Transcript – Honesty and Dub McKnight's Pizza

(Note that all transcripts were created from audio recordings, and therefore any mistakes are the transcriptionist's, not the speaker's.)
Filename -- Extract_FaithWorks_FutureShock_20030806_HonestyDubMcKnightsPizza_transcription.doc

I remember a preacher telling a story that impacted his life.

He was a young boy in California. His dad worked across town in a factory. He’d get up in the morning and walk across town with dad, and every day the dad would stop at a little store, and he’d buy a newspaper to read on his lunch break. So one day they’re getting across town to the factory and Dad looks up and realizes he had inadvertently picked up two papers. Wasn’t that big a deal, it just cost a dime. And he thought, "I’ll just take it back today."

And the boy looked up at him and said, “Dad why would you want to take it all the way across town today?”

He said,” Well number one, I don’t want someone else to miss this paper that might want to read it, but number two, that man’s not a Christian, and he knows I am. It’s important that he knows I’m an honest man."

So they went back across town and took the paper back. One week later that store was robbed about the time his dad and one other man came in. And when the police showed up the store owner told them, “Well it could not have been this man, he came all the way back across town to return a paper." Then they soon were able to catch the real man. And the preacher talked about how much that impacted him as a little boy.

Fairness and honesty is something you don’t compromise.

Some of you who have been members for some years remember Dub McKnight. Dub was my model on this value. Remember Dub suffered from MS all the time that I knew him in a wheelchair. Here's one of my favorite Dub stories...

Dub would order a pizza from pizza hut once a week. And he’d know how much it would cost and he’d write his check. Well one time Kara was home and the pizza showed up and Dub gave the delivery girl a check. And Kara noticed Dub had not tipped her. And Kara had been a waitress at Chili’s and lived on tips and said, “Dad you need to tip somebody. If you’re not gonna tip you shouldn’t order a pizza.”

Well for two weeks Dub didn’t order a pizza. He missed it so bad his conscience bothered him. So he got his checkbook out, and he counted every time he ordered a pizza that year. He ordered another pizza and along with the price of the pizza he gave her a $75 tip!

I’ll tell you something else about Dub. When he really turned his life around when he figured out he had MS, he realized he had cheated God on his tithes. And so he went back and he figured out how much money he made from his account and he kept records of stuff like this. And he figured out over the course of his married life, he had cheated God of forty two thousand dollars in his tithes. And even though he was in a wheelchair and couldn’t work anymore he and Pam set themselves on a course to make that right. And one year before he died, Dub had payed back that forty two thousand dollars that in his heart he knew he owed the Lord.

Now you be fair with all men, and be MORE then fair with the poor.

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