The Melheimian Sabbatiblog

Family Friendly Church Policy

How about this resolution for your next month's council meeting:

WHEREAS the most important, vital and long-lasting ministry any church leader can accomplish happens under their own roof with their own families and,

WHEREAS caring conversations, scripture, prayer and blessing "every night in every home" forms the core of our spiritual nurture and faith incubation at this church,

BE IT RESOLVED that all official church meetings at this church shall not be allowed to continue past 8:30 pm.

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Advice for the Price of Coffee

The cheapest thing you can ask of anyone is advice.

The most valuable thing you can ask of anyone is advice.

What’s it worth? In the words of Saladin the Great at the close of the movie Kingdom of Heaven:

Nothing.

And everything.

Most people are honored to give you their advice. If you come to them transparently with no hidden agenda or ulterior motives, honestly seeking their insights on a problem, asking them privately and personally for their help, most of them will give it to you.

Ask them if you can simply buy them a cup of coffee in return for 20 minutes of picking their brains.

The results? You can receive world-class insights from brilliant people in any field you need. And asking them in a way they can readily say “yes,” you’ll also receive their good will, creative energies, and maybe even a connection with their own personal network of other like-minded world-class folks. By risking asking, you may just open up a treasure trove of assets, wisdom and connections.

Not a bad return on investment for a cup of java.

Swimming with Dolphins

Imagine you had just been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Imagine being told you had only one week to live. How would you spend your last days on earth? What would you want to do that you normally wouldn’t even consider? Would you go parasailing? Sky diving? Bungie jumping? Nascar racing? Swimming with dolphins? Who would you want to see? Where would you want to go? Think about waking up each morning. Would you jump out of bed with urgency to experience every minute of your remaining time? Or would you pull the covers back over your head and think “why bother?” Would you eat, drink, and be merry, trying to live to each moment to the fullest? Or would you find some small chapel on a hillside and sit alone in prayer and thought? If you had only 168 hours left, would the people who annoy you still annoy you? Or would you smile at them, forgive them, and bless them on their way? Would you try to take a quick revenge on those who have done you wrong? Or would you let their insults roll off your back like rain on a Scotch Guard umbrella and forgive them? Would you visit the people whom you had wronged (a la “My Name is Earl”) and try to make amends? Would you invest a single minute of that remaining time watching television and playing video games? Or would you try to watch sunsets, play the game of life to the max, and give yourself to others in ways that would be remembered? Would you give away your favorite possessions to those you loved? Would you hand out all your money to the homeless on the street? Or would you quickly blow it all on lottery tickets, electronic gear, and toys? Would you say “I love you” or “Jesus loves you” to everyone you met? Or would you talk about the weather, sports and the last season of American Idol? Would you sleep your life away or wake and never close your eyes? Would you video tape your life’s story to give the world something to remember? Or would you watch someone else’s video? Would you dance? Would you laugh? Would you cry? Would you sing? Would you love? Maybe you would no longer spend time on anything that didn’t ultimately matter. Maybe you would only invest those fleeting hours in things that would outlast you. Things that mattered. Family. Friends. Love. God. Giving. Maybe you would finally learn to live before you died.

Stewardship Quotations X

Here's an idea: Send this list of my favorite stewardship quotations to each family in your church, ask them to choose one, then tell them you'll be inviting them to tell you what it means during worship  this week. Print them in the bulletin or post them on the sanctuary walls. Then create an impromptu interview during the announcements to talk about stewardship with your people.

91. 

 Sympathy is two hearts tugging at the same load.

92.  What is stewardship? An act of worship. A life response to what God has done for us.

93.  Good stewardship preaching is not encouraging people to give it all way to prove their love or gain love. Good stewardship preaching is helping people recognize what has been given first to them.

