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Friday, September 16, 2016

A Debt of $0.00

A DEBT OF $0.00

The following story appears to be an "urban legend," but is fun to read nevertheless:

In March 1992, a man living near Boston, Massachusetts received a bill for his as yet unused
credit card stating that he owed $0.00. He ignored it and threw it away. In April he received
another and threw that one away, too.

The following month the credit card company sent him a very nasty note stating they were going
to cancel his card if he didn't send them $0.00 by return of post. He called them, talked to them,
they said it was a computer error and told him they'd take care of it.

The following month he decided that it was about time that he tried out the troublesome credit
card figuring that if there were purchases on his account it would put an end to his ridiculous
predicament. However, in the first store that he produced his credit card in payment for his
purchases he found that his card had been canceled. He called the credit card company who apologized
for the computer error once again and said that they would take care of it.

The next day he got a bill for $0.00 stating that payment was now overdue. Assuming that having
spoken to the credit card company only the previous day and that the latest bill was yet another
mistake, he ignored it, trusting that the company would be as good as their word and sort the
problem out.

The next month he got a bill for $0.00 stating that he had 10 days to pay his account or the
company would have to take steps to recover the debt.

Finally giving in, he thought he would play the company at their own game and mailed them a
check for $0.00. The computer duly processed his account and returned a statement to the effect
that he now owed the credit card company nothing at all.

A week later, the man's bank called him asking him what he was doing writing a check for $0.00.
After a lengthy explanation, the bank replied that the $0.00 check had caused their check processing
software to fail. The bank could not now process ANY checks from ANY of their customers that day
because the check for $0.00 was causing the computer to crash.

The following month the man received a letter from the credit card company claiming that his
check had bounced and that he now owed them $0.00 and unless he sent a check by return of post they
would be taking steps to recover the debt.

The man, who had been considering buying his wife a computer for her birthday, bought her a
typewriter instead.

As I read that story, I couldn't help but think of the debt that we owe because of our sin.
"The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). But, for those who are in Christ, that debt has been
canceled -- we owe nothing. "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ
Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." (Rom. 8:1)

Despite that fact, though, Satan continues to make us feel that we still owe something (he's
not called "the accuser" for nothing!). But listen to these words of comfort:

"Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, 'Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of
our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them
before our God day and night, has been cast down.' And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death." (Rev. 12:10-11)

Praise be to the Lamb whose blood makes it possible for us to have a debt of $0.00!

Have a great day!

Alan Smith

Sunday, September 11, 2016

A Heartwarming Letter

He was known as “the Crocodile Hunter.”  Stephen Robert “Steve” Irwin was an Australian wildlife expert, television personality, and conservationist.  Irwin achieved worldwide fame from the television series The Crocodile Hunter, an internationally broadcast wildlife documentary series which he co-hosted with his wife, Terri.  Together, the couple also owned and operated Australia Zoo, founded by Irwin's parents.

 

Irwin died on September 4, 2006, after being pierced in the chest by a stingray barb while filming an underwater documentary film titled Ocean's Deadliest.

 

Recently, Bob Irwin, the late Steve Irwin's father, revealed that his son penned a touching note to him and his wife Judy.  Bob states that he recently discovered the heartwarming letter in an unopened envelope while doing research for his memoir, “The Last Crocodile Hunter: A Father and Son Legacy,” to be released in November, 2016.

 

In the handwritten note, at the age of 32, Steve informed his parents how much they meant to him:

 

Dear Dad & Mum,

 

Probably one of the most unfortunate things in a “Bloke's Life” is that it takes over 30 years to realize how essential you have been to build my character, my ethics and, most importantly, my HAPPINESS.  At 32, I am finally starting to figure it out.

 

In good times and in bad, you were there.  Your strength and endurance to raise me will not go unrewarded.  My love for you is my strength!  For the rest of my life I will reflect on the unbelievably GREAT times we've shared and will continue to share.  You're my best friends!"

 

Steve Irwin closed the note by saying, "Thank you."

 

There is another “letter” that reveals the great love of a Father and Son for YOU and ME...  Here are some of the contents of that “letter”:

 

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 NIV).

 

“This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him.  This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10 NIV).

 

The heavenly Father and His Son Jesus expressed this great love for you and me, not because we were “loveable,” but because God created us and because we needed a Savior due to our sin.

 

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

 

God, because of His great love for us, sent Jesus to die on the cross to pay the price for our redemption from sin (Ephesians 1:7).

 

God will save and give eternal life to those who will place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).  He will continue to cleanse from sin those who continue to walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7).

 

The Bible is much more than a love letter; it is God’s revelation to us that reveals God’s identity and reveals our origin, our purpose, and our destiny.  Yet, the central message of the Book is that God loves us so much that He gave His Son to die for us so that we can be saved and receive the gift of eternal life.

 

Won’t YOU read the “letter” and respond to God’s great love through your trusting obedience?

 

-- David A. Sargent

 

From “Steve Irwin's Father Reveals Heartwarming Note the 'Crocodile Hunter' Penned” by Joi-Marie McKenzie, September 2, 2016, www.abcnews.com and Wikipedia’s article on “Steve Irwin”

 

David A. Sargent

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