YOUR LEG OR YOUR LIFE! VCG Citation: Our Daily Bread, 1/12/1995
Who would ever dream of amputating his own leg? Nobody-- unless that person had lost his mind or was faced with the grim choice of losing either his leg or his life. That was Bill Jeracki's terrible predicament, according to The Denver Post, when he was out fishing alone in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. He was trapped when a boulder fell on his leg, and he was unable to free himself. Knowing that as night came on he might die of exposure, Bill did what he knew he had to do. Relying on his skill as an assistant to a doctor at a Denver hospital, he took a nylon rope out of his tackle box, tied it tightly above his knee, and cut off his leg with his knife. He then dragged himself to his car and drove 10 miles to the nearest town. He not only survived the trauma, but with an artificial limb he is out fishing again. What a decision--your leg or your life! But what if the stakes were even higher? Suppose you had to choose between giving up some habit, ambition, or relationship, and giving up heaven. The Lord made the issue of
following Him that decisive. He said, "What profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" (Matthew 16:26). It's a question you and I must answer.

There are significant cultural differences between East and West, between Orient and Occident. Professor Zhou Xiaozheng, a sociology professor at People's University in Tianjin, China, was interviewed on the matter recently by The New York Times and focused on the issue of asking another's pardon.
According to Zhou, Japan, China, and other Asian cultures tend to be apologetically challenged. "Germany has been good at making apologies for what it did during World War II," he said. "But the Japanese are not good at this, nor are the Chinese. They are always looking for excuses and forgetting misdeeds."
One school visited by Professor Zhou had been particularly terrorized during the Cultural Revolution of 1966 to 1976. One adult was beaten to death, and the principal of the school was left handicapped. The students who did those horrible deeds are all grown up now, many of
them parents and teachers themselves. "But up to now there is not a single person who has gone back and apologized for what they did," he said. "It is a problem with the whole society."
Because of the reluctance in Chinese society to say "I'm sorry," an apology company has begun to thrive. The Tianjin Apology and Gift center has for its motto "We Say Sorry for You." Its founder believed the people of Tianjin needed help with making up and getting past grievances -- help with apologizing.
I can't predict how successful an apology company in China will be. But I agree with Professor Zhou on one key point. "If you are sincere," he said, "you should go and apologize by yourself."
- (c) 2000 Rubel Shelly. Used by permission. From Rubel Shelly's "FAX of Life" printed each Tuesday. See <http://www.faithmatters.com> for previous issues of the "FAX of Life."

Little David received a parrot for his birthday. The parrot was fully grown, but had a bad attitude and worse vocabulary. Every other word was an expletive. When he wasn’t saying cuss words, he was just plain rude. David tried hard to change the parrot’s attitude and was constantly saying polite words and playing soft music. Nothing worked. He yelled at the bird. The bird got worse. He grabbed the bird and shook it. The bird just got more mad and more rude.

Finally, in a moment of desperation, David grabbed the bird, flung open the door of the freezer, threw the bird in, and slammed the freezer door. For a few moments he heard the bird squawking and kicking and screaming. Then, suddenly, there was quiet. David was frightened that he might have actually killed the bird and quickly opened the door.

The parrot calmly stepped out onto David’s arm and said: "I’m sorry that I might have offended you with my language and actions. I ask for your forgiveness. I will endeavor to correct my behavior." David was astonished at the bird’s change in attitude and was about to ask the parrot what had changed him. But the parrot continued, "While I was in the freezer, I was looking around. May I ask what the chicken did?"

TIED TO THE CORPSE OF SIN Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations
The Romans sometimes compelled a captive to be joined face-to-face with a dead body, and to bear it about until the horrible effluvia destroyed the life of the living victim. Virgil describes this cruel punishment:

Without Christ, we are shackled to a dead corpse -- our sinfulness. Only repentance frees us from certain death, for life and death cannot coexist indefinitely.

YOU’RE AT THE WRONG ADDRESS

I just moved into a new apartment and was having problems with the mailman who was delivering the previous tenant's mail to my address. Hoping to resolve the situation, I
enlarged my name on the mailbox, but he still kept giving me the wrong letters.
Finally, I left a note saying that he was delivering the mail incorrectly.
The next day I went to the box to find this addition to my message: "Sir, I am delivering the mail correctly. You're just living at the wrong address."

John Maxwell tells of a native African preacher, a Rhodes Scholar, who came into his church late one day by the back door… wearing burlap instead of a suit… ringing a bell instead of carrying his Bible, declaring "It's time to Wake Up - and Proclaim a time of Repentance."

The church fired him and had him committed to a mental hospital.

THE IRS CONSCIENCE FUND Newhouse News Service LA Times 4/27/80

Over the past 169 years, the federal government has received almost $4 million in unsolicited funds from guilt stricken Americans who feel they have cheated the government and want to clear their consciences.

