Taken Hostage in Wytheville! (What's Holding You Hostage?)
A commentary by Ron Kelley
United Church of God pastor, Asheville, Hickory and Greensboro, North Carolina
Posted December 31, 2009
 What's
it like to be held hostage? Three people in the small Blue Ridge Mountain
town of Wytheville, Virginia, found out Dec. 23. Taken hostage? Nothing
like that ever happens here! But it did.
A man pushing a wheelchair allegedly carried weapons and what was thought
to be explosives into the post office where unsuspecting customers and
postal employees were going about their daily routine. Minutes later
three of them were hostages fearing for their lives. Read more about
this hostage situation here and here.
Hour after hour passed as everyone anxiously waited for Warren "Gator" Taylor
to make his demands known to the FBI negotiators. Finally he ordered
a pizza, and shortly before midnight as the SWAT team shouted for him
to surrender, he did the unexpected—he gave up.
So ended a hostage situation that could have ended tragically. These
three people endured a very stressful situation as they feared for their
lives.
What's holding you hostage?
Sadly, we find much of society around us living in a state of stress
and anxiety, not knowing what will be the outcome of circumstances that
are seemingly holding them hostage.
What is holding you hostage? Is it a dead-end job that makes you hate
to go to work in the morning? Is it an unhappy marriage filled with
strife and bitterness? Is it a mountain of debt that you feel is leading
you down the path to bankruptcy? Is it an addiction that
has control of your life?
A key to unlock the chains
Do you sometimes feel trapped and helpless to do anything to break
free from the clutches of your captor? There is a key to unlock the
chains that are binding you to the situation in life that is holding
you hostage. It's contained in a book that is gathering dust on
many bookshelves in millions of homes. Surprisingly, that book is the
Bible.
The Bible gives practical solutions to everyday problems dealing with
work, marriage, personal relationships and sound financial management.
In John 10:10 Jesus first describes Satan, the criminal who is ultimately
responsible for holding
this world captive. But then Jesus adds, "I have come that
they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."
Jesus Christ came so we can ultimately have eternal life, but He came
also to help us understand how we can enjoy fulfilled, productive lives
right now.
 The United Church of God has prepared a free booklet that explains
how the Bible really does give practical advice that shows you the escape
route from the captive situation that has you feeling trapped with no
way out. Why not request or download Making
Life Work and break free from your captors?
Related Resources
Learn,
Live and Love the Bible
God's Word discusses several tools we can use to grow spiritually and
build our relationship with our Creator. In this second article in a series
on tools for spiritual growth, we examine the foundational tool of Bible reading
and study.
Read
the Book
Advertising executive and writer Bruce Barton called it The Book Nobody
Knows.
No other book is more important to you and your future.
Isn't
It About Time You Read the Book?
The Bible makes the remarkable claim of being the inspired Word of God, the
divine instruction for men, women and children everywhere. Shouldn't we
learn what it has to say?
How to Understand
the Bible
Millions of Bibles are sold or given away every year. It's the world's most
popular book, but at the same time the most misunderstood! To many it's difficult
to understand, yet the Bible itself gives us keys to understand it!
Is the Bible
True?
Can you believe the Bible? What is this book, really? Is it only a collection
of ancient legends and literature, as many believe? What about scientific discoveries
that "disprove" the Bible? These are crucial questions. Humanity faces challenges
that threaten our very existence, yet all too often we ignore the one source
that actually has the answers. Shouldn't we, then, check to see if this source
really is true? This eye-opening booklet discusses these vital questions and
helps you find the answers.
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