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I remember the pain of running the 880 yard race in Jr. High School. It must have been the beginnings of my philosophical musings. The Coach blew his whistle and our class begin the journey around the 440 yard track. We had to circle it two times. It seemed so long!
“Pace yourself’” I kept reminding myself. “Yeah,” I encouraged myself, “just don’t come in last.” After the first successful circle I could hear my heart pounding, my lungs gasping and that sick taste in my mouth from heaving with so much labor. Could I do the same painful route again when I was so tired?
Some things are hard enough to do once. When we have to do them again, it’s a tough haul.
I have a friend who went through the agony of cancer, painful treatments, embarassing side effects and the agony of loneliness due to a derelict deadbeat ex-husband who’s off with another woman. She fought, scraped and survived one day at a time. She won the battle against cancer. So many of us are proud of her.
But, her cancer is back. (sigh)
Now, it’s time to take another deep breath and go again. If we are at the end of our rope and wonder how we can go on, perhaps we can force ourselves to realize that as much as we don’t think we can, God is more than capable. He is trustworthy when our tank is empty. He is faithful when we just can’t go any more.
So much of what He will do for others is through the rest of us. Let’s be quick to love on the weary. Come alongside the hurting. Defend the innocent. Challenge the wicked. Let’s protect the helpless. In the name of Jesus let’s give someone a cup of cool water. It may be just what they need to encourage them to run around the circle again.
Eager for HIS Return!
Bruce Fong
Wouldn’t it be amazing if we were an eyewitness to the parting of the Red Sea before Moses and the children of Israel? Wouldn’t it be fabulous to have been able to feast on the multiplication of bread and fish by Jesus on the shores of the Sea of Galilee? The thought of being with the Resurrected Jesus when He ascended into Heaven sends chills up and down my spine. I personally had the thrill to be an eyewitness to something that only God could have done.
Ten years ago I walked on the mall in Washington D.C. for the first time in my life. My two sons were with me and we were ready to take in all of the sights and experiences. The Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Washington Monument, Smithsonian, Holocaust Museum, White House, Capitol and Arlington were all on our list. But, those were all ancillary. Something else drew us to D.C.
We had traveled across the country from Oregon to participate in Promise Keeper’s “Stand in the Gap” that October day in 1997. It wasn’t a rally. It was a sacred assembly. A clarion call had gone out to the men of the USA to gather in our nation’s capital to affirm our faith. We came to corporately and humbly confess our sins, and call upon our Heavenly Father to bless our marriages, families and nation.
None of us had any idea how many men would “just show up.” The mall is huge! But, on the appointed day, 1.4 million men came. Buses emptied out, planes unloaded, trains disembarked, and cars released their passengers. The mall was filled.
Now, one decade later a call is going out to men to return to the mall. This time it is for recollection, renewal and a fresh commitment. In another sacred assembly men will revisit what they decided so long ago and our nation will feel its foundation firm up even more. Numbers isn’t important. Who shows up is. Come on, men of God. He will show up. Let’s show up too!
Check it out. You’ll find it listed under the National Coalition of Men’s Ministries website.
Eager for HIS Return!
Bruce Fong
Last night I was fussing through my cleaning project. Our basement flooded a couple of weeks ago. It called for immediate stacking and grabbing very valuable stuff out from the water. It was a mess. Now, I was sorting out stuff and rearranging other stuff.
A break was in order and I took a look at my messages waiting for me on my phone. Bob had left a voice mail. His message took my breath away.
Bob is Marge’s husband of over 40 years. Marge is the one suffering from Pancreatic cancer. In the last few months they have been in the fight of their lives. Marge is a fighter. At every turn and with every diagnosis she looked agony in the eye and proclaimed that she would be strong in Jesus’ name as long as Bob would be with her. He has been.
24/7 Bob has waited on Marge, served her, cooked for her, prayed with her, prayed for her, comforted her, rallied family and friends to pray. He is a man’s man. He is the hero of the decade. He has never whined, never complained, never given up. Bob is a hero. He is a champion of faithfulness, testimony of devotion, and stellar example of loyalty.
In a world where too many husbands choose to be unfaithful, hide secret sins behind elaborate lies, betray a trusting wife and abandon their own children, Bob gleams as a quiet knight in shining armor. When many would quit, compromise, give good sounding excuses to check out early, Bob is tenacious.
He would gladly take the pain for her. If he could he would jump at the opportunity to fight in her place. He knows no limits to what he would give up to defend his dear wife from such horror. But, God will not let him. He is only allowed to be on the sidelines and cheer loudly.
Most of us know the phrase, “for better or for worse.” Bob has stood solid to these vows. His word is his bond. He is an example for all of us men. More of us husbands should be the same. Let’s do it, ok?
Eager for HIS Return!
Bruce Fong
This past week I enjoyed the sound of a single goose winging its way overhead. It was a welcomed break from the hustle and bustle of busy commuters on auto-pilot repeating their daily route. Leaving the asphalt, cement and mechanized man-made world for just a moment, I scanned the sky to find one of the Creator’s most elegant sights, a Canadian Goose in morning flight.
This was a solo flier that captured my attention. It was at once remarkably graceful, hauntingly attractive with its call, and finally, curiously slow and labored in its flight. Then, when it angled its course, I looked intently at the odd protrusion out of its back. At first I thought it was a wayward feather, like us having a bad hair day. But, it suddenly registered that this bird had an arrow sticking out of its back.
Like a computer doing a search for an overall analysis, in my mind I surmised that the arrow was a target arrow. The cheap fletching gave away this identity. Also, I further assessed it to be a target arrow because of its shallow penetration. An arrow with a broad head would have passed through the bird or at least been deeply embedded. It wasn’t a bird arrow with a shock tip because that kind of arrow has a tell tale fletching and never would have stuck in the bird at all.
Now, I was disgusted. Legal goose hunting season was weeks away. This was a recent episode because such a wound will become infected and kill the bird slowly, painfully. No responsible hunter would use inappropriate equipment and break the law just to cause pain and suffering or worse yet, get a cheap laugh.
We are surrounded by a world that has badly behaving people in it. Irresponsible people inflict hurt and pain on life. They are selfishness, immature and disrespect of life. Their actions don’t stop with animals either.
Let’s counter them and never do harm. Instead, let’s fill this world with goodness, kindness, and encouragement. We can do it with God’s help. We can do it together in His name. Are you game?
Eager for HIS Return!
Bruce Fong
At once I recognized my good friend’s email address that appeared on my computer screen. The subject line made me purse my lips and then my whole countenance slipped into a frown. We all look like this when we hear bad news.
He and his wife are some of my dearest friends. We have been through many adventures of faith together. Their steadfast loyalty have been great treasures in my life. Now, as friends, we are walking through the deepest waters of our long history together.
His wonderful wife is fighting pancreatic cancer. That’s one of the most painful aggressive forms of the disease and has no known cure. She has already surpassed the projected number of months to survive. But, that is of little comfort for the pain is relentless. It is excruciating. For him, he can’t do anything for her even though he is willing to do everything.
Drugs in increasing doses have grown from weekly changes to daily changes. Even then, there is little relief. The courage of this amazing couple has won my deepest admiration. At times my prayers for them feel impotent, totally inadequate, almost peripheral.
But, in spite of my feelings of inadequacy I keep on praying, hoping and trusting beyond the suffering and pain that she is experiencing every waking moment. Why? Their faith and trust in God are resolute. It is their example that keeps me going.
Three times I have been back across the country to spend precious moments with this special couple since the dreaded diagnosis. Each time it was their one desire to center our time in prayer. With our hands clasped with each other and heads bowed in reverence we expressed our total trust, faith and love in our God in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
From her faithful courage and his selfless devotion I have glared into the depth of pain and realized that prayer is even more powerful. With pain there is no hope. But in prayer there always is. With hope will come inevitable relief.
Eager for HIS Return!
Bruce Fong
I chuckled on a drive home after finishing up a few errands. The route was uneventful in my pick-up truck. Its powerful V8 dispatched the miles without a hint of a whimper. The comfort of my cab eased the journey even further.
Outside, my chuckle turned into knowing smiles. They named our neighborhood Farmington Hills for a reason. There are a lot of hills. One after the other they roll on by, virtually unnoticed to commuting traffic.
On my bicycle, however, I really notice those hills. My lungs heave at every shift in the undulations. They recover during the swift downhill coasting. But, they scream for a respite when the elevation demands climbing. What goes unnoticed in a mechanized vehicle, is a focus of great concentration on a pedal machine.
Little hills are big mountains in a different world. Maybe Jesus meant something like this when He challenged us to “Have faith in God” and exercise a faith that believes and does not doubt. That kind of faith can move mountains.
In today’s journey, I want to believe and not doubt that God would bless my family, intervene for my friends, pave the way for the ministries that touch my heart, encourage people that I meet, and produce eternal results from all of my endeavors. Those are the mountains that I would like to believe God to move today.
I’m not looking to always be climbing mountains. Maybe each day, however, moving a mountain or two by faith would be deeply gratifying.
Eager for HIS Return!
Bruce Fong
I paused to observe a wonderful distraction. Even though my Treo had a long list of appointments, this sight was worth drinking in. My fledgling photography hobby was giving me a clue.
