A Note From Tom: September 2nd, 2011
Hey, everyone!!
Hope you’re having a week just filled with praise and thanking God for everything! If not, you have two days left before the week’s over! There’s still time to fill it
It’s gonna be an amazing weekend! The forecast, if you haven’t heard…
Wait a sec.
I wasn’t going to give the weather this week.
I realized that these little Triple C emails are getting longer and longer because I’m talking way too much in them! When we first started these, I’d throw in a few sentences to encourage us a little, and then all the announcements for the week would follow. Last week, my “li’l-thot-fer-the-week” was two Word Document pages! So I decided that today’s would be super short! Sorry if you get rained on, on Booms Day and didn’t expect it ‘cause I skipped the forecast today! (It’s supposed to, by the way…70%)
It’s tough to say something important in just a few words though! Sometimes bumper stickers can be cute and/or clever, but lots of times the truth of the thing is more complicated than the seven or eight word slogan you glue to the back of your car.
Those changeable church marquee signs face the same challenges. Down in Oliver Springs, one solution churches have found for bringing a fuller, more detailed message on those signs is that they start the message on one side and finish it on the back! I’ve never really seen that anywhere else! Next time you travel down Tri-County Blvd, headed for downtown OS or on to Wartburg, check it out. You have to completely turn your head around to read the other side of the sign to get the point! I wonder if they have a higher than the average percent of fender-benders on that stretch…
Anyway…
Here’s an example of how life can be more complex than a bumper will allow. Just the other day, I saw this saying drive by…
“Don't put a question mark where God put a period.”
I understand the point, I guess. But sometimes some of those closest to Jesus did it, and it was really OK with Him for those He loved to ask their questions.
“Jesus said, ‘You know the way to the place where I am going.’
Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’“ (John 14)
Tom had a question. But our Lord was cool with that. Because He loved that guy!
Sometimes Jesus would add His question marks to their periods.
“Peter said, ‘I will lay down my life for you.’ Then Jesus answered, ‘Will you really lay down your life for me?...’“ (John 13)
One thing to remember tho’ is that when the New Testament was first written, they didn’t even use periods, question marks or any punctuation! They only used capital letters and didn’t even put spaces between the words. So…there you go!
I saw one that said, “Christians aren’t perfect. Just forgiven”
I guess it means that except for forgiveness, Christians are just like everyone else. It fits on a bumper, but..wow! It really isn’t true! Folks who love Jesus are soooo different in so many ways from those who don’t love Him! We’re alive from the dead, we have the power of the Holy Spirit of God inside, we’re destined to be conformed to the image of God’s own Son…Don’t get me started! I’ll never finish this!
Here’s another I saw the other day…
“Going to church does not make you a Christian anymore than going to McDonalds makes you a hamburger”
Huh?
Besides not exactly being a heart-warming, arm-opening, lost-sheep-welcoming sentiment to someone who hasn’t been out on Sundays in a while…
I don’t think anyone who goes into a Mickey D’s ever imagines that by walking through those doors, they hope to turn into a burger! I believe they hope to turn the burger into them!
Whoa! I’ve already gone on a LOT longer than I meant to today!! I guess what I was trying to say is that lots of times, deep and personal spiritual encouragements and exhortations take more space and time than a drive-by bumpering can provide.
If you really have something to tell someone who really needs to hear it, it really helps if you take the time to know them. And it super-helps if they know you love them. It’s best if they can read the things written on your heart and not on your car.
I did see one the other day that I liked, though.
“Be kinder than necessary”
‘Nuff said.