“Whoever walks in integrity walks securely,

but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.”       PR 10:9

I was raised a Yankee fan. I remember watching Mickey Mantle play. The four boys in my family were all Yankee fans, though my parents rooted for Boston. Our family survived the rivalry : ) In my adult life I haven’t cared much, though I am aware whether they have a good season or not.

Nowadays, sports stars typically make the news for the wrong reasons. Few handle the spotlight well. They live in excess. They often have run-ins with the law, and sport after sport has been tainted with illegal use of drugs. Recently, the beating of wives and abuse of children has embroiled the NFL in controversy. In these darkest days of professional sport, Derek Jeter played his last year as a Yankee being honored with accolades and gifts at every turn. In this age of moral chaos, even skepticism about the very definitions of right and wrong, even the world is standing up and recognizing that a life has been lived well. Though he wasn’t the greatest player to ever play, he is being hailed as one who lived above reproach, who gave 100% for every game, who always put his teammates above himself, and seemed to do it without the slightest cockiness. In fact, his image conjures up a man with a cap, and a smile.

Turns out the world is still looking for a hero. Not just one who can jump the highest, run the fastest, or plaster every opponent on the matt. Jeter is being honored for WHO he is more than for WHAT he has done.

Beloved, the world IS watching. Your disciples and friends ARE watching. Your teammates and colleagues WILL follow excellence. Most importantly, God knows those who have served well; honor and accolades await those who walk in their integrity. Thanks, Derek, for the reminder that even in this day of gross darkness in the earth, that there is still great value in being good.

“I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” John 8:12

Now that is one audacious statement. Do you suppose he really meant it? I mean, maybe he just meant that he has some really good ideas that can really bring some light, i.e. understanding and wisdom, to the rest of us. Maybe he meant that there are many lights out there, like stars in the sky, and he was one of them, maybe even one of the brighter ones?

Tonight is the Harvest Moon in the Western world. In China, it is the Mid-Autumn Festival. Chinese all over the world will light handheld lanterns and go out to enjoy the moonlit sky while eating “mooncakes”. I told them in a service yesterday, Jesus is NOT like our little lanterns, helping us to see our way in the dark. While he certainly does that, we have missed something horribly important until we understand that he has no rival. He is not one among many. He is more like the moon, completely surrounded on all sides by utter darkness, a lone source of light for all to see. But even this analogy falls far short. “He is the True Light which gives light to every man coming into the world” (JN 1:9). He is the Source of all light, so that when we are finally translated into the realm of eternity, there will be no moon, or sun, or any other light.

More Chinese every year are not just gazing at the moon at Mid-Autumn Festival, and carrying candlelit paper lanterns; they have met the True Light, which is for every people of every time, and they now carry the light of life in their hearts. Hallelujah!

I met a few of them that I would like to highlight for you in the past couple weeks. There is “Jacob”, a man whose countenance was like that of an angel. In a room full of people I found my gaze constantly turning in his direction. Then one day I discovered why: Jacob had been raised from the dead.

I met Min, a sister who had been raised in a poor village which had experienced a remarkable outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Like many in those days, she was never able to attend past elementary school. Though she had never studied music, and could not read even a simple score, by the Holy Spirit she began to write songs, and more songs, and more songs. The people liked them so much they began to sing them when they gathered in their homes to worship, or when they went to work in the fields. Preachers who went out from there, or who had passed through on their way to other regions, carried the songs with them. After many years, Min’s songs were written into a hymnal comprising nearly 1000 of them. They are sung all over the Chinese world, and adored. You can check out more of her story at http://waysoflife.info/Canaan%20Hymns.html

I met “Brian”. A lawyer in one of China’s largest law firms, Brian met the Lord 20 years ago when he had gone overseas to study. Despite pressures and persecution for his faith, he has never shrunk back from testifying of the Lord’s goodness to him. At first his colleagues were not so sure, but one by one, upon request, 700 of the 1000 people in his law firm now subscribe to his china style blog known as We Chat.

Only one person in the world can truthfully say, I am President of the United States. So if it comes from anyone else in the world besides Barack Obama, that person is a liar, or a deceiver, or mentally troubled. But if Obama says it, he is not bragging. He is just stating a fact.

Without a question, Jesus meant what he said. He is the Light of the world. He is not a light. He is not a lantern. For anyone else, that would have been an audacious thing to say. But Jesus was just stating a fact.

The moon is rising. I am going to light my lantern, sit down with my family and hundreds of other Chinese families, and chew on this amazing truth over some mooncakes. I wish you could join us.