Today's Word

[Judy Harder]

Today's Word for Pastors...

Isaiah 58:11

The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

Today's Preaching Insight...

Many Americans and presidents have made their way to the center of Arlington Cemetery. There stands a monument that is beloved by all Americans. It is the Tomb of the Unknown Solider. Guarded seven days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by the Old Guard of the United States Army, it has engraved on it these words:

"Here Rests in Honored Glory an American Soldier Known but to God."

It's hard to view that sight and not be moved.I want to look at a place in God's Word that has been visited by many believers through time. Here we will honor whom God has honored and memorialized in His Word. Some of these people are known only to God, but He has erected a monument in His Word to the story of His grace in their lives that we, too, may view that sight and be moved, strengthened and encouraged.

That is my prayer as we study these passages from Joshua 2 and Hebrews 11:30-12:2, in the inerrant and the infallible Word of the living God.

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Today's Extra...

Illustration: Repentance

A remorseful man, wanting to reassure his skeptical wife, said: "I'm going to make a 360-degree turn."

David Jeremiah writes: "That's the kind of change a lot of people make. A 360-degree turn is no change at all. What we need is a 180-degree change, a reverse direction, a U-Turn.

"In driving, U-turns are handy when we realize we're going in the wrong way. The same is true in life. The Lord tells us to turn from our wicked ways and to turn toward Him in confession and true repentance. This involves a change of heart, a change of mind and a change of direction.

"What direction are you traveling right now? Don't keep barreling the wrong way. Turn 180 degrees to Christ and start living for Him today."

[Judy Harder]

Today's Word for Pastors...

John 1:12

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--

Today's Preaching Insight...

Mannaburgers and Roast Quail

Even though Thanksgiving is about food for most Americans, it tends not to be a time for culinary adventures. Most of us tend to go for the tried and true when it comes to turkey and pumpkin pie. In fact, last week I heard someone describing how the family gets on his dad for experimenting with new stuff at Thanksgiving.

This morning's story is all about food. But it comes out of the desert wanderings of God's people. Wilderness and desert do not sound like a context for cooking. By the way, 70 percent of the Bible story takes place in the context of wilderness. But this morning's Scripture is about creative Israeli cooks who hatched up a dish they might have called "Quail a la manna." In Hebrew fast-food places, I wonder if they didn't market mannaburgers. You could get your mannaburgers with or without roast quail.

The Hebrew people are on their long march between Egypt and the land of Canaan. God gives them a wonderful experience of deliverance from bondage in Egypt. They walk through the sea on dry land, while Pharaoh's army is swallowed up in water. They celebrate with singing and dancing. We read about it in Exodus 15.

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Today's Extra...

Illustration: Memory

Two middle-aged couples were enjoying friendly conversation when one of the men asked the other, "Fred, how was the memory clinic you went to last month?"

"Outstanding," Fred replied. "They taught us all the latest psychological techniques, such as visualization, association and so on. It was great. I haven't had a problem since.""Sounds like something I could use. What was the name of the clinic?"Fred went blank. He thought and thought, but couldn't remember.Then a smile broke across his face and he asked, "What do you call that flower with the long stem and thorns?""You mean a rose?""Yes, that's it!"He turned to his wife, "Hey Rose, what was the name of that memory clinic?"

[Judy Harder]

Today's Word for Pastors...

John 2: 22
After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

Today's Preaching Insight...

How Forgiveness Works

There was a single word headlined in the news coming out of the Amish community of West Nickels Mines after a young husband and father shot five young girls dead: forgiveness.

That word got the attention of the media, but what does it mean—forgive? What did it mean for people from the Amish community to go to the wife of the killer and say that they would forgive her and her family in this unbelievably traumatic incident? Did they mean they forgave the murderer? Does this make any sense? How does righteous indignation figure into the crimes of humanity? How can we have justice and forgiveness at the same time? Accountability for violation of the laws of God and application of the mercy of God?

Every single one of us needs to understand and come to terms with the issue of forgiveness. Because forgiveness is part of God's plan, it will not, when properly understood, ever contradict God's justice.

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Today's Extra...

Illustration: Apologies

British Prime Minister Tony Blair came to Washington and spoke to a joint session of Congress on July 17, 2003. Early in his speech he commented, "On our way down here, Sen. Frist was kind enough to show me the fireplace where in 1814 the British had burned the Congressional Library. I know this is kind of late, but: Sorry."

That may stand as one of the all-time most memorable apologies!

[Judy Harder]

Today's Word for Pastors...

