Day of Praise

Fri, 08/26/16, "Day of Praise"

Here's another one of the favorites.

From Tu, 07/30/13, "Day of Praise"

Acts 15:32 - "And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words."

I was in a Ruby Tuesday restaurant, which gives me an opportunity to say "Hi!" to my friend Mark Ingram and his family, as Mark was amongst the few early leaders of Ruby Tuesday who helped make it what it is today, both here in the U.S. and also abroad.

So I'm in this Ruby Tuesday, catching up with a church member, Ilene, who for years faithfully cared for her Korean War hero, bed-bound husband. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice this 18 year old guy, flexing his bicep as if he were performing for a Mr. Universe contest. I look over just in time to see the 17 year old girl across from him, as she's reaching over to check out his bicep and feel exactly how big it is. He smiles even bigger and nods his head like a Bobblehead doll that's saying, "Yaaaayu, I'm strong."

And he was.

But she made him stronger.

He was strong. Like Popeye. Ya know, the sailor man, who lives in a garbage can. (Is that really the way that song went?)

But she made him stronger. Like Popeye's love, Olive Oyl
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_Oyl), who was a main cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar in 1919 (10 years before Popeye!) for his comic strip Thimble Theatre.

As in today's verse from Acts 15:32, the little lady in Ruby Tuesday "encouraged and strengthened the brother with many words."

Oh, yeah, the whole time Ilene and I talked, we never noticed Popeye nor Olive Oyl pick up a cell phone. Like my friend, Art Fries, is always saying, "the most important person in the world is the one right in front of you."

Oh sure, there's a few off-the-chart egotistical people in the world. But for the most part, most people are just looking for someone who will celebrate with them when they "flex their muscle." In other words, invite people to tell you something they like about themselves. After the shock wears off of them because they can't believe you want to hear something great about them and then they "flex their muscle", tell em how great they are.

And make them stronger.

We need more strong people in the world. So, let's "encourage and strengthen [one another] with many words." (Acts 15:32)

Praise God!

Pastor Chris 
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson