He sold stakes in a gold mine with no gold. Now he preaches the gospel.

John Mira, preaching in Guatemala. He’s pictured with Pastor Ludving and his family.

Ever since he started working for the owner of a gold mine in Las Vegas, John Mira lived a lavish lifestyle with limousines, mansions, women, and illicit drugs.

His part was to sell foreign investors a stake in the mine. John would drive Japanese clients there, walk them past the armed guards at the gate, show them the chemists studying soil samples, let them inspect the smelters. He even slipped $30,000 to the reps of investment companies to curry their favor. In his sales role he brought in millions of dollars for his boss.

Incredibly, Mira never realized he was at the center of a scam. After investors viewed the mine supposedly valued at $2 billion, his boss sent all the “actors” home. Wanting to show off one day to his girlfriend, he drove her out to the mine – and nobody was there.

Suddenly, he realized he was an unwitting participant in fraud!

He was deluded into thinking he was a huge success. While he wallowed in riches, he was also addicted to drugs. He made fun of a Christian friend who sold him jackets from a beaten-up Volvo.

One day, John found himself pinned to his bed. He felt a claw in the back of his head. He was hallucinating and believed he was dying. Drug-induced paranoia kept him from calling his parents for help.

Desperate for help, he called the coat salesman who always invited him to church.

“Lock yourself in your room and cry out to God,” his friend told him.

John followed the man’s instructions. Then God impressed this on his heart: In your left hand is your death and your family’s death. In your right hand is your life and your family’s life. Choose. Read the rest of the article.

Gold, frankincense and more

After being a Christian for more than 35 years, I can’t really remember anyone ever say this: I need to give more.

No, through more than three decades of rubbing elbows with Christians, most often I hear people brag about how much they have already given. Usually, they compare themselves to others and point out how superior their giving us.

When someone gives quietly (without blowing the trumpet in announcement of his gift, as Jesus said), it inspires me to give.

When someone brags (and usually there’s an undertone of bitterness, as in: they wasted my gift), it’s completely uninspiring.

This Christmas, give without bragging and bitterness. Give God gold, frankincense and more.

Worth it

AT ONCE they left their nets and followed him. — Mark 1:18 NIV (caps mine).

As Americans, we are willing to lose to win. After all, an investment of money or time is a present loss that holds the potential for a future gain. Even if we lose on an investment, we keep making them. Some are risk-adverse, others risk-takers. In investing, the higher the risk, the higher the return.

Would you leave one modest business for the opportunity to make it big? That’s what the disciples did. They left fishing fish to get in on fishing men.

They probably didn’t understand everything at the beginning. They thought, like all Jews at the time, that the Messiah would inaugurate an earthly kingdom like King David’s. So the disciples were banking on becoming his cabinets heads. As things panned out, the investment was far greater than expected and the payout, in Heaven.

Is it worth it to lose 80 years of life for an eternity of glory?

Out of dirt comes gold

No one wishes for dirt, but out of the mire of life comes gold.

Your soul is gold. Joy is gold. Treasure comes from troubles. Don’t bewail the travails your currently passing. You can’t get gold unless you get into the dirt.