Son, Look in the Word!

One of our friends gave his son a new Bible when he went out of town to college and the dad strongly advised the youth to read the book.
Soon the young man phoned his dad and said, “I need money.”
“Look in the Word!” the father admonished.
The confused son argued a little, but the older man didn’t budge. He just advised his son to get into the Bible and his economic problems would be solved.
A few days later, the youth called again.
“Dad, I’m broke.”
“Son, look in the Word!” his father repeated.
The young man called his dad a third time, and Dad's answer was the same.
One night in desperation, the student took the new Bible out with the intention of reading it. A crisp $100 bill lay between the pages where the book fell open. Gasping with delight, he flipped through the book searching for a favorite scripture passage and discovered four more $100 bills tucked into the Bible.
Our friend placed the money in the gift so his son would remember the message that knowing God through His Word has tremendous value. Not only does scripture tell us God will supply our needs, it also tells us if we know God, we are “rich” in the things that count and the Lord’s words are to be desired more than fine gold.
The Apostle Paul talked to the Corinthian church about being “stewards” of the valuable mysteries of God. Stewards act as administrators of finances or property, and Paul reminded the church they were rich because of what they received from the Lord. They had something they could take into eternity with them and it couldn’t be touched by thieves.
As workers together with God, Paul also said when we share the gospel, “We make many rich who have nothing, yet possess all things.
Paul talked to the church in Rome about our Heavenly Father working with us as a potter does the clay so He might “make known the riches of His glory” to us who are clothed in earthly bodies. Paul added Christians have a “treasure” in their earthen vessels.
More than anything, our friend wanted his son to be rich toward God. That young man will never forget his dad’s advice, “Son, look in the Word!”

Is Jesus the Only Way?

One day the Lifestyle/religion editor asked whether I'd be interested in doing a "New Age," story then asked, "Don't you believe we all will end up in the same place no matter what religion we follow?"

He went on to name the world's major religions.

I silently asked God for wisdom, then answered, "If we do, God certainly did a number on His Son when He sent Him to die on the cross for our sins!"

A growing number of professing Christians today no longer believe Jesus is the only way to heaven. What does the Bible say about this?

John 3:16 tells us "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life."

Jesus shed His blood on the cross, then came out of the tomb alive and conquered death. All we have to do is accept Jesus as our Savior, believe God raised Him from the dead, confess it with our mouths, and we'll live eternally (Romans 10:9). That's the Gospel.

The Apostle Paul showed what a religion believes about Jesus is the ultimate test of whether or not the teachings are false. For instance, the Corinthian Christians were being deceived by false prophets corrupting their minds. Paul compared them to Eve when the devil came to tempt her: "For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough" (2 Corinthians 11:3-5 NIV).

If we want to make it to Heaven, we shouldn't put up with false prophets as some of them did.

What did Paul and the other apostles preach? The gospel given to them by Jesus Christ Himself. Jesus told His disciples He is God and that He was there at creation and He lived before Abraham. The exact quotes: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:57-59; "And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," and Jesus answered and said unto him, "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 16:15-17).

Jesus also said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father but by me" (John:14:6).

False religions sometimes deny Jesus even lived, but all propaganda contains some truth. Otherwise, no one would believe their teachings. So, the major false prophets say Jesus was a prophet and a good man. They deny His divinity and often the Resurrection. After all, their long dead false prophets are still in their graves or heading there.

Paul gave this warning to the Galatian church: "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!" (Galatians 1:7-9 NIV).

False prophets and antichrists are signs that Christ's return is near. In Matthew 24 where Jesus teaches about His Second Coming, He said, "Then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of time..., no, nor ever shall be. Unless those days be shortened, no flesh would be saved....Then if anyone says to you, "Look, here is the Christ!" or "There!" do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to deceive even the elect.... Then will they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory...And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds....

Jesus says when all the prophecies are fulfilled (many of them are in this chapter of Matthew), He will come. He admonished us to be ready, for we don't know when He is coming. We stay ready by living by God's Word, the Bible, and trusting in Jesus' blood.

