Doug Poling KNLS.ORG, World Christian Broadcasting Alaska... https://www.knls.org/reading-pleasure-main/doug-poling.html Thu, 28 Mar 2024 16:53:57 +0000 Joomla! 1.5 - Open Source Content Management en-gb Woman Gives Credit Card to Homeless Man https://www.knls.org/reading-pleasure-main/doug-poling/236-woman-gives-credit-card-to-homeless-man.html https://www.knls.org/reading-pleasure-main/doug-poling/236-woman-gives-credit-card-to-homeless-man.html //

Merrie Harris is what you would call a trusting soul. And here is the reason: Harris is an executive with an advertising agency in New York City. A homeless man asked her for money to buy a bottle of water. Harris had no cash to give the man, so she took out her American Express credit card, told the man to use it to buy some water, and come back and return the card. Harris’ friends told her she did a very foolish thing. They feared the man would disappear and run up expensive purchases on the card. But about ten minutes after he borrowed the card, the man DID come back. And he returned the card. The only thing he purchased with it was a bottle of water. Harris smiled, gave the man a hug and said, I knew you would come back. I’m not sure why this story interests me, but maybe it is because a see a little something of Jesus in this woman. Jesus trusted people, and took them for what they were, and where they were. Some of those he trusted were not very trustworthy. Matthew, a disreputable tax collector. Peter, a crude, sometimes foul-mouthed fisherman. Even Judas, a man who betrayed him. Sometimes it is worth taking a chance on people, even though they might not have a good record of keeping their word or being worthy of our trust. Isn’t that what God does? He takes us back, again and again, when we sin, break our word, and prove ourselves unworthy of His trust. But, like the homeless man in New York, we are encouraged to do the right thing when people give us just one more chance to get it right. That’s what Jesus did with his disciples. And they did get it right. They went out and changed the world.

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khtan@worldchristian.org (Doug Poling) Doug Poling Thu, 02 Sep 2010 06:00:00 +0000
Travel, Anyone? https://www.knls.org/reading-pleasure-main/doug-poling/126-travel-anyone.html https://www.knls.org/reading-pleasure-main/doug-poling/126-travel-anyone.html //

A recent article in the newspaper The Washington Post points out that religious sites throughout the world are enjoying a surge of interest by travelers. The article mentioned one shrine to the Virgin Mary in Bosnia which had more than a million visitors last year, ten times the number that came a decade ago. Last year a record 6 million people visited the Western Wall, also known as the Wailing Wall, in Jerusalem. More than 2 million visited Mecca in Saudi Arabia, and 70 million Hindus went to the Ganges River for spiritual cleansing.

The writer offered some possible explanations for this renewed interest in holy sites. He said the Internet has allowed people to learn about places they may not have heard of. And he said that, for many, cheaper air fare makes it possible for them to go to these places.

I think there is something else involved. People are hungry for things beyond the material. They know this world and mere things can never satisfy the human soul. The Apostle Paul long ago saw evidence of that in the city of Athens. It seems as though the people there had a shrine to every god known to man. But they also had one statue with the inscription: “To the Unknown God.” When Paul spoke to the people, he said that he was here to proclaim that God to them.

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” We believe that searchers must go to the Holy Bible for the answers to questions about God and His relationship to man. The Bible tells of God’s love, which was manifested by the giving of His Son. People may flock to religious shrines. But God dwells in the human heart. Seek Him, and you will find Him.

That’s Today’s News and the Good news. I’m Doug Poling

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khtan@worldchristian.org (Doug Poling) Doug Poling Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:34:14 +0000
People, People https://www.knls.org/reading-pleasure-main/doug-poling/125-people-people.html https://www.knls.org/reading-pleasure-main/doug-poling/125-people-people.html //

There are lots and lots of people in the world. 6.7 billion of them, in fact. Those are the latest figures on world population, as compiled by the United States government. And the world keeps getting bigger. The U.S. Census Bureau predicts that by the year 2012 we will have 7 billion people. China is the largest nation on earth, with more than a billion people. Next comes India, then the United States, with 304 million.

With all these people, one wonders just how many people the world can sustain. William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. says it all depends on how well we human beings manage the resources God gave us. That’s very interesting. Some voices of gloom and doom have been saying there’s just too many people—that we’ll run out of food—that there will be famine and wars as people compete for resources. But the experts are saying we CAN survive....IF we are wise in using what we’ve been given.

The demographers are telling us we have to think of others as well as ourselves. And that idea is a Christian one. To share, to put the other person first, to place a priority on the common welfare...these are virtues that Jesus preached and his followers practiced. Now we can see that these are not only good and virtuous. They are the key to our very survival as people. These population studies tell us the future is not to be feared. We CAN survive. But we have to work together. Jesus said, “Love each other.” Isn’t that really what this is all about?

