Why does God allow bad things to happen?

That is a question that cannot be resolved with a superficial answer. But the question presupposes that there is in fact a god. So to get the bottom line up front I go to the scripture to see who this God is. The scripture tells me that God is GOOD. He created this world and it was good. All the bad that we see in this world that we call evil whether it is natural evil like hurricanes that destroy life and property or cancer that takes life or moral evil that results in murder, rape and robbery is the result of the fallen world we live in. God does not cause the bad things that happen to us. The truth is all the things we call bad in the world are actually normal for a fallen world.

Let me explain it this way. If I buy a car and don’t ever change the oil and don’t take time to consider how I should treat that car in accordance with proper maintenance should I be upset that the car breaks down on me and doesn’t work? No, I should expect it to break down on me. Breakdown would be the normal outcome for disregarding the care of the car. In the same way God created man to be in a relationship with Him, but man chose to ignore the manual and do as he pleases as a result he lives in a broken down world were evil, both natural and moral is normal.

Living in the fallen world gives us two pictures. We get a glimpse of what life would be like if total evil ruled and we were completely separated from God, but we also get glimpses of what life will be like when all evil is eradicated and there is only good. We catch these glimpses through all the beautiful things that are now present in the world, but we also see it through the strength, the love and the care that we show others in times of difficulty.

So why does God allow it? The scripture teaches us that it is through seasons of suffering that we come to better know the nature and character of God. I am reminded of a recent story of a young girl who was a champion surfer. She lost an arm to a shark attack. But through that incident in her life she was able to have a great influence on the lives of thousands of people who needed encouragement. A reporter asked her, “If she had that day to live over again would she go surfing in those waters.” She responded by saying, “I am able to touch the lives of far more people with one arm than I ever could with two.”

We may not always understand the bad things that happen in our lives and in the world, but as we trust in a good and loving God we find strength to make it through the difficult seasons of suffering.

June 22, 2009 7:30 AM
You call me to listen, not so much to speak, but to wait and listen and I hear YOU. I will write down what I hear YOU say Lord and I will meditate upon YOUR words today. I am tired of speaking. I need for YOU to speak Lord.

The Voice of the Lord: I am your peace. You found rest in me last night and woke up more refreshed than you have been in many days. Now I will show you even greater things. I will restore your strength and your energy. I will build you up with confidence today that I am working and moving to accomplish great things in your life for you, your spouse and your children. You will know that I am God and I will be exalted in your heart and in your mind today. You will exalt me with thoughts that bring ME glory. You will exalt ME with words of praise. You will speak to others that you are trusting in the God of your salvation. I have saved you for my purposes to bring myself glory. I will be glorified in your life.

My Spirit will strengthen you today and you will begin to take steps that will move you toward greater wholeness in your physical, emotional, spiritual, financial, relational and mental being. You are becoming complete in ME. I am working out my plans. My purposes are unfolding in your life. You will become supernaturally aware of my presence. You will learn to hear me Kenneth in ways you have never known before. I will speak to you, because I do speak. I have wanted to speak to you for a long time. There have been times when you were sensitive to my voice, but now you will begin to hear from me regularly. I want to speak to you. My Spirit is preparing your heart to hear, to listen, to know things that I have wanted to show you. You will begin to understand what you hear my voice saying and you will obey ME. The time has come to hear. I will speak and you will hear for I have opened your mind to hear and understand my voice.

My voice will speak to you. You will hear and understand because I do speak. I will lead you in the path of righteousness because that is who I am. You will know that I am speaking because you are being conformed to the image of my Son. I will only speak those things to you will make you more like Him. I want you to have a strong family resemblance. I will speak to you to renew you in the spirit of your mind. I will speak to you to open doors before you that you have never been able to go through before. I will speak to you to give you favor before men who will be a blessing to you and your family. I will speak to you through My Word and you will see the words and you will receive the words and you will understand. I am speaking to you now. Do you see…can you hear? Everywhere you go I am there. I will speak to you there. But now listen for I tell you now where you will no longer go. You will not go to the places of confusion. You will not go to the land of unbelief; you will not wander in the mire of failure. I was with Joseph and I made him a successful man. I was with Moses and raised him up to be the leader of my people, I will raise you up. What you appear to be now and what you are becoming is going to be so amazing to you. I love to amaze you. I find great joy in amazing all my children. I am the God of Wonders and I will reveal my majesty and you will be amazed.

