“HEAVEN IS FOR REAL”
Luke 19:1-10 July 17, 2011
Dr. Dennis Ginoza (Preached at Monserate Mobile Home Chapel)
One day at our annual church conference at the University of
Redlands, one of the speakers said, “We all need to learn three languages,
English, Spanish, and Computer.
How many of you have computers? How many of you have
cell phones? Welcome to the age of technology!
I want to begin by sharing these thoughts. I got this in my email
from a friend.
Never look down on anybody, unless you’re helping them up.
Please read the following quietly then send them back on its journey.
To realize the value of a sister/brother:
ask someone who doesn’t have one.
To realize the value of ten years:
ask a newly divorced couple.
To realize the value of four years:
ask a graduate.
To realize the value of a month:
ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of one minute:
ask a person who missed the train, bus or plane.
Time waits for no one.
Treasure every moment you have.
You will treasure it even more when
you can share it with someone special.
God gave to us two precious gifts: the first is life,
and the second is time.
Some people say, “If I only had more time.”
All of us are here for only a short time.
Listen! a house mouse lives for 4 years
a humming bird 8 years
a wolf 16 years
a horse 50 years
a carp 57 years
an elephant 69 years
a parrot 80 years
a giant tortoise 152 years
the jelly fish, however reproduces itself and is the only
creature that is biologically immortal.
In the United States men live till age 75.2, women 80.4.
I wish you all the blessing of longevity!
One day, when Jesus was passing through Jericho and the crowds were
pressing on him. Then he saw a man on a sycamore three—
Zaacheus. Zaacheus was a man of small stature: he was a tax
collector who defrauded people. But Jesus gave him his time.
Jesus said, “Zaacheus, hurry and come down, for I must stay
at your house today.” The people grumbled, because Zaacheus
was a sinner (today we would call him a bad guy). Zaacheus
had a change of heart and told Jesus, I will give back four times
what I took from people. Jesus said, “Today salvation has
come to this house!”
Jesus teaches us today, TAKE THE TIME.
Take time for quiet and prayer.
Tale the time with children.
Take time for a stranger.
Take time for God.
Take time to help someone.
Last February at the Farmer’s Insurance Golf tournament at Torrey Pines, I was
a marshall. Phil Mickelson drove the ball into the crowd along the
fareway and it hit one of the spectators. He walked over to the man to see if
he was okay. Then he took off one of his gloves, signed it
and gave it to the man. …And the crowd cheered.
Phil took the time.
One day, E. Stanley Jones heard a scratching sound at his door.
At that time he was a missionary in India in the
early 1900’s. He opened the door and there was a dog
with a broken leg. Jones brought the dog in, wrapped
his broken leg, and after several weeks, the dog got better.
Then the dog left without saying a word of thanks. “That’s
a nice how do you do,” thought E. Stanley Jones. (That’s
my phrase). A few days later, there was a stratch on the
door, it was that dog. He brought with him another dog with
a broken leg. As a missionary, E. Stanley Jones gave his time to the people
of India. He brought Christ into the hearts of the people of India and
the world E. Stanley Jones was nominated for
the Nobel Peace Prize, in 1963, he received the Ghandi Peace Award.
I have here a pendulum. A pendulum measures time. Time
breaks down in seconds, in minutes, hours, days, weeks, months
and years. It is what we call sidereal time.
It measures the movement of the planets.
Will you count with me?
We’ll count one to ten. Will someone check your clock?
The Greeks teach us there are two kinds of time:
chronos: it is sidereal time – the movement of the planets
and kairos which is the Lord’s time.
I have entitled my sermon today:
HEAVEN IS FOR REAL.
Let me tell you this story.
In Nebraska there is boy named Colton. Colton was almost four
years old and one day, he a pain in his side.
The doctor wasn’t sure what
the problem was, so he waited and he did more tests.
Colton almost died: his appendix had burst.
This story of Colton Burpo is in a book written by his father who
is a Lutheran pastor in Imperial, Nebraska. This book is
coauthord with Lynn Vincent and has
sold over two million copies and was on the New York best seller.
Colton Burpo told his parents, he went to heaven,
he sat on Jesus’ lap and Jesus really loves the children.
Colton says, in heaven there is no darkness, it is just full of light.
Colton had a near death experience and he says,
he was greeted by Jesus. His father wanted to know about
God: he said God is huge. God, he says, is the the Holy Spirit.
Does he sit on a throne? Colton said, “Yes.” Does Jesus sit on his side?
