Reputation in Christian preaching highlights the importance of a good name and honorable conduct that reflect one's faith and witness to the world, as urged in 1 Peter 2:11-12. Illustrations often use pictures of legacy, character, and public perception, emphasizing integrity and the lasting impact of how believers are known by others (Proverbs 22:1).
"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are."
John Wooden
Former college basketball coach
Cited in BITS & PIECES
Sir Thomas More (1478-1535) faced death with cheerfulness because he knew he was doing the right thing. Rather than endorse Henry the Eighth's divorce, he quit his post and returned to his home penniless. The King threw him in the Tower of London but he stood firm. He smiled on the scaffold, kissed the executioner, gave him a gold coin, and quipped with a grin, "Don't be afraid, my good man. Take care to do it well, for I have a short neck, and you mustn't ruin your reputation."
A plaque inside Chick-Fil-A headquarters reads: "Our corporate purpose is to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us." For a successful businessman driven less by the dollar than his faith, the motto could apply to all areas of S. Truett Cathy's life.
"I've never seen a conflict between biblical principles and good business practice," Cathy, founder and CEO of Chick-Fil-A restaurants, said in a recent address to student athletes in Alabama.
Echoing life lessons illustrated in his book "It's Easier to Succeed Than to Fail," Cathy challenged nearly 300 members of Auburn University's chapter of Fellowship of Christian Athletes to value a good reputation over personal success.
"A good name is more desirable than great riches," Cathy said, quoting Proverbs 22:1.
Cathy is an advocate of "old-time religion." Not quite 81, this staunch Southern Baptist has taught eighth-graders in Sunday school for 47 years and remains a lucid, unwavering reminder that "it's easier to build boys and girls than to mend men and women."
In fact, the only thing unorthodox about Cathy is the way he runs his business. Along with an empire of successful restaurants, he has built a reputation for impeccable business ethics.
"I think the Bible spells out how we should treat our employees and how we should treat our customers," he said
Elaborating on his philosophy, Cathy said: "A lot of people eat out when they're not even hungry; they're just looking for a pleasant experience, and we provide for their emotional needs and sometimes even their spiritual needs."
"I think there's a reason so many of Christ's dynamic experiences took place around the dining table," he said.
Cathy, who opened his first restaurant nearly 60 years ago, said he is fascinated by changes he has witnessed in the restaurant industry.
"Fast food is now a way of life," said Cathy.
Responding to a question about his controversial policy of closing his restaurants on Sundays, Cathy said unflinchingly: "That's the best business decision I've ever made. I think the Lord has blessed us because of the fact that we're closed on Sunday."
While critics cite as much as a 20 percent loss in sales resulting from the Sunday closing practice, Chick-Fil-A's employee turnaround was about 4 percent in 2000, a remarkably low figure in the fast-food industry. Cathy credits this to his observance of the Sabbath. "It's certainly helped to attract the caliber of people as employees who appreciate having Sundays off," he said.
One such person who appreciates Cathy's decision is Andrew Barnes, owner and operator of two Chick-Fil-A stores in the Auburn area. Barnes, who started working at Chick-Fil-A when he was 14, is planning to open a third store in Opelika.
In addition to offering scholarships to the many student employees of Chick Fil-A, Cathy started a foster home system for children until they reach college age. There are 11 WinShape homes located in Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama, and one in Brazil. Cathy's daughter, Trudy, and her husband John, were International Mission Board missionaries in Brazil for 10 years.
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Recently, Karen and I had the chance to visit the Civil War battlefield at Vicksburg, Mississippi. I asked Karen if she had any firsthand memories of the war that she wanted to share with me, which almost started another battle at Vicksburg. Now, President Lincoln had called Vicksburg the “key” to the Confederacy and he told his generals, “We do not yet have the key in our pocket.” Standing on high cliffs overlooking the Mississippi, it was a daunting challenge for the Union Army. For more than a year there were bombardments from the river and from the many hills, numerous clashes on land and, at the end, a siege that actually drove Vickburg's residents to live in caves. Everywhere we drove, there were markers indicating Union and Confederate regiments that had battled it out for the hills all around the city. Some of the bloodiest fighting took place as Northern forces mounted bold attacks on the Southern strongholds atop the highest points. As in so many battles, the fight for the high ground helped determine the outcome of the battle.
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “The High Ground.”
You can see it over and over in military history - he who holds the high ground often wins the battle. It's a principle that goes far beyond military engagements. It's a principle of winning in life - hold the high ground, whatever it takes.
That's why integrity is so important, and honesty, and purity, and transparency. That's the moral high ground - and the deciding factor in the blessing of Almighty God.
The Apostle Paul expresses - and actually models - this passion for holding the high ground in our word for today from the Word of God in 2 Corinthians 8:19-21. He's been collecting an offering from the churches to be given to the persecuted and impoverished believers in Jerusalem. He's explaining here the team he's assembled to take this money to Jerusalem. He says of Titus, “He was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering.”
Then Paul explains why he's going to all this extra effort. “We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift. For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men.” Well, there's the high ground - taking pains to do what is right before both God and man. And frankly, sometimes doing what's right is a pain. It usually takes longer to do it right. It costs more to do it right, and it's harder to do it right. But it so worth it to have the full blessing of God? Will people always agree you're doing what's right? Not always - often because they don't have all the facts. But you need to know that the more people find out about what you're doing the better you will look. Nothing to hide!
The high road: submitting yourself, as the Bible says, “for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted by men.” (1 Peter 2:13) Never repaying anyone “evil for evil” but overcoming “evil with good.” (Romans 12:17, 21) No word games. No money games. No cutting corners on what is right in God's eyes. If the auditors never come to check, you can be sure that we'll all be audited by the Auditor who knows everything about us.
Maybe it's tempting to compromise, to take the easy road instead of the high road. But when you forfeit the high ground - however tempting it might seem to surrender - the battle starts to turn against you. Whatever it takes, whatever it costs - hold the high ground!
________________
Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. "Practical Answers to Real Life Issues"
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[Original illustration at this number has been added to HolwickID #16628]
Sermon on 1 Corinthians 4:8-20.
1. What do people think of us?
2. What the Corinthians thought of Paul. (Not much)
3. What God will think of us. (Judgment Day)
4. Paul's life reflected the hardships of following Jesus.
a. How we handle difficulties is important.
5. What others should be able to think of us. (Imitation)
a. Sounds arrogant.
b. We are examples, whether we want to be or not.
6. What do people think of you?
a. As an individual.
b. We as a church.
*1203
Michael Medved is a film critic.
"Why do savvy producers continue to authorize scores of projects that portray
religious leaders as crazed, conspiratorial charlatans, when similar films
have failed so conspicuously and consistently in the past? It is hard too
escape the conclusion that, for many of the most powerful people in the
entertainment business, hostility to traditional religion goes so deep and
burns so intensely that they insist on expressing that hostility, even at the
risk of commercial disaster."
(Quoted in Biblical Evangelist, 8/1/90, page 19)
*1223
Writer was a nurse and was told by her supervisor she would have a better witness if she worked harder and was not so lazy. She became diligent and others noticed. [see below]
“Again and agin, Scripture points to our attitudes and actions as the critical touch point between us and others.”
________
Becky Brodin is a nurse and works in a Cardiac Unit on the midnight shift. This night she only had 2 patients and both were sleeping. She settled in to stare at the monotonous blips on the monitors.
The other nurse on duty that night interrupted Becky’s day-dreaming. “Can I talk to you about something?” Her tone of voice snapped Becky to attention. “Sure, what is it?”
She cleared her throat and began. “I’ve noticed you bring your Bible to work every day, and I know you are a Christian, but...” She paused - “As a nurse you are dispensable. You have a lot of potential, but the discrepancy between what you could be and what you are is disappointing. Let me give you some advice whether you want it or not. If I were you I’d become indispensable. Maybe then someone will listen to your religion.”
Becky was shocked, but not offended - she knew the nurse was right. Becky had learned what she needed to do in order to get by, but hadn’t progressed any further. She was eager to share her faith, but had become blind to the laziness that clouded any chance to witness effectively.
How to live an impressive life:
A. Be wholehearted at work.
B. Be clean in your speech and keep a positive attitude.
C. Be a servant to everyone, not just friends.
D. Admit your sinfulness.
1) Accused of doing wrong.
a) People question our motives.
b) Sometimes justified?
2) We are not perfect, but we can be honest.
There’s a wonderful story about a Chicago bank that once asked for a letter of recommendation on a young Bostonian being considered for employment.
The Boston investment house could not say enough about the young man. His father, they wrote, was a Cabot; his mother was a Lowell. Further back was a happy blend of Saltonstalls, Peabody’s, and others of Boston’s first families. His recommendation was given without hesitation.
Several days later, the Chicago bank sent a note saying the information supplied was altogether inadequate. It read, “We are not contemplating using the young man for breeding purposes. Just for work.”
Neither is God a respecter of persons but accepts those from every family, nation and race who fear him and work for his kingdom (Acts 10:34-35).
“Be beautiful if you can, wise if you want to... But be respected — that is essential.”
-- Anna Gould
“The Bible gives us a list of human stories on both sides of the ledger. One list of human stories is used as examples – do what these people did. Another list of human stories is used as warnings – don’t do what these people did. So if your story ever gets in one of these books, make sure they use it as an example, not a warning.”
-- Jim Rohn
“You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do.”
-- Henry Ford
"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently."
-- Warren Buffett, Quotes From the Masters (QFTM) 2/22/03
"The reputation of a thousand years may be determined by the conduct of one hour."
-- Japanese Proverb
““Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us.”
-- Thomas Paine (1737-1809) [also attributed to Horace Mann (1796 - 1859) -- see note 1 below]
________
1. Paine's quote has been variously attributed. "Reputation is what men and women think of us, character is what God and the angels know of us" is attributed to Thomas Paine in A Dictionary of Terms, Phrases, and Quotations (1895) edited by Henry Percy Smith, and Helen Kendrick Johnson.