That’s Today’s News and the Good News. I’m Doug Poling

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khtan@worldchristian.org (Doug Poling) Doug Poling Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:33:24 +0000
Is Anybody Happy? https://www.knls.org/reading-pleasure-main/doug-poling/124-is-anybody-happy.html https://www.knls.org/reading-pleasure-main/doug-poling/124-is-anybody-happy.html //

Are you happy? Have you thought about that lately? Some researchers at the University of Michigan did . They wanted to know where in the world people are the happiest. And so they did a world-wide survey. The results showed that people who live in Denmark are the happiest in the world. At least, they SAY they are. The Danes attribute their feeling of well-being to their country’s peaceful atmosphere, social equality and democracy. By contrast, the most miserable place in the world is Zimbabwe. That’s not surprising, considering the extreme poverty in the African nation.

It’s an interesting survey. But, as a Christian, I wonder if it misses the point. Those conducting the survey and those providing the answers seem inclined to think that externals always result in happiness or the lack of it. If the government is good, the economy is good, we’re happy. If not, then we’re unhappy.

The Bible defines happiness very differently. Jesus said happiness is found in such things as humility, serving other people, pursing righteousness and having a pure heart. Never once, in all his teachings, did Jesus say happiness is found in material wealth or prosperity.

The Apostle Paul had his own criteria for happiness, or contentment. In his letter to the Philippians, he wrote, “...I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

Faith in Jesus Christ. A right relationship with God. THAT’s the secret to REAL happiness.

That’s Today’s News and the Good News. I’m Doug Poling

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khtan@worldchristian.org (Doug Poling) Doug Poling Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:31:36 +0000
Beauty-Disadvantaged? https://www.knls.org/reading-pleasure-main/doug-poling/123-beauty-disadvantaged.html https://www.knls.org/reading-pleasure-main/doug-poling/123-beauty-disadvantaged.html //

The mayor of a town in the Australian outback found himself in the news. John Moloney, mayor of Mount Isa in northwestern Queensland, urged unattractive women to move to the mining town because there is a shortage of women there. Moloney said Mount Isa is a place for ugly ducklings to flourish into beautiful swans, and he called on those he termed “the beauty-disadvantaged” to settle there. Some people did not like Moloney’s message. They said it makes the men of Mount Isa seem boorish and like brutes who will pounce on the first woman they see walking down the street. Others were offended that Moloney would seem to equate physical beauty with virtue and quality.

The Bible is full of stories about that. In some cases, it led to disaster. Samson, a judge of ancient Israel, is one example. He was destroyed because of his inability to resist the physical charms of an evil woman named Delilah. One of the best examples is found in the book of 1st Samuel. In the 16th chapter, we read of the search for a man worthy to be chosen as the next king of Israel. The prophet Samuel thought he had found the man. But the Lord told him it was the wrong man. Then God said, “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

The mayor of this Australian town would also do well to read Proverbs Chapter 31 and Verse 30. It says, “Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting. But a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”

That’s Today’s News and the Good News. I’m Doug Poling

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khtan@worldchristian.org (Doug Poling) Doug Poling Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:30:35 +0000
Doing the Work of God https://www.knls.org/reading-pleasure-main/doug-poling/122-doing-the-work-of-god.html https://www.knls.org/reading-pleasure-main/doug-poling/122-doing-the-work-of-god.html //

Economies of nations all over the world are having lots of trouble these days. Much of it has to do with rising energy prices. Increased demand for oil has driven the price to all-time highs. Oil cost rises have caused the price of just about everything to go up. This includes the price of food. The cost of food has also been driven up by bad weather in many of the world’s growing regions. Food prices have been pushed higher by the use of more corn to make biofuels for motor vehicles. Food riots have broken out in parts of Africa where hungry people cannot find enough to eat. In the Caribbean nation of Haiti, consumers have little choice but to eat less. One official of the United Nations calls it a brutal situation.

The news is not all grim. Experts say there will be more supplies available at lower prices in the future, as more crops are planted in such food producing nations as the United States and Canada. Responsible and caring people all over the world are doing their best to respond. Christian churches and Christian organizations continue to provide food assistance to people in countries where there is not enough food to go around. Christian organizations such as Healing Hands International are working to show people in hungry nations how to grow more of their own food.

Feeding the hungry is good work that Christians know they are called upon to do. Jesus Christ, the one whom Christians worship, told his followers to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and tend to those who are sick. We call these Christian virtues. Jesus said people who do these things will be blessed. They are indeed doing the very work of God.

That’s Today’s News and the Good News. I’m Doug Poling

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khtan@worldchristian.org (Doug Poling) Doug Poling Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:28:35 +0000