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Comment by Chris S Heinz on August 14, 2009 at 2:52pm

A Heavenly Gift at ESPN

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights….” (James 1.17)

My younger brother John turns 30 tomorrow, and to celebrate the occasion, he received a gift that was well, heavenly. He loves sports, probably much more than anyone you know. And it just so happens that I have a friend who works for ESPN—the worldwide leader in sports. And so what did I do? I connected the two—sports lover with sports leader—and it was beautiful.

We drove to ESPN Headquarters in Bristol, CT and got a special tour from my friend. We visited broadcasting studios, watched technicians, saw the desks of on-air talent, even played on the official ESPN foosball table. But that’s not the heavenly part. That came later.

The very last thing we did was tour the videotape storage room. There’s a whole separate facility dedicated to tape storage, but there’s also a big storage room at Headquarters. I don’t know how many tapes are stored there, but imagine a huge room with rows and rows of tapes on all sides and in the center of the room. To conserve space, the shelves are pushed together with no aisle in-between. To get in-between the shelves, you turn a hand crank and the shelves move apart.

We found a section labeled “CF” for “College Football.” John let us all know he’d love to find a Penn State game. Umm, that would be no problem if there was a Penn State section. But there wasn’t! The Penn State Nittany Lions were mixed in with the Gonzaga University Bulldogs, who sat beside the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs, who shared a shelf with the Akron Zips. In a room this size, it would be impossible to find a Penn State game off the shelf. There were simply too many tapes.

Nevertheless, we spread out—you only turn 30 once—and began pulling tapes off shelves. I grabbed a tape, looked at the label and couldn’t believe my eyes: “Penn State vs. Notre Dame, 2007.” I announced the find and John said, “Yeah, right,” not believing me. I walked over and showed him the tape. He erupted in laughter and explained that he had been at that game, where Derrick Williams ran a 78-yard punt return for a Penn State touchdown. My ESPN friend popped the tape into a player and we watched the touchdown run. That’s when it got heavenly.

You see, I think God was behind that tape find. The Bible says that every good and perfect gift is from the Heavenly Father. He loves to give good gifts to his kids. We didn’t have to find that tape. We could have gone home, perfectly happy that we toured ESPN, visited broadcasting studios, played foosball, and so forth. Nothing would have been lacking and John still would have felt blessed. But God had something else planned—giving a gift that was unmistakably from Him. God gives gifts to each of us.

Even when He doesn't have to.

Comment by Chris S Heinz on August 6, 2009 at 1:40pm

Your Life Story

“All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." (Psalm 139.16)

As most of you know, our family is preparing to adopt Rex, a toddler from the Philippines. We’re only weeks away and so we’re preparing for what adoption experts call, “The Big Change.” One important aspect of adopting is helping the child understand his life story. Children who have been adopted often have disconnected life stories—they don’t know what happened in their past or what their memories mean—and so they need help connecting their life story. This is what we’ll do for Rex.

From medical records and case studies we’ve pieced together most of his story, but one big piece was missing. Rex was left at the hospital by his birth mother—probably the smartest and most loving thing she could do in her situation—and at three months of age he was transferred to a childcare facility. From there he lived with a foster family and soon he’ll join our family. But what exactly happened at the hospital in his first three months of life? What happened after he was abandoned by his birth mother? Did anyone hold him? Did anyone hug him? Did anyone love him? That was the missing piece.

But do you know what? It has been found! Our caseworker discovered an online article written by a social worker in the Philippines. In the article, she chronicles her first case of an abandoned child. Guess who the child is? You got it, Rex. According to the social worker, a nurse at the hospital—called Ms. X in the article—cared for Rex during his three months in the hospital. Although a single woman, she felt a “motherly instinct” for Rex and was attached to him. When Rex was discharged from the hospital, she “found it difficult to separate from him” and cried for him. We don’t know what his birth mother went through—if she cried for him—but we know that Ms. X did.

Do you see what happened here? After Rex’ birth mother abandoned him, a mother figure rose up to hold him, to hug him, to love him. And one day Rex will understand that love followed him wherever he went, because that is part of his life story. The Bible says that all our days were written in God’s book before one of them came to pass.

What’s He written for you?

