The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2013-01-03, Page 12PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 3, 2013. By Pastor Mark Royall Huron Chapel Evangelical Missionary Church I am going to give you a New Year’s gift that will help you experience better and healthier relationships in 2013. It is simple yet powerful, and it works! I call it, “Becoming A Relational Firefighter.” Use water... not gas to put out a fire. Sometimes we hear unflattering talk, we hear rumours and we find ourselves being invited to fuel a fire of controversy where unkind words are spoken about someone else. Too often we allow that fire to burn and we carry it like a torch to share it with someone else. We didn’t start it...we are just sharing what was shared with us. I remember reading in a leadership book once where it talked about how everyone carries around with them two buckets; a bucket of gasoline and a bucket of water. When someone has lit a fire of rumour, gossip, or fault-finding in your presence, you can either pour gasoline onto it and add fuel to the fire and make it worse or do what God says and pour water on it and put it out and let it die within you. Too many people use gasoline. They justify it by saying, “It’s true, that person did this and I am just stating the facts”. Yes it may be true and they may be guilty but the Bible tells us, “Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8. Love doesn’t seek to expose. Love doesn’t repeat it to three other friends and add gasoline to the fire. Love says, they made mistakes but God can restore them. Love says, they dropped the ball on that one but God can hand the ball back to them. Love says, they did wrong but I am not going to add to their pain. Love says I am going to choose mercy and grace, I am going to pour water on this and let it die within me. And God will honour this person because they are reflecting His character and they are practising His presence in their life. Ask yourself this question, “Do I enjoy telling them?” Years ago a fellow in my church asked me if he could take my place on the local nursing home preaching schedule for their Sunday afternoon services. Though he fancied himself as a talented preacher I knew he wasn’t strong in this area but I was glad to give him the opportunity. After some time the director of that nursing home told me they were going to ask him to stop coming to preach. The residents were complaining. He was long and he wasn’t making much sense. I asked the director to let me talk to him because I wanted to save him from embarrassment. I can’t remember the excuse I gave him but I thanked him for helping me out and told him I would resume preaching back at the nursing home services. A couple of weeks later I heard that he was telling people that I had asked him to stop because I was jealous of his preaching talents. I thought to myself, “You dirty rascal. I was trying to save your reputation and here you are trying to harm mine.” What do you do when you are you are in a situation like I was and you wonder if you should approach that person about the issue? You ask yourself ‘Do I need to tell them or do I want to tell them?’ Do I look forward to putting them in their place and showing them the error of their ways? If I do then chances are I am not doing this out of love and concern for that person but rather I am doing it because I want to retaliate and get revenge. However, if you are hesitant to talk to them and you get knots in your stomach just thinking about the conversation you need to have with them then this is a pretty good sign that you are doing this out of love and not out of spite. I didn’t really need to tell this gentleman who thought I was jealous of him but I know I wanted to and so I didn’t. I let it die. Pass The 24 hour test Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, author of Words That Hurt, Words That Heal, often lectures on the impact of words. He asks audiences if they can go 24 hours without saying any unkind words about another person or to another person. Invariably, a small number of listeners raise their hands, signifying yes, I can do that. Others laugh, and quite a large number call out, “No! I could not go 24 hours without saying an unkind word about or to someone else.” Telushkin says, “Those of you who can’t go 24 hours must recognize that you have a serious problem. If you cannot go 24 hours without drinking liquor, you are addicted to alcohol. If you cannot go 24 hours without smoking, you are addicted to nicotine. Similarly, if you cannot go twenty-four hours without saying unkind words about others, then you have lost control over your tongue.” We find the relational firefighter’s code in 1 Peter 3:10 of the Bible where it says, “For if you want joy in your life and have happy days, keep your tongue from saying bad things and your lips from talking bad about others.” It is crucial that we follow this code and that we can pass the 24 hour test because the Bible tell us, “There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF NORTH HURON AND NORTH PERTH CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO ATTEND HOLY MASS. OUR SUNDAY LITURGIES ARE AS FOLLOWS: Brussels: St. Ambrose Saturday 6:00 p.m. 17 Flora Street Wingham: Sacred Heart Sunday 9:00 a.m. 220 Carling Terrace Listowel: St. Joseph Sunday 11:00 a.m. 1025 Wallace Avenue N. Always A Place For You @Huron Chapel This Sunday 10:30am huronchapel.org You’re Invited To Join Us In Worship SUNDAYS Morning Service 10:00 am Evening Service 7:30 pm BLYTH CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH Interim Minister: Pastor Gary Klumpenhower 519-523-9233 Hwy. 4, Blyth 519-523-4743 www.blythcrc.ca MELVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BRUSSELS Rev. Elwin Garland SUNDAY, JANUARY 6 Wheelchair accessible ~ Nursery care available 519-887-9017 10:00 am - Sunday Morning Worship - Sunday School 250 Princess St., Brussels 519-887-6388 www.bmfchurch.com Pastor Jim Whitehead Guests Welcome Jesus Is Lord! Brussels Mennonite Fellowship Worship Service 10:00 am Sunday School 11:15 am Worship Service & Sunday School at 11 a.m. CORNER OF DINSLEY & MILL STREETS MINISTER Rev. Gary Clark, BA, M. Div. All Welcome MUSIC DIRECTOR Floyd Herman, BA, M. Ed.OFFICE: 519-523-4224 JANUARY 6 ~ Ah Ha! Sunday “Coffee is on, Join us for a cup!” Youre Invited to come worship with us Sunday, January 6 Brussels Business & Cultural Centre at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sunday School for children 4 to 11 years of age at 9:30 a.m. Childcare provided for infants and preschoolers during the sermon. Coffee & cookies after the morning service For additional details please contact Pastor Andrew Versteeg 519.887.8621 Steve Klumpenhower 519.887.8651 Rick Packer 519.527.0173 BRUSSELS Sandra Cable, Pastor Church Office 519-887-6259 E-mail - beunitedchurch@gmail.com SUNDAY SERVICE 11:00 am Sunday School Celebrating our Christian Faith together in worship United Church getlivingwater.org Pastor: Ernest Dow ~ 519-523-4848 Living Water Christian Fellowship Evangelical Missionary Church 10:30 a.m. ~ Worship & Sunday School Wingham Bible Study - Tuesdays 7:30 pm Youth Group - Tuesdays 7:30 pm (at CRC) Women At The Well - 1st & 3rd Wednesdays 7:30 pm at 308 Blyth Rd. (former Church of God) “Before...you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” - Psalm 90:2 May you experience God’s blessings in 2013! ~ Your friends at LWCF From the Minister’s StudyBecome an emotional firefighter: Royall Continued on page 16