What Glenn Writes

I recently consolidated five email addresses into one personal and one business address.  This was a tough decision, as I had one email address since before Al Gore created the Internet and having an email address was still a novelty some said would never take off. 

You may not remember such a time. 

This was the age before the “dot coms”.  Pornography was regulated to the seedy building on the other side of town or behind the blocker boards the convenience stores would put over the magazines so we couldn’t peek on the cover.  Blogs were still just swampy areas with mosquitoes and grass.  Bulletin boards required a pushpin instead of a user pin.  Twitter was a bird singing in the morning, and my space was an area where I could store my personal belongings without someone carting them off.  A newsgroup had an anchor, a reporter, a sports announcer, and a weatherman.  And, email was still a novelty some said would never take off. 

You may not remember such a time.

This was the age when laptops were for bouncing babies or balancing books; when balancing books were done with a pencil and paper; when paper was thermal, lined, or unlined; a printer was a dot matrix; and a laser jet was a science fiction vehicle.  And, email was still a novelty some said would never take off. 

You may not remember such a time.

This was an age when a car phone was a telephone in the shape of a car, which actually plugged into the wall inside a house.  The idea of a mobile telephone was one with a twenty-foot cord.  When you made a telephone call, you could push buttons on some of the newer telephones or dialed a rotary wheel on the “normal” ones.  You could get your voice mail on the answering machine, but you had to rewind the cassette tape first.  And, email was still a novelty some said would never take off. 

You may not remember such a time.

This was an age when a flat screen was something you put in the window during the summer, plasma was in your blood not the living room, and the digital display was made up of little cards flipping over in your alarm clock to show you the time.  Your music still came on a vinyl disk called a record, you could still get 8-tracks at the discount stores, and a CD was something you got at the bank.  If you used a computer, it was at work and required floppy disks; if it had a mouse, it was something running around inside it and not a good thing at all; and a screen saver was a person turning the computer off at night so the image wouldn’t burn.  And, email was still a novelty some said would never take off. 

You may not remember such a time.

I find it easy to comment about the technology changes within a two-decade span, as I have always been immersed in technology of one form or another.  I find it harder to comment about sin, even though I have been immersed in sin for an even longer period of time.  Why the difference?  Oh, I’m sure the answer is the similar for all of us and we’ll find it centered somewhere on shame and embarrassment, preferring to think we are perfect, or living in denial.  Yet until we fully recognize the sin in our lives, we fail to realize our need for Jesus Christ.

If I am too embarrassed by my sin, or if I think my sin is too shameful to even confess, I am missing the truth in Scripture, where it clearly tells me in Romans 8:1, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…”  Jesus takes away the shame and any embarrassment, and in my confession, it loses power over me. 

As for thinking I am perfect, Paul addresses this in Romans 3:23, “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” Paul is clear in stating, “all have sinned”.  He did not say, “all have sinned except Glenn Sasscer,” or “all have sinned except those in Ohio”, or “all have sinned except those reading this article”…

Scripture is clear to expose the sin in all, revealing our great need for Jesus Christ.

And, as for denial, we find 1 John 1:8-10, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”

Why am I so quick to bring these reasons out in this article?  I used to be too ashamed to confess I was or am a sinner.  No, I am not proud of it, nor do I boast about being a sinner for the sake of amusement, delight, or glory.  I am finding the revelation of how much I need Christ is only appreciated when I confess my most shameful acts, most devious thoughts, and my darkest evil intentions, and in some amazing way I cannot describe, the shame loses power over me in the confession.  The darkness within us wants to hide, grow, and reign in power over us, but by bringing the sin to light, the darkness vanishes.  Sin is like a drug, and until you recognize your addiction to it, sin has control over you.     

I used to be ashamed and embarrassment, preferring to think I was perfect, and I lived in denial about my sinful nature.  This was an age when I thought I was in control and lived for myself, but little did I realize my addiction to sin was in control and I had no freedom.  Only when I confessed my sin did I realize how much I was imprisoned by it, and how much I needed Jesus Christ to release me. 

