147 Sermon Illustrations on Change

Em Griffin, in his book THE MIND CHANGERS: THE ART OF CHRISTIAN PERSUASION, tells about how his 6 yr. old daughter got a candle-making kit for Christmas. Took out sheets of wax and immediately tried to shape them into a turtle. Brittle wax broke into several pieces. Em Griffin showed his daughter how the wax first had to be melted, molded, and then hardened. People change in the same way.

I have heard that there is a monastery in Greece perched high on a cliff, several hundred feet in the air. The only way to reach the monastery is to be suspended in a basket which is pulled to the top by several monks who pull and tug with all their strength. Obviously the ride up the steep cliff in that basket is terrifying.

One tourist got exceedingly nervous about half-way up as he noticed that the rope by which he was suspended was old and frayed. With a trembling voice he asked the monk who was riding with him in the basket how often they changed the rope.

The monk thought for a moment and answered serenely: "Whenever it breaks."

Here is a little secret I have discovered over the years: Government does its best when it lets faith-based groups do what they do best. But, usually, this does not happen until government admits that it cannot do everything on its own.

Hurricane Katrina showed the State of Alabama that churches and faith-based groups know their stuff when it comes to disaster relief. Now, the state is turning to these groups for help with a different kind of disaster — the incarceration boom.

“If we can motivate the faith-based community in the state the way we do during an emergency, then we can make a difference,” Governor Bob Riley told a gathering of 500 religious leaders on May 20.

That is why Governor Riley announced that he was starting a Community Partnership for Recovery and Reentry, which will coordinate, but not fund, the efforts of churches and other community groups to provide ex-prisoners with employment assistance, housing, clothing, health care, and spiritual guidance.

The partnership is encouraging churches and community groups to provide one-on-one financial counseling, host parenting classes for prisoners and their spouses, and help ex-prisoners pay their parole fees. But the group will not actually do the work the churches ought to be doing. It is the churches themselves that will be caring for the downtrodden — in this case, prisoners, ex-prisoners, and their families.

Even the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State cannot argue with that. Americans United attorney Alex Luchenitser said, “There’s certainly nothing wrong with religious charities providing care for inmates and recently released inmates.”

Deborah Daniels, an ex-offender with a magnificent testimony — and our Prison Fellowship field director in Alabama — got a chance to speak at the gathering. “We allowed government to come in and take over what God’s people are supposed to do,” she said. “We talk about crime. But crime is sin. Apart from God, every child is troubled.”

She makes a very good point — a point she knows only too well herself. It is a point I have shared with you on “BreakPoint” many times; crime is the result of wrong moral choices. That is something only the Church can address. Thirty years of prison ministry has shown us that the real impetus behind successful prisoner reentry is a changed heart — one that has been transformed by Jesus Christ. That is why only 8 percent of the graduates of the Texas InnerChange Freedom Initiative® program — which we launched in Texas several years ago — return to prison within two years of release. And that compares with more than half of prisoners nationally, who return to prison within three years!

A change of heart — that is what will turn prisoners into productive citizens doing honest work, paying their taxes, and reconciling with their families and their communities.

The role of government — remember, the Bible is clear on this — is to maintain order and to promote justice, not to do the work of the Church. By encouraging faith-based groups like Prison Fellowship to take on the role of helping the least in our society, the government is doing what it does best: governing, and leaving compassion and transformation up to the people who do it so well — the Church.

________

Copyright (c) 2008 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #6693]

IN CRAYOLA'S HISTORY, ONLY TWO CRAYON NAMES HAVE EVER BEEN CHANGED. WHICH ONES?

Peach and Prussian Blue. Peach used to be called "flesh," but that

was changed in 1962 as a result of the civil rights movement. Prussian

Blue was changed to midnight blue in 1958 after Crayola determined kids

no longer knew about Prussian history.

Dissatisfaction can lead to something better.

It is said that Charles Kettering did not like to crank his car to make it start, so he invented the electric starter. Henry Ford invented the assembly-line technique, and made it possible to mass-produce automobiles. Because he didn’t like having to dip his pen into the inkwell, Lewis Waterman invented a way to put the ink inside the pen. George Westinghouse devised a way to stop a train, and because Elisha Otis invented the elevator, he indirectly made it possible to build taller buildings.

Come to think of it, we could point to almost any invention and realize that the computer, the CD, steel-belted radials, cell phones -- even such things as the hog dog bun, insulin, and enteric-coated medication -- are the direct result of someone deciding there must be a better way. Those of us who yearn for a closer walk with Christ probably already know what needs to be done. We already realize that things could be better than they are. Perhaps it would be a good idea to start by becoming dissatisfied with the way things are -- enough to do something about it.

What changes do you need to make today to get closer to Christ? Things to eliminate from your life? Habits to begin?

