String That Instrument and Sing That Song

Dear Family,

It is so good to be back after spending a wonderful time of vacation with Jean and our family at our cottage on Lake Ontario in upstate New York. In 77 years it hasn't changed much and maybe that is why we all enjoy it so much. It's a quiet, restful haven where I have spent parts of every summer of my life. However, it is good to be home again, for home is where the heart is, and my heart rests and resides within the New Monmouth family of faith. Having said this I am happy to be home and, I am eagerly looking forward to all the exciting events and activities that are being planned for the fall.

A number of years ago I preached a sermon on stewardship in which I told the following story related by Dr. Louie Evans, a well-known pastor in the Presbyterian Church. Dr. Evans was visiting a mission station in Korea where a medical missionary friend of his had invited him to witness an operation involving major surgery in a make shift tent in an out of the way area. The heat, as Dr. Evans describes it, was stifling. The smells emanating from that tent were oppressive. Hour after grueling hour, the steady, calm determined surgeon worked on an old peasant woman. After seven hours the doctor stood up and drew back his mask and sighed, " Well the job is done now", and together they returned to his modest missionary office where Dr. Evans asked, "I am curious Dr., how much do you get paid out here in Korea for an operation like that"? The surgeon answered, "Well, to begin with I get this." He picked up a dented copper coin.  "This poor old woman came in here some time ago with this old coin and said,"Dr., do you suppose this would pay for the operation"? I answered, " It so happened it is just enough. So to begin with I get this piece of change". Sitting down and watching tears well up in the eyes of the doctor, Rev. Evans asked, "Is that all you receive"? "No," the doctor said, "I get far more than this. I have the wonderful feeling of knowing that for seven hours Christ is living in these ten fingers. I have the priceless awareness that these hands become the hands of Jesus Christ healing one of his children."

This story reminds me of an old poem I once read.

"Spring is past and summer is gone.

Winter is here.

And my song that I was meant to sing is still unsung.

I have spent my days stringing and unstringing my instrument."

How sad it is to live life with such purposelessness, and yet there are many for whom life is like that. Their life is nothing more than a constant treadmill of action with little or no meaning or purpose. Their days are spent "stringing and unstringing their instruments." Why, because they have never "sang the song" that God intended them to sing. They have never learned the joy that comes from serving others. That is where our joy and satisfaction comes, and it comes when we are doing what this medical missionary was dong, serving others, giving ourselves away in the service of Christ, yielding our hands and heart to Him allowing them to become His hands and His heart. That is when we truly find the abundant life of which our Savior speaks.

The next time we begin to feel sad or sorry for ourselves, may we be reminded of this dedicated minister of healing and the wonderful satisfaction he derived from simply being used to bring healing to one of God's children. That is the privilege that every believer possesses, so let us get on with our work, and in so doing discover the wonderful satisfaction that comes from serving God's children.

And those who do "sing their song" will quickly discover that "It is truly more blessed to give than to receive."

See you this Sunday.

Pastor Tom

New Monmouth Musings: Did You Ever Practice Genshai?

Dear Friends,

I have been reading a wonderful book by Kevin Hall called Aspire. In it, Hall refers to a conversation he had with an Indian from Calcutta who taught him a Hindi word that changed his whole perspective on the word charity. The ancient Hindi word was Genshai,(pronounced GEN-shai) and it has an even deeper meaning than our English word charity. It means "that you never treat another person in a manner that would make them feel small." 

I quote the words of the Indian speaker who said "As children, we were taught to never look at, touch, or address another person in a way that would make them feel small. If I were to walk by a beggar in the street and casually toss him a coin, I would not be practicing Genshai. But if I knelt down on my knees and looked him in the eye when I placed that coin in his hand, that coin became love. Then and only then, after I had exhibited pure, unconditional brotherly love, would I become a true practitioner of Genshai.

