Category Archives: Encouragement

Theodore Levitt wrote Market Myopia where he argued that people become product oriented instead of customer oriented. There is an anecdote that is commonly used to explain this principle. There was a company that sold a million drill bits and not one of the customers wanted a drill bit. The customers wanted holes.

So what does this have to do with us and our spiritual life? We are not selling a product, but we are supposed to sow the seeds of the gospel. Personal evangelism is something that has changed and will continue to change the world. In this we are trying to teach people the gospel. The first thing that is required for us to successfully teach is a willing student. So why would someone be willing to listen to the gospel?

If you are selling rules and regulations, there are people who are interested. They may like the idea of having boundaries in their lives. They may like being different and living to some standard outside of themselves.

If you are selling multiple weekly meetings of the club, there are people who are interested. They will get the chance to see “good people” and sing and enjoy the sense of belonging.

If you are selling academic studies of an interesting book, again some people will be excited with the opportunity to participate. They can get different reference materials and study and teach classes and impress people with their knowledge.

Or we can offer to help them learn the true meaning of life, find a higher purpose, and most importantly salvation through Jesus Christ. This salvation will include conforming their life to a higher standard, meeting with the saints to encourage and edify, and studying the word of God to find out how to be pleasing to Him. These are the things that can and will be enjoyed by the saved, but they are not the end of the matter. They are the “drill bits” that bring us closer to God and salvation through Jesus Christ His Son.

A friend of ours has given us a number of audio files with lessons that have been preached by Paul Earnhart. As I walk in the morning, I love to listen to those lessons—his words not only get my brain thinking but help open my heart first thing in the morning; for those of you who know me well, you know that is no easy task for me at that time of day! This morning, I was listening to a lesson about what it means to believe in Jesus. Brother Earnhardt makes a distinction within the lesson between subjective faith (one that is based on my own experience and feeling) and objective faith (one that looks beyond my own experience and to God’s instruction). As an illustration of this, he discusses the attitude of Peter and the others when they have fished all night with no success, and Jesus comes and tells them to go out again and cast their nets. Subjective faith would say: “What does he know? After all, I am a fisherman, and I know these waters—there’s nothing there to catch this day! I mean, He’s a carpenter! What does he know about fishing?” Objective faith would say, “I may be a fisherman, but He is the Lord. I will go.” That kind of heart of faith is so inspiring to see in the pages of Scripture, but why is it so difficult to cultivate day to day?

The one example of such faith that Brother Earnhart mentions has always struck me as well—the example of Abraham’s utter willingness to sacrifice Isaac—the son whom he loved, the son God has promised him. Would I, as Abraham did, be able to say, “Yes, Lord, I will do as you say”? My heart breaks for Abraham each time I read that account. Brother Earnhart points out that if you had encountered Abraham that day and questioned how in the world sacrificing the son that God had given him would ever lead to the completion of the other promises God had made, Abraham would have most likely said, “I don’t know. But God does.” Isn’t that the very basic heart of faith? I certainly don’t know, but God does. No wonder it is asserted that Abraham believed the LORD, and his faith was accounted to him as righteousness (Romans 4:3).

God has so graciously and clearly taught me His path in His Word, and in so many ways what He wants of me is so clear, but I struggle with daily application. I am struck by how often in my life I have “kicked against the goads” of the circumstances that have been put before me in life, knowing in my head the truth that God works all things to His glory. Knowing in my head that any challenge, any suffering will bring me closer to Him if I will allow His molding to take place, yet I battle. I want to know why I am the one who has to deal with these things, why life can’t work out the way I want it to, why there isn’t a less painful way of handling a situation, and on and on. But a heart of faith simply says, “Yes, Lord. You see the path I do not, so will follow your lead.” A heart of faith simply does what God asks, and leaves the rest to Him, knowing He is able to handle the rest. I am reminded of the plea the father makes to Jesus in Mark 9:24, “Lord, I believe, please help my unbelief!” I DO believe He can handle it all, but oh, how I long for the answers and the vision to see how it will all work out in the end. But that isn’t my portion. It is God’s to know, and mine to follow. His path is always right, even if doesn’t make perfect sense to me. My dear friend Dixie Goolsby once told me that before she goes to bed at night, she likes to read Psalm 23—that this is not a psalm of death, but a psalm of life, and how right she is. It teaches me the gentle heart of a trusting faith:

The Lord is my Shepherd,
I shall not want;
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me by still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil.
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff,
They comfort me.
You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies,
You anoint my head with oil,
My cup overflows
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD, forever.

May we all grow to rest and trust in the love of the Good Shepherd in full, obedient, faith.

– Tracie

This was submitted by Greg, hope you like it.

The following is an excerpt from a prayer believed to have been written by Sir Francis Drake:

“Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.”

~ Sir Francis Drake

I really like this quote and it reminds of a story from my childhood. During my teenage years, my family used to go to the lake for skiing and swimming. This was truly a family affair encompassing three generations, and oftentimes, there would be close to 30 of us there. It was my Grandpa’s job to drive the boat. He was a fairly strict man and liked going about his business with little fanfare. When it was time to ski, he would take one passenger in the boat, as a lookout, while he pulled the rest of us…usually one at a time. Which is another story for another time. Anyway, the lake we usually went to was a small lake, about 600 acres. As young men, most of us could ski a full lap before exhaustion made it impossible to hang on to the rope.

I remember one particular afternoon when one of my cousins had just completed a full lap and was bragging that he had made it all the way around without falling. At which time Grandpa turned to him and said, “if you don’t fall down, it means you aren’t trying anything new.” Now keep in mind that my Grandpa is a man of relatively few words and is not one to readily criticize another. What he was telling my cousin was that it’s not very challenging to stay in the wake behind the boat and definitely not worthy of bragging about. He was also wanted him to challenge himself by getting outside his comfort zone, the wake, and start working on his cutting and jumping skills.

When I reflect on his comments some 25 years later, I realize that his comments can be applied to all aspects of our lives, including our pursuit to strengthen our relationship with God. The quote by Sir Francis Drake says the same thing that Grandpa was telling my cousin that day. You will never truly be great at something if you don’t fall down a couple of times along the way, and I believe that it applies to our journey to become good Christians as well. You can’t get there by just doing the minimum amount required, like say…going to church on Sunday. You have to face your own weaknesses and work on them. You may have to get out of your comfort zone and help others. Whatever it is, you’re certain to fall down a couple of times…Greatness doesn’t happen without practice.