A Shack Made in Heaven

For school, I had to read a short story by Henry Van Dyke called "The Mansion."

It told of a wealthy businessman named John Weightman, who was best known as a philanthropist and almost "righteous" man, always following the Bible and doing good to others. Though he was wealthy, he lived in a regular house and gave most of his wealth to organizations and churches. He was revered and admired by all. However, he had a discontented son named Harold, whom he had plans for; however, Harold, though he respected his father completely, wanted to travel and take a different path from what his father wanted. On the night of Christmas Eve, he asked his father for three or four thousand dollars to help a sick friend from college who had a wife and baby to take care of, but his father refused, saying that he would never get anything from helping his friend, probably only a mere letter of thanks. Unhappy with his father's answer, he left and went to bed, deciding to make his own choices for his life.

John Weightman felt troubled as he had never felt before. He opened his Bible at a random place and found the verse, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust do corrupt and where thieves break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven." Suddenly, John felt his body become weak and slipped away.

When he awoke, he found himself in a beautiful place and meeting people who have died years ago. Filled with excitement, he instantly knew where he was. Among the people he had met were the poor, the widowed, the blue-collar workers, and the formerly crippled or sick. Soon, a Guide came told them that their mansions were ready. Almost every person in the eager group had been taken to their mansion, leaving John the last one. Finally, it was time for the Keeper of the Gate to take John to his mansion. They traveled far out of the city, many miles away from the others. After seeing them, John was confident that his reward would be much greater. Yet to his surprise, the Keeper of the Gate took him to nothing but a rusty shack made of scrap material, sitting in an open field. Confusioned, John enumerated all that he had done on earth. He had kept God's commandments, served at his church, and most of all, given to the poor. Because the Keeper of the Gate told him that he had already been rewarded on earth, he did not need another reward in Heaven. With bitter disappointment, John asked what he could have done better on earth, what really counted in Heaven? With that, the Keeper of the Gate replied:

"Only that which is truly given. Only that good which is done for the love of doing it. Only those plans in which the welfare of others is the master thought. Only those labors in which the sacrifice is greater than the reward. Only those gifts in which the giver forgets himself."

