Heaven or Hell, by Choice

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This tract was written by my grandfather, Laurance W. Long.

Laurance W. LongDear You:

Yes, dear you. You are dear to God. God loves man despite the fact that he is sinful and deserves to be punished. This can be understood as we realize that parents love their children even though they often do things that are wrong.

And God wants the best for errant man, even as parents want the best for their errant children.

When God created man, He gave him not only a body but an eternal soul and spirit, in His own image and likeness. With his body, man could easily relate to the earth. And by his spirit, he could have fellowship with God. He could have fellowship with God only by his spirit because God is a spirit and “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto Him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (I Cor. 2:14). So man is both physical and spiritual, material and immaterial.

When God created man, He made him perfect. The Bible says, “God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good” (Gen. 1:31).

In making man like unto Himself, God gave him a will, with the ability to think and reason and make choices. And with the ability to make choices, man could choose either right or wrong. God wanted man to live Him, but He wanted such love to come from a willing heart as a matter of choice, not because he had been programmed to do so like a robot. Thus, man was given a will. God an man then enjoyed fellowship together from willing hearts. They were like-minded and shared common interests: true fellowship and communion, for without like-mindedness there can be no fellowship: friendship, yes, but no fellowship.

Then Came a Problem: Sin and Death

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How Thankful

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This poem was written by my grandfather, Laurance W. Long.

Laurance W. LongHow thankful I am Christ died and bled!
How thankful I am His blood was shed!
My sins He bore to set me free…
He freely gave His life for me!

How thankful I am His Word did plea,
“All ye that labor come unto Me.”
In great distress, to Him I cried…
My cry was heard and blood applied!

“How thankful, my Lord,” I often repeat;
But will I lay my life at His feet?
He gave His life, His live, His all;
Will I give mine and heed His call?

“How thankful,” I say when all is well;
But sinners are dying and going to hell!
“Go ye … pray ye” His Spirit does plead…
How thankful am I who know the need?

How pleased, I’m sure, my Lord will be
When He can say “Well done” to me.
Take, use my life, dear Lord, I pray,
For that’s how thankful I am today.

Communion with God …a series of echoes

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This is a devotional written by my grandfather, Laurance W. Long.

Laurance W. Long“When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek” (Psalm 27:8).

Communion with God may be likened to a series of echoes. When God speaks, and “echo” response should come from His children. An echo is immediate. It does not vary from the original . . . it is an accurate reproduction. God says SEEK . . . we should seek. God says GIVE . . . our echo should be to give. SERVE, serve. LOVE, love. OBEY, obey . . . in complete conformity with the command. Then, in turn, the child may ask his God for mercy. And God’s reply is MERCY. Bread, BREAD. Grace, GRACE. Peace, PEACE. Communion with God . . . a series of echoes going both ways, all the day.

World Missions

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The Westminster Catechism says, “Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.”

If man’s chief end is to glorify God, then the Christian desires that as many as possible fulfill that end, and find their ultimate satisfaction in God.  Thus, Jesus instructed us in Matthew 28:19 to “go and make disciples of all nations.”

This is my chronicle of my involvement in missions around the world.

Kingdom Building Ministries

I spent my Summer of ’98 attending The Laborer’s Institute run by Kingdom Building Ministries in Denver, CO. The Laborer’s Institute (TLI) is a three-month intensive training program that involves mentoring, ministry, multiplication. The first month of training is spent in Denver. The second month is overseas ministry; our team spent the month in Thailand (pictures). The third month is spent back in the US visiting a number of youth camps to challenge and minister to others.

To read more about my experience with The Laborer’s Institute, see my report from the end of the summer. – TLI Report
To see what’s involved in preparation for a short-term missions trip, read the prayer letter I sent out before I went. – Prayer Letter

Fellowship Missionary Church

A couple years later, December 2000-January 2001, I took a 10 day missions trip to Trinidad & Tobago (pictures) with a handful of people from my church. We had the opportunity to put on a Vacation Bible School program for local children, present the gospel using marionettes and skits in some local schools, and help a local pastor with some needed upgrades to their home and car.