________

The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, SwanLC@aol.com

In 1848, Ignez Semmelweis

discovered the simple technique of having a

physician wash his hands in a chlorine solution before delivering a

baby. This

procedure immediately reduced the maternal mortality rate in the

clinic from

18 percent to 1 percent! Twelve years later, in 1860, in the same

clinic, 35

out of 101 mothers died. What happened? Semmelweis was perceived as a

flake, a

disrupter, someone who had extreme political views. Physicians didn't

take him

seriously, so nobody listened. In June 1865 Semmelweis, in despair,

was duped

into entering a mental sanitarium, where he killed himself two weeks

later. It

was another two decades before Lister and Pasteur came along. Source

Unknown

Change is always

difficult. I am reminded of the little old lady who stood up

at a lecture that Dr. Werner Von Braun was giving and said to the good

Doctor,

"Why can't we forget about all these new-fangled ideas about going out

into

space and be content to stay at home and watch television like the

good Lord

intended."

TWO FROGS were neighbors. One inhabited a deep pond, far removed

from public view; the other lived in a gully containing little water,

and traversed by a country road. The Frog that lived in the pond

warned his friend to change his residence and entreated him to come

and live with him, saying that he would enjoy greater safety from

danger and more abundant food. The other refused, saying that he felt

it so very hard to leave a place to which he had become accustomed. A

few days afterwards a heavy wagon passed through the gully and crushed

him to death under its wheels.

Some churches and some Christians are so afraid of change that they

don't realize how they can ultimately weaken the cause of

the Kingdom of God.

Oscar Cervantes is a dramatic example of Christ's power to transform lives. As a child, Oscar began to get into trouble. Then as he got older, he was jailed 17 times for brutal crimes. Prison psychiatrists said he was beyond help. But they were wrong!

During a brief interval of freedom, Oscar met an elderly man who told him about Jesus. He placed his trust in the Lord and was changed into a kind, caring man. Shortly afterward he started a prison ministry. Chaplain H. C. Warwick describes it this way: “The third Saturday night of each month is 'Oscar Night' at Soledad. Inmates come to hear Oscar and they sing gospel songs with fervor; they sit intently for over 2 hours; they come freely to the chapel altar.... What professionals had failed to do for Oscar in years of counseling, Christ did in a moment of conversion.”

Reformation is no more the whole of Christianity than cultivation constitutes the whole of successful farming. A farmer may plow and harrow his ground every day of the summer, and not permit a single weed to grow; that would be a high state of cultivation; but if he plants no seed in this field, he will gather no crop in the autumn.

Simply ridding your life of the weeds of undesirable habits without planting the seeds of Christianity in your heart-garden is as great a folly as for a farmer to cultivate his ground all summer and sow no seed. Repentance pulls up the weeds now growing and plants the seeds of righteousness. The man who attempts to improve by reforming is whitewashing his life, while the one who repents washes white his life, and there is a vast difference between the two processes.

Morality can never save anybody. Painting the pump does not kill the typhoid germs and purify the water in the well. You may have literary circles and culture clubs, Carnegie libraries and schools of art, but this city will never be won to Christ until there is brought about an old time revival of genuine repentance.

________

O. A. Newlin

We met a wonderful group of Christians coming home from the Orient on

our return flight from Taipei to San Francisco. It was a group of

about thirty YWAM people, who had spent two months in the Philippines

doing discipleship training and evangelism. We talked to a great

couple who had been part of a ministry outreach on the north coast of

California. They said that this little group of Christians had gotten

saved in the Jesus movement and had hung on to the cultural trappings

of the late sixties and early seventies-tie-dye and hippie stuff-for

twenty-five years. They wouldn't change. And their ministry, which had

once been very vital, faded out because they tried to live in the

past. They required God to keep doing things the same way he had done

them before. It was very sad to this couple that what could have been

a vital ministry of evangelism basically didn't exist anymore. God's

people must be alert to change. God won't always do things in the same

way. (Doug Goins, \reference{Joshua 5}{Joshua 5})

We are as clouds that veil the midnight moon;

How restlessly they speed, and gleam and quiver,

Streaking in the darkness radiantly! - yet soon

Night closes round, and they are lost forever:

Or like forgotten lyres, whose dissonant strings

Give various resoponse to each varying blast,

To whose frail frame no scond motion brings

One mood or modulation like the last.

We rest - A dream has power to poison sleep;

We rest - One wandering thought pollutes the day;

We feel - conceive or reason, laugh or weep;

Embrace fond woe, or cast our cares away:

It is the same! - For, be it joy or sorrow,

The path of its departure still is free:

Man's yesterday may neér be like his morrow;

Nought may endure but mutability.

- Percy Bysshe Shelley

Mike Goeke: My childhood and family do not seem to fit the typical profile of men who struggle with homosexuality.

I was born into a committed Christian home, and my parents have a strong marriage. My dad was a loving leader, spiritual and otherwise, of our family. My parents were equally active in the lives of my brother and me. I experienced no sexual, emotional or physical abuse. While I know now that my family had its own issues, there were none of the “red flags” often associated with homosexuality.

Yet, in the midst of my very typical family existence, I developed an early attraction for men. I was sensitive, insecure and artistic, and the other boys treated me differently and made fun of me. I was first called a “fag” in sixth grade at my Christian school. I did not know what it meant, but the seed of a new identity was planted.

In junior high school, my intense desire to be like other boys turned sexual. I was mortified by my homosexual desires and vowed never to act on them and or tell anyone about them. I suppressed my feelings by seeking perfection in academics and leadership areas that seemed within my control. Suppressing my desires did nothing to stop the longings that grew within me. My heart began to look less like my exterior. As I became more “religious,” my relationship with the Lord became less real, and more contrived.