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Horace_Mann notes that it is attributed to Horace Mann, in The Wordsworth Dictionary of Quotations (1998) edited by Connie Robertson, but the earliest published variant of such a declaration seem to be in an anecdote about an anonymous Boston woman in 1889: "I have the reputation of being of good moral character. But you know reputation is what people think of us, while character is what God and the angels know of us, and that I don’t want to tell." (Anonymous Boston woman, as quoted in Current Opinion [1889]).
Price Collier, in Sermons (1892) put it this way: "There is a very great difference — is there not? — between the temporal and the eternal judgments, a very great difference between a man’s reputation and a man’s character, for reputation is what men think and say of us, while character is what God and the angels know of us."
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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #18615]
A Christian friend of Robert Tamasy in the Midwest was general manager of a chain of community newspapers, and his responsibilities included setting advertising policies. At one point he ordered that advertising clients who used a Christian symbol or Bible verse on business cards or stationery would be required to pay cash in advance. These were his worst-paying accounts. One lesson that many of us in the faith still need to learn is that our most effective witness – to non-Christians and to fellow believers – is not through what we say, but through what we do.
#2458
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Simon Wiesenthal, the Nazi hunter, in the midst of a fairly grim autobiography, tells this story. There was a man living near him in one of the D.P. (Displaced Persons) camps after the war who borrowed ten dollars from him, and assured him that he had a package coming from a relative any day and would positively pay him back the next week. At week’s end, he had an excuse for not paying, and the next week, he had an even better one, and so it went on for almost a year.
Finally one day, the man came up to Wiesenthal with a ten dollar bill in his hand and said, “My visa has just come through. I’m leaving for Canada tomorrow. Here’s the ten dollars I owe you.” And Wiesenthal waved him away and said, “No, keep it. For ten dollars, it’s not worth changing my opinion of you.”
Some humor in that but when you think about it, what a bad bargain. The lender not only lost the ten dollars, but also had to carry an unprofitable inventory of resentment. Acquitting the man would have been worth far more to him than the measly ten bucks.
The Gentleman Bandit illustration.
It happened just a few years ago (sometime before 1987). The banks in New Jersey had been robbed systematically, one after the other. What made the robber stand out was his politeness. He just gave the tellers a note which said, “Please place your money in this bag. Thank you.”
The newspapers called him the GENTLEMAN BANDIT. The widespread publicity led to a very unlikely arrest - the suspect was a Catholic priest. His church was appalled but stood beside him, saying they knew he could not be the bandit. They signed petitions, held protest marches and came up with his bail.
But the police were certain they had their man. All of the eyewitnesses positively identified him. And the news media dug into his past, to find that in a previous church he had left under a cloud because of financial irregularities in the parish.
For a priest he had a pretty expensive lifestyle - his own apartment and a fast car. His church was probably standing up for him because otherwise they looked like dupes.
As I watched the story unfold on the news, I was positive this priest had pulled a fast one. He probably had a socio-pathic personality so he could rob banks and preach the next Sunday without feeling any guilt. But you know the old Bible verse: “Be ye sure, YOUR SIN WILL FIND YE OUT.” (Numbers 32:23)
No one outside his congregation was standing up for this guy. But then a funny thing happened. The REAL Gentleman Bandit was caught red-handed. As it turned out, he was the spitting image of the priest. It's just that he WASN'T the priest. The priest was released, his church threw him a big party, and the news media and I felt a little sheepish.
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http://slimac.lanecc.edu/users/kime/Jan%2026%2001.html
Father Pagano was misidentified and arrested for robberies he did not commit. Schemas and misinformation from eyewitness testimonies played a role this mistake. Let's look specifically as the mistakes that were made. After the victims experienced the robberies (the original memories), the local media showed a composite sketch of the robber (potentially inaccurate information) based on details remembered by the victims.
A former member of Father Pagano's parish “recognized” the priest from the sketch and notified the police. Could you have recognized Ted Kazinsky from the composite sketch? Those who “remembered” the Unibomber were not that accurate.
The behavior of the “gentleman bandit” fit the schema of a priest: the robber was very courteous and even apologized when he robbed people, saying he needed the money (schema distortion).
When police investigators interviewed the witness, the officers mentioned that the robber might be a priest (misleading information; source confusion). After witnesses saw news photos of the priest being arrested (more misleading information), they were shown photographs of possible suspects. Only one photograph showed a suspect wearing a clerical collar - the picture of Father Pagano.
=========================================================
http://www.cgl.uwaterloo.ca/~bgbauer/chapters/quiz/ch5.4.a.html
The eyewitnesses in the 'gentleman bandit' cases were told before viewing the pictures of the suspect that one of the suspects might be a priest. Despite the lack of an obvious visual similarity between the real perpetrator and Fr. Pagano, 7 witnesses selected Fr. Pagano as the bandit. The leading statement about the priest may have resulted in:
a) perceptual fluency leading to false recognition (*)
b) source amnesia
c) an "own race" bias
d) signal detection
In his book, I Almost Missed The Sunset, Bill Gaither writes:
Gloria and I had been married a couple of years. We were teaching school in Alexandria, Indiana, where I had grown up, and we wanted a piece of land where we could build a house. I noticed the parcel south of town where cattle grazed, and I learned it belonged to a 92-year-old retired banker named Mr. Yule. He owned a lot of land in the area, and the word was he would sell none of it. He gave the same speech to everyone who inquired: “I promised the farmers they could use it for their cattle.”
Gloria and I visited him at the bank. Although he was retired, he spent a couple of hours each morning in his office. He looked at us over the top of his bifocals.
I introduced myself and told him we were interested in a piece of his land. “Not selling,” he said pleasantly. “Promised it to a farmer for grazing.”
“I know, but we teach school here and thought maybe you’d be interested in selling it to someone planning to settle in the area.”
He pursed his lips and stared at me. “What’d you say your name was?”
“Gaither. Bill Gaither.”
“Hmmmm. Any relation to Grover Gaither?”
“Yes, sir. He was my granddad.”
Mr Yule put down his paper and removed his glasses. “Interesting. Grover Gaither was the best worker I ever had on my farm. Full day’s work for a day’s pay. So honest. What’d you say you wanted?”
I told him again. “Let me do some thinking on it, then come back and see me.”
I came back within the week, and Mr. Yule told me he had had the property appraised. I held my breath. “How does $3,800 sound? Would that be okay?”
If that was per acre, I would have to come up with nearly $60,000! “$3,800?” I repeated. “Yup. Fifteen acres for $3,800.”
I knew it had to be worth at least three times that. I readily accepted.
Nearly three decades later, my son and I strolled that beautiful, lush property that had once been pasture land. “Benjy,” I said, “you’ve had this wonderful place to grow up through nothing that you’ve done, but because of the good name of a great-granddad you never met.”
“A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold” (Prov 22:1)
Judy White Edelson wrote in Newsweek magazine:
"I used to laugh about my mother telling me, 'That will go on your permanent record.' I thought I had no permanent record. I was young and had a long, full lifetime in which to make mistakes and explore endless possibilities.... There IS a permanent record. It lives on in the memories of all the people you have come in contact with. It lives on in your own perception of yourself, coloring and flavoring who you become, what you expect to be able to accomplish, and how you live your life. Every decision you make determines your tomorrow. Your future is in your past."
#3308
[also see #10929 and #27879]
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Sermon in 1 Peter series. Have a reputation of good deeds. 1 Pet 2:11-12
=================
SHUT THEIR MOUTHS
=================
I. It's never easy. 2:11
A. Alien status.
B. Abstain from sinful desires.
C. War of the soul. Romans 7:23
II. Surrounded by critics. 2:12
A. Early Christians lived in a hostile environment.
B. The way we live is as important as what we say.
III. How to live an impressive life.
A. Be wholehearted at work.
B. Be clean in your speech and positive in your attitude.
C. Be a servant to everyone, not just your friends.
D. Admit your sinfulness.
IV. Making an eternal impression. 2:15
A. Our integrity should draw attention to God, not us.
B. Preach your life.
#4092
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Novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote "there are no second acts in American life." Fitzgerald was probably wrong when he wrote those words. He's certainly wrong today.
All you need to do to see how wrong Fitzgerald was is turn on your television. Two years ago, sports broadcaster Marv Albert pled guilty to misdemeanor assault and battery charges stemming from sexual encounters in a Virginia hotel room.
Prior to his arrest, Albert was NBC's top basketball announcer, and considered by his peers and fans alike to be the best play-by-play announcer in the business.
But Albert's reputation didn't stop NBC from firing him after he pled guilty. Dick Ebersol, the president of NBC sports, called Albert's firing "something we had to do."
This past June, NBC quietly rehired Albert, assigning him to less important broadcasts.
By last month, Albert's restoration was complete. NBC returned him to his old job, and Albert will be at the microphone for all of this season's National Basketball Association broadcasts. In the calculations of his employer, Albert's expertise and popularity with fans outweighs the disgrace of having pled guilty to sensational assault charges against a woman.
Albert isn't the only person making a comeback. Less than a year after a scandal that made her last name synonymous with a sexual act, Monica Lewinsky has re-emerged as a spokeswoman for Jenny Craig Diet Centers.
The ads feature "before" and "after" photos of Miss Lewinsky, along with a testimonial that proclaims "I haven't felt deprived on this [Jenny Craig weight loss] program -- at all."
And unlike Albert, who expressed some regrets for his conduct, Lewinsky is back without expressing the slightest remorse.
Her restoration prompted Los Angeles Times television writer Howard Rosenberg to call it "a shame" that Lewinsky is "profiting from the infamy she attained when helping put the nation through enormous agony."
Rosenberg cited Lewinsky and Albert as proof that "the U.S. is either a very forgiving or forgetful nation in which fame tends to assume a life of its own if it exists long enough."
He's right. Fame is the supreme quality we seem to admire, even if the person is famous for all the wrong reasons. Albert's and Lewinsky's public restoration shows how little Americans care about the need for repentance and remorse before restoration.
We no longer require people caught in scandal to prove they are truly sorry for what they did, much less pay a meaningful price. Instead, all we require is that they keep a low profile for a period of time before re-emerging, good as new -- exactly what Albert and Lewinsky did.
