Here is how it often goes…
“I want to be sure I get what I’m entitled to.”
“What is rightfully mine I expect will be given to me.”
“I’ve already participated and that is my limit.”
How nice it would be if you heard (or said) this…
“I want to be sure and give my fair share.”
“Don’t leave me off the list of folks you ask to help.”
“It wouldn’t be right if I didn’t get called on to carry part of the load.”
What a wonderful world it would be if when we heard the words “my share” we knew the meaning as ‘my share to provide’ not ‘my share to receive’.
Let me do my share in God’s Kingdom.
Tim Gramly
Education Pastor
SHBC
December 31, 2008
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Overheard
One of my great joys in life is to bump into someone who is up to unadvertised good. They are just doing the right thing for the right reasons and aren’t requiring an audience for the motivation to act charitably. Aren’t those fun discoveries?!?
If you stumbled upon me jabbering away with a friend and happen along just in time to overhear me talking about your bride, what would you want to hear said? Wouldn’t you want me to express a series of complimentary impressions?
Each time you express your opinion about your church or some other congregation within His Kingdom, your words are overheard. And human ears are not always those most attentive. I am confident Jesus knows every word we speak about His bride, the Church. He smiles with each admiring statement related to His precious sweetheart.
Say nice things. There’s plenty good to be said.
Tim Gramly
Education Pastor
SHBC
December 23, 2008
If you stumbled upon me jabbering away with a friend and happen along just in time to overhear me talking about your bride, what would you want to hear said? Wouldn’t you want me to express a series of complimentary impressions?
Each time you express your opinion about your church or some other congregation within His Kingdom, your words are overheard. And human ears are not always those most attentive. I am confident Jesus knows every word we speak about His bride, the Church. He smiles with each admiring statement related to His precious sweetheart.
Say nice things. There’s plenty good to be said.
Tim Gramly
Education Pastor
SHBC
December 23, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Option Five
I know this lady who is death to dust. You ask her what is on her ‘to do’ list and on any given day it might be to dust some room in the house. Me, notsomuch. If it is dusty, let it rest in peace. When you next need it, pick it up, turn it upside down and knock the incriminating evidence to the floor (where you can remove it the next time you are sucking dirt out of the carpet with your vacuum.)
Whenever your glance at an object reveals an extra fine layer of grime coating the top, you arrive at one of a very few conclusions. Option One: Tim is in charge of dusting here. Option Two: No one is in charge of dusting here. Option Three: The person in charge of dusting here is not on the job. Option Four: This object would have been dusted if it had been in recent use.
When you spy a powdery cover on a Bible, which option does you mind go to? Okay, after Option One. Yes, Option Four: There would not be dust on this surface if The Book were seeing any use.
Recently I pick up a dusty Bible. And it is true that it had been on my shelf for several months with little attention. But here is where the story takes a twist. I have other Bibles that I use with regular frequency; this just wasn’t one of them.
This particular Bible is the one I kept in my work locker when I was spending my fifty hours a week in the fabrication shop. It was in use five days a week. With the hanger-size doors constantly open to the graveled part dirt part crushed rock parking lot, it is not difficult to imagine how dusty that environment was. To be in use there was to be a dusty Bible.
Now, if you judged this Book by its cover, you could easily determine that it was unused, unloved, unappreciated. If you judged its owner by its cover, you might conclude that he had little interest in the esteemed value of its contents. Not true!
I am very good at seeing what I see and making up my mind about what I’ve seen quite quickly. Although first impressions can be lasting impressions, they may not always be valid impressions, because they may not be accurate impressions. I’ve seen some books with dusty covers that were entirely unused. I know some people whose dusty surfaces belie an active faith and a compassionate heart dominated by the things of God. Judging them based on their appearance would mean passing over a prized possession of God.
In the same way you wouldn’t want to miss the contents of my Book because of its outward appearance, you won’t want to miss out on people God is placing in your path solely because of your initial perceptions gained from what you see on top.
Once having made you initial survey and arriving at the place where you have but a very few available conclusions, entertain “Option Five: This object requires further exploration before arriving at an accurate conclusion.” Please apply Option Five routinely when assessing the people you meet.
