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A Note from the Preacher…Larry Sweeney
Our first Friend's Day for 2006 is quickly approaching. The date is Sunday, January 29th. Historically, we have had good attendance when a Friend's Day has come early in the year. Here are some things we can be doing now:
Pray regularly and fervently for open doors and receptive hearts
Write down the names of at least three people to invite
Pray regularly and fervently for the three people on your list
Make phone calls and/or write a note encouraging other members of the congregation to attend
Be optimistic as to the results --Larry
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MONEY AND MAKING DECISIONS
One time a man who had decided to become a preacher asked a friend where he thought he ought to preach. The friend replied, “Go where there is the most sin.” On that basis the man decided to preach where there was the most money.
Money alone is seldom the best basis for making important decisions, although the bottom line with many persons in our materialistic day is the line that shows how much money is involved.
The Bible illustrates the folly of such decision making. Lot chose to go to Sodom on the basis of his own comfort and wealth. Joseph was sold into slavery by his own brothers because there was profit in it. Perhaps the greatest example of such folly is seen in the life of a New Testament character, Judas Iscariot, who betrayed the Lord for thirty pieces of silver….
Peerless Paul wrote, “For the love of money is the root of all evil…” (1 Tim. 6:10). This passage however has often been misquoted, misapplied, and misunderstood. Money is not the root of all evil, but the love of it is….The difference in money is how we feel about it and how we use it as a basis of decisions.
Some time back a father related one of the tragic incidents in his life. He told of having a son who was a talented athlete. He stated that he could have afforded to send his son to a Christian college. Yet, his son received an offer of a full scholarship to a secular university. He allowed his son to accept this, and as time passed his son married a non-Christian. The father in deep anguish and bitter tears told how his son's wife hated the Lord's church and would not even allow them to see their precious grandchildren! The man stated, “The biggest bargain of my life was my biggest mistake!”
Those who do not learn the lesson that money is never the sole reason for making decisions will one day regret it, if not on time's side of eternity, then in eternity!!
--W. D. Jeffcoat