The Heart of the Human Problem

I heard about a little girl who got into a terrible argument with her younger brother. Her mother rushed into the room to stop the fight with great alarm. “How could you let the devil trick you into calling your brother names and spitting on him?” asked the mother. The little girl, still not quite repentant said, “The devil made me call him names, but spitting on him was my idea!”

You may have heard the saying, “The heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart.” In our society we see problems that are much more serious than spitting on your little brother. To some it may sound too simplistic to say that the problem is a spiritual heart issue, but that is exactly what it is. In Romans chapter one, the Bible explains that the terrible consequence of refusing to respond to God and His truth is spiritual darkness; further refusal to acknowledge God results in a society that embraces immorality, violence and hatred.

As Christians we have a tremendous responsibility to represent and share God’s light to our dark world. It would be easy to throw up our hands and say that it is too late to make a difference, but God is able to bring beauty for ashes and hope from hopelessness. He can change hearts!

Priorities in the Church

I heard about a happily married couple who had certain struggles because old Aunt Emma showed up at their door one day needing a place to stay. Emma was loud and demanding, and generally ungrateful. The couple held back their feelings because Aunt Emma was family; and besides, Emma could really lay on the guilt trip any time there seemed to be any hesitation in meeting her many needs.

After seven long years, Aunt Emma died. On the way home from the funeral the husband said, “You know dear, if I did not love you so much, I don’t think I would have put up with your Aunt Emma all these years.” The wife looked at her husband in total disbelief and said, “My Aunt Emma? I thought she was your Aunt Emma!”

I have noted that some times churches can be bamboozled by the enemy into accepting responsibilities that are really not theirs. God has created and designed the church to do three basic things: Worship God, Build up Believers and Share Christ with a lost world.

Because we are people committed to being loving and compassionate, we can sometimes be drawn toward activities and causes that are very good, but may be a distraction from the real priorities of the church. We are a people of conviction and moral standards, but we need to be cautious that we are not sidetracked into social or political activism when the lost are dying without hope. If we are not careful, even our desire for personal holiness can take us down a path of legalism, causing us to neglect the Great Commission.

Yes, we must remember to be salt and light to the world, but we must also remember why.

The Power of Prayer

I read a story recently about a lady who had a terrible morning. She had just put a pie in the oven when she received a phone call from the school that her son was very sick and needed to come home. She thought she would have time to pick him up and get back for the pie, so she got in the car to leave. On the way to the school, her cell phone went off—it was the school nurse. Her son was getting worse, so the nurse called the family doctor and the woman needed to immediately go to get a prescription for her son. She quickly changed course and ran into the drug store. She hurried back to the car only to discover that she had locked her car keys inside. Just then the phone rang again. Her son sounded terrible. Before he could finish his first sentence to her he said, “I’m going to be sick again.” And the phone went dead.

She walked back toward the drug store hoping to get some help when the phone rang—it was her son calling back. She quickly told him about the keys when he suggested getting a wire coat hanger to get the keys. The phone went dead again. She looked inside the drug store which had plenty of wooden and plastic hangers, but nothing made out of wire. She walked out of the store and saw along the curb a wire coat hanger! She was overjoyed, but quickly realized that she had no idea how to use it. That was when she remembered the pie in the oven. She sat down on a bench and prayed, “Lord, my boy is sick and needs his medicine and my pie is burning and my keys are locked in the car, and Lord, I don’t know what to do with this coat hanger. Please send me someone who knows how to use this thing.”

She wiped her eyes, got up from the bench when a beat up old car pulled up. A young man with stringy hair tattered clothes and a long unkempt beard got out. The woman walked tight up to him and said, “Do you know how to use this wire to unlock a car?” The young man was a little startled, but took the hanger and said, “Where’s the car?”

In a short time the door was unlocked and the keys were in her hands. She gave the young man a big hug and said, “Oh, the Lord sent you. You’re such a good boy. You must be a Christian.”

He stepped back and said, “No ma’am, I’m not a Christian, and I am not a good boy. I just got out of prison yesterday.”

She hugged him again and said, “Praise God! He sent me a professional!

Life’s tough—pray hard.