Fake Or Real?

     As an in-house defense counsel for an insurance carrier, Mia Riddell investigates people’s medical histories.  In one case, a woman could only remember that her doctor’s last name was “Kool.”  Mia looked up the number for “Dr. Kool,” dialed it, and told the doctor that she was planning to subpoena his medical records.  With great exasperation, the man replied, “Miss, I fix air conditioners, not people.”  Obviously, somebody misunderstood!  As Easter approaches, it is very important that we don’t insist on false conceptions of what the resurrection means today.

     On one front, the misunderstanding is obvious.  What in the world do Easter bunnies, baskets of decorated eggs, and fake grass have to do with the resurrection of the Son of God?  Nothing, of course, but they are prominent this time of year because they are worldly and there is money to be made!  The world is not going to understand, nor does it want to, the significance of resurrection power.  On the other front, the misunderstanding is actually blasphemous—those who call themselves by His name have accepted the world’s false witness and sprinkled it with a sugary coating of Jesus.  Many, if they think of the resurrection at all, focus on the resurrection after this earthly life. They do not see the implications for right now, and their picture turns out to be a fake.

     More and more, it seems that that is what many are content to live with—a fake picture.  Seven miles down the road, in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, a major Hollywood production is being filmed—“The Mothman Prophecies,” starring Richard Gere.  I am not promoting it—actually, I am condemning it!  Not only does the story line involve demonic activity, but everything about it is fake.  They painted a huge billboard and then sandblasted it to make it look old—fake.  They built a plywood gas station and decorated the whole town for Christmas in the middle of February—fake.  They even sprayed the whole town with snow—fake snow, of course.  The huge production crew has taken over the whole town, including closing the main bridge and causing rerouting of school buses.  Large crowds gather just to watch the filming and to possibly get a glimpse of “Mr. Kool,” and very few people seem to have a problem with the invasion.

     And it is all fake!  We live in a society today that just can’t seem to get enough entertainment.  Even the “church” thinks it needs to turn to plays and musicals to get the gospel out.  If Jesus had said to, that would be one thing, but He clearly didn’t.  Peter wasn’t filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost in order to entertain.  Paul charged Timothy to, “Preach the word…for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” (2 Tim. 4: 2-4)  In other words, fake stuff!  A. W. Tozer, the great preacher of the early 1900’s, once wrote, “For centuries the Church stood solidly against every form of worldly entertainment, recognizing it for what it was—a device for wasting time, a refuge from the disturbing voice of conscience, a scheme to divert attention from moral accountability.  But of late, she appears to have decided that if she cannot conquer the great god Entertainment, she may as well join forces with him and make what use she can of his power.”  Tragic!

     A pastor once asked an actor, “How is it that you can captivate people with the imaginary as though it is true, when the church speaks of real things and people take them as imaginary?”  “The reason is plain,” answered the actor.  “We actors speak of things as if they are real, while too many in the pulpit speak of real things as if they were imaginary.”  Much of the reason for it is a total misunderstanding of the reality of resurrection power.  Jesus once said, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single seed.  But if it dies, it brings forth much fruit.” (John 12: 24)  Jesus is essentially saying, “This is the intention of my death—the power of God that will raise me, if allowed to live in you, will raise you, too—out of sin and bondage, and into the reality of abundant life.”  Let me illustrate this power of resurrection in the true story of David and Svea Flood, a missionary couple who, in 1921, took their two-year-old son out of Sweden and into the heart of Africa.  Upon joining the Erickson’s, they felt led of the Lord to leave the main mission station and take the gospel to a very remote area.  At the village of N’dolera, the chief stopped them from entering for fear it would offend the local gods.  The two couples then climbed a half mile up the slope and built their own huts.  They prayed fervently for God to break through the pagan hearts, but their only contact was with a small native boy who came to sell them chickens and eggs.  Svea soon decided that if this were the only native they could talk to, she would share Jesus with him.

