Category Archives: Service

Purpose

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eleanor.jpg ON THANKSGIVING, ELEANOR Roosevelt was serving food at a local soup kitchen…
More street people showed up than anticipated. They were running out of food and worried that not everyone would get to eat. As Eleanor was delivering two plates of food, her thumbs slipped in the gravy on the plates. The gravy was extremely hot. Her natural reaction was to drop the plates instantly, but she knew that if she did so, two people would go without their Thanksgiving dinner. So she held on. She made a decision that someone else’s Thanksgiving was more important than her desire to avoid the pain. She found meaning in her temporary suffering and decided to keep going. In that split second, she chose where to put her focus. Someone else’s happiness was more important than her temporary pain.
THOUGHT: Heros choose to focus on the purpose on the other side of pain. Daniel R. Castro, “Heros Focus on the Other Side of Pain,” Critical Choices, 75
KneEmail: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1
Bible reading for 08.17.10: Romans 16; Psalm 97-99
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Look

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Samaritan WHY ARE SO many of us like the priest and the Levite…?
Why do we look away from hurting people? We have many reasons. The hassle. The dirt. The risk. The cost. The commitment.
The Samaritan interrupted his schedule and emptied his moneybag. Because he was an outsiders, he ran the risk of the wounded man’s family seeking him out for vengeance when he took him to an inn. One scholar said this about the risk the Samaritan took: “An American cultural equivalent would be a Plains Indian in 1875 walking into Dodge City with a scalped cowboy on his horse, checking into a room over the local saloon, and staying the night to take care of him.”
We instinctively know that love leads to commitments, so we look away when we see a beggar. We might have to pay if we look too closely and care too deeply. Loving means losing control of our schedule, our money, and our time. When we love we cease to be the master and become a servant.
Jesus is not just offering good advice. He tells this parable to disrupt our “safe” world so that we can begin to see people and stop looking through the narrow lens of “our group.” Unless we do that, we won’t be able to love.” Paul E. Miller, “Looking Shapes The Heart,” Love Walked Among Us,” 33-34
KneEmail: “But when he saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.” Matthew 9:36
Bible reading for 07.20.10: Acts 22; Psalm 26-28
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Busy

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bee5.jpg BEEKEEPERS KNOW THAT a bee’s age is determined by the condition of its wings…
Because bees constantly work, their wings get a lot of wear and tear. Young bees have wide, well-formed wings, whereas older bees have narrow, torn, and tattered wings.
The bee does not die of old age. It dies when its wings are completely worn out and it can no longer work or fly. Near the point of death, the bee points itself away from the beehive and begins to fly, never to return again. The bee literally wears itself out working!
THOUGHT: There is a spiritual lesson here for us. As Christians, we must be diligent servants, doing the work of the Lord. When Jesus evaluated the spiritual condition of the seven churchs of Asia (Revelation 2-3), their degree of acceptance was directly proportional to the kind and amount of work they were doing. Author unknown
KneEmail: “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:58; cf. James 1:25
Bible reading for 04.07.10: Luke 9:18-36; 1 Samuel 1-3
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Hands

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hands tree.jpg SOME HANDS ARE used to play piano, some to mold clay, others to sign for those who cannot hear…
Some hands are used to cook for others.
Look at your hands. What do you see? I see veins popping up, brown spots, wrinkles and unpolished nails. I see only the blemishes, but God sees them as instruments for serving others. If I choose, they can be used like the woman who “extends her hand to the needy” (Proverbs 31:20).
Paul tells us to “work with our hands” (1 Thessalonians 4:11). Solomon states that “lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth” (Proverbs 10:4). Isaiah begs for strength for his feeble hands (Isaiah 35:3). David also admonishes us to have “clean hands and pure heart” (Psalm 24:4). Gaynelle Thomas
KneEmail: “Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.” Ephesians 4:28
Bible reading for 01.20.10: Matthew 13:31-58; Genesis 49-50
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Carry