94. Love isn’t love until it does the work of love - which is to do loving acts when the other doesn't deserve it. - M. Scott Peck

95. Tithing - is a jumping off point.

96. Historical perspective of tithing - did not imply that the other 90% is your own but what you have been given to perform your vocation - 100% of what you have is God’s - the 10% went to the temple -

Tony Campolo

97. A coach said, I don’t expect you to give more than 100 percent of what you’ve got! That’s what God expects of us 100 percent of our treasure.

98.  A little leaven and a little lovin’ - that’s the life of a Christian

99. The great green god money; I hate it. I’m not pursuing money, it’s pursuing me. - Danny Thomas

100. According to the latest Nielsen Ratings, American teenagers are spending 27 hours and 53 minutes a week watching television. If they simply tithed a tenth of their television hours and spend 2.8 hours a week in Christly service, we could change the country. If their parents would join them, we could change the world. - Rich Melheim

101. 

Prosperity is only an instrument to be used, not a deity to be worshipped. - Calvin Coolidge

Stewardship Quotations IX

Here's an idea: Send this list of my favorite stewardship quotations to each family in your church, ask them to choose one, then tell them you'll be inviting them to tell you what it means during worship sometime this summer. Print them in the bulletin for the next weeks or post them on the sanctuary walls. Then create an impromptu interview during the announcements from now until your stewardship campaign kicks in this fall. Each Monday this summer I'll be posting 10 more for your use.

81. Training a child to follow Christ is easy for parents- all they have to do is lead the way.

82. You train a child until age ten. After that, you only influence them.

83.  Train your child in the way you now know you should have gone yourself.

84.  Even the beggar who lives on alms should himself bestow alms. - Babylonian Talmud

85. Serving God is doing good to all, but praying is thought an easier service and therefore more generally chosen. - Benjamin Franklin

86. When you cease to make a contribution you begin to die. - Eleanor Roosevelt

87. Every great achievement is the story of a flaming heart. - Harry S. Truman

88. If you haven’t got any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble. - Bob Hope

89. A heart enlarged by sympathy has never yet killed anyone.

90. What the church needs today is more calloused hands and fewer calloused hearts.

 

Stewardship Quotations VIII

Here's an idea: Send this list of my favorite stewardship quotations to each family in your church, ask them to choose one, then tell them you'll be inviting them to tell you what it means during worship sometime this summer. Print them in the bulletin for the next weeks or post them on the sanctuary walls. Then create an impromptu interview during the announcements from now until your stewardship campaign kicks in this fall. Each Monday this summer I'll be posting 10 more for your use.

71. Carve out the future or whittle away the time.

72. Those who give only when they are asked have waited too long.

73. Give not from the top of your purse but from the bottom of your heart

74. You can give without loving, but you can’t love without giving.

75. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.

76.  The heart is happiest when it beats for others

77.  People take heart when you give them yours.

78.  The offering is a church function in which many people take only a passing interest.

79.  A Christian is a mind through which Christ thinks, a heart through which Christ loves, a voice through which Christ speaks, a hand through which Christ helps.

80. To feel compassion for the needy is not the mark of a Christian - to help them is.

 

Stewardship Quotations VII

Here's an idea: Send this list of my favorite stewardship quotations to each family in your church, ask them to choose one, then tell them you'll be inviting them to tell you what it means during worship sometime this summer. Print them in the bulletin for the next weeks or post them on the sanctuary walls. Then create an impromptu interview during the announcements from now until your stewardship campaign kicks in this fall. Each Monday this summer I'll be posting 10 more for your use.

