This brief sermon was delivered by Bob Kalk during a music service at Bell Church in Leicester, North Carolina on July 6, 2014. The guest pianist is Gerald Ball from nearby Mars Hill University. Bell Church was organized immediately after the civil war in 1866. At that time, the circuits in and about the Blue Ridge were largely served by native preachers, either ordained or local. Leicester was a center for “Northern Methodism,” with a great emphasis on education and connectional ministries. Today Bell is wired for, and focused upon, a set of challenges that include new educational initiatives and outreach.

Consider the Source

 Consider the First Source!

When we align our objectives with the Divine will, when we strive for the attainment of a worthy goal, when we begin our work with a well defined plan, and when we have ability to work together with others effectively, we have already achieved the trajectory for success. For we know that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Learn how to enjoy boundless opportunity and unlimited progress!

When you simply don’t have the drive or if you feel you’re on a dead end road, it just may be time for a change. One of the best ways to get motivated is to understand our innermost desires. Some call it taking pride in a job well done. Others think of it as perfection hunger. Whatever you call it, it may be useful to consider how others have chosen to share their thoughts on the matter.

• Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ‘em. — William Shakespeare
• You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. — C. S. Lewis
• Having a dream, living that dream, losing that dream, dreaming again and then having that dream come true again is one of the greatest feelings ever because I`m stronger. — Aaron Carter
• Nothing in the universe can stop you from letting go and starting over. — Guy Finley
• I know for sure that what we dwell on is who we become. — Oprah Winfrey
• That which doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. — Friedrich Nietzsche
• It is never too late to be what you might have been. — George Eliot
• What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. — Henry Stanley Haskins
• All our dreams can come true – if we have the courage to pursue them. — Walt Disney
• Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. — Charles R. Swindoll
• There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them. — Denis Waitley
• An obstacle is often a stepping stone. — Prescott
• The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. — Lao Tzu
• The man who has confidence in himself gains the confidence of others. — Hasidic proverb
• Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. — Anonymous
• Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible. — Dalai Lama
• After a storm comes a calm. — Matthew Henry
• A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others. — Ayn Rand
• If you’re going through hell, keep going. — Winston Churchill
• With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts. — Eleanor Roosevelt
• Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice. — Wayne Dyer
• The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential… these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence. — Confucius
• Always continue the climb. It is possible for you to do whatever you choose, if you first get to know who you are and are willing to work with a power that is greater than ourselves to do it. — Ella Wheeler Wilcox
• As a man sow, shall he reap. and I know that talk is cheap. But the heat of the battle is as sweet as the victory. — Bob Marley
• I don’t believe you have to be better than everybody else. I believe you have to be better than you ever thought you could be. — Ken Venturi
• Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. — Thomas A. Edison
• If you can dream it, you can do it. — Walt Disney
• Learn from the past, set vivid, detailed goals for the future, and live in the only moment of time over which you have any control: now. — Denis Waitley
• Even if you fall on your face, you’re still moving forward. — Victor Kiam
• Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you. — Thomas Jefferson
• When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on. — Thomas Jefferson
• Expect problems and eat them for breakfast. — Alfred A. Montapert
• By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. — Benjamin Franklin
• Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. — William James
• Either you run the day or the day runs you. — Jim Rohn
• Always desire to learn something useful. — Sophocles
• If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success. — John D. Rockefeller
• Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing. — Thomas Jefferson
• Be gentle to all and stern with yourself. — Saint Teresa of Avila
• What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals. — Henry David Thoreau
• I’ve worked too hard and too long to let anything stand in the way of my goals. I will not let my teammates down and I will not let myself down. — Mia Hamm
• Opportunity does not knock, it presents itself when you beat down the door. — Kyle Chandler
• Things do not happen. Things are made to happen. — John F. Kennedy
• Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines. — Robert H. Schuller
• Well done is better than well said. — Benjamin Franklin
• Quality is not an act, it is a habit. — Aristotle
• The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. — Thomas Paine
• What you do today can improve all your tomorrows. — Ralph Marston
• Never complain and never explain. — Benjamin Disraeli
• Set your goals high, and don’t stop till you get there. — Bo Jackson
• You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do. — Henry Ford
• Leap, and the net will appear. — John Burroughs
• The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself. — Mark Caine
• It’s always too early to quit. — Norman Vincent Peale
• Begin to be now what you will be hereafter. — William James
• Crave for a thing, you will get it. Renounce the craving, the object will follow you by itself. — Swami Sivananda
• Who seeks shall find. — Sophocles
• The hardships that I encountered in the past will help me succeed in the future. — Philip Emeagwali
• Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible. — Tony Robbins
• When you fail you learn from the mistakes you made and it motivates you to work even harder. — Natalie Gulbis
• You can never quit. Winners never quit, and quitters never win. — Ted Turner
• The most effective way to do it, is to do it. — Amelia Earhart
• The secret of getting ahead is getting started. — Mark Twain
• Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other. — Walter Elliot
• Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th. — Julie Andrews
• Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. — Jesus

