Information Related to "Brick by Brick"
| Audio/Video |
 |
Brick by Brickby Robin WebberIt is built up over a period of time, "brick by brick," with the same caringHow often have we read Isaiah 30:21 that says, "This is the way, walk you in it"? Have you ever noticed what proceeds it? Let's read Isaiah 30:20-21 in full. "And though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, but your eyes shall see your teachers. Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, 'This is the way, walk in it,' whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left." Is this only for the future or can we apply it today? It is interesting to note how often Jesus alluded to examples of people who were "making a difference" and asked His disciples to learn or take note of their examples. One example is that of the Good Samaritan. Was the Samaritan remembered because he was a church member or for what he did? Jesus purposefully took an example far out of the common scope of accepted thinking of that time and simply said, "Learn!" It wasn't so much what the good Samaritan knew, like the priest or the Levite, but what he did. Jesus asks us to learn now to become teachers of a way of life. A way that is outgoing, away from self. Today our world can look foreboding. The storm is coming and things will seem to be out of control. But God asks us to deal with our immediate sphere of influence and do what we can. This column's goal is to focus on various "teachers" in today's world-be they people, communities or nations-that are making a difference, examples that run contrary to the general course of a world that has turned it's back on God. It will then be our goal to make it personal, to encourage you to good works in your life. It is easy to point out the wrong or bad but there is also a time to point out the good. Terror Strikes Again It has often been said that the most appropriate definition of a terrorist is "simply an individual that is willing to give your all for his cause." Once again this became painfully true in two African cities thought to be far and away from the focus of international politics and the accompanying parasite of urban terrorism. The August 17 issue of Time magazine depicts the latest episode in its article "Terror in Africa." "When terror strikes, it always tears through the comforting screen of normality. One moment, mid-morning shoppers and workers bustle along Nairobi's Haile Selassie Avenue at the downtown corner where a bronze eagle and a fluttering flag mark the five-story U.S. embassy. The next, the earth trembles as a thunderclap unleashes a mighty shock wave. Seconds later, black smoke plumes into the sky as the tarmac ignites, flashing fire to parked cars and passing buses. The blast shatters every window in a quarter-mile radius into lethal slivers, blows the bombproof doors off the embassy, sucks out ceilings and furniture and people, pancakes a seven-story building next door into a mountain of rubble. Thousands of innocent people are injured, and more than a hundred die, including 11 Americans. Nearly 450 miles away in Tanzania, at almost exactly the same time, a vehicle drives into the sunny grounds of the U.S. embassy in a residential quarter of Dar es Salaam and explodes, wrecking the entrance, blowing off parts of the building's right side and setting cars ablaze. Seven Tanzanians are killed, and 72 hurt. Two bombs with a single message: don't forget the world's superpower still has enemies, secret, violent and and determined. America is ever a target, it's embassies and installations abroad inviting symbols of its power. 'See,' say the bombers, 'despite your enormous wealth and strength, we can still inflict a great hurt.'" Author Johanna McGeary concludes her report with the sober assessment, "That is the nightmare message the terrorists intended to stamp upon the minds of Americans. However hard you come looking for us, we will always be out there, planning and plotting to hit you again, sometime, someplace!" Israeli Specialists Join What truly makes this remarkable is the timing! Currently, Israel is suffering major diplomatic setbacks around the world-including Africa-because of it's perceived slow initiation of the Oslo Accords pertaining to its relationship with the Palestinians. No "welcome mat" is laid out on the African continent for the Israelis. Even more significant is the fact that both of the victimized countries have a large Muslim presence. Some skeptics say the reasons for the Israeli entrance is merely political, while other kinder observers sense that it is a form of "payback time" to Kenya for long ago allowing Israel to use it as a base for the daring raid on Entebbe Airport to rescue Jewish highjack victims back in 1976. But as Marjorie Miller brings out in her article: "To the average Kenyans, the 'why' of the Israeli effort is beside the point. To them, the important fact is that about 200 Israeli soldiers arrived to help before anyone else did." Unselfish Israeli Action The Israelis' ability to serve others did not come all at once. The Los Angeles Times article goes on to share how they honed their skills after earthquakes in Mexico and Armenia, bombs in Argentina and scud missile attacks at home in Israel. Now, world experts at rescuing the living from rubble and recovering the dead, Israeli "know-how" has rescued three lives. "Know-how" cannot be overstated. As some front line rescuers shared: "Our first mission was to get them out. The situation was delicate. If you touch one beam, you can kill someone 5 meters away." Nothing came easily. There were no floor plans of the Ufundi building, but they studied a hand-drawn map of the top floor that someone had made, then brought in the dogs and heavy equipment. They raised lights that would allow them to work through the night and turned on listening devices so sensitive they could detect a buried finger tapping or the whispered cry of a dying man. Making a difference does not come easily. One rescuer observed that many of the victims died from the sheer force of the blast. "It tears you up inside" was the lament of another rescuer. It also takes time and sensitivity. "Most of the digging you do by hand," Lt. Alon Seren said. "You have to dig by hand so you won't drill into someone underneath. I was digging by that ladder over there. I saw some blood, dug some more and saw some more blood. That's how you find people." Not Heroes-Just Doing Their Job Last Sunday one of the Red Cross volunteers shouted at the Israelis, "You are heroes." One of the officers, Major Ofer Pomeranz answered with a modest shrug, "We are not heroes. We are only working." As Christians each of us have a work to do. Our good example always speaks louder than our good arguments. The apostle Peter put it this way in 1 Peter 2:15, "For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men." Sometimes that doesn't happen over night. Sometimes it is built up over a period of time, "brick by brick," with the same caring sensitivity that the Israeli Rescue Team exhibited in dealing with the broken lives of those hurt in the terrorist blast. Good relations don't happen overnight. The Israeli aid to Nairobi did not just happen. It developed over a period of time in Buenos Aires, Tel Aviv and Armenia. Their "know-how" was essential. They were ready, and more importantly they made themselves available. Zechariah 8:23 states: "Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'In those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you."'" Why will they grab his sleeve? Will it be because of what he knows because of his training in the future Jerusalem, or will it be because of his practical ability to relate with the immediate needs of others? Let's notice that in the future it will not simply be individual Jewish men, but Israel as a nation will be in a goodwill alliance with nations that have been its historical enemies. Isaiah 19:24-25 describes a different world order-the real New World Order-in which God is fully involved, "In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria-a blessing in the midst of the land, whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, 'Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My Hand, and Israel My inheritance.'" What a wonderful time to look forward to when such acts of cooperation are not isolated, but will become the "norm" among nations. We see that what the Israelis and the Africans experienced is a type-a small type-of the reality of the world under the guidance of Jesus Christ. |
|||||||||||||||||||||
| © 1995-2022 United
Church of God, an International Association | Request
Free Literature Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. All correspondence and questions should be sent to info@wnponline.org. Send inquiries regarding the operation of this Web site to webmaster@churchofgodtwincities.org. |
|
Related Information:
Other Articles by Robin Webber
Origin of article "Brick by Brick"
Keywords: Kenya Tanzania terrorism Israeli rescuers
Kenya:
