TEAM*

 TEAM = Together Everyone Accomplishes More.
I heard a story this morning about a horse pulling contest. The winning horse pulled 9,000 pounds. The second-place horse pulled 8,000 pounds.  Together they were able to pull 35,000 pounds. This example was surprising to me, I did expect they could pull 17,000 pounds. 35,000 pounds is more than double, 17 plus 17 is 34.  I heard that Michael Jordan's coach once told him, he could help him win a super bowl ring, but it would require teamwork. Michael was good, but as a team player, he was even better.  Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, "Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken."  The message I heard was about Pastor's and Pastors cannot do it alone. I think every church I have been to in my life, there have always been Elders or Deacons or both. The scripture reference this morning was Exodus 18, where Moses's Father-in-law was giving Moses advice about how to lead the Israelites.  Moses needed help, Pastors need help. I recently had a conversation with a Pastor and he was having difficulties. Even in a small church with a small congregation, a Pastor cannot do it alone. In a marriage, husband and wife need each other and they will accomplish more together than either one will do alone. A good marriage, that is. Think of two donkeys pulling opposite directions and you have an example of a bad marriage. A good marriage would be like the two winning horses in the pulling contest mentioned above. That is why a President has all these people under him to help him. He will never accomplish alone what he could with a team. A sports team can have a Michael Jordan and the other team can shut Michael Jordan down. Teamwork and Michael Jordan's team can still win. It is like that in everything. We are not designed to go it alone. That is something I see in my life, I need my wife. I cannot do it alone. A husband and wife TEAM. A church with Pastor and Elders and Deacons, a TEAM. My job was on an ECAT Team (Electrical Corrective Action Team). Not one faction of the team could do it alone. My lookaheads that my team hated were good for the ME's. It made their job easier and saved the company money. You can find example after example. we need each other. Proverbs 27:17 "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto and we need each other. Especially as Christians, we need each other. God bless, LVZ.