Pastor Ralph Diehl » Excuses

THE 3 HUTS

pastordiehl — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:00:48 +0000

Did you hear the story of the man who was shipwrecked on a deserted island? When a passerby saw his fire and stopped to rescue him, he saw he had built three huts. The rescuerasked, “I have to inquire, what are the three huts?”

The shipwrecked man replied, “Well, this hut is my home. That’s where I live.”

“And the second hut?”

‘That’s my church. That’s where I worship.”

“And the third hut?”

“That’s my previous church. There were things I didn’t like there.”

At least he went to a new church after he left the first one. What’s the most lame excuse you’ve ever heard for someone leaving their church?

MRS. CRAIG

pastordiehl — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 13:00:39 +0000

In the early 1990s The Nashville Banner reported that 81-year old Ella Craig had perfect attendance in Sunday school for 20 years. That’s 1,040 Sundays! The article then raised these questions:

1. Doesn’t Mrs. Craig ever have company on Sunday to keep her away from church?

2. Doesn’t she ever have headaches, colds, nervous spells, or tired feelings?

3. Doesn’t she ever take a weekend trip?

4. Doesn’t she ever sleep late on Sunday morning?

5. Doesn’t it ever rain or snow on Sunday morning?

6. Doesn’t she ever get her feelings hurt by someone in the church?

The article consluded by asking, “What’s the matter with Mrs. Craig?” What do you think is the matter with Mrs. Craig?

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

pastordiehl — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 13:00:49 +0000

A man wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper some time back: “I have been attending services quite regularly for the past 30 years, and during that time…I have listened to no less than 3,000 sermons. But, to my consternation, I discover I cannot remember a single one of them. I wonder if a minister’s time might be more profitably spent on something else.”

Anita and I have been married for over 30 years. During that time I have eaten over 30,000 meals, mostly prepared by my wife. Unfortunately, I find I can’t recall the menu of a single meal. Yet, I received nourishment from every one of them. I think without them I would have starved to death a long time ago.

There are lots of reasons to not go to church, but the best for going is this: “Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together” (Hebrews 10:24-25).

AWAKENING A STORM

pastordiehl — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 13:00:38 +0000

Unbelief, indifference, busyness, and laziness are some of the excuses people give for not reading the Bible. Gamaliel Bradford, a renowned American biographer who explored the lives and motives of famous individuals, candidly admitted, “I do not read the New Testament for fear of its awakening a storm of anxiety and self-reproach and doubt and dread of having taken the wrong path, of having been traitor to the plain and simple God.”

How do you think that excuse will hold up in the High Court of heaven when he will surely stand before God? Its about as irrational as refusing to see a doctor because there’s a suspicion that cancer has started to develop in your body.

As I reread his statement above I thought it was a remarkably accurate record of what happened to me when I encountered God back in 1972 and was awakened to all the things he described. Thank God I listened and repented.