In God We Trust

Author Unknown
FoodForThought

Several years ago, a friend of mine and her husband were invited to spend the weekend at the husband's employer's home. My friend, Arlene, was nervous about the weekend. The boss was very wealthy, with a fine home on the water-way, and cars costing more than her house. The first day and evening went well, and Arlene was delighted to have this rare glimpse into how the very wealthy live.

The husband's employer was quite generous as a host, and took them to the finest restaurants. Arlene knew she would never have the opportunity to indulge in this kind of extravagance again, so was enjoying herself immensely. As the three of them were about to enter an exclusive restaurant that evening, the boss was walking slightly ahead of Arlene and her husband.

He stopped suddenly, looking down on the pavement for a long, silent moment. Arlene wondered if she was supposed to pass him. There was nothing on the ground except a single darkened penny that someone had dropped, and a few cigarette butts.

Still silent, the man reached down and picked up the penny. He held it up and smiled, then put it in his pocket as if he had found a great treasure. How absurd! What need did this man have for a single penny? Why would he
even take the time to stop and pick it up? Throughout dinner, the entire scene nagged at her. Finally, she could stand it no longer. She causally mentioned that her daughter once had a coin collection, and asked if the penny he had found had been of some value.

A smile crept across the man's face as he reached into his pocket for the penny and held it out for her to see. She had seen many pennies before! What was the point of this? "Look at it." He said. "Read what it says." She read
the words "United States of America." "No, not that; read further." "One cent?"

"No, keep reading." "In God we Trust?" "Yes!" "And?" "And if I trust in God, the name of God is holy, even on a coin. Whenever I find a coin I see that inscription. It is written on every single United States coin, but we never
seem to notice it! God drops a message right in front of me telling me to trust Him? Who am I to pass it by? When I see a coin, I pray, I stop to see if my trust IS in God at that moment. I pick the coin up as a response to
God; that I do trust in Him. For a short time, at least, I cherish it as if it were gold. I think it is God's way of starting a conversation with me.

Lucky for me, God is patient and pennies are plentiful!

When I was out shopping today, I found a penny on the sidewalk. I stopped and picked it up, and realized that I had been worrying and fretting in my mind about things I can not change. I read the words, "In God We Trust," and had to smile. Yes, God, I get the message. It seems that I have been finding an inordinate number of pennies in the last few months, but then, pennies are plentiful!

And God is patient...

Grace Greater Than All Our Sin

By Scott Wilder

I think most people who have lived long enough have regrets. For most of us, hopefully, they are about the small things, but for some they are not.

There is a sadness that settles on the soul that regrets. Grace can absolve and forgive, but in the deepest recesses of the heart, the person knows what they’ve done.

Like a body heals from an injury, but a scar remains, the soul remembers. It’s a scar that reminds a person of the grace that has been offered and received, but it also reminds a person of the ongoing need of grace.

I recently met a man who knows this well. We sat in a little church in Cambodia with other members of our mission team. His story evidenced the scars of a life that knows the grace of forgiveness. We were there to hear about this grace and about our continual need for it.

The church was a simple building on a dirt road. Every time I meet Christians in other parts of the world it’s the same. In America we like to get down to business quickly—to cut to the chase. But in other cultures, that would be deemed rude. So things take longer, and we’re better for it.

A scarred soul needs “breathing room” to tell its story. We often miss the stories because we don’t give the time. We want what we want and we want it now. But this is not the land of drive-thru’s and microwaves. This is a place where a scarred soul can breathe.

In 1975 Pol Pot led the bloody Khmer Rouge. He was a murderous thug and killed millions of people. He forced many men and boys into his army to kill his enemies. To resist was essentially siding with the enemy, and that meant death for you and your family.

Some who fought for Pol Pot fought to save themselves and their families. But fighting in the Khmer Rouge also meant killing—in some cases your own countrymen. Such was the case for Sukah, the man sitting before us in this little cement church on a dirt road in Southeast Asia.

Sukah had done unspeakable things. He’d killed men, women and children.

“Many of the people we killed were Christians,” he said. “We always looked forward to getting their Bibles because the pages were thin and good for rolling our cigarettes.”

After killing Pol Pot’s enemies, they would gather the Bibles, rip the pages out, roll their cigarettes, and enjoy a relaxing smoke. That killing can come so easy and without remorse is an awful window into the human heart.

But during this killing spree an amazing thing happened: Sukah began reading portions of the pages he ripped out of Bibles. Moreover, even though Sukah knew what he was doing was in part to save his family, he also began to realize what he’d done was evil and wrong. So evil, he thought, that even if there was a God, he could never be forgiven; he could never be clean again.

