#38 The Joy of Believing(17/08/02)

By Dr. Robert H. Schuller

If we are connected to God, joy should be the center of all we say and do.

I was doing my Bible reading again this week, right here on the Walk of Faith in the Crystal Cathedral Gardens. There has never been a church in the history of religions that has so many Bible verses carved in granite all over the sidewalks.

A Bible verse from that Walk of Faith that really touched me this week was "If you confess and believe, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9). The donors for this stepping stone are Dr. A.B. Chatfield of Washington, DC, and Robert Chatfield of Kansas City, Missouri.

There are many beautiful Bible verses about joy in the Walk of Faith here at the Crystal Cathedral gardens, like this one that caught my eye recently, "The Lord is in your midst. The Mighty One will save" (Zephania 3:17).

In order to experience the joy of the Lord, you must become acquainted with the person called you. God will make you become joyful and He will rejoice over you with gladness.

Last week, I told you to spell out the word "rejoice" R-E-J-O-Y-C-E. "He will rejoice? over you with gladness and with singing." Wow! There is nothing more important than to experience the power of joy.

The world is made up of believers and non-believers. Some people say, "What?s the future of religion? Do you think it is going to survive the secularism and sectarianism and the scientific atheism?"

Oh yes, it will survive it! It will survive because it is honest and it is true. Next Christmas Eve, December 24th, we will celebrate the 10th Anniversary of being the first religious voice invited to come into the then Soviet Union with the approval of Prime Minister Gorbachev. The Russians had lived through 70 years of atheism, but they found out that some positive elements in personalities can only come through religion.

When Raisa Gorbachev died of cancer a few weeks ago, the Robert Schuller Crystal Cathedral Ministries staff in Moscow were invited to stand honor guard at her casket. In Russia, it?s a great honor to be invited to stand honor guard at someone?s funeral. We were invited because our ministry has made a difference for the Russian people.

How does this ministry make a difference? The answer is in this headline from the National Institute for Health Care Research dated July 22, 1999, "Older Americans stretch life by 28% if they attend religious services every week."

The Journal of Gerontology says, "The risk of dying for frequent church attendees is 46% lower than those attending less often."

Why? Positive emotions are generated and strengthened in a positive church. People come with depression and they feel low. They go out and they feel good. That good feeling means the brain is releasing endorphins into the entire body.

We pray here, and miracles happen. Sometimes we don?t know who receives these miracles, and sometimes we do. Another news report from the prestigious Memorial Sloan- Kettering Cancer Center in New York says, "Patients with a belief system, using an active, cognitive, coping strategy tend to manage physical illness better than those with a passive, deferring style."

Wow! And they go on, "Therapists say, Those that have a relationship with God, have a sense of connection and involvement instead of isolation, helplessness and hopelessness. Theorists have viewed as passive-regressive psychological phenomena a religious approach in the past.? Our results show how religion can play an important, although still insufficiently recognized, role in how individuals affected with this life threatening illnesses cope and adjust."

There is much we do not know, but I'll tell you one thing. We know you choose to believe in God and no other can ever prove that you are right. I'll tell you what they can prove. If you choose not to believe in God, we can prove that you will be missing some inner emotional and spiritual dynamic energy that could make the difference between life and death.

It's not possible to be joyous if you don't embrace faith. The joy of believing! Wow! It changes you from a negative to a positive person.

One of our ministers, Dennis Davis, sent me the following note. It comes from someone I don?t know, Richard Ellis.

You make your day, nobody else can.
"I woke up early today, excited over all I get to do before the clock strikes midnight.

"I have responsibilities to fulfill today.

"I'm important, my job is to choose what kind of a day I'm going to have.

"Today I can complain because it is raining, or I can be thankful that the grass is getting watered, free.

"Today I can feel sad that I don't have more money, or I can be glad that my finances encourage me to be thrifty and avoid waste.

"Today I can grumble about my health, or I can rejoice that I'm alive.

"Today I can lament over all that my parents did not give me when I was growing up, or I can be grateful that they allowed me to be born.

"Today I can cry because roses have thorns, or I can celebrate that thorns have roses.

"Today I can whine because I have to go to work, or I can shout for joy because I have a job.

"Today I can complain because I have to go to school, or eagerly open my mind and be filled with joy knowing that I'm going to grow smarter.

"Today stretches ahead of me, waiting to be shaped, and I am the sculptor who gets to do the shaping.

"What today will be like is up to me. I get to choose what kind of day I'm going to have."

Choose to be a believer. Choose to have a positive mental attitude. Choose to have faith. Choose to put a positive spin on life. We have been preaching this for 30 years on television and for 45 years in this church.
I'm looking at the members of this church, and I'm proud of you. How you have embraced this faith and what a difference it has made. We had a member of this church for many years. He came to this church every Sunday while he was going through some very, very difficult times. He didn't always have the healthiest religious exposures. But he came here and he found something that was dynamic. A powerful, positive faith and that faith put a smile on his face.