The World War II martyr and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer had an expression to describe this kind of bogus restoration: cheap grace. Restoration without repentance doesn't change lives or behavior. What's worse, it blinds people to the need for true repentance and amendment of life. That's a problem, because God isn't as lenient as Jenny Craig.
If our neighbors are going to understand what restoration really means, we have to teach them. They need to know that there are second acts with God. But the curtain only rises after we've repented.
___________________
Copyright (c) 2000 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.
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Rev. Wiley Drake, the pastor of the First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park, California, had a heart for ministry to the homeless. His church started an outreach program to the homeless that included a program to help drug addicts get clean and help them develop skills to get reacclimated with the work force. In addition, they were encouraged to attend a weekly Bible study, though this was not required to be part of the program. The church ran an active soup kitchen out of the fellowship hall and soon they were working with dozens of homeless folks in a very successful program that was turning lives around.
Success was a problem when the Mayor, the City Manager, and the Chief of Police requested a meeting with the pastor and the leaders of the church. They were informed that there were too many shabby people who were visible from the main thoroughfare that tourists frequented on their way to Disneyland. The town elders were concerned about the image projected to tourists by the large number of homeless people congregating in front of the church daily. They asked the church to shut down their mission.
The problem was that the pastor and the leaders of the church saw the mission as the ministry of the church, that is what they were all about spiritually speaking. It may well be the case that the town elders thought this outreach was merely an extension of the church. It may well have been the case that the town elders thought church was simply preaching and singing between the hours of 11 and 12 on Sunday morning. But the church didn't see it that way and refused to change.
As a result the authorities investigated the church use and cited them for I I criminal charges for various zoning violations, The pastor was cited, the deacons of the church, and the church treasurer as well. The violations appeared to the church as amounting to subtle harassment. They were cited for using a hallway, originally permitted as a thoroughfare, for storage, because cartons of juice were stacked there for daily distribution to the poor. The fellowship hall, originally zoned as a church, was deemed as operating as commercial property because regular transfers of-food -and drink were taking place there.
The case actually came to trial. Of the original I I counts, 7 were dropped. But four remained bringing with them a possibility of 2 years imprisonment and $2000 in fines against the pastor. The trial proceeded and the pastor was convicted.
There is divine humor at the end of this story. The judge, apparently annoyed that the trial was being held in the first place, sentenced the' pastor to 1500 hours of community service. He then remanded the sentence citing time already served in feeding the homeless. As one lawyer noted, "This may be the only case in American jurisprudence where the sentence was the crime."
These kinds of disputes with our towns are inevitable and likely to grow, particularly in urban areas like New Jersey. The town managers have a primary interest in promoting quiet, non-offensive piety in well-defined districts. But the free exercise of religion is not so easily contained. Furthermore, the free exercise of religion is not simply a privilege among other privileges. In our Constitution, it is a fundamental right.
Rev. Dr. Charles T. Rush, Jr.
Christ Church, Summit, NJ
Recently I have been asking a question of strangers -- for example, seatmates on an airplane -- whenever I strike up a conversation: "When I say the words evangelical Christian, what comes to mind?" In reply I hear about scandal-plagued televangelists and strident pro-life activists, or opposition to gay rights, or proposals for censoring the Internet. Not once -- not once! -- have I heard a description redolent of grace.
As a journalist, though, I have had the privilege of seeing many wonderful examples of Christians who dispense grace. These are the people I wish would come to mind when I poll my airplane seatmates. Although this group does not often make the newspapers, its members serve faithfully, seasoning our culture with the preservative of the gospel. I tremble to imagine what the modern United States would look like without the "salt of the earth" in its midst.
I know the hospice movement well, for my wife works in one as a chaplain. I once interviewed Dame Cicely Saunders, founder of the modern hospice movement, at Saint Christopher's Hospice in London. A social worker and nurse, she was appalled at the way medical staff treated people who were about to die -- in essence, ignoring them, as tokens of failure. This attitude offended Saunders as a Christian, for she knew that care for the dying was traditionally one of the church's seven works of mercy.
Since no one would listen to a nurse, she returned to medical school in middle age and became a doctor before founding a place where people could come to die with dignity and without pain. Now there are 2,000 hospices in the United States alone, about half of which have a Christian base. Dame Cicely believed from the beginning that Christians offer the best combination of physical, emotional, and spiritual care for those facing death. Now she presents the hospice movement as a glowing alternative to Dr. Jack Kevorkian and his "right to die" movement.
I think of the thousands of chapters based on the Twelve Step program that meet in church basements, VFW halls, and living rooms all across the nation, any night of the week. The Christians who founded Alcoholics Anonymous faced the choice of whether to make it a restrictively Christian organization, or to found it on Christian principles and then set it free. They chose the latter option, and now millions of people in America look to that model -- based on dependence on a "Higher Power" and on a supportive community -- as a lifeline against addictions to alcohol, drugs, sex, and food.
I think of Millard Fuller, a millionaire entrepreneur from Alabama, who still speaks with a cotton-fields twang. Rich but miserable, his marriage on the rocks, he headed to Americus, Georgia, where he fell under the spell of Clarence Jordan, the radical Christian who paraphrased the Cotton Patch versions of the Gospels. Before long, Fuller had given away his personal fortune and founded an organization on the simple premise that every person on the planet deserves a decent place to live. Today Habitat for Humanity organizes hundreds of thousands of volunteers to build houses all over the world.
I once heard Fuller attacked by an elderly Jewish lady who was scandalized to learn that her money was going to support a Christian mission. "Ma'am, we don't try to evangelize," Fuller patiently explained. "You don't have to be a Christian to live in one of our houses, or to help us build one. But the reason I do what I do, and so many of our volunteers do what they do, is that we're being obedient to Jesus."
I think of Bill Magee, a plastic surgeon who was shocked to find that in developing countries many children go through life with untreated cleft palates. They cannot smile, and their lips curl open in a constant sneer, making them the object of ridicule. Magee and his wife organized a program called Operation Smile: planeloads of doctors and support personnel travel to places like Vietnam, the Philippines, Kenya, Russia, and the Middle East in order to repair facial deformities. So far, they have operated on more than 36,000 children, leaving behind the legacy of smiles.
I think of Bread for the World, an agency founded by Christians who believed they could best help the hungry not by competing with World Vision but by lobbying Congress on behalf of the world's poor. Or of Joseph's House, a home for aids patients in Washington, D.C. Or of Pat Robertson's Operation Blessing that runs inner-city programs in 35 large cities, or of Jerry Falwell's "Save a Baby Homes," where pregnant women can go to a loving home if they choose to carry their babies to term rather than abort. (Sadly, both these programs get far less attention than do their founders' political views.)
Rousseau said the church set up an irresolvable loyalty dilemma. How can Christians be good citizens of this world if they are primarily concerned about the next world? The people I have mentioned, and millions like them, disprove his argument. As C. S. Lewis has noted, people most conscious of another world have made the most effective Christians in this one. "Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither."
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Copyright(c) 1997 by Christianity Today, Inc/Christianity Today Magazine. February 3, 1997 Vol. 41, No. 2, Page 136 7T2wh7T2136726i
What's in a name? Trouble, for a woman stopped in Stafford, Virginia. Authorities say a woman trying to fib her way out of trouble with a Stafford County deputy nearly landed in federal prison this weekend.
Deputy Eric Quinn stopped a car Saturday afternoon after spotting the driver speeding off U.S. 17 onto Short Street. When he asked for the woman's driver's license, she said she didn't have it with her. But she offered the deputy a name, address and date of birth.
When Quinn ran a routine criminal background check with the information, he found the woman was wanted by the U.S. Marshals Service. When Quinn tried to arrest her, “she quickly changed her story,” giving her real name and address. Since the deputy had no idea who she really was, he took her fingerprints. Her second story was true.
Beverly N. Daniels, 27, of Capital Heights, Maryland, was charged with identity fraud, driving on a suspended license and obstruction of justice.
She told Quinn she gave him her friend's name because she had a suspended license and didn't want to get arrested. “She told us that she did not know her friend was wanted,” an officer said. “She said if she had, she wouldn't have used her name. Obviously.”
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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #5448]
Once there was a girl in my class that I thought was beautiful and smart. I believed that she was perfect. When it came time for my birthday, I invited her to my party, and she came.
A few months later, it was her birthday. I got a special necklace for her. Thinking about how happy she would be to receive my gift made me so excited.
I asked her when her birthday party was going to be. She replied, "Why do you want to know? You're not invited. You're just a dork with glasses!"
I felt really bad when she said that. I just stood there looking at her. Everyone standing by her came to stand next to me. Then we all left.
That day, I figured out that even if someone looks perfect, there is a very good possibility that they aren't. When it comes to perfection, it's how someone treats you that is more important than how they look.
_________________
Ellie Logan, age 9, from Chicken Soup for the Kid's Soul Copyright 1998 by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty Hansen and Irene Dunlap.
"Lead your life so you won't be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip."
Colleen Spencer
Assistant to the Executive Director of Administrative Services
University of Maine at Augusta
A recent poll asked people what kind of neighbors they would most like NOT to have to live next door to: Drug dealers? Used car salesmen? No. The number-one choice was fundamentalists, by which they meant any devout Christian.
This perception about Christians is especially sad, because the people most hurt by this attitude are the ones most in need of the difference the Gospel can make.
Rod Dreher, a columnist for the New York Post, recently learned how true this is when he went for a stroll with his wife and infant son in their New York City neighborhood.
A woman stopped to admire their son and struck up a conversation. She told them about her son, a senior at an expensive private school, and she said she was worried that the boy is drinking and possibly doing drugs with his friends. She had lost sleep worrying about him.
She also voiced frustration over the lack of support from other parents, and even her own husband. "My husband and I have fought about this for years," she told the Drehers. "He keeps telling me we can't ask too much of the boy.... I just don't understand why he's so permissive."
Then she asked the Drehers where they planned to send their child to school -- a question you can't ask too early in a city where people put their kids on waiting lists as soon as they conceive.