One day as he got ready to roll a cigarette using a page from a Bible that had belonged to a man he’d killed, he stopped to read the words from Isaiah 1:18: “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

Scarlet ... Red ... Rouge ... Khmer Rouge. Crimson like the blood he’d spilled, like the blood on his hands.

At that moment Sukah knew that even after all he’d done, God could still love him; he could be clean again. Even Sukah could be redeemed.

As Sukah told us his story, tears were streaming down his cheeks. Even in the hands of killers the Bible makes a difference around the world.

The next time we read Isaiah 1:18 perhaps we’ll pause for a moment and let those words breathe and remember the grace offered to us in that text. This is no cheap grace. Our sins are worthy of death and deserving of the wrath of an infinitely Holy God. But this is a grace greater than all our sin.

Dark is the stain that we cannot hide.
What can avail to wash it away?
Look! There is flowing a crimson tide,
Brighter than snow you may be today.

Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin.

God’s grace is able to save the worst killer, to pardon and cleanse even a man like Sukah. This is what we learned from one scarred soul in a little cement church on a dirt road in Southeast Asia.

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Scott Wilder is host of “The Scott Wilder Show,” recognized by the National Religious Broadcasters as Talk Show Host of the Year in 2004. His program is heard weekday afternoons in Dallas/Ft. Worth on The WORD 100.7FM. Contact Scott at column@wildershow.com. To join Scott sending Bibles to people around the world, go to www.wildershow.com/sendbibles.

All About Repentance & Forgiveness

Asking For Forgiveness

Satan was complaining to the Lord. "You're unfair! So many sinners do wrong and you take them back. In fact, some come back half a dozen times and you always welcome them. I make one big mistake and you condemn me forever; it is unfair."

The Lord replied, "Did you ever repented and asked for forgiveness?"

- Christopher Notes


Rehabilitation, Forgiveness

A young man secretly misappropriated several hundred dollars from the business where he was employed. When the shortage was discovered, the senior partner called the young man into his office.

Immediately he knew he would be fired and sent to prison.

His employer asked the worried man if he was guilty. He replied that he was. Then the executive surprised him.

"If I keep you in your present capacity, can I trust you in the future?", he asked.

"Yes, sir, you surely can. I've learned my lesson," replied the astonished employee.

His boss must have detected the repentant man's sincerity. "I'm not going to press charges and you can continue in your present responsibility," he said. Then he added, "I think you ought to know, however, that you are the second man in this firm who succumbed to temptation but was shown leniency. I was the first. What you have done, I did. The mercy you are receiving, I received. It is only the grace of God that can keep us both."

Isn't it true that those who love best are those who know best that they are loved? Those who forgive best are those who are forgiven. Our best efforts only reflect the deep, deep love of God. But how they reflect!

- Steve Goodier in QUOTE


Rise Again

A young preacher was supposed to preach in the prison. Day after day he tried to find some message or formula that would move hard hearts.

As he entered the room, he shuddered under the gaze and stares of the crime-hardened faces. He said a silent prayer for light as he walked up to the pulpit. He stumbled on the second last step and rolled down the steps head over heels right to the floor. The audience broke out into loud laughter.

For a brief minute the young preacher felt himself hindered by pain and shame. The light he prayed for came upon him, and then suddenly he got an inspiring idea amidst the whole embarrassment.

He jumped up, moved up to the pulpit taking the steps two at a time and laughed right back at his captive audience, telling them, "Men, that's exactly why I came here today: I wanted to show you that a man can stand up again after he has fallen flat on his face."

- Willi Hoffsuemmer


False Repentance

Two neighbors had a lifelong quarrel. One of them took seriously sick. His wife called the pastor and explained to him, "Sir, my husband Pat has been fighting with our neighbor Mike for years. Pat's going to die. Can you patch up their quarrel?"

After much persuasion the pastor induced the dying Pat to call in Mike for a reconciliation. In a few minutes Mike was at the bedside. He suggested, "Let's make up, Pat. Let bygones be bygones."

Pat agreed rather reluctantly. Mike prepared to leave. As he approached the door, Pat raised himself on one elbow in bed, and shaking his other fist at Mike he shouted, "Remember, Mike, this counts only in case I die."

- Tonne


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[Luke 15:2-32]

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man [Jesus] receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. And he [Jesus] spake this parable unto them, saying, What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.

I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

The Parable of the Lost Coin

Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.

Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

The Parable of the Two Sons: One Prodigal, the Other Unforgiving

And he [Jesus] said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him. And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.