Leadership, Who Needs It?

SCIPTURE

But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant.

~Matthew 20:26, NLT

QUOTE

Anyone can follow a path; only a leader can blaze one.

~John Maxwell

I’ve been reading through Nehemiah, Ezra and I Samuel and the subject of leadership keeps coming to the surface. Leadership is a big deal because everyone needs a leader. If you are a leader, a lot of people depend on you. As others depend on you, who should you be depending on? The answer starts with a J and ends with an S and has five letters.

Throughout the period of the Judges, the emphasis is on leaders. When the Israelites had good leaders, they did well, when they didn’t, they got enslaved to foreigner’s. In the period of the kings, the Israelites did good when they had good leadership and suffered when they did not. No group or organization will ever rise above the level of its leaders. Would the Israelites have made it out of Egypt without the leadership of Moses? Would the Jews have been successful in rebuilding the Temple without Zerubbabel? Would they have finished the wall in 52 days without Nehemiah? Leadership is a big deal!

I think my readers will agree that America is suffering from a leadership crisis: we are in desperate need of a good leader. The question is: do we have enough sense to recognize and vote for a good leader if one were to appear? I’m not questioning Obama’s ability to lead, I am questioning the direction in which he is leading. The difference between a good and bad leader is character and direction. Hitler was a gifted leader but not a good leader. We need a good leader.

• The schedule this Sunday will be light due to the Holiday weekend. We will have you some donuts and biscuits and we will have LIFE CHANGING BIBLE STUDY but no Deacon’s meeting or PM service. We are planning a patriotic service for Sunday morning. We have video that is very good and Wendy Greenhaw is coming to sing the National Anthem and our special music.
• It is not too late to send me pictures of your family members who served in the armed forces. I can work on it here at home. We have about 25 so for but I would like more.
• MEMORIAL DAY EVE worship celebration this Sunday at 10:15 with special guest Wendy Greenhaw and Ronald Reagan [via video]. I think you will love the service. We will honor the fallen and all those who served.
• It got pretty chilly last night: Hope said it was Black Bird Winter. I said, “I think you mean ‘Black Berry.'” She said, “Black Berry, Raspberry, Blueberry, who cares, its cold.” That team we played had some obnoxious fans. I accused them of furnishing one of the umps. Willard chewed me out. I felt like Hugh had been reincarnated. He said, “You sit down and hush.” I said, “I kidding with them Willard, they know it” He said, “The umpire may not know it and we don’t want to win this game. The winner has to stay and play another game. Do you want to be here until 10:30?” I sat down and almost hushed. Willard is a true friend, he tells me all the time that I can’t sing.
• May 29 Senior Adult Cook Out. BBQ chicken and ribs.
• June 6…Rally for Biblical Marriage in Montgomery. I hope to carry the van. I encourage every believer to take a stand before it’s too late.
• June 8-12…VBS and VBX

VBS-VBX JUNE 8-12

The Power of Words

SCRIPTURE

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

~Psalm 19:14, NLT

QUOTE

Every man dies but not every man lives.

~William Wallace

A friend was telling me a story yesterday morning about his high school days back in the 60’s. They had a very good basketball team that went to the State Tournament year after year and I think he was a member of the team. What he shared with me was the pep-rally. The coach did not speak nor the principle. They always called upon a certain teacher who taught typing and accounting. She was their motivational speaker. She knew how to use words in a positive way to inspire others to do their very best. He said and I quote: “When she got through speaking, we would have run through a block wall had she said ‘go.'”

Churchill was a great word smith when he came to motivating people with speeches and so was Ronald Reagan but one of my all time favorites is William Wallace leading his Scotsmen against a vastly superior British army….

“I am William Wallace. And I see a whole army of my countrymen, here in defiance of tyranny! You have come to fight as free men. And free man you are! What will you do without freedom? Will you fight?” The Scotsmen shouted…“Two thousand against ten?– No! We will run – and live!”

[Wallace] “Yes! Fight and you may die. Run and you will live at least awhile. And dying in your bed many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance, to come back here as young men and tell our enemies that they may take our lives but they will never take our freedom!”

Words are like seeds; they will produce a harvest for good or evil. In light of this truth, Psalm 19:14 would be a good morning prayer.

• Today we pray for STUDENTS. We have a great bunch of kids and I believe God is going to send REVIVAL through them. Obviously, the HOLY SPIRIT will be the agent but I believe the revival will break out among the youth first.
• Anthony, Johnny, Joe David and I feed the football team yesterday morning and yes we forgot to take pictures all day. Hopefully, we will not forget tomorrow. We have a lot of DBC kids on the team.
• Great Senior Fellowship and I learned how to smoke ribs. The desserts were good and so was the tator salad. The ice cream was the best I’ve ever tasted. 
• MISSION TO THE PARK this morning early. We leave at 7:30. We have 22 going on the trip: WOW!
• Communion in the morning at 10:15….Deacon’s meeting at 8:00, LCBS at 9:00 and worship at 10:15 and 6:00.

