Initiate meaningful conversation with your family no matter how long the commute with Joe White's age appropriate short talks on scripture, parenting, culture, and community.
Episodes
Saturday Sep 21, 2019
Saturday Sep 21, 2019
"When you think of a big time Christian and who do you think about? You think about somebody who's on television and they get this incredible gift of speaking or teaching? Do you think about some gigantic political leader that also happens to be a Christian? Or do you think about somebody, you know, in Hollywood that's an absolute rockstar and also is a believer? You know what? I don't. I think about a very humble woman who I called 'Pardner" and I want to tell you in a minute why she's my hero."
Family Discussion:
- Talk to the person in your family today and find the spiritual gift in them and encourage them in that gift.
Transcription:
00:14 When you think of a big time Christian and who do you think about? You think about somebody who's on television and they get this incredible gift of speaking or teaching? Do you think about some gigantic political leader that also happens to be a Christian? Or do you think about somebody, you know, in Hollywood that's an absolute rockstar and also is a believer? You know what? I don't. I think about a very humble woman who I called 'Pardner" and I want to tell you in a minute why she's my hero.
00:51 First Peter Chapter Four, verses nine through 11. Watch out! If you start living this Bible verse, you're going to be somebody hero too. "Be hospitable." Scripture says "to one another without complaint. As each one of you has received a special gift. Employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, let him do so as one who utters the utterances of God. Whoever serves let him do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies. So that in all things, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen."
01:34 My Grandmother Pardner as she called, we called her because she said, don't call me grandma because I'm not old enough to be your grandma. I'm your partner. She lived to be a hundred. Pardner died the day she gave everything away. Pardner had the gift of giving and she was everybody's hero. And Pardner would have you over for a visit. She'd give you something. It would be something that was valuable. She could not let you leave her house without giving you something. I don't care if you are rich or poor or king or peasant. That woman would use her spiritual gift of giving and she would give you a smile, a hug, a big old Texas, you know, a howdy or she'd give you something out of her house. After she gave it all away, she went to heaven.
02:19 Another one of my heroes, my dad, he had the gift of encouragement. You know, he was the guy that said 'atta boy.' He was the guy that said, 'I'm proud of you.' He was the guy just before he died, just before he died, who gave me a thumbs up. Even when he couldn't speak at the end, he was muted by his stroke but he could do that. He's my hero.
02:41 I think about another hero of mine. I've never met her. Hopefully we'll meet her in heaven one day. Mother Teresa, I was talking to when a president, Reagan's right hand advisers and I said, who's your favorite? He met everybody in the, you know, the world leaders. And he said, Mother Teresa's my favorite back in Reagan's Day. And I said, so special about Mother Teresa. He said, oh, those eyes, he said those little steely blue eyes. You said she could look a hole right through you. I said, tell me a mother Theresa Story. He said, we were sitting there, President Reagan, myself and the secretary of state and the secretary of state said, mother Theresa, how many children down the streets of India a year. And said she looked at that man with those steely blue eyes and she said, none. I hold him in my arms before they die. And then she looked at President Reagan and she said, and you could do something about that too if you wanted to. Mother Theresa became famous because of her gift of mercy.
03:38 Do you know what? You've got a spiritual gift inside of you. And you may think that you'll never be super famous and you know what? You probably don't even care to be, but to somebody, you need to be their hero. And it may be your father and maybe your wife, or it may be you know, the guy who's working in the cubicle next to you in that company. But when you take the spiritual gifts that God's given you and you employ that gift to serving one another, scripture says you employ the gift God's given you to make Jesus look good - to make Jesus the hero. And you know what's cool is your days past, somebody will look back over their shoulder and they'll think fondly of you the way I do of Pardner and my dad and Mother Teresa. Everybody's got a spiritual gift. And you've got one too.
04:28 So my question for you today is talk to the person that gets in your family today and find the spiritual gift in them and encourage them in that gift. And you know what? As you encourage each other in the home and your spiritual gifts, that gift is going to come into full bloom. So how can you do that today? And by the way, be sure to hug somebody today.