Consider this

“During the fourth watch of the night (around 3 am) Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. ‘It's a ghost,’ they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: ‘Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid.’ ‘Lord, if it's you,’ Peter replied, ‘tell me to come to you on the water.’ ‘Come,’ he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?’” (Matthew 14:22-31) Poor Peter! He is often remembered for his failures. He is the one who denied Jesus three times. He is the one who speaks before he thinks. He is the one who, when walking on the water, sank like a rock. Let me ask you this question though: Why was it Peter who got to walk on the water in the fi...

Thirty seven years after their songs “Takin’ Care of Business” and “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” first hit the airwaves, Randy Bachman and Fred Turner (the guys from “Bachman-Turner Overdrive”) are making music together again. During an interview this past week, Bachman was asked if he thought that the band could still be successful and write hits after so many years. His answer is worth noting. He said, “Do we think that we will get any airplay? I don’t know. It really does not matter. We are doing what we were born to do”. I like that quote for two reasons. First, he has found what he was “born to do”. That is not always easy in life. Some people jump from one job to the next, move from one city to another, change companies a dozen times before they find something that really fulfils them. It can be tough. Spiritually, speaking though, it is much easier. In fact, there are only two choices: follow God or follow yourself. The Bible makes it very clear which one we we...

On Sunday, I invited a couple of the kids to the front and said, “Can you take this nut off of this bolt and give it back to me? I need it for my sermon.” After about thirty seconds, they said, “We can’t get it apart. It is too tight.” I then said, “Oh! I forgot to give you the tool to use”, so I reached around the podium and handed them a rubber mallet. They were not impressed! In fact, they would not even take the mallet from me, because they knew that it would not help. What they needed was not just “any tool” but the “right tool”. To me, that simple little illustration points out one of the problems that many churches (and individuals) face. They, like the kids in my illustration, are ready to help. They put a lot of time and effort into their faith and service. Unfortunately, like the kids, they do not see positive results because they are going about their work in the wrong way. They do not have the proper tools. What is missing? Well, let’s look at some exampl...