Getting Through Life Alive

     Under the dark shadow cast by COVID-19 during the summer of 2020 more American families opted for vacationing in the great outdoors. With camping and campers on the rise, the National Park Service issued guidelines for safety when encountering a bear in the wild. Their advice ...

    • don't run (bears will chase you)
    • don't climb a tree (bears can climb too)
    • don't push!
NPS officials actually warned campers, “Do NOT push down a slower friend (even if you think the friendship has run its course)” (Kootenai Valley Times, Bonners Ferry, Idaho).
    We are all pilgrims on this physical journey through life (1 Peter 1:1). Our goal is to fully realize the eternal life Jesus promised to those who obey and follow Him (John 14:1-4). On this journey we need the support and encouragement of fellow Christians. Satan, however, uses any means possible to keep us from attaining those precious promises, even if it is getting us to turn on each other, "pushing each other to the bears."
    Isn't it wonderful that the church of the New Testament is infused with love? Love for God. Love for the Son. Love for the Bible. Love for one another (1 John 4:21). As Christians, we need each other to help us get out of this life to live forever.

David Bragg

Family Building Blocks

    Police were summoned to the Camillus, New York home after receiving a call from one side of an altercation in late May 2018. Upon arrival they were faced with a heated dispute between a 30-year-old son and his parents. His parents had won a previous court decision that their son could no longer live in their basement. The son was finally collecting up his belongings and complying with the court order when the dispute escalated.
    As members of the press gathered to witness and report on the dispute, the son informed them that he had called police when his parents refused to hand over their grandchild's, the complainant's 8-year-old son’s, Lego set (dailywire.com).
    No family is perfect because all families are composed of people, mortal creatures marred by sin (Romans 3:23). Yet, every family has a perfect pattern for assembling the divinely ordained building blocks freely available in the pages of scripture. Through inspiration the Apostle Paul clearly laid out the essential foundation for the family as he argued for Jesus’ relationship with the church He established in Acts 2. Within the roles of husbands and wives (Ephesians 5:22-33), and of parents with children (6:1-4), Paul saw this blueprint for a successful family: “just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her” (5:25).

David Bragg

Finding Peace in a Turbulent World

    Susie Maroney did something that nobody else had ever done. On May 12, 1997 the 22-year-old Australian became the first person to swim from Cuba to the Florida Straits. For 110 miles in shark infested waters she swam nonstop for 24 1/2 hours. To protect her from the sharks she swam in a special cage pulled by a boat moving with her. To encourage her along the way her mother and brother rode in the boat cheering her on. Along with this amazing feat of endurance she arrived in the Florida Keys she was dehydrated, sunburned, and covered with jellyfish stings. Even more amazing to me is the fact that Maroney was born with cerebral palsy. She took up swimming at the age of four and began competitive swimming three years later. As a teenager she had pushed herself to the point where she could compete in long distance swimming contests.

    Life is lived in a turbulent world with obstacles that seem to challenge us at unexpected turns. Health problems. Financial concerns. Family conflicts. Career upsets. Sometimes the challenges of life make us feel like we are swimming with sharks and no shore is in sight.

    Jesus has the perfect solution for handling life’s ups and downs. To those who have obeyed Him in baptism and who strive daily to maintain their faith He offers peace. To His disciples He proclaimed, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). That promise is just as available today as then. Jesus will surround His faithful followers with a peace the world can never penetrate. Live your life with determination and faith and Jesus will give you peace.

David Bragg

A Wing and a Prayer

    On February 1, 1943 Lt. Kendrick R. Bragg flew out to North Africa with his team, the 414th Bomb Squadron. On the way back to their base they came under attack by a German fighter pilot. The enemy plane suddenly spiraled out of control crashing into the lead American plane sending it crashing down. Still falling, the German plane next struck the B-17, the All American, piloted by Bragg. With a gaping hole in his plane's fuselage, the rear of the bomber literally swaying as it flew, he was somehow able to bring the plane in for an emergency landing. Once on the ground, the crew emerged unharmed from the damaged plane just before the rear portion collapsed. Later, in relating his experiences to Jimmy McHugh, Lt. Bragg told how "we came in on one engine and a prayer" (www.armyairforces.com). Not only did his story inspire McHugh's song, A Wing and a Prayer, but also a film with the same title.

    Prayer is one of the greatest spiritual blessings bestowed upon Christians during their earthly sojourn. In it the power of God beautifully blends with the faith of the believer. The resulting masterpiece only further emphasizes the crucial role Jesus plays as the Christian’s mediator and Savior. Prayer can make the difference in our attitude in facing life’s adversity. It may not always change circumstances, but it will most certainly change you.

David Bragg

A Lurking Danger in Mattoon

    For several generations my family has lived near the town of Mattoon, Illinois. Following my graduation from junior college I lived and worked in Mattoon. Yet, I could never have imagined a time of darkness that terrified that community in 1944 when it was terrorized by the “Mad Gasser of Mattoon!”

    In a time before air conditioning was prevalent a mysterious figure dressed in black would strike without warning spraying "a paralyzing gas" in the open windows of private homes. Over a period of two weeks twenty-four attacks were reported to local authorities of a sweet-smelling gas being sprayed through open windows. Some screens were slashed at the windows in questioned and when there were witnesses seeing a fleeing suspect the descriptions were usually consistent.

    Authorities were stumped and eventually dismissed many of the attacks as mass hysteria. Yet, despite armed vigilantes roaming the streets the attacks continued as did the skepticism of baffled law enforcement (www.historicmysteries.com).

    A far more dangerous force regularly attacks the entire human race. Unlike the Illinois case, we know this enemy and can recognize his tactics (2 Corinthians 2:11). Also unlike whatever or whoever terrorized Mattoon in the fall of 1944, Satan’s attacks never end as long as life endures.

David Bragg

Everlasting Love

    It started with a simple question and a group of children. They were asked, "What is love?" Their answers are insightful.

•  "When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." – Karen, age 7
• "Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other." – Karl, age 5
• "Love is what makes you smile when you're tired." – Terri, age 4
• "Love is when Mommy sees daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford." – Chris, age 8
• "Love is when my Mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK." – Danny, age 7
• "Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well." – Tommy, age 6
• "When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth." – Billy, age 4

Billy's answer reminds me of Jesus' observation when He quoted from Psalm 8:2: "Out of the mouth of babes’” (Matt. 21:16).
    One of the major platforms upon which Jesus established His church was the unchanging promise of unending love. One of the blessings we look forward to in Heaven will be His everlasting love. Is it any wonder that Jesus observed that the greatest commandment is to love (Matt. 22:37–38), or that we demonstrate our discipleship to the world by love (John 13:35)?

David Bragg