June 8, 2010

Number 23

VIEWPOINT

Memorial Day was a fitting time to remember our sacrificial service men and women.  About that time my mother reminded us of the old story of the “Soldier’s Deck of Cards.”  It has taken many forms, but this is the most recent.  You may get some benefit from the thoughts: 

It was quiet that day, the guns and the mortars, and land mines for some reason had not been heard.

The young soldier knew it was Sunday.  As he was sitting there, he got out an old deck of cards and laid them out across his bunk.

Just then an army sergeant came in and said, “Why aren’t you with the rest of the platoon?”

The soldier replied, “I thought I would stay behind and spend some time with the Lord.”

The sergeant said, “Looks to me like you’re going to play cards.”

The soldier said, “No, sir.  You see, since we are not allowed to have Bibles or other spiritual books in this country, I’ve decided to talk to the Lord by studying this deck of cards.”

The sergeant asked in disbelief, “How will you do that?”

“You see Sir, when I look at the Ace, it reminds me that there is but one God.

“The Two  reminds me that the Bible is divided into two parts, the Old and the New Testaments.

“The Three, I think of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

“The Four stands for the four gospels:  Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

“And when I see the Five, it reminds me of the five wise virgins who trimmed their lamps. There were ten of them: five were wise and were saved, five were foolish and were shut out.

 “When I see the Six, it reminds me that in six days, God made this great heaven and earth.

“When I see the Seven, it reminds me that on the seventh day, God rested from His great work.

“And when I see the Eight, I think of the eight righteous persons God saved when He destroyed this earth; there was Noah, his wife, their sons and their wives.

“And when I see the Nine, I think of the lepers our Savior cleansed, and nine out of the ten didn’t even thank Him.

“When I see the Ten, I think of the Ten Commandments God handed down to Moses on a table of stone.

“The King stands for Jesus, for he is the King of all kings.

“The Queen stands for the Virgin Mary, the human mother of Jesus.

“The Jack is a reminder of Satan, who was once one of God's angels, but he was removed from heaven for his rebellious and wicked ways.

“When I count the dots on all the cards, I come up with 365 total, one for every day of the year. There are a total of 52 cards in a deck; each is a week – 52 weeks in a year. The four suits represent the four seasons:  Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.

“Each suit has thirteen cards – there are exactly thirteen weeks in a quarter.

“So when I want to talk to God and thank Him, I just pull out this old deck of cards and they remind me of all that I have to be thankful for.”

The sergeant just stood there. After a minute, with tears in his eyes and pain in his heart, he said, “Soldier, can I borrow that deck of cards?”

I look forward to seeing you Sunday with a Bible, a smile and a positive word.   RA

More than Survivors

2010 Wednesday Summer Series

Those who are more than survivors . . .

Walk by Faith not By Sight (Like Abraham)

June 9                   Alan Henderson

 Don’t Let Sin Get the Best of Us (Like David)

June 9                      Alfred Donald

 Risk Everything for God and His People

(Like Ruth)

June 16                     Scott Franks

 Serve God with Passion (Like Joshua)

June 23                      Patrick Gray

 Rebuild Spiritual Protection (Like Nehemiah)

June 30                                 Mike Sparks

 Always Does Good (Like Tabitha)

 July   7                    Ron Bradshaw

 Make Spiritual Choices (Like Moses)

    July 21                      Dan Thompson

 Engage Spiritual Battles with Courage

(Like Elijah)

July 28                      Bob Staples