Leadership Thought: Choose Carefully for Your Life Depends Upon Your Decision

Dear Friends,

Several years ago, a medical mystery baffled the positions at Palnomie Hospital in Free State, South Africa, when, for ten consecutive weeks, whichever patient was in bed #4 of the intensive care unit would be dead on Friday morning.

After double checking medical procedures, air conditioning, vents, and room structure surrounding bed #4, It was discovered that that. At 3:00 A.M. every Friday morning the cleaning lady would unknowingly pull the plug of the life support system of bed #4 so that she could plug her floor polisher into the vacant socket.

People look around our world and see disaster, disease, and death. The see problems, pollution, and pain. They scratch their heads and say, “How did the world get this way? Why are there earthquakes and volcanoes and hurricanes and tornadoes? Why are there wars? Why can’t people get along with each other? Why is there cancer?”

The answer is that someone pulled the plug of our planet’s life support system. When Adam chose to rebel against God, the whole world was plugged into sin. Nature was impacted. Earth’s ecology changed radically. Disease and death entered in, and from that point on, man would be born with the nature of depravity.

Why should we pay the price for Adam’s failure?

Because if it was you or I in the garden, we would have done worse.

If I said, “I will pay you one million to come up here right now and go ten rounds with Mike Tyson. If you survive 10 rounds in a small ring with an angry, bitter Tyson, then one million is yours. Or, if you would rather, you can have someone to represent you. You can have  Evander Holyfield stand in for you”- every one of you, with any sense, would say, I’ll go with Evander Holyfield.”

 Adam was Evander: Hot off the press, freshly made by God, he was a champion. Thus, because even Adam bombed out, we can be assured that if you or I were in the garden, we would have surely blown it a whole lot sooner.

With eyes wide open, Adam chose to join Eve in eating the forbidden fruit; and in so doing, chose creation over Creator. It’s a tragedy repeated to this day, with the same inevitable results.

Whenever a man or woman says, “I don’t care what the cost might be, I know this is wrong, but I’m going to leave her anyway; I’m going to be with him no matter what”- a decision is made which will ultimately bring about prolonged, permanent pain. Those who choose creation over Creator say, “Oh, I know there will be repercussions. I know there will be a price to pay, but I’ll suck it up and take it, because I love him, or I’ve just got to have her. I know it’ll be tough for a while, but our love can endure. My baby and I will sail through the seas of adversity together to a port of tranquility and tropical beauty.”

They have it all figured out. But the price they expect to pay is not what it will cost. That’s the trick. That’s the catch.  And that’s the truth.

Inevitably, invariably, eventually, their cry will be, “I didn’t know this would be the result of my sin. God have mercy. I’m a fool.” Jon Courson, Old Testament Life Application Commentary, pp. 11-12

These opening words of a message by pastor Jon Courson provide a stark warning of the price we pay when we bite into Satan’s lie.

Beware of sin, for it fall into one of these three categories: the lust of the flesh- It tastes good; the lust of the eyes- it’s nice to look at; the pride of life- it’ll make you wise. (1 John, 2:16).

Resting and relying in the power of Jesus, let us resist Satan’s lie and choose carefully, as if our life depended upon it, because it does!

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom

Leadership Thought: A Dangerous Game a Christian Should Never Play

Dear Friend,

Did you ever play the blame game? I know there have been times in my life when I felt like I was the victim, and what had happened to me was someone else's fault.

Hopefully over the years I have matured a bit and have come to realize no one wins the blame game. 

One of my sport's heroes, John Wooden, legendary U.C.L.A. basketball coach, wrote "Nobody is ever defeated until they start blaming others."

The blame game is not something new. It started way back in the garden. 

"Yes, I ate it," said Adam, "but it was the woman who gave me the fruit, and I ate it."

And when the Lord turned to Eve and asked her how she could eat of the fruit, she had her own excuse: "A serpent tricked me," she replied, "That's why I ate it." Genesis 3: 12-13. 

Printed on a wall was scribbled some graffiti that read, “Humpy Dumpty was pushed."

Yes, our situation is always someone else's fault, so we are always looking to blame someone or to find a way to minimize our failure.

"I couldn't help it," "everybody else is doing it," "it was just a mistake," no one's perfect," "I was pressured into doing it," "I didn't know it was wrong," God was tempting me," "it was someone else's fault,"...............

