Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Springtime in Georgia is about as beautiful a place as you can be in this world. I love to marvel at the blooming dogwoods, azaleas, and various other flowers popping out of their buds. My daughter Faith is getting excited at the rosebuds at our house; she is waiting in anticipation for the coming blooms. We are also going to raise some butterflies and watch them go through metamorphosis and then set them free. It is a time of patience, it is a time of anticipation, and a time of great hope.
Right now there are many of you who are anxious about something in your lives. It may be family problems, economic problems, health problems, or just life problems. You need to remember that hope is a real gift from God and can keep you going. As the Psalmist writes, “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him." (Psalm 126). Life is a mixture of barren winters and beautiful springs, and we always look forward to the blooming spring. God has made the birds to sing to the dawn – while it is still dark. As the Apostle Paul reminds us, “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”(Romans 8:24-25). Keep faith in the Lord and never give up hope. Selah
In Christ,
Steve
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
A Hero for Our Time
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Many of you have expressed an interest in the Jacob Deshazer story that I shared in my sermon on Sunday. I think that more people should know about inspirational heroes, so I am giving you a bit more insight into this one. Here is part of his story as reported in “Christianity Today”: “December 7, 1941—the bombing of Pearl Harbor—changed the world. For Army Corporal Jacob DeShazer, an amazing drama was just beginning. Like most young Americans in the armed forces, DeShazer was eager to strike back at the enemy. He volunteered for a dangerous secret mission under Lieutenant-Colonel Jimmy Doolittle—to bomb Tokyo and surrounding cities. When two Japanese ships were sunk by the Americans nine hundred miles offshore, the command was given on the Hornet: "Army personnel, man your planes." It was April 18, 1942. They were eight hundred miles away from land, four hundred miles further offshore than originally planned for launching. The planes would not be returning to the carrier. They would have to land in China and elude the Japanese occupation forces there. It was a great risk for Doolittle's raiders. But the men were willing to take the risk in order to strike a demoralizing blow to the Japanese homeland . . . [After the mission, Deshazer’s plane failed to make it to safety in China]. Four other American prisoners and DeShazer were flown to Nanjing (Nanking), China, to a prison camp. There was more interrogation before a judge. Finally, the judge said in English, "In Japan it is a great honor for a judge to cut off a prisoner's head. Tomorrow at sunrise, I will have the honor of cutting off your head."
Their captors tortured them, trying to get information. They put DeShazer on his knees and beat him. They handcuffed one prisoner, Lt. Nielsen, hanging him for eight hours by his hands on a peg, his toes barely touching the floor while others were stretched out on boards for hours. The Japanese strapped others to chairs and beat them. They put towels over their faces and had water poured into their noses and mouths until they nearly drowned . . . A short time later, DeShazer learned that Emperor Hirohito (on Tojo's recommendation) had commuted his sentence to life imprisonment. This gave him little hope. For almost two years, DeShazer and the others struggled with starvation, fought dysentery and other illnesses, froze in winter without blankets, and baked in summer with no ventilation. At times the airman grew so angry at the brutal guards that he worried about his sanity. In quieter moments he wondered how they could be so inhumane.
On December 1, 1943, Lt. Meder died, weakened from dysentery. After his death, things suddenly changed. Someone among the Japanese "higher-ups" decided to keep the Americans alive. Food rations increased and a few books were given to the prisoners. Among them was one Bible . . . DeShazer memorized Old Testament passages, the Sermon on the Mount, and the first Epistle of John. He thought about what his parents and sister had tried to tell him for many years. Now it all made sense. When his three weeks were almost up, he read again Romans 10:9—"If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." DeShazer prayed, "Lord, though I am far from home and though I am in prison, I must have forgiveness." He continued to pray until he was filled with inner peace and joy. His dirty cell and the abuse no longer held any horror. Death held no threat. On June 8, 1944, although imprisoned, he was free. A year after his conversion, in June 1945, the Americans were transferred to a prison in Beijing (Peking). Conditions were worse than in Nanjing (Nanking). DeShazer nearly died of starvation and disease, but he grew spiritually [and was liberated at the close of 1945]. In 1948, Jacob DeShazer returned to Japan with his wife, Florence, as a missionary. By that time, Army chaplains had distributed more than a million tracts containing DeShazer's testimony titled, "I Was a Prisoner of the Japanese." Thousands of Japanese people wanted to see the man who could forgive his enemies. In his first few months in Japan, the former Jimmy Doolittle raider had spoken in two hundred places. Soon he, with his wife Florence, helped Japanese Christians to establish churches. Although the church planting was going well, early in 1950, DeShazer longed for a revival for Japan. He fasted 40 days, praying for the salvation of the Japanese. A few days after he ended his fast, a man came to his home and introduced himself—Mitsuo Fuchida, flight commander of the 360 planes that attacked Pearl Harbor. After reading DeShazer's testimony, Fuchida had purchased a New Testament, read it, and had accepted Christ. DeShazer welcomed him as a brother and counseled him to be baptized. Within a short time Fuchida became an evangelist, preaching in Japan and all over the world.”
