Max Lucado's Boat

1. Max Lucado's Boat

2. Max Lucado’s Boat "Well, the best I can figure it, the situation looks something like this. God has enlisted us into his navy. We have been called to serve on a ship...Some of us are called to man the cannons of praise and prayer. Others of us are diligently searching the sea for those who are lost on the sea. Still others are dedicated to the feeding and leading of the crew.

3. Max Lucado’s Boat …I don’t know if you’ve noticed it or not, but not everybody on this ship is just like you. If you’ve been aboard this vessel very long, you’ve poked around in enough corners and in enough decks to find that not everybody thinks the way you think. Not everybody dresses the way you dress. Not everybody acts the way you act. And perhaps you’ve gotten up enough courage to approach someone and say, ‘why are you do different?’ And their response was, ‘I was just about to ask the same of you.’

4. Max Lucado’s Boat And oh, how we tend to cluster on this ship. Oh, how we tend to find people who think like we think and enjoy their presence. There are varying opinions on this ship. There is a group of people aboard this ship who think that true spirituality is measured out in what you do and how you work and are diligent in prayer and solemn in expression. For that reason, they tend to congregate around the part of the ship known as the stern. There are still others who are very opinionated regarding the type of prayer. They feel that prayer is experienced truly on your knees. So they enjoy being around the bow.

5. Max Lucado’s Boat There are those aboard this ship who say once you get on it, you’re never able to get off no matter what you do. And then there are others who say to get off would be foolish and fatal, but the choice is always yours. There are those, I have noticed, on this ship who say you are here out of no choice of your own, you were predestined to be a sailor; not everyone was, but you were. And then there are those who say, no, God is a God of choice and he would only leave that choice with us.

6. Max Lucado’s Boat There are those who say that before this ship docks, there will be a great and mighty tribulation. There are those who say, yes, there will be a great and mighty tribulation, but that will come after this ship safely reaches the shore. And, oh, how we tend to cluster.

7. Max Lucado’s Boat And then there is the matter of the weekly meeting in which we gather to read the words of the captain and give thanks to him. We all agree that it is necessary, but that’s about the extent of our agreement. There are those who say it should be solemn; there are those who say it should be spontaneous. There are those who say certain genders should be quiet; there are those who say certain genders should be loud. There are those who say we should play the trumpet and then there are those who say, no, my voice is simply trumpet enough. And, oh, how we tend to cluster." - Max Lucado, Pepperdine University Lectures, 1995

8. Unity in Diversity • Hate Error • Psa. 119:104, 128 • Rev. 2:6, 14-15

9. Unity in Diversity • No Other Doctrine • Gal. 1:8-9 • 1 Tim. 1:3 • 2 Jn. 9-10

10. Unity in Diversity • One Faith • Eph. 4:5 • “The Faith” • Acts 6:7; 14:22; 16:5 • Gal. 1:23 • Jude 3

11. “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned and avoid them” (Rom. 16:17) Lucado: Accept, Tolerate Paul: Mark, Avoid NO UNITY IN DIVERSITY!