“Yes.” Which side? “The right side.” Who sits on his left side?
Colton says, “The angel Gabriel.”
When they were choosing a title for
this book, his father asked Colton, “What title would you choose?”
He said, “Heaven Is For Real.”
Colton says, the people in heaven are not old, they are young.
He said there will be a battle between Jesus and Satan and
Jesus will win. He saw it.
He said, Jesus really loves all the children. And he says it over
and over again, Jesus loves all the children. In heaven
he says, are a lot of children.
What astonishes his parents, Todd and Sophia, is that his account
parallels the account in the Holy Bible.
Once there was a successful businessman who was celebrating
his retirement with his family and friends. He said,
“Many years ago I had a great boss and mentor. One day he
gave me one of his business cards. On the back were written 17
words.” He said, he would look at the list, close his eyes and the
words would jump out at him. He said, for 40 years these 17 words
never failed him. Would you close your eyes? These 17 words will
never fail you.
Prepare Trust
Listen Change
Smile Persist
Care Accept
Choose Risk
Focus Wait
Believe
Relax --Robert Gilbert
Act
Forgive
Pray You may open your eyes.
I say again, HEAVEN IS FOR REAL.
Rev. 21:3 “I heard a loud voice from the throne saying:
See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them as
their God,
they will be his peoples, and
God himself will be with them;
he will wipe every tear from
their eyes. Three things we
Death will be no more; want to remember:
mourning and crying will be no more, Life is continuous.
for the first things have passed away. God is full of love.
Jesus is still with us, every day!
When I was in Sun City Center, Florida in March, I saw on the
wall in our guest room was an Irish blessing.
Every morning I went for a walk and this
blessing touched me. Let me close with this blessing:
May the road rise to greet you,
May the wind be always on your back,
May the sun sine warm on your face,
May the rain fall soft on your field,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
All God’s people will say: AMEN!
FOOTNOTE:
Ralph Waldo Emerson, the American poet, puts this
another way. He writes, “Success is…”
To laugh often and much;
to win the respect of intelligent people and the
affection of children;
to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to
endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate beauty;
to find the best in others;
to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
to know even one life has breathed easier because
you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.
“HEAVEN IS FOR REAL”
Luke 19:1-10 July 17, 2011
Dr. Dennis Ginoza (Preached at Monserate Mobile Home Chapel)
One day at our annual church conference at the University of
Redlands, one of the speakers said, “We all need to learn three languages,
English, Spanish, and Computer.
How many of you have computers? How many of you have
cell phones? Welcome to the age of technology!
I want to begin by sharing these thoughts. I got this in my email
from a friend.
Never look down on anybody, unless you’re helping them up.
Please read the following quietly then send them back on its journey.
To realize the value of a sister/brother:
ask someone who doesn’t have one.
To realize the value of ten years:
ask a newly divorced couple.
To realize the value of four years:
ask a graduate.
To realize the value of a month:
ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of one minute:
ask a person who missed the train, bus or plane.
Time waits for no one.
Treasure every moment you have.
You will treasure it even more when
you can share it with someone special.
God gave to us two precious gifts: the first is life,
and the second is time.
Some people say, “If I only had more time.”
All of us are here for only a short time.
Listen! a house mouse lives for 4 years
a humming bird 8 years
a wolf 16 years
a horse 50 years
a carp 57 years
an elephant 69 years
a parrot 80 years
a giant tortoise 152 years
the jelly fish, however reproduces itself and is the only
creature that is biologically immortal.
In the United States men live till age 75.2, women 80.4.
I wish you all the blessing of longevity!
One day, when Jesus was passing through Jericho and the crowds were
pressing on him. Then he saw a man on a sycamore three—
Zaacheus. Zaacheus was a man of small stature: he was a tax
collector who defrauded people. But Jesus gave him his time.
Jesus said, “Zaacheus, hurry and come down, for I must stay
at your house today.” The people grumbled, because Zaacheus
was a sinner (today we would call him a bad guy). Zaacheus
had a change of heart and told Jesus, I will give back four times
what I took from people. Jesus said, “Today salvation has
come to this house!”
Jesus teaches us today, TAKE THE TIME.
Take time for quiet and prayer.
Tale the time with children.
Take time for a stranger.
Take time for God.
Take time to help someone.
Last February at the Farmer’s Insurance Golf tournament at Torrey Pines, I was
a marshall. Phil Mickelson drove the ball into the crowd along the
fareway and it hit one of the spectators. He walked over to the man to see if
he was okay. Then he took off one of his gloves, signed it
and gave it to the man. …And the crowd cheered.
