Ricochet

Luke 4:21-23

(21) Jesus also said:
You don't light a lamp and put it under a clay pot or under a bed. Don't you put a lamp on a lampstand? (22) There is nothing hidden that will not be made public. There is no secret that will not be well known. (23) If you have ears, pay attention!

I was planning a large posting and article surrounding this verse but I want to keep it simple today because I think the concept is simple. The things we do, even those we sometimes think are done in secret, often have an impact that we can’t imagine.

I am reminded by a story I heard Lee Strobel tell about what he called ricochet evangelism. He was telling the story of how he had felt compelled to tell an associate of his about Jesus Christ. It was a fellow journalist and he just knew in his heart he had to tell his friend the story of Jesus. Strobel took his friend into a back room near where some remodeling construction was taking place. He felt that he would be able to have this private conversation with his friend with no interruptions. As the story goes Strobel pored his heart out and was troubled after doing so that the individual did not respond to Strobel's sharing of his faith.

It was some years later at Willow Creek when a man came running up to Strobel to tell him how he had been a spiritual mentor to him, and that he had always wanted to thank him for sharing his faith in Christ with him. Strobel at a loss for words was compelled to ask; "Thank you sir, but I have to admit, I don’t recall ever meeting you."

"Oh we never met." The man replied, "I heard you telling a man about Jesus a number of years ago while I was doing some work at the Tribune in the offices. I was working on some things and was in a place where you couldn't see me, but I hung on every word you spoke because I was going through some things in my life where I needed answers, and every problem I was going through you seemed to address when you was telling the man about Jesus. It was almost as if you were speaking to me instead of him. I recall you asking the man to give Jesus a chance, you even went over a prayer with the man. He didn't respond to you, I could tell, but as you were speaking to this man, I realized my own need to give my life to Christ, and that day I prayed the prayer you prayed with him. The truth is Mr. Strobel, you never knew I was there, but God used you to touch me in a special way. I have never regretted my walk with God and now my whole family is saved and active in the church. We all recognized our need to seek Christ's forgiveness and eventually everyone in my family asked Christ into their lives to become their forgiver and leader."

Lee Strobel spoke about how God uses things we have done to touch others that evening. I have come to realize how God uses things I have said and done in a positive way. I have also become aware of things I have said and done that has been used by Satan. I try to be more careful now, doing more things Christ can use than things Satan can use. My hope, my desire, is that I can be an example for Christ.

A recent episode that helped drive this home was a message I got from a friend at MySpace regarding a blog/article I had written called, Am I Going To Hell Because I Love Rob Zombie And Sky Lopez? The message I received was as follows:

Mike, My name is John, and I am one of the members of the band STS. I am also a regular reader of your blog here on MySpace. A while back you posted a blog about Rob Zombie and Sky Lopez. To this date, that has to be one of your best. Sky's story especially intrigued me. Being a songwriter, I tend to file interesting things away to use later for a song idea. Sky's story became the fuel for the lyrics to a song that was written a few months ago, which the band has recently recorded. We have just uploaded a rough demo of the song we called "Sunset Strip (Life Left Behind)" to our MySpace profile. Having been the beginning of the inspiration for this song, I had to drop you a line and let you know. If you get a second, drop by a listen.

God Bless,

John STS

The band, STS based out of Ashville Alabama sent the words to Sunset Strip which are as follows:

LYRICS

V1

SUNLIGHT ON SUNSET STRIP
VIVID DREAMS REMAIN
TO THE WORLD SHE'S ON DISPLAY
MADE HERSELF THAT WAY
BUT SHE CAN'T REMEMBER
WHO SHE USED TO BE
SHE KNOWS SHE DIDN'T LIKE HER THOUGH
SHE'S THE REASON WHY

CH

SHE GAVE HERSELF AWAY
CAUSE SHE HATED HER OWN LIFE
SHE'S MADE HER ESCAPE THERE'S NO TRACE
OF THE LIFE SHE LEFT BEHIND


V2

WALKED RIGHT OFF SUNSET STRIP
FUNNY HOW THINGS CHANGE
IT NEVER MADE HER HAPPY THAT
THE WHOLE WORLD KNEW HER NAME
SHE'D RATHER NOT REMEMBER
WHO SHE USED TO BE
SINCE SHE FOUND WHO SHE WAS MISSING NOW
HE'S THE REASON WHY

BR

SHE STILL CRIES, WHEN SHE REMEMBERS HOW IT USED TO BE
WHEN SHE DIED INSIDE, BUT JESUS CAME AND WASHED IT ALL AWAY
AND SHE FOUND A BRAND NEW LIFE
SHE'S MADE HER ESCAPE, THERE'S NO TRACE
OF THE LIFE SHE LEFT BEHIND

You can listen to the song by clicking on this link.

What is the lesson of this today? One is, we all make mistakes, on this of all days I know that. But how we respond to those mistakes is critical. I don't beat my son when he makes a mistake, and I realize God don't beat us either. In fact, some would believe God gets angry at mistakes, that he is a hater, I challenge, that as any parent will know by the God given instinct God gave us, while there may be times we become angry at the mistakes of our children, that anger, when given time, quickly turns to hurt. We grieve, we are saddened because we are filled with so much love. I am reminded of that by a couple of things, a friend who believes God hates more than he loves, and the realization that as my son has recently made mistakes, I grieve. Not for me, but because I want so much more for him than he sometimes seems to want for himself. When we make the mistakes we do, may we realize that just as we grieve as parents for our children, God grieves for his children. Learn from the mistakes we make and move on. Now don't take this wrong, this don't mean there are not consequences for the mistakes, there certainly is, but those consequenses don't lessen the love of the Father.

Then there are the times and reasons we do good things, especially for God and others. In these times, we need to realize that God can use those things, he can use them for good we never imagined, even in ways we don't understand, or never know about. In those times, just as our children please us when we watch them from afar doing the little things that give us joy, God is pleased and filled with joy when he sees us doing good things.

Today, may we all do good, may we all love, and may we all bring joy to our Heavenly Father. If you don't know him and want to, don't hesitate contacting me; I would love nothing more than to have the opportunity to tell you what my Heavenly Father has done for me.

Now for those that do not know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew or MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there. There are numerous postings, and you will have to go into the archives to see the 100 plus postings over the last months.

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