In some strange way, I am grateful for sin, for I may have never realized how much I need Jesus Christ.  Jesus would have still been a novelty some said would never take off, but you may not remember such a time.

When being a Christian is tough, are you tough enough?

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Glenn Sasscer
www.glennsasscer.com
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I am about to make an outrageous claim; one where I will probably have to publish a retraction at the request of my sponsors… oh wait, I don’t have any sponsors.  Ah… the freedom to make outrageous claims and spout off about my outrageous opinions without the worries of ticking off a few sponsors. 

So, I am about to make an outrageous claim; one where I will probably have to publish a retraction at the request of my publisher… oh wait, I don’t have a publisher.  Ah… the freedom to make outrageous claims… well, you get the idea.     

Ok, here we go: Reality television never comes remotely close to reality. 

For some, this outrageous claim may not be so outrageous or even news.  For others, this outrageous claim is so outrageous and unimaginable, I will get an outrageous amount of hate email with outrageous grammatical errors and poor spelling, which is outrageous and usually good for a few outrageous laughs before I send them off to the virtual wasteland of my deleted folder (which is really outrageous).     

In today’s society, we fall into one of three outrageous groups: There is one outrageous group for those who believe the people on Survivor are on the island by themselves and struggling to live; there is one outrageous group for those who believe the people on Survivor are actors, there are cameras filming them, a full camera crew operating the cameras, a full production crew giving direction to the camera crew, and catered meals for all the employees (including the actors); and then there is another outrageous group for those so fed up with reality television we didn’t purchase a digital converter box and can’t even watch television anymore.

I’m not sure if there are any inrageous groups.  For some reason, I would think if we have some outrageous groups, there should be some inrageous groups… or perhaps even a rageous group or two to provide balance to the outrageous groups, but this wouldn’t be reality.

We sit in our world, perhaps on a comfy couch or recliner in our living room, and view a television show with a title to give us the impression it is reality.  If it were reality, the people who fail wouldn’t get “voted off” the show; the other survivors would just eat them.  Now that would be outrageous.

I guess my humor is a little off this week, and for my regular readers, I apologize to both of you.  In truth, I spent last week ministering in our nation’s capital to the homeless and poverty level families of the inner city.  I saw reality up close.  I saw people struggling to survive up close.  I find it difficult to come back from such a reality and try to write a humorous article. 

My trip to Washington DC was with a youth group.  The days were long - up at about 5:00am some days and going until about 10:00pm each day.  We worked with poverty families and homeless, helped elderly stay in their homes by doing yard and house work around their place, served breakfast and lunch to the homeless, passed out clothing and medical needs, worked in food prep kitchens, and at food distribution centers.  We prepared food, delivered food, and served food because people were hungry and had no other way to get fed.  In this reality, you do not get voted off the streets, you simply die.   

The ceiling in Union Station is adorned with 14 carat gold plating, a place few people or tourist ever cast a glance.  There are people hiding in Union Station, starving in the corridors, and dieing just outside the walls.  There are several cathedrals with ornate decorations, statues, and gold fixtures.  These elaborate structures were built to glorify God, yet His starving children are not allowed on the property because they are too dirty, poor, or bad for tourism. 

These buildings helped remind me to allow God to direct my focus.  I may someday find it too easy to look at the gold and materialistic values of the world while completely missing the priceless value of God’s children.  His focus needs to be my focus.

What does He see?

He showed me.  While in DC, I saw extreme poverty, slight poverty, and barely affordable poverty.  I saw homeless scarcely dressed.  I saw homeless with mobile telephones and laptops, men and women in business suits eating at the soup kitchen because they could not afford food, and small children left to  themselves when Mom could not be found (for unknown reasons). 

I met a man who worked twenty-two hour days either as a volunteer or for income so he would be so busy or so tired he wouldn’t return to his addictions.  I ate dinner with a man who was sixteen months clean and preparing to re-enter the workforce next month.  I met a man who couldn’t speak a word of English, yet caused every teen in our group to sob when he prayed. 

