February 10, 2008
If calories are an issue, store your chocolate on top of the fridge.
Calories are afraid of heights, and they will jump out of the chocolate to protect themselves.
Chocolate has many preservatives. Preservatives make you look younger.
The story is told of a man who went to the priest and said, "Father, I want you to say a Mass for my dog."
The priest was indignant. "What do you mean, say a Mass for your dog?"
"It's my pet dog," said the man. "I loved that dog and I'd like you to offer a Mass for him."
"We don't offer Masses for dogs here," the priest said. "You might try the denomination down the street. Ask them if they have a service for you."
As the man was leaving, he said to the priest, "I really loved that dog. I was planning to offer a million-dollar stipend for the Mass."
And the priest said, "Wait a minute. You never told me your dog was Catholic."
REMEMBER: Justification means: “just-as-if-I-never-sinned.” That is what God has done for you in Christ Jesus, and thus reconciled you to himself. Nothing or no one can do this for you, not now, not ever.
SOME ‘JUSTIFYING’ THOUGHTS...
❖ The doctrine of justification is the foundation that supports all of the other benefits we receive from Christ. -- Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )
❖ To say that God justifies the ungodly means quite simply that God in his amazing love treats the sinner as if he was a good man. Again, to put it very simply, God loves us, not for anything that we are, but for what he is. -- William Barclay (1907-1978)
❖ Old Doctor John Duncan taught Hebrew in Edinburgh long ago. He was sitting one day at the Communion in a church, a Highland church, and he was feeling so personally unworthy that when the elements came 'round, he felt he couldn't take them. He allowed the bread and wine to pass. As he was sitting there feeling absolutely miserable, he noticed a girl in the congregation whom, when the bread and wine came 'round, also allowed them to pass, and then broke down into tears. That sight seemed to bring back to the old saint the truth he had forgotten. And in a carrying whisper that could be heard across the church, he was heard to say, "Take it, lassie, take it. It's meant for sinners." And he himself partook of the marvelous justification of God in Christ Jesus. -- James S. Stewart, "The Rending of the Veil
❖ There are only two kinds of religion in the world ... You can list every "ism," every cult, every religion in southern California under one category. They all say, "Do, do, do." Only Christianity says, "Done." Christ has done it all. -- J. Vernon McGee, from The Best of Vernon McGee
CHURCH AND CHILDREN When my daughter was about four years old, she still had a hard time grasping the concept of marriage. So I got out our wedding album, thinking visual images would help, and explained the entire service for her. Once finished, I asked if she had any questions, and she replied, "Oh, I see. Is that when Mommy came to work for us?"
A mother took her three-year-old daughter to church for the first time. The church lights were lowered, and then the choir came down the aisle, with lighted candles. All was quiet until the little one started to sing in a loud voice, "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..."
After listening restlessly to a long and tedious sermon, a 6-year-old boy asked his father what the preacher did the rest of the week. "Oh, he's a very busy man," the father replied. "He takes care of church business, visits the sick, ministers to the poor...and then he has to have time to rest up. Talking in public isn't an easy job, you know." The boy thought about that, then said, "Well, listening ain't easy, either."
A mother was watching her four-year-old child playing outside in a small plastic pool half-filled with water. He was happily walking back and f orth across the pool, making big splashes. Suddenly, he stopped, stepped out of the pool, and began to scoop water out of the pool with a pail. "Why are you pouring the water out, Johnny?" the mother asked. "'Cause my teacher said Jesus walked on water, and this water won't work," the boy replied.
Why bother with Lent? Because it allows for us, for me in particular, a form of spiritual practice. The musicians understand this, that is, the good ones understand it at least. And no musician will remain a good musician long without regular practice. It is a discipline, this practice that enables freedom; not a freedom that avoids discipline. Horowitz, the great pianist said, “If I skip practice one day, I know it. If I skip practice two days, the critics know it. And if I skip practice three days, everybody knows it.”
Lent is Christian practice time. It is spring training for the Christian who wants to stay in shape, or who wants to get into shape. Such spiritual health and the means to it is not a luxury. It is a necessity.
No one is so well off spiritually that he or she can afford to skip Lent. And no one is so bad off spiritually that Lent can’t be helpful.
So Lent, why bother with it? The first instance, because it is practical, it works, it is necessary.
Jim Taylor shares some things he’s learned about life while weeding the garden (the “Life Lessons” are his words; the explanations are paraphrases):
“Life Lesson One: It’s harder to uproot our faults than to harm our better qualities.” In weeding a garden, it’s relatively easy to pull up the desirable plants. The weeds, on the other hand, have deeper, more tenacious root systems.
“Life Lesson Two: When combating sins of omission or commission ... get the roots.” It’s easy to snap off the weeds at ground level, but if you do, they’ll come back. You’ve got to pull up the whole root. In a similar way, to bring about a true change in behavior, you’ve got to get at the deep, underlying motivation.
“Life Lesson Three: Pluck each tiny stem one at a time.” Weeding a garden is most productive if the weeds are removed one by one. Take a shortcut, like trying to pull up a whole handful of weeds at once, and you’ll leave the roots in the ground. It’s better to address flaws one at a time than to try to reform everything at once.
“Life Lesson Four: Go wash!” Weeding is dirty work. After you’re done, you have to wash thoroughly, even under the fingernails where black earth lingers. “Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow,” says Psalm 51:7.