There are no winners when we participate in the blame game unless or until someone accepts responsibility for his/her actions.

I close with part of an article I filed a way that should serve as a reminder to all of us of how pernicious the blame game can be. 

“Blame never affirms, it assaults.

Blame never restores, it wounds.

Blame never solves, it complicates.

Blame never unites, it separates.

Blame never smiles, it frowns.

Blame never forgives, it rejects.

Blame never forgets, it remembers.

Blame never builds, it destroys.

One of the most innovative psychologists in this half of the 20th century said that he considers only one kind of counselee hopeless: that person is the one who blames other people for his or her problems. If you can own the mess you're in, he says, there is hope for you and help available. As long as you blame others, you will be a victim for the rest of your life."

Yours in faith and friendship,
Tom

P.S. One of my favorite teachers, Jon Courson, gives us something to think about when he writes, “Anytime I blame someone else- be it a spouse, a parent, a boss, an employee, a neighbor-I am ultimately blaming the One who put that person in my life. Jon Courson, Old Testament Application Commentary, p 12

Leadership Thought: How Many Unfair Weather Friends Do You Possess?

Dear Friends,

Those who know me well know that I love country music, real country, or classic country as it is better known. I love Johnny, and Randy, and Willie, and Merle and Waylon and George Jones and the like.  A few months ago, I called out to my good friend Alexa, and said “Alexa, play me some Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson,” and she did. And while I know most every song that Willie and Merle ever sang, I didn’t know the one she played. I listened as my old friends musically reminisced about what it means to be “unfair weather” friends which happens to be the title of the song.

In that song two of country's greatest musical troubadours beautifully define the meaning of friendship. Read and listen to their words.

I might wind up stuck out on some old forgotten highway

Somehow you'll show up and sure enough be ‘goin' my way

You're always there, right where you've always been
My come whatever, unfair weather friend

I don't have to wonder where'll you be if I should need you
All I have to do is close my eyes and I can see you
Always there, right where you've always been

Sometimes this whole world is my worst enemy
And I know where to run when it gets to me
No one else but you can make it all make sense
My come whatever, unfair weather friend”

Jean and I  accumulated many friends over the years, and we were always so grateful for every one of them. I remember the time we sat down over Christmas a few years ago and took time to re-read a huge stack of cards and letters that we had received during a period when we were both recovering from cancer surgeries. During that time, we again savored every line of love and encouragement expressed within those letters  from so many of our  “unfair weather” friends. We were once again reminded of the fact that friends can be wonderful medicine for the soul.

One is lucky to have friends, but one is especially blessed to have “unfair weather” friends who, as one writer expressed it, “will step in when the whole world steps out.” These are the kind of friends who will show up on your doorstep at just the time when you need them the most.

One of the greatest “unfair weather” friends in the Bible was Onesiphorus, a little-known friend of the Apostle Paul. Onesiphorus visited Paul while in prison and he “refreshed him and was not ashamed of his chains” (2 Tim 1:16). Onesiphorus certainly lived up to his name which meant “bringing profit,” and he did just that for Paul.  Onesiphorus left his family in Ephesus and traveled a great distance to Rome, spending two months encouraging Paul while he was imprisoned. He expended his time and money and risked his own life to make the long arduous journey to bring food, clothing, and money to assist his “unfair weather” friend.

To possess an “unfair weather friend like Onesiphorus is a wonderful treasure.

Proverbs 17:17 reminds us that “a friend loves at all times,” and this is the perfect description of an “unfair weather” friend.

Today let’s thank God for the “unfair weather” friends we have in our life, those who have “loved us at all times.”

Why not drop a note or make a call to one of those “unfair weather” friends and let them know how much you love and appreciate them? If you do, you may discover the truth as one friend said to another: “To be your friend is to possess a great gift.”

Yours faith and friendship,

Pastor Tom

Enjoy listening to Unfair Weather Friends

   Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard - Unfair Weather Friend ...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsjOiY1pNz8

Leadership Thought: What Kind of Leader Are You?

Dear Friends,

What kind of leader are you?

You may have heard people talking about the difference between being a transactional leader and a transformational leader. Transactional leadership involves training people because you expect to get something out of them. You train them, and in return they offer their skills to help make your company profitable.

