THE WORLD STINKS? NOSE BLIND? SEEDS?
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com This is a 3 part series.
IS IT BAD WHEN THERE IS STINK IN THE BARN?
TEXT: Proverbs 14:4 Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox.
Proverbs 14:4 (NLT) Without oxen a stable stays clean, but you need a strong ox for a large harvest.
Ecclesiastes 11:1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.
Isaiah 3:24 And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.
*STINK: extremely hard, intense, a strong unpleasant smell, a stench, commotion or fuss, trouble, OLFACTORY…
WHAT DO WE DO WHEN LIFE AND MINISTRY STINKS?
Galatians 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
I heard a story of a grumpy old man that seems to have loved the negative life style. The old man had a grandson that loved to aggravate his grandfather. One day while in the kitchen the grandson smell the odor of limburger cheese as his granny was cooking. The smell seemed so bad to the boy. He pinched a piece of the limburger cheese off to taste it. Seems limburger cheese is notorious for the strong smell that comes after 3 months of bacteria fermenting that develops a stinky aroma.
The young boy saw his grandfather asleep in his recliner and he quietly slipped in and rubbed the LIMBURGER CHEESE in his grandfather’s handlebar moustache and then the boy ran out to play. Later grandpa woke up to this strange aroma stinking up the whole room. Grandpa said: Wow it sure stinks in here, I think I will go into the kitchen. Once in the kitchen Paw sniffed the kitchen and he said: Wow, the kitchen whole kitchen stinks.
So Grandpa decided to go out on the front porch and swing. He sat down on the swing and it was not long until Grandpa inhaled deeply and the strong smell was still in his nostrils. Granddad said: WOW! IT SURE STINKS ON THE PORCH. I believe I will go for a walk. So Paw was enjoying his walk down the road until he inhaled deeply and he said: WOW! IT REALLY STINKS OUT HERE. He then came to the conclusion THE WHOLE WORLD STINKS!
We understand why THE WHOLE WORLD STANK! Grandpa was carrying the rotten aroma of the limburger cheese embedded in his handlebar moustache. Everywhere that Grandfather would go the stench was sure to go. Why?
WHAT AROMA OR AURA DO YOU EMIT? Could our attitudes stink to God? What can I do to change my spiritual aroma?
HAVE YOU EVER LOST YOUR WHY? LOOSING YOUR WHY WILL CAUSE US TO LOSE YOUR WAY?
2 Corinthians 4:16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
Have you ever thought I sure wish God would do something in my family and in my church? I have had visions of grandeur to be dashed in the reality of everyday menial chores of nothingness. THAT STINKS! I guess we need patience, time, effort in dealing with people with a revolving door of problems and trials. There is a great truth on which we must build if we continue and not quit. The wheels of life turn slow… THAT STINKS!
RAISING A SPIRITUAL STINK? PUT YOUR HAND TO THE PLOW?
Luke 9:62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
WE MUST REALIZE IN THE PROCESS OF LIFE THERE ARE SOLUTIONS AND ANSWERS… If we acknowledge there is a solution to each problem and an answer to each question, then COMES THE THOUGHT: WILL I STICK TO IT? OR FOCUS ON THE STINK OF FAILURE? WILL I REFUSE TO QUIT? WILL I DIG THE WELL DEEP? EVEN IF I CAN’T SEE THE WATER TOAY? It is not enough to just believe there is an answer and a solution… WE MUST HAVE THE BACK BONE TO STAND FIRM UNTIL… UNTIL THE SUDDEN MOVE OF GOD THAT MAY TAKE YEARS TO DEVELOP. THAT STICKS.
My first pastorate in the mountains of eastern Kentucky an old lady stood up and said: WE HAVE HAD BETTER PASTORS THAN YOU AND THEY FELL SHORT OF GROWTH? Wow, that is exactly what I needed to hear? In seasons of self-doubt and seeing nothing multiplied by nothing. I not only doubted me, I IN TURN DOUBTED MY CALLING and thus doubted God? THAT STINKS! I learned early in my schooling the LAW OF ZERO. That any number x’s zero is always zero. The enemy made every effort I exerted to seem like a BIG ZERO TO ME? THAT STINKS.
