Synopsis
Are You Ready to Experience Real Life?
J. Wilbur Chapman was a pastor in Philadelphia in the late 1800s. During one particular service, a man came to the stage and shared a testimony that was so moving, Chapman often repeated it.
The man stated that he had been living like a bum for eighteen long years. He hopped from train to train, went from town to town, begging on the streets for whatever he could get. A nickel or dime, here or there. But one day, he touched a man on the shoulder and said, "Hey, mister, can you give me a dime?"
When the man turned around, the bum realized it was his father! In shock, he said, "Father, father, do you know me?" Throwing his arms around his filthy and stinking son, tears streaming down his face, the father cried out, "Oh, my son, at last I've found you! You want a dime? Everything I have is yours."
Reliving the experience while giving the testimony, the former vagabond said, "Think of it. I was a bum. I stood begging my own father for ten cents, when for eighteen years he had been looking for me to give me all he had."
It is no wonder that Chapman loved to tell that story again and again. It so clearly illustrates the incredible love that God has for us. When we left Him to follow our own paths and chase after our own dreams, His love sent His Son to die on the cross in our places for our sins. His love reaches out for us and calls us to come and experience all that He has to give us.
But how like that bum we can be! We search for a full life in nickels and dimes. "Oh, this new car will make me happy." "Oh, a new wardrobe is what I need." "This sport is the answer." "If my team wins the Superbowl this year, then life will be worth living."
We search for real life in stuff that fades, stuff that breaks, stuff that never lasts. When, all the while, there is One who can give us life to the full. There is One who can give us a hope and a future. There is One who has the power to defeat any problem in our lives. There is One with the power to resurrect dead dreams, dead hopes, and dead relationships. And there is One with a love for us so great that we cannot possibly understand it.
Christ is risen. Christ is alive. Christ is here now, and He has all you need to live life in a way you never dreamed possible.
Well, what are you waiting for?
About the Author
Mark has a passion to communicate God's design for life and the family. He and his wife, Christie, have fostered 28 children and have one college-aged son of their own.
Mark has a Masters in Christian Education as well as earning more than 100 Continuing Education Credits in the area of children and youth development, family dynamics, conflict-resolution within the family, discipleship in the home, effective discipline, parenting teenagers, dealing with different personalities, etc. He is further trained and certified through the National Center for Fathering (See: fathers.com) to lead various seminars and workshops.
Mark and his family live in the Lehigh Valley of northeast, Pennsylvania. He loves Philadelphia sports teams--Eagles, Phillies, Flyers, and 76ers; so he knows much about pain and heartache. He enjoys playing sports, writing books, hanging with his family, and referring to himself in the third person.
Check out his website at markjmusser.com. You will find all of Mark's other titles as well as some free resources.
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