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"What of our nation, once steeped in the Word of God? The Founding Fathers once wove Scripture freely into their discourse, but in recent decades a hostile secularism has insisted on marginalizing all references to God and scoffing at biblical morality. They talk “tolerance” yet file lawsuits against those who would dare speak of God, display a nativity, or call something a sin. There is no room in this post to present statistics that show our blessings ebbing away, but it is clear that as our families disintegrate, a nation that once led the world in almost every respect is now well back in the pack and fading fast. To forsake the preaching of Christ though His Scripture and His Church is to forfeit blessings." - Msgr. Charles Pope

What a powerful message for this Lord's Day!

Pope is always very interesting, and has lively concepts to discuss. I tend to read his meditations through to see if there is something that I have not heard or considered before, something from which I can glean a new insight. Sometimes he begins to sound like one of the Baptist pastors I have heard.

In this article there is little to find fault with. It encourages audience of the preacher or teacher to grasp quite well the point he is making: the person prepared to teach and correct is useless without a cooperative, eager audience of Gospel practitioners.

I recall in the days of quartet singing, when we would go out on a job where we were brought in to entertain, occasionally the contact had probably inappropriately chosen our fare as fitting for his/her crowd. When this happend, we would find the audience, even after a proper introduction by their MC, deathly quiet, not a smile anywhere, glaring at us as though to say, "Entertain us, if you think you can."

When you perform your best opening number, finishing with a rousing tag and flourish, but hear not one single clap of applause or word of appreciation, you know you are in trouble.

You see, it IS the mood of the audience that sets the atmosphere.It is the shared joy of satisfying the eager, accepting anticipation that makes the event elevating and memorable for all the participants. It is like an organism that is not alive without all of its members functioning in its purpose. I can tell you that as a performer interacting with the crowd, your enthusiasm reflected back to you from a thousand faces and voices is so exciting that perfoming becomes quite addictive, an occupation one leaves only with great reluctance.

For a preacher or teacher of virtue, called, prepared, and sent to do so, seeing audience of even a few willing students put into practice the principles that you've been commissioned to share, is the substance of what it means for everyone involved to play out their role in advancing The Faith, in acting as a unit to overcome those who would ignore or destroy your shared ideals.

The blogger here, Charles Pope, has done a good thing, presented a particular insight worthy of thinking through as how to become a good disciple of the Lord, The Master Teacher, how to conduct oneself in the church so as to obtain the Lord's individual personal reward in the end:

"Well done, thou good and faithful servant!".