Winners aren’t born, and they don’t grow on trees. Winners are made. Two winners from Red Boiling Springs High deserve praise. I salute Lacy Colter, a senior who just recently scored her two thousandth points while playing for R.B.S. High. Her keen eye and steady hand resulted in nine three pointers last week and five in the following game. Lacy is a great young lady and deserves to be complimented. So does Larry White, her coach. He won his five hundredth game recently while coaching at RBS. What most parents appreciate about Larry, and I share this same feeling, is the great way he takes care of their girls, whether at home, on the road, or away at camp, he can be trusted to watch out for his players.

When Christian Herter was Governor of Massachusetts, he was running hard for a second term in office. One day, a busy morning chasing votes (and no lunch), he arrived at a church barbeque. It was late afternoon and Herter was famished.

As Herter moved down the serving line, he held out his plate to the women serving chicken. She put a piece on the plate and turned to the next person in line.

Several years ago, on a Sunday morning in Philadelphia, a father and his 8-year-old daughter were walking to Sunday School. But when they arrived, they discovered the door to the church building was shut with a notice that read, “Room for no more.”

Believe it or not, there is dead weight even in the church. An unknown author has penned a poem which graphically describes this dead weight.

I’ve been a dead weight many years

Around the church’s neck;

I’ve let others carry me

And always pay the check.

I’ve had my name upon the rolls

For years and years gone by;

The Apostle Peter says that God has “given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness…” (II Peter 1:3). In other words, we have everything we need to live a life that pleases God. God has given to us all that we need to know about life and godliness.

What a timely passage for this mixed-up and ungodly nation!

The first thing to capture our attention here is that God is a giver. He is not a TAKER, but a GIVER. Some people are only takers. They are happy with us so long as we allow them to remain takers. Some children excel in the matter of taking from their parents, but are selfish pigmies in giving to them.