William Stidger, a Methodist minister, began to think of the blessings he had received during his life. He remembered a special elementary school teacher who had gone out of her way to give him an appreciation for verse. It had been more than 50 years since Stidger had been in her class, but his appreciation for verse had endured since that time. Stidger wrote to his former teacher a letter of appreciation and she replied: “My Dear Willie, I cannot tell you how much your note meant to me. I am in my eighties, living alone in a small room, cooking my own meals, lonely and, like the last leaf of autumn, lingering behind. You will be interested to know that I taught in school for fifty years and yours is the first note of appreciation I ever received.”²

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please give me a grateful heart and a thankful spirit, so that I will always give and express credit where credit is due, thanks where thanks is due, and appreciation where appreciation is due. And above all, give me a thankful heart for the countless blessings you have given so freely to me and especially for your gift of salvation and a home in Heaven to be with you forever. Help me to so live that my life will be a living expression of gratitude for all that you have done for me. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Luke 17:12-17 (NIV).

2. From Pastor Ron Clarke, Tasmania, Australia.

“Shortly after Booker T. Washington, the renowned black educator, took over the presidency of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, he was walking in an exclusive section of town, when he was stopped by wealthy white woman.

“Not knowing the famous Mr. Washington by sight, she asked if he would like to earn a few dollars by chopping wood for her. Because he had no pressing business at the moment, Professor Washington smiled, rolled up his sleeves, and proceeded to do the humble chore she had requested.

“When he was finished, he carried the logs into the house and stacked them by the fireplace. A little girl recognized him and later revealed his identity to the lady. The next morning the embarrassed woman went to see Mr. Washington in his office at the Institute and apologized profusely. “It’s perfectly all right, Madam,” he replied. “Occasionally I enjoy a little manual labor. Besides, it’s always a delight to do something for a friend.”²

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help to remember that I, too, am a fellow struggler and always be ready to lend a helping hand to that person in need whom you bring across my path. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Matthew 5:3 (NKJV).

2. KneEmail, www.oakhillcoc.org

In a Peanuts cartoon Lucy is playing her role as psychiatrist. She sits in her booth with the sign that reads: “Psychiatric Help—5 cents.” The sign below says, “The Doctor Is In.” Lucy says to Charlie Brown, “Your life is like a house.”

In the next frame, she says reflectively, “You want your house to have a solid foundation, don’t you?” Charlie Brown has a kind of blank look on his face. Lucy says, “Of course you do.”

Charlie Brown is still silent—saying nothing. Then in the fourth frame, psychiatrist Lucy says, “So don’t build your house on the sand, Charlie Brown.” About that time, a huge wind comes up and blows the booth down. Lucy, sitting in the rubble says, “Or use cheap nails.”²

Sad to say, too many of us are too quick to give cheap advice to others and forget, as the old saying goes, that when we point a finger at others, there are four fingers pointing back at us. People who are quick to give unsolicited advice are, generally speaking, very insecure and gain a sense of false security by having a ready answer for everyone else’s problems—except their own.

So “my advice” is: “Don’t be an unsolicited advice giver!”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me not to be a judgmental person, nor be quick to find fault with others, or be an unsolicited advice giver, but rather, help me to see my own character flaws and lead me to the help I need to overcome these. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Matthew 7:3-5 (NIV)

2. Brett Blair, www.eSermons.com

It’s amazing how, in our day and age, so many are afraid to stand up and be counted when it comes to taking a public stand for that which is morally correct, based on biblical principles and the Judeo-Christian ethic, for fear of not being politically correct. To bash Christianity, the Ten Commandments, the Word of God and even Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” has become acceptable (and even popular) among certain circles, but try condemning gay marriage or other religions such as Islam and it becomes a different story.

But did Jesus Christ ever allow himself to be so controlled? Hardly.

Jesus was a man of passion. He hated the abuse of God’s house so he drove out the money changers with a whip. He hated evil and sin, not simply because these were opposed to his Word but because they were, and are, damaging to those whom God loves—us. But he always loved sinners and was against anything that hurt them, kept them in bondage, or hindered their growth. And he was hated for his stand.

“In Jesus’ case, we have the story of the holiest man who ever lived, and yet it was the prostitutes and lepers and thieves who adored him, and the religious who hated his guts.”² Why? Because he loved people and was opposed to religious dogma and programs that kept people in bondage and used them for their own ends rather than helping them to grow.

“People were offended with Jesus because he violated their understanding of religion and piety. The religious of his day were particularly incensed that he deliberately healed on the Sabbath…. They accused him of being a drunkard, a glutton and having tacky taste in friends. As Gene Thomas is fond of saying, ‘Jesus was simply not your ideal Rotarian.’ It is a profound irony that the Son of God visited this planet and one of the chief complaints against him was that he was not religious enough.”³

In other words, Jesus was totally committed to people’s spiritual and personal growth and was strongly opposed to anything that stopped or hindered that growth. Political correctness was never ever a part of his agenda.

