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Copyright © 1999-2001 Emergency Ministries. All Rights Reserved.

September 2001

The "instruction book" for life is the Bible.

"You Missed America"

September 16, 2001

" For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory."

- Deuteronomy 20:4  (NIV)

September the 11th (yes, 9-1-1) will live as the blackest day in our history.

This will be brief, as I prepare to leave for New York.

I received hundreds of emails since this shattered our way of life.  Two have really struck me.  In one, the writer is from Oslo, Norway, describing the scene of outpourings of sympathy and prayer for all of our rescue workers who have paid the ultimate price this past week.  There, in front of the American Embassy in Oslo, was a placard that read;

"The Atlantic is a creek, our sympathy is an ocean, America is the world."

The other email was simply called "An open letter to the terrorists."  I liked how it started;

"You may have hit our buildings, but you missed America."

Please stop and thank our REAL CHIEF for a President that gets on worldwide television and quotes Scripture and who decrees a National Day of Prayer.  President Bush also announced that "we are at war."  It is a war, I believe, that will been won, that has been won.  You see, in our verse for this week, our REAL CHIEF assures us that it is HE leading us into victory.

My prayer is that this horrific event has united as, not just as a nation again, but as a Christian, praying nation.  Yes, a united group of peoples who are serving...

...On HIS Shift,

"The Fire Triangle"

September 9, 2001

"Without wood a fire goes out;
without gossip a quarrel dies down.
As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire,
so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife."

-  Proverbs 26:20-21 (NIV)

I think everyone remembers this little basic piece of knowledge... maybe even from elementary school; "The Fire Triangle."   It's pretty simple, it takes three things for a fire to exist; oxygen, heat and fuel.  In the past few years we have added the center of the triangle: a chemical reaction.  The point being this; take away any one of the elements and a fire cannot exist.

I deal with several volunteer fire departments.  I love the camaraderie, the family feeling and I even love the friendly competitiveness that exists between companies or even other departments.  One thing I dislike, though, is the gossip.  Folks, gossip is the number one killer of volunteer fire departments.  Shoot, gossip is the number one killer of almost any kind of relationship you can imagine.

Let me propose to you that there is a Relationship Explosion Triangle.  Just like the Fire Triangle, our triangle demonstrates that is takes three things to cause a relationship to explode; people, opinions, egos.  Now, for a fire to start there must be a chemical reaction... a catalyst, if you will.  Same thing with our triangle.  That catalyst to disaster is called "gossip."

People are always around in a relationship.   And, you know what they say about "opinion" (I won't go there, hehehehe).   And, everyone has ego... self perception.  But, it isn't until gossip is introduced into the formula that we have a full-blown explosion.

By the way, it takes a minimum of two people to spark the chemical reaction of gossip; one to start the rumor and at least one other to spread the rumor (usually enhanced as it goes, right?).

I think our verse this week indicates proof of the existence of volunteer fire departments in 1500 B.C. - look at the metaphor... remove the fuel, the fire goes out.  Our REAL CHIEF goes on to tell us that when we remove "gossip" from our triangle, that the "quarrel dies."

If someone approaches you at the firehouse and says, "hey, did you hear about so-and-so..." - stop them.  Politely tell them that you really are not interested.  Turn the conversation into something productive.  Take the catalyst out of the triangle so that you can serve...

...On HIS Shift,

"As Different As Night and Day"

September 2, 2001

"When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'"

-  John 8:12 (NIV)

I think we all have the heard the expression "as different as night and day."  It is usually referring to differences between people or circumstances, isn't it?  Something like, "those two are as different as night and day."  Think about that a minute.  There is a huge difference between night and day.  At night, it's not only dark, but it is generally quieter than the daytime (except, maybe in our business, huh?).  The daytime is filled with light, and traffic and work and travel.   Yes, there are big differences.

I observed a perfect example of this contrast this past week.  One night, I worked EMS at a rock concert.  The next night, I worked at a Christian concert.  True, they were both held at night and they were both music concerts.  But, that's where the similarities ended.

On the night with the rock band playing, we worked several overdoses and several more folks who were just plain drunk... some too drunk to even walk.  The lead singer was foul-mouthed... just to get a reaction from the crowd.  Some women were throwing their underwear on stage.  Other women were openly displaying their anatomical features to the band... at the apparent approval of their spouses (or "significant others?").

The next night was the Christian artist.   One EMS call.  A lady stumbled and scraped her shin.   And not because of alcohol.  The artist praised God, which elicited the cheers of the audience.  The highlight of the evening, at least for me, was when an astronaut came out on stage who had just returned from a Shuttle Mission.  He presented the artist one of the artist's own CDs that the astronaut had taken with him into space.  Very cool.  A Christian astronaut, who listened to Godly music while orbiting earth!

Yes, those two concerts were certainly as different as night and day.   Given the choice, I choose the "day."   I choose to walk in the light.  Our REAL CHIEF tells us in this week's verse that HE is the light.  Keeping that in mind, if you also choose as I did, you, too, will follow the light and you, too, can serve...

...On HIS Shift,

It is my prayer that the verses we discuss help each of you as it has helped me deal with the amount of stress we are all faced to deal with.

If you are not yet saved, I have Good News for you. Jesus loves you very much and His Holy Spirit is drawing you to Him. To learn more, click here.

© 1999 - 2001 Emergency Ministries. All Rights Reserved.

STRESS RELIEF is written every week, usually on Sunday afternoons.