Words of Welcome

Matthew 10:40-42 If you’ve ever watched a Western movie, you’ve probably seen one of those reward posters that were prominent in the Old West. "Wanted: Dead or Alive – Black Bart – Reward: $25,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction." We tried something like that with Osama Bin Laden, but so far we haven’t had any takers, even though the reward is $25 million. Being married to a teacher, I know that elementary teachers also use a reward system to keep order. Cheryl uses tickets, and if you get enough tickets you get a prize of some sort. It seems to work pretty well for her. And of course, diplomacy is based in a reward system. You don’t get very far with diplomacy if all you have is a stick. Most diplomats find that the carrot works much better than the stick, and it’s a lot cheaper and safer in the long run – no messy wars to deal with. When it comes to preaching, fire and brimstone is a bit like the carrot and the stick principle. If you turn to Jesus, y...