by Steven Wright

I have always wanted to be somebody great. Not just good, but great! I thought about being a great baseball player - they make lots of money and are very popular. They are on TV and you read about them in newspapers and magazines. Everybody likes to see and watch them. But it doesn't last long, and people soon forget about you.

Or, I could become a politician. Everyone wants to be your friend and you are always receiving honors. You have a lot of power to do things for people. And, most politicians are wealthy when they retire. But, it seems very hard to be honest, with everyone wanting you to "do something" for them.

Maybe the best approach is to do like Jesus - become great by not trying to become great. That's it, I'll just use the talents God has given me and be like Jesus. In Mark 10:45 we learn that "Jesus came not to be served but to serve." If we are going to be like Him, we must have His attitude about service and be a servant to others. I will be a servant! If you want to be great, I can tell you how. Matthew 20:26 states that to be great, you must become a servant.

After Joshua had led the children of Israel into the promised land, he told them to "choose you this day whom you will serve.... but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15). I think this is what Jesus would want me to do.

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus teaches many things that will identify a servant, and He makes a promise to all who serve. For example, "blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy." The Good Samaritan was a servant to a stranger and showed mercy to him. Jesus said that we should "go and do likewise" (Luke 10:36,37).

John tells about Jesus washing the feet of his disciples in John 13:4-17. Jesus tells us that we should follow this example. To follow Jesus, we should serve with gentleness, kindness and humbleness. It is hard to be like that today when it seems like everyone is concerned only able himself - but Jesus expects us to be concerned for others.

Can we as servants have any influence in the world today? Yes. In Matthew 5, Jesus said "You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world." This makes it personal. Salt and light in these verses stand for our influence on others. It is my responsibility to see that my salt does not lose its worth and my light is not hidden. For my influence to be effective I need to be serving others. Serving is not a sign of weakness but of courage and obedience.

Our service is measured by how well we serve, not how big the service is. In Hebrews 6:10 we see that God will not forget our works of love. Little things can begin a life of service - a card to an elderly person, a phone call to the lonely, a visit to the nursing home or just a hug to encourage. For example, in Matthew 10:42 we learn that if you "give just a cup of cold water you shall not lose your reward."

If we are followers of Christ, we are "His hands". If Christ is to help the poor, it must be by our hands. If he is to take care of the sick, it must be by our hands. If he is to help those who are lonely, it must be by our hands. Do you see anything that Christ needs to do today? Remember the song: "Christ has no hands but our hands to do his work today."

I want to be great at something that prepares me for eternity. Being a great ball player or politician counts only while I am living. Being a great servant prepares me to meet God in heaven and to hear him say "well done".

I intend to be like Joshua and serve the Lord. What about you? What do you want to do with your life?

Editor's Note: Steven Wright is a young Christian man who is a participant in the Lads to Leaders program in the Austinville Church of Christ in Decatur, AL, USA. Courtesy of The Voice of Truth International, Vol 41, Pages 77,78.

by Phil Sanders

Some people lament that the days of miracles ceased and that all we have today is just the Bible. Unfortunately, some think the power of God is limited to miracles. They don't realize how truly powerful God's word is. Here are some things God's Word does in our lives today:

1. It gives understanding (Psalm 119:130). "The unfolding of Thy words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple."

2. It gives life (John 6:63). "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life."

3. It cleanses us (John 15:3). "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you."

4. It sanctifies us (John 17:17). "Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth."

5. It purifies the obedient and causes them to be born again (1 Peter 1:22,23). "Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God."

6. It has the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16). "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."

We need to have great love for the Word of God, to read it, to study it, to meditate on it, and to share it. The Word is most powerful when it is heard and obeyed.

by J. Randal Matheny

At the office, the colleague just turns around and walks off when invited to church.

After the sermon, the whole church files out without a word of compliment to the preacher.

The special series of gospel lessons ends without a single response.

No results. Not a good feeling. The lack of results leaves us deflated, discouraged, or depressed.

Like the lady who called my wife yesterday to cancel our third Bible study. Somehow, we sensed a certain finality to the cancellation.

Man was created by a God who spoke "and it was so." The Lord always fulfills what he intends. My word, says God, "will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it" (Isaiah 55:11, NIV).

So we are not wrong to want and look for results. In fact, God wants results from our labors. He calls them "fruit."

But not every effort will be crowned with success. Not all preaching pricks the heart. Not all teaching makes converts or convicts of sin or lifts the fallen.

Has some flaw in the process or some failure on our part caused the lack of results?

We may indeed fail in many ways, but no results also is part of God's big picture.

After decades of preaching, righteous Noah saved only seven others -- his immediate family.

God told Jeremiah, before the prophet preached his first sermon, that the people would not listen.

Jesus instructed his disciples to shake the dust off their feet in cities where the message would not be well received.

No results has long been part and parcel of the righteous' experience.

In the midst of no results, God still will make his word effective. "My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please" (Isaiah 46:10). Even the stubborn-hearted will not delay his salvation (v. 11). In spite of rejection, the divine light will not dim.

So when my search for souls turns up no results, I need not get glum. I do need to remember to be faithful myself and to keep speaking the Word. Because somebody, somewhere, will heed the call of God and show the success of the gospel.

To his glory and honor.

By Emmett Smith

On Thursday, the United States Senate passed H.R. 1997, also known as "Laci and Conner's Law" (for Laci Peterson and her unborn child). The official title of the measure was, "To amend title 18, United States Code, and the Uniform Code of Military Justice to protect unborn children from assault and murder, and for other purposes.". The measure passed 61 to 38. How could 38 Senators vote against a bill whose purpose was to "protect unborn children"?

I had intended to post a link to the Senate's official web site where the votes are tabulated, but sometime between now and yesterday morning that link has become inactive. Fortunately, I printed a hard copy yesterday. Those who voted against this bill were:

Akaka, Baucus, Bayh, Biden, Boxer, Byrd, Cantwell, Chafee, Clinton, Corzine, Dodd, Durbin, Edwards, Feingold, Feinstein, Graham, Harkin, Hollings, Inouye, Jeffords, Johnson, Kennedy, Kerry, Kohl, Lautenberg, Leahy, Levin, Lieberman, Lincoln, Mikulski, Murray, Nelson, Reed, Sarbanes, Schumer, Snowe, Stabenow, and Wyden.

Only one Senator, Gregg, did not vote. So if your Senator is not named herein, he or she voted for the bill.

Ms. Feinstein had introduced an alternate bill that would have imposed harsher penalties on criminals whose actions harmed an unborn child, but would not have specifically referred to the fetus as human. She was quoted as follows, "This will be the first strike against all abortion in the United States of America…That's where this debate is taking us…That's the reason for this bill.". May God grant that she was correct about that!

Kate Michelman, president of Naral Pro-Choice America said, "...the president's allies are taking advantage of this issue to further their campaign to oppose a woman's right to choose.". Choose what, Ms. Michelman? The previous name of her group was NARAL - National Abortion Rights Action League. They changed the name a year or two ago because "choice" sounds so much better than "abortion".

Deuteronomy 21 records God's instruction to Israel on being absolved of guilt when someone was found murdered and the killer was unknown. I realize that's not an exact parallel. We know who is killing these unborn children. Just read the passage and tell me you feel innocent thereafter!

by Warren Baldwin

When I was a kid, two items in the local newspaper drew my attention: the sports page and the Ann Landers (or Dear Abby) column. I liked the sports page because it carried a lot of stories about local events and athletes, and I liked the column of Ann or Abby (I can't remember which one of these two it was, but at one time or another I have read both of their columns) because I couldn't believe some of the personal-problem stories people wrote in about. I also couldn't believe some of the answers Ann gave.

It struck me early on that Ann was not giving Christian responses. Yes, much of her advice was moral and sound. But over time it seemed like the undertone of her advice was oriented to personal rights: "You have the right to be happy, you have the right to self-fulfillment, you have the right to appropriate self-expression." And in a society committed to individual rights, who would argue with her?

I think Paul would. Not Paul McCartney or Paul Newman. I mean the apostle Paul.

Think about it. Paul dealt with some of the same issues that Ann Landers did. Marital problems, selfish relatives and friends, inconsiderate neighbors or associates, sexual temptations or indiscretions, disruptions at church. Well, maybe Ann didn't deal with that last one a lot, but there were some discussions about church and synagogue issues in her column as I recall.

Paul dealt with those problems differently than Ann. Whereas Ann wrote from a personal rights agenda, Paul wrote from a corporate responsibility agenda. The answer to a question about an inconsiderate husband or wife was not to assert your rights, but to seek the best interests of the family, reflecting Christ in the process. The answer to sexual temptation was not to seek one's own comfort or pleasure, but to orient that stress toward marriage and family, reflecting Christ in the process. The answer to selfish or inconsiderate people in one's life was not to competitively assert one's self over them, but to serve their best interests, reflecting Christ in the process. And the answer to church disruptions was not to push back, fight back or retaliate in some way, but to maintain the body of Christ in the spirit of unity and peace, reflecting Christ in the process.

Some of Ann's answers might sound like Paul's on a given issue, but the origin and nature of their thinking over time would take the reader in very different directions: One toward individual happiness (which often results, ironically, in loneliness), and one toward corporate responsibility (which often results, as God intends, in belonging and togetherness).

Richard Hays writes of Paul's approach: "The advice he (Paul) offers is not ... as though he were a first-century Ann Landers, answering everybody's cards and letters in terms of a lowest common denominator of common sense. Rather, he is seeking to shape the life of a particular community ... His letters should be read primarily as instruments of community formation" ("Ecclesiology and Ethics in 1 Corinthians," Ex Auditu. Link: campus.northpark.edu).

As good as some of Ann's advice was, it was oriented too much around the self. It promoted self-awareness, self-assurance, self-realization. And, in fairness to Ann, that approach is quite the norm in our self-oriented society. One unfortunate result of so much self-promotion is we have many lonely, sad people, the unavoidable fallout of self-ish living.

Paul's approach, by virtue of the Spirit, is community focused, whether that community be the Christian home or the larger Christian community, the church. The Spirit promotes community-awareness, community-interests, community-service. Paul's interest in community building meant that he sometimes ignored his own desires and happiness, even his own health and safety, for the good of the larger community. Paul didn't put himself into situations to be imprisoned, shipwrecked, beaten, and starved because he liked it or it promoted self-ish interests. Rather, he endured abuse because it served the interests of the larger community and reflected Christ in the process. "Does this make me happy?" was not the pivotal question for Paul.

Paul or Ann; community or self. That tension tears at our families and churches. Which side of the tension do you fall on?