As an English Bishop once said, “Wherever Jesus went there was either a revival or a revolution. Wherever I go, they serve tea.”

Question: Do we, the members of our church, want to start a revival or a revolution? Or do we just prefer to serve tea?

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please give me the courage to stand up and be counted as a true follower of Jesus Christ and never be afraid to state clearly, in love, what your Word, the Bible, teaches—and help me to live it first. And help me never to allow myself to be controlled by today’s politically correct nonsense. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 2 Timothy 4:1-3 (NIV).

2. Rebecca Manley Pippert, Out of the Saltshaker and Into the World (Downer’s Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1979), p. 39.

3. Ibid, p. 40.

“I’m not a sociolinguist,” writes Karen Carr, missionary psychologist, “but I find languages fascinating. The other day in Ghana I was walking past a Ghanaian man talking on his cell phone in Twi (a local language here). Suddenly, in the midst of a sea of words I could not understand, I heard, ‘Hurry, hurry. Fast, fast.’

“Why did he need to switch to English to use those words? In a culture where relationships are valued more than task, where listening to someone is more important than crossing off my ‘to do’ list, where greeting someone before you get to the point of your conversation is a very high value—hurry, hurry, fast, fast is apparently a value grafted in from the West. I chuckled as I walked away and slowed my pace down just a fraction—reminding myself that I can enjoy the journey just as much as the destination.”²

Back in college days I used to have a small placard on my desk that said, “Beware of the barrenness of a busy life.” Some years ago there was a popular song that said: “Slow down you move to fast, got to make the morning last…looking for fun and feeling groovy.”

I don’t know about you but I still struggle with being too busy most of the time and need to remind myself that I need to take time to have fun and to smell the roses as life is short. At the same time I also realize that my life is an investment in eternity so I need to make sure my days are balanced and wisely spent. As William Penn said, “I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”³

And as another has wisely said, “Only one life ‘twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to live a balanced life, to invest my life wisely with eternal values in mind, and never be too busy to ‘be still and know that you are God.’ Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus name, amen.”

1. Psalm 46:10 (NIV).

2. Karen Carr of Mobile Member Care Team, Ghana, West Africa, http://www.mmct.org/

3. Steven Grellet.

Without a word, the butcher put the chicken back into the barrel, groped around as though finding another, pulled the same chicken out, and placed it on the scales. “This chicken weighs one pound more,” he announced. The woman pondered her options and then said, “Okay. I’ll take them both.”² Don’t you just love it?

Honesty is still the best policy—and we can be sure of this, our sins/lies will find us out—even if it is eventually!

2. Charles Mims, Sermon: “Morality and Integrity in Society.”

In his book, The Renewal Factor, Robert Waterman writes: “During the investigation that followed the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, an engineer at Morton Thiokol testified that he advised his superiors that weather conditions at Cape Kennedy were too cold to guarantee the safety of the space craft’s O-ring sealants. He urged them to delay the launch. Management pressed for more explanation: How cold was too cold—forty degrees? Thirty-seven degrees? Could they launch at forty-one degrees? The engineer resisted pinning down an exact temperature that was dangerous. He didn’t have the facts to be that precise. All he could tell his superiors was that the weather predicted for launching time was “away from goodness.”²

Sad to say, his warning went unheeded.

In such a day as this, especially here in the United States, with the questionable practices of corporations such as Enron, WorldCom, Xerox, Tyco, Arthur Andersen, and some church leaders, we cannot help but state emphatically how we have strayed far away from goodness—and the whole nation is suffering the consequences. People have lost their life savings and retirement funds—confidence in the stock market has suffered greatly—and political parties are blaming the opposition party for the great debacle when the bottom line issue is a moral crisis of leadership. And that may apply as much to some politicians as it does to some greedy corporate leaders!

Indeed, we have strayed far from goodness and replaced it with greed and a moral crisis.

As Christians, let us heed the word of the Apostle Paul to Timothy, “I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these [principles] and so have shipwrecked their faith.”³

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, how true is your word, ‘All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way.’ But thank you that you gave your Son, Jesus, to die for our sins and become our Savior. Grant that our nation, which has strayed far from goodness—and from you—will confess and repent of our sins and turn to you—the only hope of our salvation. And let your work begin in me. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Isaiah 53:6 (KJV).

2. Robert H. Waterman, Jr., The Renewal Factor (New York: Bantam Books, 1987), p. 50.

3. 1 Timothy 1:19 (NIV).