Some false religions try to force people to follow their teachings. In many countries when people turn away from the prevailing religion, they are killed. Even in Christianity, false prophets tried to force people to embrace it, such as during the Catholic Inquisition when "heretics" were tortured for their faith

Aa person becomes a Christian, however, when he DECIDES to accept Jesus Christ as his Savior. That's why thousands who attended Billy Graham's crusades "made a decision to follow Jesus."

The writer to the Romans asked, "Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living" Romans 6:15-17).

The truth is, God never forces anyone to serve Him, although not serving God puts us in danger of the Judgment (Matthew 5:21-23.) Freedom to choose is why the Bible is filled with stories of sinners and people who rebelled.

You can choose anything you want to believe. Anything about who we are, how we got here, where we're going takes faith. We DECIDE whether to obey God, accept the sacrifice for sin by His son, and obey the commandments to love God and others. No one can force you to be Christian.

However, I have decided to follow Jesus. I am staying on my knees, keeping in the Word, and believing in the Creator of the Universe, the One who knew me and loved me before I was born, and the One who forgave my sins and that I might inherit eternal life.

FAMOUS PERSONS I'VE MET

As a news reporter I've met and interviewed dozens of important and famous people.

The first person I interviewed that I would consider awesome was Byron (Whizzer) White, who was dubbed "Whizzer" because of his speed as a star running back at the University of Colorado. Academically a "whiz" as well, Byron became a lawyer and the day I interviewed him and covered his speech in March 1962, he was deputy attorney general of the United States. The next day, he was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, where he served many years.

White taught me an important lesson about famous people. White didn't put on any "airs", but chatted with reporters during our interview like we were old friends. I learned that day anyone who is really important doesn't need to prove he is important. It's usually people who THINK they are important but aren't that act arrogant.

White was the first of many famous people I met. I also did a one-on-one interview with former First Lady Rosalind Carter, who was promoting children's immunizations.

I was in the press box among many famous national journalists for former President Clinton's rally in our city. Up close to the podium where he stood to speak, I could see tears pool in his eyes when the crowd cheered--and cheered, and cheered. He obviously enjoyed the folks' applause.

Before Clinton came, I wrote the pre-stories about how our hospitals prepared for a wounding or needed treatment for a U.S. President. With the help of the Secret Service, the hospitals devised a security plan.

The day Clinton came, I was assigned to cover the crowd's reaction to the President, and in doing so found myself tangling with the Secret Service. I attempted to get a couple of quotes from a girl about age 10 who was having an asthma attack and found it necessary to leave. I thought it would help her emotionally if she could tell the newspaper's readers why she wanted to see the President and it would have been another interesting facet to the story. The Secret Service agent stopped the interview.

A year or so later, I was in the press box in Denver for Hillary's speech promoting national health care. Here, I was most surprised by a woman in the crowd who wanted to take MY photo because I was in the media area.

I had a wonderful interview with Joanne Kemp, whose husband, Jack Kemp, ran for U.S. vice president with presidential candidate Bob Dole. A Christian, Mrs. Kemp was delightful.

I've interviewed many Colorado dignitaries and politicians. I talked to former Colorado Gov. Dick Lamm more than once. During the first, because Colorado was the first state to legalize abortion (even before Roe vs. Wade), I asked if he had any regrets about signing the legislation. I had the number of reported abortions that had been done so far, which if I remember right was two or three milliion. He said he had no regrets. The next time I interviewed him about his new interest: physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. Not surprising.

I chatted with former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer more than once, usually about prisons in the Pueblo area since I ended up with the Department of Corrections on my beat, only because they built a prison for mentally ill inmates on the campus of the state mental institution, one of my assignments.

I interviewed the head of the Social Security Administration under Clinton who said Social Security would be safe from bankruptcy for 30 years. It's only been about 12 years or so, and we're still worrying about SS running out of money.

U.S. Congressman Ben Nighthorse Campbell, whom I interviewed more than once, and his wife who kept a large ranch running while her husband was in Washington, were both delightful. I enjoyed them more than any other politicians I wrote about.