Following law school, I began dating Stephanie, a fellow Baylor graduate. We had been good friends and were active leaders in Bible Study Fellowship. On the surface our relationship was founded in the Lord, but it was also rooted in deception. My secret struggles continued to grow, and I became depressed. I pursued marriage with the hope that it would squelch rumors about my sexuality and that it might help “fix” me.

Stephanie and I married in September 1994. We lived in Midland, Texas, where I was an attorney and she was a teacher. We were involved in church and lived a “perfect couple” existence, but my secret homosexual desires continued to grow. In December 1995, I discovered America Online. AOL was the beginning of the end.

In the chat rooms I found gay identified people who seemed to be like me. I “met” people who claimed to be Christian and did not have a problem with homosexuality. I slowly began to withdraw from my marriage and other relationships. I told Stephanie I wanted a divorce but never told her about my struggle. I recanted my desire for a divorce, and instead I told her I needed a career change. I quit my job as an attorney, and we moved so that I could pursue an architecture degree.

My will to avoid AOL lasted about two weeks. I soon had an online support group of gay men who encouraged me to accept my homosexuality. Research of gay Christian theology had convinced me that being gay was OK with God.

On November 1, 1996, I left Stephanie a letter on the door telling her I was gay and that I wanted a divorce. I jumped headfirst into the gay lifestyle. I was out and proud. I went to the Metropolitan Community Church and was determined to be a different kind of gay man -- moral, upright and non-promiscuous. I failed miserably and completely from day one.

STEPHANIE: I also was raised in a committed Christian home. Although our family had its flaws, I was taught the basic Christian disciplines of prayer, Bible study and trusting the Lord. During my late years of high school and college, I made some poor choices in regard to dating relationships. I realized how far from the Lord I had drifted, ended some unhealthy relationships and recommitted myself to the Lord and to the local church. When I first started dating Mike, I earnestly sought the Lord. So when Mike told me later of his desire for divorce and his pursuit of the gay lifestyle, I could fall back on the fact that I knew my heart was right with the Lord when I decided to marry Mike.

MIKE: The immediate rejection that I expected from Stephanie and my family did not happen. While no one accepted what I was doing as right, no one rejected me. Stephanie had known nothing of my struggle and had no exposure to homosexuality, but she refused to pursue a divorce. She said “God put us together. And I don’t know how, but I know He can repair this situation.”

I realize that the spiritual foundation I received in my youth held firm. As determined as I was, I had no peace. Yet, even in my state of disrupted fellowship with God, I still could not fathom how I could be any different. I continued to pursue my homosexual dream with gusto.

STEPHANIE: In retrospect, during the period of our separation, part of my motivation for not immediately divorcing Mike stemmed from pride: good Christian girls do not get divorced. When all my dreams were shattered, the Lord used the time to work His Word deep into my heart. The first few months that Mike was gone I pleaded with the Lord to change Mike and bring him home. After all of our attempts to lure him home failed, I finally surrendered to the Lord to work on me. I realized that I was either going to be divorced or married to a man I did not really know. Either way, God was going to have to change and grow me. The right words from a friend, the right book, the right counselor -- none of these brought me peace. But when I spent time studying the Bible, God spoke and gave me peace and hope beyond my understanding.

MIKE: I went to my parents’ house for Easter. It was a tense weekend, and I vowed that I would file divorce papers the next week and never return to their house again. As I was leaving, my dad gave me the book “You Don’t Have to be Gay,” which I took only to appease him. I believe the Holy Spirit physically caused my hands to open that book, and within two days I had completed it.

It was the first testimony I had ever heard of someone who had left the gay lifestyle. As the author referenced Scripture, I saw the Truth. God did love me just as I was, but He could not leave me there. I sat on the floor of my sparsely furnished apartment and knew I was to go home to Stephanie. I argued for days with God and heard only one response to my arguments: “I love you.”

Stephanie was shocked when I showed up at her door, but she accepted me home. We moved back to Midland and began the arduous process of personal and emotional healing. We attended our first Exodus Freedom Conference and were filled with hope for change. There was no “ex-gay” ministry in Midland, but a wonderful Bible study leader and Christian counselor began meeting with me regularly and simply pointing me to Christ. He helped me unpack my true identity -- as a man and a child of God. Though it was difficult, God began to work amazing healing and transformation in both of us. He changed our lives.

STEPHANIE: I was truly surprised when Mike asked to come home. God showed me that He had brought Mike home, that his return was not because of anything I had done or said. I accepted Mike and offered forgiveness purely out of obedience. Over the next couple of years, God worked true love for each other in our hearts and rebuilt the trust in our marriage. We have learned of God’s faithfulness in a real and true way, enabling us to stay committed to one another and to take the steps of faith to which God calls us. The verse that I clung to during the years following our separation is 1 Peter 5:6: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time” (NIV). The Lord is faithful.

