Tag: value

The Quiet Sin That Still Shouts on Black Friday

Brent Pollard

For years, Black Friday earned its reputation not from ledgers but from battlegrounds—retail floors where human dignity took a backseat to door-buster deals. News cameras captured the spectacle: grown men and women trampling one another, wrestling over discounted electronics, shouting with voices hoarse from camping overnight in cold parking lots. The scenes were shocking precisely because they revealed something uncomfortable about ourselves.

Those chaotic stampedes have largely faded, replaced by the quieter click of online carts and the convenience of sales that stretch across entire weeks. Yet we would be naive to assume the spirit behind those frenzies has disappeared. Covetousness has not been conquered; it has merely changed costumes. It still prowls, perhaps more dangerously now because it moves in the shadows of normalcy.

Understanding Covetousness in a Consumer Culture

The Scriptures speak with clarity and force about covetousness. God inscribed it among the Ten Commandments—”You shall not covet” (Exodus 20.17)—placing it alongside murder and adultery as a fundamental breach of divine order. The apostle Paul equates it with idolatry (Colossians 3.5), and Jesus Himself warned that a person’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions (Luke 12.15). These are not casual observations. They are urgent warnings about a sin that destroys souls.

Yet covetousness may well be the most overlooked sin among professing Christians today. We have learned to identify sins that announce themselves—drunkenness carries an odor, anger has volume, and sexual immorality brings scandal. But covetousness? It wears the mask of prudence. It masquerades as ambition, self-care, or simply “keeping up.” In a world built on consumption, covetousness looks like Tuesday afternoon.

This is precisely what makes it lethal. When sin begins to look like normal living, we cease to call it sin at all. If the enemy of our souls seeks to neutralize the church without triggering alarms, covetousness serves as his preferred weapon—quiet, respectable, and devastatingly effective.

The Warning of Jesus: “Take Heed and Beware”

In Luke 12.15, our Lord issues a double warning with deliberate urgency: “Take heed, and beware of covetousness.” Two imperatives, one breath. Why such emphasis? Because Jesus understood what we often forget—that the human heart is perpetually vulnerable to the lie that more will satisfy.

Notice that Christ does not merely say “avoid” covetousness. He says take heed, which means to pay careful, sustained attention, and beware, which calls for active vigilance. This is not passive resistance but intentional, disciplined watchfulness. The implication is sobering: covetousness will not announce itself. It will arrive disguised as legitimate need, reasonable desire, or innocent comparison.

Let us be clear: Black Friday itself is not inherently sinful. Wisdom in stewardship often means seeking good value, and thoughtful purchasing can serve both family and generosity. The issue is not the calendar date or the transaction but the condition of the heart engaging in it. When we participate in the marketplace, do we do so with contentment and purpose, or with the restless craving that can never be filled?

The frenzy that once defined Black Friday—and the subtler compulsions that still drive much of our economic behavior—expose three spiritual dangers we dare not ignore.

Three Spiritual Dangers of Covetousness

Covetousness Normalizes Discontent

God calls His children to contentment (1 Timothy 6.6-8; Hebrews 13.5). Yet covetousness whispers constantly that what we have is insufficient. It trains us to focus not on what we possess but on what we lack. This is not mere pragmatic planning for the future; it is a spiritual disease that robs us of peace and gratitude in the present.

As has been observed, the man who has God and everything else has no more than the man who has God alone. Covetousness blinds us to this truth. It convinces us that one more purchase, one more upgrade, one more experience will finally deliver the satisfaction we seek. But the nature of covetousness is that it never delivers. It only promises.

Consider how advertising works: it manufactures dissatisfaction. Before the ad, you were content. After the ad, you feel incomplete without the product. This is spiritual warfare dressed in marketing language, and it works because our hearts are already fertile ground for discontent.

Covetousness Trains Us to Measure Worth by Possessions

Jesus teaches that life does not consist in the abundance of things (Luke 12.15). Yet covetousness reverses this wisdom, teaching us to evaluate ourselves and others based on what can be seen, touched, and posted online.

Someone seeking material possessions only creates for themselves a gilded prison. When our identity becomes intertwined with our acquisitions, we trap ourselves in an exhausting cycle of comparison and competition. We measure our worth not by God’s declaration of value through Christ but by fluctuating market standards.

This is practical idolatry. The accumulation of things becomes not merely a means to life but the meaning of life itself. And when this happens, we have exchanged the Creator for created things—precisely what Paul condemns in Romans 1.25.

