Blog Archives

SHOES AND FEET

8/29/2013

Our Worship Pastor at church celebrated his fifth anniversary with us this past weekend. We had a great worship celebration Sunday evening, followed by a wonderful time of fellowship afterwards.

At five years, though, he is just the baby among us. With regard to our Pastoral staff, the average tenure at our Church is now over ten years; and that does not include factoring in our Senior Adult Pastor. His tenure alone is almost 35 years!

I praise the Lord for all of this, because I know that not every Church is so blessed. Moreover, as a Southern Baptist, I serve in the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, with over 45,000 churches.  Yet, sadly, the average Pastoral tenure is just over 36 months per Church. And that has grown from what it once was at a mere 24 months!

We all know that few things are as miserable as trying to wear a shoe that does not fit. By the same token, after a brief breaking-in period, when the shoe does fit the foot, it is a beneficial situation for all parties involved. With regard to the Pastoral staff, I am thankful to serve a Church where the shoe fits the foot.

If you are blessed to be part of a Church like this, be sure to thank the Lord for it. And share a word of appreciation to your Pastoral staff as well.  It will surely mean a lot to them.

Of course, the fact that not all Churches are so blessed can be attributed to any number of reasons. As the old saying goes: "There will always be a few bad apples in every bucket." Unfortunately, a few charlatans among Pastors can give the rest a bad name. And I might add that the same can be said for Churches. For my part, I would certainly rather have served at Ephesus than at Corinth!

It goes without saying, in light of all these things, that the process whereby a Pastor is selected is vitally important. Doing due diligence in seeking a Pastor can prove very beneficial in the long run - for both a Church and a Pastor. Conversely, a lack of diligence can also prove costly. Consider the following I came across recently…

Report from the Pastor Search Committee:*

We do not have a happy report to give.   We have not been able to find a suitable candidate for this church, though we have one promising prospect. Thank you for your suggestions.   We have followed up on each one with interviews or by calling at least three references.  The following is our confidential report.

ADAM: Good man but has problems with his wife. One reference told us how he and his wife enjoyed walking nude in the woods.

NOAH: Former pastorate of 120 years with no converts. Prone to unrealistic building projects.

JOSEPH: A big thinker, but a braggart; believes in dream interpreting and has a prison record.

MOSES: A modest and meek man, but a poor communicator; even stutters at times. Sometimes blows his stack and acts rashly in business meetings. Some say he left an earlier church over a murder charge.

DAVID: The most promising leader of all until we discovered the affair he had with his neighbor's wife.

SOLOMON: Great preacher, but a serious woman problem.

ELIJAH: Prone to depression; collapses under pressure.

HOSEA: A tender and loving pastor; but our people could never handle his wife's occupation.

JONAH: Told us he was swallowed up by a great fish. He said the fish later spit him out on the shore near here. We hung up.

AMOS: Too much of a country hick. Backward and unpolished. With some seminary training, he might have promise; but he has a hang-up against wealthy people.

JOHN: Says he is a Baptist, but doesn't dress like one. May be too Pentecostal. Tends to lift both hands in the air to worship when he gets excited. You know we limit to one hand. Sleeps in the outdoors, has a weird diet, and provokes denominational leaders.

PETER: Too blue collar. Has a bad temper; even said to have cursed. He's a loose cannon.

PAUL: Powerful CEO type and fascinating preacher. However, he's short on tact, unforgiving with young ministers, harsh, and has been known to preach all night.

TIMOTHY: Entirely too young.

JESUS: Has had popular times, but once when his church grew to 5000, He managed to offend them all; and then His church dwindled down to twelve people. Seldom stays in one place very long. And, of course, He is single.

JUDAS: His references are solid. A steady plodder. Conservative. Good connections. Knows how to handle money. We're inviting him to preach this Sunday in view of a call.

And we wonder why so many Churches and Pastors have conflicts!

*SOURCE.  Found widely in many variations on the internet. Cf. for instance: http://javacasa.com/humor/pastor.htm.

HOLD THE LINE

8/26/2013

Mike Glenn serves as the Senior Pastor of Brentwood Baptist Church in Brentwood, Tennessee, just outside of Nashville. As a means of encouraging those who do Kingdom work, he sends out regular e-mails.

And as a local pastor,  I have been blessed to receive those e-mails.  I’m very thankful for the encouragement that they provide me.  Mike’s website is: www.mikeglennonline.com. Check it out sometime - especially his blog and his books. I believe you’ll be glad you did.