EXTRA FOR TEACHERS

CONNECTED THROUGH WORDS

The old cliche “Sticks and stones can break my bones but words will never hurt me” is not true. What if your wife or husband told you today that they did not love you and had never loved you? I don’t know a single soul that would not be wounded emotionally from such an experience. WORDS do hurt! Matter of fact, WORDS can be devastating.

For every word in Adolph Hitler’s Mein Kampf 7,500 people died. It is estimated that 17,000,000 people died as a result of his political philosophy detailed in his book MY STRUGGLES [Mein Kampf}. Hitler viewed Judaism, capitalism, and communism as the three major threats to Germany. The Final Solution meant purging all associated with these things and the result is the Holocaust.

The Key verse in today’s study is 30…And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Going back to verse 25 we see a list of things that grieve the HOLY SPIRIT…

1. Falsehood, a lack of integrity. The failure to be truthful and honest with each other.
2. Uncontrolled anger: three things you can do with anger: express, aggress, repress or confess.
3. Moral and Spiritual Compromise…allowing something like anger, ill will to take root in your life thus giving Satan a foothold.
4. Stealing…a feeling of entitlement…a failure to work, to bum off society, to be a free loader, to keep the TITHE which belongs to God, failure to pay your debts, cheating on your taxes, etc. There are many ways to steal.
5. Unwholesome Communication. The Greek word sapros means rotten, putrefied, corrupted, no longer fit for use, worn out
   of poor quality, bad, unfit for use, worthless. In my opinion, the NLT is the best translations here…Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. The CEV reads…Stop all your dirty talk. Say the right thing at the right time and help others by what you say. The NRSV reads…Let no evil talk come out of your mouths. The VOICE says…Don’t let even one rotten word seep out of your mouths. I have a slight disagreement the opinion of the writter of the quarterly. Unwholesome talk covers more than gossip or even slander. Paul is also talking about a foul or dirty mouth.
6. Bitterness [verse 31]. Bitterness is spiritual poison that will destroy the soul. Rattlesnakes can carry venom to destroy their enemies: humans don’t have that capacity: the venom of bitterness will destroy the one who carries it.
7. Unforgiveness. We are to show compassion to one another and forgive one another just as Christ for God’s sake forgave us.

QUESTIONS TO PONDER

1. Can we “technically” tell the truth while at the same time deceive another person?
2. An Alabama student was trying to work his way through school and he hired on as a vacuum cleaner salesman. He was trained to use high pressure and close the deal. After his first sale, he began feeling guilty and went back to the home and ask the family if they could afford the vacuum and if they really wanted it? In truth they were full of regret and remorse. He tore the contract up, went back and told his boss what he had done. He was fired on the spot. In the business and corporate world, how much pressure is applied individuals to succeed even if it means being dishonest? Have you been pressured in the past to be dishonest by your employer?
3. What is the difference between a “White lie” and a “Black lie”?
4. Do you trust dishonest people? Would you go into business with a person that you knew was dishonest?
5. Can dishonesty create problems in marriages? [Yes or No] How does it affect other relationships?
6. Is it a sin to get angry? How and when does anger become sin?
7. Do you consider it stealing when a person does not repay a debt? What about a believer refusing to tithe? I bet no one has the courage to ask the tithing question.
8. How much confidence would you have in a professed believer who had a foul and dirty mouth? What if he or she was a leader in the church?
9. Do you think that gossip and slander are as bad at filthy talk? In your opinion, which does the most damage?
10. Do you think the average person understand the harm that bitterness can cause when you refuse to let go of a offense?
11. Do violators [those that hurt others] ever deserve to be forgiven?

BONUS EXTRA FROM BOBBY

EXERCISE FOR PEOPLE OVER 60

Bobby has come up with a great exercise for Senior adults….Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, where you have plenty of room at each side. With a 5-lb potato bag in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides and hold them there as long as you can. Try to reach a full minute, and then relax. Each day you’ll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer. After a couple of weeks, move up to 10-lb potato bags. Then try 50-lb potato bags and eventually try to get to where you can lift a 100-lb potato bag in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute. (I’m at this level). After you feel confident at that level ………….Put a potato in each bag.

Big-K

SCRIPTURE: You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory. {Daniel 2:37, NKJV}

QUOTE:  Let me tell you about my KING. He’s indescribable. Yes. He’s incomprehensible. He’s invincible, He’s irresistible. I’m trying to tell you, the Heavens cannot contain Him, let alone a man explain Him. You can’t get Him out of your mind. You can’t get Him off of your hands. You can’t outlive Him, and you can’t live without Him. Yes, that’s my KING. ~S.M. Lockeridge

COMMENTARY: In the above scripture, Daniel is talking to Nebuchadnezzar the pagan Babylonian king. Here is what John says about Jesus in the revelation…”Together they will go to war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will defeat them because he is Lord of all lords and King of all kings.” Jesus is the King with the Big-K. Nebuchadnezzar was a little k, Obama is a little k, Hitler and Stalin were little k’s. It is true that for a time, Nebuchadnezzar did rule many nations but he do so because the Big K so ordained. Earthly kings rule but the King of kings overrules.

EXTRA

• Bobby Cannant has Gall Blader Surgery today at PMC…may be 4:00 PM before they get to him. He has four in front of him. Senior Adults should be first in my opinion.
• Cindy Weaver’s dad passed away on Sunday evening: she and the kids are in Portland, Oregon for the memorial service.
• My sister Holly had to have her knee reopened yesterday: she is recovering at home
• I also got word that Mrs. Margaret Crouch Zirble was promoted yesterday. Mrs. Margaret taught me in school and I spent several nights in their home when I was boy. She had one son my age and three other sons. She had been sick for two weeks and I did not know it. She is survived by her husband Ed who I know will miss her dearly. The news was a shock to me. I visited them on Christmas Eve but did go by on my Easter Visitation: now I wish I had but I thank God for the Christmas visit. In the last few years, Mrs. Margaret would always want a hug and I squeezed her to tight a few years ago and hurt her back: since that time she has opted for a kiss on the cheek.
• TLC got Ricoh off my back I hope. We think we have all our ducks lined up. We will not celebrate until the machine is on the truck.
• Sorry about the Blog being posted late: the internet was down at home.

Egomania Is A State But Not A Country

SCRIPTURE: It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. [Galatians 2:20b, NLT]

QUOTE: “Bless you prison, bless you for being in my life.  For there, lying upon the rotting prison straw, I came to realize that the object of life is not prosperity as we are made to believe, but the maturity of the human soul.”  ~Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

COMMENTARY: Attila The Hun, Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Maximilien Robespierre–what do they all have in common?

1. All were egomaniacs who thought the world revolved around themselves.
2. All were ruthless dictators.
3. All of them ran out of time before they accomplished their twisted dreams.
4. All are remembered in a negative light. History admires them not! Their deaths were the cause of mass celebration.
5. All came to a terrible end. Attila The Hun drowned in his own blood on his wedding night. Hitler shot himself and bit a cyanide pill at the same time. Stalin died screaming in terror.  Robespierre, after murdering some 40,000 on the guillotine, was carried to the guillotine himself without trial. Although no one is certain how Pol Pot died, it is believed that he committed suicide and left instructions for his body to be cremated. He was about to be handed over to an international tribunal.

What is the point?

1. Life does not revolve around you: it revolves around JESUS, deal with it!
2. You time on earth is too brief for you to establish your own significance or identity. Die to self and live for JESUS! Now! You are running out of time.
3. If you want to be remembered in a positive light: don’t be a self-centered jerk. Stop thinking about yourself and think of others.

EXTRA

• Never thought I would say it but Andy Stanley is a better teacher than his father and his father “aint bad.” I can’t think of a soul that doesn’t need to hear what Andy has to say about the stewardship of time.
• PRAY for COMMITMENT SERVICE this Sunday…MY HOPE with Billy Graham…Matthew Committment Service
• All the blogs are getting more hits…I don’t know what is going on but I am excited. My guess would be that Facebook has given us more visibility.  New Top Ten posted last night on TEN most Evil Men in recent history. It is a paste from another site and is very interesting. History buffs will want to check it out.

Surrounded

SCRIPTURE: Lord, please listen to me. Lord, open your eyes and look at this message. Hear the words that Sennacherib sent to insult the living God. (2 Kings 19:16, ERV)

QUOTE: “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” ~Winston Churchill

COMMENTARY: Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, surrounded Jerusalem in 701 B.C. with 185,000 seasoned troops that had never lost a battle. He was so sure of himself that he sent intimidating messages to King Hezekiah of Judah. Isaiah the prophet told Hezekiah not to fear, “Not even an arrow will be shot across the wall,” said Isaiah. Hezekiah was still afraid and he carried the letters containing Sennacherib’s threats to the house of the Lord and laid them before the LORD. He basically said, “Look at what this heathen is saying about You LORD.” The situation looked hopeless and Hezekiah turned to the LORD as his only hope.

We have a similar story in American history. On December 16, 1944, Hitler’s army launched a secret attack by moving hundreds of tanks and several hundred thousand German solders through the Ardennes Forest in eastern Belgium where they broke through the thinly held American lines.  Despite taking dreadful losses, US forces managed to delay the enemy sufficiently to permit reinforcements to be moved into position to halt the German drive. The American forces seemed to be trapped in the town of Bastogne which was a vital junction. Three German tank divisions surrounded the town and on December 22, German emissaries asked for the American commander, Brigadier General Anthony C. McAuliffe to surrender, to which the General answered quite briefly, “Nuts!” Someone reported later that the General told his staff, “We have the Germans right where we want them, we can now attack in any direction.” These brave Americans withstood the German assault for 3 long days before they were reinforced by General George Patton who broke through the German ranks and gave the Allies time to reinforce their position. Within days the entire German army was in retreat and you know the rest of the story.

The moral of the story is that things are not always as they appear. When the situation appears hopeless, keep your eyes on the LORD who has the power to transform apparent defeat into glorious victory.

EXTRA: I did get around to checking on everyone yesterday but I don’t have all that much to report. They are running test on Michelle and putting in some new ports and drainage tubes; no definite plan that we know about at this time. Wanda Yarbrough should get to move to rehab today at River Side I think. Darlene’s mom is not doing well. The fluid problem seems to be getting worse. We need your prayers on this one.

The German Stg-44, the world’s first assault rifle.

EXTRA/EXTRA: I believe that June’s dad, Woodrow W. Marbut, was a part of the above battle. He was in a tank destroyer in the Black Forrest.

The Kingdom

SCRIPTURE: Jesus said, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If it did, my servants would fight so that I would not be handed over to the Jewish leaders. No, my kingdom is not an earthly one.” [John 18:36, ERV]

QUOTE: We may be called to suffer in this life but Jesus will make it up to us. What lies ahead of us is far better than what lies behind. ~Anonymous

COMMENTARY: Hitler asked the German people to suffer with him, and for him and the Third Reich [ kingdom] would last 1,000 years. Hitler was wrong: dead wrong. The Third Reich lasted only twelve and one half years. It probably seemed longer to those who suffered under his demonic reign of terror but in light of history, twelve and a half years is not even a blip on the radio screen. They say that when he realized that he had failed and that his kingdom [Third Reich] was in total chaos and on the verge of collapse that he shrieked: “Everyone deceived me, no one told me the truth.” Contrast the way he died with the way the Jesus died: there is a world of difference. Jesus has an eternal kingdom that promises true peace. The Kingdom of Christ is one of peace with no need to use force. Love will be the rule of the day in Christ’s Kingdom.

EXTRA: Under the weather today. Headed to med-clinic to get shots. Real bad head cold. Michelle Burcham [Roger and Dot’s daughter in law] is in critical condition at DGH. They are going to try to do a surgery today at noon. This family needs your prayers. I think Gary got to go home but I am not sure.

Little Branch behind our house at daylight

Heroes Of The Faith

SCRIPTURE: Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven. [Matthew 10:32-33, NASB]

QUOTE: First they came for the socialist but I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came from the unionist but I did not speak out because I did not belong to a union. Then they came for the Jews but I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me. ~Martin Niemöller

COMMENTARY: Martin Niemöller was born in Lippstadt, Germany on January 14, 1892. He joined the navy at age 18 and became a commander of a submarine. After WWI he surrendered to the ministry and was ordained in 1924. Like his father, Martin became a pastor of a Lutheran Church and eventually pastored a church in the surburbs of Berlin. Initially he welcomed the Nazi party and wrote Hitler a note of encouragement. Over the course of time, he became close friends with the young Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was never taken in by Hitler. Bonhoeffer became a huge influence on Martin who in time became an outspoken critic of Hitler. Niemöller even confronted Hitler personally in a face to face meeting; something very few people did and live to talk about it. An unbelieveable 95% of the German people belonged to the church [Protestant or Catholic]; that would be over 60 million Germans. Of that 60 million professing Christians, only 800 pastor’s confessed Christ as Lord when Hitler tried to force them to sign a pledge of allegience to the Führer. Most of the 800 were imprisoned or executed. Niemöller was sent to Dachau where he spent the last seven years of the war. He did survive whereas Bonhoeffer was executed two weeks before the allies invaded Germany. Although Niemöller survived the death camp and the hollacaust, he was unpopular with the German people. He openly acknowledged the gullibility of the German people and confessed that they were to blame for the atrosities of the Nazi resigme. The Germans did not agree with his confession and continued to blame the U.S. and Great Britian. Martin Niemöller was promoted in 1984–five years after we came to Danville. I wish I could have heard him preach just one time.

EXTRA: Continue to pray for Gary Garner. He is still in the hospital and still has the blockage. If there is not a break through today, they are going to run more test tomorrow. You can also pray for me, there is a lot on my plate today. Pray for God to guide our church also.

ONE YEAR AGO TODAY: It turned cold during the night and the cold air drove out the rain. I looked by to 2005, a Sunday and we had 236 in LCBS, 310 in worship and 110 on Sunday night.

A Year ago today, somewhere else.