Does your faith need strengthening? Are you confused and wondering if Jesus Christ is really "The Way, the Truth, and the Life?" "Fight for Your Faith" is a blog filled with interesting and thought provoking articles to help you find the answers you are seeking. Jesus said, "Seek and ye shall find." In Jeremiah we read, "Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall seek for Me with all your heart." These articles and videos will help you in your search for the Truth.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Voltando a Confiar Totalmente

http://anchor.tfionline.com/pt/post/voltando-confiar-totalmente/
Lenka

Em abril minha cirurgia aparentemente simples não correu tão bem como eu esperava. Foi tudo diferente e eu me vi lutando pela minha vida. Foi então que percebi que, nestes últimos anos, eu andava colocando as coisas na minha vida nas minhas próprias mãos. Neste caso, eu depositei minha confiança nos médicos e no sistema de saúde em vez de colocar nas mãos dAquele que realmente sabe a melhor maneira de cuidar de mim. Agora, em retrospectiva, eu não mudaria a situação em nada. Passaria por tudo novamente se fosse me ajudar a reconectar com Jesus, como aconteceu, graças à misericórdia de Deus.

Quando chegou a hora da minha segunda cirurgia corretiva três meses depois, eu era uma pessoa diferente. (Não mereço nenhuma glória, pois eu era a cabeça dura.) A princípio estava preocupada. Fui atacada com um monte de pensamentos horríveis de que não ia sobreviver à cirurgia, etc.—qualquer coisa que o Inimigo conseguia me fazer engolir—até eu perceber que não tenho que dar ouvidos a ele. Eu podia escolher dar um basta nesses pensamentos e concentrar no positivo. Mas em vez disso, comecei a planejar as coisas que eu gostaria de fazer depois da cirurgia, como se a cirurgia fosse correr bem. Só aceitei pensar que a cirurgia seria bem sucedida e orei para Deus assumir o controle completo da minha vida.

Quando chegou a hora de ir para o hospital eu tinha perfeita paz, e tive um sentimento muito específico de que Abigail—a jovem do vídeo do YouTube que estava morrendo de câncer mas tinha plena paz no coração—seria o meu espírito ajudante naquele momento. Senti sua presença reconfortante mais de uma vez. Além disse, a caminho do hospital, no Metro, depois de ter clamado a proteção de Deus, eu “vi” um grande anjo branco atrás de mim, forte, poderoso, e com muita autoridade.

Antes da segunda cirurgia, orei por semanas e fiz o melhor que pude para entregar a minha vida totalmente nas mãos de Deus, fazendo orações do tipo “o que for preciso” e “faça o que Você quiser”, e estava se tornando uma realidade. Quando chegamos à entrada da sala de operação, senti como os três jovens hebreus em frente da fornalha ardente. “Meu Deus é capaz de me livrar... mas se não o fizer, ainda assim confiarei nEle.” Eu estava tão feliz! Simplesmente sabia que Deus tinha tudo sob controle e fosse qual fosse o resultado, seria bom.

Antes da cirurgia não me deram nenhum calmante, como costumam fazer. Entrei no bloco cirúrgico desperta e em paz. Antes da anestesia eu até comentei como a sala era bonita, com grandes janelas de vidro, e bati papo com a equipe de apoio. Eu também disse que a cirurgia teria que ser bem sucedida porque tinha gente na metade do mundo orando por mim. Isso foi algo incomum de se dizer em um país que é provavelmente o menos religioso do mundo.

A cirurgia foi um sucesso, apesar das dificuldades. Meu médico disse que foi um milagre tudo ter dado certo. Na UTI tive que lutar contra alguns reveses e fazer duas transfusões de sangue porque perdi muito sangue. Minha pressão arterial estava baixa e era difícil respirar. Mas acredito que Deus me ajudou r minha recuperação foi rápida e milagrosa. Em vez de ficar dez dias internada, como esperado originalmente caso tivesse complicações, fui para casa no oitavo dia, andando e me movimentando sem dor.

Durante a internação, fiz amizade com minha companheira de quarto e com a senhora do quarto ao lado. Ambos tinham 60 anos e haviam sido diagnosticadas com câncer, e passado por uma cirurgia recentemente. Esperavam os resultados da operação e, é claro, estavam bastante nervosas. Tivemos várias conversas lindas sobre Deus e Seu amor e cuidado. Foi muito gratificante poder consolá-las e ajudá-las. Lembrou-me de como Jesus foi até aos doentes, e que a luz brilha muito mais forte na escuridão. Dei folhetos a ambas, e um forte testemunho e explicação sobre a oração da salvação. Uma delas também ganhou um Novo Testamento.

Quando orei por elas na minha última noite lá, o Senhor me disse que ambas ficariam bem. Senti que devia lhes dizer, e elas ficaram muito felizes. Foi preciso muita fé da minha parte para fazer isto, crer que eu havia recebido a mensagem certa. Agora, quase um mês depois, uma delas me ligou para dizer que estava completamente livre do câncer, e que não vai precisar fazer quimioterapia ou tratamento.

Sou grata pelas centenas de amigos ao redor do mundo que oraram por mim. Eu não teria conseguido sem vocês. Um grande OBRIGADA!

Também estou muito empolgada com o futuro. Depois de alguns anos sentindo uma secura espiritual, que na verdade era culpa minha, a vida por Jesus tem se tornado novamente emocionante. Não quero mais ditar o que acho ser o melhor para mim. Não me importo mesmo mais com o que me acontece. Sei que será bom porque quero apenas o que Deus quer para mim. Só quero voltar a confiar totalmente no Senhor. É tão libertador e tão emocionante! Mal posso esperar para ver aonde isto vai nos levar como Família e o que Ele fará por nós e através de nós. Sou eternamente grata, e meu maior desejo é continuar assim.

Tradução Denise Oliveira. Revisão H.R.Flandoli.

Seeing Through the Eyes of Jesus


http://anchor.tfionline.com/post/seeing-through-eyes-jesus/
A compilation

Audio length: 12:56

Download Audio (11.8MB)

God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.—1 Samuel 16:71

*

Pulling my car into the drive-thru line at Starbucks … I saw the woman. She sat across the parking lot, leaving just enough room for a thoroughfare, as she too was waiting in the Starbucks line. I smiled, and gestured to her. It went something like this: “Are you next, or am I?” Really, I was fine either way.

She was not. Thinking I was trying to snag her spot of next up, she gunned her Suburban, rolled down the window, and let out a string of expletives that made me blush.

“Go ahead, please,” I said. “I wasn’t sure who was first.”

She didn’t buy it. She continued with the name calling without taking a breath. …

Then something really strange happened. Instead of getting mad or yelling back at her, a sense of empathy invaded me. I looked at her again, and this time I saw someone different, someone who wrenched my heart. Her eyes were red and puffy. Her hair was pulled back in a natty ponytail. She held her phone in her palm, glancing down at it every few seconds. And she was driving that big ol’ gas hog of a Suburban, my own car of choice when I had three kids at home and a carpool.

Dear God. I was looking at myself ten years ago. Same car, same ponytail. Same frustration. We’ve all been there. Dog vomits on the sofa. Both kids have strep throat. The garbage disposal chooses today to break, when you are trying to disintegrate moldy fridge leftovers. Husband is mad because you forgot to pick up the dry cleaning and he’s going on a business trip. Sound familiar? …

She gunned forward, just to show me that she could.

I left her a wide berth, smiled at her splotchy face. She shot me a sideways scowl. …

Pulling up to the loudspeaker behind her, I said “I want to pay for whatever the woman in front of me has ordered. And please tell her I hope she has a better day.” I meant every word.

The woman idled in front of me for a good four minutes, talking to the barista who had leaned out the window. She shook her head and handed over a bill. She drove around the side of the building slowly, this time no gunning. Hmmm.

“No takers, huh?” I said to the barista as I pulled forward.

“Nope. She said she couldn’t believe you wanted to pay for her drink after all the names she called you. She said she couldn’t allow it, and said to tell you she was sorry. She felt really bad.”

“Did you tell her I hoped she had a better day?”

“Yep. She said thanks—that she already was.”

“Good to hear.” I smiled and handed her a dollar to put in the tip jar.

As I drove away, I began to cry. Not because I had been called so many terrible names, but because God had answered my very recent prayer—which was that He would allow me to see people as He sees them, not as I see them. That I might be able to see the hurting inside, instead of just the hurtful outside. And maybe a few tears were of gratitude and amazement that He always shows up with an answer when I sincerely ask.—Susan Basham2

*

The scripture makes it abundantly clear: “God saved you by his grace… [Why? Because] We are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” (Ephesians 2:8–10). Paul makes it clear that it was a gift from God, not something you did for yourself. God did this because He still sees that work of art He created us to be.

So why do we struggle to treat people like the immensely valuable, one-of-a-kind masterpiece God created with His own hand? As I study the life and interactions of Jesus with very sin-stained, muddied people, it becomes evident that Jesus could see something worth dying for in all people He encountered. Jesus could see past the mud of sin to the masterpiece God wanted to restore.

