A Happy Ending

People love happy endings.  They want to see good triumph over evil, the right guy to get the girl, and the villains to receive the justice they deserve.  A movie that does not end "happily" in the eyes of the viewers is wholly tainted.  I feel I am a bit of an anomaly because I don't need a happy ending to enjoy a film.  I actually appreciate a director who will risk his movies being unpopular because he or she is willing to to throw aside the cliche to make a point.  Perhaps this ruins the fantasy escapism people seek when they choose entertainment.  They would rather a movie end their way, even if it is predictable.

As I'm reading through Killing Fields Living Fields by Don Cormack, there are glorious testimonies among the darkness that shine with Christ-like brilliance.  When Cambodia was in the throes of her genocidal revolution primarily from 1975 to 1979, the amount of suffering of Christians and ordinary citizens is hardly thinkable.  It is in the darkest seasons that the light of Christ shines the brightest.  Being a Christian did not spare people from the brutality and torture of the Khmer Rouge's demonic rule.  In fact, Christians were singled out for execution because of their beliefs.  The words of Christ rang true:  in this world they experienced tribulation, but they were of good cheer because Jesus has overcome the world.  For some this overcoming came through martyrdom.

While there are stories of miraculous deliverance as God hid people from detection of their enemies, others faced death with steadfastness and resolve for the glory of God.  A particularly poignant story is related in the book about a Christian family that had been singled out for execution.  On page 230, the story is told about a family that was forced to dig their own grave.  As they knelt in prayer led by the father Haim, one of his sons fled into the bush to escape his captors.  The story is told like this:

Haim jumped up and with amazing coolness and authority prevailed upon the Khmer Rouge not to pursue the lad, but allow him to call the boy back.  The knots of onlookers, peering around trees, the Khmer rough, and the stunned family still kneeling at the graveside, looked on in awe as Haim began calling his son, pleading with him to return and die together with the family.

'What comparison, my son,' he called out, 'stealing a few more days of life in the wilderness, a fugitive, wretched and alone, to joining your family here momentarily around this grave but soon around the throne of God, free forever in Paradise?'  After a few tense minutes the bushes parted, and the lad, weeping, walking slowly back to his place with the kneeling family. 'Now we are ready to go,' Haim told the Khmer Rouge.

But by this time there was not a soldier standing there who had the heart to raise his hoe to deliver the death blow on the backs of these noble heads.  Ultimately this had to be done by the Khmer Rouge commune chief, who had not witnessed these things.  But few of those watching doubted that as each of these Christians' bodies toppled silently into the earthen pit which the victims themselves had prepared, their souls soared heavenward to a place prepared by their Lord.

I ask you:  is that a happy ending?  From a strictly human perspective, there is no silver lining to this cloud.  It is a tragedy that a poor helpless family would be bludgeoned to death by merciless thugs.  But those with spiritual sight and faith in Christ see this as a happy ending indeed!  Their souls found release through the death of the body to a glorious entrance into the presence of the LORD.  It is not a happy ending but a joyful beginning!  A rich man with every worldly comfort and accolade dying in his bed surrounded by his family without Christ is the most tragic ending of all!  For everyone without Christ as LORD and Saviour, their days upon this earth could be defined as merely stealing a few days in the wilderness, wretched and alone, waiting for death to seize upon them.  Every word, deed, thought, even all the good left undone will be be judged according to God's righteous statues.  There will be no joy or happiness in the death of those who die apart from Christ because hell will be their everlasting portion.  Yet for those born again through faith in Jesus Christ, what unspeakable joy lays before us even in death!  Jesus died and rose from the dead so we might live with Him forever.

May God impress upon us all the temporary nature of this life and our need to lean wholly upon Christ in faith.  The world is not worthy of such sacrificial love and devotion unto God seen in Haim and his family.  Resolve in God's strength for our lives to glorify Christ according to what is written in Philippians 1:18-21:  "What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice. ¹⁹ For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, ²⁰ according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. ²¹ For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

Look at His Hands

God willing, a small team and I will be making a mission trip to Cambodia before the end of this year.  Our goal is to meet some of the practical needs of the people and spread the Gospel.  We have coordinated our trip with small teams from the U.S. and Mexico.  One role of our team is to provide reading glasses for those who need them.  It is our fervent desire God will give the people spiritual sight as well.  The field is ready for a bountiful harvest.  I recently bought Killing Fields Living Fields by Don Cormack, an enlightening portrait of the history of the church in Cambodia.  Though glasses are common in much of the world, the history of Cambodia provides a chilling perspective:  if a person was seen wearing glasses or even owning a pair after the Khmer Rouge gained power in 1975, that person would be killed as an "enemy."  All those considered intellectuals or those who had years of schooling were ferreted out and killed, along with monks, Christians, prostitutes, leaders, including the old, young, and infirm.