When you’re searching your soul for new resolutions, consult your enthusiasm. And, while you’re at it, think about the origin of of that particular term. Enthusiasm is rooted in the Greek en Theos which means God within!

“They prefer a life caged in their precepts, in their compromises, in their revolutionary plans or in their [disembodied] spirituality.”
So said Pope Francis in his remarks following the readings last Friday, he focused on the day’s Gospel, drawn from that according to St Matthew (11:16-19). There, Jesus compares the generation of his time to always unhappy children, explaining that they were, “not open to the Word of God.” Their refusal, he explained, was not of the message, but of the messenger. “They reject John the Baptist,” he said, who came, “neither eating nor drinking ,” saying of him that he was “a man possessed.” They reject Jesus because they say, “He is a glutton, a drunkard, a friend of publicans and sinners.” They always have a reason to criticize the preacher:
“The people of that time preferred to take refuge in a more elaborate religion: in the moral precepts, such as the group of Pharisees; in political compromise, as the Sadducees; in social revolution, as the zealots; in gnostic spirituality, such as Essenes. They were [happy] with their clean, well-polished system. The preacher, however, was not [so pleased]. Jesus reminded them: ‘Your fathers did the same with the prophets.’ The people of God have a certain allergy to the preachers of the Word: they persecuted the prophets, [even] killed them.”
Then the Pontiff turned his attention to the Chritians of our day saying: “Seeing these children who are afraid to dance, to cry, [who are] afraid of everything, who ask for certainty in all things, I think of these sad Christians, who always criticize the preachers of the Truth, because they are afraid to open the door to the Holy Spirit. Let us pray for them, and pray also for ourselves, that we do not become sad Christians, cutting off the freedom of the Holy Spirit to come to us through the scandal of preaching.”
Consider the Source

 Consider the First Source!

When we align our objectives with the Divine will, when we strive for the attainment of a worthy goal, when we begin our work with a well defined plan, and when we have ability to work together with others effectively, we have already achieved the trajectory for success. For we know that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Learn how to enjoy boundless opportunity and unlimited progress!

