Category: Salvation

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No Trade

In modern day professional sports, it is rare that a player remains with the same team his entire career. Players often get traded or released by their team based on their performance, or lack thereof. One trade in particular really broke my heart this past winter. My favorite team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, traded away the face of the franchise, Andrew McCutchen, in a cost cutting move in late January. Coincidentally, it was the day after the Pittsburgh Steelers were eliminated from the NFL playoffs. Ouch—-a painful couple of days for Pittsburgh sports fans. It’s not like January isn’t already hard enough in Western PA!

I had grown quite fond of Cutch since he was called up in 2009. Not only did he put the team on his back and make baseball relevant again in Pittsburgh, but he also gave back to the community. His smile and enthusiasm for the game endeared him to the city of Pittsburgh. Trades can be hard…on everyone. I don’t think Cutch wanted to go any more than Pirate fans wanted to see him go. Management decided the time had come to part with Cutch. Why? I’m sure there were several factors—-a soon-to-be-expiring contract, age, recent decline in performance, cost of new contract, etc. Before ownership consulted with me, they just went ahead and traded Cutch. The nerve!! There is no professional athlete immune from the possibility of being traded away at a moment’s notice. Nothing like having the rug pulled out from under you!

While processing this over the past few months, I’ve found great comfort in knowing that I am on a team that will never ever trade me. And if you aren’t already on that same team, you certainly can be. The beauty of this team is that the choice to be on it is yours. You don’t have to stand around waiting to see if you are good enough to be chosen. Your name has already been called.

“He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,”

2 Timothy 1:9 NIV

The truth is, we can’t earn our way onto God’s Kingdom team with our performance. We have been saved purely by grace through Jesus. What an indescribable gift!

The Ultimate Gift, Jesus, made this gift of salvation possible. Our choice is simply to receive it and join the team. The Coach will take it from there! No worries—you’ll be on the team for eternity. And there’s not even a bench, so there’s no chance you’ll have to sit on the sidelines and watch!

 

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A Fresh Start

One of my favorite days of the year is Opening Day for Major League Baseball. The reason—-it’s a fresh start for my favorite team, the Pittsburgh Pirates. While suffering through 20 years of consecutive losing seasons from 1993-2012, there has been great need for the fresh start that comes with the beginning of a new season. Expectations are low for 2018 after management traded away the face of the franchise and the ace of the pitching staff within a few short days back in January. As a result, fresh start takes on a whole new meaning this season. And I’m not all that happy about it! However, when the Bucs won 8 of their first 10 games to start this season, I have to admit it was hard to contain my excitement. In spite of the offseason upheaval, I remain a loyal fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates. I stuck by them through 20 losing seasons, so I guess there’s no need to jump ship now.

Coming off a powerful Holy Week culminating in a magnificent celebration of Easter, I am reminded of a fresh start that easily trumps Opening Day of MLB. Sin separates ALL of us from God. Jesus went to the cross to pay the cost for our sins—-past, present and future. He gave His very own life to reconcile us with our Heavenly Father. That kind of love is beyond my comprehension. But death did not have the last word. We celebrate Jesus’ resurrection on Easter. God raised Jesus from the dead and He is now seated at the right hand of the Father in Heaven.

Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

Ephesians 2:18 NLT

Jesus bridged the gap between us and God. He makes the ultimate fresh start possible. Are you in need of a fresh start? Jesus is offering you one. His blood has wiped your slate clean.

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”

2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT

One of my favorite places to go, besides PNC Park, is The Meadows. They happen to sell my favorite frozen custard. Due to a fire, our local Meadows was closed for over a year. It was a LONG year! They recently reopened and now use Meadows 2.0 in some of their advertisements. Meadows 2.0 is to be a new and improved version of the original one that was damaged by fire. When you accept Christ as Lord and Savior of your life, you become enter your first name here 2.0—a new and improved version of your former self. Being a Christ-follower is the best decision I’ve ever made and you won’t regret it either!

Western PA is finally getting teased with some warmer, more spring-like, weather starting today. That makes Polly 2.0 crave some Meadows 2.0, while cheering on the Bucs of course!