Such money, usually received anonymously, is added to the Treasury Department’s obscure "Conscience Fund" almost every day. In recent years, the fund has received a check for 16 cents to cover the cost of two 8 cent stamps the donor said he had illegally reused. Another check was for $50 to cover the cost of a theft the donor said he had committed at an unnamed railway station 58 years earlier. Occasionally, the amounts are substantial. A few years back the government received, out of the blue, a $139,000 payment to settle old income tax debts.

The 1^st deposit of conscience money is believed to have been made in 1811 during James Madison’s presidency and amounted to $5, officials at the Treasury Department said. Money has arrived in a steady trickle ever since, usually accompanied by brief letters explaining why the donors are sending the funds and offering their apologies, like this excerpt from a recent donor:

"While I was in the U.S. Air Force for 4 years, I took a few things that did not belong to me. I am now a Christian and would like to make it right. I don’t know the exact value but this $100 should cover it."

It was mealtime during a flight on a small airline in the Northwest. "Would you like dinner?" the flight attendant asked the man seated in front of me. "What are my choices?" he asked. "Yes or no," she replied.

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE by Marlin Howe. Pulpit Helps, May 94 (Vol 19, No 5). Page 10.

Behavioral scientists talk about the "theory of dissonance" which says that what one thinks and what one does must agree, otherwise dissonance or disharmony results. For most, that dissonance manifests itself as a feeling of uneasiness, a lack of peace. The human response to dissonance is to get rid of it. One way or another, peace must be restored. That may mean getting our actions to jibe with our thinking, or it may mean revising our thinking to fit our actions. This is how Christians backslide. Thinking slips to agree with action or action slips to agree with an error of mind. For this reason, it is dangerous to rely heavily on inner peace as a guide to right or wrong.

There is only one reliable guide for moral decisions, and that is the Word of God. In Rev. 2, the church at Ephesus is praised for its good deeds, hard work, and persistence and recognized for fighting wickedness and apostasy. Somewhere along the line, however, this church lost its "first love." Perhaps it was so busy fighting the bad guys that it neglected loving the good guys. Perhaps it even neglected loving God. The solution offered was to "repent [change your thinking] and do the things you did at first." "For me to know right but to do wrong will result in either repentance or backsliding." One way or another, I will find peace. It may come through compromise and a decision to live with sin. It may come through adjusting either my thinking or behavior to bring it in line with God's Word. Two routes to inner peace; two very different results. "Is inner peace a reliable guide to right and wrong?"

In 1980 New York City Mayor Ed Koch appeared on a local news program in the middle of the city’s financial crisis. Koch had spent over a quarter of a million dollars to put up bike lanes in Manhattan, and they turned out to be a disaster. Cars were driving in the bike lanes, pedestrians were walking in the them, and bikers were getting crowded out. It was a mess and many people in New York were irate about it. Koch was coming up for re-election, so a handful of journalists cornered him on this show, planning to tear him to pieces for spending money foolishly when the city was nearly broke. One reporter said, "Mayor, in light of the financial difficulties New York City is facing, how could you possibly justify wasting $300,000 on bike lanes?" The stage was set for a half-hour confrontation. Instead, Koch said, "It was a terrible idea. I thought it would work, but it didn’t. It was one of the worst mistakes I ever made." Then he stopped. None of the other journalists knew what to say or do. They were expecting him to squirm and make excuses, but he didn’t even try. The next journalist stammered and said, "But Mayor Koch, how could you do this?" Koch said, "I already told you. It was a stupid idea. It didn’t work." Then he stopped. There was still 26 minutes left to go on the news show, and the reporters had to find something else to talk about. The last thing they expected that day was for the mayor take responsibility for his actions. Ultimately, of course, Koch went on to receive both the Democratic and the Republican endorsements for re-election.

QUOTE: Confess your sins to the Lord, and you will be forgiven; confess them to men, and you will be laughed at.  --- Josh Billings

TAKE UP YOUR CROSS Philip Yancy in Leadership Summer 1980

Self-denial first strikes at my basic identity. I am by nature a selfish creature, and I spend my time inside a body and a personality which is unique in all the world. It inevitably follows that I begin observing the world through a viewpoint, making value judgments based on how things align with my perspective, and imposing my likes and dislikes on others around me. In his essay "The Trouble with X" C. S. Lewis points out that we spot a fatal flaw in almost everyone we meet, even our closest friends. We say about them, "He’s a very fine fellow and I enjoy his company. If only it weren’t for his…" Yet we almost never see that fatal flaw in ourselves. We rationalize our weaknesses, explaining them away with references to our backgrounds or our good intentions.

