Discipleship

Day 1

There's an old story about a farmer who one morning decided to plow the south 40 acres. His tractor needed oil, so he started for the barn to get it, but on the way he noticed that the pigs hadn't been fed.
Near the corncrib was a pile of sacks, reminding him that the potatoes were sprouting. But on his way to the potato pt, he passed the woodpile and remembered that the kitchen stove was burning low. While picking up
wood, he saw that one of the chickens was ailing, so he dropped the wood to doctor the chicken... and so it went until the end of the day, and he still had not oiled the tractor or plowed the south field.
This story best illustrates to me the dilemma of the church. The church has a main purpose, but it has been obscured to the degree that if you ask 100 Christians what they think the church is supposed to be
doing, you may get 50+ answers!
We tend to stay busy with good things that need to be done. But we must redirect, refocus, reprioritize so that our primary purpose is in mind. What to know or be reminded of what that is? Check out Matt
28:19-20. Also see what Paul says about our goal (Colossians 1:28).

I'd like for you to think about what is important. I want to energize your thinking with this story.

A church sponsored a number of Cambodian refugees. One of the couples that were sponsored, Joe & Molyse Kong committed their lives to Christ shortly after coming to America.

About one year later, Molyse became deathly ill. She became weaker as the days progressed and required extensive surgery. At one point her heart stopped beating. The doctors informed Joe that his wife did not have long to live.

Several of the church people gathered together to pray for healing. Joe quietly said, "God is too high for me to ask why. I must believe Him. The pot doesn't ask the potter, 'Why did you make me this way?' I accept what is best for my wife and for myself. For if God takes her, she will soon be with him."

A short while later Molyse passed away. Later in the memorial service, Joe asked to speak to the several hundred who were there. The audience was comprised of Cambodian refugees, Joe's coworkers, others who worked with the refugees, and local businessmen. Many were not believers.

Joe's address follows.."From the human point of view I am deeply hurt. It is a tragedy for me to lose the one I love. We had 12 wonderful years together. When Jesus was in this world he said, 'I am the Good Shepherd and I know how to care for every sheep in my flock.' Therefore, he is my owner and manager. I belong to him and I am completelly satisfied with his management of my life."

After the service, many who had wondered about Christianity made this comment, "It (Christianity) must be the real thing. How else could a man have peace in the midst of one of life's greatest tragedies?"

Now here's the point to consider today... It's fairly easy to teach Bible verses, the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount. But if we are not communicating Christlikeness, we are falling short of the purpose of the church!

Ponder how these words fit into your life (Matt 11:28,29).

It's Wednesday, the middle of the work week. Hope you're staying afloat with a course in mind!

Thinking about the middle, an old secular song was jarred lose from my memory bank. It has a phrase in it, which states, "here I am, stuck in the middle with you."

Do you ever experience stuckness (I know, it's probably not a word; at least not until I've created it!)?

It's no secret that stuckness happens to Christians! It happens at all levels of maturity. We tend to become complacent and church becomes a game where we put on our best smiles, maybe even some sort of uniform (it used to be a coat & tie), we speak the language and we look at each other and say to ourselves, "Boy, I must be the only failure here. Everybody else is a super-saint, so I had better act like one too."

When stuckness occurs, there is only one way to get moving again. WE NEED TO ADMIT THAT WE ARE STUCK!

Our mistakes are no surprise to God. And frankly, they should not be to us either!

While stuckness is the bad news, there is some good news! For the good news, read 1 John 1:8-9.

Have a great day!

As we come to Thursday morning, we're in the home stretch for this work week.

Ned Kanoff and his family moved next door to the French family who were Christians. Ned drove a beer truck and he and his wife weren't too happy to find out that the neighbors were "religious". Mrs. Kanoff (Joanne) thought that the French's would always be watching and wouldn't approve of her drinking Coke and coffee.

One day Gene French finished mowing the grass and decided since he had time that he would mow all of the grass between the two driveways, rather than just his half. Ned had left a hose on the grass, so Gene picked it up and tossed it on to the sidewalk. The end of the hose hit a tiny rhododendron, knocking off its only bud and two of its three leaves. He thought, "I'll have to tell Ned what I've done to his plant." But later he reasoned, "It's so insignificant, I'll just keep quiet."

Two days later, Ned was mowing his grass when his wife said to him, what had happened to their new rhododendron. Ned thought that one of the girls must have damaged it. Gene heard this conversation, for he was washing the car at the time. His ears were burning. He thought to himself, "if you want to be a witness to this neighbor, you should admit your fault." Then he rethought his position, "What would Ned think of me if he knew I was responsible and didn't tell him earlier?"

A week went by...

Gene and his wife, Betty were visiting another couple who related an incident that had happened to them regarding their neighbor's rose bush and his negligence. He admitted that it had been a struggle to finally admit his fault to the owner. Gene took this as God's prodding to relate the rhododendron incident to Ned.

The following Saturday he found an opportunity to tell Ned and ask his forgiveness. He also offered to replace the plant.

On Sunday morning, Ned and his family decided to visit a church. They attended the "Welcome Class". In the class he was asked "What is one thing you have learned this week?" He responded, "I learned that Christians are humans too."

Gene's honesty about his humanness helped his neighbor recognize the life of Christ in his neighbor.

Ponder these verses today and seek to make an application. Colossians 4:5-6