Orange Crush

Remember in the last post, where I relayed that Bob Gould said these days, battling a deadly cancer and seeking to be filled with the Holy Spirit, are some of the best days of his life because he and his wife, Wanda, are closer than they have ever been?

Well, I have to tell you a story that just happened, something that if you think it's sweet and nice, you've seriously missed the point.

I was visiting the folks in the hospital.  A fellow named Charlie Conn is in the past few days.  He suffers from Parkinson's Disease, as a result of being exposed to Agent Orange in Viet Nam.  We got to talking about how a war that should have been left behind is still with him in more ways than one.  We shared some wry moments about how there always seems to be one more nasty thing added to an over-full plate.  We read Psalm 34 and prayed.

I was thinking about suffering, and how some folks are hit hard, and some of them find ways to testify by their patience, endurance, prayer, and praise of God.  I shared with them what Bob had said about the difficult time of trial being such a wonderful time of growing closer to his wife, Wanda.

I do not believe I can adequately describe how Charlie and Nancy looked at each other in that moment.  It was at once a recognition of truth and the deep love that they have for each other that they would not otherwise.  They understood exactly what Bob said, understood the strange, counter-intuitive, impossible truth: in dark and desperate days; if you go down with the ship; if you fight to the death for lost causes; if you walk straight into Hell, you know the presence of the Covenant-keeping God of Israel who went to the Cross.

As we think about this, let us resolve to share the life-saving, death-destroying, peace-giving love of Christ! Let us not withhold such a gift from people!  Think how they will need it! Can we overcome our hesitancy?  Our resistance?  Almost every excuse I know of concerning evangelism is about us, our discomfort.  And yet it simply is the truth that if we do not tell people about Jesus, when what He offers is life-saving, then we are cold, heartless, and ruthless.