SHOULDER TO SHOULDER #29: ---- 8/2/98
Posted by: lifeunlimited <lifeunlimited@...>
Encouraging One Another as we "Fight the Good Fight"
TITLE: "The Dash ---- From Birth To Eternity"
Dear Friend:
"I long to see you (yes, I really do!), that I may impart some spiritual
gift to you, that you may be established ---- encouraged . . ." (Romans
1:11-12).
What a week of blessing this has been! While nothing really
"spectacular" happened that I know of, yet I feel as if I have been
blessed more than any man deserves. God has been so good this past week!
(He's so good all the time!)
Jo Ann and I got to see our three little "grand babies" from Texas (three
times!), we got to see our former son-in-law and his new wife, we got to
fellowship with his parents (his mother is a tender-hearted lay pastor in
two country churches) and eat fresh tomatoes, beets, corn on the cob, and
some of the sweetest water melon I've had all summer.
My parents came to visit for a couple of days, we got to attend the
wedding of the young pastor of the church we often attend nearby, I gota
great e-mail article from Alaska via my friend Tom, I heard from special
friends in Oklahoma, Minnesota, and England, and just a whole bunch of
other stuff.
It was just a good week ---- a really good week. "Thank you, Father, for
those little blessings that seem so big and mean so much! You're a
wonderful Father!"
This is one of these letters I feel strangely and strongly compelled to
share.
FROM BIRTH TO ETERNITY ---- ALWAYS ON THE RUN?
One week ago this past Saturday our neighbor lady died ---- suddenly ----
unexpectedly ---- unanticipated.
Or was it so ---- sudden ---- so unexpected ---- so unanticipated?
Yes, she Did die. And, on the surface it appeared to be sudden,
unexpected, and unanticipated. The tragedy of this particular death,
however, is that it really wasn't ---- sudden ---- unexpected ----
unanticipated. It was, in fact ---- Predictable!
The real tragedy as I see it was three-fold:
1. First, it was tragic in the WAY she died. She had been in town, less
than two miles from her home next to ours, taking care of her
mother-in-law. She began feeling ill and decided to drive home. Her
husband, Gerold, was awakened about 11:30 p.m. with the sound of a horn
honking in front of the house. When he went to the window to inquire,
she was sitting in her little pick up truck. She told him she felt very
ill.
He grabbed his jeans, put them on, and ran out to the truck. Before he
could get her out of the truck, she died in his arms with one foot on the
ground and the other still near the brake pedal. No more than thirty
seconds had transpired from the time he heard her voice until she was
dead. It was a tragic Circumstance.
2. Second, I feel it was tragic because Mrs. Keller died without our
ever having met her, though we live only some 200 yards from her in a
house built and sold to our ministry by her youngest son on land that had
been in her family for three generations. In fact, even though we would
wave and smile at him as he drove down the road past our place, the only
time we have ever talked with Mr. Keller was last Sunday shortly after
lunch when we had learned of his wife's death. (It's terrible to be so
busy! In fact, it's probably sinful!)
We immediately walked to his house to extend our condolences. Even
though I'm sure he appreciated them, they sounded so empty to us ----
they were not built on relationships, hardly even on acquaintance. For
sympathy, caring, and condolences to have any real substance, my friend,
they must be built on genuine relationship.
We knew Rick, Michelle, and Josh quite well ---- they are not only the
people who built and sold us the house, but they have become friends.
Mrs. Keller, on the other hand, we had never seen at all, save in an
occasional glancing moment as they drove past. We would not have
recognized her if we had seen her on the street.
Between our hectic schedule and her neighborly frenzy to nearly everybody
in town and country (our little town near where we live has 144 people in
it), there seemed to be no convenient opportunity to just visit and be
---- you know --- "neighborly".
She seemed to always be in a dash ---- to take care of her mother-in-law
in town, visit a sick person, run an errand, do something at church, etc.
She was known throughout the area as one of the kindest, funniest, most
helpful persons most people here had ever known. The attendance at the
funeral testified to that fact.
