Twin Umbrellas

Recently a friend sent me a story written by the late Rev. Dr. Gordon Targerson, a pastor in Worcester, Massachusetts, who was crossing the Atlantic Ocean by ship some years ago. He noticed on several occasions, a man sitting in a deck chair reading a Bible! One day, Rev. Dr. Targerson sat down beside him and said, "Forgive my curiosity. I’m a pastor. I notice you are a faithful Bible reader. I’d like to meet you."

After introductions, the man said, "I am Filipino. I was born into a good Catholic home. I went to the United States as a young man to study in one of your fine universities, intending to become a lawyer. On my first day on campus, a student dropped by to visit. He welcomed me and offered to help in any way he could. Then he asked me where I went to church. I told him I was a Catholic. He explained that the Catholic church was quite a distance away; but, he sat down and drew me a map. I thanked him and he left.

"On the following Sunday morning, it was raining. I decided to just skip church; but, then, there was a knock on my door. There stood my new friend and he was holding two (2) umbrellas. He said that he worried that I might not be able to read his map. So, he said he would escort me to the Catholic Church. I hurriedly dressed, thinking all the while what an unusually thoughtful person he was. I wondered what church he belonged to.

"As we walked along, I asked him about his church. He said that his church was just around the corner. So, I suggested that we go to his church this Sunday; and, then to mine the following Sunday. He agreed. However, somehow I felt so much at home in his church that I never got around to finding mine. After four years, I felt that Almighty God was leading me into the ordained ministry; rather than, the law! I went to Drew University Seminary and was ordained a Methodist minister. Then, I returned to the Philippines to serve in a Methodist parish. My name is Valencia - Bishop Valencia - Bishop of the Methodist Church in the Philippines."

Who is the hero of this story? It is the anonymous young man with "Twin Umbrellas." Thank God for these anonymous persons, who go the extra mile to be a friend to someone, and who share their "umbrellas" when there is wet weather, threatening to keep someone from the place he or she needs to be. Remember Andrew, one of Jesus disciples. We do not read that he became a great leader, like his brother, Simon Peter. But we do read that Andrew, after he found Jesus, went and found his own brother, Simon, and invited Simon to go with him to meet Jesus.

Faith Story - Tony Schofield

Three months ago my brother, Tony, was doing a simple painting job on the side of his home. Because he could not reach high enough, he got a ladder and climbed higher. He had nearly finished the task, when he discovered that he needed to reach out a little further. When he did, the latter moved and he fell fifteen feet to the pavement below. In so doing he crushed his left ankle. His wife rushed him to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville. His ankle had to be completely rebuilt.

There was some question of whether or not he would be able to walk without crutches. He called friends and asked for prayer. Today, I received a report from him as an answered prayer:

"After 3 months in a bed and wheelchair the doctor released me on Tuesday to put full weight on my left leg and start walking again. When we came back from the doctor I actually held on to the rail and walked up the front steps (beats the heck out of crabbing on my butt up and down). I am walking with crutches now for about 30 minutes a day. I can take a few steps without them, but I look like a drunk sailor in a hurricane. Anyway, the doctor says I should be able to walk a mile without assistance in 6 weeks. God is good. I am scheduled to get back to work on March 1st and can't wait. The only good thing is winter has passed me by. Thanks to all who have kept me and my familiy in your prayers."

A few weeks ago our son, Stephen and I went to Nashville to The Congress on Evangelism. We spent two nights in the home of my brother, Tony. We had some good times sharing with each other. We prayed together. It is good for brothers to pray with each other. In The Congress on Evangelism we heard Dr. Billy Abraham share how God had opened a new door in his life by getting to know a friend, who has become a prayer partner with Billy. The friend shared with us how he became a Christian by being influenced by the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who wrote, "The Cost of Discipleship" while he was in a prison camp before he was put to death by the Nazis. The friend of Billy Abraham shared how he learned from the writings of Bonhoeffer the power of "The Jesus Prayer." Once he started praying "the Jesus prayer" throughout the day, his doubt began to be replaced by saving faith.

Let me challenge you to pray the Jesus prayer the first thing you do in the morning and the last thing you do before you go to sleep; "Jesus, the Son of God, have mercy on me." The Gospels reveal the power of one sentence prayers. Jesus assured the thief dying next to Him on a cross that "This day you will be with me in paradise," after the dying man had prayed, "Lord, remember me when you come to your Kingdom." Jesus told the story of how a man, considered to be unclean by the religious leaders, found a way into the Kingdom of God by sitting in the back of the worship service and praying, "God be merciful to me, a sinner."

Faith Story - Larry Stewart

Recently tears came to my eyes as I read about what influenced the late Larry Stewart, a Kansas City businessman, to anonymously give away an estimated $1,300,000 to causes that help those in need. The real story came out after Larry's death in February of 2007.

In an interview before he died, he was asked, "Is there some experience you had in your past that has greatly influenced you to want to help the needy?" He responded by telling this story. "I grew up in a poverty situation. It was very embarrassing. Once as a small boy I was desperately hungry. I went into a restaurant and ordered a large breakfast. It was wonderful. That is until it came time to pay the bill. I took the ticket to the cashier, and cried telling her I must have lost my money. The cashier was not fooled one bit. She called for the owner to come out. I was scared. The owner was not harsh. He encouraged me to tell my story. When I told him that I must have lost my money, he looked down at the floor where he had dropped a twenty dollar bill. He then reached down and picked it up and handed it to me, and said, "Here it is Larry. You, no doubt, dropped it right here." The cashier looked at her boss with astonishment on her face. Then she smiled, and took my new twenty dollar bill. She took the cost of the breakfast out of it, and gave me the change."

