Last
month, the news reported an event that made me think of something I heard Tommy
Nelson tell about in a sermon over twenty years ago.
A church
had welcomed a little six-year-old boy who had begun attending their church.
Members observed something erratic about his behavior, so they decided to find
out more about him.
Some
of the members asked the boy about his parents. The boy told them that his
mother was dead and that his aunt was raising him.
They
asked him, "Where do you live?"
He replied, "I live
in a box."
"How
big a box?"
The
boy used his hands to indicate how big the box was.
They asked,
"You sleep there?"
"No,
I live there."
"You
eat there?"
"Yeah."
"When
do you get out?"
"When
I go to the bathroom. When I go to church."
Now,
these church members took into account they were speaking with a six-year-old.
Consequently, they decided to visit the boy’s house.
When
they arrived, they found this little boy was not living in a box; instead, he
was living in a casket—in a coffin. His mother had died when he was born. His
aunt was granted custody. She thought that he was brain damaged.
In
her perverted way of coping with a fallen world, she purchased an old, unsold
casket and made the boy live inside. She would feed him, and then she would put
the lid down on the coffin. The boy never complained for one simple reason—his
aunt had told him that all little boys lived in boxes.
The story is awful;
yet, like Tommy Nelson, I have met many people symbolically experiencing that
life. They live in a casket—and don’t even realize it. They live life believing
that once you go into a casket, you will never come out.
They
believe this is normal because they are surrounded by people, who, just like
them, live in doubt and fear of death.
I
want you to know – I do not live my life in a casket! I know that even though a
time will come when I will be placed in a coffin, someday Jesus will bring me
out.
Shortly
before raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus told Lazarus’ sister, Martha, “I am the
resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though
they die”
(John 11:25.) I believe that, and I live my life without fear of death.
Five Things I Think I Think
(with a nod
to Peter King for this idea)
1. The event that made me think of Tommy Nelson’s story
was the sad case in Pennsylvania of a mother and stepfather accused of locking
her seven-year-old son in a coffin--http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/04/us-coffin-boy-idUSTRE7935FF20111004
Regardless of what the courts determine, this is a sad event.
2. Two books I have recently begun reading,
having checked them out from our local library:
One is by Tim
Tebow—THROUGH MY EYES. It has been a very good read so far. I am especially
impressed with Tebow’s descriptions of former Alabama coach Mike Shula. Tebow
came within an eyelash of playing for Shula at Alabama. One reason was the
basic decency and Christian faith that Shula demonstrated.
Whoa! Would not college
football have been different had Tebow chosen Alabama?
The other book, from
journalist Jim Newton, is called EISENHOWER: THE WHITE HOUSE YEARS. Newton’s
book is mesmerizing.
Having access to some recently
declassified documents, it crackles with a spirit of freshness and authenticity
I have not encountered in previous Eisenhower biographies—and I have read a
few. The work confirms what many historians have begun arguing a couple of
decades ago. Far from being a detached president, Eisenhower was in total
command of his White House and presidential policy.
3. Every time I see THE TRUMAN SHOW, I am
reminded how great a motion picture it is.
4. Two years in, and I have digitalized half
of my audiotape library. This is taking a lot longer than I thought. I had no
idea how many audiotapes I had collected through the years.
5. Congratulations ETCA girls. Even though
you lost in the state semi-finals last weekend, you have taken the program to
new heights.
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