Much Better Than High Tech

Do you remember when a blackberry was a black berry? You ate it; you didn’t “play” with it. And you didn’t have to use your thumbs. Now we have i-Pods, i-Tunes, i-Photos, i-Chats, IDVDs, and a host of other high-tech gadgets that make our heads swim. If you know your way around computers and other techie toys, you are either an adult with a uniquely wired brain or a teenager or preteen. Most of us wonder how the world got so high tech and what quantum leaps lie ahead.

Even the purchase of a new telephone can lead some of us to the edge of a nervous breakdown. How do you set the date, day, and time? How do you adjust the ringer’s volume? Voice mail, call forwarding, call waiting, and setting up a frequently-called numbers directory can produce night sweats and nightmares. You can plop the receiver down almost anywhere in the house. It doesn’t have to remain on the base station. But some of us tend to forget where we place an object, so who wants to turn a house upside down and inside out in search of a phone?

Think back to “the good old days.”

A manual typewriter hardly ever broke down. Occasionally, typists had to clean the keys and roller and install a new ribbon, but they never had to rely on Geeks on Call to rescue them at $100 per hour.

If you wanted to make a phone call in the old days, you simply dialed the number. Either the person you called answered or didn’t. If no one answered, you called again later. You could call a doctor’s office and talk to a live person. That made scheduling an appointment or getting test results a lot easier than what you endure today. “Please listen to all options before making a selection. If this is a life-threatening emergency, please hang up and call 911. If you are calling from a physician’s office or a pharmacy, dial one now. To refill a prescription, contact your pharmacy, and your pharmacist will call us. For a new prescription, dial two now. To leave a message for a nurse or to inquire about test results, press three now. To schedule an appointment, press four now. For billing, press five.”

It seems high tech has gummed up most communication lines. A customer can’t even contact his telephone company without having to negotiate his way through a series of menu options that lead to a long hold followed by a response by someone who is struggling with the English language.

Fortunately, we don’t have to go high tech to reach God. Prayer gets us straight through to heaven from anywhere at any time. We never hear, “If this is a life-threatening emergency, hang up and call Michael the Archangel or Gabriel.”

God promised, “Call to me and I will answer you” (Jeremiah 33:3). Now that may not be a high tech system, but it is user friendly, voice activated, and reliable. Prayer never crashes, never experiences a power outage, and never puts us on hold.

© Jim Dyet

Show and Tell

Wanting to teach her students about religious diversity, a third-grade teacher asked them to bring something to class that represented their particular religion. The following day a Jewish boy displayed a Star of David. A Catholic girl presented her rosary. A Muslim boy showed his a prayer rug. A protestant girl displayed a casserole dish.

What can believers, regardless of denominational affiliation, display that represents genuine Christianity? How about the qualities listed in Galatians 5:22 and 23 as “the fruit of the Spirit”? They are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Have a “fruitful” day!

Small-Town Christianity

Goodland, Kansas, is a well-groomed small community of about 4,000 residents. I drove there yesterday morning, preached at Goodland Bible Church, and returned home after the morning service. I logged 353 miles roundtrip. The congregation was friendly and receptive, and two families invited me to their homes for dinner. I declined their invitations, though. Because I am still not feeling up to par, I wanted to get home as soon as possible.

I wonder how many small towns in America are home to at least one Bible-believing church. Nearly every town? Perhaps every town? Certainly little churches in little towns all across America play important roles in people’s lives. They introduce people to Christ and help them grow spiritually. They comfort those who hurt and provide hope for those who despair. Their influence helps to keep America strong.

We hear so much about mega churches, but praise for small congregations in small towns is rare. Today’s blog is dedicated to those often-overlooked little flocks.

Heaven Is a Beautiful Place

I have visited 47 states and lived in one of the most beautiful of them for more than 30 years. But the best is yet to come. Heaven, the future home of believers, is not just beautiful; it is perfect. Here are some things we can expect to find in Heaven:

• face-to-face fellowship with Jesus;
• reunion with Christian friends and loved ones;
• absolute holiness;
• unending joy;
• perfect peace;
• pure worship;
• perfect knowledge;
• meaningful service;
• boundless energy and health;
• homes custom-designed by the Carpenter of Nazareth.

Now, here are some things that will be absent from Heaven:

• evil;
• disease, bodily injury, aging, anxiety, fear;
• prescriptions;
• eyeglasses, canes, crutches, wheelchairs, walkers;
• crime;
• scandals;
• suffering;
• good-byes;
• regrets;
• negativity;
• diabetes, arthritis, sinus trouble, heart problems, flu, cancer, etc;
• taxes;
• unemployment;
• poverty;
• prejudice;
• accidents;
• threats;
• terrorists;
• wars;
• home repairs;
• insurance premiums;
• medical bills;
• arson;
• natural disasters;
• bad weather;
• bad hair day;
• disappointment.

I hope each of us can give others a little foretaste of Heaven by the way we live on earth.

My Passports

My United States passport arrived yesterday. It is my second passport, although it is my first U.S. passport. I entered the United States in September 1954 with a Canadian passport when I enrolled at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. Now a United States passport is required to enter Canada, something I expect to do in two or three weeks.

I have two brothers. One lives near Niagara Falls, New York. The other lives near Niagara Falls, Ontario. They live on opposite sides of the Niagara River, but in two different countries. My passport will allow me cross the river and visit my Canadian brother and the area where I grew up.

Life can be complicated. Although I am the middle son, I am the only Scottish-born son. So the United States passport identifies my place of birth as the United Kingdom. My parents left Scotland and settled in Hamilton, Ontario, just before the Great Depression. My older brother was born In Hamilton, and then my parents moved back to Scotland, where I was born. When I was three, they moved to Canada again, this time with my older brother and me in tow. We settled in Ottawa, where my younger brother was born, and then two years later we moved to St. Catharines, Ontario, where my brothers and I grew up. Bill, my older brother moved to the Niagara Falls, New York area when he was 18. I have lived in the United States since 1960 and became a U.S. citizen in 1967.

Now that you have a brief history of the Dyet family, let me draw your attention again to the passport. It was issued July 8, 2009 and carries an expiration date of July 9, 2019. In order to use it, I must attach my signature.

January 18, 1952, by faith I signed my name to a passport that permits me to enter Heaven someday. Its authorization is John 3:16, and it will not expire. Unlike the United States passport, my passport to Heaven required no application fee. Jesus paid for it by dying for my sins on the cross. If you do not have a passport to Heaven, I hope you will believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior. He is the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6).

I am looking forward to crossing the Niagara River and reaching the place I used to call home, but eventually I will cross another river and reach my eternal Home.

“He will keep me till the river
Rolls its water at my feet;
Then He’ll bear me safely over,
Where the loved ones I shall meet.”