Someone Else's Problems

July 29, 2005
Someone Else's Problems
By John Fischer

Evangelicals often put being saved and going to heaven in the same sentence, as if heaven were the only goal of our salvation. But the truth is, we are saved to serve. Heaven is important, but heaven can wait. God saves us because he has a job for us to do in His kingdom here on earth. If heaven is the whole point of our salvation, then what do we do while we wait? Change the channel on our Christian entertainment?

It's amazing how many of our own problems dissipate when we begin caring about other people's problems instead of focusing on our own. We've picked up some very bad habits from our culture. We have a tendency to be preoccupied with our own needs and constantly trying to fulfill them. Advertising plays into this self-indulgence, promising that one more product will be the thing that will finally satisfy us. The truth of the matter is: getting will never come close to the satisfaction that giving affords.

Think of someone you know who is truly happy and I venture to guess you will find someone busy serving others. If, in fact, our troubles will never go away (and I don't believe they ever will in this life), then to focus on them and try to solve them is going to be nothing but a broken record. Make one problem go away, and watch another one crop up immediately. To give ourselves to the task of attending to the problems of those around us may not make our own problems go away, but it will make them less of a drag. Focusing on our own problems can lead to anxiety, frustration and even depression. Focusing on other people's problems leads to usefulness and a greater sense of health.

So today, when we are tempted to look in, to our own needs, let's look out, instead, to the needs of those around us and see if own needs diminish by comparison. Who knows, we may even forget about ourselves in the process.

Jesus hung on a cross and thought of those who were putting him there, and even pleaded their case before his Father, because he knew they didn't realize the full impact of what they were doing. Can you imagine having even a fleeting thought about someone else if you were in that much pain yourself? But that's just the thing about Jesus: He was always thinking of someone else.

Blessings From God

Next week marks the three month anniversary of my lay off from work. I have had a few up and down moments. Through it all I am learning to trust God to take care of my needs. He has opend my eyes to see what what he is doing. This week is a great example of how he takes care of His children. Back in May when I was laid off I requested some vacation days I had rolled over from last year. I called my company and enquired about the pay and after a couple of emails I was told that the company would pay for those carry over vacation days. That was a blessing but that is not, as Paul Harvey would say "the rest of the story." I was instructed that the check would be sent and dated for July 29 which was fine. I was just expecting my vacation pay, and I got all of that plus two hours of overtime and because of the time the check was printed I also received a bonus as well. God is good all the time.

Lord I am your servent, You have my attention, where can I serve You.

She holds my hand today

My daughter holds my hand today and it made me smile. One of these days she will seek some elses hand but I will always hold her in my heart. I cherish each and every moment I have with her.

