Monday, June 23, 2008

How You Can Be a Peacemaker

Carl and Sam were at odds with each other. They could not even
remember the initial cause of friction … but their hostility had
festered through the years. A deeply concerned deacon prayed that
God would use him as a peacemaker.

He called on Carl. “What do you think of Sam?” he asked. “He’s the
sorriest guy in town!” “But,” countered the deacon, “you have to
admit that he’s a hard-working man.” “No one can deny that,” said
Carl. “I’ve never known a person who worked harder.”

Next the deacon visited Sam. “Do you know what Carl said about
you?” “No, but I can imagine his lies,” he responded angrily.
“This may surprise you,” said the deacon, “but he said he’s never
known a harder worker.” “He said that?” Sam was stunned. “What do
you think of Carl?” asked the deacon. “It is no secret that I have
absolutely no use for him.” “But you must admit he’s honest in
business,” said the deacon. “There’s no getting around that,” said
Sam. “In business he’s a man you can trust.”

Later the deacon met Carl again. “Do you know what Sam said about
you? He claims you’re absolutely trustworthy in business, that you
are scrupulously honest.” “Well, how ’bout that,” reacted Carl
with a smile.

Soon the peacemaking deacon noticed Sam and Carl would cautiously
nod in a friendly sort of way. Before long they were shaking
hands, talking, even visiting in each other’s homes. Today they
are best of friends.

Many people, even church folk, seem to delight in promoting a
fight by carrying news of ill-will. Rip this page from a deacon’s
peacemaking notebook. It’s a worthy example to follow.

"True Riches"

A tax assessor came one day to a poor minister of the gospel to
determine the amount of taxes he would have to pay. “What do you
possess?” he questioned.

“Oh, I am very wealthy,” replied the minister. “List your
possessions, please,” the assessor instructed.

The man of God replied, “First, I have everlasting life—John 3:16.
Second, I have a mansion in Heaven—John 14:2. Thirdly, I have
peace that passeth understanding—Philippians 4:7. Fourth, I have
joy unspeakable—1 Peter 1:8. Fifth, I have divine love that never
faileth—1 Corinthians 13:8. Sixth, I have a faithful, pious wife—
Proverbs 31:10. Seventh, I have healthy, happy, obedient
children—Exodus 20:12. Eighth, I have true, loyal friends—Proverbs
18:24. Ninth, I have songs in the night—Psalm 42:8. Tenth, I have
a crown of life awaiting—James 1:12.”

The tax collector closed his book and said, “Truly, you are a very
rich man, but your property is not subject to taxation.”

Zingers - 25 Easy Ways to Curb Church Growth

25 Easy Ways to Curb Church Growth

Begin your message with the phrase, "You know what's wrong with
you people..."

Begin that year-long sermon series on the 40 weeks of Daniel.

Place tire puncture strips in the parking lot for cars going the
wrong way before Sunday school.

Keep the Christmas pageant livestock in the church choir room year
'round.

If your auditorium slopes downward to the platform, give every kid
under 12 a handful of marbles before the service.

Give deacons the ability to "gong" the special music.

Place the outdoor welcome center tent a few feet from the septic
tank.

Replace the pictures of former pastors with pictures of Larry,
Moe, and Curly.

Put a blank for "weight" on the membership information forms.

In order to feel relevant, say "Dude" 15 times from the pulpit
each Sunday.

Have the organist play hockey cheers at pivotal moments of the
sermon.

Before the offertory hymn, have the worship leader scream, "Show
me the money!"

Illustrate all sermons or Sunday school lessons with scenes from
"Walker, Texas Ranger."

Charge tolls for the use of restrooms.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Starving Near the South Pole

In 1908, Irish explorer Ernest Shackleton headed an Antarctic expedition attempting to reach the South Pole. They came closer than any before but, 97 miles short of the pole, had to turn back. Shackleton and his men trudged over 200 miles of ice floes,
dragging a lifeboat weighing nearly a ton, taken from their ship, crushed by the ice pack.

In his diary Shackleton told of the time when their food supplies were exhausted save for one last ration of hardtack, a dried sort of biscuit, that was distributed to each man. Some of the men took snow, melted it, and made tea while consuming their biscuit. Others, however, stowed the hardtack in their food sacks, saving it
for a last moment of hungry desperation.

The fire was built up, and weary, exhausted men climbed into their sleeping bags to face a restless sleep, tossing and turning. Shackleton said that he was almost asleep when out of the corner of his eye, he noticed one of his most trusted men sitting up in his bag and looking about to see if anyone was watching.

Shackleton’s heart sank within him as this man began to reach toward the food sack of the man next to him. Shackleton watched as the man opened the food sack and took his own hardtack and put it in the other man’s sack.

—Harold J. Sala, quoted in Men of Integrity, Vol. 3, no. 5.

Fruits of Community Involvement

For his first pastorate, Burkett Smith came to the Evangelical United Brethren church of Bear Lake. He discovered that the members had little concern for their neighbors in this dwindling western Pennsylvania town. Invited to serve as an honorary member of the Bear Lake Volunteer Fire Department, the new pastor accepted—and learned that not one of his church men was in the fire company.

At the next church men’s meeting, Smith told the fellows they should be active in community affairs. For instance, why weren’t any of them members of the volunteer fire department? The young pastor’s words made sense to at least five men. Next time the fire company met, they were present for their first meeting.

The following Sunday morning at Bear Lake E.U.B., as the service was about to begin, five men from the fire department who’d never before attended walked in. They filed straight down to the front row.

