Welcome to "Tuesday Mornings" —a source of encouragement and inspiration for Christians everywhere. Welcome to the new year.

 

The Apostle Paul saw himself as an evangelist without restraints. He wrote to the Church at Corinth, "To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings." (1 Cor. 9:22-23)

 

Paul must have known he could not save the world all by himself, but he was determined to try. He also said to his friends at Corinth, "Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible." (9:19) You get the feeling that Paul was willing to try anything and everything so that people everywhere could hear the gospel.

 

This week's "Tuesday Mornings" begins with a story about a nail. Not just any kind of nail. A nail so special that when it is used in constructing a house, that house will be less likely to be destroyed by a hurricane's high winds or an earthquake's shakes. Interested? Read on below and prepare to begin looking for innovative ways to communicate the gospel to people where you serve in 2007.

 

Tom Barnard

A Senior Encourager 

 

Grand Award Winner for 2006

Tom Barnard

 

he “Future Now” issue of Popular Science (December 2006) has announced its “100 Best Innovations of the Year.” The magazine has been “anointing” the years’ top technologies for the past nineteen years. This time they went far beyond anything they have ever done before by announcing their choice of a Grand Award Winner. You will be surprised at their choice:

A Nail

 

They could have selected any number of more dazzling winners for their ultimate choice for 2006. There was, for example, the 253 mph, 1,001-horsepower, $1.2-million Bugatti Veyron supercar (that was my choice). It is the fastest production car ever made. Zero to sixty in 2.5 seconds! Cost too high? Volkswagen (that owns Bugatti) took care of that by announcing its EOS, “the first hard-top convertible four-seaters (that sell) for less than $30,000.” Still too costly? Or how about Honda’s “FIT?” It is one of the first economy cars with “an electronic accelerator in place of the mechanical linkage between the gas pedal and the throttle.” It will get up to 38 miles per gallon. The price: only $13,850.

 

So why did the editors of Popular Science choose a nail for its Grand Award Winner? Senior Editor Mark Jannot said it simply: “It’s a model of engineering ingenuity applied to an under-recognized problem—and it could, over time, save thousands of lives.” It’s called the “Hurri-Quake” nail. Engineer Ed Sutt and his team at Bostitch spent six years addressing the need for a nail that could turn ordinary stick-built wood houses into earthquake-and hurricane-resistant structures. The engineers increased the nail head’s size by 25 percent, added “angled barbs” to the shaft, twisted the top, and “cooked up a high-carbon alloy designed to best balance stiffness and pliability.” And are you ready for this? The new nail fits into existing nail guns and adds just $15 to the price of the average house! They say that a house built with these nails will double that house’s resistance to high winds. And even earthquakes. Incredible!

 

I couldn’t help but ask this question: What innovations are ahead for churches next year? Will there be:

 

• Dial-up hymns and songs to replace live music during congregational singing?
• Sound systems designed so worshippers can control the volume at their seats?
• 2% rebates at the end of the year for those who pay their tithes with credit cards?
• Worshippers encouraged to sit rather than stand when singing?

 

Probably not. But don’t assume some creative people won’t try innovative solutions to an “under-recognized problem” in their churches during the next twelve months. It may be interesting. Stay tuned.

 

Back to The Nail. Solomon asked, “Is there anything of which one can say, ‘Look! This is something new?’” The answer is “Yes, there is.” And if it can be said about nails, perhaps it will also be said about the methodologies we use to tell the age-old story of God’s love. A lost world is still a lost world. Spiritual hunger is still spiritual hunger. The story is old, but it is ever new. And we have a responsibility to tell it again to a world that doesn’t recognize their need.

 

I pray that God will lead you to become innovators in finding solutions to “under-recognized problems” where you live and serve. The goal remains the same—“that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) The message is eternal; the methodology may change from generation to generation. A new year has arrived. The Future is now!