Call to Commitment

 

Throughout this spring and summer, I plan to bring up some articles published in this blogspot in the past. Already, I have brought to your attention Ten Shekels and a Shirt by Paris Reidhead. Now, I hope you will enjoy and profit from this article, written by our son, Dave (twin with Dan), on the rich parable that Jesus taught about the prodigal son. His disciple, Philip said to him, “Show us the Father”, but this is exactly what He does in this story. You have heard and read it many times. Read it again and let the truth about Him sink deep into your heart.

 

Just a little sidelight… Dave is hired from time to time to photograph weddings, graduation and family pictures. He does some wonderful things with a camera and I thought it would be nice to highlight this article with some photos taken this past winter.

 

 

 

 The Prodigal Son

 by Dave Brueckner

 Amazing grace how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me;

I once was lost, but now I’m found,

Was blind but now I see.

“What is God like?” The Bible reveals the heart of God. There is found a sure answer in the Bible for those who are serious enough to read its sacred pages.

One of the things that God yearns for is fellowship with his people, who are the crown of his creation. In Genesis, He walks in the garden in the cool of the day, looking for Adam. In Mark, he calls his 12 disciples, “that they might be with Him…” Later, when His disciples discover that Jesus is going to leave them, He tells them that He is going to prepare a place for them, “that where I am, there you may be also”. 

 

A Short Biography of Paris Reidhead

Paris Reidhead was born in a Minnesota farming community in 1919, where in his late teens, he committed himself to a life of Christian service. In 1945, Reidhead took an assignment with the Sudan Interior Mission (SIM). A spiritual crisis during this period -- as he described two decades later in what is his best-known recorded teaching, "Ten Shekels and a Shirt" -- left Reidhead with the conviction that much of evangelicalism had adopted utilitarian and humanistic philosophies contradictory to Biblical teaching. The end of all being, he came to believe, was not the happiness of man, but the glorification of God. This theme would recur throughout his later teaching.

Upon his return to the United States in 1949, he associated himself with the Christian and Missionary Alliance movement and in 1953 began teaching at national conferences. Three years later he took a position as pastor at New York City's Gospel Tabernacle, which had been established in 1887 by A. B. Simpson. He also traveled to mission fields in Africa, Asia, and South America. Paris Reidhead died in Woodbridge, Virginia in 1992.

Ten Shekels and a Shirt was one of the first articles that I posted, when we opened this blog in 2011. It was published, originally, on January 25, 2011 and I posted it once again on this blogspot almost three years ago. Now, I put it before you once again because, in my opinion, it is the most important message that I have heard in the last 50 years.  You can still listen to it on youtube and I offer the link here…

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDQC45_RA2c

 

I would be equally pleased, if you choose to listen, rather than to read it. To me, it is important that God’s people hear it and it does not matter to me, whether you read or listen. However, I also offer Paris Reidhead’s story behind the message, of which you surely want to be informed. So whether you read or listen, please pay attention to this stirring, life-changing word from the Lord, praying that God will anoint your ears to receive the immense truth presented. Personally, it moved me deeply and greatly affirmed my position, concerning every Christian’s purpose in this life. It also influenced my presentation of the gospel.

 (An expository study of the book of Hebrews)

Chapter 13

 1. Let brotherly love continue.

2. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.

3. Remember the prisoners as if chained with them – those who are mistreated – since you yourselves are in the body also.

4. Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

5. Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

6. So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?

7. Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct.

 

 Lasting counsel

 The writer now gives some counsel, as he brings his letter to a close. In the first place, he encourages the continuance of brotherly love, which, obviously, already existed in the Hebrew Christian church (1). The Greek word for the combined term brotherly love, as you can easily predict, is philadelphia. Without question, love is the motivating force behind Christianity, but it must be the love that has its roots in God Himself. Human love cannot fulfill the purposes of God, or reach the levels of service necessary to successfully meet the needs of His children. There is intimate friendship among them that is unequaled anywhere else in society. In fulfilling this command, we are never far from the high priestly prayer of Christ, whose desire was “that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them” (Jn.17:26). 

 Secondly, he advises the entertainment, or hospitality, towards strangers (2). This must be conducted in the Holy Spirit with discernment, in order to avoid freeloaders and scams. However, strangers are vulnerable away from their environment and may need our help. Cases come to my mind of stories that, to me, have no conclusion. I remember finding a young American beside the road in Mexico, repairing something on his VW van. I invited him to our home, where he told us of being run over by a vehicle years before, destroying his kidneys. His physical situation was delicate, but he was a believer, who stayed with us a couple days, until his van was fixed. He drank an enormous amount of lemon juice to keep his kidneys clean. As I mentioned, I don’t know the end of the story, I only remember the blessing of having this man in our home.  

 My dad, living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, often told a story of something that took place shortly after his conversion to Christ. A man came to the door, holding a piece of paper with an address scribbled on it. “I can’t make it out,” he told the man, but dad’s answer to every little dilemma was prayer. He said, “Come in, we’ll pray for the Lord to help us.” He believed that prayer should take place on one’s knees, so he dropped to the floor and the visitor knelt beside him. Then, my dad looked again at the paper and admitted, “No, I still can’t make it out.” The man looked him in the face and said, “This was the address.” Dad closed the door behind him and went to the window to watch, as he left. There was no one to be seen on the porch or sidewalk. He had disappeared and Hebrews 13:2 came to him, Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.