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Saturday, April 16, 2005
Gothard overcomes temptation
OAKBROOK, Illinois - Bill Gothard shocked his entire staff when he announced during a recent meeting that he needed to ask for their forgiveness. Indicating that he'd received "inappropriate material" in the mail, Mr. Gothard explained how he'd carried it into his house. Shocked, the young men and women on his staff looked at each other as Mr. Gothard shared this with downcast eyes.
"I should have destroyed it immediately," he said. "I told myself it wouldn't hurt to just let it sit on the kitchen counter for a few minutes." But soon, he admitted, the temptation to look at the "material" overcame him. "For years I've preached against debt and credit cards," he said. "I never expected to be entrapped by a free credit card offer."
Mr. Gothard told his staff that he nearly called the 800 number to take advantage of the offer. "Satan knows how to make the appearance of evil as alluring as possible," Mr. Gothard explained. "Rather than considering the consequences of my actions, all I could think about were the frequent flyer miles I'd accrue if I signed up for the card."
Thankfully, Mr. Gothard shared, "something" stopped him. "I just knew if I began dialing that number I would be crossing the point of no return."
"Debt makes you a slave," he said, "and yet it looked so inviting. I literally had to run outside and jog around the house to deaden the temptation. After all, Scripture warns us to flee evil." As he ran, Mr. Gothard visualized putting on the armor of God and identified Prayer Targets.
Mourning a country where "wickedness can enter your very living room," Mr. Gothard made a commitment right there before his staff to always call his accountability partner when opening his mail. "You never know what you're capable of in a moment of weakness. But character is what you do when no one is watching."
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6 Comments:
If those are "evil" then I guess I could start a fire to rivel the Pharos with all the ones I have laying around.. They are still unopened.. Just never got around to pitching them out.
hehe... Good choice of wording though.. Really very humorous..
Seabhag
"I told myself it wouldn't hurt to just let it sit on the kitchen counter for a few minutes."
I too once said the same thing, and what happened? I gave in and got a credit card. Terrible results immediately followed. First, I purchased a dollar a day Bible study that I found on the Internet; it was only forty-nine dollars.
Next, I began buying books with pictures of a bear, elk, and an eagle on them; that was only one hundred-five dollars [shipping and handling not included].
Then, I got twenty booklets on health; that totaled ninety dollars; oh yea, I also bought some recipes for one hundred fifty-five.
And lastly, I found an empowering video message [actually a training conference video of some kind] for only two hundred twenty dollars.
At this point...and this is the sad part, I wanted to buy a Financial Freedom Video Series for two hundred fifty dollars but I couldn't...I had maxed out my credit card.
Maybe I should get another so I can continue to buy this good stuff.
"I literally had to run outside and jog around the house to deaden the temptation." Wow, Big G goes jogging? Does he wear Propper Ripstop BDU Shorts when he jogs? I found a web site [shopalert] where he can get 'em for only eighteen dollars; the web site takes Visa and Mastercard.
Very fun post.
I think the idea of Mr. Gothard jogging is the most unbelievable part though. =)
Hey, Hey! I made someone laugh. High-fives all around!!!
my friend was at refine and said she saw Billy G taking a jog...she said she never wanted to see anything like that again!=)
I just feel bad for his accountability partner...I hope he has a lot of time set aside for the daily opening-the-mail phone call... right after the morning-calesthinics-in-the-park-purposing-not-to-look-lustfully-at-ladies phone call and before the evening temptation-to-watch-tv call. whew! it takes a lot of personal sacrifice to remain as 'transparent' as God demands!
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