The bottom-line question for the transactional leader is, “how can I make my company more profitable?” The bottom line for a transformational leader is, “how can I make you, my employee, more successful?” The transformational leader knows that if he can make you more successful, you will make the company more successful.

If you value the development of people as much as you value profit, you are probably a transformational leader.

John Wooden, the legendary basketball coach at UCLA was a transformational leader. It was said of him by one of his players that “he wanted more for us than he wanted from us.” His focus was on developing the person to be the best he could be. The player went on to point out how coach Wooden taught his players life skills that would benefit them beyond the basketball court. And in demonstrating transformational leadership, coach Wooden was able to cultivate the kind of environment that resulted in wins, not only on the court but off the court as well.

Anyone who has gone to a Chick-fil-A restaurant has experienced transformational leadership. From the person outside taking your orders to improve the time of delivery, to the person behind the counter who greets you with a smile and makes you feel like they are your best friend, you notice the difference.

Why are Chick-fil-A’s different from most fast-food chains and why do people line  up to eat at their restaurants? It is because they offer  a quality product served by quality people who are trained to be that way.

Yes, Chick-fil-A  wants to be successful for unless they are successful, they won’t remain in business. But they also want their employees to be successful, so they invest in them and train them to be the best kind of people they can be. They hire good people, and they make them better. They train them in how to be successful not only behind the counter but wherever life might take them. Those working for Chick-Fil-A are trained to give "second mile service," and while smaller than companies like McDonalds and many of its other competitor's, it believes that it will compete and win, not through strength but through service. Like Ben Franklin, they know that "the handshake of the host affects the taste of the roast," and that the attitude of the leader affects the attitude of the office.

Jesus was a transformational leader. He invested in people because he believed in people. He wanted more for them than He wanted from them.

He demonstrated incredible confidence in the potential of people to be used for a higher purpose, and He led out of his character and heart for the world.

As transformational leaders we are called to do and be the same. As His followers we should be asking the same question often asked by Chick-Fil-A employees: “How can I serve you.”

Yours in faith and friendship

Tom

Leadership Thought: Lightbulbs and Saltshakers Are Good Reminders of Who We Are Supposed to Be

Dear Friends

How many of you would like to know the- will of God for your life? When people ask me that question, I have a simple answer-just be salt and light. In a bland and dark society make sure you stand out and are different. Salt must not lose its taste, and light must never be hidden.

I have a friend who wears a pin with a picture of a light bulb and a saltshaker on it to remind him daily that he needs to sprinkle salt and shed light wherever he goes. 

Salt makes people thirsty, and our lives should make people thirsty and cause them to ask us about our faith in God.

Why do you possess such peace? Why do you show such love? Why are you so different from most of the people I know?

I remember reading about someone disputing the adage that "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." 

"Not true," the person said. "You can give him a salt tablet." And you and I ought to be salt tablets, making people thirsty to know more about our God.

Light breaks through the darkness of our world and exposes this world's sin.

Light also illuminates our good works and provides evidence that there is something uniquely different about us.

Our light and our saltiness may become impacted by our behavior. When we don't stand out from others, and when we willingly compromise our values or settle for those things that are comfortable or convenient, we  hide our light and lose our flavor.

In a devotional on the internet, Chuck Swindoll suggested three ways to become salt and light.

"Be different. We should not become like the world. We must guard against being sucked into the prevailing culture and performing to society’s expectations."

"Be responsible. Every once in a while, we need to ask some hard questions: Are we making contact with others? Are we seeking isolation? It’s up to us to spread the salt and light."

"Be influential. Let's not kid ourselves. The very fact we belong to Christ- that we don't adopt to the system, that we march to a different drumbeat-gives us an influence in this society of ours.  

We are influencing others in our everyday behavior, be it good or bad. Even when we aren't trying out comes our salt and out shines our  light."

Swindoll concludes: "Remember to keep the light on and your saltshaker tipped."

Jesus commands us to be salt and light, so let's keep spreading our salt and shinning that light lest we blur our testimony and hinder our witness.

