Newsletter Vol.2, #22—June 112006

Matthew 8 ²⁵And they went and woke him, saying, "Save us, Lord; we are perishing." ²⁶And he said to them, "Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?" Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

Try Pressing Escape

Dudley Ross Spears

If you use a computer at all you have to be glad there is an escape key included on a computer keyboard. Computers don’t always do what we wish they would. The escape key is included to undo some of the misinformation we feed into the comput­er’s electronic mind. Most of the time it works, but sometimes it doesn’t.

The “User’s Manual” that came with Word for Windows gingerly states, “If you don’t like an action that Word is carrying out, try pressing Esc, perhaps even two, three, or more times.” That has been a great help during times of my extreme frus­tration when the computer and I do not see eye to eye. Yes, we can be thankful for the Esc key.

Pressing Esc on the keyboard has a rather humbling effect. To me, it means, “You got yourself into something that is go­ing wrong.” If the computer could really talk (not merely reproduce sound pro­grammed into its electronic innards) it might say, “I can continue beeping just as long as you continue doing the wrong things.” No one ever wins the argument with a beeping computer. Try pressing Esc.

There are situations in life similar to this computerized frustration. God gives us His own Esc key. In times of temptation there is an Esc key. Paul wrote, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as man can bear: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation make also the way of escape, that ye may be able to endure it” (1 Cor.10:13).

That Esc key works but only when activated. We cannot flirt with the Devil and win. There is but one way to avoid him and his fiery darts of temptation. “Resist him, standing firm in the faith, …” (1 Pet. 5:9). When you’re tempted try pressing the Esc key. God pro­vided it for the very purpose of escaping the clutches of sin.

Sometimes Esc won’t work. Some computer functions ignore the Esc key. So it is in life. Judgment is inescapable. There is no Esc key for coming judgment. “And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?” (Rom.2:3).

Liars cannot escape the consequences of lying. “A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape” (Prov.19:5). The only Esc key for Christians who sin is true and sincere repentance and prayer (Acts 8:22; 1 John 1:9).

There may be times when we feel as the Psalmist. “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest – I would flee far away and stay in the desert; Selah. I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm” (Psa.55:6-7). But there is no escape from the responsibilities and consequences of human existence. Unpleasant things will pass but responsibility accompanies and leads us all the way.

There is no escape from God’s revealed will for the world. “See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they es­caped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven” (Heb. 12:25). God’s word is always the Esc key in any difficulty. So, if you don’t like an action that your life is carrying out, try pressing Esc. It will work every time. – DRS

The Teen Trap

Gary L Coles

Brad Johnson was just an average 17 year old boy. He was a senior at the Midway Senior High School, and was looking forward to attending Community College the following fall. He was an above average football player and had a decent shot at getting a football scholarship. His girl-friend, Kathy, was also planning to attend Community College. Brad and Kathy had been dating for about a year and were falling in love with each other. Yes, all was right in Brad's little world.

One Friday night Brad and Kathy decided to attend a party that one of Brad's friends was having at his house. On the way, Kathy reminded Brad to take it easy on the drinking. Brad assured Kathy that he would only have a couple of beers, just to be sociable.

When they arrived at the party, they noticed there was a lot of noise and activity. In fact, the noise was deafening. At first, Kathy just thought everyone was having a good time. However, as she surveyed the room, she noticed a large group of people standing around a table. As she and Brad walked closer to the table, she saw why. Lined neatly in a row were three beer kegs. Kathy immediately grabbed Brad's arm and pleaded with him to leave. Brad laughed and assured Kathy that everything would be all right. The guys were just having a good time. At that moment Brad's friend, Kirk, brought him and Kathy a glass filled with beer. Brad took the glass and drained it with a few quick swallows. Kathy glared at Brad in disbelief and refused to accept the glass of beer that Kirk was offering her. Brad laughed at her and proceeded to drain her glass as well. Kathy just shook her head and left Brad to sit by herself on the sofa. Brad just shrugged his shoulders and told Kirk that Kathy was a teetotaler. Kirk and Brad laughed and went to get some more beer.

For the rest of the evening Kathy sat by herself on the sofa. She could not believe how Brad was behaving. This was not the Brad she had fallen in love with. She thought about calling her father and asking him to come and pick her up. She decided against doing that. It might embarrass Brad.

Finally, at two in the morning, the party began to break up. Brad went to the sofa and asked Kathy if she were ready to go home. Kathy noticed that Brad's speech was slurred and that he was weaving around a bit. On the way to the car, Kathy asked Brad to let her drive him home. Brad wouldn't have it. He insisted that he was fine and told Kathy to shut up and get into the car. Kathy was deeply hurt by the way Brad had just spoken to her. Her first thought was to burst into tears and run away as quickly as she could. She knew that getting in the car with Brad in his drunken condition was foolish. Nevertheless, she got into the car anyway.

On the way home Kathy asked Brad to pull over and let her drive. Brad again insisted that he was fine. Kathy knew better. Brad was weaving all over the road. Kathy became frightened and began to wonder if they would get home safely.

Suddenly, for some unexplained reason, the car was out of control. Brad frantically tried to regain control. Unfortunately, his drunken condition would not allow it. For a moment he thought he was about to regain control, when suddenly the car veered to the right and off the road. For just a moment he glanced over at Kathy and noticed that she had raised her arms up to protect her face and began to scream. He looked ahead and saw why. Just a few feet ahead a huge oak tree stood in their path. Brad put both feet on the brake pedal and pushed as hard as he could. It didn't do any good. He next heard the sickening sound of metal crunching, glass breaking, and a blood curdling scream. Then everything went black.

When Brad regained consciousness, he found himself on a table in the emergency room of the Community Hospital. A doctor was standing over him with a light checking his eyes. The doctor asked Brad a few questions to determine if Brad had suffered any brain trauma. The doctor then told Brad how lucky he was to be alive. He informed Brad that he only had a few scrapes and bruises and was free to go.

As Brad was sitting up and preparing to leave, he suddenly thought of Kathy. To be continued…