To Doorbust Or Not To Doorbust?
Well, this past Friday I got closer than I’ve ever gotten to doing some “door busting” on Black Friday. Wal-Mart was advertising a sweet laptop at an unheard of price. I had plans to hit in there about 3:30 or 4:00 in the morning and take my place in line. I dreaded it, but since I’d never actually had one of those ”door busting” experiences, and since I really wanted that laptop, I thought, “This is the year.”
The store was open on Thanksgiving day, and so Tonya and I made a trial run over there that afternoon. Fortunately for us, the lady who was going to be selling those laptops the next morning was also working that afternoon and took the time to answer some questions for me. The question-and-answer session went something like this:
“What time do I need to be here to get one of those laptops?” “By 1:30 or 2:00 a.m.”
“Really? That early?” “Yes, definitely. I wouldn’t advise coming any later.”
“How many of those laptops do you have?” “I’m sorry, I can’t tell you that. I know, but I can’t tell you.”
“If I do get here at 2:00 a.m., what will I need to do?” “Go back to the appropriate part of the store and get in line.”
“What then?” “I will start handing out tickets. Then, when the sale actually begins at 5:00 a.m., I’ll go right down the line and give the person with the ticket a chance to buy a laptop. I’ll go right down the line until all the laptops have been sold.”
“So, if I get in line at 2:00 a.m. and get my ticket, can I spend the next three hours walking around the store?” “No, the best I can do is give you a five-minute bathroom pass.”
“In other words, I’m going to have to stand in line for a full three hours just to get a chance at buying one of those laptops?” “Yes, that’s right.”
It was somewhere along about then that my “door busting” turned into bronco busting and I was thrown off the horse. NOTHING that woman said sounded good to me. She finished me off when I asked her how much the computer usually cost. She quoted something along the lines of $389. I say “something along the lines” because she was talking pretty fast at that point. The truth is, I could be wrong about the price she quoted. That’s the figure my brain heard, though. And since the sale price was $299, I did some quick math and came to the conclusion that all that just wasn’t worth it to save $90.
Now, I’ll grant you that three hours in line for $90 breaks down to $30 per hour. That’s good money. But it wasn’t enough to get me to bow down before that altar of American consumerism. So, I slept in Friday morning and enjoyed it. I did get out along about 10:30 a.m. with Tonya, the boys, and my mom. We hit the mall and had a good experience checking a few items off our “to buy” list. We didn’t get any 75% off deals, though.
I came away from my whole Black Friday experience with the following observations:
#1. Since that sales lady at Wal-Mart was so adament that I should be there no later than 2:00 a.m., I figure that meant they only had about ten of those laptops to sell.
#2. I’ve got enough willpower and sheer stubbornness to have gotten in line at 1:00 a.m., stood there all night, and staked my claim to one of those laptops, but I couldn’t do it and keep my self respect. That would have been me letting Wal-Mart play me, and I just couldn’t give them that satisfaction.
#3. If I was someone else, or if the situation had been something else, maybe God would have given me a peace about doing what was necessary to get that computer. As things were, though, the only peace I found was in forgetting the whole deal and sleeping in late.
You know something? Even when I’m half in the mood to play this world’s silly little games, it’s just not something that I can do with ease or pleasure. God has had me too long for that. But I’m glad I’m that way because, after all, 1 John 2:15-17 is still in the Bible:
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”
What Jesus Was Thankful For
For a Thanksgiving sermon this year, I did something I’d never done. I got down my concordance and looked up all the instances in which Jesus is specifically mentioned as giving thanks. I found that there are four things for which the Bible says He gave thanks.
#1: In John 6:11,23, Jesus gives thanks for the food by which He feeds the multitudes. In this passage, that food is five barley loaves and two small fishes, and those multitudes are 5,000 men. In another passage, Matthew 15:36, He gives thanks for the seven loaves of bread and few small fish that feed 4,000 men. Obviously, this teaches us that we should give thanks for food.
#2: In John 11:41, Jesus gives thanks that God the Father has heard His prayers concerning the death of Lazarus. This shows us that we should give thanks that God the Father, despite all of His majesty, glory, and power, will take the time to hear our prayers.
