Relay For Life

Note: This Article was written four years ago, I had a different attitude then.
This is also dedicated to a loved one who I just fund out has been fighting this sinister disease. God Bless You May.

This is my take on how my participation in the Relay For Life Cancer Walk affected me.

When I showed up at the Cancer Walk, I did so not knowing what to expect. I had never been to one before. My participation was due mainly because the committee I am on was responsible for getting members together and building teams to help raise money.

Upon arrival I had a sort of lackadaisical attitude towards everything and was sort of disinterested. I was more or less there out of obligation, and not really to help.

As I started to walk I heard a lady reading a list of individuals who had succumbed to cancer or was currently battling this dreaded disease. The purpose of the reading was to remind those who were present just why they were there. I wondered if this was going to be going on all night as I turned on my media player and adjusted the volume to drown out the reading of the list.

The main thought going through my mind was if this would drag on or go fairly quickly. I had downloaded about 3 hours worth of music onto my player, but would that help kill time?

After about an hour of walking everyone was asked to take a seat . At this point I was expecting some yakking before my obligatory time was up and I would be free to go home and get some rest.

As I sat and listened I heard stories from two speakers. They told those present how this disease had devastated families. I heard stories of faith in God that helped strengthen and encourage. I saw two grown adults cry on stage in front of others, and through it all I found myself moved to tears. My attitude of obligation that arrived with me was replaced by one of admiration and the desire to do more to help.

Before the walk resumed, the crowd was shown 119 flags. These flags represented the number of people expected to be diagnosed with cancer in Ellis County by the end of this calendar year. The participants of the walk were asked to take a flag and dedicate themselves to trying to save the life of one of those expected to be stricken with Cancer. I left with one of those flags.

I had long known that Cancer can strike anyone at anytime. But I had never really given it any serious thought before. My family has no Cancer on either side. We have heart problems, high blood pressure, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s. (maybe I need to get an Alzheimer’s walk going to raise consciousness) But unless a person is face to face with a life threatening illness, one tends to selfishly turn a blind eye to the suffering of others.

That night, I saw only the smallest part of the dread, the worry, the fear, and the financial drain that is caused by this disease. But thanks to the speakers I also saw the strength, faith, and hope that can come from an individual who has decided to turn to a source greater then themselves.

By the end of the night I had a new attitude towards helping and I am writing this so others might see that when you help raise consciousness, and funds for others, it may someday come back around and be helpful to you as well. Helping others for the sake of just helping will tell you something about yourself and earn you someone’s appreciation. Who knows, you may save a life by thinking of someone other then yourself.

So as I close, I would like to pose a question to any who may be reading this. If it was you, stricken with a life threatening malady, would you want help? If you answered yes, then you know how any Cancer sufferer feels. Now do something about it.

Geoff Kuhn

Humility, or Trap?

A couple days ago, on my way home for break, I clicked on my radio and decided to forgo the usual music that I listen to and turn to the gospel station. I heard a preacher, Charles Stanley I believe, deliver a message about living for God and feeling, useless, lonely, and depressed.

As he talked I realized I would not hear the whole sermon if I went home, so I drove and listened until the sermon was over. The message was, it felt, directed at me and I praise GOD ALMIGHTY I decided to drive for thirty minutes to hear that message.

I found out tonight that false humility, insecurity, or thinking that you are lower then the belly of a roach in the hole he sleeps in, is wrong, especially for Christians.

When we are saved, it is out of love. Christ knows the condition we are in when He erases our sin and puts our name in the Book of Life. He knows that we can not measure up to Him and He did not die so we can. Christ died to save us from our selves and the sin that so easily befalls us.

If we sin, and we will, we need to repent and move on. We need to trust in God, not think that He is constantly irritated with us over every mistake we make. God made us human, inferior to Him for a reason.

We need to walk, we need to grow, we need to have faith, and we need to stay strong and be positive, and know that the same Bible that shows us the path to salvation also promises power through Christ.

We are not to think of ourselves as scum, or lowly, or inferior. We, the saved of God, are Children of God, and we have a Godly inheritance, why on earth should we think of ourselves as inferior and limit the effect God has in our lives?

Humility is one thing, a negative attitude is another. A Christian with a negative attitude limits his service to God by thinking he is not good enough to do the will of the Lord. Lack of faith creates inner conflict and it tends to grow.

A Christian with low self esteem needs to understand and realize that growth can only come when he breaks the patterns of his life that lead him toward this negative behavior. Christ does not have much room or use for negativity.

Once an individual is saved, Satan can do nothing about it; we are Christ’s and will be so for eternity. But he can limit the effectiveness of our testimony with negativity, IF WE LET HIM.

Satan knows where the gaps in our defenses are and if were are not constantly fortifying ourselves, putting on our armor, praying, and being constant in the word, sooner or later he will slip in and do his best to make us ineffective. And if we end up backslidden, it is because WE LET IT HAPPEN.

