"I dare you to..." Remember hearing that when you were young? I dared my younger brother to do things that should have gotten the both of us arrested. When I was a boy, my brother and I along with a friend were playing at a park in Queens, NY. We were bored swinging on the swings when we dared Panchito, our friend, to throw a crab apple at the traffic below the parts.
Grabbing a huge crab apple, Panchito threw the fruit toward the traffic below Smash! The fruit hit the windshield of a school bus. Screeching to a halt, the bus drier came out of the bus and looked toward us and yelled at us. We realized that we were in trouble so we ran away as fast as we could back to Panchito's house.
As we ran away, we split up trying to make sure that the bus driver didn't find either of us. But, to my surprise...he found me! Yelling at me and telling me that he was going to call the police to have me arrested, I ran from where he caught me...praying that I wouldn't go to jail. This dare ended really badly for us and for the bus driver.
With a shatter windshield, and a lesson learned, we realized that there are dares we should not take. Dares that are the worst decisions we could make. But there is a dare that is worth taking! Daring to be a Christian! In a letter written to A. R. Henry in 1888, Ellen White shared this thought, "Christians, in their manner and words and character, are to reveal that heavenly extraction. We are never to apologize to the world for being Christians and daring to be right." - 1888 1315.1
This Sabbath dare to be a Christian. Dare to be a follower of the Master Jesus!
So until the next time, this is Pastor Tello reminding you that thoughts do change lives!
Pastor Howard Tello