I was in my office and noticed out my window that he put something in his truck, but didn’t observe what it was. About that time the maintenance man came in the office trying to find out what happened to his power drill. We put two and two together and figured out what it was he placed in his truck. We knew we could not verify that the drill in his truck was actually the church’s, so we chose not to take action against the man.

But guess who received no help from the church. Here was a submissive wife filling out paperwork in hopes of receiving help from God’s people, and her irresponsible husband undermined all her attempts. We placed the family’s name on our do not assist list.

I’ve learned over years that when someone has their finances is disarray, there are usually other values in disarray, as well. The missing power drill was God’s warning as to the character issue. But, how sad for the wife and children of that scoundrel.

How would you have suggested we handled this couple?

Other names have become words that describe a person’s character and behavior: Judas and Benedict Arnold both mean ‘traitor’. An Einstein is a genius, while a Solomon is a wise man.

Few of us will have our names become a part of the language, but they do signify who we are and how we have lived. Solomon said, “The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot…He who walks with integrity walks securely, but he who perverts his ways will become known” (Proverbs 10:7-9).

If your name became a word in English, what would you want it to mean?

Yet during the first 100 years of the wall’s existence, China was invaded three times. How was teh security breached? The enemies simply bribed a gatekeeper and then marched easily through a gate. The fatal flaw in China’s defense lay in spending its wealth to build a wall but paying much less to build the character of the gatekeepers.

Character will also be the deciding factor in the security of the United States in these days. One of the founding fathers once said, ‘Democracy will only succeed until politicians discover they can vote money into their own purses.’

Character is also the deciding factor in the security of the church. When character can be compromised by church leaders, the power of God leaves His church. Let’s stay disciplined.

What’s wrong with that picture? Can it be that loving Jesus has no connection with character? Is Christian music simply a part of our culture, but not a part of our heart? A person can wear a cross around his/her neck as a symbol, but not have any relationship with Jesus Who died there for us. It would do us all good to reflect on the above story and ask ourselves just how genuine our love for Jesus really is.

As the livery man hitched up a horse to a buggy, he said, “This animal is about as perfect as a horse could be. It is kind, gentle, intelligent, well-trained, obedient, willing, responds instantly to your every command, never kicks, balks, or bites, and lives only to please its driver.”

Brooks then quietly said to the owner, “Do you suppose you could get that horse to join my church?”

What a joy it would be if all Christians who joined churches would fit that description.

Just then the guide’s wife spoke up and said, “These men are different. They keep their promises to their wives back home.” After hearing how they’d refused to commit adultery, the chief gave Lewis & Clark their supplies. Shortly thereafter they crossed the Great Divide and claimed the Northwest. But their biggest accomplishment wasn’t new territory – it was character! Jesus said, “From…out of a person’s heart, come…sexual immorality…adultery…eagerness for lustful pleasure…they…defile you and make you unacceptable to God” (Mark 7:21-23 NLT).

When God said, “Do not commit adultery,” he intended husbands and wives to be faithful to each other. Character doesn’t come out in the wash.

Jimmy Stewart and Lionel Barrymore looked quite a bit younger than we remembered them in this 1938 film. And, in an interesting twist, Lionel Barrymore, who played villain Henry Potter in the famous Christmas film, played the kindly hero Grandpa Martin Vanderhof in You Can’t Take it With You.

Every December we watched the gruff conniving Potter role and so I kept expecting some trickery out of Grandpa in this older film, which never did materialize. I suppose its human nature for us to judge people based upon one incident and then trust or not trust them based upon what we’ve seen.

But Christmas is about God becoming man to change our character. Thank God I’m not judged the way I used to be. Merry Christmas.