As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu, al-maa ba'a. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala in Chapter of Al-Asr gives us really a comprehensive view of both the human life and what is our responsibility and counsel us to reflect and to act in ways that often we are not from a habitual way, we are not at least oriented or predisposed to it. Allah gives an oath by using what's called the waw of oath by saying wa al-asr, by giving an oath and giving an oath by al-asr by time. And in various places, Allah uses the waw of oath for a variety of different elements. So what was shamsi wa al-waha, Allah gives an oath by the sun. And also Allah gives us an oath by the food, wa tini wa zaituni wa turi sinin, that by the oath of the fake and the alem. And it's a commentator say there's a reference to regions in relations to what the Qur'an was referencing whether it's the place in relation to Palestine or later on in relation to the same chapter of Bayt al-Haram in relations to Mecca. Wa tini wa zaituni wa turi sinin, wa had al-Balad al-Ameen, this safe or secure abode which was Mecca. Allah is reminding us in here by giving an oath with time, al-asr. Commentator said that this might be for us to reflect upon the generations that came before us. Because in essence if we reflect back the arrogance of the human being is often said that I'm not gonna do what the others did because they were not as smart as I am. Every generation they think that they are not gonna do what the other generation did but they end up doing the same thing. Why? Because the human being does not learn from history. We repeat the same habitual actions and we don't reflect whether it was on the individual or also on the societal level. So it's not surprising because the human being is a habitual, I don't want to say animal, but it's a habitual creation. We're a human being that reflect and repeat the same habits over and over. And the smart one is the one that breaks away from that habitual pattern. We're coming upon Ramadan soon. Ramadan is an intensive course for breaking your habits. That's what it is. Because it completely transforms your habitual program and what is the most important habit is eating and drinking. Eating and drinking and I and I tell you I cannot function the morning without my coffee. I can't go and lecture in my classes at the university without having my coffee. Ramadan comes, now it's a crisis. How am I going to deal with lecturing without my coffee so it transforms how my pattern is. And so Allah has given us this all by time.   He gave you that without actually us deserving it but Allah gave it because he is the most generous. He is the one that provides sustenance. So even if we think reflect upon our own life, every day we are spending our investment which is our time. And we celebrate our birthday but what are you celebrating? I'm not saying it's Halal Haram but our celebration should be reflecting that you have spent one year of your principal investment. Not the profit because the profit you put forward to Allah for the hereafter in order for you to see it. So you are, we are in damage both in individual and collectivity. But Allah provides an exception to that diminishment, both in history as well as in our current era. Except those who have paid but didn't leave it there. There has to be action. There has to be fulfillment. There has to be an actualization of what you believe, what you have faith in the heart and what you act upon on a daily basis in the society. So we're not saying no action. Action has to be reflective of your faith that you have. So whatever often, and then action based on knowledge. So we're not the type of people that we're just going to sit in the corner and say I'm going to contemplate the meaning of life. It's important to contemplate but you need to act because we're being asked to make the society, make the world a better place. We have to do, we have to manifest good deeds. In essence you're praying but you're actually manifesting your zakat as an affirmation of your faith. But usually it's an affirmation of your faith. So as salat comes from salat which is to be truthful. That's in terms of just the terminology where the word emerges from. But then we get also this is a pattern in the Arabic that is you study the verbal structures, the six patterns. It's a reciprocal type of a pattern. Meaning that I need to remind you of standing on Haqq and you need to remind me to stand on Haqq. Which means that we have a societal obligation to point and to strengthen each other on that which is just, that which is truth, that which is Haqq. And you have an obligation to do it toward me and I have an obligation to do it toward you. It's a reciprocal relationship so the Haqq in the society is a collective obligation because as we say in Arabic one hand does not clap, you need two hands. Council each other to stay firm on the Haqq. I know these days is very difficult because what we do is mudahana. Like you know we just like wax each other especially if we think that somebody is a place is an important position or status and so on. What we call is like we wax on truth. No we'll find you a way brother. So this is not what we call what we are asked to do in relations for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So don't be a person of waxing. Wax your car that is needed right but don't wax on the Haqq. What you're trying is for Allah to witness the not anyone else that may give you a critique these days. Now we think that because we have what you call wax and share on social media right. Some gets up somebody that we want to council they put it on YouTube and on Twitter and Facebook. A person thinking that they're counseling them to do Haqq. If you want to counsel people you need to be a person that want to build them up rather than damage them and destroy them. So the whole apparatus of social media is instructed to break people rather than build people. So I want you to be a person a deen al nasiha that deen religion faith belief is about counsel but how do you do counsel. Somebody shares and likes on social media you become what you call a social influencer influencer for shampoo but you don't do social influencer for human beings. That's not what Allah is asking what was or haqq and then a person like buffs up there what you call chess. I'm trying to count that we need to go into Facebook to counsel them and haqq happy because there's Masha Allah there's a thousand likes to my haqq in here. Okay shaitan is clapping for you. You did it your ego is boosted.  There's a poetry in Arabic says how many are your friends when you count them but when the moment of difficulty come to you you don't find anyone around you. Similarly in the social influence in space how many likes and shares you have but when your calamity comes to you nobody is around you. So what Allah says about haqq there has to be a way where we counsel each other to stay firm on the truth and the haqq and not to have our ego in there. And the last is the most difficult counseling because to stand on suburb to be patient because people are not you know they're gonna speak ill of you say he'll know he's difficult he just always when we talk he just trying to tell us to do that that which is what what Allah says again to counsel each other to be patient. Now patient does not mean again we go from zero to eighty in anger right again I know being from Arab background my brothers often they will go from zero to eighty in anger on any issue that befalls them much faster than what you call a Tesla goes in terms of speed like you're calm zero and then eighty right over here. That's not how things right in terms of trying to do both to counsel people on haqq and to counsel people on being patient. Anger is the opposite of patience and I'm speaking about there because I'm Arab I don't want to criticize other communities right but we know it's this what you go from zero to eighty attitude right meaning that immediately as you get into this you basically lose the sense of what you're trying to accomplish. Haqq should be the focal point and to counsel each other in some way to be patient. Now when I conclude that we're in the middle of the pandemic right and it's almost reaching about a year for us to be sheltered in places when people are beginning to lose it but I counseled the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was in Shiaab Mecca in the outskirts of Mecca for three years having an embargo against it sanctioned he could not bring get food coming into them we could not get supplies nobody would allow to get married from them or have any marriage relationship right nobody could visit them for three years now we're sheltered in place but you know I need order of uber uh order of uh dordash order of this all your food is coming to you by 24 seven you go to whole food or whole wallet and you load up with everything your amazon day in and day out and you're complaining was so difficult because we don't actually calibrate to understand what is suburb and what is real calamity calamity we're not in a calamity we're in a difficult position yes in relations to the pandemic but you have to measure it in the larger scope of things and to again but also the suburbs is real human uh prices that we're facing and we need to practice how to be patient both in good times and in moments of calamity which is the test of time is very easy to say I'm patient but I'm having a vacation all right life is not again right life is up and down it's when you have a crisis that's the test of being patient and counsel each other to patients you so really to reflect upon on the chapter of al-asr, of time and the time that we are experiencing, yes it is difficult but within difficulty there is ease, inna ma al-usri yusra, inna ma al-usri yusra, very with hardship there is ease, even at the moment of difficulty, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is still giving us ease, even at the moment of difficulty Allah is always giving us the ability to reflect and to think about the circumstances that with difficulty there is ease and insha Allah we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make to make some from those people who have faith act with good deeds but first and foremost to stand on the raseh truth and act with patience and counsel each other with patience Wa tina wasrif anna bil khairi sharra maqadayi ba'inna ka taqdi bil khairi wa la yuqda aleyk wa'inna hu la yuza luman walayt ta ba'irakh ka rabbana wa ta'alayk rabbana ruddana l-il-slamir ad-dajmeela rabbana ruddana l-il-slamir ad-dajmeela rabbana ruddana l-il-slamir ad-dajmeela Allahumma as-slahdata ba'inna ya rabbana al-Alamin Allahumma ya mqalliba l-kulubi thabba tkulubana al-Aqaatik Allahumma arina l-haqqa haqqan wa zubna tiba'a