Psalms 27:14
Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.
Today's Preaching Insight...

Portrait of a Minister

It is important to get the right portrait of the right person.

Once upon another life, before I was a minister, I did a lot of other things. I was even a caricature artist. One day, as I was pursuing my work amidst a gaggle of people all gathered around me at a fall festival, I was commissioned by a father to draw his child. I began to draw the person in front of me. It was a tremendous portrait, if I do say so myself. There was only one small problem: when I handed the portrait to the father he said, "This is not my daughter." I had drawn the wrong kid. The portrait was a perfect rendition of the child in front of me, but it was not the man's daughter! It is important to get the picture right!

We know that as fathers. And so we look to the model of fatherhood in the Bible to draw a portrait of the man we should be. We look to the Bible to get the right portrait of a godly mother and wife and everything else in life.It is important to get the portrait of a pastor. We may have all sorts of ideas about what a pastor should do or shouldn't do, what he should or shouldn't look like.

Once I was getting my haircut, and I discerned that the barber was not a Christian—indeed had little or no background in the faith. As we were talking, I felt I had finally broken through, when he said, "May I ask you a question?"

"Yes, of course," I said with some hope for a breakthrough! "Do all priests and monks and ministers like you have this little round place cut out in the back of their heads?" Well, he had the wrong picture of a minister to be sure!

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Today's Extra...

Illustration: Compassion

Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a 4-year-old child whose next-door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who recently had lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap and just sat there. When his mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry."

[Judy Harder]

Today's Word for Pastors...

Romans 10:15

And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"

Today's Preaching Insight...

It's About Time

Anyone who knows me knows I have a hard time managing my time. No, I don't have a hard time. I just don't do it. It's not that I don't have all the tools I'm supposed to have. I've been to all the workshops. I have all the gadgets. It's just that I'm a spur-of-the-moment kind of guy. If I'm doing something and even when I like what I'm doing, if I get a call from you and I like what you're doing more, then I'm going to go do what you're doing. Then I'll get back to what I was doing.

I don't ever understand how much time something will take. So I over-commit, thinking, "Sure, I can do that. It won't take that long." It always takes a lot longer than I think it will. So when somebody says to me, "Can you come speak at this?" I answer, "Yeah, I'd love to do that," and it takes a lot of time to get ready to speak and speak well. So I end up being over-committed and frustrated because I'm trying go get too much done.

Despite the national industry that exists on how to manage your time, I'm lousy at it. Most of us are. Most of us don't understand what time is. There is a wonderful book by Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time. It's one of those books everybody bought but nobody read. So you read about time from this great physicist and you get to the end of the book and realize he doesn't understand it either.

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Today's Extra...

Illustration: Fathers, Mothers

As a mother was walking with her 4-year-old daughter, the girl picked up something off the ground and started to put it in her mouth, and Mom told her not to do that.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because it's been lying outside and is dirty and probably has germs."

At this point, she looked at her mother with total admiration and asked, "How do you know all this stuff?"

Thinking quickly, she replied, "It's on the mommy test. You have to know it, or they don't let you be a mommy."

"Oh." She said seemingly satisfied. They walked along in silence for 2 or 3 minutes, but the daughter was evidently pondering this new information.

"I get it!" she beamed. "Then if you flunk, you have to be the daddy."

[Judy Harder]

Today's Word for Pastors...

Proverbs 9:10
"The fear of te LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."
Today's Preaching Insight...

Don't Forget the Bread
"Your sins will be forgiven. Then you will be given the Holy Spirit. This promise is for you" (Acts 2:38-39).

Denalyn called as I was driving home the other day. "Can you stop at the grocery store and pick up some bread?"

"Of course."

"Do I need to tell you where to find it?"

"Are you kidding? I was born with a bread-aisle tracking system."

"Just stay focused, Max."

She was nervous. Rightly so. I am the Exxon Valdez of grocery shopping. My mom once sent me to buy butter and milk; I bought buttermilk. I mistook a tube of hair cream for toothpaste. I thought the express aisle was a place to express your opinion. I am a charter member of the Clueless Husband Shopping Squad. I can relate to the fellow who came home from the grocery store with one carton of eggs, two sacks of flour, three boxes of cake mix, four sacks of sugar and five cans of cake frosting. His wife looked at the sacks of groceries and lamented, "I never should have numbered the list."

