It's Time Schleprock!

 

From the Urban Dictionary: Schleprock - To carry heavy burdens. One who is said to be unlucky or extremely unfortunate. A total loser who will never amount to anything.

Eeyore is a character in the "Winnie the Pooh" books. He is generally characterized as a pessimistic, gloomy, depressed, anhedonic, old grey stuffed donkey, who is a friend of the title character, Winnie the Pooh.

Last Sunday morning at the Bible Study Class, Donovan Rowe taught about the importance of unity and the different attitudes and actions that can attack and destroy unity in a church. While he was teaching, he mentioned a type of person who is always unlucky, has dark clouds around him, and brings others down in spirit if anyone happens to have contact with him. He called this type of person an "Eeyore" from the Winnie the Pooh cartoon. However, it immediately brought to my mind a different television character from the early 70's. This character was on The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show and his name was Schleprock! Schleprock was famous in the cartoon series for always being negative and unlucky. He constantly walked under a dark cloud, and no matter what he did, it always ended in disaster! If it weren't for the quick thinking of his close friends, his many adventures and debacles would have led to greater danger and harm for everyone involved with him. Over the course of time, his name became used as a derogatory put down and indicated someone unlucky - a downer to be around and a hindrance to any idea put out by others.

I mention Schleprock as an example of many Christians in the church today who refuse to believe that God could use them for anything good or that the church can really impact the culture around them. They walk through their lives with a sense of dread and defeat and contaminate the body of Christ with depressing, defeatist attitudes, hindering the advancement of the Gospel. Instead of walking by faith and trusting that God will work with and through them, they retreat and cloister themselves from the world or the activities of mankind.

Jesus himself taught about this "Schleprock Spirit" that could and would impact the Great Commission and warned his followers not to submit to its caustic and deadly influence. In Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus tells the parable about three men who receive "talents" of different proportions to be used for their master. Two of the men go out and invest their talents, earning more in the process. The man given one talent goes out and "buries" his talent out of the fear of using or losing the talent entrusted to him. When the master returns and demands an account of the talents, the two men are commended for their wise use while the other man is condemned for his lack of faith and refusal to invest his talent for possible increase. The man who refuses to use his talent has operated under a "Schleprock Spirit," fearing possible loss and failure instead of walking in faith and confidence in God.  

Each day we have been afforded allows us another chance to invest our talents for the increase of the Kingdom of God. Failure to use our talents in faith and confidence will certainly bring about our condemnation for neglecting the talent entrusted to us and reveal us as nothing more than a "Schleprock Spirit" individual. May we understand the important time we live in, put our talents to work for our Lord and King, and strive with all our might to advance His kingdom in our allotted time. May God give us the "Spirit of David" who faced down the giant and brought victory and honor to the people of God. It's time, church - time to make that change -- we are the people who must do it!

Well it's time to make that change,
people of the world today are fading;
all of us have our ups and downs,
you better think about it or you won't be around.

What we need is a little bit of love,
sent by One from heaven up above,
take it from "T.", it's simple and plain,
this ain't no game, you know what I'm saying?

It's time, time to make a change,
we are the people who can do it.

It's time, time to make a change,
we are His people, we can do it.

What is the world coming to,
seems like everyone is running from the truth;
we must stand up and fight,
walk into the light,
we're the people, we can do it, if we try.

I know we can do it,
somebody asked me why
do we have to go through it?

It's just a test of our faith,
what we're living day to day,
we don't know where, we don't know when,
but He's coming back again.

Jesus is spreading mighty fast,
earthquakes are moving through the land;
it ain't nothing but a sign,
gotta make up my mind,
we're the people, we can do it, if we try.

Stay Holy, My Friends!

 

Pastor Don

Every Dog has Its Day?

The other day, I was on Facebook when I noticed my cousin had “liked” a page called New Ark Ministries. With my curiosity piqued I decided to click on their Facebook page. The first thing I saw on their page was this quote:

“SURPRISE! TELL EVERYONE! Pope John Paul II agrees with New Ark Ministries: ‘Also the animals possess a soul.’ God loves His animals. Mat. 16:15 "Go ye out into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature."

