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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for August 10, 2009
“Yes, This Is My Truck, and Yes, I Will Help You Move”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
Here is one of my all-time favorite bumper stickers:
“Yes, this is my truck. No, I won’t help you move.”
I laugh every time I see it, because isn’t that the way it is, truck owners? Some people you never hear from – until they get ready to move.
I don’t know about you, but almost every move I’ve ever made was with the help of friends with trucks. And now that my kids are older, I even rely on their friends with trucks.
I remember years ago there was a group of us at church that spent a lot of time together, and only one man in the group had a truck. The rest of us borrowed it so often that we started calling it “the truck,” as if it was no longer his truck. We acted like it belonged to all of us.
And he was cool with that. I don’t remember him turning anyone down. I’m sure that his truck received a lot of unnecessary wear and tear simply because he loaned it out so often.
Now I’ve never owned a truck, but I’ve owned a few vans in my time, and vans also get a lot of requests. I can’t count how many school trips and youth group trips we’ve loaned our van for. Our vans have hauled band equipment and camping gear and loads of kids dumping sodas and French fries and sugar coated gummy worms.
We still have one van we bought brand new in 1999. It now has over 200 thousand miles on it, and you should see the inside of that thing. It’s hauled kids thousands of miles and it shows. But what better way to get kids to church camp than to borrow the Apples’ old van?
This also happens with tools. Take, for example, a pressure washer. It’s the kind of thing you don’t need that often, so why buy one when your friend has one?
It also happens with skills. I know how to finish dry wall, so that’s a call I get a lot. I have a friend who is an electrician, so that’s a call I make a lot.
We used to live by a friend who was a nurse. How many times did I hear my wife on the phone talking about one of our kids and saying, “Can you come take a look at this?”
And if you know how to fix computers, then you probably get more calls than anyone.
Now back to that bumper sticker. It says, “Yes, this is my truck. No, I won’t help you move.”
Some people mean that. “No, I won’t help you. Now git.”
But even the gruffest man will probably still help his family.
And this is one thing I love about being in church. You instantly have a really big family, and it’s a family that loves to share.
That’s the way the church has been from the beginning.
Acts 2:44 says, “All the believers were together and had everything in common.”
Acts 4:32 says “No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.”
Some went so far as to even sell their property and give the money to help those in need.
So church people tend to be very generous. But in my experience, this generosity is usually not organized.
In other words, if I need the help of someone with a truck, then it’s my responsibility to make friends with a truck owner.
But I can picture a busy single mother out there who makes friends with a few ladies in the church, but none of them have a truck. What now?
Here’s where the organizers in the church come in. How hard would it be to establish a little church moving crew? Find a few guys with trucks and make it easy on folks in the church. All they have to do is call the leader who will then organize the moving they need done.
Yes, there is a lot of sharing going on in the church, but most of it is unorganized. The extroverts and networkers are getting their fair share, but what about the more quiet people, the less pushy people who don’t want to be so bold as to ask a stranger at church for help?
This is where organized sharing comes in. I’ve seen churches offer free car tune-up days and free yard work days. Our church has free health screenings.
The fact is, a lot of church members are more than happy to share what they have, but unless the person in need is their friend, then how will those two get together?
So this is something to think about. How can you organize the sharing in your church? How can you link up those in need with those who can meet those needs?
Yes, many people will do that networking on their own. But many won’t.
So this is a call to you organizers in the church.
How can you help people share?
How can you get those people together?
How can you organize those church members who are generous enough to say, “Yes, this is my truck, and yes, I will help you move!”
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2009 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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