“Lighting is everything,” one of my digital photography books declares. At this moment I agreed with that instruction. A mid morning sun and the combined shadows of surrounding trees and my location at that moment combined for a stunning occasion. A large maple tree was announcing the coming of Autumn.
Here in Michigan every Michigander expresses their love for the seasons, the changing seasons. This was one of those affirmations. An ancient mighty maple tree stands in our neighborhood and grows more stately every season with its expanding trunk and intricate pattern of growing limbs. Today it declares something more amazing. Autumn is coming.
Most of the deep green leaves hint of a myriad of shapes twisting in the gentle breeze. But, now, at the tips and edges of key branches, bright splashes of red and orange shout out an amazing contrast. With the sunlight hitting the new hues perfectly, it is like the Creator turned on a light switch and the tree glowed.
For this tree and all others like it, it grows. If it isn’t growing it is dying. If it is living, it is growing. If it is growing it is changing. If we are living we are growing. If we are growing we are changing. Change is good. It is essential to living.
Eager for HIS Return!
Bruce Fong
My alarm clock dutifully rang at 4:30 this morning. More accurately, both alarms rang at the early hour. I set two different alarms to make sure that I didn’t miss this morning’s appointment. Once I got ready for the day, I kissed my devoted wife good-bye and drove off into the night for a 3.5 hour drive to Indiana.
Today I had agreed to speak at the chapel service of a Christian College. A long drive gave me a lot of time to think, meditate and sing. The only disruption was a deer that almost decided to run in front of me during the journey. I asked the Lord to keep the deer still until I passed. That was a good answered prayer.
The sun rose and plastered all of creation with an amazing hue of yellow, orange and red. It blazed in my rear view mirror as a ball of fire and light. It was stunning!
Once on campus, young college students filled the auditorium, weary from their morning class and wondering about their next. It was a great challenge to capture their attention and give them something substantial to consider.
Then came the long drive home. On this leg of the journey I was really exhausted. In my mind I was asking myself, “Whose idea was this anyway?” An entire day was devoted for a thirty minute shot in front of students that I may never see again. Was it really worth the effort?
But that’s fatigue talking. To make a difference in this lifetime human values and evaluation don’t always concur with eternal investments. Who knows whose life was influenced to consider the propositions that may forever make a difference in the lives of those students.
Whether they remember me is not an issue. That they remember that their intellects were challenged, their values adjusted, their convictions firmed up, their relationships clearly defined and their souls refreshed is what was really important.
I’m a little tired. But, what a privilege to be trusted to address 1,000 students that I may never get a chance to challenge again. I’m a little behind on some of my other work. But, what a joy to come alongside a faculty on a different campus and start new collegiality.
Never whine about work that has a benefit in the lives of others. To influence others for eternity, what a treat, what an honor, what a blessing.
Eager for HIS Return!
Bruce Fong
September 8 fell on a Saturday this year. It was a beautiful day in Michigan. My schedule was unremarkable. Yet, this was a special day. It was the birthday of my special Buddy, Dusty. He’s our Lhasa Apso, our pet dog.
Dusty was born on September 8, 1993. We first met at the breeder’s home. He raced around the corner of his house and jumped into my arms with all of the energy and enthusiasm of a feisty puppy. I surprised my wife by bringing him home. Our children were delighted!
Eventually, by default, all of the children’s promises of cleaning, feeding and walking the dog transferred to me. Discipline and training evolved into my pervue as well. But, a bond formed that I never saw coming. Loyalty, faithfulness, companionship and devotion became the watchwords of our being buddies.
On his fourteenth birthday, Dusty is a lot slower than he was years ago. He doesn’t hear very well. His eyesight is fading quickly. But, he spends lots of time curled up next to my feet when I’m home studying, reading or writing. When I move from room to room, he picks up his aching body and follows along, just to curl up next to me.
There were no presents for him on September 8. But, I hugged him, looked into his eyes and told him that I loved him. He understood.
Eager for HIS Return!
Bruce Fong
A late sunrise forced my morning hike to begin in the dark. I layered up for a cool morning and laced up my comfortable hiking boots. With my cap pulled down tight and my hands thrust in my jacket pockets, I took my first steps into darkness .
One hundred steps into my four mile hike I looked up into a blank colorless sky. The blackness was highlighted by a single luminary, no twinkle. It was a planet in the eastern sky, lit up like solo show. It made me smile.
Soon more steps faded behind and the sky turned orange, yellow and red. Shadows faded and life appeared with rabbits racing, squirrels running and people stirring.
My hike wrapped up in the refreshing morning dawn of a brilliant red ball flaming its way over the horizon. One little light passed the torch to a massive sun.
You can be that little light in a lot of peoples’ darkness today.
Eager for HIS Return!
Bruce