Don’t ever again walk in doubt. I call you now to walk in faith. You will see what you believe. Believe that I am a great and mighty God that loves you with a love you can’t even begin to comprehend. Believe that I am causing all things to work for good in your life because I have seen your heart and I know that you love me. Believe that everything I have brought you through is for the purposes of making you strong in my power. My Spirit has been stretching you. I have taken you through troubled waters in order to forge your faith into a great and mighty shield. Your faith will not only bless you, but your faith will be a blessing to those who I draw near to you. Your faith will be a source of strength for the weak and the weary. You will offer them your faith because I give you an unlimited supply and they too will have faith. I will do this in your life because I am the God of Faith. Your faith will grow as you see that my faithfulness to you is unending. Nothing can separate us. Therefore, all is well. You can trust that everything that comes your way is for your good and for my glory. So go now in peace today and know that I am with you. Be attentive for I will speak.

Putting Mothers In Their Place

Four times I have been in the delivery room. The first time almost 19 years ago I was scared to death. The doctor did let me cut the cord on each of our first three sons. On the forth son, the doctor was in another room taking his time. He must not have known it was Sherry’s forth delivery. I could see that the baby was crowning and I said, “Doc you better get in here”, but before he could Tyler had popped out in my arms and I am yelling, “DOC GET IN HERE”.

Tyler was the only one that I got to hold first, but even then it was just for a few seconds. As with the first three, the nurse quickly took the baby, cleaned him off, weighed him, wrapped him up and gave him to his mother.

Such is the case thousands of times every day. A child comes into the world and the first connection outside the womb is with his or her mother. At the moment of birth mother and child belong together. She is the one who has been giving him life for nine months. She is the one who has given of herself. She is the one who has sacrificed and endured the pain. She is the one who has been blessed to participate in the creative power of God. This is her place. Dads can only witness what only mothers can know - the joy, the pain and power of bringing forth life.

So as we celebrate Mother’s Day it my prayer that we would understand the importance of putting mothers in their rightful place. And hear me clearly this morning. It is the place of honor.
It is the place that supersedes the rights of domestic and international governments. It supersedes the rights of schools and all other authoritative bodies that would seek to diminish or defame the place of motherhood.

As an example the United Nations has put pressure on the nation of Belarus for reintroducing the symbols of Mother’s Day and Mother’s Awards. And what they are attempting to do in other nations, they and our own government are attempting to do here. Even now the UN is pushing for an international treaty attempting to dictate domestic policy that not only opposes Mother’s Day; but constitutes an outright attack on Motherhood itself.

We are nation today under attack at the very core of our being. Everything we hold sacred as Christians is being minimized and even criminalized. The time has come to stand up for the values we hold dear if we hope to have any value left at all. As I said last week in our study of Matthew 5, “We must know who we are.” We are SALT and LIGHT. If we do not stand now, “we are good for nothing any more but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot” by a world that has no regard for the things of God.

I have mentioned several times over the past few weeks that over 160 times in the Word of God we are told “REMEMBER”. If we are going to hold on to the things of God, to those things which give us life and identify us as children of God we must remember.

So let’s begin that process today by putting mothers in their rightful place. And we do that by remembering. Let us remember who they are, what they have done and the honor they are due as co-creators with God in this thing called LIFE.

I have chosen as my text this morning a text that we do not often hear quoted in Protestant churches. It is Luke 1:46 - 49. It is part of the song that Mary sang after she went to Elizabeth’s house and greeted her with the news of her pregnancy.

Mary sang “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed for the Mighty One has done great things for me-- holy is his name.”

That’s a beautiful song. It’s a song that in many ways we can and should sing for ourselves. We too should glorify the Lord. We too should rejoice in God our Savior. We too should be mindful of our humble state and be aware of all the ways the Mighty One has done great things for us. And we too should live our lives in such a way that all generations will call us blessed.

But we must also acknowledge that Mary was blessed in a very unique and powerful way. She was the chosen vessel through which the Savior came in the flesh. Luke 1:28 tells us that “she was highly favored.” Mary was truly blessed among women.

