Worthy Brief - 5/10/2016
Friend, does anyone need a shoe shine?
Matthew 6:4 So that your giving may be in secret: and thy Father which sees what is done in secret will Himself reward you openly.
Zechariah 4:10 For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.
I came across this very powerful story about one of the most influential men of God in my life, D.L.Moody, in a book named A Call to Excellence by Gary Inrig.
A large group of European pastors came to one of D. L. Moody's Northfield Bible Conferences in Massachusetts in the late 1800s. Following the European custom of the time, each guest put his shoes outside his room to be cleaned by the hall servants overnight. But of course this was America and there were no hall servants.
Walking the dormitory halls that night, Moody saw the shoes and determined not to embarrass his brothers. He mentioned the need to some ministerial students who were there, but met with only silence or pious excuses. Moody returned to the dorm, gathered up the shoes, and, alone in his room, the world's only famous evangelist began to clean and polish the shoes. Only the unexpected arrival of a friend in the midst of the work revealed the secret.
When the foreign visitors opened their doors the next morning, their shoes were shined. They never knew by whom. Moody told no one, but his friend told a few people, and during the rest of the conference, different men volunteered to shine the shoes in secret.
Wow. I'm humbled, how about you? Many of us want to be great ministers for the Lord. We want our names and our works to be remembered. But let's never forget the true ministry of the Lord. Not only would have Jesus shined those shoes in secret, He would have returned to wash their feet too!
Friend, have you been asking the Lord to use you? Here you have it! Shine some one's dingy shoes, give a gift to someone in need, love on someone hard to love -- but don't tell the world -- do it in secret! You can be sure that the Lord sees these things! And He will open up more opportunities for you to do even greater things for Him!
Your family in the Lord with much agape love,
George, Baht Rivka, Elianna & Obadiah
Negev Desert, Israel
Editor's Note: Watch George's message: Which voice will you listen to in the last days?
Around the World
Syrian government extends cease-fire in Aleppo
Syria's military says it is extending a cease-fire in the city of Aleppo and its rural areas for 48 hours starting after midnight Tuesday.
Man, said to shout 'Allahu Akbar', knifes Munich rail passengers
A man attacked passengers with a knife at a train station in the Munich area in southern Germany early on Tuesday, leaving four people with life-threatening injuries, Bavarian radio reported.
Israel-Palestinian Conflict
Israel to remember fallen troops and terror victims with songs, sirens
Israel's memorial day for fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism will formally begin at sundown Tuesday, as the country pauses for an annual remembrance marked with candle lightings, memorial services and melancholy songs.
US announces $50 million aid program for the Gaza Strip
US officials said the money will be used over five years to provide basic humanitarian assistance and create jobs. It will be distributed by the US Agency for International Development in partnership with Catholic Relief Services.
Inside the United States
Spice: Americans turn to dangerous 'synthetic marijuana' to evade drug tests
Spice is known as fake weed or synthetic marijuana because it grabs hold of the same receptors in the brain. But the lab-made powder bears little resemblance to the plant Americans increasingly see as benign.
Alabama chief justice faces removal over fight to block gay marriage
Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore -- ousted from office more than a decade ago over a Ten Commandments display -- now faces removal from the bench over his effort to block gay marriage from coming to that state after the U.S. Supreme Court effectively legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
State Department says it can't find emails from Clinton IT specialist
The State Department told the Republican National Committee that it could not find any emails to or from Hillary Clinton's former IT specialist, who managed her private email server before going on to work for the agency, according to a court filing made public Monday.
Facebook Employees Block Conservative News From Trending on the Site
Former Facebook employees conceded that the social network routinely censors conservative news stories when aggregating pieces for the site's 'trending' media section.
Report: Government Regulations Add $84,671 to New Home Prices
Government regulations are responsible for adding $84,671 to the final price of a new single-family home, according to a report from the National Association of Home Builders.
U.S. Politics
Ryan moves to cool Trump tensions
Speaker Paul Ryan and Donald Trump dialed back their rhetoric Monday after a weekend of sniping between the nation's highest-ranking elected Republican and the party's presumptive presidential nominee.
Donald Trump's Feud With Evangelical Leader Reveals Fault Lines
Donald Trump escalated his fight with Washington's evangelical leaders on Monday by attacking the president of the Southern Baptist Convention's policy arm. 'Russell Moore is truly a terrible representative of Evangelicals and all of the good they stand for. A nasty guy with no heart!' Trump tweeted.
20 Percent of Born Again Christians Will Not Vote in November Election, Poll Finds
A Battleground Poll found that those who say they go to church at least once a week prefer Donald Trump to Hillary Clinton by nine points.