What do you see most when you encounter sin-stained people? What do you see when you look in the mirror? Do you see the mud? Or do you see the masterpiece God wants to restore? What you focus on determines who you become and the impact you have on people around you! …

Jesus demonstrated a spiritual vision that He wants to impart to us—to see the masterpiece He sees in us, and to renovate us to become people whose hearts reflect what God sees, even in the muddiest, sin-stained life. Jesus saw God’s masterpiece, waiting to be revealed by His grace, and as a result, many people actually became what He envisioned. What do you envision, even for the muddiest human you encounter?—John Burke3

*

God asks that we value every individual, that we see humankind through His eyes of love, which means that we will look at others without bias, prejudice, or preconceived negative opinions. By embracing God’s perspective and seeing others as He does, we will avoid stereotyping people, or thinking of ourselves as better than others.

Understanding that God unconditionally loves all human beings and that His love knows no boundaries of race, creed, or status, guides our attitudes about others, especially those who are different from us in some ways.

Our commission as disciples, as those who walk in the Master’s footsteps, is to show the same love to others that Jesus showed.

We are meant to value and show respect to every person. Each person on earth is God’s creation just as we are, and God loves them just as He loves us. If we are following in Jesus’ footsteps, we won’t think other people are “below” us or inferior to us, no matter what their circumstances are. We are all equal in God’s eyes.—Peter Amsterdam

*

Reframing. I like that word. … It’s a terrific concept in the way it suggests that a situation, an event, a problem or a challenge can be viewed and understood in a variety of ways. When faced with a dilemma, we often see it in only one way, with only traditional options, none of which may be satisfactory.

Reframing is the creative and very helpful process of looking at something in a different light, from a very different perspective. And with that change in perspective come different solutions.

Reframing is a private, individual task: it is based on a creative alteration of one’s understanding of a situation, not modification of somebody else’s behavior or feelings. Reframing is something we do in the quiet holiness of our own hearts. It requires a thirst for insight. It insists on an openness to very new ideas. It mandates willingness to change.

And reframing often requires some real courage. It’s easy to try to change others. It’s much more difficult to try to change the way we perceive the world. But what a healthy, helpful exercise! One in which the world won’t change at all. But we will.—Robert A. Alper4

*

Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”5

“Seeing the people…” This word “seeing” means to notice something with perception. He noticed the reality of what was happening around him. … It is very difficult for us to do that. We get so busy and caught up in what we’re doing that life happens around us and we don’t even notice. But Jesus paid attention to what was going on. And perceiving what was going on with the people, he was moved with compassion. Compassion is a great word that comes from the same root as our word intestines.6 Down in his gut he had this incredible compassionate feeling about what he saw.

What was it that Jesus saw? First of all, he saw hurting people. His compassion was poured out to them “because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.”7 … [W]hen Jesus looked around, he saw past the surface issues of life, even beyond the physical needs, deep into the hearts of people. He saw people who were broken down and hurting, not able to answer questions about what life was all about, and feeling like they were in it all alone. That sounds like a picture of our world, doesn’t it?

But that’s not all Jesus saw. He also saw a plentiful harvest. … [H]e understood that what these people needed was hope, a sense that there was something they could have faith in, something that could meet the deepest needs of their heart. That was the gospel of the kingdom. So there was hope to be given to hurting, downcast, distressed people, and the hope was in who he was—the Messiah, who had come to set people free from the bondage of sin.

Jesus saw people. He noticed. He paid attention. And out of that a heart of compassion sprang into action to minister. He called his disciples to pray and be involved that way, and that’s what he is calling us to do. He is calling us to be men and women who can see the world we live in, perceive the needs, pray for God to raise up people to meet the needs, and then ourselves become part of the answer by being engaged in the wonderful harvest that’s out there.—Danny Hall8

Published on Anchor October 2014. Read by Debra Lee.

Footnotes:
1 NASB.

2 http://stdominicgrace.wordpress.com/2013/09/23/she-yelled-and-called-me-names.

3 http://www.johnburkeonline.com/seeing-through-the-eyes-of-jesus.

4 Life Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This: The Holiness of Little Daily Dramas (Liguori Publications, 1996).

5 Matthew 9:35–38 NASB.

6 See https://bible.org/illustration/god%E2%80%99s-compassion.

7 Matthew 9:36 NASB.

8 http://www.pbc.org/system/message_files/14668/14667_4853.html.

How Christians Treating Ebola Patients is History Repeating Itself

By Eric Metaxas, BreakPoint, Oct. 15, 2014

Between 250 and 270 A.D. a terrible plague, believed to be measles or smallpox, devastated the Roman Empire. At the height of what came to be known as the Plague of Cyprian, after the bishop St. Cyprian who chronicled what was happening, 5,000 people died every day in Rome alone.

The plague coincided with the first empire-wide persecution of Christians under the emperor Decius. Not surprisingly, Decius and other enemies of the Church blamed Christians for the plague. That claim was, however, undermined by two inconvenient facts: Christians died from the plague like everybody else and, unlike everybody else, they cared for the victims of the plague, including their pagan neighbors.

This wasn’t new—Christians had done the same thing during the Antonine Plague a century earlier. As Rodney Stark wrote in “The Rise of Christianity,” Christians stayed in the afflicted cities when pagan leaders, including physicians, fled.

Candida Moss, a professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Notre Dame, notes that an “epidemic that seemed like the end of the world actually promoted the spread of Christianity.” By their actions in the face of possible death, Christians showed their neighbors that “Christianity is worth dying for.”

This witness came to mind after listening to a recent story on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered.” Host Robert Siegel interviewed Stephen Rowden, who volunteered for Doctors Without Borders in Monrovia, Liberia.

Rowden’s grim task was to manage the teams that collected the bodies of Ebola victims. Rowden and his team retrieved 10 to 25 bodies a day. Since close contact with the victims is the chief means by which the usually-deadly virus is spread, Rowden and his team members lived with the risk of becoming victims themselves.

What’s more, living in the midst of this death and suffering took its toll. Rowden recalled entering a house and finding the body of a four-year-old victim who had been abandoned by her family. With the typical English understatement, he told Siegal, “I found that a very sad case.”

Rowden’s experience prompted Siegel to ask him if he was a religious man, to which Rowden replied, “I am. Yes, I’m a practicing Christian.” When Siegel then asked whether what he saw tested his faith, Rowden said that “No, I got great strength from my faith and the support of my family.”

Nearly eighteen centuries after the Plague of Cyprian, Christianity still prompts people to run towards the plague when virtually everyone else is running away.

Now as then, this power confounds and confuses Christianity’s critics. A recent article in Slate acknowledged that many of the people fighting the Ebola epidemic in West Africa were missionaries. The writer, Brian Palmer, admitted that he “[didn’t] feel good about missionary medicine, even though [he couldn’t] fully articulate why.” He knew that he shouldn’t feel this way but he did.

Ross Douthat of the New York Times suspects that Palmer’s misgivings have something to do with the fact that the selflessness of the missionaries “unsettles” his “secular and scientistic worldview.” In that worldview, “helping people is what governments and secular groups are supposed to do.”

But that’s not how it works. Palmer, like the emperor Julian the Apostate in the late fourth century, is seeing that “the impious Galilaeans support not only their own poor but ours as well.”

It’s enough to unsettle anyone’s worldview.

Monday, October 20, 2014

Continue Acreditando

D. Brandt Berg

Tive um lindíssimo sonho sobre fé. Eu e Maria íamos caminhando de mãos dadas, sozinhos, mas, por estranho que pareça, íamos por uma rodovia que atravessava uma região semidesértica, despovoada e descampada.

Parecíamos estar um pouco perdidos e procurando algo, procurando o lugar para onde íamos, ou pelo menos algum sinal de civilização, e estávamos quase um pouco inquietos, preocupados, receosos e apreensivos porque parecia estarmos tão longe, no meio do nada e não chegando a lugar nenhum. Íamos caminhando, esperando ver algum sinal de vida e carros, mas não havia nada.

Foi então que, de repente, chegamos a uma pequena estrada branca, como se fosse de concreto branco, e estreita. Parecia mais uma estradinha particular, indo para a esquerda e descendo um pequeno declive. E a uns cem metros ou algo assim havia uma espécie de lindo pórtico ornamental, que só por si era um edifício. Parecia um portal de castelo, com o castelo construído em volta e o portão passando por ele como um túnel.

E vi imediatamente que era a casa de um clube, uma espécie de clube de campo. Tínhamos encontrado, por acaso, um maravilhoso clube de campo com um lindo campo de golfe, que parecia se estender quase até o horizonte. Por isso, ficamos muito felizes por ter encontrado algum sinal de civilização, e fomos pela estradinha pavimentada de branco em direção ao portal aberto, sem encontrar ainda nenhum sinal de vida, ninguém por ali.