Phil took the time.
One day, E. Stanley Jones heard a scratching sound at his door.
At that time he was a missionary in India in the
early 1900’s. He opened the door and there was a dog
with a broken leg. Jones brought the dog in, wrapped
his broken leg, and after several weeks, the dog got better.
Then the dog left without saying a word of thanks. “That’s
a nice how do you do,” thought E. Stanley Jones. (That’s
my phrase). A few days later, there was a stratch on the
door, it was that dog. He brought with him another dog with
a broken leg. As a missionary, E. Stanley Jones gave his time to the people
of India. He brought Christ into the hearts of the people of India and
the world E. Stanley Jones was nominated for
the Nobel Peace Prize, in 1963, he received the Ghandi Peace Award.
I have here a pendulum. A pendulum measures time. Time
breaks down in seconds, in minutes, hours, days, weeks, months
and years. It is what we call sidereal time.
It measures the movement of the planets.
Will you count with me?
We’ll count one to ten. Will someone check your clock?
The Greeks teach us there are two kinds of time:
chronos: it is sidereal time – the movement of the planets
and kairos which is the Lord’s time.
I have entitled my sermon today:
HEAVEN IS FOR REAL.
Let me tell you this story.
In Nebraska there is boy named Colton. Colton was almost four
years old and one day, he a pain in his side.
The doctor wasn’t sure what
the problem was, so he waited and he did more tests.
Colton almost died: his appendix had burst.
This story of Colton Burpo is in a book written by his father who
is a Lutheran pastor in Imperial, Nebraska. This book is
coauthord with Lynn Vincent and has
sold over two million copies and was on the New York best seller.
Colton Burpo told his parents, he went to heaven,
he sat on Jesus’ lap and Jesus really loves the children.
Colton says, in heaven there is no darkness, it is just full of light.
Colton had a near death experience and he says,
he was greeted by Jesus. His father wanted to know about
God: he said God is huge. God, he says, is the the Holy Spirit.
Does he sit on a throne? Colton said, “Yes.” Does Jesus sit on his side?
“Yes.” Which side? “The right side.” Who sits on his left side?
Colton says, “The angel Gabriel.”
When they were choosing a title for
this book, his father asked Colton, “What title would you choose?”
He said, “Heaven Is For Real.”
Colton says, the people in heaven are not old, they are young.
He said there will be a battle between Jesus and Satan and
Jesus will win. He saw it.
He said, Jesus really loves all the children. And he says it over
and over again, Jesus loves all the children. In heaven
he says, are a lot of children.
What astonishes his parents, Todd and Sophia, is that his account
parallels the account in the Holy Bible.
Once there was a successful businessman who was celebrating
his retirement with his family and friends. He said,
“Many years ago I had a great boss and mentor. One day he
gave me one of his business cards. On the back were written 17
words.” He said, he would look at the list, close his eyes and the
words would jump out at him. He said, for 40 years these 17 words
never failed him. Would you close your eyes? These 17 words will
never fail you.
Prepare Trust
Listen Change
Smile Persist
Care Accept
Choose Risk
Focus Wait
Believe
Relax --Robert Gilbert
Act
Forgive
Pray You may open your eyes.
I say again, HEAVEN IS FOR REAL.
Rev. 21:3 “I heard a loud voice from the throne saying:
See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them as
their God,
they will be his peoples, and
God himself will be with them;
he will wipe every tear from
their eyes. Three things we
Death will be no more; want to remember:
mourning and crying will be no more, Life is continuous.
for the first things have passed away. God is full of love.
Jesus is still with us, every day!
When I was in Sun City Center, Florida in March, I saw on the
wall in our guest room was an Irish blessing.
Every morning I went for a walk and this
blessing touched me. Let me close with this blessing:
May the road rise to greet you,
May the wind be always on your back,
May the sun sine warm on your face,
May the rain fall soft on your field,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
All God’s people will say: AMEN!
FOOTNOTE:
Ralph Waldo Emerson, the American poet, puts this
another way. He writes, “Success is…”
To laugh often and much;
to win the respect of intelligent people and the
affection of children;
to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to
endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate beauty;
to find the best in others;
to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
to know even one life has breathed easier because
you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Coincidence
COINCIDENCE
“Just Another Day, So We Thought”
by Dennis Ginoza
It was just another day of travel. We had been on the road for some five weeks and were on our way home to California. Our trip took us to Colorado, and Iowa for my wife Sylvia’s class reunion, and visits with friends in Chicago, Cincinnati area, St. Louis, and back in Iowa (Oskaloosa, Des Moines, Clear Lake). Now we were homeward bound in our Toyota van.
