An Encouraging Word

I had the opportunity to preach at my church (Hermitage Hills Baptist Church) a little while back and really enjoyed talking about the idea of encouragement.

There are way too many people sowing seeds of discouragement instead of hope. When I wrote about sports for a living, I remember former Alabama football coach Bill Curry labeling the pessimistic souls who always thought the worst of any situation, the "Fellowship of the Miserable."

It seems like we have a full house in that club these days, including the media and most of our politicans.

How about stirring the pot with a little HOPE!

The poster boy for encouragement in the Bible, was a man named Joseph, who went by the nickname of Barnabas or Son of Encouragement.

The Bible does not record much of his actual words, but in the Book of Acts you catch a great sense of who he really was. He sells a piece of land and donates all of the proceeds to the church. He takes a risk by adopting and mentoring early Christianity's Public Enemy No. 1 --Paul -- after his Damascus Road experience. He convinces the rest of the apostles that Paul can be trusted and Paul is on his way to becoming the world's greatest evangelist.

Later in Acts, we see Barnabas again giving a problem person a second chance. This time it's John Mark, who left Paul and Barnabas hanging on a mission trip. Ironically, Paul washes his hands of John Mark, but it's Barnabas again who extends hope and another opportunity to a young believer.

If I died today, I would want inscribed on my headstone, Son of Encouragement. Barnabas had the right idea, and I think he was a driver behind the explosive growth of the New Testament church.

Encourage someone today. Become your local distributor of hope.