Christ defeated every demon He ever met in the Bible right down to Satan himself. Christ gives us power to defeat Satan in our daily lives, through Him. In Ephesians 6:16 we are told to put on the whole armor of God to stand against the wiles of the devil.

The shield of faith shall quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. But armor is useless if not put on.

A while back I was reading 1st Corinthians 10:13 which states that God will not let a Christian be tempted with more than they can handle. But with the temptation there is also an escape. Faith, that old reliable shield is one means of escaping temptation.

We have all seen movies where the hero is fearless and always gets his man. And we have seen the movies where there is always a sniveling scared character that everyone makes fun of. Christians start out as the sniveling scared little weasel, when Christ saves us we change and are supposed to grow and be the hero of the story guided by God. We are not supposed to revert back to, or stay unaffected by the presence of the Holy Spirit of God in our lives.

The preacher I heard on the radio that night was talking about breaking patterns in our lives that lead to negativity. Negativity stunts growth and puts us in bondage to habits, not faith. In order to grow in the Lord, there has to room in our hearts for the Lord.

Quenching the Spirit

Quenching the Holy Spirit
Quenching (noun) the act of extinguishing

Have you ever gone to Church and heard a sermon that makes you want to just hop out of your seat and run? You just feel so hyped up by the Pastors sermon you want to run and yell and testify, right then and there?

When you hear a sermon that really fires you up, and you leave the Church really feeling the sermon, then what? How do you convey the feeling of “being on fire for the Lord”?

This is not just a metaphorical or hypothetical situation. There are times in all our lives when our Sprit filled enthusiasm is doused by worldly concerns, or doubt, or laziness. Here are a few examples.

After church, you go home, and maybe discuss the sermon with your wife and even spend an extra hour or so researching the scriptures and you feel the influence of God’s Holy Spirit but instead of nursing that influence…….

You grab the remote and relax from your weeks work and settle into the recliner and slowly quench the Spirit filled enthusiasm you left Church with and it may be another week while back in church before you even remember the feeling.

You go outside and start working on the vehicle. The sermon is fresh in your mind but you have to replace a serpentine belt on the car. Before long, things are going wrong. A bolt is stuck, you’ve bang your knuckles when the wrench slipped and there is blood all over the tool. You are sweating everywhere and the stinging in the eyes does not help. It is then that the fire from God is replaced with anger and possibly a few choice words. And the Spirit filled enthusiasm you left Church with is slowly extinguished.

You head to Wal-mart after church, traffic is slow and you need to get home and get some work done. No one has eaten yet, you are hungry. Besides, you know that your husband does not really need the new camouflaged vest for deer season, the one he has now is fine. Traffic starts moving and the person ahead of you is doing 20 instead of 35 and you start wishing things would move along and you start doing a slow boil and slowly quench the Spirit filled enthusiasm you left church with.

Witnessing too can be frustrating. While witnessing to my aunt Carol and her family, there was a time I drove from Salina to Hays to take her to church in Hays. Before going to her house to get her, I went to Wal-mart and saw her there bike shopping for her daughter.

She asked why I was in town and when I told her it was Wednesday and we were to meet at her house and go to church, she told me she forgot. She did not go that night and I felt as though I made a 200 mile round trip for nothing.

But we are encouraged to “Rejoice evermore” and “Pray without ceasing” and we are also encouraged to “Love thy neighbor” and to “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”

Things happen in our lives and we at times handle them wrong, that’s a given. But how is our reflection to others during our trials?

Reflection, what am I a mirror? Yes, every Christian should reflect their faith, love, and devotion. People should see the love that is in us through the Holy Spirit.

How many people will go to a football game and wear a silly looking cheese hat and cheer their favorite team, while painted up in the team colors, but will not discuss matters of faith? Where is the enthusiasm, where is the Spirit filled joy that comes with being a believer?

Some will enthusiastically go to a race, or a game, or a movie, or fishing, or golfing, but has no enthusiasm for church. That too is a reflection of the person.

It is so easy to rattle off “yea I believe in God” but James 2:20 says “But wilt thou know, o vain man, that faith without works is dead?” Enthusiasm for God should promote works as a means of demonstrating faith. It also shows growth in the Lord.

I know as well as anyone how hard it is at times to stay enthusiastic when it seems the world around you is collapsing and you are alone. But sooner or later a Christian should remember that Romans 8:31 states……”If God be for us, who can be against us? With God in our corner we can not be spiritually defeated unless we concede.

Folks, don’t loose enthusiasm for God, don’t let the world beat you down to the point of not caring. Don’t go to church out of any sort of obligation; go out of faith, to learn how to serve. If you are looking for something bigger or better then God to devote your time to, you will come up empty.

I will now close with Psalm 55:22 and Psalms 84:11 and hope these verses encourage you. If you want the blessings these verses will bring, grab a Bible.