JJack’s Winning Words 11/10/20

“Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes into hours?”  (Gordon Lightfoot, from The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald song)  Are you one who wonders where God has gone when there are tragedies?  45 years ago the Edmund Fitzgerald sank with all hands lost during a Lake Superior storm.  The Bible has stories of similar tragedies.  “Why, God?  Why?”  The tendency to blame God for being absent during life storms is nothing new. What helps you maintain faith in God during the hard times?  ;-)  Jack

FROM CCS:  My favorite ballad of all time.===JACK:  From all to choose from...that's saying a lot.  Now, I'm curious about the word, ballad.===CCS:  Ballad — “A poem or song narrating a story in short stanzas”  I like this Ballad I think because it happened here in our home on one of our Lakes - also when you stand in the shore of Lake Superior you can “feel” this song and the story.  Maybe it happened at a vulnerable time in my life as well...===JACK:  Thanks for being "My Google."  .

FROM BLAZZING OAKS:  I ponder that, when reading of the horrible human trafficking stories, which our AB Women have worked to help for the past several years....where is God amid such brutal happenings??!  I have to make peace with the fact that God endowed us with free will, and many choose to do evil things!  We cannot know the mind of God or why some things seem the antithesis of a loving God. We CAN be the voice of love and the hands and feet of compassion where we can make a difference!===JACK:  With "free will" comes a mind to help us decide what to do.  YOU can't do everything, but you can do some thing...and I'd say that you're certainly doing things that are worthwhile.  "Hats off!  Hats off! to Marilyn."

FROM KRISD:  Great words!  I hear a lot of people questioning God's presence during illness and death.  Having terminal cancer has been a spiritual journey... especially when those who pray for a miracle that doesn't come.  Why did God not answer the prayer.  I believe that it's possible that answering that prayer may interfere with His path to our salvation.  I want to tell you that you have been a big spiritual Inspiration in my life.  I appreciate all of the time and effort you put into me during my crazy teen years.  You are truly a blessing to my family.===JACK:  How great to hear from you!  In fact, YOU made my day.  Yes, I've prayed for miracles, too...and it seems as tho God has not heard.  I've also prayed more often, "Thy will be done ON EARTH as it is in heaven.  Ultimately I'm going to choose God's plan over my plan.  Continue to be in touch!

FROM ST PAUL IN ST PAUL:  i have done a lot of reading on the sinking of the "Fitz".  it's still something of a mystery as to what actually happened.  at least 2 if not 3 credible theories. ===JACK:  I suppose that we'll never know the whole story...but the "bottom line" is that the winds of November can be fierce...just as the winds of life can be fierce, too.  The Bible has  several stories about how God never leaves us, no matter the winds nor the waves.

FROM NORM'S BLOG:  The Gordon Lightfoot song paid homage to the tragic sinking of the freighter Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior during a storm, but the sentiment of God somehow abandoning us in our times of need is the focus of that line. The real question, in my mind, is who abandoned whom in those times? Does God in fact let us down and leave us hanging out to suffer; or, did we wander away from our faith in God during those times?  It is so much easier to put your trust in faith in God during good times or times when there is no emergency or threat. It feels good to thank God for our good fortune; for being there with us or maybe just protecting us from making a mistake. But what if that mistake happened or we suffered an injury or maybe a loss. Why do we immediately think that God must have abandoned us?  God never promised us a life without setbacks. Indeed, He even said that our lives will be full of event or tests of our faith in Him. He also promised to be there without and not to test us beyond our abilities – “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:3-5)

FROM JACK:  I usually don't print a FULL sermon (AG or other) in Winning Words., but this one from my friend, WILLMAR REV is too good to keep just for me.  "SCREAMING AT GOD"  

FROM WILLMAR REV:  Made me think of a funeral and message I recently officiated for a young man of 31 years of age, well liked and was killed in an automobile roll over. I'll share a small portion with you, as it is titled, "Screams of Faith!"