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Lost…and Found

In the 15th chapter of Luke, you’ll find Jesus’ “lost” parables. In each of the three, there was great cause for celebration when the lost was found. If you’ve ever found something that you thought was lost, I’m sure you can relate to this parable of the Lost Coin:

“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”                                  

Luke 15:8-10 NLT

At my last high school class reunion in 2013 I volunteered to help another classmate in the planning of our next reunion. Well, I blinked, 5 years passed, and it’s time to get to work. My classmate was mostly looking for help with the communication part of it as technology is not her thing and I thought I could help. We had a planning lunch last month and I was tasked with hunting down the Shanksville-Stonycreek High School Class of ‘83. There are only 29 graduates from my class, including me, so no need to feel sorry for me! I had saved the contact information that we had from previous reunions so I wasn’t exactly starting from scratch; however, there were several classmates that we had little to no information on and I haven’t seen or heard anything out of them since the night we walked across the stage to collect our diplomas.

My search began shortly after that planning lunch. I sent texts, emails and Facebook messages and made note of any responses. For those who didn’t respond, it became necessary to dig a little deeper. There was one classmate in particular that I really had no idea how to track down. No one seemed to know what became of him after high school. The only info I had was his name. So, I googled it! Of course, the search led me to multiple people by that name. Somehow, I found an email address for one person by that name that lived in PA, so I thought I’d start there. That was a fun email to compose—-“So, are you by any chance the _____ _______ that graduated from Shanksville in 1983?” Imagine my surprise when I got a response saying, “Yes, I am.” I felt like I had just won the lottery! I told some friends and family so they could rejoice with me, just as the woman did when she found her lost coin.

Another of the “Lost” parables dealt with sheep:

“So Jesus told them this story: “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!”

Luke 15:3-7 NLT

I guess because I’m a math teacher, the numbers always strike me from this parable. He had 99 out of 100 of his sheep accounted for, yet it was the one who was lost that garnered his attention. My students would be thrilled with a 99%. I doubt any would dwell on the 1% they missed. Yet when I was searching for classmates, I found myself responding just as this man with the lost sheep. Don’t get me wrong, I was happy for each and every response that I got. But some classmates were easier to locate than others. It was the ones who required the most effort to find, that brought me the greatest joy. Just as this man in the parable of the lost sheep, my focus was on the small percentage that was lost.

Jesus used these parables to make His point in a way that we could easily understand. These two parables, along with the third about the Lost (Prodigal) Son, weren’t really about the lost coin, sheep and son. They were about searching for and reaching out with the Good News to those who don’t yet know Jesus as Lord and Savior. Their eternity hinges on being found.

He wants EVERY soul saved. 99% isn’t good enough. Are you looking for what (who) is lost? If you’re like me, the task seems daunting and you feel completely unqualified for such an assignment. No worries—-the Director of this Search and Rescue Operation is none other than Jesus Christ. He will equip us for whatever tasks He assigns. The key is to stay in close connection with Him so He can direct our steps. Then, of course, we must respond in obedience to that direction.

Of this we can be sure—-there is rejoicing in Heaven when the lost are found!

(And when I had obtained contact information for ALL 29 members of the SSHS Class of ‘83, there was rejoicing at my house too!)

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Messy Roads

Winter can be messy, not to mention cold. I was heading up the mountain to Somerset a few weeks ago and got behind a coal truck. The road was dirty and slightly wet from the salt and melting snow. The combination made the car’s windshield wiper fluid my MVF—-Most Valuable Friend. There was just enough mess on my windshield that I needed to use the wipers occasionally. Unfortunately, the wipers made the mess even worse. Have you been there? Since being able to see the road comes in handy while driving, I needed that wiper fluid desperately.

Life gets messy too, doesn’t it? As Pastor Chris frequently reminds us at Charter Oak Church, “everybody’s dealing with something.” In the middle of our mess we sometimes take charge, turn on the windshield wipers, and make an even bigger mess. As I was driving up the mountain that day, it occurred to me that the wiper fluid is symbolic of Jesus in the lives of His children. He’s our MVF and more! When we confess Him as Lord and Savior of our lives, He cleans us up.

“he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.”                                     Titus 3:5 NLT

But He doesn’t stop there.

Without the wiper fluid that day, I would have been hard-pressed to stay on the road. At times I could barely see through the mess on my windshield. When the “somethings” in our lives cloud the path, Jesus stands ready, willing, and able to show us the way.

“The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.”                                       Psalms 32:8 NLT

There’s a little more to the story.

I had windshield wiper fluid that day, but without my pressing the button to activate the pump and wipers, it would have done me no good. Similarly, we play a role in activating Jesus in our lives. We must seek Him and His guidance. Care to join me?

“Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow.”                                                                                                    Psalms 25:4 NLT