T.S. Eliot

This is a T.S. Eliot quote that I intended to say something about. I never quite reached a decision of what to say.....other than that our actions must not be guided by our own desire to feel important!

Call to Decision

“Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don’t mean to do harm – but the harm does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves.” T.S. Eliot

Another question! Yay!

I have a question. Could you expound on Colossians 2, verses 6-7? Thanks

6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

Col 2:6-7 (NASB)

6 And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him.7 Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

Col 2:6-7 (NLT)

These verses are part of Paul's reminder to the church at Colosse that they are to follow Christ with their lives. Then, as now, there was a culture pressure to put your faith into a box, and take it out only when you wanted to. The Roman world, at the time of this writing, offered no persecution to believers in Christ, affording them the same liberties they gave the Jews. There were frequent outbursts between Jews and Christians, but a Gentile city like Colosse didn't deal with those problems for long.

Instead, the pressure on Christians was to allow the world to shape their faith. There would have been cultural pressure to participate in the various pagan entertainments, business pressure to pursue greedy deals, religious pressure to accept all of the other beliefs as equally valid.

Paul is instructing the Church not to treat their faith as something that happened, and that they can then go about life as they wished. They are to grow, now that they are rooted in Christ. Think of the trees you can buy at Wal-mart every spring. They are small, and will not grow much bigger because they have shallow roots. Or consider Christmas trees, that you can buy a 'live' tree, but if you take it home and stick it in the yard, it will not grow. It has no life possibilities because it has no root. Christians have the possibility of growth because they are rooted in Christ.

The Colossians needed to understand that this affected every aspect of their life. Part of the difficulty was that, in avoidance of legalism, there was a tendency to say that Christian life had no rules. Paul wanted them to understand that true Believers will live out their salvation in their behaviors, thoughts, actions, and speech.

Sometimes believers don't follow through, but that does not take away God's grace in their lives. Eventually, the Holy Spirit will convict them and draw them back, or they will so harden themselves against God that they don't hear Him. We have to remember that God is in the process of making us fit for eternity, and when we cross from this side to that one, we will see how far we've come as well as how far we have left to go.

Sermon Study

I've spent the last 2 days pouring over plans for what to preach next. It's not as easy as it sounds. True, all of the messages should come from the same book, but if I preach the whole Bible every Sunday, we'll be here the whole week. And since, unlike Paul, I've never demonstrated an ability to raise the dead, I'm not permitted to preach sermons that long. (See Acts 20:7-12). So, I have to pray through what parts to bring out each Sunday.

I've found that preaching clumps of Scripture works well. That way, I have a defense when someone thinks that I picked on them specifically in the sermon. That was just where we were that day, I didn't just decide to hit you with it. Now, if the shoe fits, wear it. If I preached on gossip, and you have been gossiping, recognize that perhaps God is speaking to you about your sin. When I am trying to find what to preach, I don't want to take what someone has shared with me that week and turn it into a sermon, and have you afraid to talk with your pastor because he'll preach at you on Sunday, and tell the world what your problems are.

I also have to avoid being irrelevant. I could preach about the evils of witchcraft, but most of you are well aware of the evils of witchcraft and blatant satanism. I could preach not to take the mark of the beast, but since nobody is trying to make you take it, that's not really something that will impact. Far more important is to help us understand how our society, and too often us, are embracing basic aspects of witchcraft and satanism. We find them entertaining in our movies and tv shows, we find fortune tellers funny rather than evil, we will read our horoscopes or look to other places for truth other than God. We know not to take the mark of the beast, but we don't have the willpower to fight off the mark of culture, where we just have to have the same things everyone else does. How will we stand for Christ in the face of persecution when we can't even resist a TV commercial or a sales circular? So, certain things need more emphasis.

Then there is my biggest challenge (at least I think it's my biggest). I am consistently overwhelmed by the depth of our ignorance of a Christ-centered life. This starts in my home, and covers most of our 'normal' Christian experience in America. And I want to communicate our need to live a life that is radically different from what we see around us. So, I tend to preach very heavy. I have a greater tendency to speak of the challenge, of the distance yet to go, then to try and bring encouragement for where we are. I have difficulty with being happy with the first mile of a 100 mile journey.

