Parable

I have a few friends who are good youth ministers that are looking for youth ministry jobs. They are all coming to it from different perspectives and situations, but if you know of someone who is looking, please let me know.

Kevin Rayner
Highland Church of Christ
Tecumseh, OK
otchurch@hotmail.com

THE HEART OF THE LORD’S PRAYER

Hallowed be Thy name....The PRAISE of God
Thy kingdom come....The PURPOSE of God
Thy will be done....The PLAN of God
Give us bread....The PROVISION of God
Forgive us our debts....The PARDON of God
Lead us not into temptation....The POWER of God
Deliver us from the evil one....The PROTECTION of God

--Elmer L. Towns

"Love Letters in the White House"

Did you know that former President Harry Truman was a dyed-in-the-wool romantic? He pursued his wife, Bess, for many years before she agreed to marry him. He first asked her in 1911 and they were finally married in 1919. But once he married her, Mr. Truman continued to romance his wife. When he was away from her, he wrote love letters. And when Bess Truman died in the early 1980s, more than 1,200 letters from her husband were discovered in her home. Harry never stopped courting Bess.

—Rick Atchley

Great Link

The Trouble Tree.

or
http://www.thetroubletreemovie.com/

Kevin
My Podcast
http://raynerresources.mypodcast.com/

The Wolf

Radio personality Paul Harvey tells the story of how an Eskimo kills a wolf. The account is grisly, yet it offers fresh insight into the consuming, self-destructive nature of sin.

"First, the Eskimo coats his knife blade with animal blood and allows it to freeze. Then he adds another layer of blood, and another, until the blade is completely concealed by frozen blood.

"Next, the hunter fixes his knife in the ground with the blade up. When a wolf follows his sensitive nose to the source of the scent and discovers the bait, he licks it, tasting the fresh frozen blood. He begins to lick faster, more and more vigorously, lapping the blade until the keen edge is bare. Feverishly now, harder and harder the wolf licks the blade in the arctic night.

So great becomes his craving for blood that the wolf does not notice the razor-sharp sting of the naked blade on his own tongue, nor does he recognize the instant at which his insatiable thirst is being satisfied by his OWN warm blood. His carnivorous appetite just craves more--until the dawn finds him dead in the snow!"

It is a fearful thing that people can be "consumed by their own lusts." Only God's grace keeps us from the wolf's fate.

I have planted churches since 1979. Other than the obvious scriptural items, the next thing in planting churches for me has been deciding on unique names and logo. Picture say a thousand words. Slogans speak volumes too.

A unique and distinctive name or symbol helps you establish recognition. What distinctive traits do people see in you—and remember you by? This tells a great deal about who you are trying to serve.

The Eastman Kodak company calls its name one of its most valuable assets. How did the Kodak name come into being? According to George Eastman, the company’s founder, he purposely invented the unique name out of thin air. In a 1920s article from System Magazine, Eastman is quoted as saying, “I devised the name myself the letter K had been a favorite with me. It seemed a strong, incisive sort of letter.... It became a question of trying out a number of combinations of letters that made words starting and ending with K.” The word Kodak was devised after a considerable search for a word that would be short, unique, easy to spell, and meet requirements of the trademark law. Eastman wrote, “There is, you know, commercial value in having a peculiar name; it cannot be imitated or counterfeited.”

Kodak was first registered as a trademark in 1888. The first Kodak camera sold for $25 and came loaded with film for 100 exposures. Owners would return the entire camera for processing, and for $10 it was filled with a new roll of film. The pictures were of good quality, and the easy-to-use camera brought photography to the masses. Since that time, the Kodak name has served the company well. Because “Kodak” had no meaning of its own, it could only be associated with the company. It was also almost impossible to misspell. Now registered in ninety countries, the Kodak name has become a trademark that is unique and distinctive.

Jesus never named His church, it was always referred to in words that described. Maybe it is more important to be people like Christ. Adlai E. Stevenson (1900-1965) said, "All progress has resulted from people who took unpopular positions."

You think about it!


Kevin Rayner
Tecumseh, OK
http://hcoct.org/minister.html


One other note from Jim Winner: Kevin, thank you for your service. I wonder if you hear that often?

I am writing out of a small since of desperation. I preach south of you, in the southern most part of the Chicago area. I have been here a little over a year.

I know you may get more requests than you have the ability to fill. My wife's name is Jamie. Jamie will be turning 40 on her birthday. I had always planned to make it a special one for her. She made a big deal out of my 40th birthday seven years ago, and the wheels of genius never stopped as I planned to outdo her. Unfortunately, last December she had her first (right) hip replacement. Since then, and for months before, she has been disabled. She goes into the hospital to have her left hip replaced on the 25th of August. That is her birthday.

I know she would be moved if people would shower her with birthday cards. Most people have no idea what it is like to have a hip replaced at her age, let alone both of them. A little encouragement will go a long way, especially with someone like Jamie.

I am sure your notes go out to many people who know Jamie, through one of the church works we have been involved in, or through our time at Sunset.

It should be sent to her attention, (Jamie Winner) at Cherry Hill Church of Christ, 2759 Lancaster Drive. Joliet, Illinois, 60433. I will take the cards to her at the hospital.


Thank you, Jim Winner