The
online Bible teaching ministry of Stephen
& Brooksyne Weber
A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation. Home About Us Archives Free email subscription Listen to these messages Text only for printing See here
for more info.
<Previous Message Next Message> Friday, June 1, 2012 Poe Valley Lake in Centre County PA Photo by Greg Schneider "What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." James 4:14 Listen to this message on your audio player. "Passing It On" "And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others" (2 Timothy 2:2). We attend Mount Pleasant Church named after the road on which it resides. Just saying the name Mount Pleasant lends itself to an inward smile and doubly so since it has a Mount Joy mailing address. It's a lot better than attending a church named "Thankless Church" located on Thankless Lane. (Such a lane does exist in Rising Sun, MD, but I strongly doubt that a church would take its namesake from such an ungrateful sounding lane!) The Mount Pleasant Church regularly reminds its people to pray for their shut-ins (those no longer able to come to services). A number of years ago we prayed regularly in our prayer meetings for Cecilia Wolgemuth who had lived past 100 and was awaiting her call home. I never met her but heard a number of stories about her and her family. Very earnest in her faith she never tossed out old Sunday School materials in the hopes that people left behind when Jesus returns might read the materials and turn to Christ. It's an excellent thought since believers will be caught up in the air and no longer able to guide nonbelievers to the saving knowledge of Christ. She and her farmer husband Graybill raised one son, Samuel. Sam became a pastor and then went on to be one of the early leaders in the Youth for Christ ministry establishing the international outreach. He served as president of Youth For Christ from 1965-1973 during the time I was involved in YFC in a Kansas City Area High School and Brooksyne was also active in YFC in her high school in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Sam had a role in discipling Ravi Zacharias and was in the audience the very first time Ravi spoke publicly in India. Of course Ravi is now an internationally known speaker and many of our readers will know of him. Last week he was one of the speakers at the conference I attended in Washington and is an excellent apologist (defender) of the Christian faith. * Our daily text indicates that Timothy, upon hearing Paul's words, was to entrust his teaching to reliable men who would also be qualified to teach others. Thank God for the chain of transmission since Paul gave Timothy this charge some 2000 years earlier. Thank God for the scores of faithful servants who have been vital links in that chain over the centuries and for those in our own generation and I'm grateful that I can be a link as well! Some of the links are little known such as Graybill and Cecilia Wolgemuth who served the Lord in relative obscurity in the context of their local church, raising their son to serve the Lord. Other links, like Sam who was a leader in Youth For Christ and Ravi Zacharias have names that are internationally known. But both type of links are of equal and vital importance. Of little importance is man's estimation, what really matters is God's and His fundamental call is that we remain faithful wherever He places us and whatever calling He has on our life. I have had the privilege of imparting the glorious truths of the Gospel for over thirty-five years now. What indescribable joy wells up in my heart when I see those to whom I've entrusted these truths now passing them on to their own generation. If you're a believer, then you're part of this chain. Some of you just started following the Truth and are the last link in the chain, but hopefully this will only be for a short time. As You grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus you also will want to heed Christ's call to pass it on. Let's all be faithful! Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber Daily prayer: Father, lay upon our hearts the unquenchable desire to pass on to others the important truths we received from reliable followers of Christ and from our own study of Your Holy Word. Help us not to relegate our duties to others, but take up our responsibility as we link together with other believers all over the globe transmitting Your timeless, life-changing truths to those who have ears to hear. Amen. * I sometimes read blog comments and one blog I enjoy presents news of interest to Christians. However it has its share of commenters who really don't hold a Christian viewpoint and seem to just comment to muck up the discussion. The news source reported of a Christian seminary who had hired a leading apologist to be on the faculty. One frequent commenter who shows no evidence of being a Christian, taking a contrary view on practically every issue, commented "Any ideology that needs an entire section on apology to explain it..speaks for itself." Another commenter explained the difference between apology and apologetics, "Apologetic and apology are two entirely different words with two entirely different meanings. Apologetics 1) systematic argumentative discourse in defense (as of a doctrine). 2) A branch of theology devoted to the defense of the divine origin and authority of Christianity. Apology 1) A regretful acknowledgment of an offense or failure: "my apologies for the delay". 2) A formal, public statement of regret, such as one issued by a newspaper, government, or other organization. Brooksyne's Note: Though I've lived over 1000 miles from where I grew up since 1977, my memories will always be drawn to my very humble beginnings in a little church in Tulsa where I first received instruction from godly lay persons committed to transmitting the Word of God to others. Cecelia Wolgemuth has an interesting and very unusual distinction of living in three separate centuries! We wrote about our pets yesterday. Overall they get along well but can sure get serious about a bone treat. Early yesterday morning we came upon this truck as we drove through Lancaster City. An interesting way to get in a witness for the Lord! Of course his driving skills must complement his testimony for Christ. Last night we had a rehearsal for a wedding I will conduct this evening and then joined the wedding party for a rehearsal dinner in an interesting restaurant here in Mount Joy. We ate in "The Catacombs", a room some 35 feet underground, that had once been a part of the underground railroad. The bride's parents are our friends Marlin and Kandis Shaffer. This is some type of steam gage and an example of interesting antique items on the walls at the restaurant. Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources "Little Is Much When God Is In It" Video Larry Ford When It's All Been Said And Done" Video Slater Armstrong "Follow Me" Video Larry Ford with testimony by Gloria Stanphill "Little Is Much" Video Ernie Haas and Signature Sound "It's All About You" Video Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne Are our daily encouragement messages a blessing to you? We ask you to consider making a donation to Daily Encouragement Net so that we can continue to prepare and provide this daily resource which is accessed by believers and seekers all over the world. Daily Encouragement Net relies solely on the generosity and financial support of its readers and podcast listeners. See here for more information on supporting this ministry. Gifts are tax deductible. Permissions: Please feel free to pass on, reproduce and distribute any material on Daily Encouragement Net, in part or in whole, in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way or charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. It is our desire to spread this material, not protect or restrict it. I do request that you keep the contact, copyright and subscription information intact. Text only version for printing: To make a text only version for printing (without photos or any of the supplemental materials) 1) Open the basic text editor that comes with all computers (known as wordpad, textpad, etc.) You can also use a program like Word and select paste text only. 2) Select and copy the text from the portion of the message you want to print. 3) Paste into the text pad. (The photos won't show up but you will have a brief text description of the photo which you can delete or just ignore.) 4) Format if you desire (change font, increase or decrease size, etc.) 5) Print! Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version. Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and I make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and to prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity." Daily Encouragement Net is an affiliate of Christianbook.com © Copyright 2012 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA |