At the Olympic Games in Paris in 1924 the sport of canoe racing was added to the list of international competitions. The favorite team in the four-man canoe race was the United States team. One member of that team was a young man by the name of Bill Havens. As the time for the Olympics neared, it became clear that Bill's wife would give birth to her first child about the time that Bill would be competing in the Paris Games. In 1924 there were no jet airliners from Paris to the United States, only slow-moving ocean-going ships. And so Bill found himself in a dilemma. Should he go to Paris and risk not being at his wife's side when their first child was born? Or should he withdraw from the team and remain behind. Bill's wife insisted that he go to Paris. After all, he had been working towards this for all these years. It was the culmination of a life-long dream. Clearly the decision was not easy for Bill to make. Finally, after much soul searching, Bill decided to withdraw from the competition and remain behind with his wife so that he could be with her when their first child arrived. Bill considered being at her side a higher priority than going to Paris to fulfill a life-long dream. To make a long story short, the United States four-man canoe team won the gold medal at the Paris Olympics. And Bill's wife was late in giving birth to her first child. She was so late that Bill could have competed in the event and returned home in time to be with her when she gave birth. People said, "What a shame." But Bill said he had no regrets. After all, his commitment to his wife was more important then, and it still was now. The story of Bill Havens is a story of how one man paid a high price to fulfill a commitment to someone he loved. _________________ If the above illustration is used offer this sequel near the end of your sermon: There is a sequel to the story of Bill Havens. The child eventually born to Bill and his wife was a boy, whom they named Frank. Twenty-eight years later, in 1952, Bill received a cablegram from Frank. It was sent from Helsinki, Finland, where the 1952 Olympics were being held. The cablegram read, and I quote it exactly: "Dad, I won. I'm bringing home the gold medal you lost while waiting for me to be born." Frank Havens had just won the gold medal for the United States in the canoe-racing event, a medal his father had dreamed of winning but never did. There is a sequel to our acts of commitment as well, our commitments to one another, and our commitment to God. We reap the abundant harvest of righteousness. We reap a harvest of joy and peace that endures forever

"One half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up before you get it."

There was a boy by the name of Steve who was attending seminary in Utah. In Utah, seminary classes are held as part of the curriculum. Mr. Christianson taught seminary at this particular school. He had an open-door policy and would take in any student that had been thrown out of another class as long as they would abide by his rules. Steve had been kicked out of his sixth period and no other teacher wanted him, so he went into Mr. Christianson's Seminary class. Steve was told that he couldn't be late, so he would come in just seconds before the bell rang and he would sit in the very back of the room. He would also be the first to leave after the class was over. One day, Mr. Christianson asked Steve to stay after class so he could talk with him. After class, Mr. Christianson pulled Steve aside and said, "You think you're pretty tough, don't you?" Steve's answer was, "Yeah, I do." Then Mr. Christianson asked, "How many push-ups can you do?" Steve said, "I do about 200 every night." "200? That's pretty good, Steve." Mr. Christianson said, "Do you think you could do 300?" Steve replied, "I don't know... I've never done 300 at a time." "Do you think you could?" again asked Mr. Christianson. "Well, I can try," said Steve. "Can you do 300 in sets of 10? I need you to do 300 in sets of ten for this to work. Can you do it? I need you to tell me you can do it." Mr. Christianson said. Steve said, "Well... I think I can… yeah, I can do it." Mr. Christianson said, "Good! I need you to do this on Friday." Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front of the room. When class started, Mr. Christianson pulled out a big box of donuts. Now these weren't the normal kinds of donuts. They were the extra fancy BIG kind, with cream centers and frosting swirls. Everyone was pretty excited -it was Friday, the last class of the day, and they were going to get an extra early start on the weekend. Mr. Christianson went to the first girl in the first row and asked, "Cynthia, do you want a donut?" Cynthia said, "Yes." Mr. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Cynthia can have a donut?" Steve said, "Sure," and jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten. Then Steve again sat in his desk. Mr. Christianson put a donut on Cynthia's desk. Mr. Christianson then went to Joe, the next person, and asked, "Joe, do you want a donut?" Joe said, "Yes." Mr. Christianson asked, "Steve would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have a donut?" Steve did ten push-ups. Joe got a donut. And so it went, down the first aisle. Steve did ten pushups for every person before they got their donut. And down the second aisle, till Mr. Christianson came to Scott. Scott was captain of the football team and center of the basketball team. He was very popular and never lacking for female companionship. When Mr. Christianson asked, "Scott do you want a donut?" Scott's reply was, "Well, can I do my own push-ups?" Mr. Christianson said, "No, Steve has to do them." Then Scott said, "Well, I don't want one then." Mr. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so Scott can have a donut he doesn't want?" Steve started to do ten pushups. Scott said, "HEY! I said I didn't want one!" Mr. Christianson said, "Look, this is my classroom, my class, my desks, and my donuts. Just leave it on the desk if you don't want it", and he put a donut on Scott's desk. Now by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little. He just stayed on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be getting up and down, and a little perspiration appeared around his brow. Mr. Christianson started down the third row. By now, the students were beginning to get a little angry. He asked Jenny, "Jenny, do you want a donut?" Jenny said, "No". Then Mr. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn't want?" Steve did ten; Jenny got a donut. By now, the students were beginning to say "No" and there were all these uneaten donuts on the desks. Steve was also having to really put forth a lot of effort to get these push-ups done for each donut. There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor beneath his face, and his arms and brow were beginning to get red because of the physical effort involved. Mr. Christianson asked Robert to watch Steve to make sure he did ten push-ups in a set because he couldn't bear to watch all of Steve's work for all of those uneaten donuts. Robert began to watch Steve closely. Mr. Christianson started down the fourth row. During his class, however, some students had wandered in and sat along the heaters along the sides of the room. When Mr. Christianson realized this, he did a quick count and saw that there were now 34 students in the room. He started to worry if Steve would be able to make it. Mr. Christianson went on to the next person, the next, and the next. Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time. He was taking a lot more time to complete each set. Steve asked Mr. Christianson, "Do I have to make my nose touch on each one?" Mr. Christianson thought for a moment, "Well, they're your push-ups. You can do them any way that you want." And Mr. Christianson went on. A few moments later, Jason came to the room and was about to come in when all the students yelled, "NO! Don't come in! Stay out!" Jason didn't know what was going on. Steve picked up his head and said, "No, let him come." Mr. Christianson said, "You realize that if Jason comes in you will have to do ten push-ups for him." Steve said, "Yes, let him come in." Mr. Christianson said, "Okay, I'll let you get Jason's out of the way right now. Jason, do you want a donut?" "Yes." "Steve, will you do ten push-ups so that Jason can have a donut?" Steve did ten push-ups very slowly and with great effort. Jason, bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down. Mr. Christianson finished the fourth row, then started on those seated on the heaters. Steve's arms were now shaking with each push-up in a struggle to lift himself against the force of gravity. Sweat was dropping off his face and, by this time, there was not a dry eye in the room. The very last two girls in the room were cheerleaders and very popular. Mr. Christianson went to Linda, the second to last, and asked, "Linda, do you want a donut?" Linda, too choked up to talk, just shook her head. Mr. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Linda can have a donut she doesn't want?" Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow push-ups for Linda. Then Mr. Christianson turned to the last girl, Susan. "Susan,do you want a donut?" Susan, with tears flowing down her face, asked, "Mr. Christianson, can I help him?" Mr. Christianson, with tears of his own, said, "No, he has to do it alone." "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Susan can have a donut?" As Steve very slowly finished his last push-up, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 push-ups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor. Mr. Christianson then said, "And so it was, that our Savior, Jesus Christ, pleaded to the Father, "Into thy hands I commend my spirit", and with the understanding that He had done everything that was required of Him, collapsed on the cross and died - even for those that didn't want His gift."