Tim Gramly
Education Pastor
SHBC
December 9, 2008
Whenever your glance at an object reveals an extra fine layer of grime coating the top, you arrive at one of a very few conclusions. Option One: Tim is in charge of dusting here. Option Two: No one is in charge of dusting here. Option Three: The person in charge of dusting here is not on the job. Option Four: This object would have been dusted if it had been in recent use.
When you spy a powdery cover on a Bible, which option does you mind go to? Okay, after Option One. Yes, Option Four: There would not be dust on this surface if The Book were seeing any use.
Recently I pick up a dusty Bible. And it is true that it had been on my shelf for several months with little attention. But here is where the story takes a twist. I have other Bibles that I use with regular frequency; this just wasn’t one of them.
This particular Bible is the one I kept in my work locker when I was spending my fifty hours a week in the fabrication shop. It was in use five days a week. With the hanger-size doors constantly open to the graveled part dirt part crushed rock parking lot, it is not difficult to imagine how dusty that environment was. To be in use there was to be a dusty Bible.
Now, if you judged this Book by its cover, you could easily determine that it was unused, unloved, unappreciated. If you judged its owner by its cover, you might conclude that he had little interest in the esteemed value of its contents. Not true!
I am very good at seeing what I see and making up my mind about what I’ve seen quite quickly. Although first impressions can be lasting impressions, they may not always be valid impressions, because they may not be accurate impressions. I’ve seen some books with dusty covers that were entirely unused. I know some people whose dusty surfaces belie an active faith and a compassionate heart dominated by the things of God. Judging them based on their appearance would mean passing over a prized possession of God.
In the same way you wouldn’t want to miss the contents of my Book because of its outward appearance, you won’t want to miss out on people God is placing in your path solely because of your initial perceptions gained from what you see on top.
Once having made you initial survey and arriving at the place where you have but a very few available conclusions, entertain “Option Five: This object requires further exploration before arriving at an accurate conclusion.” Please apply Option Five routinely when assessing the people you meet.
Tim Gramly
Education Pastor
SHBC
December 9, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Penny Wise
Attractive wrapper, major brand, conveniently placed at the aisle’s end, big retailer, product I needed; it had it all going, so I bought the load of bread. It did look a liiiittle bit dark, but I ignored that initial impression because I wanted to. No way it could be on the shelf and not be edible. The dark crust was just a different baking technique…it was sure to be quite tasty.
Wrong.
The loaf of bread went home with me, sat on my shelf a few days, and then I ate a slice. It was dry! But hey, I paid good money for that bread, so later on I ate some more. And had a sandwich with a couple more slices a few days later. Fresh sawdust would have been moister!
And here is the sad part. While I am force feeding myself this over cooked and unappealing product, I have another loaf of bread in the house. It is not dry, it is being passed over, perfectly good bread, large multi-grain loaf, aging unattended and unenjoyed while I am eating an unacceptable and unattractive item that belongs in the garbage!
Wrong.
I woke up slow that week. But I did wake up. I tossed the inferior bread in the trash. And the first slice of the fresh loaf tasted soooo gooood!
Do I do this in other areas of my life? Do we? I think so. We have better options already on the shelf, available with minimal effort, and we keep on munching on something else simply because we have made some previous small investment in it.
Wrong.
I am thinking about habits of thought and attitude. We are used to approaching the situation a certain way. Deviation isn’t required, but a small change would really make a big difference. Do we keep eating from the first loaf or do we toss it away for a new one?
So much of what Jesus offers in my relationship with him is currently on the shelf. It is not a huge endeavor to make the switch, but I will have to make the choice and give up on the old stuff. I truly should make a clean break with the old and replace it with the new. Chewing on a slice from the dry loaf and the moist loaf at the same time would be
Wrong.
Tim Gramly
Education Pastor
SHBC
December 2, 2008
Wrong.
The loaf of bread went home with me, sat on my shelf a few days, and then I ate a slice. It was dry! But hey, I paid good money for that bread, so later on I ate some more. And had a sandwich with a couple more slices a few days later. Fresh sawdust would have been moister!