Quando atravessamos o estacionamento e chegamos ao lindo gramado, vimos uma longa fila de árvores ao longo de uma estrada ladeada de árvores altas alinhadas de ambos os lados que conduzia a uma linda cidadezinha de campo ao longe, a qual parecia ficar a apenas uns dois quilômetros de distância.

Mas, nesta altura, eu já estava muito, muito cansado, porque, pelo visto, tínhamos caminhado muito. Mesmo um par de quilômetros que fosse, ou uma milha ou duas, parecia um longo caminho. Então, olhei anelante para a linda cidadezinha rural à distância e depois para a Maria de uma forma um tanto interrogativa, como se perguntasse: "Como ainda vamos andar tudo isso para chegar lá?”

Então, por alguma razão, ocorreu-me que, num lugar assim civilizado e com um clube de campo, deveria haver algum transporte público. E, como que levado por essa orientação ou fé, olhei em volta, na direção do clube. E, como não podia deixar de ser, exatamente quando me virei e olhei para trás, vinha chegando um ônibus, como um ônibus de cidade ou de interior, talvez um ônibus rural ou interurbano, vindo da mesma rodovia por onde nós viéramos, e descendo a linda estradinha pavimentada de branco que levava até o arco do clube. Aí parou para descerem e subirem passageiros.

Nossos corações pularam de alegria quando pensamos: "Graças a Deus, um ônibus! Assim não vamos ter que ir a pé para a cidade, podemos pegar o ônibus!" Começamos a andar rápido em direção à estrada pela qual ele seguiria para a cidadezinha. Mas, pelo visto, não tínhamos agido rápido o suficiente! Tínhamos ficado ali parados, olhando para o ônibus tempo demais, olhando para ver o que dizia o letreiro na frente dele, para ver para onde ia, etc. Tínhamos ficado ali estudando a situação tempo demais e ele estava ganhando velocidade mais rapidamente do que esperáramos.

Começamos a correr, mas justo quando nos aproximávamos da linda estradinha que levava à cidade, de repente, o ônibus sumiu de vista, seguindo por uma pequena descida por detrás de uma pequena colina do campo de golfe. Ficamos muito desanimados porque vimos que não tínhamos agido tão rápido como deveríamos e ele estava se afastando.

Pensamos em gritar para que parasse, mas era praticamente tarde demais quando chegamos à estrada e o ônibus já tinha passado. Olhamos para a estrada e o vimos aparecer outra vez lá ao longe, descendo a linda estrada ladeada de árvores, por entre as árvores, e desaparecendo na distância, em direção à cidadezinha.

De repente, uma voz pareceu dizer: "Não tiveram fé suficiente."—Exatamente da mesma maneira como o Senhor fala em nosso coração, mas por vezes tão claramente que até parece que as palavras são realmente proferidas em voz alta. "Deveriam ter tido mais fé." Deveríamos ter gritado para o ônibus parar, deveríamos ter feito sinal para ele parar, reagido com mais rapidez e tido mais fé de que era um ônibus que podíamos pegar e que ia para a cidadezinha.

Quando finalmente decidimos que o ônibus ia passar por onde estávamos e descer a estradinha em direção à linda cidadezinha de interior, era tarde demais. Não tínhamos nos decidido rápido o bastante, não tínhamos corrido suficientemente rápido nem tínhamos chamado alto o bastante para o pegarmos. Por isso, foi embora e desapareceu pela pequena estrada, em direção à cidadezinha, e nós ficamos muito desanimados.

Havíamos perdido uma oportunidade de ouro, de finalmente pegar um transporte e não termos que andar mais, quando estávamos tão cansados e praticamente exaustos. Fiquei tão desapontado por ter perdido o ônibus que estava pronto para cair na grama e chorar. Estava tão triste, frustrado e desanimado.

Mas, de repente, escutei umas vozes que pareciam exatamente as de meu pai e minha mãe, exatamente como eles costumavam cantar juntos estes dois lindos coros:

Siga acreditando no Senhor,
Ele responde à oração.
Dores e males já vão passar,
Não tema nada Jesus perto está.

A tempestade já vai passar,
O arco-íris já vai brilhar.
Creia em tudo que Ele prometeu;
Acreditando e louvando a Deus.[1]

E o outro estribilhozinho que começa exatamente com as mesmas palavras:

Continue acreditando, Jesus está aqui!
Continue acreditando, não há nada a temer!
Continue acreditando, este é o caminho,
Sempre seguro, de dia ou de noite.[2]

Olha, se não fossem aquelas duas canções, acho que quase teria desistido! Mas senti-me encorajado a não desistir nem ficar desanimado por que o Senhor ainda estava conosco e ia ajudar-nos, apesar de termos sido fracos na fé e não termos tido fé suficiente para agirmos com rapidez e aproveitado a nossa oportunidade e a provisão de Deus. Deus ainda assim iria cuidar de nós. Lembro-me de meus pais cantarem juntos essas canções muitas vezes durante a minha infância para levantar-nos o ânimo e nos encorajar.

E comecei a pensar como a vida é tão parecida com aquele sonho e quantos de nós passamos por experiências tão desoladoras, errando pelos ermos deste mundo seco, escarpado, rochoso, áspero, totalmente perdidos, vagueando pelas colinas em busca de algo, algo que não sabíamos o que era, mas sentindo-nos perdidos, sabendo que precisávamos encontrar algum lugar, ir a algum lugar, e parar de vaguear por esse deserto de uma vida solitária, longe de amigos e entes queridos, da humanidade, quase parecendo separados do próprio Deus.—Quando, de repente, apareceu na nossa frente uma linda estradinha branca que, para mim, simboliza o caminho da salvação.

Nós entramos por acaso no caminho certo e pelo portão certo, pela porta — que, claro, é só Jesus. Ficamos muito salvos, num certo sentido, e muito aliviados e felizes por termos encontrado o caminho para aquele maravilhoso novo mundo da deslumbrante e quase divina estradinha que seguia por entre as árvores, em direção à linda cidadezinha rural lá ao longe. Esta, na ocasião, no sonho, quase nos pareceu o céu, e talvez representasse mesmo o céu.

Mas nós estávamos exaustos, muito cansados, e buscando o caminho certo por onde seguir, esperando pegar alguma carona ou transporte, e ali chegou ele! Demoramos demais para acreditar. Às vezes, podemos ver a vontade de Deus e a Sua mão pronta para ajudar-nos e, contudo, não a pegamos rápido o suficiente, não estamos orando o suficiente, não temos fé suficiente, e foi o que nos disse a voz quando perdemos o ônibus:

"Vocês não tiveram fé suficiente! Deviam ter tido mais fé." Devíamos ter gritado para que parasse, acenado para que parasse. No momento em que vimos aquele ônibus, devíamos ter corrido para pegá-lo e chamado em alta voz para que esperasse por nós, porque algumas oportunidades só acontecem uma vez e depois desaparecem.

De certa forma, parece que o ônibus representava a vontade de Deus para nós, o meio mais rápido de chegarmos ao nosso destino, a maneira mais fácil no poder do Seu Espírito e não na energia da nossa carne.—Levados pelo potente motor daquele ônibus, a vontade de Deus, em vez de termos que nos arrastar com as nossas pobres pernas cansadas, na força fraquinha da nossa carne.

Se tivéssemos tido mais fé teríamos corrido e gritado para que nos ajudassem e entrado no ônibus da vontade de Deus, seguindo na direção em que Ele queria que nós fôssemos. Poderíamos ter pegado o ônibus da vontade de Deus que teria nos levado com facilidade e potência para o nosso destino celestial naquela cidadezinha lá à distância. Parecia as colinas e campos gramados do próprio céu, e aquela aldeia do interior lá ao longe, uma linda cidadezinha que representava um lugar de destino celestial

Portanto, este sonho teve certamente uma lição para ensinar: que apesar de terem deixado os ermos desérticos do pecado, sua vida passada e entrado pelo lindo portão aberto da salvação, caminhado pelo caminho branco e estreito do Senhor para a salvação e passado por aquele portão — a porta aberta de Jesus — para o mundo celestial totalmente novo das nossas vidas n’Ele, ainda podem perder as oportunidades de ouro de serviço, enviadas por Deus, por não terem a fé que deveriam para agir rapidamente quando surge uma oportunidade e correr para pegar a oportunidade de ouro das portas abertas que Ele lhes deu. Mas esperam demais, hesitam até perderem a coisa, ficam ali debatendo se é realmente o que devem fazer, se essa é a direção certa e se devem agir e correr para aproveitar a oportunidade, entrar e ir naquela direção

Se tiverem falhado, de alguma forma, a vontade de Deus e a Sua suprema e melhor vontade; se parecer que todas as oportunidades de ouro que Ele lhes ofereceu se foram e sumiram na distância, deixando-os sós e solitários, tristes, desanimados, desencorajados, derrotados e quase desesperados e nas últimas, não desistam! Prestem atenção às vozes celestiais que estão cantando para encorajá-los e dizer-lhes que a esperança não acabou. Ainda há esperança. Ainda há uma oportunidade. Talvez o Senhor vá mandar outroônibus e até possam pegar um que venha um pouco mais tarde.

Talvez tenham perdido o primeiro e não tenham chegado ao seu destino tão depressa como deveriam, mas talvez não tenham perdido o último, graças a Deus. O Senhor ainda vai ser misericordioso com vocês e enviar outro para que possam seguir a Sua direção, que os levará ao serviço do Senhor, levados pelo poder, o amor e a vontade de Deus até onde Ele quer que vão, com a facilidade do poder do Seu Espírito. O seu Salvador é o vencedor e os ajudará a vencer e a triunfar sobre a sepultura e sobre tudo. Talvez precisem muito simplesmente se enterrar mais na Palavra de Deus para encorajar a sua fé. "A fé vem pelo ouvir, e o ouvir pela Palavra de Deus.”[3]

Então, sigam acreditando, nunca desistam. Sigam acreditando, não fiquem desanimados. Sigam acreditando, não desistam. Sigam sempre em frente. Continuem agarrando-se às promessas de Deus. Continuem firmando-se nas promessas e façam o que fizerem, continuem seguindo sempre por Jesus. Nunca parem, nunca desistam, nunca fiquem desencorajados. Não percam a fé só porque acham que perderam o último ônibus. Continuem esperando no Senhor um pouco mais e Ele lhes enviará outro ônibus, outra oportunidade, outra chance.

Se estiverem verdadeiramente arrependidos e quiserem mesmo achar a vontade de Deus, tenho certeza que Ele enviará outro ônibus de oportunidade de ouro para pegá-los e levantá-los, levantar os seus espíritos, encorajá-los, inspirá-los, fortalecê-los, curá-los e levá-los no poder do Seu Espírito para a gloriosa vitória de seu destino celestial. Continuem acreditando! Rápido! Tenham fé! Peguem o ônibus!

Publicado originalmente em setembro de 1982. Adaptado e republicado em junho de 2013. Tradução Denise Oliveira.


[1] De "Keep On Believing,"[Siga Acreditando] de Frank C. Huston (1871–1959), em tradução livre.

[2] Adaptação de "Keep On Believing," por Lucy Milward Booth e Mildred Duff, 1901, em tradução livre.

[3] Romanos 10:17.

Christ in Us: Our Hope of Glory

By D. Brandt Berg

Audio length: 10:09
Download Audio (9.2MB)

You cannot hide a happy, useful, helpful, shining spirit; it radiates on everybody the same light, the same joy. People see it and say, “You have such a light on your face; you seem so happy, you just shine. You’re always smiling!” It just radiates.

Happiness is what you make it. It’s a law of God just like gravity that you don’t get happy by trying to make yourself happy or trying to get somebody else to make you happy, but you get happiness by trying to give it to other people. You don’t find happiness by chasing it. You go around trying to make others happy, then happiness will find you; it will chase you and catch up with you and make you happy.

There is a little saying that love isn’t love till you give it away. What does it mean? Love isn’t real love until you are spending your time trying to give love to others.—Not trying to get love. That’s not love; that’s selfishness and wanting selfish satisfaction.

When you’re down in the dumps and you’re tearful and you’re a sad sack, you want everybody to be miserable with you; you want everybody else to sympathize with you and be sad with you. “How dare they be happy when I’m so sad? How can you be cheerful when I’m down in the dumps? Come on down here in the dumps with me! Don’t you dare be happy when I’m sad!” It’s pitiful. It’s human nature. But it’s godly nature, it’s spiritual nature, it’s the nature of Jesus to try to lift others up and encourage them and cheer them up even when you don’t feel like it.

The trouble is, I've found many people blame all their troubles on somebody else. They go around all their lives looking for somebody to make them happy instead of trying to find somebody they can make happy. It’s a common reaction to try to blame your problem on everybody else. “Why me, Lord? I didn’t do it; they did it to me! It wasn’t my fault. It’s his fault, her fault! They’re the ones to blame! They’re the ones that made me feel like this.” Because you’re sad and you’re unhappy, you may not even realize it, but you’re trying to bring everybody down with you.

My, how we love sympathy when we’re down, when sometimes that’s the last thing in the world we need. Somebody needs to come along to wake us up out of our lethargy and our stupor of self-pity and self-sympathy so we can get our minds on the Lord and His work and others and forget our stinking self! You’ll never get the victory by looking at yourself. There’s nobody that drags me down worse than me and myself, my own foul spirit.

Different denominations have different doctrines about getting the victory. Some believe that everybody’s got a good self and a bad self, and the only way to get the victory is to get the good self on top of the bad self and hold him down. They call it the doctrine of suppression, that you’ll always have that good and bad self, and the only thing to do is to just hold the bad self down.

The Holiness people believe in the doctrine of eradication: “Yes, you’ve got a good and a bad self, and the only way to get the victory is to get rid of the bad self. Go through the process of entire sanctification. Have the bad self cut out and throw it away like a cancer so there’s nothing but good self left. This is the good me. This is my self, the real self, the good self. There’s no evil thing left in me now; I’m all good, just the good me.”

The true doctrine of the Holy Spirit is neither one. You don’t get the victory by holding down that bad self, that temptation, that weakness, by just trying to hold it down by your own strength and by your good self sitting on it. You’ll never get the victory that way. And you'll never get the victory by thinking that you can have God cut out the bad self and just leave the good self.

I want to tell you right now, there is no such thing as good self at all. Your self cannot be good, not any part of it! There’s no good thing in you. The apostle Paul said, “No good thing dwelleth in me.”1 The true victory is not yourself, but His Self, Himself, so that “it is not I that live, but Christ that liveth in me.”2 The doctrine of habitation, cohabiting with the Lord.

“There is none righteous, no, not one. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”3 You’re no better than me and I’m no better than you. There’s nobody any better than us except Jesus. He’s the only one who can be good, and without Him we’re nothing! We can’t be good without Jesus, we can’t be righteous; we can’t get the victory, we can’t overcome our weaknesses. Don’t try to chase out the darkness; let the light in. Let Jesus in and He’ll take care of the whole problem. Get your mind off self and let Jesus come in and let the life of Christ shine in you.

Let go and let God! Quit trying to be something you aren’t and can never be, and that’s righteous. Only Jesus can make you righteous. Just let Jesus in. As that old song says, “Lift your heart to heaven and His glory will come in. Let Jesus have possession, He’ll save you from your sin. Lift your heart to heaven and His glory will come in.”

“Let go and let God have His wonderful way, let go and let God have His way! He’ll fill with His Spirit and turn night to day, let go and let God have His way.”

None of us are good enough. Only Jesus is good enough, but He’s good enough for us all. So let the light in and the darkness will flee. What is the glory? It’s the Spirit of the Lord. It’s His Spirit, His glory, His Self.

In our school we used to have people complaining about evil spirits and demons and devils. “Oh, the Devil did this and the Devil did that, and he caused me this trouble, and he was the one that delayed me, and I have so much trouble with the Devil.” I’d say, “Your problem isn’t the Devil! It’s our own spirit that we have the most trouble with, not evil spirits.”

Don’t blame it on everybody else and evil spirits and even the Devil. You can be your own worst enemy! You may have conquered all the rest, but your own spirit is the most difficult to conquer, and the only way you’re ever going to conquer it is not to conquer it, but to let Jesus conquer it. He’s your best friend.

“Keep your eyes on Jesus, do not watch the waves. Keep your eyes on Jesus, 'tis faith in Him that saves. Keep your eyes on Jesus, His promises avail. Keep your eyes on Jesus, praise God, He cannot fail.”

So why not quit trying to succeed yourself. Quit trying to have the victory. Just let Jesus come in and let Him win it. Get your mind on the Lord. Get your mind on your job. Get your mind on helping others. Seek their happiness before your own. Have real, genuine, sacrificial, unselfish love. That’s love, not trying to make yourself happy or trying to get others to make you happy. Get your mind on Jesus. Ask Him to help you love Him so much you’ll love others so much you’ll forget yourself, and live for Him, live for others.

Why not get busy and work hard for Jesus, work hard for others, work hard to help other people? You’ll get so busy and so filled with His Spirit and so filled with His joy and His happiness that He gives you as a result of trying to make other people happy, that you’ll forget that self of yours and your own worst enemy and you’ll find that your best friend, Jesus, can do it all if you’ll just let Him.

“Christ in me, the hope of glory. So that the life which we now live in the flesh, we live by the grace of God. It is no longer I that live, but Christ that liveth in me.”4

Originally published June 1985. Adapted and republished February 2014.
Read by Bryan Clark.


1 Romans 7:18.

2 Galatians 2:20.

3 Romans 3:10,23.

4 Colossians 1:27; Galatians 2:20.

Friday, October 17, 2014

Saber Ouvir Muda Vidas


Maria Fountaine

Eu sei que na internet, e em livrarias, é possível encontrar muita coisa sobre a importância de saber ouvir. No entanto, queria saber o que Jesus tem a dizer sobre o assunto, principalmente em relação a nós, Seus seguidores e representantes. Temos a função de refletir a Sua natureza em um mundo onde existe uma carência enorme de um exemplo vivo do amor, cuidado e do Espírito de Deus. Ele disse o seguinte:

Jesus: Uma das maiores carências atualmente é uma conexão entre as pessoas. As famílias estão dispersas e amizades se desfazem como consequência do estresse e das lutas do dia a dia. Casamentos muitas vezes se tornam parcerias por conveniência, em vez de um alicerce para a criação de famílias estáveis em um ambiente de fé.

A cultura do individualismo que impera em grande parte do mundo, e o aumento da criminalidade (até mesmo em cidades pequenas e vilarejos), podem nos deixar sem saber a quem recorrer na hora da necessidade. A decadência moral tão disseminada na sociedade pode deixar as pessoas solitárias, temerosas, e sem a paz de espírito e a motivação que a interação positiva e de confiança mútua entre os seres humanos ajudam a fomentar.

Vocês possuem um instrumento poderoso que é saberem ouvir, e devem usá-lo. Mesmo achando que não têm um coração partido pelos que precisam de Mim, se esforçarem-se por ser um ombro amigo, começarão a ver algo inédito — que as pessoas desejam ser valorizadas, e precisam de cuidados e compreensão.

Muitas pessoas nunca têm a sua necessidade de serem ouvidas suprida. Ao perceberem como isso as deixa tristes e solitárias, você se sentirá impelido a ser um ombro amigo, e a sua compaixão será uma manifestação do Meu amor. O fato de alguém considerar a pessoa importante o suficiente para ouvi-la contribui para ela adquirir autoconfiança e uma perspectiva positiva. Você não pode resolver todos os problemas, mas pode transmitir a Minha esperança, amor e força, simplesmente sendo um ombro amigo.

Recentemente li um artigo com um bom exemplo da importância de ouvir. A jovem autora explica que sofreu de depressão, solidão, e sentia-se incompreendida, principalmente por não ter com quem dividir suas dificuldades. Ela sentia um imenso vazio e se sentia um fracasso. Achava que familiares e amigos não a entendiam e não tinham tempo ou paciência para ouvi-la. Ela se sentia sufocada, isolada, e invisível.

Então lhe aconteceu algo maravilhoso. Um estranho entrou em sua vida, uma pessoa disposta e interessada em ouvi-la sem julgar. Esse simples ato de interesse sincero teve um impacto poderoso em sua saúde, atitude, senso de valor e perspectiva de vida. Ela relata:

Foi o poder desse ombro amigo que me trouxe uma cura inexplicável. Pela primeira vez na vida eu me sentia compreendida, que alguém realmente me ouvia e que o que eu dizia fazia sentido. Voltei a me sentir importante e visível, pois eu, como a maioria das pessoas deprimidas, não tinha motivação e valor próprio. Sentir-se compreendido é a mais básica das necessidades humanas, e durante um período depressivo é tão crítico quanto à necessidade de oxigênio.

Ser compreendida mudou instantaneamente a minha perspectiva. A invisibilidade se foi e passei a me sentir visível; a depressão desvaneceu e o ânimo invadiu o meu íntimo; deixei de me sentir travada e me tornei expansiva. Criei esperança. Ajudou a me reerguer e cuidar das minhas necessidades básicas. Aos poucos, com a ajuda de um ombro amigo, consegui sair da depressão e minha vida mudou para sempre.[1]

Essa moça não recebeu soluções, conselhos ou respostas. Em vez disso, a pessoa que tomou tempo para ouvi-la lhe fazia perguntas pungentes, como: “No fundo, no fundo, o que você realmente deseja?” “O que a deixa feliz?” “Pelo que você está agradecida?”, e “Como pode perdoar?” Neste caso, os resultados de ter e ser um ombro amigo foram evidentes e profundos.

A depressão, mesmo em um grau mais fraco, atrapalha o desempenho da pessoa e lhe rouba a alegria de viver. As estatísticas do Center for Disease Control (Centro para Controle de Doenças, órgão de saúde nos EUA), mostram que um em cada dez adultos nos EUA sofrem de depressão.[2]

Aqueles que trabalham com pessoas em estado de profunda depressão ou com tendências suicidas precisam saber ouvir com muita compaixão. O mesmo se aplica aos que trabalham com diferentes tipos de gestão de crise, negociações com sequestradores, ou aconselhamento após a perda de alguém. Muitas vezes, as pessoas sendo aconselhadas, que estão em crise, passaram anos prendendo as emoções e estão em um ponto em que não aguentam mais a angústia e reagem no desespero e com raiva.

Muitas vezes são dominadas pela dor ou tristeza, ou por um sentimento de que nada valem, e não têm esperança de que alguém as compreenda. Saber ouvir mostra que você se importa com a pessoa. Dar sua atenção integral a alguém pode mudar drasticamente a vida da pessoa, e, em alguns casos, até salvar sua vida.

Mas não são só os deprimidos que precisam de um ombro amigo. Todos precisam de alguém que os ouça.

Quando as pessoas nos ouvem nós crescemos e ficamos mais animados e expansivos.[3]

Quando ouvimos as pessoas, começamos a entender o seu grau de necessidade. Ouvir abre caminho para lhes apresentar Aquele que é o maior ombro amigo. O fato de você ouvir a pessoa pode ajudá-la a acreditar que Deus vai ouvi-la. Ao saber que você se importa ela começa a confiar no que você tem a lhe dizer, o que pode abrir oportunidades para falar com ela sobre Jesus.

Saber ouvir denota respeito, faz a pessoa se sentir valorizada. É sinal de amor. Saber ouvir ajuda a pessoa a mudar.

Nas ocasiões em que alguém me ouviu e me entendeu, consegui repensar meu mundo e seguir adiante. É impressionante ver que situações aparentemente sem solução se tornam possíveis quando alguém ouve. Quando alguém sabe nos ouvir, confusões que pareciam irremediáveis se transformam em ribeiros cristalinos.[4]

Keith, um membro da AFI, transmitiu esse conceito lindamente:

Temos aprendido muito no nosso trabalho com pessoas sem teto que, saber ouvir, é um presente de valor inestimável que lhes damos. Essas pessoas já passaram por tantas dificuldades, e, além de tudo isso, têm que conviver com o desdém e desprezo de outros, mesmo que, em alguns casos, o seu infortúnio poderia ter acontecido com qualquer um. Muitas delas perderam o amor próprio e a motivação. Por isso, sentar com elas, ouvir, e extrair seus profundos sentimentos as faz se sentir valorizadas. Elas ficam curadas e passam a ter esperança e a acreditar que também devem ser especiais para Deus.

As pessoas sem teto não são as únicas que precisam de um ombro amigo. Todo o mundo quer ser ouvido!

Saber ouvir de verdade nos dá a oportunidade de causar impacto na vida de alguém que Jesus ama. É uma oportunidade de sermos um exemplo vivo do cuidado e amor daquele que não só é um ombro amigo, mas também possui poder e sabedoria para direcioná-las na superação de todo e qualquer desafio. O Criador nos criou com o desejo de sermoscompreendidos e de entendermos os outros. Não é possível ser compreensivo sem ouvir. Se demonstrarmos interesse sincero pelas pessoas, elas vão sentir que alguém se importa e que elas têm algo de valor a oferecer. Consequentemente, conseguirão encontrar soluções para as situações que as travam.

Saber ouvir de forma sincera, sem julgar, pode mudar a autoimagem da pessoa, a sua maneira de ver suas situações e futuro. Demonstrar que se importa pode criar vínculos de confiança entre aquele que ouve e o que abre o coração, quer sejam colegas de trabalho, adolescentes, outros membros da família ou amigos. Contribui para reduzir ou aliviar a aliviar o temor, a ira, a insolência, rebeldia ou depressão.

Saber ouvir derruba barreiras e une as pessoas. Saber ouvir tem poder criativo, tira a pessoa da sua concha, ela se abre e passa a entender que pode avançar ou efetuar mudanças em sua vida. Conforme você ouve, a tendência é a pessoa sentir-se guiada intimamente pelas ideias ou planos que Deus embutiu em seus corações. Você já sentiu a necessidade de falar dos desafios e problemas que enfrenta com alguém, e sem a pessoa dizer nada, as coisas ficaram mais claras e você viu uma possibilidade de solução?

Ao ouvir a pessoa, você a ajuda a ouvir a si mesma, algo que todos precisam fazer. Vivemos em uma correria tão grande que muitos nem tomam o tempo ou sabem como se sintonizar a seus próprios pensamentos. Os resultados são: esperança renovada, cura emocional, motivação para se reerguer e tentar de novo, perceber que é importante para você e Deus. Esses são alguns benefícios incríveis que qualquer um pode alcançar. Certamente leva tempo e exige prática; não é fácil ouvir mais e falar menos e só estar ali pela pessoa e focar totalmente nela. Mas vale muitíssimo a pena.

