Tag joy

Reservoirs, Civilizations, and the Church’s Mission

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

Long before our highways and reservoirs, there was the Indus Valley Civilization — one of the world’s earliest advanced societies. They thrived between 5,000 and 3,500 years ago in what is now Pakistan and northwest India. Their cities were marvels of planning: paved streets, sewage systems, irrigation channels, and cisterns that stored precious water. For centuries they flourished, but when the rains ceased and the inflow slowed, their reservoirs and rivers could no longer sustain them. Over time, the people dispersed, their great cities abandoned, undone not by war but by drought.


That history came to mind as I drove past the Oneida Valley Reservoir this week. Through the windshield I saw the shallow waterline, the exposed banks, the tired look of a system running on yesterday’s supply. And I thought of the church in our time.

The people gather as the season of Hope, Joy, Love, and Light approaches. They light candles, sing carols, and preach sermons. Yet many hearts are heavy, struggling to believe tomorrow will be brighter. Joy is thin, divisions are common, and Love is misplaced — poured into the institution or the season rather than the Lord Himself. The Light flickers, but shadows linger.

The watchman cries out with the words of Jeremiah:“My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:13).Do you not see? Our reservoir cannot survive on yesterday’s water. Hope cannot be sustained by slogans, Joy cannot be manufactured by programs, Love cannot be replaced by sentiment, and Light cannot shine without Christ Himself. We need fresh inflow — daily bread, living water, the Spirit poured anew — or our reservoir will run dry.

Even now, homes affected by low water levels are advised to reduce usage. Conservation helps, but it cannot restore the reservoir. The only way the water rises again is for the heavens to open and pour down refreshing rain. We can preserve all we want, but without a fresh inflow, the supply will eventually dry up.

Barna’s research confirms the warning. The number of religious “nones” — those with no faith affiliation — has climbed steadily, now representing nearly a quarter of U.S. adults. It is the sign of an organization failing its primary mission: to bring living water to a thirsty world. And when our own supply is uncertain, when we are in survival mode, our ability to offer even a drink of cold water to “the least of these” (Matthew 10:42) is greatly affected. A reservoir that has been dammed up for years cannot refresh others; its shallow waters leave both the church and the world parched.

Yet the promise remains: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me… out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37–38). Christ is the Living Water. His Spirit is the inflow that renews Hope, restores Joy, rekindles Love, and shines Light into the darkness. And the truth is simple enough to remember as you drive past shallow waters or flickering lights:

Know Jesus, know peace. No Jesus, no peace.

Robin Williams and the Fraility of the Human Condition

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

Psalm 69:1-3 (HCSB)
1 Save me, God, for the water has risen to my neck. 2  I have sunk in deep mud, and there is no footing; I have come into deep waters, and a flood sweeps over me.

Robin-Williams

Robin-Williams (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Last Monday night, the tragic announcement of actor and comedian Robin Williams’ death, apparently by suicide, shocked many of us. It was known that he struggled with severe depression, but for many of us the only encounters we have had with Robin Williams was via his portrayal of a character we have grown to love; Aladdin’s Genie, Mrs. Doubtfire, Peter Pan, or in his more serious roles as Patch Adams, or English teacher John Keating in “Dead Poets Society“, and psychologist Sean Maquire in “Goodwill Hunting“. For most of us this is the only thing we know about Robin Williams. We were not made aware of all his private struggles only those which became public knowledge. We were not invited into his everyday life and permitted only a glimpse into who Robin Williams was a a whole man.

For most of us, celebrities like Robin Williams are one-dimensional people, summed up by the quality they’re best known for such as Williams’ zany humor. It can be hard to understand that a man who made so many others laugh could struggle with the disease of depression. But the truth is that no one is a one-dimensional person. We all have areas of beauty and of darkness in our life. The strongest of us have weaknesses, the “weakest” of us have strengths; the happiest of us can be sad, the saddest can be happy, the healthiest, sick, and the sick, healthy. All of us, if we care to admit it, have areas of darkness we hide away from public view. Many of us put on a happy face to the world even though we might be struggling with our own internal demons. When we come to the place where all hope is lost, and we can not see the light at the end of the tunnel, where do we find hope for our hopelessness? Ironically one of the treatments for depression is laughter.

Life can throw us some pretty tough curve-balls, and heap upon us some really hard challenges, if all we have to rely on is our own intestinal fortitude we can quickly become spent and exhausted from fighting life’s bitter battles. Some may seek relief through escapism, running away from the problems of life. Some may chose to mask the pain through medication or alcohol abuse. Others knowing they are weak in themselves will seek out the help and advice of others, whether they are friends, relatives or professionals. Still others may simply try to ignore the problem hoping that by denying a problem exists it will somehow disappear. When the burdens get so bad, and there seems to be no end to the suffering, whether real or imagined, some look for a way for the bitterness to end. For some this end comes about by their own hand. This is tragic on many levels, and leaves behind a great deal of hurt and pain, along with questions and doubts by survivors who wondered what more they could have done to reach out and help the troubled soul.