MIKE: The church that I harbored such bitterness and anger toward became a huge part of our healing. Early on, God prompted us to quit looking for a place to have our needs met and instead find a place to serve. We became a part of a new church called Stonegate Fellowship, and it was where God called us into ministry. We started an Exodus Member Ministry and shared our testimony publicly for the first time. God showed us the beauty of being real, and our church responded with an amazing display of love, acceptance and support. Stonegate became the church Stephanie and I had dreamt of -- a church that lived out its belief that Jesus Christ can change a life. They ultimately hired me as a senior associate pastor.

I know from God’s Word that He allows struggles in our lives so that His power might be displayed in us and so that He will receive glory. I can think of no better life than to be a vessel for God’s glory and power. It is not about coming to grips with who I am. It is about coming to grips with who He is. That is a life worth living.

We would not trade the struggles we went through for anything. Our “real” marriage is so much better than the marriage we dreamed of for ourselves. God has grown in Stephanie and me a pure and beautiful love for each other and for the Lord, and He has blessed us with three beautiful children. We know we have not arrived, but we also know that the end of the journey will be beyond our imaginations.

________

Mike Goeke is the associate pastor of counseling at Stonegate Fellowship Church in Midland, Texas. He can be reached at mikegoeke@stonegatefellowship.com. Information on the SBC Task Force on Ministry to Homosexuals can be found at www.sbcthewayout.com.

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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #12007]

My Source: THE ENCOURAGER

From Calvert City church of Christ

Volume 12, #1, January 2, 2000

Author: Lance Cordle

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

BACK AT ZERO

by Lance Cordle

Much has been said about the year 2000 and the possibilities of certain things happening in connection with it. I don't want to rehash any of those things. I simply want to remind us of an opportunity that stands before us: to begin again in various ways. We stand on the brink of a new year--a new century--a new millennium. We can use this opportunity to attempt to improve ourselves in various ways. Let me offer the following possibilities:

1. ATTEMPT TO IMPROVE YOURSELF SPIRITUALLY.

Start where you are. If you need baptism, believe in Jesus and repent of your sins; confess the name of Jesus; and be baptized as soon as possible. You have heard the sermons, now take the action God has commanded. If you have been unfaithful to the Lord, repent, confess your sin before God and those who need to hear it. Then live faithfully for Him again. If you want to draw closer to God, spend time this year in His Word. Take a Bible class seriously: read the book; do the assignments. Time time out of your day to be with God in prayer.

2. ATTEMPT TO IMPROVE YOURSELF PHYSICALLY.

Get some form of regular exercise (every day, if possible). Health experts recommend a minimum of thirty minutes a day briskly walking for overall health and wellness. Put away bad habits (smoking, etc.). Remember that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

3. ATTEMPT TO IMPROVE YOURSELF INTELLECTUALLY.

Read good, stimulating material. It doesn't have to be all religious, but some of it could be. Read biographies and history and heed the lessons (positive and negative); if you can afford it, take a newspaper and follow current events; take a college class in some positive area of interest. The list could go on--but most of all--challenge yourself.

4. ATTEMPT TO IMPROVE YOURSELF SOCIALLY.

Remember Proverbs 18:24 and broaden your circle of friends. Go across the church building and talk to someone you don't know well. Invite someone into your house for a meal or games. Make a conscious effort to smile and speak to someone before they speak to you.

Well, I've run out of room. But, you get the idea. Make the '0" in 2000 work for you. Start over. You won't regret it.

Submitted by: John Walls

jmichaelwalls@juno.com

Dr. Frank Mayfield was touring Tewksbury Institute when, on his way out, he accidentally collided with an elderly floor maid. To cover the awkward moment Dr. Mayfield started asking questions, 'How long have you worked here?'

'I've worked here almost since the place opened,' the maid replied.

'What can you tell me about the history of this place?' he asked.

'I don't think I can tell you anything, but I could show you something.' With that, she took his hand and led him down to the basement under the oldest section of the building. She pointed to one of what looked like small prison cells, their iron bars rusted with age, and said, 'That's the cage where they used to keep Annie.'

'Who's Annie?' the doctor asked.

'Annie was a young girl who was brought in here because she was incorrigible - which means nobody could do anything with her. She'd bite and scream and throw her food at people. The doctors and nurses couldn't even examine her or anything. I'd see them trying with her spitting and scratching at them. I was only a few years younger than her myself and I used to think 'I sure would hate to be locked up in a cage like that.' I wanted to help her, but I didn't have any idea what I could do. I mean, if the doctors and nurses couldn't help her, what could someone like me do? I didn't know what else to do, so I just baked her some brownies one night after work. The next day I brought them in. I walked carefully to her cage and said, 'Annie I baked these brownies just for you. I'll put them right here on the floor and you can come and get them if you want.' Then I got out of there just as fast as I could because I was afraid she might throw them at me. But she didn't. She actually took the brownies and ate them.

After that, she was just a little bit nicer to me when I was around. And sometimes I'd talk to her. Once, I even got her laughing. One of the nurses noticed this and she told the doctor. They asked me if I'd help them with Annie. I said I would if I could. So that's how it came about that every time they wanted to see Annie or examine her, I went into the cage first and explained and calmed her down and held her hand. Which is how they discovered that Annie was almost blind.

