Subscription Lists

Recently my husband was leaving a restaurant after having breakfast with his “Saturday Boys”, when three older ladies stopped him. Here is the conversation that took place:

Older Ladies: Pardon me; did you ever watch American Idol?

Kirk: Yes indeed. It is one of my wife’s favorite shows.

Older Ladies: Well, did anyone ever tell you that you look just like Simon Cowell?

My jokester of a husband: No, but some people tell me that I act like him.

Sorry honey, I have to disagree with you. Unlike Simon Cowell, my husband is one of the most kind, gentle, and polite guys you could ever meet. I remember back when I first met him, I thought, “This guy is way too nice”. But slowly I was taken in by all that he was, and I fell smitten in love with him. Through the years these attributes even became more evident, especially after my husband embraced Jesus Christ as His Lord and Savior in October of 1980. “Kirk—the nice guy” was transformed into “Kirk—the awesome guy”. To this day, I hear how the ladies at his work try to flirt with my husband, and I just smile. In all the 30 years that I have been married to this man, not once did I ever have to worry about losing my husband to another woman. He is mine, and mine forever. It is such a comfort knowing this, and I never have to spend any energy on negative emotions such as worrying or being jealous.

Though I do not think that Kirk looks or acts like Simon Cowell, there is someone who I feel Kirk resembles. That is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Kirk has been gifted with the ability to share the good news with many people, just as Jesus did when he walked on this earth. Because of my husband’s witness, many have come to put their faith in Christ and receive eternal life. Needless to say, it has been very exciting to live out life with a husband who is so passionate in his desire to serve and love his Lord.

What about you? Do you have a love and passion in serving and loving the Lord? If you say “yes”, and you are telling others about Him, I believe you. But if you say “yes”, and you never have the desire to share what the Lord has done in your life, I question if you are "for real".

Recently, I was talking to someone who had witnessed one of their co-workers come to Christ a few years ago. They recalled how this person had so much joy as she shared with others the good news during that time in their life. This person made a real impact on not only my friend but many others, including myself, as she shared with others the joy of receiving Christ as her Savior. However, now three years later, she seldom seems to want to talk about God, or how He is working in her life. This has left my friend somewhat perplexed, which lead to our conversation. She asked me, “What happened?”

I think in circumstances like this we can go to the Gospel of Mark 4:1-20. Jesus explains that not all seeds planted in the heart of a person results in true salvation. Here are the scenarios for each seed:

Seed #1 – This person hears the good news, but rejects it immediately as Satan steals the seed. Seed #2 – This person hears the good news, and receives it with joy, but only lives the Christian life a short time since the people around them think that they are weird. Seed #3 – This person hears the good news, and receives it with joy, and lives the Christian life for a while until idols creep into their lives. The idols could be anything from busyness, materialism, to even good stuff like "religion" and "loving others" over God. Seed # 4 – This person not only hears the good news but embraces it with their entire life and nothing can steal this seed away. They commit to following Christ the rest of their life and they tell others about this new life and others come to Christ because of their witness. NOTE: THIS IS THE ONLY SEED THAT MAKES IT TO HEAVEN.

When my friend was sharing with me this confusion that she had in regards to our mutual friend, I felt tears well up in me. How I long for my dear friend to once again experience the joy she once had, but I cannot talk to her, because she refuses to see me. However, I have given it back to the Lord, and he has healed my hurting heart. So for right now, I just pray. I not only pray for my estranged friend, but I pray for all the other people that my husband and I have had a chance to share the good news with. My heart does not stop beating fast for these people, even if some of them are the seeds that really did not make it to maturity, but died somewhere along the way. I pray that once again God can use me and my husband to water the seeds that were planted in people’s lives over these past 25 years since we have become Christians. If I desire so much to see these seeds begin to grow again, what must God be feeling as He watches the people He loves so much become apathetic about Him and the miracles that He has done?

So in ending, if you ever see someone who looks like Simon Cowell in the streets of Toledo, it could be my husband. Please stop him and chat with him. Ask him what makes his heart beat fast. I am positive he will say, “Unlike Simon Cowell, I don’t care who is going to be America’s next idol. But I do care what idols are in your life”. For if you have any idols in your life above God, Kirk can help you remove them. He can tell you how to get right with God. And then once you do, you will never be the same. How do I know? I look at my husband every day, and witness the miraculous working that God has done in a life. Kirk might not be a superstar on American Idol, but he is my superstar every single day of my life. I LOVE YOU BABY!!! YOU WILL ALWAYS BE MY AMERICAN IDOL!!!!!

We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and

women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making

things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now:

Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you.

2 Corinthians 5:20 (MSG)

"Word from Scotland" from Sandy Shaw

What Are We to Do When Others Give Us A Rough Time?