I was really inspired by a sports article I read in my newspaper today—all about how our quarterback, Kirk Cousins plans on using his comeback victory to share his Christian faith. Ya, in case you weren’t aware, our Minnesota Vikings got the all-time NFL record for a comeback victory. They were down 33 to 0 against the Colts at the half, but in the second half they somewhat miraculously got 39 points and held the Colts to just three points. The final score was Viking 39, Colts 36.
It turns out that the last comeback victory was led by Buffalo’s quarterback Frank Reich, against the Houston Oilers in 1993, and he is a Christian just as Kirk Cousins is! Well, the article tells how he has encouraged Cousins to use his comeback victory to share his faith just as he has been doing in the last thirty years.
I pray that Kirk will really take the opportunity to do it. God has given him a tremendous platform in the sports world. It is up to him to use it to glorify God—no pressure, ha ha.
God has given me a platform too—my painting business. Through my business I have found many opportunities to give a witness.
I have just read The Narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglass. It is the story of his slavery–from his young years to the time he escaped to freedom (I think he was about 19 or twenty). He went through the usual treatment, being whipped often and regarded as an animal and as the property of the slaveholder-the master. But at the same time he secretly educated himself–leaned to read and write. I have not read any more of his life than this narrative, but I have read that he came to be a very great leader and brilliant. In fact I read that Lincoln sought his advice on a few matters.
Anyway, I was so struck with what happened shortly after he escaped to freedom in the north, in New Bedford. What he experienced was not what he expected. He all along thought that free states would be full of poor people and without comforts and wealth. I will quotes some of the lines in his book.
I had very strangely supposed, while in slavery, that few of the comforts, and scarcely any of the luxuries of life were enjoyed at the north, compared with what were enjoyed by the slaveholders of the south. I probably came to this conclusion from the fact that northern people owned no slaves… I had somehow imbibed the opinion that, in the absence of slaves, there could be no wealth, and very little refinement.
Anyway, Douglass went on and on describing his surprise at what he saw. He wrote,
I found myself surrounded with the strongest proofs of wealth.
When he visited the warehouses and places of work, he wrote,
I heard no deep oaths of horrid curses on the laborer. I saw no whipping of men; but all seemed to go smoothly on. Every man went at his work with a sense of his own dignity as a man.
Then when he strolled around the town he wrote,
[He] gazing with wonder and admiration at the splendid churches, beautiful dwellings, and finely cultivated gardens; evincing an amount of wealth, comfort, taste, and refinement, such as I had never seen in any part of slaveholding Maryland.
He went on to say,
Everything looked clean, new, and beautiful. I saw few or no dilatated houses, with poverty-stricken inmates; no half-naked children and barefooted women…the people looked more able, stronger, healthier, and happier…
Well, I can’t help but think of what slavery does to people. And Fredrick was deceived in thinking that the slaveholders were not also slaves–to to their evil wretchedness, how they continually whipped the salves every day without thinking anything of it, and how many of them cursed at the slaves and at the same time thought themselves to be good Christians. The slaveholders I think were in the worst bondage, the worst slavery–the slavery of their sins of prejudice.
As Fredrick Douglass saw, where he came to in New Bedford, that town of freedom without slavery was glorious, and wealthy. The freedom we have in Christ is the most free, the most glorious. As I read how Fredrick described the surroundings as clean, new and beautiful, so I also recall how things looked directly after I prayed to receive Christ. All things looked brighter and new and so wonderful. Even the air was fresher. I invite you to always be vigilant to confess your sins every day. Don’t let sin take a hold of you. The devil and sin is out to make you their slave–to put you in deep bondage. There is no freedom or comfort in sin. Be free of sin and you will be free indeed.
As I sped down the hill on my new black Schwinn bicycle, a new assurance gave me an overwhelming joy. I was saved and I had a place reserved for me in heaven. This new assurance had come to me a few months prior, at a church camp, when my camp counselor explained to me from the bible how I could be saved. And then I knelt down beside him in his cabin, and prayed that Jesus would come into my life and take control of my life. Instantly, after my prayer, I received a new peace, that after I die, I would go straight to heaven. From that point on my life was changed, not because of anything external or because of changed circumstances, but because I had a changed heart due to a new life inside of me. I had Jesus in me and He had given me a new peace, a new assurance, and a new attitude about life. I felt new and clean inside. In reality, at age twelve, I really did have a new life!
We had recently moved from our Montevideo farm to a house in the city of Montevideo. I don’t remember anything about the move, or about the house we moved into, but I do have a few memories—besides my salvation experience at camp.
One of my clear memories was when I was on the wresting team in 7th grade. I always thought I was a good wrestler, since I always beat my brother. But I found out different. Either I was really bad, or the guys I wrestled were really good—probably a little of both. Anyway, I had a rude awakening.
Another clear memory was of the city swimming pool, which was only a few blocks from our house. It only cost 10 cents, and for that one dime you could swim there all day if you wanted. And some days I did just that. It was so much fun. There were two slides and also two diving boards—a lower one and a high one. The high dive was scary, but I did try it a couple times. It was in that pool that I learned how to swim. Mom insisted that we take swimming lessons, and we all did.
One other good memory of that place in Montevideo, was playing baseball with all the neighbor kids in a nearby park. I remember how easy it was to get a game together. We just walked, or ran, down the streets and yelled out something like, “Who wants to play baseball?” We seemed to always get enough kids to play. We played for hours at a time. And now that I think of it, we also played football. That was a little rougher, but I loved it. Those were the days!
Stephen Nielsen 