Tuesday 11-3 Do you give advice (or just wish you could?)

 

Picture of the day

 

BUT for now:

Since I am so old and smart, I tend to want to give a lot of advice.  Sometimes I do give advice, to my own shame.  It is not that we humans are so smart, but we have our ways and it is so logical; we wonder why everyone would not do as we do, or act as we do.

To clarify, I TRY to NEVER give medical advice, except to ME! I remember well a very wise Doctor, Dr. Coutts. He looked me in the eye and said very firmly, “YOU ARE NO DOCTA”. He was just about right.  LOL

There are wise people who can give advice from experience and we should listen.  I tried being a preacher (minister, pastor) for a few years and found out too late I had made a mistake.

My dad was a successful minister and a very good pastor and shepherd of his flock. He also had learned a lot. When asked for advice, or when he felt it was needed, he gave it. Dad never pushed me nor suggested I become a preacher, but once I decided, he gave me two bits of advice that if I knew how I would pass it on to ALL pastors.

#1..Son, do not go in debt, your family will not go hungry, if you are in HIS WILL, God’s people will feed you.

#2.. When you say in your SERMON, “In closing” or “I am closing”, CLOSE the Sermon.  As soon as you say ‘IN CLOSING’...... but do not, you lose part of the congregation, they have things planned after church and their minds will automatically go to their plans. 

He let me know that #2 was the most ignored and misused of any advice given.  I just endured one of those non closing closings  AGAIN last Sunday; our good pastor, closed his sermon 3 times, and still kept on. (BTW... IT WAS A VERY GOOD SERMON)

A wise minister or any public speaker should know when he has lost many of his listeners.

Nite Shipslog

PS. 

One of these days I may be able to post my odd life in a Christian world.  BTW if you want to read some great pastoral advice, find some sermons of Father Ignatius.  Old Victor includes some of them in his books. Amazon.com : books written by Victor Moubarak

I hope you are not a ‘Bored again Christian'!”

Love from FL