Jacob Deshazer’s life bears witness to the power of Christ to transform our lives so that we can make a difference in this world.
Steve
Many of you have expressed an interest in the Jacob Deshazer story that I shared in my sermon on Sunday. I think that more people should know about inspirational heroes, so I am giving you a bit more insight into this one. Here is part of his story as reported in “Christianity Today”: “December 7, 1941—the bombing of Pearl Harbor—changed the world. For Army Corporal Jacob DeShazer, an amazing drama was just beginning. Like most young Americans in the armed forces, DeShazer was eager to strike back at the enemy. He volunteered for a dangerous secret mission under Lieutenant-Colonel Jimmy Doolittle—to bomb Tokyo and surrounding cities. When two Japanese ships were sunk by the Americans nine hundred miles offshore, the command was given on the Hornet: "Army personnel, man your planes." It was April 18, 1942. They were eight hundred miles away from land, four hundred miles further offshore than originally planned for launching. The planes would not be returning to the carrier. They would have to land in China and elude the Japanese occupation forces there. It was a great risk for Doolittle's raiders. But the men were willing to take the risk in order to strike a demoralizing blow to the Japanese homeland . . . [After the mission, Deshazer’s plane failed to make it to safety in China]. Four other American prisoners and DeShazer were flown to Nanjing (Nanking), China, to a prison camp. There was more interrogation before a judge. Finally, the judge said in English, "In Japan it is a great honor for a judge to cut off a prisoner's head. Tomorrow at sunrise, I will have the honor of cutting off your head."
Their captors tortured them, trying to get information. They put DeShazer on his knees and beat him. They handcuffed one prisoner, Lt. Nielsen, hanging him for eight hours by his hands on a peg, his toes barely touching the floor while others were stretched out on boards for hours. The Japanese strapped others to chairs and beat them. They put towels over their faces and had water poured into their noses and mouths until they nearly drowned . . . A short time later, DeShazer learned that Emperor Hirohito (on Tojo's recommendation) had commuted his sentence to life imprisonment. This gave him little hope. For almost two years, DeShazer and the others struggled with starvation, fought dysentery and other illnesses, froze in winter without blankets, and baked in summer with no ventilation. At times the airman grew so angry at the brutal guards that he worried about his sanity. In quieter moments he wondered how they could be so inhumane.
On December 1, 1943, Lt. Meder died, weakened from dysentery. After his death, things suddenly changed. Someone among the Japanese "higher-ups" decided to keep the Americans alive. Food rations increased and a few books were given to the prisoners. Among them was one Bible . . . DeShazer memorized Old Testament passages, the Sermon on the Mount, and the first Epistle of John. He thought about what his parents and sister had tried to tell him for many years. Now it all made sense. When his three weeks were almost up, he read again Romans 10:9—"If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." DeShazer prayed, "Lord, though I am far from home and though I am in prison, I must have forgiveness." He continued to pray until he was filled with inner peace and joy. His dirty cell and the abuse no longer held any horror. Death held no threat. On June 8, 1944, although imprisoned, he was free. A year after his conversion, in June 1945, the Americans were transferred to a prison in Beijing (Peking). Conditions were worse than in Nanjing (Nanking). DeShazer nearly died of starvation and disease, but he grew spiritually [and was liberated at the close of 1945]. In 1948, Jacob DeShazer returned to Japan with his wife, Florence, as a missionary. By that time, Army chaplains had distributed more than a million tracts containing DeShazer's testimony titled, "I Was a Prisoner of the Japanese." Thousands of Japanese people wanted to see the man who could forgive his enemies. In his first few months in Japan, the former Jimmy Doolittle raider had spoken in two hundred places. Soon he, with his wife Florence, helped Japanese Christians to establish churches. Although the church planting was going well, early in 1950, DeShazer longed for a revival for Japan. He fasted 40 days, praying for the salvation of the Japanese. A few days after he ended his fast, a man came to his home and introduced himself—Mitsuo Fuchida, flight commander of the 360 planes that attacked Pearl Harbor. After reading DeShazer's testimony, Fuchida had purchased a New Testament, read it, and had accepted Christ. DeShazer welcomed him as a brother and counseled him to be baptized. Within a short time Fuchida became an evangelist, preaching in Japan and all over the world.”
Jacob Deshazer’s life bears witness to the power of Christ to transform our lives so that we can make a difference in this world.
Steve
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
