This morning I was reading the book "The Beginning Of The End" by
Dr. Tim LaHaye. On pages 12 and 13, he tells the story of an old
Scottish minister and a local farmer neighbor. And that brought back a
wonderful deja vu memory, a story told to me when I was a new believer
many years ago. That memory emphasized two truths I believe:
(1) All my life I have loved to walk and on my walks when I pass someone on the street, I smile and say, "Hello, how are you today?" Two things usually happen, first I almost always get a response and most often a smile in return. And in all my years of walking, I can count on one hand the times my greeting has been ignored.
And (2), we never know when someone just needs a smile and a hello. And we never know when a simple, "God bless you" may change that person's life.
This is Dr. Tim LaHaye's story:
"Maranatha" means "The Lord is coming." That expression gained popularity in the first century and became a common mode of greeting and parting. Christians often included it in letters, and in some cases even soldiers used it as a slogan when they went off to war.
The story is told of an old Scottish minister who passed the home of a parishioner on his way to church on Sunday morning. Obviously the man chopping wood by the side of the house was not going to church. Their eyes met and the pastor felt he should say something, so he called out, "The Lord is coming" and went on to church.
About five minutes after he started his message the farmer entered. After the service he admitted, "Pastor, the more I thought about the Lord is coming, the more I realized I didn't want Him to find me cutting wood during church time." No wonder John said, "And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." (1 John 3:3) ("The Beginning Of The End," Tim LaHaye, Tyndale House Publishers 1972 - pages 12-13)
Take the story shared by the man God used to bring me into His family. In 1987 God introduced me to a pastoral couple named Pastor Sam and Ida Lacanienta. Their Godly love brought me into the church he pastored - and through his teachings in worship services, Sunday School, and Bible study, I became a believer. It took me six months of good Bible study, but at the age of 50, I became a child of God.
One story which Pastor Sam shared with our Bible study group was about his early ministry in America. I believe Pastor Sam and Ida came to America from the Philippines in the early 1970s and his first ministry was as an associate pastor in a small church in Santa Ana, California.
That church did not have sufficient parking and on Sundays most folks parked in the street. Just down the block from the church an elderly neighbor did not like cars parked in front of his home and his aggravation often became angry yelling at the people parking for church.
Rather that get angry or bothered by the elderly man's temper, Pastor Sam went to visit him one day during the week. Pastor Sam is the kind of man who always exudes warmth, friendliness, and love - and that led the elderly man into a friendly neighbor to neighbor chat with Pastor Sam. I can relate, for that same warmth and love, obviously from God, is what led me to visit the church he was pastoring in 1987 - where I was loved to the cross.
Pastor Sam became friends with the neighbor, they would wave and greet one another during the weeks that followed. And even though the man did not start attending church services - after a while Pastor Sam did lead him to the Lord.
A few weeks later, when he did not see the elderly neighbor in his yard as he normally did, Pastor Sam went to visit his home. At the man's home Pastor Sam was told that about a week ago the man had passed away. But we know that the moment he breathed his last mortal breath - that neighbor was in the presence of God.
That happened because Pastor Sam Lacanienta took the time to greet a disgruntled neighbor, share God's love with him, and tell him how much God loves him. In other words, Pastor Sam told him, "Maranatha, the Lord is coming!"
That is the deja vu story I relived this morning reading about Tim LaHaye's old Scottish minister's Maranatha greeting to his neighbor.
Have YOU shared a Maranatha greeting with anyone today?
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed Marantha day,
Bill
(1) All my life I have loved to walk and on my walks when I pass someone on the street, I smile and say, "Hello, how are you today?" Two things usually happen, first I almost always get a response and most often a smile in return. And in all my years of walking, I can count on one hand the times my greeting has been ignored.
And (2), we never know when someone just needs a smile and a hello. And we never know when a simple, "God bless you" may change that person's life.
This is Dr. Tim LaHaye's story:
"Maranatha" means "The Lord is coming." That expression gained popularity in the first century and became a common mode of greeting and parting. Christians often included it in letters, and in some cases even soldiers used it as a slogan when they went off to war.
The story is told of an old Scottish minister who passed the home of a parishioner on his way to church on Sunday morning. Obviously the man chopping wood by the side of the house was not going to church. Their eyes met and the pastor felt he should say something, so he called out, "The Lord is coming" and went on to church.
About five minutes after he started his message the farmer entered. After the service he admitted, "Pastor, the more I thought about the Lord is coming, the more I realized I didn't want Him to find me cutting wood during church time." No wonder John said, "And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." (1 John 3:3) ("The Beginning Of The End," Tim LaHaye, Tyndale House Publishers 1972 - pages 12-13)
Take the story shared by the man God used to bring me into His family. In 1987 God introduced me to a pastoral couple named Pastor Sam and Ida Lacanienta. Their Godly love brought me into the church he pastored - and through his teachings in worship services, Sunday School, and Bible study, I became a believer. It took me six months of good Bible study, but at the age of 50, I became a child of God.
One story which Pastor Sam shared with our Bible study group was about his early ministry in America. I believe Pastor Sam and Ida came to America from the Philippines in the early 1970s and his first ministry was as an associate pastor in a small church in Santa Ana, California.
That church did not have sufficient parking and on Sundays most folks parked in the street. Just down the block from the church an elderly neighbor did not like cars parked in front of his home and his aggravation often became angry yelling at the people parking for church.
Rather that get angry or bothered by the elderly man's temper, Pastor Sam went to visit him one day during the week. Pastor Sam is the kind of man who always exudes warmth, friendliness, and love - and that led the elderly man into a friendly neighbor to neighbor chat with Pastor Sam. I can relate, for that same warmth and love, obviously from God, is what led me to visit the church he was pastoring in 1987 - where I was loved to the cross.
Pastor Sam became friends with the neighbor, they would wave and greet one another during the weeks that followed. And even though the man did not start attending church services - after a while Pastor Sam did lead him to the Lord.
A few weeks later, when he did not see the elderly neighbor in his yard as he normally did, Pastor Sam went to visit his home. At the man's home Pastor Sam was told that about a week ago the man had passed away. But we know that the moment he breathed his last mortal breath - that neighbor was in the presence of God.
That happened because Pastor Sam Lacanienta took the time to greet a disgruntled neighbor, share God's love with him, and tell him how much God loves him. In other words, Pastor Sam told him, "Maranatha, the Lord is coming!"
That is the deja vu story I relived this morning reading about Tim LaHaye's old Scottish minister's Maranatha greeting to his neighbor.
Have YOU shared a Maranatha greeting with anyone today?
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed Marantha day,
Bill
Click on the image to enlarge:
No comments:
Post a Comment