CHIKN FUR AIRS

Two weeks ago, with the help of the Melanson family, I wrote up a bulletin about Jesus and what he is to all men. You probably remember it if you read it, I said things like “He’s a ROCK to the GEOLOGIST. Now, I observed a couple lessons from that bulletin that I want to share with you.

First off, you need to know I wrote that bulletin a little after 10:00pm Saturday night. I was tired but wound up; you know the feeling. I also type without looking at the keyboard, and that night I typed without looking at the screen, too, since I was typing down things from the paper we had written on. This is not my usual way of doing a bulletin, and so like traveling an unfamiliar road I should have been extra careful but I wasn’t. Bottom line, words like LIBRIAN are ignored by my SPAL CHKR. I reckon because they are in AWLCAPS and it assumes they are titles or something. (Yes, those words in that last sentence are OK with my spell checker!) I glanced over the bulletin once I had typed it, looking for red underlined text, and didn’t see anything wrong. I was relying on something imperfect, something man-made, to help me do something right.

Ok comparison number one! Don’t people occasionally do the same thing? While I do encourage my son Dave to read the bible for himself, so HE knows what the truth is, I have heard many a kid say “your beliefs can’t be right because my [parent grandparent uncle aunt big brother] tells me so”. You try to point out that if this other person is wrong, then they are both lost, but the kid is usually determined that whoever it is that they are relying on for truth is smarter than you, and that’s the end of the story. When we drive down the road, do we follow the speed limit that OTHER cars are driving, or do we read the signs for ourselves? What will we tell God when we stand before the judge? That everyone else was doing it, so it was OK for me to ignore your laws? That “when my Dad taught me how to drive, he said it was acceptable to ‘drive with the traffic’ and ignore the limits?” Not hardly! The opposite is true, too. I could look at my spell checker underlining the word telefone and say “there’s no ph in fone! The spell checker must be wrong!” which is just like people who read “baptism doth also now save us” and ignore it because they don’t want to accept it. There have been documented instances of spell checkers that spell things wrong, they are not perfect. There have NOT been documented cases of the bible being wrong, however! The word of God IS perfect!

The second lesson I observed from the bulletin a couple weeks past was that 9 people read it and were happy to tell me I had misspelled words. However, none of them said anything about the bulletin itself, whether it was good or if they liked it or anything like that. One person, however, had only good things to say, and told me they enjoyed reading it. Now, if you look carefully I make a mistake almost every week. I am not perfect, by any means! And I am not saying we should ignore things that are unscriptural for the sake of edifying. My thought is this: tonight, Nathan will be preaching for us for the first time. I don’t know if he’s too soft spoken, if he’s too loud, if he’s going to say um um um a thousand times. I don’t know if he’s going to repeat himself, I don’t know if he is going to talk in a monotone, or in a condescending way, or if he is going to sound arrogant. Got that? I also don’t know if he is going to come across thoughtful, intelligent, gentile, interesting, dramatic, or exciting. I know that he has prepared a lesson, and that he is going to do his best. Yes, I am confident he will make a mistake or two, but I won’t dwell on the mistakes and miss the message! I will help him improve and edify him at the same time. Brethren, Jesus didn’t just “Ah ha!” his disciples when they made a mistake. Think about it!

Matthew 21:15-16 And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David; they were sore displeased, And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?

Acts 18:24-26 And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.

Psalm 19:7-14 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward. Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

John 8:7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

Colossians 4:6 Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.