October 26

"Effective people are not problem-minded; they're opportunity-minded. They feed opportunities and starve problems." -- Stephen Covey

You can do more through a handful of totally devoted believers than through a churchful of halfhearted ones. -- Bill Hybels

As I grow older, I care less what people think about me and more what God thinks of me. I expect to be with him much longer than with you. -- Robert Baker in Country Road 13

The amount of sleep required by the average person is about five minutes more.

If people were not meant to have late-night snacks, why did God put a light in the refrigerator?

The one thing that sustains me most is the knowledge that God knows what He's doing--and that He's not done doing it. --Nancy Kennedy

The “Perfect Church” Ever heard the old cliche’ — “If you ever find the perfect church, please don’t join it. If you do, it won’t be perfect anymore!” The church is made up of people who are saved by God’s grace, but still not perfect!

The RIGHT Imitation What every church should be is what every Christian should be: elect (born again), exemplary (imitating the right people), enthusiastic (sharing the Gospel with others), and expectant (daily looking for Jesus Christ to return).

Remember this Responsibility: The world is looking for Spiritual help. When it turns to the church what will it see? Are we “fit to be imitated?” The word “imitate” is synonymous with “follow.” Are we as individuals and as the church something God would want the world to follow?

The character of the Church will be the character of it’s people. For the church to be a model, we must have willing individuals to be a model. If the members imitate something, that will be the image the church portrays to its community. In other words, we can’t get away from the fact that WE are the Church. Our attitudes make a difference in her ministry. Little of what the church IS goes unaffected by how its members think and act. This is where Paul encourages us to be “imitators of Christ.” WHO is Christ to this world: the Church--you and me. We’ve got some big shoes to fill, but thankfully, when we read the passage from Isaiah, we know God has already broken through the barriers and made the way for us. Now we must be willing to follow His call.

"The terrible mistake made by so many misinformed Christians is trying to gain the victory by their own efforts, by the works of the law, instead of a complete yielding and surrender to the Spirit of God." - M. R. DeHaan

A Christian is one who does not have to consult his bank book to see how wealthy he really is.

The letters of the alphabet in order of their frequency of use are, ETAISONHRDLUCMFWYPGVBKJQXZ.

Two Hands
Our maker gave us two hands.
One to hold onto him and one to reach out to his people.

If our hands are full of struggling to get possessions,
we can't hang onto God or to others very well.

If, however, we hold onto God, who gave us our lives,
then his love can flow through us and out to our neighbor.
Lewis L. Austin, This I Believe

"The Lord's Prayer is 66 words, the Gettysburg Address is 286
words, and there are 1,322 words in the Declaration of
Independence. Yet, government regulations on the sale of
cabbage total 26,911 words."
--David McIntosh

October 19, 2008

"Love me when I least deserve it, because that's when I really need it."--Swedish proverb

SORROW looks back, WORRY looks around, and FAITH looks UP...

"We must face today as children of tomorrow. We must meet the uncertainties of this world with the certainty of the world to come." - A. W. Tozer

The secret behind getting more faith is getting to know God more. You get to know God more by reading His book.

Till now man has been up against Nature; from now on he will be up against his own nature. Dennis Gabor (1900–1979) Physicist

The man who insists on seeing with perfect clearness before he decides, never decides. -- Henri-Frédéric Amiel

The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.
-- John Kenneth Galbraith

"Do you ever get the feeling that the only reason we have elections is to find out if the polls were right?" - Robert Orben

Because they had no reservations at a busy restaurant, my elderly neighbor and his wife were told there would be a 45-minute wait for a table.
"Young man, we're both 90 years old," the husband said. "We may not have 45 minutes." They were seated immediately.

What We the People Demand
President James Garfield's words from 1877 still ring true. "Now more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave, and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature ... if the next centennial does not find us a great nation ... it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces."