After several years all I could see of my work was zero. Starting my third year I started seeing a TRINKLE DOWN EFFECT. One was saved, then another. Growth was up and down. I baptized several hundred people. The church that was 3 was grew to 60… but my leaders would tell me, many of the number was teenagers or children. Well, yes that was true. That means no offerings? That stinks.
After 8 ½ years invested there I left the work. The church is now closed? But my calling was simple: SOW SEEDS! SOW THE SEEDS IF THE GROUND WAS ROCKY, HARD OR FERTILE. GOD NEVER CALLED ME TO ANALYZE SOIL, GOD CALLED ME: SOW THE SEEDS. BE FAITHFUL TO YOUR POST OF DUTY AND SOW SEEDS.
IS THERE A STINK TO FAILURE? THE WORLD DEFINES FAILURE MUCH DIFFERENTLY THAN GOD DOES? IS OUR OFFERING’S AROMA PLEASING TO GOD? OR IS IT A STINK IN THE NOSTRILS OF GOD…
Exodus 29:25 And thou shalt receive them of their hands, and burn them upon the altar for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour before the LORD: it is an offering made by fire unto the LORD..
MOTHER TERESA OF INDIA WAS ASKED BY A YOUNG REPORTER: HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE A FAILURE? YOU HAVE FEED THE POOR OF INDIA AND THERE ARE MORE HUNGRY PEOPLE NOW THAN WHEN YOU STARTED?
Mother Teresa bowed her head and a tear came out of her eye and ran down her face. She replied: GOD NEVER CALLED ME TO BE SUCCESSFUL, HE CALLED ME TO BE FAITHFUL. REMIND ME, O, GOD. REMIND ME!
Success is more than counting the harvest, success may just happen to be about PLANTING THE SEED. I might waste today analyzing my harvest. My time might be better spend in evaluating and being accountable for the seeds I planted? Noah never saw numerical success? 8 people? That is not one per decade OF SWEAT AND TEARS? That stinks! Some missionaries spend great effort and money and see NOTHING for their first years of service? Have they failed? Personal ministry is not about the harvest alone, but it is about sowing the seeds. If you will maintain faithfulness God will honor that. Seems some sow, some water, some harvest, BUT GOD UNDERSTANDS.
After 39 years of fulltime ministry I have to constantly stay in the word. FAILURE MOCKS ME… It is God that gives the increase. Not my glowing personality or my talent. Seems God blesses in spite of me. TODAY, WILL I TRUST THE LORD OF THE HARVEST EVEN IF I DON’T FEEL IT?
Some would ask an old preacher friend how many he ran in church. He said: I RUN 800. They would question him? He said: I dream of a church of 800 in a town of 600 people. He said this for 50 years. I have run them all over town, I just haven’t caught them YET!!! He always dreamed of the YET. Until the day of his death, he dreamed of the YET! FOR 50 YEARS HE DREAMED OF 800 PEOPLE. He told me, when he had 800, he was going to stand by the city sign that said 600 and run it in the paper. Well, he never saw it with his eyes. BUT HE DREAMED OF PEOPLE, NOT JUST NUMBERS BUT PEOPLE.
SEEMS TO ME LIFE HAS A WHOLE LOT OF STINK? WHAT TO DISCUSS FAMOUS? FAMOUS? SCOTTSVILLE KENTUCKY? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? MORE STINK?
Psalm 126:5 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. 6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
There was a faithful man in Charlotte, N.C. felt lead to start praying for young men in his community. He went to church and prayed. He prayed on Sunday morning for his Sunday School class. He had no students. But he would still pray for GOD TO RAISE UP A MAN TO TOUCH THE WORLD FOR JESUS CHRIST. After much prayer several young boys started attending. One of the young boy’s father called for prayer on his dairy farm. Several families would come to pray, THEIR EYES SAW VERY LITTLE HOPE. The prayers ascended to the throne room of God. There was stink on the dairy farm?
