Participants:
Series Code: DT
Program Code: DT000001A
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00:01 Dogs.
00:02 There are over 500 million of them on the planet. 00:06 There are over 300 breeds. 00:08 Our families had plenty of dogs. 00:12 Pekingese, Bull Terriers, 00:16 Rottweilers, German Shepherds, 00:20 Dobermans, our King Charles Spaniel, 00:25 and West Highland Terriers. 00:28 But my favorite is the old Lab, 00:31 in particular, the chocolate Labrador. 00:35 They love fun, they love people, 00:38 and dare I mention it, food. 00:41 This is Cyrus, or should I say Cyrus James. 00:46 He mean so much to my wife Coralie and I, 00:49 we gave him a middle name. 00:51 He came to us when he was 12 months old 00:53 as a failed guide dog. 00:56 Why did he fail? 00:57 Too much initiative. 01:00 Now that he's 12, he slowed down a bit, 01:03 in fact a fair bit. 01:05 But he still loves to come out into the bush for a walk. 01:09 Dogs spelt backwards is God. 01:13 Now the last thing we would do is make a dog into a God. 01:18 They are the created, not the creator. 01:21 But there are many practical things 01:23 my dog Cyrus has taught me 01:25 both about God and how we should live. 01:30 I once saw a sticker that said, 01:32 "Try to be the person your dog thinks you are." 01:35 They always seem to see the positive side of us, 01:39 and they just love us no matter what. 01:42 It's no wonder they're considered our best friends. 01:47 So what are some spiritual insights 01:49 our best friends can teach us about everyday life? 01:54 Attaboy. 01:55 Attaboy. 02:17 If there is one thing my dog Cyrus has taught me, 02:20 it's to love life. 02:25 All I need to do is push the window down 02:28 and he sticks his head right out to suck it all in. 02:32 Cyrus enjoys the world around him 02:34 through his sense of smell. 02:37 With up to 300 million scent claims, 02:40 you can just sense in feeling, wow, this is good. 02:44 I could do this all day. 02:48 If we go down to the water, 02:50 he jumps in, he just can't help himself. 02:54 Once he's in there, he swims, or should I say dog paddles. 02:58 With his head up in the air 03:00 as if to say, look at me everyone, 03:03 this is so much fun. 03:06 C'mon, boy. 03:09 Another time we took him down to the beach. 03:12 He went rushing into the water 03:14 and he was totally dumped by a huge wave. 03:18 As he came rushing back, 03:19 his eyes were virtually popping out of his head. 03:23 He had so much excitement. 03:25 Maybe there was a bit of fear in there as well. 03:28 Whatever he's feeling, this was another adventure. 03:33 If I throw a ball, he'll chase it. 03:36 Sometimes he runs around like a mad idiot. 03:40 And other times, we just hang around at the house together, 03:44 enjoying the simple things of life. 03:47 But that's how I look at Cyrus. 03:50 He gives me the impression every meal is the best one, 03:54 every walk is the best one, every day is his birthday. 03:59 He just seems to love life. 04:03 There's much we can learn from Cyrus. 04:07 God doesn't want us to walk around 04:09 with sad, drawn out faces 04:12 thinking about what's going wrong in life. 04:16 Think of all the good things that are happening. 04:18 Enjoy life. 04:20 Take some risks. 04:22 Fly a parachute. 04:24 Go deep sea diving. 04:26 Go down to the beach. 04:29 Hike for 100 kilometers through the mountains. 04:32 Stop and smell the roses. 04:35 Cyrus showed us. 04:39 Jesus said, "I have come that you may have life 04:45 and have it to the full." 04:48 Cyrus lives life to the full. 04:51 What about you? 05:06 Can you imagine a world 05:08 where humans love each other like our pets love us? 05:12 My dog Cyrus had no idea who is at this door. 05:15 But I can absolutely guarantee you something. 05:18 When I ring this bell, 05:20 he'll start to bark in excitement. 