When Dreher's wife said they planned to home-school their son, the woman exclaimed that it would be difficult to do that in New York, "unless you're right-wing Christians or something."
Dreher told the woman that they indeed are Christians, and that it was the moral concerns she had just expressed that made them turn to home- schooling.
The irony of that conversation stuck with Dreher. On the one hand, the woman was "broken up about the lack of discipline and morality among kids these days." Yet, the way she said "right-wing Christians" expressed disdain for the very people who are raising their children with discipline -- the thing she most wants.
It was a case of a drowning woman refusing a life jacket. While, as Dreher notes, she "wants to have good kids," she's terrified of being like those conservative Christians.
What happened to the Drehers has probably happened to you. Your unbelieving neighbors want the kind of life that Christianity makes possible. But, like this New Yorker, they can't see past the stereotypes.
It's what I call the postmodern impasse. We want moral order, but we reject the one thing that gives it to us.
But this kind of situation presents a wonderful opportunity for us to show our neighbors the flaws their own thinking. What they're really admitting is that a secular, value-neutral worldview doesn't work. And they see the negative consequences. Only a worldview that affirms the existence of moral absolutes can create the cultural climate our neighbors say they want.
And that's, of course, what Christians believe in and are trying to bring back. Not because we want to impose our values on people, but because we love our neighbors, and want what's best for everyone.
Which ought to make us exactly the kind of people others, if they understood, would want living next door.
___________________
Copyright (c) 2000 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.
*
"YOUR SURNAME"
You got it from your dear father,
It was the best he had to give.
So it's yours to use and cherish
for ere as long as you may live.
If you lose the watch he gave you,
the watch can always be replaced.
But a black mark on your surname,
child, can not ever be erased.
It was clean the day you took it,
and it's a worthy name to bear.
When he got it from his father,
there was only great honor there.
So make sure you guard it wisely,
and never ever do things wild.
You'll be glad that name is spotless
when you give it to your child.
by: Robert Goode Rockwell
20 August 1988
Non-Christians in the United States view evangelical Christians somewhat more kindly than prostitutes but with less affection than lesbians and lawyers.
That's according to new data released by the Barna Research Group, which recently conducted a national telephone poll of adults who do not consider themselves Christians. The poll asked respondents to record their impressions of 11 categories of people -- military officers, ministers, evangelicals, born-again Christians, Democrats, Republicans, real-estate agents, movie and TV performers, lawyers, lesbians, and prostitutes.
Evangelicals ranked 10th out of the 11 categories. They received favorable marks from only 22 percent of the non-Christians interviewed, higher than the 5 percent approval rating given prostitutes but lower than the 23 percent rating given lesbians and Republicans.
On the other hand, ministers as a group came in second, with a 44 percent favorable rating, behind military officers, who scored 56 percent favorable.
Born-again Christians also fared better as a group than evangelicals, drawing a 32 percent favorable rating, the third highest of all categories. But pollster George Barna said most respondents don't know the difference between the two terms.
“Our studies show that many of the people who have negative impressions of evangelicals do not know what or who an evangelical is,” he said in a statement.
For example, he pointed to the fact that “born-again” Christians drew a more favorable rating than evangelical Christians, “although few adults are able to identify any substantive differences between those two groups.”
“This is most likely a result of the thrashing evangelicals receive in the media,” he said. “It seems that millions of non-Christians have negative impressions of evangelicals, even though they cannot define what an evangelical is, accurately identify the perspectives of the group or identify even a handful of people they know personally who are evangelicals.”
Barna said the survey is evidence of the power of labeling in American society. He urged Christians to draw a lesson from this study as they are tempted to judge other people by stereotypes.
“We may also consider people groups about whom we have developed a negative or unflattering impression and examine the basis of those attitudes,” he said. “We find that when people examine the foundation of their impressions and then talk to a few people from the groups of which they have a low opinion, they discover those people are not so bad after all.”
The findings of this survey are based on a national telephone poll of 1,002 adults conducted in May. Among that sample were 270 adults who described themselves as non-Christians. The findings reported for opinions of non-Christians carry a margin of error of plus or minus 6.2 percentage points.
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I once read a story about a conflict that took place between two Indian Rajahs. The one defeated the other and took captive the son of his rival, and the day he was to return to his own palace he prepared to march into the city in triumph. There was a great procession of elephants, cavalry, infantry, and a long line of captives.
Among them was the young prince. He was told that we were to walk bare-footed and bare-headed. He was indignant and said, "What! Go in like that! What will people think! Imagine the faces they will make!" The rajah said, "You haven't heard all yet. You shall carry a bowl of milk in your hand, and if you spill so much as a drop, you will lose your head at the close of the procession!" In a few minutes they brought the bowl of milk, and two guards walked with him, one on either side, and the procession started to move.
On and on they went for perhaps a mile or more into the presence of the rajah. And the young prince walked along holding the bowl of milk. It seemed to him he would never finish without spilling some of it, but he completed the ordeal safely. Finally, he stood before the Rajah, "Well young prince, what kind of faces did the people make?" The prince looked up and said, "Your majesty, I did not see the faces of the people. I saw only my life which I held in my hands and I knew one false step would make me lose my life."
Friends, if we will keep our eyes own Jesus like the young prince kept his eyes on that milk we will not worry what people think about us!
According to the book THE DAY AMERICANS TOLD THE TRUTH the American public believes the four sleaziest ways of making a living are as follows:
1. Drug dealer
2. Organized-crime boss
3. TV evangelist
4. Prostitute
Columnist Bob Green of the Chicago Tribune has a theory about what's wrong with the world. He blames it on what he calls the “Death of The Permanent Record.”
He recalls that grade-school children once lived in fear of having their bad behavior noted on The Permanent Record. Because of this, people learned in their youth to stop before they did something deceitful or unethical. They didn't stop because they were so good but for fear of having their actions written down.
Today, according to Bob Green, people have come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as a permanent record. In fact, they believe no one has a right to keep track. Green says that with today's emphasis on our rights of privacy, if a school child were ever threatened with something going on his permanent record, he would probably file suit under the Freedom of Information Act and gain possession of his files before recess.
Behind Green's humor is an excellent point. Where there is no fear of a lasting record, people tend to do what they think they can get away with. The problem for mankind, however, is that a permanent record does exist -- and it is kept by God.
[also see #3308 and #27879]
When Andrew Jackson was president of the United States, a certain man asked to be appointed to a responsible post. Mr. Jackson asked him about his present occupation. He replied that he was a minister of the Gospel. "Well, sir," said the President, "you will have to come down from that exalted position to accept the highest office I could give you in this government."
You got it from your Father, it was all he had to give. So
it's yours to use and cherish, for as long as you may live. If
you lose the watch he gave you, it can always be replaced. But
a black mark on your name, son, can never be erased. It was
clean the day you took it, and a worthy name to bear, when he
got it from his father, there was no dishonor there. So make
sure you guard it wisely, after all is said and done. You'll be
glad the name is spotless when you give it to your son.
We all experience problems with others. How can we prevent these problems, or fix those that occur?
THE NEIGHBORLY FINDS NEIGHBORS
In the pioneer days of the Old West, a wise settler had a beautiful ranch. He and his family were happy, with many nearby neighbors who were true "friends." Trouble with neighbors was unheard of. One day, as this wise settler was sitting on his front porch, a wagon pulled up. The traveler in the wagon was looking for a place to put down roots, so he asked the settler, "What kind of neighbors do you have?" The wise settler answered with a question of his own: "What kind of neighbors did you have back East?" "They were cranky, unfriendly, and cantankerous," the traveler replied. "Well, I'm afraid you'll find the same kind of neighbors here," the settler told the traveler. So the man drove on, looking for a better place to live. The next day another wagon stopped at the settler's home. That traveler also was looking for a place to homestead. He too asked about the neighbors. The settler asked him the same question, "What kind of neighbors did you have back East?" "My neighbors were the nicest and friendliest neighbors in the world," the traveler replied. "Well, you'll find the same kind of neighbors here, too," the settler said. So the second traveler decided to stay, and he found great neighbors. The first traveler settled a day's journey away, and rumor has it that eventually he became involved in a feud with his neighbors.
HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO OUR LIVES?
The wise settler knew that if the first traveler became his neighbor, trouble was likely because the traveler had a history of problems with neighbors. On the other hand, he knew that the second traveler was more likely to be a good neighbor since he had a history of positive relationships. Events proved him right. What was the difference? The difference was in the two travelers. One was neighborly, and one was not. A Chinese proverb says, "Do not remove a fly from your friend's forehead with a hatchet." The saying points out that we can say and do things in ways that harm our relationships with others. And, when people react to us in a negative manner, we blame them. But the problem originated with us. Recognize your responsibility for establishing and maintaining healthy relationships. When you have a problem with a friend, neighbor or co- worker, first examine your own attitudes and actions. Make appropriate adjustments. Then see if there is anything positive you can do to improve or repair that relationship. No, people are not perfect, and they can be difficult to deal with. The wise settler was not blind to others' shortcomings, and neither should you. But having good relationships with people requires that bridges be built between them. Someone has to do the building. For a more pleasant life, be the builder. "How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!" (Ps 133:1)
“Put on your Sunday best.” Have you ever been so instructed? For that matter, have you ever given pause to ponder what underlies this oft-repeated paternal imperative?
No doubt, on the surface it is an encouragement to dress respectfully for Sunday worship. Of course, there is no harm in such intentions. But I think this imperative might also reveal something disturbing about our attitudes towards going to church. You see, it is not an uncommon attitude to think of church as the time and the place where we are at our best. Where we try to act and think like we suppose that we are expected to act, like good Christians at church.
In one sense, it is quite strange that we would think of church as the place where we need to try to be our best. Jesus said that he came to heal the sick. Ostensibly then, the church is composed of those who have realized that they are sick, sinly sick. Jesus' diagnosis of us is that we are deathly ill with sinfulness, and his prescription is the crucifixion. Yet here comes the amazing twist: he was crucified for our sickness, not us. The Great Physician administered the curative upon Himself, that we might live.