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom

Adapted from a previous Leadership Thought

Leadership Thought: Loving Your Enemies Is not an Easy Thing to Do 

Dear Friends,

Judd Garrett, former collegiate and professional football player, writes a weekly blog that I always look forward to reading. Last week’s message on loving your enemies especially spoke to me, and I hope it will to you as well.

“This Easter Sunday, when I reflect on Christianity in America in the 21st century, there is one concept that we are taught by Jesus that I continue to struggle with. In the sermon on the mount, Jesus commands us, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”(Matt 5:43-44) This is one of his teachings that affirms Jesus’ divinity to me because loving your enemies is a concept that is completely antithetical to human beings. Instinctively, we, humans, hate our enemies – that is part and parcel of deeming someone “an enemy”. Even after dissecting this teaching, it is still a concept that does not make sense on any human philosophical level. No human being would ever think that, much less teach it, so it could not have come from a mere mortal.

Loving our enemies is the hardest thing for us to do. It is even harder in the age of social media, when on a daily basis, we are inundated with so many people who hate us or people who have done things that we hate. Take for example, Karmelo Anthony who stabbed unarmed Austin Metcalf in the heart, killing him on the spot. He has shown no remorse, he blames the victim, he is defiant that he was right in killing a 17-year-old over a seating dispute, how do we love that person? What about José Antonio Ibarra, the illegal alien who raped and murdered Laken Riley, who smashed her skull to pieces, how do we love that person?

The drug cartel members who intentionally bring deadly drugs into this country, knowing that they will kill 100,000 Americans every year, how do we find in our heart to love those people? The Hamas terrorists, who invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, murdered 1,400 innocent Israeli civilians, raped and killed young women, beheaded babies, shot elderly people in the head, and then fled back to Gaza to hide behind Palestinian civilians, using them as human shields, how do we could we ever love those people?

How do we love someone who has so much evil in them? When I think about these people, hate boils up inside of me. I want justice. I want punishment. I want them to suffer the pain that they have inflicted on others. That is the only thing that my finite human mind can understand and accept. But Jesus commands us to do the exact opposite us, to love our enemies. But how can we when our enemies are the human embodiment of hate? How do we love hate? How do we love unrepentant, unremorseful rapists and murderers?

Mother Theresa was once asked, on a scale of 1 to 10, if Hitler is 1 and Jesus is 10, where would you fall on the scale? I imagine if asked the same question, most people would say, 5 or maybe 6. They are not Jesus, but they are definitely not Hitler. They would fall somewhere in the middle of the two extremes. Mother Theresa responded, 1.000000001. We, all, are much closer to Hitler than we are to Jesus, and Jesus still loves us. He does not allow our sins to define us or define his love for us. He loved us so much that he was willing to go to the cross for us sinners, and for our sins.

Jesus could easily hate us because of our sins – our selfishness, our greed, our nastiness, our pride, our hate. He could hate us for everything that we are that he is not. Yet he loves us anyway. If he can love us, then we can love those who our human minds tell us to hate. That does not mean that murderers and rapists should be let off. Human justice through our legal systems should be allowed to be exacted. Loving our enemies is not about our enemies, it is about us. Murderers and rapists will still be murderers and rapists whether we love them or not. If we choose to hate them, we will become consumed by that hate, and that hate will eventually destroy us from the inside out. But if we choose to love them, if we choose to love the worst among us, we will be redeemed and rejuvenated by that divine love.”

 __________________________________________________________

Mr. Garrett is a graduate of Princeton University, and a former NFL player, coach, and executive. He has been a contributor to the website Real Clear Politics. He has recently published his first novel, No Wind.

Leadership Thought: Let’s Be Rivers and Not Reservoirs

Dear Friends,

Do you have a scarcity mindset, always fearing your giving will never leave you with enough for yourself?

For the past forty years Eunice Pike has worked with the Mazatec Indians in south-western Mexico. During this time, she has discovered some interesting things about these beautiful people. For instance, the people seldom wish someone well. Not only that, but they are also hesitant to teach one another or to share the gospel with  each other. If asked, "Who taught you to bake bread?" the village baker answers, "I just know," meaning he has acquired the knowledge without anyone's help. Eunice says this odd behavior stems from the Indian's concept of "limited good." They believe there is only so much good, so much knowledge, so much love to go around. To teach another means you might drain yourself of knowledge. To love a second child means you have to love the first child less. To wish someone well--"Have a good day"--means you have just given away some of your own happiness, which cannot be reacquired. Bernie May, "Learning to Trust," Multnomah Press, 1985.