After they'd been working with her for about a year - and it was tough sledding with Annie - the Perkins institute for the Blind opened its doors. They were able to help her and she went on to study and became a teacher herself.

Annie came back to the Tewksbury Institute to visit, and to see what she could do to help out. At first, the Director didn't say anything and then he thought about a letter he'd just received. A man had written to him about his daughter. She was absolutely unruly - almost like an animal. He'd been told she was blind and deaf as well as 'deranged' He was at his wit's end, but he didn't want to put her in an asylum. So he wrote here to ask if we knew of anyone - any teacher - who would come to his house and work with his daughter.

And that is how Annie Sullivan became the lifelong companion of Helen Keller.

When Helen Keller received the Nobel Prize, she was asked who had the greatest impact on her life and she said, 'Annie Sullivan.' But Annie said, 'No Helen. The woman who had the greatest influence on both our lives was a floor maid at the Tewksbury Institute.'

Adapted from a true story told by Leah Curtin R.N. (Nursing Management Magazine.)

Post Script: History is changed when one person asks, What can someone like me do?

Any day we wish; we can discipline ourselves to make important changes in our lives. Any day we wish; we can open the book that will open our mind to new knowledge. Any day we wish; we can start a new activity. Any day we wish; we can start the process of life change. We can do it immediately, or next week, or next month, or next year.

We can also do nothing. We can pretend rather than perform. And if the idea of having to change ourselves makes us uncomfortable, we can remain as we are. We can choose rest over labor, entertainment over education, delusion over truth, and doubt over confidence. The choices are ours to make. But while we curse the effect, we continue to nourish the cause. As Shakespeare uniquely observed, "The fault is not in the stars, but in ourselves." We created our circumstances by our past choices. We have both the ability and the responsibility to make better choices beginning today. Those who are in search of the good life do not need more answers or more time to think things over to reach better conclusions. They need the truth. They need the whole truth. And they need nothing but the truth.

We cannot allow our errors in judgment, repeated every day, to lead us down the wrong path. We must keep coming back to those basics that make the biggest difference in how our life works out. And then we must make the very choices that will bring life, happiness and joy into our daily lives.

And if I may be so bold to offer my last piece of advice for someone seeking and needing to make changes in their life - If you don't like how things are, change it! You're not a tree. You have the ability to totally transform every area in your life - and it all begins with your very own power of choice.

To Your Success, Jim Rohn

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"I wanted to change the world. But I have found that the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself."

-- Aldous Huxley

"The time is always right to do what is right."

-- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"You can't change what you don't acknowledge."

-- Phil McGraw

"Be prepared to reinvent yourself every year. Imagine starting over with no limitations or encumbrances."

-- Brian Tracy

"Whatever your present situation, I assure you that you are not your habits. You can replace old patterns of self-defeating behavior with new patterns, new habits of the effectiveness, happiness, and trust-based relationships."

-- Stephen Covey

"There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction."

-- Winston Churchill

"Today changes must come fast; and we must adjust our mental habits, so that we can accept comfortably the idea of stopping one thing and beginning another overnight... We must assume that there is probably a better way to do almost everything. We must stop assuming that a thing which has never been done before probably cannot be done at all."

-- Donald M. Nelson

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

-- Mohandas Gandhi

"What the caterpillar calls the end, the rest of the world calls a butterfly."

-- Lao Tsu

"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself."

-- Count Leo Tolstoy

"Change your thoughts and you change your world."

-- Norman Vincent Peale (1898-1993), writer and clergyman, cited in B&P

"Things do not change; we do."

-- Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), philosopher and writer, cited in B&P

"Never doubt the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. That's about the only way it has ever happened in the past."

-- Margaret Mead (1901-1978), anthropologist, The Best of B&P

"In spite of warnings, nothing much happens until the status quo becomes more painful than change."

-- Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990), Writer, BITS & PIECES

"Everything that is full of life loves change, for the characteristic of life is movement toward a new goal, and urges toward new pleasures."

-- Fulton J. Sheen (1895-1979), Catholic priest

"Here below to live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often."

-- J. H. Newman, Essay on Development (quoted in Christianity Today [CT])

"Dislocation, with all its risks, is surely preferable to stagnation, which is the temptation when we cling too powerfully to what we have. When we do that, growth ceases. This is living death."

-- Ralph McAfee Brown, Creative Dislocation-The Movement of Grace [CT]

"The status quo can never be totally accepted by one who has an eschatological vision."

-- Charles Curran, Theology Today [CT]

"We have to feel the universe at once as an ogre's castle, to be stormed, and yet as our own cottage, to which we can return at evening."

-- G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy [CT]

"Getting things done [institutionally] is like elephants mating: It is done at a high level, accomplished with a great deal of roaring and screaming, and takes two years to produce results, which usually fall to the ground with a thud."

-- EMC Weather Vane [CT]

"Be not afraid to go slowly; Be only afraid of standing still."

-- Japanese proverb [CT]

"If you're not making mistakes, you're not taking risks, and that means you're not going anywhere. The key is to make mistakes faster than the competition, so you have more chances to learn and win."

-- John W. Holt Jr., Celebrate Your Mistakes [CT]

"Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on unreasonable people."

