Pastor Doug Lichty
Iron Springs Brethren In Christ Church
(11/1) Perhaps you could honestly say I am familiar with the cross of Christ. Maybe you remember it as an Easter symbol, wear it as jewelry or have seen it on a tattoo. Occasionally you can see three crosses set up together along the sides of various roads.
The story goes that on a night in 1984, a pastor named Bernard Coffin Daffer had a vision where God asked him to put up sets of three crosses together across the land, to remind people of Christ’s crucifixion at Calvary.
He began putting up the crosses in West Virginia, which was close by. In 1993 he died of a heart attack, but numerous people have continued to put the crosses up, in various states.
Pastor Coffin Doffer sold his business and used the approximately $3 million to form a non-profit organization called "Cast Thy Bread Inc.," which paid for what he called "crosses of Mercy", which were installed on the properties of willing people.
There is another man who has truly amazed me, and gotten my attention, also His name is Arthur Blessitt. He also felt compelled to do something radically different for Christ, as a testimony to the world.
At age 27, he began to carry a full -size cross around the world. As far as I know, he is still doing it, which would make it 54 and his wife Denise had walked 43,326 miles, into every nation, major island group and territory.
In 2019 he was included in the Guinness world record book for having the longest pilgrimage or walk at that time. It was estimated to have been 86 million steps, and an accumulated weight of 19 billion pounds. In other words, it cost him a lot…. freedom, time, physical energy, mockery, etc.
This is an exact quote from Arthur Blessitt, that I found in one of the many articles published about him.
"Neither the cross or Jesus or ourselves were always welcomed. The curses rang out, knives at my neck, guns at my head, a firing squad with guns pointed at me, spit on my face, beaten and so often in danger, arrested 24 times and in 54 nations at war. My life became a saga of struggles and triumph, praise, and damnation. Attacked from every direction beyond what anyone could imagine."
I would consider both men to be heroes of mine, but after becoming acquainted with their stories, I soon discovered that the cross of Christ has not meant as much to me, as it should have.
Being a Pastor’s son brought many opportunities to hear about Christ, His love for people, His love for me, and what that does and should mean.
I had participated in many communion services over the years. As a Child because I liked the taste of communion bread, and then into my teenage years, so other people and my parents would think I was a Christian. I was not really thinking about the true meaning of the cross, and how it should change my life. Maybe you can relate to that.
It wasn’t until Aug. 31,1981 that I knelt on the living room floor, in the parsonage of the Montgomery Brethren In Christ Church near Upton, PA., that I asked God to forgive my sins and come into my heart and life. Then and only then, did the cross of Christ begin to take on real meaning for me.
Several things come to mind.
First, I realized the tremendous release of guilt that I had been carrying for years. There were things that I had done, said, and thought that kept me bound in a hopeless pit of despair. The Bible says in 2 Timothy 1:7 "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind."
I knew I did not come up to God’s standard of Holiness, since He is completely perfect and holy, and I was not even making an effort to live a Christian life. Guilty for sure, unholy definitely. These were the feelings I daily lived with.
It is amazing how guilt can constantly nag away at you when you know right from wrong but refuse to change or settle for playing with God and sin at the same time. In fact, you can convince yourself that you aren’t too bad, even when you don’t take Christ seriously.
However, Scripture tells us in Revelation 3:15, "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm-neither hot or cold, I am about to spit you out of my mouth."
Guilty as charged, my sins had separated me away from God and the accompanying guilt followed. It did not matter that my Father was a Pastor, that I went to church all the time, took communion, and was even baptized. I was still guilty.
The second thing I noticed after accepting Christ, was the spiritual cleanness I felt. King David prayed in Psalm 51:7 for God to, "Purge me with hyssop (a plant), and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."
There is not much that is whiter than snow, but that is the comparison we see when a spiritually clean person has been cleansed by God.
With guilt removed, and a clean pure heart, I was then full of the joy of the Lord. It was around that time that I began to listen to contemporary/modern Christian music. I also enjoyed playing drums to the music.
One of the things that held me back from becoming a Christian, was the notion of a Christian life being quite boring and unfulfilling. Before that time, I listen to mostly secular music, including many songs that definitely did not honor God.
With a change of heart and newfound freedom, I discovered I enjoyed life, music and many other things, much more than I had before.
Another huge change in my life was the fact that I did not fear death anymore. Hebrews 9:27 tells us, "It is appointed unto man once to die, and after that comes the judgment".
There is no fear in death when you are right with God. I must ask you this question. If you died today or Chrit came back in the clouds as he said he would, in revelation 1:7, are you prepared to meet him? There will be no time to confess sin after death. It is not possible and cannot happen.
Another scripture in Hebrews 3:7-9 say’s," Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for 40 years they saw what I did".
It is so good to know at any time when my life on earth is over, my new life with Christ will begin and last forever.
The cross cost Christ much…. His entire life, but He did that for you and I. What is so amazing is that people are born with sin, and Jesus could have gotten off the cross, but He stayed on for us.
The cross of Christ has truly changed my life, and I hope and pray it will change yours also.