This is Hollywood and CBS presenting forecast number four Herbert Marshall directed by Alfred Hitchcock in the first program of a proposed new series entitled suspense Tonight's forecast program ladies and gentlemen represents the ideal form of collaboration Mr. Alfred Hitchcock brilliant English director of such outstanding motion pictures as the 39 steps Rebecca and foreign correspondent was eager to create a very special type of radio drama the suspense story as Narrator and star for his production He thought at once of the distinguished actor with whom he had been associated in countless British film successes Herbert Marshall Mr. Marshall suggested that they dramatize a certain favorite story of his and that story happened to be the very one Mr. Hitchcock had had in mind Mrs. Bella clowns classic in chills the larger The larger is a work of fiction which springs from recorded fact a story which begins in the year 1988 in London a London terrorized by the fifth in a succession of recent murders It was believed that these deeds were the work of one person a tall gaunt figure in a black in Vanessa Cape carrying a small narrow bag That meager description provided by a highly unnerved witness was the sum total of all that was known of the murderer It was enough however to keep alive and alert the interest of all London of all those in fine quarters And all those in small grimy houses as for example Ellen Bunting Ellen was no different from all the other middle-aged housewives dwelling in the great city's squalid white chapel district She knew all the known facts of the case as Herbert Marshall will tell you Ellen knew it was quite proper to refer to this wielder of the knife as the Avenger Of course Ellen Bunting was far more concerned with her personal problems than with thoughts of the Avenger Yet the case of that strange elusive killer quite often forced all other matters from her mind There was that mad meaningless scheme. He seemed to follow all His victims for example have been women all have been young attractive and oddly enough blonde But Ellen could no more understand the motive for his brutal slashings than could the police This night she and her husband Robert Bunting Said before their fireplace reading the newspaper account of the latest murder The Avenger had struck again As that an expert that he might be anybody he might be the fellow you pass on the street It's a terrible thought. Yes. If only the police had something to go on It looks like that avengers just too quick for him Look, it says here that this girl he got last night was like all the others pretty blonde and Let's see described by her friends as a very light-hearted girl.  My own Daisy. Oh, that's a horrible thought. Well, maybe it's a good thing. She's with her aunt then instead of here London ain't a safe place for any girl right now Just the same I can't stop thinking how fine it'll be to have a back of him now Bunting You know the Daisy seems just as much my own daughter.  We just can't afford it I know that and only well, well, maybe we could manage it some way how haven't I script myself half crazy trying to keep Us going but you don't care about that. Do you know your daisies more important to you than I am Don't sound oh, I can't help if it don't what are we going to do? Tell me that we'll go along there something will turn up Oh, we haven't had a larger for months. Nobody even comes to look at the room anymore Yes, but things will work out.  I I didn't mean to take on I know it's all right.  See you come on. Let's see a smile. Come on. Just have one Who do you suppose that could be late for visitors I wanting Do you think it could be somebody looking for rooms? Well, it might be want me to go to the door. No, I'll go Just stay here. Yes. All right. Now be sure you get a good look at the ways before you let them in dear. I'm coming. Oh, I do hope it's Yes, sir Is it not true that you let lodgings?  Thank you Could I could I take your cape sir? There's no need Now I am looking for a quiet room. It must be quiet. Oh, we have that sir Above all our house is quiet your bag sir. May I take it? No, I'll hold it It'll be so good as to show me the room, please. Oh, yes. Yes, sir. It's right up these stairs sir this way. Thank you You see sir, there's just my husband and me here and we're ever so quiet and and I'm sure you'll find this room Do you like him sir? Here we are Now I'll just light the car There Very good it is pleasant isn't it sir and there's not many rooms with such pretty pictures Are there now you've had them in the family for years sir and pictures interest me very little Do you see what really impresses me about the rooms the very simplicity of it the Bairness. Yes, sir. It's not at all crowded. It is it will be quite suitable. Mrs. Buntings Mrs. Bunting You see I do a great deal of studying in my book here The holy Bible. Yes, sir. Please let me help with your luggage. No, don't touch it. Oh, but I only wish to you only wish to help Of course you must forgive me. Mrs. Bunting. It's just that I I'm so very weary He bringeth them to their desired haven Beautiful words Mrs. Bunting indeed. They are sir and now at last I have found my haven of rest Yes, sir, then then you'll be taking the room. Let us see now What are you going to charge me with the tendons mind? I shall be staying in most of the time and I should be wanting meals. Oh, we can see to that. Then does 30 shillings a week suit you very Well, yes, sir. Yes, sir. That will be quite all right. Good and I shall pay you in advance My name is sleuth. Mrs. Bunting. Mr. Sleuth. S-L-E-U-T-H Think of a hound of Mrs. Bunting and you'll never forget my name 33 30 30 shillings. Thank you, sir. And I think I should enjoy a little light supper now Mrs. Bunting Bread and butter perhaps could you arrange that? Well, certainly sir. I'll do that now and if you'd be requiring any beer or spirits Certainly not. Oh, sir What did I say? I thought you understood me Mrs. Bunting and I had hoped that you and your husband were abstainers But we are sir. We don't keep nothing about I would have had to go out and of course, so I'm sorry Mrs. Bunting I fear I spoke sharply. I don't wish you to think they're rude after all you You've been so kind Considerate I hope I know a gentleman when I see one. Thank you. Thank you very much. Now. I'll just hurry with your supper Did he take the room? Don't bother me now. I have to get him some supper. What do you mean? Come to the kitchen where he won't hear us. See, tooky-delly. Yes, took the room. Yes, we're all right now Look 30 shillings a week in advance. Oh, it's wonderful. Wonderful And anything to see what this means. Yes, you can have Daisy now. Yes Here Bunting. Warn that teapot and put some tea leaves in it. Righto, righto. Yeah, do you know something, old girl? We're not gonna worry too much about Daisy being in danger of that Avenger fella. Whatever do you mean, Robbie? Well, she's not a girl who takes a drink, you know. What's that to do with it, please? Oh, something I read in the paper while he was upstairs with the gentleman They just found out that every one of the Avengers victims had been drinking. They figure he must be some kind of a rabid abstainer Put up a killed-get-chan. Now hurry Bunting, please. Yeah Two thoughts, two thoughts only, governed Eren's mind The larger's light supper and her own good fortune at having such a larger Mr. Sleuth was an eccentric sopper than he was such a gentleman, so quiet, so very religiously inclined She started up a staircase to Mr. Sleuth's room, her husband at her side. It won't be no harm to be safe though once Daisy's back in London, eh? We all see she stays closer than the earth, hm? Well, I'll be downstairs. Hurry up with these supper, old girl Cast down many wounded from her Game in his strongmen have been slain by her. Come in And to know the wickedness of folly. Why, Mr. Sleuth? Yes What is it? Those pictures. Those pretty girls. You've turned all their faces to the wall And that maneuver, that strange action, was the beginning of Eren's concern Soon they came to heart a recollection of the black Inverness cape, the small narrow bag The urgent matter of alcoholic drink And these details began to shape themselves into a pattern which grew more disturbing with each passing hour The day following the larger did not leave the upstairs room once, nor did he leave the next day And the oddness of this took its place in the pattern Then too the approaching arrival of Daisy, her stepdaughter added to her concern On the second night her sleep was restless with vague, horrifying images and so when she heard the first stealthy footsteps Outside her bedroom. She was instantly awake. She followed those steps down the stairs Down the hallway. She heard the front door open. Out of stillness fell upon the house And outside the streets were so sidelined she could hear distinctly the clock from a church tower a mile away Told the hour In her troubled frenzy She pictured a lone figure plodding through the deep fog moving quietly stealthily Searching Finding Soon after she heard the lodge of return She sought to quiet the horrible dread which had possessed her She showed herself the days as a rival that day was no cause for alarm now. She reasoned How could there be anything really evil about so religious a gentleman as mr. Sleuth But for her there was no more sleep merely a tormented state of half consciousness a State which suddenly dropped from her shortly after they break Horrible murder that was the piercing scream of a news boy far down the street They're in bunting heard the boy cry out the Avengers latest stroke made during the night It's first glimpse that morning of the gray-faced larger brought the steepest nights warm terror full to the surface But on the next instant she saw the pitiable helpless weariness in his eyes and curiously the terror began to pass She found that she was hoping desperate that her fears were unfounded Earlier she had determined to tell bunting of the awful convictions in her mind now. However, she felt she must be certain Certain before she spoke to a soul She knew there was one thing she must examine that was the largest single piece of luggage. She thought of it often What could it hold? Not much in the way of clothing. Surely it was too small to to narrow It was more like a case Case for a knife It was a long toward noon that I didn't found opportunity to search the largest room Soon after bunting left to meet Daisy. Mr. Sleuth himself walked from the house Ellen watched the tall thin figure in the black in the desk cape disappear down the street and then she rushed upstairs into the room Quickly she moved to the closet. It was no different from what it always did not only empty She found nothing under the bed She went then to the chest of drawers against the wall She opened the top drawn found inside nothing but a frayed shirt two handkerchiefs the next drawer under clothes socks The next empty the remain then only one possible place for the small narrow bag the bottom drawer and it was locked Hugging at the draw she heard suddenly the opening of the front door downstairs Anx-stricken she rushed out of the room and down the hall to the head of the stairs upstairs Daisy's here.  