Pastor Ed Hart shared in a recent sermon, “Anyone who has put in a lawn understands about crabgrass because it hides there. It’s there but you don’t know it. Just when you think you have mastered the perfect lawn, lush and green, and you are sitting, taking in all that wonderful oxygen coming off those little blades of grass, you see it … and you say to yourself, ‘Aha! I’ve caught it in time. I’ve got it just as it is starting!’ However, as you begin to remove the crabgrass, you realize it’s been there all the time—forever!

“Just when we think we’re doing great in the Christian life … we discover something about ourselves that C.S. Lewis understood very well. In his book, Screwtape Letters, (a book of imagined correspondence between a major devil and his nephew, Wormwood, a junior devil), he writes the following to Wormwood, about humility:

“I see only one thing to do at the moment—as your patient (a young Christian) has become humble. Have you drawn his attention to the fact? All virtues are less formidable to us once the man is aware that he has them, but this is especially true of humility. Catch him at the moment when he is really poor in spirit and smuggle into his mind the gratifying reflection, ‘By Jove, I’m being humble!’ And almost immediately pride, pride at his own humility, will appear. If he awakes to the danger and tries to smother this new form of pride, make him proud of his attempt. Through as many stages as you please, but don’t try this too long for fear you will awaken his sense of humor and proportion. In which case he will merely laugh at you and go to bed.”

“Lewis caught it. It is so easy to become puffed up about our own goodness, our good deeds, and our self-righteousness, and to take pride in it—and it’s the crabgrass of our soul that sneaks in there. Jesus warned us not to be like the hypocrites who do all for an outward show, and not to take ourselves too seriously. What we do should not be for appearance sake. But when we see ‘the crabgrass of pride’ poking up its ugly head, recognize it for what it is. Dismiss it. Laugh at yourself and go to bed.”²

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to purify my motives and do good deeds because I love you and I love those whom you love. I admit that I need much help to do this. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Matthew 6:1-2 (NIV).
2. Edgar P. Hart, in his sermon, “Not All Is What It Seems.” First Presbyterian Church of Napa, California. May 12, 2002.

Alan Boone tells the humorous story how, at the end of their first date, a young man takes his favorite girl home. Emboldened by the night, he decides to try for that important first kiss. With an air of confidence, he leans with his hand against the wall and, smiling, he says to her, “Darling, how about a goodnight kiss?”

Horrified, she replies, “Are you mad? My parents will see us!”

“Oh come on! Who’s gonna see us at this hour?”

“No, please. Can you imagine if we get caught?”

“Oh come on, there’s nobody around, they’re all sleeping!”

“No way. It’s just too risky!”

“Oh please, please, I like you so much!”

“No, no, and no. I like you too, but I just can’t!”

“Oh yes you can. Please?”

“NO, no. I just can’t.”

“Pleeeeease?”

Out of the blue, the porch light goes on, and the girl’s sister shows up in her pajamas, hair disheveled. In a sleepy voice the sister says: “Dad says to go ahead and give him a kiss. Or I can do it. Or if need be, he’ll come down himself and do it. But for crying out loud tell him to take his hand off the intercom button!”²

Ooops … Some time ago after teaching a class, I was sharing personally with a friend and my microphone was still turned on! Very embarrassing!

What can be even more devastating and disappointing is when you have shared in confidence something very personal with someone that you trusted, only to find that they have shared it with someone else, and that someone shared it with someone else, and so on. Trust has been broken and you feel betrayed.

How easy it is to gossip. We can do it in numerous ways besides verbal assaults on a person’s character. When someone’s name is mentioned, all we have to do is say, “Oh, HIM!” in a negative tone of voice—or even give a dirty look at the mention of a person’s name. As another has said, “Most of us would never steal a man’s transportation, but think nothing of stealing his reputation.”

Suggested prayer, “Dear God, please help me to guard my tongue, and always ignore and never pass on harmful gossip. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Proverbs 11:13 (NIV).
2. Alan Smith, Boone, NC. www.TFTD-online.com.

A friend of mine has trouble with Japanese bonsai trees in that she sees tiny trees with great potential inhibited because they have been root-bound by man. Others have trouble seeing animals and birds trapped in cages for the same reason. For example, how do eagles feel in cages in zoos? These magnificent birds, created to soar to the heights of mountaintops, do they get frustrated? Are they fulfilled? How could they be?

Too many of us, who were created to reach our total God-given human and spiritual potential, are trapped in a cage of our own or of another’s making. We fail to resolve the problems in our life that hold us back. True, we may have been wounded in the past, but God wants us to be healed, to be made whole, to be free to fly, to soar to the heights of all that he has for us.

We have a choice, we can scratch in the dirt with the turkeys or we can rise up to follow Christ and fly with the eagles to the heights that God envisioned for us to reach. That choice is ours.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me to fully grasp the fact that you have a wonderful plan for MY life. Help me to discover what this is, and create in me a restlessness until I discover it. And help me to begin fulfilling that plan today by seeking you until I discover it. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

1. Isaiah 40:31 (NIV).