So knowing that Denalyn was counting on me, I parked the car at the market and entered the door. En route to the bread aisle, I spotted my favorite cereal, so I picked up a box, which made me wonder if we needed milk. I found a gallon in the dairy section. The cold milk stirred images of one of God's great gifts to humanity: Oreo cookies. The heavenly banquet will consist of tables and tables of Oreo cookies and milk. We will spend eternity dipping and slurping our way through...OK, enough of that.]

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Today's Extra...



Illustration: Excellence, Commitment, Work
David Jeremiah tells about the group of men gathered one Saturday morning to help paint a friend's large, two-story home. Toward the end of the day when the job was almost complete, a small bit of trim, which actually could not be seen from the ground, remained unpainted. One of the men said, "Since nobody can see that piece of trim, I guess we don't need to paint it."

"Not true," said another of the crew as he went for a ladder. "God sees it."

The difference in the two approaches is the difference between working man's way and working God's way; working in light of the end of the day versus working in light of the end of life; working for immediate rewards versus working for ultimate rewards. It's easy to get confused about who we really work for in this life. We go to work and interact with a human boss who makes the rules and signs the checks. We may face him at the end of the day; but at the end of the age, we will come face to face with the ultimate "Boss," God Himself. What we got away with on the job will be made known, and what went unrewarded will be paid in full.

The best way to get high marks on our final "employee review" is to picture God as our employer each day.]

[Judy Harder]

Today's Word for Pastors...

Isaiah 65:24

Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.

Today's Preaching Insight...

Heaven's Anything But Boring!
Heaven confuses many people. Some don't understand much about it. Others are convinced they know all they want to know and have decided they aren't interested. A lot of people think heaven sounds boring with a capital B!

Huck Finn said that he thought heaven was a place where a person would "go around all day long with a harp and sing, forever and ever." I have never heard any of you play the harp. I have heard some of you sing. With all due respect, I don't think much of the idea of spending forever listening to either. Undoubtedly it was this perspective that led Mark Twain to write on another occasion, "I'll take Heaven for the climate and Hell for the society."

A few years ago, the subject of heaven came up in a speech before the National Press Club by Ted Turner, the millionaire founder and former owner of CCN. Turner is sometimes not so affectionately called "the mouth of the South." I don't know the context. Perhaps someone had asked him about his ex-wife Jane Fonda's professed conversion to Christ. I suspect Turner spoke for a lot of people when he said, "Heaven is going to be a mighty slender place. And most of the people I know in life aren't going to be there. There are a few notable exceptions and I'll miss them . . . Heaven is perfect. Who wants to go to a place that's perfect? Boring. Boring."

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Today's Extra...

The 23rd Psalm for the Student

The Lord is my real instructor and I shall not want.

He gives me peace, when chaos is all around me.

He gently reminds me to pray before I speak and to do all things without murmuring and complaining.

He reminds me that He is my Salvation and not my school.

He restores my sanity every day and guides my decisions that I might honor Him in everything I do.

Even though I face absurd amounts of homework, quizzes, tests, unrealistic deadlines, shortages of funds, gossiping students, discriminating teachers and a sleep-deprived body that doesn't cooperate every morning, I will not stop--for He is with me!

His presence, His peace and His power will see me through.

He raises me up, even when they fail to give me good grades.

He claims me as His own, even when the class threatens to flunk me.

His faithfulness and love are better than any A+.

His eternal reward beats every degree there is.

When it's all said and done, I'll be working for Him a whole lot longer than I'll be in school (even when it doesn't feel like it) and for that, I bless His Name!

[Judy Harder]

Today's Word for Pastors...

Isaiah 66: 1

This is what the LORD says: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be?

Today's Preaching Insight...



Facts about Christian Fellowship


One of the most important and disturbing books of the last five or six years is entitled, Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam. The book is not about the sport of bowling, as much as it is about the fact that more and more people in American society are choosing to do more and more things alone. Bowling has always been the ultimate group activity. Whether you belong to a bowling league, or go bowling with a group of family or friends, bowling was always viewed as something that people did together. Sometimes you went bowling together for the sake of the competition, and sometimes you went bowling with a group simply for the sake of the companionship. But either way, people would go bowling as part of a group.

In Putnam's book, the premise is that we are losing our sense of community in America, and the ultimate proof of the fact is the things that more and more people are doing alone. Bowling is, in fact, only a metaphor for a wide range of activities. People go to the movies alone, as well as to restaurants, concerts, athletic events and even vacation. Some of this may be explained by the fact that a large number of adults are living as singles, and companionship is not always readily available. However, says Putnam, the more significant issue facing our society is that people cannot or will not sustain relationships over any length of time. As a result of that fact, more and more people spend more and more of their time "bowling alone."

