Cornerstone

Deut. 11:18-25 (19)

James S. Hewett tells that every Sunday morning the fifth graders would line up and recite a section of the creed that had been assigned to them. That continued well for awhile. Then one Sunday they began the class the same way. The first girl recited her line flawlessly: “I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.” Next, a boy, stood up and said: “I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord.” Then silence settled over the class. Finally, a little girl, spoke up loudly to say, “I’m sorry, sir, but the boy who believes in the Holy Ghost is absent today!”*

If we do not have a vital relationship with the God of the Word there is no way that we can properly learn the Word of God. Learning facts from the Word of God may help us to do well in a Bible Quiz but it certainly won’t shape our character so that we are more like Christ. Only when we are in love with the Author of the Book can we have an intense love for the Bible. Having this love for the Author and the Book we then must make a concentrated effort to blend the Word of God into our lives so that it is part of the fabric of our being that determines our motives, attitudes and actions.

*Adapted from Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) p. 63.

Dr. Gayle Woods

Eze 44:5-(9)

I was in for a shock the first Sunday at my new pastorate. The rural church had been without a pastor for about two years and the effects of being without a leader were evident. I sat down in my pew to enjoy the preliminaries of the Sunday School service. A lady who did not have the appearance of an acquaintance with the conservative holiness culture walked up to the platform with a song book in her hand. I later discovered that she was not a Christian, BUT her granddaddy had be a founding father of the church. I also discovered that she seldom missed a service, knew everybody in the country and was a gossip.

With a lot of help from God and intestinal fortitude that accompanies immaturity I was able to 1) get a new song leader, 2) convince the church people that they should only elect Christians to positions in the church, and 3) win the lady’s friendship and support.

A person who is involved in the leading of worship to God must be a person who loves God. To give someone a position of leadership just to encourage them to become a part of the church organization is to misunderstand out mission. We are to seek and save the lost.

Dr. Gayle Woods