Many go through life like these Indians. They hold on tightly to their resources for fear that one day they will run out.

They have never learned that whenever you give freely of yourself,  you will always receive more than you could ever give.

Some people travel through life with a scarcity mindset, they clench on to what they possess for fear, that like those Indians, they will run out one day.

When we hold on tightly to everything we possess, we won’t lose anything, but it’s also true that we won’t make room to receive anything either.

If our lives are to be meaningful, we must learn the lesson that it is more blessed to give than to receive, and that an open heart will open hands to freely share their abundance with others.

We are meant to be a river, not a reservoir. A reservoir stores up water while a river flows freely providing resources for those in its path.

If we are a river and not a reservoir, people will know that flowing toward them will be something that will make their lives better.

John Maxwell reminds us that “God will only give to you what He knows will flow through you.”

I have been fortunate to know people  whose generosity has blessed me and blessed the lives of others.

If there is a need for money, they can be counted on to provide it. If someone is in trouble and needs a place to stay, their front door is always open. If there is a need for some service, they are ready and available to share their expertise.

These are people with an abundance mindset who know they will never run out of God’s resources.

I love the lesson the great saint Corrie Ten Boom once taught on giving. She said, “I’ve learned to hold on loosely to the things the Lord has placed in my hands, lest I feel the pain of His having to pry open my fingers to extract the gifts He wants to use for others.”

May you and I always be rivers of love, generosity flowing to and through the lives of others knowing as Charles Swindoll reminds us “We are  never more like God than when we give.”

Yours in faith,

Tom

Leadership Thought: Words Can Change Another's Life

Dear Friends,

If someone were to ask me if I were to start my ministry all over again, what would I do differently, one thing I know I would say is that I would teach more on encouragement. Why? Because so many people today are carrying heavy loads, and they need Godly encouragement to help see them through.

An encourager is someone who puts "courage" into another.

There are high spots in all of our lives and most of them have come about through encouragement.

As I reflect on my life and remember people who have influenced and impacted my life, most all of them have done so through words of encouragement.

It was Dick Armstrong, a seminary vice president whom I had come to know through the ministry of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, who encouraged me to explore an inter-racial  inner-city church in Philadelphia. At the time I was coaching and teaching at a military prep school while serving a small country church outside of Syracuse, N.Y. 

Dick was the interim pastor of the church, and he encouraged me to consider applying for the position as pastor. Dick was far more convinced than I was about my abilities to lead that kind of church. I had no real training in urban ministry, let alone inter racial ministry, but that made no difference to Dick, for he saw in me something that I didn't see in myself.

Every month for six months he called me and each time he would reiterate the same message: "Tom, I think you are the one to lead this church."

Only a few years out of seminary, and with no training for urban, let alone inter racial ministry, I felt totally inadequate to accept such a challenge, and for six months I continued to say no.

I'll never forget one of our conversations in which he asked me if I had prayed about it, and embarrassingly I had to say no, and then he  asked if I would at least pray about it, and what could I say-"No, I won't pray."

And as I began to pray about the situation, I suddenly found a peace and a confidence that I had never experienced, and I knew in my heart that as unprepared as I was for such a ministry, God would equip me to accomplish the challenge. 

Only a few months later, I accepted the call, and my yes ultimately led me to one of the most exciting seven years of any ministry I have ever experienced.

This all happened because one man believed in me and encouraged me to do something that I felt unprepared to do.

Yes, there are high spots in our life, and most of them have come about through the encouragement of someone else.

When Sir Walter Scott was a boy, he was not considered very bright, and as a result, most folks ignored him. When he was twelve, he went to a social gathering where a number of literary figures were present. Robert Burns, the famous Scottish poet, was admiring a painting under which was written a couplet of poetry. He asked about the author, but nobody knew who had written the lines. That was when Scott very shyly quoted the rest of the poem and gave the author's name. Burns placed his hand on the young boy's head and said, “Son, you will be a great man in Scotland someday."

Years later, Scott acknowledged it was Burn's remarks that encouraged him to pursue what turned out to be a famous literary career.

