SHOULDERS #68 ---- 5/3/99
Posted by: lifeunlimited <lifeunlimited@...>
As We fight The Good Fight
SHOULDER TO SHOULDER #68
TITLE: "Counting the Cost and Paying the Price"
My Dear Friend and Partner in Ministry:
Frankly, today as I write, my mind is a jumble of thoughts. There is so
much I want to share with you about so many different things. Yet, I
know I cannot ---- I must not. Neither of us have the time it would
require.
As I think about all the things on my mind ---- the killings in
Littleton, Colorado, the return of the three American soldiers, news from
a missionary friend in Kenya, the life of the church where I am now
ministering as an interim pastor, the members of the team of students Jo
Ann and I are preparing to take back to Croatia in a few weeks, ----
these things all seem to uniquely fall into one particular category.
All these things have one thing in common ---- Counting the Cost, and
Paying the Price.
RETURN OF THE SOLDIERS:
As many millions do, I also rejoice over the release of the three
American soldiers. While I have questions concerning the methods and the
motives involved, it is good to have those guys free.
But it makes me wonder ---- did these guys count the cost before they
paid the price? As volunteers, I'm sure they must have. "No man should
go into battle without counting the cost." The Bible tells us that.
I wonder what the cost was for those men. We'll never really know. I'm
sure it included dealing with separation from family, hardship of
military life, inconvenience of discipline, possibility of injury ----
even death.
We could see in the early videos that these guys who had apparently
counted the cost had also paid the price.
Sometimes we romanticize this idea of counting the cost.
Consequently, we either overlook some of the cost, or we don't count it
accurately. And, therefore, when it's time to pay the price, we suddenly
discover that the whole deal really wasn't what we had expected. We
enjoyed the thrill and challenge of counting the cost, but we never
expected to pay so high a price.
Gratefully, these guys didn't have to pay the ultimate price ---- but the
thought certainly had to be on their minds, and in that way, they did
taste it.
Counting the Cost requires a willingness to pay the price ---- even
though sometimes, like our soldiers, we don't have to.
MY TEAM OF SOLDIERS:
Then, I look at the team of "soldiers" Jo Ann and I are preparing to take
into the spiritual battle zone of Croatia in just a few weeks. They,
too, are having to count the cost ---- the inconvenience of giving up a
summer job, making sacrifices for a wedding coming up just a few weeks
after the trip, separation from family members, long and hard days of
working in an unfamiliar environment with people who don't speak their
language, the task of raising some $3,000 each to make the trip.
But, they, too, as they prayed last Fall, chose to count the cost. Soon
they will be paying the price.
I think of Chris and Angela, facing the cost of a wedding in addition to
raising double the money everyone else must raise. I think of Nancy, a
57 year old widow school teacher who had to deal with being a late
addition on the team, had to deal with the fears of her children who told
her they didn't want her to go, and who had to consider whether or not
her disabilities caused by polio would in any way be challenged by the
stress of the trip and its related duties.
I was reminded of Nicole and Christine who have had so little success
thus far in securing the funding, and now, whether they go are not, are
obligated to over $1600 each in non-refundable tickets even if they drop
from the team.
Jo Ann and I are so extremely proud of our "A" team who have counted the
cost and are paying the price.
THE CHURCH WHERE WE ARE MINISTERING:
The more we are there, the more we see how the agonizing price they are
now paying is, in some ways, created by the fact that many of them didn't
count the cost accurately in the past. As a result, when revival blew
in, and then the Enemy launched a counter attack, many of them panicked
while others crumbled under the intimidations. The price now is a heavy
one indeed.
And, yet ---- even yesterday ---- we see evidence of healing,
restoration, and growing resiliency to rise up again. I wish you could
have seen the people in all the services yesterday. All of a sudden,
unexpectedly out of nowhere, there was a release and a freedom that came
into the services ---- and people began to respond to the tug of God on
their hearts.
Hope was blooming into confidence. Dreams were looking more like
possibilities. Burdens were being cast aside, replaced by a new spring
in the step.
They are again counting the cost. They have already paid a heavy price
---- and they may have to again. But, this time I believe they will pay
the price more willingly and fearlessly.
God has reminded me again this week-end of just how much the spirit of
fear steals when he raises his putrid and ugly head. In counting the
cost, you must take into account the intimidation of fear before you pay
the price; otherwise the price you pay may be far greater than was
needed.
OUR FRIEND TONETTE:
I wish you could know Tonette. She is one of a kind, any way you
describe her. She is a naive, sold-out, filled-with-abandonment, breath
of fresh air.
We met her in 1987 when she was on a student team from a Christian
university coming to help our church in a resort ministry for a few weeks
that Summer.
Our paths have crossed many times, and we cherish every moment of those
occasions.