Comment by Chris S Heinz on July 30, 2009 at 1:17pm

Pack Your Own China

“But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.” (Jude 1.20)

Thanks to a song on the radio, I got a good idea for my wife’s birthday. The song suggests to “Use your good dishes,” and that’s what we did. You see, we have a set of china we received as a wedding gift. It’s very nice, but in the last eight years, we haven’t used it much. So as a surprise, I decided we would go to a restaurant and they would serve our dinner on the china. Problem was, it would be hard to get the china out of the house without her knowing it. So, I arranged for a friend to call and ask if we had china he could borrow. At his request, I said, “Oh, what a romantic idea, and yes in fact we do have china, just let me check with Colette.”

I checked with Colette and she said yes, but get this—she then offered to pack up the china herself! Hiding my glee, I answered, “Sure, Colette will even pack it for you!” And that’s what she did. She wrapped paper around each dinner plate, bread plate, salad plate, coffee cup and saucer and placed them in a box with even more wrapping. She gingerly handed me the box like it was a live bomb, and I was to drive it to my friend. Instead, I drove it to the restaurant and that evening we had a jolly good time.

In the Bible, Jude says we ought to build ourselves up in our faith. That’s to say, we’re personally responsible for our spiritual growth and development. It’s not up to our pastor, not up to our spouse, not up to the TV preacher, not up to our parents. God assists us in this growth, but even He lets us make our own choices. It’s up to us—we’re the ones to pack our own china.

Jude recommends one way to grow—praying in the Holy Spirit—but that is just one way. We are not short on options, are we? There’s Bible study, worship, fasting, prayer, submission, service, suffering, obedience, evangelism, and I haven’t even listed them all! Each one is guaranteed to produce spiritual growth. But just because they’re available doesn’t mean we’re growing, does it?

No, taking hold of your spiritual development requires ownership, ambition and follow-through. If you’re not convinced that your growth is your responsibility—even though others will help you—then you won’t go far. If you don’t have ambition to grow, you won’t develop plans. And if you don’t follow through on your plans, then your plans won’t do anything for you. So build yourselves up in your most holy faith.

Pack your own china.

Comment by Helena Ahola on July 29, 2009 at 8:52am

Good Summertime! Regards, Helen

Comment by Helena Ahola on July 29, 2009 at 8:51am

Comment by Chris S Heinz on July 23, 2009 at 3:14pm

Time Traveler

“Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that’s in you, love him with all you’ve got! Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night.” (Deut. 6.5-8)

Well, hello there! If you noticed that flash of light and smoke from behind me, don’t you worry—it’s from where I’ve been…or…or…is it from where I am now? I can never remember that. Whichever it is, it’s not important; if it was important, I’d remember it, right? Well anyway, since you’re still here, I’ll let you in on a little secret—that is, if you keep it between you and me. You will? Okay, here goes.

I’m a time traveler. That’s right, a time traveler. It’s exactly how it sounds. I travel through time. I’ve been all around the world from Kamchatka to Kalamazoo, and I guess you could say I’ve been all around the clock, too. It’s been quite a ride. My favorite thing to do is to watch people and try to understand what makes them tick and what their lives are about. I observe them for awhile to see if I can tell what’s important to them. Hey, there’s that word again!

What’s that, you have a question? Why don’t I just ask them what’s important to them? That’s a very good question; it sure would make it easier, wouldn’t it? Well, I can’t just ask them because people don’t always tell the truth. Sure, some are outright liars, but not most of them. No, most of them just don’t know how they appear. They think they appear one way, but they live another way. So if I ask them what they value, they say one thing but do another. And isn’t it really what we do that matters? That’s why I stopped asking. I didn’t want the answer they told me; I wanted the answer they showed me.

Here’s what I mean. One day I jumped way back to about 1400 BC to ancient Israel. Back then, I used to actually interact with the people. I found a man and asked what was important to him and he replied, “Oh, to love God with all that’s in me!” I thought that was quite an interesting answer, so I decided to watch how he lived. When he woke up in the morning, the first thing he did was speak God’s words…and he didn’t quit all day, right down to bedtime! When he was with his kids, he talked about God with them and when he sat at home in the evening, he and his wife discussed the Scriptures. His life seemed to be full of God!

Then I fast-forwarded to 2009 AD and landed in the United States. I also found a man and asked what was important to him and he also replied, “Oh, to love God with all that’s in me!” Then I watched how he lived. When he woke up in the morning, the first thing he did was check his email on his cell phone…and he didn’t quit all day, right down to bedtime! When he was with his kids, he thought about work and when he sat at home in the evening, he and his wife watched television. His life seemed to be full of so many things, but I didn’t see God.

