I was working on an introduction for a sermon that I'll be preaching this coming Sunday evening from Matt. 9:35-38 about Jesus seeing the multitudes, viewing them with compassion, and urging His followers to pray for the Lord to send forth workers into His harvest. I've not finalized the title of the message, but had tentatively called it "Help Wanted: Workers for the Harvest." I was looking for some unusual help wanted ads to use in the introduction and stumbled across some very funny ads on a website that purportedly have appeared in print in different media. Here are some of the most humorous of the bunch. I hope you enjoy them.
Dinner Special -- Turkey $2.35; Chicken or Beef $2.25; Children $2.00.
Now is your chance to have your ears pierced and get an extra pair to take home, too.
We do not tear your clothing with machinery. We do it carefully by hand.
Have several very old dresses from grandmother in beautiful condition.
Dog for sale: eats anything and is fond of children.
Mt. Kilimanjaro, the breathtaking backdrop for the Serena Lodge. Swim in the lovely pool while you drink it all in.
Man, honest. Will take anything.
Man wanted to work in dynamite factory. Must be willing to travel.
UsedCars: Why go elsewhere to be cheated? Come here first!
Wanted. Man to take care of cow that does not smoke or drink.
Auto Repair Service. Free pick-up and delivery. Try us once, you'll never go anywhere again.
Illiterate? Write today for free help.
We will oil your sewing machine and adjust tension in your home for $1.00.
Mixing bowl set designed to please a cook with round bottom for efficient beating.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Dr. Callam's Visit to our Church
In the summer of 1995, we were making plans to return to the U.S. from Argentina for our second furlough. We had spent our initial furlough in the Dallas-Ft.Worth area as it was near my parents and also where we had lived for ten years during seminary. We opted to come to the Kansas City area for our second furlough to be close to Jason, our oldest son, as he began college at the UMKC Medical School. Before we left though, we had the unique opportunity to spend some time attending the Congress of the Baptist World Alliance that was held in Buenos Aires the week of Aug. 1-6.
The BWA meets once every five years in a different site in a celebration they call a “Congress” that brings together Baptists from around the world. The BWA is an outstanding organization that unites a very diverse group of some 38 million Baptists from more than 200 different unions and conventions worldwide. The week of the meeting in Buenos Aires was one of the coldest we’d ever experienced in that city and the delegates who had come from Africa were woefully unprepared clothing-wise for the bitter cold. Local churches took up collections of coats and blankets to help visitors stay warm during the meetings. The impact of seeing Baptists from around the world worshipping God as they sang praises in their native languages was a bit of a foretaste of what I believe heaven will be like.
Our church has the wonderful opportunity of hosting a meeting on October 16th at 7:00 p.m. in our sanctuary to introduce the new general secretary of the BWA, Dr. Neville Callam. Dr. Callam is from Jamaica, and is a direct descendant of slaves who were taken there from the African country of Ghana. In an interesting twist of history, Dr. Callam was elected to the BWA’s highest office this past summer in Ghana, the very place from which his ancestors had been taken as slaves. If you live in the Kansas City area, I hope you’ll make plans to attend the service on Oct. 16th. Our own choir and orchestra will be leading in worship. The BGCM website has a promotional poster about the event that can be downloaded and printed to share the news with others in your church or faith community.
The BWA meets once every five years in a different site in a celebration they call a “Congress” that brings together Baptists from around the world. The BWA is an outstanding organization that unites a very diverse group of some 38 million Baptists from more than 200 different unions and conventions worldwide. The week of the meeting in Buenos Aires was one of the coldest we’d ever experienced in that city and the delegates who had come from Africa were woefully unprepared clothing-wise for the bitter cold. Local churches took up collections of coats and blankets to help visitors stay warm during the meetings. The impact of seeing Baptists from around the world worshipping God as they sang praises in their native languages was a bit of a foretaste of what I believe heaven will be like.
Our church has the wonderful opportunity of hosting a meeting on October 16th at 7:00 p.m. in our sanctuary to introduce the new general secretary of the BWA, Dr. Neville Callam. Dr. Callam is from Jamaica, and is a direct descendant of slaves who were taken there from the African country of Ghana. In an interesting twist of history, Dr. Callam was elected to the BWA’s highest office this past summer in Ghana, the very place from which his ancestors had been taken as slaves. If you live in the Kansas City area, I hope you’ll make plans to attend the service on Oct. 16th. Our own choir and orchestra will be leading in worship. The BGCM website has a promotional poster about the event that can be downloaded and printed to share the news with others in your church or faith community.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Previous Week in Review
I apologize for the lack of any posts this past week, but it was a rather busy week for me. I got up in the wee hours of Monday morning (3:30 a.m.) to catch an early flight to Dallas for a meeting of the board of trustees for WorldconneX at a hotel near Love Field. This was my initial meeting with the board and it was a good time, meeting with folks who have a passion for missions and even some who have shared a very similar pilgrimage as mine in terms of service with the IMB and subsequent resignation over the BF&M 2000 issue. It was great to see a former missions professor of mine, Dr. Justice Anderson, and also to get to visit with Dr. Albert Reyes, former president of the Baptist Univ. of the Americas and now working with Buckner. There were some important deliberations and decisions made during the two-day meeting, but I don’t want to preempt the official news release of some of those so I’ll just wait and direct you to the appropriate channels when those become official.