As I read the book (almost halfway through), it is impossible for me to imagine the depth of suffering the people of Cambodia endured.  Those who did the killing must have been as haunted as the hunted.  What hopelessness!  What helplessness!  Even though they faced death, the Christians had a unshakable hope beyond this world in Jesus Christ.  Their future was not governed through fate, reincarnation, or their merits, but the blood of Jesus which provided them a certain entrance into heaven.  Satan has done his best to eradicate the church of Christ, but he has remained unsuccessful.  Praise God that Christ's sacrifice was not in vain for the people of Cambodia!

I came across lyrics from a song the believers in the Cambodia church sang on page 151 which touched my heart deeply.  Thinking about what the church in Cambodia has endured, it is a powerful message for the largely comfortable, tepid church today.  The words read:

By and by, when I look at his hands,

Beautiful hands, nail-riven hands,

By and by when I look at his hands

I'll wish I had given him more.

More, so much more,

More of my life than I e'er gave before,

by and by when I look at his hands,

I'll wish I had given him more.

Have you looked at those hands?  The Khmer Rouge would routinely examine the hands of men and women.  If a man had soft hands - clearly not hands which had laboured long hours daily in a field - that man would have his brains bashed out in a killing field.  I must look at my hands!  Are my hands worn from labouring for Christ's sake, the One who was pierced for my iniquities and wounded for my transgressions?  Should the Khmer Rouge examine Christ's hands, they would see the hands of a Saviour who died so they might live.  Jesus died for all sinners who will repent and trust in him:  doctors, labourers, monks, children, politicians, drunkards, cold-blooded murderers, artists, prostitutes, truck drivers, and on.  Jesus died for me and he has died for you.  Look at the hands of Jesus again.  What do you see?  I see love and life for you and me.

Are you Convinced?

I recently finished reading Frank Peretti's novel The Prophet.  In the story, a news anchor John Barrett was forced to come to grips with truth.  Is TRUTH important?  How far are we be willing to go to lay our hands on the truth?  Are we willing to boldly stand, holding up the truth for all to see - even if our convictions and principles cost us everything?

Opinions are everywhere, but genuine belief is rare.  Like love, belief is a word highly diluted and spread thin.  Jesus made a stand for truth, being "...the Way, the Truth, and the Life" (John 14:6).  A proven way to know what you really believe is to ask yourself the question:  are you willing to die for your beliefs or convictions you know are true?  God's eternal, absolute truth is greater than the temporary life of a man.  The truth of the Bible is greater than all the people and nations of the earth.  If we are not prepared to die for Jesus, you do not truly believe in Him.  A man who even fears death is not convinced.

In the church today we see many kids raised in the church fall away from church attendance when they reach adulthood.  Notice I did not say that they fell away from Christ!  It's likely they have never known Christ in truth.  They have heard many "stories" of Jesus, but they have never had a relationship with Him.  That is why it is imperative in the church that we labour to introduce people to Christ and abide in His presence.  A good example of these levels of belief is seen in John 4:39-42:  "And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did." ⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. ⁴¹ And many more believed because of His own word. ⁴² Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world."

When Jesus spoke to the woman at the well in Samaria, some people believed because of her testimony.  Others were not convinced until they spoke to Jesus themselves.  They later affirmed, "Now we believe, not just because of your testimony, but we've heard him ourselves.  We're absolutely convinced Jesus is the promised Messiah, the Saviour of the world."  Sometimes we think that if we had the opportunity to lay the facts on the table, who wouldn't believe?  It often takes more than that.  Just sharing facts about Jesus is not enough.  As the adage goes, if you can reason a man into belief he can be reasoned out of it just as easily.  When it comes to spiritual matters, the touch of the Holy Spirit upon the heart is needed.  True belief comes from the heart, from the very soul.  Truth is important.  It would be better to acknowledge my unbelief and quit going to church than to keep up appearances with false sincerity.  Some must fall far before they will think to look up to God for salvation.

