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PASS THE BUCKETS AND PRAY

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Prayer and activity go hand in hand.

By Ken Blue

“It is recorded of D. L. Moody that, upon one of his journeys across the Atlantic there was a fire in the hold of the ship. The crew and some volunteers stood in line to pass buckets of water. A friend said to Moody, ‘Mr. Moody, let us go to the other end of the ship, and engage in prayer.’ The common-sense evangelist replied, ‘Not so, sir; we stand right here and pass buckets and pray hard all the time.’ How like Moody this was! He believed that prayer and work were the two hands of the one person: that they should never be separated.—Christian Herald (London).” There is the attitude among some that the less organized the work, the more spiritual one is.

Some time ago I wrote an article about plans and methods to reach a larger segment of one’s community. In that article I failed to mention the Holy Spirit. I receive a scathing response reprimanding me of the omission. Of course the respondent does not, and never has pastored a church, nor did he give his name. Typically, he was fresh out of Bible College; Wasp are always largest when first hatched.

I remember one of my Bible teachers telling us, “If you think yelling ‘amen’ in this class will give you a passing grade, you are in for a big surprise. I expect you to study and get a passing grade.” I discovered that he meant exactly what he said.

[pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Activity is never an excuse to neglect prayer, nor is prayer an excuse to not work your smartest[/pullquote]

Prayer should precede everything. It is wise to pray before you answer your phone. You would think this would be understood, and I think the mature believer does. I am confident that neither writer nor reader prays enough. The Scriptures are clear on the subject of prayer. We need to pray more.

Now, I do not mean any disrespect by the following, but you can pray till you are blue in the face; and God will not mow your lawn for you. He will not sing in the choir, teach a Bible class, clean the buildings, wash the windows, preach the sermon, organize the ministry of your church, or drive a church bus. These, and many other things, are the practical side of the ministry, and must be done by men and women with understanding.

You don’t have to set down the bucket to pray while fighting a fire; pray and grab another bucket. Activity is never an excuse to neglect prayer, nor is prayer an excuse to not work your smartest; they are the two hands of the one person.

MY DAD

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Cheston G. Davis

Some of you were made aware of the discovery about my biological father, half brothers and sisters, last winter. I was able to meet with one brother and two sisters in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. What a wonderful reunion that was for me!

I was never able to see my father or a picture of him during his lifetime. I was led to believe, when I was a child, that he was not alive. However, this picture was forwared to me by one of my brothers. I have an article on the web site titled, The Final Chapter.

I don’t expect this to be of much interest to many of you, but to me it is a great discovery. I would like for you to rejoice with me. I loved my brothers and sisters the first time I met them and spoke with them. They returned that love to me. I regret I never met my father. But, God is so good to me in allowing me to know this family of mine. Also, many of them are saved and know the Lord. Well, GLORY!

“ROUND UP DAY” AT BIBLE BAPTIST CHURCH

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By Pastor Al Hughes

Sunday, October 3, we held a “Round-Up Day” at our church. On this special day we all dress “western” style. The church facility is decorated in a cowboy theme. Our guest preacher was Dr. Gene Howard, nationally know “John Wayne” impersonator (www.GeneHoward.org).

We put a lot of effort into promoting this day. First, we send out several mailings alerting people of the Round-Up. Our G.R.O.W. ministry makes many contacts inviting people to come. Ads are placed in the local newspapers two weeks before the special day.

The day before Round-Up Day, we sent teams to one of the busiest intersections in our city to wave professionally made signs promoting our church and the special day. We have a team of “sign-wavers” on each corner of the intersection so no one can miss us. Dr. Gene Howard, all dressed up in his “John Wayne” attire, joined us as we waved signs to passerby’s. His presence really attracted people to notice our signs (see attached picture and www.GeneHoward.blogspot.com).

Another thing we did to encourage people to invite visitors was award free gift cards to Famous Dave’s Bar-B-Q to the ones who brought in the most “strays” (visitors). A couple of people brought in five “strays” each!

God saw fit to bless our efforts with a full auditorium of people, over 20 visitors, and five people coming to trust Christ as Savior. Four of these visitors came as a result of seeing us sign waving the day before, and one of them also got saved! (Sign waving really works if it is done right.)

I want to highly recommend Dr. Gene Howard to any church or pastor who would like to have a special patriotic or “Round-Up Day.” His visual message on “Freedom and Sacrifice” is an excellent sermon that ties the sacrifice of our forefathers to secure our freedom in America to the sacrifice of Christ to provide freedom from sin. I’ve never heard a better Gospel presentation (preached with a “John Wayne” flare, of course). His sermons on “The Alamo” and the “The Big Ring Rifle” are also great sermons with Biblical applications.

