Sounds Too Good To Be True...

Some one sent me this ad the other day,

"FOR LEASE. Two bed/four toilet 1152 ft 3 furnished suite in a gated private community with 24 hour security patrols. Convenient to shopping, dining, movie theater and school. Located off of main roads in a rural farm district. Spacious parking. Membership to fitness center with outdoor running track included. Clubhouse available for use by residents and visitors. Indoor and outdoor pools on premises. Cable television and fiber optic internet service to be installed in two weeks. Multiple voltage electricity. Central heating and air. Located on main bus route. Easy access to airport. Golf course underconstruction. Large river nearby. Large metropolitan city within one hour drive. Utilities and laundry service are included. Premises cared for by professional grounds crew. Many opportunities for community service. Community known for world class Level I trauma center. Low crime rate. Dry community with multi-denominational religious facilities. No credit history required. No down payment. No local, state or federal taxes. Ask about our one year service for lease option. Inquires call 302-529-7274.

Explanation of terms: Two bed/four toilet 1152 ft3 furnished suite in a gated private community with 24 hour security patrols. This is one of three 12'x12'x8' rooms in a trailer. It comes with two beds, two nightstands, and two lockers. Four Porta-Johns are within 50 feet of the room. LSA Anaconda is a base surrounded a fence, guard towers and heavily guarded entrances. Convenient to shopping, dining, movie theater and school. Within 0.5 miles of the room there is a PX, two dining halls, Subway, Pizza Hut, Burger King, movie theater (which shows free first run movies) and theeducation center. Located off of main roads in a rural farm district. Anaconda is surrounded by farm land and is the northern end of the Iraqi farming area. Spacious parking. Plenty of parking, just not allowed to use it. Membership to fitness center with outdoor running track included. There is one large gym and several smaller gyms on post. There is also a running track located adjacent to the large gym. Clubhouse available for use by residents and visitors. There is a large new MWR facility located between the PX and the large gym. Indoor and outdoor pools on premises. Didn't say that they were currently open. Cable television and fiber optic internet service to be installed in two weeks. These have been two weeks away from installation for the past several months. Multiple voltage electricity. Anywhere from 220V to 0V. Central heating and air. Each room is equipped with a window type A/C unit in the center of the wall that works when the electricity does. Located on main bus route. There is a bus that runs by the trailer, no one is sure of the schedule though. Easy access to airport. This IS an airbase. Golf course under construction. At last count there were about 300 holes and they are still placing more almost daily. Large river nearby. Tigris is just about 1 mile to the East. Actually getting in or drinking the water may be hazardous to your health. Large metropolitan city within one hour drive. Baghdad is about 40miles to the South and we didn't say that it was an easy drive to the city. Utilities and laundry service are included. Laundry is free and utilities are located in the shower and toilet trailers. Premises cared for by professional grounds crew. Well, at least they are paid to make the dirt and clay look good. Many opportunities for community service. Guard duty, local nationial escort duty, etc. Community known for world class Level I trauma center. The combat hospital has been mentioned and featured in many publications. Low crime rate. When all of the occupants carry a weapon .... Dry community with multi-denominational religious facilities. No alcohol allowed in country and there is a new chapel as well as a mosque. Ask about our one year service for lease option. You give us one year here and we will give you a lease."

While I can guarantee that we are NOT living as large on COP Apache as the folks at Anaconda these days, I can certainly report that we do have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Yet, we still are looking for something. We are looking for that perfect home. For most of us here in Iraq it is as simple as getting back to the U.S. Getting back to green grass, weekends off, and our own clean homes. Though there is something inside each of us that wants more. Even in America we are not content. We move from house to house, community to community, church to church, job to job, spouse to spouse, in search of our haven or "heaven" on earth. We long for a perpetual, peaceful, perfect home and family.

Though most people will not admit it, we all long for the COMMUNITY OF HEAVEN. Yet most people fear that our gospel message is like this ad--selling something they really do not want. Like self-righteous judgements, truth presented in anger, blatant hypocrisy, and greed masked as 'blessings.'

People are looking for heaven. Let us, Christians, practice truth in our advertising. The same Jesus who spoke of bringing "abundant life" also spoke of "taking up your cross." Thank God for his grace--His expensive, costly grace that is free to us because of His love. The grace of God is free for us, but it cost Him dearly. "You are bought at a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's" (I Corinthians 6:20 NKJV). Maybe people will then believe the advertising and take Him up on the offer?!