Anyway, given my love for all things involving World War Two, his leadership thought for Monday, August 19, 2013, particularly spoke to my heart.   I wanted to post it here in the hopes that it will encourage you as well. In it, he writes:

A few nights ago, I was reading a book about the Battle of Bulge.  In the winter of 1944, Germany massed a surprise attack on Allied lines trying to push through the ammo and fuel dumps supplying the Allied forces. The Germans were finally beaten back, but it was close. Real close.

In fact, this author goes on to make the point that the battle was actually won by handfuls of American soldiers, who were cut off from their own units, found other straggling soldiers and made a stand at some unnamed village, some crossroad or hill that wasn’t even on the map.

Sometimes, the soldiers would hold up the German advance for twenty minutes, sometimes a couple of hours. More importantly, they gave the Allied commanders enough time to plan a counterattack that turned the tide and eventually, won the war in Europe.

The writer said, “The world will never know the names of the soldiers or even the places where the battles were fought. They will only know the war was one.”

When I read that, I thought about us – pastors of local churches.

That’s us. We’re fighting the battle in unknown places, doing our best to slow the advance of the enemy. Most people won’t even know of our victories or how brave we were in the fight.  They’ll just read the stats, but they won’t know any of the stories.

They won’t know the one baptism you had this past year was an alcoholic grandfather who hadn’t been in church for thirty years, but you visited him in the hospital on the eve of his surgery. After that, he became a believer and you baptized him in front of a full house. No one in town could believe the old man was getting baptized.

The world will never know about the conversations with young adults about life choices, or with children about how valuable they are or how many marriages stayed together because you promised to pray with the couple anytime they needed.

Other people may ask why we do what we do. It all seems so pointless. But we go back to work, holding the lines one more day so one more soul can make it out.  One day, the war will be over. Our King will have come. But until then, we’ll hold the lines for as long as we can.

That’s you, guys . . . pastors of local churches. And the world will never know the great war between good and evil was won because guys whose names will never be known made their stand in places whose names can’t be remembered.

Hold the lines, guys. You’re making a difference eternity will
celebrate.

Amen! And what is true for the pulpit is also true for the pew. Yes, preachers get discouraged; but they are not alone. So do lay people. It is easy to get down and then to wonder if we are really making a difference.  Satan likes nothing more than for us to doubt our significance in the Kingdom.

So, the next time you are tempted to get discouraged, remember Mike’s observation. Your part may seem small – even miniscule. But when added to my part, and John Doe’s part, and Jane Does’ part, it all adds up.

Satan knows this.  More importantly, God knows this.  And He wants us to know it as well. I can almost hear Him saying, “Hold the line, my children. You really are making a difference that will be celebrated for all eternity!”

THROWN FOR A LOOP

8/22/2013

Dr. Brian Dubes is a good friend of mine, and also a devoted member of our church. He sent me an e-mail this week in which he shared a “Life Lesson” that God had recently taught him.

After a late family birthday lunch this past Sunday, I really wanted/needed to take a bike ride.

God said, "No - look at the radar, you could get caught in a downpour."  "OK, God, you're right - we are surrounded."

I repeated this same "conversation" several times over the next nearly 2 hours, but it had failed to rain throughout this entire time.

Finally, I decided that I WAS going to ride my bike. After all, it wasn't actually raining.

So I headed out, knowing the risk and God's warning. I decided that "I was going to do what I wanted to do", regardless.

As I approached my entrance to the highway, I was distracted, grabbed my front brake TOO hard, and flipped my bike end-for-end. It seemed to happen in slow-motion, as I watched the flesh scrape off my left forearm and right little finger onto the asphalt. (My left leg is chewed, also.) Talk about excruciating pain! But I did not break any bones or hit my head, praise the Lord!

I headed back to the house to clean and bandage my wounds. As I began the painful process, the skies erupted, and rain filled the street 8' out from the gutter. I immediately realized that I could easily have been killed out on that rainy highway.

And God said, "Today was not the day for you to be run over on that rainy highway. I'm sorry I had to hurt you to stop you from killing yourself out there, but you left me no choice. I love you."

I am thankful to Brian for sharing this with me, and also for giving me permission to share it with you. Perhaps you already see why. Most everyone can relate to his experience to some degree.

In truth, have we not all been guilty of something similar? Have we not all, at some point in our life, been so determined to do something that we have gotten ahead of God? Have we not all ventured into some new endeavor without seeking Divine permission, direction, or blessing?