-- George Bernard Shaw, quoted in Sojo Mail (Sojourners Online) [CT]

"Be not the first by whom the new is tried. Nor yet the last to lay the old aside."

-- Alexander Pope, from "The Essay on Man" [CT]

"A generation is the primary agent of social change... Reform is thus brought organically into a society. People don't change, generations do."

-- Landon Y. Jones, Great Expectations [CT]

"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have little."

-- Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Second Inaugural Address (January 20, 1937)

"The truth is that there is nothing noble in being superior to somebody else. The only real nobility is in being superior to your former self."

-- Whitney Young (1921-1971), civil rights leader, B&P 06/14/02

"Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be."

-- Thomas Kempis, theologian, QFTM 8/20/02

"There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse! As I have often found in travelling in a stagecoach, that it is often a comfort to shift one's position, and be bruised in a new place."

-- Washington Irving

"When it is not necessary to change, it is necessary not to change."

-- Lucius Cary, Viscount Falkland

"He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery."

-- Harold Wilson

"Change is an easy panacea. It takes character to stay in one place and be happy there."

-- Elizabeth Clarke Dunn

"Never swap horses crossing a stream."

-- American Proverb

"I've never met a person, I don't care what his condition, in whom I could not see possibilities. I don't care how much a man may consider himself a failure, I believe in him, for he can change the thing that is wrong in his life any time he is ready and prepared to do it. Whenever he develops the desire, he can take away from his life the thing that is defeating it. The capacity for reformation and change lies within."

-- Preston Bradley

"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself."

-- Leo Tolstoi

"Change alone is eternal, perpetual, immortal."

-- Arthur Schopenhauer

"The problem is not whether business will survive in competition with business, but whether any business will survive at all in the face of social change."

-- Laurence Joseph McGinley

"We emphasize that we believe in change because we were born of it, we have lived by it, we prospered and grew great by it. So the status quo has never been our god, and we ask no one else to bow down before it."

-- Carl T. Rowan

"We are restless because of incessant change, but we would be frightened if change were stopped."

-- Lyman Lloyd Bryson

"Things do not change, we do."

-- Henry David Thoreau

"The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress."

-- Charles F. Kettering

"He that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils."

-- Francis Bacon

"Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes."

-- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation."

-- Robert F. Kennedy

"There is nothing permanent except change."

-- Heraclitus

"All change is not growth; all movement is not forward."

-- Ellen Glasgow

"In a progressive country change is constant; ... change ... is inevitable."

-- Benjamin Disraeli

"Weep not that the world changes--did it keep a stable, changeless state, it were a cause indeed to weep."

-- William Cullen Bryant

"Christians are supposed not merely to endure change, nor even to profit by it, but to cause it."

-- Harry Emerson Fosdick

"If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we are not really living. Growth demands a temporary surrender of security."

-- Gail Sheehy, writer, B&P 4/16/03

"Though no one can go back and make a new beginning - anyone can start from now and make a brand new end."

-- Carl Brand

"We generally change ourselves for one of two reasons: inspiration or desperation."

-- Jim Rohn

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Galatians sermon series Galatians 6:14-18

START FRESH

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I. The ultimate.

II. The cross stands before us.

A. Rather grim symbol.

B. The cross is all or nothing.

III. The power of starting fresh.

A. Real religion is not rituals.

B. People can be re-made. Galatians 5:6; 1 Corinthians 7:19

IV. Has a real change of heart accompanied your faith?

V. Many believe, but fewer change.

Our kids played with it when they were little. Our grandson plays it with it now. I play with it every once in a while. It's that colorful clay in the round can - it's Play-Doh! You can squeeze that Play-Doh into something flat, something round, something long - you can turn it into any shape you want it to be. Which is OK for a toy. It's not OK for people.

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Play-Doh Or Rock?"

Unfortunately, there are way too many people who are just like Play-Doh - they keep changing shape - emotionally, that is. You never know if they're going to be up or down, happy or miserable, negative or positive, loving or selfish. As long as you run your life based on how you're feeling right now, you're going to be Play-Doh, constantly changing the shape you're in.

Then there are those people you can count on, people who are thermostats setting the climate instead of thermometers just reacting to the climate. Those are the rock people. Rocks are always the same shape, no matter how tightly they're squeezed. And you are one or the other - Play-Doh or rock. Depending on what you base your responses on - the facts or your feelings.

In Luke 6, beginning in verse 47, our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus described the person who "hears My words and puts them into practice" as being "like a man building a house" who "laid the foundation on rock." Jesus said the storm could not shake that house. Then He described a man who "hears My words and does not put them into practice" as "like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete."

Those who run their life on their emotions are vulnerable to major mistakes. They are even collapsible. But those who know what God says and base their responses on that - no matter how they're feeling - they are strong, stable, and stormproof. It's your choice - going by your feelings or going by the facts.

Maybe you've been going way too much on your feelings lately. Satan loves that. He can twist and distort your feelings; he can't change the Word of God. You can choose to have your feelings overrule what God says or what God says overrule your feelings. Maybe even your spiritual life is run by your feelings without being anchored much in the Word of God. You're not even sure whether you belong to Jesus Christ or not, because you're going on your ever-changing feelings instead of promises of God like I John 5:13, "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know you have eternal life." That's know you have, not feel like you have. If you're married, you know you are because you made a conscious commitment to your spouse. If you don't know you got married, then you didn't.