As I thought about the word I realized that there have been times when I have practiced charity, but few if any times, have I practiced Genshai. It is easy to feel sorry for someone and in your effort to help provide for their need in some capacity, but seldom have I thought about the importance of meeting that need without making the recipient feel small. To do so takes a rare quality of empathy and compassion. I also confess that I am not sure I have ever knelt down, either physically or in a spiritual sense, to address that need with a conscious effort of not making the recipient feel small or of lesser value or importance.

I think that must have been one of the strengths of Gandhi who was able to identify and connect with the poorest of the poor. It was certainly the mark of our Savior who had the ability to identify and feel the intense pain of others. The Bible frequently refers to Jesus as being "moved with compassion”. The word 'moved', in its original language, conveys the idea of convulsing or retching in pain at the sight of someone's circumstances. See Matthew 9:36; 14:14; 15:32; and 22:34.

When I think of this kind of love, I think of the story of a little boy tugging on a farmer's overalls as the farmer was driving the last nail into the post, on which he was advertising some puppies he was selling.

"Mister," the little boy said to the farmer, "I want to buy one of your puppies."

"Well", said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat off the back of his neck, "these puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money."

The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer.

"I've got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look"?

"Sure", said the farmer. And with that he let out a whistle. "Here, Dolly," he called. Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly, followed by four little balls of fur. The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight.

As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse. Slowly another little ball of fur appeared. This one was noticeably smaller. Down the ramp it slid. Then in a somewhat awkward manner the little pup began hobbling towards the others, doing his best to catch up. It was clearly the runt of the litter.

"I want that one," the little boy said, pointing to the runt.

The farmer knelt down at the boy's side and said, "Son, you don't want that puppy. He will never will be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would"!

With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his trousers. In doing so, he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching to a specially made shoe. Looking back up at the farmer, he said, "You see, sir, I don't run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands. How to Handle Adversity, Charles Swindoll, p. 146

The little boy perfectly revealed the spirit of Genshai, and hopefully you and I will do likewise. 

Yours in faith,

Pastor Tom

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

 “A Sad Conversation I Had with a Member of the Church”

Dear Friends,

One of the great disappointments most every pastor faces is seeing good people leave the church. Now while I know the church is not perfect and it can’t always be everything to everyone, a sense of personal failure often creeps in as you wonder what I or the church could have done better to prevent the person from departing.

There will always be times when, for whatever reason, people just fail to fit in a church. Sometimes it may be the fault of the pastor and or the congregation and sometimes it may be the fault of the persons leaving, and frequently it may be a combination of both.

Having said this, I confess I am one who desires to see every single person walking through the doors of the church find a home where he/she fits in, is excited, and can thrive in the midst of a loving and embracing fellowship of people who are seeking to grow in their friendship with Jesus and with each other. Call it community, or fellowship or “koinonia” as the New Testament Greek word expresses it. Whatever name you give it, the word is the super glue that binds people together in one family.

And the main ingredient in that super glue is love, love for Jesus, and love for one another. And that love was not passive; it was an active, seeking, searching, and unselfish kind of love that created a kind of community that amazed those on the outside.

Dr. Luke describes it this way in Acts 2:42, 44, 46-47. “They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Every day they continued to meet together . . . they broke bread in their homes and ate together . . . and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

A few years ago, I talked with someone who had chosen to isolate herself from church involvement. She expressed that she was unhappy with life and that recently her life had been filled with a number of disappointments. She also acknowledged that she no longer had much personal involvement with anyone in the church. On several occasions I had sought to involve her in a ministry where she would be connected with other people, and on both occasions, she declined saying she was just not ready and just not interested. I felt sad for this person, but unless and until she becomes willing to engage with people, the chances are good that she will continue to grow more and more dissatisfied with her life.

We need each other. We need to be involved with others. We need to work together, serve together, worship together, and spend time together. We are exhorted in Scriptures to bear each other’s burdens, love one another, serve one another, pray for one another, encourage one another, and we can’t do this effectively if we are living in isolation from one another.

