Phones in Church

Sorry, but I couldn't resist sharing this one….

A man in NYC decided to write a book about churches around the country. He started by flying to San Francisco and started working east from there. Going to a very large   
church, he began taking photographs and making notes. 

He spotted a golden telephone on the vestibule wall and was intrigued with a sign which read: "Calls: $10,000 a minute."  Seeking out the preacher, he asked about the phone and the sign.
  
The preacher answered that this golden phone was, in fact, a direct line to heaven and if he paid the price, he could talk directly to GOD.

The man thanked the preacher and went on his way.  As he continued to visit churches in Seattle, Denver, Minneapolis, Chicago, Milwaukee, and around the United States, he found more phones, each with the same sign, and always the same answer from each preacher.

Finally, he arrived in Georgia, and upon entering a church in Valdosta, behold--he saw the usual golden telephone.  But this time, the sign read: "Calls: 35 cents." 
  
Fascinated, he asked to talk to the preacher.  "Preacher, I have been in cities all across the country and in each church I have found the golden telephone and have been told it is a direct line to Heaven and that I could talk to GOD, but in the other churches the cost was $10,000 a minute. Your sign reads only 35 cents a call. Why?"
 
The preacher, smiling benignly, replied, "Son, you're in the South now. This is God's Country.  It's a local call."

Take a Look Around

From the Preacher's Desk:

The arrival of a new year means different things to different people. With each passing day, there are things about the past we would rather have avoided, as well as things we wish could have been prolonged. Accordingly, some will cling to the past with longing, and others will eagerly immerse themselves in what is to come.

However 2008 treated you (or how you treated 2008), the time has come to take a look at 2009. A new year with new opportunities and new challenges awaits us. If it is anything like 2008, it will be a busy year. At some point we need to ask: are we ready for this year? One of the best ways to know is simply to stop and look around us.

Look behind and what do you see? It has been well stated that those who fail to take note of history and doomed to repeat it (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:11). Whatever the past, it has brought you to where you are and made you who you are today. Most importantly, there are lessons to be learned to help make us who we need to be tomorrow. Have we set goals in the past andreached them? Let us make note of what made the difference. Where have we failed? Let us learn and move ahead.

Look forward and what do you see? Basically, there are three outlooks of the future. There are those who look at the future with dread, fearing those things that are to come. Others look at the future hoping to maintain the status quo. Others still are anticipating that good things can and will be accomplished. Whatever your outlook of the future, there is one thing assured: you cannot avoid it! For the child of God, the future should be filled with preparation for that which is to be the Christian's ultimate reward.

Look to the side and what do you see? Occasionally we sing "Onward, Christian Soldiers!" As we enter into spiritual battle, who will be beside us? Do we strive to keep Christ as our side? Too many want to keep Jesus in a backpack or a glove box, close at hand if needed, but not letting Him be seen or heard otherwise. Are our closest companions striving to enter heaven as diligently as we are? Can we truly depend on those who surround us? Do we truly believe that the words of Paul apply to us, or are they only reserved for our young people? "Be not deceived: evil companionships corrupt good morals" (1 Corinthians 13:33).

Look down and what do you see? Peter speaks of Jesus himself as being a stone of stumbling to those who are disobedient (1 Peter 2:8). Are you confident of the path down which you are travelling? How frightening is the description Jesus gives of the hypocrites who were as the blind being led by the blind (Matthew 15:14). Can you trust the one who is leading you? The way before us needs to be well planned (John 14:6) and well lit (Psalm 119:105). How sure is your footing?

Look under and what do you see? You will surely recall the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:15: "Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house." Is there something we are attempting to hide? On the one hand, perhaps our "little Christian light" is not being displayed as prominently as it should. On the other hand, is there sin in our lives we are trying to conceal? Regardless, is God receiving the glory that is due Him?