So, what I have to try and do, as best possible, is preach things that both challenge us and encourage us, that you understand are relevant without tuning out and thinking I'm picking on you. I have to preach just specifically enough that you get something useful out of it, without tailoring it only to one group, and preach long enough to do all this without going too long and losing you.

See why this is a prayer-based activity?

More Good stuff from Emil Turner.

I've laid off reposting Dr. Turner's Blog the past few weeks, as he's been addressing pastor search issues.  And one or two were aimed at pastors, and were very challenging for me, but I didn't see the need to repeat them here.  However, this week's is very well worth our consideration.  I'll let his words stand on their own, and in the next few days will share my own thoughts.


Weblog: Emil Turner | Arkansas Baptist State Convention

Weblog: Emil Turner

“Our Church Is a Poor Church…”



This is exactly what a search committee member told me after I had agreed with them that I thought God was calling me to be their pastor. What the brother meant was: “we can not pay much”, “don’t preach on giving”, and “lower your expectations of us”.



Your church does not have to be “poor”. It should not aim to be rich. The goal is faithful stewardship, not a subjective description of your financial position.



Some things that will help your church members become faithful stewards:



Begin now talking about year end giving. This year, because of the cost of fuel, non-profit organizations are going to be very aggressive in soliciting your church members. Remind them now to plan on honoring the Lord and His church before they give to any other organizations.



Plan a stewardship campaign for the spring. In mid March plan a campaign to increase the number of tithers in your church. Lead the church to begin planning now.



Once a month, before you receive your morning offering, share briefly about the ministry accomplished by the tithes and offerings of your church. It motivates giving, and it reports on how the money is spent.



Ask a family to share why they tithe. Have the whole family on the platform and interview them, giving each member of the family an opportunity to say why tithing is important.



Church leaders should be expected to tithe. Deacons, Sunday School teachers, committee chairpersons—these should be tithers at a minimum. Leaders lead, and tithing demonstrates commitment, discipline, and sacrifice for the Kingdom.



Develop an endowment for your church. The Arkansas Baptist Foundation can help. Make it clear you want to build an endowment and that your church controls it to insure future ministry. When someone leaves a gift to the church, lead your church in recognizing the eternal impact of the gift.



Good stewardship is critical to reaching a lost world.

Do the crime, do the Time....

Judge sentences rap music fan to Bach, Beethoven - Yahoo! News

Judge sentences rap music fan to Bach, Beethoven

30 minutes ago

URBANA, Ohio - A defendant had a hard time facing the music.
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Andrew Vactor was facing a $150 fine for playing rap music too loudly on his car stereo in July. But a judge offered to reduce that to $35 if Vactor spent 20 hours listening to classical music by the likes of Bach, Beethoven and Chopin.

Vactor, 24, lasted only about 15 minutes, a probation officer said.

It wasn't the music, Vactor said, he just needed to be at practice with the rest of the Urbana University basketball team.

"I didn't have the time to deal with that," he said. "I just decided to pay the fine."

Champaign County Municipal Court Judge Susan Fornof-Lippencott says the idea was to force Vactor to listen to something he might not prefer, just as other people had no choice but to listen to his loud rap music.

"I think a lot of people don't like to be forced to listen to music," she said.

She's also taped TV shows for defendants in other cases to watch on topics such as financial responsibility. As she sees it, they get the chance to have their fine reduced "and at the same time broaden their horizons."


I think there's a parallel here with what God sometimes does as He disciplines us. Usually we identify one or two things that we just don't think we can give up. For some of us, it's certain habits, for others, certain geographic locations. For some, it's the comfort of the pew (or chair!), the anonymity of the back row, the ease of home, the prosperity of our careers. Whatever it may be, when it becomes a stumbling block to our growth, God disciplines us by challenging us right there. Believe me, God's discipline and training comes in the areas we need it most. And like this judge, God often allows us the option that will stretch us, maybe inconvenience us, but not bury us under a mountain. Or we can take the baggage of bigger pain instead, but what do we learn? And do we change our behavior?

