"I will...if you will"

Thanksgiving is a great time of the year to express your gratitude by sharing your time, talents and energy for others that are less fortunate. 

This year, myself and 3 others from Northminster joined the team of volunteers at the City Rescue Mission in their efforts to put on the food drive. 

Getting ready for the food drive is a major undertaking as we started out the day with hundreds of Banana boxes filled with all kinds of non-perishable food.  After separating the food, we spent the next days packing "baskets" according to the number of people in each person's family.  

At the end of the first day, I remember thinking to myself, "Anthony, you are getting old" because my back and knees were killing me! 

(Anthony Kladitis volunteering for the City Rescue Mission's Thanksgiving food drive at the Sankey Center)

But those thoughts soon dissipated this past Tuesday morning as car after car pulled up to receive their gifts.  Even though it was cold and rainy most of the day and a ton of work was required to complete the project, seeing all the families lined up ready to receive the gift of food made it all worth it!

As a Christian, a pastor and a leader, I firmly believe that "faith without works is dead" (James 2:26).  For this reason I am always on the lookout for ways to put my faith to work.  I do this to keep my head out of the clouds and my feet on the ground right where they belong...making a difference in the lives of others.

(Left to right:  Phil Behr, Anthony Kladitis, Matthew Pruitt)

Just recently I read a short story that made an impact on me because of the volunteer work that I have recently been involved in.  It goes as follows:

  A pastor saw a beggar amidst the crowd at a Christian conference he was attending. He felt compassion for him and prayed to God, “Lord, please touch him!” Immediately he felt the Lord speak to his heart,

                                                                             "I will, if you will.”

It dawned on me that many of us are like that pastor.  We easily recognize the need(s) of others, have a desire to help, but simply offer up a prayer instead of actually putting our faith in action and helping. 

So as this holiday season approaches, you just might see someone in need of help and decide that God needs to touch them-Remember that He will.

--As long as you will first-

Breaking News: God NOT allowed in Church???

The story goes that a public sinner was excommunicated and forbidden entry to the church. 

He took his woes to God, "They won't let me in, Lord, because I am a sinner."

"What are you complaining about?" said God.
"They won't let me in either."

-Sadly, this story is often the case today.
Too frequently we bar up our churches from the people that make us uncomfortable or challenge us.  We gather together in the "Name of our Lord" in our comfy little worlds called the church and then go home forgetting all about our spirituality until the next Sunday rolls around.  

This is a far cry from our roots. 
I often use the phrase "I am just trying to follow the Leader" when others take intrigue to my walk of faith.  Following the Leader forces me to look at the Biblical Jesus and by the grace of God try to mirror Him on this earth.  And when I do that, I have to realize that Jesus was famous for sitting down and breaking bread with anyone who wanted to be present. Including outcasts, rebels and the down-and-outs. 

I have been thinking about this a lot lately due to the present day condition of the church resembling more of a country club instead of a group of people trying to follow the Leader.  Rejecting others has many consequences but who would have thought that one of them would be baring God from coming to church?   

So today, I am not going to let you off easy. 
Here is a question to ponder:



Is the way Jesus lived His life a far cry from the way YOU are living your life?    

"You fools and blind men!

Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold?

-Matthew 23:17-

Funny Friday's: Let's Get together BEFORE Thanksgiving...

Sad.
But True.

A Note for all Teachers

I have taught in high school for ten years. During that time I have given assignments,


among others, to a murderer, an evangelist, a pugilist, a thief, and an imbecile.

The murderer was a quiet little boy who sat on the front seat and regarded me with pale

blue eyes; the evangelist, easily the most popular boy in school, had the lead in the

Junior play; the pugilist lounged by the window and let loose at intervals a raucous

laugh that startled even the geraniums; the thief was a gay-hearted Lothario with a song

on his lips; and the imbecile , a soft eyed little animal seeking the shadows.

The murderer awaits death in the state penitentiary, the evangelist has lain a year now in

the village churchyard; the pugilist lost an eye in a brawl in Hong Kong, the thief

standing on tiptoe, can see the windows of my room from the county jail; and the once

gentle-eyed little moron beats his head against a padded wall in the state asylum.

All these pupils once sat in my room, sat and looked at me gravely across worn-down

desks. I must have been a great help to those pupils - I taught them the rhyming scheme

of the Elizabethan sonnet and how to diagram a complex sentence
- Naomi J. White.

(*Quoted from Student Teaching, 1940).

-------

Teacher,

How many times this may have happened in your classroom is unknown. 

---So take the time to go beyond reading, writing and 'rithmatic. 

-Lives and Destinies hang in the balance-

Priorities: 1st things 1st