Newsletter Vol.2, #29—August 6, 2006

Matthew 9 ⁶But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"--he then said to the paralytic--"Rise, pick up your bed and go home." ⁷And he rose and went home.

Some thoughts on Visitors… by Perry D. Hall

Unbelievers visit for at least three reasons:

ü       They come because of a need.

ü       They come because of a friend.

ü       They come because of an event.

In fact, these three reasons are the same reasons why people accept invitations to go eat at a friend's house!

ü       People come to dinner because they have a need (i.e., they are hungry).

ü       People come because a friend invites them.

ü       People come because something special is being planned (i.e., Thanksgiving, picnic, etc.)

After almost 14 years, a neighbor of mine is finally coming to church. Why did he finally accept my invitation? I don't know all the reasons, but....

Ø       NEED? He doesn't see that he has a need at this time, so that is not why.

Ø       FRIEND? He said he doesn't need to pay someone to teach him the Bible because he can read it himself. I asked him, would he go to church as a favor to a friend? He replied, "I'll be there."

Ø       EVENT? Sunday is Easter. And although I told him and his wife we do not have a special service on Easter because we think every Sunday is Easter (accommodative language that gets their attention and communicates the idea of the resurrection),

people are more apt to go to church on Sunday.

Ø       So far I have gotten around 7 people possible coming this Sunday because, in their mind, it is Easter.

Unbelievers stay and become believers:

Ø       Their need is met. Now we all know that there is one major need (i.e., salvation), but people have other needs that can be scripturally met also. This is where getting to know the person through friendship is very important: "Let us consider how to stimulate one another" (Heb. 10:24)

Ø       Their friend introduces them to other friends so that the person becomes part of the family at that church: "to love ... encouraging one another (Heb.10:24,25)

Ø       The event becomes personalized. By that I mean they see the need and purposes of attending and being part of a church. They see other events (i.e., classes, sermons) that encourage them to attend. And also, because they see themselves as becoming part of the event. They get involved. They realized they are needed. And around and around we go! "and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together (Heb.10:25)

TIME IS TICKING AWAY

Truman Smith

Children would try the patience of Job! I watched one day as a young mother lifted her screaming little daughter (by one arm!) out of the family car in front of a store. I could not tell what it was the child was crying about, but the mother said to an older woman, who was likely her mother: “Will she ever grow out of that stage?” It was all I could do to keep from saying, “Yes, and before you realize it!” But I would not intrude.

While parents are right in the midst of bringing up their little ones it seems to them that it will be an eternity before they reach the place where they will not be such a “bother” and a worry anymore. Small children even at times will test the strength of a seemingly strong marriage; and appear to “get in the way” of success and progress.

A story from reader’s digest several years ago, written by Robert W. Wells, of which I give only the first three paragraphs, is a beautiful and wonderful article. I hope every parent will read it slowly, digest it fully, and be impressed forever:

“To an adult a tree is a tree, a cloud passing before the moon is only a cloud like those that have gone before. But a child is not like that. Things happen for the first time to him.

“I remember a July day when John was four. We had left the Manhattan apartment where we lived then and were spending the weekend in a small town. After dinner, my wife, the boy and I went for a walk. We came to an open field with a stand of oaks behind it. John had been holding my hand, but now he slipped free. He stood quietly for a moment, this big-city boy, surveying the largest expanse of earth he had ever seen that was entirely devoid of people. And then he was off, running hard.

“I can still close my eyes and picture him, this child whom I shall never see again, although he still lives concealed in a tall youth who has his name. Across the grass in the dying sunlight he ran, short legs pumping, under the trees, up a hill, then swooping back toward us, head erect, eyes half-closed. In spirit I was running with him, feeling the things he felt, and I was suddenly aware that the child who had loosed my hand and left me would never return, that in a brief instant of time his babyhood had ended and his boyhood begun. I could feel time ticking away.”

Oh, mother! Oh, dad! Seize every moment you can lay hold upon in order to have some time with your children while they are so young, so tender, and so innocent. Relish some precious periods of play and lightheartedness with them! But, more importantly, show them by a good example what being a faithful Christian is all about. Prove to them that nothing is more important to you than the Lord and His church by putting Him first every day. Let spiritual matters take precedence in your thoughts, be first in your financial budget, have supremacy in your time, and take priority in all your activities (Matt.6:33). In becoming parents, accept a most serious responsibility! “Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord, and fruit of the womb is his reward” (Ps.127:3).

Quick! parents, while the clay is soft, pliant and easily molded. Hasten to the task! Don’t wait another moment! Later will be too late!

“And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph.6:4).

time is “ticking away!”

Treat Church Services Like… by Perry D. Hall

Jesus began some parables with "The kingdom of heaven is like" in order to make His teachings plain and understandable:

Mt 13:31 He presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field;

Mt 13:33 He spoke another parable to them, "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened."

Mt 13:44 ¶ "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Mt 13:45 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls,

Mt 13:47 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind;

Mt 13:52 And Jesus said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old."

Mt 20:1 ¶ "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.

The parabolic often helps us appreciate the immaterial and spiritual because we already understand the material and physical.  As one little girl reportedly said, a parable is "an earthly story with a heavenly meaning." But since most of us our culturally separated from the analogies of Jesus, let's adapt His process to more familiar surroundings.                                                                                                                                 To be continued…