05:23 Not because he's a great watchdog 05:25 but at the joyful possibility of meeting someone new. 05:29 He'll then come rushing to the door with his tail 05:31 just about wagging off his hind legs. 05:35 When he sees it's me, 05:36 he'll wiggle around and try to lick me all over. 05:41 Now I know that's a charming thought for many of you 05:43 but let's try it out. 05:46 One of the things I love about Cyrus 05:49 is his unconditional love and acceptance. 05:52 He doesn't care what I look like, 05:54 what color I am, 05:55 whether I'm skinny or fat, young or old, tall or short, 05:59 whether I'm rich or poor. 06:01 He doesn't even care 06:02 if I forget to feed him or walk him. 06:05 Even if I accidentally tread on his tail, 06:08 he gives out a whoop 06:09 and then turns around to lick me. 06:12 He just loves me and loves to be with me. 06:16 He never expects things, never complains, 06:20 never greets me here at the door with a scowl, 06:23 no ulterior motives. 06:25 Just a wag of the tail as if to say, 06:27 it's so great to see you, 06:28 let's go and have some fun together. 06:36 I find it interesting 06:37 that quite a few people like to come to our home, 06:40 I know why. 06:42 It's not just to visit my Coralie and I, 06:45 it's always Cyrus they seek out first. 07:07 I look at him and have this big grin on their face 07:10 trying to hide the fact 07:11 that we play second fiddle to our dog. 07:14 But that's exactly what unconditional love 07:16 does to the one being loved. 07:19 You can't help but want to love back. 07:22 You feel a sense of purpose. 07:24 You love being around the person, 07:26 and you look forward to the next time 07:27 you get together. 07:35 The Bible says, "Let us love one another, 07:38 for love is of God." 07:40 God loves us no matter who we are or what we've done. 07:44 And He wants us to have the same attitude of love 07:46 towards others. 07:48 Cyrus, he loves everyone. 07:50 How about you? 08:03 It seems many of us are born warriors. 08:06 What if the stock market crashes? 08:09 What if interest rates go up? 08:11 What if I lose my job? 08:12 And the list goes on. 08:14 Sometimes when planning my day, I'll say to my wife, 08:18 I won't worry about that today. 08:20 I'll worry about that tomorrow. 08:22 She quickly stops me and says, 08:24 "Neale, would you like to rephrase that?" 08:27 "Yeah, good point," I say. 08:30 I'll think about that tomorrow, 08:32 not worry about it. 08:34 You see worry causes stress. 08:38 It just eats you up on the inside. 08:40 It can even make you feel physically sick. 08:44 But what's the point of worrying anyway? 08:48 Look at him. 08:49 Cyrus never seems to worry. 08:52 He doesn't get all stressed out about his future. 08:55 He lives in the moment. 08:56 And if you think about it, 08:58 he's got no ability to feed himself. 09:01 You'd hardly call himself sufficient. 09:04 He relies on us for everything. 09:06 We feed him, we give him a place to sleep. 09:10 If he's unwell, we take him to the vet. 09:13 We walk him every day. 09:16 No matter what he needs, we make sure he's looked after. 09:20 Cyrus trusts us to fulfill his needs 09:23 and that enables him to just enjoy life. 09:27 I guess you could say he lives in the now. 09:31 He does one thing at a time 09:33 loving what he does on each occasion. 09:41 Okay. 09:44 Jesus said, "Therefore I tell you, 09:47 do not worry about your life." 09:51 The reason we don't need to worry 09:53 is because just as we look after Cyrus, 09:57 Jesus looks after us and He's the point. 10:01 Cyrus is happy 10:02 because his simple needs are met. 10:05 He doesn't get depressed worrying about 10:07 what other dogs think of him. 10:10 He doesn't look in the mirror 10:11 and think his color is not as up mark as the neighbors, 10:15 or get stressed because his hair is going gray. 10:19 He doesn't fret because of how much money 10:21 is in his bank account, 10:22 he's got none. 10:24 He doesn't even feel life is unfair 10:27 because dogs live shorter lives than humans. 10:30 He's just content, 10:32 and that allows him to sit and relax, 10:35 play, or lays around in the sun. 10:40 If Cyrus could sing, I think his favorite song would be, 10:44 "Don't worry, be happy." 10:48 That's his attitude on life. 10:50 What about you? 11:00 Have you ever failed at something? 11:04 Now I may really fail. 11:07 Maybe it was your school exams. 11:10 You're still haunted by that number. 11:13 You see that number on anything from past numbers street 11:17 or the number plates on cars. 11:21 Maybe you've had a failed marriage, 11:23 two or three of them. 11:26 Maybe you failed in your job and you've been fired. 11:31 I guess all of us have had a big F for failure 11:35 at some point in time in our life. 11:43 Today, we're going to the scene of Cyrus's greatest failure. 11:48 Hey, you remember this place boy? 11:50 This is your home. 11:51 Here we are. We're going back to your home. 11:53 This is the guard dogs training center 11:55 on the outskirts of Sydney. 11:57 Cyrus was born to be a guide dog for the blind. 12:01 He was raised here. 12:05 He was trained here. 12:09 This was his base. 12:13 But he failed. 12:29 So why did Cyrus failed as the guide dog? 12:33 The official report say he had too much initiative. 12:37 In other words, you can imagine him leading the blind person 12:41 all the way to the moldy piece of bread 12:43 he'd sniffed out in the heart of the prickly blackberry bush. 12:48 Or the end of a carrot 12:50 someone had thrown out of the car window 12:52 that got him crossing the road on a green light, 12:56 and the poor old blind person taken for the ride. 13:19 In fact, Cyrus was such a failure, 13:21 he got a name change. 13:23 He was originally called Willis but when we adopted him, 13:27 we changed his name to Cyrus 13:30 after the great Persian king, King Cyrus. 13:33 Now how would you feel if you came back 13:36 to the scene of your greatest failure? 13:43 Would you feel nervous? 13:46 Daunted? 13:49 Embarrassed? 13:50 Maybe a bit ashamed? 13:53 Let's see how Cyrus goes. 13:59 Although Cyrus didn't cut out as a guide dog, 14:03 he certainly has no grudges against this place. 14:06 It's like he remembers only the good things, 14:10 the good smells, the great people, 14:13 all that yummy food. 14:27 He doesn't see himself as a failure in life. 14:30 He's not a failed guide dog. 14:33 He's just a dog who is shifted from this family to our family. 14:38 Coming back here, 14:39 well, it's just like coming back to his old home. 14:43 Boy, good boy. 14:46 Come, boy. 14:52 One of the most important lessons Cyrus has taught me 14:55 is to focus on the future, not dwell on the past. 15:00 The Apostle Paul who also had a name change 15:03 after a lifetime of spiritual failure, 15:06 he said this. 15:08 "But one thing I do, 15:10 forgetting those things which are behind 15:13 and reaching forward to those things which are ahead." 15:18 The next time you feel like you failed at something, 15:21 then you just can't get it out of your mind. 15:24 Think back to Cyrus. 15:26 See the good things from the past. 15:33 Live in the moment, 15:35 and enjoy what's coming to you in the future. 15:39 That's how Cyrus see at things. 15:42 What about you? 15:45 C'mon, boy, that's how you think. 15:47 That's how you think? 15:48 Oh, yes, I see you boy, good. 15:50 Now, he is good. 16:21 This is the grave of my mother. 16:24 We can see by this plaque, she loved dogs. 16:28 She had 14 of them. 16:29 Her favorite was Macintosh, a West Highland terrier. 16:34 On the day Mom was told she had terminal cancer, 16:37 she came home and she took Macintosh in her arms. 16:41 She hugged him with all the love she could give 16:44 and that's saying something. 16:47 But tragically, the heart of Macintosh simply gave way 16:52 and he died in her arms. 16:55 Our dogs have a connection with us, 16:57 that's hard to explain. 