He became known as the joyous member of my staff. His name was Carl Wallace. He retired and went back to where he was born and raised, Sparta, Tennessee. I got a letter the other day from Hugh Carmichael II, the City Manager of Sparta, Tennessee.

"Dear Dr. Schuller:
"There was a time in my life, during the 1980s when my wife and I were experiencing some character building that you appropriately labeled as tough times.? During those years your television ministry played an important role in my ability to endure those challenges. My mother, knowing the influence your ministry was having in my life, mentioned on occasion that one of Sparta's native sons, Carl Wallace, worked for you.

"I remember thinking how wonderful it would be someday if I could meet this Carl Wallace and learn about your ministry first hand. Needless to say, I was thrilled when I heard that he was retiring and returning to his hometown in Sparta with his wife Leta.

"Shortly after their move to Sparta, Carl addressed our Sunday School class at the local Methodist Church. The positive influence of your ministry on his life was evident that day, not only in his uplifting message, but also in Carl's joy and enthusiasm for life. That was a living testament to the presence of God at work in him.

"Then I heard that Carl was going to run for office. He was going to try to get elected as a member of the Sparta Board of Mayor and Aldermen. So Carl ran and he won. I began having to work with him, he is one of my bosses.

"Soon after taking office, Carl came to my office and insisted that I get out, walk with him around the city square which is known as Liberty Square, in the heart of downtown Sparta. The square was deteriorating and in urgent need of attention. Citizens complained about it, but most elected officials had written off the historic downtown as a lost cause.

"Interstate highways and shopping centers had attracted developers away from downtown. As we walked, Carl started telling me about his vision for Liberty Square. He believed that the loss of the square would mean the loss of the heart and soul of Sparta. He said he had visions of buildings being renovated, sidewalks repaired, new businesses moving in, and people returning to the downtown area to take their children to restaurants or to attend community events.

"The typical response I heard from the public was, His ideas are great, but he's just one of those dreamers from California.? Undaunted Carl continued laying the groundwork for his visions with enthusiasm, joy, and a positive attitude. Along the way, he taught all of us that goals must be set, that they are attainable if they are for the right reason and not just for political expediency.

"He gently coached that we should set our goals based on needs and without regard to the cost, because if the need is genuine, he said, the way to pay for it will become evident somehow, someway.

"The vision that Carl had in 1991 today is a reality. Liberty Square is a beautiful, restored historic place for visitors and businesses. There?s a new restaurant, shops, and professional and government offices.

"It's taken almost five years for the rebirth of Liberty Square, however wonderful the results, it's not always been easy. I have seen Carl take the blame from people who were not supportive. Through it all, Carl has kept his positive spirit and his joyous belly laugh has never ceased. He just kept hauling the corn? as he often advised me to do when I became discouraged.

"Our working relationship has been the highlight of my career in Sparta, and I can tell you, Carl Wallace is one of the most respected city officials in the entire state of Tennessee today. I am confident Carl will continue to lead us as we establish new goals. The legacy of the city of Sparta is now and forever connected to the power of the Crystal Cathedral Ministries. Thank you, Dr. Schuller."

Wow! A true positive thinker! Wherever you are, whoever you are, you are the sculptor not only of your today, but your tomorrows. Yes! You can choose faith and you will be S-E-E-D-E-D in your heart! Wow!
I receive letters from all over the world from people saying how this ministry has transformed their lives. Letters from places like Dublin, Ireland, and Nazareth in Israel. They all say the same: "I got a chance to see you preach on television. You encouraged me to believe in myself."

It?s great! Belief is where it all starts. Belief generates hope and hope reignites joy. When that happens, God only knows what miracles may take place.

Many of you want to know what happened with Meta McDonald. Last Sunday I told you about how her brain tumor had returned and how she was going to start some experimental treatment.

This drug that Meta was going to receive had to come from Florida, and because of the floods in Florida the drug didn't arrive on time for her to start her treatment. When she went to the doctor and he looked at her MRI, he said, "That's not cancer and I'll stake my reputation on it." Then he called in another specialist who said, "I don't know what this is, but it's not cancer."

So they took Meta to see the oncologist who had not received the drug yet. And he too looked at her MRI and his mouth just dropped open. From what he saw, he agreed with the other two specialists.

There's an awful lot we don't know, but there's power in the smile. Meta has the power of the smile - she smiled through her chemotherapy, she smiled through her pain, she smiled here last Sunday while you all were praying for her.

Let's pray.

Lord, good things are happening. Our faith is renewed and revived. Our joy is being re-energized and the re-joy is returning. Amen.