NOVEMBER 2006
Turning
Conversation To Talk About Jesus
“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of
every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace.” Colossians 4:5,6a
Sharing Jesus with others is our
mission on earth, but many of us find it difficult to make the transition from
ordinary conversation to talking about things that matter eternally. We can
start by asking questions to learn what people are thinking, feeling, and
believing.
Ask about ….
• Religious background or experience.
• Pivotal life matters: job change, marriage or family issues, health concerns,
etc.
• Accomplishments and successes, disappointments and letdowns.
• “Hot” topics of the day that have an impact on society.
Communication is a two-way process. We listen and we speak.
Starting a conversation that leads from everyday life to eternal life requires
the skill of listening. Listen to people describe their feelings and fears,
their problems and opinions. This may lead you to opportunities to talk about
Jesus.
Listen actively
• Give feedback: “I see.”
“Good point!” “Yes, that’s
important.”
• Draw out people’s thinking and reasoning. When they make a
strong point, respond by saying, “That’s interesting. What makes you say that?”
With this question you clarify issues and learn more about people. By patiently
and intently listening, you foster respect and trust so that people are more
inclined to listen to you when you turn the conversation to spiritual matters.
• Take note of statements that you can use to bridge the
conversation to a spiritual discussion. Listening discovers doors for
witnessing. These are the spiritual questions and interests people have, their
problems to which law and gospel can be applied.
Talk about the Savior
After a time of asking and listening, you may say, “May I share
with you what I think…what I believe?”
Then talk to them about Jesus and apply truths of God’s Word to some of
the specific issues that you have learned about them in your conversations.
Sodium is an extremely active
element found naturally only in combined form; it always links itself to
another element. Chlorine, on the other hand, is the poisonous gas that gives
bleach its offensive odor. When sodium and chlorine are combined, the result is
sodium chloride.
What is sodium chloride? Salt. Common table salt. The
substance we use to preserve meat and bring out its flavor.
Love and truth can be like
sodium and chlorine. Love without truth is flighty, sometimes blind, willing to
combine with various doctrines. On the other hand, truth by itself can be
offensive, sometimes even poisonous. Spoken without love, it can turn people
away from the Gospel.
When truth and love are
combined in an individual or a church, however, then we have what Jesus called
"the salt of the earth," and we're able to preserve and bring out the
beauty of our faith.
There once was a woman who woke up one
morning, looked in the mirror, and noticed she had only three hairs on her
head. "Well," she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today."
So she did and she had a wonderful day.
The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that she
had only two hairs on her head. "Hmm," she said, "I think I'll
part my hair down the middle today." So she did and she had a grand day.
The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that
she had only one hair on her head. "Well," she said, "Today I'm
going to wear my hair in a pony tail." So she did and she had a fun, fun
day.
The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that
there wasn't a single hair on her head. "Yeah" she exclaimed, "I
don't have to fix my hair today!"
Attitude is everything!
Be kind to the people you meet.
Everyone is fighting some kind of battle.
A journalist once asked Carl
Sandburg, "What is the ugliest word in the English language?" After a
few minutes Sandburg replied, "Exclusive."
The ugliness of exclusive depends upon whether we are among the
included or the excluded. We pride ourselves on being members of exclusive
clubs, living in exclusive neighborhoods, dining at exclusive restaurants,
vacationing at exclusive resorts, belonging to exclusive churches.
Being an insider carries with
it a sense of pride and security.
Most of us, however, have
been excluded often enough to agree that exclusive is an ugly word. When we are
among the marginalized, the rejected, the pushed-aside or the left-out, it
hurts!
In 1939, a coast guard vessel
was cruising the Canadian Arctic when the men spotted
a polar bear stranded on an ice floe. It was quite a novelty for the seamen,
who threw the bear salami, peanut butter, and chocolate bars. Then they ran out
of the food.
Unfortunately, the polar bear
hadn't run out of appetite, so he proceeded to board their vessel.
The men on ship were
terrified and opened the fire hoses on the bear. The polar bear loved it and
raised his paws in the air to get the water under his armpits. We don't know
how they did it, but eventually they forced the polar bear to return to his ice
pad--but not before teaching these seamen a horrifying lesson about feeding
polar bears.
Some people make the same
mistake with sin that these sailors nearly made with the polar bear. They begin
feeding it--a little at a time without thinking through the consequences.