If you've committed yourself to Jesus Christ as your only hope of having your sins forgiven and going to heaven, then you belong to Him. If there's never been a time you did that, you don't belong to Him - but you could today. Right where you are, tell Him, "Jesus, I resign from running my own life. I'm Yours." If that's what you want, please let me send you my booklet, "Yours For Life." It's about beginning your personal relationship with Jesus. Just let me know you want it.

It is so good to know that you belong to Jesus. That you're going to heaven when you die. No, not just because you feel it. You know you belong to Him. You know you're going to heaven ... because God says so!

________________

Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. "Practical Answers to Real Life Issues"

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A true story -

"Bill, what changes have you seen since you came to St. Cuthbert's seventy years ago?"

"A great deal has changed. Before the World War II, I used to sit on that side of the choir..…."

Increasingly segmented lifestyles, religious pluralism and even the "worship wars" within today's church are among the most significant challenges Robert E. Reccord sees ahead for evangelical Christians in the 21st century.

Reccord, president of the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board, in speaking to state evangelism, church planting and media leaders, said Southern Baptists must emulate the capacity for rapid change of the B-52 bomber to be effective in reaching a rapidly changing culture.

The aircraft first flew in 1954 but because it is refitted every four years with the latest technology it is expected to have a life expectancy through 2030. "At every step of the way [the B-52] adapted and changed to meet the conditions, while never losing sight of its mission," Reccord said. "That sounds pretty much like Jesus said you and I ought to be. ... We must prepare and equip ourselves for the challenges and the opportunities that are out there before us."

One of those challenges, Reccord said, is the modern trend toward segmented lifestyles, much like a newsmagazine is divided into news, entertainment, sports and even religion. Christians are often expected to keep the sacred and secular aspects of their lives separate, he said, when in reality the sacred should be a part of everything.

"If we are going to be the light of the world, we cannot be the light of the world just to the church," Reccord said. "If we are going to be the light of the world, that means the men and women of your church have got to go to their world and take the message they heard on Sunday morning."

Christians also are facing a world in which even those claiming the same Christ have joined a chorus arguing that all paths to God are equally valid, Reccord said. He noted conversations in which he has asked evangelical Christians if they believe neighbors who are "the greatest people in the world" will nevertheless go to hell without Christ. "A lot of times I don't get fast answers," he said.

Further amplifying the concern is a "divine deli" of spiritual beliefs and a baseless spirituality, much of which has no need for Christ, Reccord said. He quoted one commentator in Publisher's Weekly as putting it this way: "The problem is not so much that people do not believe anything, it is that they believe everything."

Even within the church, Reccord said, one of the biggest challenges is faced every Sunday morning as evangelical Christians continue to differ on the meaning of worship. While allowing for differences in styles of music, he said the danger in many cases is that the nature of worship itself is lost.

In an admittedly extreme example, he showed a web page advertising a "Rock & Roll Worship Circus." "Could it be that some churches are confusing the purpose they exist?" Reccord asked. "And could it be they are seeing the purpose they have as the same purpose the circus has, and that is to draw a crowd? But there is a vast difference between a church and a circus."

He drew an analogy of the church with three participants in the Greek theater. There were the actors, he said, which in most churches are the pastor, staff and choir. Then there was the prompter, the role usually reserved for God. And there was the audience, which in many churches is the congregation.

"That's good for the Greek theater, but it doesn't work very well theologically for the church," Reccord said. "In the biblical church the actors need to be the congregation. The prompters should be the worship leaders. And the audience ought to be God.

"Whether you're on one end or the other, here's the issue," Reccord said: "People have got to understand what they're singing and who they're singing to. The issue is not about style; it is about substance. It is about who is the center of the worship."

Worship should not be as concerned with the experience as it is with an encounter with God, he continued. "It's not just what we feel, but who we feel," he said. "That makes all the difference in the world."

But with the challenges come opportunities, Reccord said, citing, for example, exploding opportunities for sharing Christ through meeting physical needs.

He told of the work of NorthStar Church in Kennesaw, Georgia, which began a series of ministries in a local mobile home community. When a tragic fire claimed eight lives, the church was called on to help with the funerals, he said, noting that the people are responding by accepting Christ "by the score."

In another ministry, the church began a mentoring program for at-risk teens in area high schools that has resulted in dramatically higher test scores. English classes have provided other opportunities. And because the church conducts the programs, they are free to share the hope found in Christ as well.

"I love to do door-to-door evangelism, and grew up and was teethed on it," Reccord said. "But I need to tell you that the cutting edge for the 21st century is going to be ministry evangelism, where we go in and meet the need, and cross the bridge for Christ."

*

THREE RULES FOR TURNING STRESS INTO SUCCESS

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1. ACCEPT THE UNCHANGEABLE - Everything that has happened in your life to this minute is unchangeable. It's history. The greatest waste of energy is in looking back at missed opportunities, lamenting past events, grudge collecting, getting even, harboring ill will, and any vengeful thinking. Success is the only acceptable form of revenge. By forgiving your trespassers, you become free to concentrate on going forward with your life and succeeding in spite of your detractors. You will live a rewarding and fulfilling life.