That Sunday Burkett Smith preached on the Christian responsibility of parents. Next Sunday the five were back at church—this time with their families. And within the next few months, all five of the firemen became Christians, together with their wives.

—Joe Bayly, in Eternity (10-61); quoted in Men of Integrity, Vol. 4, no. 2, (March/April 2001).

See: Matthew 5:16; 1 Corinthians 9:19-22; James 2:17

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

"A Great Dad Story"

Derek Redmond ran the 400-meters in his fastest time in five years in preliminary rounds at the summer Olympic games in Barcelona. Four years earlier, in Seoul, a tendon problem had forced Derek to drop out. He had since undergone operations on both Achilles tendons.
But in the finals, as he rounded the turn into the back stretch, a sharp pain shot up his right leg. He went down, struggled to his feet and began hobbling around the track.

High in the stands, Jim Redmond saw Derek collapse, ran down onto the track and, catching up with his son, put his arm around him. “You don’t have to do this.”

“Yes, I do,” said Derek.

“Then we’ll finish together.”

Defending Olympic champion Steve Lewis won the heat and headed toward the tunnel. So did the other six runners. Leaning on his Dad’s right shoulder in intense pain, Derek began sobbing. An usher attempted to escort Jim off the track. But father and son continued, crossing the finish line to thundering cheers.

Redmond’s race results read “AB” for abandoned. Hardly! Redmond was held up and carried across the finish line by a caring, loving father just like our Heavenly Father does.

—Ken Sutterfield, The Power of an Encouraging Word (New Leaf, 1997), quoted in Men of Integrity, Vol. 2, no. 4.

See: Matthew 7:11; Luke 15:20; Ephesians 2:4-10

"Getting The Fist Pump"

Bob Welch writes...

Recently, I watched my son play in a qualifying event for a PGA Nike golf tournament. At 19 and 5-foot-8, he was the youngest and smallest of 115 entrants, and one of the few amateurs. He had played hard and smart but hadn’t been able to sink a putt all day.

But he had handled himself with dignity and battled to the end of a course whose tees were set as far back as possible, and whose pins were tucked deep behind traps.

That night, after he had returned to college, I e-mailed him to tell him I was proud of him.
His return message said, “Thanks for the note. And thanks for coming today. My favorite part about playing well is when you are there to see me do things right. I loved hitting approach shots close and then getting the ‘fist-pump’ from you. I want so badly to play well for you—I want you to be able to see me putt like I know I can. But it fills me with joy to hear you say that you’re proud of me. As much as an 81 hurts, I’d take an ‘I’m proud of you’ over a 71 any day.”

—Bob Welch, Where Roots Grow Deep (Harvest House, 1999), quoted in Men of Integrity, Vol. 2, no. 4.
See: Proverbs 23:24; Proverbs 10:1; Proverbs 23:15

Today's Zingers

Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. —Jim Ryun

People are always motivated for at least two reasons: the one they tell you about, and a secret one. —O. A. Battista

He that does good for God’s sake seeks neither praise nor reward; He is sure of both in the end. —William Penn

See: Proverbs 21:2; Proverbs 8:10-11; Psalms 27:4

Thursday, June 5, 2008

"The Coors Triumph"

On February 9, 1960, Adolph Coors III was kidnapped and held for ransom. Seven months later his body was found on a remote hillside. He had been shot to death. Adolph Coors IV, then fifteen years old, lost not only his father but his best friend. For years young Coors hated Joseph Corbett, the man who was sentenced to life for the slaying.

Then in 1975 Ad Coors became a Christian. While he divested himself of his interest in the family beer business, he could not divest himself of the hatred that consumed him. Resentment seethed within him and blighted his growth in faith. He prayed to God for help because he realized how his hatred for Corbett was alienating him from God and other persons. The day came, however, when claiming the Spirit's presence, Ad Coors visited the maximum security unit of Colorado's Canon City penitentiary and tried to talk with Corbett. Corbett refused to see him. Coors left a Bible inscribed with this message: I'm here to see you today and I'm sorry that we could not meet. As a Christian I am summoned by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to forgive. I do forgive you, and I ask you to forgive me for the hatred I've held in my heart for you." Later Coors confessed, "I have a love for that man that only Jesus Christ could have put in my heart."

--James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) p. 215.

"A Glorious Mixture"

Years after her concentration camp experiences in Nazi Germany, Corrie ten Boom met face to face one of the most cruel and heartless German guards that she had ever contacted. He had humiliated and degraded her and her sister. He had jeered and visually raped them as they stood in the delousing shower. Now he stood before her with hand outstretched and said, "Will you forgive me?" She writes: "I stood there with coldness clutching at my heart, but I know that the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. I prayed, Jesus, help me! Woodenly, mechanically I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me and I experienced an incredible thing. The current started in my shoulder, raced down into my arms and sprang into our clutched hands. Then this warm reconciliation seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes. 'I forgive you, brother,' I cried with my whole heart. For a long moment we grasped each other's hands, the former guard, the former prisoner. I have never known the love of God so intensely as I did in that moment!" To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was you.


--James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) p. 218.

Zingers by Croft Pentz - June 4, 2008

Forgiveness should be like burning the mortgage--it's gone and forgotten.

It is better to forgive too much than to condemn too much.

No one is ever stronger and stands higher than when he forgives.

It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.

Some forgive their enemies, but not until they are dead.

- Croft M. Pentz, The Complete Book of Zingers (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.,1990).