October is named annually “PASTOR APPRECIATION MONTH,” but some may wonder why pastors deserve an official time to be appreciated.
What’s so special about the ministry?
Frequently, I look back to my youth and give thanks for pastors who made positive changes in my life. Perhaps the primary reason for appreciating pastors is because of their important role of being life changers.
Some don’t appreciate these servants of God and seize any opportunity to depreciate them and their work.
In our house, we have an ongoing debate. The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage claims I am the king of procrastination.
At first, I did not quite understand what she was talking about and asked if I could get back to her on that question.
She has the idea that I put things off until the last minute, then, according to her, I am in a panic to get it done.
I am not saying she is right; she just might have a good point there.
"Are you Jasper McClellan's son?" "Si, Senor," I would reply. "Please honor us by having supper with us tonight!"
So it went in town after Mexican town. It seemed that my father was known in nearly every village, town and city in Mexico as he purchased more than 300 properties and supervised the construction of 30 churches and as many schools.
You know when you have had enough of something and you do not want to see any of it anymore. Well, that is what I think about summer. I’ve had enough of summer and I want to move on with my life.
It’s not that I dislike summer. I love summer.
When Louis “Louie” Zamperini carried the Olympic torch near the end of its Japanese journey in 1998, he was only a short distance from the place where he had suffered indescribable torture as a prisoner during World War Two. The winter Olympics stretched the participants to their limits during the days that followed his run but none of them were put to tests of endurance that even came close to what he had experienced nearly fifty years earlier.
When Louie’s story was told during the clos ...
Nearly thirty-five years ago, I prepared a manuscript for a book titled “Lord, I’m Afraid,” and sent it to a publisher of some of my other books. In the introduction, I wrote the following:
“Fear is a monster that stalks us all. It brings depression, stifles ability, drains energy, diminishes courage and robs life of adventure and success.
“Some fears are real and others are imaginary.
When it comes to flowers, a flower is simply a flower. I do not know the difference between a rose and a lily. If it looks pretty, I like it. I like to keep things simple.
When I have to buy flowers for the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage, I have a wee bit of difficulty.
I have never been in serious trouble except with the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. I must have gotten in trouble with my parents when I was young, but I am too old now to remember that. The great thing about getting old is having a selective memory.
Now, the only trouble I get into is with her.
He had failed at his job.
Tomorrow his family would be forced to share his shame.
Legal action would probably be taken against him. Prison time might be ahead. In his time and society, the penalty for lack of diligence in his important responsibility would be hard to predict; possibly even bringing death.
Suicide was on his mind.
Why go on?
A counselor friend of mine says those three words are most often on the lips of people considering suicide.
In his article, “Keeping Calm,” World Magazine editor, Marvin Olasky asks a question that may be on your mind: “Is the current financial storm a cold rain that will soon pass by or a 100-year flood that will inundate a decade?” Then he states this unchanging truth about the projected end of any crisis: “God knows but we do not.” In view of this settled fact, he correctly concludes that all of us have good reasons to refrain from panic during any financial crises.
