I Had to Tell Him

      Some of you may know I was at Freed-Hardeman University a couple of weeks ago with my parents.  It was during the lectureships.  I attended a luncheon for writers who contribute to Gospel Advocate publications.  I also had the pleasure of hearing Becky Blackmon speak while I was there.  She is a huge encouragement to Christian women.
       I had a great time!  Dad drove us and Mom went with me to the luncheon.  On the way there, Dad said he planned to check on available classes.  He even said he "might make a preacher yet."  For those of you who may not know, my Dad worked as a minister for several years while we were growing up.  He is very effective in sharing God's word.  
        Mom and I met several people at the luncheon including a young lady who recently contributed her first article to Christian Woman.  She and her friend were quite friendly.  They were lively upbeat young women who were thankful to be students at Freed-Hardeman University.  
        There were so many servants of Christ who serve through writing and speaking for the Lord.  Also present were those who serve behind the scenes to make sure Christian materials are published for those who want to learn more about God.  I was overwhelmed, and grateful!
      Then I saw him --or at least I thought it was him.  Suddenly, memories from almost 40 years ago washed over me.  I asked to be sure,  because it had been so long.  I was right.  The man I saw sitting against the wall across the room was Cecil May.  
      I can't properly describe how I felt as I told Mom who it was.  Naturally, she recognized him too.  Cecil May has spent many years working for God.  He is a gospel preacher, Christian writer and teacher.  His involvement in Christian college education goes back decades.  He is well-known and respected by many, many people.  
     But none of that is why I remember him.  No my knowledge is much more personal to me.  I knew Mr. May would not remember me.  After all, it was a long time ago.  Ten minutes -- our conversation only lasted about ten minutes.  I hadn't thought about it for years.  
      Yet seeing him brought everything back so clearly.  We were in Florence, AL.  I lived in Florence for about a year.  We were in the cafeteria of what was then International Bible College.   It is known as Heritage University now. 
       I don't know if they still do but at the time,  a congregation of Christians met at the college for worship.  They had a fellowship meal that night.   I was new to the congregation.  I don't remember the circumstances; but I ended up staying for the meal.  
      I may have looked lonely to them or maybe they just wanted to meet someone they didn't know.  That's what all Christians should do, right?  We should all strive to be friendly and reach out to others, especially to those who are new or may be visiting with us.   
      At any rate, Cecil and his wife Winnie (who has since passed from this life) came over to greet me.  They introduced themselves and we began a conversation.  I was expecting my first son very soon and of course that was visibly obvious.  
      Naturally the conversation eventually turned to my baby - the due date, was I feeling well, etc.  Then he asked the question I knew one of them would ask sooner or later.  The question I dreaded.  See,  I was going to be a single mother.  
      Cecil asked about my husband.  I told them I wasn't married.  "Here it comes," I thought.  'They would turn away now.  They wouldn't want to have anything to do with me.  I was about to be an unwed mother.  Why on earth would this Christian couple want to have anything to do with me?"
       I couldn't have been more wrong!  They didn't turn away.  They didn't go speak to someone more suitable to keep company with.  I got no look of disdain - no condemnation in their words or their tone.  They simply said, "Oh, you're not?"  and continued to talk to me about other things.  
     Cecil and Winnie gave me what I needed at the time.  Could they have known that or was it just their way?  It may have been both.  They treated me with kindness, grace and dignity.  They didn't make me feel ashamed or look down on me in any way.  They simply showed their Christian love to a fellow human being.  
       That brief conversation had a huge impact on me.  So when I saw Cecil sitting across the room, I was overcome with emotion.  I told Mom, "You know, I should probably go speak to him.  He was very kind to me once."  
       "Really?  How so?" she asked.  I told her the story.  She didn't know.  I never shared it with her before.  Seeing him brought it all back like it only happened yesterday. 
      I had the overwhelming urge to go tell him -- to let him know how much those few moments had meant -- to tell him how he made me feel that night.  Yet I hesitated.  So many others were around him - speaking to him.  I didn't want to interrupt him.  
     I kept watching and finally I saw an opportunity.  No one was around him at that particular moment.  I knew if I didn't go speak to him I would always regret it.  So I went for it!  I had to tell him. 
      He saw me walking toward him and gave me a slight smile.  I knew he wouldn't know who I was.  As I leaned over to speak to him, I reached for his hand.  He grasped mine and smiled again.  
      I told him my name.  Then I told him how he once showed a lonely young woman a small kindness.  Our conversation went something like this: 
     "Brother May, I wanted to tell you how forty years ago you met a single woman about to become an unwed mother and you treated her with all the grace and dignity in the world.  I was that woman.  Your kindness meant so much to me back then."  
      He said, "I did?"  
     "Yes sir, you did.  And I have never forgotten it." 
    "Well, you look like you are doing fine now."  He smiled and squeezed my hand a little.  
     "Yes sir - I am and he is too.  He grew up to be a school teacher and a Christian."  
      Cecil shook my hand a little and said, "Oh, that's good."  He smiled again - so sweetly.  Then he said, "Thank you for coming to speak to me.  Thank you for telling me this."  The look in his face made me glad I  followed my instinct.
      I left the luncheon with so much joy and thankfulness in my heart!!  The whole experience was wonderful; but the opportunity to see and speak to Mr. May was the best part.  
He treated me with the same sweet kindness he did so long ago.  In doing so, he reinforced to me the kind of Christian man he is -- and has always been.  
       All of us will be remembered in some way.  We may be remembered because of great and wonderful things -- perhaps someone will think of us because we were a huge success in our career.  But someone somewhere will remember us for something very personal.  It will be something no one else will ever know.  
      Never forget ... we touch lives.  What we do matters - everything we do matters.  Someone will have a very personal memory of us.  It may be an incident from a short sliver of time.  But it will have a huge impact.  Let's be sure to make it a positive one -- one that glorifies God. 