Please do not get me wrong. It is vitally important to have initiative. It will always be crucial to undertake new journeys and new tasks in life.  But it is far more important to be certain that we are in God’s will whenever we seek to do these things.

Thank God that He understands this. He is not capricious. He takes no peculiar whimsical delight in disciplining His children. Rather, His Word (Hebrews 12:5-6) shows us just the opposite.

The writer of the New Testament Book of Hebrews (12:5-6) asks this question: "Have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son?"   He then quotes the Old Testament Book of Proverbs as he answers his own question:

"It says,
'My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.'"

So, then, has the Lord recently thrown you for a loop? If He has, don't be too upset. Rather, be glad for it. He may just have been showering you with love, even though you did not realize it!

LIVING UP TO YOUR LEGACY

8/18/2013

Robert Mounce is a renowned Biblical Scholar and President Emeritus of Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington. He once wrote a Bible commentary for laymen which he titled Pass It On.

The book, published first by Gospel Light and later by Regal, focuses specifically on the Biblical letters of 1st and 2nd Timothy, wherein the Apostle Paul attempts to pass the reins of Christian leadership on to young Timothy. On p. 153, Dr. Mounce relates the following story:

I read of a journalist who was in charge of the obituaries. One day when he didn’t have any deaths to record, he put a sheet of blank paper in his typewriter and wrote his own name at the top.

He then found himself writing his own obituary: “I have been a good husband and a fine father. I have contributed to a number of worthy causes. I have left a reputation of absolute integrity. My friends are many.”

By the time he had finished the page, he had already committed himself to the task of living up to his own Obituary.*

In light of Dr. Mounce’s profound insight, I ask you the following questions. What would your own obituary look like? Are you satisfied with the thought? If not, should you do something to change the way it might read? And if so, would not today be a great day to start?

As the famous futurist Joel Barker once asked, “What do you have left to do in life?” Whatever it is, why not go and do it?!

*SOURCE: http://www.fcfonline.org/content/1/sermons/0128
07M.pdf.

LEGAL AID

8/15/2013

This past Wednesday evening in our Bible Study at Church, we talked about Genesis 39. Here we can see how God blessed the Egyptian Potiphar and his house, all because of, and through, his servant Joseph.

In this sense, Joseph is an Old Testament foreshadowing (or "type") of Jesus Christ. It is because of, and through, His Servant Jesus that God has channeled His blessings on to us.

Jesus, you see, stands between us and God as our Mediator.  Indeed, in his First General Epistle, the Apostle John calls Him our “advocate” (I John 2:1). The Greek word John uses here for advocate is “parakletos”, which means a legal advocate. It is the regular term used in New Testament times for an attorney (or lawyer) – i.e. “someone giving evidence that stands up in court”.*

Praise God we do have an advocate in Jesus Christ!  Praise God He stands before us and pleads our case before a Holy and righteous God! I was reminded of the following piece I had in my files about what that will mean to us one day! It is titled…

“My Attorney”**

After living what I felt was a 'decent' life, my time on earth came to the end.

The first thing I remember is sitting on a bench in the waiting room of what I thought to be a court house.

The doors opened and I was instructed to come in and have a seat by the defense table.

As I looked around I saw the 'prosecutor'.

He was a villainous looking gent who snarled as he stared at me.   He definitely was the most evil person I have ever seen.

I sat down and looked to my left and there sat My Attorney, a kind and gentle looking man whose appearance seemed so familiar to me, I felt I knew Him.

The corner door opened and there appeared the Judge in full flowing robes.

He commanded an awesome presence as He moved across the room. I couldn't take my eyes off of Him.

As He took His seat behind the bench, He said, 'Let us begin.'

The prosecutor rose and said, 'My name is Satan and I am here to show you why this man belongs in hell.'

He proceeded to tell of lies that I told, things that I stole, and in the past when I cheated others. Satan told of other horrible perversions that were once in my life, and the more he spoke, the further down in my seat I sank.

I was so embarrassed that I couldn't look at anyone, even my own Attorney, as the Devil told of sins that even I had completely forgotten about.

As upset as I was at Satan for telling all these things about me, I was equally upset at My Attorney who sat there silently not offering any form of defense at all.

I know I had been guilty of those things, but I had done some good in my life - couldn't that at least equal out part of the harm I'd done?

Satan finished with a fury and said, 'This man belongs in hell, he is guilty of all that I have charged and there is not a person who can prove otherwise.'

When it was His turn, My Attorney first asked if He might approach the bench. The Judge allowed this over the strong objection of Satan, and beckoned Him to come forward.