It was a long day on the road, some ten hours, and we arrived at North Platte, Nebraska for a night of rest. We knew very little about North Platte other than, it was a city along highway 80, in the middle of farm lands along a river.
As we travel, the question always arises, “Where are we going for dinner?” We were told, the Quality Inn had a restaurant so we thought we’d check it out. Approaching the restaurant doors, which were closed, we quickly judged, we’d look for another restaurant. Ruby Tuesday popped into our minds. We so enjoyed dinner with friends in Hamilton, Ohio, Ruby Tuesday it was; just a walk across the parking lot.
“Where would like to sit?” asked the hostess. We chose a booth with comfortable seats, across from the window tables. As we took our seats, we had no idea that the evening was going to be an experience of surprise, an encounter that was lined with a silver thread called, coincidence.
Webster defines “coincidence” as “the occurrence of events that happens at the same time but seem to have some connection.” It also defines “coincide” as “to correspond in nature, character, or function.” What happened that evening, July 6, also was a serendipity.
Serendipity is defined by Webster as, “the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for.”
Now at the table, we decided on what we would order. Sylvia chose an item from the menu, I selected the salad bar. In the next booth were two women having their meal, two friends who often dined out together. Their conversation, after we sat down, took a turn in time. The one woman said to the other, “I think I know those folks.”
I had gotten up to get to the salad bar. Unbeknown to us, much curiosity filled the other booth. The woman saw my Spring Training, San Diego Padres T-shirt, “They’re from San Diego!” the added clue. The woman came up to Sylvia (I was getting my salad), “I think I know you. Is your husband a minister?” “Yes,” replied Sylvia. “Hi! I’m Janie, your husband married us--Carl and me!” The moment turned into joy, lost friends finding each other in a most unsuspecting place, Ruby Tuesday in North Platte, Nebraska, hundreds of miles from California.
Yes, in February of 1993, in Chino California, Janie Beth and Carl were married in Carl’s family home, as with weddings, a time full of joy, hope, and love. Carl worked as a security guard at the Pomona Public Library and met Sylvia who worked as a reference librarian. I was studying at the School of Theology at Claremont and also found friendship with Carl and then, with Janie.
Our contact with Carl and Janie faded some in time. They had moved to Seattle where they lived for several years. Carl’s untimely death brought a sad moment of change in Janie’s life as it did for her family, for many friends and for us. Our Christmas letters kept us linked together in the bond of friendship, a bond, neither time nor geography can sever. This, one learns, when hearts are bound by love. Janie remembers: she told me, you said in the in the marriage ceremony, “Let love, love, love, love bind you together.” Eighteen years have gone by and love still is the binding force.
Coincidence? Yes, on the one hand. On the other, hidden somewhere is a divine lesson, old friends will once again share the common path of life, of love, of surprise. Carl Jung offers the term, “collective convergence,” when people appear in the same time and space. Some things we cannot explain, but like fruits on a tree, they are to be shared, they are given as a gift.
North Platte was just a city along highway 80, a blink on the fast track. But that evening, it was a city that came to life for us. Janie said, “After dinner, I want you to follow me to my home so we can visit over a glass of cold lemonade, and talk.” That sounded like a real treat. (We visited with her good friend Carla who marveled over this encounter).
Janie is a delight, full of enthusiasm, and shares an excitement about life. She gave us a tour of North Platte. Here is the home of Buffalo Bill who helped settle the wild west, a memorial park built in his memory. We saw his home from which he could see the movement of the Indians (Native Americans) in their early prairie battles. North Platte was the route of the Intercontinental Railroad, the Central Pacific (from California) and the Union Pacific (building from Omaha), the tracks which joined to complete a transportation system that helped change America. We drove by the museum with a high tower where the golden spike is kept, the symbol of completion of railway in the 1860’s.
The evening renewed our friendship with a great joy and wonder. We met Janie’s mother, a superb musician who played selections on her organ and her piano, to our benefit. We traveled back in time to the wedding, how our families are doing, and anyting and everything. We were old, lost friends who found each other in a most unsuspecting place!
Coincidence? Accident? I am learning, some things are meant to be, in the course of divine time.
“Just Another Day, So We Thought”
by Dennis Ginoza
It was just another day of travel. We had been on the road for some five weeks and were on our way home to California. Our trip took us to Colorado, and Iowa for my wife Sylvia’s class reunion, and visits with friends in Chicago, Cincinnati area, St. Louis, and back in Iowa (Oskaloosa, Des Moines, Clear Lake). Now we were homeward bound in our Toyota van.
It was a long day on the road, some ten hours, and we arrived at North Platte, Nebraska for a night of rest. We knew very little about North Platte other than, it was a city along highway 80, in the middle of farm lands along a river.
As we travel, the question always arises, “Where are we going for dinner?” We were told, the Quality Inn had a restaurant so we thought we’d check it out. Approaching the restaurant doors, which were closed, we quickly judged, we’d look for another restaurant. Ruby Tuesday popped into our minds. We so enjoyed dinner with friends in Hamilton, Ohio, Ruby Tuesday it was; just a walk across the parking lot.
“Where would like to sit?” asked the hostess. We chose a booth with comfortable seats, across from the window tables. As we took our seats, we had no idea that the evening was going to be an experience of surprise, an encounter that was lined with a silver thread called, coincidence.
Webster defines “coincidence” as “the occurrence of events that happens at the same time but seem to have some connection.” It also defines “coincide” as “to correspond in nature, character, or function.” What happened that evening, July 6, also was a serendipity.
Serendipity is defined by Webster as, “the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for.”
Now at the table, we decided on what we would order. Sylvia chose an item from the menu, I selected the salad bar. In the next booth were two women having their meal, two friends who often dined out together. Their conversation, after we sat down, took a turn in time. The one woman said to the other, “I think I know those folks.”
I had gotten up to get to the salad bar. Unbeknown to us, much curiosity filled the other booth. The woman saw my Spring Training, San Diego Padres T-shirt, “They’re from San Diego!” the added clue. The woman came up to Sylvia (I was getting my salad), “I think I know you. Is your husband a minister?” “Yes,” replied Sylvia. “Hi! I’m Janie, your husband married us--Carl and me!” The moment turned into joy, lost friends finding each other in a most unsuspecting place, Ruby Tuesday in North Platte, Nebraska, hundreds of miles from California.
Yes, in February of 1993, in Chino California, Janie Beth and Carl were married in Carl’s family home, as with weddings, a time full of joy, hope, and love. Carl worked as a security guard at the Pomona Public Library and met Sylvia who worked as a reference librarian. I was studying at the School of Theology at Claremont and also found friendship with Carl and then, with Janie.
Our contact with Carl and Janie faded some in time. They had moved to Seattle where they lived for several years. Carl’s untimely death brought a sad moment of change in Janie’s life as it did for her family, for many friends and for us. Our Christmas letters kept us linked together in the bond of friendship, a bond, neither time nor geography can sever. This, one learns, when hearts are bound by love. Janie remembers: she told me, you said in the in the marriage ceremony, “Let love, love, love, love bind you together.” Eighteen years have gone by and love still is the binding force.
Coincidence? Yes, on the one hand. On the other, hidden somewhere is a divine lesson, old friends will once again share the common path of life, of love, of surprise. Carl Jung offers the term, “collective convergence,” when people appear in the same time and space. Some things we cannot explain, but like fruits on a tree, they are to be shared, they are given as a gift.
North Platte was just a city along highway 80, a blink on the fast track. But that evening, it was a city that came to life for us. Janie said, “After dinner, I want you to follow me to my home so we can visit over a glass of cold lemonade, and talk.” That sounded like a real treat. (We visited with her good friend Carla who marveled over this encounter).
Janie is a delight, full of enthusiasm, and shares an excitement about life. She gave us a tour of North Platte. Here is the home of Buffalo Bill who helped settle the wild west, a memorial park built in his memory. We saw his home from which he could see the movement of the Indians (Native Americans) in their early prairie battles. North Platte was the route of the Intercontinental Railroad, the Central Pacific (from California) and the Union Pacific (building from Omaha), the tracks which joined to complete a transportation system that helped change America. We drove by the museum with a high tower where the golden spike is kept, the symbol of completion of railway in the 1860’s.
The evening renewed our friendship with a great joy and wonder. We met Janie’s mother, a superb musician who played selections on her organ and her piano, to our benefit. We traveled back in time to the wedding, how our families are doing, and anyting and everything. We were old, lost friends who found each other in a most unsuspecting place!
Coincidence? Accident? I am learning, some things are meant to be, in the course of divine time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)