A few years ago in Roanoke, Virginia, I heard a local news report about the struggles of a local eating establishment.  Apparently, some patrons saw mice scurrying around the restaurant in Ratatouille fashion.  Health inspectors condemned the eatery, but soon cleared it to reopen.  Strangely, the patrons were not flocking back to dine there.  Go figure.  The owner was interviewed, reassuring the TV audience that it was as safe and clean a place as could be in which to eat.  He likened it to what happens in the wake of an airplane crash.  People stop flying that carrier, though inspections and safety procedures done internally after the crash actually increases safety.  That could be, I guess.  But, I didn’t blame Mr. and Mrs. Consumer.  Rats on the floor and downed airliners get your attention.  You tend to remember the details.

Consider a few names:  Woody Hayes, Gary Hart, John Rocker, Steve Bartman. Milli Vanilli, Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder, George Custer, Mark Sanford, and Dan Quayle (and his “potatoe” spelling feat).  All of these folks except Custer lived beyond their infamous moments, but they are best known for their moment of notoriety.  They may have tried to “exterminate the rats” and “inspect the fleet,” but it did not matter.  They neutralized their influence and in some cases polarized themselves through their comments or actions.  In most cases, these individuals are associated with some gaffe, misbehavior, or foolish choice.

We may not be able to foresee the consequences of our actions when we do them, nor can we choose what the consequences will be.  In dimmer spotlights, average people have harmed their influence for Christ through a few moments of intemperance, dishonesty, rashness, volatility, immorality, or thoughtlessness.  A careless word may permanently alienate us from another.  A moment of indiscretion can cling to us throughout the rest of our lives.  An expression of outrage toward a clerk, store employee, or like professional may keep a soul from Calvary.  May we never lose sight of the power of our influence.  It is powerful, but fragile.  It is eternal, but that can be good or bad depending on how we use it.  If we lose our handle on it, it will drop and shatter.  We can try to clean up, but the stains and remnants may still be visible.  Let us cherish a good name and maintain proper influence.  Without them, we make our job as Christians very difficult.

He said to them, “but who do you say that I am?” and Simon Peter answered and said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

And Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

In an old Andy Griffith Show episode, little Opie is trying to pick out a birthday present for Aunt Bea.  He can’t decide between the baseball cap or the salt and pepper shaker.

We’ve all done it haven’t we?  Given something to someone based on the fact that we like it or would want it for ourselves?  In that kind of giving, emphasis is placed on the giver, not the recipient.  It turns the whole “giving” concept on its ear.

We see the inappropriateness of it among ourselves, why can’t we see it with God?

Micah poses the question of what we should give to God.  Should it be burnt offerings, thousands of rams and rivers of oil, even my own child as a sacrifice for my sin? (Micah 6:6-7).  Some or all of these may sound like appropriate, sacrificial or meaningful offerings to God.  Maybe there are even others.  But the answer is, “No.”

It doesn’t matter how “good” I think the gift is.  Rather, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).

It should be obvious, but apparently it isn’t; the question is not what do I want or what would I like to give, or what do I think God should receive from me.  Instead, it is what has God says that He does want.

It’s all that matters.

This video is The Dismantling of America's Christian Heritage by Dave Miller, Ph.D., of Apologetics Press.  This, Session Five of "The Silencing of God" seminar, spotlights the two premiere moral issues confronting American civilization - issues that will inevitably elicit divine retribution and spell the demise of the Republic. Practical solutions are then offered in hopes of averting national disaster.

Earlier this week, I told you about a song I learned when I was a kid, a song called “The Whippoorwill Song.”  Now let me tell you about another song I learned as a kid.  The song is called “Pass it on,” and it seems especially appropriate to talk about it at this time of year, since the song talks a lot about spring.  Here are the lyrics:

Isn’t that a great song?  It reminds me of a man in the Bible who experienced God’s love.  He was a man who was possessed by demons.  The Bible says that, “This man lived in the caves, and no one could tie him up, not even with a chain. Many times people had used chains to tie the man’s hands and feet, but he always broke them off. No one was strong enough to control him. Day and night he would wander around the burial caves and on the hills, screaming and cutting himself with stones” (Mark 5:3-5 NCV).  Sounds like a terrible life, doesn’t it?

Well this man met Jesus.  Jesus then cast the demons out of the man, and sent them into some pigs.  The pigs then rushed down a lake and drowned.  The Bible says, “The men who had the work of caring for the pigs ran away. They ran to the town and to the farms and told everyone what happened. The people went out to see. They came to Jesus, and they saw the man who had the many evil spirits. He was sitting down and was wearing clothes. He was in his right mind again” (Mark 5:14-15 ERV).

And then the story ends like this: “Jesus was preparing to leave in the boat. The man who was now free from the demons begged to go with him. But Jesus did not allow the man to go. He said, ‘Go home to your family and friends. Tell them about all that the Lord did for you. Tell them how the Lord was good to you.’  So the man left and told the people in the Ten Towns about the great things Jesus did for him. Everyone was amazed” (Mark 5:18-19 ERV).

Notice that this man had experienced the Lord’s love, and now he wanted to pass it on.  I can just imagine him telling his family and friends: “I wish for you, my friend, this happiness that I've found.  You can depend on Him.  It matters not where your bound.  I'll shout it from the mountain tops.  I want the world to know—the Lord of love has come to me.  I want to pass it on.”

And what about you and me?  We should also obey the words that Jesus spoke to this man:  “Go home to your family and friends. Tell them about all that the Lord did for you. Tell them how the Lord was good to you.”  After all, the Lord has been good to us as well, hasn’t He?  So pass it on!