Recently in Monday Morning Encouragement Category

I have come to believe that failure in the season of conflict--failure to deal with it, failure to learn from it, failure to move beyond it--prevents entrance into a new season of joy. For that reason alone, I have tried to handle conflict in the best possible way.

I have been engaged in a study of the second half of Paul's letter to the Ephesians, and, not surprisingly, the themes from that letter have been resonating in my mind over the past few weeks. I have been struck by Paul's emphasis on the importance of love and unity in the local church. On the one hand it's kind of obvious--we need to love the Christians around us--but on the other hand, the personal implications are profound. I've always known that God calls me to love the people I covenant with in my local church, but until now I haven't been quite so aware of the danger of falling out of love.

I fall prey to this temptation when the greatest day of my life is the day I become President, not the day my organization made great progress forward. I am the victim of this temptation when it is more important for me to be President than it is for my organization to change to meet the needs of a changing world. The drive has been to get ahead, to succeed, so, now that I'm here, I've succeeded and I need to do everything I can to stay here.

These words from Ray Stedman in the foreword to Stephen F. Olford's booklet, Preaching the Word of God, should fill us with both hope and alarm. In recognizing the majestic possibilities that can occur when this divine tool is used properly, we can approach our pulpits with awe and anticipation that God will make a difference in the lives of those who fear His Word proclaimed. But we are also left with the disappointing reality that, all too often, too many of us do not grasp this Sword with both hands and wield it with skill.