Church then ought to be the place where we can be most honest, most real, and most raw — for as Christians we already confess that we are sick, so sick that we deserve the damnation of God were it not for His grace. Yet often church tends to be a place where we deny the fallness of the world of our lives. And contrary to the gospel we pretend that we are already perfected. The gospel is a hope in a sin-scarred world. It is not a passage out of the world. Christians are those who have responded to Christ's call and are in the process of being transformed from dreadful sinners to humble servants of God. We have not been exempted from the trials or the temptations of our human nature, with its attendant sinful nature. The Christian life is training in how to defeat the power of that sinful nature. It is not an exemption from it.
Let us then put away pretensions to righteousness-obtained and rather gather in humility. Church is where we can come sick and gain healing. Let us not dress for church then with pretensions of goodness, but with humility. Next Sunday, put on your humble best.
____________
Copyright © 2003 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.
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[original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #13290]
We may be known by the following, according to A.W. Tozer:
1. What we want most
2. What we think about most
3. How we use our money
4. What we do with our leisure time
5. The company we enjoy
6. Who and what we admire
7. What we laugh at
-- Michael Green
"Character is what you are in the dark."
-- Dwight L. Moody, evangelist
"In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock."
-- Thomas Jefferson, U.S. President
"When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost."
-- Billy Graham
"Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, riches take wing, and only character endures."
-- Horace Greeley
"Our character is basically a composite of our habits. Because they are consistent, often unconscious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character..."
-- Stephen Covey
"Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there."
-- John Wooden
"You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him."
-- James D. Miles (later used by Malcolm Forbes)
"Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation. Your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are."
-- John Wooden
"Character is a quality that embodies many important traits, such as integrity, courage, perseverance, confidence and wisdom. Unlike your fingerprints that you are born with and can't change, character is something that you create within yourself and must take responsibility for changing"
-- Jim Rohn
"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved."
-- Helen Keller
"The virtue of man ought to be measured, not by his extraordinary exertions, but by his everyday conduct."
-- Blaise Pascal
"When men speak ill of thee, live so as nobody may believe them."
-- Plato
"People rarely disclose their character so clearly as when they describe someone else's."
-- (unknown)
"Character is that force that enables an individual to carry out a resolution once the mood in which that resolution was born has died."
-- (unknown)
"A person reveals his character by nothing so clearly as the joke he resents."
-- G. C. Lichtenberg
"Character is a victory, not a gift."
-- (unknown)
"There is no such thing as a "self-made" man. We are made up of thousands of others. Everyone who has ever done a kind deed for us, or spoken one word of encouragement to us, has entered into the make-up of our character and of our thoughts, as well as our success."
-- George Matthew Adams
"Every man has three characters--that which he exhibits, that which he has, and that which he thinks he has."
-- Alphonse Karr
"You must look into people, as well as at them."
-- Lord Chesterfield
"Instead of saying that man is the creature of circumstance, it would be nearer the mark to say that man is the architect of circumstance. It is character which builds an existence out of circumstance. From the same materials one man builds palaces, another hovels; one warehouses, another villas; bricks and mortar are mortar and bricks until the architect can make them something else."
-- Thomas Carlyle
"Let us not say, Every man is the architect of his own fortune; but let us say, Every man is the architect of his own character."
-- George Dana Boardman
"Weakness of character is the only defect which cannot be amended."
-- François de La Rochefoucauld
"Characters do not change. Opinions alter, but characters are only developed."
-- Benjamin Disraeli
"The four cornerstones of character on which the structure of this nation was built are: Initiative, Imagination, Individuality and Independence."
-- Edward Rickenbacker
"Of all the properties which belong to honorable men, not one is so highly prized as that of character."
-- Henry Clay
"A man never discloses his own character so clearly as when he describes another's."
-- Jean Paul Richter
"Character is not made in a crisis -- it is only exhibited."
-- Robert Freeman
"Man's character is his fate."
-- Heraclitus
“Small courtesies, small considerations, habitually practiced in our daily lives, give a greater charm to the character than any display of great talents or accomplishments.”
-- M. A. Kelty, SermonCentral newsletter, 1/27/03
“The supreme test of goodness is not in the greater but in the smaller incidents of our character and practice; not what we are when standing in the searchlight of public scrutiny, but when we reach the firelight flicker of our homes; not what we are when some clarion-call rings through the air, summoning us to fight for life and liberty, but our attitude when we are called to sentry-duty in the gray morning, when the watch-fire is burning low. It is impossible to be our best at the supreme moment if character is corroded and eaten into by daily inconsistency, unfaithfulness, and besetting sin.”
-- F. B. Meyer in “Our Daily Walk”, quoted in SermonCentral newsletter
"If you will think about what you ought to do for other people, your character will take care of itself."
-- Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924), 28th U.S. President, B&P 3/14/03
"No change of circumstances can repair a defect of character."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), Wit & Wisdom 5/7/04
"Character is higher than intellect. A great soul will be strong to live as well as think."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
"What you are thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Wealth stays with us a little moment if at all: only our characters are steadfast, not our gold."
-- Euripides
"Education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society. We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character -- that is the goal of true education."
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Character is like the foundation of a house. Most of it is below the surface."
-- unknown
These were collected by Pastor Peter Laitres:
=============================================
“I stand before my neighbors on my character; but in heaven I have no standing myself at all. I stand there in the character of my Savior.”
-- Paul Daniel Rader (1879–1938)
“Sow a thought and you reap an act;
Sow an act and you reap a habit;
Sow a habit and you reap a character;
Sow a character and you reap a destiny.”
-– Samuel Smiles (1812–1904)
“Character is doing the right thing when nobody’s looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that’s right is to get by, and the only thing that’s wrong is to get caught.”
-- former Oklahoma Representative J. C. Watts
“If I take care of my character, my reputation will take care of itself.”
-- D. L. Moody (1837 - 1899)
“It is a very serious duty, perhaps of all duties the most serious, to look into one’s own character and conduct, and accurately read one’s own heart. It is virtually looking into eternity, and all its vast and solemn realities, which must appear delightful or awful, according as the heart appears to be conformed or not conform to God.”
-- Emmons
“Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don’t turn up at all.”
-– Sam Ewing
“It’s not the hours you put in your work that counts, it’s the work you put in the hours.”
-– Sam Ewing
“Put more trust in nobility of character than in an oath.”
-- Solon (638 BC - 559 BC)
““Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us.”
-- Thomas Paine (1737-1809) [also attributed to Horace Mann (1796 - 1859) -- see note 1 below]
“Character is that which reveals moral purpose, exposing the class of things a man chooses or avoids.”
-- Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)
“A man’s reputation is what other people think of him; his character is what he really is.”
-– Jack Miner
“Men of genius are admired, men of wealth are envied, men of power are feared; but only men of character are trusted.”
-- Author Unknown
“God alters our disposition, but he does not make our character. When God alters my disposition, the first thing the new disposition will do is to stir up my brain to think along God’s line. As I begin to think, begin to work out what God has worked in, it will become character. Character is consolidated thought. God makes me pure in heart; I must make myself pure in conduct.”
-- Oswald Chambers (1874–1917)
“God does not supply us with character; he gives us the life of his Son, and we can either ignore him and refuse to obey him, or we can so obey him, so bring every thought and imagination into captivity, that the life of Jesus is manifested in our mortal flesh. It is not a question of being saved from hell, but of being saved in order to manifest the Son of God in our mortal flesh. Our responsibility is to keep ourselves fit to manifest him.”
-- Oswald Chambers (1874–1917)
“God has a program of character development for each one of us. He wants others to look at our lives and say, ‘He walks with God, for he lives like Christ.’”
-- Erwin W. Lutzer (1941– )
“God is more concerned about our character than our comfort. His goal is not to pamper us physically but to perfect us spiritually.”
-- Paul W. Powell
“I’ve seen the difference character makes in individual football players. Give me a choice between an outstanding athlete with poor character and a lesser athlete of good character; and I’ll choose the latter every time. The athlete with good character will often perform to his fullest potential and be a successful football player; while the outstanding athlete with poor character will usually fail to play up to his potential and often won’t even achieve average performance.”
-- Tom Landry (1924–2000)
“The measure of a man’s real character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out.”
-- Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800–1859)
“You can’t make a good cloak out of bad cloth.”
-- Spanish Proverb
“You cannot carve rotten wood.”
-- Chinese Proverb
________
1. Paine's quote has been variously attributed. "Reputation is what men and women think of us, character is what God and the angels know of us" is attributed to Thomas Paine in A Dictionary of Terms, Phrases, and Quotations (1895) edited by Henry Percy Smith, and Helen Kendrick Johnson.
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Horace_Mann notes that it is attributed to Horace Mann, in The Wordsworth Dictionary of Quotations (1998) edited by Connie Robertson, but the earliest published variant of such a declaration seem to be in an anecdote about an anonymous Boston woman in 1889: "I have the reputation of being of good moral character. But you know reputation is what people think of us, while character is what God and the angels know of us, and that I don’t want to tell." (Anonymous Boston woman, as quoted in Current Opinion [1889]).
Price Collier, in Sermons (1892) put it this way: "There is a very great difference — is there not? — between the temporal and the eternal judgments, a very great difference between a man’s reputation and a man’s character, for reputation is what men think and say of us, while character is what God and the angels know of us."
AOL Time Warner Inc., the largest media company in the world, just reported a net loss of $54 billion for the first quarter, 2002. This is the largest quarterly loss ever by a U.S. company.
How can a company post a $54,000,000,000.00 loss in three months? It involves a formerly but "generally accepted" accounting convention called "goodwill." Goodwill is the estimated intangible book value of a company above the value of its tangible assets. For those ungifted in financial alchemy, this means the value given to something that doesn’t exist.
In the past goodwill was thought to be the estimated worth of the good and valuable relationship of a business proprietor with his customers. The concept was broader in recent years in that it also encompassed many more intangible factors of the business enterprise.
Formerly, one business would buy another and what one group of investors considered return-on-investment the other considered a goodwill asset. The new owner would then capitalize that amount and write it off a little at a time over a number of years. In other words, they reduced their tax burden over time. Presently, however, and especially since Enron, that is not the case. Insubstantial goodwill value must now be declared almost immediately. Huge losses, such as AOL’s, will probably be commonplace, at least until the dust settles.
