Ensign: The Man Nobody Knows
All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. Isaiah 18:3
AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 26 February 2016
Something you should know about me ... I read.
I READ and READ,
AND READ and READ, and then proceed
To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks!
Ok, maybe I haven't spent half my life reading books but I do have a great many books some of which I read and re-read, some of which I read once and set aside, others which I read and quote incessantly. Anyway, a few weekends ago I got to a one day used book sale at my local library, one of those events where I'm a kid in a candy store. True, I may not read every word of every book I pick up -- heck, I may not read every book I pick up. But one volume in particular caught my eye because I'd first read about it years ago in in a Time-Life chronicle of the 1920s.
The Man Nobody Knows.
And on this last weekend my daughter Sarah's nine (she turns ten -- TEN, double digits! -- on Sunday) and my son Jeffrey's at his second ever sleepover, I find myself looking at one man's look at the life of Jesus as the lessons any successful businessman would follow. Often this book copyright 1925 gets panned for that reason; we don't think of Jesus as operating a business! We don't think of Him as that ... kind of an operator. But consider before He got baptized by John in the river Jordan, in that eighteen-year gap between his speaking to the teachers in the temple at Jerusalem and appearing to John.
But to every man of vision the clear Voice speaks; there is no great leadership where there is not a mystic.
He must have been doing SOMETHING. And in all likelihood, that something was the same thing his earthly father Joseph did, carpentry. One point Bruce Barton (please forgive me, I neglected to introduce the advertising executive who authored The Man Nobody Knows) makes is that in pursuing such a trade there's no possible way Jesus could have been the tall, lank, lean man you see in many artistic portrayals of Him. And it got me to thinking -- very often our own portrayals ... okay, MY own portrayal of Jesus Himself may be as someone who is "street smart" yet a bit of a 98-pound weakling. We see the SON OF GOD, yet we leave out He lived on this earth too.
The essential element in personal magnetism is a consuming sincerity -- an overwhelming faith in the importance of the work one has to do.
We do that, and we're missing out. If we limit the ministry of Jesus to just the miracles or just the teachings or just the people who represent or claim to represent Him, then what happens in that place with the steeple doesn't matter at all. NO, you don't have to become a pastor or theologian or business manager assume a "great" position in the kingdom of God -- they're all great positions, it's a question of dedicating yourself to God His Father (YOUR Heavenly Father's) calling on your life. I remember a church I went to growing up that had a placard over the doors as you left the service which said "You are now entering the mission field".
By the power of his faith in himself he commands, and men instinctively obey.
And all the italicized passages you've read in today's Ensign are just in chapter one! Again, we don't often relate to Jesus whether we're in church or not as the CEO of a business, but that is exactly what we're called to deal with. In the temple at twelve when Joseph and Mary find Jesus He looks at them and replies, after they've been frantic for days trying to find Him, that He must be about His Father's business. And like any business, it requires you to relate to people where they are, and you need to advertise "as he was the great advertiser of his own day". The Man Nobody Knows will become known through us when we present Him as He presented Himself.
We just need to get started.
David
P.S. I write this weekly devotional to keep in touch with you in my address book, and I hope I encourage you too! If I don't or you want me to just get lost, please let me know -- thanks!
Thank You, Lord, that we can come to You in prayer and that You will provide for all our needs even when we're confused about what they are! Please, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides of the fence there and all over the world.
Thank You again, Lord, for all in leadership and service both here and abroad. Thank You for those opportunities we have along with the promise of new life through You, and may we all seek and have a blessed week! Amen.
AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 26 February 2016
Something you should know about me ... I read.
I READ and READ,
AND READ and READ, and then proceed
To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks!
Ok, maybe I haven't spent half my life reading books but I do have a great many books some of which I read and re-read, some of which I read once and set aside, others which I read and quote incessantly. Anyway, a few weekends ago I got to a one day used book sale at my local library, one of those events where I'm a kid in a candy store. True, I may not read every word of every book I pick up -- heck, I may not read every book I pick up. But one volume in particular caught my eye because I'd first read about it years ago in in a Time-Life chronicle of the 1920s.
The Man Nobody Knows.
And on this last weekend my daughter Sarah's nine (she turns ten -- TEN, double digits! -- on Sunday) and my son Jeffrey's at his second ever sleepover, I find myself looking at one man's look at the life of Jesus as the lessons any successful businessman would follow. Often this book copyright 1925 gets panned for that reason; we don't think of Jesus as operating a business! We don't think of Him as that ... kind of an operator. But consider before He got baptized by John in the river Jordan, in that eighteen-year gap between his speaking to the teachers in the temple at Jerusalem and appearing to John.
But to every man of vision the clear Voice speaks; there is no great leadership where there is not a mystic.
He must have been doing SOMETHING. And in all likelihood, that something was the same thing his earthly father Joseph did, carpentry. One point Bruce Barton (please forgive me, I neglected to introduce the advertising executive who authored The Man Nobody Knows) makes is that in pursuing such a trade there's no possible way Jesus could have been the tall, lank, lean man you see in many artistic portrayals of Him. And it got me to thinking -- very often our own portrayals ... okay, MY own portrayal of Jesus Himself may be as someone who is "street smart" yet a bit of a 98-pound weakling. We see the SON OF GOD, yet we leave out He lived on this earth too.
The essential element in personal magnetism is a consuming sincerity -- an overwhelming faith in the importance of the work one has to do.
We do that, and we're missing out. If we limit the ministry of Jesus to just the miracles or just the teachings or just the people who represent or claim to represent Him, then what happens in that place with the steeple doesn't matter at all. NO, you don't have to become a pastor or theologian or business manager assume a "great" position in the kingdom of God -- they're all great positions, it's a question of dedicating yourself to God His Father (YOUR Heavenly Father's) calling on your life. I remember a church I went to growing up that had a placard over the doors as you left the service which said "You are now entering the mission field".
By the power of his faith in himself he commands, and men instinctively obey.
And all the italicized passages you've read in today's Ensign are just in chapter one! Again, we don't often relate to Jesus whether we're in church or not as the CEO of a business, but that is exactly what we're called to deal with. In the temple at twelve when Joseph and Mary find Jesus He looks at them and replies, after they've been frantic for days trying to find Him, that He must be about His Father's business. And like any business, it requires you to relate to people where they are, and you need to advertise "as he was the great advertiser of his own day". The Man Nobody Knows will become known through us when we present Him as He presented Himself.
We just need to get started.
David
P.S. I write this weekly devotional to keep in touch with you in my address book, and I hope I encourage you too! If I don't or you want me to just get lost, please let me know -- thanks!
Thank You, Lord, that we can come to You in prayer and that You will provide for all our needs even when we're confused about what they are! Please, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides of the fence there and all over the world.
Thank You again, Lord, for all in leadership and service both here and abroad. Thank You for those opportunities we have along with the promise of new life through You, and may we all seek and have a blessed week! Amen.
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