(To read the rest of this article, click here visit the official website)

Today's Extra...



Illustration: Marriage, Forgiveness


On her golden wedding anniversary, a grandmother revealed the secret of her long and happy marriage. "On my wedding day, I decided to choose 10 of my husband's faults, which (for the sake of our marriage) I would overlook," she explained. A guest asked her to name some of the faults. "To tell the truth," she replied, "I never did get around to listing them; but whenever my husband did something that made me hopping mad, I would say to myself, 'Lucky for him that's one of the 10.'"

No one is perfect. So marriage is the union of two imperfect people, with their individual faults, bad habits and undesirable qualities. As Christians, marriage should be a place to practice grace. When you can look past the faults of your spouse and concentrate on encouraging them, you will find satisfaction and peace.]

[Judy Harder]

Today's Word for Pastors...

1 John 1:8-10
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

Today's Preaching Insight...



Transformed Hearts, Transformed Homes
The sermon begins in a traditional format, then switches into a first-person dramatic narrative format, and finally back to a traditional format for the conclusion.   The speaker did not use period costuming for the dramatic narrative portion of the sermon.  Platform positioning was utilized to indicate when the speaker was "in character."

A frustrated father was heard to quip, "By the time a man is old enough to recognize that his father was right, he has a son who thinks he is wrong."  Well, it is Father's Day again — it's time to honor that man we used to think was so wrong until we grew up and he suddenly got smart.



We chuckle at the joke, but to be honest the humor awakens a sense of uneasiness in us.  From deep within us, we feel that, among all the human relationships we experience in this life, there is something unique about the relationship of fathers and children.  There is something about it that runs very deep, that touches close to the very center of our lives.  When that relationship is good, it positively affects every other relationship in your life.  And when that relationship is bad, it hands you a heartload of pain that chips away at the joy you feel about the good parts of your life.  Such is the power of the father/child relationship in God's world.

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Today's Extra...



Illustration: Christian Life
Ben Kingsley starred as the main character in the motion picture Gandhi. He spent months preparing for the role, visiting the various Indian locales Gandhi had frequented. He even learned to spin cotton thread on a wooden wheel while holding conversations as Gandhi did. The physical resemblance between Gandhi and Kingsley was almost startling. After filming a scene in a village south of Delhi, Kingsley stepped out of a car, and an elderly peasant knelt to touch his feet. Embarrassed, Kingsley explained that he was merely an actor playing Gandhi. "We know," replied the villager, "but through you he will surely live again."


Let me ask you, "Does the Son of God live again through us? You see, that's also part of Jesus' prayer for us -- that the world will see Christ in us, through our unity and through our love.

[Judy Harder]

Today's Word for Pastors...

Psalms 118:24
This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Today's Preaching Insight...



What I Have Learned as a Dad and Husband
The Bible has much to say about family living. The more you get to know of the biblical characters, you discover how earthy and fallible they were. That in itself is encouraging, isn't it?

One of the most challenging verses in the Bible is 1 Timothy 5:8. It reads, "And whoever does not provide for relatives, and especially for family members, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." On more than one occasion, the Apostle Paul not only instructs us as to our family responsibilities, but he chides followers of Jesus whose performance in this area is at a lower standard than those of pagan men and women in the surrounding culture. How sad it is when we neglect to give a high quality provision, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, for our own family members.

As one father and husband, let me share several lessons I've learned in 67 years of living, 43 years of marriage and 40 years of parenting.

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Today's Extra...



The God of Small Treasures
"One day I was walking down the streets of a Montana city with a fellow preacher who had his 3-year old son along. As we walked the little boy looked down and saw a penny lying on the sidewalk. The child became so excited, he reached down and grabbed it. He could have been no happier if it were a thousand dollars.

"Daddy, Daddy," he cried. "Look what I found -- a penny!"

"His excitement fascinated me. I could not imagine getting so excited about so little. I ran my hand into my pocket and found I had a whole pocket full of change, mostly pennies. I hurried my step to walk just ahead of the child and for the next few moments I dropped pennies for the sheer joy of watching his excitement as he found them.

"Pennies buy so little that I didn't even feel any sense of sacrifice in what I was doing. But to the little boy the retrieval of every one of them was over and again erupting with joy.

"I doubt if I would even stop to pick up a penny, and yet that which was not to be treasured by me was clearly celebrated by the child. I have been overwhelmed time and again by what seems to be God's sense of wonder. Treasuring the seemingly worthless is somehow like our God."