February 28 - March 2010
Greetings Friends;
The computer/internet is working OK again, at least for now. Below is one of the devotions I prepared during the Olympics. Sorry for the "lateness" of it. Hope everyone is blessed.
PLEASE READ: Romans 10:13-15
for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
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One of the most incredible stories coming from the Olympics occurred during the 1988 games in Seoul, South Korea. There was a young competitor there whose entire was in active pursuit of an Olympic medal. The 1988 games represented his best chance. He was a man from Canada named Lawrence Lemieux, and his event was in sailing. Off the coast of Korea, he was racing for the gold medal. The sea was stormy and rough, but Lemieux was in second place with an excellent shot at capturing first place. Suddenly his attention was drawn aside by an overturned boat, and he saw a sailor draped over the hull, desperately trying to hold on. Another sailor was bobbing in the water. The tides and winds were pushing both men further out to sea. They were Olympians, too, and were competing in another event. The man who was draped over the overturned hull of the boat had cut his hand in the accident and was rapidly losing strength. The crewman in the water was drifting away from the boat and going down. Lemieux had a heart-rending decision to make. If he didn’t stop to help the men, they would likely drown; but if he did stop and help them he would lose his lifelong dream of winning an Olympic gold medal. Well, it might have been a heart-rending decision, but it didn’t take the young champion long to make it. He turned his boat around into the screaming wind and paddled toward the desperate men in the water. As he approached the man who was thrashing in the water, the man gasped, "Please help me! I can’t last much longer." "Grab onto my boat when I come past you," said Lemieux.
"I can’t," said the man. "I hurt my back and I can’t pull myself up into your boat." Lawrence leaned over and grabbed the man’s vest and tried to haul him aboard, but the effort almost capsized the little craft. "Just try to hold on until we get to your boat," shouted Lemieux. Somehow he managed to navigate the boat through the crashing waves and rescue the other man as well. Lemieux held them both until a rescue boat arrived. The "delay" cost Lemieux any chance he had of winning an Olympic medal. He resumed the race, but finished in 21st place. Once the story was found out, in place of the gold medal, the International Olympic Committee awarded Lemieux "The Fair Play Award" of the 1988 Olympic games in Seoul. When he returned to his home, the members of Northwood Presbyterian Church in Spokane, Washington (where he lived), had a special medal cast for him and draped it around his neck while the Canadian National Anthem was played. Lemieux told the congregation, "You spend your whole lifetime trying to achieve a goal, and my goal was winning a gold medal. I didn’t win a gold medal, but I won something more valuable—the love you’ve shown me here today."
"I can’t," said the man. "I hurt my back and I can’t pull myself up into your boat." Lawrence leaned over and grabbed the man’s vest and tried to haul him aboard, but the effort almost capsized the little craft. "Just try to hold on until we get to your boat," shouted Lemieux. Somehow he managed to navigate the boat through the crashing waves and rescue the other man as well. Lemieux held them both until a rescue boat arrived. The "delay" cost Lemieux any chance he had of winning an Olympic medal. He resumed the race, but finished in 21st place. Once the story was found out, in place of the gold medal, the International Olympic Committee awarded Lemieux "The Fair Play Award" of the 1988 Olympic games in Seoul. When he returned to his home, the members of Northwood Presbyterian Church in Spokane, Washington (where he lived), had a special medal cast for him and draped it around his neck while the Canadian National Anthem was played. Lemieux told the congregation, "You spend your whole lifetime trying to achieve a goal, and my goal was winning a gold medal. I didn’t win a gold medal, but I won something more valuable—the love you’ve shown me here today."
While many try to win medals, accomplish goals, accumulate fortune, fame and prizes, or achieve status in the world, God's people have only one mission— rescue the perishing and care for the dying. Jesus said in Matthew 28:18-20, "“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” We read these words from the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 49:6b says, "I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” Acts 13:47 says, "For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth."
As members of the Body of Christ, what is our focus on?
Shalom,
Pastor Jim
Web site created by: Doug Jones