Starting Over

By Alan Smith

    During a Sunday-morning worship service, a mother tried everything she could think of — including rewards, scoldings, and threats — to get her fidgety 7-year-old son to be quiet.  Nothing worked.  Finally, about halfway through the sermon, she leaned over and whispered something in the little boy’s ear.
    He immediately stopped fidgeting and sat quietly for the rest of the service.  Afterward, a friend sitting in the row behind asked the young mother what she had said to her son.
    The mother smiled and replied, “If you don’t be quiet, the preacher is going to lose his place, and then he’ll have to start his sermon all over again.”
    As much as little boys (and most of the rest of us) dislike the idea of having the preacher “start over”, it’s not something that any of us like to do in our own lives.  But there are times when we need to start over.
    When it comes to trying to live godly lives, we all mess up.  As good as our intentions are, as much as we promise ourselves that “I’ll never make that mistake again”, we find ourselves at the throne of God time and again, seeking grace and mercy, and having to start over.  It’s not easy, and it requires humility on our part, but fortunately, God gives us that opportunity when we truly repent.
    Just as difficult are the trials we face that force us to start over.  Maybe you've had a serious illness or injury, and it finally looks like you’re going to get well, but there’s a setback in your health which requires you to start all over again.  That news can be more devastating than the original diagnosis.  Or maybe it’s a financial problem you’re facing.  And just when it looked like there was a light at the end of the tunnel, your car or the washing machine breaks down or the kids need braces, and you’re back to square one trying to get your debt cleared up.
    Such experiences require a perseverance that says, “No matter how long it takes, no matter how many setbacks I have, no matter how many times I have start over, I will not give up.”  As Solomon wrote: “Although a righteous person may fall seven times, he gets up again.” (Proverbs 24:16, NET).  It's not a question of whether we will fall.  We will fall, but the righteous man, the wise man, continues to rise up and is willing to start over time and again.
    If you find yourself discouraged today because you've failed God, may you seek His forgiveness and start over living the life that God wants you to live.  If you're facing trials today that leave you wondering what's the use in trying any more, may God provide you strength to rise up and start over!
    Have a great day!

- Alan Smith, author of the popular "Thought For Today," and minister for the Fayetteville Church of Christ in Fayetteville, NC, may be contacted at alansmith.servant@gmail.com

Listening To Churchill

By Charles Hodge

Without any argument Winston Churchill was a great, powerful orator. His speeches saved England. He also agreed with Hodge. I feel better when someone agrees! Winston knew preaching was not talent. He was a habitual stutterer with a congenital lisp. He did know the power of oration - greater than that of a kind. He studied, practiced, made himself a speaker. Preaching is not talent.

He also preached preparation. H. M. Goodwyn said, "Preparation is the hardest part." Coach Wilkinson said, "It is not the will to win but the will to prepare." Winston got up his own speeches. To him, preparation was crucial. He said, "The three most difficult things were to climb a ladder leading toward you, to kiss a girl leaning from you, and to make an after-dinner speech." He tirelessly honed his drafts and rehearsed his delivery. He underlined ... added dots and dashes ... to emphasize. Nothing was left to chance. He despised unprepared speakers who "winged it." "He is one of those who before he gets up, does not know what he is going to say; when he is speaking, does not know what he is saying, and when he has sat down doesn't know what he has said." PREPARATION.

Churchill also advised to vary the pose, change the pitch, and never forget the pause. Pretty good stuff!

Then, the clincher. This is for preachers only. The rest of you cease reading. Churchill said, "The most practical delivery is worthless without sincerity or conviction." POW! Preachers are not making speeches - they are stating a message from God. Preachers are not performers trying to make a "10" as in gymnastics. Words made by pollsters, image-shapers, ultimately fail. You can practice - you can prepare - but insincerity will kill it! Preachers are to be men who know the hard-won principles, who live them -

Then preach them! Thank you, Winston!

Source:
Keynoter, the weekly bulletin of the Sixth and Izard Church of Christ, Little Rock, AR; June 13, 1996, p. 3. 

Courage

By David Walls

Peter Cartwright, a nineteenth-century circuit-riding Methodist preacher, was an uncompromising man. One Sunday morning when he was to preach, he was told that President Andrew Jackson was in the congregation, and warned not to say anything out of line.

When Cartwright stood to preach, he said, "I understand that Andrew Jackson is here. I have been requested to be guarded in my remarks. Andrew Jackson will go to hell if he doesn't repent."

The congregation was shocked and wondered how the President would respond. After the service, President Jackson shook hands with Peter Cartwright and said, "Sir, if I had a regiment of men like you, I could whip the world."

Source:
Leadership, Winter 1991, p. 49.