Denying myself starts with a full and repentant acceptance of the fatal flaw within me. Regardless of all my accomplishments, all my sophistication, all my admirable traits, I must come to the humbling ground where I acknowledge I am not different from, but like every person who has ever lived. I am a sinner.

Gentlemen: Enclosed you will find a check for $150. I cheated on my income tax return last year and have not been able to sleep ever since. If I still have trouble sleeping, I will send you the rest. Sincerely, A Tax Payer.

There was a cartoon several years ago in the Saturday Review of Literature in which little George Washington is standing with an axe in his hand. Before him, lying on the ground, is the famous cherry tree. He has already made his smug admission that he did it – after all, he "cannot tell a lie."

But his father is standing next to him exasperated saying, "All right, so you admit it!" You always admit it! The question is, when are you going to stop doing it?"

CHANGE WORLD/ START WITH SELF Pulpit Helps 3/97 p. 8

the following words were written on the tomb of an Anglican bishop in the crypts of Westminster Abbey:

"When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits. I dreamed of changing the world. As I grew older and wiser, I discovered the world would not change, so I shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my country. But it too, seemed immovable.

"As I grew into my twilight years, in one last desperate attempt, I settled for changing only my family, those closest to me, but alas, they would have none of it.

"And now as I lie on my deathbed. I suddenly realize: If I had only changed myself first, then by example I would have changed my family.

"From their inspiration and encouragement, I would then have been able to better my country, and, who knows, I may have even changed the world.

It is interesting that the description of our Lord is that He is our Christ. It is unique that it begins with the letter "C." What is a "C" but an "I" that is bent and broken.

He was a moderately successful professor just prior to the Civil War. A highly religious man who had no children of his own, he determined to read the Bible to the children of the slaves in his area and before long had large crowds of Blacks gathered together as he shared with them about God's word. When the War between the States began, he was torn. Opposed to slavery and trained in the North at West Point, he was still a citizen of Virginia and a strong supporter of States' Rights. He resigned his professorship in 1861 to join the Confederate Army receiving an immediate commission as colonel and rose to the rank of brigadier general in matter of months. Regarded by many as a brilliant tactician, he applied many of the principles he had learned from scripture to the battle field.

During the First Battle of Bull Run he had been ordered by Lee to hold his position on a hill at all costs. The battle was going badly for the Confederates and their lines began to crumble and run. Attempting to rally his own men, Brig. General Barnard E. Bee broke the rout by pointing his men's attention to the hill that was being valiantly held by the one time professor. He shouted "there stands Jackson and his Virginians standing like a stone wall." That realization by fellow Southerners turned the tide and won the battle for the South.

Doctors of old times tested the insanity of a mental patient by the following test: The patient was placed in a room with a sink. A faucet was turned on. With stopper in, the faucet was turned on causing the sink to overflow. The patient was then handed a mop and the door was closed.

If the patient had enough sense to shut off the water, pull the plug, and then mop up the water, he was considered capable of going home. But on the other hand, if the patient mopped like crazy and never bothered to shut off the water and/or pull the plug, he was considered still insane and needed to be detained a little longer in the mental institution.

* Antiquated Mental Test Has Relevance Today, in Point Marion, Pennsylvania, police officers armed with bullet proof vests and two mops are supposed to keep the city clean from crime, loiterers, and corruption, but society has tied their hands: they can mop up the mess but they are not allowed to pull the plug or "turn off the water."

A serviceman wrote about a bit of unintended comedy he witnessed in the army. It happened during a company inspection at the Redstone Arsenal in Alabama, the U.S. Army's guided missile school.

The inspection was being conducted by a full colonel. Everything had gone smoothly until the officer came to the man standing just next to the soldier who recalled the incident.

The colonel stopped, looked the man up and down, and snapped, "Button that pocket, trooper!"

The soldier, more than a little rattled, stammered, "Right now, sir?"

"Of course right now!" was the reply.

Whereupon the soldier very carefully reached out and buttoned the flap on the

colonel's shirt pocket.

For some reason peculiar to our human nature, it is always easier to see the unbuttoned pockets of others than it is to see our own. Splinters in other people's eyes seem to be more obvious than planks in our own eyes. W.T. Parkiser Herald of Holiness

A wise man? According to the ancient Stoic philosophers, wise men are above

repentance, since repentance is an admission of being wrong. Epictetus said, "Not repenting is the mark of a wise man."

A righteous man? According to Jesus, "righteous men have no need of repentance"

(Luke 15:7). Naturally then, people who perceive themselves as wise and righteous will refuse to repent.

QUOTE: Often we change jobs, friends, and spouses instead of ourselves.

-Akbarali H. Jetha, Reflections (Combined Edition.Bombay)

Biblical repentance reestablishes credibility with the world and fellowship with the Lord. The seven "whats" of 2 Corinthians 7:11 are seven marks of godly sorrow:

(1) Earnestness to do right.