And here is the sad part. While I am force feeding myself this over cooked and unappealing product, I have another loaf of bread in the house. It is not dry, it is being passed over, perfectly good bread, large multi-grain loaf, aging unattended and unenjoyed while I am eating an unacceptable and unattractive item that belongs in the garbage!
Wrong.
I woke up slow that week. But I did wake up. I tossed the inferior bread in the trash. And the first slice of the fresh loaf tasted soooo gooood!
Do I do this in other areas of my life? Do we? I think so. We have better options already on the shelf, available with minimal effort, and we keep on munching on something else simply because we have made some previous small investment in it.
Wrong.
I am thinking about habits of thought and attitude. We are used to approaching the situation a certain way. Deviation isn’t required, but a small change would really make a big difference. Do we keep eating from the first loaf or do we toss it away for a new one?
So much of what Jesus offers in my relationship with him is currently on the shelf. It is not a huge endeavor to make the switch, but I will have to make the choice and give up on the old stuff. I truly should make a clean break with the old and replace it with the new. Chewing on a slice from the dry loaf and the moist loaf at the same time would be
Wrong.
Tim Gramly
Education Pastor
SHBC
December 2, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
While Smiling Across Dinner
Speculate with me. If you surveyed a hundred adults as to why they brush their teeth, what do you think the most common answer would be? My guess is that ninety out of a hundred would first reply, “For fresh breath” or “To maintain a pretty smile.” I would further speculate less than ten percent would say, “For good health.”
Now let’s give our poll results some additional thought. If your teeth look or smell first-rate all the while falling out of your head, how long will it be before oral hygiene ascends in priority? If we enjoyed healthy teeth and gums, doesn’t it seem likely that possession would ease the task of acquiring fresh breath and shiny, white teeth?
How much of life do we approach this same way? We want to appear solid, we want to come off in an inoffensive way, but we aren’t really much worried about the substantive issues that lie below the surface of our lives. The appeal of our personhood should be deeper; the reality of who we are should exceed this shallow allure.
Cosmetics don’t make the woman and clothes don’t make the man. Eventually the heart shines through, even surrounded by a surface focused social climate like ours. So while viewing smiles across the dinner table this Thanksgiving, consider what those smiles tell you about core values, priorities of the soul, and the way we rank what matters most.
Tim Gramly
Education Pastor
SHBC
November 25, 2008
Now let’s give our poll results some additional thought. If your teeth look or smell first-rate all the while falling out of your head, how long will it be before oral hygiene ascends in priority? If we enjoyed healthy teeth and gums, doesn’t it seem likely that possession would ease the task of acquiring fresh breath and shiny, white teeth?
How much of life do we approach this same way? We want to appear solid, we want to come off in an inoffensive way, but we aren’t really much worried about the substantive issues that lie below the surface of our lives. The appeal of our personhood should be deeper; the reality of who we are should exceed this shallow allure.
Cosmetics don’t make the woman and clothes don’t make the man. Eventually the heart shines through, even surrounded by a surface focused social climate like ours. So while viewing smiles across the dinner table this Thanksgiving, consider what those smiles tell you about core values, priorities of the soul, and the way we rank what matters most.
Tim Gramly
Education Pastor
SHBC
November 25, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
The “K” List
There is more, but we will settle for one sentence:
“Often, the one with nothing else to desire is far worse off than the one who has little but his or her dreams, because our … illusions are free of the weigh and the worry of dreams realized.” *
Hmmmm. For the man or woman who has everything and doesn’t know what to do next, I have a suggestion. Get more stuff!
Actually, I want to add a qualifier for the kind of things I am advising you to acquire. Kingdom stuff. Too many people in our communities have it all and now have no goal, no new ambition. What should they do with their lives? Go after Kingdom stuff.
This caution first: make sure you acknowledge before you begin this pursuing spiritual objectives will require some significant sacrifice. Know this up front and consider its implications.
To deepen your personal acquaintance with God daily, to converse with individuals over spiritual values, to find an obscure place of service and routinely fill it, to lift a hurting saint simply for the thrill of seeing their healing, to press the Kingdom agenda doing leg work for a church ministry. Now that is a list of Kingdom stuff to go after! When you attain too much of this, let me know.
Tim Gramly
Education Pastor
SHBC
November 18, 2008
* Page 33, Wisdom At Work, Boa and Burnett, NavPress, 2002.