Finally, look up and what do you see? As we head into this New Year, above all, let it be a year of prayer. You may have noticed signs in construction zones warning the workers of overhead power lines. Have you thought of the irony of the need to warn the professionals of such a seemingly obvious danger? And yet, are we not the "professionals" in God's service? Are Christians not the ones who should know better and not to forget that which should be obvious? Despite that knowledge, far too many Christians will forget to "look up." When a construction worker fails to look up, the results can be catastrophic. How else would you describe the end of a Christian who forgets to do the same? Let 1 Thessalonians 5:17 be a motto to us.

There is no reason at all that 2009 should not be counted as a great year. Without doubt, it will be much greater if we as God's servants will take a good look around us.

"I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him" (Ecclesiastes 3:14).

Prayer Request

Everyone please remember Hood Wisenbaker today. He went in for surgery a couple of hours ago. And remember Mrs. Faye, also. She is still recovering from getting a pacemaker on Thursday.

Another Theory

It is my theory that the offense taken from speeders is inversely proportional to the size of the town. (For example, Morven, GA, Berlin, GA, Tyronza, AR). No, I have NOT had the opportunity to personally discuss my theory with any law enforcement personnel recently, but 13 hours on the road gives you lots of time to think about stupid stuff like that.

DRIVE SAFELY!!!!!!!!

A Friend Indeed…

From the Preacher's Desk: A Friend Indeed…

Just for the sake of curiosity, I went to a major bookseller's website and searched for books on relationships. The result: 30,876 hits. Are you kidding me?!!! 31,000 books on relationships on this one site alone! That rather quickly told me two things: first, a lot of people are interested in reading about this topic; and second, a lot of people think that they already know a lot about it.

I looked through the search results at the titles of the books. Sadly, the Bible was not among them.

The truth is, however, that the Bible is the original book about relationships. The primary purpose of inspired Scripture is to instruct man on how to draw nigh to God. A secondary purpose is to help man to relate to his fellow man. Oftentimes within the Bible the relationship between husband and wife is addressed, but another relationship that too frequently is overlooked is that of friend to friend. It is sort of taken for granted that people just automatically know how to be friends, but sadly, that is often not the case.

When one opens the Word of God to examine relationships, what would you expect to find? A lot about love? A lot about tolerance? A lot about forgiveness? Yes, those things will be found and much, much more. For example, consider just a few passages of Scripture:

• Proverbs 11:13: "A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter." Sadly, not all friends know when to be quiet.
  
• Proverbs 17:9: "He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends." A friend must learn to forgive and forget.
  
• Proverbs 17:17: "A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." Too many are fair weather friends who become veritable strangers when times get tough for you.
  
• Proverbs 18:24: "A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother." And people thought Emerson was smart when he wrote that "the only way to have a friend is to be one." I wonder where he got that idea.
  
• Proverbs 22:24: "Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go." If we become a friend for someone else's convenience, we shall certainly become an associate of the consequences.
  
• Proverbs 25:17: "Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour's house; lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee." Sadly, not all friends know that there is a time to leave their friends alone.
  
• Proverbs 25:19: "Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint." Benjamin Franklin said it well: "Be slow in choosing a friend; slower in changing."
  
• Proverbs 27:6: "Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful." Although the words of a true friend may not be readily received and may even hurt, the true friend still has your best interest at heart.
  
• Proverbs 27:14: "He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him." Good intentions are not always enough.
  
• Proverbs 27:17: "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." Friends can either increase or decrease our personal effectiveness. A true friend will challenge intellectually, as well as spiritually and emotionally.
  
• Proverbs 27:19: "As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man." The true friend will reflect the desires, emotions, and heart of the other.
  

As one reads over these verses, it is readily evident what one should be looking for in a friend. Obviously, the more of these qualities one can find in a friend, the better, and the truly ideal friend would possess all of them.

So what kind of friend are you? If these passages comprised a checklist, how would you have scored? If you are lacking anywhere, could you improve? Or are you more interested in having friends and not being one?

"Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to lift him up." (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10)

From the Preacher's Desk:

As I was giving the announcements Wednesday night, it occurred to me that there were two things I had never heard announced at church. First, I have never heard anyone say, "That is one ugly baby." Second, I have never heard anyone say, "That food that was served at the fellowship meal was just awful." (There used to be three of those, but I have now heard someone say that the singing didn't sound very good.) And so I got to thinking: if (notice that I said "if") the food had not been good at the fellowship meal Wednesday night, would I have said so?