36th Annual GMA Music Awards Recipients

Category	Recipient(s)
Song of the Year	"Who Am I"; Mark Hall; Club Zoo Music (BMI), SWECS Music (BMI)
Songwriter of the Year	Mark Hall
Male Vocalist of the Year	Jeremy Camp
Female Vocalist of the Year	Nicole C. Mullen
Group of the Year	Casting Crowns
Artist of the Year	Switchfoot
New Artist of the Year	Building 429
Producer of the Year	Ed Cash
Rap/Hip Hop Recorded Song of the Year	“Hittin’ Curves”; Dichotomy A; Grits; Teron Carter, Stacy Jones, Otto Price, S. Moss; Gotee Records
Modern Rock Recorded Song of the Year	“Control”; Reset EP; MuteMath; Paul Meany, Darren King, Adam LeClave; Teleprompt Records/Word Records
Rock Recorded Song of the Year	“Stay”; Stay; Jeremy Camp; Jeremy Camp; BEC Recordings
Rock/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year	“Dare You to Move”; The Beautiful Letdown; Switchfoot; Jonathan Foreman, Sparrow Records
Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year	“Who Am I”; Casting Crowns; Casting Crowns; Mark Hall; Beach Street Records/Reunion Records
Inspirational Recorded Song of the Year	“Voice of Truth”; Casting Crowns; Casting Crowns; Mark Hall, Steven Curtis Chapman; Beach Street Records/Reunion Records
Southern Gospel Recorded Song of the Year	“He Came Looking for Me”; Driven; Crabb Family; Gerald Crabb; Daywind Records
Bluegrass Recorded Song of the Year	“Heroes”; Heroes; The Isaacs; Rebecca Isaacs Bowman, Sonya Isaacs; Gaither Music
Country Recorded Song of the Year	“Forever”; Driven; The Crabb Family; Jason Crabb, Gerald Crabb; Daywind Records
Urban Recorded Song of the Year	“You Don’t Know”; I Owe You; Kierra Kiki Sheard; Rodney Jerkins, Danny Nixon, Fred Jerkins, LaShawn Daniels, Delisha Thomas; EMI Gospel
Traditional Gospel Recorded Song of the Year	“Through the Fire”; Driven; The Crabb Family featuring Donnie McClurkin; Gerald Crabb; Daywind Records
Contemporary Gospel Recorded Song of the Year	“Again I Say Rejoice”; Live From Another Level; Israel & New Breed; Israel Houghton, Aaron Lindsey; Integrity Gospel
Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year	Welcome to Diverse City; tobyMac; Toby McKeehan, Christopher Stevens, Paul Meany, Solomon Olds, Joe Baldridge, Jeff Savage, Robert Marvin, Josiah Bell, Max Hsu, Michael Linney; ForeFront Records
Modern Rock Album of the Year	Fight the Tide; Sanctus Real; Tedd T.; Sparrow Records
Rock Album of the Year	Day of Fire; Day of Fire; Scott Humphrey; Essential Records
Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year	Wire; Third Day; Paul Ebersold; Essential Records
Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year	Undone; MercyMe; Pete Kipley; INO Records
Inspirational Album of the Year	Hiding Place; Selah; Jason Kyle, Nicol Sponberg, Allan Hall, Todd Smith; Curb Records
Southern Gospel Album of the Year	Driven; The Crabb Family; Jason Crabb, Adam Crabb, Aaron Crabb, Kelly Bowling, Jerry Yoder; Daywind Records
Bluegrass Album of the Year	Angels Gathering Flowers; The Lewis Family; Wayne Haun; Thoroughbred Records
Country Album of the Year	Passing Through; Randy Travis; Kyle Lehning; Word Records
Urban Album of the Year	Everyday People; Nicole C. Mullen; Nicole C. Mullen, David Mullen, Tommy Sims, James “Big Jim” Wright, Andrew Ramsey, Shannon Sanders; Word Records
Traditional Gospel Album of the Year	A Tribute to Mahalia Jackson; Lynda Randle; Barry Beckett; Gaither Music
Contemporary Gospel Album of the Year	Live From Another Level; Israel & New Breed; Israel Houghton, Aaron W. Lindsey; Integrity Gospel
Praise & Worship Album of the Year	Arriving; Chris Tomlin; Ed Cash; Sixsteps Records
Instrumental Album of the Year	The Passion of the Christ Original Motion Picture Soundtrack; Various; John Debney; Mel Gibson; Integrity Music/Sony
Children's Music Album of the Year	Angel Alert!; Various; Celeste Clydesdale, David T. Clydesdale; Word Music
Spanish Language Album of the Year	Te Amo Dios; Praise Street Worship Band; Dave Moody, James Cobble Jr., Wesley Pritchard, Eulises Canada, Nelson McSwain; Lamon Records
Special Event Album of the Year	The Passion of the Christ: Songs; Third Day, Steven Curtis Chapman, MercyMe, Scott Stapp, POD, Brad Paisley, Sara Evans, Big Dismal, Lauryn Hill, Kirk Franklin, Yolanda Adams, MxPx, Mark Hoppus, Charlotte Church, BeBe Winans, Angie Stone, Dan Lavery; Tim Cook, Mark Joseph, Gregg Wattenberg, Steven Lerner; Lost Keyword Records/ Wind-Up Records
Musical of the Year	Emmanuel - Celebrating Heaven’s Child; Joel Lindsey, Russell Mauldin; Brentwood-Benson Music
Youth/Children's Musical of the Year	Fear Not Factor; Dennis Allen, Nan Allen; Brentwood-Benson Music
Choral Collection of the Year	Live...This is Your House; Carol Cymbala; Brooklyn Tabernacle Music
Worship Song of the Year	“Blessed Be Your Name”; Matt Redman, Beth Redman; Thankyou Music, Worshiptogether.com Songs
Recorded Music Packaging of the Year	Happy; Jan Cook, Tim Frank, Emily West, Clark Hook, Susan Levy; Clark Hook, Michael Lavine; Universal South
Short Form Music Video of the Year	”Dare You to Move”; Switchfoot; Nina Grossman Warner; Robert Hales; HIS Entertainment; Sparrow Records
Long Form Music Video of the Year	Switchfoot Live In San Diego; Switchfoot; Dwight Thompson; Dwight Thompson; New Revolution Entertainment; Sparrow Records