SURPRISED? You bet I was surprised! Was this organization implying that we are commanded to spread the good news of Jesus Christ to animals?

 

I sent them a private message. While I awaited their response, I did some research and found their webpage. The following is what I read in shock and disbelief. 

 

NEW ARK MINISTRIES

New Ark Ministry is the first worldwide ministry for animals. Its message is based solely on the Bible and motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to share the word of God to animals and meet their needs in His name without discrimination.

This is a non-denominational ministry, but we were delighted to find that Pope John Paul II declared in a public audience in 1990 that 'also the animals possess a soul and men must love and feel solidarity with our smaller brethren’.

We have 10 acres to roam, ALL ANIMALS great and small, whether they have fur, paw, feathers, hooves, skin or fin, are welcome to join us.

Come as you are, this is for your pets

WHAT THE HECK? The mission is to share the word of God to animals and to meet their needs in His name without discrimination”?

This must be some kind of hoax, I thought. Hey! My name is Brian not Manti.  :-)

They say that ALL animals great and small are welcome to come. I pondered if that would have applied to any tigers that Mike Tyson used to have around. Do you really think a pet tiger and I would be “welcomed with love and no discrimination?”

I don’t know about you, but I personally have never “been motivated by the love of God” to preach to ANY animal. Talk about twisting scripture and taking things way, way out of context! I am 110% certain that the most basic Biblical interpretation agrees that Jesus Christ commanded us to preach the Gospel to human beings only. Even those without Biblical knowledge or claim to be religious must certainly agree that Jesus wasn’t talking about preaching to animals.

After a few hours had gone by, I was contacted by New Ark Ministries. The following is an excerpt of our conversation. (Reader, be warned - I was really just toying with them and really was not concerned about my deceased dog’s eternal home or my other dog’s salvation status. I just wanted to see what New Ark was all about.)

of our days is up to God. Therefore I will respect all other faith traditions

Me:

My adopted greyhound that was 12 yrs old just passed away. Can I be reassured she is in Heaven? I just discovered your FB page and she was not baptized. I'm really concerned. Please help.

New Ark Ministries:

Hi Brian. We believe that all animals have a soul and do in fact go to heaven. We also believe what the bible says - the word should be preached to all creatures. We would love to post a picture of your Greyhound if you would like to send us a picture.

Me:

Thanks for your response. How exactly do I preach the word to my other dog? I'm too far away to attend service. Is there any specific scriptures like John 3:16 etc I should have him listen to?

New Ark Ministries:

Hi Brian - start by reading the book of james to your animals - out loud - and know that your animals dont necessarily have to be paying attention. They still hear it and will likely be more relaxed afterwards. God Bless you and your animals.

Me:

Thanks for all your help. I just have one more question. Since I am comforted that my dog Misty is now in Heaven, how can I be sure I can go there? I mean I don't want to end up in hell or anything. How can I be assured that I make it into Heaven?

New Ark Ministries:

Hi Brian - You will get to heaven if you believe Jesus Christ is your Lord and savior. Live your life and try not to sin and when you do, ask for forgiveness. Its all pretty simple really. God Bless you.

Read the Book of James to my dog to start with? Maybe I forgot to tell them that I am certainly no doctor with the surname of Dolittle. :-)

While I am somewhat relieved that New Ark Ministries’ belief is that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven for us humans, I am truly dumbfounded by the time, effort, and energy they are spending on something as useless as preaching the gospel to animals and having church services for them.

As a pet owner, I do abide by Proverbs 12:10, which tells us that a righteous man cares for the needs of his animals. However, it is for the salvation of the souls of the lost family members, neighbors, loved ones, and strangers that my heart yearns. Let us concentrate on the task at hand of reaching all humans with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In I Corinthians 9:16, the greatest evangelist of all time, the Apostle Paul, says this “Woe to me if I don’t preach the gospel”

I urge you dear brothers and sisters in Christ to seek God daily and with the help of the Holy Spirit we can “go into all nations and preach the gospel” to the ones who were made in the image of God himself

May God Bless You,

Brian W