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aaasa.jpgFOR THE FIRST time in her life, Western Oregon University’s Sara Tucholsky not only hit a home run in a game against Central Washington University, but she hit it over the fence…
She had passed first base and was on her way to second base when she collapsed. Something had happened to her knee and she couldn’t run. No one on her team could help her around the bases because if they touched her, she’d be out. That’s when her opponents from Central Washington picked her up and carried her around the bases and across the home plate. “My whole team was crying. It touched a lot of people,” says Tucholsky.
KneEmail: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2

Service

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abelderly.jpgA MAN WAS discussing how empty his life was, and he knew that something had to be changed…
This might appear strange, because he had all of the outward signs of success — at least those the world prized highly.
To illustrate the void in his life he said, “The only happiness I have had lately was something that happened the last time I came to services. That was a day when the temperatures dropped noticeably while we were at worship. As I began to drive off the parking lot, I noticed an elderly couple leaving. They did not have coats because they lived so close, and they had walked to services. It was cold, so I turned around and drove over to them. I rolled my window down and insisted, in spite of their reluctance, that they let me take them home. That feeling of being helpful was the greatest thing I had felt in a long, long time.”
THOUGHT: Life is at its best when we’re doing good for others. Much of the depression experienced by millions stems from being too self-focused. The harder people try to please themselves and lay hold of happiness, the more frustratingly elusive satisfaction becomes. God made our eyes to look outward not inward. As we key in on the hurts and pains of our neighbors, surprisingly our own petty grievances seem to shrink in proportion. Maybe, secretly, we realize that if we can help others cope with life, there is hope for us too. (Kerry Knight)
KneEmail: “…I know that here is nothing better for man than to be happy and do good while they live”(Ecclesiastes 3:11).

Partial

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A CHICAGO BANK 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, Peabodys, and others of Boston’s finest 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.”
THOUGHT: God is not a respector of persons either. He wants to use people from every family, nation, and race who want to work and serve for Him.
KneEmail: “Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him” (Acts 10:34-35).

Search

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TELEVISION SHOWS LIKE American Idol have become a global phenomenon…
Millions wait anxiously to find out who will be the next singer eliminated in the musical talent hunt.
Some call it “a new concept in entertainment,” but it’s hardly a new idea. As a boy, I remember watching Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour. That show was followed by the bizarre talent hunt The Gong Show in the 70s, and then by Star Search in the 80s. It is an ongoing theme of television to search for someone unknown and make him or her famous.
Dreams of fame and fortune, however, are not at the heart of the search that is truly timeless. That search is God’s own pursuit of hearts that are available for His work in the world. In Isaiah, the Lord asks: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us? And then we read Isaiah’s ready response: ‘Here am I! Send me’ (6:8).
God is not seeing the most qualified or talented; rather, He is seeking hearts that are surrendered to Him. He is seeking those who are available, dependable, and willing to be used. In those lives, God will show Himself strong, and He will be glorified. Are you available? (Bill Crowder)
KneEmail: “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ Then I said, “Here am I! Send me” (Isa. 6:8).

Hands

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EVEN TODAY, IN a town square in Germany, stands a statue of Christ, its hands blown off during the intensive bombing of World War II…
Though the townspeople could have restored the statue decades ago, they learned this more important lesson, instead placing a plaque underneath that reads “Christ hath no hands but yours.”
THOUGHT: God needs our hands to complete His tasks on Earth. (Jack Canfield)
KneEmail: “And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me’” (Matthew 25:40).

Cowardice

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COWARDICE IN SPIRITUAL matters is a sin…
A coward is useless in the battle for Truth, and actually does more harm than good. He is a hindrance. He discourages the church, the home, and the community. A coward in an army is dangerous in critical times. As a bad apple will cause the other apples around it to rot, the coward is not only of no value, but also will harm the efforts of others. (Gary Colley)
KneEmail: “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Rev. 21:8).