A C ONTEMPORARY C OLLECTION OF INSPIRATIONAL STORIES GOD S. Charles Mills

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1 E C H O - GOD S

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3 A C ONTEMPORARY C OLLECTION OF INSPIRATIONAL STORIES E C H O - GOD S Charles Mills

4 Copyright 1999 by Review and Herald Publishing Association International copyright secured The author assumes full responsibility for the accuracy of all facts and quotations as cited in this book. Texts credited to NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers. This book was Edited by Gerald Wheeler Copyedited by James Cavil Designed by Patricia S. Wegh Cover photo by Tony Stone Images Interior illustrations by Denny Bond Typeset: 11/15 Bembo PRINTED IN U.S.A R&H Cataloging Service Mills, Charles Henning, Echoing God s love. 1. Christian life. 2. Religious life. I. Title

5 g D EDICATION In loving memory of my mother, El Rita Mills, who spent her entire life echoing God s love to me.

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7 Four months after Charles Mills was born, General Douglas MacArthur blew up his house. Charles says he s always tried not to take that personally. The Korean War sent missionaries of all faiths running for cover, including the Mills family, who escaped Japan before moving on to the Philippines and Singapore. Charles grew up in a household dedicated to biblical ideals. His father, a treasurer and administrator for a wide range of Christian institutions, led the family around the world, serving in the Far East, North America, and the Middle East. The missionary flame burned brightly in Charles even after he left the family fold and headed for Southern Missionary College, in Tennessee. During his junior year he took a break from his studies in broadcast communications and spent a year in Japan, teachg A BOUT THE A UTHOR

8 ing English at an evangelistic center in Osaka. After graduating in 1973, Charles helped produce Christian television programs in southern California, managed a college radio station near San Francisco, taught church school in Georgia, and formed his own media production company in Maryland and West Virginia. Along the way he earned a commercial pilot s license, taught flying from several small-town and metropolitan airports, and managed to marry Dorinda, a preacher s daughter, who he says knows me and loves me anyway. Charles is also a prolific writer and musician. My number one goal in life, says Mills, is to change people s concept of God. Many tend to view our heavenly Father as a stern judge messing up our lives in an attempt to lead us to salvation. That s not m y God. He s the master of unmessing up lives by freely offering the salvation made possible by Christ s sacrifice. When not writing manuscripts, creating videos and radio programs, or designing marketing materials for his clients, Charles enjoys bird watching, rummaging through antique malls, and making music on his keyboard and guitar. Echoing God s Love is his thirtieth published book.

9 Contents g 1 ECHOING GOD S LOVE IN HUMANITY Recognizing God/13 Success/15 The Mother in Our Father /17 Speeding Ticket/19 Service With a Smile/21 The Crying Man/23 Get Up!/25 True Value/27 Memories of the Journey/29 Just in Case/31 Heavenly Music/33 Forgiving Love/36 Our Laughing God/38 Blind Faith/40 No Way Out, Parts 1 and 2/42 Rock of Ages/46 Reluctant Heroes/48 The New Coat/51 Falling in Love/54 The Guide, Parts 1 and 2/56 Regrets/60 Bottle Cap Salvation/62 Sad Smile/64 2 ECHOING GOD S LOVE IN N ATURE Arms/69 Darkness/71 Duck Story, Parts 1-5/73 Germ Warfare/86

10 Heavenly Visions/88 Migration/90 The Gift/92 Simple Song/94 The Unwelcome Passenger/96 Two Seas/98 The Doctor Is In/100

11 ECHOING G OD S LOVE IN H UMANITY g H UMANITY

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13 ECHOING G OD S LOVE IN H UMANITY Recognizi ng God He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. John 14:9. A low fog bank hugged the waters as our big freighter sailed cautiously through the wide mouth of the harbor. I strained to see beyond the mists, but my 4-year-old eyes recognized nothing among the soft, liquid curtains. It was my very first visit to America, having spent my entire life, short as it was, in eastern Asia, where my parents served as Christian missionaries. But it wasn t necessarily the United States that was the goal of my gaze that cold, damp morning. No, I was looking for an even more wondrous sight. I was looking for Grandma. After all, I d heard so much about her. My mom had told me stories of the kindhearted woman in whose care she d grown up stories of depression years when food was scarce but love wasn t, when Christmas presents had been handmade because the family had no extra money to spend. I knew in my little boy heart that somewhere beyond that fog bank waited a woman who d love me just as she d loved my mother. To 13

14 ECHOING G OD S LOVE me, Grandma and America were almost one and the same. Suddenly, as our boat slipped through the glassy waters, I saw a figure begin to emerge from the mist. A tall, beautiful woman holding high a gleaming torch. Mommy! I cried, running along the damp, salty deck. Mommy, there she is. There s Grandma! The image in my mind of a kindhearted woman waiting to welcome me to America fit perfectly the grand design of the Statue of Liberty. The sight matched the admiration that had poured from my mother s lips whenever she d spoken of her mom. Soon I learned that while my real grandmother was indeed kind, loving, and happy to welcome me to America, she was a lot shorter than the woman in the harbor. God has called us to play a unique role here on earth. He s asked us to shower our friends and neighbors with stories about Him, testimonies of Him, and invitations from Him. He s depending on us to make Him so real to our hearers, so filled with love and kindness, that when they discover Him working in their lives or hear Him whispering in their ears, they ll recognize Him immediately. That s why Jesus came to earth and lived among us, eating our food, wearing our clothes, sharing our sorrows. He wanted to show us, in no uncertain terms, what God is like. What image of our heavenly Father do you share? What picture do your actions at home, at play, and in the workplace paint in people s minds? Will those who know you be able to recognize the God you worship based on your reflection of Him? One Christian writer put it this way: We cannot by searching find out God. But He has revealed Himself in the character of Christ, who is the brightness of the Father s glory and the express image of His person. If we desire a knowledge of God, we must be Christlike (Ellen G. White, Manuscript Releases, vol. 21, p. 410). The same is true if we desire to share Him with our world. 14