I was shocked a few days ago when I received an email from blog readers Brant and Laura McGlothlin saying that the Sunday sermon in their Texas church opened with “The Parable of the Emails.” The parable occurs in my book That’s Not Church!, which means it first appeared as a blog in the Ewellogy…from 2019. A long time ago, now.
The pastor read the parable in its entirety, citing me and my book:
Here’s the parable:
A business owner called his employees together and said, “I’m going away for a while, and I want you all to keep the business going. I’ll be sending emails from time to time to help keep you on track.” When the owner returned a couple years later, the business was in shambles. He asked them, “Didn’t you read my emails?”
They replied, “You bet! In fact, we compiled them into a book, and we have read them all very carefully. In fact, we gather at least once a week to have an email study to discuss them!’
The owner was shocked. “Didn’t you do anything I told you to do?”
“Do anything? No, we didn’t do anything, but those were some really fine emails!”
It’s terrific…the kind of thing I wish I had written. But I didn’t. The original blog post has this introduction:
Our Spring Canyon speaker, retired Army Chaplain Dan Holcomb, told a very effective parable that I want to share with you. It’s the kind of thing I wish I had written! (I hope you understand that some of my stuff is original, but I’m also standing on the shoulders of others! Dan credits the story to Chuck Swindoll.)
In other words, I got it from Dan Holcomb, who got it from Chuck Swindoll. No matter. It’s a good word, and the pastor not only opened his message with the parable, but he also closed his message…
Being a witness is doing what the emails say instead of just reading them. – Shawn Mullen, GracePoint Church, Portland, TX, May 11, 2025,
Amen.
[Jesus said, ] “But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach.” (Matthew 7.26, MSG)