Consider the Source

The teachings of Jesus, even though greatly modified, survived the mystery cults of their birthtime, the ignorance and superstition of the dark ages, and are even now slowly triumphing over the materialism, mechanism, and secularism of the twentieth century. And such times of great testing and threatened defeat are always times of great revelation.
Religion does need new leaders, spiritual men and women who will dare to depend solely on Jesus and his incomparable teachings. If Christianity persists in neglecting its spiritual mission while it continues to busy itself with social and material problems, the spiritual renaissance must await the coming of these new teachers of Jesus’ religion who will be exclusively devoted to the spiritual regeneration of men. And then will these spirit-born souls quickly supply the leadership and inspiration requisite for the social, moral, economic, and political reorganization of the world.
The modern age will refuse to accept a religion which is inconsistent with facts and out of harmony with its highest conceptions of truth, beauty, and goodness. The hour is striking for a rediscovery of the true and original foundations of present-day distorted and compromised Christianity — the real life and teachings of Jesus.
Primitive man lived a life of superstitious bondage to religious fear. Modern, civilized men dread the thought of falling under the dominance of strong religious convictions. Thinking man has always feared to be held by a religion. When a strong and moving religion threatens to dominate him, he invariably tries to rationalize, traditionalize, and institutionalize it, thereby hoping to gain control of it. By such procedure, even a revealed religion becomes man-made and man-dominated. Modern men and women of intelligence evade the religion of Jesus because of their fears of what it will do to them — and with them. And all such fears are well founded. The religion of Jesus does, indeed, dominate and transform its believers, demanding that men dedicate their lives to seeking for a knowledge of the will of the Father in heaven and requiring that the energies of living be consecrated to the unselfish service of the brotherhood of man.
Selfish men and women simply will not pay such a price for even the greatest spiritual treasure ever offered mortal man. Only when man has become sufficiently disillusioned by the sorrowful disappointments attendant upon the foolish and deceptive pursuits of selfishness, and subsequent to the discovery of the barrenness of formalized religion, will he be disposed to turn wholeheartedly to the gospel of the kingdom, the religion of Jesus of Nazareth.
The world needs more firsthand religion. Even Christianity — the best of the religions of the twentieth century — is not only a religion about Jesus, but it is so largely one which men experience secondhand. They take their religion wholly as handed down by their accepted religious teachers. What an awakening the world would experience if it could only see Jesus as he really lived on earth and know, firsthand, his life-giving teachings! Descriptive words of things beautiful cannot thrill like the sight thereof, neither can creedal words inspire men’s souls like the experience of knowing the presence of God. But expectant faith will ever keep the hope-door of man’s soul open for the entrance of the eternal spiritual realities of the divine values of the worlds beyond.
Christianity has dared to lower its ideals before the challenge of human greed, war-madness, and the lust for power; but the religion of Jesus stands as the unsullied and transcendent spiritual summons, calling to the best there is in man to rise above all these legacies of animal evolution and, by grace, attain the moral heights of true human destiny.
Christianity is threatened by slow death from formalism, overorganization, intellectualism, and other nonspiritual trends. The modern Christian church is not such a brotherhood of dynamic believers as Jesus commissioned continuously to effect the spiritual transformation of successive generations of mankind.
So-called Christianity has become a social and cultural movement as well as a religious belief and practice. The stream of modern Christianity drains many an ancient pagan swamp and many a barbarian morass; many olden cultural watersheds drain into this present-day cultural stream as well as the high Galilean tablelands which are supposed to be its exclusive source.
Consider the Source

A new book that tells a story set in war-torn Iraq sends a straightforward message applicable to everyday Americans: Get to know your neighbors.
Greg Barrett, who worked in The Charlotte Observer’s Rock Hill bureau in the early 1990s, recently spoke at Covenant Presbyterian Church, where he told the story of his book “The Gospel of Rutba.”
The book recounts the story of a small group of American Christian peacemakers rescued by Iraqi Muslims after their vehicle crashed in 2003. Four years later, Barrett returned to Iraq with the peacemakers as they thanked the Iraqi good Samaritans.

Consider the Source

For the past decade, the Peace Corps has released an annual ranking of the top large, medium and small schools that graduate students who then serve overseas for a little more than two years. The organization, an independent U.S. government agency that has been around for more than 50 years, has more than 8,000 volunteers in more than 75 countries.
This year, the top schools in each category were in Washington state: the University of Washington on the large-schools list with 107 graduates-turned-volunteers, Western Washington University on the medium-schools list with 73 volunteers, and Gonzaga University in Spokane on the small-schools list with 24.
It’s the first time that one state has swept all three categories, said Carrie Hessler-Radelet, acting director of the Peace Corps. “It just seems to be the kind of state that’s very progressive and shares some of the same values as the Peace Corps,” said Hessler-Radelet, who volunteered in Western Samoa in the early 1980s and is part of a family in which four generations have participated.
Consider the Source

The problem with trickle-down economics is that evaporation occurs at twice the rate of flow. — Robert H. Kalk