Sam Rayburn was a
Democratic politician who served as the Speaker of the United States House of
Representatives for 17 years, and is regarded by many as the most effective
Speaker of the House in American history. Allow me to share with you some of
his more memorable statements: “Do not wait for extraordinary circumstances to
do good action; try to use ordinary situations.” * “No one has a finer command
of language than the person who keeps his mouth shut.” * “You’ll never get
mixed up if you simply tell the truth. Then you don’t have to remember what you
have said, and you never forget what you said.” When Harry Truman was thrust
into the Presidency at the death of FDR, Sam Rayburn gave him some fatherly
advice. “From here on out, you’re going to have lots of people around you.
They’ll try to put a wall around you and cut you off from any ideas but theirs.
They’ll tell you what a great man you are, Harry. But you and I both know you
ain’t.” ...As they drove home, the father grumbled about the long sermon; the
teenage daughter complained about the dull announcements; the mother gripped
about the song leader selecting songs she didn’t know. The 7 year-old son said,
“I thought it was pretty good, considering we all got in for a dollar.” When
one stumbles out of the church building fuming about the shoddy service, they
had better examine them self. The service probably had its weak spots – but
surely the whole service wasn’t bad. When you go to worship to receive a
blessing, you’re likely to receive it. When you go to worship to be a blessing
to others, you’re likely to achieve it. But you’re bound to leave empty if you
enter with a critical attitude. You expect the song leader to miss the pitch.
You expect a shallow sermon. Neither of those guys is on your “favorite people”
list anyway. You decided before they ever started, being truthful about it, you
weren’t going to like “the performance.” And that’s part of the problem – you
view it as a performance. You came as a spectator, not a participant. You’re to
be pitied if you receive nothing. You keep going because you’re duty bound, but
you go as a critic, not as a worshipper or an encourager. In that frame of mind
there’s no way you can praise God or build up others.
[Romans 12:15] When
Sam Rayburn discovered he was quite ill, he announced to the House of
Representatives he was going home for medical tests. Some wondered why he
didn’t stay in Washington
where there were excellent medical facilities. He supplied the answer when he
told Congressman Jim Wright, “Bonham,
Texas is a place where people
know it when you are sick, and where they care when you die.” I like that last
statement because it’s true of the church. We live in a world where people
often don’t care what happens to others around them. Everyone is too interested
in getting what they want to even notice what is going on in the lives of
others. But the church is a place where people “rejoice with those who rejoice,
and mourn with those who mourn.” It’s a place “where people know it when you’re
sick, and where they care when you die.” God knew that we needed a place like
that – a group of people who share the same commitment to God that we have, a
place where we will be loved unconditionally; a place where we can find a
shoulder to lean on and arms to comfort us in times of trial. I hope that each
and every one of you has a church family that serves that purpose in your life.
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is
faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and
good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of
doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day
approaching” (Hebrews 10:23-25). That day looms for all of us.
A dog walked into the
telegram office one day. He took out a blank form and wrote on it: “Woof. Woof.
Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof.” Then he handed it to the clerk. The
clerk examined the paper, and then said to the dog, “You know there are only
nine words here? You could send another ‘Woof’ for the same price.” The dog
replied, “But that would make no sense at all!” I’ve got to tell you, there’s a
whole lot of ‘Woofing’ going on in our country that doesn’t make a whole lot of
sense. Political correctness has the whole world under surrender to bullying
anti-bullies who threaten the very well-being of those trying to expose all the
bullying going on. Woof. Woof. Woof!
Edward Gibbon, author
of The
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, has attributed the fall of the
Empire to: * The rapid increase of divorce; the undermining of the dignity and
sanctity of the home, which is the basis of human society. * Higher and higher
taxes and the spending of public monies for free bread and circuses for the populace.
* The mad craze for pleasure; sports becoming every year more exciting and more
brutal. * The building of gigantic armaments when the real enemy was within,
the decadence of the people. * The decay of religion – faith fading into mere
form, losing touch with life and becoming impotent to warn and guide the
people. Let’s compare these things to what is breaking down our society today.