A DIETING PLAN THAT WON’T DISAPPOINT YOU

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By Ken Blue

My wife and I have been on a dieting plan now for the past 20 years or so. We have always known that we wanted to lose weight and needed to. But, we were never sure just how much we wanted to lose. Our goal was to look good and feel good about ourselves without all those rules and restraints.

Many diet plans leave the individual feeling guilty or losers because they couldn’t stick with them. We decided that kind of plan was not good for one’s health or peace of mind. We implemented a plan that was not guilt driven, and there would be no finger pointing. Our plan had three components.

First of all, we would not set any goals for how much weight to lose. Some Christians have said that goal setting is not biblical anyway. So here was a plan that might have a touch of biblical support. Also, how could we fail if we choose not to set a specific goal? It was a perfect plan that gave us unlimited freedom.

The second thing we refused to do was to set a daily calorie count. Our calendar would be free of those haunting daily reminders. No more running to the calendar to find out how it would control our lives that day. We were free to have a carrot stick or a Pay Day candy bar; whichever was within reach. Oh, blessed freedom! Whatever was served on the menu that day became our diet for the day.

Finally, there would be no discussion between us on how we were doing. All those family discussions did was create guilt and resentment, and most were a waste of time anyway. So, there would be no more meeting or talk about weight gain or loss.

I know many of you are already in love with this plan and I can just feel your excitement. In fact, you are probably wondering where we discovered such a failsafe plan. I am going to let you in on the secret, if you promise not to tell. We got the idea while attending some annual church planning meetings. We figured, if it would work for a church, surely it would work for us. We think it will. We don’t know if we have lost any weight or not, but boy does it feel good to just wing it, day by day!

DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH HATE TO BE JESUS’ DISCIPLE?

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Am I Supposed to Hate My Family?

hateBy Ken Blue

“If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:26.

If I can convince myself that God hates people and I too am to hate them; it will give me a sense of power and entitlement. Many of the brethren are being led down the path to stupidity, ruin, and obnoxious behavior because they are being influenced to believe that God hates the lost, and therefore, they too must have contempt for them.

Well, we call upon these brethren to read the above verse and then tell the world that they hate their father, mother, wife, children, brethren, and sisters. Can they say with a straight face that they hate their family, or will they need to modify the word “hate” somewhat?

One of their problems is the refusal to accept that word usage in one place, time and culture, does not have the same meaning in another. Dake says the word is, “An idiom of preference (Mt. 6:24; 10:37; Rom. 9:13; Mal. 1:2-3; Gen. 29:30-31; Dt. 21:15-17). One must prefer God or love Him more than all else to be saved (Mt. 22:37). “God first” is the motto of the Bible.” —Dake’s Study Notes.

This truth is also illustrated in the different affection Jacob had for his two wives. “ And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years. And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.” Genesis 29:30-31.

The Merriam Webster Dictionary says an Idiom means, 1 a : the language peculiar to a people or to a district, community, or class
: DIALECT b : the syntactical, grammatical, or structural form peculiar to a language.2 : an expression in the usage of a language that is peculiar to itself either grammatically (as no, it wasn’t me) or in having a meaning that cannot be derived from the conjoined meanings of its elements (as Monday week for *the Monday a week after next Monday*).3 : a style or form of artistic expression that is characteristic of an individual, a period…”

[pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“Hatred” as used in the time and culture of the Bible does not carry the same meaning we attach to it today in our culture.[/pullquote]

Therefore, the word “hate” as used in the time and culture of the Bible does not carry the same meaning we attach to it today in our culture; and your interpretation of Luke 14:26 will confirm that truth.

The same interpretation is to be give to the statement, “As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” Romans 9:13. The context deals with the choice of God to give the family blessing to Jacob; which included the priestly and prophetic head of his house and give him all the birthright signified. Although Esau was the firstborn, God, in His sovereignty chooses Jacob and gave Esau the second position in the family. However, that second position included manifold blessings of God. “And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above; And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.” Genesis 27:39-40.

Thus, the word must be seen in the context of the time and culture in which it was used and intended. Dake’s comments are correct when he says its use is, “An idiom of preference.” It is not to be thought of as we use it in our culture and time. Now, let me ask you again, do you hate your family, or will you cut them some slack?