     Meanwhile, discouragements abounded—malaria had encroached, and the Ericksons finally gave up and went back to the station, leaving David, Svea, and their toddler to go it alone.  Well, not exactly alone—of all things, Svea found herself pregnant.  The delivery was extremely difficult—a beautiful baby girl, whom they named Aina, was born, but 17 days later, Svea died.  David snapped.  He dug a crude grave for his 27-year-old wife, and took his two children down the mountain.  Giving his baby to the Ericksons, he accused God of ruining his life, and then, headed back to Sweden, rejecting not only his calling, but God Himself.  Within months, the Erickson’s died as well, and Aina was turned over to an American missionary, renamed “Aggie,” and brought to the United States at the age of three.  Raised in a pastor’s family in South Dakota, Aggie attended a Bible College and met and married a young pastor.  One day, reading a religious magazine, a photograph stopped her cold—the picture of a grave with a white cross and the words SVEA FLOOD.  The story was about her parents and the little African boy Svea had led to Christ.  The article went on—the boy had grown up and persuaded the chief to let him build a school in the village.  Gradually, all of the students surrendered to Jesus, who then shared Him with their parents.  The article declared that there were now 600 born-again natives in that village.   A seed had been planted and it died—not just to be raised up on the last day, but to produce good ripe fruit—right now!

     And the Lord wasn’t done yet!  For their 25^th wedding anniversary, Aggie and her husband were presented with a trip to Sweden.  It was an emotional reunion with her half sisters and brothers, and they all warned her about their dad—he was very bitter and would not even allow God’s name to be mentioned in his presence.  She walked into the apartment littered with liquor bottles and approached the 73 year old man lying on a ragged bed.  “Papa,” she whispered.  He turned and began to cry.  “Aina,” he said, “I never meant to give you away.”  “It’s all right, Papa,” she replied, giving him a gentle hug.  “God took care of me.”  David stiffened and the tears stopped.  “God forgot us all,” he blurted, “Our lives have been like this because of him.”  David turned to the wall.  Undaunted, she told him they had not gone to Africa in vain—that one seed had not only died, but had been resurrected to new life.  “Papa,” she said, “Jesus loves you.  He has never hated you.”  They talked and talked and by the end of the afternoon, David Flood came back to the Lord he had left and was resurrected to new life.  Within weeks, he entered eternity.

     A few years later, Aggie and her husband attended an evangelism conference in London, England, and heard a report of spiritual growth in Zaire.  The church leader, representing 110,000 baptized believers, spoke of the revival.  When Aggie asked him if he had ever heard of her parents, he said, “Yes, Madam, “It was Svea Flood who led me to Jesus Christ when I was but a boy.”  This is the power of the resurrection, and there is nothing fake about it.  As the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ approaches, don’t continue to hold to the “play-acting” so much of the “church” is promoting today.  Don’t spend your whole life trying to be “kool.”  The Great Physician is far more than “kool” and does far more than fix people—He gives a new heart.  Confess your sin and come to the One who really loves you—loves you so much He died to take away your sin and rose again from the dead with the expressed purpose of giving you new life—not just after you die, but right now!  It is a new life that will bring forth good ripe fruit!

April 1             1 Chron. 27-2 Chron. 1           16                    Nehemiah 12-Esther 2

2                      2 Chron. 2-5                            17                    Esther 3-6

3                      2 Chron. 6-9                            18                    Esther 7-10

4                      2 Chron. 10-13                        19                    Job 1-4

5                      2 Chron. 14-17                        20                    Job 5-8

6                      2 Chron. 18-21                        21                    Job 9-12

7                      2 Chron. 22-25                        22                    Job 13-16

8                      2 Chron. 26-29                        23                    Job 17-20

9                      2 Chron. 30-33                        24                    Job 21-24

10                    2 Chron. 34-Ezra 1                 25                    Job 25-28

11                    Ezra 2-5                                  26                    Job 29-32

12                    Ezra 6-9                                  27                    Job 33-36

13                    Ezra 10-Nehemiah 3              28                    Job 37-40

14                    Nehemiah 4-7                                                 29                    Job 41-Psalm 2

15                    Nehemiah 8-11                       30                    Psalm 3-8

                                                                       

 

May 1              Psalm 9-15                              2                      Psalm 16-21