I interviewed Denver Broncos coach Dan Reeves on the phone; and did a story with Susie Morton, wife of former Broncos quarterback Craig Morton for Aglow Magazine; Broncos wide receiver and punt returner Rick Upchurch, who spoke to my Sunday school class; 1970s Broncos cornerback Earlie Thomas; and former CU coach Bill McCartney, the day he had the idea for Promise Keepers.

I did stories with media and movie noteables Dr. Joyce Brothers; actress Mariette Hartley; Monster actor Richard Kiel; the star of an animal show that if I remember right was "Wild Kingdom." (I petted a big python.)

I interviewed fashion designer Dona Karan on the phone.

I interviewed two general superintendents of the Assemblies of God; the president of the U.S. Unification Church (the Moonies, and the only reason it was a highlight is because he said I was the first reporter who challenged him about doctrine); the lead singer of Petra, a Christian rock band; and the Katinas, another Christian group.

I covered many medical conferences and interviewed notables on everything from new treatments, new drugs, to the controversies surrounding physician-assisted suicide. I interviewed the head epidemiologist for the United States about the conquering of polio and red measles in the United States, possibly making the need for immunizations no longer necessary. I visited with him about the production of a shingles vaccine, which didn't become available until after I retired. I talked to a representative of the Food & Drug Administration when they were considering labeling cigarettes as a hazard to your health. The most memorable medical conferences I attended and wrote about revealed discoveries about the human genome, the beginning of a new era of medical treatments surrounding genetics.

I interviewed a large number of city and state dignitaries.

During my newspaper and my free lance writing career, I met many amazing people, but most weren't famous.

Although I enjoyed talking with the famous, none of the celebrities affected me as much as meeting the Lord Jesus Christ when I was only age 5. Of course, Jesus wasn't just a man, although when He came to earth He put on human flesh. He is God and no one on earth can impact a life as He can. That's why we call Him "Lord."

God is the Creator and designed us. He is the One who was and is and is to come. He's everywhere, knows everything and is all powerful because He's God. He has power to give us faith, love, peace, joy, wisdom, gentleness, patience, self control; heal our bodies, forgive our sins and give us eternal life.

No one on earth can equal that--even a celebrity!

Brrrrrrrr!

A shiny icy skin covers this part of MO this afternoon. They're forecasting another ice storm, but although our sidewalk and the street already are slick, the rain isn't coming down as it did in the 2007 storm that caused so much trouble. I'm hoping it doesn't develop.

I imagine Michelle would love it. Jaron might, too, if we had thick ice covering everything as it did before. He'd go bonkers with his camera. I even wandered out to take photos myself. How can anything so beautiful be so destructive? Springfield looked like a tornado went through in '07 with all the trees down, and folks everywhere struggled to keep warm with power lines down and no electricity. We were fortunate to have a fireplace with a pilot light and we used our outdoor propane grill to cook. We were without water a while, though,, because the city water in Battlefield (where we lived then) depended on electric pumps.

Often since that ice storm I've thanked God for heat, electricity, and the many blessings we have. Many people in the world never have electricity or the conveniences we have. God truly has blessed America. I pray he will continue to do so. But I worry. Yet, the Lord said if we seek HIs face, repent of our sins and turn from our wicked ways He will hear from heaven and heal our land.

That's a warm promise for a frigid day.

KNOCK-KNOCK

Knock! Knock!

"Who's there?"

How many times did I hear those words when the children were growing up?

One day I'd said, "Who's there?" so many times if I'd kept a grain of sand for each, I'd have a beach. So, to throw the kids off their raft of questions, I said, "Knock! Knock!"

In unision they answered, "Who's there?"

"Belle."

"Belle-who?"

"Door-belle repairman."

They weren't impressed with my ingenuity, which I thought showed genius.

I grew tired of knock-knock jokes, but I've thought about knocking lately. Knocking not only is what we do when a door is locked, we also knock as a matter of courtesy and respect before we enter someone else's home or space--sometimes even when the door is unlocked or open. We don't just barge into someone's house. If we do it to a stranger, we'll be arrested!