Martin Luther said Mary is "the highest woman", that "we can never honor her enough", that "the veneration of Mary is inscribed in the very depths of the human heart". John Calvin said, "It cannot be denied that God in choosing and destining Mary to be the Mother of his Son granted her the highest honor." Zwingli said, "I esteem immensely the Mother of God".

Mary was blessed. She gives us the highest example of what it means to be a mother. And this morning I want us to consider what this means for every mother. Because though there will never be another mother who gives birth to the Savior of the world, there are several things all mothers will have in common with Mary the blessed mother of our Lord.

First of all mothers are the source of a child’s nurturing.
James Kimmel, Ph.D. writes in The Nurturing Mother, “The nurturing mother is not a myth or a fantasy. Both those who glorify her and those who do not recognize her importance in human evolution and individual development are unable to grasp what we have lost and what we lose every day in our society by her absence. The prolonged mother-child bond was the root of human sociability. We may try, as many do today, to satisfy the emptiness inside us by attaching to possessions and wealth and by compulsive, self-relating addictions. But these dependencies always fail…Our longing and our emptiness can only be satisfied in loving human attachment, which is what we lost when the nurturing mother ceased to fit the world we made.”

Mary nurtured Jesus and the Bible says, “He grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.” The nurturing mother gives the child the relationship skills that will be needed in life. She trains up the child in the way he should go. Contrary to popular thought today it is not the schools responsibility to socialize children. Much of the discipline problems we find in schools today are because we have abdicated our responsibilities as parents. What an incredible learning environment we could have in our schools if parents understood and took responsibility for their God ordained roles to nurture and train their children. Motherhood is about nurturing and I can’t help but believe that it is one of the keys to the abundant life we want for our children and Christ promised.

Motherhood is about sacrifice.
You sacrifice your youthful body to bring them into the world. You sacrifice your sleep when they are young for midnight feedings. You sacrifice things you would like for yourself for the sake of the children. You sacrifice your time to drive them to the ball fields or ballet or school field trips. You make sacrifices to ensure joyful holidays.

When you would rather be painting your nails you have to do a homework project. When you would like to relax and read a book or just watch TV the laundry is piling up or little Johnny is crying for you to lay down with him or prepare him a snack.

You do all you can to be a super mom. But let’s be realistic. As a human being with limited time and limited energy everything you want to do can’t be done. And because we are only human there may even be the possibility of resentment because you have very little “ME TIME”. From the day they come into the world your time is not your own.

But I want to encourage mothers today. I believe with all my heart that the sacrifices made will come back to you, if not in this life then one day in heaven. I can’t help but think of that song. “Thank you for giving to the Lord. I am a life that was changed.” Mary said, “THE MIGHTY ONE HAS DONE GREAT THINGS FOR ME.” Why? Because of the sacrifices she was willing to make to be a mother. And mothers you too can trust that the sacrifices you make as a mother will have their reward.

So kids let me encourage you today and to all of us who still have mom with us. Let me encourage you today to very thoughtfully express to your mother, “THANK YOU FOR ALL THE SACRIFICES YOU HAVE MADE FOR ME.”

Moms nurture and moms sacrifice and moms love like no one else can. To this day my mother’s love is a strong motivating factor in my life and I know that many of you can say the same. I am reminded of a poem by Helen Steiner Rice called A Mother’s Love.

A Mother's Love

A Mother's love is something that no one can explain,
It is made of deep devotion and of sacrifice and pain,
It is endless and unselfish and enduring come what may
For nothing can destroy it or take that love away . . .
It is patient and forgiving when all others are forsaking,
And it never fails or falters even though the heart is breaking . . .
It believes beyond believing when the world around condemns,
And it glows with all the beauty of the rarest, brightest gems . . .
It is far beyond defining, it defies all explanation,
And it still remains a secret like the mysteries of creation . . .
A many splendored miracle man cannot understand
And another wondrous evidence of God's tender guiding hand.

It is a tremendous thought to me that Jesus being God, yet he knew and experienced the power of a mother’s love.