Grace Gathering

Most recently, my wife and I went with our church on a missions trip to Mexico.  We partnered with a local Missions to Mexico ministry that organizes short-term trips as their primary ministry model.  In the week that we were there, we helped two churches with some building projects, visited homes and prayed for people, and impacted teenagers and youth through our meetings.

In addition to short-term missions trips, global missions can be supported through offering prayer and financial assistance to those engaged in full-time ministry.

World Partners

Jeremy & Mindie Tice work with other World Partners missionaries to help plant churches in Guinea, West Africa. Mindie is one of several friends from The Laborer’s Institute who went on to become missionaries.

Wycliffe

A high-school friend and old work-out buddy of mind is now working with Wycliffe Bible Translators in South Asia, researching language groups that would benefit from a translation of the Bible in their own language.

Compassion

In 2005, I began sponsoring a little boy in the Dominican Republic through Compassion International.

World Vision

In 2007, my wife and I began sponsoring a little boy in Uganda through World Vision.

In addition to the organizations mentioned above, there are many Christian mission organizations who minister around the world, meeting physical needs and sharing the Living Water and Bread of Life that is Jesus Christ.

Here are just a few that I appreciate…

Samaritans Purse Serving in Mission

Ravi Zacharias International Ministries Prison Fellowship

Biblical Humor

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Do you ever read something in the Bible that strikes you as funny? I’m convinced that God has a sense of humor, and I think that parts of the Bible are intended to be humorous. Other parts (such as Jeremiah 13:1-7) might not be intended to be funny, but sound funny to us.

It has occurred to me when reading the Gospels that when Jesus told parables, He might have told some of them as a comedian might tell a joke. Just try to picture Jesus using different voices and acting out his stories. Large crowds of people followed Jesus, but few understood His parables; perhaps some just hung around because He was entertaining. I don’t know, it’s just a thought.

Noticing humor in the Bible can make reading the Bible more enjoyable, but also is an aid in getting to know the Bible better and remembering where things are. If you find anything funny in the Bible, or have some Bible jokes, I’d be interested in hearing them so I can add to my list.  Here’s a handful of corny “Bible Jokes.”

The first passage is probably what made me think of the idea of finding humor in the Bible.  I first saw this passage in a men’s dorm bathroom at Taylor University.  Someone had printed it on a piece of paper and stuck it to the door of one of the stalls.

“Jeremiah’s Linen Shorts” (Jeremiah 13:1-7, modified KJV)

Thus saith the LORD unto me, Go and get thee some linen shorts, and wear them, but do not wash them. So I got some linen shorts according to the word of the LORD, and I wore them. And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, Take the shorts that thou hast got, which thou art wearing, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide them there in a hole of the rock. So I went, and hid them by Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me. And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the shorts from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there. Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the shorts from the place where I had hid them: and, behold, the shorts were marred, they were profitable for nothing.

“Arameans Hear Things” (2 Kings 7:5-7, NIV)

At dusk they got up and went to the camp of the Arameans. When they reached the edge of the camp, not a man was there, for the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack us!” So they got up and fled in the dusk and abandoned their tents and their horses and donkeys. They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives.

“EXTRA!! EXTRA!! Hit Men Begin Prophesying! Read all about it!” (1 Sam. 19:20-23, NIV)

[Saul is trying to kill David] so he sent men to capture him. But when they saw a group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing there as their leader, the Spirit of God came upon Saul’s men and they also prophesied. Saul was told about it, and he sent more men, and they prophesied too. Saul sent men a third time, and they also prophesied. Finally, he himself left for Ramah and went to the great cistern at Secu. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” “Over in Naioth at Ramah,” they said. So Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God came even upon him, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth.

“The Israelite Bathroom” (2 Kings 10:27, NIV)

They demolished the sacred stone of Baal and tore down the temple of Baal, and people have used it for a latrine to this day.