Covetousness Weakens Our Gratitude

Perhaps nothing reveals the corrosive effect of covetousness more clearly than its assault on thanksgiving. The covetous heart cannot truly give thanks because it is perpetually focused on what it does not yet have. Gratitude looks backward and upward, recognizing God’s provision. Covetousness looks forward and laterally, cataloging deficiencies and envying neighbors.

This is why the day after Thanksgiving can be so spiritually jarring. One day we gather to express thanks for God’s blessings; the next, we rush to acquire more as if what we have is inadequate. The irony should not escape us. Covetousness turns thanksgiving into hypocrisy.

Fighting Covetousness With Eternal Treasure

How then do we fight? Not by suppressing desire—God created us with the capacity to want, to long, to pursue. The battle against covetousness is not won by desiring less but by desiring better things.

Jesus provides the antidote in Matthew 6.19-21: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

This is not poetry; it is economics. Jesus is telling us to invest wisely. Earth’s treasures decay, disappoint, and ultimately disintegrate. Heaven’s treasures endure. The question is not whether we will treasure something—we cannot avoid doing so—but what we will treasure and where.

God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. Covetousness is defeated not when we grit our teeth and endure deprivation but when we discover a satisfaction so profound that lesser things lose their grip. When Christ becomes our treasure, sales and upgrades and status symbols fade into their proper insignificance.

If we covet trivialities, it is because we have not yet tasted the goodness of God. We chase shadows because we have not yet stood in the light.

Practical Steps to Guard Against Covetousness

All truth must become actionable or it remains mere information. What then shall we do?

First, practice intentional gratitude. Before making any significant purchase, pause to list what God has already provided. This simple discipline reorients the heart from scarcity to abundance.

Second, examine your motives. Ask: Am I buying this because I need it, or because I want what someone else has? Am I seeking to fill a legitimate need, or am I trying to fill a spiritual void with material things?

Third, give generously. Nothing breaks the power of covetousness faster than open-handed generosity. When we give, we declare that God—not possessions—is our source and security.

Fourth, fast from consumption. Consider seasons of deliberate simplicity. Skip sales. Avoid browsing. Create space to discover that you already have enough.

Fifth, redirect your desires. Cultivate hunger for spiritual realities—Scripture, prayer, fellowship, service. Feed your soul the bread of life so that the world’s junk food loses its appeal.

The Greatest Bargain Ever Offered

Black Friday will come and go with its sales, advertisements, and temptations. The receipts will fade, the products will break, and the cycle will repeat. But the danger of covetousness remains, not just on one day but every day we draw breath in this consumer culture.

Yet hear the good news: The greatest bargain ever offered is still available, and it requires no credit card. A life emptied of covetousness and filled with Christ is a life money cannot buy. This treasure is free to all who will receive it, paid for not by our purchasing power but by the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

God offers us satisfaction that lasts, joy that endures, and treasure that neither moth nor rust can destroy. The transaction is complete. The price is paid. The only question is whether we will stop chasing shadows long enough to embrace the substance.

May we be a people who treasure Christ above all things, who find in Him a satisfaction so complete that the world’s bargains become irrelevant. For in Him we have already received everything—and what we have cannot be improved by any sale, upgraded by any purchase, or diminished by any economy.

Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Choose wisely.

Human Value

How does one argue human value without the existence of God?

Gary Pollard

“What makes human life valuable?” 

A purely naturalistic answer is not adequate. Life begets life, which is true. Self-preservation is built into our programming, that’s true. Life is valuable because of its potential to contribute to future generations (the reproductive success aspect of biological imperatives), which is also true. Humans rely on each other for survival, that’s true. We have a unique capacity for empathy, true. We have consciousness and recognize the value of others, true (kinda). And there are cultural narratives that emphasize the value of human life (depends on the cultural narrative). 

But what stops a society from devolving into the practice of eugenics? If some have superior genetics in the mental and physical health department, why not be more selective about who gets to reproduce? Why would we allow the survival of those who don’t or can’t contribute to future generations? Why would we allow/desire the survival of those who don’t or can’t meaningfully contribute to society? What about empathy’s subjective nature? We don’t usually show empathy (as much anyways) to those whose experiences or values are very different from our own, not without a transcendent directive that calls us to aim higher than self. We have consciousness and recognize the value of others…until we decide that they aren’t valuable any longer (see all militant religious conflicts over the last fifteen centuries). And those cultural narratives that value human life are primarily religious in their nature, with none emphasizing absolute selfless love more than Christianity. By Christianity, of course, I mean actual Christians. Not godless pagans who use iconography and distorted narratives to manipulate others for personal elevation. They are not — and cannot by definition be — Christians. 