As He got up and started walking, I was able to see Him in His full splendor and majesty.

I realized why He seemed so familiar; this was Jesus representing me, my Lord and my Savior.

He stopped at the bench and softly said to the Judge, 'HI, DAD,' and then He turned to address the court.

'Satan was correct in saying that this man had sinned, I won't deny any of these allegations. And, yes, the wage of sin is death, and this man deserves to be punished.'

Jesus took a deep breath and turned to His Father with outstretched arms and proclaimed, 'However, I died on the cross so that this person might have eternal life and he has accepted Me as his Savior, so he is Mine.'

My Lord continued with, 'His name is written in the Book of Life, and no one can snatch him from Me. Satan still does not understand yet. This man is not to be given justice, but rather mercy.'

As Jesus sat down, He quietly paused, looked at His Father and said, 'There is nothing else that needs to be done. I've done it all...'

The Judge lifted His mighty hand and slammed the gavel down. The following words bellowed from His lips...

'This man is free. The penalty for him has already been paid in full. Case dismissed.'

I asked Jesus as He gave me my instructions where to go next, 'Have you ever lost a case?'

Christ lovingly smiled and said, 'Everyone that has come to Me and asked Me to represent them has received the same verdict as you, 'Paid In Full.'

*SOURCE:  http://biblesuite.com/greek/3875.htm.
**SOURCE:  http://www.godandscience.org/doctrine/attorney.html.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

8/12/2013

I love the old story about the man who read in the paper that most automobile accidents occur within five miles of home and promptly decided he needed to move! The truth is, no matter where you live, you are subject to having an accident.  It is a part of life in a fallen world.

Now, granted, some activities are a little more risky than others. Like a lot of people, I watched some of "Shark Week" recently on the Discovery Channel. I was repeatedly assured by the experts that it was entirely okay for me to get in the ocean, even on beaches where 20 ft. long Great White Sharks swim freely in as little as three feet of water. Why? Because I was much more likely to be struck by lightning than to be bit by a shark.

I believed him. Or at least I did until he was bitten on camera by a Bull Shark and lost part of his leg - all while standing in three feet of water filming a documentary wherein he had literally just stated that sharks did not bite people!!!

In thinking about all of this, I was led to do a little research on the subject of accidents and the like.  As I did, I came across an article titled “What Are the Odds?” It poses the question: “What are you preparing for and what are the odds of that actually happening in your lifetime?” The answers are informative to say the least. Check out the following list of odds.

The chances that you or I will...

Get Heart Disease: 1 in 6
Get Cancer: 1 in 7
Have a Stroke: 1 in 29
Die in a motor vehicle incident: 1 in 98
Die from Intentional self-harm: 1 in 109
Unintentional poisoning by and exposure to noxious substances: 1 in 126
Falls: 1 in 163
Assault by Firearm: 1 in 321
Car occupant death: 1 in 368
Pedestrian death: 1 in 701
Motorcycle rider death: 1 in 761
Accidental drowning and submersion: 1 in 1,103
Exposure to smoke, fire, and flames death: 1 in 1,344
Cyclist death: 1 in 4,381
Firearms discharge death: 1 in 6,609
Air and space transport incidents death: 1 in 7,178
Death from exposure to electric current, temperature, and pressure:
1 in 12,420
Death from exposure to excessive natural heat: 1 in 13,217
Odds of being murdered: 1 in 18,000
Cataclysmic storm: 1 in 29,196
Death from contact with hornets, wasps, or bees: 1 in 79,842
Death from earthquake and other earth movements: 1 in 97,807
Death from legal execution: 1 in 111,779
Death from lightning: 1 in 134,906
Bitten or struck by dog: 1 in 144,899
Odds of dying in a Tsunami/Flood: 1 in 558,896
Odds of an asteroid or meteor killing you directly: 1 in 625,000
Death from fireworks discharge: 1 in 652,046
Odds of dying from parts falling off an airplane: 1 in 10,000,000
Odds of zombie apocalypse: 1 in 345,957,987,900, 042 (possibly less)

The article concludes with this keen bit of insight:

Some events are much harder to predict, as they are more likely to occur somewhere else, and will only impact you remotely to a lesser or greater extent.*

As a result of having read all of these statistics, there are several things that I have concluded. To begin with, I still do not know what the odds are of actually getting bitten by a shark. However, if they are greater than getting struck by lightning, then they must be greater than 1 in 134,906.

