Januray 25th

"How to Befriend the Unfriendly"
I am exasperated at how unfriendly the people at church are. They never speak to me. When they do speak, I feel as though I am simply being tolerated. I do not feel a part of their "crowd." It is so unfair! But, I have the answers for me and any other poor soul who has encountered such unfriendliness when at the services.

I AM GOING TO MAKE EVERYONE CONVERSE WITH ME. I’ll strike up conversations with everyone at church, including those I hardly even know. To make it better, I am going to find out what interests them so I’ll have plenty to say and hear with them. I’m not going to give them the chance not to speak to me. I will eagerly listen to what they say, and they will think they’ve never met someone so sincerely interested! That’ll fix them!

I AM GOING TO WEAR A BIG SMILE. I am going to develop a personality so magnetic that no one can resist getting to know me better. My grin will be an open invitation to visitors and members alike. I bet they’ll all wonder what’s gotten into me, that I’m so happy. They’ll be eager to be a part of what makes me so cheerful!

I AM GOING TO DO UNSOLICITED ACTS OF KINDNESS. I’ll send them notes of cheer, cards of sympathy, and letters of encouragement. I’ll visit their sick family members and neighbors. They won’t know what hit them. I’ll pray for those folks down at church...by name...every night!

I AM GOING TO STAY AROUND LONGER AFTER THE LAST AMEN. I’ll hang around the auditorium, get to the foyer early enough to catch the early departures, talk to the elderly, the small children, and even the visitors. I bet they’ll mistake me for a deacon or an usher.

I AM GOING TO STUDY EVERY PASSAGE ON FRIENDLINESS AND KINDNESS I CAN FIND. I’ll memorize, "A man that hath friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother" (Proverbs 18:24). I’ll quote, "And be ye kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you" (Ephesians 4:32). I will model Colossians 3:12, "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, hearts of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, patience..." I’ll carry a plaque with me that reads, "A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born of adversity" (Proverbs 17:17). I am going to memorize the beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12), the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), and the Christian graces (2 Peter 1:5-7). I can’t kill them with kindness unless I’ve got my gun loaded!

Whew! Now I’m ready. Those unfriendly folks at church don’t stand a chance. I’ll melt every cold stare. I’ll dodge every harsh word. I’ll deflect every criticism with the shield of warmth. I’ll be so friendly ...hmmmmmmm...
maybe that was the biggest part of the problem anyway. If I were friendlier...

Januray 11th

One Percent Can Be More Than You Think

.One percent doesn't sound like much but it really depends on the number that the one percent comes from. For example, what is one percent of a dollar? The answer is one little ole' red penny. Now that doesn't sound too big does it, but how about one percent of ten thousand dollars? Well, that would be one hundred dollars and to me that number is pretty big just to be one percent. Every time you add a zero to the number being divided, the "little" one percent also gets a zero and after a while it's not so little anymore. One percent can be a big deal.

According to a recent study released, for the first time ever in our nation's history, one out of every one hundred adults in America is sitting in prison. That's one percent of our adult population. That one percent cost an estimated $49,000,000,000.00 to house, feed, guard, etc... according to the study. That doesn't include the damage done to victims and their families and property. To beat it all, the crime rates are still rising. I wonder what one and a half percent would look like? I hope and pray that we never see that.

Some in our society would call the Bible an outdated book. According to them, our society is too "sophisticated" to believe in God now. Wow!!! Is that the same society that has one percent of its adult population in prison? I think so! A society cannot get sophisticated enough to outgrow the works of the flesh that has plagued humanity here on Earth (Ephesians 5:19-21). Our "sophisticated" society severely needs a dose of that so-called "outdated" book. No politician, no social program, no amount of money, no man-made laws and no form of government can fix a nation with no God. A walk in the wilderness is no camping trip (1st Corinthians 10:5-12).

The absence of a three or four-dollar copy of God's word (yes, you can actually find a Bible that cheap here in America) in our homes and hearts sure is costing our people a lot more than we can afford to pay. One percent of our national debt is absolutely nothing compared to the debt our society owes God for what He has given us through the generations. There are not enough zeros in math to express just one percent of that kind of debt. Is one percent a big deal? The numbers don't lie.

