Hey Gang: I have had the following story in my archives
for years. For some reason I never felt it was important to send it along to
you. But I recently talked with a man
who said he searched for a church for years where praise and worship was
important, molded in with pure Bible Study; but he failed to find it and now he
has chosen to be his own church. After
hearing his story I returned home and got out the worn and torn endorphin file
and dug out this story:
"It seems that a member of a certain church, who previously had been
attending services regularly, stopped going.
After a few weeks, the Pastor decided to visit him.
It was a chilly evening.
The Pastor found the man at home alone, setting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for this Pastors visit,
the man welcome him, let him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and
waited.
The Pastor made himself at home but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the
dance of the flames around the burning logs. After some minutes, the Pastor
took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it
to one side of the hearth all alone. Then
he sat back in his chair, still silent.
The host watched all this in quiet contemplation. As the one lone ember's flame flickered and
diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it
was cold and dead.
Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. The Pastor glanced at his watch and realized
it was time to leave. He slowly stood
up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the
fire. Immediately it began to glow, once
more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.
As the pastor reached the door to leave, the host said with
a tear running down his cheek "Thank you so much for your visit and
especially for the fiery sermon. I shall
be back in church next Sunday."
There is nothing in this world
that amazes me more than folks who are suffering from some addiction and who
continue to feed that addiction. I love
the old adage-type/parable stories that give us such wisdom in short form. Like the Cherokee who told has grandson about
a battle that rages inside of people. He said:
The grandson thought for a minute and then asked his
grandfather, "Which wolf wins? The
old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."
Sooooo, my friends, how do these
two short stories go together. My
personal experience taught me that the dogs within me are in constant battle
and it is what I put into my armory/mind that will determine the outcome of the
battles. Home Bible study and prayer are
essential to keeping our keel deep in the water, but the fellowship of
believers keeps the coals burning in our heart and souls.
Blessings,
Gramps
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