#3: In Luke 10:21, Jesus gives thanks that God the Father hides spiritual truths from the earthly wise and prudent and reveals them to “babes.” This teaches us that we should give thanks that God doesn’t have to depend upon the world’s intellectual elite to get His message out or His work done. He is perfectly willing and able to work through common folk. (This same lesson is taught in Matthew 11:25 and 1 Corinthians 1:18-25.)
#4: In Luke 22:17-19, Jesus gives thanks for the symbolic elements He uses in the Lord’s Supper. The bread symbolizes His body and the cup symbolizes His blood. This teaches us that we should give thanks for Christ’s death. After all, it is because of that death that any of us have the opportunity to believe in Christ as Savior and be granted forgiveness of all sin and eternal life.
Of course, I’m not saying that Jesus never gave thanks for anything outside these four categories. The Bible in no way gives us a complete record of His earthly life and ministry. But for those of us who believe that all the words of the Bible are divinely inspired (2 Timothy 3:16), we can find great meaning in those facts the Bible actually includes. We figure, if they made the cut, God had a good reason for putting them in there.
So, this Thanksgiving, take the time to thank the Lord for these four things. I can tell you from first-hand experience since Sunday that you will find this a helpful spiritual experience. And that, I know, will allow you to have a better Thanksgiving all the way around.
Living Thanks
Here’s a good word that appeared in an issue of Pulpit Helps several years ago. The writer is William O. Vickery.
For Americans, there is a tradition of observing Thanksgiving Day each November. It is recognized as a national holiday and happily so. But one wonders if it were not a holiday, would there be any giving of thanks? That is the question that each person must answer for himself, just as each person will determine how he will express his thanks – by saying it, giving it, or living it.
Saying thanks is good; it is mannerly, tactful and serves as a lubricant to overcome friction. Giving thanks is better; it penetrates superficiality and allows for deeply-felt expressions to pass from one person to another. More of the whole person is exercised in giving thanks than in saying it. Living thanks is best. It transcends superficiality and exceeds spontaneity. It abides within the inner man as a continuing resource contributing to the development of character, shaping of lifestyle, and building of personal relationship with God, family, fellow Christians, and friends.”
We all need to take the focus off Thanksgiving and put it onto Thanksliving. If we have to have a turkey, a pumpkin pie, and a football game to cause us to pause and give thanks, we’re in trouble already. Thankfulness should naturally pour out of us like water naturally pours over Niagara Falls. Ingratitude is one of the ugliest characteristics a person can show.
What Matthew Henry Was Thankful For
Matthew Henry was an English preacher in the late 1600s and early 1700s. He is best remembered for the legendary commentary set that bears his name. He died from a stroke while on a preaching tour in June, 1714.
Once, while Henry was traveling by horseback on his preaching circuit, he was held up and robbed. That night he recorded the incident in his journal. He concluded the record with the following prayer: “I thank Thee first because I was never robbed before; second, because although they took my purse, they did not take my life; third, although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed and not I who robbed.”
Friend, when you and I reach the place in our spiritual maturity where we think and pray like that, we won’t have any problem finding things for which to be thankful. Matthew Henry obviously had learned the lesson of Ephesians 5:20, which says: “giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” May we learn that lesson as well.
A Good Thought For Thanksgiving
I preached a Thanksgiving sermon this morning. Then Tonya hit the Mcdonalds drive-thru tonight and picked up some supper. Let me combine those two events of my day and give you a good thought, Christian.
Let’s say that a father takes his child to Mcdonalds for french-fries. Once they have their order and are seated at a table, the father tests the child by asking, “Do you love me more than you love these french-fries?” The child has to think for a moment but finally answers, “Yes.” Do you know why that was the right choice? It’s because it’s better to love the source of the blessing rather than the blessing itself.
You see, if that father had much money in his wallet, he could buy fries for all the people in the restaurant. The fact that he bought fries especially for his child showed that he loved that child and wanted to have an intimate time of fellowship with that child. The point is, the real gift was the father, not the fries. The fries were merely a byproduct of the far more important thing: the unique relationship with the father.
I have two wonderful boys, and I enjoy filling their lives with pleasing things such as food, clothing, comfortable beds, balls, bats, gloves, toys, televisions, and Playstation systems. But they should appreciate me more than the stuff that I give them. New stuff gets manufactured and purchased every day, but there is only one me. Ryan and Royce don’t have another earthly father. I’m it. That makes me infinitely more important than anything I can buy them.
