Become a Better Kiwanis

I was preaching at 7:30am Thursday. Yikes.

Larry F. invited me to come and speak to his Kiwanis Club. So I met him at 7am at a local bank where I gave a 20 minute sermon from Philippians 4:6-8.

As per my usual style I memorized the passage and my outline and delivered the talk without notes. Unlike usual, I didn't pray at the end, offer any kind of invitation, or have any deliberate emphasis on sin. Because my audience was only partly believers and the setting was secular, I used the scripture to talk about the impact of gratitude to God (thanksgiving) in our lives.

I certainly wasn't satisfied with it as a sermon. But as a inspirational talk from scripture to a bunch of business men, I think I pushed it as far as possible without completely alienating them.

When I finished, one of the men said, "Well, Joel Osteen sure did a great job this morning!"

He meant it as a compliment. I wouldn't normally take it as one (Osteen, in my opinion, preaches a watered-down Gospel). But I accomplished my mission, I witnessed to a room full of businessmen and women, didn't compromise my integrity, and now might have an inroad with several of these folks in the future.