TopekaStew

What does it mean to speak the truth about Jesus Christ in the world today? An Iranian man recently released a film portraying an Islamic version of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. He is quoted as having said, "I pray for Christians. They've been misled. They will one day realize the true story." How am I to respond to such a man? What would I say to him if we were left alone in room for ten minutes? Would I speak differently if the room were in Tehran than if it were in Topeka?

Perhaps the title is irreverent. I can't decide. A friend passed away early this morning. I got the call shortly after 4:00am. My friend had just celebrated her 80th birthday a couple weeks before she was admitted to hospice. The cancer was spreading rapidly. We all knew the end was coming. She died gracefully. So, what was funny? It was her sense of humor. She kept her dry sense of humor intact. When they started giving her morphine orally they decided to give the liquid form to prevent choking. She commented, "It's funny that they're worried about me choking when I came here to die." Later when one of her relatives asked how she was doing she replied dryly, "Well, I've been dying all day." My friend died gracefully. When I last knelt by the bed, my hand gently on her head and my ear close to her mouth, I smiled at her gracious and humorous words. She was polite to the last minute. She was funny. May God give me the same grace to share ...

I hate to admit it, but my family is hooked on a reality show. For weeks my wife and kids plan their week so they can be perched on the couch, eating dessert, watching overweight people work and sweat and worry, attempting to become The Biggest Loser. And I must also confess that, try as I might, I can't help but get sucked in whenever I'm home on Tuesday nights. I suppose part of the attraction is that these are real people, battling real temptations, and expriencing real transformation. I would suggest that such drama is what God wired us for: God made us so that we're intrigued by the battle against temptation and thrilled to see authentic transformation. Even so, it's still just television. It's not reality. What's real? According to the Bible this life is just a mist that will soon evaporate. Our souls, however, are eternal. We, in our true essence, will last forever. That's reality. And all of us, as real people, are facing real temptations every day ...

It seems like every where I turn God is saying something about speaking the gospel into the lives of the people around me. I'm not very good about that. Yes, I preach grace and gospel on Sunday mornings, but I don't consistenly speak it into the hearts of those around me "as you are going" (see Mt. 28:19a). But recently God keeps bringing up the subject. Last night I prayed for my daughters, rubbing their backs as they drifted off to sleep. I felt the irresistible urge to pray the gospel. I tried to pour it into them, praying that they would overflow into the lives of those around them: "Father, open our eyes to the good news. Help us to know that Jesus Christ bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. Grant us joy in the realization. Fill us up so that we can't help but overflow." Lately I'm increasingly convinced that we can't know the joy of our salvation if we don't share it with oth...

The last four months have passed like a whirlwind. Our new urban ministry, "The Bridge," is up and running. Volunteers have spent countless hours remodeling the house so that it looks like a house again, instead of an office. The Stewarts are packing boxes and preparing to move in this Saturday. It's been a whirlwind of activity. May we hear God in spite of the wind, listening for the sound of his "low whisper" (1 Kings 19:12, esv).