On Tuesday afternoon, I was able to meet with several folks who participate in the Guatemala Affinity Group, a loosely-knit group of churches and institutions who are actively involved in missions work in Guatemala. We met at the WorldconneX offices and shared updates of what our individual ministries were currently engaged in doing in Guatemala. It was a helpful gathering with some good interchange of ideas and networking taking place. I caught an 8:30 flight back that night to Kansas City and got to observe a beautiful lightning display as thunderstorms were active out to the west.
I had planned on working just Wednesday this past week, but wound up going in on Thursday morning as well as most of the other staff were scheduled to be out of the office. My wife invited me to travel with her to the Lake of the Ozarks for a conference for speech teachers that she was attending on Thursday through Saturday. It was held at a very nice resort hotel in the town of Lake Ozark and we enjoyed a nice boat ride on Thursday night on the lake. I’ve never seen such extravagant yachts as those that were moored at the marina there. I glanced through a magazine listing prices of some that were for sale and found prices as high as $700,000 and many in the $200,000 - $300,000 range. That blew me away. I had no idea that folks paid more for a boat than we’re paying for our home.
On Friday evening we skipped out on the banquet and drove the 2 hours to Springfield to be with our 3rd son, Joshua, for an activity that he has been planning for several months. It was a benefit fundraiser for the Children’s Miracle Network. They held a dance marathon from 9:00 p.m. until 9:00 a.m. and had more than 100 university students dancing. Each had raised pledges to support the work with kids who face some very serious medical challenges. Several families were there on Friday night to share their stories about their struggles and progress in combating these health issues. Josh had hoped to raise around $10,000. He was ecstatic when the totals were announced the next morning--$16,742.00. We helped serve pizza, drinks, ice cream, and snacks until about 1:30 when we left to drive back to the resort, getting in around 3:30 a.m. It was a short night, needless to say. Annetta Marie wrapped up her conference and we got home that evening around 6:30 or so. It was a tiring, but enjoyable week with a change in scenery and activities from the normal pace around here.
On Tuesday afternoon, I was able to meet with several folks who participate in the Guatemala Affinity Group, a loosely-knit group of churches and institutions who are actively involved in missions work in Guatemala. We met at the WorldconneX offices and shared updates of what our individual ministries were currently engaged in doing in Guatemala. It was a helpful gathering with some good interchange of ideas and networking taking place. I caught an 8:30 flight back that night to Kansas City and got to observe a beautiful lightning display as thunderstorms were active out to the west.
I had planned on working just Wednesday this past week, but wound up going in on Thursday morning as well as most of the other staff were scheduled to be out of the office. My wife invited me to travel with her to the Lake of the Ozarks for a conference for speech teachers that she was attending on Thursday through Saturday. It was held at a very nice resort hotel in the town of Lake Ozark and we enjoyed a nice boat ride on Thursday night on the lake. I’ve never seen such extravagant yachts as those that were moored at the marina there. I glanced through a magazine listing prices of some that were for sale and found prices as high as $700,000 and many in the $200,000 - $300,000 range. That blew me away. I had no idea that folks paid more for a boat than we’re paying for our home.
On Friday evening we skipped out on the banquet and drove the 2 hours to Springfield to be with our 3rd son, Joshua, for an activity that he has been planning for several months. It was a benefit fundraiser for the Children’s Miracle Network. They held a dance marathon from 9:00 p.m. until 9:00 a.m. and had more than 100 university students dancing. Each had raised pledges to support the work with kids who face some very serious medical challenges. Several families were there on Friday night to share their stories about their struggles and progress in combating these health issues. Josh had hoped to raise around $10,000. He was ecstatic when the totals were announced the next morning--$16,742.00. We helped serve pizza, drinks, ice cream, and snacks until about 1:30 when we left to drive back to the resort, getting in around 3:30 a.m. It was a short night, needless to say. Annetta Marie wrapped up her conference and we got home that evening around 6:30 or so. It was a tiring, but enjoyable week with a change in scenery and activities from the normal pace around here.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Do You Know Your Theology?
Do you know your Theology?