Now let us go years down the road to meet TOBIAS HAM and OLLIE McELROY HAM. They had a son in the Allen county Scottsville, Ky. area. The depression was going on… TOBIAS HAM WAS THE SEVENTH GENERATION INDEPENDENT BAPTIST preacher. They had a son, ever heard of MORDECAI FOWLER HAM, JR? He lived from April 2, 1877 to November 1, 1961. Ham was from little nothing, Scottsville, Ky. At age 8 Mordecai felt God call him into the ministry. The eighth generation preacher. None of Ham’s family ever had much success preaching? They were little farmers called to preach. Mordecai was ordained at BURTON MEMORIAL BAPTIST CHURCH ON CEMENTARY ROAD, BOWLING GREEN KENTUCKY.
Mordecai became A TRAVELING EVANGELIST, he never tasted great success. Mordecai HELD AN 11 WEEK REVIVAL in North Carolina. The evangelist preached 6 days a week, morning and night. There was a boy that would drive his dad’s vegetable truck into town and take his neighbors to the revival.
THE DAY WAS NOVEMBER 1, 1934 a high school boy lived on a dairy farm during the Great Depression. The boy was 15 and called to rise above the stink of nothingness.
Doctor MORDECAI HAM HELD A REVIVAL IN Charlotte, N.C. One night two teenage boys attended. They were in high school. The two teens did not want the preacher pointing at them, so they sat in the choir area, they did not sing they just sat there. The one boy did not like being told he was a sinner and he was lost and that he would go to hell, the boy went home one night… The next day the young boy could not wait to return to the revival.
THE LITTLE NOBODY HAM FAMILY DID SOMETHING THAT RANG THE BELLS IN HEAVEN… they were faithful. Mordecai GAVE THE ALTAR CALL AN A 15 YEAR OLD BOY CAME TO THE ALTAR AND ACCEPTED JESUS CHRIST. You know that little boy: WILLIAM. We know WILLIAM as BILLY, BILLY GRAHAM. A little Sunday School teacher and a little preacher introduced one of the greatest world evangelist to the Lord. Billy Graham touched the world. Never forget the little nobodies that felt they were failures.
2 Corinthians 9:6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
THINK POSITIVELY, GOD DOES…. WE MUST ARISE ABOVE THE STINK! WE CAN RUN AND RUN AND ACCOMPLISH LITTLE… HAVE WE EVER BEEN THAT TIGER THAT CHASED HIS TALE UNTIL HE TURNED INTO BUTTER? IF I DON’T HAVE GREAT SUCCESS, I BELIEVE I WILL QUIT?
There is a little lady that has been the pastor of a little church in Harlan County, 41 years. She seldom gets paid. 41 years and no trophies. JANET FULKERSON has devoted her life in what is called BLOODY HARLAN, a county of coal mines and extreme poverty. Her county probably does not appreciate lady preachers. Janet has been faithful 41 years to a little church in Llewellyn, (LOUELLEN), KENTUCKY. Even the Post Office is closed. There is nothing there. Janet’s church touches a few adults and a lot of children. 41 years!
39 years ago my pastor Ralph Tennyson and I held a revival there. We had such a sweet time. There was a small crowd with no cash money for an offering. The offering was several ham biscuits and a coke. We ate them on the way home. Talk sacrifice? 41 years.
Using the words of fellow pastor Dan Collard of London, Ky.: “ In America we have celebrity pastors and mega churches, multi-campus, this and that. I sat and listened yesterday as a PASTOR OF 41 YEARS of a small church, in a tiny town, in an impoverished drug ridden county. She spoke of doing community outreaches every month with little money. Personally she made 2,500 Valentines by hand and passing them out all over the county. OHHH, AND DID I MENTION IN 41 YEARS SHE HAS NEVER HAD A SALARY. I WAS IN AWE.”
