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Pastor's Corner |
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3/4/01 |
Late, the other
night, I was in my library, sitting in a chair, sitting in the dark,
praying to the Lord. Like most people, I have certain favorite places to
pray. In my case, it is the above setting. The room is mostly dark with
only a soft green glow from a clock screen. Where I sit it is pitch
black, but I like sitting there to pray because it is so peaceful. In my
prayer ‘closet’ I have my chair just so, and my arms rest on the shelves
just so, and I have a soft cloth on the floor just so, and beside me I
have my cup of hot water just so. Comfy-cozy just so! As I was praying I
instinctively reached down to grab my cup. I knew exactly where to grab
for it, because I had it ‘just so.' I prayed, I drank; I prayed some
more, I drank. Finally I paused for a moment to just sit in the silence;
to hold my cup, to sip a sip, to think a thought. Sip. Think. Sip Think.
Stare into the dark.
It’s funny how
things seem so ‘normal’ to us after we have done them repetitively. I
had done this routine countless numerous of times. Yet, never had I ever
noticed the obvious; I was holding a glass cup (clear) filled with hot
water (clear) in a pitch black room -- I COULD NOT SEE MY CUP.
I stopped to think
of what it was like as a little kid trying to drink out of a cup. Man!
That required two hands, two eyes, careful maneuvering, staring at the
liquid in broad daylight and then STILL SPILLING IT! Yet here I was now
doing it without any ‘proof’ that I was doing it right. Sound silly? It
didn’t to me. My eyes had no proof that the cup was there, neither did
my ears, neither did my smell. Only TOUCH (hands, lips, tongue, warmth
inside) told me what I needed to know; that, and my memory of WHERE TO
FIND THE CUP! Not seeing the cup began to make me feel a little ‘freaky’
inside. The cup was INVISIBLE to me! Yet, I enjoyed its substance. My
eyes had no proof that it was really there, but my other senses assured
me that I was indeed interacting with the cup and enjoying the
refreshing water. I was AWARE no matter how blind I was as I STARED.
Something, deep
inside me, became stirred. I thought: "God is INVISIBLE, and here I sit
with Him whom I cannot see." Is He not my cup too? He said, ‘if any man
thirst come unto me and I will give you drink.' He said He will fill us
with His Holy Spirit and likened Himself unto water. Sitting there, I
felt comforted. When my eyes cannot see, and my ears do not hear His
Presence, it is no proof at all that He is not present with me. MY
SPIRIT can FEEL what I cannot prove with my eyes. MY HEART can RECEIVE
refreshing drink from the Fountain of His Spirit even if I cannot touch
Him with my hands. I can TOUCH HIM and he can touch me! The only thing I
indeed need to remember is WHERE I LAST REACHED HIM -- IN MY CLOSET. He
promised that if I pray in my closet, THAT HE WILL LISTEN, and that He
will fill me with Himself. I think I shall sit there more often. It is
very peaceful in that place, drinking of that refreshing Spirit. The
world may seem dark, but I am holding on to the invisible!!
© Anthony J. Massotti
Th.M. Th.M. 3/4/2001 |
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3/11/2001 |
The other night, I
was sitting in front of the ole window to the world (t.v.) watching a
documentary concerning a famous screenwriter/author/director and his
movie career. In the midst of that broadcast the narrator showed two
video clips of real life events.
In both clips the
scenes were virtually identical. Crowds of desperate people --
clamoring, pleading, pushing, cramming together, hands stretching into
the sky -- were reaching out to the supplier at the front of the crowd
who was dispensing what the crowd so feverishly wanted. The scene was as
turbulent as sharks rushing to a bloody carcass in the high seas.
What amazed,
shocked, and bewildered me was what the crowds were frantically wishing
to obtain. Their desires were completely different, yet their agonizing
efforts were identical!
Crowd one was in a
major U.S. city; the people were shoving toward booths set for the
obtaining of movie memorabilia! Crowd two was in Kosovo where war-torn,
starving survivors were clamoring for BREAD! All I could think was:
"What is wrong with this picture!" STARVING people and COVETING people
were IDENTICAL in their desperation to have their DESIRES fulfilled! The
hunger to crave a toy, a collectable, an earthly possession has become
as desperate as when our forefathers once craved a twist of bread!