AOL’s loss may be the largest loss recorded in the books of man but there was a loss infinitely greater, the loss of our innocence in the Garden of Eden [Genesis 3:11]. The Bible says we were formerly written out of the Book of Life, lost in our sins; but, now, on the basis of the blood of His Son, God has redeemed us, a people of no value, and reckoned us valuable. However, unlike the world’s accounting system, God’s good will remains and man’s tangible assets are written off. The Bible says, "BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT." [Romans 4:8, cf. Psalm 32:2] Jesus said, "Do not fear; you are of more value than many sparrows." [Luke 12:7] He said, "Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep!" [Matthew 12:12] But Jesus also warned those who loved the things of this world, "You fool! This very night your soul [could be] required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared? So is the man who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." [Luke 12:20,21]
*
Jesus’ teaching on human nature is often dismissed as unrealistic dogma. Many people feel that to say that man is not innately good is to disable human creativity. Yet in the proverbial wisdom of every culture Jesus’ view is sustained again and again, even in the form of tragicomedy. Let me illustrate what I am saying.
I have just returned from Australia, which is an incredibly beautiful country, but each time I visit somebody always reminds me that Australia was originally settled by "criminals" sent from Great Britain. That reminder is usually followed by a cynical explanation of why life is so easygoing. I therefore share this story as it was told to me by an Australian.
Two Aussies, he said, appear at the pearly gates of heaven, catching the doorman completely by surprise - he was certainly not expecting any Australians in heaven. He asked them to wait at the gate until he could verify their credentials with Peter. When Peter was informed of these applicants from "down under," he, too, was caught off guard and decided he would need to accompany the doorman back to the pearly gates to talk to these visitors. But when they arrived at the entrance the Australians were gone - and so were the pearly gates!
Is it not a revelation of our own understanding when people can parody themselves and show their own failures? We may mock this idea of the depravity of man or say that it demeans humanity in some way, but the truth is it resurfaces every day, in every life, and in every culture, for we are all criminals at heart. We do not like the word "sin," but have we not seen its expressions - in our own lives as well as in others’?
When we begin to look below the surface to who we are, the depravity of our nature - as difficult as it may be - is inescapable. But friend, until we recognize that, we will never understand the profound message of grace that God offers us, nor will we believe we are in need of it.
Jesus said to those who wished to stone a woman caught in adultery, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." As each dropped his stone He said to her, "Go now and leave your life of sin." Jesus calls us to examine the stones in our hands and in our hearts and to drop them at his feet.
_________________________
Copyright © 2003 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.
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In England, nearly 300 years ago, there was a merchant commander named Captain Fudge. This historical figure became famous for his lies and exaggerations about adventures on the high seas. His crew members were so accustomed to his tales that they would call each other "Fudge" when one was straying from the truth. By the mid 1800's, children in America were readily referring to cheating as "Fudging." Today many people still use the term when dealing with deception.
TS--What type of behavior epitomizes you? How will future generations describe you? As a New Year begins, maybe it's time to start changing the legacy that you are leaving.
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Another version by Rev. Stephen Sizer in Kerux sermon #20820:
We live in a society characterized by one word “Fudge”. Do you know where the word comes from? The word ‘fudge’ comes from a certain sea captain Fudge, commander of the Black Eagle. He became notorious for telling all kinds of lies, tall tales and exaggerations about his improbable adventures at sea. His ship was apparently used for transporting Quakers, forcibly transferred from Newgate prison in August 1665. A few months later when 19 of the prisoners and 8 of the crew died of the plague, the crew mutinied and Fudge was arrested for debt. By the mid-1800’s the expression “no fudging” was being used in America by children to dissuade friends from cheating at marbles. We use it today to describe someone misrepresenting or being economical with the truth.
Bill Hybels puts it like this: “Lets face it, at one time or another everyone is tempted to fudge a little. None of us is totally honest all the time. We occasionally exaggerate. We tend to break our commitments from time to time. We can trace this kind of misbehavior all the way back to the opening scenes of the Bible, when Adam fudged by blaming Eve for the way they had violated God’s command. . . . Ever since the earliest days in human history, the world has feasted on fudge. Sadly, we still do.”
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fudge (v.)
1674, alteration of M.E. fadge "make suit, fit," of unknown origin. The traditional story (attested from 1791) traces fudge in this sense to a Captain Fudge, "who always brought home his owners a good cargo of lies." It seems there really was a late 17-century Captain Fudge, called "Lying Fudge," and perhaps his name influenced the form of fadge in the sense of "contrive without the necessary materials."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
In describing the first-century Christians to the Roman emperor Hadrian, Aristides said, "They love one another. They never fail to help widows; they save orphans from those who will hurt them. If they have something, they give freely to the man who has nothing; if they see a stranger, they take him home and are happy, as though he were a real brother. They don't consider themselves brothers and sisters in the usual sense, but brothers instead through the Spirit, in God."
"The Speakers Quote Book: Over 4,500 Illustrations and Quotations for All Occasions" Copyright c 1997 by Roy B. Zuck.
He stood six feet, nine inches tall and weighted in at 310 pounds. Rumor had it that he'd killed a man with his bare hands - just squeezed the life out of him. It was the kind of reputation that gained respect in the rough city where we grew up. At fifteen, Big Willy was already a legend.
Willy and I had played together since we both wore diapers, although we were the unlikeliest of pairs. He was a massive black giant and I was a pudgy little redhead. We both worked at the factory in town - I in the office, Willy on the dock. Even the hardened men who worked alongside Willy feared him.
He saw me home safely from work and I kept his secret that each night, instead of cruising the city streets, beating people up, he went home and lovingly lifted his elderly grandmother out of the chair she was confined to and placed her in bed. He would read to her until she fell asleep, and in the morning, he would comb her thin, gray hair, dress her in the beautiful nightgowns he bought with the money he made at the can company, and place her back in the chair.
Willy had lost both his parents to drugs, and it was just the two of them now. He took care of her, and she gave him a reason to stay clean. Of course, there wasn't an ounce of truth to the rumors, but Willy never said otherwise. He just let everyone believe what they believed, and although everyone wrote him off as just another street hood, no one hassled him either.
One day, in Western Civilization class, our teacher read aloud an excerpt from Machiavelli's "The Prince": "Since love and fear cannot exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved." I looked at Willy and winked. "That's you," I mouthed. He just smiled.
The next day, I lingered a few minutes longer than usual at school and Willy went on without me. Just around the corner from the can company, fire trucks lined the street and a thick blanket of smoke covered the sky. A small child lay wrapped in a familiar red- and black-checkered flannel shirt, held by a tearful woman. She was talking to a fireman and a reporter from the evening news.
"This big guy heard the baby crying, and came right in and got us," she said through joyful tears. "He wrapped his shirt around the baby, and when the sirens came, he ran off down the street."
"Did you get his name?" the reporter asked.
"Yes, sort of," the woman replied. "He said it was Machiavelli."
That evening, the paper ran the story offering a reward to anyone with information about the identity of the Good Samaritan. No one came forward.
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by Nancy Bouchard (c) 1999, from Chicken Soup for the Unsinkable Soul by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Heather McNamara.
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It is time to elect a new world leader, and your vote counts. Here are the facts about the three leading candidates:
Candidate A:
Associates with crooked politicians, and consults with astrologists. He's had two mistresses. He also chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis a day.
Candidate B:
He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon, used opium in college and drinks a quart of whisky every evening.
Candidate C:
He is a decorated war hero. He's a vegetarian, doesn't smoke, drinks an occasional beer and hasn't had any extramarital affairs.
Which of these candidates would be your choice?
Candidate A is Franklin D. Roosevelt
Candidate B is Winston Churchill
Candidate C is Adolph Hitler
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TOP TEN THINGS PEOPLE WON'T SAY WHEN THEY SEE A CHRISTIAN BUMPER STICKER OR FISH ON A CAR
10. "Look! Let's stop that car and ask those folks how we can become Christians."
9. "Don't worry, Billy, those people are Christians. They must have a good reason for driving 90 miles an hour."
8. "What a joy to be sharing the highway with another car of Spirit-filled brothers and sisters."
7. "Isn't it wonderful how God blessed that Christian couple with a brand-new BMW?"
6. "Dad, how come people who drive like that don't get thrown in jail? Can we get a bumper sticker like that, too?"
5. "Stay clear of those folks, Martha. If they get raptured, that car's gonna be all over the road!"
4. "Oh, look! That Christian woman is getting a chance to share Jesus with a police officer."
3. "No, that's not garbage coming out of their windows, Bert. It's probably gospel tracts for the road workers."
2. "Oh boy, we're in trouble now! We just rear-ended one of God's cars."
1. "Quick, Alice, honk the horn or they won't know that we love Jesus!"
Reputation Versus Character:
The circumstances amid which you live determine your reputation, the truth you believe determines your character.
Reputation is what you are supposed to be; character is what you are.
Reputation is the photographer; character is the face.
Reputation comes over one from without; character grows from within.
Reputation is what you have when you come to a new community; character is what you have when you go away.
Your reputation is learned in an hour; your character does not come to light for a year.
Reputation is made in a moment: character is built in a lifetime.
Reputation grows like a mushroom; character grows like the oak.
Reputation goes like the mist; character lasts like eternity.
A single newspaper report gives you your reputation; a life of toil gives you your character.
Reputation makes you rich or pour; character makes you happy or makes you miserable.
Reputation may determine your epitaph: character is what you are in the sight of God.
The church in America today is in need of revival and restoration, and God will provide it for his own name's sake, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Ken Hemphill said during the first chapel of the fall semester at the Fort Worth, Texas, campus.
"The issue of God's name is that his character is ultimately tied to that name," Hemphill said, underscoring the importance of realizing that God's people carry his name.
Hemphill recalled his own father's admonition to him as he left home for college: "Son, I have only one thing to give you. It's my name. Don't do anything with it that I wouldn't do."