Committing to Christ
Tony Campolo, the Philadelphia sociologist, found himself seated beside the Pennsylvania governor at a state prayer breakfast. In the course of conversation the governor said that he was sympathetic toward Christianity but not personally committed. Campolo asked, "Why not?" The governor replied, "Well, to tell you the truth, no one ever invited me to commit." Campolo said, "I'm inviting you." within five minutes that governor had committed his life to Christ.
We have good news that is essential to every human being; it's a matter of their eternal life or death. We may be the only conduits God has to certain persons. We must help him reach them.
"I have held many things in my hand, and have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands that I still possess." Martin Luther

Historical Background Information: Paying Caesar
The poll tax mentioned in this passage was levied by the Romans against the Jews beginning in A.D. 6 when Judea became a Roman province. When imposed for the first time, it provoked the rebellion of Judas the Galilean recorded in Acts 5:37 and discussed in more detail below. The Herodians favored the tax, but the Zealots, Pharisees, and people resented it. The Pharisees and the Herodians, though common adversaries in New Testament times on the very issue of rendering obedience and taxes to the Roman Empire, found themselves in common alliance in this instance to trap Christ in His words, trying to impale him on the horns of a serious dilemma. Should the authority of Caesar be recognized and the poll tax be paid to him? If Christ were to have affirmed payment of the poll tax to Caesar, he would no doubt have pleased the Herodians but would have made Himself an even greater enemy of the Pharisees and an enemy of the people who shared popular resentment to the poll tax as an unlawful imposition by a heathen government. If, by contrast, Christ were to have denied that the poll tax be paid, he would have made Himself out to be an enemy of the state and possibly, subject Himself to the charge of sedition.

"Try not to become a man of success, but rather a man of value." -- Albert Einstein

"Chance favors the prepared mind." -- Louis Pasteur


False Dichotomies
Let me ask you a few questions that I am sure you can answer:
Did you put on shoes this morning, or did you come to church in a car?
Do you eat cereal for breakfast, or don't you like football?
Are you Lutheran, or do you live in America?
Will you obey God, or will you pay taxes to Caesar?
Welcome to the world of false dichotomies-thing that are wrongly set against each other, "either/or"s that really aren't. Can you wear shoes and come to church in a car? Can you eat cereal and enjoy football? Can you be Lutheran and live in America? Of course; in fact, you can be an American Lutheran who wears shoes and eats cereal while enjoying football after you've traveled to and from church in a car. None of these things are mutually exclusive. Beware of the one who asks such questions, because there may well be an agenda behind them. At the same time, rejoice! Such scheming is no match for the crucified and risen

The Importance of Voting You are wrong if you do not vote.
You are to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. Our Caesar [in the United States] is a government of the people by the people for the people. One vote may make the difference.

ONE VOTE made Oliver Cromwell Lord Protector of the Commonwealth and gave him control of England. (1645)

ONE VOTE caused Charles I to be executed. (1649)

ONE VOTE kept Aaron Burr – later charged with treason – from becoming President. (1800)

ONE VOTE elected Marcus Morton governor of Massachusetts. (1839)

ONE VOTE made Texas part of the United States. (1845)

ONE VOTE saved President Andrew Johnson from impeachment. (1868)

ONE VOTE changed France from a monarchy to a republic. (1875)

ONE VOTE admitted California, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho into the Union. (1850, 1850, 1889, 1890)

ONE VOTE elected Rutherford B. Hayes to the Presidency, and the man in the Electoral College who cast that vote was an Indiana Representative also elected by ONE VOTE. (1876)

ONE VOTE made Adolf Hitler head of the Nazi Party. (1923)

ONE VOTE maintained the Selective Service System only 12 weeks before Pearl Harbor. (1941)

ONE VOTE per precinct would have elected Richard Nixon, rather than John Kennedy, President. (1960)

I'm only one but I am one. I can't do everything but I can do something and what I can do I ought to do and that by the grace of God I will do.


At times I wonder if Caesar is really due his portion. As Mark Twain once said, "Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it."

Christianity not only saves you from sin, but from cynicism. E. Stanley Jones

Two older women who were walking around a somewhat overcrowded English country churchyard, and came upon a tombstone on which was the inscription: "Here lies John Smith, a politician and an honest man." "Good heavens!" one exclaimed, "isn't it awful that they had to put two people in the same grave."