One never knows the importance of an encouraging word.

As one coach used to say, "A pat on the back is only a few vertebrae removed from a kick in the pants but what a difference those few inches make."

My challenge for you today is to become a member of the compliment club. The only requirement for membership is that you eagerly look for those opportunities to say something positive and encouraging to someone else.

The Apostle Paul knew something about the importance of encouragement, for he writes, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. (Ephesians 4:29)

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom

Leadership Thought: "It's Friday but Sunday's 'Coming”

Dear Friends,

There are few Good Friday videos that have been seen by as many as the video below. Short-only a few minutes- it has been seen by millions. I shared the video a few years ago, and I received many positive comments on "It's Friday, but Sunday is Coming." 

A  few years ago, author, professor, and nationally known speaker Tony Campolo, shared a rendition of this poem in a message that continues to be heard and seen throughout the Christian world. 

Tony was an unforgettable preacher. When he preached, you either clapped or threw rocks, for he had a way of stirring one’s emotions.

I will never forget the first time he spoke at our church. It was an affluent congregation whose parking lot was generally filled with its share of Mercedes and other high-end luxury cars.  

Tony looked out at our congregation and asked this question: "If Jesus lived in Haiti and had $40,000 to spend, would he spend it on the purchase of a Mercedes Benz?" 

Some members laughed while others gasped, as I thought to myself this may be my last day at this church's pastor.

People in that church still talk about the message, at least those who stayed!

When Tony passed away last year, the world lost a man whose ministry through preaching and writing impacted thousands.

I still remember the message on discipleship he shared over thirty years ago at a summer “Creation Festival” in central Pennsylvania. It was a message that transformed my life and ministry, and I will forever be indebted to him for that message.

You may never hear a more humorous or more powerful  closing to  a Good
Friday message than this one. 

May you be blessed and inspired by his words

Yours in faith and friendship.

Tom

www.youtube.com › watch It’s Friday....Sunday's Comin'! - YouTube

 

Leadership Thought: Stop Fishing

Dear Friends, 

In the last chapter of Genesis following the death of their father Jacob, his sons now fear their brother Joseph will take vengeance on them for what they had done in selling him into slavery. With their father now dead, the brothers assumed their lives would now be in danger and that Joseph would find reason to get even with them.

Joseph is saddened when he realizes that his brothers were afraid that he might cause them harm, and he weeps to think that they had failed to recognize he had truly forgiven them and that he had put the past behind him. His love and acceptance of them was genuine, but they found it hard to accept.

Sometimes, like Joseph's brothers, we find it hard to accept the fact that God could put our past behind us, and that He could love and forgive us for the things we have done.

It was Corrie Ten Boom, who said, "God took our sins and buried them in the deepest part of the ocean and then put up a sign that said no fishing." 

But the truth is that no matter how deep the pit we've dug, or what brother we've sold, our Lord has forgiven our past and washed away our sin with His own blood. 

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation to you who are in Christ. Jesus." (Romans, 8:1).

Thank God our past is behind us and a new future lies ahead of us, and our only response needs to be to accept and be grateful for it.

Who can separate you from God's love? Absolutely nothing. (Romans, 8:35-39)

It has been written that "Forgiveness ought to be like a canceled note- torn in two and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one." Henry Ward Beecher.

Our sins are forgiven, forgotten, and buried in the deepest part of the ocean, so let's stop fishing!

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom

Leadership Thought: A Conversation with a Friend Who Taught Me a Valuable Lesson in Caring for Others

Dear Friends,

Last night I called a friend on his birthday.  At 82, despite some very significant health issues, my friend Armando is still pastoring and ministering in north Florida. He is an assistant pastor in a small church where he serves a Spanish/Anglo speaking congregation.

My brother Armando is a man of prayer, and one of the ways he continues to minister to others is by praying for people who have lost loved ones. He shared with me how he keeps a calendar book in which he records the names of people he knows, and the dates their loved one have passed away. Each day he opens that book and takes time to pray for the loved ones who suffered loss on that specific day. 

He then reminded me of how he had prayed for me and my family on the date Jean died and how he had prayed for my daughter Sarah on the day her husband Jeff had passed away just last year.

While I try and communicate with the members of our church on their birthdays, I never thought of recording the dates on which friends of mine had lost loved ones.