Of course, at this point, it doesn't really matter, because in order to avoid a Tsunami, I no longer intend to live near the ocean. Nor do I intend to live even remotely close to a fireworks manufacturing facility, or within 100 miles of a major airport, or, for that matter, anywhere at all near a graveyard!

Seriously, there are probably some things on this list (such as Heart Disease or Cancer) that the likelihood or lack thereof of its occurrence we can at least hope to influence.  I do find it interesting, though, that most of what is on this list is completely beyond our control.

The Bible, of course, affirms this very thing.  The Biblical book of James (4:14) tells us that we have no way of knowing what will happen to us tomorrow.  And there are some things we cannot change no matter how hard we might try (such as our adding an inch to our height or one hour to the length of our life). See Jesus' teachings in the sixth chapter of Matthew's Gospel.

Because of this, we must always be willing to trust God to provide for us, as well as to protect us. Once again, His Word affirms that He will do these very things.  In his Second letter to the Thessalonians (3:3), the Apostle Paul states:  “The Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.”

Now this is not to say that bad things will never happen to us. In truth, sometimes they do. Bad things can and do happen to good people. As the saying goes, it rains on the just and the unjust alike; and sometimes when it rains, it pours.  But even then, God has promised never to leave us nor to forsake us (Hebrews 13:5); and He has also said that He will never to more on us than He will give us the strength to endure (I Corinthians 10:13).

So, the next time you step out into this big, crazy world where the odds are arguable stacked against you at every turn, just remember that glorious promise from God’s precious Word (I John 4:4): “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world!”

*SOURCE:  http://www.survivallife.com/2013/05/30/what-ar
e-the-odds/.

NOTE:  The following web page has a great list of Bible verses declaring God’s love and protection for us:  http://ww
w.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/22-bible-verses-about-god
s-protection/.

THE LIVING BIBLE

8/8/2013

Recently, I came across the following story. It spoke to me in a very meaningful way. Perhaps it will speak to you as well.

His name is Tim. He has wild hair, wears a T-shirt with holes in it, jeans, and no shoes. This was literally his wardrobe for his entire four years of college. He is brilliant. Kind of profound and very, very bright. He became a Christian while attending college.

Across the street from the campus is a well-dressed, very conservative church. They want to develop a ministry to the students but are not sure how to go about it.

One day Tim decides to go there. He walks in with no shoes, jeans, his T-shirt, and wild hair. The service has already started and so Tim starts down the aisle looking for a seat.

The church is completely packed and he can't find a seat. By now, people are really looking a bit uncomfortable, but no one says anything.

Tim gets closer and closer and closer to the pulpit, and when he realizes there are no seats, he just squats down right on the carpet.

By now the people are really uptight, and the tension in the air is thick.

About this time, the Minister realizes that from way at the back of the church, an Elder is slowly making his way toward Tim.

Now the Deacon is in his eighties, has silver-gray hair, and a three-piece suit. A Godly man, very elegant, very dignified, very courtly. He walks with a cane and, as he starts walking toward this boy, everyone is saying to themselves that you can't blame him for what he's going to do.

How can you expect a man of his age and of his background to understand some college kid on the floor?

It takes a long time for the man to reach the boy.  The church is utterly silent except for the clicking of the man's cane.

All eyes are focused on him.  You can't even hear anyone breathing. The Minister can't even preach the sermon until the Deacon does what he has to do.

And now they see this elderly man drop his cane on the floor.
With great difficulty, he lowers himself and sits down next to Tim and worships with him so he won't be alone.

Everyone chokes up with emotion...

When the Minister gains control, he says, 'What I'm about to preach, you will never remember. What you have just seen, you will never forget. Be careful how you live. You may be the only Bible some people will ever read!'

SOURCE:  http://www.helpothers.org/my/story.php?op=view&sid=32683.

BRAVE NEW WORSHIP?

8/4/2013

What will Church Worship Services look like in the future? That's a very good question; and there are many different answers being posed for it. One such possibility is this one…

CALL TO WORSHIP…

PASTOR: "Praise the Lord!"
CONGREGATION:  "Hallelujah!"

SERMON…

PASTOR: "Can we please turn on our tablet, PC, iPad, cellphone, and Kindle Bibles to 1 Cor. 13:13. And please switch on your Bluetooth to download the sermon."

PRAYER TIME…

PASTOR: "Now, Let us pray, committing this week into God's hands. Please open your Apps, BBM, Twitter, and/or Facebook and chat with God..."