Your enemies, on the other hand, will forever wonder how you went on to become so successful without them and in the shadow of their doubts.

Action Idea: Write down on a sheet of paper things that happened in the past that bother you. Now crumple the paper into a ball and throw it at the person teaching this program at the front of the room. This symbolizes letting go of past misfortunes.

2. CHANGE THE CHANGEABLE - What you can change is your reaction to what others say and do. And you can control your own thoughts and actions by dwelling on desired results instead of the penalties of failure. The only real control you have in life is that of your immediate thought and action. Since most of what we do is a reflex, subconscious habit, it is wise not to act on emotional impulse. In personal relations, it is better to wait a moment until reason has the opportunity to compete with your emotions.

Action Idea: Write down in your diary one thing you will do tomorrow to help you relax more during and after a stressful day.

3. AVOID THE UNACCEPTABLE - Go out of your way to get out of the way of potentially dangerous behaviors and environments. When people tailgate you on the freeway, change lanes. If they follow you at night, drive to a well-lighted public place.

When there are loud, obnoxious people next to you at a restaurant or club, change tables, or locations. Also, be cautious of personal relationships developed via the Internet. With the massive number of individuals surfing the net, the number of predators increases in like proportion. Always be on the alert for potentially dangerous situations involving your health, personal safety, financial speculation and emotional relationships.

Action Idea: What is one unacceptable behavior you have or allow others to do to you that you will avoid starting tomorrow? Example: The way you drive, being around negative people, walking down dark streets alone late at night, etc.

*

Change or God

Dr. Richard Swenson said, "For millenia upon millenia change was slow, controlled, assessable; now it convulses at warp speed. Change is the name of the game for all of us. In 1978 in the average grocery store you had 11,767 items to choose from, today that number is 24,531. A single edition of the NY Times carries more information than the average 17th century British citizen would encounter in a lifetime. At times the change and choices can be overwhelming. When American astronaut Alan Shepherd was getting ready to head into space for the very first time, a reporter asked him "What are you depending on in this flight?" He answered, "I'm depending on the fact that God's laws will not change."

TS--Shepherd is right that God will not change, his laws do not change, his word does not change, his love does not change. In the changing times we have a God who can be trusted to keep his promises. In the present, I am confident about the future, because of what God has done in the past. (Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, forever.)

A New Mexico woman who suddenly snapped out of a 16-year catatonic state on Christmas Eve is eating chicken, visiting shopping malls and promising to go running. Patricia White Bull was unable to speak, swallow or move until she blurted out “Don’t do that” when nurses were trying to fix her bed. She slipped into her comatose state while delivering her fourth child Mark; doctors did not know why she suddenly awoke. Since Christmas Eve Patricia has been getting caught up on family developments which included her husband divorcing her, although he said if she recovers and wants to re-establish a relationship he is there. (USA Today 1-5-00)

TS: So much of the world had passed her by in those 16 years, but for her to “raise from the dead” and receive her life back was an amazing Christmas miracle. God wants to perform the same Christmas miracle in your life. His gift of grace brings new life.

The Bible can change not only a life but an entire lifestyle. Most of us have heard the story of the Mutiny on the Bounty, but few of us have heard how the Bible played a very vital part in that historical event. The Bounty was a British ship which set sail from England in 1787, bound for the South Seas. The idea was that those on board would spend some time among the islands, transplanting fruit-bearing and food-bearing trees, and doing other things to make some of the islands more habitable. After ten months of voyage, the Bounty arrived safely at its destination, and for six months the officers and the crew gave themselves to the duties placed upon them by their government.

When the special task was completed, however, and the order came to embark again, the sailors rebelled. They had formed strong attachments for the native girls, and the climate and the ease of the South Sea island life was much to their liking. The result was mutiny on the Bounty, and the sailors placed Captain Bligh and a few loyal men adrift in an open boat. Captain Bligh, in an almost miraculous fashion, survived the ordeal, was rescued, and eventually arrived home in London to tell his story. An expedition was launched to punish the mutineers, and in due time fourteen of them were captured and paid the penalty under British law.

But nine of the men had gone to another distant island. There they formed a colony. Perhaps there has never been a more degraded and debauched social life than that of that colony. They learned to distill whiskey from a native plant, and the whiskey, as usual, along with other habits, led to their ruin. Disease and murder took the lives of all the native men and all but one of the white men named Alexander Smith. He found himself the only man on an island, surrounded by a crowd of women and half-breed children. Alexander Smith found a Bible among the possessions of a dead sailor. The Book was new to him. He had never read it before. He sat down and read it through. He believed it and he began to appropriate it. He wanted others to share in the benefits of this book, so he taught classes to the women and the children, as he read to them and taught them the Scriptures.

It was twenty years before a ship ever found that island, and when it did, a miniature Utopia was discovered. The people were living in decency, prosperity, harmony, and peace. There was nothing of crime, disease, immorality, insanity, or illiteracy. How was it accomplished? By reading, the believing, and the appropriating of the truth of God!

The Tale Of The Tardy Oxcart

Charles R. Swindoll, Word, pp. 50-51.