Daddy’s Empty Chair

A man’s daughter had asked the local minister to come and pray with her father.

When the minister arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows.

An empty chair sat beside his bed.

The minister assumed that the old fellow had been informed of his visit. “I guess you were expecting me,” he said.

“No, who are you?” said the father.

The minister told him his name and then remarked, “I saw the empty chair and I figured you knew I was going to show up,”

“Oh yeah, the chair,” said the bedridden man. “Would you mind closing the door?”

Puzzled, the minister shut the door.

“I have never told anyone this, not even my daughter,” said the man. “But all of my life I have never known how to pray. At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it went right over my head. I abandoned any attempt at prayer,” the old man continued, “until one day, four years ago; my best friend said to me, ‘Johnny, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Here is what I suggest…’”

‘Sit down in a chair; place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It’s not spooky, because He promised, ‘I will be with you always.’ Then just speak to Him in the same way you’re doing with me right now.’”

“So, I tried it and I’ve liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day. I’m careful though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she’d either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm.”

The minister was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old man to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him, anointed him with oil, and returned to the church.

Two nights later the daughter called to tell the minister that her daddy had died that afternoon.

“Did he die in peace?” the minister asked.

“Yes. When I left the house about two o’clock, he called me over to his bedside, told me he loved me and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the store an hour later, I found him dead. But, there was something strange about his death. Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on the chair beside the bed. What do you make of that?”

The minister wiped a tear from his eye and said, “I wish we could all go like that.”

WHAT IS A FATHER?

This is old but good as written by Paul Harvey.  Enjoy…”What is a Father?”

“A father is a thing that is forced to endure childbirth without an anesthetic.

A father never feels worthy of the worship in a child’s eyes.  He’s never quite the hero his daughter thinks,
never quite the man his son believes him to be, and this worries him, sometimes.
So he works too hard to try and smooth the rough places in the road for those of his own who will follow him.

Fathers are what give daughters away to other men who aren’t nearly good enough so they can have
grandchildren who are smarter than anybody’s.

Fathers make bets with insurance about who’ll live the longest.  One day they lose and the bet’s paid off
to the part of them they leave behind.

I don’t know where father goes when he dies.  But, I’ve a good idea that after a good rest,
wherever it is, he won’t just sit on a cloud and wait for the girl he’s loved and the children she bore.
He’ll be busy there, too, repairing the stairs, oiling the gate, improving the streets, smoothing the way.”

Quote:
“A good father, finding his son on the wrong track, will provide switching facilities.”

“Let every father remember that one day his children will follow his example instead of his advice.”

“A father can lift his family no higher than his own faith.”

We pray for all Christian dads.  Those men who are busy about the work of the Lord, seeking to set a Christ-like example.

May we not only praise our earthly fathers but may we also give praise and thanks for our heavenly Father.   We know Him through
Jesus for Jesus said, “When you have seen Me, you have seen the Father for the Father and I are one.”   Our Father God loves us and has
shown us that love through giving His Son.  May we respond with our love to Him who loved us so.

Search for Happiness…

In the American Constitution, “The pursuit of happiness is a basic right.”  Is that true?  We use it to justify our behavior: leave our spouse, our job, our church, buy unnecessary possessions, all because we have a right to be happy.

I remember coming home from High School to eat lunch with my mother and we listened on radio to “Our Gal Sunday,” “Ma Perkins” and “Helen Trent.”  Today, such soap operas are on Television such as “The Young and the Restless”, “The Guiding Light”, “As The World Turns” and others.  Someone has written a little verse about this:  “When the world was “Young and Restless,” we all worried about the “Days of Our Lives.”  God said, “You are All My Children,”  let Me be “Your Guiding Light” and I will take you to “Another World.”

Why were and are such shows popular?  Because the theme of these shows seems to be that no matter what happens; be it divorce, defeat, destruction, death, disaster, we have the right to be happy.  We have made happiness the goal for our lives.

The BIBLE says nothing about the thought that man must be happy.  Instead God’s Word teaches that happiness comes as a by-product of right living.  Happiness comes from within.  It is not in outward circumstances.  The happiest people do not necessarily have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything that they have.

There is a big difference between happiness and joy.  Happiness is determined by what happens to us.  The outward circumstances.  Joy comes from within, a positive confidence from knowing and trusting God regardless of the circumstances.  What Christians are really doing is pursuing joy not happiness.

A.J. Tozer said, “Never own anything – get rid of the sense of possessing.”
Someone else said, “He who dies with the most toys, loses.”
We need to live with the eternal view. We must live for that which last beyond this world.

Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me, will find it.  What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?  Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”            Matthew 16:24-26

 

 

BIRTHDAY OF THE CHURCH

June 4th, Sunday, marks the birthday of the Lord’s Church.  It is Pentecost Sunday.  Pentecost means 50.  After Jesus’ resurrection, He appeared to individuals and groups during a period of 40 days.  Then, He ascended, went up to Heaven, to be seated at God’s right hand.  10 days later, He sent the Holy Spirit to the Apostles.  The Holy Spirit guided the Apostles in divine truth.  For the first time in history, everything was complete for the presentation of the Good News.  The preaching of the Gospel (Good News) is what offers to mankind salvation.  You can be saved by becoming believers of that Word.  The saved are Christians and Christians are the church.

  Luke records this for us in chapter 24, verses 46-49 “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 the 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.” 

The climax of all that God was doing to save sinful mankind was here at Pentecost, as recorded for us in the second chapter of Acts.  The miracle of Pentecost was an appeal to the hearing (sound of a rushing wind), seeing (tongues of fire), and understanding (as the Apostles spoke, the people heard in their own language.) The Apostle Peter, spokesman for the Apostles preached the first Gospel sermon.
I was taught early in my ministry that a sermon should consist of three parts: It should be Bible Based, Christ Crowned and People Pointed At.  Peter took his message from the second chapter of Joel, he exalted Jesus saying, “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Acts 2:36   And he pointed it at people, ‘you crucified Him.’  What a shock to the Jews assembled there in Jerusalem, that they had killed their long awaited for Messiah.  They realized in their hearts what they had done. They felt their desperate need for reconciliation with God, forgiveness of their sins. They were pricked by their guilt of sin and cried out, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”  The divine answer came, “Repent and be baptised 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
3000 people responded. Here the Church was born.
The Church is the body of Christ.  Christians are the Church.  God’s action is through His people.

A five year old girl had lost her way in the downtown streets of a city.  To a policeman, who was questioning her, she said, “If I can find the Church, I can find my way home.”

That is not as simple to answer as it sounds. There is great confusion in the religious world concerning the church.  May we return to the Bible and hear Jesus say, “I will build MY CHURCH.”  Mathew 16:18
The Church belongs to Jesus.  You can’t join the church, you can only join Jesus and when you do that, He adds you to His body, the Church.
Be the Church.   Be God’s family.