Brush Fire!

Brush Fire

If you’ve never seen a brush fire up close, I can tell you, it’s really something to see. A few days ago we had a brush fire in the mountains less than a mile from us. It started as a small little fire at the bottom of a valley in a town next to ours. At first in our usual busy life, it’s something most of us didn’t really care about.

However, in just a day, the mountain close to us was on fire. I had absolutely no idea, but when I looked up north to the mountains from the back part of the house I saw flames burning up trees in just seconds. It was like tongues of fire dancing, like an invisible fire breathing dragon, angry and vehement aiming for total destruction. Because of the three digit temperature, the fire snaked through the ridges and valleys. Embers, like fireworks jumping from one tree to another.

Helicopters, airplanes, fire trucks – all the noise covers the city. I was not able to sleep the first night. As the temperature was so hot, our sliding door in our bedroom was opened to let air in... But it didn’t take long when the wind blew in our direction and filled our bedroom with thick smoke.

The conditions were just right for a fire – it was a dry and the temperatures were around 105 degrees. Although there wasn’t much wind, yet the fire devoured all the dry timber, grass and brush. It just kept going, working its way down and up the mountains mercilessly. The further up the hill it went, the more the air caught it, the bigger the fire got. Fire engines and police cars shut down several streets. My kids watched all of these from our rooftop. Their faces transfixed at the surreal sight.

As white and gray smoke blew over and filled our neighborhood, the orange and yellow flames ate up leaves and branches on all parts of the mountain ranges, whipping up onto the trees, getting as high as thirty feet tall, charring tree roots and turning several trees orange. We were not in serious danger, although we were ready to evacuate at the moments’ notice. But it was fascinating to watch up close. Two things stayed with me: first, the sound of the fire as it ate up the lush brush and tree covering. When you see wildfires on television, you don’t really hear the sound, don’t smell the smoke and don’t feel the heat. It was louder than I imagined with this kind of crackling sound – and second, how quickly the fire can move and how much momentum it gains in a very short period of time. I’m still amazed at how far it got up the mountain in a short time.

The saying, “spread like wild fire” has a whole new meaning for me now.

But there is another kind of fire that spread faster than this fire we saw in the mountains. I have to admit that I was very anxious as the head of the household of nine people with my mother in law (74 years old) and my mom (86 years old). So, I quickly sent an email to my yahoo group, church family and facebook friends asking for prayers. These are my high school and church friends living all over the world. In just a matter of minutes, I started receiving phone calls, emails and facebook notes from them. Everyone was offering prayers. It was amazing! I got messages from New Zealand, Hongkong, New York, the Philippines and Canada. Those who live a few miles away were offering to help us for possible evacuation. A High School friend (Medical Doctor) of mine who lives in Las Vegas even offered me to evacuate at his mom’s house in another city far from the fires. He did not know that there are 10 people in my household! Hahaha.

This fire that spread so quickly was a fire of different sort. A fire fueled by friendship and compassion. This is a fire that jumped from one continent to another. All I can say is that, when we go through real fire or fiery challenges in life, don’t forget that there are people out there who truly care. Reach out to them. When their “fire” is set ablaze, nothing can stop them. Their love which I believe is from the Great God, like fire, moves faster than any brush fire.

Excuses

Think for a moment. How do you live your life? Either you live it for yourself alone, or you live it to serve others.
As we live our lives, we are going to be confronted with whether we give our life for something good or something not so good.

How do you live your life? What is most important to you? What will it be—a career, a sport, a hobby, fame, wealth? None of these will have lasting significance. Here is what I learned, service is the pathway to real significance. It is through ministry that we discover the meaning of our lives. The Bible says, “Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body” (Romans 12:5 MSG).

As we serve together in God’s family, our lives take on eternal importance. Paul said, “I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less . . . because of what you are a part of” (1 Corinthians 12:14a, 19 MSG).

God wants to use you to make a difference in his world. He wants to work through you. What matters is not the duration of your life, but the donation of it. Not how long you lived, but how you lived.

If you’re not involved in any service or ministry, think about these people. They did not use their physical circumstances as an excuse not to serve.

What kind of excuses we use? Consider these.

• Abraham was old,
• Jacob was insecure,
• Leah was unattractive,
• Joseph was abused,
• Moses stuttered,
• Gideon was poor,
• Samson was codependent,
• Rahab was immoral,
• David had an affair and all kinds of family problems,
• Elijah was suicidal,
• Jeremiah was depressed,
• Jonah was reluctant,
• Naomi was a widow,
• John the Baptist was eccentric to say the least,
• Peter was impulsive and hot-tempered,
• Martha worried a lot,
• The Samaritan woman had several failed marriages,
• Zacchaeus was unpopular,
• Thomas had doubts,
• Paul had poor health, and
• Timothy was timid.
* and you are....?

Wow, that is quite a variety of misfits! Yet, God used each of them in his service. He will use us, too, if we stop making excuses.

(inspired by a Rick Warren message}

Bee Sting

A boy and his father were traveling in a car when a bee flew through the open window. The boy was so highly allergic to bee stings that both he and his father know that his life was in danger. As the boy frantically jumped and tried to avoid the agitated bee, the father calmly reached out and grabbed the bee. When he opened his hand, the bee began to fly again, terrifying the boy once again. The father holding up his hand with an implanted stinger, then said to the son, "Look son, his stinger is gone; he can't hurt you any longer."

As a bee loses its stinger when it stings, so death lost its sting when it stung Jesus. Death lost its sting when Jesus was pierced with those long nails that went through His wrist and feet.

Jesus died a cruel death in order to pay the penalty of our sin.

For the Bible tells us that, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him." (John 3:16-17)