A sportswriter once asked Joe Louis, "Who hit you the hardest during your ring career?" His reply was "Uncle Sam."

A true friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.--Anonymous

Most of us could move mountains if only someone would clear the foothills out of the way.--Bob Talbert

"For every verse in the Bible that tells us the benefits of wealth, there are ten that tell us the danger of wealth." - Haddon Robinson

"Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway." -- John Wayne

"It doesn't matter how strong your opinions are. If you don't use your power for positive change, you are, indeed, part of the problem." -- Coretta Scott King

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also with overcoming it." -- Helen Keller

"I have witnessed the softening of the hardest of hearts by a simple smile." -- Goldie Hawn

"Grandchildren don't stay young forever, which is good because granddaddies have only so many horsey rides in them." -- Gene Perret

"Prefer a loss to a dishonest gain; the one brings pain at the moment, the other for all time." -- Chilon

When was baseball mentioned in the Bible? When Rebecca walked to the well with a pitcher.


Fishing for People
"I often went fishing up in Maine during the summer. Personally, I am very fond of strawberries and cream, but I have found that for some strange reason, fish prefer worms. So when I went fishing, I didn't think about what I wanted. I thought about what they wanted. I didn't bait the hook with strawberries and cream. Rather, I dangled a worm or grasshopper in front of the fish and said: 'Wouldn't you like to have that?'"
Why not use the same common sense when fishing for people?" Dale Carnegie

We cannot always or even often control events, but we can control how we respond to them. When things happen which dismay or appall, we ought to look to God for His meaning, remembering that He is not taken by surprise nor can His purposes be thwarted in the end. What God looks for is those who will worship Him in the midst of every circumstance. Our look of inquiring trust glorifies Him. This is our first responsibility: to glorify God. In the face of life's worst reversals and tragedies, the response of a faithful Christian is praise -- not for the wrong itself, certainly, but for who God is and for the ultimate assurance that there is a pattern being worked out for those who love Him.--Elisabeth Elliot

Reinhold Niebuhr often quoted a remark made to him by an agnostic friend who objected to the church, "not because of its dogmas but because of its trivialities," by which he meant "preoccupation with trivial concerns with the world hanging on the rim of disaster." Fred Craddock was invited to attend a prayer meeting at a home in a wealthy suburb of Atlanta. He said the group shared "weighty" prayer concerns like a date coming up on Friday night and the purchase of a new car, and one man announced they had had 75 answered prayers since the group started meeting. Then one of them turned to him and asked, "What do you think, Dr. Craddock?" Craddock, usually more reticent to criticize anybody's praying, was offended by the superficial and mechanistic reduction of Israel's God to what Paul Tillich called, "the Cosmic Bellhop." He couldn't help himself. He said, "Do you mean to tell me when people are starving in Africa and the poor are suffering in India and parents in Latin America can't sleep through the night wondering if the death squads will visit them, you folks are praying about dates and new cars?"

October 12, 2008

God never uses an answering machine; he takes each call personally.

A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have -- Thomas Jefferson

In those times I can't seem to find God, I rest in the assurance that He knows how to find me. --Neva Coyle


It’s getting to the point where I hesitate to turn on the TV. From the financial crisis, to hurricanes, to Iran, to fuel prices, you name it. And it’s not just the news, it’s the media’s —and the public’s—voyeuristic preoccupation with chaos that troubles me. The news is grim.
I can’t help but be reminded of a lesson taught by a certain Oxford don named C.S. Lewis. Yes, these are frightening times today. But 60 years ago the entire world was at war. It was then that he preached his famous sermon The Weight of Glory. This is what he had to say: “Human culture has always had to exist under the shadow of something infinitely more important than itself. If men had postponed the search for knowledge and beauty until they were secure, the search would never have begun.”
Lewis’ words could not be more appropriate for us today. It’s precisely during times of crisis that we must persevere all the more in our quest for beauty and truth. Chuck Colson 10/09/08

Ricky was at the mall and went into a toy shop, picked up a toy plane, gave the shopkeeper fake money and started to leave.
The shopkeeper told him, "Excuse me little boy, this isn't real money."
Ricky looked at the plane in his hands, looked at the shopkeeper and finally said, "And this isn't a real plane."

