Posts

Billy Graham Tribute

/0 Comments/in /by

BillyGraham is now 91-years-old with Parkinson’s disease. In January 2000, leaders in Charlotte , North Carolina , invited their favorite son,BillyGraham, to a luncheon in his honor.

Billyinitially hesitated to accept the invitation because hestruggles with Parkinson’s disease. But the Charlotte leaders said,’We don’t expect a major address. Just come and let us honor you.’ So he agreed.

After wonderful things were said about him, Dr. Graham stepped to the rostrum, looked at the crowd, and said, ”I’m reminded today of Albert Einstein, the great physicist who this month has been honored by Time magazine as the Man of the Century. Einstein was once traveling from Princeton on a train when the conductor came down theaisle, punching the tickets of every passenger. When he came to Einstein, Einstein reached in his vest pocket. He couldn’t find his ticket, so he reached in his trouser pockets. It wasn’t there. He looked in his briefcase but couldn’t find it. Then he looked in the seat beside him. He still couldn’t find it.

“The conductor said, ‘Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. We all know who you are. I’m sure you bought a ticket.Don’t worry about it.’

“Einstein nodded appreciatively. The conductor continued down the aisle punching tickets. As he was ready to move to the next car, he turned around and saw the great physicist down on his hands and knees looking under his seat for his ticket.

“The conductor rushed back and said, ‘Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein, don’t worry, I know who you are; no problem. You don’t need a ticket. I’m sure you bought one.’

Einstein looked at him and said,’Young man, I too, know who I am. What I don’t know is where I’m going.”

Having said thatBillyGraham continued,

“See the suit I’m wearing? It’s a brand new suit. My children, and my grandchildren are telling me I’ve gotten a little slovenly in my old age. I used to be a bit more fastidious. So I went out and bought a new suit for this luncheon and one more occasion. You know what that occasion is? This is the suit in which I’ll be buried. But when you hear I’m dead, I don’t want you to immediately remember the suit I’m wearing. I want you to remember this:

I not only know who I am. I also know where I’m going.”

Alluring Cities

/0 Comments/in /by

In 1960 I was on my way to America for graduate studies. At the airport in Buenos Aires, before the first flight of my life, my mother couldnt stop giving me advice. Her last words before I got on the plane were, “Dont go into the cities, dont travel alone, dont get shot and stuffed in a trunk, and remember Hebrews 13, verses 5 and 6!”

I confess to ignoring at least some of my moms admonition. Americas cities were alluring, and I couldnt wait for the day when I would preach the Gospel to tens of thousands in the nations stadiums!

Does your heart beat for your city? Do you feel compassion for lost souls? Wherever you may be listening from today, your city – your community – is full of hurting people. And YOU are called by Jesus Christ to share His love with them.

As you do, remember the Bible verses from Hebrews: “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. So we say with confidence, The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” Let Jesus be your strength as you take the Good News to your city today.

God’s Grace

/0 Comments/in /by

The apostle Paul risked everything for the sake of spreading the Good News. In the book of Acts he says, “I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the gospel of Gods grace.”

Later, in II Corinthians, Paul says that “Christs love compels us.” Thats why he was risking life and limb, reputation and sickness, hunger and discomfort, to spread the message of Jesus Christ all over the world.

Well, thats fine for Paul, you might think. But Im certainly not called like that. It may be true that not all of us are called to travel to the furthest corners of the earth to share the Good News. But each person is called to testify about the grace of God thats changed our lives. Jesus commands it!

Paul was always aware that he was nothing without Christs love and forgiveness. Its what compelled and motivated him to speak of the Savior until his dying breath. Are you and I that overwhelmed with Gods grace?

If not, maybe its time to ask God to remind you how Hes changed your life. That revelation can be a great motivation to speak His truth to your world!

Where and Why Should We Go?

/0 Comments/in /by

I truly believe that God talks through mothers. In my youth, I was waiting for my personal call from God, that moment when the Lord would tell me that evangelism would be my lifes work. Finally, my exasperated mother reminded me that “the call” was made 2000 years ago, and that the Lord was just waiting for my answer. She was right as usual.

Dr. Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade, once said that “an effective witness is someone who takes the initiative to present the claims of Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit- and leaves the results to God.”

As Christians, were all in the missions field. Some of us will travel to distant, often dangerous lands, but most of us will find people hungering for the Good News much closer to home. Either way, we stand in the gap, living out and proclaiming our faith and leaving the rest up to God.

The Apostle Paul was historys greatest missionary, taking the Gospel to much of the known world before planes, trains and automobiles. As he told the Corinthians, “we are speaking for Christ, as though God Himself were making his appeal through us.” That is our task as missionaries, as Ambassadors for Christ, wherever we are.

Just As We Are

/0 Comments/in /by

As believers we know that God expects us to share the Good News of His love and eternal salvation with others. Some people step out on faith and take Gods word to the world as missionaries. Most Christians never take that step, either in the belief that God is sovereign and doesnt need our help, or – more likely – because we feel we lack the gifts of evangelism.

The truth is that God doesnt care about how gifted or talented or good looking we might be – He only cares that we are obedient. In the early 1900s a young, uneducated parlor maid named Gladys Aylward felt called to preach the Gospel in China. Too poor for the ship fare, she traveled overland by train, then bus, then mule, ending up in the city of Yangchen where no one had ever seen a European.

Over the next two decades and through World War II she shared the love of Christ through tireless service to the Chinese people. Her remarkable story is remembered through books and the movie “The Inn of the Sixth Happiness.”

Whatever our gifts or status in life, God wants us in the missions field, bringing Good News, just as we are. If you have a story about reaching your world as a missionary we would love to hear it. Please drop me a note at radio@palau.org.