If any of us has EVER SCREAMED AT GOD, OR if we have ever FELT LIKE SCREAMING BUT DID NOT QUITE DARE, this is the message for us. What we need to know is this: Sometimes it is OKAY TO “SCREAM AT GOD.” We can even TAKE GOD’S WORD, as found in our Bibles, FOR IT! The longest book in the Bible is a collection of model prayers-- the book of PSALMS. When we listen to these model prayers, we hear many different things. As we would expect in a “prayer book”, WE HEAR some ENTHUSIASTIC PRAYERS OF PRAISE and THANKSGIVING. BUT that is not all we hear, as we ALSO hear PROTESTS, GROANS and yes, EVEN SCREAMS. Some of us have the idea that we must be very careful, very polite, very flattering when we talk to God; but in the Bible we find people who protest to God, who cry out to Him, who definitely “scream” at Him.

Take PSALM 44, FOR EXAMPLE. It begins by saying, “O God, we have heard it with our own ears—our ancestors have told us of all You did in their day, in days long ago” (Psalm 44:1 NLT) SOUNDS OKAY SO FAR. This person has faith; he believes the stories about the great things God did in the past. BUT here is the problem: LATELY THINGS HAVE TAKEN A TURN FOR THE WORSE. God has allowed His people to be crushed by a foreign army, for no apparent reason. “All this happened,” cries the Psalmist, “We have not violated your covenant” (Psalm 44:17 NLT). The PEOPLE HAVE NOT LEFT GOD, BUT HE SEEMS TO HAVE LEFT THEM. PSALM 44 ENDS WITH THESE DESPERATE and startling WORDS: “Wake up, O Lord! Why do you sleep? Get up! Do not reject us forever. Why do you look the other way? Why do you ignore our suffering and oppression? We collapse in the dust, lying face down in the dirt. Rise up! Help us! Ransom us because of Your unfailing love” (Psalm 44:23 26 NLT).

You might say, HOW CAN ANYONE TALK TO GOD LIKE THAT? It sounds almost like a “shout of unbelief”. It certainly is NOT THE NICE, PIOUS PRAYER of a well-dressed churchgoer who calmly folds his hands, smiles happily at God, and proceeds to count his blessings. But IT IS STILL A “PRAYER OF FAITH”. The Psalmist clearly has faith that God is real. HE WOULD NOT BE SCREAMING AND COMPLAINING TO GOD, IF HE DID NOT BELIEVE THERE WAS A GOD TO SCREAM AT. THE VERY FACT that the writer of this Psalm DIRECTS HIS SCREAMS AT GOD MEANS THAT HE BELIEVES IN HIM. And he does not just believe that God exists. HE also BELIEVES THAT GOD IS A GOD WHO ACTS. 

Sometimes it is okay to scream at God. If we think that God's people should never scream, then take a closer look at the model prayers recorded in the Bible and listen to the Son of God Himself. PROBABLY “THE BEST-KNOWN SCREAM” in the book of Psalms is found at the beginning of PSALM 22: “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help?” GOD’S WORD SAYS THAT WHEN JESUS HUNG ON THE CROSS, enduring all the horror of this sin-shattered world, HE “CALLED OUT WITH A LOUD VOICE, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Matthew 27:46 NLT). 

The BIBLE RESONATES WITH SCREAMS AND ANGUISHED QUESTIONS LIKE THAT AWFUL CRY OF JESUS; BUT ALSO REMEMBER that GOD'S GREAT PLAN IS LIKE “EMBROIDERY”  I END OUR TIME IN God’s Word of assurance this afternoon WITH THE WORD OF THE LORD: “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve . . . to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” (Isaiah 61:3). Amen. 0;-) 

FROM LBP:  What else have we got in hard times, but faith? That song makes me think of my dad. It’s been ages since I’ve heard Gordon Lightfoot, but his sound is so distinctive to me. Dad plays it loudly and sings along.===JACK:  Yes, there are lots of would-be-Lightfoots out there (God luv 'em), but only one Gordon.

FROM ER IN NFL:  "Hope" is the thing with feathers-That perches in the soul-And sings the tune without the words-And never stops- at all-    You are "Hope" for many, many people. I would dare go so far as to say everyone you have touched in person and through your Winning Words. I would also wager that you are a symbol of hope and comfort to your terminally ill friends. Hope for an after life, and the comfort of a higher being to lead and care for them there.===JACK:  "It is not me; it is Christ who lives in me."  I can't remember the source of these words, but I apply them to myself.