No, of course not.

It is understood that tact requires some things not be said. Using our completely hypothetical situation of the food at a fellowship meal being less than appetizing, it is likely that the best course of action would have been to have said nothing at all. Truthfully, there are some things that do not need to be said. But occasionally, we do not follow that good advice, and we end up complimenting or even praising those things that we despise. We end up smiling while gritting our teeth, and hoping that our insincere attitude is not discovered. Unfortunately, there are two biblical principles that apply to such situations. One is called lying and the other hypocrisy.

In most such instances, there is not an initial intent to lie. But it frequently happens that when you desire not to hurt someone else's feelings that our tongue just sort of takes on a mind of its own. You might start out by frantically thinking of something, anything nice that you can say, and then the flowery, flattering words just begin to spill out. And for some reason, you can't seem to stop. And before you know it, in your innocent attempt to bolster someone's spirits, you have condemned your own. You are in a bad situation, not really sure how you got there, and certainly unsure of how to get out.

How, you might ask, does this make one a hypocrite? The common definition of a hypocrite is somebody who says one thing, but does something else. Sure, it is bad enough when we end up lying to someone for whom we care, even if it was done with the motive of sparing them pain and anguish. But too often it does not stop there. Too often, these indiscretions become a topic of conversation among others of like mind. And too often, as we enter into these conversations, our tongue once again takes on a mind of its own. Whereas earlier one might have stretched the truth to compliment, later the truth gets stretched to condemn. If we tell friend A how nice they look, then tell friend B how horrible friend A looked, that makes us: a) liars; b) hypocrites; and c) just a bad friend all around.

We all remember the advice given to us by our mothers and grandmothers: "If you don't have anything nice to say, say nothing at all." As with most advice, it is more easily spoken than practiced, but practice it we should.

You Are Great

From the Preacher's Desk:

"The 7 December 1941 Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor was one of the great defining moments in history. A single carefully-planned and well-executed stroke removed the United States Navy's battleship force as a possible threat to the Japanese Empire's southward expansion. America, unprepared and now considerably weakened, was abruptly brought into the Second World War as a full combatant." (www.history.navy.mil)

The event that is remembered on this day is one of the most controversial in American history. From a purely military point of view, the attack made by the Japanese was a brilliantly planned and executed maneuver. From another perspective, it was a despised act of cowardice which entangled America in a long and bitter struggle. But some of the greatest fallout from this event came from within. Questions were asked as to how such a thing could have happened. How had they managed to gain such strategic and tactical surprise? Where was the warning? Why hadn't we seen it coming? The navy fell under extreme criticism and many of the admirals were relieved of their duties. Meanwhile, the country had no choice but to grieve its extreme losses.

How many times has history repeated itself in that sense? A seemingly unforeseen problem arises. Later, it becomes evident that all the signs were there, but the consequences still have to be dealt with. The sad truth is that hindsight is always better than foresight, and that great men make greater mistakes because of their greater responsibilities.

At this point, many will say how happy they are that they are no greater than they are. But how great are you? One can judge how great they are by the responsibilities they have been given. If you are a parent, your responsibility is tremendous, therefore, you are great. If you are a friend, the responsibility enjoined to you is great, therefore, you are great. If you are a Christian, extreme responsibility has been entrusted to you. You are great because your responsibility is great.

But, you might say, those things are all common. There are many parents, friends, and Christians. How can I, in the midst of so many, possibly be great? Friends, do not think that such responsibilities are unimportant because they are common to so many others. Likewise, do not think that mistakes that are made in relation to our families, our friends, or our God are any less great just because they may be commonplace. It may be that neither our successes nor our shortcomings ever find their place in the annals of history. We cannot, however, let our successes—but especially our failures—become lost in the obscurity of the actions or inactions of others. God has made us great! God expects greatness of us (cf. 1 Peter 2:5). God has given us great responsibility. We must begin to live up to those expectations!

[This article appeared in our bulletin on December 7, 2008]