smoking the gospels

Gambarambi sat on the roadside near his home in Zimbabwe, talking with friends and smoking his hand-rolled cigarettes.  A Bible translator wanted to give a copy of the New Testament in the local language to Gamabarmbi.  Gambarambi just laughed and said it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to give him a Bible.  He would just tear the perfectly thin pages out and use them to roll more cigarettes.

This presented a quandary for the translator. He knew Gambarambi needed to read about Jesus, but he didn’t want the New Testament turned into cigarettes. As he prayed about it, he came up with an idea.

The translator told Gambarambi that he could use the pages of the New Testament for cigarettes, but only after reading each page.  Recognizing a free source for quality cigarette paper, Gambarambi readily agreed.

Fifteen years later, at a United Bible Society Meeting in Zimbabwe, Gambarmabi stood up to speak.  As he looked over the audience, he spotted the translator who had given him free cigarette paper. 

Gambarambi told the audience about the agreement he had made with the translator. He said, 

“I smoked Matthew, 

I smoked Mark, 

I smoked Luke, 

and I smoked John 

until I got to John 3:16 

and then I could smoke no more!”

Now, instead of smoking the Gospel, 

Gambarambi is preaching the Gospel.

*Taken from a story at https://www.facebook.com/WycliffeDiscover?fref=nf 

The unfolding of Your words gives light; 

Psalm 119:130

pull up a chair

When our children were small, 

they loved to come into the kitchen to help me.

They'd drag a chair over to the counter,

and they'd dump in the ingredients I measured out,

stir for a few minutes until their little arms got tired,

and then hop down to go and play while the food simmered and cooked.

2002 - the 3 junior associates helping in the kitchen

God lets us do the same thing.

He's measuring, working, preparing the feast,

tirelessly providing the direction and the materials

and graciously allowing us to pull up a chair

and have a hand in what He's up to

as He makes His Word known throughout the world.

He summons us to cooperation.   
We are honored in being given the opportunity to participate in His good deeds.   
Remember how He asked for help in performing His miracles.   
Fill the water pots, stretch out your hand, distribute the loaves.  

-Elisabeth Elliot

...for it is GOD who works in you, 

both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

Philippians 2:13

eyes at the window

One afternoon early last year, as I brushed my hair in preparation for a meeting at the office,  I sensed something was not quite right.  I turned around to find,  two feet away through the always-open window, an unfamiliar old Filipina woman watching me, her eyes pressed up to the window screen.  

photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/thelightningman/5609066984/

She was on her way to visit my neighbor just behind our home, and she saw nothing strange in stopping to watch me brush my hair.  She was, after all, intensely interested in who I was and how I lived.

We talked for a few minutes, and as she left, I found myself wondering,  

“Are my eyes on Christ in that kind of focused way? 

 Do I long that much to know Him?   

Do I take any opportunity I can to gaze on Him, 

and focus on His Words?”  

Hebrews 12 tells us to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.”  What better way to grow our faith than by peering closely into the window of the Word, observing the life of Christ, seeing His promises to us, hearing His commands and His warnings?

“For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.”

Heb.  2:1

inner sweetness

Kenyan street vendor selling fresh sugar cane

How sweet are your words to my taste, 

sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Psalm 119:103

The Bible is not an end in itself, 

but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, 

that they may enter into Him, 

that they may delight in His Presence, 

may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself 

in the core and center of their hearts.

A. W. Tozer