So what does make human life valuable? We have to posit their value from a transcendent point of view. 

  1. We are the only life on the planet that looks like God (Gen 1.27). While there’s been much debate over what “in his image and likeness” means, it’s not exactly ambiguous in scripture. Genesis 5.1 and 5.3 make the best case for this: “When God created people, he made them like himself.” And, “After Adam was 130 years old, he had another son who looked just like himself. Adam named his son Seth.” Same exact wording. Genesis 9.6 says, “God made humans to be like himself. So whoever kills a person must be killed by another person.” The value of human life comes from our resemblance to the Creator. 
  2. As Jesus affirmed, the two most important laws are to love God with all of our being and to love other people like self (cf. Mt 22.36-40). If we love God, we’re going to love other people — including people who hate and hurt us (Mt 5.44). That isn’t a natural reaction to hostility! Human life has value because God gave it value. 
  3. Human life is valuable because the Creator sacrificed himself to give us life. If God “Doesn’t want anyone to be destroyed, but for everyone to change their lives,” our view of people should be the same (cf. II Pt 3.9). 
  4. From a naturalistic point of view, there’s no utility in ensuring the survival of people who can’t contribute to society. Drawing from the reasons we’ve listed James says, “Pure, genuine religion is this: providing for orphans and widows who need help and keeping yourself free from the world’s evil influence” (1.27). 

Think about what we have in Christ: the encouragement he has brought us, the comfort of his love, our sharing in his spirit, and the mercy and kindness he has shown us. If you enjoy these blessings, then do what will make my joy complete: Agree with each other, and show your love for each other. Be united in your goals and in the way you think. In whatever you do, don’t let selfishness or pride be your guide. Be humble, and honor others more than yourselves. Don’t be interested only in your own life, but care about the lives of others too (Phil 2.1-4). 

Intentional Design

Carl Pollard

Everyone on earth was intentionally designed by God. This fact should help us to remember that every person we meet is an opportunity to serve someone made in the image of God. 

God created us by making a deliberate choice to design us based on what He desired. Basically, who we are is no mistake. Who we are is intentional. Who we are is by design. 

Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him;  male and female he created them.” Both men and women are equally created in the image of God. Not just male, or just female; both are created in His image. 

Nothing else on earth can be what we are. God intentionally designed us this way, and that means we matter to God! Men and women were created to be a reflection of the community God has had from the beginning. Complementary in function and design, equal in value, and created to create. 

God could have made a fresh batch of humans each time one died.  God could have made us like self reproducing amoebas. Instead, God designed humans to multiply and fill the earth. He designed us for community. There would be a lot less division if we would remember this. 

Though he designed us perfectly, our decision to reject God’s path brought brokenness into this world–affecting bodies, gender relationships, and even the ability to have healthy families. But God loved the world. He desires for all people to know him because all are equally valuable in his sight. 

So God sent his son into the world. Jesus was the perfect image of the invisible God. As we saw Jesus’ perfect love, we learned of God’s perfect love and nature. He died to create a family, a spiritual family made up of every age, race, and culture and a family formed into a church who is like his bride (A bride he died to save so that we could be united with Him for all eternity). 

May we never forget that we are the product of intentional design. A design created by Almighty God! 

Why You Matter

Carl Pollard

God expects us to treat each other with love and humility. He holds us accountable for the ways that we interact with our neighbors. Every command from God is essential to follow, but Jesus identifies two of the greatest commands in Matthew 22:36-40. “Love God with heart, soul and mind.” And, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” All are worthy of love, but we are called to love and value others the way we love and value ourselves. 

However, a problem that many struggle with is how to love others if we don’t even love ourselves? God sees each one of us as valuable and worthy of love. He expects us to treat each other with respect, dignity, and honor. How will we fulfill the second greatest command if we don’t even love ourselves? 

Your view of yourself directly impacts how you will treat others. If you struggle with loving others it is often as a result of low self esteem or an unhealthy dislike of who you are. Hurt people hurt people, and if you can’t see the value of your soul, how can you see the value in others? 

If you had a friend that talked to you the way you talk to yourself, how long would they be your friend? This article isn’t supposed to be a self-help, life coach lesson, but at the same time we are going to dive into what makes us worthy of love. 

This article is all about why you matter, not just to God, but to the church, your physical family, and to the world. 