“Often, the one with nothing else to desire is far worse off than the one who has little but his or her dreams, because our … illusions are free of the weigh and the worry of dreams realized.” *
Hmmmm. For the man or woman who has everything and doesn’t know what to do next, I have a suggestion. Get more stuff!
Actually, I want to add a qualifier for the kind of things I am advising you to acquire. Kingdom stuff. Too many people in our communities have it all and now have no goal, no new ambition. What should they do with their lives? Go after Kingdom stuff.
This caution first: make sure you acknowledge before you begin this pursuing spiritual objectives will require some significant sacrifice. Know this up front and consider its implications.
To deepen your personal acquaintance with God daily, to converse with individuals over spiritual values, to find an obscure place of service and routinely fill it, to lift a hurting saint simply for the thrill of seeing their healing, to press the Kingdom agenda doing leg work for a church ministry. Now that is a list of Kingdom stuff to go after! When you attain too much of this, let me know.
Tim Gramly
Education Pastor
SHBC
November 18, 2008
* Page 33, Wisdom At Work, Boa and Burnett, NavPress, 2002.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Coffee Brown Lines
Four years ago this fall, I was new to the pecan harvest. Surrounding my home back then was a yard with five pecan trees. Noting several nuts fallen to the ground with their green husks still attached, I tried prying these coverings off with my thumb nails. This practice usually ended in the discovery of a wormy nut and the further staining of my nails, but rarely did I uncover a nut worth keeping.
Routinely I attempted to wash the brown discoloration from my finger tips. Just as routinely, I was unsuccessful. A month later I still had two coffee brown lines mid-way up my nails. Only as they grew longer and following repeated trimming did the marks eventually disappear.
Sin is like that. Sometimes the sin is long ago committed and properly cleansed, but the full impact, though diminished, is still evident. It is easy to tell ourselves in that moment, “This will go away,” when reality is that only as time goes on will the stain be removed.
I wonder if we viewed sin from the stain end back to the act if we would sin so often and so freely. I wonder. Wrong, as surely as right, leaves its mark.
Tim Gramly
Education Pastor
SHBC
November 12, 2008
Routinely I attempted to wash the brown discoloration from my finger tips. Just as routinely, I was unsuccessful. A month later I still had two coffee brown lines mid-way up my nails. Only as they grew longer and following repeated trimming did the marks eventually disappear.
Sin is like that. Sometimes the sin is long ago committed and properly cleansed, but the full impact, though diminished, is still evident. It is easy to tell ourselves in that moment, “This will go away,” when reality is that only as time goes on will the stain be removed.
I wonder if we viewed sin from the stain end back to the act if we would sin so often and so freely. I wonder. Wrong, as surely as right, leaves its mark.
Tim Gramly
Education Pastor
SHBC
November 12, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Dirty Bottoms
Many a safety conscious Baptist has never washed the bottoms of their feet while standing in the shower. It just isn’t prudent to do so. That tub floor can be tricky when perched on a single limb.
What if I knew a secret that would allow you to both avoid broken bones and have clean feet? Would you be interested?
If you fix your eye on the spot where two lines of grout between the tiles cross and hold that stare, you can stand on one foot while washing the other. A visual or tactile point of reference it the key to staying on balance.
There are many similar moments in life when maintaining contact with a defined point of reference is the safe way to stay clean. Less subtly, the holy scriptures are an exceptional resource for anyone who desires to live a life of godly orientation.
Tim Gramly
Education Pastor
SHBC
November 4, 2008
What if I knew a secret that would allow you to both avoid broken bones and have clean feet? Would you be interested?
If you fix your eye on the spot where two lines of grout between the tiles cross and hold that stare, you can stand on one foot while washing the other. A visual or tactile point of reference it the key to staying on balance.
There are many similar moments in life when maintaining contact with a defined point of reference is the safe way to stay clean. Less subtly, the holy scriptures are an exceptional resource for anyone who desires to live a life of godly orientation.
Tim Gramly
Education Pastor
SHBC
November 4, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Compost
Each year I mow my fallen leaves into my lawn, happy to have a way to dispose of them while gaining something in the process. My yard will be greener next summer with the integration of this season’s cast offs.
