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Copa del Rey

Brett Petrillo recounted a recent incident in Spain that illustrates an
important lesson for all of us.

Trophies have always been the symbol of superiority, accomplishment and
bragging rights. For the National Football League, it's the Vince Lombardi
Trophy. For the National Hockey League, it's the Stanley Cup. For Spain's
soccer championship, the trophy is called the Copa del Rey.

The championship game this year in Spain was between Barcelona and Real
Madrid. Since this soccer championship began in 1902, Barcelona has won it
more times than any other team (25 times). For Real Madrid, it had been 18
years since they last held the Copa del Rey. On this night however, Real
Madrid was the better team.

So, finally, after 18 long years, Real Madrid lifted up that sweet trophy of
success. Soon the team was parading down the streets on top of a
double-decker bus as 60,000 fans cheered and praised the team.

However, as the celebration continued, the Copa del Rey slipped out of the
hands of one of the players, fell down in the street, and was crushed under
the bus. *

This incident reminds us of the temporal nature of THINGS that we value most
in this life, ALL of which will eventually end up lost, stolen, or crushed
under the bus!

Jesus said, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth
and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and
where thieves do not break in and steal" (Matthew 6:19-20).

Jesus teaches us to place our hope in eternal treasures rather than
temporary, earthly ones. He reminds us that the most important things in
life are not THINGS!

John emphasized these same truths: "Do not love the world or the things in
the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life; is not of the Father but is of the world. And the
world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God
abides forever" (1Jn 2:15-17).

Those who surrender their lives in trusting obedience to the will of God
have their sins washed away by the blood of Jesus and receive the gift of
ETERNAL life (John 3:16). "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of
God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

The Lord will give the crown of life to those who place their faith and
trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts
17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized
(immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). Those who
continue to keep their focus on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-3) and follow Him
faithfully will inherit eternal life in heaven.

Don't put your hope in temporary things. Put your hope in Jesus who rewards
the faithful with eternal blessings.

Won't YOU?

David A. Sargent

I just love that new car smell

Mothers are great for telling and recording stories, you probably know some
stories your mother tells about you or perhaps you have some stories you can
tell about your children. Stories are important! They teach us, they mold
our character, they help us learn right from wrong and what is really
important, and they set our value system in place.

Our daughter-in-law, Mylinda, shared this short conversation with us that
she had with our 4 year old grand daughter, Allison. Mylinda said: "Tomorrow
we are going to see Geckos!" To which Allison replied: "OHHH I LOOOOVE
Geckos!" Her mom asked, "Do you know what Geckos are?" Allison's response
was: "No; what?

Another story was shared by our niece Melanie regarding her 4 year old
daughter Megan. Melanie set a bowl of cereal on the table in front of Megan.
Megan put face down to bowl of cereal and breathed deeply. She raised her
head and exclaimed, "I just love that new car smell." (Some one has been
watching too many new car commercials.)

What stories do you tell? Do you tell the ones that are really important,
the life changing stories, the soul saving stories?

Notice what we read about the importance of telling the right stories in
JOEL 1:1-3: "The LORD gave this message to Joel son of Pethuel. Hear this,
you leaders of the people. Listen, all who live in the land. In all your
history, has anything like this happened before? Tell your children about it
in the years to come, and let your children tell their children. Pass the
story down from generation to generation."

I've heard parents say, "I don't know where I went wrong with raising our
children." Most of the time I don't know either, but perhaps part of the
problem is the things we taught them about what is really important in life.
What stories have we told, of what important things have we reminded them
and planted in their hearts.

When we are old and remember the stories of our life, what stories will
stand out most, the cute things or the life changing things?

May our God lead you in telling the "Old Old story of the wonderful words of
life".

Russ Lawson

earthquake in New Zealand

 

My thought topic for today's editorial lesson stems from some recent news casts plus something I read that was written during the Civil War by a minister in a letter to the Secretary of the Treasury. I think you'll have no trouble seeing the connection between the minister's concern and the recent news events, however I'll give you a clue - "national disasters."