16:59 They're so loving 17:01 and it seems like they understand our emotions 17:03 and hurt when we hurt. 17:06 I sometimes look into the eyes of Cyrus here, 17:09 and it's like looking into the eyes 17:11 of my most loyal friend. 17:13 Someone who gets 17:16 and I love to hear the stories of the love, 17:19 faithfulness, and loyalty of dogs. 17:40 I read a story from Argentina 17:42 of a German shepherd named Capitan. 17:46 His owner, like my mother, 17:48 had tragically died leaving the whole family 17:52 including the dog in morning. 17:55 When his master died, Capitan vanished. 17:59 The widow and son Damian looked for him, 18:01 but they figured he must have been run over and died as well. 18:06 A week after the funeral, 18:08 the family visited the grave site 18:10 to remember the one they loved. 18:13 Guess who beat them to the cemetery. 18:16 The heartbroken Capitan. 18:19 The news reports quoted the widow as saying, 18:21 "The following Sunday we went to the symmetry 18:24 and Damian recognized his pet. 18:27 Capitan came up to us barking and wailing 18:31 as if he were crying. 18:34 We've never taken him to the cemetery." 18:36 So it's a mystery how he managed to find the place. 18:40 Cemetery director Hector Baccega 18:42 remembers the day he first saw the dog. 18:45 He said, "He turned up here one day 18:48 and all in his own 18:50 he started wondering all around the cemetery 18:53 until he eventually found the tomb of his master." 18:58 During the day he sometimes has a walk around the cemetery, 19:02 but he always rushes back to the grave 19:05 and every day at 6 o'clock sharp, 19:08 he lies down on top of the grave 19:11 and stays there all night 19:13 and he's done this for the past six years. 19:17 You see Capitan had such love within him, 19:21 he searched and searched 19:23 until he found the one he loved. 19:30 The Bible says this of Jesus, 19:33 "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." 19:39 When I thought about that, 19:42 and I thought about the loyalty 19:45 and commitment of Capitan to the one he loved, 19:47 it made me think of my own commitment 19:50 to those I love. 19:52 I especially thought about my mother. 19:55 You see over the years 19:57 Mom's spiritual life began to drift. 20:00 Before she died, I talked with her 20:02 about the importance of being right with God. 20:06 She said to me, "Neale, I can stop you right there. 20:10 I know where you're heading and you'll be pleased to know 20:13 I've made the decision to trust God 20:15 and believe fully in Him." 20:18 Well, when I stood up here to help conduct a funeral 20:21 right here in this spot, 20:24 the comfort of those words really meant something to me. 20:29 After all, when Jesus comes again, 20:32 He won't just lie down on the graves like Capitan did. 20:36 He'll break them open 20:38 and He'll raise us from the dead. 20:42 Jesus is totally committed to finding and saving the lost. 20:49 What about you? 21:10 If there's one thing my dog Cyrus loves, 21:13 it's great big bones. 21:17 Especially ones like this. 21:26 Now you may think that what I'm about to do is cruel. 21:30 But like us humans, dogs need a bit of discipline training. 21:34 So what am I intend to do today 21:37 is to teach him how to overcome temptation. 21:41 I notice many of us fall into the trap of thinking, 21:44 I must overcome my sins. 21:47 And all we think about is our addictions and sins 21:49 when they distort instead of Jesus. 21:52 When the reality is only Jesus can give us the power 21:56 to change our life. 22:03 I'm doing this because I think all of us 22:05 can learn something from Cyrus, 22:07 you watch this. 22:11 No. 22:17 If there is one thing Cyrus understands is this. 22:22 The best way to overcome temptation 22:24 is to take your eyes off the temptation 22:27 and look into the face of your master. 22:37 The Bible says, "Let us lay aside every weight, 22:42 and the sin which so easily ensnares us." 22:46 Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. 22:52 Now of course, this is just an illustration. 