It's so good to see you Whatever's the matter.  Oh Well, I I'm all right. I I wasn't expecting you so soon. Oh, you don't know how fine it is to be back Mother Ellen. Oh the country is all right in its way, but there's nothing like London now. Yes, sir No, no, there isn't but as long as that avenges about I can see we're going to have to do something about these blonde locks Oh, don't worry about that. I'll die. I may be a I just pin them under my hat Daisy I might as well get you settled. Oh now father isn't that just like it? She's straight to the point and no point. I'll bet a six when she'll have a dust cloth in your hand before you've got your coat off I See my door is open. Oh, we we were just leaving so we does this mean that all of you have been in my room Oh, not at all, sir. I what does I do keep it locked? But you see sir, I was just tidying up a bit and and mr. Bonding. He brought his daughter up, sir She she just arrived. This is Daisy sir. Pleased to meet you, sir And she's she's been away for quite a long while you see mr. Sleuth and that's that's why we're a bit excited Yes, you must have been surprised when you came in during his laughing and getting on that way. Yes. Yes, I must say I was However, mr. Daisy, there are all types of joy other not Yes I'm sure there are the despicable evil joy of the abandoned and the divine happiness of the blessed a vast difference that You do understand me don't you? Yes, mr. Sleuth. I devoutly hope so miss Daisy Nowadays there are so very few young women like yourself who do in fact, I I all but despaired ever of finding one if If you'll excuse us now, sir, we'll we'll be getting Daisy's things put away. This is Bunty and I must be getting to my room Leave me miss Daisy. There's been a revelation to meet you. Oh, thank you, sir. I'm sure we should have much to discuss Oh At that moment And then had been determined to pour out her terrible knowledge and then the moment passed by She told herself that perhaps the past few days have been nothing more than a grim illusion a tormenting play of imagination She would wait then until she had attended the coroner's inquest into the last Avenger murder There perhaps she would hear evidence to disprove all her fears to assure her there was no earthly harm in Daisy being so near the larger This was her grave is concerned now for on the next day mr. Sleuth made it a point to see the girl more than once and Fearfully Ellen saw that Daisy welcomed his visits As Ellen was preparing to step out of the inquest she heard once more the voices of her stepdaughter and the larger Coming to her through the kitchen door She hesitated before strangely apprehensive The idea Mr. Sleuth is just saying he would excuse yourself. He thinks people and especially girls should spend all their time praying I sought to explain mrs. Bunting that all women are placed on this earth filled with evil They therefore must struggle constantly to find the path of righteousness. Why mr.  Sleuth. Just a child. Daisy you'd better go now But I didn't say nothing wrong What's the harm in a glass of wine she lieth in wait as for a prey and increase at the transgressors among men I don't know what you mean.  You are beyond salvation. That's not so. I'm a good girl. I am and I won't have you saying that Daisy go into the front room. It's quite all right. I must be going upstairs anyway I'm used to being misunderstood, you know People never realize that my efforts are simply for the greater good of humanity Of course And that the power on high will direct my hand toward the expulsion of all evil Daisy Does he listen to me? Yes. I've got to tell you about About about what mother Ellen Nothing I've got to go out for a while now. I'll be back The moment will reveal the secret horror had come again and passed Erin's sudden recollection of mr. Sleuth as he stood in the doorway had overwhelmed her She must give him this last chance this last frantic search for this proving evidence this trip to the inquest If that chance would fail then she would tell bunting or the police So with the knowledge of bunting was left in the house to look after daisy. She boarded the underground train bound for the coroner's court What does the train pulled away from the station? A new torture came to her began to mount in her mind It was the sudden realization that provided Sleuth was the murder She was equally responsible for his crimes She had been giving him Protection If anything should happen to daisy, she would be equally guilty Fully as guilty as the avenger Oh Seated at the rear of the small but crowded inquest room Listen to each of the witnesses as they were called and from one of them she found the first hope she had known for many days This witness lived next to the alley in which the avenger had committed his crime that night She had seen him from a window and the man she described in no way resembled Evan's larger But in another moment Evan's hope was swept away It was pointed out that the fog had been so heavy that night that the witness could not possibly have seen the murderer from her window She left the stand replaced by a mr Cannot This elderly gentleman was certain that he had not only seen but talked with the avenger He was in region sparky to testify only a few moments before When I saw him he was quite a tall man Very gaunt looking and carrying a handbag a handbag you say yes a small narrow one Just such a bag I might add as might contain a knife As I then heard these words the tension which had been mounting up within her became almost unbearable Rigid with horror. She gripped the arms of her chair. She heard the coroner I shall have to ask for more order in the court And now mr. Cannot I understand you heard this man speak. Oh, yes. We have a rather high hesitating voice an educated man I would judge but quite mad What do you mean by that? Well as he emerged from the fog He was talking aloud to himself Believe me, sir. He was reciting scriptures from the bible Scriptures from the bible Horrified Ellen rose from her seat only half hearing the confusion about her Are you asking us to believe I would say mr. Cannot that the man we are looking for Would be least of all a religious man and that's where you're an error mr. Coroner the religious note is the very key to the case very interesting That'll be all mr. Cannot just a moment sir Don't you understand the man you're after must be a religious maniac. That's the only explanation possible You will please stand down Court was dismissing the very truth. Ellen knew that now. She would no longer keep silent her hand shut forth and she screamed I want to say Ellen Bunty on the verge of speaking had fainted and then When she was revived a few moments later, she said nothing Her brain was in too great a turmoil her nerves too shocked Like one in a dream. She allowed herself to be led from the courtroom The voices of spectators were only vague sounds to her Yes, it was hysterics. Yeah, they're beat about the knife. Yeah the knife the knife The knife As Ellen Bunty proceeded home with the remarks from the spectators remain in her mind. She heard them Over and over We all see she stays close in the house, eh No arm in being safe direct my hand toward the expulsion of all evil expulsion of all evil of wine As Ellen neared her neighborhood her very increased with each moving footstep a grip of terror go tighter tighter about her She moved faster faster if only she were in time She was two streets away from the house then one then Ventures all bunting sharply like the thrust of a knife. She realized what this meant daisy was left alone with the larger All bunting. Tell me bunting. Where's Daisy? Where is she? I say where are you? Oh, listen to me try to understand Sleuth is the avenger. What are you saying? Oh, larger. He is the avenger bunting. Oh, but there's no time for that daisy's in danger. Hurry Yes, daisy Daisy She's not here. What about the dining room? Look, she's not there. She's not downstairs. Then there's just Here's room go on Open the door Hey cut what's the idea hitch up a few more lines to do As mr. Marshall the narrator you have not as mr. Sleuth the larger Hit you can't stop the play right here doesn't fair, you know Why isn't it bad? What more is there to say for mr. Hitchcock want people want to know what bunting and me found in the room? All right, ellen What precisely did you find? Well, uh, nothing sir There you see nothing no larger no bible and that lock presser drawer What about that? We unlocked it sir and what was in it nothing sir You asked certain mrs. Bunting. Oh, you gave me quite a turn mr. Sleuth. I mean mr. Marshall Yes, sir. I'm sure sir. There was nothing well picking your part mr. Hitchcock But don't you think we better just mention about daisy? I don't know bunting What do you think we ought to say? Oh just at the reason she wasn't in the house when any enemy got there was Well, she gone out for a walk. That's all Did she enjoy it? Oh very much sir made it a king's cross and back in just under an hour, sir Splendid time bunting. Well, there you are but There's the story now. Wait a minute mr. Hitchcock. You can't do that. That's not the story. Of course. It's not. I look here Hitch here's the fellow who composed and conducted all our music will be hatch. He wants to know about this too. Everybody does All right, but What did they want to know? What became of mr. Sleuth? Oh him Why he left that afternoon. They never saw him again And now I think we ought to say something about the columbia four car show for were you please stop him mr. Marshall Hitch listen to me Yes, what is it? They want to know when the avenger finally was caught Oh, well, let me ask you something about Are you acquainted with loretta young? Yes, what's that got to do with it? Well in next week's columbia preview series Miss young will take the starring role in the drama of an american red cross nurse That's good news, isn't it? Oh, that's great But now listen hitch you've just got to tell that audience exactly when and how mr. Sleuth was caught caught Why on earth should he be caught? Why? Well, he was the avenger, wasn't he? Was he your guess gentle listener is as good as ours Even mrs. Bella clowns who wrote the novel isn't entirely sure For his masterful direction our thanks to alfred hitchcock whose latest pictures are david o selsnick's rebecca and walter wanger's foreign correspondent For his superb characterization of mr. Sleuth our thanks to herbert marshall And our thanks to the outstanding british character actor who tonight portrayed the role of bunting Edmund gwen If you like tonight's program and want to hear more in the same highly original hitchcock vane Radio versions of the lady vanishes in the 39 steps, for example Right to cbs and tell us so your interest will help bring suspense to the air as a weekly feature Forecast next week presents from hollywood loretta young in angel First of a proposed series based on the adventures and the romance of a typical red cross nurse From new york a new sort of comedy show ed gardener as archie in duffy's tavern With gertrude neeson, colonel stoop nagel larry adler and john kerby's orchestra. Don't miss forecast at this hour next week Honest pre-dental speaking. This is the columbia broadcasting system


