach them how to marry and divorce each other, how to hate and abuse each other, how to drink and smoke and curse.  I’m gonna teach them how to invent guns and bombs and kill each other.  I”m really gonna have fun.” “And what will you do when you get done with them?” Jesus asked. “Oh, I’ll kill ’em,” Satan glared proudly.  “How much do you want for them?”  Jesus asked.
“Oh, you don’t want those people.  They ain’t no good. Why, you’ll take them and they’ll just hate you.  They’ll spit on you, curse you and kill you.  You don’t want those people.”   
“How much?”  He asked again.  Satan looked at Jesus and sneered, “All your blood, tears and your life.” Jesus said, “DONE.”  Then He paid the price.
The pastor picked up the cage he opened the door and he walked from the pulpit.

  God’s Word states it this way: “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” 
I Peter 1:18-19 

  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”     John 3:16

  Jesus cried from the cross, “It is finished.”  He paid for our sins.  He became sin for us.  The price for our sins has been paid for. It is a done deal.  Accept the purchased price, Jesus the Christ and be saved.

“It Is No Secret”

  Back in the 50’s, there was a well known radio host/comedian/song writer in Hollywood named Stuart Hamblen, who was noted for his drinking, womanizing, partying, etc.  One of his bigger hits at the time was, “I won’t go hunting with you, Jake, but I’ll go chasing women.”  One day, along came a young preacher holding a tent revival. Hamblen had him on his radio show, presumably to poke fun at him.  In order to gather more material for his show,  Hamblen showed up at one of the revival meetings.  Early in the service, the preacher announced, “There is one man in the audience who is a big fake.”  There were probably others who thought the same thing, but Hamblen was convinced that he was the one the preacher was talking about (some would call that conviction), but he was having none of that.  Still the words continued to haunt him, until a couple of nights later he showed up drunk at the preacher’s hotel door around 2 a.m. demanding that the preacher pray for him.  But, the preacher refused, saying, “This is between you and God and I’m not going to get in the middle of it.”  But, he did invite Stuart in and they talked until about 5 a.m., at which point Stuart dropped to his knees and with tears, cried out to God.

  But, that is not the end of the story.

  Stuart quit drinking, quit chasing women, quit everything that was ‘fun.’   Soon, he began to lose favor with the Hollywood crowd. He was ultimately fired by the radio station, when he refused to accept a beer company as a sponsor.  Hard times were upon him.  He tried writing a couple of “Christian” songs, but the only one that had much success was, “This Old House” written for his friend, Rosemary Clooney.  
As he continued to struggle, a long time friend, named John, took him aside and told him, “All your troubles started when you ‘got religion,’ was it worth it?”  Stuart answered simply, “Yes.”
Then his friend asked, “You liked your booze so much, don’t you ever miss it?”  And his answer was, “No.”   John then said, “I don’t understand how you could give it up so easily.”  And Stuart’s response was, “It’s no big secret.  All things are possible with God.”  To this John said, “That’s a catchy phrase.  You should write a song about it.”

  And as they say, “The rest is history.”

  The song Carl Stuart Hamblen wrote was, “IT IS NO SECRET.”
“It Is No Secret what God can do. What He’s done for others, He’ll do for you. With arms wide open, He’ll welcome you.  It is no secret, what God can do…” 

  By the way…the friend was John Wayne.

  And the young preacher who refused to pray for Stuart Hamblen?  That was Billy Graham.
      (My friend, Chuck Schumann, sent me this story back in October 2006)

  God is in the business of changing hearts.  He does it with man’s cooperation.  Each person must yield, surrender their will to the Will of God.  Only then can God truly bless.  He wants entrance into every heart and will come in –  when welcomed.
            Is the welcome mat out for the Lord?

What Is Faith?

  What is faith?  Faith is not sight.  Faith is the opposite of sight.  Faith is not mere intellectual assent.  Faith is a radical conviction, influencing decisively and forever, the trend and direction of a person’s life. 
The Bible defines faith in Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”  Again the Hebrew writer states: “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”  Hebrews 11:6

  Faith does not rest on demonstration but on a venture of the heart and mind.  All honest doubters end where the disciple, Thomas, did, on their knees before the Master in praise and adoration.