If we want to label these five problems categorically we might say: * The
breakdown of the traditional family. * The unwillingness of able-bodies to
enter the workplace. * Entertainment seen as a basic need rather than
recreation. * Defending against enemies on foreign soil rather than the enemy
within. * God and the Bible for consumerism rather than individuals for the God
and the Bible.
[Proverbs 14:34]
“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people.” The preacher is
sometimes accused of being “narrow-minded” because he insists upon the
Christian living in obedience to Christ. All of life is narrow, and success is
to be found only by passing through the narrow gate and down the straight way.
There is no room for broad-mindedness in the chemical Laboratory. Water is
composed of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen. The slightest deviation
from that formula is forbidden. There is no room for broad-mindedness in music.
There can be only eight notes in an octave. The skilled director will not
permit his first violin to play even so much as one half a note off the written
note, chord, or key. There is no room for broad-mindedness in the mathematics
classroom. Neither geometry, calculus, or trigonometry allows any variation
from accuracy, even for old time’s sake. The solution of the problem is either
right or wrong – no tolerance there. There is no room for broad-mindedness on
the athletic field. The game is played according to the rules with no favors
shown for charity’s sake. There is no room for broad-mindedness in the garage.
The mechanic says that the piston rings must fit the cylinder walls within one,
one-thousandth of an inch. Even between friends there cannot be any variation
if the engine is to run properly. Now, then, shall we expect that
broad-mindedness should rule the realms of Christianity and morals? Remember,
it was Jesus himself who said: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the
gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through
it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a
few find it” (Matthew 7”13-14). The real enemy lies within. Satan is still
active. He is doing his work to make a nation built upon faith in God reject
the very principles of its foundation. Each heart must undergo a serious
self-examination if we are going to make a turn-around before it’s too late.
A preacher told of
hiring a carpenter to restore an old farm house. On the first day when the
carpenter was to report for work, he was an hour late. His tardiness, he said,
was because he found that his electric saw was not working, and in addition, he
had found a flat tire on his old truck. Nevertheless, he put in a full day’s
work. When finished; he got in his aged truck and turned the key in the
ignition only to find that the stubborn vehicle refused to start. Seeing the
problem, the preacher offered to take the carpenter home and the tradesman got
in the preacher’s car. They engaged in friendly conversation on the way and
soon arrived at the man’s home. Before exiting the car, the carpenter invited
the preacher in to meet his family. They both got out and started toward the
front entrance. As they walked by a tree in the yard, the carpenter stopped for
a second and touched the tips of several branches of the tree without comment.
Entering the home, the smiling carpenter kissed his wife and hugged his two
small children who had joyfully wrapped them-selves about his legs. It was
obvious that the family was close and quite happy. After visiting awhile, the
preacher made his way to his car with the carpenter accompanying him. As they
passed by the tree again, the preacher said that he had noticed the tradesman
had touched several branches of the tree with both hands when they had passed
by earlier. “Why did you do that?” asked the curious preacher. “Oh,” said the
carpenter, “that’s my trouble tree. I know can’t help having trouble but I try
to keep trouble out of my house as much as I can. When I come home each day, I
touch the branches of the tree and symbolically leave my troubles on the tree.
In the morning, I pick them up again. But, strangely, it always seems that when
I am ready to deal with my troubles in the morning, I don’t seem to have as
many as I had the evening before.”
