Froggish People (I Am!)

Once upon a time there was a frog—only he wasn’t really a frog. He was a prince who looked and felt like a frog.

The wicked witch had cast a spell on him; only the kiss of a beautiful maiden could save him.

But since when do cute chicks kiss frogs? So there he sat—an unkissed prince in frog form!

But miracles happen.

One day a beautiful maiden gathered him up and gave him a great big smack.

Crash!! Boom!! Zap!! There he was a handsome prince—and you know the rest—they lived happily ever.

So what’s the task of the church? Kissing frogs of course.

I didn’t hear it from him, but that story was told by Chuck Swindoll and the real author remains unknown.

Kissing frogs. There are a fair number of froggish people in my life—and I am sure that you could say the same. I am also sure that some folks see me as a frog. Fair enough. I don’t want to really kiss a frog and truth be told, I probably wouldn’t want to kiss the froggish people I know either.

So substitute kissing frogs with the actions and attitudes of love. Frogs can become handsome princes and beautiful princesses when we love unconditionally.

Look at what Paul says in Romans 12:9-21…

Your love must be real. Hate what is evil. Do only what is good. Love each other in a way that makes you feel close like brothers and sisters. And give each other more honor than you give yourself. As you serve the Lord, work hard and don’t be lazy. Be excited about serving him! Be happy because of the hope you have. Be patient when you have troubles. Pray all the time. Share with God’s people who need help. Look for people who need help and welcome them into your homes. Wish only good for those who treat you badly. Ask God to bless them, not curse them. When others are happy, you should be happy with them. And when others are sad, you should be sad too.  Live together in peace with each other. Don’t be proud, but be willing to be friends with people who are not important to others. Don’t think of yourself as smarter than everyone else. If someone does you wrong, don’t try to pay them back by hurting them. Try to do what everyone thinks is right. Do the best you can to live in peace with everyone. My friends, don’t try to punish anyone who does wrong to you. Wait for God to punish them with his anger. It is written: “I am the one who punishes; I will pay people back,” says the Lord. But you should do this: “ If you have enemies who are hungry, give them something to eat. If you have enemies who are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this you will make them feel ashamed. Don’t let evil defeat you, but defeat evil by doing good.  (ERV)

I think I have spent way to much time being a frog and fretting over frogs. Let’s kiss frogs, church!

Les, Jr.

This Kingdom Business Called Love

We had a hurricane and it was truly awful. Some died. Some lost all their worldly possessions. We all lost something and we are still dealing with the aftereffects. Truth to tell, we may never—at least in our lifetimes—not feel effected.

Add to that burden the difficulties we have endured with our building situation and you might just end up with a church family caught in the grips of a long drawn out malaise.

Maybe that describes you. It certainly describes how I have felt and how I may still struggle from time to time.

But I believe in God. I believe in the basic goodness and sweetness of his people. I believe that God is still at work in our lives.

So where do we go from here? It’s a simple answer, really. But it’s an answer whose time has come.

I don’t know all the specific answers to all the problems we face. But I do know God and He does know.

The answer to our current dilemma is to trust Him and be about the business left for us to do.

Contrary to our actions at times, our kingdom business is not about retreating into a cocoon of safety where we are more focused on ourselves, where church business is more about what we do when we are together.

No, our business in the kingdom is about sharing God, our Savior, and the family with a world that is hurt and broken. 

The ability to do so begins with one word. One word applied to our relationships in the family–one word that compels our relationships outside the family.

The word is love.

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. Love is not rude, it is not selfish, and it cannot be made angry easily. Love does not remember wrongs done against it. Love is never happy when others do wrong, but it is always happy with the truth. Love never gives up on people. It never stops trusting, never loses hope, and never quits.  (1 Corinthians 13:4-7 ERV) 

Before we can be about the Father’s business, we have to learn how to love. There is no room in a loving relationship for jealousy, bragging, and pride. People who love each other stifle the rudeness, refuse to be selfish, and find it hard to get angry at those whom you love. Love is not having a computer memory keeping track of the hurts you have endured at the hands of others. Love means we find nothing to enjoy in the failures of others—love means we are not afraid of the truth. Love means we never give up on people—we always strive to see something redeemable, something in which we can rejoice in the lives of others. Love always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres.

