Grab some Knees

Repost from an old blog - August 19, 2007

I'm reading one of our church's missionary books "Africa's Soul Hope: The AIDS crisis and the church" by Ellen Decker and I came across a quote from Charles Spurgeon that really cut to the heart of the matter..."If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. If they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees. Let no one go there unwarned and unprayed for." What a task we have...Grab some knees and don't let go.

The Great Commission

16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:16-20

The Game Plan for Life

"What guys want to know, everywhere I go, is how they can succeed too. And they're not just talking about becoming rich or famous or winning trophies. They want to be happy. They want to be good husbands and fathers, good people. They want to find true success and relevance in their lives."

~ Joe Gibbs, The Game Plan for Life

The measure of a life...

"The measure of a life, after all, is not its duration, but its donation."

~ Corrie Ten Boom

Run from God

"He who runs from God in the morning will scarcely find Him the rest of the day."

~ John Bunyan

Pleasures

When I was on my feet, big boisterous pleasures provided only fleeting satisfaction. In a wheelchair, satisfaction settles in as I sit under an oak tree on a windy day and delight in the rustle of the leaves or sit by a fire and enjoy the soothing strains of a symphony. These smaller, less noisy pleasures are rich because, unlike the fun on my feet, these things yield patience, endurance, and a spirit of gratitude, all of which fits me further for eternity. It is this yieldedness that gains you the most here on earth.

~ Joni Eareckson Tada

Suffering Makes...

The greatest Christians in history seem to say that their sufferings ended up bringing them the closest to God - so this is the best thing that could happen, not the worst.

~ Peter Kreeft

The Wheelchair is a Gift

Even though I have rough moments in my wheelchair, for the most part I consider my paralysis a gift. Just as Jesus exchanged the meaning of the Cross from a symbol of torture to one of hope and salvation, He gives me the grace to do the same with my chair. If a cross can become a blessing, so can a wheelchair. The wheelchair, in a sense, is behind me now. The despair is over. There are now other crosses to bear, other "wheelchairs" in my life to be exchanged into gifts.

~ Joni Eareckson Tada