Calories are afraid of heights, and they will jump out of the chocolate to protect themselves.
Chocolate has many preservatives. Preservatives make you look younger.
The story is told of a man who went to the priest and said, "Father, I want you to say a Mass for my dog."
The priest was indignant. "What do you mean, say a Mass for your dog?"
"It's my pet dog," said the man. "I loved that dog and I'd like you to offer a Mass for him."
"We don't offer Masses for dogs here," the priest said. "You might try the denomination down the street. Ask them if they have a service for you."
As the man was leaving, he said to the priest, "I really loved that dog. I was planning to offer a million-dollar stipend for the Mass."
And the priest said, "Wait a minute. You never told me your dog was Catholic."
REMEMBER: Justification means: “just-as-if-I-never-sinned.” That is what God has done for you in Christ Jesus, and thus reconciled you to himself. Nothing or no one can do this for you, not now, not ever.
SOME ‘JUSTIFYING’ THOUGHTS...
❖ The doctrine of justification is the foundation that supports all of the other benefits we receive from Christ. -- Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )
❖ To say that God justifies the ungodly means quite simply that God in his amazing love treats the sinner as if he was a good man. Again, to put it very simply, God loves us, not for anything that we are, but for what he is. -- William Barclay (1907-1978)
❖ Old Doctor John Duncan taught Hebrew in Edinburgh long ago. He was sitting one day at the Communion in a church, a Highland church, and he was feeling so personally unworthy that when the elements came 'round, he felt he couldn't take them. He allowed the bread and wine to pass. As he was sitting there feeling absolutely miserable, he noticed a girl in the congregation whom, when the bread and wine came 'round, also allowed them to pass, and then broke down into tears. That sight seemed to bring back to the old saint the truth he had forgotten. And in a carrying whisper that could be heard across the church, he was heard to say, "Take it, lassie, take it. It's meant for sinners." And he himself partook of the marvelous justification of God in Christ Jesus. -- James S. Stewart, "The Rending of the Veil
❖ There are only two kinds of religion in the world ... You can list every "ism," every cult, every religion in southern California under one category. They all say, "Do, do, do." Only Christianity says, "Done." Christ has done it all. -- J. Vernon McGee, from The Best of Vernon McGee
CHURCH AND CHILDREN When my daughter was about four years old, she still had a hard time grasping the concept of marriage. So I got out our wedding album, thinking visual images would help, and explained the entire service for her. Once finished, I asked if she had any questions, and she replied, "Oh, I see. Is that when Mommy came to work for us?"
A mother took her three-year-old daughter to church for the first time. The church lights were lowered, and then the choir came down the aisle, with lighted candles. All was quiet until the little one started to sing in a loud voice, "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..."
After listening restlessly to a long and tedious sermon, a 6-year-old boy asked his father what the preacher did the rest of the week. "Oh, he's a very busy man," the father replied. "He takes care of church business, visits the sick, ministers to the poor...and then he has to have time to rest up. Talking in public isn't an easy job, you know." The boy thought about that, then said, "Well, listening ain't easy, either."
A mother was watching her four-year-old child playing outside in a small plastic pool half-filled with water. He was happily walking back and f orth across the pool, making big splashes. Suddenly, he stopped, stepped out of the pool, and began to scoop water out of the pool with a pail. "Why are you pouring the water out, Johnny?" the mother asked. "'Cause my teacher said Jesus walked on water, and this water won't work," the boy replied.
Why bother with Lent? Because it allows for us, for me in particular, a form of spiritual practice. The musicians understand this, that is, the good ones understand it at least. And no musician will remain a good musician long without regular practice. It is a discipline, this practice that enables freedom; not a freedom that avoids discipline. Horowitz, the great pianist said, “If I skip practice one day, I know it. If I skip practice two days, the critics know it. And if I skip practice three days, everybody knows it.”
Lent is Christian practice time. It is spring training for the Christian who wants to stay in shape, or who wants to get into shape. Such spiritual health and the means to it is not a luxury. It is a necessity.
No one is so well off spiritually that he or she can afford to skip Lent. And no one is so bad off spiritually that Lent can’t be helpful.
So Lent, why bother with it? The first instance, because it is practical, it works, it is necessary.
Jim Taylor shares some things he’s learned about life while weeding the garden (the “Life Lessons” are his words; the explanations are paraphrases):
“Life Lesson One: It’s harder to uproot our faults than to harm our better qualities.” In weeding a garden, it’s relatively easy to pull up the desirable plants. The weeds, on the other hand, have deeper, more tenacious root systems.
“Life Lesson Two: When combating sins of omission or commission ... get the roots.” It’s easy to snap off the weeds at ground level, but if you do, they’ll come back. You’ve got to pull up the whole root. In a similar way, to bring about a true change in behavior, you’ve got to get at the deep, underlying motivation.
“Life Lesson Three: Pluck each tiny stem one at a time.” Weeding a garden is most productive if the weeds are removed one by one. Take a shortcut, like trying to pull up a whole handful of weeds at once, and you’ll leave the roots in the ground. It’s better to address flaws one at a time than to try to reform everything at once.
“Life Lesson Four: Go wash!” Weeding is dirty work. After you’re done, you have to wash thoroughly, even under the fingernails where black earth lingers. “Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow,” says Psalm 51:7.
posted by joypastordon at 1:21 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home