------------------------------------------------------- "BYLINE with Dan Betzer" Program #1987 Release Tuesday, May 15, 2001 "Sheep Gone Astray" by Dan Betzer ------------------------------------------------------- Hello again, this is Dan Betzer. The strangest thing happened the other day in Alexandria, Egypt. It happened to a Muslim who was preparing a sacrifice for Eid al-Adha, the Muslim feast of sacrifice. If you've been to Egypt, you know that over-crowding is just about everywhere. Many city-dwellers keep livestock on their rooftops, balconies or basements. Especially in the run up to the day of sacrifice. 56-year-old Waheeb Hamoudah had been feeding his sheep which he had tethered on the rooftop. Suddenly, the sheep broke loose from its moorings and butted its owner, and in the process knocked him off the third story roof. Hamoudah fell to his death. Killed by his own sacrifice. Several things are sad about that story. One is that the man was killed. And the other was that the sacrifice was completely unnecessary. The New Testament book of Hebrews teaches that it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Christ died to set us free from the penalty of the sins we committed. Christ died only once as a sacrifice to take away the sins of all the people. He will come again but not to deal with our sins again. What a wonderful passage! The debt for my sin and yours had already been paid in full at Calvary. When Jesus cried out with his last breath, "It is finished," He meant not only His earthly life, but also the price of our redemption. No more sacrifices, no more bloodshed. What Christ did was full and complete. Now comes only the matter of the sinner accepting what Jesus purchased. So that poor guy in Egypt was butted off the third story by the very sacrifice he believed would redeem him. He had his trust in the wrong place. Where do you have your trust today, good friend? Dan Betzer here and that's BYLINE.

Why did Jesus have to die? Brian McLaren was asked this question by a seeker in his church, and realized he didn't know an answer that would satisfy him. Brian asked for two weeks to think about it. He read all these books on the atonement, but all the answers were abstract and unhelpful. He mentioned it to his brother, who is an engineer. Without missing a beat, his brother said, "Jesus didn't know, either. Remember in the Garden?" Brian was stunned: John Stott never said that! He told the guy the story of the garden. The seeker said, "Well, that doesn't really answer my question, but it does make it go away."

If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.

A couple of boys were fishing at their special pond off the beaten track. All of a sudden, the Game Warden jumped out of the bushes. Immediately, one of the boys threw his fishing pole down and started running through the woods. The Game Warden was hot on his heels. After about a half mile, the boy stopped to catch his breath, so the Game Warden finally caught up to him. "Let's see yer fishin' license, little man!" the Warden gasped. With that, the boy pulled out his wallet and gave the Game Warden a valid fishing license. "Well, son," said the Game Warden, "you must be about as dumb as a box of rocks! You don't have to run from me if you have a valid license!" "Yes, sir," replied the young man, "but my friend back there — well, he don't have one."