A helping hand that had no effect

This Sunday my burst of generosity was snubbed. Let me explain, while I was preparing the last message (on prayer) of the series 'Armed and Dangerous', I had the same feeling as before when I was preparing a previous message on the word of God, still in the same series. I thought about everything I was not going to be able to say, everything I had taught before that I absolutely could not evoke in one hour. It is frustrating for a preacher. Even more so, it concerns the fundamentals of the Christian life, the word of God and prayer. The CDs of these teachings are available from LCT (and others also via the SEPHORA catalog), but how can we encourage people to listen to them, especially those who have recently joined us and who had never heard these teachings?

I decided to give them a helping hand.  For all those who purchased one of the two teachings 'the word of God' and 'prayer', I paid for the second one out of my own pocket. I wanted them to understand its importance and usefulness. It was of course necessary to point out that it was for people who had been there for less than three months; I know one who would have been the first at the stand otherwise. Unfortunately, I was hardly impoverished, because the only person to react was not strictly from the house; she was visiting during her stay in Paris.

So it was a waste of time because at the end of the year, I owed zero euros. Since I know that for most of them there is no question of financial insufficiency, I conclude that all our efforts to communicate the importance of listening and re-listening to the teachings of the Word of God have so far remained in vain. But I do not despair, because the previous class, after turning a deaf ear to repeated encouragement to listen to the teachings, ended up having a beneficial boost. And even, my brother always told me, I am an incurable optimist.

Shalom!