James Arendt
I'LL NEVER FORGET THAT MEETING WE HAD WHEN I WAS LEADING THE MEETING and MOTHER WAS PREACHING FOR L. P. LEHMAN in a little small coal town in Western Pennsylvania. It was a small church on a cold rainy night with a very small poor crowd of about a dozen people. I kept saying, "I'm sorry there aren't more folks here, I don't know where the rest of the people are."
I WAS DWELLING ON THE NEGATIVE and THE EMPTY SEATS INSTEAD OF COMPLIMENTING THEM FOR BEING SO BRAVE TO COME OUT on a night like that and telling them, "You're wonderful people that you have been the ones to come and you have braved the weather!"--Speaking on the positive and encouraging them and inspiring them and complimenting them instead of dragging everybody down by pointing out all the empty seats and talking about all the folks that didn't come and how come and blah blah! It's really bad! It has a negative effect on people in general.
IT'S ALWAYS BETTER TO ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE and TRY TO COMPLETELY IGNORE THE NEGATIVE! I got a real dressing down from L. P. Lehman, who was a good business manager and smart promoter, even a good preacher.--But mostly good on business and good promotion, a good advertiser, good publiciser. He had the biggest radio work in all of Pennsylvania!
HE TOOK ME ASIDE RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY MOTHER and TOLD ME THESE THINGS! He said, "David, you shouldn't have talked about all the people that weren't there and why they didn't come and kept complaining about the empty seats. You should have been congratulating the people who did come, thanking God for them, inspiring them, encouraging them, thanking them for coming in such bad weather and how wonderful it was that so many people came out in such bad weather instead of talking about so many people who didn't come! Dwell on the positive, accentuate the positive, the encouraging and the inspiring, trying to lift up, and don't keep talking about the negative and the bad side. Look on the bright side!"
T'S THE OLD STORY ABOUT HOW THE OPTIMIST SEES THE DOUGHNUT, THE PESSIMIST SEES THE HOLE! The optimist raves about the quality of the doughnut and how delicious it is and how wonderful to have a doughnut, and the pessimist complains about, "How come they cheated us by putting a hole in it? Where's the rest of my doughnut?"--It's the same thing people do with God. Instead of thanking God for all of His blessings, they complain about a few little trials and tribulations and suffering, murmuring. So I just don't believe in accentuating the negative.
LEHMAN SAID IF YOU DON'T CALL ATTENTION TO SOME MISTAKES IN YOUR PROGRAM, MOST PEOPLE WON'T EVEN NOTICE THEM! A poor meeting is better than no meeting at all! A poor picture is better than no picture at all! A poor witness is better than no witness! So let's not try to even call attention to the negative, let's ignore it! Try to bring out the positive and accentuate the positive!--Amen!--GBY! ILY!--D.
My name is James Arendt. I was raised in the Hegewisch neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, served in the USAF from 1970 to 1974, and became a full-time missionary for Christ living 40 years in Japan, 3.5 years in Russia, and a few months in other countries such as Finland, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, South Korea, Taiwan and mainland China where I also served the King of Kings, Jesus, as an Ambassador for His Kingdom. My full bio.
If you like this article and my work on this website, you can show your appreciation by sending me a gift. Both my wife Tess and I are now unemployed and now live in the Philippines.
On July 31, our pastor drove us 70 kilometers south from our home in the city of Allen to Caybayog City (Samar, Philippines) where there's an immigration office. There I successfully applied for and received a 6-month visa extension! But the cost was higher than expected, 12,450 Philippine pesos, roughly $235 USD. Thankfully, I received one gift so far that covered half of that. If any of the visitors to this website who are not regular contributors to my work would like to help us cover the other half, it would be greatly appreciated. I will immediately send you an email to thank you.
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• Recognize you have violated in some way the laws of God. Violation of legal law is called a crime. Violation of God’s moral law is called a sin. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; - Romans 3:23
As it is written (in the Bible), There is none righteous, no, not one: - Romans 3:10
• Recognize the penalty of sin: Death! For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. - Romans 6:23
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: - Romans 5:12
• Recognize Jesus is the Saviour! Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. - John 14:6
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. - Acts 4:12
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. - Acts 16:31
• Recognize our lives our sinful by nature. We can do nothing of our own to merit eternal life. Salvation is completely by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ! For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: - Ephesians 2:8
But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. - Isaiah 64:6
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; - Titus 3:5
• Recognize Christ paid the sin debt we owe! But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. - Romans 5:8-9
• Recognize you must receive Christ as your personal Saviour! For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. - Romans 10:13
• Ask Jesus to be your Saviour!
Dear Jesus:I know I am a sinner. I know if I were to die right now, I could not go to Heaven. I ask you, right now, to come into my heart, forgive me of my sin, and be my Saviour. Thank you for saving me and giving me eternal life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
If you prayed that prayer with all sincerity, you have passed from death to life and have been born again into the family of God!
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