I am reminded of the story in 1 Kings that is often identified as the evidence of Solomon’s wisdom, but I think more importantly it is the evidence of a mother’s love. You know the story. Two women came to Solomon because they were disputing over a little baby each claiming to be the mother. Solomon in his wisdom said to his guards take a sword and cut the baby in two and give each mother half. One woman cried out and said, “No let the other woman have the baby”. The other woman said, “this would be good then neither of us will have a child”. Solomon then said to the guard “give the child to the first woman for she is his mother”. This was the woman who had nurtured him. This was the woman who was willing to sacrifice the joy of having her child in order that he might have life. This was the woman that loved the child as only a mother could do.

Mothers nurture, mothers sacrifice, mothers love and ultimately mothers let go. She was willing to let go because she was the true mother.

The New Testament parallel is the story of Mary. She had raised her son. She had experienced the joy of seeing her son grow into manhood. Then the day came...it was time for her to let go. I witnessed that letting go just this week. On Tuesday afternoon at the Atlanta Airport I watched the tears streaming down Sherry’s face as she hugged and kissed her first born son. It was a very moving experience. Even the TSA Agent was crying. A mother was having to let go as her son took an airplane to go to Lackland Air Force Base for Basic Training.

I believe that among many of the reasons God chose Mary to be the Mother of Jesus was because He knew that when the time came she would be willing to let go. Even though she knew what was a head for him. Even though her heart was breaking. She came to the point of letting go.

She endured the agony of watching her son beaten. She endured the horrifying sound of the hammer driving the nails in his flesh. She watched as his lifeless body was taken down from the cross and as the stone was rolled in place. She felt the crushing weight as all those thoughts she had pondered in heart from the day the angel spoke to her came rushing back and flashing before her. She remembered the day he was born and all the joy he gave her as she held him to her breast. She was his mother and she loved her son. But she was willing to let go in order that the life He had to offer could be given to all.

Mother’s God has given you children. It is a high and holy calling. You are called to do what no other can rightly do. This is the Mother’s place. You are called to nurture, you are called to sacrifice, you are called to love and you are called to let go in order that the world can experience the love and strength and the purpose of God that you have instilled in your child.

It is a difficult task, but it is one that comes with great reward. May generations be blessed because of you. May the world see the light of the glory of God because you were willing to let go.

IT’S NOT WHO I SAY I AM

“They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.”
--Isaiah 61:3 (NIV)

Psychologist and the “feel-good” preachers and teachers of positive thinking attribute the majority of our problems to the lack of self-esteem and low self-concept. To overcome the negative conditions in our lives they say we simply need to change our negative “self scripts” to positive ones. After all they say, even the Bible says, “As a man thinks so is he.” (taken out of context when applied in this fashion).

Perhaps the Apostle Paul was unaware of the power of negative self-scripts. He called himself a "Wretched man…least of the apostles…the foremost sinner.” And these are statement made after his conversion.

Ken, are you saying that I shouldn’t think positive thoughts? Not in the least. In Philippians 4, Paul tells us to “dwell on the good, pure, and noble things.” But Paul also tells us that everything that is lawful for us is not profitable (even though it may appear to be so).

As Christians the focus should never be on who I say I am. The focus should be Christ, period. It is who He says I am that matters. It is the changes wrought by the power of His Holy Spirit that will bring about lasting, powerful and positive change in your life.

Have you struggled to find joy, peace and freedom? Do you long to have a real reason to be thankful this season? Look to Christ and listen to who He says you are!

It Will Happen

Joshua 6:14 "And the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. So they did six days. 15 But it came to pass on the seventh day that they rose early, about the dawning of the day, and marched around the city seven times in the same manner...16 And the seventh time it happened, when the priests blew the trumpets, that Joshua said to the people: "Shout, for the Lord has given you the city!

Maybe your life seems like the same thing over and over again. You get up and do the same thing every day. But if you will continue to follow after God and seek him with all your heart the Bible tells us that everything you have need of will be given onto you. Maybe you find yourself in a perpetual state of sin. Never stop fighting against it. Never make peace with it. The demons of hell tremble at the thought of a man or woman who is passionate about God no matter what their circumstances.