We as leaders are always looking for ways to connect those in the body. We desire to do everything we can to foster community, whether through small groups, work days, fellowship breakfasts, Sunday school classes, or fellowship time following services, for we know that when people get together, church ministry not only takes place but relationships are formed and friendships are born, and in the process hurts are often healed and new life is fashioned.

If you are one of those who has chosen to function exclusively as a consumer of what the church offers, I challenge you to risk jumping in and getting involved in some group, or class, or project. If you are comfortable coming to church each Sunday, enjoying worship, only to scoot home as quickly as you came, I suggest that you may not only be cheating the church of the gifts you have to offer, but you, may be cheating yourself of the joy that comes from serving alongside of one another.

As I close, let me provide an option for serving for those of you who might be willing to venture into ministry.  Our fellowship hour following services continues to grow, and we need to help support those few who have been responsible for serving us. How about volunteering to be one of those who help in the set up and clean up for our Sunday morning Fellowship time? If you want more specifics as to how you can become involved, drop me an e-mail, and I will happily provide you more information. I think I can promise that you will be glad you did.

Yours in faith and friendship.

Pastor Tom

tom@nmbchurch.org

P.S. “Be united with other Christians. A wall with loose bricks must be cemented together. “Corrie Ten Boom.

Change, The Difficulty of Waiting For Change

“I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.” Psalm 40:1-3

Dear Family,

“The hardest part of faith is often simply to wait. And the trouble is, if we don’t, then we start to fix the problem ourselves-and that makes it worse. We complicate the situation to the point where it takes God much longer to fix it than if we had quietly waited for His working in the first place,” so writes Jim Cymbala, in his book Fresh Faith, p 111

Anyone who has worked with alcoholics knows that all of your efforts are for naught, if the alcoholic is not ready to change. This is true in relationships as well. One cannot change the other person by any exercise of the will if the person is not willing to change. Change generally cannot be forced if it is to be permanent in nature. A person may be pressured to change for a season, but more often than not, that person will revert back to the same familiar pattern of behavior if the motivation for change does not come from within.  As someone once said, “Consider how hard it is to change yourself, and you’ll understand what little chance you have of trying to change others”.

So what is the solution to that marriage partner that who so desperately wants to see change in the life of her spouse? What about those parents with an alcoholic child who want to rescue him or try and change him? The answer is wait and pray.

Waiting is hard. Most of us prefer to fix things ourselves, but if you are like me, anything I fix doesn’t stay fixed very long. Just ask my wife, Jean. The solution is to do as David did: wait. Things were not going very well for him. We are not sure what the circumstances were, but he is in the pits. But it was while he was stuck in the mire that he learned a very valuable lesson in ‘patient waiting’ for he testifies, “I waited patiently for the Lord,” (Psalm 40:1).

Instead of taking matters into his own hands and despairing of anyone, including God to help him, David learned the lesson of patient waiting. He was willing to let God work out His plan in His time according to His purpose. So instead of trying to arrange his own solution, which so many of us are tempted to do, David just waited and trusted the Lord to provide. And you know what? God did just that.

Chuck Swindoll talks about waiting as “compassion in slow motion,” when he describes how hard it is to avoid trying to rescue someone from sinful, destructive behavior. He writes “There are times (not always, but often) when the better part of wisdom retrains us from barging in and trying to make someone accept our help. The time isn’t right, so we wait . . . The Lord would love to piece together the shattered fragments of (that) life. But he is waiting . . . graciously waiting until the time is right. Until (one) is tired of the life (he is) living, until (they see) it for what it really is…until (they recognize their need for Him”). The Finishing Touch, p. 214.

In Psalm 40, David received a number of benefits from his waiting, and so can you and I. God lifted him out of his despair, set his feet on firm ground, steadied his walk and gave him a new purpose. That was good news for David, and that will be good news for you, my brother or sister, as you struggle in that war of waiting. He will “put a new song in (your) mouth, a hymn of praise to (your) God.” Psalm 40:3

On a lighter note on the subject of change, it was Mark Twain who reportedly said the only one who likes change is a wet baby,” and he was probably right.

Yours in faith,

Pastor Tom