I doubt that any of you are unaware of the devastation wreaked by the latest series of storms on the Southern states. I'm not sure what the latest count is regarding those killed by the storms, but the last I heard was well over 200 victims. The property damage is almost beyond belief.

Let's not forget that other nations have suffered greatly from recent events too. There were "national disasters" occurring in New Zealand and Japan that destroyed many lives and tremendous amounts of property. My niece and her family was a victim of the earthquake in New Zealand but, thanks be to God, it was only in the realm of property loss.

And, besides the recent storms, we can't forget Katrina and its effect on the gulf coast and the earthquake in Haiti. Having been in several violent storms myself (typhoons in the Pacific) I can attest to something I believe to be a commonly held epiphany by those who experience such things as violent storms and events and that is: a sudden and clear understanding of just how insignificant man is compared to God's natural world.

There are simply catastrophic happenings over which, regardless of how advanced in education and technology we've become, we find that we have absolutely no control. Events in which we humans simply can only hang on and, hopefully, ride them out. It's these "national disasters" that fall into the category of "unavoidable" and they are "unavoidable" because man has no control over them.

However, in my humble opinion, there are things in our world, in our society, that I classify as "national disasters" which are "avoidable." Which man has control over. It's this category of "national disasters" that relate to what the minister wrote in his letter to the Secretary of the Treasury. Of course the cause for his concern was the terrible events of the Civil Way wherein thousands of lives were being lost or devastated by the fighting of it. But, his concerns would hold true for all wars and other manmade catastrophes.

In my mind, these kinds of manmade catastrophes include society's descent, perhaps I should say plunge, into the abyss of government sanction of things like abortion, aberrant lifestyles, corporate greed and the prevalent sinful behavior of much of the nation's citizens. As far as I'm concerned, these also constitute "national disasters."

Here's what the minister penned in his letter: "From my heart I have felt our national shame in disowning God and not the least of our present national disasters." Yes, he was concerned that, as a nation, we had gotten so far away from God and His Principles, that we were suffering for that apostasy. His purpose for the letter was to make a suggestion that this country recognize " the Almighty God in some form on our coins."

The Secretary agreed with this suggestion by the minister and ordered that the words "In God We Trust" be placed on all of the coinage of the United States. In 1956 these words were officially designated by Congress as our National Motto. They were then ordered to be inscribed on all our monies, both paper and coin.

Now I'm not relating the "unavoidable" disasters to our spiritual slippage as a nation, even though some have tried to do just that. What I am saying is, that I feel that our nation's spiritual decline is directly related to our "avoidable" disasters. I believe, like the minister wrote in his letter, that it is to "our national shame" that we've removed ourselves so far from God's principles that we are now found in our "present national disasters."

You know what? We ought to be ashamed! And, if the minister thought our nation should be ashamed back in the 1860's, what do you think he'd say about the "national disasters" of today? I'm not sure what's beyond shame, but I believe that's where we've arrived.

I believe that the words "In God We Trust" has, in a national sense, become just hollow words. I'll even go so far as to say that, by a lot of the actions by our government, our National Motto has become a mockery. If, as a nation, and as a government, we truly trusted in God, we would not be witnessing these "present national disasters" in our country. If we, as a society, truly had "faith" in God, the behavior and sins that I mentioned earlier would be nonexistent.

I've used the word "event" several times throughout this lesson and I'd just like to make a short point regarding that word. If you look up the definition/s of it, you'll find one that means "an occurrence." That is the definition that applies to those previous usages of the word.

There is also another definition of "event" and that is, "a result." My point with these definitions - that there will come an "event, a result" of our abandonment of God. I'm afraid that much of our society will experience an "outcome" or a "result" of their departure from God that will not be pleasant. Perhaps even caused by following our government's apostasy from trusting in God's ways.

In keeping with the thought of the previous paragraph, let me close with a little poem written by Leonard H. Robbins.

                                    Be true while there yet is time,

                                    For this is the cry of a thousand souls

                                    That down to the Pit have trod.

                                    Who keeps the Truth from the people

                                    And stands in the way of God.

Ron Covey