  Jesus blames no man for wanting to be sure.  Jesus never says to a man, ‘you must have no doubts.’  Rather, He says, ‘you must never profess a faith of which you are not absolutely sure and you must fight your battle until you reach your certainty.’ 

  Faith comes from trust, trust in the Word of God, the Bible.  People in the days of Jesus became believers by being beholders, we today, become believers by being readers or listeners.  John 20:30-31 “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.  But, these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” 
The Apostle Paul, divinely inspired, penned it like this:“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”  Romans 10:17 
Through the divine record, we see the divine revelation, Christ.  This risen Son of God, the living Lord, stands before us and by faith we see hands outstretched, wounds visible and hear Him say, “Reach your finger here, see my hands; reach your hands here, put it into my side, be unbelieving no longer, but believe. Happy are you who saw Me not, and yet have found faith.”
John 20:27 

  Nowhere is a person more likely to find Christ than in the company of those who love Christ.  Because they love the Lord, they love His Word, and seek to be obedient to it’s teachings.  The Bible is our only rule for faith and practice.

  We live by faith.  It is not a leap in the dark but a faith based on the testimony of others. God has revealed Himself to us through Jesus and recorded that revelation in the Bible.  By faith we are saved. That is, a faith that motivates us to be obedient to God’s Word.

Uniqueness of Christianity

  An article from a Christian periodical related an interesting account about Harry Rimmer. 

  While traveling in Egypt, he had an opportunity to talk with that country’s secretary of state, and in the course of the conversation he brought up the subject of Christianity.  Rimmer told the official that Christians believe God has given us three revelations of Himself.  “We too believe that,” said the official, who was a Muslim.  “We believe God revealed Himself in the works of creation,”  said Rimmer.  “We also believe that,” the other responded.  Rimmer continued, “We believe God has revealed Himself in a book — the Bible.”  The Muslim answered, “We too believe God has revealed Himself in a book — the Koran.”   Rimmer declared, “We believe God has revealed Himself in a man — Jesus Christ.”  “We also believe God has revealed Himself in a man,”  replied the official, “the prophet Mohammed.”  “We believe” added Rimmer, “That Jesus is able to substantiate His claims because he arose from the dead.”  The Muslim hesitated, then his eyes fell.  Finally he replied, “We have no information concerning our prophet after his death.”

  That admission by that Egyptian official underscores the tremendous difference between Jesus Christ and every other religious figure in history.   Jesus alone has risen from the dead. This is what makes Christianity unique.  Therefore, He alone deserves our allegiance, for by His resurrection He has proven beyond question the credibility and truthfulness of His claims.

  CHRIST IS ALIVE. How do you know?  Because He lives in my heart.  That’s subjective evidence, very personal.  But, there is objective truth.  The resurrection is a historical fact based on reliable witnesses.  If I tell you that George Washington was a fictitious character.  You would refute this by bringing up history that there were those who actually saw, knew and wrote about this first president of the United States.  If I told you that President Kennedy was killed in a freak accident by falling off a horse in a polo game.  You would refute this by contending that he was murdered in Dallas, Texas.
There are historical evidences for the resurrection of Jesus.  Such as:  the empty tomb, the rolled away stone, the broken seal, the empty grave clothes, the faith in the heart of weak men, the existence of the Church, and primarily, the resurrection appearances of Jesus.  Jesus appeared alive following His death and burial to many.  Now, these are all matters of historical fact.  What we do with such evidence is a matter of faith.

  We can believe in Christ and claim His wonderful promise; “Because I live, you can live also.”
This means that for the Christian, death is not a door marked exit but a door marked entrance, death is not the end but just the beginning.  For the Christian, Life is on down the road and the best is yet to come.  NO OTHER WORLD RELIGION HAS A RISEN SAVIOR.