As we enter into this Thanksgiving week, I’ll ask you to do something: Spend some time thanking God for His person. Don’t just be thankful for the blessings He has bestowed upon you, blessings such as family, friends, health, peace of mind, home, money, and possessions. That’s just the child thanking the father for the french-fries. Be sure to thank God even more for simply being who He is.
Christian, if all you can do is thank God for the blessings that He sends your way, what will you do if those blessings get taken away? That happened to Job. Chapters 1 and 2 of his book describe how he lost his wealth, his children, and his health. But over the course of the rest of the book, Job learns to thank God merely for being who He is. Could you or I offer up any thanks if we lost all the blessings that Job lost? That’s a good question to ponder over the next few days. Hopefully, by Thursday, the thanks we offer up to God will be more mature and insightful than any we’ve ever offered up before on Thanksgiving.
Faith
Last night was movie night at the church. I showed the film Flywheel. That was the first movie that was done by Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga. Most of my crowd had seen the church’s other two movies, Facing The Giants and Fireproof. Only a few, though, had seen Flywheel. (For the record, I highly recommend each of the films.) At the end of Flywheel, the lead character names his new baby girl Faith. This comes on the heels of all the lessons about faith that God has been teaching him.
I once heard David Gibbs. Sr. say, “The faith walk is on a need-to-know basis.” In my own walk with the Lord, I’ve experienced enough to learn the truth of these words. God never gives me the full revelation of what He’s up to in my life. I pretty much just get the guidance and instruction I need to take the next step. Whenever I think I’ve got the path figured out and can, perhaps, run ahead, He throws me a curveball to keep Me looking to Him.
Hebrews 11:1 in the New Living Translation describes faith as “the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen” and “the evidence of things we cannot yet see.” Tell me, are you “hoping” for a particular thing from God? Are you desiring something you “cannot yet see”? Rest assured that if the thing is God’s will, He will bring it to pass in His timing and way.
But in the meantime He wants you to have real faith that He is going to do what you want Him to do. There simply is no substitute for this faith, and it makes an incalculable difference in your overall attitude and mindset. Faith creates optimism, hope, and joy; a lack of it creates pessimism, despair, and gloom. So, if you were naming your baby girl today, could you honestly name her Faith? If you couldn’t you need to admit it and have a long talk with God about it. The answers you are looking for are found in Him.
Church Bulletin Humor
We don’t do church bulletins at Disciples Road Church, but I know all about them from my days of pastoring previous churches. There’s nothing wrong with using bulletins, but you’d better make sure they are done well. Otherwise, they can make your church look kind of stupid.
Today’s post offers a few examples from that category. I got these from an article that Bob Terrell ran in the December 17, 2000 edition of the Asheville Citizen Times. According to him, they were sent to him by Bea Pyle of Ormond Beach, Fla. See if you can spot the problem with each insert.
-Bertha Belch, a missionary from Africa, will be speaking tonight at Calvary Memorial Church. Come and hear Bertha Belch all the way from Africa.
-Our youth basketball team is back in action Wednesday in the recreation hall. Come and watch us kill Christ the King.
-Miss Charlene Mason sang “I Will Not Pass This Way Again,” giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.
-Next Sunday is the family hayride and bonfire. Bring your own hot dogs and guns.
-The sermon this morning: “Jesus Walks On the Water.” The sermon tonight: “Searching For Jesus.”
-Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community.
-Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say “hell” to someone who doesn’t care much about you.
-Don’t let worry kill you off. Let the Church help.
-At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be “What Is Hell?” Come early and listen to our choir practice.
-Eight new choir robes are currently needed, due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.
-Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles, and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.
-The Lutheran men’s group will meet at 6 p.m.: steak, mashed potatoes, beans, bread, and dessert will be served for a nominal feel.
-Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person(s) you want remembered.
-Attend and you will hear an excellent speaker and heave a healthy lunch.
-Potluck supper Sunday at 5 p.m. Prayer and medication to follow.
-The ladies of the church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.
-This evening at 7 p.m. there will be a hymn sing in the park across from the church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.
-Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the BS is done.
-Low Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 p.m. Please use the back door.
-The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the church basement Friday at 7 p.m. The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.
-The associate minister unveiled the church’s new tithing campaign slogan last Sunday: “I Upped My Pledge – Up Yours.”
