Dr. Harold McNabb

Details

Donald Drusky of Syracuse New York took God to court. The one-time employee of USX Corporation blamed God for failing to rectify the wrong done to him when he was fired in 1968. Drusky waged a 30-year battle with the steelmaker, before deciding to take legal action against God. The suit reads:

The defendant, God, is the sovereign ruler of the universe and took no corrective action against the leaders of his church and his nation for their extremely serious wrongs, which ruined the life of Donald S. Drusky.

For damages, Drusky asked for the return of his youth, the skill of a great guitarist, and the resurrections of his mother and pet pigeon. Drusky hoped that God would fail to appear in court, allowing him to win the case by default.1

Drusky's case was declared frivolous and thrown out by a Syracuse court, but I imagine he made a bit of money on the late-night talk-TV circuit.

Some folks quicky turn to blame God when life hands them disappointment, but thinking we can turn the tables on God is even too much for a court-room.
We forget that God is the law-giver and the judge of all the world.
If He were just our judge, and nothing more, then humanity might be understood if we spent our time thinking of ways to outwit our creator, as futile as that would be.

But God is not just creator, though that is enough to hold us accountable for all the law and commands we have been given. God is creator, and . . .

Read more: Tithing: It's a Law of the Heart

Details

You will always be rich enough to be generous.

My good friend Gordon Patterson, minister at New Hope Baptist Church told me of a year he spent in mission work in Kenya. He said that on one occasion, he visited a home and that on leaving was presented with a coke bottle full of goat's milk. This was the best gift his hosts could afford.

Jesus remarks about the single penny a woman puts in the offering at the temple. It was the best gift she could afford. Both these examples were of extravagant generosity. It is not the amount that is the issue, it is extent to which these poor people went to be generous. No matter how poor you are, you will always be rich enough to be generous.

Paul says, "he who supplies seed to the sower will increase your supply of seed and increase your harvest as well." The obvious caveat is, "if you plant what you have."

You know the story of the two lakes of the Holy Land.
The first is the northern lake of Galilee. Sometimes called the Sea of Galilee in the north. In Hebrew its name is Yam Kinneret.
It is watered from the Jordan River and underground springs. It is rich in . . .

Read more: You Have the Seed: Plant it

Details
In 2000, there were two documented attempts of soul selling.
A Salon.com article titled ?eFaust eFoiled? reported that 18-year-old Sterling Jones ?put his soul up for auction on eBay. Within a few days eBay removed Jones? offer and alerted him that eBay did not allow the auctioning of human souls.

?According to eBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove, there's no proof Jones can make good to the winning bidder. 'this gentleman would have to make a pretty strong case to us that he could deliver his soul.??

Wired magazine reported that a 29-year-old university communications instructor was successful in his attempt to sell his immortal soul. After a 10 day bidding war, a New York real estate agent purchased it for $1,325. The seller said, ?In America, you can metaphorically and literally sell your soul and be rewarded for it. That's what makes this country great.?1.

It seems to me that $1,325. is a tad undervalued. In fact we know a human soul is priceless. Priceless means that it is impossible to establish a price for it because it cannot be bought or sold. Ebay is right: Mr. Jones could not deliver his soul even if he wanted to, and a purchaser could not take possession.

On another level, people do mortgage their souls, though usually . . .

Read more: Your Treasure: Send it On Ahead

Details
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.
He threw himself at Jesus? feet and thanked him?and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, ?Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Luke 17:11-19
Dr. Erin Beck is well known for his depression scale. It is the questionaire that is given to people suffering from depression.. He published some research on suicide in the American Journal of Psychiatry. Among other factors, he found that your risk of killing yourself rises with your income. A different study says, "subtract two years from your life if your income is over $40,000" That is US, so maybe $50,000 Canadian. With affluence, anxiety goes up, contentment goes down.
Next time you ask for a raise, your boss may say, "No, we can't afford to put your life at risk."
Be forewarned.

There is no glory in poverty, but chasing after money and stuff money buys obviously does not bring happiness either.
John MacArthur of Grace Community Church in California says,

A study of thirty plus denominations points out that although income after taxes and inflation, increased 31% in the last 17 years, giving has gone down 8.5% in the same . . .

Read more: Thanksgiving: The Antidote to Pernicious Creeping Materialism

Details
The late Bishop Edwin Hughes once delivered a rousing sermon on "God's Ownership" that put a rich parishioner's nose out-of-joint. The wealthy man took the Bishop off for lunch, and then walked him through his elaborate gardens, woodlands, and farm. "Now are you going to tell me," he demanded when the tour was completed, "that all this land does not belong to me?" Bishop Hughes smiled and suggested, "Ask me that same question a hundred years from now."1

Over the next five weeks I am going to preach on the topic of stewardship.
This morning as we celebrate the Lord's Supper, I am going to begin at the basis of our stewardship:

We give because God first gave to us.

On the surface, that statement seems simple enough, but our hearts are not simple.
We may understand that with our head, but our emotions may be working at cross-purposes.
Fear and unbelief betray our . . .

Read more: Who's Farm Is It?

  1. Where is God?
  2. What Is It?
  3. Goodbye Pharoah
  4. Resurrection Certainties

Page 6 of 20