Pastor Don was worried that his three-year-old grandson was unusually precocious, and took him to a psychiatrist.
"Right," said the shrink, "We'll just try a few simple tests." To Jack, he said, "Say a few words - anything that comes into your mind."
Jack turned to his grandfather and asked, "Does he want logically constructed sentences or just a few random and purely isolated words without any split infinitives?"

'To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.' When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better.

'The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.'

"Who says nothing is impossible - I've been doing nothing for years."

A culture focused on instant gratification -- through the overuse of credit cards to buy consumer goods, for example -- has also lost other "traditional values" such as thrift and hard work.
It's a crisis of commitment, it's a crisis of responsibility.
To spend more than you've got is not the way we brought up our kids ... You have a whole credit industry that grew up around people wanting what their parents had without working 20 years to get it.


"Do something wonderful; people may imitate it.' -- Albert Schweitzer

"Character is much easier kept than recovered." -- Thomas Paine

"It has been said that our anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but only empties today of its strength." -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon

"Whether you think you can or not, you are right." -- Henry Ford

"Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate." -- John F. Kennedy

"Good judgment comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgment." -- Rita Mae Brown

"There are two great days in a person's life--the day we are born and the day we discover why." -- William Barclay

"The Bible was not given to increase our knowledge but to change our lives." - D. L. Moody

"What you allow, you encourage." -- Author Unknown


Steering Through Storms
These are challenging times, and it is difficult to find a silver lining to some of the darker clouds visible to everyone. As election-year rhetoric morphs from harsh to rancorous, the economy of recession continues to take its toll. All of us know lots of people who have lost their jobs. Who will be next to suffer?
One of the interesting fact that some of us have forgotten is that crisis times have often been the stimulus for creative new beginnings. Notable successes have been generated from the ashes of previous economic downturns.
A little perspective from history might encourage you. Walt Disney lost an acting job as a movie extra and started his famous cartoon company in a garage during the recession of 1923-1924. William Hewlett and David Packard teamed up in Silicon Valley in 1938 during the Great Depression. And Bill Gates dropped out of college to launch Microsoft during the downturn of a recession in 1975.
Crisis does seem to spawn an entrepreneurial culture. When the sun is shining, most people are content to let the boat sail under its own power – and to sun on the deck. When the clouds roll in and the boat begins to toss violently on the sea, creative people are encouraged to take risks and to chart new courses.
What about you? Do you see yourself as a thermometer or a thermostat in these tough times? Thermometers do nothing more than reflect their environments. Thermostats change their environments!
If you have had a bad year, have been laid off, or exist in a generally horrible environment, you have a choice. You can be a victim and whine about your fate. Or you can do some serious introspection, set some positive goals for making things better, and start moving ahead.
In the business world, laid-off and unfulfilled workers have changed the world by being bold in hard times. The same thing is true in other settings as well. Individuals, families, and churches who sense that something is wrong always have choices. The single most important choice is between passivity, grumbling, and dejection on the one hand and exploration, resourcefulness, and enthusiasm for a new challenge on the other.
Now that you have seen the newscasts and figured out that times really are tough, it is time to decide about your future. Make responsible choices on the basis of your passions, values, and priorities and not your gloomy circumstance. With the strength of God to help you, you can move from being a melancholy thermometer to become a difference-making thermostat in your world. You can chart a new course and set sail to a brighter destination.


Frog stands for: (F) Forever (R) Rely (O) On (G) God

October 5

"We must face today as children of tomorrow. We must meet the uncertainties of this world with the certainty of the world to come." - A. W. Tozer


One beautiful Sunday morning, a Minister announced to his congregation: "My good people, I have here in my hands three sermons...a $1,000 sermon that lasts five minutes, a $500 sermon that lasts fifteen minutes, and a $100 sermon that lasts a full hour."
"Now, we'll take the collection and see which one I'll deliver."

RIDDLES
Why was the piano tuner hired to play on the baseball team?
Because he had a perfect pitch.

Why couldn't the fans get soda pop at the double-header?
Because the home team lost the opener.