22:57 So I think I should give it to him. 22:59 What do you think? 23:04 Okay, Cyrus, there you go. 23:10 And this is just a bit of fun 23:12 but in real life sin is serious, 23:15 the devil will give us poisonous spines. 23:18 His temptations lead to death. 23:21 We need to take the time to be with Jesus 23:24 and ask Him to give us the power 23:26 to overcome those deep-seated sins and addictions. 23:30 And the beauty of the gospel is this. 23:33 Though we can sin, 23:35 when armed with the power of God, 23:37 can I overcome any temptation? 23:40 Anything? 23:42 Cyrus has learned how to overcome temptation. 23:46 What about you? 24:00 Dogs are amazingly loyal. 24:04 It's no wonder they're called man's best friend. 24:07 In fact I can't think of one occasion 24:09 when Cyrus has let me down 24:11 or being disloyal in any way. 24:14 He doesn't run away. 24:16 He doesn't look at me as if to say, 24:18 well, I'm not sure if I can trust you. 24:20 He never growls at me or leaves me for another owner. 24:25 He likes to just hang around. 24:27 He especially loves it when I'm out in his territory, 24:30 the great outdoors. 24:36 Sometime back I read the story about a dog 24:39 which went way past what anyone would expect 24:42 in terms of love and loyalty. 24:46 The Russian news reported 24:47 a 48 year old man feeling so depressed, 24:50 he attempted suicide. 24:52 He got drunk in one of the towns of Kazakhstan 24:55 and then he fell asleep on the railway tracks. 25:00 Luckily for the man, his pet dog followed him 25:03 to the scene of potential tragedy. 25:05 He always stuck by his side 25:08 so while would tonight be any different. 25:11 As the train approached the man on the tracks, 25:14 his pet dog could see the danger. 25:17 So what did he do? 25:19 He rushed to his master's side 25:21 just as the trains land on the emergency brakes. 25:25 The good news is that this loyal loving dog 25:29 took hold of his master with his teeth 25:31 and then he dragged him to safety. 25:34 The man had a few bruises and broken bones, 25:37 but he woke up in hospital safe and sound. 25:43 It was a different story however for his loyal friend. 25:49 He was struck by the train and killed. 25:52 Jesus said, "Greater love has no one than this, 25:57 than to lay down one's life for his friends." 26:02 How much do you love those closest to you? 26:05 A faithful dog from Kazakhstan was so loyal, 26:08 he was willing to die for his friend. 26:11 Now, I don't know what Cyrus would do 26:13 if I really needed help. 26:15 I'd like to think he'd be able to come and rescue me as well. 26:19 But the key spiritual lesson I take from this story 26:23 is what Jesus has done for me. 26:26 The dog from Kazakhstan may have just acted from instinct 26:30 but Jesus chose to die from a deep-seated love. 26:34 He literally laid down His life for His friends. 26:38 God's love has no limits. 26:41 What about yours? 26:56 As you can see 26:58 there are many things we can learn from our pets. 27:01 Sure, they're lots of fun 27:03 but they are also great teachers. 27:05 They help us see what's important in life, 27:08 the simple things, the practical things, 27:11 how to love, how to enjoy life, 27:15 how to live in the moment, 27:17 the importance of friendship and loyalty, 27:20 even how to overcome temptation. 27:23 Come on, Cyrus. 27:26 Come on, Cyrus. 27:32 I keep coming back to the thought, 27:34 try to be the person your dog thinks you are. 27:38 But thinking even more about it, 27:41 we should be the person God thinks we are. 27:44 Unlike dogs, you and I are made in God's image 27:48 and we're made to be God's best friends. 27:51 Take a walk with God, 27:53 talk with Him, spend fun times together. 27:57 And never forget, He's your loving friend, 28:00 and you can trust Him with the rest of your life. 28:04 Come on. Come on, Cyrus, this way, here. 28:07 Attaboy. 28:08 Attaboy. 28:25 Attaboy. |
Revised 2017-12-18