Preaching courageously on any of...
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Preaching courageously on any of the Ten Commandments may be hazardous to your health, or at least to your career.
A certain young minister, fresh out of seminary, accepted a call to a church located on the banks of the Penobscot River in Maine. Now the Penobscot is one of the great logging rivers of the northeast. Trees felled in the forests upstate are floated down the river to the mills near the coast. Enormous logjams are often created where the river bends. Now on his first morning in the manse, the young minister was awakened to the sound of chain saws buzzing. Upon going to the window to see what all the noise was about, he beheld a dreadful sight: There on the river bank were many members of his flock, chain saws in hand, cutting short sections off the ends of backed-up logs to make firewood. Next Sunday he preached his first sermon, THOU SHALT NOT STEAL! At the front door of the church hearty congratulations were offered by all: "Excellent sermon, Pastor." "Fine message today, Reverend." But again the next morning he was rousted from sleep by the sound of chain saws at work. And again, he beheld a gathering of the faithful at the river's edge, busily making firewood of the floating trees. The following Sunday his sermon was titled, THOU SHALT NOT CUT THE ENDS OFF THY NEIGHBOR'S LOGS. An enraged congregation promptly ran him out of town.
A certain young minister, fresh out of seminary, accepted a call to a church located on the banks of the Penobscot River in Maine. Now the Penobscot is one of the great logging rivers of the northeast. Trees felled in the forests upstate are floated down the river to the mills near the coast. Enormous logjams are often created where the river bends. Now on his first morning in the manse, the young minister was awakened to the sound of chain saws buzzing. Upon going to the window to see what all the noise was about, he beheld a dreadful sight: There on the river bank were many members of his flock, chain saws in hand, cutting short sections off the ends of backed-up logs to make firewood. Next Sunday he preached his first sermon, THOU SHALT NOT STEAL! At the front door of the church hearty congratulations were offered by all: "Excellent sermon, Pastor." "Fine message today, Reverend." But again the next morning he was rousted from sleep by the sound of chain saws at work. And again, he beheld a gathering of the faithful at the river's edge, busily making firewood of the floating trees. The following Sunday his sermon was titled, THOU SHALT NOT CUT THE ENDS OFF THY NEIGHBOR'S LOGS. An enraged congregation promptly ran him out of town.