Who was the 3rd man in history to walk on water?
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The 1st one was Jesus.
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The 2nd was the apostle Peter.
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Then there was this guy Jose...
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Who was the 3rd man in history to walk on water?
*
*
*
*
*
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The 1st one was Jesus.
*
*
*
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The 2nd was the apostle Peter.
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*
*
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Then there was this guy Jose...
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Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Neville Callam, General Secretary of the BWA, to visit us
In recent days, the topic of the Baptist World Alliance has surfaced a few times as some bloggers have questioned once again why the Southern Baptist Convention voted initially to defund the organization and later to withdraw from it. Some have pointed out the discrepancy and inconsistency between accusing the BWA of theological liberalism based upon its loose ties with some organizations while giving the SBC a free pass when it also partners on specific social issues with a number of groups that could hardly be described as conservative evangelicals. My contention has been from the outset, and I believe the facts undeniably support this, that the SBC’s defunding and withdrawal from the BWA was a direct consequence of the BWA’s decision to admit CBF into its ranks. The supposed charges of liberalism and anti-Americanism leveled against the BWA ring very hollow and cannot be demonstrated to be true.
I would appeal to those in the Kansas City or St. Louis area who are interested in receiving firsthand information about the BWA to come and meet Neville Callam, the newly elected General Secretary of the BWA. Our church, First Baptist of Lee’s Summit, has the privilege of hosting a meeting on October 16th to introduce Neville Callam and the vital ministries of the BWA to interested Baptists and other fellow Christians. Callam will be in the St. Louis area the following day at Fee Fee Baptist Church in Bridgeton. I’ll be attending a planning meeting tomorrow afternoon to finalize some of the details of Callam’s visit and will pass those along in a later post. In the meantime, I wanted to share the dates so that hopefully those who happen upon my blog will be aware of this wonderful opportunity to meet and hear from the head of this group that brings together some 38 million Baptists from around the world. It's always the better part of wisdom to form an opinion about someone or an organization based upon firsthand experience rather than hearsay. I hope many will take advantage of the opportunity to do just that with Callam's visit to Missouri.
I would appeal to those in the Kansas City or St. Louis area who are interested in receiving firsthand information about the BWA to come and meet Neville Callam, the newly elected General Secretary of the BWA. Our church, First Baptist of Lee’s Summit, has the privilege of hosting a meeting on October 16th to introduce Neville Callam and the vital ministries of the BWA to interested Baptists and other fellow Christians. Callam will be in the St. Louis area the following day at Fee Fee Baptist Church in Bridgeton. I’ll be attending a planning meeting tomorrow afternoon to finalize some of the details of Callam’s visit and will pass those along in a later post. In the meantime, I wanted to share the dates so that hopefully those who happen upon my blog will be aware of this wonderful opportunity to meet and hear from the head of this group that brings together some 38 million Baptists from around the world. It's always the better part of wisdom to form an opinion about someone or an organization based upon firsthand experience rather than hearsay. I hope many will take advantage of the opportunity to do just that with Callam's visit to Missouri.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
A Doubting Mother Teresa
Perhaps you’ve heard or read some of the recent commentaries on the release of Mother Teresa’s diaries. In them she describes what other authors have at times called “the dark night of the soul.” It seems that she frequently struggled with doubts and periods of time in which she felt no assurance of God’s presence with her in her labors among the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta. Some, predisposed to reject the notion that God could possibly be at work in the life of a Roman Catholic nun, have seized upon her words as evidence that her faith was invalid or worthless. That might make them feel more self-assured about their own brand of faith, but it is more of a commentary on their own smugness and self-righteousness than it is a valid critique of the tireless efforts of Mother Teresa to have a positive impact in the life of the hurting masses in one of the world’s major cities.
While the diaries may well reveal a woman who struggled at times with her faith, that shouldn’t be the basis for doubting her commitment to Christ nor for denigrating the tremendous contributions of her life. Here are just a few quotes from her that are worth pondering.
"I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world."
"I do not pray for success, I ask for faithfulness."
"I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much."
"In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love."
"Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work."
"There is always the danger that we may just do the work for the sake of the work. This is where the respect and the love and the devotion come in - that we do it to God, to Christ, and that's why we try to do it as beautifully as possible."
While the diaries may well reveal a woman who struggled at times with her faith, that shouldn’t be the basis for doubting her commitment to Christ nor for denigrating the tremendous contributions of her life. Here are just a few quotes from her that are worth pondering.
"I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world."
"I do not pray for success, I ask for faithfulness."
"I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much."
"In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love."
"Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work."
"There is always the danger that we may just do the work for the sake of the work. This is where the respect and the love and the devotion come in - that we do it to God, to Christ, and that's why we try to do it as beautifully as possible."
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