Have we forgotten the forgotten? Have we so looked for applause, approval, and crowds we bypass the widows and orphans? Forgotten people in the rest homes and jails? Kids in the schools? Does God forget what we have done?
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
There is a payday at the end of the road… our enemy’s trophies are vanity, dust cups. I can’t not define what success really is? It is not about the harvest, it is about how much seed we sow. TRUST? AND OBEY?
Hebrews 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.
36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
Hebrews 10:35 (MSG) So don't throw it all away now. You were sure of yourselves then. It's still a sure thing!
36 But you need to stick it out, staying with God's plan so you'll be there for the promised completion.
THERE IS A TERRIBLE AROMA COMING FROM SOME PEOPLE AND SOME CHURCHES… WE SEEM TO GO NOSE BLIND? Do we forget god is a rewarder?
I have always wondered why some people stink? Do they take baths? Do they use deodorant? I read that the same bacteria that makes LIMBURGER CHEESE stink can grow in sweat? WELL, THAT IS NOT MY QUESTION? MY QUESTION IS SIMPLE, WHY CAN’T PEOPLE SMELL THEY STINK? Everybody else can smell it. IS IT POSSIBLE TO BECOME NOE BLIND? Quitting is a people problem of stinking. I read that 1/3 of the people in church today will quit within the year? Why?
2 Corinthians 8:11 Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have.
2 Corinthians 8:11 (MSG) Your heart's been in the right place all along. You've got what it takes to finish it up, so go to it.
THE ATTITUDE OF NOSE BLINDNESS, CAN STINK IN THE VERY NOSTILS OF A HOLY GOD? WANT TO CONSIDER A SPIIRITUAL OFFENSIVE ORDOR IN OUR SOCIETY?
Isaiah 3:24 And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.
My dad was raised on a small farm in eastern Kentucky. He would tell us about cows. If a cow got into wild onions, as you lead the cows in from the field their breath stank of wild onions. That is not all, when you went to drink the milk, the milk smell so bad. The wild onions made the milk un-drinkable.
Not only did the cows breath was so bad… THE PRODUCT OF WHAT THE COW PRODUCED STANK. May our breath and products never stink in GOD’S NOSTRILS!
PERHAPS THE WORLD STINKS BECAUSE WE COMPARE OURSELVES WITH OURSELVES? MAYBE WE THINK OZ IS BETTER THAN HERE… OZ IS ONLY OZ TO THOSE THAT DON’T LIVE IN OZ…
Why would a millionaire commit suicide? Why would a famous movie star lay the gun to their head? They have everything? They have fame, wealth, fancy cars and huge houses? I HAVE NOTHING? I WISH I WOULD WIN THE LOTTERY? THE LOTTERY COULD DESTROY YOU? Have we not heard count your blessings name them one by one? WHY HASN’T MY CHURCH GROWN? THE BUDGET IS ALWAYS NEAR RED? WHY?
2 Corinthians 10:12 For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.
2 Corinthians 10:12 (MSG) We're not, understand, putting ourselves in a league with those who boast that they're our superiors. We wouldn't dare do that. But in all this comparing and grading and competing, they quite miss the point.
I have 39 ½ years in the full time ministry plus I taught school and traveled playing music 12 years. I have never tasted great success. I have always struggled financially. Insurance? April 15? Taxes? My ecclesiastical success sheets are lacking… I consider, would I be missed if I quit? What kind of an example would I be?
MAY THE WORDS OF ENDURANCE AND STICKABILITY be more valuable than those critical and negative busybodies that are UN-FAITHFUL. Many are tired in the work of the Lord. Many have invested their time, talent, energy and personal money to see the Law of Zero. Don’t stink. “Jesus says keep sowing the seed.”