The Samaritans, unlike many young people these days, were not forced to come the Christ.  They freely came to Christ out of curiosity, wondering if the claims they had heard were so.  They spoke to Him, and He stayed with them awhile.  With softened hearts of humility, they received salvation by grace through faith in Christ.  They believed Jesus and proclaimed it without shame.  Should parents make their kids go to church?  If a member of the family is a Christian, that PERSON is the church:  Christ Himself, living through that family member.  How about bringing Christ to them?  When we live for God everyday, the lasting impact we can make for the Gospel is far greater than an hour or two on a Sunday.  We ought to make a stand for truth everyday, whether we chat around the dinner table or we are kidnapped facing beheading for our faith.  On matters of truth, we must not yield.  We cannot.  Upon the truth of Christ both our eternal and temporal life is founded.  Do you believe?  What does your life say?

The Fish Lady

Life is unpredictable.  No one can predict when you will meet someone or have an experience which permanently changes your life.  I can testify God is a Master of using my failures to reveal the depravity in my own heart, spurning me to repentance and transformation by His grace.

If I asked "Who had the biggest impact upon your life?" I would receive a plethora of answers.  One of the people who changed my life I have never seen since.  I never even learned her name.  I affectionately call her, "The Fish Lady."  Let me lay the groundwork by admitting that when I was a child, youth, and even into adulthood, I was very frugal (selfish even!) with money.  I didn't receive a weekly allowance but could earn money through mowing the lawn, washing the cars, or other household chores - and it wasn't much.  I remember mowing lawns for two years to save up $205 to buy a GT Performer freestyle bike.  My first real job was at McDonald's, "raking" in a mere $4.25 an hour.  When I earned money, apart from a tithe to God it was mine.  I would immediately convert price tags into hours of work.  A music compact disc was three to four hours of work!  Maybe I didn't need that CD after all.

One day early in adulthood I went with some friends on a 3/4 day fishing trip.  It wasn't cheap, but it was the best day of fishing I ever had on the water.  I caught three small yellowtail tuna and at least eight large barracuda.  My stomach was bruised from the rod pressing against it!  After each fish was landed, my number was stapled on the side of the fish and put in the well.  Since my dad taught me how to clean fish, I didn't want to pay the deckhand three bucks to filet each fish for me - almost a day's wages!  Besides, I had watched the deckhands before and judged them wasteful in their great haste to clean the fish before we returned to the dock.  After we reached the pier, a large plastic crate on wheels was pushed out and the fish placed in piles.

As I recounted the great day fishing, I looked at my fish piling up on the pier.  All the sudden, a cackling old lady began to dance around my fish, gawking like a lunatic!  She waved an old plastic bag around as she loped around like Quasimodo, repeating over and over in broken English, "Nice fish!  Nice fish!"  Hey, I thought to myself.  Back off from my fish.  I paid for my trip, caught each one, and had the sore body to prove it.  Then she did the unthinkable:  she started picking up one of my fish to shove into her bag!  How rude, thoughtless, and just plain wrong was this old hag.  Annoyed I said, "What are you doing?  Get away from my fish!  Leave them alone!  I didn't say you could have any of them!"  Startled and looking a bit confused, the old woman walked away in silence.  Me and my mates shrugged our shoulders.  "Crazy old lady - what was all that about?"  I justified my actions at the time, but how I handled the situation was eating me inside.

Looking back on it now, I wonder if the Fish Lady was not an angel disguised as an aged woman of Asian descent.  God used her to teach me more than she could ever know.  Even before I arrived at home with my great catch, my conscience smote me.  You're a Christian, I thought to myself.  I have freely received and I am called to freely give.  How many times had I gone fishing and not caught anything?  That catch was a blessing from God and I hoarded it all for myself.  I was embarrassed.  Do I really need this many fish?  Would my freezer even hold it all?  What if the woman or her family was starving?  The whole situation bothered me to the point that I wished I had given my whole catch away.  The joy of giving generously would have been better than the gnaw of guilt I experienced.  What a missed opportunity to give and in so doing glorify God.  What did I have that God had not richly provided?  I wished I had never seen that Fish Lady!

God is the divine alchemist:  He takes our shocking failures and uses them to be life-transforming moments for good!  As I mused upon the situation, I decided from that moment on to err on the side of generosity - which is never an error.  Is not God able to abundantly supply our needs from the rich stores of His grace?  I have learned by experience when I hold onto things because of selfishness, the root of the issue is I am not trusting God to uphold His Word.  This is akin to blasphemy.  How foolish it is to trust my grip and meagre resources rather than the God who saved my soul from Hell and has provided all things for me to enjoy.  It is only after we committed our money, possessions, and life to God that He entrusts to us the true riches.  Matthew 6:33 affirms, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

I love you, Fish Lady.  I'm very sorry that I learned life lessons at your expense, but I'm so glad I did!