PERSEVERANCE: Washing Your Car to Success

"But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance."

Luke 8:15

It was a strange place to have a motivational poster … the Men’s Room at a car wash; then again who’s surprised at anything these days. The message read: “PERSEVERANCE … never give up for that is the place the tide will turn.”

The message is clear: “Keep on trying, you can make it, don’t quit. Persevere in reaching for the things the world offers, they are available to any who will try hard enough.” And you can do this while you’re having your car washed.

On the other hand, God also calls us to persevere; we’re to do this after we have received His free washing. But Jesus has said the tide will not turn unless you are born-again; unless you come to Him as a little child.

Christianity, Illustrations,
Perseverance, Religion

CREATION: “Ah ha!”

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

Genesis 1:1

They call it the “Ah ha!” experience. Kathy Hummel, media and production director of the National Scrabble Association says, “It comes from creating something out of nothing, you stick your hand in a bag and pull out seven random letters and build words.” The game is known as Scrabble.

In the beginning, Alfred Mosher Butts, an unemployed architect from Poughkeepsie, NY, decided he wanted to create a new game. He analyzed many games and found they fell into three categories: number games, such as dice and bingo; move games, such as chess and checkers; and word games, such as anagrams.

Wanting to create a game which would use both chance and skill, Butts combined features of anagrams and crossword puzzles. First called Lexiko, the game was later called Criss Cross Words. To decide on a letter distribution, Butts calculated the letter frequency on the front page of The New York Times.

In the depths of the Depression, Butts and entrepreneur James Brunot rented an abandoned schoolhouse in Dodgington, Conn., and turned out twelve games an hour, stamping letters on the wooden tiles.

In 1949, Brunot made 2,400 sets and lost $450. Then in the early 1950s, as legend has it, the president of Macy's discovered Scrabble on vacation and ordered some for the store. Within a year, demand was higher than supply and Scrabble had to be rationed to stores. Recently, Hasbro began selling Scrabble on CD.

I doubt it would be good to call the creation an “Ah ha” experience but, “In the beginning God” also created something out of nothing [we call it ex nihilo; Romans 4:17]. However, I believe if you and I had been there it might fairly be called the “Oh, my!” experience.

God didn’t have to reach into a bag to do it, either; He simple spoke it into existence [Hebrews 11:3]. But He did have trouble selling the idea … and still does. You see saved-man lives by faith and not by sight [2 Corinthians 5:7], while the unsaved insist on “seeing is believing.”

Also in the beginning was the Word. Only this Word was not made up of seven letters, it was made up of the Son of God [John 1:14]. And no one had to go to the front page of anything to see which words should be used in composing His Word.

Christianity, Creation,
Illustrations, Religion

PERSEVERANCE: Toward the Goal!

"I press on toward the goal …"

Philippians 3:14

"… let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."

Hebrews 12:1-2

When we were kids, on rainy days at school, when we were forced to stay inside during recess, we played a game.

One student would be blindfolded, then told to find something in the room [e.g., a chair, a table, the teacher].

Before being blindfolded he was given an opportunity to memorize the way the room looked. The teacher would then spin him round and round; whereupon everyone, including the teacher, would get in his way, or move desks and furniture.

Eventually, someone would feel sorry for him and endeavor to help him, casually bumping him to turn him toward his goal.

We've allowed Satan to become our wicked teacher; he's spun us around and around till we don’t know up from down, right from wrong. He moves things around, things we thought we knew very well. His is an evil game of trickery and treachery.

But God heard our cries and sent His Son to turn us toward our goal.

Christianity, Illustrations, Religion

CONFLICT: Defined As "To Strike Together"; Pro or Con

IT'S IN THERE SOMEWHERE: [Ephesians 4:1-3]

During the football season, we are witnesses to a wonderful illustration of conflict resolution. The ball carrier (ball firmly tucked under his bent elbow, fingers firmly over the end of the pigskin) is hit violently; the ball spurts from his grasp and bounds randomly first here and then there.

Three seconds elapse and the ball will have traveled no more than thirty yards, but not necessarily in your preferred direction.

Three more seconds slip away and the ball is smothered under a dozen testosterone factories, housed in two to three tons of male flesh, but not necessarily in the possession of your man.

One by one the component parts of the pile are pealed off, top to bottom. Finally, the pile is whittled down to a few hot, struggling bodies until the player with legal possession of the ball is identified. By this time another six seconds has gone by and in professional sports, time is valuable.

A similar thing happens in conflict resolution. By the time referees get to the scene of a conflict the combatants are struggling fiercely and its cause is buried beneath a heap of time, circumstances, contributing factors, participants, situational milieus, and temperaments. Before the cause can be identified, each component of the pile must be pealed off from top to bottom, one by one. By now, a lot of time has passed and in the game of life, time is precious.

Communicating the need for patience to the combatants by a referee is essential to the process and its success.

PERSEVERANCE - I know I can! I know I can!

