Joe McKeever

Read My Mail

Recently in the message I wrote concerning the bottom-dwelling U.S. economy, I told the story of Randy and Charlene McCall, our neighbors in Columbus, Mississippi, who, after he lost his job managing factories some years back, bought a ServiceMaster franchise and did well. I did not ask their permission to tell that, but knew Randy had shared his story at the national meeting of the franchisees of that company, and felt confident he wouldn't mind my using them as illustrations. Well, I found out a little more today....

In the early 1990s, the McCall's franchise grew to be the largest in the USA, and that's out of a total of 4500! These days, my buddy Randy putters around the house, the way self-respecting retirees should, and their son Chris--my son Neil's best friend from childhood onward--runs the company and is maintaining that exalted ranking.

Randy reminded me of something I had forgotten but should not have. He writes, "Do you remember me making a copy of the first major account proposal I bid on in Columbus (it was Weyerhaeuser) on the church copier? You and I prayed before I presented the proposal. Well, for some reason I was more confident in that proposal than I had a right to be and got the account. The rest is history. Thank you."

Then, true to form, this friend uses up the good will he had just established. Commenting on plans for me to preach at the First Baptist Church of Columbus next Sunday, he writes, "Charlene and I are scheduled to keep the nursery, so I sent out an e-mail to all church members asking if anyone would rather sub for us that Sunday than hear your preaching. We had 436 volunteers."

This is the same so-called friend who picked up on something I said in the early worship service one Sunday when I was their pastor. I told the church, "When I talk to little children and ask about their Sunday School teacher, so few actually know their names." I said, "Teachers, please keep reminding the children of your name." Later that morning, during the Sunday School hour, Randy came to the church office with the records of the 5-year-old class Charlene and he led. He turned in a note that said, "A survey of the 5-year-old class reveals that 98 percent knew their teacher was Miss Charlene. However, only 38.5 percent knew the pastor's name."

With friends like this...you're always humble (and forever smiling!).

I asked you for input regarding Christian fellowship in your church. A friend e-mailed me directly with the following....

"Many years ago, when I was the executive director of (the local telephone Helpline counseling center), I would travel to national meetings of our organization around the country--all by myself. When I first began to go, I was the new kid on the block and knew exactly nobody. However, within hours of my arrival, I was one of the gang--received with warmth and a great welcome, and treated as if I had always been there. That is what I think of as fellowship.""

She continued, "Then, one year the Christian Life Commission (in one of our state Baptist conventions) was building its annual meeting around the theme of the church reaching into the community. They invited various groups to attend and tell the stories of their agencies and suggest how the church might be more involved in that service to the community. Because I was the only Southern Baptist in our ministry's leadership, the executive director asked me to go and represent us. I went. It was a three-day conference, and I spoke to small groups a number of times."

"I had conversations with quite a number of people," she says, "all initiated by me. However, not one person approached me to talk on their own. I thought to myself, ‘If this is what Baptist meetings are like, I don't want to go to any more!'"

I read her story and thought of the comment from our Lord that "the children of this world are often wiser (in their way) than the children of the Light" (Luke 16:8). That is, the world frequently does fellowship better than the church does.

It was Chuck Swindoll, I think, who told of an old military buddy calling him to say how he had recently come to know the Lord and of the changes this had wrought in his life. This was after many years of pub crawling and hard drinking. "But you know, Chuck," he said, "the one thing I miss from that old life is the great fellowship in the tavern. I just haven't found that kind of camaradie in the church to take its place."

Speaking in Virginia Monday afternoon, I threw in a little illustration on the spur of the moment. It turned out to be the most memorable part of the message for several.

I was flying into New York City. The captain came on the intercom and said, "Folks, I thought you might find this interesting. We're flying at 500 miles an hour. But outside the plane, we have a tailwind of 150 knots. That puts us traveling at something like 650 miles an hour. However, I just heard the pilot of a plane going in the same direction. He's flying into that headwind. Instead of flying at 500 miles an hour, they're doing 350."

A difference of 300 miles an hour, depending on whether you are going with the wind or against it.

"Discouragement," I told the group, "is like a headwind. It saps your energies, drains your strength, and makes everything you do more difficult. On the other hand, encouragement and words of appreciation are like a tailwind, giving you extra energy and making your way easier."

I heard several comment as they were leaving that evening, "I'm going to be a tailwind for my pastor from now on."