OFFERING…

PASTOR: "As we take our Sunday tithes and offering... Please have your credit and debit cards ready. You can log on to the church Wi-Fi using the password Lord909887."

Ushers circulate mobile card swipe machines among the worshipers. Those who prefer to make electronic funds transfers are directed to computers and laptops at the rear of the church. Those who prefer to use iPads, flip them open. Those who prefer telephone banking take out their cellphones to transfer their contributions to the church account.

(The holy atmosphere of the Church becomes truly electrified as ALL the cellphones, iPads, PCs and laptops beep and flicker!)

CLOSING ANNOUNCEMENTS….

PASTOR… “We have several announcements to share in closing:

*This week's ministry cell meetings will be held on the various Facebook group pages where the usual group chatting takes place. Please log in and don't miss out.

*Thursday's Bible study will be held live on Skype at 1900hrs GMT. Please don't miss out.

*You can follow your Pastor on Twitter this weekend for counseling and prayers.

BENEDICTION…

PASTOR: "Praise the Lord!"
CONGREGATION:  "Hallelujah!"

This is based loosely on the rather humorous piece titled “Church Services in the Future”, found on multiple sites around the internet. (I tweaked it a bit so it looks a little more “Baptist”.)

Cf.:  http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3002802/posts.
(As you do, note how interesting the various comments are at this particular posting.)

The point is that we are living in a time when technology is having a profound impact on how we worship. And yet, this need not necessarily be divisive, as worship has always incorporated advances in technology to some extent.

There was a time when only lamps were used.  Then came candles. Then came electric lights. Now we have spot lights and soft lights and floodlights. Likewise, there was a time when there were only open windows. Then came ceiling fans.  Then came air conditioning; and as a result, we don't dare open the doors or windows now.

For that matter, there was a time in the Old Testament when worship occurred only at outdoor shrines. Then came a tabernacle (or tent of meeting). Only much later did a temple building eventually come into being. Moreover, the early Christians themselves met in homes for around three hundred or so years before any actual Church Buildings were ever constructed.

The point of all this is that, when it comes to worship, it is less the accoutrements and more the heart that matters.  For my own part, I will never be comfortable with worshipping God on my couch via the internet. But I preach to increasing numbers of people weekly who come to church with their respective iPads, Kindles, Nooks, tablets, e-readers, and/or smartphones; and I am okay with all of these things.

Just as long, that is, as they are using them for Scripture reading, note taking, or some other activity directly related to the experience of worship itself. On the other hand, if they are just surfing the web or checking their e-mail or, Heaven forbid, playing a game, then they are arguably not participating in worship at all - at least not with any true sense of authenticity.

Again, it is all a matter of the heart, not technology. And the proof is that many people who would never dare open up an electronic device in a worship service will nonetheless regularly sit through a service of worship and allow their mind to wander over a multitude of issues while either daydreaming and or else scheming their plans for the remainder of the day or the week, all while never once having prayed or sung or pondered the meaning of the sermon with any serious reflection.

Worship is a matter of the heart.  It always has been. It always will be. Clay tablets, scrolls, parchments, papyri, codices, books, and now electronic readers have all supplanted one another in turn.  The God they have each successively glorified, however, remains the same, yesterday, today, and forever! Amen!

(And yes, for those of you who did actually read the comments on the above referenced web page, my wife and I have actually worshipped together at the drive-in church down in Daytona Beach, Florida while on vacation [http://driveinchurch.net/]. In fact, we liked the sermon so much that particular morning that we found ourselves following the example of our fellow worshippers as we joined in honking our horn to signal “Amen!”)

THE MOUSE TRAP

8/1/2013

Some stories just cannot be improved upon. A good example is that of the mouse trap. ..

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package. "What food might this contain?" he wondered. But he was soon devastated to discover it was a mouse trap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning: "There is a mouse trap in the house! There is a mouse trap in the house!"

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it."

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mouse trap in the house" The pig sympathized but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured that you are in my prayers."

The mouse turned to the cow. She said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse, I'm sorry for you. But it's no skin off my nose." So the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mouse trap alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house like the sound of a mouse trap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness she did not see that it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught.

The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned home with a fever.  Now everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient.

But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.

The farmer's wife did not get well. She died; and so many people came for her funeral the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

So next time you hear that someone is facing a problem and think that it doesn't concern you, remember that when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and be willing to make that extra effort to encourage one another and help one another.

SOURCE:  http://www.piffe.com/inspiration/mouse-trap.php.