The Greatest Celebration

A friend of mine, *Marie*, said she was going to the prom with some girlfriends. Such things have never really interested me. I went to a school dance in 6th grade and wasn't impressed. I managed to say, "Oh, that sounds like fun." Was it really what I wanted to say? No. But I wanted to be courteous, and at the time thought that perhaps it would be fun...somehow, by a very big stretch. How a bunch of people dancing in a room blaring with music is fun, I don't understand. The 6th grade dance was bad enough; I can't imagine what a prom would be like.

Afterwards I felt ashamed. Not so much because I lied about what I thought-though that was wrong too-but because saying that didn't represented Christ very well. I can't very well imagine Him going someplace like that. But how can I be true to Him without appearing like a stick in the mud? Or caustic?

Maybe I sound somewhat harsh now. After all, there are plenty of Christians who go to these functions, and what do I know? I've never experienced it myself, and a 6th grade dance isn't a very good comparison.

It's true that I've never been to a prom or a nightclub or anything like that, but I have had ample opportunity to see the final outcome, in various ways. What I have seen doesn't endear it to me. Sure, it might feel wonderful at the moment, but in the end they don't strengthen the mental faculties, increase the health, or polish the character, and they don't bring blessings to our fellow men. They leave people feeling tired and most likely sick from a hangover the next day. They leave them feeling just as empty deep down as before. It seems to me that the fruits of these pastimes end up being sour, especially so if that's all that's been planted in their garden.

 If you agree with that, it won't be hard for you to see whose stamp they bear. Our heavenly Father wants nothing less than for us to be the noble sons and daughters we were meant to be. He only asks us to avoid things that would hinder us from reaching the utmost fulfillment in life. The devil, on the other hand, wants nothing less than for us to be the most degraded and unhappy creatures that ever were. He doesn't care if that process is slow or quick. He just wants us destroyed.

Unfortunately, the above activities don't fall into the first category. And unfortunately, if we desire to be in that category, it means there will be a whole lot less "fun", right? Maybe so. You would be amazed at how tastes can change when you let Jesus into your life. I've personally experienced it. But let's just say there wasn't any more fun to be had here.

It came to me that a prom is somewhat like a party, and parties are usually to celebrate something. (What it celebrates I have no idea, but anyway). Then I thought of the greatest celebration of all-the marriage supper of the Lamb. There is a celebration that doesn't leave you jittery or tired or suffering from a hangover the next day. No; and it will be far more enjoyable-plenty of good food and wonderful company. Wonderful fruit and manna and who knows what else! Speaking of people, think of it-the redeemed from every age! Noah, Abraham, Daniel, the disciples and the apostle Paul, Luther and Calvin and Knox, Isaac Watts, Isaac Newton... and best of all, Jesus Christ.

And that's not everything. When that is over, and when the thousand years is up, we'll return to the earth (which will be on fire), safe inside the New Jerusalem. The devil and the wicked will seek to overtake the city, and be consumed by fire. Evil will no longer exist. Then we will be able to watch Jesus recreate the Earth-and no one has ever witnessed the first creation! We will be able to enjoy the New Jerusalem, that city of GOD, with its gates of pearls and streets of gold and walls of precious stones. We won't have to worry about people fighting, animals killing, children dying... All will be bliss.

Maybe it doesn't sound that grand to you-my tongue can't adequately express its wonders, as I have never seen it. I don't need to. Going by faith is enough for me. "But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which GOD hath prepared for them that love Him." 1 Corinthians 2:9. According to that verse, what I lamely told you isn't even the half of it.  Not only that, but there must be something to it, it must be really great, else the devil wouldn't be so intent on diverting our attention with things that feel good but only last a little while. Things that feel good, but leave a trail of sorrow.

There's a method to his madness. The devil is a fallen angel. He knows how glorious it is in heaven, and he is angry because he lost the right to enjoy it. He is angry "because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." Revelation 12:12. Yes, and he wants to make sure as many of us as possible meet the same end as he- eternal destruction, burned until we are ashes. "For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be as stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that shall leave them neither root nor branch." Malachi 4:1. "But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD [shall be] as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away." Psalm 37:20. No eternally burning hell, but still a very definite end.

The adversary wants to distract us with as many things as possible, so that we won't have the time or the desire to consider things of eternal worth, and thus ensure our death. In the meantime, he wants to ensure that in our heart of hearts we are dissatisfied, so we will keep seeking the next bigger and better pleasure to fill that void, and in the end be left with nothing. "Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth [is] heaviness." Proverbs 14:13.

I don't know about you, but it's going to be my aim to be a part of that supper, that great celebration. I'm not going to settle for cheap counterfeits. What about you?