That’s why I would rather see the story than hear them tell it. People think they know what’s important to them, but their lives don’t show it.

Well, it’s been good chatting but I’ve got to be on my way, you know, times and places to be. Take care of yourself, you hear. And remember,

When something’s important to you, you show it.

Got comments? ***[https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4352422242553864711&postID=702935813665753280]

Comment by Chris S Heinz on July 16, 2009 at 6:42pm

Pizzas and Palaces

“In the eighth month, the temple was finished in all its details according to its specifications. [Solomon] had spent seven years building it. It took Solomon thirteen years, however, to complete the construction of his palace.” (I Kings 6.38-7.1)

Last weekend, I took some guy’s pizza by accident. I didn’t mean to. I just showed up at the pizza place, said my name and the clerk handed me a pizza. It was a large plain like my wife had ordered. How was I supposed to know that another Chris likes large plains also? I gave the clerk a coupon my wife had given me. Perplexed, he said, “This is for another restaurant.” I said, “Oh, my silly wife—she mixed up coupons.” So I paid for the pizza and left, content that I had succeeded in my mission because I was going home with a large plain pizza for Chris.

When I got home, I mentioned to my wife that she had given me the wrong coupon. She corrected me, “I gave you the right coupon; you went to the wrong restaurant.” Doh! Not only would Chris show up for his pizza and it wouldn’t be there but now I would have to drive to the right restaurant and pay for a second pizza. But that wasn’t the worst part. Now my wife knew I didn’t listen to everything single thing she said. She had told me the right restaurant; I just wasn’t listening. I was into my own thing.

Kind of like Solomon. He was into his own thing, too. The Bible says Solomon built the temple and it took him seven years. In the very next verse (ignore the chapter division because I think it’s misplaced here), it says Solomon completed the construction of his palace, and it took him thirteen years. So, God’s temple—seven years; Solomon’s palace—thirteen years. Does something seem wrong here? I don’t doubt Solomon needed a home—a place for his family to live and a platform to rule from. But does he need to spend twice as long building his house as he does God’s house?

This got me thinking about priorities. What am I building? My own house or God’s house? At the end of my activities and my plans and my efforts, what is standing? I spend a whole lot of time doing things for myself. Yes, I serve my family and I administer my calling, but is there excess in what I build for myself? Solomon was the wisest man to have ever lived. If he was into his own thing, is it possible I am too?

Who are you building for?

Comment by Chris S Heinz on July 9, 2009 at 7:08am

Five Principles of God’s Wisdom

“When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.” (I Kings 3.28)

In his first recorded act as king, Solomon really impresses his people—so much that they hold him in awe. His approval rating goes through the roof. Not bad for your first act. Keep in mind that by his own admission, Solomon is just a little child (I Kings 3.7). His father died and now he’s king. It’s that simple. No kingdom management courses, no professional certification, no online training series. One day a member of the king’s family, the next day the king.

But notice what impressed Israel about their beloved king’s successor. It’s not him, but rather because he had wisdom from God. That’s why the people held him in awe—God’s wisdom. It was how Solomon administered justice that wooed the people. So what did this wisdom look like? How did wisdom reveal herself?

Well, here’s what happened. Two prostitutes approach the king for a ruling. They live in the same house and both delivered babies around the same time. During the night, one woman rolled over on her baby, killing him by accident. When she saw what had happened, she switched her baby with the other. When that mother woke up in the morning she saw her baby was dead, but upon closer investigation, realized it wasn’t her baby—her housemate had switched babies! Now each woman is claiming that the live baby is hers. King Solomon, what do you say?

Solomon listens to their story and then instructs his servants, “Bring me a sword.” He then orders the baby to be cut in half so one woman can have one half and the other woman the other half. The real mother of the baby is filled with compassion and says, “Don’t kill him; give her the living baby.” But the other woman replies, “None of us should have him; cut him in two!” At this, the king rules, “Give the living baby to the first woman; she is the mother.” And when all Israel heard the verdict, they held the king in awe.

I admit this is a gruesome story but there are principles to God’s wisdom in it: First, Solomon listened to the ladies’ story. Wisdom listens; she doesn’t speak first or think of what to say next while the person is still talking. Second, Solomon issued an unconventional, creative and even surprising order to cut the baby in half (Of course, he never intended to go through with the order). At times, wisdom also appears unconventional, creative or surprising. Third, Solomon had patience to let his order work, which exposed the false mother. Wisdom is patient and lets her work run its course. Fourth, Solomon suggested action. Wisdom is practical and deals in application. Fifth, Solomon’s order momentarily offended the real mother. Wisdom sometimes offends, although she is beneficial in the end.

