Category Archives: Sin

It’s very simple.

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Nelson.Our son Nelson just arrived home from 5 months of travel through Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand, following God’s lead and listening to his instructions. I’ve been keeping up with him through his blog (www.NelsonNyman.com). His recent post was too good not to share with you, so below is the second half of it, slightly edited.

Nelson has always been candid about his life, even the “bad” parts, and the story he tells is evidence that God skillfully uses all of it, whenever we’re willing.

He wrote this on one of his last nights in Thailand while attending a global missions conference in Chiang Mai:

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I was sitting on the roof of the guesthouse taking a few minutes to process the day, when a man came out of his room and sat down next to me. He set down his pint of whiskey and initiated a conversation.

“Where are you from? Where have you been? Where are you going next? What are you doing in Thailand? Is [YWAM] a Christian organization? Are you a Christian?” The questions usually follow the same line until that point.

“Yes, I’m a Christian. Are you?”

A few people aren’t happy with this question, some are indifferent, and some say they’re Christians, too. This guy told me he thought it was great and that he was also a Christian.

“How is your relationship with God?” I asked. It’s interesting to hear how people answer that.

“Relationship?”

“Yea. Do you talk to God? Does he talk back? And what about Jesus?”

This guy had a gentle demeanor, and asked, “What does it mean to talk with God? How many requests can you ask for in your prayers? Is 2 too many?”

I told him how God reached out to me through the program of Alcoholics Anonymous and freed me of belligerent, out-of-control drinking nearly 7 years ago.

“Seven years?!” he said, looking shocked. “No drinking that whole time?”

“Yup.”

“Impossible.”

“Totally possible.”

Eventually, he told me booze was destroying his life, that he wanted to quit, and that he knew God had sent me to him. I told him there were AA meetings in Chiang Mai and that I’d take him to one, if he wanted. He agreed, took a huge tag off his bottle, stood up, and went back to his room.

I’d never been to an AA meeting in Chiang Mai but got online and sure enough, there were lots.

The next day, the guy wasn’t interested. Surprise, surprise.

Chiang Mai Alcoholics Anonymous Clubhouse

But then the thought hit me, “Why don’t you go? It sure couldn’t hurt.” So I did. And sure enough, there were all these alcoholics in an old-school, 1940‘s-style room, slamming coffee, reading from AA literature:

“Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.”

After being reminded of that, I thought about it a lot. AA is a fellowship with a common vision. Christians are, too.

God reaches out to people any way he wants. He always meets us where we are, whether at an AA meeting, on a roof with a stranger, or attending an international Christian conference. In any and all places, he offers the solution to the problem of sin. And when he does, he wants all of us to reach out to others.

So it’s much simpler than I make it. Instead of asking what I can do for God, I should just remember what he’s already done for me, and simply give that away.

“…Freely you have received; freely give.” (Matthew 10:8)

 

 

Wealth Management

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This weekend our church held its yearly “Trash and Treasure” sale. Prices are unbeatable: appliances $3; blankets $2; jewelry $1; dishes 50 cents; books 25 cents; mugs 10 cents. One woman claimed she shopped for all her children’s clothes each year at our event.

Shoppers

It might be a good idea to rename the sale, “Trash to Treasure,” since buyers tote bags full of “cast-offs” out the door wearing broad smiles of triumph. My several bags were filled with toys, children’s books, a clock, a blanket, and games to play with my grandchildren.

Royal mug

I also bought a dark green coffee mug edged in gold that says, “By Appointment to His Majesty The King of Sweden.” Fabulous.

The old adage that one person’s trash is another’s treasure is entirely true, evidenced by the amount of stuff that disappeared from the church tables yesterday. But that statement also applies to intangibles that can’t be pulled from attics, basements, or garages. Consider the valuables of prayer, devotional time, Bible study, discussion of scripture, church services, anticipation of heaven. These, to me, are treasures too, but not everyone would agree. Amazingly, some folks would actually label these “trash”.