Except for the grace of God I too could find myself facing the same demons Robin Williams faced last Monday when he finally had had enough of the pain and hopelessness he was feeling. He may have even cried out to God for help and thought that God was so far removed that he either didn’t care or would not answer. Let me assure you friends that God really does care about every detail of your life. He cared enough to even sacrifice the life of his own son in order to remove the barrier that existed between us and God because of our sinful life choices. He is reaching out a hand of help and comfort to anyone who is willing to grab hold of it and trust God to lift them up out of the miry clay and the pit of despair and set their feet upon a solid rock of hope. (Psalms 40:2).

There is no problem we face that God has not made a way for us to deal with it and to overcome it. He promises to keep us and be with us through every circumstances of life. The problem is we often do not seek God before a calamity besets us, so when we find ourselves in the midst of the crisis we are so far removed from God’s comfort we can not sense his presence when it is needed the most. God’s desire is to not see anyone perish but that all would find salvation and abundant life through his son Jesus. I beg you therefore to seek a relationship with the giver of life before you come to a place where you are seeking to take your own life. It is not too late to find that peace that passes all understanding. You too can find hope when you feel hopeless, comfort when you are comfortless, and joy when you are sorrowful.

No matter what problems you are dealing with, we want to help you find a reason to keep living. By calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255) you’ll be connected to a skilled, trained counselor at a crisis center in your area, anytime 24/7. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

 

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Recipe For The Good Life

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

Christian wallpaper Recipe for Life
Start at Worship and end with Service, this should make your life full and rich.

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Grandma’s Apple Pie

Allen Frederick 5 Comments

I loved my grandma’s apple pies. To me there was nothing better than a fresh hot apple pie straight from the oven, covered with vanilla ice cream and eaten while it was still warm. Mmm Mmm good!

My grandparents lived in a simple house at the end of the road behind the now closed steel plant from which my grandfather had retired years earlier. The small fenced yard sprouted several large maple trees which provided cooling shade during a hot summer day. Also within the confines of that tiny yard was the huge Granny Smith apple tree, a sickle pear tree, and even a plum tree. Right outside the fence line was the neighbors Bing Cherry tree which every year produced thousands of dark red cherries. The eating kind.

Now you know why I loved grandma’s apple pie. The fruit came fresh from the tree in the backyard. I remember she would always bake one or two small pies just for us kids when she was baking the larger ones for herself and the neighbors.

O taste and see that the LORD is good! Happy is the man who takes refuge in him!  Psalms 34:8 (RSV)

The smell of those pies filled the whole house and we could not wait until they came out of the oven to sink or teeth into those sweet desserts. Grandma made the best apple pies! I can tell you that my grandmother’s apple pies were the best on the planet but unless you actually tasted one you would never know how good they really where. I have eaten many an apple pie since my grandmother passed away but I have yet to find one that compares to those hot apple pies grandma made.

That is how it is with God as well. We need to catch a whiff of God’s goodness, we need to acquire a taste for the Lord. We need an enticement to sample the Lord’s offerings. But once we do, we taste and see how good the Lord is!

16 You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles 17 So, every sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit.18 A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will know them by their fruits. Matt 7:16-20 (RSV)

As good as the fruit was from those trees in my grandparent’s back yard they were not able to satisfy the emptiness that resided within me. From a wide-eyed little boy running around grandma’s backyard until I became a young adult there was an emptiness that not even an apple pie could fill.

My life produced one bad crop after another until I finally got to the point where I needed to find another way of living. The crops I kept planting in my life were only producing weeds. Nothing about my life was working out the way I hoped they would. My tree of life was not producing any good fruit, and I knew it!

3 As an apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among young men. With great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. Song 2:3 (RSV)

Apple pie with lattice upper crust
Image via Wikipedia

Just like grandma’s apple pie and sweet sickle pears that grew on the tree in her backyard, accepting Christ into my life was the sweetest thing that I had ever experienced. I tasted of the good fruit of heaven and found it totally satisfying. The tree of life held the sweetest fruit I had ever eaten. Not only was the fruit good to eat, but it also produced a good crop within me, and thusly started to produce good works around me. My life had been changed for the good! Thanks be to God!

The ingredients in grandma’s apple pie made for a good dessert but the ingredients in the Lord’s spirit made for a great life. Oh taste and see that the Lord is good and then go advertise His fruit offerings. Set up a fruit stand in your neighborhood and allow others to taste of God’s heavenly fruit. Introduce others to the life giving fruit of the Spirit of God. I pray that the sweet aroma of God’s love will waft through your neighborhood and others will want to try out what you have cooking inside your heart. That is how evangelism works. You get Jesus on the inside and He works on the outside drawing others toward Himself as they see how good He is to you by the good fruit your life is producing.

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My grandparents are long gone as well as that tiny house they once lived in. The fruit trees are no longer producing fruit and that chapter of my life has come to an end. But the joy of knowing the Lord will live on through eternity. Granny smith apples and sickle pears are good but the fruit the Lord produces is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Now that is good eating! Bon Appetit!

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Happy Resurrection Day!

Allen Frederick 2 Comments


God has always been Pro-life!

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