While I have a friend I call every year on November 11th, the day his daughter was killed in a tragic robbery,  I never thought of remembering and recording  significant dates that other friends had experienced loss, and today I am determined to begin.

By praying, making a phone call, writing a letter or paying a personal visit, we can perform a significant ministry of love and encouragement as we remind others that we are thinking and praying for them.

Thanks, Armando, for revealing to me and to those reading this message of such a significant way of remembering and caring for others.

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom

Leadership Thought: Making This Change May Be More Important Than Your Calling Dear Friends, One of my favorite resources and one which I look forward to receiving two times a week is Biblical Leadership. Containing leadership articles by writers from all over the country, I always find something of value as I did this morning when I opened up the article below by Tom Harper who oversees this wonderful leadership resource Sometime ago I jotted down the following quote and while I don’t remember its source,  its message has always stuck with me: “Humble work becomes holy work when it is done for the Lord.” In the article below from Biblical Leadership, Tom Harper shares a perspective on our work that I found thought provoking. Tom writes:

Sometimes we put too much emphasis on "calling." "I've been called to a new role," you might say, thinking the new job is more in line with God's will than your old one was. "I still haven't figured out my calling in life," someone adds, meaning they just haven't been satisfied with any job yet. Brother Lawrence, in his 17th-century book, The Practice of the Presence of God, said that "our sanctification [does] not depend on changing our works, but doing that for God's sake which we commonly do for our own." He adds that it's "lamentable to see how many people mistook the means for the end, addicting themselves to certain works, which they performed very imperfectly, by reason of their human or selfish regards" (p. 26). Brother Lawrence had no regard for the opinion of others or whether he was talented at his job, or even whether it was seen as some kind of special calling. He simply did the job in front of him as well as he could, as an offering of love to God. He washed dishes not because he had special training or because he was "wired" for it. He served the Lord through his hard work, and he used it to draw nearer to the Lord in conversation. Does that humble you as much as it does me? Calling is important, but I'm starting to believe our sanctification doesn't rely on it.” As I reflect upon Tom’s words, I recalled a verse  I sometimes add below my name on letters I send: Colossians 3:23-24 reminds us that “Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men, knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord- you serve the Lord Christ.: I think our good friend Brother Lawrence had this verse inscribed upon his heart, and it might be worth inscribing on our hearts as well. Yours in faith and friendship, Tom

Leadership Thought: Valuing People the Way Jesus Did.

Dear Friends,

Yesterday I was on the phone with a friend who was going through a difficult time. She shared with me how the relationship with her sister-in-law had been fractured during a political argument simply because she didn’t support the person her sister-in-law supported.

Unfortunately, this was not the first time I had heard of a relationship being destroyed over some political issue.

Sadly, there are people today, including those who are believers, who have written off friendships because of political differences.

Sadly, it is those who claim the name of Christ who are often most vulnerable to allowing politics to impact friendships.

Instead of valuing people and overlooking our differences in a spirit of love, we focus on our differences and allow those differences to divide us.

Unfortunately, Christians can become contentious, and that quality can tarnish their witness.

As believers, we should strive to value others, regardless of their point of view, and yet many times we do just the opposite; we devalue them. Instead of bringing people together, we divide them by our actions.

“See how they love one another,” was a frequent refrain of unbelievers as they watched the early church believers love one another. It was the love they saw practiced inside the walls of the church that attracted them and resulted in their wanting to know more about the love they saw lived out among believers.

Today I wonder what the world thinks of us in the church as they watch how we relate to one another.

God did not send His Son to teach us how to point fingers at others; He taught us to love one another.

He taught us that we should be salt and light, qualities that attract others.

The fruit of the Spirit is characterized by love, and it is that love that makes us different from the rest of the world.

In Galatians 5:22- 23  Paul writes, “But the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine love in all its varied expressions: joy that overflows, peace that subdues, patience that endures, kindness in action, a life full of virtue, faith that prevails, gentleness of heart, and strength of spirit. Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless.”(TPT)

As believers we have the choice of being fruitful or fruitless, of loving and valuing others, or rejecting and devaluing others. We can curse the darkness, or we can turn on our lights and let them shine for the world to see.

