Puddles

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Mike Benson

A PATIENT KNOCKED over a cup of water, which spilled on the floor beside his bed…
The patient was afraid he might slip on the water if he got out of bed, so he asked a nurse’s aide to mop it up.
He didn’t know it, but the hospital policy said that small spills were the responsibility of the nurse’s aides, while large spills were to be mopped up by the hospital’s housekeeping staff.
The nurse’s aide decided the spill was large, so she called housekeeping. A housekeeper arrived and declared the spill small. An argument ensued. “It’s not my responsibility,” said the nurse’s aid, “because it’s a large puddle.” The housekeeper didn’t agree. “Well, it’s not mine,” she said, “the puddle is too small.”
The exasperated patient listened for a time, then took a pitcher of water from his night table and poured all of its contents on the floor. “I that a big enough puddle now for the two of you to decide?”
THOUGHT: We all have certain responsibilities in life. Some of them are small puddles, while others are large puddles. We can fret over their size, or we can get busy mopping.
KneEmail: “That you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we command you.” 1 Thessalonians 4.11
Bible reading for 03.24.11: Luke 2.1-24; Joshua 16-18
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Vision3

Posted on January 12, 2011 by Mike Benson

NOT MUCH HAPPENS without an inspiring, compelling vision…
Not much was happening in Nehemiah’s day. The people had not vision. Jerusalem lay in ruins, and no one was motivated to do anything about it (Nehemiah 1.3). Then along came Nehemiah with a vision to rebuild the gates and wall of the city.
Visions are exciting and energize people. They strike a spark – the excitement that lifts a ministry out of the mundane. They supply the fuel that lights the fire under a congregation – leaders are able to stop putting out fires and start igniting a few.
A vision has the potential to turn a maintenance mentality into a ministry mentality. And when your vision resonates with your values and mission, it generates the energy that fuels the accomplishment of the task. Aubrey Malphurs, “Developing a Vision”
KneEmail: “So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.” Nehemiah 4.6
Bible reading for 01.12.11: Matthew 9.1-17; Genesis 29, 30
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Hand

Posted on November 22, 2010 by Mike Benson

YOU PLACE A basketball in my hand and we can play a pickup game of basketball…
You place a basketball in Michael Jordan’s hand and you get six NBA championship rings. It just depends on whose hand it’s in…
You place a football in my hand and I can toss it to my grandson. You place a football in Peyton Manning’s hand and you get a $19 million dollar contract. It just depends on whose hand it’s in…
You place a mathematical formula in my hand and you get confusion. You place a mathematical formula in Albert Einstein’s hand and you get the laws of relativity. It just depends on whose hand it’s in…
You place a rod in my hand and I can beat an angry dog away from me. You place a rod in Moses’ hand and he will part the Red Sea. It just depends on whose hand it’s in…
You place a stone and a slingshot in my hand and you get a kid’s toy. You place a stone and a slingshot in David’s hand and you slay a giant. It just depends on whose hand it’s in…
You place two fish and five loaves of bread in my hand and you get a couple of sandwiches. You place them in Jesus’ hand and 5,000 men are fed. It just depends on whose hand it’s in…
You place some nails in my hand and you might get a birdhouse. You place nails in Jesus’ hand and you get the forgiveness of sins. It just depends on whose hand it’s in. Paul Ciniraj, “Keeping Our Sacred Trust,” Sunday School in HD, 176-177
KneEmail: “Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.” Matthew 8:3
Bible reading for 11.22.10: James 4; Ezekiel 18, 19
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Alone

Posted on November 16, 2010 by Mike Benson

TODAY I RECEIVED an e-mail from “Darrel” entitled “concern…”
Darrel is troubled that our congregational web site does not teach “salvation by faith alone.” Darrel asked me to examine more than 30 Scriptures to prove his claim that salvation is by faith alone, but every verse he cited speaks of being saved “by faith” instead of salvation by “faith alone.”
My reply to Darrel included the following statement: “If you could show me where ‘faith alone’ is used in the Bible to describe salvation, I would be grateful.” So far Darrell has not written back. Maybe he has not yet looked at his e-mail or maybe he is searching for just one passage that supports his belief that salvation is by “faith alone.”
“Faith alone” is found just one time in the New Testament; the NIV uses this exact wording in Jas. 2:24 to say “You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.”
Many claim we ARE saved by “faith alone,” but God’s inspired spokesman says a person is NOT saved by faith alone. Who will we believe–God or a man like Darrel?
PS: I received a follow-up note from Darrel, but he did not include a verse which says we are “saved by faith alone.”
Remember:
Without faith we cannot please God (Heb. 11:6).
We cannot be a child of God without repentance (Lk. 13:3).
We must confess that Jesus is the Son of God (1 Tim. 6:12; Acts 8:36-38).
Finally we must be baptized into Christ (Gal. 3:27) for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16).
Have we done these things and are we living a faithful Christian life? Brad Price
KneEmail: “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6
Bible reading for 11.16.10: Hebrews 11:20-40; Ezekiel 3, 4
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Faith