In telling this story, author Stephanie Thompson wrote, "That act of kindness inspired Steward's generosity. Sometimes he worked with social agencies, but often he roamed the streets, handing out cash to those in need." Once he was asked why he gave cash to poor people . He responded, "Poor people need, not only a meal, but respect. A cash gift is something people do not have to beg for; nor do they have to get in line for." To learn more about what makes a person generous go to the website: secretsantausa.com.

Poem about current event

This commercial airline story is the image of raw fear.
It began with passengers only a mile from the site of the crash.
Only then did they realize that almost certain death was near.
On January 17, 2009 a dramatic photo was taken,
Capturing US Airways Flight 1549's sudden end,
Damaged by birds, the flight suddenly had to descend.
Down it came toward the frigid waters off West 69th Street.
All 154 souls aboard started getting ready, their Maker to meet.
Then Pilot C.B. "Sully" Sullenberger III, called for a special act.
Calmly, but with authority, he commanded, "brace for impact."
A command he had long ago been trained to deliver,
Just before the miracle landing on the Hudson River.
Seconds later, the plane made the unprecedented water landing,
Becoming the stuff of legend, called "outstanding."
After hero Captain Sullenberger, known as "Sully",
Turned the Hudson river into a runway, his co-pilot proclaimed,
"No one has ever pulled this off," Jeff Skiles joyfully exclaimed.
In the rescue the co-pilot, looking at Sully, couldn't stop gazing,
Jeff said his pilot, "You've done something amazing!"
With the praise, Sullenberger did not seem all that impressed,
His satisfaction comes, not from glory, but from passing the test.
When passengers thanked Sully for saving their lives,
"You're welcome," was the response of Flight 1549's chairman.
Such humility was not surprising to friends this airman.
Kitty Higgins, a NTSB board member, was overheard saying,
"This is the most successful ditching in aviation history."
But to Sully and his the pilots, it is no extra ordinary mystery.
Even after Sully had more time to reflect on being called heroic,
He is more comfortable with the role of an unemotional stoic.
"He seems overwhelmed by all of this hero talk,"
Said a spokesman for the US Airline Pilots Association.
"Captain Sully prefers to just a pilot, and is pleased,
His passengers are well and death has been appeased."
In his silent way, "Sully" is rejoicing all are safe and sound,
Having escaped the the icy water, making it to solid ground.
Fighting tears, Sully's wife, Lorrie, said: "We are proud of him.
However, it's 'a little weird' hearing the world calling him a hero."
His friends say, "He is just a professional who does his job well.
He wants to be seen as a family man and a pilot, not a masahiro!"

The Shot Heard Round The World

He stood with those who had gathered to honor heroes past.
Who at Concord continued a celebration that had no end.
It was a victory that Americans were sure was going to last.
Ralph Waldo Emerson was their poet and every man's friend.
It was his honor to write for the occasion a memorial hymn,
To be sung in celebrating their ancestors revolutionary win.
They were on Concord ground made sacred by shed blood.
It was a special moment, celebrating the birth of nationhood,
Dedicated first in 1775 by tears for the wounded and those who died.
Celebrated in cheers by heirs on April 19, 1836. We had survived!
All stood in silence before him as Emerson said,
"By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world...
To truly celebrate the victory won, we must recognize,
The God, who answered the prayers of the victorous ones.
Today we need God's Spirit who inspired the heroes to care,
Enough to dare to risk all for freedom to come and to expand.
Expand for their children and those still unborn who will come,
To settle and continue to develop this wonderful land.
May Time and Nature gently spare, their memories we treasure,
Symbolized by this memorial we lift as high as we can.
Fill us, O Lord, with the strength the Spirit of God does give,
So that with our ancestors' gift we might faithfully live."
Then Emerson paused briefly with a gleam in his eye,
And with a strong cry, he concluded with a great truth as a plus:
"What lies behind us, and what lies before us are a valuable trust,
But they are small matters compared to what lies within us."

Remembering Life Experiences

As we begin to live out January of 2009, most of us not only dream about experiences we hope to have in the new year, but we also spend some time thinking about how we got here. What experiences influenced what we are today? All of us have had some good and some bad experiences that continue to influence us today. Life has been exceedingly good to me. I've listed several in my notes. Then I began to think about how God has used some hard experiences to be a blessing for me. One of those experiences it took me some time to understand. It was the last day of Spring football practice in 1954, my junior year in high school. I had been so excited all Spring as our team prepared for the Fall season. In the first part of Spring practice Coach Rotella had been allowing me to alternate with Eddie Murry with the first team backfield. I had been used to Coach praising me in front of the other players for my efforts. But on this last day of Spring practice when Coach said, "we are going to see what each of us is made of, today." there was no way I could please him. It seemed that on every other play he found something wrong with my play. Finally, he said, "Curt, what is wrong with you today?" Then he put me with the defense team, and put Eddie, my competition, with the offense for the rest of the day. That is the way I finished Spring practice. It was a long hard summer for me.

All summer where I worked at the local golf course, the men of town would talk with me about their expectations for fall football. They talked with me as if it was certain that I would be on the starting team. I thought I would be too, until that last day of Spring practice. So all Summer I feared that come September that I would be embarrassed in front of the my friends and the entire community. But my fears were unfounded. Because after two weeks of practice in August, just before our first game with Carter High, a newspaper reporter showed to write a story. To my great surprise when Coach Rotella lined us up for pictures of the staring backfield, there I was on the front of the sport page.


It was then that I remembered that often in practice he had frequently singled out one of our best players and gave him a "hard time." He used this method to fine tune the best of the best. Most of the players were honored by his giving them that very special attention. From that day on I truly enjoyed the season, even when he disciplined me before the whole team.

Scriptural Guide for this new year:
"My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline...for the Lord reproves those whom He loves, as a father the son in whom he delights"(Proverbs 3:11,12)