Why did the golfer wear two pairs of pants?
Just in case he got a hole in one.

If a millionaire sits on his gold, who sits on silver?
The Lone Ranger.

Why did the nasty kid put ice cubes in his aunt's bed?
Because he wanted to make antifreeze.

How do you make an elephant float?
Take two scoops of ice cream, root beer, and add one elephant.

Where does a liar sleep?
In a bunk bed.


Pastoral Search Committee
In our search for a suitable pastor, the following scratch sheet was developed for your perusal. Of the candidates investigated by the committee, only one was found to have the necessary qualities. The list contains the names of the candidates and comments on each, should you be interested in investigating them further for future pastoral placements.

Noah: He has 120 years of preaching experience, but no converts.

Abraham: He took off to Egypt during hard times. We heard that he got into trouble with the authorities and then tried to lie his way out.

Moses: He stutters; and his former congregation says he loses his temper over trivial things.

David: He is an unacceptable moral character. He might have been considered for minister of music had he not 'fallen.'

Solomon: He has a reputation for wisdom but fails to practice what he preaches.

Elijah: He proved to be inconsistent, and is known to fold under pressure.

Hosea: His family life is in a shambles. Divorced, and remarried to a prostitute.

Jeremiah: He is too emotional, alarmist; some say a real 'pain in the neck.'

Amos: Comes from a farming background. Better off picking figs.

John: He says he is a Baptist but lacks tact and dresses like a hippie. Would not feel comfortable at a church potluck supper.

Peter: Has a bad temper, and was heard to have even denied Christ publicly.

Paul: We found him to lack tact. He is too harsh, His appearance is contemptible, and he preaches far too long.

Timothy: He has potential, but is much too young for the position.

Jesus: He tends to offend church members with his preaching, especially Bible scholars. He is also too controversial. He even offended the search committee with his pointed questions.

Judas: He seemed to be very practical, co-operative, good with money, cares for the poor, and dresses well. We all agreed that he is just the man we are looking for to fill the vacancy as our Senior Pastor.

Thank you for all you have done in assisting us with our pastoral search.

Sincerely,
The Pastoral Search Committee.


My diet club meets every Tuesday evening. I hate dieting, so I usually eat as I please all week long and then fast on Tuesday before the dreaded weigh-in. With these eating habits, progress is slow. One day, frustrated by the numbers on my scale, I blurted, "I wish I
could lose some of this weight." "I know how you can do it," my ten-year-old daughter Marvella replied. "Just pretend that every day is Tuesday."


Our real blessings often appear to us in the shape of pains, losses, and disappointments; but let us have patience, and we soon shall see them in their proper figures. --Joseph Addison

Live as if Christ died yesterday, arose this morning, and is coming back tomorrow!

Don't spend four dollars to dry clean a shirt. Donate it to the Salvation Army instead. They'll clean it and put it on a hanger. Next morning buy it back for seventy-five cents.

"The task ahead of us is never as great as the power behind us." -- Author Unknown

"It is comforting to know that the God who guides us sees tomorrow more clearly than we see yesterday." -- Author Unknown

Down Came Humpty
As Chuck Colson said, "Most of us have been badly shaken by the tumultuous events ... in Wall Street. If you have an IRA or some kind of retirement plan, no doubt you're licking your wounds. You may even be fearful. I understand. I've experienced those apprehensions myself....
"Because these financial troubles are the direct result of our nation turning its back on God. Simply put, the rise of relativism in postmodern Western life has led to the collapse of a moral consensus. With everyone making up his own rules when it comes to right and wrong, is it any wonder our economic system is under stress?
"Michael Novak, the great theologian, has said that Western democratic capitalism is like a three-legged stool, resting on political freedom, economic freedom, and moral restraint. Take away moral restraint, and the stool collapses."1
For many an individual to turn to God it takes a crisis. For a nation to turn back to God it often takes a national crisis. May this be the case here in the U.S. so that we turn back to our moral moorings and again let it be said that "in God we Trust." Let's be realistic, it's going to take a lot more than all the king's horses and all the king's men to put Humpty Dumpty together again. Chuck Colson, BreakPoint September 17, 2008