I started thinking about knocking one day when my siblings and I discussed our loved ones who seem to have every reason to give their lives to God, yet they haven't made peace with Him. This we know: The Lord won't barge into their lives uninvited. God will never violate their freedom to choose whether or not to accept Salvation, despite our aching hearts and fervent prayers. Because of prayer, the Holy Spirit will continue to woo them, but will never take them by force to abundant life here and eternal life in the heaven.

Contrary to some which will kill if a person refuses to embrace their religion, Jesus gently waits for an invitation.

Jesus said, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in and sup with him and he with me" (Revelation 3:20).

I keep asking the Lord to continue knocking on hearts of people I love. I believe many will hear His voice call to them and will open the door. What rejoicing will occur in my heart and in heaven when they do.

But they'll be excited, too. In my younger days people who accepted Jesus as Savior used to display joy that would make winners on Wheel of Fortune look like wimps.

Our church sings a rousing song, "I am a Friend of God! I am a Friend of God! He calls me 'Friend.'"

Being God's friend is awesome. I'm glad I opened the door long ago.

A BURGLAR

We came home from a vacation one time to discover someone jimmied the back door to the basement of our bi-level home.

Nevertheless, they were unable to get inside, for which we were thankful.

For the first time in my married life, I was thankful my husband had an obsession with locking doors. My parents never locked the door when I lived at home. Most of the time, we'd even go on vacation with our doors unlocked. If Dad did lock the door, he used a skeleton key and every family in town probably had one. Might as well leave the door open.

For the first 10 years of our marriage, I told Les I was the only person he locked out. I'd go out one of the doors into the yard and couldn't get back in. I'd go to the car before he did, and had to stand outside until he decided to come. Since I'm a redhead, sparks flew and I'd give him some heated words about the senseless act of locking everything.

But that changed when we discovered someone tried to get in our home. After that, I started locking everything with a lock on it, just as he did. One day without thinking I even locked our teenage children in the backyard while they were tanning.

The more I think about locking things, I remember a prowler lurks that hopes to steal our most precious possession--our salvation. Jesus said, "The Thief (Satan) comes only to steal and kill and destroy" (John 10:10).

Satan uses many different methods to break in. He uses people, he uses techology, he uses our own lusts of the flesh, lust of the eye and the pride of life.

But scripture tells us when the Enemy comes in like a flood the Lord will raise up a standard against him. I would assume that's because we asked God to help us guard our hearts and minds. We're also told if we have the Holy Spirit with us, greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.

Satan can't ravage our lives without our permission. We can keep God's Word and power locked up in our hearts and the Enemy can't slide a tool or a credit card across our hearts and get in.

When Jesus warned that Satan comes to steal and destroy, He added, "I have come so they (we) can have life. I want them to have it in the fullest possible way."

Yes, it makes sense to prepare for burglars, and enjoy the wonderful gifts we possess because of the love of God.

GOING SOMEWHERE

We were traveling through Rifle, Colo., one evening when we hit the town square. People plopped on steps of businesses, leaned on walls and cars, scrambled around each other, while others' feet seemed glued to the sidewalk.

We stared out the car windows wondering what was happening and then heard the music. A small band with guitars, an accordion and brass instruments stood near a curb while plain-dressed singers belted out, "I have decided to follow Jesus."

An old whiskered fellow dressed in rags sat on the bank steps. Tears dribbled down his wrinkled cheeks.

Traffic made us go through the area slowly and I heard the familiar words and melody: "No turning back, no turning back."

As a soloist with a microphone sang a verse,"Though none go with me, still I will follow," I could see other weeping.

That was in the days when churches brought the Good News to the streets. Today you can read the words to the song and hear the tune on the internet by typing in the title.

I wondered how many people decided to follow Jesus that day. I imagine several. I made a similar commitment as a child and never turned back.

In my teens, with no friends my age who went to my church, worldly friends exposed me to what following another path would be like and I had to make a decision. I decided to follow Jesus. I've never regretted it and God has blessed my life beyond what I could ever dream.

If we follow Jesus, we're going somewhere--to the abundant life He promised as well as a glorious future for eternity.

I can't figure why so many trek the other direction.