Just as a young man's behavior at college affects the reputation of his father, the lifestyle of God's children affects his reputation, Hemphill stated. "What assumptions will your colleagues make ... about the nature and character of your God because of your behavior and your actions?"
Hemphill focused on a passage from Ezekiel 36 in which God tells Israel through the prophet that he has allowed them to be conquered because they "profaned my holy name" in unrighteous living.
But the passage goes further, Hemphill said. In the following verses God promises to restore Israel for his name's sake. "The nation had wrongly concluded that God could not protect his people from conquest and exile at the hands of people who served other gods," Hemphill said, adding, "They couldn't understand that this was the punishment of a holy God."
God could not allow this assumption to continue, "thus God declares that he will revive and restore his people for the sake of his name, his character, his reputation."
Hemphill went further to bring the message of Ezekiel home to the church of today, asking, "Why would God bring restoration to our nation, to our convention, to our churches? We look at our nation and its moral climate and we cannot say that we deserve it." Statistics show that Christian lifestyles in the United States today are not very different from those of nonbelievers, Hemphill said, citing divorce and teenage sexuality as examples.
"You must wonder," he said, "if God said to Israel, 'You have profaned my name,' what must he be saying to Christianity in America today?"
Hemphill also alluded to problems facing the Southern Baptist Convention.
"Many of you have grown up in a denomination divided, bickering, and you've not seen a passion for holiness," he said. "We ask what is at stake? I would tell you it's his name, not the Southern Baptist Convention's name and not this seminary's name. What is at stake is the name of God."
And that is why, Hemphill said, God will bring restoration and revival to his people: for his own name's sake. "If revival is going to come to our convention, to our state conventions, to our churches and to our seminary campus, it will be because of his name," he said.
Hemphill went on to detail from Ezekiel 36 some elements of restoration. These included the return of the people to the promised land, which for the church today means a return to God's ways.
God promised that his people would be given the ability to live in the land and abide in his ways and no longer depart from them, Hemphill said.
Other elements included being cleansed from impurities, being given new hearts, being given the ability to obey God's commands and to detest sin, and being made fruitful.
"That's what he came to Israel with," Hemphill said. "He said, 'I had to punish you for my name's sake. But I promise to restore you for my name's sake.' What is at stake is the name of the sovereign God of the universe who desires that the nations may hallow his name."
A troublemaker is often interested in telling only half the truth. It's true that Christ kept company with publicans and sinners, not because He loved and practiced their sin but so that He could influence and win them.
A defamatory article about a Christian appeared in a newspaper. It was really terrible. "You must sue him," a friend said.
"No," was the answer. "I shall try to set him straight. I'm afraid if I sue him I shall do something that is improper. I learned early in life, and from long experience, that man's character can only be harmed by himself. The first step for me to win my detractor is to overcome my own passion for vengeance."
Reputation is what other people think and say of you, but character is what you yourself decide it shall be. If you belong to Christ, then your decision is to be like Him - and by His grace you can be.
Alexander the Great conquered most of the then-known world by the age of 33. One of the reasons for that was the iron discipline that he insisted on among his troops. That's why a young soldier was so terrified as he was hauled into Alexander's tent to answer for charges of cowardice and desertion in battle. The general was seated at a table, and the accused soldier was standing before him. Alexander said, "Soldier, you've been accused of deserting during a battle - guilty or not?" "Guilty," he replied almost inaudibly. The general followed up then by asking, "What's your name, soldier?" The answer came back - "My name is Alexander, sir." It was at that point that Alexander the Great leaped to his feet, reached across the table, grabbed the soldier by the collar and shouted, "Either you change your life or you change your name!"
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about "Living Up To Your Name."
I wonder if Jesus doesn't feel that way about some of us. We're carrying His name around - a Christian ... a Christ one. And we're reflecting on His name by the way we're living, the way we're treating people, the way we're doing business, and the way we're reacting. Does the life live up to that holy name we carry?
Suddenly, we're looking at one of the Ten Commandments in a different light than we usually do. In Exodus 20:7, our word for today from the Word of God, He says, "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold guiltless anyone who misuses His name." Now, that commandment is usually used in the context of not using the Lord's name as a swear word or using it lightly or irreverently. And that is sure included in what God meant. We are supposed to always use the name of our Lord with great respect.
But swearing or irreverence are not the only ways to "misuse the name of the Lord your God," or, as the King James Version says, "take the name of the Lord your God in vain." When you claim to be a "Christ-one" and you live or talk in a way that is the opposite of what Christ is like - you're discrediting the name of the One you claim to serve. There's an example of that in Romans 2:24 where Paul says of his fellow Jews, "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."
And we all know that the inconsistencies and hypocrisies of a believer give unbelievers a reason not to come to Jesus. Probably the most common reason people give for rejecting Jesus is another Christian. And probably the most common reason people come to Christ is because of another Christian. Before most people start believing in Christ, they believe in a Christian they know.
You're not an island. You're being watched - especially if you claim to be a Christian. And someone is sizing up Jesus based on what they see in you. They can't see Him - they can see you. What a horrible thought - you or I might be a reason for someone we care about to miss Jesus - and to miss heaven forever.
So look at your life in light of the holy name of Jesus that every Christian carries. What kind of feeling are you giving your children about Jesus, based on how you treat them? How about your coworkers? Your employees? Your fellow students? Your friends?
In heaven, they bow down at the name of Jesus. One day every being in heaven, on earth, and under the earth will bow down at the name of Jesus. It is to Almighty God the highest, the holiest name. And you, as His follower, carry that name. If your life is dishonoring the name, it is time to change your life.
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Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. 'Practical Answers to Real Life Issues'
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I forgot to set the sleep timer on our television once and awoke the next morning to a rerun of “Law and Order.” In the span of a few minutes, I was reminded of a great truth: Your lifestyle matters.
The lesson, as I recall it, came from a scene where a senior law partner is meeting a client in a restaurant to discuss a case. While they are in this normally reserved atmosphere, some patrons begin to get very rowdy. One woman even jumps up on a table and starts to dance.
The senior law partner turns to look at the commotion. To her amazement, she recognizes the woman as a junior attorney in her firm. The senior partner excuses herself, walks over to the table and glares at the dancing attorney.
As the dancing attorney gets down from the table, she says to her employer, “This is my personal time. It has nothing to do with work.” The senior partner replies sternly, “I’ll see you in my office tomorrow.”
In a following scene, the junior attorney is sitting before the senior partner. The senior partner stands leaning against her desk and begins a brief monologue (paraphrased here): “Don’t ever tell me it is just your personal time. When you meet someone for dinner or anywhere else, in the course of conversation, the question arises about your employment. You proudly reply, ‘I am an attorney. I work at Kevich and Wiel.’ When you are making a fool of yourself, others say, ‘That girl dancing is an attorney.’ Moreover, as they laugh, they say, ‘Yeah, she works at Kevich and Wiel.’ Your personal life is a reflection on this firm.”
Isn’t the junior attorney’s view on life the way some in the church think? “I’m in church on Sunday. Everyone knows me here. But what I do with my personal time during the week, it’s nobody’s business.”
As you participate in the gossip at work, frequent unwholesome establishments or pepper your words with the vulgarities of the world, it reflects poorly on your church and the body of Christ.
The people who are around you know your background. Somewhere in a conversation about what you did last weekend, you mentioned you went to church. “I’m a member of First Baptist.” Then behind your back, those who are watching your behavior say, “Can you believe Joe is a member down there at First Baptist?” While they are laughing, someone else will comment, “Yeah, he’ll also tell you he’s a Christian.”
Your lifestyle is your personal witness of the character coming out of your heart. Your personal time, during the week, is a reflection on Christ and His Kingdom.
When you count the cost of becoming a Christian, you recognize that Jesus is going to change your actions, your lifestyle. You now live in great freedom. When you are free in Jesus, you are free indeed. Yes, you are free to live as a responsible refection of the personality of Jesus Christ. You claimed the title “follower of Christ.” Now accept the responsibility that goes with it.
When I married my wife, Wendy, I gave up the right of singleness, choosing to be committed to her for life. I did so because I love her. My new identity is as a husband and eventually as a father of three. I accepted the title and the responsibility.
As a follower of Christ, I gave up my lifestyle focused on self, to live for my Savior. I embraced my new commitment to Him, because I love Him. He gave me a new identity as the “child of God.” I accepted the title and the responsibility.
Your lifestyle matters. It is a reflection on Jesus and His Church. Make it count.
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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #5590]
The story is told of Maxwell Gordon, missionary to India, that when he asked a Hindu scholar to teach him the language, the Hindu replied:
"No, Sahib, I will not teach you my language. You would make me a Christian."
Maxwell replied, "You misunderstand me. I am simply asking you to teach me your language."
Again the Hindu responded, "No, Sahib, I will not teach you. No man can live with you and not become a Christian."
Maxwell Gordon's reputation as a Christian preceded him. His very lifestyle attracted people to Christ. And so it was with the Apostle Paul and his two missionary companions, Silas and Timothy. Saint Francis of Assisi captured their philosophy of evangelism when he said, "It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless we preach as we walk!"
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Another version from an original text at http://www.archive.org/stream/georgemaxwellgor00lewi/georgemaxwellgor00lewi_djvu.txt
Maxwell Gordon (1839-1880), an M.A. of Cambridge, was noted at college for his muscular strength and endurance. In India, he gave himself so wholly up to the natives, that his services could be commanded at any hour. For his labours he took no pay, whether as acting chaplain, or as a missionary. Whatever money he received, he gave to the Mission fund, or to the poor. “ I never,” says Mr Vyse, “met with so unselfish a man. I have known him walk from early morn to late at night through a burning sun on the Dera-Ismail-Khan road, in order that a poor, tired, sick native should ride his pony. The cold weather is very keen on the frontier, and three winters ago, I accidentally came across Mr. Gordon, many miles from the station, without overcoat or vest; he had actually taken them off to give to a sick native and his child, who were both lightly clad, and suffering from the cold. When I spoke to him about it, he was distressed at my having found it out, and said, “ I am strong, and can rough it a bit sometimes.”