Christ above all things, 
Robin 

Making Contact

      Sometime back we studied the Book of Jude in our Wednesday night Bible class.  In his introduction Jude does not address any particular congregation like Paul often did.  Instead he simply addresses Christians, "those are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ."
      Let's think about that call for a minute.  Everyone gets the call.  Everyone - no one is left out.  Jesus died for all of us (John 3:16).  Our Heavenly Father does not want anyone to perish, "but that ALL should reach repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).  The thing is not everyone answers the call.     
       It reminds me of the outbound calls we make at work.  Our phones are connected to a computerized system to keep track of our calls.  When we  call out, we note in the system 'made contact' or 'no contact.'  That is pretty basic -- it's self explanatory right? 
       If no one answers the phone we don't make contact.  Someone has to pick up on the other end. Leaving a voice mail doesn't count.  What counts --the only thing that counts -  is actually getting through to the person we call.  
   
      God is no respecter of persons.  He loves every one He has ever created and He is not willing that anyone should perish.  Christ is the One who sent the apostles out into the world to preach the gospel to all.  
       We are called, but not all of us answer.  If we do not 'pick up the phone,' we will never choose to repent.  Just like at work, if my customer doesn't pick up the phone - unless I there is communication and response there is no contact.    
      OK -- I'm sure most of us know these things.  This is not new for most of us.  We find all this in the scriptures, if we only care to look -- to study.  God calls us through His Word - through the Bible.  
      We have to know what God wants us to do.  The only way for this to happen is to listen to the call.  If we don't hear what He has to say how can we possibly respond?
      The call is there -- we simply have to pick up the Bible - listen to the gospel.  Choosing to study and read the Word is the only way we make contact with God and His Son.  Through the scriptures we learn Who our creator is.  We discover Christ our Savior and His sacrifice for our sins.
      Yet, there is more to answering the Savior's call than learning about Him.  We must be willing to obey His words.  We have to follow His commands.  In Matthew 22:36-37 Jesus tells us the greatest commandment is to love God with all our hearts, souls, strength and mind.  
       Reading through the gospels, we find Christ is God's Son.  In Mark 9:7, God tells James, John and Peter - "This is my beloved Son, listen to Him."   Then Jesus says "If you love me, keep my commandments." (John 14:15).
      I know that is a lot of scripture all at once - but stick with me here.  There really is a logical sequence. 

• The greatest commandment is loving God.  Loving God should prompt our obedience to Him.  
• He tells us to listen to His Son, Jesus Christ our Savior.  
• Jesus loved and gave Himself for us.
• Before He died, Christ said loving Him means keeping His commandments.

       Making contact involves two steps.  The first step is the call -- the reaching out.  The second step is the response  -- the answer to the call -- taking the action the call requires.

      God calls us everyday and in many ways.  Will we answer?  Will we allow Him to make contact?