Pense em alguém cuja vida você pode ajudar a mudar demonstrando interesse em ouvir o que ela tem no coração? Você não precisa saber conversar ou ser super culto. Não precisa de um lugar especial para isso. Precisa apenas estar presente com o coração repleto do amor e do cuidado do Senhor. O seu centro de operações é o lugar onde se encontra. O seu cliente é a pessoa mais próxima. Os instrumentos de trabalho são o coração, os olhos e ouvidos. O coração para sentir; os olhos para reparar na aparência desanimada, no olhar triste ou na expressão preocupada; e os ouvidos para ouvir. Pode demonstrar que se importa tomando tempo para ouvir, sendo compreensivo, e, na hora certa, mostrar à pessoa como se aproximar de Jesus, que pode ajudá-la a transpor toda dificuldade, resolver todo problema, e suprir todas as suas necessidades. Investir seu tempo na vida de alguém pode ajudar a efetuar mudanças eternas no coração e espírito da pessoa. Tudo começa com o simples ato de ouvir.



[1] Dhara Jani, “How to Help Someone Feel Loved and Understood.” (Como ajudar alguém a se sentir amado e compreendido, em tradução livre)

[2] Veja o artigo aqui.

[3] Karl Menninger.

[4] Carl Rogers.

Tradução Hebe Rondon Flandoli.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

J Harlen Bretz - And The Great Scablands Debate

http://www.detectingdesign.com/harlenbretz.html
By Sean D. Pitman, M.D. © April 2004

One of the most interesting debates in the history of geology has to do with the origins of the Channeled Scabland region in eastern Washington State - so named by J Harlen Bretz because of the region's distinctive channels with intervening "scabs" of loess or soil covering the underlying basaltic rock. But how, exactly, were these channels and scabs formed? Were they formed over millions of years of time by process of erosion currently active in the region or were they formed by some other means?

By the time of the early twentieth century, the most prominent scientists of the day were decidedly "uniformitarian" in their thinking.1,2 That is, they believed that the regular observed processes of usual geologic events acting over vast periods of time were able to explain most if not all of the observed geologic record. J Harlen Bretz, who earned his Ph.D. in geology from the University of Chicago, was the first geologist to seriously challenge this notion, but it was by no means an easy. The process to change the prevailing dogma of the day was a tremendous struggle for Bretz despite his use of a great deal of very good evidence - and that is what is most interesting about this story.

Many people think that scientists are dispassionate in their investigations, conclusions and their general search for truth. As we will soon discover, most scientists have always been very passionate people who, just like most of the rest of us, do not like to admit a long-held error even in the face of otherwise overwhelming evidence.

Bretz's interest in the Scablands was first aroused in 1910 by the newly published Quincy topography map of the area. This map clearly revealed great potholes now known as the Potholes Cataract. During this same year, Joseph Thomas Pardee published a paper describing the geomorphological evidence for a great glacial lake occupying the intermountain basins of western Montana during the late Pleistocene. He described the prominent horizontal shorelines or "strandlines" previously noted by T. C. Chamberlin. This lake, which was to eventually play a prominent role in this story, was named for Missoula Montana, where its strandlines were particularly prominent. 2













Bretz began the field research of the Scablands in 1922 with the help of a few advanced geology students. He continued these summer outings over the course of seven years, traveling largely by foot. What he saw was truly remarkable. For example, the cliffs of Dry Falls are 3.5 miles wide and drop some 400 to 600 vertical feet.1,4 By comparison, Niagara Falls is only a measly 1.5 miles wide and drops just 165 vertical feet. Bretz took note of the very steep sides of the channels and their relatively straight pathways as well as the presence of very large gravel bars deposited by water. Also, throughout the scablands Bretz saw huge islands of land protruding from the surrounding landscape with streamlined features as if they were carved by massive torrents of water. 2

Bretz first presented his initial observations in 1923 to the Geological Society of America. In that first paper he simply described what he saw on his various field trips. He deliberately took special care not to present any sort of explanation or interpretation for his observations. He did note, however, that the observed channel erosion required large non-specified quantities of water. On the other hand, in his second 1923 paper Bretz decided to stir up his fellow geologists just a little bit. In the second paper Bretz presented his theory that a truly huge catastrophic flood was in fact the creator of the most prominent features of the Scabland region. 2

Of course this conclusion was less than enthusiastically received by Bretz's fellow geologists. In fact, Bretz was openly and vigorously ridiculed for presenting such a ludicrous notion as a flood model for the scablands since this region had obviously been carved out over millions of years by uniformitarian processes. In support of this derision, Pardee's brief 1922 paper concerning the scabland region near Spokane, Washington (the Cheney-Palouse Scabland Tract) was used to discredit Bretz. In that paper Pardee proposed that unusual glaciation, acting over very long periods of time, created the Scablands.

However, when Bretz went to visit this area a couple years later he found that Pardee's "glacial" deposits were actually flood bars. What is even more interesting is that, after hearing of Bretz's ideas, Pardee seemed to change his mind. He actually wrote to Bretz in 1925 suggesting that Bretz consider the draining of a glacial lake as a possible source for his suggested cataclysmic flood. In reference to this communication, Bretz wrote the following to J. C. Merriam:

Mr. Pardee of the Federal Survey, who has seen much of the scablands, has suggested that his glacial Lake Missoula might have afforded the water for these enormous rivers if it were suddenly drained out across the plateau. This comment indicates that his former view of the scablands by land ice and concomitant subglacial drainage under ordinary climatic melting has been abandoned. Even our ultraconservative in Pleistocene geology, Dr. Alden, wrote that the phenomena I describe certainly appear to be river work "if you could only show where all the water came from in so short a time." 2

Later, in a 1943 correspondence with Hobbs, Pardee himself wrote:

The "drift" referred to in the article Science consists of bouldery deposits which at that time (1922) I interpreted as a gravelly till transported and deposited by glaciers that extended far over the Columbia Plateau. The principal feature of the deposits that suggests glacial action is the presence of large boulder, some of them of foreign origin. From information of the region that has been made available since 1922, however, I have concluded that the deposits are more likely the work of flood waters, such as postulated by Bretz, rather than of glacial ice. That is -- I do not regard them as conclusive evidence of glaciation. On the other hand the deposits are indirectly, if not directly, related to glaciation and may have been formed by streams that gouged out the channels and basins under an ice cover as you suggest.2

It seems then that Pardee actually considered the flood hypothesis with Lake Missoula as the source, but was probably dissuaded from pursuing such a heretical notion any further by Alden and Kirk Bryan (Pardee's superiors at the time). This idea is at least consistent with Pardee's silence when Bretz presented his rather shocking catastrophic flood idea at the now infamous 1927 "scabland debate". 2

Sometime before 1927 geologists were catching on to the seriousness of what Bretz was suggesting. If true, Bretz's theory would undermine the very foundation of Uniformitarianism. Just as anticipated, the general outcry against any hint of a catastrophic model was very loud indeed. In fact, there was a very strong desire to publicly discredit and humiliate Bretz. So, to this purpose, Bretz was asked to present his ideas in public forum to the Geological Society of Washington. Bretz himself was rather unaware of the underlying purpose of this gathering or just how hostile his audience actually was to his ideas. Unawares to Bretz, six "challenging elders", as Bretz later referred to them, were chosen to counter Bretz's claims and beat him in public debate.6

The first to speak in response to Bretz's presentation was W. C. Alden. Alden suggested that many of the features Bretz observed could be explained as collapsed lava caves. He also noted that a flood large enough to create the features observed by Bretz would require an incredible volume of water, and he confidently declared that such a volume of water was simply impossible to achieve. Therefore, another source for the origin of these features must be responsible. Other challengers agreed arguing that the relatively small rivers already existing in the region were in fact responsible, in their current state given enough time, for the observed formations. Instead of a catastrophic flood of magnificent proportions sweeping over the region in a few days they suggested that the rivers took several million years to carve out the scabland features and that Bretz should abandon his ludicrous catastrophic notions.6

Bretz was not easily defeated however. He came to this meeting very well prepared with a great deal of evidence to support his position. He countered all six speakers by pointing out that the channels and bars found in the scablands were much too large, even for a very swollen Columbia River to create over millions of years. The great weight of observational evidence suggested in fact that a huge amount of water traveling at tremendous speed had carved out the entire region in just a few days.2,5,6

Despite the overwhelming evidence in support of Bretz's interpretations, the "six elders" would have none of it. Nothing would convince them of such a catastrophic model, especially since Bretz was unable to identify or explain the source of so much water. Though the uniformitarian hypothesis did not fit the observed evidence nearly as well as Bretz's catastrophic model, no one would openly admit to believing Bretz and thus be forced to admit that holy Uniformitarianism was nothing more than an empty dogma.