For years, back in the old days before mulching mowers became the norm, we bagged lawn clippings and fall leaves, set them at the curb, and sent them in exile to the landfill. Now we’ve reverted to the old practice of turning the nutrients back to the soil. The latest fashion retreats to what was formerly out of fashion.
God is ahead of the curve on this one. The Divine Gardener has long been an advocate of reworking what was once worthwhile into what will soon prove valuable. If we will just allow it.
What is falling off of you, old and spent, lifeless, dry? Social patterns, hobbies, attitudes, interests, friendships, passions and causes? What might The Lord be ready to do some distant day, having worked into the soil of your soul a preparedness for tomorrow’s regreening season, having pressed back into your soul once valued, once discarded items?
What you are shedding now may, if kept within the yard of your spiritual journey, be useful in support of His new initiative in you, in your acquaintance with His ways and His will for you. Careful what you discard beyond the Gardener’s reach. Some brown and curled leaf may soon push up spring’s lively emerald blade.
Tim Gramly
Education Pastor
SHBC
October 28, 2008
For years, back in the old days before mulching mowers became the norm, we bagged lawn clippings and fall leaves, set them at the curb, and sent them in exile to the landfill. Now we’ve reverted to the old practice of turning the nutrients back to the soil. The latest fashion retreats to what was formerly out of fashion.
God is ahead of the curve on this one. The Divine Gardener has long been an advocate of reworking what was once worthwhile into what will soon prove valuable. If we will just allow it.
What is falling off of you, old and spent, lifeless, dry? Social patterns, hobbies, attitudes, interests, friendships, passions and causes? What might The Lord be ready to do some distant day, having worked into the soil of your soul a preparedness for tomorrow’s regreening season, having pressed back into your soul once valued, once discarded items?
What you are shedding now may, if kept within the yard of your spiritual journey, be useful in support of His new initiative in you, in your acquaintance with His ways and His will for you. Careful what you discard beyond the Gardener’s reach. Some brown and curled leaf may soon push up spring’s lively emerald blade.
Tim Gramly
Education Pastor
SHBC
October 28, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
In the Wrong Place
I am so used to thinking of The Parable of the Lost Sheep as part of the cycle of stories in Luke 15 that to see it in Matthew 18 was a bit of a stunner. I didn’t know that was there too! The nuances are instructive.
Luke uses this story up next to the parables about lost coin and lost sons. Matthew doesn’t. As a matter of fact, Matthew has an entirely different series in which he inserts this narrative block. Though both of these perceptive saints contemplated the same illustrative tale, neither felt compelled to use it as his fellow Gospel writer did.
When our hearts listen to God’s affirmation in Luke’s telling of the lost ones, you and I have little trouble sensing the value of the individual to The Father. That is exactly the point.
With Matthew there is a different message intended. The needs of the individual are front and center. He answers, “What guidance can be offered the needy individual?’
What do I walk away from this with? One fine example of how God uses each precious one of us to communicate uniquely to her/his audience what God has spoken to them personally. It is another biblical truth stated elsewhere in Scripture that God is at work in me to accomplish His purpose in a one-of-a-kind way. Isn’t His plan magnificent!
Tim Gramly
Education Pastor
SHBC
October 21, 2008
Luke uses this story up next to the parables about lost coin and lost sons. Matthew doesn’t. As a matter of fact, Matthew has an entirely different series in which he inserts this narrative block. Though both of these perceptive saints contemplated the same illustrative tale, neither felt compelled to use it as his fellow Gospel writer did.
When our hearts listen to God’s affirmation in Luke’s telling of the lost ones, you and I have little trouble sensing the value of the individual to The Father. That is exactly the point.
With Matthew there is a different message intended. The needs of the individual are front and center. He answers, “What guidance can be offered the needy individual?’
What do I walk away from this with? One fine example of how God uses each precious one of us to communicate uniquely to her/his audience what God has spoken to them personally. It is another biblical truth stated elsewhere in Scripture that God is at work in me to accomplish His purpose in a one-of-a-kind way. Isn’t His plan magnificent!
Tim Gramly
Education Pastor
SHBC
October 21, 2008
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