I saw the youth in the group stretched beyond their comfort zones, challenged beyond their limits, and tested to their abilities.  God showed me many things about myself, some good and some worth being voted off a reality show.  God humbled me.  He taught me to follow Him and be surprised. 

How did He surprise us?

He surprised us with innocent children.  We conducted a VBS at an inner city park where I think we were the only white people for about 10 blocks.  These kids were starved for attention and very affectionate.  They climbed onto our shoulders, our laps, and listened to our stories.  Their hugs were filled with nothing but pure love and joy in the attention we gave them.  They played our games and made the crafts we brought to help teach them about Jesus. 

Yet through it all, I think they taught us more about Christ than we taught them, for there is a passage in Matthew 18:2-6 where it says, “He called a little child and had him stand among them.  And he (Jesus) said: ‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.’”

These young children helped us realize what it means to approach God with a childlike wonder and desire for affection.  What these children lacked in needing our attention is merely a reflection of what we lack in needing God’s attention.  These children let nothing hold them back from coming to us; should we be any different in our approach to God?  These children came to us with their focus on us; should we be any different with our focus on God?  These children played our hokey games and did whatever we requested, for everything we did was for them.  Is it any different in our relationship with God? 

My mission trip to Washington DC was outrageous.  God went with us, so what else should I have expected?  The trip was challenging, difficult, and tough, but God was with us and we survived.  My vacation last week was not a good time, but it was good. 

When being a Christian is tough, are you tough enough?

Do you know someone who might enjoy this blog or one of my eStories or Books? Please share this blog or my website with them. Thanks!

Glenn Sasscer
www.glennsasscer.com
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I watched a man die once.  I know this is a sobering start for an article, although I believe we are sometimes called to be diligent and thorough in the expression of our thoughts.  I confess to several attempts at writing this article, some with a humorous slant and others lightly touching on the subject of death – each effort deleted and sent to that virtual word processing Heaven where the writing is never bad because it is never read. 

This brush with death began when a friend asked me to the hospital to pray with her family for her father.  What I thought would be a quick trip to the intensive care waiting room changed my perspective on life: both my physical life and my life eternal. 

Over the course of a few short weeks, I was drawn to the hospital several times by what can only be expressed as the severe love this family felt for their wonderful father.  I was compelled to embrace the raw emotions and to soak in the wave of love washing over me as my friend’s family shared their memories.  As the end neared, my heartstrings were stretched tight to witness the tears and grieving for a husband, a father, a grandfather, a brother, and a dear friend.

When the the moment came to turn off the life sustaining machines so he could pass peacefully, the family invited me to be there… a service to them but an honor for me.  In the last moments of his life, we read from Scripture, Revelation 21.

“And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City…  It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal.  It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates.

The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass.  The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone.  The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass.

I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.  The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.

Nothing impure will ever enter it… but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 

No longer will there be any curse.  There will be no more night.  They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.  And they will reign forever and ever.”

We held hands and prayed during this man’s passing.  There was confidence the welcoming arms of God and the most precious sound of a chorus of angels greeted him in Heaven.  He stepped from the hospital bed and into the arms of Jesus within a blink of a moment.

We see the absence of life when we witness death.  This is where we are called to have faith and trust in God’s promises.  The faith and trust this family had in God’s promises exceeded my own and through them I was encouraged.  My faith was built and strengthened.

While I may have known about Heaven and life eternal, and while I may have understood the concept of our physical lives ending so we may gain our eternal reward in Heaven, this fmaily’s faith caused me to examine whether I fully accepted this reality in my heart.  Some of us may have this academic knowledge without the experience to embrace this promise, that is, we know it in our heads but not in our hearts.     

I watched a man die once.  He was embraced by God and received His promise.

When being a Christian is tough, are you tough enough?

Do you know someone who might enjoy this blog or one of my eStories or Books? Please share this blog or my website with them. Thanks!

Glenn Sasscer
www.glennsasscer.com
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