A Conscious Choice [Joshua 24:14, 15; Attitude, choice, faith, overcoming]

Wally Amos, founder of both Famous Amos’ Chocolate-chip Cookies and the Nonamé Cookie Company, tells the story of a business associate named Bill Berger.

Berger recently had a stroke, his brain filling with life threatening blood, leaving him paralyzed on his right side. Part of his self-imposed therapy was to go back to work, even though his right arm hung limp, even though he was forced to drag his right foot.

On one business trip Amos noticed Berger start the car with his right hand, rather than reaching across with the other. He vowed by summer he would use his right arm only. He told Amos he had made “a conscious choice” to recover. Amos said everywhere they went Berger knew people by name and they were all glad to see him.

Amos related: “I spoke with Bill today, and he told me that since the last time we were together he had successfully completed an 8-mile race. That in itself is a great feat, but he went on to say that he had forgotten where he parked his car and had to walk another two and a half miles to find it.” [“Attitude is a most powerful force;” The Costco Connection, July 1999, 115]

So you think you have problems overcoming? You can choose not to!

It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over! [Philippians 3:14; endurance]

This past weekend Super Bowl (number whatever) was won by fourteen-point underdogs, the New England Patriots.

Nine years ago, January 3, 1993, another team, the Buffalo Bills, won by a field goal in overtime against the Houston Oilers. At half-time the score was – Oilers 28, Bills – 3; nine minutes into the third quarter the Oilers intercepted a Bills pass and went out 35 – 3. But at the end of the game, 21 minutes later, in overtime, the Bills kicked a field goal to win 38 – 35.

On the Monday following this week’s Super Bowl, a high school coach reminded Rush Limbaugh of a truth most coaches have known for ages: it makes no difference who is ahead at the end of the first quarter, who is ahead at half-time, who is ahead at the end of the third quarter, or even who is ahead at the two-minute warning in the fourth and final quarter ... it only matters who is ahead when the game ends.

At the end of the first, second or third quarters no one knows who is going to win. Not even at the two minute warning is anyone "certain" of who will win. Athletes ought to be brainwashed with that truth ... those that are win more games and play much better whether ahead or behind.

This truth reminds athletes of what Paul told the Corinthians long ago, it ain’t over till it’s over: "run in such a way that you may win." [1 Corinthians 9:24b]

In our world today, it may appear the enemy is ahead in points. Perhaps this is the fourth quarter or even beyond the two-minute warning … but it doesn’t matter, because we all know who will be the winner when the game of life ends – the Lord Jesus Christ!

NO GATE CAN KEEP HER AWAY! [Romans 8:38-39; Persistence]

Our oldest daughter was about two and we lived in a parsonage next door to our first church. Well, Jennifer loved to come over to the pastor’s office and visit with daddy. Only daddy couldn’t visit with her as often as she was able to visit with him.

On several occasions, we warned her of the need for permission to visit with her daddy but the warnings had no affect. Forced into a trade off between love for my daughter and my responsibility to the church, we did the only thing we could do, we locked the gate. My work was uninterrupted for two days. I remember feeling guilty about that.

On the third day, Jennifer’s little round face peaked around the corner of the door. When she realized I’d seen her, her face lit up with a heart-melting grin. “Hi, daddy!” She whispered.

After the obligatory hug and boost to my lap, I buzzed my wife to chastise her for leaving the gate unlocked. Surprised, she said, “John, I am looking out the window at the front gate and it is as locked now as it was earlier. How did that little stinker get out of the yard?”

Later we discovered our little girl had no fear of heights or climbing when it came to getting where she wanted to go. She had climbed the fence!

The redeemed should be like Jennifer; they should be so in love with their Father in heaven that not even the gates of hell can keep them from His presence.

One Wish [Proverbs 3:5-6; Encouragement, Humor, Man vs. God, Overcoming]

A man walking on the beach finds a lamp; he picks it up, rubs it, and out pops a genie. The genie says, "For releasing me I shall grant you one wish!”

The man thinks earnestly for a minute and then says, "Pretty soon I’ll be going to Hawaii on my honeymoon, but I’m afraid of flying … so, give me a bridge to Maui.”

The genie gives the man a stern look, “Do you realize how much it’ll take to do that? It’ll cost millions to hire workers, not to mention the material needed. Then there’ll be countless rest stops and gas stations. A bridge like that would interfere with shipping lanes and never pass an environmental impact study. You’ll just have to make another wish!”

The man concentrates again, and then said, “Okay, since I’m going to be married, tell me how to understand women.”

The genie paused for a moment then says, “So … this bridge … you want two lanes, or four? Single, or double deck?”

Some challenges seem impossible on their face yet, when placed alongside others, they pale by comparison. Winning the world for Jesus makes witnessing to neighbors seem like child’s play; starting a Bible study seems daunting, until compared with starting a new church. Dare to dream big. A vision for God which expects little and seems all too possible is nothing more than a day dream.