Every person on earth is unique, but you will never talk to someone that God doesn’t love! That’s why we are expected to treat each other with love. When you turn away from someone in need, you are turning your back on someone God values. When you speak hateful things to someone, you are saying these things to someone God loves. When you gossip, insult and belittle someone, you are doing it to a human that God sent His Son to die for. Every human soul is precious. Anyone who says otherwise contradicts our Creator. His opinion of you matters most. 

Why treat God’s pride and joy of creation this way? 

Do you see why you matter? In The Declaration Of Independence you read the phrase, “we hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal.” If all are created equal, why do we treat others as if they are any less valuable? Is it true that all are created equal? According to God the answer is a resounding YES! 

The joy of the gospel is that no matter how you may feel, or what others say, no matter how good or bad your life is, YOU MATTER TO GOD. I’m not just saying this as an opinion, it is the truth. Problem is, society today has some difficulty with this truth. Let’s imagine that there is no God. Imagine that we all came from a singular source of matter that evolved throughout time. Imagine that in order to become humans we had to be smarter and stronger than other species. 

Imagine that existence is simply a battle of survival. If you are one of the weak ones who dies, nothing exists beyond your death.

Your life was ultimately meaningless when all memory of you dies with your lifeless cells. If all of that were true, would you matter at all? Or are we just a product of chance and time? 

Theres no value found in that! According to secular science we are where we are today because we survived in a brutal fight with all other species. That doesn’t lead to valuing life at all. If there is no God, no one can say with certainty that life is of any value. 

Thankfully, there is a God. And because of HIS goodness we are able to have full assurance that our lives matter.

Our view of whether someone is valuable or not is usually superficial. Our value doesn’t come from the success we’ve had in life, it comes from something far greater than anything we could do on our own. Our value is ascribed to us by God Himself. Genesis 1:26 God says, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Before we ever did anything, our origin began with God making us in His image. The value of your life isn’t based on how much money your family has. It’s not based on what physical features you have. Your value is not based on what talents or skills you have to offer. You are valuable because in the beginning God made you in HIS image! Not just a select few. ALL of mankind is made in the image of God! That’s why we are valuable and why YOU matter!

Loving the Lost, Part Three: The Lost Coin

Thursday’s Column: Captain’s Blog

Carl Pollard

In Luke 15:18-10, Jesus says,

“Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!’ In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

I don’t want to throw my brother, Dale, under the bus, but that dude loses everything. It’s almost a daily occurrence where he will ask me if I’ve seen his keys, or wallet, or shoes, or his car. There’s something about losing a valuable that unsettles us. We search and search and search for it. But when we finally find it, we’re thrilled. 

The coin this woman was looking for was worth about one day’s wage. In today’s standards that’s about $3.25. Time and time again Luke stresses the value of one. Forget about the nine other coins, the one missing is what has value. If only we had this mentality with the lost souls around us. Imagine the impact we could have if we put this kind of energy into saving someone who is lost. 

In Luke 15 Jesus tells us that you can be lost out of ignorance (the sheep), you can be lost out of carelessness (misplacing the coin), and finally you can be lost by choice (the prodigal son). Just because one was out of ignorance and one was out of carelessness, does not negate the fact that they are lost. A found soul causes joy in heaven!

Design And Efficiency

Sunday’s Column: Learning From Lehman

Darrell Dubree

For everything there is a designer. There is an expected level of efficiency for the product that is created or designed. Or maybe labeled as its intended purpose or job. Just for example purposes these parts are out of a 400-ton, Carrier Centrifugal Water-cooled chiller. Running at peak efficiency and full load this machine in a residential setting would have the cooling capacity to condition the air for 100, 2400 square foot homes or 240,000 square ft. of living space. Each part performs a specific job that will add to the final efficiency that the designer planned for the machine. Each part has a different monetary value. The impeller is $10,000 and the Main Processor board $5000, but the individual electronic parts that make up the board $1 or less at Radio Shack.

All the parts are equally important in reaching the efficiency the designer intended for the machine. In this particular machine and many other microprocessor-controlled machines, there are sub level microprocessors that are controlling a specific function in the overall operation of the machine. These sub level processors are constantly collecting data and communicating to the main processor. They are content with all that is going on and all is well, or they are requesting a change or an adjustment in their area of operation. The main processor contains a micro chip which contains the designer’s operational software. In order for all the boards to communicate efficiently and effectively they must all be operating with the same operational software.

The operational software sets the parameters and adjustable setpoints which the main processor will use to grant or deny changes requested from the sub level processors throughout the machine. The main processor will take all these requests into consideration. The main processor will compare to the operational software and make a decision based on the operational software and the overall operation of the machine.

For example, depending on many variables and conditions the machine has to be considerate of the overall operation and keep the machine online and efficiently operating. Some request are granted or denied, depending on different operating conditions and stress on the machine. Stress being the difference being, operating on a 70-degree day with no humidity or starting from ground zero on a 100- degree day and a building full of miserably hot people.

Most of you look kind of interested, but some of you have the look of, I’m trying to get my brain wrapped around what your saying. What does this have anything to do with me as a servant of God???? 😊

Let’s compare this principal to the local body of servants of God. Actually, there are many similarities.
Designer: God
Operational Software: Gods inspired word, The Bible.

Main Processor: The local Eldership Sublevel Processors: Deacons Other parts: Members
Just as parts of this machine, all members are equally important in the efficient operation of the body (1 Corinthians 12: 14-31).

Furthermore, the Bible teaches that:

  1. God looks at the heart, not the physical appearance (1 Samuel 16:7)
  2. God shows no partiality (Romans 2:7-11).
  3. Good knows our hearts (Luke 16:14-15).

As we strive to fulfill the work that God intended in his design of the church. May we consider one another and take into consideration all the members and different areas of work. Just as the main processor of this machine considers all areas of the machines operation before a change is granted. How will this request affect the body short term and long term. Will it edify and build relationships or will it teardown and slow the work and efficiency of the body. The doctrinal decisions are the easy ones. We have had centuries of biblical scholars who have taken these apart and reassembled them. It is the non-doctrinal decisions that are difficult. Those we are forced to address in a situation that we have no former experience in dealing with. Hopefully passages like Philippians 2:1-18 will help us in this.

In any recipe or in smooth operation of machinery, there is that secret additive or ingredient that makes it just perfect. God has given us something far greater than a secret lube additive or a special secret ingredient to a recipe: Love (1 Corinthians 13:1-13). Hopefully these passages will help us all perform the work of the church efficiently.

a 400-ton, Carrier Centrifugal Water-cooled chiller

You Are More Valuable Than A Yacht

Wednesday’s Column: Third’s Words

Screen Shot 2020-12-02 at 7.31.57 AM

Gary Neal Pollard III

The world’s most expensive new car is $18,000,000 (Bugatti La Voiture Noire). The most expensive house is around $2,000,000,000. According to Google, the most expensive thing in the world is apparently Walmart. It’s either Walmart or a $4,800,000,000 gold yacht. On the average US salary for a family it would take 100,000 households’ total income to purchase. Or, it would take one person 100,000 years. 

For most of us, those numbers are unattainable. That kind of value is totally out of reach. 

Jesus did something that makes those numbers look pathetic. He paid our insurmountable debt with something that cannot be valued with any mortal currency (I Peter 1.18,19; Acts 20.28). 

He values His church at one eternal blood sacrifice (Hebrews 9). We could not possibly drum up enough money over all history and economies to even approach one eternal blood sacrifice. And He paid that for us. God gave up everything to “buy” our spiritual freedom. 

I doubt myself constantly and even feel somewhat worthless at times. It’s part of our humanity! We instinctively know that we’re insignificant in this universe (Ps. 8; Ps. 144). But like David said (twice), He does care for and think about us, despite our insignificance. 

Spending eternity with God will be incredible by itself, but knowing that at death we will be face-to-face with the One who sees us as being that valuable is so exciting!! Knowing this, let’s do whatever it takes to make it there (I Cor. 6; 7; I Pet. 1.18f; Rev. 22.14-17). 

A Big Blip

Dale Pollard

A family decided they didn’t want their little puppy anymore and for whatever reason they decided to dump this dog on the side of the road after tying it in a black plastic bag. At some point there was a woman who was driving down that road and she just happened to notice that something wasn’t right. When she discovered that there was a dog inside the bag she took it to a vet and then, eventually, to an adoption shelter. One day I decided to walk into the pet store to simply look around— and that’s when I saw him. Huddled in the back of his crate, a shaggy and skinny puppy with tan fur sat quietly, while it seemed every other dog in that store was madly barking. I opened the crate and he timidly came out— there was nothing I could do. This dog was mine. I named him “Bro” and to this day he continues to provide loyal companionship and plenty of laughs. The fact is, I’ve never been more attached to another animal and I’d never even think about giving him away. 

