Three Things

September 29th, 2023

Research shows that it's much easier to remember things when they are broken down into smaller chunks or numbers. Join our guest blogger Brian Miller today as he presents three things we should all remember.

An Anecdotal Beginning . . .

There’s an old―old by today’s kids’ timeframe, not mine―comic strip that was my favorite growing up―Calvin and Hobbes. The panel I am thinking of is not the one where the strip’s headliner 6-year-old Calvin declares, “Happiness isn’t good enough for me. I demand euphoria!” Though that one rather succinctly sums up the state of today’s culture, i.e. “I want what I want when and how I want it, and I want it now!”

No, I’m thinking of the panel where Hobbes asks Calvin the secret to his creativity, to which the boy replies, “Last-minute panic!” and for which I would substitute one word: “Deadlines.”

All of which is a long way of saying, I’m up against a deadline again this month. I used to have to crank out 800-word game stories in an hour or so several nights a week, so sometimes only an encroaching deadline can stir the creative juices. Sometimes, life is simply super busy. This week, it was the latter as our irons in the fire exceeded healthy hands. Praise God for His guidance through one situation fraught with flashpoints, and thank my lovely wife who battled through illness to help me make 11 gallons of our spicy chili and serve it at the annual charity cook-off.

It's good to know that in the midst of our busyness or in one of life’s whirlwinds, God is always there speaking in a still, soft voice, telling us “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” and “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age.”

I guess I’m taking the long road to try to explain that I am a newspaper writer by trade and am used to writing a column called “Out of the Blue,” in which I had a very wide latitude of topics. Yet, there were many weeks when the well was dry, approaching the deadline, and I had to get creative. This is one of those times.

Now for the Real Message . . .

This week, I’ll be doing something called “Three Things.” Three, because the other obvious single-digit number is seven when you’re talking about significant biblical numbers, and that’s a lot. Three, because I was listening to a message by the late, great preacher Dr. Donald J. Barnhouse earlier today, and the theme verse was Micah 6:8 [BSB, emphasis added]:

He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

That’s three things we’re required to do. Three for any number of reasons, one of which is I can always come up with at least three applicable topics and use anecdotes from my own life as practical examples. Without further ado (or “adon’t”) . . .

1. Jesus Christ is the only superstar.

I loved watching and playing sports while growing up; I still love to watch, but the latter is painful. I’m still sore from renting the gym for our youth group a couple of nights ago, and I only played a couple of games of lightning and dodgeball. That aside, it’s easy to get caught up in celebrity worship in a society that glamorizes them for simply being famous, catching a ball, or for singing an inane song.

I’m going through a book called “The Teenage Years of Jesus Christ” with our youth group, and they’ve really responded to the presentation of how “Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:55).

Incidentally, favor today is so fleeting and based on Instagram followers and other insipid measures, not on what God has to say.

It really is amazing to contemplate the Eternal Son, emptying Himself of His divine attributes to become one of us, knowing He would be rejected by us, yet He purposed to take our place anyway, to take our sin upon Himself, to die for us, to be the “Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.”

Think about it. Jesus spoke all things into existence and holds it all together. He designed a perfect universe out of love for us to live in and fellowship with Him in His presence, only to see it fall into disrepair, cursed because of the sin of the “first Adam.” Yet, the “last Adam” had this mindset:

Philippians 2:6–11, KJV

Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Too often we’re prone to worship at the altar of celebrity, and even if all we do is harbor a healthy admiration for what someone in the spotlight does for a living, it’s a healthy reminder to realize that celebrity one day will be invisible in the light cast by the Morning Star, and everybody will bow the knee.

While man may measure worth on outward appearances and social stature, God is not a respecter of persons―each one of us needs to meet Him at the cross to have a future in His presence, where we’ll experience the fullness of joy. That said . . .

2. Human "superstars" can get saved, too.

Check out this story about Hall of Famer Jim Kelly, who quarterbacked the Buffalo Bills to four straight Super Bowls. I feel some kinship with Buffalo fans being a Vikings fan; we’ve also been to four Super Bowls and never won. The story and accompanying video are of Kelly being baptized and enthusiastically responding about his feelings for Jesus. Kelly, who has battled throat cancer in recent years, lost his son Hunter to a childhood disease in 2005. It is because of Hunter that Kelly met Jesus at the cross, and why he has assurance he’ll see his son again.

When I was growing up, our first pastor was a bit of an isolationist. When he died in a tragic fire when I was still quite young, the church eventually split, and a couple of years later, my dad was asked to be the pastor. Some of those isolationist tendencies hung on for many of my formative years, and sometimes it felt like Christians were very few and far between, particularly in the area where I grew up, though that was exaggerated in my mind.

In this age of social media, it’s easy to see a number of professing Christians (beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing) who are open about their faith in Jesus. It seems like a lot of quarterbacks know or have come to know the Lord, including Kelly, Tim Tebow, two of my Vikings, Kirk Cousins and Case Keenum, Ben Roethlisberger, Carson Wentz, Kelly’s old backup and current Carolina coach Frank Reich, and a number of others. Tony Dungy’s autobiography is one of my favorites. Coach Prime (Deion Sanders) credits Jesus Christ for saving him. It’s refreshing when an athlete first credits Jesus after a game. Golfers Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns have a Christian testimony, as does NBA player Jonathan Isaac of the Orlando Magic, who stood, like Daniel’s three friends, when everyone else was kneeling. Actors like Chris Pratt (he was born in the town next to me here in MN and is my age, so I feel a connection), Denzel Washington, and Dennis Quaid all claim to be followers of Christ.

It's good to see when the name of Jesus is proclaimed by those who have a platform in the secular world. And while only God knows each heart, it’s encouraging to know that as hard as it is for a rich man to come to Christ, many do.

Most of us have far smaller platforms. Which brings me to my final thing.

3. Ask God to bring someone across your path tomorrow who you can share the gospel with.

This was a simple challenge laid out by Barnhouse in another message I listened to yesterday. He relayed the story of how he heard well-known preacher R.A. Torrey speak one time. Torrey told a story he had heard from the great evangelist Dwight L. Moody, who said God never failed to send someone to him to share the gospel with when he so prayed. Torrey said God never failed to do the same for him. Barnhouse repeated that refrain.

The last words of Jesus Christ before his ascension to the Father’s right hand were these:

Acts 1:8, ESV

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

If He called us to be His witnesses, He will surely send us those to whom we can witness to of what Jesus Christ has done for us.

Author Bio:
Brian Miller is a longtime newspaper columnist and freelance writer. He and his wife Bethany, a fellow “preacher’s kid” (and talented musician and chef), split their time between Eveleth, MN, and South Padre Island, TX, with their dog Case. Brian seeks to use lessons learned in his life of God’s unchanging love, grace, mercy, and faithfulness to bring hope to others who may be struggling. You may write to him at bd1976@pm.me.

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