"It says something about
our times," writes Willard D. Ferrell, "that we rarely use the word
SINFUL except to describe a really good dessert."
Everybody wants to be somebody. Since
the dawn of history, human beings have been trying to move up the scale of
importance.
The clincher used by the serpent to tempt Adam and Eve was
"when you eat of [the tree of good and evil], your eyes will be opened,
and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Gen. 3:5).
Henri Nouwen says that ever since
then, we have been tempted to replace love with power. "The long painful
history of the church is the history of people ever and again tempted to choose
power over love, control over the cross, being a leader over being led."
This is a theme running through the Bible, through human history
and through our own psyche.
A well-dressed European woman was on
safari in
With disdain the woman
remarked, "Why, I wouldn't do that for all the money in the world!"
The nurse quietly replied, "Neither would I."
Unamuno, the Spanish philosopher, tells about the Roman aqueduct at
Then came another generation, a recent one, who said,
"This aqueduct is so great a marvel that it ought to be preserved for our
children, as a museum piece. We shall relieve
it of its centuries-long labor."
They did. They laid modern iron pipes. They gave the ancient
bricks and mortar a reverent rest. And what happened to the aqueduct? It began
to fall apart. The sun beating on the dry mortar caused it to crumble. The
bricks and stone sagged and threatened to fall.
What ages of service could not destroy idleness disintegrated.
During the American Revolution a man
in civilian clothes rode past a group of soldiers repairing a small defensive
barrier. Their leader was shouting instructions, but making no attempt to help
them. Asked why by the rider, he retorted with great dignity, "Sir, I am a
corporal!"
The stranger apologized,
dismounted, and proceeded to help the exhausted soldiers. The job done, he
turned to the corporal and said, "Corporal, next time you have a job like
this and not enough men to do it, go to your commander-in-chief, and I will
come and help you again." With that George Washington got back on his
horse and rode off.
"Do nothing from
selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard
one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own
personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in
yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus..."
Michael Hargrove tells about a scene
at an airport that literally changed his life. He was picking up a friend. He noticed a man coming toward him carrying
two light bags. The man stopped right next to Hargrove to greet his
family. The man motioned to his youngest
son (maybe six years old) as he laid down his bags. They hugged and Hargrove
heard the father say, “It’s so good to see you, son. I missed you so
much!” “Me, too, Dad!” said the son.
The oldest son (maybe nine or ten) was next. “You’re already
quite the young man. I love you very much, Zach!”
Then he turned to their little girl (perhaps one or one-and-a-half).
He kissed her and held her close. He handed his daughter to his oldest son and
declared, “I’ve saved the best for last!” and preceded
to give his wife a long, passionate kiss.
“I love you so much!” He said to his wife softly.
Hargrove interrupted this idyllic scene to ask, “Wow! How long have you two been
married?”
“Been married for twelve years,” the man replied, as he gazed
into his wife’s face.
“Well then, how long
have you been away?”
The man turned
around and said, “Two whole days!” Hargrove was stunned. “I hope my marriage is still that passionate
after twelve years!”
The man stopped
smiling and said, “Don’t hope, friend… decide!”
And that’s it, isn’t
it? For most of us it comes down to a decision. “Till death us
do part.”
That is still the
ideal that Jesus gives us.
Dr. Paul Popenoe,
the famous marriage counselor, was talking to a young husband who had been
openly critical of his wife. Dr. Popenoe was explaining
how two become one in marriage. In a smart reply the husband said, “Yes, but
which one?” The counselor said, “A little of each.”
Then he went on to explain that in marriage you have to develop
“we-psychology”...and to think of yourself in terms of a pair rather than as an
individual.
What happens when two become one in a real marriage? Some think
that it reduces your individuality. Too often one party or the other seems to
be saying: “Alright - we two shall become one...and I AM the one!”
Obviously, such a marriage is headed for trouble. Ideally, when
“two become one” it means that each one is doubled, but not duplicated. You
still retain your individual identity, but you add to yourself the identity of
the other, and the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts. “For
this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh.” (Mark 10:7)
A wise person once said:
“A marriage consists of one master, one mistress, and two slaves; making, in
total, one.”
That may be strange arithmetic, but it is good theology.
A mouse looked through the crack in
the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. What food might this
contain?" The mouse wondered - he was devastated to discover it was a
mousetrap.
Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning:
There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said,
"Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no
consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it."
The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a
mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The pig
sympathized, but said, I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I
can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers."