E.Adkins Church of Christ at Keltonburg Smithville, IN via Bulletin Digest 

January 4th

Treading water is boring, dive in!

 I remember sitting through HY 102 "Western Civilization since 1648," my freshmen year of college with one constant thought going through my mind. Why in the world do I have to sit through this boring history class if I'm a pharmacy major (that was the first of several majors I chose to "pursue")? But one day I read a quote by the British write Aldoux Huxley which made me rethink my negativity towards the subject. Huxley once said "The charm of history and its enigmatic lesson consist in the fact that, from age to age, nothing changes and yet everything is completely different." As I thought about that I had a hard time disagreeing with him. No matter how far we advance in our lives we see our world go through similar cycles. Everything from fashion to finance tends to repeat itself eventually. However, when certain things happen that we do not want to see repeated we build some sort of defense to prevent it from happening again. After the world trade centers were destroyed on 9/11, we developed new security measures to help the prevention of a reoccurrence of such a tragic event. Although the new measures make boarding an airplane about as difficult and time consuming as building a rocket, they have proven to be successful thus far.

 

I believe the reason that most things in everyday life tend to repeat themselves is because it's simply easier to allow things to reoccur than it is to fight the cycle and change the future. The question I want to ask today is this. Are we willing to fight the cycle in order to produce greater growth in the Church?

 

As it is with many things in life, it is easy to get in a "comfort zone" with our faith. We tend to put our Christianity on cruise control and coast through life, simply treading water. Children do not jump in a cold swimming pool on a hot day and simply tread water. They dive in! They swim under the water, attempt to touch the bottom, make big splashes off the diving board, race from end to end. They do so because it is more enjoyable than simply treading water.

 

This morning, I hope that each of us will look back over the past year and decide if we have simply been treading water. If so, take the measure necessary to quit simply treading water and instead dive in head first! Just as playing in the pool is much more enjoyable than keeping your head above water, so will you be much more fulfilled in your walk with Christ when you give up treading water and dive head first into Christ and begin living a purpose driven life.

 

Below I have listed a few suggestions that each of us can use to become more productive and fulfilled children of God. I hope that you will at least consider them and see what difference they can make in your life.

 

Suggestions:

1. Set aside a time each day for prayer and study

Reason: as creatures of habit, we are much more likely to be consistent in these areas if we set aside time for them.

Results: As with any relationship the more you communicate and get to know one another the closer you become. The more time we spend communicating with God the closer we will grow to him and the stronger our faith will be in him.

 

2. Choose one day a week to invite anyone you come in contact with to worship.

Reason: Luke 19:10 tells us the reason Christ came to earth was to seek and save the lost, if we are to be Christ like we have to follow his example and seek those who are lost and bring them to Christ. If you start by doing it just one day a week you can put all your energy into that day and putting forth your best effort. The longer you do it the easier and more natural it will become to talk to those around you about your faith.

Results: according to readers digest, the average salesman is rejected by 27 out of 28 customers. According to Ben Feldmon who is regarded as being the most successful life insurance salesman of his time, the key to success in sales is simply contacts. The more people you know the more doors there will be opened to you. The same rule of percentages applies to the Christian, the more people you invite to church the more you will have accept your invitation.

 

3. Be mindful of the decisions you make

Reason: When I was in school, one of my finance professors told us that the easiest way to help an over spender live within their means is to have them write out everything they spend money on and how much they spend. The reason being that when they see it written down, they are accountable for it and see the effects of their bad spending habits. The same is true with the decisions we make everyday when faced with temptations. Keep a journal of the decisions that you make everyday

Results: Just as writing it down helps an over spender see the reality of their situation, if we write it down we will be able to look back and reflect on the decisions we make everyday. It's interesting how making a bad choice doesn't seem like such a big deal at that split second but when you sit back later and look at it, you can see the negative effects of it. Not only will writing it down help make us accountable for the wrong choices we make but it can also become a reward system when we are able to look back and see moments when chose to do the right thing.