I confess to you I know nothing about financial investing. I’ve never been to the E*trade website. I don’t ever read the stock market section of the newspaper. I have visited Wall Street once, but don’t really understand how the whole thing works. I can’t explain to you what “insider-trading” is or how someone determines what a “share” is worth. I never even had a course in economics or business in college or high school. Yes, in terms of financial investing I am as dumb as a stick.
But I think I understand relational investing a little better. I thought of that concept again as I came to the passage of Scripture I will be sharing with you Sunday. The verses we will examine are 2 Timothy 3:10-12. It seems that in these verses Paul is reminding Timothy about how much he had invested in him relationally. Here is what he writes as presented in the New Living Translation:
“But you know what I teach, Timothy, and how I live, and what my purpose in life is. You know my faith an how long I have suffered. You know my love an my patient endurance. You know how much persecution and suffering I have endured.”(2 Timothy 3:10-11a)
You get Paul’s point don’t you? Paul is saying Timothy knows about these things because Paul spent so much time with him. They traveled together on missionary journeys together. They served together, ate together and suffered together. Paul took Timothy along because he was investing in Timothy relationally and spiritually. Consequently, a love and loyalty developed between them and Timothy matured into a valuable servant of the Lord.
However, today in the church it seems we are reluctant to invest in relationships as those in the Early Church did. I am not speaking strictly of mentoring relationships, but just the desire to have meaningful personal relationships within the church. It wasn’t just Paul who invested in other relationally. Acts 2:42-47 seems to depict the Early Church as sharing life together. Now most Christians seem content to share 75 minutes sitting in a large room together. I say that not to denigrate those valuable minutes in corporate worship, but to question if that is enough to replicate the community the Early Church experienced. It certainly does not call for much of a relational investment does it? I wonder, how connected we can be with such a limited relational investment? How can we know about each other’s lives, purpose, faith, character and struggles through that arrangement? Can that limited way of “doing church” produce disciples of Jesus Christ?
Obviously, you can guess I think there needs to be something more. While there is not time or space here for a full response to my own questions, I do want to extend an invitation here and now.
I invite you to try ratcheting up your involvement in the lives of your fellow believers at FBC by plugging into one of our DO SOMETHING GROUPS coming this summer. There will be ten groups meeting on Sunday evenings for 90 minutes in homes all over the Lake Wales area. Maybe you have never been to such a group. Maybe you rarely, if ever, have been to a Life Connection Group (Sundays @ 9:15 AM). Maybe you have never attended any type of Home Bible Study. Let this be the time to give a small group a try. Look, it is only 6 weeks! You can handle such a short-term commitment. If you miss due to a vacation or whatever that is okay, just come the weeks you can. Choose one near where you live or where you know somebody else attending.
Obviously, these small groups will not produce the bond Paul and Timothy shared in six weeks. However, I bet you will come away relationally closer to those in your group. Consider it a minimal relational investment. Yeah, it is just buying a few shares, but who knows what the dividends may be. As you hear of others share about how their faith in Jesus intersects with their everyday living you may find yourself eager to invest a little more. And who knows, with such experiences you and I might end up being as big as (relational) investors as Paul.
Gladly investing my all!
Pastor Scott
Friday, May 21, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
On Unemployment & Satisfaction in Work
My wife, Tina, was re-hired yesterday to teach at Lake Wales High School again next year. Boy, am I glad.
My brother called from Washington, D.C. He was elated that after four months of searching, dozens of applications, and multiple interviews he landed a job. Well, kind of…it is a six-month full-time position. Given employment opportunities in today’s America he should probably be grateful—and he is.
Wednesday I spoke to a friend in our church. He is a certified teacher but positions in his area of certification are few. When stacked against a younger applicant his age does not help him anymore either. He’s applied to dozens of jobs not in his field, yet they have turned up nothing also. His options are limited. His savings have dwindled down. His unemployment could probably be considered near the crisis stage.
Given the economic situation in our nation and in Central Florida how would you like to be a college student trying to find a summer job? I never had a problem finding that work. While at home during the summers of my college years I flipped burgers, stocked shelves and sliced lunchmeat. During my seminary days I sold clothing and did landscaping. Nowadays options to do any of those are severely limited here in Central Florida. Believe me, I know. The old adage of “if you want to work there are jobs out there” may not apply anymore. Scores of people apply for the same positions. Businesses struggling to stay solvent are scraping by with fewer employees. Paid internships are non-existent. Yes, these are different economic times in America.
All of this should make each of us who are working or who were always able to secure employment back in our working days to give thanks to God. Furthermore, we should find satisfaction in our work. Rather, than grumbling about our job or resenting our duties or feeling under-paid by our employers we should be happy in our work. I say this not merely because of the economic realities of today or the high level of unemployment. I say it because that is what God instructs us to do.
No fewer than three times in Ecclesiastes are workers told do find satisfaction or happiness in their work. Work and this attitude about it are seen as a gift of God!
“A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God.” Ecc.2:24
“That everyone may eat and drink and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God.” Ecc. 3:13
"…to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God.” Ecc. 5:19
So let’s work hard, rejoice in our work positions, and give thanks to God for our employers. Let’s also pray for the unemployed and for the economy of our nation so that those who are missing out on the satisfaction coming from work might also be able to partake of this gift.