We were also usually in a dash ---- off to a Bible conference, down to
the University to have a team training meeting with our next team
overseas, in the air to another trip to Croatia, scurrying off to preach
or sing at a nearby church, having coffee with another hurting pastor,
rushing up to my parents to spend a few hours with them.
Seems like we both where always in a hurry ---- in a dash somewhere.
It's really too bad so many people are always dashing so.
It was a tragic cycle.
3. Finally, it was tragic because it was avoidable.
Mrs. Keller was fifty-nine years of age ---- a year younger than I.
(Sixty is much younger than it used to be ---- Much!)
She didn't need to die ---- at least not yet. Tragically, though, her
death was, in a way, ---- self-inflicted. No, she didn't commit suicide
---- at least not as we identify it as being intentional.
On the other hand, it Was a Form of suicide ---- in that she had the
power in her hands to avoid death. She basically died primarily because
of one thing ---- Neglect.
Her death could have been avoided or at least delayed. But it wasn't.
It came early ---- unnecessarily.
You see, Mrs. Keller was a diabetic ---- and there were three things she
failed to do that would have probably saved her life.
1) She didn't follow her diet. Gerold told us last Sunday that she
never paid attention to what, how, or when she ate; and she didn't take
her medication on schedule. She was too much on the go ---- in a dash
---- to take care of everyone else.
2) She didn't go see her doctor. Mrs. Keller had apparently been
feeling badly for several weeks. She had been having episodes with
dizziness, shortness of breath, sweaty skin, feelings of indigestion ----
all clear signs of serious heart problems. But, she decided they would
pass. (They did.)
3) She didn't slow down and get adequate rest. She didn't see the
obvious signs her body was giving her to slow down, rest, and lose some
weight.
It was a tragic Cause.
ARE YOU ON THE RUN TO DYING?
As you, if you are a regular reader, must be suspecting, I see some
interesting parallels here.
I know some guys who are on the way to spiritual death and/or ministry
death for the same reasons Mrs. Keller died a little over a week ago ----
unnecessarily so!
Unnecessarily so!
1. IF your ministry "dies", it could be tragic by the Way it dies ----
Traumatic, Turbulent, Sudden.
You may be ministering to someone who is shut in, not realizing there are
people you have shut out. Because of that, they will be ill prepared and
thoroughly shocked when you finally "blow the horn" in the middle of the
night, and cry out for help ---- "I'm feeling very ill!" And, before you
can form "Please help me!" on your lips, ---- it will be all over.
True, there are people who see the signs of ministry illness or spiritual
anemia ---- excessive busyness, a sense of distance, preoccupation with
the wrong things, neglect of your family, a void in your spiritual
disciplines, unwise counseling practices, etc., ---- but if you keep
pushing it without heeding the warnings you are receiving, your ministry
may be heading down a "Dead!" end.
2. IF your ministry "dies", it could also be tragic by the Frenzy in
which it dies. "So much to do! So little time in which to do it!"
Hog Wash!
My friend, If Jesus Himself, the incarnate Son of god, Deity in the
flesh, found it necessary to come aside and rest, spend time with
friends, do things with family, go fishing, skip rocks with the children,
go to a wedding, "chill out" and do nothing, then perhaps you should
consider you might need to do the same.
This idea that "busy Christians are happy Christians" is a bunch of
baloney (Missouri spelling). Some of the busiest guys I know in the
ministry are also some of the unhappiest and least fulfilled.
Why?
Without digressing too far, I believe it is because of the mistaken idea
that our sense of true identity in America is found NOT in Who we are,
but rather in What we do!
What a lie from the pit of hell!
Jesus made it clear that our sense of worth, identity, and acceptance is
found in Him alone! ---- not in what others say or in what we accomplish
or don't accomplish.
When God affirmed Jesus, He didn't say, "Thou art My beloved Son because
I am pleased with Your Work!" He said, "Thou art My beloved Son, in Whom
I am well pleased! ---- Period!"
Paul declared in Col 2:10 "You are COMPLETE! ---- in HIM!"
