http://madetomatter.org/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&view=post&articleid=22955&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0

On September 4th, 1967, a Marine platoon stationed in Quang Tin province was in danger of being overrun by a force five times greater than itself. Hearing this, Navy chaplain Father Vincent Capodanno raced from headquarters to the site of the battle to be with his men. As the battle raged, the Marines would give ground, re-take it, give ground, and then re-take it. This meant the dead and wounded were often located in the deadly crossfire of no-man's land between the two armies. This was Father C's parish that day. Racing from soldier to soldier, he offered last rites to the dead and dying, and medical care to the wounded. Early in the battle, he suffered a bullet wound to his right hand. Still he moved from soldier to soldier, caring and comforting as best he could...

http://madetomatter.org/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&view=post&articleid=15416&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0

"Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus." Paul, in II Timothy 2:3

http://madetomatter.org/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&view=post&articleid=17867&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. -Romans 12:1-2

Divide and conquer.

That strategy works in very nearly every area of life. Warriors use it to overcome a larger enemy force. Parents use it to help children swamped with homework. Workers use it to make mammoth assignments more manageable.

Our work/faith journey is no different.

http://madetomatter.org/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&view=post&articleid=17643&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0

Jesus picked his own team, and every one of them failed Him. They jockeyed for position, questioned His objective, misunderstood His priorities, and failed to comprehend the central purpose of His work. In the end, one of them sold Him out for reasons we still don't fully comprehend, and every one of the others deserted Him when given the chance to be faithful.

Still, remember, it was He who picked them.

So He waded patiently through their questions, even when those questions showed how little they knew of the labor they shared with Him. He protected them from the storms that beset them, even when they should have trusted He would do so without their pleas. He trained them carefully, always focused not on the failures of the moment among His tiny band of workers, but rather on that moment in the future when the mission finally made its way from the paper of Scripture to their heads and hearts. He watched them fail on training runs, and trained them some more.

http://madetomatter.org/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&view=post&articleid=15368&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0

"He must increase, but I must decrease."---John 3:30

http://madetomatter.org/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&view=post&articleid=15366&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0

"For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. -John 3:17

http://madetomatter.org/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&view=post&articleid=15363&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0

And He (Jesus) said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' "This is the great and foremost commandment. "The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'-Matthew 22:37-39

http://madetomatter.org/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&view=post&articleid=15361&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.---James 1:22

http://madetomatter.org/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&view=post&articleid=15350&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0

Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, "Do not imagine that you in the king's palace can escape any more than all the Jews. "For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?" --Esther 4:13-14

http://madetomatter.org/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&view=post&articleid=15346&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0

And He (Jesus) began telling this parable: "A certain man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it, and did not find any. And he said to the vineyard-keeper, 'Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?' And he (the vineyard-keeper) answered and said to him, 'Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.'" --Luke 13:6-9