We Need Neighbors Who Set the Bar High - Apples of Gold - August 20, 2012 -vi-

 

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for August 20, 2012

“We Need Neighbors Who Set the Bar High”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

My neighbor is moving and my lawn hates me.

My neighbor was a lawn guy, the guy who fastidiously cares for his lawn.

He set the bar high for the entire neighborhood.  His lawn looked so good it put pressure on the rest of us.

Now that he is moving, I feel that pressure going down – and I don’t like it. 

I am not very motivated from within to take great care of my lawn.  Oh, I’ll keep it trimmed up nice enough, but I’m not too concerned if it’s lush and green and thick.  I’m not a lawn guy.

But I care more if I know my neighbor cares.  If he sets the bar high for lawn care, I will try to live up to his standards – and that’s better for the whole neighborhood.

But what if no one sets the bar high?  What if no one in a neighborhood tries to make his lawn look great?  Well if no one does, the whole neighborhood will go downhill. 

Someone has to set the bar high, and as soon as they do, the whole neighborhood benefits.

Now watch this.  That also applies to other areas of life.  We need neighbors who set the bar high.

In baseball I think of Albert Pujols.  You hear about his work ethic and his standards of excellence.  When he went to the Angels this year, his work ethic raised the bar for everyone.

In football I think of Tim Tebow.  I read one article that said he was the hardest working man in the weight room.  When he went to the Jets, I think he instantly raised the bar for starting quarterback Mark Sanchez.

We need people around us who raise the bar.

I remember as a young man hearing Jimmy Swaggart preach hard against adultery.  His preaching raised the bar.  Now I know he fell, and I know some people discounted his preaching, but that doesn’t change the high standard that was not Jimmy’s anyway.  It was God’s.  And that preaching raised the bar high for me, and it was a good thing.

Our pastors should raise the bar for us.  Our elders and deacons should raise the bar for us.  They set the high and good example, and their example puts pressure on the rest of us to live right and Godly and walk in the Lord’s ways.

Someone needs to be raising the bar, or the rest of us will let our standards down, sin will creep in, we will build our lives on sand instead of the rock of God’s truth, and we will all suffer for it.

Where should the bar be set?

Look at Ephesians 4:13.  Here is the goal, that “we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

Wow.  I completely love that phrase, “…to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

The New Living Translation says, “…measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.”

Jesus set the bar impossibly high, but then He empowers us through His Spirit inside of us to walk in His ways as we submit to Him.

But then as the body of Christ, and His congregation of saints, we influence one another.  We have a mighty influence on each another!

So let us raise the bar.  Let us live up to the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.  Let us kick our sin and our flesh to the curb, and walk in His holiness, and His love, His mercy and His grace, His fire and His Spirit and His light.

It’s all in Christ Jesus, my friend.  He is the perfect man, “the measure of the stature of the fullness.” 

So let us look to Him, and let us set an example for the others.  Let us be the neighbor that raises the bar in our own lives, and then watch, just watch how it makes a difference to everyone around us.

When one neighbor raises the bar for himself, it subtly raises the bar for everyone else.

Let us be the neighbors who raise the bar, for the honor and glory and praise of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Amen.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


© 2012 Doug Apple 
 To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
 If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
3225 Hartsfield Road
Tallahassee, FL  32303
(850) 926-8000

Wave94.com

 

On the edge of uncomfortable is where learning begins.

On the edge of uncomfortable is where learning begins.

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Don't Glorify Old Sins - Apples of Gold - January 9, 2012 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

 

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for January 9, 2012

“Don’t Glorify Old Sins”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

I dreamt that my children were children again.

There was a variety of people in someone’s home, a family-friendly affair.

I was sitting at the head of a table with two men on my right, two of my children on the left, and others milling around.

I and my children were listening as the two men, a bit younger than I, were bantering.  Suddenly one of the men said to the other, “You did drugs.”  The other said, “Well so did you,” and off they went, telling tales of the glory days, about run-ins with police and all the excitement and fun they had during the drug period of their lives.

Meanwhile, my children were soaking up the stories.  I said, “Hey guys, let’s talk about something else,” as I nodded toward the children.  They took the hint and that was that.

It was just a dream, but it tapped into some things I feel strongly about.

First of all, I don’t believe in glorifying old sins.  If it was sinful, if it grieved the heart of God, if it grieved your parents, don’t revel in it.  If God saved you from it, don’t rehash it like it was the good old days. 

Look, I’m sure some funny things happened when you were drunk and high.  And I’m sure some sad and pathetic things happened, too.  My advice is to apply the advice of Paul in the book of Philippians, forget what is in the past, and press on towards what Christ Jesus has for you.  (Philippians 3)

I know a Christian man who inexplicably went back to drinking after he had been saved and sober for many years.  He had even been a teacher and a worship leader.  How does that happen?

I think one reason can be the glorifying of old sinful behavior.  If you tell the old tales like it was the best days of your life, at some point you may start believing it.

“Well Doug, why would a Christian talk about the old days like they were so good if they weren’t?”

I think there are several reasons.  One is selective memory.  Sometimes we gut the bad parts out of our memories – the empty feelings, the betrayals, the hurts, the shame, the sense of going nowhere.

Another is not filling your life with something better.  If you used to party hardy on Friday nights, and now you just sit at home with an afghan on your lap, the old life can seem pretty attractive.

God has better plans than that.  There is a world to change, a gospel to share, light to be shone, people to love.  The Lord wants to make massive changes in this world through us, and sitting at home isn’t going to cut it. 

An idle mind is the devil’s workshop, according to the old saying, and idle hands are the devil’s tools.  That’s not in the Bible, of course, but there is some truth to it. 
There really is a devil, and he really is a liar, a cheat and a killer.  That’s what Jesus said in John 8:44. 

I don’t know exactly what the devil and demons are doing, but it’s easy to picture them tempting Christians to go back to the old slop; and this sounds like a good formula for it: 

1.  Laugh a lot about the old party days while leaving out the sad parts.

2.  Don’t fill your life with more worthy, Godly pursuits.

3.  Listen to the lies that sin actually has something good to offer.

Now let’s go back to my dream.  The men were laughing about their old druggie days.  That was the first thing I feel strongly about.

The second thing I feel strongly about is watching what we say in front of the children.

Adult stories impact children.  They become bigger than life in their little minds.

The other day I was talking to a detective.  He was talking about people literally drowning to death on a dance floor.  How is that possible?  He said they take certain drugs that are popular these days, and they feel so dehydrated that they frantically drink water in a way that literally fills their lungs and they drown.

As he told me this, I was instantly taken back to a story an adult told me when I was a child.  It was a fictional tale about a man who was cursed to drown, so he took a train into the middle of the desert where it would be impossible to drown.  He suddenly dropped dead on the train.  The cause of death?  Da-da-da-dummmmm…drowning.

I’ve heard a million stories since then that I can’t recall, but I’m telling you, the stories we hear as children stick with us. 

“Doug, what’s your point?”  The point is that we need to watch what we say in front of the children.  Lessons and values and truths are passed along through our stories.

If you are a Christian, beware of sitting around and laughing about your party times.  You are sending a strong message to your children, whether you realize it or not.

Better to build a great legacy of stories about what the Lord has done in your life, and what He is doing through your life to make a difference in other lives.

And if you don’t have many stories like that, it’s time to get a hold of God and see what you should be doing.

Children are going to soak up your stories and learn from them.

The question is – what stories are you telling?


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


© 2012 Doug Apple 
 To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
 If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
3225 Hartsfield Road
Tallahassee, FL  32303
(850) 926-8000
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