A New Year - Giving HOPE to the hopeless! - 12/31/2006
Jesus came to this earth to give HOPE to hopeless people and He wants to use you and me. Wow! It was beautiful. Steve and Jean McLurg were students with us at Multnomah Bible College, almost 30 years ago. They, like us, have served as missionaries overseas all their lives. Their kids went to Black Forest Academy also. Here in Kandern, Germany, on Friday, their son, Ian got married to Andrea, daughter of other GEM missionaries, Larry and Debbie Peck. It was a joyous occasion. Beautiful. Steve was a good friend at Multnomah. When we were at Multnomah, I still remember a song that Steve and John and Pam Vredevelt sang which impacted me. The song is named, Only one life. The words of the song actually refer to a powerful quote by C.T. Studd, "Only one life, it'll soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last." I have only one chance, only one life, the opportunity to do what God has called me to do. Now. It has been thought-provoking. This last week has brought much thought about how one life can be spent, be invested, or … be wasted. James Brown died this week, a man of great musical talent and yet plagued all his life by drug addictions. Gerald Ford died this week, a man from a broken family, but who made something of his life and impacted so many for the good of our country and even for the world. Saddam Hussein died this week, a man from an impoverished background with so much potential, but who allowed evil people to impact him in such a way that he became a sad, heartless and egotistical man. What kind of world do we live in? It’s sad and scary at times. A world where Britney, Lindsay, Paris make the front-pages everyday. A world where Lost, 24, and Dancing with the Stars are on prime-time every night. People dieing in the war in Iraq, the war in Palestine, the wars in Africa, people dieing with AIDs, people dieing on drugs, people ending their own lives. So many people need the Lord! I still see a snapshot of my World Cup Outreach in Berlin this summer: after Germany won the semi-final, I witnessed hundreds drink themselves into a drunken stupor. People need the Lord so bad … and what are we doing with our own precious lives? Only one life, it’ll soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last. We, as Christians, CAN make a godly impact on this world. We CAN bring hope to the hopeless. God, help me make an impact on my world for you. I don’t want to waste my life. By God’s Grace, in His Love. I don’t wish you a happy new year. I wish you a impacting new year, that God will impact you this year and that you will in turn impacts others for God. This is my prayer for myself and my family as well. May God use you this year to give hope to the hopeless.
|