He also said in Eph 1:6 that we are "Accepted in THE BELOVED!" ---- NOT
in our performance and frenzy!
In Acts 17:28 Paul again proclaims ---- "In HIM ---- In HIM ---- In HIM!
---- we live, and move, and have our being."
If your ministry is in danger of dying, will it go down the tubes in a
flurry of spiritual looking frenzy and activity ---- but alone?
3. IF your ministry dies, will it be because of the same neglect Mrs.
Keller engaged in? If so, it would be equally tragic, and even more so.
Will it be . . . .
1) Because you didn't follow your "diet"?
Friend, take it from a man who knows ---- if you neglect your time in
God's Word, your ministry will die. It may still demonstrate post-mortem
movement, but it will be deader than a mummy in the greatest museum of
the world. And, given time, even the outward apparel will turn dirty,
dusty, dingy, and rotten.
2) Because you didn't see your "doctor"?
Likewise, if you don't spend time in intimate ---- Intimate ----
communication, fellowship, and meditating with God (and, I might add,
with God's "messengers" he sends your way with words of warning), it's
only a matter of time.
Again, your ministry may carry on the appearances of health and vibrancy,
but it's all a show ---- a sham.
3) Because you didn't get adequate "rest"? Because you didn't heed
Paul's warning to Timothy, "The servant of the Lord shall not 'strive'."
(II Tim 2:24)?
Have you ever studied why the undergarment for the High Priest was linen?
It was because wool makes you chaff and perspire ---- both of which are
symbols of the energy of the flesh. The thing that differentiates
between the "gold, silver, and precious stones" on the one hand and the
"wood, hay, and stubble" on the other is the principle of rest found in
the fulness of the Holy Spirit. I have absolutely no doubt that an
enormous part of my "works" are going to go up in smoke.
Of all people in the world, you, the minister must "find rest for your
soul". I cannot allow myself to develop this entire concept, but there
is profound truth and rich reward assured for any person who will take
time to study, comprehend, and appropriate the "rest" provided for the
believer as demonstrated in Genesis 1 & 2, and discussed in Hebrews 3 &
4, and other related passages.
IN CONCLUSION:
I have titled this letter "The Dash ---- From Birth To Eternity" for a
reason. A friend passed the following poen to us back in May. I had
kept it on file in my "articles" file. When Mrs. Keller died so
suddently, it now seems appropriate today.
My dear and precious brother or sister ---- listen.
It isn't how you came into this life, or how you will enter eternity at
your death. It's the "dash" between the two that will determine the
quality and nature of your life. While this is not particularly what I
would call a "spiritual" poem, it still has some profound application.
THE DASH
I read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of his friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
from the beginning...to the end.
He noted that first came the date of her birth
and spoke of the second with tears,
but he said that what mattered most of all
was the dash between those years.
For that dash represents all the time that she spent
alive on earth, and now
only those who loved her know
what that little line is worth.
For it matters not how much we own --
the cars, the house, the cash.
What matters is how we live and love,
and how we spend our dash.
So think about this long and hard;
are there things you'd like to change?
For you never know how much time is left.
(You could be at "dash mid-range.")
If we could just slow down enough
to consider what is true and real,
and always try to understand
the way other people feel,
And...be less quick to anger,
and show appreciation more,
and love the people in our lives
like we've never loved before,
If we treat each other with respect,
and more often wear a smile,
remembering that this special dash
might only last a little while.
So, when your eulogy is being read
with your life's actions to rehash...
would you be pleased with the things they have to say
about how you spent your dash?
--Source unknown
Dear friend, Don't Die ---- Prematurely ---- Unexpectedly ---- Suddenly.
Don't let your ministry Die ---- Tragically ----Scandalously ----
Unnecessarily!
You're still not done with your dash!
In Christ's Bond,
Bob Tolliver ---- Rom 1:11-12
Copyright August, 1998. All Rights Reserved.
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Hang in there! I'm with you!
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Life Unlimited Ministries
E-mail: [email protected]
Ph: 417-275-4854
Fax: 417-275-4855