Hi, my name is Heather Greer-Klein. I'm the San Vera Community Manager, and this presentation is Unblocking the Future, Finding Done in Open Source. This is a version of a presentation I first gave at the Digital Library Forum in October of 2023. So just a note that if you find this topic interesting, I'll be facilitating a breakfast discussion table at the CNI Spring 2024 membership meeting, and I would love for you to join me. So before I begin, I want to share a little bit about what it means to be a community manager so that you can better understand my perspective. I've been in my role as a San Vera Community Manager for three years now, and in this role, I don't write any code. I don't regularly use any of the repository software that the community develops, and I don't make decisions about the software features or technology priorities. Rather, I coordinate and support the collaboration of many people in institutions who do use these technologies day to day, who build and contribute and maintain the open source code, and who make decisions about the technology and the future of the community. And in this coordinator role, I'm often asked, when will it be done? And you can replace it here with any feature or version or update that the community is looking forward to or needs to have in order to meet their local needs, but that's taking a lot longer to arrive than expected. So I've seen this in the San Vera Community, but also in other open source repository communities and other open source communities in our ecosystem. So I wanted to start a conversation about this problem of seeming to never be done with software updates when we say that we will be. I want to talk about why in my experience we so predictably have these delays and how we might address this issue and get out ahead of the problems that come along with it. So we know that that big changes to critical open source infrastructure like repositories sometimes arrive long after they were promised. Sometimes we even have versions that come out years after they were expected. We also know that no one wants it to be this way. These delays benefit no one. Over promising and under delivering leads to a loss of trust in communities and in their volunteer leaders. Burned out individuals and institutions are left hurt and they might just engage from the project leading to further delays. It also affects open source adoption by creating a perception that adopters need to wait for something. It hurts maintenance and development of other features that are needed in the community as those things get put on hold waiting for the big promised version. So developers and repository managers service providers. Everyone is frustrated when these big releases drag out for months or years. So why so much delay if these delays are toxic to our communities and our technologies. Why do they seem to be happening so consistently. Well first our collective development capacity is shrinking. And by this I mean we have fewer and fewer individuals at our institutions who can do the work of creating and maintaining software code. We compete with industry on pay but also on support on things like designers and product managers. The largest development teams in our ecosystem are a well resourced institutions who may have a mission to work on innovative infrastructure. So they're the critical research and development arm of our ecosystem but they might not be part of every type of maintenance release. And as teams shrink and institutions the demands on developer time are high. If community contribution is a tiny part of duties it could always come last. And if it is purely on a volunteer basis on top of other duties it's not likely to happen at all. And service providers are filling the development gap. And they are the only option for many institutions who use open source but who have no dedicated staff developers. These contractors need to be funded so that they can contribute local work back to community code and participate in the wider community. And community technical leadership is high pressure. And by technical leadership I mean the work of organizing, planning, reviewing, keeping development moving forward and keeping maintenance done in a timely manner. In the same very community we have technical leads and product owners for each component of software that we support. And they're all volunteers with roles at their individual institutions. The wider community gives them a lot of responsibility to meet our collective needs. But they have very low authority. They can only persuade others to contribute work. They have no actual control over who is available, when, for how long, or to do what tasks. That is a high stress position. And also maintaining code is a specific skill set. It's not the same as developing new code. Someone might be brilliant at solving code problems or developing new code, but might not have the skills or the interest in the managing and reviewing and helping others and resolving disputes and so forth that comes along with open source work. In my community and others, we also end up relying heavily on individuals or institutions who are the most passionate, the most invested and willing to do this kind of difficult work. And this is not sustainable because individuals and institutions could start to feel taken advantage of if the work is not equitably distributed across the community. And our most passionate colleagues could feel burnt out and have to step away altogether. And if an institution leaves or an individual leaves, the whole community can face a setback because too much of the work was resting on too few shoulders. I also want to be sure that those of us who uses infrastructure but do not build it. Keep in mind that community built code has unique challenges because it's been built by many people over time. So put simply it's more difficult to work with than something that's being built from scratch. Estimates are also very difficult for the same reason can be hard to estimate how long something will take, how much time, how much funding and so forth. There's a lot of invisible labor, organizing, reviewing, testing and helping others. And a lot of time is lost to context switching moving back and forth between community code and local priorities. And maintenance needs are an ongoing often unpredictable and competing priority to some of these big releases. This is something that's just inherently true for software open source software and proprietary software. Also, 80% of the time is spent on the last 20% of the work is a maximum that I've heard about software development. And based on my experience and experience of other open source communities, a lot of times we do end up having the longest delays and getting the most bogged down in that last 20% of work towards a big version or a big release. And then there's factors that are inherent to customization. If things are very custom locally can take a lot more time to upgrade. It requires more planning requires waiting until the big release out to see what's different to see what's required. So this can make it feel like even longer for some of these big releases to be implemented. And volunteers are people. So all of the institutional and personal and global stresses that everyone is suffering under greatly reduce our capacity for volunteer work and our capacity for contributing back to community. So what can we do. The most important place to start to prevent these issues is at the community level. So if you rely on open source software to critical component of the work that your institution does, then you and your institution are part of a community. And you can help to make sure that the software that's so important to you has a strong foundation and we can prevent some of these problems later on. So first is making decisions early and often a clear governance structure makes for a much easier decision making, having community leaders, having a board of this. This goes a long way. Also processes for community input having a way to gather use cases to make sure that all different types of institutions and individuals are heard from before planning for a big change or a big feature. It's really, really important, but also knowing when to end that input process and actually begin the work also having processes in place for decisions that come up along the way. That's a place where communities can really get bogged down if developers are working and they don't know who to go to or how to resolve a problem that could affect the whole community. Things can really grind to a halt and also building with flexible and common and standardized underlying technologies. So planning for the future and thinking about ways to make our code more durable and easier to work with so that the next big version change or update is less difficult or impactful and more developers are available to work on it. It's not super specialized. We also need to match our expectations to the level of activity that's happening. So celebrating smaller milestones, knowing that this is really where done lives where things happen. We can make lots of progress towards a big release, but a lot of that progress can be not noticed by the wider community, not appreciated if the focus is really on a big version. So thinking about ways to break down that work, chunk it out differently, talk about it differently will help us be able to appreciate the work that's being done.  