Blessings,
Adelaide

Delaying is Deadly

After the experience with the village in the previous post, Pastor Martin was privileged to go see Haru (one of the men he left behind to continue working in the Taruma river region). Haru related that as he was preaching in a village one day, the chief kept jumping up and saying, "It's true, it's true. Take notice of it, my people!" He did this so much that afterwards Haru inquired if the chief had heard the message already.

 Chief Doni then told how he had been visited many times by a shining white Being. The Being would give him instructions and end with, "If you do this, I will come again." In this way, he learned how to keep the Sabbath, how to practice health reform, and lastly how to pay tithe. The Being told him to mark off a tenth of his food and put it in a billum. It was not to be touched. Chief Doni did this, not knowing why. Then in the dead of night, the Being returned and told him to return to his village (He had told him to go to the mountains and live there on the first visit) and take his food and the tenth that was set aside. The Being's ambassador would be there, and he was to give him the food and listen carefully to what he said, because it was true. Doni explained that is why he kept saying what he did when Haru was preaching.

Pastor Martin was so impressed that he decided to go back with Haru and his wife to meet Doni. He heard the story from Doni himself, and decided to make his village Haru's base. Pastor Martin was obliged to leave, but returned six weeks later, whereupon he asked Doni if his people should finish with their cannibalism and pigs. Doni said they were through with that, and asked Pastor Martin if he would baptize him while there. Pastor Martin hesitated, and said he would do so when he returned in another six weeks, if Doni wanted.

Pastor Martin returned three days short of six weeks to find Doni dead. Since Doni was sincere, Pastor Martin was sure he would be in heaven, but he knew he should have performed the baptism while he had the chance.

We should do what we must while we have the chance. Delaying is deadly.

"Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do [it.]" Proverbs 3:27.

Sincerely,
Adelaide

Delays are a Good Thing

Delays are a good thing.

In his book I Saw GOD's Hand, Pastor E. L. Martin proves this very statement. He had long wanted to evangelize the Taruma river region of Papua New Guinea. After some time, he set out with his wife and other workers to do just that. After encountering some bad weather, they finally entered the river's mouth. They traveled up it until sunset, and finally anchored opposite a village. Pastor Martin had to change the oil in the diesel engine, as well as service it, so he suggested that Koivi (a native fellow worker) go show the inhabitants of the village the picture roll and tell them the story of Calvary very simply.

They went, but were back within half an hour. Koivi reported that the people weren't at all interested, and that he had never seen such depths of heathenism before. The author doesn't give much detail, but says that sodomy was rife. He and Koivi were of the mind that one day the Gospel would go to these people, all in GOD's own time.

The next day Pastor Martin was eager to reach his original destination. As they were traveling, many canoe loads of naked people were coming downstream, and waving energetically at them. His wife asked him to stop, but he wouldn't hear of it, and went on. Later she told him she wished he had stopped; those people had been crying.

At sunset they reached the desired village, and told many people the wonderful story of Jesus and His love as simply as they could. The people were spellbound, and said that tomorrow morning there would be many more people waiting to hear. There were, and Pastor Martin and Haru (another native worker) spoke for about seven hours that day.

The next morning they would have to return back to the mission station. Pastor Martin was saddened by the fact that for all the cost of fuel and lost time from the weather, they had only spent a few hours preaching. As he continued to pray, the thought came to him that if he could get a big enough canoe, he could leave Haru and four others behind to keep travelling the river and spreading the message. Haru agreed, and after many delays in regards to the canoe, Pastor Martin was on his way home.

However, because of the canoe holdup, they hadn't started for home till after noon, and at night docked opposite the same village they had the first night. Pastor Martin sent Koivi to tell the people to assemble, as he was coming to speak to them. Koivi agreed, and after two hours returned, beaming. He wouldn't tell the cause of his joy, but instead let some of the villagers do that. A policeman stripped off his uniform, saying he was done with the police force and going to preach the message he had heard tonight everywhere he could. Another person produced a little boy, the last of the royal seed, and commanded that he be taken to the mission, filled up with knowledge, and returned to them. They would empty him and send him back again, and so on.

Then the chief spoke. He told how three weeks before he had seen a bright and shining light in the village. He reported this to his people, and was sure they would have great light come to them. A week later he saw it again, shining on the river and the village. He told his people once more that great light would come to them. A few nights before the arrival of the missionaries, the light seemed to be prominent at the river's mouth. Upon closer inspection, he noticed a white boat with white people on it. The light seemed to make way for it to get up the river till it came to his village.

"That is why we tried to stop you as you were going up the river, and that is why we cried, for we thought that the great light was going to pass us by," concluded the chief.

Pastor Martin saw this as the reason for the delay in getting the canoe for his fellows. If there had been no delay, he would have been at the river's mouth, and not at this village.

It makes you look at delays differently, doesn't it? They really are a good thing.

