Halitosis (Bad Breath) Of Giants, Mountain Climber

HALITOSIS OF GIANTS... MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS?

By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com

CLIMB THE MOUNTAIN --- STAND UP AND BE COUNTED...

Martin Niemoeller lived from 1892 to 1984...

Martin penned theses words: In Germany they first came for Communists, and I did not speak up because I was not Communist. Then they came after the Jews, and I did not speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionist, and I did not speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I did not speak up because I was Protestant. THEN THEY CAME FOR ME, AND BY THAT TIME, NO ONE WAS LEFT TO SPEAK UP.

Matthew 17:20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

HOW INSIGNIFICANT ARE WE? (small, unimportant, , little position)

WE MUST REFUSE TO ALLOW THE HALITOSIS OF GIANTS TO HINDER OUR WORK...

SEEDS CAN GROW, SMALL MUSTARD SEEDS, CAN SUPPORT LIFE...

My first week as pastor of a small mountain mission was exciting. I asked to see the ACMR for 1980. Joe Arnett pulled the annual church report out of the file cabinet. The 1980 report reflected the average attendance for the Sunday morning worship was 3. Wow! There is only one way to go --- GO UP!

One old lady pulled me aside and told me to my face: BETTER PREACHERS THAN YOU HAVE BEEN HERE AND FAILED! She was right! Often the enemy would "throw up" those words to me! This bad breath has often haunted me in my ministry?

I probably did not need her assurance of the facts. I stayed there 8 1/2 years, 1372 sermons. We saw several hundred saved and baptized many.

Let me tell you something. I have been gone 28 years from that mountain work. Recently I was called back to baptize 3 people, 28 years later... SEEDS THAT I HAVE SOWN ARE BEARING FRUIT. I also had the honor of returning back to the mountains to preach my dear friends funeral that told me: BETTER PREACHERS THAN YOU HAVE BEEN HERE AND FAILED!

THE HALITOSIS OF GIANTS BREAD FEAR --- FEAR CAN CRIPPLE AND HINDER GOD'S PLAN...

DO WE EVER PLAY MIND GAMES? CAN NEGATIVE SITUATIONS DICTATE TO OUR SPIRIT?

When we moved to Smiths Grove, my oldest son was in the 8th grade. He was on the football team for his first time.

He was around 140 pounds. We played a team from the area that many consider backward and very rough. When he lined up for the first play, he saw "THE GIANT OF A PLAYER." The 8th grade student had a full beard. He was 6'4" and weighed 240 pounds. Someone spread the rumor that the 8th grade student may have had several children? One boy said: THAT MAN HAS BAD BREATH!"

After the kick off, the team came to the side line. My son said to me: DAD, DO YOU SEE "THE MAN" WITH THE BEARD, THAT IS MY MAN? WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?

I only played one game as a football player before I joined the band. I did not know, BUT I SAW THE MIND GAME! Everyone was talking about "THE MAN" on the team. All I knew was a line my dad told me, THE BIGGER THEY ARE THE HARDER THEY FALL! So like any Father that does not know what to do, I faked it.

I said, Son, the very first play HIT "THE MAN" AS HARD AS YOU CAN! AND SAY TO HIM: THIS IS FUN. My son then said: THEN WHAT? I said: THE SECOND PLAY, LINE UP ACROSS FROM HIM AND SMILE AND THEN BLOCK AND HIT HIM AS HARD AS YOU CAN. DO IT AGAIN ON THE THIRD PLAY. THEN, LET'S SEE WHAT HAPPENS?

After three plays the "BIG MAN" was bruised and battered. He said: THAT LITTLE KID CAN REALLY HIT HARD. The rest of the game, the "MAN" did everything he could do to avoid those hits. Finally the "MAN" would shrink in sons eyes. I CAN DO THIS... Five more years of football, and my son was a valuable player and leader on and off the field. Much of his success started on the field facing: "THE MAN" STRAIGHT UP --- THIS MOUNTAIN HAS A PURPOSE!

MY FRIEND, SOMETIMES YOU MUST TURN OFF THE HYPE AND THE NEGATIVE AND LOOK THE GIANT RIGHT IN THE EYE... GIANT, YOU WALK ON TWO LEGS JUST LIKE ME AND WE CAN HANDLE THIS... THIS MOUNTAIN WILL MAKE ME A BETTER MAN...