New Monmouth Musings: On Being a Good Steward

Dear Friends,

Her name was Bertha Adams, and she was 71 years old. I first learned about her in a message I heard from the pulpit while pastoring in Fort Lauderdale. She died alone on Easter Sunday in West Palm Beach, not far from where I was serving on staff at Calvary Chapel, Fort Lauderdale. Years later, I read the details of her death in Chuck Swindoll’s The Finishing Touch. The coroner’s report read “Cause of death . . . malnutrition.” She had wasted away to just fifty pounds.

When the state authorities made their preliminary investigation of Mrs. Adam’s home, “they found a veritable pigpen . . . the biggest mess you could imagine.” One seasoned inspector declared he’d never seen a dwelling in greater disarray. The woman had begged food from neighbors’ back doors and gotten what clothing she had from the Salvation Army. From all outward appearances she was a penniless recluse, a pitiful and forgotten widow. But such was not the case.

Amid the jumble of her unclean, disheveled belongings, the officials found two keys to safe-deposit boxes at two different local banks. In the first box was over 700 AT&T stock certificates, plus hundreds of other valuable certificates, bonds, and solid financial security, not to mention a stack of cash amounting to nearly $ 200,000. The second box contained $ 600,000. Adding the net worth of both boxes, they found well over a million dollars.

Charles Osgood, reporting the story on CBS radio announced that the estate would probably go to a distant niece and nephew, neither of whom dreamed their aunt had a thin dime to her name. The Finishing Touch, Charles Swindoll, p. 448

When I heard and then read this story a number of years ago, my thoughts turned to a passage of Scripture that I had never noticed before. I had been reading in Ecclesiastes and came across Ecc. 6:3 and read, “A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.”

All of this got me to thinking about the wealth and stewardship of one’s possessions. How sad to have amassed all that money, and yet to have never shared it with others. How tragic to have riches and a long life, and yet live so wrapped up in yourself that you never think of how you might provide for the needs of others. It reminds me of what Solomon said” “Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil.” Proverbs 15:16

I shall never forget the words of the great saint Corrie Ten Boom who said on a tape on stewardship I was listening to (some of you may not even remember tape recordings) “I have learned to hold on to things loosely because when I hold on to them too rightly, it hurts when the Master has to pry open my fingers.” Would that all of us learn that great lesson of stewardship.

“It is possible to give away and become richer. It is also possible to hold on too tightly and lose everything. Yes, the liberal man shall be rich! By watering others, he waters himself. “(Proverbs 11:24-25 TLB)

Yes, when our fingers start squeezing our money too tightly, it may be time to gaze into heaven and be reminded from where all our “riches” come.

Yours in faith,

Pastor Tom

New Monmouth Musings, How Are Your Listening Skills?

Dear Friends,

Who among us has not heard the expression, “God gave us two ears and one mouth, so that we could listen twice as much as we speak”? Unfortunately, while many of us know the truth of this little axiom, there are all too few who practice it.

From time to time, I am reminded of my need to be a better listener, and over the years I have clipped and filed away some stories and quotes on the importance of listening.  I have kept them as a reminder of my need to continue developing my listening skills. I share them with you in hopes that they may be of help and encouragement to you as well.

“There are times when nothing a person can say is so powerful as saying nothing.” Ruth Perry.

“Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you would rather be talking.” Aristotle

“I remind myself every morning that nothing I say this day will teach me anything. So if I am going to learn, I must do it by listening.” Larry King

“A wise old owl lived in an oak.

The more he saw, the less he spoke.

The less he spoke the more he heard. 

Why can’t we be like that wise old bird?”

And one of my favorites comes from the martyred German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who reminds us that we can discover a neighbor’s needs by becoming better listeners. He writes: “Listening can be a greater service than speaking. Many people are looking for an ear that will listen. They do not find it among Christians, because these Christians are talking when they should be listening.”

“There is a kind of listening with half an ear that presumes already to know what the other person has to say. It is an impatient, inattentive listening that despises the brother and is only waiting for a chance to speak and thus get rid of the other person.”

“Christians have forgotten that the ministry of listening has been committed to them by Him who is Himself the great listener, and whose work they share. We should listen with the ears of God that we may speak the Word of God.”

And finally from Chuck Swindoll who once found himself with too many commitments in too few days. He got nervous and tense about it. He was snapping at his wife and children, choking down his food at mealtimes, and feeling irritated every time there was an unexpected interruption in his day. He recalls in his book Stress Fractures that before long, things around their home started reflecting the pattern of his hurry-up life. He said the situation was becoming unbearable. Then it happened.

After supper one evening his younger daughter, Colleen wanted to tell him something important that had happened to her at school that day. She began hurriedly, “Daddy, I ‘wanna’ tell you something, and I’ll tell you really fast.”