If we don’t value people and try to see the best in them, how will we ever relate to them and win them to Jesus?

As Christ followers we should be salt and light. We should be different from those in the world, and it is that distinctive difference that sets us apart and causes others to want to know the secret to that difference.

If you and I don’t value  those who act and think differently than us, how will we ever help them, and if we never help them, how will they ever see  and come to know the love of Christ that can change them?

It was the religious people who wrote off people like Zacchaeus,  the Samaritan woman at the well, or the thief on the cross, but these were the very people, sinners just like you and me, who Jesus came to save.

If you and I want to be Christ like, the answer is simple; value people, all people, and especially those who act and think differently than us.

Religious people wanted to write sinners off. Jesus wanted to write them in and make them main characters in His story  to remind us that no one is beyond saving.

The law of God is of little value, if we don’t have the love of God. The law will make us legalistic policeman, but the love of God will make us loving brothers and sisters who know that no one is beyond Christ’s love and His redemption.

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom

Leadership Thought: Have You Ever Entertained an Angel?

Dear Friend,

Chuck Swindoll is one of my favorite writers, and I thought this message from Come Before Winter  was worth sharing.

“Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! (Hebrews 13:1–2)

Who really cared? His was a routine admission to busy Bellevue Hospital. A charity case, one among hundreds. A bum from the Bowery with a slashed throat. The Bowery . . . last stop before the morgue. Synonym of filth, loneliness, cheap booze, drugs, and disease.

The details of what had happened in the predawn of that chilly winter's morning were fuzzy. The nurse probably shrugged it off. She had seen thousands, and she was sure to see thousands more. Would it have made any difference if she and those who treated him had known who he was? Probably so.

His recent past was the antithesis of his earlier years. The Bowery became the dead-end street of an incredible life. On that icy January morning before the sun had crept over New York's skyline, in a 25-cent-a-night flophouse, a shell of a man who looked twice his age staggered to the wash basin and fell. The basin toppled and shattered.

He was found lying in a heap, naked and bleeding from a deep gash in his throat. His forehead was badly bruised, and he was semiconscious. A doctor was called, no one special—remember, this was the Bowery. He used black sewing thread that somebody had found to suture the wound. That would do. All the while the bum begged for a drink. A buddy shared the bottom of a rum bottle to calm his nerves.

He was dumped in a paddy wagon and dropped off at Bellevue Hospital, where he would languish, unable to eat for three days . . . and die. Still unknown.

A friend seeking him was directed to the local morgue. There, among dozens of other colorless, nameless corpses with tags on their toes, he was identified. When they scraped together his belongings, they found a ragged, dirty coat with 38 cents in one pocket and a scrap of paper in the other. All his earthly goods. Enough coins for another night in the Bowery and five words, "Dear friends and gentle hearts." Almost like the words of a song, someone thought. But who cared?

Why in the world would a forgotten drunk carry around a line of lyrics? Maybe he still believed he had it in him. Maybe that derelict with the body of a bum still had the heart of a genius. For once upon a time, long before his tragic death at age 38, he had written songs that literally made the whole world sing, such as:

"Camptown Races"
"Oh! Susanna!"
"Beautiful Dreamer"
"Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair"
"Old Folks at Home"
"My Old Kentucky Home"

And 200 more that have become deeply rooted in our rich American heritage. Thanks to Stephen Foster, whom nobody knew. And for whom nobody cared.

Deep within many a forgotten life is a scrap of hope, a lonely melody trying hard to return. Some are in prison. Some in hospitals. Some in nursing homes. And some silently slip into church on Sunday morning, terribly confused and afraid. Until someone steps in. And stoops down. And, in love, rebuilds a life, restores a soul, rekindles a flame that sin snuffed out, and renews a song that once was there.

Do you care? Enough "to show hospitality to strangers," as Hebrews 13:2 puts it? It also says that in doing so, we occasionally "entertain angels without knowing it."

Angels that don't look anything like angels. Some might look like bums from the Bowery, but they may have a song dying in their hearts because nobody knows and nobody cares.” Taken from the internet and shared in Come Before Winter, Chuck Swindoll, 1985

When you and I next encounter someone who is lost, hungry or hurting—may we be  reminded of this story and look to help for we might discover we are entertaining one of God’s special angels.

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom