It may have been Jeff Foxworthy who asked, "What's the final words of a redneck? Hey ya'll, watch this."
I recently came across some of the last words of several people. some of them fairly famous people, others not so well-known. Let me share a few with you.
Writer Oscar Wilde, died November 30, 1900 saying, "Either that wallpaper goes, or I do."
Dominique Bouhours, a French grammarian, died in 1702 and his last words were, "I am about to...or I am going to...die, either expression is correct."
Revolutionary communist Karl Marx gave his final words to his housekeeper who had urged him to say something profound for posterity but disappointed her in 1883 with these words, "Go on, get out. Last words are for fools who haven't said enough."
William Saroyan was a Pulitzer Prize winning writer of plays and novels whose works were known for their optimism. Before his death in 1981, he telephoned his final words to the Associated Press. "Everybody has got to die, but I have always believed an exception would be made in my case. Now what?"
Ever the businessman, P.T. Barnum in 1891 asked "How were the receipts today at Madison Square Garden?"
The last words of a person tell us a great deal about him. There was another person whose final words reverberate through history over 2000 years after He uttered them from a cross. Jesus of Nazareth uttered seven phrases from Calvary that tell us a lot about Him and how we should live our lives. I encourage you to take time to read them again and understand that His final words were not about Himself, but were for you.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Brown M&M's
Do you ever wonder where people get some of the things they beleive are real? It's amazing how often some misinformation or urban legend gets loose in this cyber-crazy world and people take it as the truth and run with it. Or worse, they don't care if it's the truth and pass it along because it's just too juicy to let lie.
I have found that that even extends to many people's perception of the Bible. In one of my all-time favorite movies, Rocky, the fighter's manager, Mick, tells Rockey, "It's like the Good Book says, 'You don't get no second chances.'" Huh? But so many are guilty of such biblical ignorance.
I bring this up because of a recent editorial by Michael Smerconish in the Philadelphia Inquirer. He quoted Van Halen lead singer David Lee Roth's explanation as to why the band wanted no brown M&Ms backstage during its concerts.
Understand that many big-name entertainment acts have a "rider" in their contract detailing what they want before a show. Such clauses demand everything from specific equipment down to what food they want backstage. Van Halen requested M&Ms but absolutely no brown ones.
When those details became public the band became known as the poster boys for being spoiled.
However, Roth says there was a very legitimate reason for the odd request. He said Van Halen was the first group to be using a very sophisticated lighting system that required different accommmodations than standard lighting used by most every other act. To ensure that staging the show was done properly, the group included the M&M clause in it's rider to make sure the full contract specifications were met. If brown M&M's showed up backstage, they knew some of the important demands may have been ignored and safety issues could occur.
This is a roundabout way of stressing how important Bible study is. If we don't read what God has given us, we're apt to believe anything anyone says as the gospel truth!
I have found that that even extends to many people's perception of the Bible. In one of my all-time favorite movies, Rocky, the fighter's manager, Mick, tells Rockey, "It's like the Good Book says, 'You don't get no second chances.'" Huh? But so many are guilty of such biblical ignorance.
I bring this up because of a recent editorial by Michael Smerconish in the Philadelphia Inquirer. He quoted Van Halen lead singer David Lee Roth's explanation as to why the band wanted no brown M&Ms backstage during its concerts.
Understand that many big-name entertainment acts have a "rider" in their contract detailing what they want before a show. Such clauses demand everything from specific equipment down to what food they want backstage. Van Halen requested M&Ms but absolutely no brown ones.
When those details became public the band became known as the poster boys for being spoiled.
However, Roth says there was a very legitimate reason for the odd request. He said Van Halen was the first group to be using a very sophisticated lighting system that required different accommmodations than standard lighting used by most every other act. To ensure that staging the show was done properly, the group included the M&M clause in it's rider to make sure the full contract specifications were met. If brown M&M's showed up backstage, they knew some of the important demands may have been ignored and safety issues could occur.
This is a roundabout way of stressing how important Bible study is. If we don't read what God has given us, we're apt to believe anything anyone says as the gospel truth!
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Play It Smart
Let me share some true stories about dumb people.
A man walked into a Burger King one morning in Ypsilanti, Michigan, flashed a gun and demanded cash. The clerk turned him down because he said he couldn't open the cash register without a food order. When the man ordered onion rings, the clerk said they weren't available for breakfast. Frustrated, the would-be robber walked away.
A Louisiana man walked into a convenience store, put a $20 bill on the counter and asked for change. When the clerk opened the cash drawer, the man pulled a gun and asked for all the cash in the register, which the clerk promptly provided. The man took the cash from the clerk and fled, leaving the $20 bill on the counter. The total amount of cash he got from the drawer? $15.
One more story. Two Kentucky men tried to pull the front off a cash machine by running a chain from the machine to the bumper of their pickup truck. Instead of pulling the front panel off the machine, they pulled the bumper off their truck. Scared, they left the scene and drove home...with the chain still attached to the machine...with their bumper still attached to the chain...with their vehicle's license plate still attached to the bumper.
There is no shortage of dumb people in this world. Even more amazing is how many people reject the Word of God. The Bible says "The fool says in his heart there is no God." (Psalm 14:1)
In light of all the evidence that exists for a Creator, and even for His Son Jesus Christ, so many people refuse to bow before Him.
The Bible says the day will come when every knee will bow before Him (Philippians 2:10). To wait until it is too late is tragic and, well, just dumb.
A man walked into a Burger King one morning in Ypsilanti, Michigan, flashed a gun and demanded cash. The clerk turned him down because he said he couldn't open the cash register without a food order. When the man ordered onion rings, the clerk said they weren't available for breakfast. Frustrated, the would-be robber walked away.
A Louisiana man walked into a convenience store, put a $20 bill on the counter and asked for change. When the clerk opened the cash drawer, the man pulled a gun and asked for all the cash in the register, which the clerk promptly provided. The man took the cash from the clerk and fled, leaving the $20 bill on the counter. The total amount of cash he got from the drawer? $15.
One more story. Two Kentucky men tried to pull the front off a cash machine by running a chain from the machine to the bumper of their pickup truck. Instead of pulling the front panel off the machine, they pulled the bumper off their truck. Scared, they left the scene and drove home...with the chain still attached to the machine...with their bumper still attached to the chain...with their vehicle's license plate still attached to the bumper.
There is no shortage of dumb people in this world. Even more amazing is how many people reject the Word of God. The Bible says "The fool says in his heart there is no God." (Psalm 14:1)
In light of all the evidence that exists for a Creator, and even for His Son Jesus Christ, so many people refuse to bow before Him.
The Bible says the day will come when every knee will bow before Him (Philippians 2:10). To wait until it is too late is tragic and, well, just dumb.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Reaping the Harvest
Sunday we considered the words of Jesus in Matthew 9:35-38 as He talked about the fields being white unto the harvest. In other words, the many people needing to know about Christ.
Herein lies one of the great truths of the Christian faith: The harvest will never be reaped unless there are reapers to reap it. Jesus Christ needs men and women to bring in the harvest. Jesus' followers today need to see people as Jesus saw them - as plentiful, precious, perplexed and perishing.
What can we do?
a) We can take responsibility for our field. Think of all the people we contact everyday: family, friends, neighbors, work associates, the woman at the cleaners, the guy at the car wash, our hunting buddies, and our bunko group. That is our field. We are responsible for them. We will never have a sense of urgency and priority until we realize that we are responsible for them.
b) We can pray. When we begin to see people as Jesus saw them then we will pray for the harvest. We will pray for the salvation of the lost, for the church to be trainers of reapers, and for men and women to go into the harvest. We will pray for workers, laborers, servers, and givers. But we must do more than pray.
c) We can go. When we see people as Jesus saw them we will go into the harvest. We can't bring in the harvest without first going into the harvest. Our job is not to save the harvest - that's God's work. Our job is to tell people about the Lord of the harvest. The gospel begins with go. Without going there is no knowing. If we don't go, who will?
d) We can share our story. The great sin of the church is the sin of silence. People often say, "I'll let my life be my witness." (By the way, if you are saying that, how's that going? How many people have come to Christ because they watched your life?) We have taken the Great Commission and made it into the great omission. A subtle false teaching says we can be evangelical without being evangelistic. It has us believe that we go to church rather than we go into the world.
But, you say, there are so many people. The harvest is so vast. The needs are so overwhelming. What can I do?
Illustration: I am reminded of the old man, walking the beach at dawn, who noticed a young man ahead of him picking up starfish and flinging them into the sea. Catching up with the youth, he asked what he was doing. The answer was that the stranded starfish would die if left in the morning sun. "But the beach goes on for miles, and there are millions of starfish," countered the old man. "How can your effort make a difference?" The young man looked at the starfish in his hand and then threw it to safety in the waves. "It makes a difference to this one," he said.
Let's make a difference to those around us for eternity.
Herein lies one of the great truths of the Christian faith: The harvest will never be reaped unless there are reapers to reap it. Jesus Christ needs men and women to bring in the harvest. Jesus' followers today need to see people as Jesus saw them - as plentiful, precious, perplexed and perishing.
What can we do?
a) We can take responsibility for our field. Think of all the people we contact everyday: family, friends, neighbors, work associates, the woman at the cleaners, the guy at the car wash, our hunting buddies, and our bunko group. That is our field. We are responsible for them. We will never have a sense of urgency and priority until we realize that we are responsible for them.
b) We can pray. When we begin to see people as Jesus saw them then we will pray for the harvest. We will pray for the salvation of the lost, for the church to be trainers of reapers, and for men and women to go into the harvest. We will pray for workers, laborers, servers, and givers. But we must do more than pray.
c) We can go. When we see people as Jesus saw them we will go into the harvest. We can't bring in the harvest without first going into the harvest. Our job is not to save the harvest - that's God's work. Our job is to tell people about the Lord of the harvest. The gospel begins with go. Without going there is no knowing. If we don't go, who will?
d) We can share our story. The great sin of the church is the sin of silence. People often say, "I'll let my life be my witness." (By the way, if you are saying that, how's that going? How many people have come to Christ because they watched your life?) We have taken the Great Commission and made it into the great omission. A subtle false teaching says we can be evangelical without being evangelistic. It has us believe that we go to church rather than we go into the world.
But, you say, there are so many people. The harvest is so vast. The needs are so overwhelming. What can I do?
Illustration: I am reminded of the old man, walking the beach at dawn, who noticed a young man ahead of him picking up starfish and flinging them into the sea. Catching up with the youth, he asked what he was doing. The answer was that the stranded starfish would die if left in the morning sun. "But the beach goes on for miles, and there are millions of starfish," countered the old man. "How can your effort make a difference?" The young man looked at the starfish in his hand and then threw it to safety in the waves. "It makes a difference to this one," he said.
Let's make a difference to those around us for eternity.
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