Today Tonette serves as a missionary in Kenya where she teaches school
with a missionary agency. She counted the cost of forsaking the thought
of marriage and of having a family. She counted the cost of unsaved
family members not understanding. She counted the cost of loneliness as
she prepares to go to the Orma tribe where no white missionary has ever
gone before.
She sends us weekly "love letters" of her adventures ---- moreso her
escapades ---- in Kenya. We've never met anyone who could so quickly and
so easily be placed in precarious positions.
For example, she had driven off from a building next door to the U.S.
Embassy in Nairobi just ten minutes before the bomb went off last year.
Driving down the road toward the missionary compound, she heard the
explosion just a mile away.
We heard from her three times last week, the last one being late Saturday
night via e-mail. She has malaria.
But, to her, that was o.k. ---- because she had already counted the cost.
Yesterday afternoon we heard from her again ---- heart broken. One of
her students died yesterday ---- from malaria. Perhaps that was a price
she hadn't expected to pay ---- but, because she had counted the cost,
she indeed was able to pay the price.
Here are exerpts from yesterday's letter:
"You know I have had malaria this past week and have been pretty sick at
home. Haven't been able to keep anything in my stomach at all. This
morning I thought I was feeling better and after Tricia got home from
church (I didn' t go) we headed out to Village Market to eat something.
It was my first outing.
"Once there, a parent of one of my students and several former students .
. .
recognized me at the entrance and came over to us to ask if I'd heard
about my student, Michael Stephens. Last I heard he was in the hospital
with malaria. He died this morning.
"Emotionally, I have no way of knowing how to deal with this and broke
down completely right there in public. And of course, physically I'm
certainly not well. Regardless of how I feel physically it will be
necessary for me to be with my class
tomorrow to deal with this together.
"All of it is more than I can handle. I have been throwing up again all
afternoon and evening, and weeping. Linda Allen has just called me and
told me to make some jello to settle my stomach, so I'll try that.
"Anyway, that's where I am right now. Having asked you yesterday to pray
for Michael, I thought you'd want to know this. Please pray for
Michael's family, my class, and for
me.
"Broken -
Tonette
I wish you could know her ---- a young woman who has counted the cost and
is paying the price. If you were to ask her today, she'd tell you the
price was not too high.
A MARTYR FOR CHRIST IN AMERICA:
Perhaps most of all, however, I think of the young people and the school
teacher in Littleton, Colorado. What a tragic price they have paid ----
the parents have paid ---- we all have paid ---- because somewhere,
somebody failed to count the cost.
Failed to count the cost of removing God's Word from the class room.
Failed to count the cost of a spirit of promiscuity and immorality which
was soon to follow.
Failed to count the cost of revisionism in the publication of school text
books where all mention of Christian roots and morality were stricken.
Failed to count the cost of restricting prayer so severely that most
people were intimidated into silence on public school grounds.
Failed to count the cost of not exposing the real motive of profit in the
media as it spewed out and popularized every sordid form of profanity,
perversion, and evil imaginable to the human mind. Failed to count the
cost of not demanding the sanctity of human life, and thus allowed
millions to be murdered at the hand of an abortionists knife.
You get the picture.
And, because we failed to count the cost back then, we are now paying a
far greater price today than we needed to ---- and even the most
calloused are shocked and shamed at what we see has happened.
And, while the philosophers and the psychologists try to rationalize and
explain the condition by deciding where society or parents failed or
whether there was some emotional abnormality, and gun control lobbyists
try to blame it on guns, far too many Christians continue to hide behind
the curtains of their sanctimonious auditoriums and scream to each other
that it is the judgement of God.
In the meantime, the classmates and the parents continue to weep.
But then there was a young lady with courage ---- Cassie Bernall.
Everyone is talking about her; many are writing about her ---- major
newspapers, network news reporters, Charles Colson, Paul Harvey, even
presidential candidate Alan Keyes.
Here are just some of the reports I've received.
#1. From The Boston Globe:
"A Martyr Amid the Madness"
Student affirmed her belief in God, and then was slain.
By Eileen McNamara, Globe Staff, 04/24/99
LITTLETON, Colo. - She walked into Columbine High School on Tuesday
morning,a promising student. She was carried out more than 24 hours
later a Christian martyr.
''Do you believe in God,'' one of the heavily armed gunmen asked the
shy blond girl reading her Bible in the library while her school was
under siege.
''Yes, I believe in God,'' she replied in a voice strong enough to be
heard by classmates cowering under nearby tables and desks.
The gunman in the long black trench coat laughed. ''Why?'' he asked
mockingly. Then he raised his gun and shot and killed 17-year-old
Cassie Bernall.
Accounts of the final moments of Cassie's life echo with the history
of early Christendom, when a profession of faith could be a fatal
act.
Her story is being told and retold in the church basements, rec rooms,
and parish halls where so many of the young survivors of the
Columbine massacre have spent the last few days clinging to one
another and to their deep religious faith.
