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- Written by: Don Goulding
And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by how you use worldly wealth, so that when it runs out you will be welcomed into the eternal homes. (Luke 16:9)
I stepped over a Cuban palm that fell on the porch in Zimbabwe. Yesterday, it flaunted a bowtie of waxy seed tendrils festooned below the fronds. Today, it lies dead on the path. White ants (African termites) chewed through it at the soil line, and the remains will be dismantled by all manner of bugs and bacteria. Everything is eaten by something in Africa.
In Western cultures people want to devour my time. In the developing nations it’s my belongings that are tugged apart. This one wants a pair of shoes, another wants money for an operation. If I always say yes, I’ll soon be dismantled and returned to the earth. How would Christ have me give so it results in permanent life, rather than reabsorption by consuming organisms?
For some years, the Zimbabwean mission ran a clinic that treated thousands free of charge. Then we began including counseling and prayer as the last steps of treatment.
The sickly poor came many kilometers on foot, bicycles, and even in wheelbarrows. It was like they only asked for the physical consonants of L and F. We added the spiritual vowels of I and E, and for the first time they received the whole of LIFE. Our goal was to bring them to Christ for eternity, and medical treatment attracted them to the permanent gift.
My charity must be as much eternal as it is temporal. Every hug, word, and dollar must point to heaven. To do less only makes souls comfortable while they wait for an eternity of hell.
Prayer: Father, make me a giver of things eternal.
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- Written by: Don Goulding
And just as people are appointed to die once, and then to face judgment, so also, after Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many, to those who eagerly await him he will appear a second time, not to bear sin but to bring salvation. (Hebrews 9:27, 28)
I first saw the gate when I was a boy. It looked like a dark speck on the horizon. I couldn’t be sure, it was so far away.
During grade school, I came to understand I’d have to go through the gate. A few people said it wasn’t necessarily dark, it might open to light. I hoped so. If I stared long enough, I thought I saw a silver glow.
Gradually, I realized most people acted like the gate wasn’t there. If they had to talk about it, they whispered. And to be polite, no one looked that direction.
As teenagers, we used to run toward the far off speck. Then, it got too close. We tried to move away. Still, it got bigger. Old or young, everyone was pulled to the gate, and we pretended otherwise.
One crazy day, I faced the gate. Yes, a silver glow, silver and gold. It wasn't the dark void, it was the entrance to life. I couldn’t recall why we feared it. True, we shouldn’t rush through, but rest, let it draw, and don’t be afraid. The gate wasn’t the end, it was the beginning.
Now I’m aging, and up close, the shining portal consumes my horizon. Wondering, I stare through the opening into an airy expanse. It secretly thrills me. But I have to remember, don’t talk about it. It’s not polite.
Prayer: God my Savior, I will not fear death.
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- Written by: Don Goulding
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him. (John 3:17)
“Bothell, has anyone ever told you that you’re a strange Christian?” Rupert said over his white picket fence.
“I’m a strange Christian? What do you mean?” Bothell thought about the other fence that divided them.
“Most people shun Georgi and me. They don’t want our type in the neighborhood, if you know what I mean.” Rupert nodded toward another house. “But you’ve been a real friend. Not that I’m complaining, but it’s not what we expected.”
Bothell smiled at Rupert’s fluorescent yellow and pink robe. He sent a silent prayer up, Lord give me the right words.
“When I read my Bible, I don’t see that Jesus condemned anybody except the self-righteous. He was a friend of sinners like me.” Rupert seemed to be tracking. “I hope what you see in me is a little of the real Jesus. You and Georgi are loved.”
“Oh, you are just so sweet.” Rupert reached over the fence with a hug and a flutter of pats.
“Rupert, on behalf of Christians, I apologize that we’re judgmental. It’s very wrong. We’re all sinners who need forgiveness and second chances to do better. That’s why Jesus came.”
Rupert’s eyes moistened, and Bothell knew the fence between them was dissolving.
Prayer: Savior of the world, lead me across fences.