This is not a good sign!

NYC National Debt Clock runs out of digits - Yahoo! News

NEW YORK - In a sign of the times, the National Debt Clock in New York City has run out of digits to record the growing figure.
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As a short-term fix, the digital dollar sign on the billboard-style clock near Times Square has been switched to a figure — the "1" in $10 trillion. It's marking the federal government's current debt at about $10.2 trillion.

The Durst Organization says it plans to update the sign next year by adding two digits. That will make it capable of tracking debt up to a quadrillion dollars.

The late Manhattan real estate developer Seymour Durst put the sign up in 1989 to call attention to what was then a $2.7 trillion debt.


I think this shows us where we are as a nation.  For too long we have lived on borrowed money and we are reaping the consequences.  If we are going to move forward as the United States, and if we want a United States for our children, we have to review our national priorities and actions.  Eventually, all debts come due, and we will have to pay them. 

Even worse, we have been living on borrowed time and bankrupt spirituality.  We have to reach a point that we realize that what we have in terms of time and national strength comes as a blessing from God, and if we do not acknowledge Him, we are prone to lose that blessing.  We need to turn our hearts as American Christians back to loving and serving God, and pray for those around us.  Otherwise, we as the people of God will turn out to be the stumbling block which our nation trips over.

Economy

Well, we're back on the blog. I was hoping that I would be bought out as a failed blogger by the US Government, but apparently, since I don't contribute to campaigns, I'm not eligible for help. So, back to trying hard to watch spending, not send out more than comes in, and pay off debt rather than increase it.

Wow, what a concept! Did you know that, if I do those 3 things, within 20 years almost 50% of my income will be disposable income. That means that 20 years from now, with the kids out of the house, Ann and I will be able to tithe, eat, have a roof over our heads, transportation, and be able to fund mission trips, church activities, and help people in need! Most of this will actually be sooner than 20 years!

Unfortunately, although most of us live this way, and if you've got a small business, you definitely do this, the US Congress doesn't see the need to do the same. Instead, Congress feels that the solution to economic trouble is more debt. Here's the problem: that $700000000000 will be sold as bonds, which some investors will buy, providing the national debt funding. The national debt will rise to over $11000000000000, most of this is owed to bond-holders. These bond-holders are people, businesses, funds, foreign governments (that should have been illegal. The US Government has to pay China!) that otherwise could be doing the following: Buying stock in businesses to strengthen their finances. Buying real estate, buying community bonds (cities and states often use bonds to finance improvements), buying corporate bonds (which companies sometimes issue to raise money to expand, offer more jobs), buying church bonds (which allow churches to build, expand, reach more people!). This money could be invested in research. Or paid as dividends. Or left in CDs at banks, which increases the bank's assets, so banks don't fail!


So, where do we go now? I tell you where: to the One whose economy doesn't ever fail. We cannot lose our focus on God just because of market failures or bank issues. As believers, the most important thing we have is a relationship with the One True God. Apart from Him, we're doomed. Will life be easy in a time of economic turmoil? Uh....no. Christians will lose jobs just like lost people. Christians will see their retirement funds go down, their taxes go up. What we have is God to watch out for us. We may have to see ourselves back in a community like the book of Acts, where, since almost everyone was poor, they shared with everyone in the church family. Those who were wealthy gave up their wealth for the family.

For those of us with American Independence deep in our souls, who were raised to revere self-reliance, this will be hard to cope with. However, let's see what else happened there: 3000 saved in a day, people healed. Preachers could preach half the night until someone dies, then raise him from the dead, and preach until day break! I'd love to see all of these things, except maybe preaching all night. If we took turns, it would be great!

I will say this: we have little to truly fear about the coming times, because He has promised to be with us. Let's hold on to that!