In her death, Cassie has become both symbol and prophet, her martyrdom
seemingly foretold in a poem written after church services last
Sunday. It was discovered on her desk by her younger brother, Chris,
Tuesday night when it became clear that she would not be coming home.
Now I have given up on everything else -
I have found it to be the only way to really know
Christ and to experience the
mighty power that brought
him back to life again, and to find
out what it means to suffer and to
die with him. So, whatever it takes
I will be one who lives in the fresh
newness of life of those who are
alive from the dead.
More than any other image from this scene of carnage - more than the
flowers deep as the snow in Clement Park, more than the blue and
silver ribbons on every lapel - the most affecting is the sight of
strapping young men and gracious young women on their knees in prayer
everywhere one looks in this prairie suburb at the foothills of the
Rocky Mountains.
It was Cassie's grandmother who first called the camera-shy high
school junior a martyr, recalled Dave McPherson, the youth group
director. ''I was with the family Tuesday. They waited all night,
praying that she was hiding in a closet. When we first heard from
Crystal about Cassie's last words, her grandmother said: `My God, my
granddaughter was a martyr.'''
Crystal is Crystal Woodman, a youth group member who, with Cassie, did
outreach work among Denver's homeless population. She was hiding with
Cassie in the library during the rampage that claimed the lives of 12
students, one teacher, and the two presumed killers, Eric Harris, 18,
and Dylan Klebold, 17, both Columbine students. When she heard the
exchange between the gunman and Cassie, Crystal was certain of what
she was witnessing: Her friend was laying down her life for Jesus.
The spiritual life of so many of Columbine High's teenagers is evident
in the crosses they wear around their necks and the bracelets asking
WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) that they wear on their wrists. Theirs is
the largest school-based Bible club in the school district.
But it is not only the children who are finding solace in religion.
Cassie's parents, Misty and Brad Bernall, issued a statement last
night celebrating their daughter's spiritual courage. ''Cassie's
response does not surprise us. Cassie's life was rightly centered on
Jesus Christ.'' The Bernalls appealed to parents to become more
involved in the lives of their children. They urged teenagers to find
their way to church. ''Don't let my daughter's death be for nothing.
Make your stand. If you are not in a local church group, try it.''
There is nothing sanctimonious about the faith of these teenagers.
They are actively engaged in the world around them. Cassie had told
friends recently that she intended to cut her long blond hair so that
her silky locks could be made into wigs for children undergoing
chemotherapy. At Cassie's funeral on Monday, several pews will be
filled with members of Victory Outreach, an inner city storefront
church in one of Denver's roughest neighborhoods. Cassie and her
friends shared dinner every few weeks with the prostitutes and drug
addicts who make up that congregation.
The last assignment Cassie completed on this earth was a reading that
was to have been discussed at a youth group meeting the night she
died. The book is called ''Seeking Peace.'' In a chapter entitled ''No
Life Without Death,'' the author quotes the Gospel of John: ''Unless a
kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single
seed. But when it dies, it produces many seeds.''
This story ran on page A01 of the Boston Globe on 04/24/99.
) Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.
#2 BreakPoint Commentary - April 26, 1999
Littleton's Martyrs
By Charles W. Colson
It was a test all of us would hope to pass, but none of us really wants
to take. A masked gunman points his weapon at a Christian and asks "Do
you believe in
God?" She knows that if she says "yes," she'll pay with her life. But
unfaithfulness to her Lord is unthinkable.
So, with what would be her last words, she calmly answers "yes, I believe
in God."
What makes this story remarkable is that the gunman was no communist
thug, nor was the martyr a Chinese pastor. As you may have guessed, the
event I'm
describing took place last Tuesday in Littleton, Colorado.
As the Washington Post reported, the two students who shot 13 people,
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, did not choose their victims at
random--they were acting out
of a kalideoscope of ugly prejudices.
Media coverage has centered on the killers' hostility toward racial
minorities and athletes, but there was another group the pair hated every
bit as much, if not more: Christians. And, there were plenty of them to
hate at Columbine High School. According to some accounts eight
Christians--four Evangelicals and four Catholics--were killed.
Among them was Cassie Bernall. And it was Cassie who made the dramatic
decision I've just described-- fitting for a person whose favorite movie
was
"Braveheart," in which the hero dies a martyr's death.
Cassie was a 17-year-old junior with long blond hair, hair she wanted to
cut off and have made into wigs for cancer patients who had lost their
hair through
chemotherapy. She was active in her youth group at Westpool's Community
Church and was known for carrying a Bible to school.
Cassie was in the school library reading her Bible when the two young
killers burst in. According to witnesses, one of the killers pointed his
gun at Cassie and asked,
do you believe in God?" Cassie paused and then answered, "Yes, I believe
in God." "Why?" the gunman asked. Cassie did not have a chance to
respond; the gunman had already shot her dead.