Though Pardee was at this debate, he said nothing in Bretz's defense. He simply sat silently listening to the debates. Perhaps if Pardee had spoken up earlier, things might have been different for Bretz. But, as it was, the Uniformitarianism of the geology community was not going to even consider a catastrophic origin for the scabland formations. After all, everybody knew that such geological features were perfectly consistent with slow formation over very long periods of time - even without considering the rather overwhelming fieldwork evidence that Bretz was presenting. So, the opposition against Bretz was vigorously continued for many many years.

It was not until June 18, 1940 that things began to slowly change for Bretz. At the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Seattle Washington, many papers were presented in a session entitled, Quaternary Geology of the Pacific, which strongly supported a non-catastrophic origin for the channeled scablands. A post-meeting field trip was also organized during which Richard Foster Flint of Yale University proposed to demonstrate the evidence for the non-cataclysmic model. Bretz was invited to attend both the meetings as well as the field trip, but he refused. Perhaps he was just tired of being constantly held up to public ridicule after so many years? In any case, Flint gave a fine synopsis of his complex argument of proglacial outwash along with stream aggradation and incision. Flint boldly proposed that the surface form of the scabland flood bars was that of "non-paired stream-cut terraces in various states of dissection." E. T. Hodge followed with his scenario of involving glacial erosion associated with complex damming and diversions by river ice. I. S. Allison then countered Flint just a bit by comparing Flint's "fill" hypothesis with his own "ice-jam" uniformitarian hypothesis. Finally, Pardee, the eight speaker of the session, spoke benignly about the "Ripple Marks in Glacial Lake Missoula." 2

In a low key manner Pardee described the huge "ripple marks" of Camas Prairie in northwestern Montana, with heights of up to 15 meters and spacings of as much as 150 meters, as well as his old theory that Lake Missoula was the source of the water that obviously created the unusual current beds found in the Montana prairie region. He went on to suggest that about 2,000 km3 of water were held in the lake and that the evidence showed that a glacial dam had once blocked off the mouth of this lake. He presented convincing evidence, to include severely scoured constrictions in the lake basin, huge bars of current-transported debris, and giant current ripple marks, which all strongly suggested that the ice dam had been breached in a very dramatic fashion.2,3,5,6 Pardee went on to propose that the way this occurred was that the ice dam had blocked the water until the water became deep enough to lift up the ice dam and allow the blocked water to rush out with almost unimaginable force so that the lake was completely emptied within just 48 hours. He suggested that the lobe of the Cordilleran Glacier was the actual plug or dam that blocked the Clark Fork River. This ice dam caused the formation of Lake Missoula (4,150 feet above sea level) to reach a depth of about 2,000 feet over some 3,000 square miles.5 When the ice dam failed, 500 cubic miles of water rushed out of Lake Missoula at 50 to 60 miles per hour (or 9.46 cubic miles per hour), which translates into a 2,000 foot wall of water smashing with Herculean force all the way to the pacific ocean.4

Today it is believed that this huge flood of water rushed across Idaho's northern Rathdrum Prairie and into eastern Washington where it divided into three huge flows, each up to 600 feet deep traveling at 45 miles per hour.5 To understand a bit of this magnitude, this flow was ten times more massive than the flow of all the rivers in the entire world today. As this flood raged across the Spokane Valley and out across the loess-covered basalt plateau, it carved out the 20-mile-wide Cheney-Palouse Tract, the 14-mile-wide Crab Creak Channel, and the 50-mile-long Grand Coulee as well as numerous cross or "braded" channels. When blocked by Horse Heaven Hills on the west and the Blue Mountains to the south, the water raced to Walula Gap where the Columbia River heads west to the Pacific Ocean. Since this gap was too narrow to allow the massive flood to flow through fast enough, the flood waters reversed themselves up the Snake River all the way past Lewiston, Idaho. Eventually however, the water drained down to the Pacific and flooded Oregon's Willamette Valley along the way. During this time, Portland would have been under some 400 feet of water.5

Of course, Pardee's evidence for the origin of massive amounts of flood waters was just what Bretz needed. This evidence was just enough proof for Bretz to confirm the source for and cause of the watery cataclysm that he knew must be there somewhere. The rest all fell into place since all the information to back up the effects of such a cataclysm had already been ready and waiting for many years. Interestingly enough though, Pardee did not himself state the obvious connection of the Lake Missoula features to the Channeled Scabland features of Washington State. Some have suggested that he generously left that point for Bretz to make.2

In 1952 Bretz made yet another field trip to the scablands and returned with even more evidence to include detailed maps, aerial photographs, and sedimentological information. In his subsequent 1956 paper, Bretz concluded that the most convincing evidence for a cataclysmic flood proved to be the presence of giant current ripples on bar surfaces. These ripples clearly showed that bars up to 30 meters high were completely inundated by phenomenal flows of water. Numerous examples of giant current ripples were found on the same bars that Flint had interpreted as normal river terraces. As it turns out, Pardee's recognition of the giant current ripples of Lake Missoula was followed by Bretz's documentation of 15 more scabland ripple fields and then by Baker's and Nummedal's identification of 100 more rippled areas. Such features could only have been produced by the flow of very deep water at velocities of truly enormous catastrophic proportions. This was the beginning of early acceptance and painful recognition of the validity of Bretz's position by geologists.2

Bretz's remarkable work was built painstakingly over many years, but he had to fight great opposition for many decades for its final acceptance. Finally, in 1979, the geological establishment publicly acknowledged Bretz's work by awarding him the prestigious Penrose Medal - the most prestigious honor in the field of geology.3 Bretz was in his late 90s, and had been holding the line for more than 50 years before finally realizing general acceptance of his "insane" catastrophic model for the formation of the Channeled Scablands of eastern Washington State.




Footnotes:
1. Allen, J. E., Burns, M., Sargent, S. C., Cataclysms on The Columbia, Timber Press, (1986), Samuel Strok book review for Geology 103 at Bellevue Community College - Winter, 2003
( http://scidiv.bcc.ctc.edu/rv/103/reviews/docs/Strok.ncl )
2. Baker, V., Joseph Thomas Pardee and the Spokane Flood Controversy, GSA Today, 5:(9), September 1995(http://gsahist.org/gsat2/pardee.htm )
3. Helfferich, C., Boulders, Braids, and J Harlen Bretz, Alaska Science Forum, Article #1160, November 17, 1993( http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF11/1160.html )
4. Spokane Astronomical Society, 1998(http://www.webmaker-nw.com/bustomars/mars-dry-falls-1.html )
5. Kids Cosmos, 2001(http://www.kidscosmos.org/kid-stuff/mars-trip-scablands.html )
6. Newman, J., Missoula Floods, Oregon Field Guide, Episode 1001, 2002-2004
(http://www.opb.org/programs/ofg/episodes/1001/missoula/index.php )

. Home Page . Truth, the Scientific Method, and Evolution

. Methinks it is Like a Weasel . The Cat and the Hat - The Evolution of Code

. Maquiziliducks - The Language of Evolution . Defining Evolution

. The God of the Gaps . Rube Goldberg Machines

. Evolving the Irreducible . Gregor Mendel

. Natural Selection . Computer Evolution

. The Chicken or the Egg . Antibiotic Resistance

. The Immune System . Pseudogenes

. Genetic Phylogeny . Fossils and DNA

. DNA Mutation Rates . Donkeys, Horses, Mules and Evolution

. The Fossil Record . The Geologic Column

. Early Man . The Human Eye

. Carbon 14 and Tree Ring Dating . Radiometric Dating

. Amino Acid Racemization Dating . The Steppingstone Problem

. Quotes from Scientists . Ancient Ice

. Meaningful Information . The Flagellum

. Harlen Bretz . Milankovitch Cycles

The Wider Life: Chapter 14 - The School of Life

J.R.Miller
http://articles.ochristian.com/article17221.shtml
The business of noble Christian living--is learning. We know nothing when we begin. On the tomb of an English historian is the inscription, "He died learning." Learning is not confined to what we get from reading books. All of life is a school--and 'books' are ever being put into our hands, and 'lessons' are set for us continually.

Paul tells us of one of the lessons he had learned in the 'school of experience'. "I have learned," he said, "the secret of being content in any and every situation." We are glad to know that Paul had to learn to be contented. We are apt to get the impression that such a man as he was--did not have to learn to live as common people do, that he always knew, for instance, how to be contented. Here, however, we have the confession that he had to 'learn the lesson' just as we do. He did not always know 'the secret of contentment'. He was well on in years when he said this, from which we conclude that it took him a long time to learn the lesson, and that it was not easy for him to do it.

There is a remarkable verse in the book of Hebrews, which tells us that even Jesus learned his lessons as we must do: "He learned obedience from what he suffered." Hebrews 5:8. It was not always easy for him to do the Father's will. Even in Gethsemane we see him learning. Each time he prayed that the cup might pass--the pleading was a little less intense and it was growing easier for him to submit. The fact of the truth and reality of his humanity, shows us that even Christ, the Son of God, had to learn the lessons of life--just as his followers must do. He learned to be content in whatever state he was. He learned to be patient, to suffer injustice and wrong, to endure insults and not resent them. He learned to submit, to accept unkindness quietly--and return kindness instead.