TALK ABOUT STINK… BURN OUT COMES TO US BECAUSE WE QUIT RELYING ON GOD… WE BECOME SELF-RELIANT. WE QUIT TRUSTING GOD. GOD, WE THINK THE BATTLE IS OURS... I CAN FIGHT THIS. WE TRY TO MAKE EVERY ONE HAPPY BUT GOD? EXHAUSTED PEOPLE? BURN OUT IS PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL, SPIRITUAL, SOCIAL EXHAUSTION…
Burn out can affect your mental and physical health. Burn out is followed by deep depression and spiritual cancer. Burn out follows on the heels of thinking there is no obvious paydays? We think no one sees my sacrifice? STRESS, STRESS? FEELING OF FAILURE? Remember when ELIJAD SAID I AM THE ONLY ONE? Add to this a negative budget? Seems like everybody wants something and few seem to desire to change?
BURN OUT IS SOMETHING WE NEVER DESIRE TO FACE, THIS IS A SCARY STINKY FEAR CREATING STAT.
Too many people and pastors are burning up or burning out. Current Stats say 1,700 pastors leave the ministry every month. Each week another pastor is burn out or leaves the ministry because of hurt or the lack of visible success. Many successful, long term, and inspiring pastors leave their church.
I HAVE READ THAT 1 OUT OF 10 THAT STARTIN THE MINISTRY WILL FINISH THEIR CAREER AS A MINISTER.
• 53% ARE CONCERNED ABOUT PERSONAL AND CHURCH FINANCES.
• 80% OF PASTORS EXPECT CONFLICT IN THE CHURCH THEY PASTOR.
2 Thessalonians 3:13 But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing.
MAY A SPIRIT OF ENCOURAGEMENT THRIVE IN OUR FAMILIES AND OUR CHURCHES? May Preachers encourage other preachers in the word and share the loads… In season and out.
ARE WE SEARCHING FOR SUCCESS BY NUMBERS AND FINANCES… A CEMENTARIES OR GRAVE YARDS ARE GROWING BY NUMBERS AND FINANCES… IT IS ABOUT SOWING SEEDS. ARE WE COUNTING OUR BLESSINGS?
THE BATTLE IS NOT YOURS… MOSES ALMOST HAD BURN OUT AND JETHRO VISITED HIM. HIS FATHER-IN-LAW HAD SOME ENCOURAGEMENT AND FRESH PERSPECTIVE. ARE YOU CONNECTED TO ENCOURAGERS?
HEAVY BURDENS CRUSH YOU. IT IS REALITY THAT THERE IS THE STRAW THAT CAN BREAK THE CAMEL’S BACK. You were not designed this carry this burden. Jesus said: CAST YOUR BURDEN… WE MUST NOT GROW WEARY AND LOSE OUR HEARTS IN THE MIDST OF THE BURDENS ON OUR SHOULDERS.
Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
THE ENEMY TRIES TO GET US TO PLAY THE “LONE RANGER”… SOME GREAT MEN OF THE BIBLE FACED THIS STINKY GIANT. THEY WERE EXHAUSTED AND GAVE ALL THEY HAD… THEY HAD TO LEARN THEY MUST STAY FOCUSED ON THE GOALS NOT THE PROBLEMS AND THE RED NUMBERS.
ELIJAH CAME TO THE POINT HE OPENLY QUESTIONED HIMSELF AND GOD’S CALL? Are we questioning self?
The love of God should sustain us in difficult times. In our weaknesses we can tend to faint. Do we waver in God’s call because we focus on how big the giant is and how little we have to accomplish God’s task?
1 Kings 18:22 Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.
DON’T BE A LONE RANGER… WE MUST STAY CONNECTED TO THE VINE… HAVE A MENTOR, STAY ACCOUNTABLE AND SUBMIT TO SELF-EVALUATION.
John 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
GOD ALWAYS HAD THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL? CHILDREN? WHY DIDN’T THEY BECOME THE ADULTS OF GOD? God desires us to be his children and rely on His plan. The challenge is to trust God. Seek God, trust His care…
The Lone Ranger? Elijah faced BURN OUT, God called him to enter into Divine Rest, rest, eat a good diet, then GO!
Isaiah 40:28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. 29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com Please help me? Please share this with others.
I do this in 3 parts. I print it as one so it is easy to print.
