Contents:
A VISION OF HEAVEN
THE ONE WHO WILL NOT SEE
SHAZARD
TRUST, AGAIN
Good evening, everyone!
How are you doing? I hope life’s good and all that. =)
I want to start with a guest editorial from my friend Landon:
“No one has ever seen this, no one has ever heard about it. No one has ever imagined what God has prepared for those who love him” 1 Corinthians 2:9, New Century Version
“What always has fascinated me is the idea of the Second coming, the millenium – anything dealing with heaven. I know that I can’t even imagine what heaven will be like, but I figure I can try and think of something that is totally fantastic and I might be maybe 1/10th close to heaven.
For example, my dad told me about this sermon he heard. First, the pastor starts by saying that when he goes to heaven he doesn’t want to just be sitting around, strumming a harp, wearing a crown and wearing golden robes all the time. NO, that seems almost boring. The pastor apparently loved snow-skiing. This is his imagination, but it is very cool.
He said wouldn’t it be cool if you could just go up to Jesus and ask “Hey Jesus, I really love to snow ski, could we maybe go?” And in a flash you and Jesus are teleported to a perfect snow planet all by yourselves, you and Jesus (how cool could it get!). You know about the perfect powder snow, just laid in the morning and not packed at all, well you have hills and hills of this, and of course it is beautiful! Like nothing we can imagine, but we try. Now Jesus takes off down the hill (Wow, he is an excellent skiier!!) perfect powder spraying up just right. As you and Jesus cut through the powder you realize that the snow in the light looks like rainbows and if you cut it just right you can make these awesome harmonious sounds. It’s you and Jesus carving the hill, making great music! Aww that is fun! (and He skis GREAT).”
Thanks, Landon. What would you want to do with just you and Jesus,
in heaven? I hope you have a vision, because where there is no vision,
people lose hope. If heaven is just a pie-in-the-sky fantasy that
doesn’t have any reality for you, you won’t look forward to it. No-one’s
going to get excited about sitting on clouds playing harps, a popular conception
of heaven. But get a picture of heaven that you can get excited about,
and when you realize that you can’t even come close to what God has for
you, you start to get a taste of glory!
“There is no one so blind as the one who will not see” – Unknown
I was emailing with a friend, and she told me how she slept through most of a sermon because of a headache. She suspected that her eyes were straining her. I recommended to her that she get it checked out with an eye doctor. Her response surprised me: “No, Dave, I am not thinking of seeing an eye doctor. Foolish me but I would hate for him to tell me that I have to wear spectacles. I pride myself on my good eyesight. How I hope to remedy the situation is by resting my eyes more.”
I thought about this, and I was reminded of the counsel of Revelation to the ones who believed themselves to be rich and increased in goods and in need of nothing. “You say , ‘I am rich, and I have become wealthy and do not need anything.’ But you do not know that you are really miserable, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. I advise you to buy from me gold made pure in fire so you can be truly rich. Buy from me white clothes so you can be clothed and so you can cover your shameful nakedness. Buy from me medicine to put on your eyes so you can truly see.” (Revelation 3:17-18)
If you will not admit that you have a toothache, you will not visit
a dentist.
If you will not admit that you are depressed, you will not see a psychologist
or psychiatrist.
If you will not admit that you are a sinner, you will never go before
a Saviour.
And if you will not admit that you have an addiction, you will never
seek help.
And that brings us back to Mr. Shazard. A rather sad ending to a story. I have had a very interesting 6 weeks, trying to determine how much, if any, truth was coming from “Sajo” as he visited me and told me about his daily calamities and his need for assistance. I helped him, and as I helped him, I learned about his entire life. And I tried to verify his stories. One thing was consistent and clear: he was not lying to me about the key underlying issue: “Shazard, are you on drugs?” Take a look at some of the things he said, in a conversation I taped with him last Sunday:
Dave: But the thing is they know that about him, they know where
he is, they know what he, what he does, and they say that you’re a drug
dealer… a drug addict,
Shazard: Yeah
Dave: …right through, and that you’re…
Shazard: So long as you have a stain, David, so long that you
have a stain, that stain will always remain, they won’t want to
Dave: They don’t want to believe that you’ve reformed
Shazard: They don’t want to know that
Dave: ‘Cause I know that once you’re on cocaine, it’s always
a temptation
Shazard: Yeah, but, David, I know my mind stronger than that,
I know that, I know all that, I know all that
Shazard: I receive a little counseling from Dottin [Pastor
Clive Dottin, Adventist Caribbean Union Youth Director]
Dave: So Dottin would remember you?
Shazard: Yeah
Dave: And he knows you’re clean now?
Shazard: Yeah
Dave: Because the thing is, if you’re lying to me, you wouldn’t
give me something that could be easily proved
Shazard: Well dey is it
Dave: But the thing is, if you give this to me and I call them
and they say no we don’t know that person, just like what happened at the
ah…
Shazard: Well dey is it,, I en go lie to yuh
D: See Shazard, I don’t, I don’t, I don’t, I don’t know… the only
reason, the reason I give you money is because you promise me you’re going
to confirm the story and I don’t want to shut you out if I’m not sure.
S: Yes, David, I promise you …People lock me off and tell me
that. But I know…all the way, well, I probably en going to say I
love you, but I’m genuine.
D: Well, I’m certainly hoping so because if not, then I’m supporting
you
S: David, well dey is it, well dey is it David
D: in something, whether it be gambling, or alcohol, or drugs,
or prostitutes, or something
S: David, David, you too good to me, if I is to let you down,
and I don’t want to let you down. You, well, as I say, you not only
a friend, you is more than just a friend, you understand. You come
like my father. I don’t know like God send me to you, you understand.
D: Well. I don’t know. But if you’re on drugs or
something, you know, let me know and I’ll help you.
S: Well, dey is it David, if I was on drugs, if I was on drugs,
and I knew you in a position you could help me, you understand, I would
come out and tell you flat, you know, David,. I have a drug problem
D: All these different times you’ve come
S: Because when I had my drug problem and when I gone and talk
to them people and thing, you understand, I realize I really had a drug
problem…
Last Tuesday, I visited the police station and gave them the six-page report that some of you have received already. (Those who want, ask and you shall receive) They came and arrested him outside my window on Tuesday evening, and spoke sternly with him. (He says they beat him; his hands were swollen the next time I saw him) He promised to give back at least half of the money on Friday (today). Wednesday night, he came to the crusade, and I gave him a little money and a hug. Thursday night, he came by my house, well, by the next door neighbour’s, and I passed a container over the fence for him to give me a urine sample. And I had him sign a release. This morning, I took it in to the lab to be tested. The results: marijuana – positive, cocaine – positive. I haven’t seen him yet, but I visited the police station again this morning and gave them the results and some more evidence I’ve gathered that Shazard is asking for money under false pretences.
I hope that, in the middle of all of this, he can admit that he in on
drugs and get into counseling again, and be clean. Please, pray for
him, and we will see how God can work in the life of Schehazard Shazard.
And that’s probably the one thing in this situation that’s negative. Shazard trusted me a whole lot and shared his world with me, and I hoped that he was telling me the truth. But I guess he used that to get more money out of me, as I tried to prove his stories true. I think it will be a sad day when I become so jaded by life that I don’t give people the benefit of the doubt. But for now, I still believe.
God bless you all – have a great weekend!
In Jesus,
Dave.