Short Lectures

"After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: ;Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, 'Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.' So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island." Acts 27:21-26

My Dad was famous for short lectures. At the time I probably thought they went on forever, but as I now more objectively recall, he was a man of precise, concise and convicting words. There are some wonderful teachable words in this passage. I don't usually use such a long section of Scripture, but these words hang together and tell a piece of the amazing, but absolutely accurate and true story of Paul's sailing adventure to Rome. I would like to recap the story with a short lecture list like my Dad would give it to me. He loved to make points. He would point to his fingers one by one and list them out for me.

Point #1 You should have taken my advice.
Point #2 You really messed up.
Point #3 It is going to be OK though.
Point #4 Here is how it is gonna be.
Point #5 You are going to live through this.
Point #6 Take courage and have faith.
Point #7 Here is how we move forward from here.
Point #8 These are your consequences.
Point #9 You will lose this and this, but not this.
Point #10 Do we have an understanding?

Of course that is not exactly Paul's lecture, but I hope you get the point. Long drawn out lectures are not effective. Short, to the point and directive explanations of the way it is, do work. So as you give and receive lectures, take a note from Paul. You really can be firm, caring, encouraging, honest and to the point. When you get a short lecture, be appreciative. When you give one, be merciful.

With His love and mine,
Pastor Fred

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