Here is what he said:

“Keep the company of those who seek the truth  — run from those who have found it.”

Some people have given up on any search for truth. Their solution is that no real truth for everybody actually exists.

The rest of us, however, are still in pursuit of the truth. We feel that religious truth comes from the mind of God through the pens of His inspired authors who wrote the Bible.

With such a noble motive, how can a “truth-search” possibly be wrong? There are several likely possibilities. Truth is both simple and complex at the same time. The surface face of truth can be quickly seen. The inner core of truth sometimes eludes all but the most determined study.

As long as we are struggling in search of truth, we tend to have a certain humility. It’s similar to a mountain climber who is struggling to reach the top of the mountain and not sure he’ll make it. On the other hand, when we feel we may have reached the summit of truth, we may relax and become complacent. With complacency comes the tendency toward smugness. With smugness comes arrogance. A smug, arrogant attitude is not becoming to anyone.

Let us never decide we have found “all truth.”

Instead, let us always open our Bibles with the attitude of: “Speak, Lord, your servant hears” (I Samuel 3:9).

Robert K. Oglesby

Pulpit Minister, Waterview Churh of Christ

In the West, we have the luxury of going to a supermarket, making selections of products that leave the mind numb with indecision, and eating without thinking about the source. Our culture has removed us from the source of our food–the farm.

As long as the farm produces food, we can eat. But what happens if the farm disappears? What will you eat then?

But well-fed people can experience a famine worse than the Sudan. Amid great wealth Israel found another form of emptiness. Hosea the prophet saw the spiritual clouds dry up. In Hosea 4 he warned the people:

Concerns turn into emergencies which plunge into crises. The problem hides in the shadows before the crisis emerges. Gaze at the horizon and you can see the specter of spiritual famine take shape.

For decades, the church enjoyed the luxury of having a seemingly plentiful supply of preachers. Churches with open pulpits could count on a long waiting line of candidates. Even the smallest pulpits had competition for the space.

Now we have large churches with pulpits that stand vacant for a year or more while they “beat the bushes” looking for a qualified replacement. Currently, churches who have “gone fishing” for a new preacher have discovered there is an ever smaller pool of preachers from which to choose.

So the winds have shifted. The pressures of ministry drive hundreds from pulpits each year. For some they feel the drain of burnout. Others, untrained and unprepared, get caught in conflict with church members or elders. Many just had their unrealistic expectations dashed on the rocks of reality. The exit from the pulpit is packed with a throng of those fleeing preaching.

The problem is that no one is coming to replace them. Preaching has fallen out of the “respectable” profession list for many of our young people. Each year, less than 100 young men wanting to preach come out of all of our schools combined . Those who do have the desire are ill-prepared for the daily grind of church work. They are the “dropouts in waiting.”

Unless something happens, the day is coming when no one will step to the pulpit. Then, the prophecy will come to fruition, “People will stagger from sea to sea, And from the north even to the east; They will go to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, But they will not find it.

Many leaders can’t carry a tune in a bucket, but they must learn to play the music of leadership.

Musicians use diverse tools to get a desired effect. When the score calls for a sustained note, the violinist draws the bow across the strings. However, a rapidly moving piece demands the machine-gun sound of a staccato tongue. It depends on the effect needed.

What kind of leadership music do you play? It depends on the effect you want to get.

Most leaders start with the question, “what do I want to do?” That question can have many answers.

• …preach a sermon.
• …hold a seminar.
• …have a meeting.
• …teach a class.

All are good answers to that question. But the question is asked out of sequence. Before “what” you must ask, “what effect do I want to get?” That question yields dramatically different answers.

• …create excitement among the parents of our young children.
• …have 40 people from our community.
• …train 20 of our members to teach the gospel to their friends.
• …energize our deacons to keep them from getting discouraged.

The second question frames a better answer for the first.

• The preacher will craft his sermon in a certain way to reach the audience.
• The seminar will need a topic and approach which entices the community.
• The meeting should focus on praise and planning.
• The class must do more than provide information. It must focus on hands-on training.

When a leader starts with the effect question, he then knows what to plan, whom to target, and what to avoid. Too many times events result in sighs of “I don’t know why they are not interested.” That’s because the leaders ignored the “effect” question.

The musician uses the tools at his disposal to get the proper effect. The leader, too, must master the music of leadership. Ask the right question first.

Sadly, this is the picture of many small churches of Christ. Begun with dreams, they died for lack of resources. They needed to reach out, but didn’t know how. They had people, but they did not know where to go or what to do. It was hard to keep the wolf from the door.

Somewhere in the journey, frustration overcame the dream.

It was out of that picture, the Waterview church in Richardson, Texas gave birth to Strengthening Mission Churches. Armed with the passion that small churches can survive, thrive, and grow, the Waterview elders put into play a video library stocked with titles by experienced and talented church leaders. They could teach leadership, church growth, Bible class teaching, preaching, and involvement.

At SMC, we want to be your partner in ministry. We want to help you. Look through our site and you will find a video library with dozens of title to help you. You can learn leadership, how to survive in ministry, and get some inspiration at the same time.

Thanks for coming. Let’s get to work in a small church!