Also regular communication, particularly of when work is happening, who's doing the work and when work isn't happening when more volunteers are needed. If you're not sure who's doing what work or if it's happening, it may not be happening at all. Also concise and frequent calls for help to reach specific goals, whether that's through funding the work, having service providers contribute or asking for developer hours from community members. Anything that we can do to keep momentum going and taking care of people having leadership terms so people don't feel like they're stuck in a position forever. So that they know there are other people who can help who can take that on recognizing all of the invisible labor that happens in open source, recognizing and celebrating all of the people who write documentation and so forth. Finding sustainable staffing models that might be centralized staff who are hired by the project that might be moving important community volunteer roles around between institutions. And then continuous improvement to the contribution process, always doing retrospectives, thinking about ways to make sure that feedback is taken and things get easier over time. So software adopters, long term solutions to these kind of problems are really going to require increased sustained financial investment. We need to make up for the reduction in available volunteer time. And we need to be planning to contribute financially or through staff time consistently every year. Also consider how community processes could change to make your contribution easier. Is there a way that your open source software community could ask for volunteer hours or ask for finances at different times of year. There's anything that can be done to make it easier for you. Make sure that your community leadership knows because they'll be happy to be creative to help that happen. And also stay engaged. Make sure that someone is paying attention to the community. If there's development happening that's important to you, keep up with the process, see where you can help make sure there's not reduced efforts. And notice if there are things that get in the way of your engagement. Again, so that you go to community leadership and talk to them about ways to help you or your staff stay more engaged. So again, just a reminder, if you find this topic interesting, I'll be facilitating a breakfast discussion table at the CNI spring 2024 membership meeting. I really love for you to join me. And together we can get from when will it be done to whatever we're going to do next. Thank you.


We're going to look at a few of the gifts of the Spirit. And as I was preparing this, I realized that there are so many other gifts that we're familiar with that probably should be mentioned and even taught a bit about. And so, more than likely next time we get together, as a matter of fact, next time we get together, I'm going to add some of the gifts that are found in 1 Corinthians and kind of try to develop it a little bit more. You'll see what I mean as we go through this. But just letting you know that I'll be stopping at verse 7, but verse 8 also has gifts of the Spirit that he mentions. But I'll be using verse 8 next time as my launching pad and I'll be adding other gifts to round it out a bit to make it a little more full and so today we're going to be looking at verses 1 through 7. So let's begin here in Romans chapter 12 at verse 1. I'll read verses 1 and 2 and introduce and get into our study. Paul writes in Romans chapter 12, verses 1 and 2, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service and do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Now in chapter 11 we concluded the teaching that Paul was giving on Israel's destiny with words of praise. We saw that in verses 33 through 36 of chapter 11. Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments, his ways past finding out. For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has become his counselor or who has first given to him and it shall be repaid to him for of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever and then he added the word amen. So he was saying that God's plans defy the intellect of human minds that his wisdom is beyond man's ability to trace out and that God does not rely on human counsel or help. It's like what it says in Psalm 8 verses 3 and 4. When the psalmist said, when I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him or the son of man that you care for him? So he's speaking about the glories of God, the power of the magnificence, the wisdom on all of that. So he was saying as he concluded chapter 11 that God is the source, the means and the goal of all things. So in chapter 12, he takes us in a new direction. He's now sharing how sinful man can have a relationship with God and he's instructing concerning how we can live a life that is pleasing to him. That's what verses 1 and 2 is pointing to. And so in verse 1, he begins by saying again, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your body's living sacrifice wholly acceptable to God, which he says is your reasonable service. So he's speaking about dedication, a complete commitment, a complete dedication. He's calling for the believer to dedicate themselves completely body, soul, spirit to the Lord and to his service. The Bible teaches us something that sometimes we need to be reminded of. Sometimes we forget that the Christian life is a committed life. The Christian life is a life that is set apart for God and that service and self-sacrifice are actually the way of life for a believer. The Bible teaches very clearly that we don't look for an easy way out or a simple path in Luke 9, 23. Jesus said to them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me. So the Christian life is a committed life. And so Paul is urging his readers to service, a voluntary service to God. Notice how he is beseeching. He begins in verse 1 here in chapter 12 by saying, I beseech you.  He's not commanding them. He does have the power. He does have the authority to issue a command, but he doesn't do so. Instead, he encourages them. He's appealing to them. He's appealing really to their wills. He's urging them to serve the Lord. He's pouring into them a begging, a calling for them as one who loves them as a pastor.  And notice in verse 1 on what basis he makes the appeal. He says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God. Now the Bible teaches us obviously in so many places that God is merciful. Micah chapter 7 verse 18 is one example where the prophet said, who is a God like you who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance. He went on to say, you do not stay angry forever, but delight to show mercy. So Paul is saying, God has been merciful to you. So in light of the fact that he's merciful, then respond with a total commitment to him. We love him, but we love him because he first loved us and he revealed his love to us and the depth of his love through Jesus Christ. And because of that, verse 1, Paul says, present your bodies of living sacrifice. The word present means to yield up. It is a picture of taking a sacrifice to the altar of God. In the Old Testament, a person offering a sacrifice picked out the best of the flock, brought it to the altar and presented it in the Old Testament as an atonement for sin. In a similar way he's saying, we belong entirely to the Lord. So present yourself entirely to him. We are to present again, verse 1, ourselves as, notice living sacrifice, not dead offerings. We are living offerings to God. You know, you can't work a field with a dead ox. And so God wants to use living sacrifices to do his work. He wants us to use our strength in service to him. Now, when he speaks about this, and he's speaking of our sacrifices as a living sacrifice, we are a living sacrifice, but what is dead is to be the desire for sin and the desire to fulfill the lust of our flesh. Earlier in chapter 6, verse 13, he had said, do not present your members, your bodies, as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. So sacrifice, yield yourself fully in light of God's mercy and goodness and serve him. He's asking for commanding, if you will, more than simple belief, intellectual ascent. The capacity for us to say, well, I believe these certain things. No, he's not asking us just for mental agreement. We are saved, and now that we are saved, we are to serve, and we serve him with all of our strength. In 1 Corinthians 6, verse 20, you were bought at a price, therefore glorify God with your body and with your spirit which belonged to God. He bought us, we belonged to him. And so our bodies, though imperfect and in need of discipline, are to be offered to the Lord for service. He says they are to be holy and acceptable to God. The word holy is a Greek word, hagyas. It means to be set apart for a particular purpose. And so our bodies are to be holy, they're to be set apart. In the Old Testament, there were requirements under the law of Moses for an offering. A sacrifice was to be without spot or blemish because the sacrifice represented purity. In the Old Testament book of Leviticus 22, verse 20, it says whatever has a defect you shall not offer, for it shall not be acceptable on your behalf. So our bodies are holy and acceptable because we've been set apart by God. We've been made righteous through faith in Jesus Christ. Now in verse one, this has made us acceptable to the one who searches the heart. That's why he calls it our reasonable service. The word reasonable simply makes sense. It's our logical service. In light of all that he has done for us, Paul is saying, doesn't it make sense to serve him? And all that he has done, doesn't it simply have a logic to it? If he really did send his son, if his son really did die on a cross, if he really did atone for my sin, if he did take upon himself my sin, die on my behalf, if he did get buried and was resurrected, doesn't it make sense to serve this one? And that's the point he's making. Yes, we're supposed to do that. Why? Because of what he's done for us. And this is our service to God. We're to do this as unto him. All that we do is really to be done unto him. So he goes on in verse two and he says, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. When I first got saved, there was a big thing about the hippies who were getting saved and all. And it wasn't that everybody was excited about it. Frankly, the church world as it was at that time wasn't real excited because they said that we were, people like us were really just, we weren't sincerely changing. And you know why they were saying we weren't sincerely changing? It's because we didn't cut our hair and we didn't wear shoes. And that was a big thing.  