...news

Good news/bad news for a preacher:

Good News: You baptized seven people today in the river.

Bad News: You lost two of them in the swift current.

Good News: The Ladies Bible Class voted to send you a get-well card.

Bad News: The vote passed by 31-30.

Good News: The elders accepted your job description the way you wrote it.

Bad News: They were so inspired by it, they also formed a search

committee to find somebody capable of filling the

position.

Good News: Mrs. Jones is wild about your sermons.

Bad News: Mrs. Jones is also wild about "The Gong Show," "The Jerry

Springer Show" and "Texas Chain Saw Massacre."

Good News: The building committee finally voted to add more church

parking.

Bad News: They are going to blacktop your front lawn.

Good News: Church attendance rose dramatically the last three weeks.

Bad News: You were on vacation.

Good News: Your elders want to send you to the "Holy Land".

Bad News: They are stalling until the next war.

Good News: The youth in your church come to your house for a surprise

visit.

Bad News: It's in the middle of the night and they are armed with

toilet paper and shaving cream to "decorate" your

house.

Life is filled with good news and bad news. So is the Bible. The good news

is: Christ took our place on the cross and died for our sins. The bad news

is: not everyone has chosen to respond to that act of love in an obedient faith.

"As it is written: 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!' But they have not all obeyed the gospel." (Romans 10:15b-16a)

Father, thank you for the good news that you have shared with us. As excited as we are about your love and grace, it grieves us when those we share it with are sometimes not even interested. We pray for open doors and open hearts as we exercise our "beautiful feet". In Jesus name, amen.