The Cracked Acorn: Faith

A past newspaper covered these news items: Stella Oselaw, 78, had to leave New Orleans because of Hurricane Katrina and then had to leave her host home because of out-of-town relatives. Louis Farrakhan was quoted, “If you don’t have a desire to help yourself, nobody will help you.” Taylor Behl, 17, was buried. She was trying to find new friends online. Cyndi Lauper is alive still singing – “Girls just want to have fun!” Gloria Estefan stopped singing long enough to write a book for kids about her bulldog, Noelle. Queen Elizabeth II and Margaret Thatcher are still around at over 80 years of age. Saudi Arabia is in town assuring us that oil will still flow to us from the land of “milk and honey.” D.C. Police warn us about driving after drinking-there’s a zero tolerance if you are stopped with a measurable amount of blood alcohol level.

Have you heard of any of these people?: Ho Chi Minh, Winston Churchill, Mohandas Ganhi, Mikhail Gorbachev, Nelson Mandela, Adolf Hitler, Martin Luther King, Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini, V.I. Lenin, Pope John Paul II, Ronald Ragan, Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Teddy Roosevelt, Margaret Thatcher, Margaret Sanger, Lech Walesa, Mao Zedong (If you recognized any of these, you are probably near 50 years or older). These people shaped history.

How about these?: Condoleezza Rice, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama. Bill Frist, Donald Rumsfeld, Mark Malloch Brown, Gordon Brown, Ali Husanin Sistani, Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi, Hu Jintao, Kim Jong II, Manmohan Singh, Thabo Mbeki, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Mahmoud Ali, Ariel Sharon, Javier Solana, John Howard, Chen Shui-bian and Hugo Chavez (You may have scored higher on these personalities). They shaped the world that many of us know.

These people by faith were certain of what they hoped for and sure of what they could not see: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, Esua, Joseph, Moses, and Joshua. (32) And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, (33) who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised;who shut the mouths of lions, (34) quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength;and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. (39) These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. (40) God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. (HEBREWS 11)

These predictions may come true in less than 100 years: human technology will bring about “artificial” life, medical procedures will be performed by computers and scientists will be able to explain the images on the Shroud of Turin, computer viruses will develop “intelligence”, there will be one world currency, most countries will have a 4-day work week, extraterrestrial intelligence will be found and confirmed, and schools in USA and Europe will require classes in defending against, not the students, but robot attacks.

Are you weary, are you heavy-hearted? Tell it to Jesus. Are you grieving over joy departed? Tell it to Jesus. Do you fear the gathering clouds of sorrow? Tell it to Jesus. Are you anxious what will be tomorrow? Jesus is a friend that’s well known! Yes, tell it to Jesus. (from Faith and Praise Songs)