Eyes Are Watching

Several years ago I had the privilege of meeting a Christian celebrity. He was a giant in my eyes as he had written many books that I had devoured and also had produced several teaching videos that I had watched over and over again. I was expecting someone who radiated love and kindness, warmth and perhaps some humor, certainly a touch or more of joy.

And yet the man I met was cold, self engrossed, distant from those who were his host and sour - nothing what I expected. I did not see Christ. I simply saw an ego-elevated man who believed he was to be served and admired for his work. It was not attractive. I wonder if he had any idea that eyes were watching and so disappointed in what they saw

A few years later I was honored by being in the presence of a woman who was a well know author and speaker. She was one of my heroes. I was sure I would meet an earthly angel, a woman of quiet dignity and charm, a woman who would embrace those she met and display the very radiance of Christ. Instead she was haughty, demanding, critical toward her husband and …well.. you get the picture. Did she have any idea that eyes were watching?

I have often thought it would be a great idea if I could first spend some time with those whose works I admire. I want to see above all else if they really believe what they write about and if they are willing to LIVE it. So much of the New Testament is a call to a lifestyle and a character that simply reflects the love, kindness, mercy and OTHER-CENTEREDNESS of Jesus Christ. I so want to see the REAL DEAL and I expect it from those celebrities who represent our faith and our God.

A few months ago I had the privilege to go to Israel for ten days with eighty seven other travelers. It was a fabulous trip and there were a few people in full time ministry who came along. In many ways they were celebrities in my eyes as they had achieved national prominence, some through music and some through preaching and writing. But this time I was not disappointed. The openness, loving kindness, genuine warmth and servant’s hearts was shown day after day. And joy was abundant. It was encouraging. It was heart warming. It was a beautiful example for everyone on the trip to follow. Eyes were watching and because of that we all were encouraged to be more like Christ.

I was in the airport with my Beloved having returned from an over seas flight. It was 5:30 AM and I had not slept in 24 hours. My hair was a mess, my clothes were wrinkled and we were in a slow line waiting to get through customs.

From out of the blue two young women made their way over to us and very excitedly asked if I was Pat Harley. They had done almost all of the Amazing Collection in their home church in Louisville, Kentucky and they had recognized me from the DVDs. Now truthfully I was shocked that they recognized me because not only am I ten years older but also because I am not at my best at 5:00 AM! But they were excited to meet me, as cute as could be and had so many good things to say about the Amazing Collection.

When they left it occurred to me that eyes are always upon us. No matter if we are a great celebrity or someone like me who simply professes Christ openly, eyes are upon us. Our neighbors, the grocery clerk, the hairdresser, all who we come in contact with every day are watching. Are they encouraged to be more like our Savior or are the disheartened by what they see?

But even more sobering are another set of eyes….the eyes of heaven. It is something worth remembering. After all it is Him we represent.

Psalm 11:4
The Lord’s throne is in heaven;
His eyes behold,
His eyelids test the sons of men

An Unexpected Gift

She was Russian and had married a good friend’s son. They had met overseas and had continued the relationship via email and now they were married and she was looking for a job. She had experience in bookkeeping and we needed a bookkeeper and so we hired her for one day a week. It was a good fit. She was detail oriented, a quiet and conscientious worker and lifted some of the burden from our office manager’s shoulders. And she spoke fluent Russian which didn’t seem to be a plus at first but later proved invaluable.

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Charlotte Reeves had adopted a Russian child and through that had become involved in Russian ministries. One day she sent me an email. CNLTV, a Russian Christian broadcasting company was looking for fresh programming. She thought they might be interested in The Amazing Collection and so I made the call to their US office and Mark Patterson, International Director of CNLTV. He was going to be at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in two weeks and so we agreed to meet there.

CNLTV had a booth close to ours and so the meeting took place quickly. The cost would be $250 a program plus another $250 per program to cover translation costs. Being a mathematical genius, I figured it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and so told him we were not interested.

Several months later I was in my office and Yulia, our Russian bookkeeper came in and asked me if I had ever considered getting The Amazing Collection on a Russian broadcasting company. I told her of my experience with CNLTV and her eyes lit up. “Did you know I was the secretary to the president of CNLTV when I lived in Kazakhstan?” Of course that was new information!

“I think you should call them back and ask them to reconsider the price. And besides”, she added, “the translation would only cost a little over $16,000!”

That was a far cry from my imagined “hundreds of thousands of dollars”!

So I made the call. Once again I talked to Mark Patterson. He was kind and pleasant and seemed to be glad I had called. He said they were going to be choosing programming the very next day for the fall season and would be glad to consider The Amazing Collection! I asked if he wanted me to overnight some of the DVDs and he said he had some sitting on his desk! He had kept them from our meeting at the NRBC!!

Two days later he called back. They REALLY wanted our program and would also waive the program fee if we could please pay for the translation! I was shocked, dismayed and delighted all once…and so grateful to a God who works in the most creative ways!

The next day we received a call from a man who wanted to pay for all of those fees, and so we began a warm partnership with CNLTV. Through them The Amazing Collection has been shown to well over 100 nations in the Russian language over three different satellites.

As for Yulia, she ended up translating four of our workbooks into the Russian language. She has now followed her husband to Norway for extra schooling but she was a great gift to us. And who would have guessed that of all of her many gifts, it would be her Russian contacts and language that proved to be so abundantly helpful!

I Corinthians 2:9
Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor has entered the heart of man, The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.