Grateful to co-labor with you for the Lord,
Pastor Scott
My brother called from Washington, D.C. He was elated that after four months of searching, dozens of applications, and multiple interviews he landed a job. Well, kind of…it is a six-month full-time position. Given employment opportunities in today’s America he should probably be grateful—and he is.
Wednesday I spoke to a friend in our church. He is a certified teacher but positions in his area of certification are few. When stacked against a younger applicant his age does not help him anymore either. He’s applied to dozens of jobs not in his field, yet they have turned up nothing also. His options are limited. His savings have dwindled down. His unemployment could probably be considered near the crisis stage.
Given the economic situation in our nation and in Central Florida how would you like to be a college student trying to find a summer job? I never had a problem finding that work. While at home during the summers of my college years I flipped burgers, stocked shelves and sliced lunchmeat. During my seminary days I sold clothing and did landscaping. Nowadays options to do any of those are severely limited here in Central Florida. Believe me, I know. The old adage of “if you want to work there are jobs out there” may not apply anymore. Scores of people apply for the same positions. Businesses struggling to stay solvent are scraping by with fewer employees. Paid internships are non-existent. Yes, these are different economic times in America.
All of this should make each of us who are working or who were always able to secure employment back in our working days to give thanks to God. Furthermore, we should find satisfaction in our work. Rather, than grumbling about our job or resenting our duties or feeling under-paid by our employers we should be happy in our work. I say this not merely because of the economic realities of today or the high level of unemployment. I say it because that is what God instructs us to do.
No fewer than three times in Ecclesiastes are workers told do find satisfaction or happiness in their work. Work and this attitude about it are seen as a gift of God!
“A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God.” Ecc.2:24
“That everyone may eat and drink and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God.” Ecc. 3:13
"…to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God.” Ecc. 5:19
So let’s work hard, rejoice in our work positions, and give thanks to God for our employers. Let’s also pray for the unemployed and for the economy of our nation so that those who are missing out on the satisfaction coming from work might also be able to partake of this gift.
Grateful to co-labor with you for the Lord,
Pastor Scott
Honoring Mothers
Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your god has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” Deuteronomy 5:16
Most all reading this article are familiar with this command among ten given by the Lord to Moses for the people of God to obey. Many of us memorized the command to honor your father and mother. Well, that is certainly what we intend to do this Sunday at FBC. Obviously, the command from the Lord was not a mandate for a holiday in which we would honor our parents. Rather, the honor was to be shown in their everyday living. Their honor was to be shown in how they acted toward and spoke to and of their parents. Submission, respect, obedience, love, and care–these were to be the way in which a child was to honor their parent. I’m pretty sure greeting cards, flowers, and chocolates were not on the mind of the Lord when he gave this command. Still today they remain a cheap substitute for the honor the Lord expects children of all ages to show. I know, I know you’re wondering if I have seen the price of cards and flowers lately. I have. And I certainly I am not opposed to giving them also. Indeed, this coming Sunday at First Baptist Church we will also seek to honor all mothers in the context of worship.
I hope you will join us for this Sunday. There will be a child dedication service included in our worship, several mothers will bring our special music, a mother and son will bring a unique offertory piece, and we will give a little gift to all mothers present. Furthermore, we will view a prayerful tribute to mothers and I will urge all of us, including mothers, to choose to be honorable vessels in the great house of God. So beyond giving honor this Sunday, I will call all of us to be honorable from Scripture. I hope you will join us for all of this on Sunday May, 9, 2010 at FBC, Lake Wales. I now close with a little poem to honor our mother’s in one other way.
A MOTHER'S LOVE
A mother's hands are gentle,
Most all reading this article are familiar with this command among ten given by the Lord to Moses for the people of God to obey. Many of us memorized the command to honor your father and mother. Well, that is certainly what we intend to do this Sunday at FBC. Obviously, the command from the Lord was not a mandate for a holiday in which we would honor our parents. Rather, the honor was to be shown in their everyday living. Their honor was to be shown in how they acted toward and spoke to and of their parents. Submission, respect, obedience, love, and care–these were to be the way in which a child was to honor their parent. I’m pretty sure greeting cards, flowers, and chocolates were not on the mind of the Lord when he gave this command. Still today they remain a cheap substitute for the honor the Lord expects children of all ages to show. I know, I know you’re wondering if I have seen the price of cards and flowers lately. I have. And I certainly I am not opposed to giving them also. Indeed, this coming Sunday at First Baptist Church we will also seek to honor all mothers in the context of worship.
I hope you will join us for this Sunday. There will be a child dedication service included in our worship, several mothers will bring our special music, a mother and son will bring a unique offertory piece, and we will give a little gift to all mothers present. Furthermore, we will view a prayerful tribute to mothers and I will urge all of us, including mothers, to choose to be honorable vessels in the great house of God. So beyond giving honor this Sunday, I will call all of us to be honorable from Scripture. I hope you will join us for all of this on Sunday May, 9, 2010 at FBC, Lake Wales. I now close with a little poem to honor our mother’s in one other way.
A MOTHER'S LOVE
A mother's hands are gentle,
As she wipes away our tears;
A mother's arms bring comfort
As she helps us face our fears.
A mother's heart is loving -
A true reflection of
The peace found in our Savior
And His everlasting love.
Grateful for the love of the Lord & mothers,
Pastor Scott
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