I'm looking at a younger congregation. Let me look for some gray hairs out here. But it's true. It's true. In the 50s and 60s into the early 70s, a Christian, the stereotype of a Christian was that they were clean cut and, you know, they wore penny loafers and, you know, slacks and you wore it tied to church. And so when the hippies, kids started getting saved and we started going to church, it really did freak people out. I think that Greg Laurie had a movie out, the Jesus Revolution. And I didn't see the movie myself, but I'm aware of some of the things I've had people sharing with me. And there was, there was a a desire on the part of some to keep the hippies from coming into the church because we didn't wear shoes.  Everybody knows that. And they didn't like that at that time, so they wanted us to put our shoes on. And the 11th commandment is thou shalt not wear shoes. You know, there was there was no way that we were from a mindset that the man can't tell. That's what we call the authority. The man can't tell us what to do. I'm going to worship God as I am. And we had a lot to learn, of course. I'm not saying therefore we all should be as mean as we can towards those with particular opinions. I'm simply saying that you have to catch a fish before you can clean it. And there were a lot of people wanting to clean up the fish before they were even caught.  And I understand why. I remember hearing the story of some of the hippie kids who were sitting in the pews and their toes were getting stuck in the communion cup holders that you have in the pews. And the fact is I understand that because my toe got stuck in it too. So I understand that story and all of that. Well, see the thing is this when it says don't conform to the world, it's not speaking of the outer the outer it's speaking of the heart the heart that's conforming to the ways of the world we're not to follow the pattern of the lost world when he says do not be conformed to this world but be transformed the word conformed means to pattern your mind and character to another's model so he's saying do not allow yourself to be patterned after the spirit of this age this spirit of this age is a system opposed to God and it entices believers to follow its pattern In Galatians 1, 3 and 4 Paul said it like this he said grace be to you in peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil world according to the will of God and our Father this present evil world system in opposition to God is not to be my model this present age has Satan as its prince as its God the God of this age and it is in a hundred percent opposition to the rule of God In 2 Corinthians 4, 3 and 4 Paul said it like this he said if our gospel is hidden is hidden to those who are lost in whom the God of this world has blinded the minds of those who believe not lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto them and so don't model yourself after this present Christ rejecting age but instead of being conformed be he transformed the word transformed all of us are familiar with it's a Greek word that we get the word metamorphosis from and it speaks of being completely changed and we can be transformed he says by the renewing that word renewing speaks of a renovation by a renovating a renewing of our minds so we offer up our bodies for service he's saying but offer also up your mind intellect the outer behavior has a tendency of changing when the minds are changed when our minds are washed by the water of the word of God our behavior begins to change also and so we begin to pursue the Lord Colossians 3, 1 and 2 if you were raised with Christ seek those things which are above sitting at the right hand of God set your mind on things above not on things on the earth in Philippians 4 verse 8 finally brothers and sisters whatever is true whatever is noble whatever is right whatever is pure whatever is lovely whatever is admirable if anything is excellent or praise worthy think about such things so our minds are transformed by the obedience and knowledge of the word of God as we meditate on what God's word says and as we put it into practice which is one of the reasons why we emphasize the reading and the teaching of the word of God because that's how God transforms you and makes you into somebody that he can use for his glory and the result of this is you're able to prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God you see with this new mind you will begin to accept what conforms to God's will so in the reading of the word of God in the obedience of the word of God in the fellowship with those who love the Lord in the putting those things into practice together there's a transformation so rather than being conformed to this world we have presented our bodies living sacrifices we're not crawling off the altar of offering we're staying there we're remaining alive but alive to him and dead to sin so as you've yielded yourself to him he begins to work in you and as he works in you he does it by the power of his spirit as he does it by the power of his spirit he also does it by informing us by training us in what his will is and he does that through his word and in doing so with the new mind accept what conforms to the will of God and we trust him and that's why I say again we need to be in the word of God that's why it's such a blessing to have midweek Bible studies I'm blessed to have you here with us as we go through the word together and so he begins that way but he moves on into verse 3 and he starts speaking about this in verse 3 he starts speaking about the gifts God gave us that we might serve him well he says in verse 3 for I say through the grace given to me to everyone who is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think but to think soberly as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith for as we have many members in one body but all the members do not have the same function so we being many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us let us use them if prophecy let us prophesy in proportion to our faith ministry let us use it in our ministry he who teaches in teaching and so notice how he begins this section by saying I say through the grace given to me to everyone who is among you so what is he saying he is saying not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think he is encouraging us to serve but we are supposed to do so with humility the body of Christ is not to boast against the other members of the body of Christ the hand isn't supposed to boast against the feet the feet aren't supposed to boast against the mouth the body doesn't do that the body has to work together and it actually serves itself as the body and so we are going to look at gifts of the spirit we are going to look at them one at a time and like I said pick up some other gifts that aren't mentioned here but what he is saying to us is we need to be serving see we have presented ourselves to God but how can I exercise the gifts of the spirit the grace gifts that he has given to me well I am to exercise them by faith with humility here is why people have a propensity of giving more honor to the thing that is most visible and because that is true we are to be humble as we serve the Lord somebody may be doing something that is noticeable that garners attention sometimes they may be doing some kind of spiritual thing that people begin to say come in here with the mighty man of God is saying who started out with humility where he would just come out in fear of the Lord and love for the people and share God's word in a way that was applicable to their hearts and minister to their spirits they begin to look at him as if he is some great thing and he is something very special that is the worst thing you can do I don't believe that we should ever intentionally put people down but I also fear that sometimes we can lift them too high I shared with you once about this maybe more than once I don't know but years ago I was teaching at a pastor's conference in another state I gave the Bible study and after I gave the Bible study I was standing speaking to some of those who were part of the study and this young man walks up to me and he looks at me and he says that study wasn't that good and I said John you're never going to get on staff that way no this guy walks up and he says that he says I just need to let you know that study wasn't that good so I smiled at him and I said okay and he says you may be wondering why I said that not really but okay he says I have the gift of keeping pastors humble you know I I've read through the gifts of the Spirit and I just haven't found that one not yet not yet see the way that you should approach the service to the Lord is always with humility why? because without him you can do nothing because anything that you can do and anything that has a great impact or an impact of any sort that is good is from the Lord you're simply a vessel being used by God and that's how we should understand it it's not that we don't encourage each other by the way we do we love one another we encourage one another we come alongside of and help one another all of these things are part of being in the body of Christ but at the end one sows another reefs but it's God who brings the increase and it's God who gets the glory sometimes ministers can become lifted so much by those who admire them that they begin to lose their footing and they start doing things in the flesh for the attention that comes as a result of the things they're doing and at that point they're in great in great danger because the Lord has a way of humbling and he will remove his hand at least for a season until the lesson of humility is learned it's a very important thing to understand people have a tendency of lifting up the person communicating or the person exercising visible gifts so if the Lord is giving you a gift as we'll be looking at him in a moment that is noticeable you should serve the Lord with all humility and again as I say verse 3 through the grace given to me to everyone who is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think but to think soberly as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith and so we can become proud because of the noticeable gifts and the followers that begin to accrue and that's why immature Christians should not be given spiritual humility in 1st Timothy 3.6 Paul said it like this when speaking of selecting a bishop a pastor teacher a leader of the church he said he is not to be a novice lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil so spiritual pride destroys especially destroys the body of Christ humility is what God desires for us if we're going to serve him and that's why he says do not think too highly of yourself in Philippians 2 verse 3 he said do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit but in humility consider others better than yourselves and so he says in verse 3 God has dealt to each one a measure of faith the word measure a determined portion God has given to you faith necessary to exercise spiritual gifts it isn't faith for salvation it's faith for service and so he's going to go into this and share he says in verse 4 as we have many members in one body but all the members do not have the same function so we being many are one body in Christ and individually of one another so we are members of the one body and as members of the one body we need each other if somebody were to speak to you tonight and say okay you've got your body what part would you like to give up tonight you know your fingers you know the hair on your back some guys would say yeah no but what would you what would you want to give up your toes you know a lot of people say oh I hate my ankles would you like to give them up tonight no I'm okay with them at the end of the day we don't want to give up any part of it why it's all necessary it's all necessary because it's who I am it's what I am it makes up who this person is so that means that every part of my body is necessary in the body of Christ each one of us has different gifts some of us have multiple gifts it's called gift mixes you have several gifts but each one is important for the entire body in a baseball team you've got nine players on the field right you need each one of them each one plays a part and you don't want to give up any of them even though you may consider the shortstop to be the best player or you may consider the pitcher but you need them all because if you've got a great pitcher but no catcher so you need the whole team so it's not that I should be looking at somebody else and their gifts and covet those gifts I wish I had that I should be seeking the Lord for what he's given me what is it that I can do in the proportion of faith that he's given to me what gift does he have for me what gifts can I exercise why for my own benefit no for the benefit of the body of Christ and so we have the one body and we need each other there are no perfect members in the church and no perfect churches somebody said this I thought it was good enough to repeat to you the Christian church is the only society in the world in which membership is based upon the qualification that the candidate shall be unworthy of membership and that's true because when you realize you're unworthy of membership and it's the grace of God it should bring humility into us and if there's humility within us we can exercise the gifts of God because we're not trying to draw attention to ourselves and so he begins to speak concerning these things verse 6 says having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us let us use them and he begins by saying if prophecy and so having gifts that are differing according to the grace that's given to us this body as unworthy as we are given spiritual gifts of ministry they are called grace gifts they enable believers to serve the body of Christ the reception of which is due to the power of grace operating on their souls by the spirit again every member of the body has a share of ministry all of us do in Acts chapter 1 verse 8 if we've been baptized by the Holy Spirit we have received power and so we have the power of the Holy Spirit as the Lord has empowered us that is intended to empower and equip us for works of service now in 1 Corinthians 12 verses 4 through 7 Paul said there are different kinds of gifts but the same spirit there are different kinds of service but the same Lord there are different kinds of workings but the same God works all of them in all men now to each one the manifestation of the spirit notice this the manifestation of the spirit is given for the common good in 1 Corinthians 12 verse 11 all these are the work of one and the same spirit he gives them to each one just as he determines so the gifts of the Holy Spirit are intended for the common good the gift that I have is intended for all of us the gifts you have are intended for the common good for all of us and so it's the Lord who determines which gift you have you can get on your face and pray all day long for a certain gift but God determines which gifts you're going to have I'll develop that in a moment but the gifts are not intended to create superstars but to bless the people in 1 Corinthians 12 7 again to each person the manifestation of the spirit is given for the benefit of all now various New Testament passages speak of the gifts of the spirit if you take notes 1 Corinthians chapters 12-14 Ephesians chapter 4 1 Peter chapter 4 all include lists of the gifts there's no exact number of gifts listed though Paul gives to us in this passage I think around 7 the gifts are to be desired but God determines which gift to give them and so in Romans 12-6 Paul begins by speaking of prophecy prophecy prophecy literally has been called speaking forth the mind of God now when it's speaking of the spiritual gifts it is not speaking of the office there is an office in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11-16 there is an office of prophet we're not looking at the office of the prophet we're looking at the spiritual gift of prophecy so in the New Testament it can speak of foretelling but it also can refer to what has been called forth telling foretelling future events forth telling present intentions it's a gift prophecy that is exercised by both men and women in the book of Acts chapter 2 verse 18 it reads even on my servants both men and women I will pour out my spirit in those days and they shall prophesy Acts 21 verse 9 speaks of Philip's daughters who prophesied of future events now in the Old Testament a prophetic word generally spoke of the future event in the New Testament we see that when a prophet by the name of Agabas prophesied in Acts 11 27 and 28 in those days prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch one of them named Agabas stood up and showed by the spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world which happened in the days of Claudius Caesar so that was a prophetic word of future events Agabas is seen again in chapter 21 verse 10 and he prophesies concerning the apostle Paul of a future event so the gift of prophecy is not the promise of prophet it's a gift that an individual receives and it speaks of someone speaking forth under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit now this is a gift that is very valuable in the church it should be desired because the gifts are intended as I read earlier that for the church to be benefited by it says in 1 Corinthians 14 3 through 5 he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men he who speaks in a tongue edifies himself but he who prophesies edifies the church he says I wish or I desire that you all spoke with tongues but even more that you prophesied for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues unless indeed he interprets that the church may receive edification if you're asking the Lord do I have this kind of gift and I'll develop a little bit further he said in these verses I just read that the gift of prophecy brings edification it brings exhortation or it brings comfort or all three at the same time so when he speaks of edification the word edifying or edification speaks of building up so when somebody has a prophetic word that they're sharing that the Lord laid on their heart to share it builds up and encourages the body of Christ the word exhortation is a word that it actually provoke you to walk with Jesus and the third word comfort is a word that reminds us that God is concerned about us now I had somebody approach me years ago now who said I am very confused and I said and why is that and he said because somebody walked up to me and gave me a prophetic word and I don't know what they're talking about and I said what would that word be oh that I'm going to climb mountains with and I'm going to have hinds feet you know goat's feet and I said goat's feet huh what happens sometimes is people will speak but it's confusing even mysterious when somebody is bringing edification and the comfort and the exhortation it's going to be plain it's going to be something the Lord has laid this on my heart and I really believe that this is a word that you might want to receive he has spoken to me and I'm sharing with you you can test it through scripture if you like but the Lord is going to see you through this you're going to make it I just feel you need to hear this you're going to make it and though you've been going through some difficult things and I've actually I'll even make it more personal I've actually spoken to people in the past where I have said things to them there's no way I could have known what they were going through but in our conversation it just was a sense that you know I just want you to know I'm not sure what you're going through but it's obvious you're going through something and I just want you to know that whatever it is you're going to make it you're going to be okay you'll be alright and that was actually a prophetic word I had a lady approach me after church one day she said what you had to say today in church she said really really good it spoke to my son but please don't do that again because he thinks I called you you know I didn't know who the lady was and I most certainly didn't know who her son was so there are times that even when a pastor teaching myself included that there may be an illustration or a story or something that is direct that hits somebody and they're thinking that's me they're speaking to me I've had that when the teachers spoken and as shared I was at a pastor's conference this is why this is going to take time that's why I'm not going to rush through this I was at a pastor's conference our church was a couple years old I was as discouraged as a young pastor could be and I was sitting when one of the we had what was called an afterglow and the Holy Spirit was moving my brother said one of you was feeling a sense of wanting to give up and as I was listening there was an encouragement God is going to use you don't let go it's not like somebody standing up and clearing their throat standing real stiff and saying thus saith the Lord and speaking in King James because some of us if you've been around long enough you've