Did somebody say tool sale? Buying diapers? Shoppng for teens? Girls day out?

Too tired to blog

I am so exausted. I helped Chris N. move, put on the hinges, move again, hang on the frames and install the hardware to about 20 solid wood doors about 100 lbs each. Special thanks for thinking of me for this temporary job. Back again tomorrow. Just a few days of work helps when your unemployed and the bills are coming due. I need to work so I can pay for my lawn mower repair bill. Thanks for the blessing.

JESUS: FALSELY ACCUSED

(Mark 14:53-65; 15:1-3) The rulers had no interest in justice. The chief priests and their cohorts had closed their hearts to truth. They hated Jesus and the threat He represented to them and their system. They concluded the only solution was to eliminate Him, so they decided to kill Him. Knowing they lacked just grounds for executing Him, they discarded justice. *We* must take heed in our attitudes and responses toward them our flesh is no better than theirs and therefore just as capable of terrible injustice. The rulers tried to cover their evil with an aura of godliness. The rulers compounded their sin by trying to use God. God had declared that the witness of one person was insufficient (Deuteronomy 19:15). The rulers looked for witnesses against Jesus, caring only that two witnesses would agree (truthful witnesses would be an unessential bonus). God had also stipulated death for anyone who blasphemed His name (Leviticus 24:16). What a relief for the rulers when Jesus openly declared Himself to be the Christ! Now they could use a specific portion of the Law to be rid of Jesus (not that they really cared about God being blasphemed). Again, *we* must beware of such calloused abuse and misuse of God's Word. The Lamb of God offered no defense, meekly bearing injustice. Jesus could have destroyed the false witnesses along with those who plotted against Him. He could have challenged every statement and exposed every heart. He easily could have escaped. Instead, He chose to bear the injustice and shame...meekly and without defense. He knew that was the Father's plan for that time. We also need to be well-attuned to God so that we too can respond to injustice as He would have us to at any given time. Have you ever pursued your interests at the expense of justice? How do you respond to false accusations?

Do our eye's prevent us from recognizing Jesus?

"While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him" (Luke 24:15,16, NASB).

You see that Christ is revealed or hidden from men as He so desires. So many professed disciples of the Lord Jesus fail to recognize Him. The Lord tells them to go to Galilee, but they go to Emmaus. Even His closest disciples are prone to doubt and unbelief. After the resurrection, Thomas declared, "I will not believe unless I see the scars and put my hand into the wound in His side." When Jesus therefore appeared to them He did not argue or try to convince Thomas. He simply said, "Behold! Look! See my hands and my feet!" When Thomas saw the Lord, he spontaneously cried out, "My Lord, and My God!" This is revelation. Revelation does not require any arguing or convincing, as if it all depends on how well we can make a defense of the Gospel. I see no argument in the Lord Jesus, I only see Him. Seeing Him, I am convinced, and no argument is necessary