MARCH 2006
REFLECTION
I have a new appreciation for Jonah;
permit me to share that with you.
We know that Jonah initially
disobeyed God’s command to go to the
city of Ninevah and preach to the
people a message of repentance and
punishment if they did not repent.
What did Jonah do? Well, he ran
away, in effect saying, “No way, God!”
Jonah fled on a ship to avoid having to
go to Ninevah, and God had to
perform two miracles in order to get
Jonah back into line. First, there was
the storm that resulted in the crew
throwing Jonah overboard.
Then there was the fish that swallowed
Jonah, not to eat him but to keep him
from being swallowed up by the sea.
By the way, some years ago I read a
National Geographic article about a
particular species of whale that has
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two stomachs. One is like a holding
tank, until the whale is ready to eat;
then the food passes on to the second
stomach. Maybe this is what took
Jonah, maybe not. But at any rate
eventually after three days the
creature spit Jonah out of his mouth –
on land, and on the way to Ninevah!
So, at last Jonah obeyed God. He
probably took a deep breath,
expecting to die, and he entered
Ninevah. Why did he expect to die?
For the reason that he fled in the first
place: The Ninevites were pagans, not
Jews, and they had a reputation for
violence. Who would want to preach
among people like that? Certainly not
Jonah; but he did it. And, as we know,
a third miracle took place: The people
listened to Jonah as he walked through
the city, preaching loudly that if they
did not repent and seek forgiveness
from the
one true God, the God of Israel, they
would be destroyed. The king heard,
too, and instead of having Jonah
arrested, he repented, and the people
followed his example. A pagan people
bowed down before the one true God
and acknowledged Him, all because a
prophet was obedient and allowed the
Holy Spirit to speak through him.
Well, so what? We have heard this
before, probably many times. I
became aware of something recently
that brought the story of Jonah into an
entirely new light for me. I now
understand his fear, his dilemma, and
the great courage it took for him to
eventually obey God. Do you know
where Ninevah was? It was in what
we now know as Iraq. So, reflect with
me: Let’s pretend that God calls you
and me to go to Iraq, and to walk
through a city in Iraq, an area that is
about 91% Muslim, and to preach
loudly to all the people the following:
“There is only one God, and He is not
Allah. The God of Israel
used the Jews
to prepare
the world
for the
coming of
Messiah and
the Jews remain the
chosen people of God. The Messiah is
Jesus, and He is more than that; He is
the Second Person of the Trinity, He is
God, and only the Christians have the
full revelation of who God is – Father,
Son and Holy Spirit, three Persons in
one God. The one true God is speaking
through me to tell you that you must
put aside your false beliefs, you must
repent, and you must accept Jesus as
your Lord and Savior, you must turn to
Him rather than to Mohammed to find
truth and true life.” Now, how would
we feel about that? Can you imagine
being in the midst of Muslims in Iraq
and proclaiming that message? Can
you imagine what the reaction would
be? That, brothers and sisters, is what
Jonah was facing when God told him
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to go to Ninevah and preach. I
understand Jonah, I empathize with
Jonah, I admire Jonah, in spite of all
his faults, for his ultimate willingness
to obey his God. But now I have a
conclusion for us to meditate on, one
that is critically important: God is
indeed calling us to Iraq, and to all the
nations of the world -- not physically,
but spiritually. He is asking us to be
prayer warriors, to pray fervently that
all who follow false religions see the
truth, repent and turn from their
wicked ways. He is asking us, also, to
pray fervently for the Body of Christ,
that Christians wake up, stop being
complacent, and allow the Holy Spirit
to show Jesus through the Church to
the world. He is asking
us, further, to
passionately pray for
our area, that all be
saved, that there be a
mighty spiritual
transformation, that
Jesus reign visibly through people as
King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and
that our area be a lighthouse on a hill,
a place of refuge for the nation and an
instrument for a great revival, a
mighty awakening in the United
States, and throughout the world.
Brothers and sisters, take careful note
of what happened when Jonah obeyed:
A miracle took place, a fierce and
godless people fell to their knees, and
they accepted the one true God. That
can happen today, if we are fully
obedient, if we pray with all our hearts
and are faithful in that prayer, if we
believe that the Holy Spirit will work
through us in a mighty way when we
are people of prayer – and that souls
will be saved and transformation will
occur. Please: Renew your
commitment to the UP Team and to
other prayer groups you belong to and
to making your entire life one of
prayer. Please: With passion and
fervor ask family, friends and church
members to commit to an hour a week.
Please: Believe that God is truly
working through us, and we have not
seen anything yet!!
“THEY MISSED HIM”
T hinking about the Jews, the
Muslims and other religions, it
is clear that they have not
recognized Jesus as God and as the
hope of the world. Atheists and
agnostics and New Age Movement
members are in the same situation. It
is therefore appropriate as a follow-up
to the last Reflection to share the
following, written by an anonymous
author: “They were looking for a
Lion; He came as a Lamb, and they
missed Him. They were looking for a
Warrior; He came as a Peacemaker,
and they missed Him. They were
looking for a King; He came as a
Servant, and they missed Him. They
were looking for liberation from Rome;
He submitted to the Roman cross, and
they missed Him. They were looking a
fit to their mold; He was the Mold-
maker, and they missed Him. What are
you looking for? Lion? Warrior?
King? Liberator? What are you
looking for? They were looking for
their temporal needs to be met; He
came to meet their eternal needs, and
they missed Him. He came as a Lamb
to be sacrificed for your sin. Will you
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miss Him? He came to make peace
between God and man; will you miss
Him? He came to
model
servanthood for
all mankind; will
you miss Him? He
came that we might
have true liberty; will you miss Him?
He came to give you eternal life; will
you miss Him? When we submit to the
Lamb, we will meet the Lion. Join with
the Peacemaker and we will meet the
Warrior. Work with the Servant and we
will meet the King. Walk with the
Submitted and we will meet the
Liberator. If Jesus is not fitting into the
mold you have, then come to the Mold-
maker and get His new one. Submit to
His plan for your life and you will see
the eternal need met first, and then the
other things you have need of will be
taken care of as well.” (prayer by
William Barclay): “O Father, give us
the humility which realizes its
ignorance, admits its mistakes,
recognizes its need,
welcomes advice,
accepts rebuke. Help
us always to praise
rather than to
criticize, to
sympathize rather than
to discourage, to build rather than to
destroy, and to think of people at their
best rather than at their worst. This
we ask for Thy name’s sake.”
ON THE LIGHTER SIDE 
E xperiment: Start with a cage containing
five monkeys. Inside the cage, hang a
banana on a string and place a set of stairs
under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the
stairs and start to climb toward the banana.
As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of
the other monkeys with cold water. After
awhile, another
monkey makes an
attempt with the
same result – all the
monkeys are sprayed
with cold water. Pretty
soon, when another
monkey tries to climb
the stairs, the other
monkeys will try to prevent it. Now, put
away the cold water. Remove one monkey
from the cage and replace it with a new one.
The new monkey sees the banana and wants
to climb the stairs. To his surprise and
horror, all the other monkeys attack him.
After another attempt and attack, he knows
that if he tries to climb the stairs he will be
assaulted. Next, remove another one of the
original monkeys and replace it with a new
one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is
attacked. The previous newcomer takes part
in the punishment with enthusiasm.
Likewise, replace a third original with a new
one, then a fourth and a fifth. Every time the
newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is
attacked. Most of the monkeys that are
beating him have no idea why they are not
permitted to climb the stairs or why they are
participating in the beating of the newest
monkey. After replacing all the original
monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys
have ever been sprayed with cold water.
Nevertheless, no monkey ever again
approaches the stairs to try for the banana.
Why not? Because as far as they know:
“THAT’S THE WAY IT’S ALWAYS BEEN
DONE AROUND HERE.” And that, my
friends, is how company policy begins.
MORE AND MORE ON THE LIGHTER
SIDE
S ubject: Death of Larry LaPrise. With
all the sadness and trauma going on in
the world at the moment, it is worth reflecting
on the death of a very important person,
which has almost gone unnoticed. Larry
LaPrise, the man who wrote “The Hokey
Pokey”, died peacefully at age 93. The most
traumatic part for his family was getting him
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into the coffin. They put his left leg in. And
then the trouble started……For all of you
punsters, these are fun definitions: 1)
Arbitrator: A cook who leaves Arby’s to
work at McDonalds; 2)
Avoidable: What a
bullfighter tries to
do; 3) Bernadette:
The act of torching
a mortgage;
4) Burglarize: What crook sees with; 5)
Control: A short, ugly inmate; 6)
Counterfeiters: Workers who put together
kitchen cabinets;
7) Eclipse: What an English barber does for
a living; 8) Eyedropper: A clumsy eye
surgeon; 9) Heroes: What a guy in a boat
does; 10) Left Bank: What the robber did
when his bag was full of loot; 11) Misty: How
golfers create divots; 12) Paradox: Two
physicians; 13) Parasites: What you see from
the top of the Eiffel Tower;
14) Pharmacist: A helper
on a farm; 15) Polarize:
What penguins see with;
16) Primate: Removing
your spouse from in front
of the TV; 17) Relief: What
trees do in the spring; 18)
Rubberneck: What you do to
relax your wife;19) Selfish: What the owner
of a seafood store does; 20) Sudafed: Brought
litigation against a government official.
GOOD STORY FOR LENT
“T he day is over and you are driving
home. You tune in your radio. You
hear a little blurb about a village in India
where some villagers have died suddenly,
strangely, of a flu that has never been seen
before. Four people are dead, and it’s kind of
interesting. They’re sending some doctors
over there to investigate it. You don’t think
much about it, but on Sunday, as you are
coming home from church, you hear another
radio report. This time it’s not
a few villagers dead, it’s
30,000 people dead in this
particular area of India. It’s
also on TV that night.
CNN and Fox run a
spot on it. Professionals from disease control
centers are heading there because this disease
strain has never been observed before. By
Monday morning when you get up, it’s the
lead story. Now it’s not just India; it’s
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and other
countries. Almost before you know it, you’re
hearing about this story everywhere; they
have coined a name for it now: ‘The Mystery
Flu.’ The President has stated that he is
praying and he encourages his fellow
Americans to join him. People are beginning
to wonder how we will contain this illness.
Then the President of France makes an
announcement that shocks Europe: He is
closing their borders; there will be no flights
into France from any of the countries
affected. That night you are watching the
news on TV before going to bed. Your jaw
hits your chest when a weeping woman is
translated from a French news program into
English: ‘There’s a man lying in a hospital in
Paris dying of the mystery flu.’ It has come
to Europe. Panic strikes. As best as they can
tell, one you get it, you have it for a week
before even realizing it. Then you have four
days of horrible symptoms – and then you
die. On Tuesday the President of the United
States announces that all flights to and from
Asia and Europe have
been canceled. Even if
loved ones are
overseas, they may not
return until a cure is
found. The nation is
plunged into unbelievable
fear. People are selling and
buying medical masks. Some preachers are
calling this “the scourge of God.” You are in
church on Wednesday evening, and suddenly
someone interrupts the service with news that
two women are lying in a New York hospital,
dying of The Mystery Flu. And then it
rapidly sweeps across the country. People are
working around the clock trying to find an
antidote, but nothing is working. Then, as
more and more people are dying here and
around the world, the news comes out that
the code has been broken, a cure can be
found, a vaccine can be made. It’s going to
take a very rare blood type and the blood of
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someone who has not been
infected – by now almost
every human being has been
infected – and people
everywhere are asked to go
to the nearest hospital and
have their blood type
taken. You and your wife
and kids go to the local hospital and have
your fingers pricked. While you are waiting
to hear that it is OK to go home, a worker
suddenly come running out, holding a
clipboard and yelling a name. Your little son
tugs on your sleeve and says, ‘Daddy, that’s
me.’ They double-check, and yes, your son is
the perfect donor. Then a doctor pulls you
and your wife aside and tells you that since
the donor is a minor, a consent form signed
by the parents is needed. You begin to sign
and you see that space for the number of
pints to be taken is empty. You question the
doctor, and he begins stammering: ‘We had
no idea it would be a little child. We weren’t
prepared; we need it all. But…you must
understand…we are talking about people
dying all over the world.’ You reply, ‘Can’t
you do a transfusion?’ ‘No, there is no time
to find any more clean blood.’ You go back
into the room where your son has been placed
on a table, and he asks, ‘Mommy, Daddy,
what’s going on?’ You do not know if you
will be able to answer, but you look at him
with love and tell him that you would never
let anything happen to him that just didn’t
have to be. Do you understand that?’ The
doctor comes back in and tells you that they
have to get started. As you walk out, tears
streaming, you hear your son saying, ‘Dad?