Christ above all things, 

Robin 

    

Impromptu Speeches and Pop Quizzes

      
          It was springtime.  Our second semester had begun just a few weeks earlier and the weather in north Mississippi was already getting warm. We sat chatting easily among ourselves while we waited for our instructor.  
     I loved practically everything about college- even the classes.  Well most of the time anyway.  Some days my classes were more fun than others.  This particular day turned out to be - well, let's just say it was a day to be remembered! 
    As our instructor walked to the front of the classroom, she peered at us through her glasses and smiled.  Then she said something most of us dreaded hearing. Class time would be devoted to impromptu speeches. Ugh!  Surely she wouldn't call on me. 
     Wrong again!  My assigned subject was 'the color yellow.'  It was such a random topic!  I tried not to be nervous.  I told myself it was only for two minutes - not a long time at all.  It's only 120 seconds and seconds go by in a flash.  
      Those two minutes seemed to last forever!  I didn't think I would ever hear her say "time."  With the help of my classmates, I managed to muddle through somehow. 
      Any teacher might unexpectedly call on a student to discuss the topic at hand.  The difference is that topic is usually from assigned work instead of being pulled out of thin air!  Those are the toughest ones.  
     Another dreaded event in the life of a student is the pop quiz.  I don't suppose anyone likes to be hit with the unexpected and those surprise tests are no exception!  I had an English teacher who gave pop tests frequently.  I didn't dare miss a reading assignment in her class!   
     
     In a way, one might say Jesus was given numerous pop quizzes throughout His ministry. From the very beginning of His teaching, He never got a break. Try as they might, the scribes and Pharisees never caught Jesus off guard. But boy did they try!
     As we read through the gospels, we can see Jesus was always ready for them.  Time after time, He passed with flying colors.  He answered as God would have Him to, teaching the Father's will as He did so.  
      The gospels record several of these exchanges and each of us probably have our favorites.  One of my favorites is found in John 8:2-11. The scribes and Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman they caught in adultery.   Then they asked him "Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. What do you say?"  
       This was the height of hypocrisy!  The punishment under the old law was exactly the same for men as it was for women -- exactly the same. If she was caught in the act that means the man was too.  These men knew who her guilty partner was - yet they did not bring him with her. 
       I am sure many of those who witnessed the scene realized the cruelty and duplicity of these men.  And they honestly believed they would trip Jesus with this.  His answer?  His answer was masterful - "Let him who is without among you be the first to throw a stone at her."  
       Jesus answered with just one sentence.  With one sentence He condemned the accusers and showed mercy to the accused.  Who would dare claim perfection to cast a stone at the adulterous woman? 
     Christ our Savior was always ready to answer those who questioned Him.  Some came to Him in all sincerity wanting to learn as much from Him as they could.  Others wanted to prove Him a fool.  
      In Luke 10:25-37 we find another time Christ was "put to the test."  It was a lawyer who tried to trick him up.  He asked Jesus what he should do to inherit eternal life.  Christ replied by asking what the law said. 
     The lawyer answered Jesus appropriately.  Love God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus told him he was right and if he would do this, then he would live.  
     Ah, but it seems the lawyer wasn't done.  He asked Christ "Who is my neighbor?"  Did the man actually think he could trap Jesus with this one?   
    Christ responded with the most beautiful impromptu story I've ever heard. It was the story of the Good Samaritan - the definitive explanation of who our neighbors are.  Our fellow man is our neighbor.  Don't by pass by those who are hurting - who are struggling.   
     Jesus always answered every question perfectly.  Why?  How was He able to do that?  Yes, I know He is the Son of God.  But He is also our perfect example.  Jesus got the answers right because He knew the material.  
      I haven't forgotten the panic that came from taking a test I wasn't prepared for. During a pop test, I always felt better when I'd done my homework or gone over my notes after class. Even in speech class, the instructor usually gives techniques to help the student well before speaking assignments begin. 
     So the question for us spiritually is -- do we know the material?  Do we know who our neighbor is and how we should treat one another?  Do we know what Christ teaches about gossip, theft and lying?  
      If we were asked to exclude someone from our group at school or work because others say they don't fit in - are we supposed to go along with that?  Are we putting God first in our lives?  It is so important to 'know the material.'  
    Don't let life catch you off guard.  Oh, I know life happens and sometimes we slip up here and there.  We must be careful not to be like the Pharisee's who caught the woman in adultery.  God knows our hearts and knows if we are trying to live for Him. 
    If we know God -- and His Son, if we keep the love of Christ in our heart and long to serve Him,  if we study the scriptures and apply them to our lives then we will know the material.  We will be ready with our answers. 
    Then when we face the biggest test of all, we will hear: "Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matthew 25:34).

Christ above all things, 
Robin