As her classmate Mickie Cain told Larry King on CNN, "She completely
stood up for God. When the killers asked her if there was anyone who had
faith in Christ, she spoke up and they shot her for it."
Cassie's martyrdom was even more remarkable when you consider that just a
few years ago she had dabbled in the occult, including witchcraft. She
had embraced
the same darkness and nihilism that drove her killers to such despicable
acts. But two years ago, Cassie dedicated her life to Christ, and turned
her life around. Her friend, Craig Moon, called her a "light for
Christ."
Well, this "light for Christ" became a rare American martyr of the 20th
Century.
The best way all of us can honor Cassie's memory is To embrace that same
courageous commitment to our faith. For example, we should stand up to
our kids
when they want to play violent video games. We should be willing to
stand up to community ridicule when we oppose access to Internet
pornography at the local
library.
For the families of these young martyrs, I can only offer deep personal
sympathy and the hope that they might take strength from the words Jesus
spoke to the woman who honored Him by pouring ointment on His head.
"Wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done
will be told in memory of her" (Matthew 26:13).
"Well done, good and faithful servant. Now enter into the joy of your
Lord" (Matthew 25:23).
Copyright (c) 1999 Prison Fellowship Ministries
#3 When the righteous don't stand
By Alan Keyes
This was a dark week in American life. The shooting in Colorado last
Tuesday punctuates the truth about the era in which we live -- a
culture of death and dark satanic forces is threatening the future of
our nation. We are already hearing the usual suspects rising to speak
about guns and other material objects as if they are causing our
problem, but we know they are not. Our problem is that a spirit of
death is stalking the land.
The young Colorado killers laughed as they killed. At first, this is
hard to believe. But haven't we been teaching our young people to do
just this?
At the heart of the evil that is killing us is precisely this kind of
sick moral relativism. It is an attitude that says, "I'm OK; you're
OK; they're OK; good's OK; evil's OK; and nothing matters or makes a
difference."
We can pretend that the shocking deaths in Colorado don't have
anything to do with this kind of cultural sickness, but ultimately we
will not be able to escape that truth. And, God help us, we still have
so many cowardly, gutless people in our public life -- in our pulpits
and our politics -- who won't speak the truth about where this death
is really coming from. It doesn't come from the barrel of a gun; it
comes from the deep pit of hell that we are allowing to replace what
ought to be the reverence for God and truth in the hearts of this
society.
It is time for America to get down on its knees, and to start turning
away from the lies that we have been worshipping instead of God's
truth.
Wake up, America. God is in His heaven, and if we go down on our knees
and are really willing, finally, to prostrate ourselves before His
will, there may be some hope for us. But if we are not, then I think
we are just seeing the beginning of the judgment that must attend the
things that we have been doing and tolerating for too long. God help
us.
TO SUM IT ALL UP:
My friend, the common thread in all these experiences I have mentioned
today is the issue of counting the cost and being willing to pay the
price.
You and I probably don't have malaria, and we probably haven't lost a
child to violence, but there are clearly issues in our lives where God is
challenging us to count the cost.
The mere fact of Jesus' statement about the builder and the soldier
needing to accurately count the cost in order to willingly pay the price
is proof enough that such action is needed.
Tragically in our day, few churches are willing to count the cost ----
they'd rather play the game. Many preachers seem willing to pay the
price because they failed to count the cost ---- they thought the job was
going to be a piece of cake instead of a martyr's stake.
Countries go unreached, the starving go unfed, the homeless remain cold
and wet in the alleys of life, members of congress remain as politicians
instead of rising to become statesmen ---- simply because too many people
won't take time to count the cost in order to be able to pay the price.
Will you count the cost, my friend? If you already have, will you count
it again? The stakes are higher now.
Oh, God ---- may we be take time to count the cost, and then be willing
to pay the price when it is called for.
THURSDAY IS A GOOD DAY IN AMERICA:
This coming Thursday is the annual National Day of Prayer and Fasting in
the United States. Let me urge every American to join in this
observance. If there is no public gathering in your community, get some
people together and spend time in prayer.
If you do not live in the United States, the place where you do live
needs such a movement. Begin one this Thursday.
In Christ's Bond of Grace,
Bob Tolliver ---- (Rom 1:11-12)
Copyright May, 1999. All rights reserved.
If this letter has blessed you and you know of someone else who needs to
be encouraged, feel free to forward it in its entirety to all such people
you know.
If you would like a list of past issues which you could receive upon
request, just let us know.
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Hang in there! I'm with you!
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TO SUBSCRIBE, send any message to <[email protected]>.
Bob Tolliver ---- Rom 1:11-12
Life Unlimited Ministries
E-mail: [email protected]
Ph: 417-275-4854 Fax: 417-275-4855
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