Ruben Pavon was driving down the road in Derry, New Hampshire when a store caught his eye. It was a large building with lots of stuff out front just sitting on the sidewalk. But it was the name on the building that got Ruben into trouble: Finders Keepers.<\/p>\n\n
Ruben was caught on surveillance video carrying off a grill from out in front of the store. But Ruben actually confessed to taking other things the security camera didn't catch—a DVD player, for one. But can taking things really be wrong if the store is named Finders Keepers?<\/p>\n\n
The store's owner, Laura Barker, said, "I don't know of any stores where there's free stuff. It would be nice if there were. I'd be there on a regular basis myself." But in his defense, Ruben claimed that the store's sign, "Finders Keepers," created specific expectations in his mind. That's why later on he said, "I thought it was there for the taking. The sign did say 'Finders Keepers.' So I took that DVD player, took it home. A couple of weeks later, the stuff is still there on the porch, so I'm thinking to myself, 'Finders Keepers.' They probably just put stuff out there for people to take."<\/p>\n\n
Ruben eventually returned all of the merchandise that he "found" in front of the store, but maybe Laura Barker should consider a new name for her store.<\/p>\n\n
Possible Preaching Angles: Integrity vs. Hypocrisy<\/strong>—This story illustrates the need to walk the talk as a Christian. In other words, when we put a name, a sign on our lives—like "Christian," "church," "pastor," "leader," and "elder"—it implies that we will live and act a certain way. Those names or labels create certain expectations. Do we live up to the "signs" we hang on our lives?<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3559,3588,3850,3908,4199,4264,4350,4513,5283],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-42743","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-character","tax_ctp_tags-christian","tax_ctp_tags-elder","tax_ctp_tags-example","tax_ctp_tags-hypocrisy","tax_ctp_tags-integrity","tax_ctp_tags-leader","tax_ctp_tags-name","tax_ctp_tags-witness"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"\n