When you get passionate about God your circumstances don’t consume you and sin doesn’t control you. Your circumstances become your calling and it is a call to those who are broken and contrite. It is a call to those who know that to praise the living God is to experience the very manifestation of His presence. It is a call to those who refuse to be cloaked in the death garb of sin any longer. It is a call to those who are tired of man centered means. It is a call to those who pant for God as the dear that pants for the water brook. It is a call to those who will fight the good fight to the very end. It is a call to those who are purified that they may present themselves as living sacrifices to the Lord. It is a call to those who are holy because the one who calls is holy. Yes, there is a call which causes the demons of hell to tremble because they know that it is a call to the chosen of God, the elect of God from every tribe and every tongue who know longer fear the curse of death bur fear God alone.

There is a call which causes demons to tremble because they have heard that call before. It is a call that transforms mortal men into immortal warriors. It is a call to those who will heed its warning, that transforms mere men into the terribly awesome image like that which those demons have seen before. Therefore, they tremble for the last time they saw the image their gates could not prevail against it.

Will you name your Jericho? Will you call it by name? Will you call it what it is? Will you nail it to the cross today. See God has put it in your hands. Don’t say you have no strength to overcome. When we say we have no strength to overcome that is an offense to God and an insult to the blood of his Son. You walk in obedience to what God tells you to do. He will give you the strength.

Name your Jericho! It may be a sin that you have tried to deal with all by yourself The Bible says, "confess your sins one to another". There is a reason for confessing one to another. It solidifies what you know you must do. Then all week you march around your house and wherever you go you continually remind your spirit that God has put it in your hands and now that it’s in your hands it’s up to you to lay it down. Take dominion!!!

All week you stand against your Jericho. It may be depression or fear or doubt about what God can do. But you stand against it. It has no power over you. YOU stand against it. And you continue to stand waiting for the answer whether it takes 7 days or 7000 days. Never give up, never give out, and never give in. Be always looking toward that day when the Lord tells you to shout because he has given you the answer. He has been glorified in your faithfulness and your Jericho has fallen and the promises of God have been fulfilled.

Forgiveness: An Act of Personal Self Interest

In 1990 having graduated from SEBTS I remained at the school on staff as an admissions officer. A new professor had joined the faculty. He and I became friends and started working out together. Our wives became friends. They were there for us at the hospital when our first son was born. He held MaCrae in his arms. We have pictures in MaCrae’s photo album. We were good friends. Then they approached us on getting involved in a home-based business they had started. Nothing wrong with home based businesses. Sherry and I have done some of those over the years, but we weren’t particularly interested in what they were selling personally and coming from a sales background I know it helps to believe in what you are selling. So we kindly declined the offer.

From that time forward they no longer wanted to hang out with us. They stopped eating with us. He stopped working out with me or speaking to me on campus. For all intents and purposes they threw our friendship out the window. They had passionately bought into the cult like mentality of the organization with which they were involved. They were living the mantra of many such organizations “SAY YES SAY NO GOT A GO”. In other words, I Don’t have time for friendships anymore that don’t directly impact my financial position in a positive way. Unfortunately, much of the world is that way today.

At first I was hurt, then I was angry. I could not believe that a seminary professor would allow his personal desire for wealth to destroy a friendship. But I also knew that I could not just go to him and say, “I forgive you”. Not because I didn’t want to, for I already had. But even Jesus on the cross did not look down at the people and say I forgive you, but instead he took it to His Father and pleaded with his father to forgive them.

So after several weeks of this nonsense I finally made the decision to go to him. But please hear what I am about to say. I did not go to him to tell him I forgive you. Sometimes you can do that but you have to pray for discernment in these matters. AND you need to be very careful about doling out forgiveness to those who do not think they need it. That doesn’t mean that you haven’t forgiven. But you cannot go to someone in your own self-righteousness as if you are better than they are because you are the one making the first move. If you do you are operating in a spirit of pride and on top of that you are likely to find only resentment waiting for you. Even when you have the right spirit of humility you may not be received because they may not accept that they have done wrong. The Pharisees rejected Jesus because they did not understand their need for forgiveness. Again, even on the cross Jesus did not say to the people I forgive you, but the cross was rather the avenue through which forgiveness could be found for those who knew they had a need.

As I continued to pray over this situation I came to the realization that I was one who had a need. So I went to my friend and asked him to forgive me. Some may think that doesn’t even make sense. Your friend is the one who needed forgiving. You obviously just have a guilt complex. You have already told us that you were a vandal as a teenager. Obviously you just feel guilty about everything.

