Chimney Sweeping

            Doug McIntosh in his commentary on Deuteronomy tells the following story:

            “In the early hours of a wet Evansville morning, a driver lost control of his vehicle smashed through the porch into the front of Lee Roy Book’s home. When a utility crew came to the house and began to check for gas leaks, they found that the home’s chimney and gas pipes were plugged by debris. Because of this, carbon monoxide fumes had been backing up into the house for some time.”

            “The poisonous and odorless gas had been creating health problems for Book for a while. Some two years before, he had begun experiencing flulike symptoms, including unexplained trembling, headaches, chills, and nausea. He would also black out occasionally and undergo periods of forgetfulness. “I'd come to when I got in the fresh air,” he said “but every day it was getting worse and worse. It was awful.” Had the utility vehicle not made its unauthorized entry, he might well have died from the poisonous effects of the gas.”

            Now, here's the irony to this story. You know how Le Roy Book once made his living? He was a building contractor. Of all people “he knew the perils of badly vented furnaces and chimneys. In fact, he regularly urged customers to check their flues every two or three years to keep just such a problem from occurring. Yet it never dawned on him to check his own chimney.”

            “A lot of people make the same mistake spiritually. They rarely consider the many ways the God has blessed them in the past and implications of those blessings the way they should live their lives… The opening chapter of Deuteronomy describes an entire nation that failed to check its chimney. Israel has repeatedly been the recipient of God's faithful acts of kindness, but they had neglected drawing the proper implications of such blessings. In Deuteronomy 1, Moses called on people to remember God's faithfulness as a spur to their own spiritual lives.”

            The book of Hebrews amplifies the ramifications of Israel’s negligence. They were, in effect, poisoned spiritually. Their relationship with God was ruined.

            Lesson learned: check the chimney!

           

When Wife Undermines Message

            Ten years ago, a Maryland minister began to attack gambling. The state lottery particularly galled him. His congregation had a number of African-American and lower income members, many of whom were wasting their money on a pipe dream.

            Then he made an embarrassing discovery—his wife won the lottery. Even worse, during the time period of all of those sermons on gambling, she had secretly and consistently been purchasing lottery tickets.

            Shortly thereafter, a reporter from a local TV station interviewed the couple about their recent experiences. The wife clearly felt uncomfortable. The preacher addressed the reporter’s questions in the only way he knew how, “The Lord moves in mysterious ways. His wonders to perform.”

            Needless to say, whether you agree with the preacher or not, the preacher’s message had been severely undermined. If you are a preacher and your wife is making decisions that are diametrically opposed to your message, you either need to change your message, change your wife, or announce that you and your wife agree to disagree.

            I wonder if God wrestles with this regarding the message He wants proclaimed to the world. I wonder when He sees the bride of Christ consistently making decisions that undermine His message, if he feels compelled to change His bride? Does he feel obliged to announce that He and His bride agree to disagree?

            I do know this—He’s not going to change His message.

Never Give Up!

            Mothers get no respect.

            Little Timmy (not my Timothy) watched his mother spread cold cream on her face. “Why do you do that, mommy?” he asked.

            “To make myself beautiful,” his mother replied. She then began removing the cream with a tissue.

            “What’s the matter?” asked the boy. “Giving up?”           

You Think You Had A Bad Week

            On August 6, 1945, Tsutomu Yamaguchi traveled to Hiroshima, Japan for business trip. Sadly, this was the day that the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb and destroyed the city. Somehow, Yamaguchi survived the ordeal.

            He returned home and arrived two days later. The following day, August 9, another atomic bomb was unleashed on Yamaguchi's hometown, Nagasaki. Unbelievably, Yamaguchi lived through both tragedies; he was the only survivor of both of Japan's atomic bombings. (Two years ago, Yamaguchi passed away at the age of 93.)           

            I do not know where Yamaguchi received the fortitude to endure for 65 more years. I would think that after seeing two atomic bombs fall on two of your nation’s cities in the space of four days, it would be easy to become disillusioned with life.

            Surely, Yamaguchi’s suffering approached that of Job. Who knows? Perhaps Yamaguchi somehow came across a Bible and received the strength from the great book we call Job.

            If he read the book, one thing he would have found—the need for humility when facing a fallen world. Job spent most of the book thinking he had a case against God. Finally, when God came down for a visit, Job found himself intimidated. As bad as his life had become, as much as he had suffered, as much as he had thought he had known about the world, he realized he did not even have a level one awareness of how the universe is run.

            For some reason, Job found this message liberating.

            The next time we feel life is ripping us off and the cosmos is going against us, perhaps we too can find strength in a message from Job: God knows more about running this universe than we do.

Source for Yamaguchi account: World Magazine

Seasoned with Salt

           When the great American composer, George Gershwin, passed away, a man who possessed more affection for Gershwin than he did musical ability decided to compose a musical elegy in Gershwin’s honor. Upon completion, he sought entertainer and composer Oscar Levant for an appraisal of his work.

            Eagerly, the neophyte played his piece for Levant, praying for Levant’s approval. He was disappointed.

            “I think it would have been better,” Levant told him, “if you had died and Gershwin had written the elegy.”

            I wonder if Paul had speech like this in mind when he wrote that Christians should fill their conversations with grace and “season them with salt.”

            Story source: Edmund Fuller

Church Football

            The Super Bowl is over. I thought this would be fun to pass along. Someone sent it to me back in 1999.

Church  Football

Quarterback Sneak - Church members quietly leaving during the invitation. 

Draw Play - What many children do with the bulletin during worship. 

Halftime - The period between Sunday school and worship when many choose to leave. 

Benchwarmer - Those who do not sing, pray, work, or apparently do anything but sit. 

Backfield-in-Motion - Making a trip to the back (restroom or water fountain) during the service. 

Staying in the Pocket - What happens to a lot of money that should be given to the Lord's work. 

Two-minute Warning - The point at which you realize the sermon is almost over and begin to gather up your children and belongings. 

Instant Replay - The preacher loses his notes and falls back on last week's illustrations.

Sudden Death - What happens to the attention span of the congregation if the preacher goes "overtime.”

Trap - You're called on to pray and are asleep. 

End Run - Getting out of church quick, without speaking to any guest or fellow member.

Flex Defense - The ability to allow absolutely nothing said during the sermon to affect your life. 

Halfback Option - The decision of 50% of the congregation not to return for the evening service. 

Blitz - The rush for the restaurants following the closing prayer.

Persecuting Teenage Christians

            I was sad to be reminded last week of the fact that there are still Christians in this world who are being severely persecuted for their faith.

            Susan Ithungu, a 15-year-old teenage girl in Uganda, recently left her Islamic faith to become a Christian.

            Her father responded in a savage way. He beat Susan and then locked her in a room for six months—barely giving her enough food and water to survive.

            Fortunately for Susan, neighbors alerted the local police who then arrested her father and freed Susan from her confinement. Shortly thereafter, authorities released Susan's father.

            You might say a prayer for Susan. I have a feeling she will be facing more trials and tribulations.