How well do I love? I read this passage and I know for a certainty that there is at least one love description that I have failed at miserably. It has to change and it has to change right now. It’s the only way I can be healthy—it is the only way my family relationships can be healthy—and it is the only way kingdom business can reestablish its priority!

How well do you love?

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. Love is not rude, it is not selfish, and it cannot be made angry easily. Love does not remember wrongs done against it. Love is never happy when others do wrong, but it is always happy with the truth. Love never gives up on people. It never stops trusting, never loses hope, and never quits.  (1 Corinthians 13:4-7 ERV)

Blessings to you,

Les, Jr.

PS. If you are looking for a place to do some hurricane recovery work, the need is still here! We have no more groups scheduled to come!

Sunday Night @ the Friendship Evangelism Seminar

Nine of us traveled Sunday night to Gautier to hear Dan Cooper present his first night’s material on Friendship Evangelism. And it was good stuff. Stuff we needed to hear. Stuff the rest of our church family still needs to hear.

Dan preaches for the Pitman church in Pitman, NJ. And as a church, they are experiencing exciting growth. He has a background for that which he speaks. Recently, this church bought seven acres for expansion at the cost of $360,000.00. Amazingly, with vision and faith, they were able to pay the loan off for the land in three months.

During the course of last night’s message, Dan presented us with some predictors of church growth. These are things that need to happen/ be in place for the normal small church to grow beyond the 200 membership level/ plateau/ barrier. 

The ability of the worship services to attract new members. This is about doing things in an excellent way with vibrant singing/ applicable sermons, etc. 

Having an adequate staffing ratio. Adequate is defined as having one full time ministerial staff member for every one hundred church members. In a private conversation with Dan today, he added this caveat: If you want to grow, you have to start acting bigger (as in hiring a second person beforehand) before you can start getting bigger. 

Having enough small groups to attract and assimilate new members. Small groups are vital/ essential-however, we do need more and we need more of our people involved/ connected so we can make the connections with new people. 

And finally, we need those who will make it a ministry to be in constant prayer that the Lord might send lost souls to us and that we be ready for the harvest.

We can reach the lost. We can grow. We just have to decide if we really want to. It will take sacrifice. But it will be a sacrifice we are eager and excited to make if we can but catch a common vision for the expansion of God’s Kingdom and the role we each must play.

Les, Jr.

Hodge Podge–Ferguson Family, Orange Grove church and the Ever Present Katrina

Life has been going at full tilt around the Ferguson home as of late. But then with four kids, when does it not?

By the way, Casey is now One!

In the past two weeks, I have been in Montgomery twice. The first time was a whole family trip. We went to Faulkner University to see Kyle get inducted into Alpha Chi. This is a national and lifetime honor society and the bragging father wants you to know he was inducted with a 3.9634 GPA in his Junior year. Kyle is getting a ministry/ missions degree and wants to spend his life serving God in far flung places. Woo Hoo! We may have grandchildren one day–after a daughter-in-law of course and only see them rarely, but, I couldn’t be prouder!

It was a fun but quick trip and good to see him and his friends.

This week, I went back to Faulkner University for their Lecturship for two days. I rode up and back with two of my preaching buddies who both happen to have been college roomates as well. While there we spent most of our time going to lectures with several other long time college friends. As one friend said, when we get together, it’s like we have never been apart. Add to the mix being able to do a bunch of this with Kyle made it even more enjoyable.

This particular trip was really good for me emotionally and especially spiritually. I have been reinvigerated and for that I am extremely thankful.

Folks from the Northside church of Christ in Benton, AR have been here again doing more Katrina relief work. This group of family have been so faithful and so consistent and I appreciate them so much.

Next week, we look forward to the men from the Atlanta Road church of Christ in Gainsville, Ga being here to help people in need.

God is good!

Blessings to you!

Les, Jr.