NO NO NO. It was not out of guilt. I knew that I was free in Christ and if Christ sets us free we are free indeed. But the Lord had laid on my heart that this was what I needed to do. At the time I did not fully understand why or what the outcome would be. I wrestled with my thoughts that I was not the one who had done anything wrong. It was my friend who was wrong. My human intellect could not make sense of what God was saying in my spirit to do.

Finally, I went to his office, knocked on the door and stood before him. He was studying for a class. He looked up from his book and I said, "I have come to ask for your forgiveness. I have held resentment in my heart and have been angry that our friendship is not what it use to be and I just want you to know I wish you well in your business". He looked back down at his book without saying a word and I turned to go. I put my hand on the doorknob and he called my name. I turned to face him again and He said, "NO". Then he pushed back his chair came around the desk and with tears in his eyes he said< "I am the one who needs your forgiveness".

Then and there I understood why God was leading me to do what seemed so contrary. Oh the power of the cross. Then and there under the shadow of the cross a friendship was restored. Love grew where the blood fell. I walked back home singing…

It’s not my brother, not my sister but it’s me oh Lord STANDING IN THE NEED OF PRAYER.

Contrary to what our emotions or the world may tell us. The Bible teaches that it is in our own best interest to forgive. It is evidence of the grace of God in our lives. I love what Mark Twain wrote, "Forgiveness is the fragrance the flower sheds on the heel that crushed it" There are even major university studies being conducted now on many campuses on the physical benefits of forgiveness. Lower blood pressure – longer life span – more content lives. As if we needed the classroom to validate what God’s Word has already taught us.

You want to be happier, you want to be healthier? LEARN HOW TO FORGIVE! Forgiveness really is a matter of your own personal best interest.

What Difference Does It Make to Believe?

Luke 24:11 “And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them.”

My mother shared an interesting devotional with me this week that she read in Open Windows of an event that was orchestrated last April by The Washington Post. "A man wearing old jeans, a T-shirt and a Washington Nationals baseball cap positioned himself against a wall beside a trash can just outside the METRO in the heart of Washington DC. He pulled out a violin and began to play." That part is not unusual. Many street performers can be found in major cities hoping someone will throw a few dollars their way.

What is interesting is that this violinist was not your typical street performer. It was Joshua Bell, one of the finest classical musicians in the world, whose recordings have sold in the millions. He was playing some of the most brilliant classical music ever written on a 300 year old, $3.5 million dollar Stradivarius. This is a man who has played for royalty. His concerts bring more than $100 per seat; and yet in the 40 minutes that he played more than 1000 people passed by not even giving him a glance, no crowds gathered, no one applauded. Said Bell, “it was a strange feeling that people were actually ignoring me.”

Perhaps we should cut the people who passed by some slack. After all they didn’t know who he was. They had seen this kind of thing before. Certainly he was just another street performer, an ordinary guy trying to make a living doing the best he can. Besides they were busy. They had things to do and places to go. Maybe he was good, but it was just hard to tell with iPods and cell phones plugged to their brains. Add to all this, it is just hard to believe that a master violinist would be found doing such a thing. Certainly the extraordinary would never stoop down to the ordinary. It sounds like a tall tale, another urban legend of which we have all become familiar. But the truth is it did happen; and certainly if the people had known they would have given the man and the moment the respect it deserved. Could it be that they just didn’t believe it was possible?

Just like the thousands who passed by a great violin virtuoso, so millions pass by Jesus. To the masses, in their busy pursuit of the good life, Jesus is just another man at a moment in time who happened to get some exposure in the Jerusalem Post ~ but there is nothing really more to it than that…or is there?

2000 years ago Jesus came to earth in the form of humble servant. He lived a perfect, sinless life and died on across a sinner’s death. Three days later he rose from the grave and even his closest friends did not believe. “It’s just another tale” they thought…or was it?

If Jesus did rise from the grave what does that have to do with you and me 2000 years later? If one does truly believe that such an event happened what difference does it make? Some may argue that it makes as much difference as believing a Master Violinist played in the subway. In other words, it makes NO DIFFERENCE.

Yet I can’t help but wonder is there a difference between ignoring an event orchestrated by a newspaper on a cold day in April, and one orchestrated by God before time began?

Read the story of Joshua Bell in the Post