Slander
Ray Donovan was the Secretary of Labor under President Reagan. His time in office was marked by a highly publicized case in which Donovan and six others were tried in New York on charges of larceny and fraud. Donovan and the six other defendants were acquitted. However, at the conclusion of the trial, Donovan pointed out a lingering problem when he famously asked, “Which office do I go to get my reputation back?”
Proverbs 22:1 says: “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches.” In light of this, let’s all guard ourselves against the sin of slander. Some of the Bible’s great characters were slanderously accused: Joseph (Genesis 39:7-20); David (2 Samuel 10:1-3); Stephen (Acts 6:8-14); Paul (Acts 24:5-6); and, of course, Jesus (Matthew 11:19, Matthew 26:59-68). Even though these men were all innocent of the accusations leveled against them, much damage was done to their reputations.
God’s word certainly allows for the proper prosecution of criminals. It also allows for legitimate criticism. What I’m saying is that we must be careful when we enter into this mine-field. Once a person’s reputation is destroyed, there is no office where he or she can reclaim it. Proverbs 11:9 says: “The hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor.” You see, there is incredible power in the tongue (Proverbs 18:21; James 3:1-12). So make sure that you use yours discreetly and truthfully.
Making Your Time Count
During the Dessert Storm invasion of Kuwait and Iraq, Col. William Post received an urgent fax from headquarters. The fax was a complaint that 400 cases of jelly were not accounted for in the colonel’s records. The colonel sent a private to try and find the jelly, but the private couldn’t locate it.
After not receiving a reply from the colonel’s office, headquarters promptly sent a second fax. This one sounded more urgent than the first. It said the end of the month was approaching and that every effort must be made to either find the jelly or account for it. But the colonel, having ordered one attempt to find the jelly, ignored the fax.
It wasn’t long before a third fax came. This one had a tone. It demanded that the colonel immediately respond to the need to find the jelly – or else. At this point the colonel’s anger flared up. He sent back a fax that read: “Look, I can find the jelly or I can kick Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait. Which do you prefer? I can’t do both.”
I ask you, are you wasting too much time on non-essentials? Do you spend a good portion of your days “finding jelly”? I would encourage you to do an honest assessment of how you spend your time. You might be surprised at how much fluff and wasted time makes up your day. God wants us to be good stewards, and that involves stewardship over our time. Remember this: Others may be more skilled, talented, or gifted than you, but no one is allotted more time per day than you. Make that time count.
God Is Watching
It was lunchtime at a Catholic elementary school. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The nun wrote a note and posted it on the apple tray: “Take only ONE. God is watching.” As the children moved further along the lunch line and got to the other end of the long table, they found a large plate of chocolate chip cookies. There one mischievous child had written the note: “Take all you want. God is watching the apples.”
Well, I hope you know that God can watch the apples and the cookies at the same time. The big theological word for this is omnipresence. The Bible’s most extensive passage on the subject is Psalm 139:7-12, but a singular verse that encapsulates the idea is Jeremiah 23:24, where God asks, “Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him? Do I not fill heaven and earth?”
So, if you will permit me to play off my illustration, take all you want of some sin today, but know that God is watching. He fills heaven and earth, and He doesn’t miss one thing you do. Whenever you commit a sin, He sees it. If you will keep this simple fact in mind as you move through your day, you’ll be surprised at how it helps you to live a more godly life.
Brief Bio
My name is Russell McKinney. I am 43 years old and have served as an ordained pastor for the past sixteen years. I’ve been married to my wife, Tonya, for sixteen years. We have two great kids – our sons Ryan (13) and Royce (9).
What do I do? As a husband, I love my wife, empty the dishwasher, take the clothes out of the dryer, and remember our anniversary. As a father, I love my boys, help coach their ball teams, enforce the house rules, and splurge for a night at the movies every now and then. As a pastor, I love my church members, preach, counsel, and visit.
When I was a young man, I believed in Christ as my Savior and was “born again” (John 3:1-16). But I didn’t fully sell out to Him with all of my heart, mind, and body until I was in my early twenties. Since then I’ve sought to do His will in every area of my life. Sometimes I’ve failed Him, but He’s never let me stay down long.
I try to be ”salt and light” (Matthew 5:13-16) whatever the situation I’m in, and I try to do whatever I do “in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Colossians 3:17) and “to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). I don’t have all the answers, but I am willing to learn. I’m far from perfect, but I’m always striving to improve.
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