I know a man who declares himself an atheist. He has no interest in the Word of God and doesn’t have any use for information about how to be “saved from sin.” Attending worship services is a waste of his time, and thoughts of heaven (or hell) are laughable. Prayer and Bible study? Only for those who aren’t strong enough to manage life without some “religious component” to lean on.

My treasure is his trash.

Advertising

And just as we at the church posted a sign out front advertising the upcoming sale, signs advertising spiritual treasure are all around this man. His choice, though, is to bypass them without checking to see if what they’re advertising might be of some value. Maybe he did investigate earlier in life, but if so, his choice was to place other things ahead of the Father, Son, and Spirit on his list of life-treasures. Actually, he chose to leave them off the list entirely.

But that’s the key: he chose.

All of us get the chance to choose, and as a result, we have to take responsibility for the consequences. If we don’t study the Bible, however, we don’t know what the consequences are. I’m praying for the soul of my atheist acquaintance, because God has said he doesn’t want even one person to miss out on the treasures he offers, which include riches beyond our imagining.

The atheist is right about one thing, though. Oftentimes I am weak as I travel through life’s struggles, and I do need “a religious component” to lean on. His name is Jesus Christ….

….and he’s the greatest Treasure of all.

“Serve the Lord alone. But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve.“ (Joshua 24:14-15)

The Last Laugh

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Skylar, my oldest grandchild at 5½ now, has always had a way with words. Children like her keep the rest of us entertained with their interesting comments, and one of Skylar’s two year old remarks has stuck with me. She and her family were visiting from Florida, and a dozen of us were seated around my dining table chatting. Skylar’s loud, animated jabbering was interfering, and finally her mother said, “Skylar! You can’t be so loud at the dinner table. Please talk softer.”

Laughing Skylar

Always thinking and not particularly interested in obeying at that moment, she looked directly at Linnea and said, in a quiet voice, “But Mommy, it’s good to laugh.” And quick as a wink she threw back her head, opened her mouth wide, and let out a rip-roaring, ear-splitting, drawn-out mega-laugh. She knew her mother wouldn’t say, “No laughing allowed!”

Although Skylar had the wrong approach, she did have the right idea. Scientists tell us we all benefit from a good laugh, and most of us don’t do enough of it. We’ve heard of Hollywood’s artificial “laugh tracks” and know the whole idea is to get us laughing more, enjoying the benefits of giggles and guffaws and the shows that cause them. Group laughter is a way of sharing in a happy experience.

Producers and directors recognize the power of a good laugh and have learned how to expertly blend natural and fake laughter. They’ve studied how wrongly placed laughs can ruin a story line, and how laughter that’s too loud or too long can offend listeners. Who knew there was such a thing as “wrong laughter?” But harnessing correct laughter translates to dollars and cents in the world of show business.

Sometimes I think about the things we laugh at in our spiritual lives and wonder if our behavior is always appropriate. Are we “laughing wrongly” as Skylar did that day at the table?

Maybe we can learn something from her laugh-wrapped disobedience. I have a hunch most of us do something similar on occasion. Haven’t we listened to our heavenly Parent’s instructions (or reprimands) with a hint of wrong laughter deep inside us? He tells us something important, and our inner laugh track quietly says, “Yeah, right. Ha ha.”

He says:

  • Put someone else’s needs atop your own. (We say, “Laughable.”)
  • Make decisions now, based on life after death. (“Oh sure.”)
  • Love your enemies. (“Ridiculous.”)
  • Believe that the devil is out to destroy you. (“Absurd.”)
  • View suffering as an effective teacher. (“Preposterous.”)
  • Trust your life to an unseen God. (“Outlandish.”)

How many times do we outwardly agree with him while inwardly thinking, “He can’t mean that!” But he hears our wrong-laugh track and is not joining in. What he wants from us instead is “correct laughter,” which is the deep satisfaction that bubbles up after cheerful, wholehearted obedience.

As for Skylar’s loud laughter at the table, she miscalculated her mother’s response, and during her time-out, she wasn’t laughing.

“This is love: that we walk in obedience to [Christ’s] commands.” (2 John 1:6)