Our priority as a church has been established by the Lord in the Word of God. I suppose there is no more difficult assignment that we have than keeping ourselves and the church on the main priority and not getting sidetracked. We do not get sidetracked by vicious or evil things but get sidetracked by good things that are secondary things. The devil is so insidious and cunning. He is forever throwing the switch and seeking to get the train off the main line. You can measure yourself. Just ask yourself these questions: Am I involved in the business of telling lost people about Jesus and seeking to reach lost people and getting them to attend church? How about my Sunday School Class? Is this the main job of my Sunday School Class or have we gotten sidetracked? We can get so concerned about people’s physical problems that we totally lose sight of the priority that God has given us to perform. May I encourage you to do an analysis study on yourself and your class this week? If you or your class has gotten off track, let’s get back on the main line! – Dr. Michael T. Hailey, Pastor

Busyness is the enemy of spirituality. It is essentially laziness. It is doing the easy thing instead of the hard thing. It is filling our time with our own actions instead of paying attention to God’s actions. It is taking charge. – Eugene H. Peterson, interviewed in The Door (Nov./Dec. 1991)

Three of the most difficult things to do in life are to keep a secret, forget an injury, and make good use of leisure time. – anonymous

Whole-life stewardship means putting the purposes of God at the very center of our lives and families…instead of giving preeminence to the American dream and then trying to work in the religious stuff around the edges. – Tom Sine, author of The Mustard Seed Conspiracy, quoted in the Everett Herald, December 30, 1989

Sin arises when things that are a minor good are pursued as though they were the most important goals in life. If money or affection or power are sought in disproportionate, obsessive ways, then sin occurs. And that sin is magnified when, for these lesser goals, we fail to pursue the highest good and the finest goals. So when we ask ourselves why, in a given situation, we committed a sin, the answer is usually one of two things. Either we wanted to obtain something we didn’t have, ore we feared losing something we had. – Augustine in The Confessions of St. Augustine (Christine Classics in Modern English)

Life is a one way street. No matter how many detours you take, none of them lead back. And once you know and accept that, life becomes much simpler. Because you know you must do the best you can with what you have and what you are and what you have become. – Isabel Moore

If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend six hours sharpening the ax. – Abraham Lincoln

Put first things first and we get second things thrown in: put second things first and we lose both first and second things. – C.S. Lewis, quoted in Student Leadership Journal, Fall 1996, pg. 34

Priorities

Pride is a vice that ill suits those that would lead others in a humble way to heaven. Let us take heed, lest when we have brought others so far, the gates should prove too narrow for ourselves. For God, who thrusts out a proud angel, will not tolerate a proud preacher, either. For it is pride that is at the root of all other sins: envy, contention, discontent, and all hindrances that would prevent renewal. Where there is pride, all want to lead and none want to follow or to agree. – Richard Baxter in The Reformed Pastor

Pride cannot coexist with ministry. They are contradictory, so one must die. – Apologist Ravi Zacharias

Arrogant people never see the truth or hear the truth. – Rick Hughes

Pride prompts us to forget God’s victories. – anonymous

Today I readjusted my halo. It’s not strangling me any more. – Barb Kuzmyak

How to dislocate your shoulder: Pat yourself on the back. – anonymous

There is the pride of being “radical” or the pride of being “realistic.”
There is the pride of being able to “spot a sinner” or the pride of being able to “notice the hurting.”
There is the pride of doing “only what I want to do” or the pride of ding “whatever needs doing.”
There is the pride at being “unbiased” or the pride at being “loyal.”
There is the pride of being “perfectly honest” or the pride of being able to “get along with people.”
There is the pride at being “on top of an issue” or the pride of having an “open mind.”
There is the pride at all one has “acquired” or the pride over all one has “sacrificed.”
There is the pride over “how great our church is” or the pride of “knowing exactly what’s going wrong.”
There is the pride of being a “victorious Christian” or the pride of being one who “struggles with God.”
There is the pride that says “I can stand tall” or the pride that says “I’m willing to get on my knees.”
There is the pride that says “our church is growing” or the pride that says “we’re staying faithful.”
Pride comes in many forms but has only one end: destruction. – Dick Rasanen

God made us, and God is able to empower us to do whatever He calls us to do. Denying that we can accomplish God’s work is not humility; it is the worst kind of pride! – Warren Wiersbe

A worldly spirit loves to talk a lot but do nothing, striving for the exterior signs of holiness that people can see, with no desire for true piety and interior holiness of spirit. It was about people like this that our Lord said, “Amen I say to you, they have received their reward.” (Matthew 6:2) – Saint Francis of Assisi in The Wisdom of Saint Francis

Pride