Suddenly realizing her frustration, Swindoll answered, “Honey, you can tell me - and you don’t have to tell me really fast. Say it slowly.” He has never forgotten her answer: “Then listen slowly.”

The above are all good reminders for us, as we continue to develop our listening skills. Let’s be sure each of us takes the time to listen a little more slowly to the people with whom we interact. Let’s slow our pace down a little. Nothing is too important to keep us from giving our full attention to the person with whom we are speaking. Let’s make them feel important by listening to them. Let’s help them to know that we really do care about them and let’s show them our love by being the best listeners we can be. We need to slow down and listen long enough to hear the real hurts of the people God brings across our path today.

And yes, don’t forget the words of one man who was inspired to pen the words that God wants every one of us to hear and never forget: “My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry . . .” (James 1:19)

Have a great day and be a GREAT LISTENER.

Yours in ministry,

Pastor Tom

P.S. I almost forgot to mention the classic words of Abraham Lincoln who was reported to have once said, “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”

New Monmouth Musings “For Those of You Who Find It Hard To Change.

Some of you are old enough to remember one of the most unforgettable sports clips in the annals of sports broadcasting. For years, the opening of “The Wide Worlds of Sports” television program illustrated “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat” with a painful ending to an attempted ski jump. The skier appeared in good form, as he headed down the slope heading for the ski jump, but then, for no apparent reason, he tumbled head over heels off the side of the jump, bouncing off the supporting structure in what looked like a life-threatening fall.

What I never knew, however, was that the skier chose to fall rather than finish the jump. Why? As he explained later, the jump surface had become too fast, and midway down the jump, he realized if he completed the jump, he would land on the level ground, beyond the safe sloping landing area, which could have been fatal. As it was, the skier suffered no more than a headache from the tumble.

Changing the direction of one’s life is not always easy, but sometimes it is necessary for one’s survival.  Change, however, is not always easy. The “older” I get the harder it is for me to change. Some of you know what I am talking about. We resist change. If it is something we have grown up with, something that we are comfortable with, we generally prefer to preserve the status quo. We like routine, the familiar, and we often avoid new challenges because they involve new learning. Someone once wrote the only people that like change are wet babies.

But change is necessary. Without change we stagnate, we shrivel, we won’t survive. We live in a world where we must learn welcome it and learn from it, even if we don’t love it.  If we are not willing to change and try new things, the world is going to pass us by. As one business consultant has written, “we need to accept change even though it may be disruptive. And even if it is uncomfortable or disruptive, you ‘gotta’ do it anyway.” Yes, we are living in an era where, literally, to learn to love change is a matter of survival.

A night watchman on a huge battleship alerted the captain that their ship was headed directly toward a light in the distance. The captain immediately sent the message, “Change your course 10 degrees south.” A few minutes later came the reply, “Change your course 10 degrees north.” Perturbed, the captain signaled back, “I am a captain. Change your course to the south.”  Five minutes later came the reply, “I am seamen first class. Change your course to the north.” Fuming, the captain sent one final message: “I demand you change your course.  I am on a battleship, and I strongly recommend you change your course.   And the response of the seaman was “I am in a lighthouse, and you are heading for a disaster if you don’t change your direction.” You Can’t Steal Second with Your Foot on First, Burke Hedges, pp 31-32.

When Paul and Barnabas visited Antioch, the Gentiles gladly heard the message and their lives were changed. We are told that almost the entire city turned out to hear them preach the word of the Lord, but when the Jewish leaders saw the crowds, they were jealous, so they slandered Paul and argued against whatever he said. When the Gentiles heard that the message of Paul was for them, as well as the Jews, they were glad and thanked the Lord for His message; and all who were appointed to eternal life became believers. So the Lord’s message spread throughout that region. The Jewish leaders stirred up both the influential religious women and the leaders of the city, and they incited a mob against Paul and Barnabas and ran them out of town.” Acts 13:44;48-50

The Jewish believers refused to accept the truth, for they knew it meant change. Change in their rituals, change in their routines, change in their attitudes and change in their religious way of thinking. When confronted with truth, people often respond the same way. It is easier to resist a new idea than to receive it when receiving it may mean the need to change one’s actions or way of thinking. But when God points to something in our life that needs to change, we had better listen else we run the risk of “pushing the truth so far away that it no longer affects us.” Life Application Study Bible, p 1724

Is there something that you need to change in your life? A habit, a behavior, a style of life? Why not do it today. Give it over to the Lord and let him provide you the power to make that change. I can honestly promise you that you will be glad you did. And yes, remember you “cannot become what you need to be by remaining what you are.” Max Dupree quoted from 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork, John Maxwell, p 141.

Have a great day and enjoy the change!

Yours in faith and friendship,

Pastor Tom