[CS-FSLUG] NI: ECELLENT!!

[.mash]

Fantastic!!!

Bookmarked the site, perfect listening for my nightshifts, 

Cheers

'Mash

On 9/1/05, Fred A. Miller <fmiller at lightlink.com> wrote:
> A WORD WITH YOU
> By Ron Hutchcraft
> #4864 - "What They Forgot to Tell Us Providers"
> Ephesians 5:25
> 
> Listen to the audio broadcast!
> http://www.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/ramhurl?p=pnm&f=/rhm/sounds/awwy/awwy4864.rm
> 
>         I was teaching at a training school for people entering youth ministry
> when I learned about a call home that must have been heartbreaking for the
> dad who made it. The school was three weeks long, and dad had already been
> gone for over two weeks. He was seriously missing his wife and two-year-old
> son, and they were missing him. After waiting patiently in the long line that
> formed every day after classes at the lobby pay phone, he finally got to talk
> to his wife. When he asked how his son was doing, she said, "Not too well,
> honey. Yesterday he came up to me and said, 'Mommy, is Daddy dead?'" Ouch!
> 
>         I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about
> "What They Forgot to Tell Us Providers."
> 
>         That little guy was reflecting what many a child feels, the
> "missingness" of the man in his life. Not long ago I was talking with a
> friend who has been looking for a job that wasn't seasonal and sporadic like
> the work he's been doing, and something that would give him and his family a
> better and steadier income. He was on the verge of committing himself to a
> career opportunity that would mean better money but would take him away from
> home for long weeks at a time. When I questioned the idea, he said, "Well, I
> need to provide for my family." Well, we guys were raised on that.
> 
>         My friend was right about being a provider for his family. In 1
> Timothy 5:8, the Bible says, "If anyone does not provide for his relatives,
> and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse
> than an unbeliever." Strong words. But that's only part of the story. As my
> friend was considering a career that would provide financially but take him
> away from his family, he may have been missing a point someone forgot to tell
> us guys about being the provider. It's about much more than providing
> materially. Our word for today from the Word of God reveals the rest of the
> provider story.
> 
>         Ephesians 5, beginning with verse 25, tells husbands, "Love your
> wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to make
> her holy - and to present her to Himself as a radiant church, without stain
> or wrinkle." God has established the man as provider, but of much more than a
> roof and groceries. It's clear that he's to provide emotionally and
> spiritually for his wife - to nurture her, to love and support and encourage
> her - helping her become "radiant."
> 
>         A man is called by God to be the emotional and spiritual provider for
> his children, as well. Ephesians 6:4 says, "Fathers, do not exasperate your
> children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the
> Lord." Dads are trusted by the Heavenly Father to be their child's coach, and
> umpire, and biggest fan, and encourager. When my friend realized a new career
> would rob his children of that, he changed his course to a job that would
> provide, not just the things his family needs, but the man his family needs.
> 
>         For a man to be what the Bible calls a provider, he's got to give more
> than money to his family - he has to give himself. To love, to nurture, to
> develop, to stay in touch with their ever-changing needs, you have to be
> there. Many a man has excused himself from the hard but rewarding work of
> building his family by hiding behind the provider myth - that all is well if
> I just provide materially for them. That's the easy part of being your
> family's provider. The big assignment is to be consistently available for
> what your family needs most: your hugs, your advice, your attention, your
> praise, your laughter, your shoulder.
> 
>         Many a man who has paid the mortgage and stocked the fridge has, in
> heaven's eyes and his family's eyes, failed as a provider because he didn't
> provide himself to them. The past can't be changed, but the future is yet to
> be written. Be the total provider your family so desperately needs, and make
> the rest of your days together the best of your days.
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
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> 
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> 
> To find out how you can begin a personal relationship with Jesus Christ,
> please visit YOURS FOR LIFE: HOW TO HAVE LIFE'S MOST IMPORTANT RELATIONSHIP
> at:
> http://www.yoursforlife.net
> Or, call 1-888-NEED HIM.
> 
> "A Word With You" by Ron Hutchcraft is a daily radio challenge, with
> slice-of-life illustrations and insights - providing practical help on the
> issues that matter most. If your local Christian radio station does not air
> "A Word With You," please let them know how much you value this program. Over
> six years of transcripts are available online, at
> http://rhm.gospelcom.net/awwy/
> 
> Ron Hutchcraft Ministries is a member of the Gospel Communications Network -
> http://www.gospelcom.net
> 
> "A Word With You" is a production of:
> 
> Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc.
> http://rhm.gospelcom.net/
> Email: RHM at hutchcraft.com
> Phone: 1-877-741-1200
> 
> Copyright (c) 2005, Ron Hutchcraft. Permission to distribute this material via
> email, or individual copies, is automatically granted on the condition it
> will be used for non-commercial purposes, and will not be sold. To reproduce
> "A Word With You" transcripts in any other format, including Internet
> websites, written permission is needed from Ron Hutchcraft.
> 
> Copyright (c) 2005, Ron Hutchcraft. Reprinted with permission. "A Word With
> You" is a radio outreach of Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc.
> 
> --
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> 
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