Daily Encouragement (06/15/10) "Faith Hall Of Fame"

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The online Bible teaching ministry of Stephen & Brooksyne Weber A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation. Home · About Us ·· Podcast · Free email <Previous Message  ·  Archives  ·  Archive edition Tuesday, June 15, 2010 Exterior of National Baseball Hall of Fame Cooperstown, New York Listen to this message on your audio player. "Faith Hall Of Fame"   "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for" (Hebrews 11:1,2). Last Friday Ester and I visited the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. It was an interesting visit with many, many displays of the history of baseball. The main hall gallery featured bronze plaques honoring some of the greatest players such as Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb. I've enjoyed baseball since I was a kid and have many memories such as piling into the family sedan and driving into Kansas City to see the Kansas City Athletics play at the old Municipal Stadium. I can easily see in my mind's eye my PaPa (grandfather) carefully keeping the box score as he listened intently to his favorite team, the Saint Louis Cardinals, over the radio. And best of all I played little league baseball as a young boy and fondly remember honing my skill of catching the flies and grounder balls while playing hour after hour in the yard with my friend David. I, like so many boys, had dreams of someday playing in the big leagues. But out of the millions and millions of boys who have played baseball, many of them dreaming of making it to the majors, only 15,500 have ever seen this dream fulfilled, even for one game. Of those, only 1% are selected to be in the Hall of Fame, which is baseball's highest level of commendation. I have come to the conclusion that I have absolutely no chance of being in baseball's hall of fame in my lifetime. But this got me thinking about another Hall Of Fame and another type of commendation I expect to someday receive!  Something far greater. Hebrews 11 is known as the "Faith Chapter" and contains a series of brief biographical sketches of men and women of faith. This is often referred to as the Hall of Fame of Biblical characters. The recurring expression in the chapter is the phrase "by faith" (found 22 times), which introduces each individual and the demonstration of their faith in God. Throughout the book the writer of Hebrews typically uses what is known as the hortative voice, urging and encouraging his readers with the expression "let us" or including himself with his readers using the first person plural pronoun "we" or "us". His writing style seems as if he's communicating to fellow believers in a small group setting and encouraging them on as a fellow believer. This is also my favorite style both as a preacher, writer and listener. In this chapter the ancients are commended for their faith. Hebrews 11:3 makes a foundational faith statement, "By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible." Of course this foundational statement is under persistent and vicious attack by the secular modernist. But the writer of Hebrews forthrightly states, "By faith we understand…" And praise be to God it is by faith that I do understand and believe this to be true though I never saw the process of creation with my own physical eyes! Just as Paul prayed for the Ephesian believers, "that the eyes of their hearts may be enlightened" (1:18) so too our faith is nurtured and our understanding increases when our spiritual vision is not limited to just what we see or what is proven through modern science. In the section from verses 4 through 39 the pronouns change to "he" or "they" as the writer illustrates the faith the ancients were commended for. This section ends with this concluding phrase, "These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised" (Hebrews 11:39). In the very next verse the writer resumes his use of the 1st person plural with this powerful truth, "God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect" (11:40). The "us" includes "us"! The context of the book indicates the "something better" is the incarnate ministry of Jesus Christ! Believers, in the Old Testament period, looked forward in faith to the promised future work of Christ. Believers, since the New Testament period, look back in faith to the finished work of Christ. Ultimately this is the basis for which we are all commended. Thanks be unto God! Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber Daily prayer: Father, the people of faith listed in Hebrews died without receiving all that You had promised, but they never lost their faith vision of heaven as a "better country – a heavenly one." We take courage from these brave heroes of our faith who remained faithful to You in this life so that they could inherit a future eternal life with You. We who follow You many generations later trust Jesus' promise that He returned to heaven to prepare a place for all who remain faithful. We anticipate with great joy the hour that we are joined with You to receive our commendation in the clouds of glory for all eternity. In Jesus mighty Name, Amen. Photos taken at the Baseball Hall Of Fame and Cooperstown, New York The main hall has a dignified, almost solemn feel. There were three floors of displays at the Hall of Fame including this Yankee cow! Baseball trivia:  Any idea why they would place this sock on display? Actually it's a great example of perseverance!  (see below) Lots of great baseball photos were on display. Cooperstown is at the southern tip of Otsego lake, which is the source of one branch of the Susquehanna River, which runs about five miles from where we live and is the main river source for Chesapeake Bay.  Cooperstown is a beautiful small Victorian village and is isolated in regard to any major highways going through it, which makes it all the more interesting. (Google map) Yesterday we joined our friend Rick Steudler for lunch at the Willow Valley Restaurant. Rick brought his 90+ year old Mom who has one of the most pleasant smiles we've ever seen. Rick is one of the businessmen we work with in our chaplain ministry, but this visit was entirely social and  the conversation centered mostly around our mutual interest in gardening. Following our meal we went over to a friend's house who had given us permission to pick all the sour cherries off their cherry tree. This was a family effort and after an hour of picking we ended up with 9 pounds of cherries as you can see by the nine bowls (after removing the bad ones). Last night Brooksyne and Ester pitted them and today Brooksyne will make several batches of cherry jam!  Perhaps our favorite jam!  We'll share them with the generous family as well as at least one pie! Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources Click on the link to open and play. (In some cases you may also need to click again to start the song.)  "Find Us Faithful"  Video  Steve Green. I often use this song but it fits so well again with today's message. "Hearts Courageous"  Video  Jamie Owens-Collins National Baseball Hall Of Fame Christian Hall Of Fame  Of course this hall of fame reflects both the theological and geographical frame of reference of the compiler but is interesting nevertheless. The mystery sock was worn by Curt Schilling in the 2004 World Series (see here for the story. This site also has more photos of the Baseball Hall of Fame, along with descriptive captions) Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne.

"We want to encourage you daily in your walk with Christ!" Personal Ministry Update Each weekday morning Brooksyne and I prepare these messages and distribute them at no cost to you and many others all over the world. Would you please consider a financial offering to support us in this daily encouragement ministry? Donations are tax deductible and will be receipted directly by my chaplaincy endorsing ministry. Thanks!  See here for details. 2010 YTD financial offerings as of 6/14/10 $6,198.00 SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION Were you forwarded this edition of Daily Encouragement Net?  If you desire you can receive your own free! To receive these "Daily Encouragement" devotionals each Monday-Friday through email see this page to subscribe. This newsletter is never sent unsolicited. It was sent to you because you either signed up to receive it OR a friend forwarded it to you. You can also subscribe to the rss feed or as an email subscription through feedburner. Cancel: We respect and value your time and privacy. If you no longer desire to receive these messages you can remove your address from the list by merely using the link automatically inserted by the mailing list software at the very bottom of each email message. (To change addresses cancel your old address and then join again using your new address.) Weekly Version: The weekly version is intended for those who may not check their email regularly or who may desire less frequent mailings. It is merely the Friday message with a link to previous messages. To receive the free weekly version, send a blank email to this address. Reader Survey:  Please take a few minutes to assist us in improving our ministry effectiveness by filling out this online reader survey. To take the survey click here. Please feel free to pass these messages on! Our other blogs: "A Daily Prayer" - A blog simply posting the daily prayer. We keep this up each day since it's merely the prayer from the Daily Encouragement Net message! "A Little Foolishness" - Humor/satire blog (a great outlet for non-serious writing but at times with a subtle message!) Last updated with the story of Mildred Swanson, who joyfully discovers her "spiritual gift" is sending forwarded emails! (Note: This material is satire!) "Clear Minded" - Longer, periodic articles on specific issues impacting the faithful believer and church. (Actually this is my intent but I haven't done much with it!) "Hymns of Hope" - Brooksyne along with two friends made a CD using classic hymns. Brooksyne tells the background story of the 11 hymns. All of these songs are also available for download on the site. Daily Encouragement Net is an affiliate of Christianbook.com. Any orders placed to Christian Book Distributers using this link or any specific product link to a recommended resource in a daily encouragement message will help our Daily Encouragement ministry through a small commission on the sale. Thank you for using these links when purchasing online through CBD! Personal Mission Statement "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and I make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and to prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity." How to become a child of God Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version. © Copyright 2010 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved Daily Encouragement Net Stephen & Brooksyne Weber 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 Contact us Endorsed chaplain "Living securely today anchored in God's solid foundation" www.dailyencouragement.net

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