Mom? Dad? Why
are you leaving
me, why are you
letting them take
all of my blood,
why are you
letting me die?’
And then, the
following week, when they have the ceremony
to honor your son, and some folks sleep
through it, and some folks go to the lake
instead of coming, and some folks come with
a phony smile and just pretend to care, you
desperately want to jump up and shout, ‘MY
SON DIED! DON’T YOU CARE?’ And
that, brothers and sisters, is what God is
saying to the world: ‘MY SON DIED FOR
YOU. DON’T YOU CARE? DON’T YOU
KNOW HOW MUCH I CARE?’”
PRAYER MOBILIZATION
D ave Rennich is an UP Team member.
He is experiencing kidney failure and
is undergoing dialysis daily. He also needs a
job. Dave has a truly great love for the Lord
and has been through trials in his life. Please
pray for me, and think/pray about a job for
him…Church Army is preparing for its Faith
Promise Banquet; please pray for that event
and for the staff and clients of this awesome
ministry to folks with drug and alcohol
addictions…The Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast,
sponsored by CBMC, is coming up on the
National Day of Prayer, May 4; Dr. Dale
Smith will be the speaker….Concerned
Women for America will also host an event
on that day. Pray for CBMC and CWA…
Dick Bofferding and many other people are
suffering with cancer; please
pray for them all…The
Caring People, a
ministry to single
Moms, needs child
care volunteers and
other volunteers, plus
connections with ever more single Moms.
They have a new person and outreach in
Rockaway Beach, so thank God for that…
Keep praying for Sue Head, CofO, Taney
County schools – for all involved in the
teaching of character qualities to our
youth…Pray for the SDC
Foundation as it prepares to launch
a major community service
program for schools in our
area, and pray for Love, Inc as
it continues to identify and help meet
community social service needs…Pray for a
dear friend who is seeking God’s will with
regard to marriage and a home…Pray for my
wife, Barbara, who continues to struggle with
pain. On Friday she will have surgery on one
wrist/hand and in a couple of months on the
other. She has developed neuropathy in both
hands, and without surgery she will
lose use of them…Pray for our son
John in Manitou Springs as he
struggles financially with his
ministry, Revolution House of
Prayer. Some awesome things
have happened, but the enemy is
attacking, and he needs a financial
breakthrough…Pray for all
churches and ministries in our area
and/or based in our area and
reaching out nationally and internationally…
Pray for our son, Mike, and his wife, Christy,
as they prepare to have an Auntie Ann’s
pretzel restaurant in the Branson Landing –
in addition to full time jobs…Please pray that
doors open for new UP Team volunteers and
for partnerships with other prayer groups…
Pray for Judy’s family, suffering from health
problems…Pray for a good season for
businesses in the area…There are so many
needs not mentioned here but that are so real.
God knows them, and it is a great way to pray
to just pray for people and situations that are
in need that we don’t know about but want to
care and help through prayer.
God bless you and yours. Call me with input
and suggestions at 331-1028. Peace.
Bob Burton