A lady on television was interviewing a woman who starred for many years on the “Lawrence Welk Show” and asked, “What did you learn from Lawrence Welk?” She replied, “To love the audience.” If we preach from hostility the listeners will sense it. If we preach from love, they will sense it. We don’t have to tell them—they will pick it up in other ways.
In the delightful movie Monsters Inc., an entire society of monsters finds their fuel source in the energy created from children’s frightened screams. The heroes of the movie discover that children aren’t so bad and that they can generate energy from their laughter even more than from their screams. Could it be that laughter and love are more powerful than fear and anger? The Bible agrees when it says, “Perfect love casts out fear.”
-Michael Shannon, Preaching March/April 2002
Fox News reported on July 31, 2002 that a new drink is gaining wide-spread popularity. Nexcite has sold over 24 million bottles in the last year. The reason? This beverage serves as a contemporary “love potion.” One coffee shop owner who discovered the drink at a trade show bought and brought as many as she could fit in a U-Haul back to her store. She began selling Nexcite immediately (Of course, she only recommends the drink for married couples.). Pretty soon this coffee shop owner had people lining up at her door desiring to get their hands on a bottle. Fox reports that one man even offered several thousand dollars for the opportunity to ingest the liquid love (“Look Out, Love Potion No. 9” by Michael Y. Park, www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,59171,00.html).
How foolish to think that love is packaged in a bottle! Our culture leads us to believe that love is merely a feeling that comes and goes – not a commitment that involves much work to maintain and yields a much greater reward than a moment of pleasure. Humanity is always looking for immediate gratification; it’s no wonder we’re now trying to bottle it for sale at your local store or restaurant. Love is only possible because of God’s love first for us. And it is only as we trust in Him that we will experience true love and be empowered to give it.
-Preaching September/October 2002
No doubt Jean Anoulih was speaking of romantic love in these words: ‘Love is, above all, the gift of oneself.” But those words are also true of Christian love. No doubt W. Somerset Maugham was speaking of romantic love when he wrote, “The great tragedy of life is not that men perish, but that thy cease to love.” But those words are also true of Christian love. Christ showed His love for us in the gift of Himself. We show our love for Him and His cause in the gift of ourselves. He will ever cease loving us, and we must never stop loving Him.
-Robert Shannon, Preaching July/August 1999
For
Susie Lockheed, beauty is more than skin deep. The press carried reports of
Susie who is the owner of a dog names Sam. He is a three time winner of the
“World’s Ugliest Dog Contest” Sam is a 14-year-old pedigreed Chinese crested.
He is an unusual breed to begin with, but he has a multitude of problems. His
frame is hairless and covered with blackheads. He has brown warts and moles
all over him along with a large hernia lump. There are only a few white hairs
on his head. His right eye is a strange purple color from cataracts while the
other eye is white. But, Susie treats Sam like a king. He is pampered and petted
and has his own web site. Susie says, “I’ve never had a dog this much
in love with me. I really baby Sam, and kiss him a lot. He’s a toad [that’s]
going to turn into a prince.”
_______________
J.
Michael Shannon is professor of preaching at Cincinnati Bible College in Cincinnati,
OH.
Have
you seen some of those stories about children’s definitions of love? Some favorites
include the insight of five-year old Karl who said, “Love is when a girl
puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell
each other.” Mary Ann, age four observes, “Love is when your puppy
licks your face even after you left him alone all day.” Danny saw a definition
at his house. He reported, “Love is when my Mommy makes coffee for my daddy
and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.”
Jessica, who was eight, showed great wisdom when she said, “You really
shouldn’t say ‘I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should
say it a lot. People forget.” Perhaps the wisest of all was Jenny who
was only four. She declared, “There are two kinds of love. Our love.
God’s love. But God makes both kinds of them.”
_______________
J.
Michael Shannon is professor of preaching at Cincinnati Bible College in Cincinnati,
OH.