Surely not, Lord, surely not.
As I pondered this
absurdity, I began to visualize the day of the trial of Jesus. The ruler
offers the mobbing crowds a choice to their desires. Choice one:
BARABAS, a thief. Choice two: Jesus, the BREAD OF LIFE. With demand they
starvingly say ‘give us the thief’. They want the appeasement of their
carnal desire! I realized that their murderous heart screamed as loudly
as the covetous hearts of the toy mongers and collectors. Bread? Who
needs bread? We want toys! We want, want, we want, we want!!
We often times,
wonder why it is that in the third world countries God is moving more
mightily than He is in our more ‘civilized’ country. To the University
crowd it is often viewed as a sign of ‘simple people wanting myths’.
They are viewed as foolish! Yet, in contrast, these same ‘sophisticated’
people stand for DAYS to obtain a ticket to a new movie, or upcoming
rock concert, or TO BUY THE HOTTEST TOY FOR THEIR CHILD! Is that not a
sad indictment?
If we CRAVED God like we covet
houses, cars, toys, trinkets, silver and gold, IF we yelled and screamed
and demanded and waited in line for the supply of HIS hand like we do
for everything else, would that not be better than what we do now? AND
WOULD WE NOT FIND OUR HUNGER SATISFIED? Next time you say you don’t have
time to pray, read, or worship, I say: "Try getting into a different
crowd!"
© Anthony J. Massotti
Th.M. Th.M. 3/11/2001
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3/18/2001 |
We sure are a
movie-going, radio-listening, media society. Since the advent of the
silver screen, and the invention of the television, we have all become
starry-eyed experts on everything, it seems. We have become very
comfortable with our special gift of being nigh unto God. Once upon a
time, only GOD could see everything that was happening around the world.
Now WE with all our technology have once again fully utilized our right
of DOMINION and become GLOBAL in our awareness. From our armchair, our
movie chair, our car seat, and even our bed chambers, WE WATCH THE
UNIVERSE AS IT SPINS. Everything teaches us, and we LOVE it.
We can now KNOW a
lot more about good and evil! We have indeed ‘become like God’. We KNOW
THINGS, all kinds of things. Yet, there are several things that seem to
have happened since we became so all-knowing smart. We love less, we
demand more, we judge everyone and everything, we believe that whatever
opinion (things we have concluded based on our all-knowing self) we hold
must be right, AND we sin so much more easily now
All of a sudden, I
am hearing an echo. All it is saying is: ‘in the day thou eatest
thereof, thou shalt surely die’. God said this to Adam, the father of
the human race. He said this would happen when we ate of the tree; the
one that Eve quickly realized would make her wise. We thought that those
Bible references only applied to them. I wonder.
Seems to me that society is dying. All this epignosis (total knowing) is
making us less agapeetos (all loving?)..
Here’s a little
self-test you might try out this week:
1. When you go to
the movies, are you the AUDIENCE or the CRITIC or the DIRECTOR when you
watch? The audience allows their heart to be affected; the critic is
detached.
2. When you watch
the news on the television, are you MOTIVATED TO PRAYER and compassion,
or do you use it as a platform to formulate more and more opinions;
soaking your self with judgment? Love would demand that you care. Do
you?
3. When you watch
the Pastor, Evangelist, Prophet, or Teacher on the T.V. screen do you
put on your critic's hat or open your Christian heart? Faith would
demand surrender not superiority.
4. When you look at
your fellow man, family member, or nearby worker, do they seem REAL to
you? Or do you feel like you are looking at them through the glass pane
on your eyes? We are so used to having a ‘screen’, and a ‘plate of
television glass’ between humanity and us that we live like watchers. Is
that how you feel?
One last thought.
God’s Word shows that as HE watches, HE ALSO GETS INVOLVED. Are you in
His likeness and image? Or are you just another camera broadcasting the
views? |
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© Anthony J. Massotti
Th.M. Th.M. 3/18/2001 |
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Original Quote by Pastor Anthony |
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"The Road of Today Was Merely a Trail Yesterday - Travelled On By Many Looking For a Shorter Route For Tomorrow."
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This site was last modified on 10/10/2007
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