Posted on July 30, 2010 by Mike Benson

WERE IT NOT for faith, or as Paul mentioned the law of faith (Romans 3:27), salvation could not be by grace because faith allows entrance into God’s saving grace…
The two then, grace and faith, are inseparable qualities. Works are associated with faith, for “you see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only” (James 2:24). James further commented, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (v. 26). The premier biblical example of grace, faith, and works combining to bring about salvation is found in Noah who lived in advance of the law of Moses. As God was contemplating the destruction of the world in the great flood, the Bible says, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD” (Genesis 6:8). God told Noah to make an ark 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high, fill it with animals and food as God described, and get in it with his family (Genesis 6:14-7:1). The comment, “Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did” (v. 22) in no way countermanded the grace of God. Regarding Noah’s faith, the Hebrews’ writer said: “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith” (Hebrews 11:7).
God’s grace coupled with His commands and Noah’s faith brought about salvation. It was not legalism then nor is it now to say God’s grace coupled with His commands and our obedient faith brings about salvation. One who so believes and practices is not a legalist but an “heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” Gary McDade, “Grace,” The Doctrine of Christ–Nineteenth Annual Florida School of Preaching Lectureship, 126-127
KneEmail: “Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the faith of us all.” Romans 4:15; cf., 5:1-2
Bible reading for 07.30.10: Romans 2; Psalm 51-53
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Busy

Posted on April 8, 2010 by Mike Benson

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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Lazy

Posted on June 15, 2009 by Mike Benson

THERE WAS A big, overgrown cow poke named Tall Cotton, whose specialty was going to sleep during duty hours, leaving the rest of the crew to do his share of the work…
The boys took it for a time, but they finally decided that something had to be done about the matter.
Then came the day they found Cotton curled up in a haystack, boots off, sound asleep. They opportunity was golden. The boys rounded up a huge tarantula, killed it, and laid it close to Cotton’s leg. Then they tied a pin on the end of a stick and jabbed the sleeping cowboy a couple of times. Cotton came awake like a wild Comanche doing the snake dance and, at the same time, a cowboy rushed up and smashed the tarantula with his boot heel.
Cotton took one look at the dead tarantula and turned white. He began to get sick, even though the other cowboys did their best to console him with stories of horrible deaths they had seen as a result of tarantula bites. Finally, one of the crew, who laid claim to having read Ten Thousand Things Worth Knowing, as well as Dr. Chase’s Recipe Book, offered to try to save Cotton, even though he admitted it seemed hopeless.
First, the cowboy poured a pint of Castor oil down Cotton. Then he followed it up with a glass of soda, a cup of vinegar, and finally a quart of water in which a plug of tobacco had been soaking. For a while it seemed almost certain that Cotton was going to die from the tarantula bite, but the medicine was potent and, eventually, he was saved.
After that, the crew had very little trouble with him lying down on the job, especially in haystacks! (Stan Hoig, The Humor of the American Cowboy, 26, 27)
KneEmail: “Give no sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids.” Proverbs 6:4; cf. 6:9-10, 24:33
Bible reading for 07.15.09: Acts 2:1-21; Nehemiah 1-3
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Tools

Posted on April 6, 2009 by Mike Benson

tool belt.jpg THE CARPENTER’S TOOLS had a meeting…
Brother Hammer served as the chairman. The other members of the tool belt inform him that he must leave, because he was too noisy. But brother Hammer said, “If I have to leave this carpenter’s shop, then brother Gimlet must go too. He’s insignificant and makes a very small impression.” (A gimlet is a small tool with a screw point, grooved shank, and a cross handle for boring holes).
Little brother Gimlet arose and said, “All right, but brother Screwdriver must go also. You have to turn him around and around to get anywhere with him.”
Brother Screwdriver turned to the other tools in the belt and said, “If you wish, I will go, but brother Plane must leave too. All of his work is on the surface; there’s no depth to what he does.”
To this brother Plane leveled his terse reply, “Well, then, brother Saw will have to depart too. The changes he proposes always cut too deep.”
Brother Saw complained, saying, “Brother Ruler will have to withdraw if I leave, for he’s always measuring other folks as though he were the only one who is right.”
Brother Ruler then surveyed the group and said, “Brother Sandpaper doesn’t belong here either. He’s rougher than he ought to be, and is always rubbing people the wrong way.”
In the midst of the discussion, the Carpenter of Nazareth walked in. He had come to perform his day’s work. He put on His tool belt and went to the workbench to make a pulpit. He employed the ruler, the saw, the plane, the hammer, the gimlet, the screwdriver, the sandpaper, and all the other tools. When the day’s work was over, the pulpit was finished, and the carpenter went home. All the accusations against each of these tools were absolutely true, yet the carpenter used every one of them. No matter which tool He use, no other tool coul have done the work better.
THOUGHT: We are all “tools”" in Jesus’ tool box. Each of us has a purpose, ability, and a task to perform.
KneEmail: “For we are God’s fellow workers…” (1 Corinthians 3:9a; cf. 12:12ff).

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