Making Life Work

From Ronald L. Dart’s Born to Win Notes

What has made you and me friends is the Bible, Jesus Christ and his Father, and the Holy Spirit. It is here that we have found common ground. It is here that we find a spirit of brotherhood and friendship. I think the Apostle John must have felt the same way when he wrote his first epistle.

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship...

From Ronald L. Dart’s Born to Win Notes

The Bible is an ancient book. It has stood the test of time, and has survived a few attempts to suppress it, or even get rid of it. This book deserves to be approached with awe and respect, even by people who don’t believe it. And even more by those who do.

A lady called Ron after she had heard a Born to Win program and was very complimentary. She appreciated most his honesty with the Scriptures. He couldn’t help wondering if honesty with the Scriptures was all that unusual. As Ron mused on this, he thought that if there is any cause to be less than honest with the Bible, it probably grows out of church or denominational affiliation. This is not intended as a criticism of church membership or affiliation,...

By: Ronald L. Dart

    Any religious organization, be it a television ministry or a local church, depends on donations to survive. And so they all engage in some kind of fund raising effort to make ends meet. They use all kinds of things to raise money from direct mail to bake sales. It may seem a shame, (I don’t think this requirement of God “is a shame.”) in a way, but money is merely a tool that enables a church or ministry to do their necessary work.

    A few years ago, I had reason to research the fund raising methods of a wide range of ministries and what I found was appalling. Only a few ministries took a straightforward, honest approach by telling their readers and listeners what they wanted to do and that they needed their support to do it. The rest engaged in various gimmicks and tricks to meet their budgets. The television ministries were the worst because they have to raise the most money. A few were downright dishonest or unethical.

By: Ronald L. Dart

"Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from you own steadfastness."

By: Ronald L. Dart

Was it Jesus’ intent to create a hierarchy of human government over the individual Christian? Does the Christian ministry sit in Moses’ seat for the church? This article explains what you always wanted to know about church government but were afraid to ask!

    Paul stood on the beach staring out to sea. This would be his last time in this place. It would have been good to have visited Ephesus once more, but it was not to be. It was just as well. He would not have been in Ephesus one hour before a coalition of Jews and silversmiths would have been plotting murder. There was no point in putting temptation in their way.

By: Ronald L. Dart

    In the past few months, I have become more and more persuaded of an old truth about human nature--that there is in the heart of every man a need to belong to something, someone or some place. The desire to belong leads us to join clubs, lodges, associations and even churches. What we belong to becomes a part of our identity. In a sense, we can belong to the company we work for ("I owe my soul to the company store"). The one who made man said that it is not good for man to be alone so he gave him a wife. A man belongs to his wife and she to him. They do not belong to anyone else. Most of us have a place we call home--a place where we belong--and we are restless when we’re away from it.

By: Ronald L. Dart

    It is always gratifying when Science confirms the Bible. And in the nature of things, science will continue to do so, because the Bible is truth and science is in search of what is. But it is a little surprising when social science confirms the Bible, though we should really expect it to. I fear I am a skeptic when it comes to social science, but there may well be some hard science buried in there along with some of the theory.

By: Ronald L. Dart

    "What are you going to do about the local churches?" This is probably the most often asked question these days, followed closely by questions about the Feast of Tabernacles and Methods of evangelism. Oddly enough, it is the one question you may be able to act on yourself.

By: Lenny Cacchio

    Do you remember what it was like when you first realized you were in love? Do you remember what it was like to walk hand in hand on a cool spring evening sharing your hopes and dreams, looking forward to the future with excitement and perhaps a bit of trepidation?     But the years go by and the monotony of daily living often dulls that first excitement. The flush of first love gets buried in the world of earning a living and building a life. The petty annoyances of life can steal our joy, and it’s hard to get it back.     Our lives as Christians can be that way too. I get reminded of this every time I meet people who are new to the faith. So often they virtually bubble over with joy and with eagerness. The word of God is...

By: Lenny Cacchio

    Back in the great Bear Market of 2000 – 2002, the most important part of my employment was investing Other People’s Money (OPM).  My clients all had nest eggs that I had responsibility for.

    As is true with most investment companies, we had (in my view) the correct approach of not only diversifying broadly, but also allocating the assets to different classes of investments in order to reduce risk.

    Still, we were in the midst of a horrifying market sell-off that began in March 2000 and ratcheted downward with little reprieve until March 2003.  I felt like a complete fool watching all of this take place and knowing that I had to stay with the discipline of our strategy with OPM.

    But not all the money...

By: Lenny Cacchio

    Recently I attended a series of seminars on team building.  One of the lessons was borrowed from Patrick Lencioni’s book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable.  Here are the five dysfunctions along with a short explanation.

1.      Absence of Trust.  An unwillingness to be vulnerable within the group or ask for help when needed.  Not open about mistakes and weaknesses.

2.      Fear of Conflict.  Incapable of engaging in unfiltered and passionate debate of ideas.

3.      Lack of Commitment.  Team members do not buy in or commit to decisions.  They may feign agreement in meetings.

4.      Avoidance of Accountability.  Hesitation to call peers on actions and behaviors that may be counterproductive...

By: Lenny Cacchio  

Last time I listed my top five books for the 21st Century church. The next five round out my "Top Ten" list.

6. Twelve Ordinary Men (John MacArthur).   The Twelve Apostles were ordinary men Jesus selected for a very extraordinary mission.  MacArthur shows how each of these men had his own uniqueness, and each was called because he had a specific ability that God could use.   The book brings to life the lesser-known Apostles and reminds us that God can use the talents and abilities of each of us if we are willing to let him.  With all the talk about evangelism these days, it is comforting to know that not all of us need to be great preachers like Peter to do the work of an evangelist.

7. The Screwtape Letters (CS Lewis). ...

By: Lenny Cacchio

    Don’t believe every scripture you hear, or perhaps better said, don’t believe every scripture you hear as quoted.

    I’m leafing through a book about money written by someone well-known in the evangelical community.  He quotes lots of good scriptures and makes some telling comments (such as the old line about Scriptures talking more about money than about going to heaven when you die), but the book leaves me with the weird sense about his subtext.

    The book is right in saying the things of this world will all perish, and that a U-Haul won’t follow your hearse to the cemetery.  And it says that your true treasure should be in heaven.   That is all good, biblical stuff. 

    But here is his logic:  Since...

By: Lenny Cacchio

    It’s an odd experience to see ourselves as others see us.  When someone new walks into your church, what do they see?  Do they see you parading your neuroses?   Do they see a social club with good music and fellowship, but a lack of the preaching of the word?  Do they see a coffee klatch or a healthy, functioning church?

    The Apostle Paul addressed the Corinthian church with such a concern.  That church must have been a raucous place, for Paul warned them that people coming in off the street would see chaos, and perhaps rightly conclude that the church was out of its mind, but "if you prophesy, preaching God’s Word, [even though such preaching is mostly for believers] and an unsaved person or a new Christian comes in...

By: Lenny Cacchio

    They cast their nets all night and failed to catch a single fish.  For men whose livelihoods depended on a decent catch, the lack of one could be financially devastating.  To come ashore with nothing must have been have been a discouraging experience for men used to harvesting the normally abundant waters.  How would they pay their taxes?  What would they tell their families?

    Empty nets happen from time to time, but sometimes it seems as if the nets turn up empty more often than full.  That can be particularly true of churches that can’t seen to grow, though they try with all they know how.  They cast their nets with membership drives, evangelization efforts, media and literature programs, but for reasons it seems...

By: Lenny Cacchio

    Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.  (James 1:27 NIV)



    Some months ago I wrote an article for this column entitled The Gift of George Bailey.  It was a reference to one of my favorite films, Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life.  Capra succeeds in reminding each one of us that we all have a part in God's plan whether we see it or not.  The seemingly small things we do daily can have a larger impact than we can imagine, and the world would be a lesser place if we had never been born.

    That story of encouragement is a good one to recall from time to time, for...

By: Lenny Cacchio  

    She said she couldn’t be in our church because our church is full of sinners.  Those weren’t her exact words, but it was the subtext of her complaint.  One member once stole something, she said.  Another gossips.   Another has impure thoughts.  People never listen when she tries to share her problems.     One by one she pulled from her gunnysack examples of how we each miss the mark.  None of us could quite jump high enough to touch the line on the wall that would make us acceptable in the sight of God and man.     She was right.  It all sounded very much like our church.  It probably sounds a lot like yours too.     I once had a man tell me that he long ago quit looking for the perfect church because if he joined...

By: Lenny Cacchio

    Having recently moved from an employer of a dozen people to one of 55,000, I had the normal reservations associated with changes in the corporate culture.  One never knows certain things about a new job until experiencing it, so I was most interested in attending my first major company event, where one of the Heavy Hitters was brought to town to address the area employees. Somewhat expecting a rah-rah stir ‘em up and inspire the salesman presentation, I was surprised to hear such things as: 1.  The people who live under the same roof as you are more important than your job. 2.  Forty nine per cent of Americans do not use all their vacation time.  Don’t be one of them.  Take all the time off that the company gives you....

By: Bill Jacobs

    Someone asked me recently about the idea of a teen-oriented festival site. Everyone would be welcome, but the focus would be on teens. When I first entertained this idea I was enthused. Many of our teens feel discouraged about fitting in at church. We need to make them feel more a part. However, after thinking about it, I realized I was falling into a trap.

    People in Western Culture, when they want to help a group of people, usually create a program or an activity for them. For example, from time-to-time at church we have youth services, teen Bible studies and teen dances. This type of effort often meets with a popular response. Teens have specific issues they would like to hear addressed in Bible studies. They appreciate...

By: Pam Dewey  

    "My pastor said last week in a sermon that the church my friend goes to is a cult. I’m so worried now! What if they all kill themselves?"

    "I bought a book at the Christian book store the other day that tells all about cults, and I’ve been reading it. I was concerned that maybe the group that my aunt was getting into is a cult. She is so secretive about their meetings, she hardly talks to family members any more, and she is giving so much money to them that she can barely afford her rent. But I guess they must not really be a cult. I’ve read some of their booklets, and they teach the same basic doctrines as my church. The book I bought says that you can tell if a group is a cult by whether what they teach lines up...

By: Bill Jacobs

    A good friend and I were talking about the need to make our congregations good, safe places for our children. He observed that it is the tendency for many to think about help in a programmatic way: have a need; fill it by creating a program.

    Several interesting thoughts came from that observation. First, we noticed that Jesus did not start a single program. He started a movement, but no programs. Second, we noted that Jesus interacted with people directly to help them. If people were sick he healed them. If they were confused he told them a story or asked them illuminating questions. If children appeared before him, He picked them up and blessed them. In His thirty-three years of human life, he helped people primarily...

By: Lenny Cacchio

    My friend hadn’t been to church for quite some time, so I invited him out for a cup of coffee.“I can get more out of just staying home and studying my Bible than I can from the sermon.”Sadly, I had to agree.The sermons we had back then were models of disorganization and pabulum.What passed for fellowship was an exercise in inanities.Conversation was gossip warmed over, and cliques were formed, dissolved, and reformed almost as if by schedule.

    Dysfunctional churches are a part of the national landscape, and more often than not such dysfunction can be traced to leadership or, better said, the lack thereof.Reading Paul’s letters to the churches reveals that this is not just a 21st Century phenomenon.The church at Corinth...