61. The bittersweet tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone. - Harriet Beecher Stowe

62. Remember you have only one soul, only one death, only one life. If you do this, there will be many things about which you care nothing. - Teresa of

Avila

63. The real fear is not death -- it is the fear of wasting life

64. The Bible tells us very clearly that to "know" God is not an affair of the mind only, but an act in which our whole being -- heart, mind, and will -- is vitally engaged. - Suzanne de Dirich

65. Here is the truly Christian life, here is faith really working by love: when a man applies himself with joy and love to the works of that freest servitude, in which he serves others voluntarily and for naught; himself abundantly satisfied in the fullness and richness of his own faith. - Martin Luther

66. A lot of people are willing to give God the credit, but not too many are willing to give God the cash.

67. Life is tragic for those who have plenty to live on and nothing to live for.

68. It isn’t what you have in your pocket that makes you thankful, but what you have in your heart.

69. Money is like an arm or leg - use it or loose it. - Henry Ford

70. By the time you know what it’s all about, it’s about over.

 

Stewardship Quotations VI

Here's an idea: Send this list of my favorite stewardship quotations to each family in your church, ask them to choose one, then tell them you'll be inviting them to tell you what it means during worship sometime this summer. Print them in the bulletin for the next weeks or post them on the sanctuary walls. Then create an impromptu interview during the announcements from now until your stewardship campaign kicks in this fall. Each Monday this summer I'll be posting 10 more for your use.

51. The only gift is a portion of thyself. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

52. We are building many splendid churches in this country, but we are not providing leaders to run them. I would rather have a wooden church with a splendid parson, than a splendid church with a wooden parson. - Samuel Smith Drury

53. The world will belong to passionate, driven leaders people who not only have an enormous amount of energy but who can energize those whom they lead. - Jack Welch

54. No one can understand Christianity to its depths who comes to it to enjoy it as a pleasant weekend diversion. - W. Waldo Beach

55. No one is dead as long as they are remembered by someone.

56. When we die we leave behind us all that we have and take with us all that we are.

57.  A single rose for the living is better than a costly wreath at the grave.

58.  That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet. - Emily Dickinson

59. This is the joy of the rose: that it blooms and goes. - Willa Cather

60. I’m not going to die, I’m going home like a shooting star. - Sojourner Truth

 

Stewardship Quotations V

Here's an idea: Send this list of my favorite stewardship quotations to each family in your church, ask them to choose one, then tell them you'll be inviting them to tell you what it means during worship sometime this summer. Print them in the bulletin for the next  weeks or post them on the sanctuary walls. Then create an impromptu interview during the announcements from now until your stewardship campaign kicks in this fall. Each Monday this summer I'll be posting 10 more for your use.

41. The noblest service comes form nameless hands, And the best servant does their work unseen. - Oliver Wendell Holmes

42. Service is nothing but love in work clothes.

43. Christians seeking social justice have a special responsibility. Much more is required than the bringing of aid to people who are homeless and in need, and contributing to their support. There are real dangers to be faced. It must never be allowed to appear that charity is dispensed to the unfortunate by superior beings. Much greater care must be taken to identify the giver with those whom he comes to serve. - A. C. MacInnes

44. If prayer leads us into a deeper unity with the compassionate Christ, it will always give rise to concrete acts of service. And if concrete acts of service do indeed lead us to a deeper solidarity with the poor, the hungry, the sick, the dying, and the oppressed, they will always give rise to prayer. In prayer we meet Christ, and in him all human suffering. In service we meet people, and in them the suffering Christ. - Henri J. M. Nouwen

45. It is the fellowship of the Cross to experience the burden of the other. If one does not experience it, the fellowship he belongs to is not Christian. If any member refuses to bear that burden, he denies the law of Christ. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

46. Here is the truly Christian life, here is faith really working by love: when a man applies himself with joy and love to the works of that freest servitude, in which he serves others voluntarily and for naught; himself abundantly satisfied in the fullness and richness of his own faith. - Martin Luther

47. Give me a stout heart to bear my own burdens. Give me a willing heart to bear the burdens of others. Give me a believing heart to cast all burdens upon Thee, O Lord. - John Baillie

48. If the church neglects its own local community in its pell-mell rush to get to the ends of the earth, then it has probably romanticized the Great Commission. - Seth Barnes

49. We must not only give what we have; we must also give what we are. - Desire-Joseph Cardinal Mercier

50. To love is to give one’s time. We never give the impression that we care when we are in a hurry. - Paul Tournier