Recently
in a small city in the mid-South a metaphysician who calls herself SAGE appeared
at a local church. She considers herself to be a spiritual healer, intuitive
counselor and axiatonal therapist. News releases said she would focus on how
to dwell in a state of bliss as “love is all there is and everything else
is just an illusion.”
No,
hate is not just an illusion. Remember the holocaust? Remember Sept. 11 and
the attack on the World Trade Center? Indifference is not just an illusion.
It exists as surely as love exists. Material things are not an illusion. They
exist. We use them to express our hatred – or our love. Love may be the strongest
thing there is, but it is not the only thing that exists.
An evangelist wrote about a wise physician who told a young doctor, “I’ve
been practicing medicine for a long time. I’ve prescribed many things. But in
the long run, I’ve learned that the best medicine is love.”
“What if it doesn’t work?” asked the young man.
“Double the dose,” replied the doctor.
If things are tense at home, if you’re having trouble with a loved one, if someone
has insulted or hurt you, love them anyway. And if that doesn’t work, double the
dose.
– Turning Point Daily Devotional, 9/15/03
D.L. Moody described love as “the dome of the temple of the graces” and as “the crown of crowns worn by the triune God.” “We cannot work for God without love,” he observed. “It is the only tree that can produce fruit on this sin-cursed earth, that is acceptable to God. If I have no love for God nor for my fellow man, then I cannot work acceptably.”
Today in the Word, Aug. 2003, p.31
We become vulnerable when we love people and go out of our way to help them. That’s what the wealthy industrialist Charles Schwab declared after going to court and winning a nuisance suit at age 70. Given permission by the judge to speak to the audience, he made the following statement: “I’d like to say here in a court of law, and speaking as an old man, that nine-tenths of my troubles are traceable to my being kind to others. Look, you young people, if you want to steer away from trouble, be hard-boiled. Be quick with a good loud “no” to anyone and everyone. If you follow this rule, you will seldom be bothered as you tread life’s pathway. Except you’ll have no friends, you’ll be lonely, and you won’t have any fun!” Schwab had made his point – love may bring heartache, but it’s worth it!
Fox News reported on July 31, 2002 that a new drink is gaining widespread
popularity. Nexcite has sold over 24 million bottles in the last year. The
reason? This beverage serves as a contemporary “love potion.” One
coffee shop owner who discovered the drink at a trade show bought and brought
as many as she could fit in a U-Haul back to her store. She began selling
Nexcite immediately (Of course, she only recommends the drink for married
couples.). Pretty soon this coffee shop owner had people lining up at her door
desiring to get their hands on a bottle. Fox reports that one man even offered
several thousand dollars for the opportunity to ingest the liquid love
(“Look Out, Love Potion No. 9” by Michael Y. Park,
www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,59171,00.html).
How foolish to think that love is packaged in a bottle! Our culture leads us to
believe that love is merely a feeling that comes and goes — not a commitment
that involves much work to maintain and yields a much greater reward than a
moment of pleasure. Humanity is always looking for immediate gratification;
it’s no wonder we’re now trying to bottle it for sale at your local store or
restaurant. Love is only possible because of God’s love first for us. And it is
only as we trust in Him that we will experience true love and be empowered to
give it.
In the delightful movie Monsters Inc., an entire society of monsters finds
their fuel source in the energy created from children’s frightened screams. The
heroes of the movie discover that children aren’t so bad and that they can
generate energy from their laughter even more than from their screams. Could it
be that laughter and love are more powerful than fear and anger? The Bible
agrees when it says, “Perfect love casts out fear.”
___________________________
Illustration by J. Michael Shannon, Professor of Preaching, Cincinnati Bible
College & Seminary, Cincinnati, OH.
No doubt Jean Anoulih was speaking of romantic love in these words: “Love
is, above all, the gift of oneself.” But those words are also true of
Christian love. No doubt W. Somerset Maugham was speaking of romantic love when
he wrote, “The great tragedy of life is not that men perish, but that they
cease to love.” But those words are also true of Christian love. Christ
showed His love for us in the gift of Himself. We show our love for Him and His
Cause in the gift of ourselves. He will never cease loving us, and we must
never stop loving Him.