License to Complain 
This certifies that the bearer is properly qualified to complain about the activities and concerns of this congregation, having completed the following terms:
1)	I attend all Bible classes, assem-
	blies, and special meetings.
2)	I pray daily for the church and her
	leaders.
3)	All my children take part in all
	church-related activities.
4)	I always volunteer and accept
	enthusiastically jobs and/or lead
	in programs of the church.
5)	I visit regularly to help strengthen
	 the saved as well as to reach the
	lost.
6)	I cheerfully and bountifully give as
	God has prospered me.
	Signed: _____________________
This license is freely given to all who qualify, for they will have little time and no desire to complain.
Faith Comes By Hearing
	So faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). That is not just a “proof-text about faith and the Bible. It expresses the very essence of faith.
	If I tell a congregation I will speak for them at a certain time, they can have faith that I will come then. It would be ridiculous for them to decide in their minds that I should preach for them at some other time, schedule it, and without a word from me, expect me to come at that time. Would I “break faith” with them by not showing up?
	Some people “lose their faith” in God when a child dies, their business fails, or some other calamity occurs. But God never promised His people that they would never experience heartache. On the contrary, He clearly warns that we will!
	I do not break faith by not appearing where I never said I would show up. God does not break faith by not preventing what He never promised to prevent.
	“Faith comes by hearing.”
  --Cecil May, Jr. (Montgomery, AL); via Preacher Talk

Plenty of Warning
	At 8:30 p.m. on May 22, 1960, the tsunami sirens sounded in Hilo, Hawaii. They sounded for the next five and a half hours, but many people paid no heed. They thought it was a false alarm. They did not know that the night before, a 9.5 magnitude earthquake had happened off the coast of Chile. A wall of water was heading for Hilo. At 1:30 on the morning of May 23, the tsunami hit Hilo. Sixty-one people lost their lives. They had plenty of warning. The sad thing was that they took the sirens as a false alarm.
	It seems easy for us not to heed alarms. Our doctor tells us to lose weight and watch our diet, but we don't change our ways. We know we need to save money for an emergency, but it is so delightful to satisfy our desire for things and buy them now. Then disaster strikes, and we are unprepared. But we had plenty of warning.
	Some day these things will seem like little problems. One of these days, either we will die or the Lord will come to claim His own. Will we be prepared? Did we study His Word and do His will while we had the chance? Or did our Bible get picked up only once a week? Did we tell our relatives and friends about His saving love? Or did we say to ourselves, "They won't listen." Did we tell someone whom we love that we love them, or did we think it and not say it?
	Death and time wait for no man. Jesus could come any second. Let's do what we need to do now. May we not ruefully say when it is too late, “We had plenty of warning.”
	--Donna Richmond Wittlif (Denver, CO)