Today's Headlines...

As I was scrolling down through the daily news section on my Yahoo homepage this morning, I took notice of how most of the headlines played off the reader’s sense of impending trouble.  It became pretty obvious that “fear” sells!  Be it mysterious drones flying over New York City, sink holes in Florida, gun control, the war of words between Taylor Swift and Tina Fey, or governmental spending cuts that affect services across the board, people are drawn to negative press reports.

This has to be the reason behind the popularity of reality TV shows today.  I never could understand why viewers would want to watch other people yelling at each other or being humiliated by a talk show host.  But I guess that this is just the way of the imperfect world that we live in.  As Christians we have a totally opposite foundation to those who have not yet received Christ as personal Savor and Lord.  Our foundation is based on the agape love of God, while the rest of the world’s foundation sits on the ever-shifting ground of fear.

The good news is that we don’t have to be moved by the headlines, news broadcasts or online reports.  No matter what they say, our peace should be driven by the rock solid Word of God that never changes in the face of whatever new catastrophe the news media is reporting on any given day.  And while I am not one who advocates total abstinence from keeping up on the events of our communities and the world at large, I am one who would encourage you to pass what is being published through the filter of God’s truth.

God’s Word and the people who stand firm in their conviction of it, should be lights of encouragement, strength and the reporters of the Good News in the face of the doom and gloom that cries out to us from the newspaper stands and online news sites.  The Apostle Paul gave Timothy as an example of our jobs.  He told the church in Thessalonica that “He serves God by spreading the Good News about Christ.  His mission was to strengthen and encourage you in your faith so that these troubles don’t disturb any of you.”  (I Thessalonians 3:2-3 God’s Word ©)

Later on Paul reported that he was happy to see that this church did not really need a lot of the encouragement that Timothy came prepared to share with them.  He wrote that “Timothy has just now come back to us from you and has told us the good news about your faith and love.”  (I Thessalonians 3:6 God’s Word ©)  As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, the Thessalonian Church kept themselves saturated with the Word that Paul and his team had shared with them as was evident by the light of their faith and love that shined brightly in the midst of the darkness that surrounded them.

Our faith and love (which always go together) is the power that will help settle down the fear that is being projected to the world around us.  I am always amazed at how I am usually the one that finds myself projecting faith into the hearts of those who come up to my wife and I and inquire about what is going on with her.  An incident of this happened over the weekend as we were taking a walk through our little park-like community.  As we were passing a young man on the narrow sidewalk, I wasn’t as observant of the front wheels of the transport chair as I should have been and ran slightly off the cement and caught the left wheel in the little space between the grass and the walkway.  Well, being as the leg support on that side was already bent on the used chair, my misdirection popped the foot rest off its tiny support and it fell off!

The man who was passing by had barely given us a nod of recognition at the time, but as I bent down to assess the damage he returned from his errand (as we were in front of his house) and sort of stood at his door and starred at us.  I looked up and started a conversation with him.  After a few moments he asked if Piper was my mother and when I reported that she was actually my wife, it broke the ice and we began to share back and forth.  As I told him what was happening with Piper his facial expression changed into a sad and hopeless look.

I took quick advantage of the situation, smiled and began to tell him about what we were believing for and why.  It was amazing to see how his countenance lightened and a distant look of hope began to flicker in his eyes.  Like I said, this has happened countless times in conversations that I have had with both friends and strangers alike.  As believers, we have something or should I say SOMEONE to believe in that brings the earnest expectations of the things that we are believing for from the truth of God’s Word into our lives!  It is only right that we share this same faith that dispels the destructive force of fear every time!

I once had a Pastor in my early days of ministry liken me to Timothy in the Bible.  I took it as a great compliment and have never forgotten his words to me.  I want to be one who is known as an encourager and a strengthener to those who are being overrun by the fear and hopelessness that calls out to the world through the media today.  Don’t you also want to be a light in this world?  It just feels right doesn’t it?  So let me once again encourage you to spend time daily getting yourself built up in the Word so that you can be that light of encouragement and strength in your world.  Have a great day.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What GOOD REPORTS am I expecting TO SHARE today?”