Unrelated News – Page 4 – My Thought Spot

Money given to missionaries

This is something I was thinking about a few months ago. This has to do with missionaries raising money for needs other than immediate ministry needs. The example I use is a retirement account.

As a missionary, if you feel guilty about putting money into an account for retirement then you are showing you are dependent on the donor and not on God. As a donor, if you are angered by missionaries putting money into savings, then you are demonstrating that you are giving to the missionary and not to God.

Our giving and receiving should be vertical; from me to God, or from God to me. Giving should not be horizontal; from giver to receiver. As soon as the donor thinks that he is giving to the missionary as opposed to giving to God then he starts to feel like he should control how the money is used. When a missionary begins to think that the money he has comes from individuals and not from God, then he becomes dependent on people and not on God.

Keep your giving and receiving vertical and not horizontal. By doing this then you don’t allow bad attitudes to creep in.

I understand that, as a donor, I want to know that my money is properly used, but if I feel God wants me to give it, I should give. Then whatever happens to the money is no longer in my control. It is up to God to take care of His money. As a receiver I should be very careful of how I use the money given, but not because I am concerned about what people think of how I use the money. I should be careful to be accountable to God for how I use His money.

Fortune cookies

My fortune cookie. Be helpful. Today we went to eat at a small Chinese place that we first visited about a year ago. We have only been there maybe 4 times, but it has always been good.

My wife always teases that fortune cookies these days don’t have any fortune in them. They don’t tell you that you will be hit by a bus at 2:00 on Tuesday afternoon. That would be a helpful telling of fortune. But, alas, we get stuck with trite little sayings.

Oops... Wrong cookie. Today mine said: “You will be called upon to help a friend in trouble. Answer the call.” Isn’t that what I do all the time? I have always tried to be helpful when people need it. Now my cookie is telling me I need to step it up a notch. Well, I taught that cookie a lesson. I ate it. I guess that wasn’t too helpful.

My wife’s cookie was just downright funny. It said: “Oops… Wrong cookie.”

Tough game for a 5 year old

Both of our children have a knack for talking incessantly. They get on each others nerves with it too.

This morning on the way to church our daughter (5 years old) challenged our son (11 years old) to a game of “The Quiet Game.” She offered the challenge and he responded with, “Ok. Go!”

She sat there quiet for a few seconds and then whispered to herself, but loud enough that we all heard it, “Oh, this is gonna be hard.”

Good thing my wife and I weren’t playing, we laughed too loud to have been able to stay in the game.

Yes, dear, the quiet game is hard for chatty 5 year old girls.

Google Maps Feature: Lot Markings

This morning I got up to map out my running route for the day. I noticed a new feature on Google Maps. It marks out where the housing lots are. I thought maybe this had already been there and I just now noticed it. Though it had to be less than 5 days old since I know I used Google Maps on Saturday.

This feature may have already been available in other areas, but this is the first time I have seen it. I do know that it is new for my neighborhood.

I have now been able to narrow down the time of when it was rolled out here. I was playing a game last night that uses Google Maps and the feature was not there. This morning the game has the new feature shown. So sometime between midnight last night and 7:00 this morning is when it was implemented in the Pensacola area.

Anyone already see this feature in your area?

What is it good for? I can see that it would be helpful in searching out property. If you are looking for some place that has a little bit larger than average yard in a particular neighborhood it would be useful. With the already current feature of having the blocks marked out with numbers telling you approximately the address of each house, this is an incremental step to giving us an exact address for each of the little lots that they are marking off now. When typing in an address you can see if the house you are looking for is on the corner, or three lots down. I can imagine that they will make it easy to click on one of the blocks and get the exact address in the near future.

This does not work in Mexico where we lived. But they also don’t have addressing information in the city of Merida yet either. Only the streets are laid out.

David and Flora Hartsfield

I spent some time with my friends the Hartsfields today. They have been part of my life for 29 years. Their retirement party is this weekend and we are able to attend.

Bro. and Mrs. Hartsfield came to Odessa, Texas to take charge of our Christian school at the beginning of the 1980-81 school year. They moved to Odessa from Little Rock, Arkansas with their 3 children. Bro. Hartsfield is now 70 and I turn 40 this year. He has been a part of my life for 75% of my time on this earth. The Hartsfields have had more direct influence at different times on me than they do now, but the indirect influence has continued for these many years, and will continue into the future.

I can’t say that they are perfect people since I know human nature and the Bible would say otherwise. But, they have been consistently faithful to their beliefs and have instilled a deep seated desire in me to do the same. Bro. Hartsfield has always been a disciplined and consistent man, and while that may not have transfered into my life completely, it has been a joy to see someone who essentially is the same man I met 30 years ago.

Recently I heard a sermon based on the book of Third John in the Bible. The pastor mentioned a character I have never really studied. But as he talked about Demetrius I immediately thought of Bro. Hartsfield. The verse is 3 John 12: “Demetrius hath good report of all men, and of the truth itself: yea, and we also bear record; and ye know that our record is true.”

Demetrius was well spoken of by men. Bro. Hartsfield has a great personal testimony. Today in Mr. Ramirez’s shoe repair shop I mentioned the retirement party to the owner, who I knew to be an acquaintance of Bro. Hartsfield’s. Mr. Ramirez said some incredibly kind words about Bro. H. Every person that Bro. Harsfield met in business or personally became a quick friend. Bro. H. conducts himself in a way that causes you to want to get to know him personally. He has always been well spoken of by men.

Then the Bible says that Demetrius had a good report from the truth itself. According to God’s Word Demetrius lived a holy and right life. Anyone who knows Bro. Hartsfield knows that just being in his presence causes others to think twice about their actions. Not because Bro. H. is going to preach at them, but because they know that if it is an activity in which he would not participate, then it is because the activity probably violates the Bible or a Biblical principle in some way. While Bro. H. does plenty of preaching, he is not one to raise his voice or lose his temper. He is one of the most fun men to be around because you know that in his presence is an opportunity to have clean comedy, games and activities.

Thirdly it says of Demetrius that the apostles spoke well of him. These were men who had been in the presence of Jesus Christ himself. They knew perfection and they still spoke highly of Demetrius. While I have seen people say horrible things about our school and turn away from the teachings of the Bible, I have not met anyone who would speak to the fact that Bro. H. and his wife were not genuine people. The people who know him best, his family and co-workers, also speak highly of him.

I will miss seeing the Hartsfields on a regular basis, but I know that the impact they have had on the lives of the many students who have passed through the school is tremendous. I am just thankful that I can be here for the retirement party and take part in this special event. It is great to be able to honour a family that has been such a blessing to so many.