(2) Eagerness to clear oneself through apology.

(3) Indignation against sin.

(4) Fear of God.

(5) Intense desire to see right accomplished.

(6) Zeal to correct what's wrong.

(7) Readiness to see that wrongdoing be punished.

The story is told of a famous rabbi who was walking with some of his disciples when one of them asked, "Rabbi, when should a man repent?" The rabbi calmly replied, "You should be sure you repent on the last day of your life." "But," protested several of his disciples, "we can never be sure which day will be the last day of our life." The famous rabbi smiled and said, "The answer to that problem is very simple. Repent now."

ROLLING BOULDERS Pulpit Helps 11/92 p.25

A few years ago, I was privileged to attend a seminar on alcohol and drug abuse. One of my most vivid memories is an illustration used by one of the psychiatrists who spoke to us. He said an alcoholic, trying to rehabilitate himself, was like a person attempting to push a boulder bigger than himself up a steep hill. No matter how much effort he put out or how far he pushed the boulder, there would come a time he could not control it and it would roll back on top of him.

This bit of wisdom did not start with this psychiatrist, but with the wise man, Solomon: "... he who rolls a stone, it will come back to him" (Prov. 26:27b).

I HEARD ALL THE EVIDENCE AGAINST ME R.Digest 9/76 p.108

The defendant came forward at his trial to plead guilty.

"Why didn't you plead guilty at the start and save us all a lot of time?" asked the judge.

"I thought I was innocent," replied the defendant. "But that was before I heard the evidence against me."

YOU I'LL PAY R.Digest 9/78 p. 136

A fellow named Louie, deep in debt, is thinking of ending it all. "That's ridiculous," says his neighbor, a chemist. "Look, I can give you a pill that will put you in a state of suspended animation. I'll say you died - but then I'll ship your body to another state, where you can be revived and start a new life."

Louie agrees, and the next day he's laid out in the funeral parlor with everyone lined up to pay their last respects. The 1st creditor goes up to the coffin and says, "Louie, why did you do it! So you owed me $15,000. What's $15,000 between friends?

Then the 2nd creditor goes up and says, "Louie, all you had to do was ask. I would have extended the $50,000 you owed me indefinitely."

Now a 3rd creditor goes up to the coffin. "Louie, you dirty rat! You borrowed $200,000 from me and now I've lost my house and business. Well, you may be dead but I'm going to get my vengeance. I'm going to take this 8 inch butcher knife, stick in your heart and twist it once for every dollar you borrowed from me."

With this, Louie opens one eye and ever so slightly, lifts his index finger and says "You - I'll pay."

IT'S NOT MY PROBLEM r.digest February 1975

Once after humorist James Thurber had written a check for more than his balance, he received an invitation to see the bank manager. The latter was nonplused when Thurber explained that he kept no records of the checks he issued. "How do you know how much money is in your account?" the banker asked.

"I thought it was your business," retorted Thurber stiffly.

MOMA AIN'T NO ESCORT! r.digest January 1994

My mother began getting calls from men who misdialed the similar number of an escort service. Mom, who had had her number for years, asked the telephone company to change the organization's number. They refused.

The calls kept coming day and night. Finally, Mom began telling the gentlemen who called that the company had gone out of business. Within a week, the escort voluntarily changed its number.

There was a very capable evangelist whom God used in a significant way in the British Isles. But he lost his interest in spiritual things and drifted into a life of sin, for a number of months. Some of his sin was done in secret but ultimately, it became public knowledge and even made the headlines. At first, all he could think of was that he had been ruined for life, but, finally, he realized what a fool he had been, and he came back to God like the prodigal from the pigpen.

He found exactly the same thing the prodigal did. The Lord welcomed him with open arms and began to strengthen him and bless him. Finally, after a period of waiting, he felt pressed back into a public ministry for the Lord. He was afraid that his sin would be found out and brought up all over again, but after he felt sure it was hidden and tucked away in the past, he went back to preaching, rejoicing in the forgiveness of God.

One night, when he was in Aberdeen, he was given a sealed letter. Just before the service began, he read the unsigned letter. It described a shameful series of events he had been engaged in. His stomach churned as he read it. The letter said, "If you have the gall to preach tonight, I'll stand and expose you."

He took that letter and went to his knees. A few minutes later, he was in the pulpit. He began his message by reading the letter, from start to finish. Then he said, "I want to make it clear that this letter is perfectly true. I'm ashamed of what I've read, and what I've done. I come tonight, not as one who is perfect, but as one who is forgiven." God used that letter and the rest of his ministry as a magnet to draw people to Jesus Christ.

-- "Hearts of Iron, Feet of Clay", By Gary Inrig