Solomon was a man determined to find the purpose of life. In Ecclesiastes we can read about these lavish experiments that he conducts all in the name of research. In the first two chapters he writes in a very depressing manner all the while Divine inspiration drives him toward the answer to life’s greatest question. He acknowledges the fact that everybody in every generation is just a small blip on earth’s timeline. The rich, poor, wise, and foolish all must embrace the same fate. They will all die and will eventually be forgotten. Solomon is concerned that everything, his wealth and kingdom, will be left to a fool after he’s gone, and that’s exactly what happened. Rehoboam, his son, proves to be an awful king and heaps destruction on God’s people. So, what’s the point? None of it matters. Well, without God nothing matters! The word most associated with this book is the word “vanity,” which means “useless or futile.” Without God, your life is worthless and it will amount to nothing. Solomon’s discovery of this unchanging truth will remain true throughout every age because it’s a truth that comes from the Creator of life. 

It’s unlikely that not a single person on earth values your life. Still, even if that were the case, because God’s hand guides you and touches all that you do, you have everything. My dog is not an expensive pure bred beauty, but to me there is no dog that could take his place. Apparently someone didn’t think too highly of him in the past, but that mangy thing lucked out and found the right owner. Who owns you? If money owns you, you’re getting left on the side of the road. If anything in the world owns you, you’re getting left behind. If God doesn’t own your life, you’ll never find purpose or lasting joy in this life— or the next. It could be that you feel like you’ve been placed in a trash bag and the world has mistreated you your entire life. Maybe that’s crushed your confidence and taken your sense of self worth, too. Though our lives are just a blip in the grand scheme of things, God can make your life a big blip by providing you with not only purpose, but with a love far too great to comprehend. The God of heaven has given us a mission and if we accept His invitation we’re going to make a lasting mark on this world— and enjoy lasting bliss in the world to come. 

Bro today

“You’ll End Up Naming Everybody On The Team”

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Neal Pollard

Quirky closer (a redundant statement) Sean Doolittle was interviewed last week right after the Washington Nationals clinched the city’s first trip to the World Series since FDR was first inaugurated there. Asked how they did it, Doolittle said, “I think once you start naming guys that stepped up in different ways, you’ll end up naming everybody on the team. We got so many contributions from different guys who had to embrace new roles. There are so many examples of that up and down this team” (MLB.COM). That’s frequently the testimonial of winners. It takes everybody pitching in and doing their part, All-Stars or role players, starters or reserves, veterans or rookies. However you distinguish between them, each person must step up and successful teams do just that!

Have you thought about how the church was designed to be that way? Congregations successful in executing the mission of Jesus are filled with members who step up in different ways, make contributions, embrace new roles, and exemplify team spirit. Paul tells us that “we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” (Eph. 4:15-16). Notice the all-inclusive wording of Paul, pointing out what Jesus desires for His church. “Grow up in every way…” “From whom the whole body….” “Held together by every joint….” “When each part is working properly….”

God expects each of us to step forward, using our talents, opportunities, financial blessings, influence, time, energy, and intellect to reach lost souls, strengthen the church, and meet needs. A church filled with people stepping up and embracing Christ’s mission will stand out in a community and glorify God. We will grow and be built up. 

In 1895, Vilfredo Pareto observed that society divided into what he called the “vital few” and the “trivial many.” There is a top 20% and a bottom 80%. From such a genesis, we ultimately got the 80/20 rule, that 20% of the people in an organization do 80% of the work (Explained here: FORBES.COM). Maybe, we’ve heard that so much that we’ve just resigned ourselves to it being a universal truth. Do not be content until you discuss the growth and work of this church, and by the time you’re done “you’ll end up naming everybody on the team.” That’s the goal! Let’s pursue it!

 

It’s Great To Be A Preacher!

Neal Pollard

Preachers have:

  • The greatest message to communicate (Rom. 1:16). It is infinitely better and more important than that shared by broadcasters, news anchors, and sports analysts (cf. 1 Cor. 1:18).
  • The greatest “boss” to please (Eph. 6:6-7). I have known and worked with so many great elders. I understand that they “hired” me and can “fire” me. Ultimately, though, I work for God–no greater One for whom a man could work!
  • The greatest mission to fulfill (Mat. 28:18; Mk. 16:15; Lk. 24:46). Doctors save bodies, firemen save lives and property, and accountants save money. Preachers save souls!
  • The greatest people on earth to serve (Eph. 3:21). The church certainly has its problems and members who hurt the cause. Yet, so many are wonderful, encouraging, and supportive! They love the Bible.
  • The greatest colleagues in the world (Ph. 1:15-17). True, some are sore tails, jacklegs, unethical, theologically radical, and theologically liberal. However, the “average” preacher (far from that) is worthy of hero-status! Remember Romans 10:15.
  • The greatest opportunities in the world (cf. Gal. 6:10). You never know what the new day will bring! Preachers get to study the Bible several hours each day, visit with Christians, set up and teach Bible studies, do mission work, preach gospel meetings and lectureships, and just have the privilege of preaching and teaching week after week!
  • The greatest retirement plan possible! It includes a crown of life (Rev. 2:10), a heavenly home (Heb. 11:16), and souls won to Christ “to their account” (1 Cor. 3:12ff).

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A few of my favorite preachers (and a couple of their ladies)

Do You Feel Plutoed?

Neal Pollard

Poor Pluto. First it’s a planet and then it’s not anymore. It has become the Rodney Dangerfield of our solar system. In an award-winning move that probably did not make the “sub planet” feel better, “plutoed” was selected as the Word of the Year by the American Dialect Society in Anaheim, California, a little over a decade ago. The word means “to demote or devalue someone or something.”

Do you ever feel “plutoed”? Do you feel like people don’t appreciate you like they should? You may get that feeling on the job, when you’re working harder than anyone else and somebody else gets the credit, the promotion, and the attention. You may get that feeling in your marriage or in the home, whether you’re the husband, wife, parents, or children. You may even sometimes feel “plutoed” by the church. Maybe you feel that your difficulties or problems are being ignored. You might think your contributions or ideas are not taken seriously enough. I’m sure elders, deacons, preachers, Bible class teachers, their spouses, along with everyone else, has to deal with that “plutoed” feeling periodically.

Will you remember a few things? First, remember the value God placed on your soul by sending Jesus to die to save it (Gal. 2:20; Eph. 1:7). Second, remember that God’s system of rewarding is on His time and His terms, but He will not let faithful service go unnoticed or unblessed (Mat. 6:4,6,16; 1 Tim. 5:25). Third, remember that you are valuable because of who you are, a child of God (1 Pet. 2:5,9; Rev. 1:5-6). Finally, remember to focus on helping everyone around you feel valued. It’s the way you want to be treated (Lk. 6:31). It’s the right and Christ-like way to acts (Acts 10:38). And, there may be somebody out there sorely in need of being “de-plutoed.” Think about it! Appreciate the value you and others have because of the God who made it all and owns it all.

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Surrounded By Hungry And Thirsty People

Neal Pollard

I was a child when I saw news coverage of the famine in Ethiopia, the mass starvation, the distended stomachs, and the deaths from malnourishment. I had never seen anything like this, and I was deeply saddened by the images on the screen. If you had asked me if I ever expected to see or know about anything more tragic than that, I would surely have said no. Now, decades later, I routinely see something much more tragic. I can observe it whenever I wish, though it’s not something that ever gets easier. Noah Icenhour, the fine, new associate minister at the Mabelvale church of Christ near Little Rock, Arkansas, shared a concept with me that he read from N.T. Wright about our culture. Describing why so many are swallowing foolish, harmful ideas, whether false religion, fleshly indulgence, materialism and greed, evolution, atheism, narcissism, or the like, he says that so many are consuming these things because they are so hungry and thirsty that to satisfy and slake these inner yearnings they are willing to consume even sources that are polluted.

We are surrounded by spiritually hungry and thirsty people. They long for purpose, meaning, and value, but so often they seek it subjectively. Or they go to an improper source to satisfy these. Consequently, they squander their precious lives pursuing the wrong things, a path that Jesus describes as one in which “the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction” (Mat. 7:13). Spoken or unspoken, they are crying out for proper direction. They want their lives to matter. While the majority (Mat. 7:14) will refuse the biblical answer, I am convinced that our society is full of people who are honestly searching. They would be open to hearing the Bible’s answers to these preeminently important questions of origination, motivation, and destination.

Today, wherever you find yourself and whatever else you are doing, will you have the compassion and concern enough to look for and seek to help the kind of person I’m talking about? Let’s pray for courage and wisdom, and walk through the open doors we find. In so doing, we will be aiding hungry and thirsty souls who will ultimately go somewhere to satiate their cravings. With us in their lives, they can find true bread (Jn. 6:35) and living water (Jn. 4:14). Such will lift them now and save them eternally! May our hearts be touched enough by their dire condition that we cannot help but help.

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How Much Will It Take To Make You Happy?

Neal Pollard

Well, according to a London survey, it takes–for the average person–about 1.5 million dollars to make one happy.  One NBC analyst says that by knowing you make more than the Joneses next door, you are likely to be quite happy.  As usual, we give our thanks to the experts.

Are they better informed than the Lord and the inspired writers? Jesus taught, “Beware, and be on guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). Your life does not consist of your possessions. Jesus warns us to ward off such thinking and the selfish, covetous behavior it spawns. He is saying, “You cannot measure who you are and what you are about by checking your bank balance.”

King David says, “Better is the little of the righteous than the abundance of many wicked” (Psalm 37:16). One might conclude from this that one, financially modest Christian is wealthier than all the worldly, howbeit financially richer neighbors. That runs contrary to NBC’s money guru, doesn’t it? What could be “better” than being financially set? Solomon says “the fear of the Lord” (Prov. 15:16).   He says “righteousness” is better (Prov. 16:8; i.e., upright character and moral living). He says “peace and quiet” are better (Prov. 17:1). He says “integrity” is better (Prov. 19:1). He says “love is” better (Song 4:10).

Heavenly standards are superior to those of earth’s sagest experts. Jesus identifies an extremely poor widow as one having more (in the ways that count to heaven) than the wealthiest citizens of Jerusalem in her day (cf. Mark 12:42-44). The world has its values turned upside down, and it seeks to sway the Christian’s thinking on the matter, too. Believe this.  Having more than your neighbor will not bring you lasting happiness, in and of itself. Seeing $1.5 million or more on your bank statement will not supply you the peace that passes understanding.  Don’t trust me. What do I know? Believe the Lord!

 

 

 

Profiting From A Penny

Neal Pollard

While walking down the hallway, I felt something lumpy in my left shoe. I pull off the shoe and, when I revived, I found that a penny was the aforementioned lump. The first thing I do when I find a penny is look at the date. This penny carried the date of 1964. It had that characteristic dark appearance of a well-loved penny, the shiny copper color long since faded. It had some scratches and had endured a bit of erosion.

Several things of a spiritual nature occurred to me about that 1964 penny.

It has been in service for a long time. Fifty years doing the same thing is amazing. George Blanda was still kicking a football at 48, and for that he is legendary. Others like Jerry Rice, Warren Moon, Doug Flutie, and Earl Morrall hung around into their 40s. Some of pro basketball’s greats played past the age of 40, including Kevin Willis, Robert Parish, Kareem, Bob Cousy, and Karl Malone. In Major League baseball, pitchers Satchel Paige and Jack Quinn played into their 50s.  A number of renowned pitchers made it to their late-40s. Four position players made it to their 50s, and the last guy most of us would remember to play so late in life was Julio Franco (49). It is not just sports. I regularly meet people who continue to have the opportunity and energy to bolster the U.S. workforce in their golden years.  We are living longer and healthier lives than our ancestors!

That penny continues to be spent and passed along the economic chain, having survived 13 presidential elections, an impeachment and a resignation. It was “born” in the days of mainframe computers and in the pre-moon space program era. It may have ridden in Martin Luther King’s pocket during the Civl Rights era. Still it spends. 

How i thank God for the longevity of service typified by our elders and many of our senior saints, who have worshipped and serviced God for so long. These golden, godly girls and gents were teaching Bible classes and Bible studies before many of us were born.

It has likely been used for its intended purpose wherever it has gone.  A penny cannot be substituted for a dollar or even a dime. It cannot be eaten without painful consequences. It will not text or play music. It will not work as a monocle or a magic marker. It is a penny. No doubt, it has been spent and “re-spent” for decades, with other money, for a variety of purchases. A penny is a denomination of money. That’s the value of a penny.

As I think of you and me, God has an intended purpose for us, too. As priests of God, we are to shine the light in darkness (1 Pe. 2:9). As disciples, were are to go into all the world with the gospel (Mark 16:15). Wherever we go, that’s why we’re here. We can work a job, have hobbies, play games, and be entertained, but that’s not the purpose of our sojourn here (cf. 1 Pe. 1:15-17). As Christians, we have been given a purpose as part of God’s eternal purpose (Eph. 3:9-11). Thus, like Christ, we must be about our Father’s business (Luke 2:49).

It continues to circulate, though it can do relatively little. A penny is virtually worthless in our modern economy, but I am far from alone in picking up every penny I find (even those in my shoe!). Put a lot of pennies together and the value of what you have dramatically increases. 

You may think you have very little to contribute to the kingdom. Yet, when you join with others our collective value soars! God uses the little things from “average” Christians to do great things.

They say a penny saved is a penny earned. The penny I found may never be spent, but it has demonstrated its value to me.  Take heart!  Don’t be weary doing well.  Do what God has you here to do. Do your best whatever you can do!