Blessings,
Adelaide

My Father's Love

A sunny day. Counsel on being humble. A great breakfast, and an even greater lunch. Two lessons of English done. Water intake climbing. What could be wrong? I don't really know. Maybe I do. A vague longing for something. I can't quite name it; I don't know what you'd call it. It's that something that's encapsulated by two people enjoying each other's company, by their looking out for each other (spiritually as well as otherwise), by their holding hands, by their laughing together. Would you call that love?

I am wise enough to know now that the happy flushes I felt when around people I "liked" isn't that. Love is deeper, stronger, purer than that. It finds its utmost expression in serving that individual, even if it requires reasonable yet painful self-sacrifice on your part. It isn't dependent on emotion, but intellect. It isn't blind, but acutely aware of the good and the bad, and still flourishes. Yes, this I now know, and am the happier for it. Why I can't tell you, except perhaps because of some faint hope that one day I too will put that knowledge to good use. I never have been able to, at least not in the sense that I currently mean.

Sometimes I just want to know what it feels like to be loved in that way.

On the other hand, I don't. If I never do, I won't have to deal with its unique and sometimes uncomfortable burdens. I won't have to experience the peculiar pain that comes with losing the person, either to someone or something else. I'll never experience the peculiar pain that comes with having to lay them to rest.

It has been said that as deep as a mother's love may be for her child, it's just a tiny rill in the ocean of God's love. I don't know which is stronger, which is more necessary: the love of a mother or the love of a spouse. I'd say the former, but it's debatable I suppose. It seems to me that if a mother's love was the highest form of human-to-human love, no one would bother getting married. They would be content without that. Either way, marital love (even if it is larger) must still be just a drop in the bucket of our Father's love for us.

I may not know the singular joys of courtship or married life, but I do know a bit of the singular joys of God's heavenly love. Where this love abides there is no threat of someone leaving you, of someone abusing you, or of someone dying on you. It is ever constant, ever pure, ever living. It is higher, broader, deeper than the greatest example of spousal love. It can't compare.

No, it can't compare. Especially not in light of the cross. However golden it may be, when held up to that, (though it is an expression of the true) it loses half its luster. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. That goes for all of us, not only as a whole, but as individuals. For you. For me.

 "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:" 1 John 3:1.

I may not be able to smile or happily hum because a man loves me, but I can do so because I know my Father, the King of the universe, does. I hope you can too.

Blessings,
Adelaide

Don't Forget the Chain

Sanga is a Buddhist monk. He wasn't interested in religion at all growing up, but when he was in the Thai army, at 19 years old, he became deathly ill. This made him want to study religion, and by and by he became a monk. He is interested in learning about the many beliefs and philosophies out there, and so he studies the Bible with Adventist missionaries. Although he doesn't want to become a Christian at present, he wants to continue the Bible studies.

One day the missionary had just finished explaining about the little horn of Daniel 7. Sanga asked why it was important to know-and then, what the crux of Christianity is. The missionary realized he had missed out on something essential-he had not linked this truth to its Founder. He then went on to explain the message's connection to the Gospel.

A truth by itself is beautiful, but if it isn't told in light of Christ, it is loses its power. It can't do anything for us. Having a knowledge of a doctrine, but no relationship with its Author, is meaningless. He is the only one that makes the truth have vitality, that quickens it. He is the one who saves us, not our understanding of dead facts. Is it any wonder that these words were penned?

"Christ, His character and work, is the center and circumference of all truth. He is the chain upon which the jewels of doctrine are linked. In Him is found the complete system of truth." Ellen White, Letter 63, 1893.

We mustn't forget the chain from which these jewels hang and are linked together. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of GOD." Ephesians 2:8. Yes, grace. His grace. "...through the grace of the LORD Jesus Christ we shall be saved..." Acts 15:11.

Blessings,
Adelaide

In Terms of Service

At Maria's memorial service (see here for details), there were many testimonies. I noticed that a common theme was more or less present in them all: she lived to serve. One man spoke of dresses she made for his daughters, and how she was teaching his wife to sew. Another mentioned how she coached him, and even gave him a basket to help improve his organizational skills. A few Nigerians spoke of how she gave her all for them. Even the money from her sewing business went into purchasing her fare to Nigeria and things for the people there! Right up until the end, she was thinking of others, more concerned for her friend (who was stricken with the same illness) than for herself. Her mother said the best thing about having her as a daughter was that she was unselfish.  Despite her faults, the good in her was what shined the most in people's memories.

As I sat there listening to such glowing reports, I naturally wondered what people would say about me if I died. GOD has brought me far, but what would they say of me? Would some virtue be what stuck out in their minds? Or would it perhaps be something less desirable?

Maria seemed to fulfill the verse, "Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the LORD." (Romans 12:11). And you know, when I die, I want to be remembered in terms of service too. Don't you?

Blessings,
Adelaide