I never knew him sleep on the commonest of charpoys (native beds), “the ground was good enough, he would say,” and add, “with straw or date palm leaves for a bed, I can sleep very soundly.” He never drank but water, or water and milk, and his food was plain [unknown word], or unleavened bread, fruit and vegetables ; but, if purposely prepared for him, occasionally a little meat. He was no bigot. I never knew him say anything harsh or severe. Last year I had a very clever fellow as sowar (trooper), who was great at Bilochi and frontier languages. Mr. Gordon was anxious to engage him as Moonshee (or teacher of languages), and offered him 70 rupees a month, or double what the Government was giving him; moreover, that he should receive substantial compensation in lieu of his far-off pension. “Sahib, I dare not,” said the sowar. “I should be made a Christian.” Mr. Gordon promised not to mention the subject of religion. But the sowar replied, “It is too tempting. I love Gordon Sahib, and in spite of myself, I am sure I could not help accepting his religion.” There is a grand field for missionary enterprise on the north-west frontier of India, but you want men of the stamp of Mr. Gordon, who has now met his death as a volunteer chaplain, where he thought he was most wanted.
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George Maxwell Gordon; the pilgrim missionary of the Punjab. A history of his life and work, 1839-1880, by Arthur Lewis, December 1888.
“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you.” (Romans 1:8-10 NKJV)
His prayer for his friends in Rome
• first — in order, in importance — 1 th 5:18
• thank — gratitude not only acknowledges the past, but prepares for the future
• my God — [emphasis on “my”] Author of all good
• through…Christ — through whom God is mine, and my thanks are offered. Christ the medium of all blessing — John 1:51
• for…all — each believer, whatever his station, experience, gifts, a subject for thanks
• faith — Christian life and fidelity to truth
• world — Roman Empire Luke 2:1); everywhere
• witness — Job 16:19 — the best, bearing testmonyy to his heart.
• serve — labors more abundant
• spirit — heart, soul, mind
• in…Son — devoting all I have and am to it
• prayers — the secret of his strength (Isaiah 40:30) and success (Ezek 27:9-10)
• request — this special prayer among others
• means — the way was through the prison and shipwreck to Rome
• prosperous [find a way] — in the end, getting to Rome. Any journey would be prosperous that brought him there.
Paul’s love to the Church at Rome — Rev. C. Simeon
I. His love to the Church at Rome. Shown by
1. His incessant prayers for them;
2. His earnest desire to visit them.
II. The particular objects of his intended visit to them:
1. The advancement of their welfare;
2. The comfort of his own soul.
Application
(1) Let us be thankful to God, who has heard and answered our supplications
(2) Let us continue to pray for His blessing on our poor endeavors
The experience of conviction — D’Aubigné
When M. Monod and I attended the University of Geneva, there was a professor of divinity who confined himself to lecturing on the immortality of the soul, the existence of God, and similar topics. As to the Trinity he did
not believe it. Instead of the Bible, he gave us quotations from
Seneca and Plato. St. Seneca and St. Plato were the two saints whose writings he held up to admiration. But the Lord sent one of His servants to Geneva; and I well remember the visit of Robert Haldane. I heard of him first as an English or Scotch gentleman who spoke much about the Bible, which seemed a very strange thing to me and the other students, to whom it was a shut book. I afterwards met Mr. Haldane at a private house, along with some other friends, and heard him read from an English Bible a chapter from Romans, about the natural corruption of man — a doctrine of which I had never heard before: in fact, I was quite astonished to hear of men being corrupt by nature. I remember saying to Mr. Haldane, “Now, I see that
doctrine in the Bible.” “Yes,” he replied; “but do you see it in your heart?” That was a simple question; but it came home to my conscience. It was the sword of the Spirit; and from that time I saw that my heart was corrupt, and knew from the Word of God that I could be saved by grace alone.
“Their faith made Rome no less the metropolis of Christianity than of the world. The Roman faith and fortitude equally spread their fame. And as the Pagan Romans overcame the world by their fortitude, so did the Christians by their faith.” — Dr. South
“The light must lighten everyone that cometh into the world, so that there is not the worst man but sometimes he seemeth good, and then he falleth into his former excess of riot again.” — Bishop Andrewes
“Methinks St. Paul reasons as solidly and acutely as Aristotle:” — Boyle
While visiting Dundee, Scotland, an American who had heard much of Robert MacCheyne, one of the “saints of Scotland,” was anxious to find some one who could give him a few personal reminiscences of the great preacher. For that purpose he went to see an old man who had known MacCheyne and his preaching.
“Can you tell me some of the texts of MacCheyne's great sermons?” he asked.
“I don't remember them,” said the old man, shaking his head.
“Then can you tell me some of the striking sentences he uttered or some of his best sayings?”
“I've forgotten them entirely,” was the reply.
The visitor was greatly disappointed. “Well,” he said, almost in despair, “don't you remember anything about him at all?”
“Ah,” replied the old man, brightening, “that is a different question! One day when I was a laddie playing by the roadside, Robert MacCheyne came along and, laying his hand upon my head, said, 'Jamie, I've been to see your poor sick sister. I'm always glad to see her and help her as I can.’ Then he paused and after looking a bit into my eyes added: 'And, Jamie, I'm very much concerned about your own soul.’ I've forgotten his texts and grand sermons, sir, but I can still feel the tremble of his hand and see the tear in his eye.”
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Source: Ernest Lloyd. Signs of the Times, Copyright (c) November 8, 1932, Pacific Press, http://www.signstimes.com; submitted by Dale Galusha
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In the recent film HANNIBAL, a character named Mason Verger has just one goal in life: to catch up with the cannibal who chewed off his face, and feed him to flesh-eating pigs. It’s a sick and twisted goal — and it may not surprise you to learn that Verger is the film’s only Christian character.
Just one more illustration of how Hollywood tends to treat followers of Christ.
Sadly, there’s no shortage of other recent examples. In the historical film QUILLS, about the Marquis de Sade, the vilest sexual behavior is performed by a Catholic priest; de Sade is portrayed as the persecuted victim of a puritanical society.
Another film, THE PLEDGE, portrays Christianity as a religion for killers. In a movie called THE CELL, a Christian upbringing CAUSES a character to become a serial killer.
Celluloid missionaries are almost as bad. In films like BLACK ROBE and AT PLAY IN THE FIELDS OF THE LORD, Christians bring, not salvation, but disease and death, slavery and hypocrisy.
As Christian screenwriter Brian Godawa notes in his book HOLLYWOOD WORLDVIEWS, in films like these, “Christianity does not merely lead to mental breakdown in [individuals]; it also leads to the breakdown of society.” Christians are portrayed as sick, twisted people who got that way through repressing their natural desires; their moral codes lead to intolerance, wife beating, and murder. He points to recent films like THE CRUCIBLE and CHOCOLAT as well.
About the only good thing you can say about these films, spiritually speaking, is that they reveal the fact that humans — whether they admit it or not — are deeply religious. We can’t help thinking about God and trying to come to terms with Him. As Godawa points out, elements of Christianity are often “deconstructed or reinterpreted through countervailing worldviews,” but significantly, they are not ignored. In fact, Godowa writes, films that attack or redefine God may be more honest than those that simply ignore Him. The filmmaker is “at least admitting [God] is an issue.” Ignoring Him “leaves the impression that He is ... irrelevant to our reality.” Martin Luther made a very similar point.
The good news is that every now and then, Hollywood gets religion right. A recent remake of LES MISÉRABLES offers a poignant picture of Christian grace, forgiveness, and redemption. And the film THE ADDICTION uses a vampire theme to explore the nature of evil and our need for repentance.
Parents ought to watch some of the better films with their kids, although they should check them out carefully before bringing them home. Not all films are suitable for all families. And when it comes to films that portray Christians as warped and wicked people — well, parents ought to learn about these films as well. That way they can help their kids — and their unbelieving friends — to see through them and to understand the worldviews are involved in films.
FURTHER READING AND INFORMATION:
Brian Godawa, HOLLYWOOD WORLDVIEWS (InterVarsity, 2002). Visit GODAWA’S WEBSITE.
Visit the “WORLDVIEW FOR PARENTS“ page weekly for more resources and information to help you cultivate biblical worldview understanding in your children.
Visit BreakPoint’s “AT THE MOVIES“ page, the WILBERFORCE FORUM RECOMMENDED FILMS 2003 list, and “COLSON’S LIST OF 50 INSIGHTFUL FILMS.”
Robert K. Johnston, REEL SPIRITUALITY: THEOLOGY AND FILM IN DIALOGUE (Baker Book House, 2000).
Onalee McGraw, “LOVE AND LIFE AT THE MOVIES: THE WISDOM OF OLDER, CLASSIC FILMS,” FAMILY POLICY 13, No. 4 (July/August 2000), Family Research Council.
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Copyright (c) 2003 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.
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A. Two Men — 3 John 1:9-12 (NAS) — « Leader information »
9 I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say. 10 For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, neither does he himself receive the brethren, and he forbids those who desire to do so, and puts them out of the church. 11 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.
12 Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself; and we also bear witness, and you know that our witness is true.
B. The third epistle of John
1. the dating is uncertain; probably the 70’s or 80’s
2. addressed to Gaius
a. apparently a church leader
b. slight indication may have been “Gaius of Corinth”
(A) Paul’s host in Corinth whence he wrote Romans (16:23)
(B) whom Paul baptized (1 Corinthians 1:14)
c. Athanasius in fourth century indicates Gaius of Corinth was John’s secretary in writing the Book of Revelation
C. Diortrophes
1. tradition: belonged to the Paul Party in Corinth
2. what was he like?
a. « was a “controller” — wanted to be in charge, be preeminent »
b. « hence, removed Christ from His place – Colossians 1:18 »
c. « rejected apostolic authority of John »
d. « evil deeds: refused to receive, and ousted, the brethren »
e. « malicious words and peremptory attitude »
D. Demetrius
1. traditionally, the bearer of this letter to Gaius
2. what was he like?
a. « had a good testimony or reputation (within and without the church?) »
b. « the truth of the facts also spoke for him — his character and his reputation were in agreement »
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