Free Tony

I came across this online today and thought it might interest some of you.  Apparently there is a truck stop in Louisiana that has an 800 pound tiger named Tony on display in a cage. People young and old come to see Tony and watch him pace back and forth. Well, you may ask, what’s the big deal?  The big deal is that it is against the law to have a tiger like tony in private possession. Yes, you guessed it; an animal rights group has taken up Tony’s cause and have been waging a legal battle to free Tony to an animal preserve. In fact there is a web site where you can keep up with what’s happening in Tony’s battle www.freetony.com.  This group at big cat rescue is very passionate about rescuing suffering animals, especially Tony.

 

Where do I stand on the on this issue?  I love animals, and don’t ever want to see an animal suffer. It is very sad to see Tony having to stand on concrete all day and night and also to be forced to listen to the deafening sounds of the diesel trucks.  I don’t have a tiger like Tony, but I do have two dogs (Tia & Elle) that are like family. The scripture even talks about how we should treat our animals (Proverbs 12:10).

 

Now where am I going with this Tony the tiger story? It made me think of all the people in our world who are caged in a prison of sin. I believe we as the Church of Jesus Christ should be more passionate about seeing people freed from the chains of sin than this animal rights group is to free Tony the tiger from his cage. God has given us a message of hope through the gospel of Jesus Christ his son. John 8:36 says “so if the Son sets you free you will be free indeed”.  So the next time you are eating your frosted flakes and thinking of Tony the tiger you might want say a pray for Tony but also say a prayer for the lost all around us who have never met Jesus Christ as their savior.

 

I wish Tony well.

Good Thoughts

There seems to be so much bad news in the world-plane crashes, financial problem and violence. If we are not careful, we can let it overwhelm our minds which can in turn rob us of our joy, peace and faith. I would never advocate a Pollyanna attitude where our optimism is based on an unrealistic reality. The scripture says “above all take up the shield of faith”. I find when I focus my mind on God and His Word, I began to see the world through the eyes of faith. How do the eyes of faith work? Well, we begin by responding the way the psalmist did in

 

Psalm 11:3-4

The foundations of law and order have collapsed.

What can the righteous do?”

      But the Lord is in his holy Temple;

the Lord still rules from heaven.

He watches everyone closely,

examining every person on earth.

 

The Lord still rules!  Fill your mind with this good thought today and your faith will soar. Then instead of the bad news pulling you down, you will pull others up to the good news.  Of course the best good news is that Jesus died for our sins and offers us salvation and abundant life. Good thought.