So be ready when God’s wisdom appears; she might not look like you thought she would.

Comment by Chris S Heinz on July 2, 2009 at 2:01pm

Livin’ What You’ve Been Given

“So be strong, show yourself a man, and obey God.” 1 Kings 2.2-3

As most of you know, our family is adopting a boy from the Philippines. His name is Rex and he’s two-and-a-half and in a couple of months, we’ll bring him home. There’s not a lot we can do for him now—just wait for the paperwork to be processed—but we are praying for him.

My prayers center around 1 Kings 2.2-3. When he’s about to die, King David charges his son Solomon with three things. David has already passed the throne onto Solomon, so Solomon is now the king. Note that the items in the charge will not make Solomon king because at this point, Solomon is already king. He doesn’t have to earn the right to be king or prove he’s worthy of the throne. He already has it. Instead, these words are instructions on how to live now that he is the king.

David charges Solomon to: 1) Be strong; 2) Show himself a man; 3) Obey God.

I’m praying these same words for Rex because, well, his name means “king.” That’s a powerful legacy his birth parents left for him, naming him king when he was born. Now, his life experience might run contrary to his name, he might doubt his royalty, might question his value. He might even set out to prove it. But all along, he’s still Rex, he’s already king. The quest is not earning his throne, but rather living with it. And that might be the hardest journey of all.

For many of us, the hardest quest is living with what we’ve already been given—like love, grace, salvation, worth, destiny. We’d rather go the hard road—punish ourselves, faint from thirst, be scarred by experience—before we’ll accept the reality of our high position. We’d rather work off our crime than receive forgiveness, rather earn our love than be her beneficiary.

But my son is king and I won’t let him forget it.

I pray you live well out of what you’ve been given.

Comment by Chris S Heinz on June 25, 2009 at 6:20pm

No Burritos

“If you love me, you will obey what I command.” (John 14.15)

I’m in Houston for a management training course. Among all the great things Houston has to offer is Mexican food. I could have taken this course in a different city, but Houston called out to me. She wanted to feed me her burritos. How could I resist? It’s not that I can’t get burritos in central Pennsylvania, but I think you’ll agree there’s a difference. Burritos are simply better the closer you get to the Border.
Myriads of Mexican restaurants welcomed me into their city. I probably passed fifteen or twenty on my way to the hotel. When I got there, I was overjoyed to find a restaurant ala Mexico right next to where I was staying. Now these were good accommodations! The first chance I got, I walked to the restaurant. It had all the marks of a genuine Mexican restaurant: a sign that said, “Mexican Restaurant;” tortilla chips and salsa at the table, mariachi uniforms on the waiters; and a piñata in the corner. I might as well have been in Tijuana.

I sat down and opened the menu, although I knew what I wanted—a big, fat burrito, bursting with chicken and black beans and rice and everything else they wanted to throw in. But just to be polite, I started to peruse the menu. After all, they had gone thru all the trouble to print this thing up. Page 1, no burritos. That’s okay, there are still four other pages. Page 2, no burritos. No problem, they usually put them in the middle. Page 3, The Middle, no burritos. No worries, probably on the Specialties page. Page 4, Specialties, no burritos. I had one page left, and although my mind said Page 5 would be the margarita, Corona and sangria page, my heart wanted to believe otherwise. Could it be Page 5, Drinks and Burritos? Could Mexico come through for me?

Nope. Or should I say Nada. Page 5 was only Drinks. There were no burritos in this restaurant!

What? A Mexican restaurant that doesn’t serve burritos? Aren’t they supposed to go together? Just like loving God and obeying God are supposed to go together.

Jesus makes a very clear statement. He says, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” Our love for Jesus is demonstrated by our obedience to Him. I’m not talking about being perfect. I’m not talking about never messing up. Rather, I’m saying that our love for Jesus is connected to our level of obedience. A radical love will manifest as radical obedience. A passionate pursuit will show itself as awesome alignment. The closer we get to Jesus, the easier obedience will be because his desires will become our desires. So, to love God is to obey Him.

More important than Mexican restaurants and burritos, is your love lined up with obedience?

Chris S. Heinz
www.weeklyword.net

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