[Proverbs 14:34]
“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people.” While campaigning for office, our now
President Donald Trump used the campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.” As
President, he has implemented many of his ideas and proposed policies to make
America great again and whether it’s acceptable or not, all the numbers and
surveys say the country is definitely stronger, secularly, than it was three
years ago, but we are becoming spiritually bankrupt. America will never be great again
until our spirits are once again filled with Godly righteous living. Allow me
to share with you what will make America great again. 1) A
deeper knowledge of God’s word [Hosea 4:6; Revelation 1:3]. 2) Godly
homes [Psalm 127:1; Genesis 1:27-28; 2:18ff; Hebrews 13:4; Ephesians
5:22ff]. 3) Love and unity [Mark 3:24; Acts 10:34-35; 17:26; John 13:34-35;
17:21ff]. 4) A stronger work ethic [2 Thessalonians 3:10; Genesis 2:8-15;
Nehemiah 4:6; Romans 12:11]. 5) A servant mentality [Philippians 2:3-8;
Galatians 5:13; John 13:12-17; Romans 12:9-21]. 6) Less materialistic and
more spiritualistic [1 Timothy 6:10; Matthew 6:33; Colossians 3:2;
Ecclesiastes 12:13]. 7) Arm citizens with the sword of the spirit
[Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12; James 1:21; Romans 1:16]. I implore you to look
at these Scriptures and ponder on them as to the changes they would bring about
in your life, and the changes that would come about if we all implemented God’s
teaching into our lives. Just look and listen to the world and you will
discover “...our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the
rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and
against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).
Start by planting a trouble tree in your heart. His name is Jesus. Give Him you
troubles each night and you’ll start with fewer troubles each new day.
The
Old Farmer’s Almanac, founded in 1792, (internet home page August 23, 2019)
says that Grandparents Day is celebrated on the first Sunday after Labor Day.
Marian McQuade hoped to establish a national day that would honor grandparents,
and in 1970 she began a campaign to do so. McQuade raised awareness about
senior citizens throughout the 1970’s. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter declared
the first Sunday after Labor Day to be National Grandparents Day. Each year,
the (current) president issues a proclamation to keep the tradition going.
Grandparents Day has both an official flower and song. The official flower is
the forget-me-not, and the song is Johnny Prill’s “A Song for Grandma and
Grandpa.” Both were chosen by the National Grandparents Day Council. Why isn't “Grandparents” personalized like Father’s and Mother’s Day?
I
remember my grandparents as being God fearing, loving, and neighborly,
industrious and good cooks. Being many miles apart, holiday gatherings were
split between the grand homes, as to the digression of our parents, but it
mattered not which we graced, we grandchildren were loved and cherished every
minute. It didn’t matter the gathering point for me personally, because I
always gained some sort of insight to life from my grandparents no one else
seemed to possess. Grandparents are always thinking of their grandchildren –
take a minute and let your grandparents know you’re thinking of them.
Godly
grandparents are an uncommon commodity. They share the one thing that each new
generation needs - advice learned through experience. When it comes to advice
needed, godly grandparents need to remind their own children about the
importance of raising up their child in the footsteps of Jesus. Children are
desperate for good guidance.
The phenomenon is called
“shikadamari” in Japanese. A loose translation would be, “deer gathering spot.”
A large population of free-roaming deer live in and around the Japanese city of
Nara, spending
most of their time in the city park. Every summer evening at around 6:30, over
600 deer gather in the same spot for the same amount of time. The deer quietly
come together, sit down for about an hour, then stand back up and disperse to
different parts of the park. While onlookers are impressed by the display of
consistency of the gathering of the deer, nobody has been able to explain the
purpose (Zora News, August 20, 2019). It
appears all God’s creatures thrive on community.
[Colossians 3:12-15] Someone outside of the Lord’s church might see
Christians coming together on a regular basis at the same times, and for the
same lengths of time, yet not understand the purpose for those gatherings.
Members of the body of Christ understand that assembling together on a regular
basis to worship God and learn more of His Word is not only commanded in
Scripture, but is also vital for spiritual growth and survival. According to
Hebrews 10:24-25, Christians are to come together on a regular basis in order
to stir up love and good works and to encourage one another. Those things
aren’t possible to accomplish if brothers and sisters in Christ don’t gather
together on a regular basis. Colossians 3:16 instructs Christians to teach and
admonish one another. That can’t happen if Christians don’t gather together on
a regular basis. Acts 20:7 gives us the example of Christians gathering
consistently on the first day of the week in order to break bread together. In
Acts 15:30-31, we read about the congregation in Antioch
coming together to listen to the reading of a letter written to them by the
apostles, elders of Jerusalem.
The Christians who heard the letter rejoiced because of the encouragement it
brought. The consistent and regular gathering of Christians is no mystery at
all. Peace.