It has been good to take a break from COF. Everyone needs a little time away. (Jesus took 40 days - we only took a few weeks.) We came back and played "Win a Buck" On Thursday! Great game! Probably the most exciting game at COF. The devotions the past two times we've met were all about how to become a child of God's family by saying the S.T.P. prayer. Great stuff! Probably the most exciting topic for anyone to present as a devotion.
Everyone wants to play "Win a Buck." Everyone wants to go to heaven when they leave earth, Christian or not. (Crazy people want anything else.) We all just want to be part of a chance to win something of value and to be part of the family (or group) that spends eternity in the most wonderful kingdom. To some it doesn't matter what the prize or what they'll do in heaven...they just want to be part of it. That happened this past Thursday night.
We were playing "Win a Buck" and the first five contestants were called to come down. Josh, Matthew, Kelly, Brooke, and someone else who wasn't there, no biggie, we called another. Each person answers three questions about the Bible and if they do...they win a buck, hence the name. (I know, cheap rip-off.) Either-which-way, the folks get rowdy on "Win a Buck" (WAB) night! Everybody wants to be part of it. Dollar General must have some great buys after the holidays.
Our first contestant came over and as soon as we welcomed him to the game I knew it would be a whiz-bang night of WAB! I asked him how he was doing and He answered in a language that no one understood. It wasn't that he was non-verbal, it was just that he didn't speak in a comprehensible dialect of any known language. Without wanting to take our introduction down an uncomfortable road I went on. "O.K.," I said, "Let's get to the first question." The music kicked in and I read, "Who told Mary that she was going to have a baby?" I then gave the answer choices, "Joseph, or the Angel." Our excited contestant yelled into the microphone, "Aglicobachitrimill!" My trusted counterpart Jeff was going to ask him to repeat his answer as Jeff didn't quite make it out when I yelled, "Jeff, it sounded like he said 'Angel,' that's correct!" Before I could say, "Let's go to question number two," our contestant raised his hands in victory and leaped back over to his chair and sat down satisfied for having played in the coveted game of "Win a Buck!" The place erupted!
Jeff and I were stunned. We have been helping with COF for nine to ten years and every now and then something really precious happens. (It actually happens pretty regularly, like weekly.) But this summed up everything Circle Of Friends is about: wanted to have something with value, and have it eternally with our friends in the presence of God. The joy our first contestant displayed is the joy spoke of all throughout the bible. It is the joy we have when we truly realize the verse from 1 John 5:13, "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life."
Knowing you have eternal life is a lot like answering only one "Win a Buck" question. You have a victory as long as you're part of it. Are you victorious? You can be with a simple prayer - S.T.P.
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