The mouse turned to the cow and said "There is a mousetrap
in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The cow said, "Wow,
Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose."
So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to
face the farmer's mousetrap alone.
That very night a sound was heard throughout the house -- like
the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see
what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose
tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed
her to the hospital and she returned home with a fever.
Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the
farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient.
But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came
to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.
The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. So many people
came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow
slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.
The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with
great sadness.
So, the next time you hear someone is
facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you, remember -- when one of us
is threatened, we are all at risk.
We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an
eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.
received via email
One pastor tells about
listening to his father tell a story about a neighbor whose barn had burned
down. The entire community gathered to help rebuild it. His father and some other
men were told to saw the rafters. They first cut a rafter and then traced
around it with a pencil and cut another one. They based the third rafter on the
second the fourth on the third and so on.
What they didn't take into
account was the width of the pencil mark. Each rafter was one pencil mark wider
than the one before.
After a while, this can add
up to quite a difference. By lunchtime they looked at the barn and discovered
it was going up at a very strange angle because they had deviated from the original
standard.
Do you not sense that our
barn is a little askew today, too?
Missionary Terry Schultz,
We could hardly wait to get on the
river. The dry season had gone on longer than usual, and it was now 3
months since our last deep jungle visit. We didn’t know if the small
rivers would be passable, so we threw a peke-peke
into our rented outboard boat for added insurance (that egg beater-like motor
for use in extremely shallow water).
We headed out at
Our main objective this trip was to visit our native Lutheran
day school in Nueva Barranquita.
We were to pick up Maravi and Eloy
on the way past Parinari. However, with even
the smaller rivers higher than expected, we made good time. We passed Parinari two hours earlier than usual. Eloy was there but not Maravi.
Eloy told us to go on ahead, that he and Maravi would walk the two hour jungle trail to Nueva Barranquita and meet us
there. Off we went.
In Nueva Barranquita
we were greeted by the two teachers, Melchor and Pepe Jose, and all the fabulous children. Several
adults, (mostly moms as the dads were in their fields) also stopped in.
What pure joy to hear the children singing songs to Jesus! I launched
into a sermon on Jesus’ defeat of the devil (the all-time favorite topic)
including how Jesus made a public spectacle of the defeated evil spirits
(Colossians
Less than 30 minutes
later, who should arrive at the school but Eloy’s
wife and Maravi’s daughter, Patricia.
She had walked the two-hour jungle trail alone while the men went on
ahead. How tough is this little 90 pound 16 year old? Patricia
walked the two hours in 100+ degree heat, carrying her one-month-old baby girl
in her arms! She had a white towel draped over her head that also covered
the baby. Patricia didn’t even look all that tired! She had come to
Barranquita just to spend some time with us and hear
our Gospel message!
After our informal
service and many praise songs by the children in both the Chayahuita
and Spanish languages, it was time for lunch. All the kids and adults
seemed strangely overexcited to hustle us over to Pepe Jose’s house for the traditional communal meal.
They must have killed an exceptionally tasty animal I thought, (monkey,
anteater, armadillo) on their hunt the night before a visit. Last trip it
was that delicious wild boar soup.
However, as we approached Pepe’s
house, I detected the most horrendous, putrid, meat-rotting odor I had ever
smelled in the village. (I nearly lost my beef jerky breakfast!)
How bad did it smell? Let me put it this way: It smelled worse than
buckets and buckets of dead frogs. Then again, right there in the cooking
area of Pepe’s house stood… buckets and buckets of
dead black frogs.
Close by, on a makeshift raised platform made of old boards and
tree branches, hundreds of cut and cleaned frogs (that sounds so much nicer
than saying “gutted”) had been spread out to dry in the blazing hot sun.
Yet another plastic bowl contained an earlier batch of sun dried frogs,
completely stiff and flat as frisbees.
And, last but not least, there over the cooking fire I spotted our extra
special lunch:
Over a dozen, stiff, leggy, dehydrated frogs, stacked to the top
of a medium-size uncovered pot were being boiled, along with hard chunks of
bananas, in dark river water. I couldn’t bear to watch: The frogs
boiled till they softened and then, like spaghetti noodles, collapsed and
slowly slid from view into the gurgling, frothy banana broth. And as Pepe’s wife began to ladle out the black frog and green
banana stew, (little black flippers hanging over the side of my bowl), the tale
of it all was told by the excited natives, - the story I have come to
call: “The Night of a Thousand Frogs.”