We are all in Christ's school. Disciples are 'learners' and all true Christians are disciples. We enter the lowest grade when we begin to be Christians. We have everything to learn. Each new experience, is a new lesson set for us by the great Teacher. Tomorrow, a sharp temptation may come to you. You wonder why God permits it, if he loves you. Why does he let you be assailed and put to the test? He certainly does not want you to fail. Satan's purpose in bringing temptation upon us is to entice us to sin, to disobey Christ and prove disloyal to him; but that is not God's thought in permitting us to be tempted. He means for the temptation to prove us, and then to strengthen us and fit us for braver, better life.

It seems strange to us that Jesus had to be tempted; he of the pure soul and the sinless life. But we know that a large element in his helpfulness as our Savior and Friend, comes from his own experience of temptation. We know that he is able to help us, and deliver us in our temptations, because he was tempted himself--and was victorious. If he had been defeated--he could not have helped us. He is able also to sympathize with us in our struggles because he endured the same. In like manner temptation met and overcome, makes our lives mean more to others. One who by God's grace has kept himself unspotted from the world, becomes thus a comfort and a strength to many others.

One brave and valiant soul that is not besmirched by the world's evil, and does not fail in the testing, becomes indeed a strength to many others. He has not failed--and we need not fail. For others' sake, as well as for our own--we should stand firm and true in every experience of testing. If we falter and fail, others are made less strong to endure. One courageous man who never turns back to the foe, puts courage into others and they grow strong, too. But one faint heart, puts fear and dismay into many other hearts. Remembering that others will do what we do--that they will be brave and victorious; or cowardly and defeated--should be in us a mighty motive to stand firm.

Then, we need not fail. We may win in the battle. "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." Each temptation is a lesson set for us by the Master, and the lesson is never too hard to learn with his help.

Sorrow is also a lesson in Christ's school. Sorrow is not an accident breaking into our life, without meaning or purpose. God could prevent the coming of the sorrow--if he so desired. He has all power, and nothing can touch the life of any of his children--unless he is willing. Since we know that God loves us and yet permits us to suffer, we may be quite sure that there is a blessing, something good, in whatever it is that brings us pain or grief. We have this in the Master's Beatitude, "Blessed are those who mourn--for they shall be comforted."

The child of a patriotic soldier had been listening to his father as he told of a great battle in which he had been engaged. As the soldier spoke of the terrific struggle, the boy said, "I would have run away!" The father replied, "Ah, there are some things, my son, dearer than life." The cause of country was dearer to the soldier.

We shrink from pain. We would run away from afflictions. We would refuse to accept sorrow. But there are things worth suffering for, things dearer than ease and pleasure. We learn lessons in pain which repay a thousand times, the cost of our tears. Suffering is hard, grief is bitter. To some people it seems almost cruel in Jesus Christ to say, "Blessed are those who mourn." How could he say it, they ask, if his heart is tender and loving as we claim it is? How can God permit such suffering and pain, so much grief and sorrow, as we see everywhere, if he is a God of love and of compassion as he says he is?

"If I were God," said one, "I would take away all pain, all grief, all suffering from the world." That is just what God is doing through the gospel of his grace and love. "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes." But we must not forget what it costs, to do this. Jesus wept--that our tears may be dried.

"It seems to me," said another, "that if God is the compassionate being that the Bible says he is--his heart would break as he looks down upon the world and beholds the pain and anguish, the injustice and wrong, which are everywhere." The answer is, "His heart did break!" That is the meaning of the cross! From God's own sorrow--comes blessing for the world and comfort for all sorrow!

Jesus does not say that mourning itself is blessed, is good or pleasant or beautiful. What he says is that the comfort of God is blessed, that those who mourn and receive comfort are so enriched, their lives so enlarged, so lifted up into the blessing of God's love--that they can rejoice even in their tears!

A young man who for fourteen years has had a great sorrow in his home--his wife being an incurable sufferer--speaks of the hard years bravely and joyfully, without a word or a tone of bitterness, testifying that he owes to the burden and sorrow of these years--all that is worthy and beautiful in his life. Whatever he is as a man, especially as a Christian man, is the fruit of what he has suffered. He can say that he has learned to rejoice in his pain and trial. He accepted the lesson which God set for him--and has learned it.

An ingenious photographer has been photographing the heart of a dried teardrop, under a microscope, revealing in it myriads of forms of beauty. The Bible tells us that God preserves the tears of his children, putting them in his tear-bottle. Tears are sacred to God, because of the blessings that come through them, to those who love God. In heaven, we will look back on our lives of pain and sorrow on the earth--and will find that our best lessons have come through our tears!

All the 'Christian graces' have to be learned in 'Christ's school'. There Paul had learned contentment. He never would have learned it, however, if he had had only pleasure and ease all his life. Contentment comes from learning to do without things, which we once supposed to be essential to our comfort. Paul had learned contentment through finding such fullness of blessing in Christ--that he did not need the 'secondary things' any more.

Perhaps we would succeed better in learning this same grace--if we had fewer of life's comforts, if sometimes we had experience of need. The continuity of blessings that flow like a river into our lives, gives us no opportunity to learn contentment. We think we are very happy and grateful for our favors; but how would we behave if instead of the unbroken supply of pleasant things--we were to suffer without them for a few days? If instead of our splendid health--we fell sick for a while? If instead of the happy circle of love and the sweetness of unfailing joy--sorrow came and we were bereft and lonely? Perhaps it is well that we have some 'dark days'--that we may learn to appreciate the 'blue sky'.

There are beautiful things in the 'darkness' which we never would see--if there were no break in the sunshine. When sufferings come into our life: disagreeable things--instead of pleasant things; hunger and poverty--instead of plenty; rough ways--instead of flower-strewn paths; God is teaching us the 'lesson of contentment', so that we can say at length, that we have learned the lesson!

Patience is another lesson set for us in life's school. Many of us are impatient with others. We are impatient with their slowness in learning. An English head-master used to tell how once he sharply reproved a pupil for dullness, when he failed to know his lesson. The boy looked up into the teacher's face and said, conscious of the injustice he was enduring: "Why do you speak so severely to me? Indeed, sir, I am doing the very best I can!" The teacher used to tell years afterward, how he always had regretted his loss of patience with that boy.

Great wrong is often done to a child--by impatience in reproving him. We should remember that it was an outbreak of impatience which kept Moses out of the promised land. We do not know how often impatience limits our usefulness. Impatience is often shown in hasty temper.

Ruskin, in a letter to his children, has this good advice: "Keep sweetly calm of temper under all circumstances, recognizing the thing that is provoking or disagreeable to you--as coming directly from Christ's hand. And the more it is likely to provoke you--thank him for it the more, as a young soldier would thank his general for trusting him with a hard place to hold on the rampart." We should always remember that, when we are disposed to become vexed, to fly into a passion, to speak harshly or pettishly--a lesson has been set for us--and we are to learn to keep sweet, to endure patiently. The fact that we are inclined to become impatient, shows that we have not yet fully learned our lesson, and therefore it is set for us again.

Lessons are also set for us when we are sick. The doctor sends you to your room and bids you to be quiet for a season. This means a good deal more than merely being sick. Your sickness has some mission for you. If your minister or your friends pray for you, there are two requests they should make. One is, that you may recover in God's good time--but the still more important prayer is that the mission of the sickness may not fail, that you may come from your sick-room in due time with a new blessing in your life.

When you are sick, you should ask God what the mission of your illness is to you and then ask him to teach you the lesson set for you. It is not accidental. Nor does it come purposeless. It would be a sad thing--if you should get over your fever--and miss the lesson which the fever was sent to teach you, or the good it came to work in you. It gives life a new sacredness, to think of it thus as a school, the 'school of Christ'. The Master is always saying to us, "Come unto me, and learn of me."

Are we learning? Some men set for themselves the rule to learn some new fact every day. Goethe says we ought every day to see at least one fine work of art, to hear one sweet strain of music, to read one beautiful poem. Are we learning something new in Christ's school each day? Are we adding a line of beauty every day to our character?

Back to J.R. Miller index.

See Also:
Chapter 1 - The Wider Life
Chapter 2 - Visions and Dreams
Chapter 3 - Loyalty to Christ
Chapter 4 - God in our Common Life
Chapter 5 - The Things That Are above
Chapter 6 - The Inner and the Outer Life
Chapter 7 - The Print of the Nails
Chapter 8 - Influence
Chapter 9 - Is God Always Kind?
Chapter 10 - Peril in Life's Changes
Chapter 11 - Helping by Prayer
Chapter 12 - Being a Comfort to Others
Chapter 13 - Nevertheless Afterward
Chapter 14 - The School of Life
Chapter 15 - Words of Life
Chapter 16 - Presenting Men Perfect
Chapter 17 - As I Have Loved You
Chapter 18 - The Beauty of Christ
Chapter 19 - The Law of Sacrifice
Chapter 20 - Learning to Pray

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