Love no one can take from you

I lost a close friend (someone who loved me without fail and I could count on his love no matter what) a week ago today--James Thomas Mark Pluta from Justice, Ill. (born in 1964, the same year of my birth, and never married like me). He was the consummate Chicagoland journalist, known far and wide in the city and its burbs, with good intentions always.

You can read the obituary article that appeared in the Chicago Tribune by going online. I presented the gospel to him several times and he always knew I was a Believer, but I don't know if he was saved at the time of death. I had not been in touch with him and he died suddenly of a heart infection.

A couple of weeks ago I started to have a problem with my left foot's arch. I kept walking on it because I wanted to be outside and exercise, but that only made it worse.

Suddenly, it started throwing off the whole left side of my body and then last Sunday, crying over first learning of the death of my dear friend Pluta (who I personally nicknamed Grizzly Adams because of his looks, his height and his gentle character) and then crying during the morning message at my church, I got out of my seated position and leaned over and my back just went kapooey in a very painful way. It turns out it is my sciatic nerve and I think I have a real problem on my hands. It's better now but it's a big long haul, I fear.

I have so many stories about Pluta. He was a guy who had such overt kindness and gregariousness about him, the epitome of fun-loving, had a tremendous sense of humor and loved people of all stripes and backgrounds; strangers were his calling card! He was also like John Candy's character Uncle Buck in some poignant ways.

One of many stories for me was how he came to visit me in Manhattan (the first time Pluta had ever been in New York City) and, as he was known for in his personal life (but not professionally!), did not arrive on time. This was before cell phones got big and he called me from the airport that he had arrived and was taking a cab. When he finally arrived he told me that he was unexpectedly interviewed by TV reporters about Steve Bartman, the man who attempted to catch a foul ball resulting in the Cubs losing in the playoffs. 

Pluta said they assured him he would be on the evening newscast in New York. I had planned that we would meet friends of mine for dinner and so we ended up going to a sports place on the Upper East Side and they had a hockey game on that everybody at the packed bar was really into.

Pluta informed the bartender that he would be on the evening news and asked if he could please turn to the ABC station. Well, that went over like a lead balloon, but for some reason the bartender suddenly announced to his patrons that he was about to cut away from the satellite station over to the sports news because this man (6' 4 inches with beard and portly belly) said he was going to be on the news. This had everyone's attention and sure enough the newscast had videotape of Pluta and his comments! The whole crowd clapped after his appearance!

*****

"The greatest happiness in life is the conviction that we are loved, loved for ourselves, or rather loved in spite of ourselves."

“The door to the human heart can be opened only from the inside . . . Scientists know only what loves does. Love, properly applied, could virtually empty our asylums, our prisons, our hospitals. Love is the touchstone of psychiatric treatment. Love can be fostered, extended, used to subjugate hate and thus cure diseases. More and more clearly every day, out of biology, anthropology, sociology, history, economics, psychology, the plain common sense, the necessary mandate of survival—that we love our neighbors as ourselves—is being confirmed and reaffirmed. Christ gave us only one commandment—Love. Now to the laboratory with love!”

*****

“Always remember, our ambassadorship is INSIDE of us living out THROUGH us. It can NEVER be carried on by our outward man.

“Because there isn’t any kingdom to bring in, God dumps all of this stuff on us upfront so right now we can get used to operating in it, working in it, living in it. We’re operating in His mind and thinking, so that when we get to heaven, we’ll be ready to get on with the program.

"I John 2:5 says,[5] But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

“Where obedience exists, it’s the completion and the perfection of love. Love reaches its completion, it’s filling up, by being obedient to the will of God.

“Love is never complete without obedience and it’s a verse like that, and a truth like that, that says, ‘See, that’s what we need today! We need to be obedient so we need to completely . . . ’ and you take that principal and apply it to us and pretty soon people go into I John . . .

“I know grace preachers that use I John and believe I John is the greatest impetus to Christian living there could ever be and the way they do it is the way the Baptist brothers do it and it’s that they go into the passage and pull out verses like this but take a blinder to the other verses and what the passages really say, and instead they conclude, ‘See, if you really love Him then you need to obey Him.’

“Now, is that a true statement? Well, it’s hard to argue with that. But this passage is saying a WHOLE lot more than that.

“By the way, you notice verse 5 says, ‘But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected’? It’s perfected by their obedience, by their keeping the commandments. They’re going to need some perfected love.

*****

“Look at I John 4: [17] Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
[18] There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
[19] We love him, because he first loved us.

“Tell me something. If you had perfect love, would it be a benefit for these people? It'd cast out fear. It gives them boldness in the day of judgment.

“When the persecutions come on them they understand how; they have a mental attitude of understanding that gives them the ability to sustain through the problems. But how did they get their love perfected?

“Their love is perfected by keeping His Word. Because they kept His Word they had a mature, complete love; an obedience that came out of that love that gave them the capacity, when the persecutions came, to endure through them without the fear, without the paralysis, or the phobia."