It happens only one night out of the whole year. The ancient
ones in the village can tell you in the morning the night that the
extraordinary event will happen. (O.k., it’s not that hard to figure
out: It occurs in early spring the first time there are two consecutive
nights of hard rain.) In special parts of the jungle, hundreds and
hundreds of a certain black frog come down from the huge rainforest
trees. They have but one goal in mind: To find an inviting puddle
on the jungle floor in which to lay their eggs. Literally thousands and
thousands of frogs, raising a tremendous deep-throated racket, leave the safety
of the high tree branches that one special night in search of a suitable
puddle. The frogs never realize that as they hit the ground, they are
about to encounter dozens of natives with sharp, pointy sticks.
To say the natives go into a frog-gathering frenzy is hardly
overstating it. They’ve waited all year for this. Adults, along
with first-timer youths take part in the exciting community event. (The jungle
is too dangerous at night to bring the children out.) Since childhood,
everyone has grown up loving the taste of fresh amphibian! Yet, it comes
only once a year. It’s very special, like Thanksgiving Day turkey (except
it’s a black frog, - not much stuffing and very little frog gravy).
Remember, these natives sometimes go for weeks and weeks without finding any
meat. The highly anticipated night of the frogs is one of the true
highlights of their year.
To understand it more easily, think of it this way: What
if, on one extraordinary night each year, down at your city park strange tasty
snacks fell by the hundreds from the trees. You and the neighbors would
come out at
And so it is with the natives. On the Night of a Thousand
Frogs, teens grab and poke away with abandon, racking up dozens and dozens of
frogs, under the approving eyes of Mom and Dad. The dads teach their kids
to simply grab a frog in a deadly chokehold (instant, painless) then slide the
frog down their stick. Even some seniors go out to grab, choke, and poke
a few frogs for old time’s sake.
Now, nobody knows exactly how many black frogs croaked that
night in Barranquita. But, with each family
racking up hundreds, it easily reached over a thousand. When it was
finally over, the natives marched back home in triumph, exhausted, exhilarated,
brandishing frog kabobs the size of yardsticks.
You may be wondering, how does a little
village of about 50 natives eat hundreds and hundreds of frogs? I once read
that in the
Ronal and I would never insult our dear native brothers and
sisters and refuse to eat a boiled frog lunch with them. I fished a frog
out of my bowlful, and carefully nibbled away on a leg, right down to the
toothpick-size bone that was green as a blade of wet grass. Talk about
fresh! It tasted terrific! The banana chunks however, tasted like
they had been marinated in swamp water. All in all, our “Amazon Women’s
Guild” had indeed served the visiting pastors a delicious luncheon.
On to a different topic of supreme
importance: At the earliest opportunity that day, (after our school
service and before lunch) Ronal and I spoke with Maravi.
You many recall last month’s story of the Apu-shaman
of
By now,
Maravi had been
extremely anxious to get back to
Which brings us back to the question of Maravi returning to
Ronal and I were not
aware of any of this until last week. Maravi
had gone ahead and, against the pleadings of our Parinari
and Barranquita brothers and sisters, set out for
Maravi did visit
Maravi risked it
all for the Lord, even put his life on the line. Then
again, Maravi knows what Jesus did for him. Jesus
came to earth and gave His life for Maravi. He
gave His life for every one of us. Jesus expects us to answer His call to
serve. Out here in the jungle, there is a real sense of the spiritual war
going on for these precious isolated native communities. The devil has
snatched away the jungle natives for untold generations. Jesus wants
these children as His own. He bought them with His blood! Maravi answered the call to go and proclaim the Gospel,
regardless of the risk to his life. The Holy Spirit empowered him.
God bless our mighty Amazon brother. The man truly went “marching on to
war.”
Our Sunday Morning Bible Classes will
shift focus in November to a study of Christian doctrine.
Each week will include a video presentation entitled
“Communicating Christ Today,” a 2006 production of WELS Kingdom Workers.
Join Rev. Richard Warnecke and other
religious scholars as the Christian faith, as revealed in the Bible, is
presented in a series of educational, informative, and entertaining episodes.
Several people have asked that a study of Biblical doctrine be
offered to the congregation. Here it is!
We hope that all our adult members, visitors, and friends, will
stay the extra 70 minutes and attend Bible class. It is held each Sunday morning from
Do come!