seen that I've seen that suddenly God speaks in King James when a word of prophecy comes out it's more of it's a natural flow of the Spirit is God working and speaking forth and declaring his mind towards you the words are easy to understand now when that gift is exercised it needs to be tested because there are false prophets who give false prophecies in 1 Corinthians 14 29 let two or three prophets speak at the other's judge in 1 Thessalonians 5 20 and 21 do not despise prophecies but test everything and hold fast what is good and the way you test those things is through the word of God and if there's nothing clear seen whether that thing that was spoken actually takes place because if it didn't take place it was a false word it was a false word so you may have this gift where you share sometimes the gift is exercised in a pulpit sometimes a lot of times it's shared amongst brothers or sisters where simply with each other praying with each other loving each other and the Lord and the Lord lays something on their heart it brings edification, exhortation and comfort ministry gift of ministry the word ministry is a Greek word that you get the word deacon from it's the word deacon in it speaks of waiting on tables ministry speaks of waiting on tables it's a gift that is similar to the gift of helps we've made a mistake in the way that we see ministry we can think that only certain people are ministers you know a pastor a teacher a worship leader an evangelist a counselor a missionary these are ministers that's not what the scripture says there are always things that need to be done and there will always be people who are in need and the one who is gifted with ministry is the one who has a spiritual gift to meet needs all Christians are to serve that's really one of the distinguishing traits of being a believer in Titus 3 verse 8 it says this is a faithful saying these things I want you to affirm constantly that they who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works Galatians 6 10 as we have opportunity let us do good to all especially to those who are of the household of faith so that's a general call for the body of Christ it's not just pastors there are those who are commanded to do good works but this is a gift that makes that person sensitive to needs the one with this particular gift enjoys meeting the needs of somebody else they have a tendency of getting involved if they're in a church in fellowship and all they have a tendency of getting involved in ministries that are like the helps ministry they do it because they have a joy not just oh it's got to be done they do it because it's an inward joint they'll come and set up chairs or they straighten up rooms they make dinner for the sick in many times let me share something with you we had we've had people with that particular gift and some of them are the most they've made me laugh in ways that you can't believe I remember we had a guy who was painting one of our rooms he came he had the gift of Halson and we gave him the the paint and we gave him the brush we gave him the room and there he was just painting away and I came walking in I'll never forget he looks at me and he says pastor how's it look and I looked at it and I said looks a good thank you and I walk out half hour 40 minutes later I can walk in back in hey pastor how's it look and I said it's looking good he says great and I walk out an hour later I come back in hey pastor how's it look and I go it looks fine you're probably asking yourself why do I keep asking you how's it look right and I go yeah he says I'm color blind I don't have any idea what color this paint is I'm just trying to make sure that it's okay I'll never forget that guy I had another guy who worked the sound board as a volunteer and I remember I would walk by and he would have the earphones on and he would take them off and he'd put them on my ear and he'd say and he'd nod like this and I'd hear the sound and I'd nod yeah I did that every week every time I walk past the sound board he would take off the the earphones and put them to my ear and he'd go like that and I'd go like that I did it every week and then one day it hit me he was working the sound board but he was deaf he was deaf he was a correction he was a correctional officer who had lost his hearing at the firing range and so he just wanted to serve God so I had a color blind painter a deaf sound man but these these are guys who enjoy helping they go on ministry trips we have a number of people who are signed up right now to go to Hawaii for disaster relief and no they're not going with their boards they're going to work but they do that because they want to help they'll come early and leave late, they serve in the parking lot we've had them go and clean up homes we've had them go and paint homes for those in need so they have this gift and they want to use it you may be thinking I have no gifts of the spirit if you like to help if you get a joy from being there and cleaning up afterwards and serving in that way you may very well have the gift of help you see need and you're blessed to be able to serve it and you may think it doesn't matter and I have to stand up and tell you it matters a lot because very little gets done very little gets done and then we'll stop on the third gift and that's teaching what is teaching well teaching the gift of teaching is the ability to explain a passage or the word of God and to encourage the application of that passage so you explain it and encourage application chapter 8 verses 7 and 8 it says the Levites instruct the people in the law while the people were standing there they read from the book of the law of God making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read it's a spiritual gift it is not just a fondness for talking there have been people over the years that I've met who just like to talk they just it's like they're afraid of silence so they have to fill the silence with the sound of their voice and they just they like to talk and they like to instruct and it's not just a fondness for talking it's a gift that people will actually listen and learn they not only will gain information but they'll apply it to their life and as a result they're being raised up built up in the things of the Lord so it's something that you don't call yourself to it's not something that you go to school to become a spirit anointed teacher you can go to college or to seminary you can go to advanced training but if you're not anointed by the spirit you're sounding gong you're actually not a teacher you're somebody who just likes to talk it's a spiritual gift in 1st Corinthians 1228 it simply says God is appointed teachers now sometimes the pastor and the teacher both will hold this as well as the gift the gift is intended to communicate the gospel clearly and thoroughly I'll say this briefly but it should be repeated especially in our day there are still those that I become familiar with who will go through a passage and say that they've taught it when in fact they only talked through it and I've seen that numerous times I was asked on one occasion to go to a particular place we had a couple in our church who had moved to another city they were very dear to us this is many years ago and they had asked Marie and me would you come on over spend the night and go to church with us so we want to know if the church we're going to has a teacher and I said of course because they were very dear and it was very early of our church and so we went spent the night at the house and the next day went to church and when we went to church I sat there and I listened to the guy who was speaking he was teaching out of first Corinthians chapter 11 I still remember the passage because he didn't teach the passage and so at the end of the study and all I went back to my friend's house and he said what do you think I said I think the worship is great people were sweet but he didn't teach the passage I said what he did because it had things to do with marriage I said he just basically talked to you about the counseling that he's had in his office but no he did not teach what Paul was teaching he taught what he felt like talking about see so it's not just opening up the Bible and talking it's rightly dividing the word of truth and presenting it under the inspiration and power and anointing of the spirit which is the dissemination of information but the encouragement to application so that there's a transformation in the life of the people who are listening it's not just hearing it's hearing and doing and that comes through the proper teaching ministry so that somebody not only knows what to do but are encouraged to do and so some people think and I see this more often than anything else that they are teachers because they like to talk and open up Bible James 3 tells us this not many of you should be teachers my brothers knowing that we will receive greater judgment I have told many a pastor and I have applied this obviously to myself I will give an account before the Lord for the things that I have taught over the years I do not want to be guilty of misleading God's people and anybody who's thinking I might be a teacher I'll give it a shot that's not the way you enter into the pulpit to teach you enter in with fear and trembling because you're presenting the word of Almighty God and so the one you fear is not the people before you like when God spoke to Jeremiah and said be not afraid of their faces the one you fear is the one that you're obeying you fear him and you're careful with what you say because you don't want to misrepresent him Moses made that mistake when he smote the rock when God had commanded him to speak to it and he didn't enter the promised land because he misrepresented the Lord in the ministry of teaching you need to be careful that you rightly divide the word of truth and you present it accurately for me that is I spend no less than two days per Bible study preparing I'm looking at each I take the words apart I ask how this works I look at older commentators it's been said if they're not dead they're not read so I like to read the older guys because they haven't been tainted by some of the worldly philosophy of today's way of doing church so I want somebody who's rightly dividing the word and then I compile those things and I add to those things the 50 plus years that I've been teaching the experience I have and then I bring a forth to you as practical as possible that's the gift of teaching some of you might have that gift that's something to seek the Lord about to see whether it's so and if so you handle this word accurately and with fear we'll stop here and pick up next time