Gradually, John began to feel colder. Then he awoke, to find himself back in his home. He rushed up to his son's room and wrote a check for his friend.

~~~~~~~~~~~

I don't want to do so much to find that it meant nothing. Righteousness is filthy rags. Giving for receiving is a shack. Check your heart as I check mine.

Living like You and Me

Ever since Christmas, I've been thinking non-stop about what Jesus was like. At the time he was here on earth he was a human. He was born as a baby, he had to learn how to walk, talk, he even had to potty train I'm sure! It is such an encouragement to think that Jesus went through life, he was here on this earth. So when we start complaining to him with our problems and how earth is such a terrible place...He can relate! Of course we could never compare ourselves to Jesus. We are a lot different than him, He has never sinned for starters. Jesus had to grow up just like us! I'm sure he got in fights with his siblings, went to school and had chores. By the time he was maybe 12, he probably started working with his father. If you haven't seen the Nativity Story, I highly suggest it. Joseph asks the question "Will he just know he was born with greatness? Will he gradually grow into this leader? Will there be something in his eyes?" This will be one of my millions of questions to ask God when I get to heaven. He even had to die like a human. He knows what challenges we face, he had most of them too.

A Resolution

I was really touched by a pastor friend of ours whom we have known for a very long time. I don't even remember when was the last time I saw him, probabaly a couple years ago, but he left Texas when I was probably 6 or 7 (wow, it was a long time ago, I don't even remember). But after all these years, he still keeps in contact with us, visits us whenever he's in town or just gives us a little phone call. It's amazing how out of all the people in our old church, my family is the one he remembers. But the one thing that really touched me was when he told us that every Friday, he prays specifically for my family. I find that so encouraging, that after all these years he even sets a specific day to pray for us every week.

I'm not sure if you are already doing this, but I'd like to encourage you to incorporate prayer with your Bible reading. To be more specific, I'd like us to take up this challenge...
CHALLENGE: Choose a specific person to pray for on a specific day (ex. Joe on Monday, John on Tuesday, Jeremy on Wednesday, etc. whoever your friends/family are) and pray for that person once every week.

I'm doing it. Take this challenge with me. If you feel comfortable, you can share any prayer requests you'd want the bloggers to pray for in the comment section. Happy New Year! You know, I have a good feeling about the year 2009. Something BIG is going to happen this year.

As a little extra, I'd like to share this blog by Anberlin's singer Stephen Christian that really touched me and might touch you as well:
http://modesty.blogspot.com/2008/12/reject-acceptance-accept-rejection.html

*Wow, a lot of things touched me! Sorry, I've got no other word to describe it.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Jesus! Thank you so much for sacrificing so much for all of us sinners. You have given us the greatest gift of all, eternal life with you. There are some awesome gifts out there, iPods, CDs, Games, Toys, Movies... But nothing compares to you. Thank you so much! Please remind us of that day, the day you came to earth and the day you saved the world. I Love You sooo much! Happy Birthday.

YPC

Okay, I have been working on the site for 2 days, and I have most of the functions working. I think this website will help with the expansion the group, also it is a good way to get the word out.
http://caprockypc.tk/
Please feel free to explore, register, and comment on anything.
P.M me (emorocker or admin) for any problems that you encounter.

I Look Towards the East and See a Star

It seems that I've been observing some people around me and becoming more and more thankful for the life I have. I have seen a recently married couple leaving in two separate cars one night. When one pictures newlyweds, they often see a handsome man and a beautiful woman, basking in each other's love and exchanging smiles. Love is still in the air after honeymoon. But this couple I saw...they didn't get married because they were in love. They got married for immigration papers. Married and living in separate houses with separate lives.

On the other side of town is a woman raising her grandchild, waiting for her young, rebellious, unmarried daughter to come and take responsibility for her child. The child's father? Forget it.

They are only representatives of many more people out in the world with messed-up lives and broken homes. How can two people be married not because of love? What will happen to the child when he grows up and wonders who his parents are? Honestly, how many more people in the world are living lives like that--even worse? The world is not wonderful. It is dirty, left out, dying, and drenched in sin. So how in the world are these people supposed to find hope and peace on Christmas?

These are the people that Jesus came to save. He came to give us peace on earth. We use these terms so often--"Peace on Earth," "Hope," "Joy to the World"--but why? How can they say such things when they don't even believe in who brings the peace, hope, and joy of Christmas?

As Christians, we should be thankful for the hope that we have in Jesus. We've complained about how hard life is with Him, but we've never stopped to think how much harder life would be without Him.

What we need to do is give. Give until there's nothing left, and even if the world doesn't listen, we need to keep trying.

*Sorry to quote so many songs!

Why the World Hates Christians

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/12/05/atheists.christmas/index.html

This is Christianity to the Christians: Jesus, worship, peace, church, missions, youth group, Bible, love, joy, help, teaching, singing, hope, family, etc.

This is Christianity to everyone else: religion, hate, hypocrisy, conservatism, boredom, modesty, slavery, disappointment, anger, discouragement, rules, etc.

If Christianity on the inside is something good and beautiful, why is it, that on the outside, it appears to be a complete mess?

You may or may not agree with me. I addressed an issue like this in a past blog entitled, "Cool Jesus." I feel very strongly about this: Christianity in America needs reform.

When one hears the word "church," he thinks of a solemn service, chanting hymns, a quiet prayer, a long sermon...the modern world has attempted to change that by creating a lively service, adding a band to enhance worship and having the pastor preach in jeans and sandals. Not only have they changed the service, but they added other things as well to attract the audience. The average large church today has a bookstore, a coffee shop, and a playground--one can easily mistake the place for a mall or an airport.

So what are the Christians doing wrong? They are gathering people, entertaining them, and leaving them empty--again. This is why America says that God, Christianity, and church doesn't work.

After Jesus' ascension into heaven, the very first churches that emerged were nothing like churches today. Roman governor Pliny wrote of them to Trajan in A.D. 111, "They [the Christians] affirmed that the sum of their crime or their error, whichever it was, was this: they used to meet on a stated day before light, and to sing among themselves, in turn, a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and to bind themselves by an oath, not to any wickedness, but that they would never commit theft, or robbery, nor adultery; that they would never break their word, that they would never deny a trust when called to give it up; and after these performances, their way was to separate, and then meet again to partake of ordinary food." A song, a lesson, a few refreshments.

Christianity was never intended to be a religion. The cliche is true: it's not a religion, it's a relationship with God. I believe that God and Christianity is a turn-off in America because it is not what it's supposed to be. In a third-world country such as Africa, missionaries are seeing more changed lives there than in the United States. Things there are much simpler; things here need to be grand.

I am personally proud of my church. All we have is a small building and a little band that just does whatever as long as people are able to follow along. We don't have a thousand members; we have but 70-80 people in our congregation. But here is what makes us different: we all know each other; we all love each other. Here is our church motto: anybody, everybody. Of course, we don't tolerate sin; but no matter who you are or what you've done, we'll take you in and love you.

So what is one to do? I believe the answer is simple. Jesus told us, "This is my command: Love each other."

If the world saw the Christians as a loving group of people, we would be seen, embraced, and envied--and everyone would want to be a part of it.

And that's how things are supposed to be.