All Small Group Bible Studies are up
and running. Surely there is one just
for you! Please attend one this week if
you are not yet a part of any group.
Classes include:
“Cross-Eyed Warriors”
“Beautiful Feet”
“More Than Rubies”
“God For Us”
“Explorers of the Word”
“Women in the Word”
You are invited – and urged – to join
with others in the Fireside Room before worship each Sunday morning as we pray
for our church’s ministry, our members, and other requests. Bring your prayer requests or simply join
us! "And pray in the Spirit on
all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests," Ephesians
Professor Mark Paustian
of
Professor Paustian will talk about how
to use Gospel narratives to communicate with people, and how a Christian should
understand a person before trying to communicate with him or her.
Paustian is the author of two books on narrative witnessing, Prepared
to Answer, and More Prepared to Answer.
Born in
Hours and times of speaking:
Friday evening (Nov. 3)
”Listening Skills”
(includes time for discussion, questions and snacks)
Saturday (November 4)
”Gospel Narrative Witnessing”
(includes time for questions, followed by lunch at
Sunday (November 5)
Sunday (November 5)
”Biblical Encouragement”
(questions and answers – followed by a potluck dinner)
Do join us! There is no
charge, but a freewill offering will be taken to help cover our expenses.
Mt. Olive Altar Guild welcomes Elsa
Thompson as its newest member. More
members are welcome. The service the Altar Guild offers out of love to the Lord
and to our congregation is invaluable.
We do need more help. Please
speak with Pastor Henkel or one of the Guild members, and consider joining the
Altar Guild. Thank you!
A reminder: Please sign the Friendship
Register in your pew each Sunday morning.
Greet those sitting near you, in front of you, and behind you.
If you attend the Lord’s Supper, please check the appropriate
box in the Friendship Register.
(Note: The Lord’s Supper is celebrated at the altar and
communion rail on the first Sunday of each month (both common cup and
individual cup), and down at the front pew on the third Sunday of each month
(individual cup only).
Thanksgiving dinner at
In addition to much help needed in preparing the meal, this is
also an outreach event. Invite and bring
your friends who may not have a church home or who may have become distant from
church.
And last but not least, this is an opportunity to fellowship with our Chinese brothers and sisters
and enjoy their company.
Do plan to attend! Contact Jane Murray to volunteer.
The Cantabile Singers will be singing
here at
Mark Sauer from
The Cantabile Singers is a chamber choral ensemble with a
mission to “sing praises to the Lord with joyful enthusiasm and sincere
reverence, and thus serve the Lord through music.”
The congregation is
cordially invited to attend
the wedding service
of
Keri Henkel and Kevin Stifter
on Saturday,
at
A cake reception for
Keri and Kevin
will be held after
church
the following Sunday,
November 26,
in the fellowship
hall
beginning at
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures
forever.
~Psalm 106:1
November is a busy month for us all.
The children will sing for the
The children will also sing for the Thanksgiving Eve service on
November 22nd. This is a
This month we will be finishing our study of Abraham and going
to the New Testament for the story of the birth of Christ. We will stay with
the New Testament for the rest of the year.
Sunday School Christmas practice will begin the first Saturday
in December. Please mark this on your calendars and plan for your child to be
available for all 3 practices which will start at
Please continue to check your children's folders for memory work
and the lesson studied each week. We need your help with memory work. Please
review this during the week.
The staff and I wish you all a most blessed Thanksgiving.
Are you faced with decisions that are
difficult to make? Do you lose sleep over the stresses of life and the daily
grind? Are you worried about your children and the pressures facing them
everyday? Well, have we have a Bible study for you!!
INDECISION/CERTAINTY is the Bible
study that Women in the Word will consider on November 30th.
All women of the congre-gation and
their friends are invited to come for this study which meets ONCE A MONTH for
an hour.
Please join us as we study together to find answers in God's
Word.
A review of the financial status for
the year through the end of September is very positive. Seeing the expenses are more than the income
you may well doubt that statement. The
fact is we are current with both our synod commitment and our support of
The budget for 2007 will be presented at the Congregational
Assembly on November 19th at
One final note on the finances is that $4,475.63 was donated
during the 12 days of the State Fair.
That was about the same as last year despite two days of heavy rain in
the afternoon and evening. Thrivent matched $1,300 of that amount. The $1,300 is put in the Parking Lot Repair
Fund which now has about $7,000.00