May 2009 Nuggets of Faith

By Tony Barnes

   The grandfather loved the cup of coffee his grandson had made for him. The flavor was horrible. However, the fact the 8 year old had tried his best to make his grandpa’s coffee made the horrible flavor irrelevant. As he finished off the last drop, the elderly man was surprised when something hit the tip of his nose. He looked down at the supposedly empty cup and found that an olive drab green toy soldier was in the bottom of his cup. Trying his best not to laugh, grandpa asked the young lad why there was a toy soldier in his coffee cup. The young man replied, “Granddad, the commercial says ‘there’s nothing like soldiers in your cup’.”

   It’s a funny story of a young man who ‘missed the message’ of Folgers coffee. The original line is  ‘there’s nothing like Folgers in your cup’. In the centuries since Jesus Christ died on a bloody cross outside of Jerusalem, the message of the cross has been missed by many. Jesus said the road of salvation which he preached would be very narrow and few would truly experience the eternal life he came to provide. The Messiah also said the road to destruction would be wide and many would travel that route.

   What possibly could Jesus have meant? Surely he knew that America would be founded upon Christian principles. Certainly, the Savior knew that we would be a nation of 300 million people. Didn’t he realize that the majority of Americans surveyed would claim to be Christian in their faith? Yet, how do we reconcile that to his statement regarding the way of salvation being a narrow path? Can it be that scores of people are missing the message as the little boy did by serving a toy soldier in his grandfather’s coffee cup? 

   Many people missed the message of the cross when they made a decision based on emotion. It could have been at a church youth camp, while watching a Billy Graham crusade on television or simply during a bad time in their life. A few words may have been expressed in a tear filled prayer with promises to God that if He will fix things I will go to church for the rest of my life. Yet, somehow in the days that followed there was no change in that life. There was no excitement about finding a church, there was little interest in reading the Bible and prayer was seldom if ever anything more than a cursory sentence as they drifted off to sleep.

   If church was suddenly proclaimed to be illegal by our Congress, would you still find a way to gather with other believers to worship? Would there be a sense of longing or desperation to worship with other believers? Daniel was a young man in the Old Testament that prayed three times a day in front of an open window. When it became illegal to do so, Daniel still prayed. For his devotion, he didn’t get invitations to conduct revival meetings. Instead, he was thrown into a lion’s den to be eaten alive. The young Hebrew man answered to a different law. He was not to be stifled in his worship of God. 

   What about you? Are you truly a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you in the faith? There is too much at stake to be unsure. Don’t miss the message of the cross. Accepting Jesus Christ as Savior is a free gift of salvation. However, being a Christian will cost you everything as you submit your life to new management. Don’t miss the message and at the end of your life find a toy soldier at the bottom of your cup. 

 

Tony “T-Bar” Barnes is the founder and president of The Master’s Torch Ministries. He can be reached at tbarnugget@yahoo.com and is available for speaking engagements.