Whether Or Not You Weather The Storm

There’s something God wants you to do, there’s something God wants me to do, and there are risky things that God calls us to do.

(CLEVELAND) - Soren Kierkegaard, one of the greatest philosophers and theologians of a couple generations ago says we’ve interpreted the parable of the talents all wrong. It’s the parable where a certain man goes on a journey and gives to one ten talents, to one five talents, to one only one talent. The guy with the ten talents invests it and comes out with ten talents more. The one with five talents invests it, and makes five talents more. The guy with the one talent doesn’t invest, but buries it in the ground. When the master returns, he is the one who is punished.

Now I always thought that parable was about utilizing the gifts that God has given you. Soren Kierkegaard says we’ve missed the point if we think that.

What if the one with the one talent had taken the talent and invested it, trying to use it effectively so as to bring benefit to the master. What if when the master returned he said, “Master, I took what you gave me and I spent it all, hoping to do something wonderful for you. I risked everything you gave me for you, and for your kingdom, and it didn’t work out. I failed.”

Kierkegaard said, “Do you think for one moment that the master would have punished the man? Don’t you see,” asks Soren Kierkegaard, “the punishment for the one-talent man was not that he didn’t do anything with the one talent, but he refused to take the risks on behalf of the master?”

There’s something God wants you to do, there’s something God wants me to do, and there are risky things that God calls us to do. Unless you’re willing to risk it all for Jesus, you’re not a kingdom person. These are the teachings of the Scripture.

One thing more: The Sermon on the Mount ends with these words: Jesus says, “If you hear My words, and if you obey them and live them out, you will be like a house planted on the rock. And when the winds blow and the storms come, you won’t collapse. But if you don’t listen to Me, if you don’t become one of My people, the house will collapse.”

I am here to say that what Jesus promises is not that the winds and the storms won’t hit you. Please read the words of Jesus. The storms hit both the house that’s built on the rock and the house that’s built on the sand. The difference is this: The house that’s built on the rock has the strength to endure. To endure. To triumph over the tragedies that life offers us. All of us will face tragedies. Don’t give up. If you trust in God, if you live out His will, if you do what He calls you to do and be, when the winds blow and the storms beat upon you, you won’t collapse because your house, your life is built on the rock and the name of that rock is Jesus Chris.
- Tony Campolo

Whether Or Not You Weather The Storm

Right away you will look at this and say,
Which whether or weather is meant today?
No doubt the storm comes into play,
So which one will be taken away?

Oh yes, a weather storm you will see,
It is just not known of what intensity,
Whether or not you handle it correctly,
Determines how many more there can be.

Don’t ask why me, saying Lord I didn’t do it,
That’s not what a weather storm is for,
It’s whether or not you handle it right,
That decides if God will give you more.

No matter how deep the valley or long a darkened path,
When the devil shoots a negative thought, all you do is laugh,
Weather has seasons each one is designed to make you grow,
Showing whether you know it or not that our Father is in control.

Do not allow the negative nay-sayer to burst your positive bubble,
The Lord Thy God will never send you down a path filled with trouble,
We sometimes however receive various trials, tribulations and storms,
Remember, these will only temporarily set us apart from the norm.

There might be gale force winds aided by torrential rain,
You’re at the summit only to be engulfed in greater pain,
Even snow melts in the summer and eventually goes away,
But this blizzard keeps getting progressively worse you say?

This verse is bible scripture instead of just another slogan,
Matthew 22: 14, “For many are called but few are chosen,”
In 9: 37, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few,”
In the middle of this storm ask yourself which one are you?

More & more as you read the Word, better & better you’ll begin to feel,
Doctor’s call it “a temporary state of mind, ” understand that it is real,
No longer affected by the many negative MRI’s or diagnosis received,
The only thing that really matters is you trust in God and believe.

Would you study a math book for an English or history exam?
Why let someone else predict your future in the Master’s plan?
It was twenty-five years for the promise our Abraham had to wait,
And this was for the man who is known as the true father of faith.

Even if progress is slow and after years there’s only a little bit,
Just think about where advancement would be if you gave up and quit?
Moses lived in the wilderness two times forty for a total of eighty years,
The bible teaches with faith in God, there should be no spirit of fear.

Remove? 3 times Paul asked for the thorn, Jesus for the cup,
Arguably the greatest apostle & God’s only Son, guess what?
Our Father is the God of faith; He is not the Jehovah of luck,
Being in the middle of a storm does not mean you are stuck.

With our trial we can’t climb over, walk around or dig under,
This test will have waves, wind & more than enough thunder,
Perish the thought because of good works it’ll be easy for you,
Has anyone accomplished more that the aforementioned two?

But God, you have eternity and I have been like this so long,
In Joshua 1: 6,7, & 18 all the soldiers are told to, “be strong,”
We are not out of school for a summer vacation. Understand?
Verse 9, God’s not asking us to do anything, it’s a command.

And after feeling much better should you start to get worse,
Don’t think it’s not working, certainly don’t begin to curse,
It’s nothing more than the enemy, who wants you to think fail,
Keep pressing forward, do not quit, eventually you’ll prevail.

However impossible it seems, a lie or something that is true,
Like David in the valley, the key word is you’re going “through,”
Be aware that what determines if one can be ripped and torn,
Is answered by, "Whether Or Not You Weather The Storm."

Luke Easter is a poet who writes about things that are very close to the heart of Salem-News.com. Another former U.S. Marine, Luke heals the world with an approach that reaches people on a different level, one known for centuries, yet too often forgotten in the one we live in.

We live in a world of social & economic injustice. The main reason for founding America in the first place was to relieve the oppression of the King of England. Patrick Henry said it best, “give me liberty or give me death.” And yet, all too often death seems to be the only way out. Why is there such a high suicide rate especially among teens, in the land of the free & the home of the brave? What makes headlines? Good news? Ha! More depressing stories than anything else. I feel poetry takes an edge off the hurt of bad news while still delivering it but in a, “glitzy” sort of way. Giving a different perspective. Kind of like slap in the face as opposed to a knife in the back. At least with the slap you’ll live to see another day and you will know whom it’s from. I wasn’t here for the beginning of the world but at 59, I just might be here for the end.

Even though it’s still a knife, rhyme poetry helps to dull the blade. And that’s my job. You can write to Luke Easter at: lyricsfromlucas@aol.com

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Luke Easter December 29, 2011 8:56 pm (Pacific time)

Oops! Tony Campolo wrote the article as part of a sermon on, "Hour Of Power" And I added my poem mistakenly forgetting to give Mr. Campolo credit as author after his piece. My APOLOGIES. LE

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Whether Or Not You Weather The Storm

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